"Long ago, one of the sea people, a selkie. came to live in the village. She fell in love with the fair-faced, soft-voiced Huw who sang as he fished. The people of the sea love music.

Surprised that such a love had come to him Huw welcomed the woman into his heart, all the while knowing her for the wild creature she was. As a sign of her love, she gave him her salty sealskin to keep safe."

Seals are the some of the largest of our British mammals. Most of their lives are spent in eh sea. Their coats vary in colour from silver gray to deep rich dark chocolate. Some even look golden. As they lie on the beach their colour changes as their skins dry. Born white, as they grow they molt their pure white baby coats for the adult fur. Their eyes are huge and liquid dark and when you look close into the eyes of a seal it is easy to understand where the legend of the selkie comes from.

Try to imagine what the seal skin feels like in your hands, held tight against your face. Is it soft or hard, warm or cold. What is the smell of it, animal and wild, salty like the sea. Can you imagine how Hugh would have felt to be given such a gift? Write a poem or piece of prose about the feel and smell and touch of the seal's salt skin, wild in the human hand.

 

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