The Swans of Ballycastle

This book, published in 1954 by Farrar, Straus, & Young is really a gem.  It’s the story of three children — Deidre, Kevin, and Michael — growing up in the Irish seaside village of Ballycastle in the late 1700s.  They live with their father who runs the village mercantile and spend their days playing in the countryside and by the Cary and Shesk rivers that wind their way through the town and empty into the harbor.  Upon returning from a trip to Belfast, their father brings with him a new wife (the children’s mother died when Michael was just a baby).  Their stepmother is cruel; she makes the children do endless chores and ridicules them.  One night, after a raging storm hits, the stepmother places a curse on the children and tells them they can’t return to Ballycastle, that is, not until the bell, which was flung from the belfry during the storm, is restored to its tower.  With their father out of town and no one to help them, the children head to the water and take the form of swans.  They swim to a peaceful place called Happy Island where a group of swans live; these swans were once humans who led unhappy lives.  

For many years, the children stay on Happy Island.  There is no sense of time there and so the children never grow a day older.  One morning they hear a bell toll and feel a calling to Ballycastle, for it seems the curse placed on them by their stepmother has been lifted.  Once they return to the seaside village, they realize that nothing is as it once was.  Time has stood still for them, but not for Ballycastle.  Two hundred years have passed and their father and stepmother are long gone.  Outside of the friendly schoolmaster, Shane, who finds them on the beach and takes them in, they know no one, nor does anyone want to befriend them.  While Shane offers to care for the children, Deidre, Kevin, and Michael long to return to Happy Island.  But according to the legend surrounding Happy Island, they can only do so if another storm hits and again, tears the bell out of the belfry. This eventually happens.  When Shane realizes the children have left, he rushes out to sea hoping to be with them, but he is quickly reminded of what they had told him about the island’s magic -- that it is only for humans who led lonely lives, and since Shane did not suffer their fate, he is not able to join them.  Shane stares out at the three swans growing smaller in the distance.  At first he is disheartened but he soon finds comfort in knowing that the children will be loved and accepted on Happy Island.  He brings his boat around and heads back to Ballycastle.

 I have read this book to all three of my children and with each reading I’m moved by the stunning prose and the delicately rendered illustrations.  Bettina Erlich's black and white line art with half tones evoke early Edward Gorey drawings, and her detailed watercolor images seem influenced by Clement Hurd’s work (the illustration of the bell in the sky will quickly bring to mind The Runaway Bunny).  The story is haunting and beautiful at once -- there is a real sense of sadness in the telling but also a hopefulness; while the children may not have had parents who could protect and care for them, they have each other and they have found love and support in others, whether they be human or animal.  Steeped in Irish folklore, the Irish setting takes on a strong presence in the story, acting almost like a character; the sea is depicted as a mother welcoming her swan children into her arms, bringing them home.  

 A 64 page picture book like this would not likely be published today as it would be perceived as too sad, too quiet, and too costly to produce.  I can tell you that The Swans of Ballycastle has generated much discussion among my own brood -- it has a timeless feel about it and is worth seeking out.  Everything about this book is thoughtful.  And it’s nice to know that it was published all those years ago by one of the Macmillan Children’s imprints.