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The Maiden and The Selkie

from Swallow the Anchor by SaltyPaws

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about

The Celtic folklore of the Selkie is wonderful. A seal that can come ashore by night and look like a human, but must return to the sea by midnight (males) or by sunrise (females.) If, while they are walking as humans, their seal coat is stolen, then they cannot return to the ocean (fatal for males, and permanently trapping females as women.)

lyrics

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 'til dawning, it has ne'er been seen before.
But my mother had a seal coat that she buried 'neath 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.
By the rising of the full moon, underneath the elfin oak,
She has unearthed that buried 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
They have gone along together as their love was meant to be.

credits

from Swallow the Anchor, released September 30, 2021

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SaltyPaws Punta Gorda, Florida

When you think of wandering minstrels, do you ever think they might live on a boat? SaltyPaws is a sailing acoustic duo, living aboard their catamaran, sailing and singing the Atlantic eastern seaboard. You'll hear guitar and 5 string banjo, spiced with harmonica and concertina. Wherever the boat is in port, you'll find Bentley and Jim joining a jam, at an open mic, or busking a street corner. ... more

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