THE STORY OF AUTUMN LEAVES

By Rita Grimaldi

    

I am sitting at our October storytelling gathering in the library auditorium. Angie is playing Autumn Leaves on her harp. All of a sudden I remember that this song was one of my mother’s favorite songs. Now I listen to it differently. I listen to it remembering my mother. Now Angie is singing the words - first in English and then in French.

This morning I think of the song again. In my mind, I’m hearing Angie’s voice singing. I remember being eleven years old and it being spring. I am taking the Bathurst bus up and down the hills to St. Clair Avenue. I am going to the record store on St. Clair to buy my mother a birthday present. A recording of the song Autumn Leaves sung in French by Maurice Chevalier.

It is a long way to go on my own. I get off the bus and walk to the record store.

Inside there are rows and rows of record display counters. The LPs are in cardboard covers and the singles are in brown paper sleeves. There are small booths on the right hand wall with turntables in them so that people can listen to the records before buying them. One day I played a record in one of these booths but I don’t remember if it was that day.

I buy a single of Autumn Leaves. I take it home and give it to my mother on her birthday. It is the month of May. She accepts it in her self-contained way. She always had the feeling of not asking for anything - of just accepting what was given and looking after herself. Always giving out but not expecting anything in return.

As I listen to Angie play the harp and sing the words, I remember that it was October when my mother died. The autumn leaves were falling.

I wonder to myself if, somewhere in her heart, my mother knew that she would die in the autumn only a few years later. 

And I wonder if, when she sang the song in her mind and came to the words ‘I’ll miss you most of all, my darling, when autumn leaves start to fall’, she was able to see forward past her death and know that even then she would miss my father and his love for her. When the autumn leaves began to fall.

PERFORMING IN MASK...THE BLACK BIRD WHO SPOKE THREE TIMES

VIDEO OF THE MASK PERFORMANCE BY RITA GRIMALDI

Over the past two and a half months, Rita has been preparing the performance mask of the Black Bird, the main character in her adaptation of the tale 'The Bird Who Spoke Three Times'. In addition, she has been posting a series of log notes on her creative journey. If you have not yet read her log entries on this Tales and Tips blog, please take the time to do so before viewing this video of her performance.

Storytelling is truly a creative art. Designing, making and performing a story in a character mask is a unique skill that few storytellers in North America have been able to achieve in such a powerful manner. Rita's contribution to the literature and video record of mask performance is without match in today's published material on a very specialized skill within the storytelling community.

Rita is a co-founder of Peterborough Storytellers and is a true master of the art of telling tales in all genres.

Enjoy the YouTube video and we welcome your comments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWFOn4lMFZY

THE PEOPLE OF THE VILLAGE

“Go outside, look at the sky.  Go inside, look at faces.”  

A Chinese proverb. 

Here is a story from West Africa. Our thanks to Canadian storyteller Dan Yashinsky for sending it to us.

A boy and his father were working in their garden at the edge of the village when a stranger came hurrying up.  

“You,” he said, “can you tell me what the people of this village are like?” 

The father looked at him and said, “That depends.  What were the people like at the last village you were in?”. 

The man said, “They were awful.  I didn’t stay.  That’s why I’m travelling.” 

The father answered, “I think you’ll find the people of this village much the same.” 

“That’s what I expected,” the man yelled as he hurried away. 

A second stranger came down the road and said, “Hello, sir.  I’m a traveler looking for a place to rest.  Can you tell me what the people of this village are like?

 

“That depends,” said the father.  “What were the people like in the last village you were in?”  The man said that some were nice, some were mean.

 

“I think you’ll find the people of this village much the same,” said the father. 

“I’ll take my chances,” said the man, and walked into the village.

 

The boy was puzzled by all of this, but kept gardening next to his dad. 

Around sunset, he saw another man coming along the road. 

“Hello, sir, and hello, young man,” said the stranger.  “I hope you have a good harvest.”  “Thanks,” said the father.  “It looks like it will be a good year.”

 

“Tell me, please,” said the man, “I am a stranger around here and I need a place to stay.  What are the people of your village like?”.

“That depends,” answered the father.  “Can you tell me what the people were like in the village you’ve just come from?” 

“Oh, they were wonderful!  They were kind and thoughtful and so hospitable! I made friends for life, and would have been happy to stay.  But you know the old saying:  if you only go where others have been, you’ll only see what others have seen.  So I’m back to travelling.”

 

“Well,” said the father, “You’ll find the people of our village much the same.  Go in and ask the chief for a place to stay.  As a matter of fact, you’re welcome to stay with us.”

 

The man thanked them and walked into the village.

 

When the father and his son finished gardening, the little boy looked up and burst out, “Daddy, I don’t understand!  Each man asked the same question, but you gave each one of them a different answer!  And that first man … you always taught me that a guest is a gift from God.”

“You’re right,” said the father.  “But don’t forget that it’s better to be alone than to have a bad companion.  You see, if you want to walk fast, walk alone.  But if you want to walk far, walk with friends.  We can let him keep walking alone."  

"Don’t forget, also, that there can be a big peace or a small peace, but there’s no such thing as a small quarrel.  Even one match can burn down the village.  That man is that one match, no matter where he goes.” 

The little boy was still confused.  “But Daddy, what are the people of our village really like?” 

“That depends,” said the father, “on you!”

AN INSPIRING LETTER FROM VIETNAM

July 30, 2013

I used to be a Trent University student. I attended a few of your storytelling sessions back in early 2011. Most likely you don’t remember me. I discovered Peterborough Storytellers too late, because I graduated and returned home in April, 2011.

Since I came home, I’ve missed many things about Canada and your group was definitely one of those. Many times I have thought to myself that I should unsubscribe from your mailing list since receiving news of many terrific storytelling events only reminds me of that I can’t be there and how much I wish I could. However, I concluded that I still want to be on the list because it serves to keep my fond memories from dying.

Today, I realized that it was such a good decision to remain connected with you when I saw your Facebook update about ideas to start and develop local storytelling groups. I proceeded to read the lengthier Tales and Tips blog entry on your site and I can’t stop myself from writing this email to express my most sincere and heartfelt thanks to you and those who are doing this work. Please know that you leave a big impact on others, even someone so far away like me, even though our encounters were brief.

I’ve always liked books and especially stories. But I didn’t know that stories could be told for the sake of telling, and in fact, storytelling can be a profession. Until I came to the storytelling group in Peterborough, I have never experienced a story being told live. I have listened to radio, podcasts, audio books, but they are all very impersonal. I guess it was the first time I had anything close to the experience of tribal people telling stories by their fire, the sacredness and closeness of a community.

It took me a long time to form these feelings into words. I’ve been keeping diaries and then blogs for years, but thinking back about the sessions was like a breakthrough which helps me clear the cloudy thoughts and come to an appreciation of the power of storytelling.

Since I came home, I’ve mostly worked with NGO’s and researchers. Thus I am fortunate to have many chances to listen to life-stories, especially from vulnerable groups such as women living with HIV, migrant workers, trafficked women and girls, etc. I feel like storytelling can exercise such a healing power for their pain, and yet at the same time, it can engage people much better than lengthy reports and dry statistic numbers. 

Somehow, I am forming this idea of opening a space (could be a café), where people who have suffered from bad experiences could use storytelling as a therapy to heal. At the same time, once they are steady and confident, they can tell their stories to the public, thus educating them and engaging them in concerns for social problems.

Of course, because I love storytelling itself, I also vision other types of storytelling for this space…fairy tales, myths, real stories, children making up stories, etc.

However, I don’t know of any similar activities where I live, or they are not organized by local people for local people. So I am quite lost when it comes to starting such a space. That’s why I was very happy to read your note and hope that from time to time, I could write you for advice and guidance.

I think you would feel good to read about the impacts your group leaves on me, so I’ve written quite long. This could easily have been a story on its own. Anyhow, my purpose is to thank you and to let you know that half way across the world, you are helping keep a dream alive.

Thank you very much.

Van

Editor’s Note: This letter has been slightly edited and appears with the permission of the author. In August, 2013 Van once again returned to Canada where she is currently enrolled in a Master’s program at an Ontario university.

SUCCESSFUL IDEAS TO GROW AND MAINTAIN YOUR LOCAL GROUP

Executive Summary of the Focus Group

Successful Ideas to Grow and Maintain

Your Local Group

Ottawa, Ontario 

July 5, 2013

The content of this report was taken from the raw data in the flip charts and post-it notes created by the participants in each of the six topic areas. The full report can be obtained by contacting Don Herald at the email address below.

Prepared by the Session Facilitators

Don Herald and Betty Bennett

Email:

peterboroughstorytellers.cogeco.ca

The focus group was well-attended with 27 participants from storytelling groups in rural, suburban and urban centres, including both relatively new groups and more established ones.  It was striking and affirming to note that the issues shared were very similar from one group to another and that all of the groups have met these challenges with innovation, creativity and persistence.

We posed five specific questions and a wild card:

• ·         How do you recruit and retain members?
• ·         What have you found to be a successful meeting format?
• ·         How do you promote and develop skills among your members?
• ·         How do you market your group in your community and in local        media?
• ·         How do you solicit revenue to sustain your activities?
• ·         Finally, are there any suggestions not covered in the previous          questions?

In essence, the challenges are: getting them in, keeping them interested, developing committed storytellers and creating a variety of storytelling opportunities, marketing and funding.  

There is some overlap in the ideas that were shared. For example, marketing applies to both recruitment of members and audiences, and is influential in obtaining funding. Of course, funding certainly has an impact on the activities that a group can undertake.

 

Getting Them In and Keeping Them Interested

A welcoming atmosphere is crucial to recruitment and retention (R & R).  All agreed that pitching the group at open meetings, welcoming new and returning guests, making introductions, wearing name tags and having a social time (often around food) encouraged people to visit more than once.  It is important to build upon the original welcome by phone or email contact.  Some guilds have also followed up on old phone lists to encourage lapsed members to return. 

The location (transit and parking), ambiance and accessibility of the setting is also important in retaining members and has led some groups to meet in alternative venues, such as coffee houses, tea rooms and so on that may attract a younger clientele.  A facility, such as a library or a school, with print and audio resources makes it easy for new tellers to locate material, and some groups have developed their own resources for sharing among members. 

 

Groups have experimented with a variety of meeting formats, but most agreed on the importance of telling shorter stories at swaps and making sure that everyone who wishes to tell, especially newcomers, has the opportunity. Sign-up sheets and time limits have helped with this. Games, icebreaker exercises, mini-tells, and appreciations add to the story swap experience and enhance the welcome.   Beginner workshops and coaching encourage new members and help develop new storytellers. 

Delegation of tasks within the group helps avoid volunteer burnout, and newcomers often appreciate the opportunity to take on a volunteer role. 

To add variety, some groups have hosted story slams and tea parties in alternative venues, or have invited other community groups, musicians, poets and so on to broaden perspectives. Everyone recognizes that there are many different ways to tell a story!

Developing Committed Storytellers

The newbie wants a safe, positive environment in which to tell.  Appreciations help to build confidence for both new and experienced tellers, and beginner workshops help to develop storytelling skills further.  Feedback at swaps should be limited, as new tellers can be overwhelmed, and should be offered only if requested.  The social time within the meeting can provide an opportunity to informally coach tellers if they wish it. 

Mini-workshops at the beginning of the story swap give experienced tellers the chance to explore a topic a bit more deeply using their own skills while educating newcomers on different genres and styles of telling.  Established tellers should be encouraged to share their skill in offering local workshops – this is often an economical alternative to guest coaching where there may be a fee involved.  Larger, formal workshops at an advanced level can often become more affordable if a couple of groups in a geographic area team up to make it happen.  The Internet is another source of storytelling material and tutorials, though care should be taken to identify reliable sites.  The SC-CC web-site provides links to a variety of storytellers’ sites. 

Creating Storytelling Opportunities

The story swap or open storytelling evening seems to be the entry level activity of most groups, but as tellers become more experienced and polished, they take on more events that showcase their tellers’ skills.  At this level, groups have offered “story teas”, house concerts and eclectic theme nights.

Participation in World Storytelling Day is a celebration actively encouraged by SC-CC.  WSD events have ranged from simple concerts, storytelling events for/in schools, multi-event, mini-festivals, often including tellers from geographically close communities.  Really ambitious and established groups have undertaken two-day festivals, such as TALES, the Fort Edmonton Storytelling Festival.  The Edmonton group has found that intensive strategic planning sessions are essential to ensure the success of this type of event, as it involves a great deal of volunteer work, but can prove useful to any group planning an annual program.  Many groups have also found a year-end review to be helpful in discovering untapped opportunities and celebrating their successes in the past year.

Marketing

Marketing is crucial to all of these concerns.  It helps attract new tellers, it publicizes the activities of the group and brings awareness to the broader public and provides evidence of activity when storytelling circles are applying for funding.

Most groups have used traditional media (press, radio, community announcements and flyers) with some success, and now many are turning their attention to new media, such as Facebook, blogs and Twitter accounts.  Some groups have found that relatively low-cost promotional materials such as bookmarks, business cards, rack cards and posters are quite successful, especially if the guild or group has developed a brand image or identifiable logo and the materials are of as professional a quality as possible.

 

Phone and email provide convenient ways to keep in touch with regular members and anyone else who has expressed an interest.  Partnering with community groups, tourism offices and educational facilities has the added advantage of widening your market by attracting a potentially untapped audience and sharing marketing costs.  Above all, identify yourself as a storyteller.  It gives the opportunity to explain what storytelling is.  Word-of-mouth, especially an enthusiastic endorsement by someone else, is one of the most effective marketing tools.

Funding

Funding is an issue for all groups, large or small, as it makes further development possible. Revenue is used most often to pay marketing costs, facility rental costs, and honoraria for tellers.  Although it is sometimes a controversial move, many groups are instituting a small membership fee or a modest admission fee to attend a story swap. Putting a value on storytelling is important in gaining respect for the art.  Some groups have a slightly higher level of membership at the guild level.  Collecting fees or honoraria when performing at museums or community centres as a group can build a nest-egg for the storytelling group.

Grants are often available at all levels of government, as well as SC-CC, provincial arts councils and the Canada Council.  Many corporations will also provide sponsorship for special events, but groups should be mindful that with grant requests and sponsorships, a detailed plan, application and follow-up report will usually be required.  The associations in Edmonton, Alberta have been particularly successful in applying for grants from their provincial and municipal arts councils.  Charitable or Not-for-Profit status may be applied for but usually comes with community service stipulations and requires meticulous accounting. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, groups from one side of Canada to the other face multiple challenges.  There is the problem of attracting a younger body of committed storytellers, while trying to retain the older members who have contributed so much for so long and are beginning to burn out.  Without sufficient commitment, it becomes increasingly difficult to host the attention-grabbing events that help to bring the delight of storytelling to the public.

 

There is the education/image problem of explaining yet again, that storytelling is for all, not just for children.  Perhaps some of the most promising opportunities exist where storytelling, music, poetry and performance art intersect, and in the strategic exploration of new technology and some of its benefits.

 

We appreciated the generous sharing of ideas in the focus group, the connections made, and the affirmation that, in spite of the challenges, we all still feel a positive commitment to storytelling in our local communities and across Canada.

Betty Bennett and Don Herald

Facilitators 

Members of Peterborough Storytellers

Peterborough, Ontario 

Re-printed with the permission

of Storytellers of Canada (July, 2013)

A PERSONAL REFLECTION:

THE TD CANADA CHILDREN’S BOOK TOUR IN MAY 2013

Storytellers of Canada (www.storytellers-conteurs.ca) just published the reports of three SC-CC members who separately toured Canadian schools and libraries during May.

Sponsored by the TD Canada Children’s Book Week Tour in partnership with SC-CC and several other national and provincial arts groups, these accomplished musicians, authors and tellers of tales for young and old, barnstormed around three provinces. Selena Eisenberg of Cote St Luc, QC toured in Alberta. Robert Stelmach aka Max Tell of White Rock, BC performed in Quebec. Cassy Welburn of Calgary, AB visited a number of Ontario schools.

A requirement of each participant on the Tour is that he or she must prepare a detailed report of their travels, performances and impressions. The reports of Cassy, Max and Selena are a fascinating read that provide powerful insights into the incredible power and influence of oral, musical and visual storytelling on children and youth, their teachers and librarians.

All three reports describe the energy, enthusiasm and excitement of the groups who not only came to listen but to also joyfully participate with the teller in many of the stories. The shared anecdotes of Max, Selena and Cassy reminded me how well told stories can so deeply enrich the life experiences of all who hear them, often in the most unexpected but delightful ways! The dedication to the tellers and the project itself of the many host teachers, schools, librarians and libraries moved me deeply. My reaction surprised me.

These days, everywhere in Canada, teachers are under attack for countless perceived failings in educating our young people. The community library as a respected institution in many communities is also falling on hard times financially and librarians themselves seem to be just a few years away from being an endangered species in the cultural and educational fabric of our country. But as our touring tellers discovered, many teachers and librarians are passionate, skillful keepers and advocates of the art of telling for children, youth and their parents.

In the reports of the SC-CC tellers, I am greatly encouraged to hear the art of storytelling and performing is very much alive, diverse and flourishing in many institutions and communities across Canada.

As a modest writer and teller of tales in my local community, I just wanted to thank Cassy, Selena and Max for making me so very proud of how storytelling ignites the souls and imaginations of so many people, of all cultures and aspirations.

To Listen. To Learn. To Tell. What could be better than that!

Author: Don Herald of Peterborough Storytellers

ST. BRIGID OF KILDARE: A MUSICAL ODYSSEY

The premiere performance of St. Brigid of Kildare – a musical odyssey with Angelica Ottewill, harpist, singer, storyteller and Veronique Kwaakkernaat, flautist was held in Peteroborough, Ontario on April 28th, 2013.

St. Brigid was the first abbess of Ireland and lived at the time of St. Patrick. Today, she is still the most revered saint in Ireland, after the great St. Patrick himself. This inspiring story is interspersed with traditional Irish music and sacred songs. This is an original creative work commissioned and performed by Angelica.

Ms. Ottewill is a member of the Peterborough Storytellers society, has performed widely throughout Ontario and has become a familiar local performer. For more information, consult her web-page, www.trobairitz.ca

Congratulations Angelica from all your fellow tellers at Peterborough Storytellers!

Creativity: The Encourager

April 11, 2013

Posted by jayocallahan in Creativity. 

Years ago my friend Doug Lipman and I were leading a week long workshop in creativity and storytelling in southern France. Our whole group – the Creative Monsters – were staying at a large house where we were served beautiful meals and were also given painting lessons.

Most of us were new to painting. I painted a window of the house and still have that in my study. The instructor said to the group, “Jay’s painting captured an image we’ll never forget.”

I think that was true. I’m sure the painting was amateurish but he saw what was alive in it and pointed that out. That delighted and encouraged me to create more.

All of us have this vast mysterious playful side to us. There’s a great playground in us and out of that playground comes the work of Picasso. Out of that playground also comes a song we might sing, a drawing we might do, a kind but creative word to a friend. There are huge negative voices that perhaps are cultural, but those voices are destructive. They say, “There is no time. I can’t draw” or “I can’t write” or “I’m not creative; that’s for talented people.”

Nonsense! You are creative. Let it out, plunk on a piano, whistle, try a pickle on your peanut butter sandwich. Or even take a workshop and find out how helpful it is to have a supportive, trustful, playful group.

Curator's Note: Jay graciously gave Tales and Tips permission to use this latest post on his Creativity blog. We recommend his blog to you. Also check out his personal blog: www.jayocallahan.com.  Jay's workshops are wonderful and we have taken one of them by the ocean in Marshfield MA last spring. Refresh yourself. Re-discover your creativity with Jay O'Callahan.   d

TELLING STORIES IN MASK, PART 2: THE MASK CHOOSES THE STORY

By Rita Grimaldi

           

Mask making is an art form that flows from my hands. Storytelling flows from my body and my voice. Sometimes I combine these two art forms. When I do tell stories in mask, the mask enables me to enter the story transformed into one of its characters.

         

In 1994, I began telling stories in mask. I decided to make masks for a story - a complex story that required four masks – a bear, a coyote, a woman and a boy. From that time onwards I worked on masks. Some masks I designed for stories but many masks had no story waiting for them to tell. These masks I hung on my studio walls and sometimes I would look at them and think ‘Monkey, what story could you tell?’ or ‘Fierce Rose (a female with jagged cut teeth and a rose petal crown), what is your story?’. No answer would come.

The Duppy Mask

This past October, our storytelling group planned an evening of telling ‘Tales of Terror’. Looking through my repertoire of stories, I came across The Duppy Tale. All of a sudden an image came to me of a mask with a long pointed nose or beak. I went into the studio and looked on the walls. There in the back corner was a blue mask with a long pointed beak. I had never worn this mask, but as I looked at it I knew that it belonged to the story of the duppy bird. In fact, it was the Duppy Bird. So I began to relearn the story in the first person and then began to practice the story in the mask.

The Experience Of Telling In The Duppy Bird Mask

A duppy bird is a ghost bird and the story involves a little boy shooting the king of the duppy birds on Halloween night in the cemetery. The bird makes the boy eat him and then causes the boy to die.

I can hardly explain how telling this story in this mask affected me. I went into a state of altered self. This self was not me. It was the self that belonged to the bird in the story. It took me several days to shed it. I doubt if I will ever tell this story again. Still, I don’t regret the experience and the mask remains on my studio wall.

The Story Of The Curious Girl

In March, our storytelling group was doing a special event for World Storytelling Day. I wanted to do something in mask. Researching for a new story, I found Kay Stone’s story of The Curious Girl. A vague memory came to me of a mask I had never used. Looking, I found that it was not hanging on my studio wall. I began to look through boxes. Finally after searching off and on for two days, I found it buried at the bottom of a box. Yes, seeing it confirmed that it was the Curious Girl and it wanted to tell the story.

The second mask I needed for the story was the mask of the Red Bird. There in the studio hung a red bird that I had made and never used. It was the very bird for the story. To use the two masks to represent the girl and the bird I decided to make a head covering that would act as a consistent visual feature during the girl’s transformation into a bird. I also added layers of feathers and natural objects to the bird. Finally, after learning the story, I rehearsed it in the two masks.

The Red Bird Mask

The Curious Girl Mask

World Storytelling Day - Telling Of The Curious Girl

The morning of the telling I went to my university class. Somewhere during the lecture I realized that something was wrong with how I had planned the performance. The girl mask would tell the beginning and after the witch transforms her into a bird, the bird mask would tell the middle but after the girl transforms back into girl I had planned to tell the story out of mask in the first person as if I was the girl.

But as the morning wore on I became more and more uneasy about telling in the first person out of mask. Finally, at the break between the lecture and the seminar, I discussed what to do with a fellow mature student who had done a lot of drama. She told me to switch into the third person to tell the end and trust your audience to understand the switch. And that is what I did.

Trusting The Masks. Trusting Myself. Trusting the Audience To Understand

From my journal, remembering the telling the next morning:

I am telling The Curious Girl in the young girl mask. The story belongs with her. She reads if off the face. She knows it in my body. One third way through I switch to the bird mask my voice remains the same. Two thirds through I switch out of mask and into the third person, my voice drops lower. I sit to finish – I have been standing for the rest except for the mask change.

Two ladies come up to me after the story in the break. One says with amazement, “The girl mask was smaller than your face and when you put it on you changed into a young girl.” The second one says, “And the bird’s mouth moved while you talked.”

The Curious Girl Is On Video

         

It is two weeks since the performance and my telling of The Curious Girl has now been posted on on-line. Watching the girl and the bird I feel the rightness of the mask story choice. They belong to the story. Watching myself at the end, finishing the story as storyteller and not a story character was right too. It was, after all, the Masks’ story and not mine. But I invite you to look at it yourself and see what you think.

You can find the video of Rita’s The Curious Girl story on the Tales and Tips blog of Peterborough Storytellers.

 www.peterboroughstorytellers.blogspot.com

THE SELKIE WIFE

On the lonely shore of a Scottish island one mid-summer night, a fisherman was hiding behind a clump of rocks, watching a. strange and lovely sight.  A group of maidens, slender as moonbeams and fairer than the stars, were singing and dancing on the sand.  They were Selkies, those shape-shifters who swam as seals by day, and walked as men and women by night.

Few mortals were ever fortunate enough to catch a glimpse the Selkies in their human shape, for few were bold enough to wander lanternless along the shores at night.  But the fisherman’s boat had drifted far from land that day and it was sunset before he managed to steer her back to shore.  In his exhaustion he had sat down to rest for only a few moments, but the soft summer air and the gentle murmur of the sea had lulled him to sleep.  When he awoke the moon had risen high in the sky, and in the path of light that it made over the sea, he noticed dark heads gleaming, seals swimming to shore.

The fisherman had heard stories of Selkies since childhood and curiosity led him to take shelter behind the rocks and watch. He saw the seals flop on to the shore rocks and rest for a few moments.  Then the beasts began to tremble and rise, their pelts slid in silky folds to the ground, and they were seals no more. Their harsh barks and coughs became the sweetest of women’s songs and they danced to the ocean’s rhythms and to their own enchanted music on the silvery shore.

One of them had a voice lovelier than all the rest, and a body that caused him to ache with desire.  Carefully and ever so quietly he crept over to the rock where he had seen her fold up and hide her own sealskin.  He knew that without it she could not return to her seal shape or the sea.  Picking it up he stealthily made his way back to own home and hid it in an old chest in his attic.

 In this way the fisherman won himself a Selkie wife, for without her sealskin she could not follow her fellow seals.  She was as faithful and pretty a wife as any man could ever hope for, and she bore him two beautiful babies, a boy and a girl.  Their fingers and toes were delicately webbed like their mother’s but people in the village did not fear them.  They viewed them as a special grace from the sea, bearing an enchantment. But the Selkie wife was prone to strange moods and longing for her other life.

She told her children about the magical lands under the sea where her people lived –where seaweed grew in every color of the rainbow, where crystal palaces stood, lit by twinkling phosphorus and gilded with the shifting sheen of the northern lights.  When she saw seals out at sea she would call to them as if they were old friends.

The fisherman was always afraid that one day she would find her sealskin and leave him, but he could not destroy it, for he knew that would cause her death.  One day his fears were realized.  When he returned to his cottage after an outing he found it cold and silent, and the children unfed.  Despite all his efforts to keep the chest hidden and locked, she had managed to open it and return to her former shape.  The fisherman mourned his loss for a while, but he knew that she had never truly been his.  A daughter of the sea, she had returned to her own people and country.  No union could be permanent between the races of the waters and those of the land.

Adapted from the original Celtic version and performed in April 2013 with harp and vocals by Angelica Ottewell, a member of Peterborough Storytellers.