Maiden And The Selkie

	  		
verse 1 
       Am                                  C             G 
Once a fair and handsome seal-lord lay his foot upon the sand 
       Am                               C                  G 
For to woo the fisher’s daughter and to claim her marriage hand 
       C                G             C                G 
I have come in from the ocean, I have come in from the sea 
         Am                                 C     G         Am 
And I’ll not go to the waves, love, lest ye come along with me 


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


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


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


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


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


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


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