REVIEW FROM www.livingtradition.co.uk

I – am – in- the – slow
readers – group

So go the opening lines of a poem by Allan Ahlberg which kind of sums up the way I read these days. Often taking me months to get through a book, or even to start it, I found that I just couldn’t put this down.

Land Of The Seal People is a collection of 24 of Duncan Williamson’s great stories - it is estimated he had some 3000 tales committed to memory! Over half in this book have never been published before, and most are to do with the half-human, half-seal, half land dwellers, who are also at home in the sea, the Silkies. Predominately from the West Coast of Scotland, the tales come from the oral tradition but still work when read from the printed page.

These are not children’s stories and definitely work best on an adult basis, many having a bit of an edge whilst still retaining their magic. There is an excellent introduction about where the stories came from and the nature of silkies, which I think was written by Duncan’s widow, Linda.

Duncan Williamson was regarded as one of the greatest story tellers of all time. I only had the privilege to hear him once. My memories are of a charming man, with a glint in his eye, telling spellbinding stories, all of which must have been true! Now I have had the chance to read some for myself. Hopefully I will not be in the slow readers group any more.