Blog Post

The Selkie - A Caithness Mermaid?

Vikki Brightman • Mar 29, 2022

The tale of the Selkie

Caithness has an affinity with the sea.  With many small fishing harbours and ports, it is no wonder that many of the legends and superstitions of the county have links to the sea.


One particular legend is linked to a old church and graveyard just outside Castletown.  The Old Olrig Church, believed to be dedicated originally to St. Trothians, can be dated to at least 1633, a date carved into the north west gable along with the initials of the then minister David Bruce.


Within the churchyard is the Selkie's Grave, it can be difficult to find nestled to the rear of the churchyard, past the pirates graves with their skull and crossbones, the Selkies Grave can normally be spotted with shells collected from the local beach and placed on top.  For those who persevere, they will find a small hollow atop the Selkies Grave which, according to the legend, never dries out.  For the brave, it is said that if you place your foot in the hollow and make a wish, it will come true.

And now to the Selkie herself. 


It is told that one day a fisherman found a baby girl, swaddled in sealskin on the beach.  The fisherman took the baby home and he & his wife raised the girl as their own.


The fisherman and his wife attended the church with their daughter and, as she grew, she was banished from the church as a child as she said she could see the devil lurking in the rafters of the church.  This would have been mortifying for her adopted parents as the church was the centre of the small communities within Caithness.


The young girls life, unfortunately, did not improve.  As a young woman, she died in childbirth given birth to her first child and was buried in the graveyard here.


There are many stories and legends regarding the Selkies.  The most common revolves around the idea that, when in human form, the Selkies are stunningly attractive. Normally a man will steal or hide the seal skin of a female Selkie and thus coerce them into a relationship.  Some legends say that a couple will be married for years and years and have a family, but when the Selkie finds or is given her sealskin, the call of the sea is too strong and she will head back to the water, never to be seen again (in some legends she does return annually to visit her children).

by Vikki Brightman 25 Jan, 2022
Or that's what people believe.
by Vikki Brightman 30 Sept, 2021
Appreciating your ancestors.
by Vikki Brightman 02 Mar, 2021
Or learn from our mistakes!
by Vikki Brightman 26 Jan, 2021
Explore, explore, explore...
by Vikki Brightman 17 Jan, 2021
Off the beaten track.
by Vikki Brightman 04 Jan, 2021
So what's a broch?
by Vikki Brightman 30 Nov, 2020
The Annual Untangle...
by Vikki Brightman 18 Nov, 2020
Always expect the unexpected!
by Vikki Brightman 11 Nov, 2020
No trip to Caithness, or the North Coast 500, would be complete without a trip to the famous John O' Groats, and a picture by the sign. However, up until 1902, John O'Groats as a place didn't really exist - the area was all covered by is now lesser known neighbour Duncansby (a lesser known, but nevertheless beautiful place for another blog). The previous grocer, George Manson, in 1902, charged the name of the Post Office and postal district to John O'Groats (a shrewd marketing move) and was also the first person to import souvenirs (not from China!) for the tourists to by and take home. Prior to 1902, the most famous landmark in the area was "Johnny Groats House", as written about by Scotland's national bard, Robert Burns - a landmark seen on the early Ordnance Survey maps, but a landmark that has left no trace, but in the mind. The man, John O'Groats (Jan de Grot (Groot) to give him his proper name) was granted a charter by King James IV (1488 - 1513) of a ferry and lands at Duncansby in 1496. According to records, he ran the ferry until 1715 - a long running family business! The legend says that his seven descendants continuously quarreled about precedence so to resolve the quarreling John built a house with 8 doors, and a table with 8 sides, ensuring no one entered the house before anyone else, nor sat at the head of the table.
by Vikki Brightman 03 Nov, 2020
To continue our local tour of Caithness places, I decided (well, Jake made the final decision as I couldn't decide between Canisbay Kirk & John O'Groats) on Canisbay Kirk. Canisbay Kirk sits on a prehistoric mound, covering the ruins of a broch (a topic I will touch on in a later blog), the site of an earlier Celtic church dedicated to St. Drostan. Drostan headed a mission Pictland in the 6th century. There is mention of a church in church documentation of 1222. Legend says that the current steeple was erected on the site of a previous round tower, which would have been seperate to the small church of the time. The church, as it stands now, was erected around 1720.
Show More
Share by: