The People Of The Sea: Celtic Tales of the Seal-Folk
By (Author) David Thomson
Introduction by Seamus Heaney
Foreword by David Thomson
Afterword by Stewart Sanderson
Canongate Books
Canongate Canons
23rd May 2018
5th April 2018
Main - Canons
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
398.2452979
304
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 17mm
224g
When David Thomson took a journey to the sea coasts of Scotland and Ireland to seek out the legend of the selchies - mythological creatures who transform from seals into humans - a magical world emerged. Men were rescued by seals in stormy seas, took seal-women for their wives and had their children suckled by seal-mothers.
Timeless and haunting, The People of the Sea retains its spellbinding charm and brings to life the enchanting stories of these mysterious creatures of Celtic folklore.
Readers will be carried away on successive waves of pleasure . . . These stories have an irresistible holistic beauty -- SEAMUS HEANEY
A splendid resurrection of a life that has almost vanished * * Daily Telegraph * *
I know of few books which so ably open a window on the Gaelic scene today or which so faithfully reflect the mind, vigour and courtesy of its people . . . Pounds on the imagination like surf on a reef * * Observer * *
David Thomson was born in India of Scottish parents in 1914. Much of his childhood was spent in the Scottish countryside, where his grandparents lived. He went on to study Modern History in Oxford, and joined the BBC in 1943, where he wrote and produced many distinguished radio programmes, including The Irish Storyteller series and a number of documentaries on animal folklore. He died in 1988.