Maiden And The Selkie

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Once a fair and handsome seal-lord lay his foot upon the sand
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For to woo the fisher’s daughter and to claim her marriage hand
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I have come in from the ocean, I have come in from the sea
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And I’ll not go to the waves, love, lest ye come along with me


[Verse 2]
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Lord, long have I loved you as a selkie on the foam
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I would gladly go and wed ye and be lady of your home
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But I cannot go in to ocean, I cannot go into the sea
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I would drown beneath you waves love if I went along with thee


[Verse 3]
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Lady, long have I loved you: I would have you from my wife
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I shall stay upon your shore land though it robs me of my life
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I’ll never go back to the ocean, never go back to the sea
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I shall stay one night beside you though it be the death of me


[Verse 4]
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Lord I cannot go and wed thee all to watch my lover die
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Since I’ll not be left a widow I have a plan for us to try
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Let us speak with my grandmother who’s ever dwelt beside the sea
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She may know some trick or treasure that I may wed my fair selkie


[Verse 5]
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So they’ve gone to her grandmother’s little cottage by the sea
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To inquire how the maiden could be wed to her selkie
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For the seal-lord’s watery kingdom’d surely rob her of her breath
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But to stay on land past midnight, that would surely be his death


[Verse 6]
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Lord I know not how to aid you, you may never live on shore
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For your kind to live past dawning has never been seen before
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But my mother had a seal coat that she buried ‘neath a tree
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For she told me any wearer would become a fair selkie


[Verse 7]
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So they’ve journeyed farther inland though the seal-lord’s getting weak
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And she’s shouldering a shovel to unearth that thing they seek
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And at the rising of the full moon, underneath the elfin oak
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She’s unearthed that very treasure of which her grandmother spoke


[Verse 8]
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So just before the stroke of midnight they have made it back to sea
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And she’s donned that magic seal-coat and become a maid selkie
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Now they’ve gone into the ocean, hand in hand into the sea
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She has gone along, a fair seal-bride for her selkie