Orkney Folk Tales Read online

  Eyn-Hallow frank, Eyn-Hallow free,

  Eyn-Hallow lies in the middle of the sea,

  Wae a roaring roost on either side,

  Eyn-Hallow lies in the middle of the tide.

  But Eynhallow was not always there, as we shall see.

  The goodman of Thorodale was married and had three grown-up sons by his wife. But one day she took ill and soon died; much to the sorrow of her husband and children. After a period of mourning Thorodale started to think that he might look for another wife, as he wasn’t that old and was still strong and handsome to look at. His attention turned to a young woman who was said to be the most beautiful girl in all of Evie. He wooed her and she agreed to marry him and came to live with him at his home. She got on well with his sons and everything was going fine for Thorodale, until one fateful day when he and his wife went to the shore to gather shellfish. Thorodale had just sat down on a rock to tie his rivlin16 when he heard his wife scream. As he turned around he saw a fin man carrying her into a boat and pulling on the oars. The boat took off at fantastic speed and was lost from sight before Thorodale could do anything. He cried out in rage and heartbreak and, going down on his knees below the high water mark, he swore an oath that he would get his revenge on the fin folk somehow.

  Time passed and one day, as Thorodale was out fishing between Evie and Rousay, he heard the sound of a woman’s voice singing. He recognised it as the voice of his lost wife, although he couldn’t see her. As he listened he realised that she was singing to him; she sang:

  Goodman, greet17 no more for me,

  For me again you’ll never see;

  If you would have of vengeance joy,

  Go speer18 the wise spaewife19 of Hoy.

  Thorodale headed to the shore, put his silver in his sock and walked out to the shores of Scapa Flow from where he took a boat to Hoy. Here he met the spaewife who told him that there was nothing that he could do to get his wife back, but what would hurt the fin folk more than anything else was to lose any part of Hilda-Land. She told him what he had to do and he set off for home again. Every night when the moon was full he would go to the Odin Stone in Stenness. This stone is sadly no longer there, but it was an outlier of the Stones of Stenness and had a hole through it. It had an uncanny reputation; it could cure ills and if you held hands through it and made the Odin Oath then you were as good as married. So, for nine nights on the night of the full moon, Thorodale would go on his bare knees nine times around the stone and then look through the hole in it. On the final night he was shown what he must do. He went home and got a meal girnal20 and filled it full of salt and then set three caisies21 on top of it. He told his three sons what they had to do when the time came and then he waited.

  One fine summer’s morning Thorodale got up and went outside. He yawned, stretched and looked out over the sound towards Rousay, and there he saw it; a beautiful green island where there had never been one before. He kept his eyes fixed on the island and shouted to his sons to get things ready. They carried the girnal of salt down to the boat, and a heavy lift that was for them. They took the caisies on their backs too and they put everything into the stern of the boat. They pushed the boat down to the water and Thorodale leapt into the bow of the boat, never taking his eyes off that island. His sons couldn’t see it; no one could, only Thorodale, and if he took his eyes off it for just a moment he would never see it again.

  As the three boys rowed the boat Thorodale stood in the bow, staring at the island. Suddenly, a school of whales came swimming in through the sound. The boys got excited, shouting that they should try to herd the whales ashore for their oil, which would bring them a good price. Thorodale shouted in a gruff voice, ‘Carry on rowing; you will get no oil from them, boys.’

  Then the largest whale broke away from the rest and swam towards the boat; its huge mouth open as if it would swallow them whole. The boys were frightened, but Thorodale took a handful of salt and threw it into the monster’s gaping mouth and it disappeared from sight. Thorodale knew that the fin folk were using their magic to conjure up phantoms in order to frighten them and to distract them from their task in hand. Then, as the boat got nearer to the shore, the mermaids started to sing. Their voices were so beautiful that the boys’ heads started to swim. They started to row slower and slower, but Thorodale kicked the ones nearest to him and shouted, ‘Row, damn you!’

  Then he took a cross that he had made by twisting together dried tangles22 and threw it at the mermaids, saying, ‘Take that, you unholy limmers!’23

  On seeing the sign of the cross the mermaids screamed and dived into the sea with a splash.

  Then the boat grounded on a gravel shore; this was the first time that the boys could see that there was an island. Thorodale jumped out onto the shore, only to be faced with a huge monster. It had feet as big as millstones, tusks as long as a man’s arm and it spat flames from its mouth. Thorodale took a handful of salt and threw it into the monster’s face; it disappeared with an awful growl. There, in its place, stood a fin man with a drawn sword. Thorodale recognised him as the same fin man who had carried off his wife. The fin man spoke, saying, ‘Go back from where you came. I know why you’ve come here; you’ve come to steal part of Hilda-Land. But I’m warning you; leave now or by my father’s head I’ll defile this land with your vile, human blood.’

  The boys in the boat were afraid and shouted to their father, ‘Quick, run! Come back to the boat!’

  But Thorodale stood his ground. The fin man lunged at Thorodale, slashing his sword through the air, but Thorodale jumped to one side and threw another cross at the fin man. This one was made of a kind of sticky grass called ‘cloggers’, which stuck to the fin man’s face. He screamed in pain as the sign of the cross burned his skin, but he dare not touch it in order to pull it off as this would burn his hands. He turned around and ran away, roaring in agony.

  ‘Be quick boys,’ shouted Thorodale, ‘you know what to do.’

  His three sons got out of the boat, taking the girnal of salt and the caisies with them. They filled the caisies full of salt and went around the island, three abreast, sowing salt in a ring around the edge of the island. Three times they went around the island sowing nine rings of salt right around Eynhallow. Thorodale cut nine crosses into the turf to sanctify it and to fix it in place for good. The fin folk roared in anger, the mermaids screamed, their lovely blue cattle bellowed and they all ran down the slopes and into the sea. And that is how the fin folk lost Eynhallow. But, the youngest boy had big hands and he ran out of salt before he could finish his last ring of salt. He asked his brothers if they could spare him some, but they said that they only had enough to finish their rings, so the ninth ring of salt was never completed. That is why it is said that Eynhallow is still a magical place. No rats, cats or mice can live there, iron stakes used to tether animals jump out of the ground after sunset and if you try to cut crops after sunset the stalks bleed. It is said that stones from Eynhallow were used in Kirkwall houses to keep away vermin by burying them under the threshold of the door. Soil from Eynhallow was carted to Westness in Rousay to spread over the stackyard to keep rats and mice out of the corn stacks. If you are lucky enough to visit the island you will experience a strange feeling of a magical and ancient place; somehow outside of time.

  6

  SELKIE FOLK

  In Orkney seals are called selkies, but they are not always what they seem. There are two kinds of selkies that usually live in Orkney; the common or harbour seal likes sheltered water while the larger Atlantic grey seal can be found in more exposed coastal areas. The grey seal is the most common species in Orkney, which is a major breeding area for them. It was these larger seals that were true selkies, and they contain a secret inside. It was said that people who had drowned were turned into seals, but at certain times of the tide they could remove their skin, taking human form for one night and on that night they danced together.

  On a visit to my family sometime in the early 1980s I decided to stay overn
ight. I sat up late (as usual) reading a book far into the night. As the night wore on I became aware of a strange sound coming from outside; it was the sound of a woman sobbing. I listened closely, and the sobbing continued. It was coming from the direction of the shore below our farm, quite a few hundred yards away. The sobbing was heartbreaking and I found myself deeply moved and troubled by the sound. What was going on? There was an old road that ran by the shore; the former road from Tankerness to Kirkwall before the wartime aerodrome was built. Had there been an accident? Was someone hurt and needing attention? The sobbing continued, but then it broke away in an unearthly groan that was not human. The blood in my veins ran cold. After a short time the sobbing began again, followed by the groan. This was definitely not human, but what was it? Then it dawned on me; it was the sound of a selkie by the shore. They make a strange array of sounds, from haunting high-pitched calls to grunts and growls, but they also, on rare occasions, sob. Maybe this was the reason behind the story of selkie women being taken as a wife?

  THE SELKIE OF WESTNESS

  The goodman of Westness in North Ronaldsay had a mistrust of women and said that he would never be foolish enough to marry. The local girls looked at him with distaste, saying that he was a very old young man. One old woman was deeply offended by his remarks and said that maybe he would find himself bewitched by a woman’s charms, but he just laughed and said that it was unlikely to happen. However, fate had other plans for him, as we will see.

  One fine summer’s day the man of Westness was walking along the shore when he heard the sound of laughter. This seemed strange to him and he wondered who it could be. He saw, in the distance, that there were a lot of beautiful young people playing by the rocky shore while on the other side of a shallow pool lay a pile of seal skins. He knew that this was the selkie folk who had left the sea and taken off their skins and so he crept along the shore, unseen by the selkies, until he was near the pile of skins. Once there he started to run as fast as he could towards the skins, but the selkie folk had seen him and they ran towards them too. One after the other they snatched up their skins and fled back to the sea. But the man of Westness was quick and he was able to grab one of the very last skins. He turned around and walked back towards his home but behind him he could hear the sound of footsteps on the shore and the sound of a woman sobbing quietly to herself. Turning back he saw a sight that made his heart skip a beat, for there stood a beautiful young selkie woman. She had long dark hair, big brown eyes and was as naked as the day that she was born. With the salt tears trickling down her cheeks she begged him, ‘Please give me back my skin. I can’t go back to my home in the sea without it. I can’t see my family again, or my loving man, if I don’t have my skin. If you ever hope to have pity yourself one day, then please have pity on me and give me back my skin.’

  The man of Westness looked at her, and the more that he looked at her the more he desired her. He wanted her, he craved her; he must possess her.

  ‘No,’ he said, ‘I won’t give you back your skin. You will come with me to my home and you will be my wife.’

  Her pleas were wasted on him. The man of Westness had set his heart on her and no matter how many tears she shed he would not set her free. The selkie had no choice but to follow him home and be his wife. They were soon married and had seven children, four boys and three girls. It was said that there had never been such bonnie bairns born in North Ronaldsay before. But the selkie woman was sad all her time on land and she never stopped searching for her stolen skin. Sometimes she would slip away by herself and sit and stare out to sea. Sometimes a big bull seal would rise up from the sea and swim back and fore, staring at her as she wept bitter tears.

  The years passed and the boys were old enough to go out to the fishing with their father. On one such occasion the selkie woman was left in the house with their youngest girl, who had cut her foot and the wound had become infected. The child sat on a chair with her sore foot on a stool while her mother pretended to clean the house. She was, of course, looking for her seal skin.

  ‘What are you looking for mother?’ asked the little girl.

  ‘Oh, don’t tell anyone, but I’m looking for a bonnie skin to make you a pair of rivlins to help heal your sore foot.’

  The little girl smiled and said, ‘I know where there’s a bonnie skin hidden.’

  The selkie woman froze, and turned to her child, ‘Where did you see it?’

  ‘One day,’ said the little girl, ‘when I was lying in the bed and Dad thought that I was sleeping he took a bonnie skin down from the top of the wall above the bed and he looked at it for a while and then he set it back again.’

  The selkie woman ran to the spot and ran her hand along the top of the wall, where the rafters sat on top of it, and her hand touched something familiar. She pulled it out and there was her skin. She turned to her child and said, ‘Farewell to you, my peedie24 buddo,’25 and with that she ran out the door and down to the shore. She pulled on her seal skin and dived into the water. A big bull seal swam over to her and there was a happy reunion between them. Just at that moment the man of Westness rounded the headland in his boat. The selkie woman swam over to it and, raising the skin from her face sang this rhyme:

  Good man of Westness,

  Farewell to thee!

  I liked you well,

  You were good to me.

  But I loved better my man of the sea.

  With that she pulled the skin back over her face and dived under the sea. The man of Westness and his seven children never saw her again.

  Not all selkie wives were so keen to return to the sea, as we will see in this next tragic story.

  THE SELKIE WIFE

  There was once a young man in the East Mainland parish of Deerness who was going home late one night. What he was doing out so late I have no idea, but he was walking along the shore on his way home. He thought that he could hear something drifting towards him on the breeze; it was the sound of music. On along the shore he walked and he could hear the music getting louder and louder as he went. He slowed his pace down, treading carefully and quietly along until he found a piece of rock jutting out and he hid behind it. Peeping around the rock he saw that the music was coming from two men sitting on a flat rock and playing fiddles. There, on a sandy piece of the shore in front of them, was a crowd of people all dancing in a great circle. The moonlight shone on their white skin as they danced round and round, laughing with delight. All around them the man could see the shape of animals lying asleep. He very carefully crawled along the beach towards the sleeping animals, to see what they were. When he got there he saw that they were not animals at all, but seal skins; empty seal skins. He knew then that these were selkie folk and that this must be their night to dance.

  One of the skins was lovelier than the rest; it was silvery coloured and silky smooth to the touch. He rolled it up and put it under his jacket and then returned to his hiding place to watch them dance. But as soon as the first light of dawn peeped over the horizon the music stopped and they all ran to their skins, pulled them on and slipped back into the sea. All, that is, except for one young girl who frantically searched among the rocks and seaweed for her missing skin. In her panic she ran right around the corner of the rock where the man was hiding; right into his arms. He clutched her tight and looked into her large, beautiful eyes and he thought that she was the most beautiful girl that he had ever seen and that he would never be happy until he had her for his wife. She, on the other hand, had other ideas! She punched him, kicked him and scratched him, skreeking26 out of her in the selkie tongue, for the selkies have their own way of speaking. But he was too big and strong for her and he carried her off to his home where he lived with his mother.

  Now, what he said when he came home with a naked girl under one arm and a seal skin under the other, I don’t know. But his mother was a kind-hearted soul and she took great care of the selkie girl. The poor girl just sat by the fire, sobbing her heart out, for days on end. But eventually she cal
med down and the old woman got her used to wearing clothes and taught her how to speak. She also taught her how to cook and bake and brew ale, spin wool and knit and do all the things that it was thought necessary for a woman to do in those days. After a while it became obvious that the selkie girl liked the young man too, for she always followed him around and was always happy in his company. It was no surprise when they were married and set up home together. In fact it was said that there was not a more beautiful bride seen in Deerness than the selkie girl. After a while they had bairns and they were also very beautiful and clever children. The man took the seal skin and locked it up, safe and sound, in the big kist27 in the ben end28 of the house.

  One day the selkie wife took her husband to one side and said to him, ‘You know that I am a creature of the sea, and I know that you have my skin and I know where you keep it; it’s in the big kist in the ben end of the house. I also know that you keep the key on you at all times. But I want you to make me a promise. I’m happy here, with you and the bairns, but if I ever get my hands on that skin then I can’t promise that I could resist the urge to go back to the sea. So, if you love me, if you really love me, then never let me get hold of that skin. Do you promise?’

  ‘Yes, I promise,’ he said.

  Now, it was one August and the Lammas Fair was in full swing in Kirkwall. This was a great market where you could buy everything from a hen’s leg to a horse. People came from all over Orkney and from Shetland and the north of Scotland as well. They arrived in their numbers to buy and sell, and there were games and fun things to do for the bairns too. It was a great occasion, and the man thought that it would be a great treat to take his bairns to see it. He got a horse and cart ready to go and, once the bairns were washed and dressed in their Sunday best, he put on his best clothes as well and they set off for the town. The selkie woman didn’t go with them though; she decided to stay and give the house a thorough clean while they were away.