Sea-Spell and Moor-Magic

Ten legends of heroes from the Scottish Western Isles

To natives from the Western Isles—the Outer Hebrides—there is little more beautiful than the raw power of the ocean. From these islands have come myths of the raging, lonely sea, the misty moors, and the fabled people who have lived there.

In Sea-Spell and Moor-Magic, Sorche Nic Leodhas recounts ten stories from different islands in the Hebrides, including one from the mythical land of Eilean-h-oige. From the baker who won the heart of a princess, to the lord who sailed to avenge an insult to his king, to the lass who saved the life of a water bull, these lovely tales show the beauty and mystery of the Scottish Western Isles.

“The plots are clever, the moods vary (often within a story) from wry amusement to poignant loyalty, the phrasing and language are distinctively local, and, surprisingly, there are almost no parallels (except in specific incidents) to other folklore.” —Kirkus Reviews Sorche Nic Leodhas (1898–1969) was born LeClaire Louise Gowans in Youngstown, Ohio. After the death of her first husband, she moved to New York and attended classes at Columbia University. Several years later, she met her second husband and became LeClaire Gowans Alger. She was a longtime librarian at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she also wrote children’s books. Shortly before she retired in 1966, she began publishing Scottish folktales and other stories under the pseudonym Sorche Nic Leodhas, Gaelic for Claire, daughter of Louis. In 1963, she received a Newbery Honor for Thistle and Thyme: Tales and Legends from Scotland. Alger continued to write and publish books until her death 1969.