On our last day over a bowl of broth local storyteller Elma Johnson shared dramatic tales of shipwrecks, sea monsters, fin folk and selkies – seals that shed their skin to come ashore and marry Islanders.
These tales, along with others kindly given to me by Lawrence Tulloch and Davy Cooper which are embedded into the history of the area and rooted in particular island locations, will now reach an international audience when they will be available to listen to in our new gallery.
After Elma’s we remembered to collect the fiddle on the way to the airport where it had been receiving some last minute adjustments to its strings before its journey to the mainland traveling between the co-pilot’s knees on the flight home. Reluctantly boarding the flight home and laden with soaps, reestit mutton, Fair Isle woolens and invitations to return I reflected on what a magical place Shetland is, and how lucky I was to get to go there.
