| Lyrics: | SILKIE
An earthly nurse sits and sings,
And aye, she sings by lily wean,
And
little ken I my bairn's father,
Far less the land where he dwells in.
For he came on
night to her bed feet,
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 Sule
Skerrie."
And he had ta'en a purse of gold
And he had 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 to pass on a summer's day,
When the sun shines bright on
every stane,
I'll come and fetch my little young son,
And teach him how to swim the
faem."
"And ye shall marry a gunner good,
And a right fine gunner I'm sure he'll
be,
And the very first shot that e'er he shoots
Will kill both my young son and
me."
Child #113
"The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry" is one of numerous tales
of
the Silkies, or seafolk, known to the inhabitants of the Orkney
Islands and the
Hebrides. These enchanted creatures dwell in the
depth of the sea, occasionally doffing their
seal skins to pass
on land as mortal men. Legend has it that they then accept
human
partners, and some families on the islands actually trace their
ancestry to such
marriages. In more complete versions of the
ballad, the Silkie's forecast of the death of
himself and his son
eventually come to pass. The tune is by Dr. James Waters of
Columbia
University. From "British Ballads and Folk Songs from
the Joan Baez Songbook."
@myth
@ballad @love @animal
see also SILKIE2
filename[ SILKIE1
DC
===DOCUMENT BOUNDARY |
