This is a song written by a dear friend of mine, Emily Holbert.
It is a Scottish fairytale.
The Scottish fairy-folk come in many forms, as is always the case,
But in the far isles, in the Orkneys and the Hebrides,
There is a particular style of fairy known as the selkie,
And they look like seals in the ocean,
They bob around doing seal sort of things, eating fish, relaxing,
And at night, should they desire,
They can take off this seal-skin coat that they wear,
And step out on the shore looking very much like you or I.
And it's said, even today, among the outer isles,
That some families are particularly lucky with fishing because they
Had a selkie woman marry into the family some years back-- which is a
Lovely thought. But, as is also often the case with fairy stories,
The female fairies-- the female selkies,
In this case-- have most of the magic.
The male selkies have just a tiny portion of the magic and can only
Shrug out of their coat once, it's a huge effort for them.
So if they find a reason to go on shore,
They only have a few short hours to accomplish their task,
Because if they're not back in their sealskin by midnight and back
Into the ocean, they dissolve away into sea water,
And that's the end of them. So if, as in this story,
A selkie man decides that he wants to try to make a good impression
On a girl he'd been chatting with on shore, um,
He has to get fairly creative fairly quickly.
And so this is the story of the maiden and the selkie.
Once a fair and handsome seal-lord lay his foot upon the sand
For to woo the fisher's daughter and to claim her marriage hand.
"I have come in from the ocean, I have come in from the sea,
And I'll not go to the waves, love, lest ye come along with me."
"Lord, long have I loved you as a selkie on the foam.
"I would gladly go and wed ye and be Lady of your home
But I cannot go into the ocean, I cannot go into the sea.
I would drown beneath the waves, love, if I went along with ye."
"Lady, long have I loved you: I would have you for my wife.
I will stay upon your shoreland though it robs me of my life.
I will stay one night beside you, never go back to the sea,
I will stay and be thy husband though it be the death of me."
Please join in!
Nice!
"Lord, I will not go and wed thee just to watch my lover die!
Since I'll not be left a widow I have a plan for us to try:
Let us speak with my grandmother who's ever dwelt beside the sea.
She may know some trick or treasure that I may wed my fair selkie."
So they've gone to her grandmother's little cottage by the sea
To inquire how a maiden might be wed to a selkie.
For the selkie's watery kingdom would surely rob her of her breath
But to stay on land past midnight, that would surely be his death.
"Oh lord, I know not how to aid you – you may never live on shore.
For your kind to live 'til dawning, well it's never been seen before.
But my mother had a seal-coat that she buried 'neath a tree
And she told me that its wearer would become a fair selkie."
So they've journeyed farther inland
Though the seal-lord's getting weak
And she's shouldering the shovel to unearth the thing they seek.
At the rising of the full moon underneath the elfin oak
She's unearthed that very treasure of which her grandmother spoke.
And just before the stroke of midnight they have made it back to sea
And she's donned that magic seal-coat and become a maid selkie.
They have gone into the ocean, hand in hand into the sea,
She has gone along -- as a fair seal-bride with her selkie.
Here we go!
Thank you!
Thank you!