The Great Silkie
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"  and is one of the most captivating and eerie tunes.

G                   F                     G
An earthly nourris sits and sings,              nourris = nurse
                            F                  G
And aye, she sings ba’ lily wean,               ba' lily wean = by a small baby
                           F              G
“Little ken I my bairnie's father,                    bairnie = baby, child
       Am                         F            G
Far less the land that he staps in                 staps = steps, lives

         G              F                     G
He cam’ ane nicht to her bed fit,                  ane nicht = one night  bed fit = foot of the bed
                             F                          G
An’ a grumbly guest, I'm sure was he,
                               F                          G
Saying "Here am I, thy bairnie's father,
       Am            F              G
Although I be not com-e-ly."

     G       F                     G
"I am a man upon the land,
            F                  G
I am a silkie in the sea,
                                      F           G
And when I'm far and far frae land,                  frae = from
       Am                F           G
My home it is in Sule Skerrie."

         G           F                         G
And he has ta'en a purse of gold
                         F                      G
And he has placed it on her knee,
                                          F                G
Saying, "Gie to me my little young son,
       Am                       F        G
And tak’ thee up thy nourris fee."

                 G           F                                G
"It shall come to pass on a summer's day,
                                        F                      G
When the sun shines bright on every stane,         stane = stone
                                        F               G
I'll come and fetch my little young son,
         Am                        F             G
And teach him for to swim the faem."               faem = foam  should rhyme with stane

          G              F                                G
"And ye shall marry a good gunner man,
                                      F                              G
And a proud gunner man I'm sure he will be,
                                                F            G
And the very first shot that e'er he shoots
       Am                         F            G
Will kill both my young son and me."
 
 

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