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Episode 453 - Skule Skerry (Patreon)

Published:
2019-05-25 23:15:28
Edited:
2024-12-12 19:03:27
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

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Content

Join us as we visit the bird-haunted isle of Skule Skerry by John Buchan!

Special thanks to our reader, France Leigh Hadrysiak, part of Collective North! Tune in to Collective North on June 6th at 2 PM BST for an online discussion of podcasting with Chris and Chad!

A short clip of Silkie by Joan Baez is used in the background of this episode.

Next up in June: The Screwfly Solution by Raccoona Sheldon!

Comments

Mandy Reznor (She/It)

Guys, guys, selkies are a type of fairy. I'm sure christian propaganda later reworked them as a spooky demon, but they're Fae. Which isn't really surprising--shapechanging is a common motif among fairies, (pucas, kelpies, grimalkins, etc. etc.) as is the whole "seductive woman luring you to ruin" thing. (Kelpies, mermaids, the Leanan Sidhe, etc. etc.) Now, from what I remember in the original legends, selkies generally AREN'T portrayed as threatening per se. I think the stories tend to focus more on the fact that selkies need their sealskins to transform, and any man that can steal that skin from the selkie that owns it gains power over her--which is often done to force a selkie into marriage. (A direct inverse to the mermaid's behavior, really.) But, again, as Fae they were spooky non-christian supernatural creatures, so I'm not surprised they ended up being reimagined as demons. Also, yes! "The Screwfly Solution!" That story is fantastic, and it's in a more modern time period than most of the stories you guys are used to covering. I can't wait!

Georgia Abrams

“Rule #1: listen to the townspeople.” I would LOVE to hear a full list of these rules as determined by the stories covered on the show!

Forrest Rush

I always thought rule number one was get a dog or better dogs and trust them (though constantly replacing them may be necessary depending on the frequency of monster attacks)

Sweatin' to the Great Oldies

As a younger man, I hit that Abyss nearly every weekend. There were plenty of birds - if you know what I mean. Birds of prey - if you know what I mean. And the music was thumpin'. I'd recommend you get more info about the Abyss, but you should be careful if you do. You look into the Abyss, after all, and - well you know what I mean.

Markus Lauerer

Super excited for some Alice B. Sheldon goodness!

Bret Kramer

Ironically what the mapmakers were commenting on was a tiny convent on another nearby island and its /notoriously/ stern abbess who very much frowned on all the sailors’ sexy mischief.

Cacodaemoniacal

"The Secret of Roan Inish" is a movie about Selkies (It's a piece of magic). In it a Selkie removes her seal skin and suns herself on a rock. A man sees her and steals her seal skin which gives him dominion over her. He marries her and the result is a family with a stronger than usual ties to the island and the seals that live around it. I saw a "behind the scenes" short about the making of it. The writers or producers (forgive me, it's been an age) thought the legend of the Selkie arose in part from guilt. The people on the islands could see from direct observation that the seals were beautiful and intelligent creatures, but they depended on their slaughter to survive. It's a hard truth they had to make peace with in one way or another.

Ben Mund

On the topic of seeing something convincing that you identify as terrifying, here's this from my youth. I grew up on a dairy farm, all dark barns with creepy spaces. When I was about eight or nine I was walking through one sometime after sunset. I walked past an open side room that had a back door, which was also open, framing an extremely bright moon. I did a quick double-take as something with a goat-like head and horns stood up, silhouetted by the moon . I knew it wasn't a cow, calf, or bull, but that wasn't the worst part. As I said, it *stood up*. Like a person. Straight up, taller than me, head where man's should be on a set of shoulders, all framed in black with the moon behind it. I didn't know how to react. I didn't scream or run. It was just so alien, disconcerting and stereotypically demonic that I didn't know *what* to do. So I stood there and stared. Yeah, turns out it was a goat that I didn't know my cousins had bought. I had no idea it was on the farm, let alone tied up in this little open-air alcove. It had leveraged itself up on a tall box, pushing it's head and shoulders into a pretty convincing black outline of a devil standing up and towering over me. Also, I'm pretty sure I pooped myself a little.

Derek Robertson

As others have mentioned, Selkies are more fairy than werewolf in their transformation. The tales of them, are usually of locals marrying them (I've seen both male and female Selkies in various tellings). The end point us usually the Selkies returning to the sea, and usually taking any children with them. To me they are more tales of losing people to the sea, which would be a common fear of folks on these islands, who rely on the sea for their living, but are fully aware of the dangers that it holds. Also, the Post offices of these islands usually were the only government building on the island, and usually doubled as the generals store, as well as a place for visitors to stay, on the rare occurence that they didn't know someone on the island to stay with. They were also built at the boat landing, so would be the first place visitors would come to, and the centre of the community in some ways.

Derek Robertson

Also, great to hear a Scottish reader for this one! More of this sort of thing. And, I'm sure you're already aware of this, but muckle is just Scots for big, so it's the big black selkie!

Forrest Rush

I've been racking my brain (but alas to no avail as brain has been of no help whatsoever) to remember a story that I could have sworn was covered here but it would have been a while ago. But maybe it was Pseudopod or No Sleep or I actually read it or (as is often the case) dreamt it. It was a very romantic/gothic tale about Selkies I think set in Scotland somewhere. The menfolk (only female Selkies) capturing a wife through stealing their seal skin being a village tradition going back ages and the newcomer or lost traveller protagonist wandering in and ignorantly falling in love with a maiden who wants to be set free. The Selkies are unable to tell him what's up because that's part of the curse when their seal skin gets stolen. I think it ended tragically or the maiden got away with the protagonist suffering a broken heart. Is this ringing any bells? Been driving me nuts or more so than usual since listening to this latest episode. But like I said, it could just be a dream I had. It happens.

Allison Albright

Why would anyone choose to be a human if they could be a seal? Seals have way more fun and the possibility of being eaten by a killer whale would be worth it to never have to wear pants again. My sister-in-law is a surfer and she tells me that seals are adorable sea puppies right up until one swims up next to you and opens its mouth wide. Apparently they have terrifying teeth.

Philip Cowan

Man sees a seal and faints. Biggest anticlimax since the last episode of GoT. Still, the podcast was fun and you guys make me laugh. Great you are still enjoying yourselves after all this time. Keep up the good work of cheering up this grumpy old Scot.

Jon Maness

I was certain the movie Tusk was going to be brought up. Still, probably for the best.

Stacy Schumacher

While I agree that seals seem like roly-poly friendly creatures when you see them on land, a few stories I heard when taking a wildlife first aid course made me reassess that opinion. The instructor spent plenty of time describing the risk of approaching or touching seals, particularly the ability of contracting "Seal Finger" from a bite. Basically, if you get bitten by a seal, you're supposed to go to an emergency room and tell them right away so they can give you very strong antibiotics. It's not just your fingers they can bite either, as the instructor shared a story of a diver that tried to help a seal only to get bitten on the top of his face, which severed enough tissue that "his face fell down his skull". Maybe he just really really didn't want us to try and help seals. But yeah, if you want to see them in a different light there are enough underwater photos and videos of them chomping things to make me take his warnings to heart.

Stephen Sutton

Chad, you almost killed me! I was lifting weights when you got to the part about were-walruses and I almost turned myself into a were-pancake.

Jason of the K

I've always been of the opinion that stories of silkies and other such things were ways to explain away getting pregnant at an "inconvenient" time. Just like "goblins swapped my baby" probably was a way to explain a deformed or infirm baby. Human nature being human nature and all.