Scotland's Storybook: stories in English (1.1 - Education Scotland

the children for the last time and their crying and wailing pained her greatly but
the seal-woman kept on swimming, as was her wont, to the rhythm of the roar
of the sea.
When Ruairidh returned from the fishing, terrified by the storm, the door of
the house was open but there was no welcome or hot fire waiting for him. At
once, he put his hand up and above the lintel, and when he found nothing he
understood that his wife had found her pelt and had returned to her world. He
also understood that neither he nor his children would see her again.
And they didn’t. But, as the children learned that day that their mother was
in fact a seal, and although they missed her greatly for years after, they never
forgot her or the love she gave them when she was with them. And from then
on, they remained always extremely attentive and kind to the seals who visited
their shores and they never willingly did anything to hurt or harm them. And
that reputation has followed the MacCodrams and their descendents until this
day – MacCodram of the Seals.
Martin MacIntyre April 2009
A story, I tell, sourced from Crìsdean Dillon’s tri-lingual contribution to The Celtic
Congress’s publication ‘Dualchas Mara – Sea Heritage’. Crìsdean was brought up
in South Uist.
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