Scotland's Fairies- Isla And The Sea Sprite

This is an original story written and performed by Rachael Corral. It is a gentle story that follows Isla on her holiday to St Abbs Bay where she enjoys the beautiful beach and rockpools of the Scottish coast. It is in these rockpools where she meets a little sea sprite called Corra who gives her a special gift.

This story involves nature facts and Celtic-inspired music by Chris Collins.

Transcript

Hello,

My name is Rachel.

My country is Scotland,

A country steeped in fairy faith,

A place of mythical valleys,

Fairy glens and fairy pools and logs,

And ancient Caledonian pine forests where fairies or wee folk can be found in the tree hollows and abandoned birds' nests.

In the rivers and barns which flow through the mountainous valleys,

There are river sprites with webbed feet who ride on the back of the leaping Scottish salmon,

Tucked away inside unused teapots and empty shortbread tins.

Wee folk,

Called brownies,

A sort of house fairy,

Live amongst the Scottish people,

Inside their very homes,

Although most people never look close enough in the nooks and crannies to ever spot them.

Now I'm guessing you might like to join me on an adventure here in Scotland and hear more about these mystical wee folk,

Guardians of our hills,

Forests and homes.

So get comfortable,

Maybe have a little wiggle of fingers and toes,

Take a deep breath in to fill your chest full of air,

And a deep breath out again to relax your body down into whichever comfy spot you might be sitting or lying in.

Gently close your eyes and come with me to Scotland.

Now this is the story of Isla and the sea sprite.

It was summertime and Isla and her mum were on holiday to a place called St.

Abbs on the East Scotland coastline.

Isla was having a wonderful time exploring Killidrot Bay when the tide at the bay went out.

The secrets of the sea were revealed in glittering rock pools.

Isla could spend hours clambering on the rocks and crouching down to peer in the rock pools.

It felt like discovering her own private underwater world.

She would find smooth and slippy seaweeds like bladderwrack and kelp and animals such as the breadcrumb sponge and bootlace worm.

A lot of people don't know that sea sponges are actually animals.

They draw in the seawater through their holes and in their insides are beating hairs that collect little morsels of food.

She would also spot the shy butterfish in the rock pools if she crouched down still enough.

The butterfish is a small eel-like fish of yellow and orange or red with distinct white ringed black spots along its back.

They love to hide in the rocks.

And seaweed in all the little pools.

It was Isla's last day of the holiday and she didn't really want to go home.

She consoled herself thinking of the house brownies Ingonuk and Kogi who would be waiting for her to come back home.

She sat on the warm sand with her toes pushing into it.

Looking over the blue sea to the cliffs of St.

Ab's Head where she could watch the guillemots and razorbills with their white tummies flying to and from their nests on the cliff edges.

She had had such a lovely time paddling and bathing,

Making sandcastles and exploring caves and rock pools.

It was no wonder that she didn't really want it to end.

She got up and went towards a rock pool for a last wee look.

She was disgusted to see a plastic bag in the water.

Oh,

Why did humans have to cause so much harm to the environment with their selfish littering?

Plastic has no place on the beach.

She went to pick it up when she saw a very surprising sight under the water.

Pooling at the plastic bag was a little sea sprite.

She was wriggling and struggling with the plastic with an anguished look on her face.

Isla could see her white hair flowing in the water and that she had some kind of shimmery outfit on that resembled fish scales and made her very well camouflaged in the water.

Isla put her hand in the water to touch the bag and the little sea sprite darted out of view.

Isla then spied what looked like a spotted brown claw,

Maybe,

And then she realised that the bag was actually wrapped around a crab.

She pulled the bag above the surface of the water,

Grabbing on.

And tore apart at the plastic until the crab was free.

It dropped back down into the water and scuttled under some seaweed out of view.

Isla kept watching the sea pool until she could see the little sea sprite start to emerge from her seaweed hiding spot.

Isla gave her a smile and a little wave.

And then the sea sprite fully emerged and began to swim up to the top.

The sea sprite spoke to Isla in its little sing-song voice.

Thank you so much for your help in saving that poor wee crab.

Thank you so much for your help in saving that poor wee crab.

Our sea creature friends are always getting hurt by human rubbish and we do what we can to help.

I was frightened of you to begin with,

But then I've been to the Elfinhame and they mentioned a girl about your age who had the gift of fairy sight and who was kind and brave.

Your name isn't Isla,

Is it,

By the way?

Oh yeah,

I am Isla.

I've been on holiday here.

It's lovely to meet you.

What's your name?

I'm called Cora,

Said the sea sprite.

I'm called Cora,

Said the sea sprite.

I'm called Cora,

Said the sea sprite.

I'm called Cora,

Said the sea sprite.

I'm really excited that you're here.

You were the talk of Elfinhame.

Maybe we can spend some time together whilst you're on holiday here.

I've got loads to show you.

I'm friends with all the animals.

And I could introduce you.

Oh,

I'd so love that,

Said Isla.

But unfortunately,

This is my last day.

I've got to go home tomorrow,

Leaving the seaside behind me.

Oh,

How I'm going to miss the sounds of the waves and the salty sea air.

And you,

Cora,

How sad that we've only just met.

Oh,

It is a shame.

I tell you what,

I've got the perfect parting gift for you.

It can be my way of saying thank you for helping me save that crab.

Just wait here a minute,

And I'll be back.

The little sea sprite then dived under the rock pool out of view.

The next minute,

She popped up again,

Dragging a shell nearly as big as her.

This shell was so beautiful.

It was shaped like a whelk shell,

But much bigger than any of those Isla had found on the beach.

It shimmered in a silver,

Gold,

Turquoise,

And pink mother-of-pearl effect.

Wow,

Gassed Isla,

That's the most beautiful shell I've ever seen.

Oh,

I'm glad you like it,

Said Cora.

Now,

Just put it to your ear and listen.

Isla did just that,

And would you believe it?

It was exactly like the sounds of waves on Shingle.

Isla smiled,

And then the sea sprite said,

Now,

You can listen to your shell and inhale its salty smell,

And imagine that you're back here on your holiday.

What a lovely gift it was.

What a lovely gift it was.

And Isla regularly put it to her ear and smelt the salty sea air,

And dreamt of another holiday back at the beach at St.

Abbs,

Having a wonderful time with her new friend,

The sea sprite Cora.

I hope you can imagine what it would be like to be on a beautiful beach right now,

Feeling the soft sand between your toes,

And the sunshine gently warming your skin,

And hearing the sounds of the waves crashing gently on the shore.

Sweet dreams from Scotland.

Reviews

So enjoyable! 🌻🌻🌻

What a sweet story & beautiful, soothing music. Thank you.

Oh how I love your stories, your voice and your music! Soothing & sweet! TY!

Beautiful! Thank you! We lay by the fire with the cat listening to this :)

That was just beautiful! Thank you🙏♥️

A magical story. It took a bit to tune into your accent, but it adds charm to the tale.

Thank you Rachel for another beautiful story about Isla. Very much looking forward to hearing more 🙏xx

Hello Rachael, another mindful message in your lovely seaside story with the sprite. Thankyou, I enjoyed it alot. Léna x ☺🐱😺🐨🇦🇺