Seamus, the ‘fool’ as described by Doyle here, is not an idiot. He’s someone who – according to Celtic mythology – is naive and innocent by nature.
He was born with a distinctive mark on his ear, indicating that he’s gifted with strength and second sight, and having the caul surrounding him intact at birth means he will never drown. This generates both respect and fear in his village.
Seamus reaches the boundaries of his resilience by saving women and children from drowning. He’s tended by Saoirse in his recovery, impregnating her in the process. The eventuating son, Tomas, narrates this tale. Despite his heroics, Seamus is banished from the village, plunging into the sea where a kiss from a mermaid allows him to swim to South Australia. He washes ashore at a time when British sealers are kidnapping women from the local Indigenous tribe. Seamus rescues Ruby and Sal from the ship, the Apocalypse, earning the ire of the principal antagonist, Bates. Seamus lives with, and learns from, the Kaurna people, but before long, he’s arrested and placed under the control of Bates, who whips him and places him in his bullock team. His love of Ruby and her daughter, Lowenna, sustains him. Natural order must eventually prevail … but at a cost.
This is a part magical realist novel and part historical fact. Seamus is larger than life, and a vehicle for meeting well-known figures from South Australia’s colonial past. The scapegoating of the Indigenous peoples by the colonisers/invaders is written with pathos. The book’s language is overblown, sometimes getting so excitable it runs away with itself, but this is in keeping with a story of such a mythical man-mountain.
Reviewed by Bob Moore
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Timothy Doyle is Professor of Politics and International Studies in the School of History and Politics at the University of Adelaide in Australia; and Chair of Politics and International Relations in SPIRE at Keele University, United Kingdom. He has been a dedicated environmental and human rights activist since the 1980s. He is currently serving as Chair of the Indo-Pacific Governance Research Centre; and Director of Human and Environmental Security for the Indian Ocean Research Group.
He lives in Adelaide, Australia; and Staffordshire, in the UK, and is the author of Dyandi.
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