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The Great Selkie/Silkie of Sule Skerry

[ Roud 197 ; Child 113 ; Ballad Index C113 ; DT SILKIE3 ; Mudcat 31375 , 169701 ; trad.]

James Kinsley: The Oxford Book of Ballads Roy Palmer: Everyman’s Book of British Ballads Norman Buchan and Peter Hall: The Scottish Folksinger

The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry is a shape-shifting song from Orkney. A selkie is a mythical creature resembling a seal in water but assuming a human form on land. Sule Skerry (Sula Sgeir) is a rocky islet 25 miles west of Hoy Head in Orkney.

Most modern recordings use the tune set by Dr. James Waters of Columbia University in the 1950s. The original tune for this song was nearly lost, but was noted down in 1938 by Dr. Otto Andersson, who heard it sung by John Sinclair on the island of Flotta, Orkney. He said, “I had no idea at the time that I was the first person to write down the tune. The pure pentatonic form of it and the beautiful melodic line showed me that it was a very ancient melody that I had set on paper.”

John Sinclair of Flotta, Orkney Islands, sang The Grey Silkie in a BBC recording made by Sean Davies on the anthology Sailormen and Servingmaids (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 6; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1970). The album’s booklet erroneously states the date of recording as June 1964, three years after the album’s release. The booklet also commented:

In the west of Scotland, where seals abound, there are many tales of their response to human contact. I’ve been told again and again of seals that raised their heads out of grey, curling waves, to listen as long as anyone would sing to them. That this is not superstition is confirmed by a contemporary account of an American woman, who made a pet of a seal and swam with it all one summer. The seal would wait in the surf for her every day and call out to her as she came down the cliff to the beach.

In Scotland, they speak of “seal-people” who are said to belong to a clan whose forbears were seals. In the Shetlands, the folk believed in magical beings who lived in land beneath the deeps of the ocean and put on seal-skin for their ascent through the water. Once on shore, they put off their disguise and appeared as human-beings. Such a one was the Grey Silkie of Suleskerry who wooed and won a Shetland woman.

Here our ballad begins. A brief version of it appears as no. 113 in Child without a tune, but this is no match for the variant which old John Sinclair of Flotta in the Orkney Isles turned up with in January 1934. He has since been visited by Swedish folklorists [i.e. Otto Andersson] and recorded for the BBC. Bronson remarks that his tune is a variant of the air often associated with Hind Horn, another ballad of traffic between spirits and mortals. Sinclair (who learned the song from his mother), worked all his life as a seaman, and a farmer-fisherman until his retirement. He now lives in a cottage by the sea where Silkies perhaps may still appear.

Joan Baez sang Silkie to James Waters’ tune in 1961 on her Vanguard album Joan Baez Vol. 2.

Trees sang The Great Silkie in 1970 on their CBS album The Garden of Jane Delawney.

Ray Fisher sang The Silkie of Sul Skerry to James Waters’ tune in 1972 on her album The Bonny Birdy.

John G. Halcro of South Ronaldsay, Orkney, sang The Grey Selkie in 1973 to Alan Bruford. This recording was included in 2004 on the Greentrax anthology Orkney: Land, Sea & Community (Scottish Tradition 21).

Dave Burland sang The Great Silkie to John Sinclair’s tune on his 1975 album Songs and Buttered Haycocks and on his 1989 album Willin’.

Jean Redpath sang The Grey Silkie in 1975 on her eponymous album Jean Redpath. She noted:

Stories of the seal-folk are legion—Ireland, the Outer Hebrides, Argyll, Orkney, Shetland, Caithness, Sutherland, Northeast Scotland and even Norway and Greenland share the tradition of the silkie, or selchie (prob. from Norse selch: seal). Thomas in 1852 described this as “the superstition of the seals or selkies being able to throw off their waterproof jackets and assume the more graceful proportions of the genus Homo.” The ballad in this form was recovered in 1938 by Professor Otto Andersson of Finland from John Sinclair of Flotta in the Orkney Islands. Sule Skerry is a rocky islet 25 miles west of Hoy Head in Orkney. Professor Bertrand H. Bronson (University of California/Berkeley) has a note and further references.

In singing the ballad, the repetition of the verse beginning “My dear I’ll wed thee wi’ a ring” left me a little confused as to who was speaking the second time… and why. I assumed that the silkie offered marriage the first time, but couldn’t quite decide who proposed and who refused the second time. I resolved the dilemma to my own satisfaction, having read the epic of the Lady Odivere which includes a similar encounter. On the silkie’s return, his reply to her proposal is:

Doo wad no’, whin I wad gudewife;
I winno, whin doo’r willan noo.
Dat day doo tint doo’l never faind;
He’s late, he’s ower late tae rue.

You wouldn’t when I wanted to
I won’t now that you are willing
That day you lost you’ll never find
It’s late, too late for regrets.

Archie Fisher sang this with the unusual title The Norway Maid in 1976 on his Decca album Orfeo.

Alison McMorland sang Great Selkie of Sule Skerry on her 1977 Tangent album Belt wi’ Colours Three. She also sang The Silkie of Sule Skerry in 2001 on her and Geordie McIntyre’s Tradition Bearers CD Rowan in the Rock. They commented in their liner notes:

We owe this version to the Finnish scholar Otto Andersson who collected the tune from John Sinclair of Flotta, Orkney in 1938 and the text from Annie G. Gilchrist.

Hamish Henderson observes, “… the legend of the seal folk who inhabit a kind of half world between their native element and the littoral inhabited by their human kind is a powerful obsessive folklore motif in all areas where the Norsemen held sway…” For valuable insights into the enduring fascination with the stories and the lore of the ‘silkie’ (Atlantic grey seal) we commend People of the Sea by David Thomson, recently reprinted by Canongate, Edinburgh.

Hector Gilchrist and Liz Thompson sang The Selkie as the title track of their 1993 WildGoose album Selkie. This track was also included in 2007 on the WildGoose anthology Songs of Witchcraft and Magic.

The Gaugers sang The Grey Selchie of Sule Skerry in 1994 on their City of Aberdeen Libraries cassette Awa wi the Rovin Sailor.

Sheena Wellington sang The Great Silkie o’ Sule Skerrie in a concert at Nitten (Newtongrange) Folk Club, Scotland, that was published in 1995 on her Greentrax CD Strong Women. She commented in her liner notes:

Stories and sangs of the silkies or seal-people and their dealings with humankind are found widely in both Norse and Celtic tradition but Francis James Child’s English and Scottish Popular Ballads has only one short version of this ballad and, of course, no melody. This stark tune and the fuller story were recorded in the thirties from John Sinclair of Flotta in the Orkney Islands. In some versions it is the Silkie who offers marriage the second time but while collating my text from various sources I decided that it was likely that the woman would see marriage as the only way to keep her child.

The Clutha sang The Silkie o’ Sule Skerry in 1996 on their CD On the Braes.

Ian Giles sang The Great Silkie in 1996 on his WildGoose CD The Amber Triangle. He noted:

A strange half-man/half-seal comes ashore once a year, makes fast and loose with the local maidens, then promptly does a runner leaving the lasses undone. A likely tale employed throughout Scandinavia, Greenland, Scotland and the Isles.

Nancy Kerr sang The Great Silkie to John Sinclair’s tune in 1996 on her and her mother Sandra Kerr’s Fellside CD Neat and Complete. Sandra Kerr noted:

As a small child Nancy was sung this at night in the hope that its undulating melody and imagery of mothers singing lullabies to seal babies might send her to sleep. Recently she confessed that the ballad terrified her and that for years she was puzzled as to why the visiting seal/man should have been “grumbly”.

Lyrical Folkus sang The Silkie of Sule Skerry on their 1998 album The Persimmon Tree.

Áine Furey sang Silky on her 1999 album Sweetest Summer Rain.

Maddy Prior sang Great Silkie of Sules Skerry in 1999 on her album Ravenchild; this track was later included on the Park Records anthology Women in Folk and on the Maddy Prior anthology Collections: A Very Best of 1995 to 2005. She also sang it as a bonus track on Steeleye Span’s 2009 CD Cogs, Wheels and Lovers. Maddy Prior commented in her original album’s notes:

This eerie ballad from the Shetland isles harks back to the land’s Scandinavian roots. It is a shape-shifting story of a seal / man whose fate is told with great simplicity and grace.

Wendy Weatherby sang The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry on her 1999 album A Breath on the Cold Glass. She noted:

Celtic mythology has many stories of seal people—those who can take human form at will and then return to the sea, leaving confusion and heartbreak (not to mention offspring!) behind. The mystery and tragedy of this ballad has always appealed to me.

Bob Blair sang The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry in 2000 on his Tradition Bearers CD Reachin’ for the High, High Lands. He commented in the Mudcat Café thread Origins: The Great Silkie in 2009:

I originally learned the tune from print, circa 1967, following the publication of it in Bronson where it is attributed to John Sinclair of Orkney.

I learned the tune specifically for a recording project by Argo Records, Poetry and Song. On that occasion I was accompanied by two fellow members of the Critics Group, John Faulkner and Terry Yarnell, both playing fiddle. My text came from an amalgam of sources and was deliberately not John Sinclair’s.

Many years later, John Purser added some seal sounds in the background, and as much as I love and admire John’s work, I cannot accept any responsibility for the seal sounds. :-) (For those unfamiliar with John’s work it is well worth reading his book Scotland’s Music and if possible listen to the 30 radio programmes that parralled the book.)

Over the last 40 years or so since I first learned them, my tune and the text will have no doubt undergone changes, and for that I make no apologies—it is the way of the tradition.

Elspeth Cowie sang The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry on her 2000 CD Naked Voice.

Moira Craig sang The Silkie on her 2000 album On ae Bonny Day. She noted:

The first time I heard this song was from a friend of mine in Glasgow called Alice in about 1970. I thought it to be one of the most moving songs I had ever heard. It was sung to the tune recorded by Joan Baez written by Dr James Waters of Columbia University. I find that the first version I hear of a song is the one I usually prefer. Sule Skerry is a tiny island off the North coast of Scotland and legend says that Silkies are seals on the water and men on the land.

Barbara Dickson sang Sule Skerry in 2001 on her anthology For the Record.

Seriouskitchen sang The Silkie of Sule Skerry on their 2002 CD Tig. They noted:

Another classic traditional ballad, dark and mysterious, taught to Nick [Hennessy] by Stanley Robertson some years ago. Still, on the west coast of Scotland and the western Isles the Seal-people hold a significant place in folk memory, as can be heard in the many stories told by Duncan Williamson, the Scottish Traveller.

Hannah James learned The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry from Mary Macmaster at the Folkworks Summer School 1999 and recorded it with Kerfuffle in 2004 for their second album, K2. She returned to it with Lady Maisery when they recorded The Grey Selkie with a new tune for their 2013 album Mayday. They noted:

Many of the songs on this album deal with issues of gender and power. The Grey Selkie is an example of how folklore might have been used to justify situations which were perceived as socially unacceptable. Selkies are creatures that only make contact with one human for a brief period before they must return to the sea for seven years, which may have provided an explanation for an absent father or a child born out of wedlock. In this tragic song, the woman is largely at the mercy of others throughout, whether it is society, the selkie, the gunner or ultimately, fate. Hazel [Askew] wrote the new Lydian tune and collated the text from various versions of the ballad.

This video shows Lady Maisery at Folk East 2012:

June Tabor sang The Great Selkie of Sule Skerry in 2011 on her Topic album Ashore. She noted:

Seals were once far more common in the seas around these islands than they are today. There was a strong belief in the Northern Isles in the existence of a third race, the Selkies, who lived in a realm below the waves, passing through the ocean as seals but assuming human shape on land. Like the Swan Children of Lir with their cloaks of feathers, for Selkies the sealskin was essential to the act of transformation; its loss or withholding imprisoned them in human form. That fine storyteller the late Duncan Williamson had many tales of the frequently uneasy relationship between Selkies and the men (and women) of the Highlands and Islands. The theme continues to fascinate modern film-makers, artists and writers; for me, of particular relevance are the work of Maria Hayes, and Robin Robertson’s poem At Roane Head.
This version of The Great Selkie was first collected in 1938 from John Sinclair of Flotta in the Orkneys.

Rosaleen Gregory sang The Silkie in 2012 on her first album of Child ballads, Sheath and Knife. She noted:

In Gaelic folklore, ‘silkies’ are seals that inhabit the frigid waters around the Shetland Islands but sometimes come onto land, take human form, and father half-human children, as in this story.

The tune is by Dr. James Waters.

Fiona J. Mackenzie sang The Great Selkie of Sule Skerry in 2012 on her Greentrax album Archipelago.

Catriona Price sang The Great Selkie o’ Suleskerry, “a traditional song from [Catriona’s home] Orkney about the shapeshifting mythical creatures, the selkies”, on Nua’s 2013 CD Head Full of Dreams.

Marc Block sang Sule Skerry in 2014 on his CD The Hawthorn Spring. He noted:

My parents used to sing a French version of this song, which is in fact from Orkney, and as a child I was fascinated by the notion of the man diving into the sea and turning into a seal. It seems most versions of The Great Silkie are merely a fragment of a much longer ballad. I found the 93 verses of Lady Odivere on Mudcat, and condensed it down to this version.

Maz O’Connor sang The Grey Selkie on her 2014 CD This Willowed Light. She performed it at Cecil Sharp House in this 2014 video:

Kate Fletcher and Corwen Broch sang The Play o’ de Lathie Odivere [→ lyrics] on the second CD of their 2016 album Fishe or Fowle. She noted:

This epic ballad was collected in the Orkneys in the 1800s by Walter Traill Dennison. Much of the song came from Mrs Hiddleston, with missing parts of the story collected from other local singers or filled in by the collector. Mrs Hiddleston lived in Orphir, on Orkney Mainland, and was said to have had a great deal to communicate about bygone times.

The tune was first collected in Orkney in 1938 by Professor Otto Andersson of Finland. It was sung to him by John Sinclair of Flotta.

Our version was recorded unaccompanied in one session, and the instrumentation was added later. The ballad was structured in five parts, or ‘fits’. We have followed this structure in our recording and included both accompanied (tracks 1-5) and unaccompanied (tracks 6-10) versions here.

Siobhan Miller sang Selkie on her 2020 album All Is Not Forgotten.

Piers Cawley sang Silkie at a Trad Song Tuesday Twitter singaround. He included his recording in 2020 on his download EP Trad Song Tuesdays Volume 0.

The Unthanks sang The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry on their 2022 album Sorrows Away. Rachel Unthank noted:

There are lots of ballads and stories about selkies throughout Scotland, Ireland and in Icelandic, Faroese and Nordic traditions. A selkie or silkie takes the form of a seal in the sea and after taking off its seal skin, a human on land. We heard this Orkney version of the silkie story as children, sung by Tyneside singer and member of The Keelers, Alan Fitzsimmons, and have since been captivated by it.

Louise Bichan sang The Selkie of Sule Skerry as the title track of Hildaland’s 2023 album Sule Skerry.

Jenny Sturgeon sang her own song Selkie on her 2016 CD From the Skein.

Landless sang The Grey Selkie of Sule Skerry on their 2024 album Lúireach. They noted:

We learned this from the singing of Jean Redpath, thanks to Thierry Michel. We were drawn to this version as it tells a clear story without losing the mystery and poetry of the handsome Norwegian Selkie and his unusual approach to child rearing.

Lyrics

Alison McMorland sings The Silkie of Sule Skerry

In Norway land there lived a maid,
“Hush, baloo lilllie,” this maid began,
“I know not whaur ma bairn’s faither is
By land or sea does he travel in.”

It happened on a certain day
When this fair maid lay fast asleep
That in cam a grey silkie
And sat him doon at her bed feet.

Saying, “Awak’ awak’ ma fair pretty maid
For oh how sound as thou dost sleep,
I’ll tell thee whaur yer bain’s faither is
He’s lyin’ close at your bed feet.”

“I pray come tell tae me yer name
And tell me whaur yer dwelling is?”
“My name it is guid Hein Mailer
I earn ma livin’ oot o the sea.

“I am a man upon the land,
I am a silkie in the sea.
An when I’m far fae every strand
Ma dwelling t’is in Sule Skerry.”

“Alas, alas this woeful fate
This weary fate that’s been laid on me,
That a man should come frae the West o’ Hoy
Tae the Noraway lands tae hae a bairn by me.”

He said, “Ye’ll nurse ma little wee son
For seiven lang years upon yer knee,
An at the end o’ seiven lang years
I’ll come back again an pay the nouris fee.”

And she has nursed her little wee son
For seiven lang years upon her knee,
An at the end of seiven lang years
He’s cam back again wi’ white monie.

He said, “I’ll pit a chain roon his neck
An a gey gowd chain o it will be,
An if ever he comes tae the Noraway lands
Ye’ll hae a guid guess on who is he.”

And he said, “Ye’ll wed a gunner guid,
And a gay guid gunner it will be,
And he’ll gae oot on a May mornin
He’ll shoot your son and the grey silkie.”

Oh she has wed a gunner guid
And a gay guid gunner it was he,
And he gaed oot on a May mornin
He shot the son and the grey silkie.

“Alas, alas this woeful fate
This weary fate that’s been laid on me,”
She sobbed and sighed and bitter cried
Her tender heart did brak in three.

Nancy Kerr sings The Great Silkie

In Noroway there lived a maid,
“Bye-loo my baby,” she begins,
“Oh know not I my babe’s father
Or if land or sea he’s living in.”

Then there arose at her bedfeet,
And a grummlie guest I’m sure was he,
Saying, “Here am I thy babe’s father
Although I be not comely.

“I am a man upon the land,
I am a silkie in the sea,
But when I’m in my own coutrie
My dwelling is in Sule Skerry.”

Then he has taken a purse of gold
And he has put it upon her knee,
Saying, “Give to me my little wee son
And take thee up thy nurse’s fee.

“And it shall pass on a summer’s day
When the sun shines hot on every stone,
That I shall take my little wee son
And teach him for to swim in the foam.

“And you shall marry a gunner good,
And a proud good gunner I’m sure he’ll be,
And he’ll go out on a May morning
And kill both my young son and me.”

And she did marry a gunner good,
And a proud good gunner I’m sure ’twas he,
And the very first shot he ever did shoot
He killed the son and the great silkie.

In Noroway there lived a maid,
“Bye-loo my baby,” she begins,
“Oh know not I my babe’s father
Or if land or sea he’s living in.”

“I am a man upon the land,
I am a silkie in the sea,
And when I’m in my own coutrie
My dwelling is in Sule Skerry.”

Maddy Prior sings Great Silkie of Sules Skerry

An earthly nourris sits and sings
And aye she sings, “Ba lily wain
And little ken I my bairn’s father
Far less the land that he dwells in.”

Then one arose at her bedfoot,
And a grumbly guest I’m sure was he,
Saying, “ Here am I, thy bairn’s father
Although I be not comely.

“I am a man upon the land,
I am a silkie on the sea,
And when I’m far and far frae land
My home it is in Sules Skerry.”

And he has ta’en a purse of gold
And he has placed it upon her knee,
Saying, “Give to me my little young son
And take thee up thy nurse’s fee.

“And it shall come tae pass on a summer’s day
When the sun shines bright on every stone,
I’ll come and fetch my little young son
And teach him how to swim the foam.

“And you, you shall marry a pround gunner,
And a proud gunner I’m sure he’ll be,
But the very first shot that e’er he shoots
He’ll kill both my young son and me.”

Seriouskitchen sing The Silkie of Sule Skerry

An earthly nurse she sits and sings
And aye she sings, “Ba lillie ween,
It’s little I ken your father dear,
Far less the lands that he dwells in.”

Then one arose at her bed foot,
A grimly guest I’m sure was he.
Saying, “Here I stand his father dear,
Although I may be not fair to see.

“I am a man upon the land,
I am a silkie in the sea.
And when I am far, far from the land,
My dwelling is in the Sule Skerry.”

He’s taken out a purse of gold
And laid it down on the mothers knee.
Saying, “Give up to me my little son
And take this purse, thy nurses fee.

“It’ll come to pass one summers day
When the sun shines hot on every stone.
I’ll come to claim my little son
And teach him all to swim the foam.

“And you will wed a gunner proud,
A gunner proud I’m sure he’ll be.
And the very first shot that gunner fires
Will shoot and kill my babe and me.”

Lady Maisery sing The Grey Selkie

In Norway land there lived a maid,
And “Hush, lully,” she did sing,
“Oh little know I my babe’s father,
Or the land that he dwells in.”

Oh it happened on a certain day
When this maid fell fast asleep,
Oh in there came a grey silkie
And sat at her bed feet.

“Awake oh awake, my pretty fair maid,
How soundly you do sleep.
For here am I your babe’s father
Who sits at your bed feet.”

“For I am a man upon the land,
And a selkie upon the sea,
And when I’m far and far from land
My home’s in Sule Skerry.”

“But my dear, I’ll wed thee with a ring.
With a ring I shall wed thee.”
“Oh you may wed with whom you will,
For I’m sure you’ll not wed me.”

So she has nursed her little young son
And sat him upon her knee,
And at the end of seven long years
He’s returned with a nursing fee.

And he has taken a purse of gold
And placed it upon her knee.
“Oh give to me my little young son
I’ll teach him for to swim in the sea.”

“And I’ll put a chain all around his neck
And a gold chain it will be.
And if he ever comes to Norway land,
You’ll know which seal he’ll be.”

“And you shall marry a gunner good,
And a right fine gunner he’ll be,

And he’ll go out one May morning
And shoot our son and me.”

Then she did marry a gunner good,
And a right fine gunner was he.
And he went out one May morning
And shot two seals from the sea,
Her son and the Grey Selkie.

“Alas, oh alas this woeful fate
This world has laid on me.”
And as she sobbed and as she sighed
Her heart did break in three.

Nua sing The Great Selkie o’ Suleskerry

An earthly nourris sits and sings
And aye she sings, “Ba lily wean,
Little ken I my bairnie’s father
Far less the land that bides in.”

And in steps he to her bed fit,
And a grumly guest I’m sure was he,
Saying, “ Here am I, thy bairnie’s father
Although I may not comely be.

“I am a man upon the land,
I am a selkie in the sea,
And when I’m far and far from land
My home is in Suleskerry.”

Then he has taken a purse of gold
And he has put it on her knee,
Saying, “Gee to thee, my little young son,
And take thee up thy nouriss fee.

“And thou shalt marry a pround gunner,
And a good proud gunner I’m sure he’ll be,
And with the very first shot that e’er he’ll shoot
He’ll kill both my young son and me.”

Siobhan Miller sings Selkie

An earthly nourris she sits and sings
And aye she sings, “Ba lilly wean,
Little ken I thy bairnie’s faither,
Far less the land that he lies in.”

Then ane arose at her bed fit,
And a grumly guest I’m sure was he.
Saying, “Here I am, thy bairnie’s faither,
Although I am not comely.

“I am a man upon the land,
I am a selkie on the sea.
And when I am far and far from land,
My hame is in Sule Skerry.

“And it shall come to pass on a summer’s day
When the sun shines bright on every stone.
I’ll come and take my little young son
And teach him how to swim the foam.

“I am a man upon the land,
I am a selkie on the sea.
And when I am far and far from land,
My hame is in Sule Skerry.”

Then he has taen a purse of gold
And he has laid it on her knee.
Saying, “Give to me my little young son
And tak thee up thy nourris’ fee.

“And thou shall marry a gunner good,
And a right good gunner I’m sure he’ll be.
And the very first shot that e’er he shoots
He’ll kill baith my young son and me.

“I am a man upon the land,
I am a selkie on the sea.
And when I am far and far from land,
My hame is in Sule Skerry.”

The Unthanks sing The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry

An earthly nurse she sits and sings
And aye she sings, “Ba lily wein,
Little I know my bairn’s father,
Far less the land that he lives in.”

Then one arose at her bed foot
And a grumly guest I’m sure was he
Saying, “Here am I the babe’s father
Although I be not comely.

“I am a man upon the land,
I am a Silkie in the sea.
And when I’m far and far from here
My home it is in Sule Skerry.”

It was na weel quothe the maiden fair,
It was na weel indeed quothe he,
That the great Silkie of Sule Skerry
Should have come and got a bairn to me.

Now he’s taken out a purse of gold
And he’s laid it down upon her knee,
Saying, “Give to me my little wee son
And you pick up your nurses fee.

“It shall come to pass on a bright summer’s morn
When the sun shines bright on every stone,
I will come and take my wee son
And I’ll teach him how to swim the foam.

“And you shall marry a proud gunner
And a very fine gunner I’m sure he’ll be.
But the very first shot that e’er he fires
Will kill both my young son and me.”

Landless sing The Grey Selkie of Sule Skerry

In Norway land, there lived a maid.
“Baloo, my babe,” this maid began,
“I know not where your father is.
Nor yet the land where he dwells in.”

It happened on a certain day
When this fair maiden fell asleep,
That in there came a grey selkie
And sat him down at her bed feet.

Saying “Wake, awake, my bonnie maid,
For O how soundly thou dost sleep.
I’ll tell thee where his father is,
He’s sitting close at thy bed feet.”

“I pray come tell to me your name,
And tell me where your dwelling be?”
“My name it is Gud Hein Mailler
And I earn my living out to sea.

“I am a man upon the land,
I am a Selkie in the sea,
And when I’m far from every strand,
My home it is in Sule Skerry.”

“Alas, alas, this woeful fate,
This weary fate that’s laid on me.
That a man should come from the West o’ Hoy
To the Norway lands to have a child with me.”

“My dear, I’ll wed you with a ring.
With a ring my dear, I’ll wed with thee.”
“Thou may go wed with whom thou wilt,
I’m sure you’ll never wed with me.”

“And thou will nurse my bonnie son
For seven long years upon your knee,
And at the end of seven long years,
I’ll come and pay the nurse’s fee.”

And she has nursed her little wee son
For seven long years upon her knee,
And at the end of seven long years,
He’s come back with gold and white money.

“My dear, I’ll wed you with a ring.
With a ring my dear, I’ll wed with thee.”
“Thou may go wed with whom thou wilt,
I’m sure you’ll never wed with me.

But I’ll put a gold chain round his neck
And a gay, good gold chain it will be.
That if e’er he comes to the Norway lands,
You can have a good guess it is he.”

“And you will get a gunner good
And a gay, good gunner he will be.
And he’ll go out on a May morning
And shoot the son and the grey selkie.”

And she has got a gunner good
And a gay, good gunner, I’m sure twas he.
And he went out on a May morning
And he shot the son and the grey selkie.

“Alas, alas, this woeful fate,
This weary fate that’s been laid on me.”
And once or twice she sobbed and sighed,
And her tender heart, it broke in three.