More on mermaids and selkies

I had to cut my ramble short yesterday as I had to take my persian cat to the grooming parlour! If any of you have a persian you will know that this is not a luxury, it is a necessity! she is the grubbiest thing.. all weekend in the foulest weather she was sat outside. For such a glamorous puss she is the hardiest thing!

Any way mermaids...

The MacCodrum clan from North Uist in Scotland are descended from a marriage 

between a selkie and a mortal. They are known as Sliochd Nan Ron, 

the offspring of the seals.

 The mortal  took her skin while she danced in the moonlight on the seashore and

 kept it hidden for many years and while he had the skin she could not leave, over the years

together they had many children. 

The offspring of these marriages would have 

webbing between their fingers and toes, this would be clipped off by their 

mothers but the more it was removed the scalier the skin would become. Anybody 

seen in the islands of Scotland who had hard scaly skin on their hands would  be 

 a descendant from a selkie. 

The selkies make good wives but are always pining for their home under the sea.

There are many differing opinions about the origins of the selkies, some say that like

 faeries they are fallen angels and are condemned to stay as seals until the day of 

judgement or that they are the souls of drowned sailors who are only allowed 

to return to land one night of the year to visit their families.

A Scottish mermaid fell in love with a local fisherman and to win his love 

showered him with  gifts of gold and jewels, he did not return her love and

 gave her gifts to a local girl he had been courting. The mermaid was determined 

that she was not going to share him with anybody and so led him to a cave under 

Darwick Head near Castletown It was here that she kept all the treasure that 

she had collected from the many shipwrecks in the Pentland Firth. 

He stood there astounded looking at all the wealth that she had collected, 

while he stood there mesmerised she began to sing a low soft melody.

His eyelids grew heavy and he fell into a deep sleep and when he awoke he found

 himself bound to the walls with golden chains. If all accounts are true he is 

still there keeping his jealous sweetheart company.