Introduced by Seamus Heaney, The People of the Sea brings to life the legend of the mythical selchies, in beautiful, poetic prose

David Thomson was born in India of Scottish parents in 1914. Much of his childhood was spent in the Scottish countryside, where his grandparents lived. He went on to study Modern History in Oxford, and joined the BBC in 1943, where he wrote and produced many distinguished radio programmes, including The Irish Storyteller series and a number of documentaries on animal folklore. He died in 1988.