Behind the Folklore at the Edge of the Silver Sea

“One of the last places in the world where the human and fey realms still overlap…”

Myths and stories about the fey — or fae, fay, faeries, fairies, fair folk — appear in folklore all over Europe. They are generally human-shaped spirit beings, with magical or supernatural abilities. Often, the fey are out to cause mischief, so if you come across one, be very careful what you wish for!

Forced to move to the fictional Hebridean isle of Roscoe, Blair Zielinski is determined to get back to her old life. Then one of the island’s darkly magical fey folk offers her an irresistible deal, and Blair discovers that these seas and shores are shared by creatures both mundane and magical…

Author Alex Mullarky deftly weaves Celtic mythology and folklore — from kelpies and selkies, to will-o’-the-wisps and river spirits — into the captivating story. This guest post is an introduction to some of the Scottish folklore that inspired The Edge of the Silver Sea.

Will-o’-the-Wisps

When our protagonist Blair sees a strange twinkling in the air, local boy Alasdair tells her that it’s just “a trick of the light – phosphorescence caused by gas escaping from the peat.” Will-o’-the-wisps, ghostly floating lights, exist across European folklore, but are usually known for leading lost travellers into danger. The opposite is true in Roscoe: when Blair’s in trouble, these strange lights lead her where she needs to go.

Crodh Mara

Crodh Mara (cro mara) are fey cattle that live in the sea and come ashore to graze by night. Encountering one of them is Blair’s first real step into the magical world that is Roscoe: she thinks she’s helping a trapped Highland Cow calf, only to realise that its fur is made of orange kelp. I was really inspired by these atmospheric sculptures by Zenna Tagney.

Selkies

Probably the most well-known of the creatures that feature in this book, selkies are seals with the power to remove their skins and walk on land as humans. But if a selkie’s skin is stolen, they’re unable to return to the sea. Something about this idea has captivated people for hundreds of years. I had to have selkies appear in Roscoe because shapeshifting is such an important theme in the story. These Gaelic seal songs, sung by Julie Fowlis, are so beautiful and eerie – I tried to channel that in the selkie scenes.

Kelpie

Another shapeshifter, kelpies are said to live in waterways, but to take the form of horses on land. They appear to weary travellers saddled up and ready to ride, but the moment the traveller takes the bait, they find themselves dragged to a watery grave. In The Edge of the Silver Sea, the kelpie is preying on Roscoe’s deer, which Cailleach isn’t too happy about…

Bean Nighe

The Bean Nighe (ben nee-yeh) is the Scottish banshee, a washer woman who weeps as she does her laundry and is traditionally seen as an ill omen. In The Edge of the Silver Sea she is a kind of fox-woman, though we never get to see her face. If you’re familiar with Beatrix Potter, I imagine her as a spooky Mrs Tiggy-Winkle: doing the woodland creatures’ laundry and trying to warn the characters when bad things are coming. She means well – she can’t help that she’s scary.

Cailleach

Cailleach (kal-yuch) in The Edge of the Silver Sea isn’t THE Cailleach, the traditional Scottish creator-figure and/or goddess of winter. The Gaelic ‘cailleach’ is usually translated along the lines of ‘old woman’. Cailleach Mho’r Nam Fiadh is a character I came across while researching whose name literally means ‘The Great Old Woman of the Deer’. This figure is linked to Jura, a Hebridean island with a huge population of deer, and inspired my Cailleach: she is the guardian of Roscoe’s deer, an immortal being whose sole purpose is to protect these animals. In the book, she once had a counterpart – Bodach (‘old man’) who worked alongside her to watch over the deer of Roscoe.

Cat-Síth 

In Scottish folklore the Cat-Síth (cat-shee) is a fey creature who takes the form of a large black cat. In The Edge of the Silver Sea, it is a Scottish wildcat. I think these animals are fairly magical themselves, and I wanted to show that even rare wild creatures are thriving on Roscoe. Though in real life wildcats aren’t actually found on the islands – let’s not forget, it’s a magical island!

Cú-Síth

The Cu-Síth (coo-shee) is a huge fey dog who once preyed on the deer of Roscoe. Though Blair doesn’t encounter it in the story, it played an important role in the past…

Also by Alex Mullarky:

Ivy North is an adventurer and expert map reader who can pitch a tent in four minutes flat. There’s just one problem.
She’s afraid to go outside…

When her little brother is transformed into a kestrel, Ivy follows him into Underfell, the strange and magical realm beyond the garden wall.

Battling her dread of being out in the open, can Ivy navigate this extraordinary world of powerful fairies and purple skies to break her brother’s curse?