This collection of eleven stories, first published by The Hogarth Press
in 1974, demonstrates the full range of George Mackay Brown's literary
talent. George Mackay Brown was steeped in the life and traditions of
Orkney, a world set firmly between the sea and the sky, where time has
an altogether different nature and significance from the rest of the
world. 'In Orkney, ' wrote Edwin Muir, 'the lives of living men turn
into legend.' The rich history of the islands - the succession of
Neolithic man, Pict, Norsemen, Scot - leaves its impression upon the
life of modern Orkney and is reflected in this finely wrought
collection. Mingling past and present, the human world and the
spiritual, George Mackay Brown brings together both the modern islanders
and the Orcadians of centuries past, for the same lineaments are
discernable in both. 'Hawkfall', the central story, traces the
vicissitudes, violence and hypocrisies which recur over many
generations; in 'The Drowned Rose', the ghosts of dead lovers, still in
love with the things of this world, mix with the living, while
'Sealskin' explored the relationship between legend, art and life. All
stories are richly entertaining, poignant and moving, their universal
themes realized in the context of their unique island setting.
