Book Description

“The whale knew nothing of the oil that men burned to lighten their darkness, or the money his body was worth to the merchants and sailors: men who were clever at making knives and spears and cunning in ways of using them. So one day the whale came up for air, rising through the green depths as he had done countless times before, and there, floating near to him in the sunlight, was a ship.”So begins the tale of The Scrimshaw of Sable Island, where a runaway boy in nineteenth century Bristol is the link between a mysterious carving on a whale’s tooth and a mass of pirate treasure. Fleeing from his apprenticeship to a brutal chimney sweep, young Owen Davies finds himself caught up in the search for the treasure stolen from Captain Kidd by the infamous pirate Robert Culliford. Moving from the teeming streets of Bristol to the quiet farms and forests of Nova Scotia, Owen meets with staunch friends and terrifying perils as he makes his way towards the solution to the mystery of the scrimshaw. As the tale unfolds, other voices gather to tell the story through the discovery of letters and journals, including the diary of Robert Culliford, tracing his journey through shipwreck and madness to the barren darkness of Sable Island – ‘Graveyard of the Atlantic’.Based on real facts and places, this is a story for all those who love old yarns of storms and ships, pirates and the sea. Inspired by Treasure Island and Moby Dick, it will appeal to children from 10 upwards. The illustrations by John Gooch provide a series of vivid backdrops to the narrative.All profits from the sale of The Scrimshaw of Sable Island will go to Ty Hafan, the charity that runs a hospice for sick children in South Wales.