Those
in the Shetland and Orkney Islands who know no better, are persuaded that
the seals, or silkies, as they call them, can doff their coverings at times,
and disport themselves as men and women.
A
fisher once turning a ridge of rock, discovered a beautiful bit of green turf
adjoining the shingle, sheltered by rocks on the landward side, and over this
turf and shingle two beautiful women chasing each other. Just at the man's
feet lay two sealskins, one of which he took up to examine it. The women,
catching sight of him, screamed out, and ran to get possession of the skins.
One seized the article on the ground, donned it in a thrice, and plunged into
the sea; the other wrung her hands, cried, and begged the fisher to restore
her property; but he wanted a wife, and would not throw away the chance. He
wooed her so earnestly and lovingly, that she put on some woman's clothing
which he brought her from his cottage, followed him home, and became his wife.
Some
years later, when their home was enlivened by the presence of two children,
the husband, awakening one night, heard voices in conversation from the kitchen.
Stealing softly to the room door, he heard his wife talking in a low tone
with someone outside the window. The interview was just at an end, and he
had only time to ensconce himself in bed, when his wife was stealing across
the room. He was greatly disturbed, but determined to do or say nothing till
he should acquire further knowledge.
Next
evening, as he was returning home by the strand, he spied a male and female
phoca sprawling on a rock a few yards out at sea.
The
rougher animal, raising himself on his tail and fins, thus addressed the astonished
man in the dialect spoken in these islands, "You deprived me of her whom I
was to make my companion; and it was only yesternight that I discovered her
outer garment, the loss of which obliged her to be your wife. I bear no malice,
as you were kind to her in your own fashion; besides, my heart is too full
of joy to hold any malice. Look on your wife for the last time."
The
other seal glanced at him with all the shyness and sorrow she could force
into her now uncouth features; but when the bereaved husband rushed toward
the rock to secure his lost treasure, she and her companion were in the water
on the other side of it in a moment, and the poor fisherman was obliged to
return sadly to his motherless children and desolate home.
Source:
Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts, collected and narrated by Patrick Kennedy
(London: Macmillan and Company, 1866), pp. 122-124.