Nicholas Stuart Gray (1922–1981)

I had forgotten what a charming little story this is. Set in Scotland in 1520 this is the story of what happens to the seventh swan brother- the one whose shirt was not finished so he had a swan's wing instead of an arm.

Re-read 3/16/2026.

This hauntingly beautiful story, set in medieval Scotland, is a sort of sequel to the tale of the seven brothers who were turned into swans, until their sister wove seven shirts from nettles. At the end of that tale, she throws the shirts over the swans and they resume their human form, but the seventh shirt has one sleeve unfinished, and the seventh brother is left with one swan's wing instead of his right arm.

And a half. Well written but derivative. This author works best for me where the characters are fairy tale as while the story is fine I miss the depth and bite and class consciousness of an author such as Alan Garner. Still it started with a reference to Nineveh and I was visiting the brilliant Assyrian exhibition at the British museum only last week. Could my unconscious have used that to pick out a re-read after so many years?

I grew up with and love the Grimms tales but I also love the softer imaginings of Nicholas Stuart Gray that spin the tales into human space and away again. The Grimms has six brothers but that's just an odd detail. And anyway it's Ewen around which the story spins.