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 thee

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

Lord, I cannot go and wed thee

All 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 has 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

Can be wed to her Selkie

For the Selkie's watery kingdom

Would surely rob her of her breath

But to stay on land past midnight

It would surely be his death

Lord, I know not how to aid you

You may never live on shore

For your kind to live till dawning

It has never been seen before

But my mother had a seal coat

That she buried beneath the 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 fullmoon

Underneath the elfen oak

She has unearthed that faery treasure

Of which her grandmother spoke

Just before the stroke of midnight

They have made it back to sea

And she has donned the magic seal coat

And become a maid Selkie

Now they've gone into the ocean

Hand in hand into the sea

She has gone along

A fair seal bride for a Selkie