Seamons Mahall
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Stories (80/0)
11 cold knowledge about the blue whale
If you were asked to picture in your mind a 10-story tall animal walking down the street, you would probably think of Godzilla or King Kong. But if you were asked to imagine it as a marine mammal swimming...then you now have a blue whale in your mind.
By Seamons Mahallabout a year ago in Earth
'Captain' Gallagher: The legend of Ireland’s ‘Highwaymen’
My mother first told me the tale when I was three years old. Somewhere, in a forest near her hometown of Swinford, Ireland, lay the buried treasure of a folk hero who gave power to the powerless. More than 200 years ago, while Ireland’s County Mayo was patrolled by British soldiers, controlled by English gentry and riven by poverty, one group of Irish men launched an unconventional revolt.
By Seamons Mahall2 years ago in Wander
The truth about British stoicism
The street cleaner was sitting at a small table outside Leadenhall Market in central London, his gaze fixed on a large mug of tea in front of him. I’d met the 60-something-year-old man a few weeks earlier on a previous visit to the market.
By Seamons Mahall2 years ago in Wander
Scilly: Britain’s Mediterranean-like isles steeped in myth
The mere mention of King Arthur makes most people think of Guinevere, Lancelot and the sword in the stone. But what about the Isles of Scilly? This cluster of islands 28 miles off Cornwall’s tip is where some believe the legendary British king is buried, on the site of his final battle with Mordred in the 6th Century. That was in the mythical land of Lyonesse – a flooded country stretching west from Cornwall whose submerged peaks are believed by some to be the Isles of Scilly.
By Seamons Mahall2 years ago in Wander
Teraanga: The word that defines Senegal
As I waited to board a flight to Dakar from New York, a woman draped in colourful fabric and a bright headwrap asked if she could use my mobile phone. Hesitating with a perplexed smile, I wondered about the odd familiarity to ask that of a stranger. While I wavered, a similarly dressed traveller presented her phone to the woman without a second thought. Experiences like this continued throughout my journey to Senegal, and I quickly realised that they weren’t bold requests from strangers. They were my introduction to teraanga.
By Seamons Mahall2 years ago in Wander
The forgotten Hawaiian islands in Canada
Located off a faded game trail on uninhabited Portland Island, the orchard waited. Though the trees were gnarled and twisted, moss-covered and forgotten, the apples were surprisingly crisp; tasting of the kind of nostalgia you don’t find in a modern supermarket apple. The orchard also held a story. But over time, as the forest encroached and the trees grew older, the story itself threatened to disappear.
By Seamons Mahall2 years ago in Wander
Canada's little-known Emerald Isle
From almost anywhere, it’s a long journey to Fogo Island off the north-east coast of Newfoundland, itself an island off the east coast of Canada. But when I arrived in the little village of Tilting – having disembarked the ferry from “mainland” Newfoundland and driven to the island’s eastern side – I might have believed that I’d slipped past the North American continent entirely and sailed all the way to the other side of the North Atlantic.
By Seamons Mahall2 years ago in Wander
The last speakers of ancient Sparta
As you enter the mountainous village of Pera Melana in Greece’s southern Peloponnese peninsula, you’re likely to hear the roar of scooters zooming down narrow roads and the chirps of birds stealing ripe fruit from trees. But if you approach the village’s central cafe, you’ll hear a rather unusual sound. It’s the buzz of conversations among elders in a 3,000-year-old language called Tsakonika.
By Seamons Mahall2 years ago in Wander