Selkie of Sules Skerry, by Damh the Bard

Selkie of Sules Skerry

from Tales from the Crow Man by Damh the Bard

	00:00 / 00:00

Tales from the Crow Man CD

Damh's latest CD - Welcome traveller. It’s a beautiful Summer’s day, just right to sit here in this field of corn and listen to the voices of the past...

These songs (apart from the Green Fields of France and Wild Mountain Thyme) are modern interpretations of classic folk songs. The source of these songs lay with the great folk song collectors such as Cecil Sharp, Francis James Child, and the Copper family. These are songs that were transmitted through word of mouth, songs of the lower classes, music with no known composer.

Buy Now ₤12 GBP

ships within 7 days
Digital Track

Immediate download of Selkie of Sules Skerry in your choice of MP3 320, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.

Buy Now ₤0.79 GBP
Buy the Full Digital Album
Share / Embed

about

The Selkie of Sules Skerry is a mystical ballad from the Shetland Islands where The Selkies take the form of seals when in the ocean, but when on land they take on human form.

lyrics

Selkie of Sules Skerry
(Traditional)

An earthly nourris sits and sings
And aye she sings `Ba lily wain
Saying little ken I thy bairn's father
Far less the land that he sleeps in'

Then he arose at her bedfoot
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 selkie on the sea
And when I'm far and far from land
My home it is in Sules Skerry

And he has taken a purse of gold
And he has lain it upon her knee
Saying give to me my little young son
And take thee up thy nurse's fee

And it shall come tae pass on a summer's day
When the sun shines bright on every stone
I'll come to fetch my little young son
And teach him how to swim the foam

And you shall marry a pround gunner
And a proud gunner I'm sure he'll be
But the very first shot that e'er he shoots
He'll kill both my young son and me.