Sea Woman
A tale of loss from a lonely coast
Preparing for my very first public performance, back in 1990, I found a version of this tale in British Folk Tales (Kevin Crossley-Holland, 1987).
There are many similar tales of a husband or wife from the sea, often in the form of selkies. Prof. Ashliman lists a number here.
These stories are more usually associated with Scotland, yet I have a personal reason to set this on the Suffolk coast where my father was born. I recall being on a boyhood holiday there at the fishing village he came from. Suddenly, to my amazement, a seal's head appeared above the grey waters and stared at me as I stood on the pebble beach of Pakefield.
My memory is not a visual one. But that is an image I often see as I tell this tale.
Although I often told this story over the years, it has, unaccountably, taken until now (2026) to record it.
Another favourite story of the seals is Wounded Selkie: an Ocadian tale of hate, revenge, forgiveness, reconciliation and understanding.
More deep tales
The video gallery has become very extensive. So if you would enjoy more tales like this which explore the depths of the human psyche, here are a few suggestions.
The video clips here are all amateur quality, shot in various theatres or in my home studio.Their intention is just to show the range of my storytelling and give a flavour of a live performance.
Permission is granted for use in non-commercial educational contexts.
The videos are © Richard Martin.
Professionally recorded CDs and DVDs are available here.
Go here for tales to watch
Go here for a list of all tales included on this site
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Permission to tell outlines my views on copyright
For those who are teachers: Telling stories in the classroom: basing language teaching on storytelling