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The Grey Selkie

from Haunting by Christina Stewart

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about

My version of this song is based on one lodged at the School of Scottish Studies, recorded in Orkney in 1970 from the singing of James Henderson and one of at least three distinct melodies in the archive, none of which bears any significant resemblance to the one popularised by Joan Baez. The lyrics of this version mention the island of Hoy, famous for its "Old Man". There is a full discussion of the ballad by the late Dr Alan Bruford in Scottish Studies 18, reprinted in Ballad Studies, edited by Dr Emily Lyle. Iain's comments on the track "Selkies and Grey Seals" put the notion of an un-noticed visit by a grey seal transformed into a man into context.

lyrics

There lived a maid in the Norway Lands
“Hush ba loo lilly” did she sing
“I dinna ken whaur my babe’s father is,
Nor the lands he travels in”

Now it happened on one stormy night
As this fair maid laid fast asleep
That in there came a grey selkie
And laid himself down at her feet

Crying “Awake, awake, my pretty maid!
Awake, awake from thy sleep
I’ll tell thee where thy babe’s father is
He’s lying down at thy bed feet”

“I am a man upon the land
A grey selkie in the sea
And I do come from the wastard o Hoy
Which wise men call Sule Skerrie

“My name it is good Hyne Malair
I earn my living by the sea
And when I’m far from every shore
Then I am in Sule Skerrie”

“What a weary fate’s been laid for me
That there should come a grey selkie
From the wastard o Hoy to the Norway land
To have a bairn wi me”

“O I will wed thee with a ring
With a ring my dear I’ll wed wi thee”
“Thou may wed thee’s weds wi whom thou wilt
But thou’ll ne’er wed none wi me”

“Then thou shalt nurse thy little wee son
Seven long years upon thy knee
And at the end of seven years
I’ll come and pay thy nurse’s fee”

It’s o, she’s nursed her little wee son
For seven long years upon her knee
And he’s come back a gay gentleman
Wi a coffer of gold monie

“I’ll wed thee with a ring, “ she cried
“Wi a ring my dear I’ll wed wi thee”
“Thou may wed thee’s weds wi whom thou wilt
But thou’ll ne’er wed none wi me”

“But you will get a gunner good
Aye a good gunner he will be
And he’ll gaeng out on a Mey morning
And shoot the son and the grey selkie

“I’ll put a gold chain about his neck
And a gey good gold chain it will be
That if he e’er comes to the Norway lands
Well knowed he may be”

And o she got a gunner good
Aye a good gunner was he
And he gaed out one May morning
And shot the son and the grey selkie

“For you have shot good Hyne Malair
And o he was right kind to me”
She gied a sigh, sobbed aince or twice
Then heart did brak in three.

credits

from Haunting, released October 31, 2011
Vocals: Christina Stewart
Guitar: Martin MacDonald

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Christina Stewart Scotland, UK

A voice described as the aural equivalent of ‘sweet, organic honey drizzling slowly from a honey wand’ in Dirty Linen magazine. Christina is a singer, teacher, tradition bearer and musical explorer, singing in Gaelic, Scots and English. She belongs to Inverness, the Highland capital, where the Gaelic and Scots heritages of the north of Scotland meet. ... more

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