By Helena Hewston Sept 2025 - 904 words

There are places where facts become legends and the great stories entertain the generations following. One such tale has its roots in Scotland , on the west coast, where the Atlantic breakers crash to the rocks and the tide shucks the shingle down the beach and then throws it back with force to abrade the stones into sand. Other days the waters are quiet and blue when boats can sail, men can fish and children can build castles in the sand.

At a time when life was basic, many years ago, a family kept a home, back from the shore, on a headland: custodians of hairy cattle, growers of vegetables and stealers of eggs from the nesting birds. They made tracts across the land to other such homes, keeping in contact with neighbours and developing into what we call clans. They marked the seasons with traditions, gathering to celebrate and acknowledge the passage of time. They buried their dead in mounds with objects of adornment and placed bows of grain for the journey into an afterlife. They believed in creatures that could tease and deceive and in spirits of the air and the sea.

The family fed well form the land and the sea and there was peat and dung for the fire. Every family member worked to ensure their existence and strong bonds were forged with neighbours, both on the land and in the sea.

To this family was born a strange child, so the story goes. A seventh child of a seventh child; endowed with the gift of second sight. Also unusual was her white hair and webs between fingers and toes. To protect her from ridicule the father, Eldon, declared she was a gift from the ancestors. The named her Meersanda as she had been born on the beach on an early autumn day.

Meersanda loved the sea in all its moods and would often watch from the headland when the sky was angry and the tide was racing. On other occasions she swam in the quite waters, diving down to move with the fish and seals, her ling tresses of white hair swirling around her.

Visitors came from other clans, to barter goods, and used this as an excuse to ask about their futures. When it became that she felt unhappy with the attention she would slip away down to the beach and make her way to a cave to hide.

Time came for her to be joined to a partner. Her father thought it should be someone local but Meersanda had already noticed and admired a youth from another clan. His name was Tandrik. He came to barter hides and trinkets. They would meet and walk along the sand or take a boat further out and talk for hours sharing their hopes and dreams. She taught him to swim and he taught her about choosing stones and shells from the beach, for jewellery. Their laughter could be heard with that of the sea birds that came to next in the rock of the headland.

Three local lads, who were jealous of Meersanda and Tandrik were all on the beach at the same time one autumn evening. A storm was due and would be felt in the air and in the swirling of pockets of sand and waves that ran up the beach. Remarks grew into taunts, demanding that she tell the future for them both. They insulted Tandril for making pretty things that were useless except to turn the heads of girls and women. Their closeness pushed Meersanda into the sea to avoid them. In trying to come ashore, close to rocks where the bay curved round and where she knew there was a cave she was caught in a rip tide. Her cries for help spurred Tandrik to go in after her.

Realising what they had done the lads left them.

As darkness fell, Eldon, went looking for his daughter, first on the headland and then on the tract leading across the grass towards neighbouring dwellings. He overheard the lads forming a story about what they had been doing as they made their way back. Angry and frightened he challenged them and discovered the truth. He turned and fled to the beach. In the darkness he stumbled over a form on the sand and realised it was Tandrik. His battered head and scoured hands told their own story. What hope was there for Meersanda? He called and called but had no answer. He tried to launch a boat but it kept being thrown back onto the sand. He went for other help and to bring Tandrik onto higher ground. He remembered the saying that the spirit of the ancestors would claim those they knew loved them truly.

In the morning her body was washed up in the next bay. It was said she was wrapped in long strands of seaweed and held a shell in her hands.

It is also said that there are times, when the autumn storms are due that the cry of seals can be heard in the energy of the waves and in the white tops of breakers can be seen a figure. If you can see and hear this your future is not in your hands because there will soon come unexpected changes. It is both a warning and promise.