SELKIES - The Goodman of Wastness
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Once ashore, the selkies were said to dance and sing in the moonlight. Although most mythological sea creatures were considered hostile or even evil, selkies were considered to mostly be gentle beings, perhaps because of seals’ kind-looking eyes. Selkies are also seen in Scottish, Icelandic, and Scandinavian mythologies.
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One of the most common themes found in selkie folklore is romantic tragedy. Selkie women are so beautiful that no man can resist them. They have perfect proportions and long, dark hair, and make an excellent wife.
One of the most common selkie stories is that of a man stealing a selkie woman’s seal skin. Without her skin, she cannot return to the sea, and so she marries the human man and has children with him. She is a good wife and mother.
Because she is from the sea though, she may stand out among the common folk. In Rosalie K. Fry’s novel, The Secret of Ron Mor Skerry, she describes the village’s reaction to a selkie woman living among them…
"Well, of course there was much shaking of heads when Ian married the dark-eyed stranger. She was quite unlike the island women and some of her ways were so strange. Why, she'd go out on the rocks when the tide was low to talk to the seabirds and seals.”
Because selkie woman’s true home is in the sea, she always longs for it. In the stories, she ends up finding her seal skin that her husband has hidden, or one of her children unwittingly finds it and brings it to her. According to legend, once a selkie find her skin again, “neither chains of steel nor chains of love can keep her from the sea” (as is said in the movie ‘The Secret of Roan Inish’). And so, she will return to the ocean, leaving her children behind with their grief-stricken father. Though, in some stories she is seen again visiting her children and playing with them in the waves.
Male selkies are described as being very handsome in their human form, and having great seductive powers over human women. They typically seek those who are dissatisfied with their lives, such as married women waiting for their fishermen husbands. If a woman wishes to make contact with a selkie male, she must shed seven tears into the sea at the peak of high tide. The selkie man then will come ashore, remove his sealskin to assume his human appearance, and.. well.. it’s up to the woman to proceed from there.
I’d like to share with you now a traditional story of The Selkies. This is the The Goodman o’ Wastness.
THE GOODMAN OF WASTNESS
The Goodman o’ Wastness was a handsome, well-to-do young fellow.
Strong, well-liked and with a profitable farm, it will come as no surprise to learn that many of the unmarried local girls had their sights on him.
However, despite their ample attentions the Goodman was a man who was simply not interested in marriage.
Their advances spurned, the local girls soon began to treat the Goodman with contempt.
Describing him as “an old, young man” and “old before his time” in their eyes he was committing the unpardonable sin of celibacy.
The Goodman, however, paid these malicious creatures little heed and as is more often the case, the gossips soon turned their attentions elsewhere. When questioned by his friends as to the reason he would not take himself a wife, the Goodman would smile and simply explain:
“Weemin ir lik minny ither tings in dis weary wurld, only sent fur a trial tae man an’ I hae trials aplenty withoot bein’ tried be a wife. If yin owld fool Adam hiddno been bewitched be his wife, he might still be in the Gerdeen o’ Eden the day.”
One old woman who heard this oft-repeated speech, remarked:
“Tak thoo heed theesel, fur thou’ll mibbe be yursel’ bewitched wan day.”
“Aye,” replied the Goodman, laughing. “That’ll be when thou waaks dry-shod fae the Alters o’ Seenie tae da Boar o’ Papey”
That will be when you walk from the Alters o’ Seenie to the Boar o’ Papa without wetting your feet.
So it came to pass that one fine day the Goodman was down on the ebb when he saw, a short distance away, a number of selkie-folk lying out on a flat rock.
Some of these selkie-folk were sunning themselves in the afternoon warmth while others jumped and played in the clear water. All were naked with unblemished skins as white as snow. Their enchanted seal-skins lay strewn carelessly on the sand and rocks around them.
The Goodman crept closer to their basking rock.
As he neared the place the selkie-folk played, the Goodman leapt to his feet and ran towards them for all he was worth. With a shriek the selkie-folk snatched up their seal skins and quickly retreated to the safety of the sea. However, swift as they were, the Goodman was quicker and he managed to seize a skin belonging to one beautiful seal-maiden.
In the hasty rush to safety this poor creature had forgotten to retrieve her skin.
The selkie-folk swam out a little distance and turned to gaze mournfully at the Goodman. He stared back and realised that all, save one, had taken the shape of seals. Grinning, he put the captured seal-skin under his arm. Whistling a merry tune he set out for home.
No sooner had he left the ebb than he heard the most sorrowful wailing and weeping coming from behind him. Turning, he saw a fair woman following him. She was a most pitiful sight. Sobbing and howling in grief, she held her arms out and pled to have her skin returned. Huge tears ran from her large dark eyes and trickled down her ivory cheeks.
Falling to her knees, she cried:
“O bonnie man! If thur’s inny mercy in thee human breest, gae me back me ain selkie skin! I cinno live in da sea withoot it. I cinno bide amung me ain folk waythoot me selkie-skin.”
The Goodman was not a soft-hearted man but he could not help but pity the poor creature. Pity, however, was not the only emotion he felt. With the pity came the softer and sweeter passion of love.
The icy heart that had yet to love a mortal woman was soon melted by this seal-maiden’s beauty.
Eventually the Goodman managed to wring from the Selkie Wife a reluctant consent to remain with him as his wife. She had little choice in the matter for as you all Orcadian know, she could not return to her kin in the sea without her skin.
So the sea-maiden went with the Goodman and stayed with him for many a day. She turned out to be a thrifty, frugal and kindly wife and although she was a creature of the sea the Goodman had a happy life with her.
The Selkie Wife bore the Goodman seven children.
Four boys and three girls came from their union and it was said that there were no children as beautiful as them in all the isles. And all the while the sea-wife, and her human husband, seemed content and merry.
But all was not as it seemed – there was a weight in the Selkie Wife’s heart. Many was the time that she was seen to gaze longingly out to the sea. The sea that was her true home.
So to all the islanders and to the Goodman himself all seemed well with his family. But as is always the case in these tales, the bliss was not to last.
One fine day, the Goodman and his four sons were out fishing in their boat. With the menfolk out of the house, the Selkie Wife sent three of the girls down to the ebb to gather limpets and whelks for their tea. The youngest girl had to remain at home because she had hurt her foot climbing on the sharp rocks by the shore. As usual, as soon as the house emptied, the selkie wife set to looking for her long-lost seal-skin.
She searched high and she searched low. She searched “but” and she searched “ben”. She searched out and she searched in but to no avail.
She could not find the skin.
The time passed and the sun swung to the west, lengthening the shadows. The peedie lass, seated in a straw-backed chair with her sore feet on the creepie, watched her mother carry out the frantic hunt.
“Mam, whit ir thoo luckin’ fur?” she asked.
“O’ bairn, dinna tell, bit ah’m luckin’ fur a bonnie skin tae mak a rivlin dat wid sort thee sore fit.” replied the Selkie Wife.
“Bit Mam, ” said the bairn. “I ken fine whar hid is. Wan day when ye war oot and me Fither thowt I wis sleepin’ i’ the bed, he teen a bonnie skin doon, gloured at hid for cheust a peedie meenit, then foldit hid an’ laid hid up under dae aisins abeun da bed.”
When the Selkie Wife heard this she clapped for joy and rushed to the place where her long-concealed skin lay.
“Fare thee weel, peedie buddo,” she said to her child as she ran from the house.
Rushing to the shore she threw on her skin and with a wild cry of joy plunged into the sea. Shifting again into her selkie form she swam out through the waves where a selkie man was waiting for her and greeted her with delight.
All the while, the Goodman was rowing home and happened to see these two selkies from his little boat. His wife uncovered her beautiful face and cried out to him.
“Fare thee weel. Goodman o’ Wastness. Farewell tae thee. I liked thee weel enough fur thoo war geud tae me bit I love better me man o’ the sea.”
That was the last the Goodman ever saw of his sea-wife.
Often though, in the twilight of his years, he could be seen wandering on the empty sea-shore, hoping once again to meet his lost love.
But never again did he look upon her fair face.
If you’d like to hear more of the Selkie folk, please do check back often to the StoryLink Radio podcast.
One of the most common themes found in selkie folklore is romantic tragedy. Selkie women are so beautiful that no man can resist them. They have perfect proportions and long, dark hair, and make an excellent wife.
One of the most common selkie stories is that of a man stealing a selkie woman’s seal skin. Without her skin, she cannot return to the sea, and so she marries the human man and has children with him. She is a good wife and mother.
Because she is from the sea though, she may stand out among the common folk. In Rosalie K. Fry’s novel, The Secret of Ron Mor Skerry, she describes the village’s reaction to a selkie woman living among them…
"Well, of course there was much shaking of heads when Ian married the dark-eyed stranger. She was quite unlike the island women and some of her ways were so strange. Why, she'd go out on the rocks when the tide was low to talk to the seabirds and seals.”
Because selkie woman’s true home is in the sea, she always longs for it. In the stories, she ends up finding her seal skin that her husband has hidden, or one of her children unwittingly finds it and brings it to her. According to legend, once a selkie find her skin again, “neither chains of steel nor chains of love can keep her from the sea” (as is said in the movie ‘The Secret of Roan Inish’). And so, she will return to the ocean, leaving her children behind with their grief-stricken father. Though, in some stories she is seen again visiting her children and playing with them in the waves.
Male selkies are described as being very handsome in their human form, and having great seductive powers over human women. They typically seek those who are dissatisfied with their lives, such as married women waiting for their fishermen husbands. If a woman wishes to make contact with a selkie male, she must shed seven tears into the sea at the peak of high tide. The selkie man then will come ashore, remove his sealskin to assume his human appearance, and.. well.. it’s up to the woman to proceed from there.
I’d like to share with you now a traditional story of The Selkies. This is the The Goodman o’ Wastness.
THE GOODMAN OF WASTNESS
The Goodman o’ Wastness was a handsome, well-to-do young fellow.
Strong, well-liked and with a profitable farm, it will come as no surprise to learn that many of the unmarried local girls had their sights on him.
However, despite their ample attentions the Goodman was a man who was simply not interested in marriage.
Their advances spurned, the local girls soon began to treat the Goodman with contempt.
Describing him as “an old, young man” and “old before his time” in their eyes he was committing the unpardonable sin of celibacy.
The Goodman, however, paid these malicious creatures little heed and as is more often the case, the gossips soon turned their attentions elsewhere. When questioned by his friends as to the reason he would not take himself a wife, the Goodman would smile and simply explain:
“Weemin ir lik minny ither tings in dis weary wurld, only sent fur a trial tae man an’ I hae trials aplenty withoot bein’ tried be a wife. If yin owld fool Adam hiddno been bewitched be his wife, he might still be in the Gerdeen o’ Eden the day.”
One old woman who heard this oft-repeated speech, remarked:
“Tak thoo heed theesel, fur thou’ll mibbe be yursel’ bewitched wan day.”
“Aye,” replied the Goodman, laughing. “That’ll be when thou waaks dry-shod fae the Alters o’ Seenie tae da Boar o’ Papey”
That will be when you walk from the Alters o’ Seenie to the Boar o’ Papa without wetting your feet.
So it came to pass that one fine day the Goodman was down on the ebb when he saw, a short distance away, a number of selkie-folk lying out on a flat rock.
Some of these selkie-folk were sunning themselves in the afternoon warmth while others jumped and played in the clear water. All were naked with unblemished skins as white as snow. Their enchanted seal-skins lay strewn carelessly on the sand and rocks around them.
The Goodman crept closer to their basking rock.
As he neared the place the selkie-folk played, the Goodman leapt to his feet and ran towards them for all he was worth. With a shriek the selkie-folk snatched up their seal skins and quickly retreated to the safety of the sea. However, swift as they were, the Goodman was quicker and he managed to seize a skin belonging to one beautiful seal-maiden.
In the hasty rush to safety this poor creature had forgotten to retrieve her skin.
The selkie-folk swam out a little distance and turned to gaze mournfully at the Goodman. He stared back and realised that all, save one, had taken the shape of seals. Grinning, he put the captured seal-skin under his arm. Whistling a merry tune he set out for home.
No sooner had he left the ebb than he heard the most sorrowful wailing and weeping coming from behind him. Turning, he saw a fair woman following him. She was a most pitiful sight. Sobbing and howling in grief, she held her arms out and pled to have her skin returned. Huge tears ran from her large dark eyes and trickled down her ivory cheeks.
Falling to her knees, she cried:
“O bonnie man! If thur’s inny mercy in thee human breest, gae me back me ain selkie skin! I cinno live in da sea withoot it. I cinno bide amung me ain folk waythoot me selkie-skin.”
The Goodman was not a soft-hearted man but he could not help but pity the poor creature. Pity, however, was not the only emotion he felt. With the pity came the softer and sweeter passion of love.
The icy heart that had yet to love a mortal woman was soon melted by this seal-maiden’s beauty.
Eventually the Goodman managed to wring from the Selkie Wife a reluctant consent to remain with him as his wife. She had little choice in the matter for as you all Orcadian know, she could not return to her kin in the sea without her skin.
So the sea-maiden went with the Goodman and stayed with him for many a day. She turned out to be a thrifty, frugal and kindly wife and although she was a creature of the sea the Goodman had a happy life with her.
The Selkie Wife bore the Goodman seven children.
Four boys and three girls came from their union and it was said that there were no children as beautiful as them in all the isles. And all the while the sea-wife, and her human husband, seemed content and merry.
But all was not as it seemed – there was a weight in the Selkie Wife’s heart. Many was the time that she was seen to gaze longingly out to the sea. The sea that was her true home.
So to all the islanders and to the Goodman himself all seemed well with his family. But as is always the case in these tales, the bliss was not to last.
One fine day, the Goodman and his four sons were out fishing in their boat. With the menfolk out of the house, the Selkie Wife sent three of the girls down to the ebb to gather limpets and whelks for their tea. The youngest girl had to remain at home because she had hurt her foot climbing on the sharp rocks by the shore. As usual, as soon as the house emptied, the selkie wife set to looking for her long-lost seal-skin.
She searched high and she searched low. She searched “but” and she searched “ben”. She searched out and she searched in but to no avail.
She could not find the skin.
The time passed and the sun swung to the west, lengthening the shadows. The peedie lass, seated in a straw-backed chair with her sore feet on the creepie, watched her mother carry out the frantic hunt.
“Mam, whit ir thoo luckin’ fur?” she asked.
“O’ bairn, dinna tell, bit ah’m luckin’ fur a bonnie skin tae mak a rivlin dat wid sort thee sore fit.” replied the Selkie Wife.
“Bit Mam, ” said the bairn. “I ken fine whar hid is. Wan day when ye war oot and me Fither thowt I wis sleepin’ i’ the bed, he teen a bonnie skin doon, gloured at hid for cheust a peedie meenit, then foldit hid an’ laid hid up under dae aisins abeun da bed.”
When the Selkie Wife heard this she clapped for joy and rushed to the place where her long-concealed skin lay.
“Fare thee weel, peedie buddo,” she said to her child as she ran from the house.
Rushing to the shore she threw on her skin and with a wild cry of joy plunged into the sea. Shifting again into her selkie form she swam out through the waves where a selkie man was waiting for her and greeted her with delight.
All the while, the Goodman was rowing home and happened to see these two selkies from his little boat. His wife uncovered her beautiful face and cried out to him.
“Fare thee weel. Goodman o’ Wastness. Farewell tae thee. I liked thee weel enough fur thoo war geud tae me bit I love better me man o’ the sea.”
That was the last the Goodman ever saw of his sea-wife.
Often though, in the twilight of his years, he could be seen wandering on the empty sea-shore, hoping once again to meet his lost love.
But never again did he look upon her fair face.
If you’d like to hear more of the Selkie folk, please do check back often to the StoryLink Radio podcast.
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