The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry

(Roud 197, Child 113)
Staff notation

1. In Norway land there lived a maid
"Hush, ba, loo, lillie" this maid began,
"I know not where my childs father lies,
Or what land or sea does he travel in."

2. It happened on a certain day,
When this fair lady fell fast asleep,
By and come a good grey selchie
And set him down at her bed feet.

3. Saying "Awake, my pretty fair maid,
For oh, how soundly do you sleep
And I'll tell you where your child's father lies
He's sitting close at your bed feet."

4. "I pray come tell to me your name,
And where your dwelling it might be?"
"My name it is the good Hein Mailer
I earn my living out o' the sea.

5. "I am a man upon the land,
I am a selchie in the sea,
And when I'm far from every strand
my home it is in the Sule Skerry."

6. "Alas, alas, this woeful fate,
This weary fate that's been laid on me,
That a man should come from the Wast o' Hoy
To the Norway lands to get a child with me.

7. "My dear, I'll wed you with a ring,
With a ring, my dear, will I wed with thee."
"Go wed your weddings with whom you will
For I'm sure you'll never wed none with me."
8."Yet you will nurse my little young son
For seven long years upon your knee,
And at the end o' seven long years
I'll come back and pay the nursing fee."
And at the end of seven years
He came back with gold and the white money.

10. He says, "My dear I'll wed you with a ring,
With a ring, my dear, I'll wed with thee."
"Go wed your weddings with whom you will
For I'm sure you'll never wed none with me."

11. "But I'll put a chain around his neck,
And of right fine gold I'm sure it'll be
That if ever he swims to the Norway lands,
You'll know right well that your son he be."

12. You will marry a gunner good,
And a right good gunner I'm sure he'll be
But he'll go out on a May morning
And he'll shoot the son and the grey selchie."

13. Oh she has married a gunner good,
And a right good gunner it was he.
But he went out on a fine May morning
And he shot the seal and the grey selchie.
He has taken the chain of gold
And he did place it upon her knee

14. "Alas, alas, this woeful fate,
This weary fate that's been laid on me."
Oh, You have slain my good Hein Mailer
An' her tender heart did break in three.

Contributed by Chris Coe (chris_coe2 @ yahoo.co.uk) - 21.6.04

My first hearing of this ballad was an anglicised version of this text sung by Joan Baez to a recently composed tune (Richard Farina?) It's a story that I've wanted to sing for years, but fought shy of the language. In 1993 I was working with an experimental theatre company called Aztec, working on story-telling performances using spoken text, physical theatre/gestural work and live sound track ... ie. me, using voice, dulcimers, concertina and percussion. Our second piece was the Lady Odivere - which is a longer version of The Great Silkie. I think we used a base text from the Oxford Book of Ballads. It's a folk poem, and our original source was George Mackay Brown, An Orkney Tapestry, London, 1978, Chapter 5 'The Ballad Singer'. The sung ballad is only part of this much longer, and truly wonderful story/poem - which is well-worth checking out on DigiTrad Lady Odivere (Grey Silkie 3).

There is a text is in English and Scottish Popular Ballads - F J Child, "from the proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Communicated by Capt F W LThomas. Written down by him from the dictation of a venerable lady of Snarra Voe, Shetland." But I eventually based my sung version (above) on the richer text in Bronson's Tunes of the English and Scottish Popular Ballads - refs: Otto Anderrson, Budkavlen (1947), with text contributed by Miss Gilchrist. Tune and text of 5th stanza sung by John Sinclair, Orkney Islands, 1938. The tune is wonderful, and Miss Gilchrist's text is also far easier to Anglicise.

Gilchrist Text, as printed in Bronson		My Alterations
(Italics indicate words changed)
1. In Norway land there lived a maid “Hush, ba, loo, lillie” this maid began, “I know not where my baby's father is, whether by land or sea does he travel in.” 2. It happened on a certain day, when this fair lady fell fast asleep, that in and cam' a good grey selchie and set him down at her bed feet. 3. Saying “Awak', awak,'my pretty fair maid, for oh, how sound as thou dost sleep, and I'll tell thee where thy baby's father is, he's sitting close at thy bed feet.” 4. “I pray come tell to me thy name, Oh tell me where does thy dwelling be?” “My nameis good Hein Mailer I earn my livin' oot o' the sea. 5. “I am a man upon the land, I am a selchie in the sea, an' whin I'm far from every strand my dwelling is (in) Shool Skerry.” 6. “Alas, alas, this woeful fate, this weary fate that's been laid on me, that a man should come from the Wast o' Hoy to the Norway lands to have a bairn with me. 7. “My dear, I'll wed you with a ring, with a ring, my dear, will I wed with thee.” “Thoo may go wed thee weddens wi' whom thoo wilt, for I'm sure thoo'll never wed none wi' me.” 8."Thoo will nurse my little wee son for seven long years upon thy knee, an' at the end o' seven long years I'll come back and pay the nursing fee.” 9.She's nursed her little wee son for seven long years upon her knee; an' at the end o' seven long years he came back wi'gold and white monie. 10. He says, “My dear I'll wed thee wi' a ring, wi' a ring, my dear, I'll wed wi' thee.” “Thoo mat go wed thee weddens wi' whom thoo wilt, for I'm sure thoo'll never wed none wi' me.” 11. “But I'll put a gold chain around his neck, an' a gey good gold chain it'll be, that if ever he comes to the Norway lands, thoo may bae a gey good guess on he. 12. An' thoo will get a gunner good, an' a gey good gunner it will be, an' he'll gae out on a May morning an' shoot the son and the grey selchie.” 13. Oh she has got a gunner good, an' a gey good gunner it was he. An' he gaed oot on a May morning an' he shot the son and the grey selchie. Note: (inserted by Bronson? Gilchrist?) “When the gunner returned and showed the Norway woman the gold chain which he found round the neck of the young seal she realised that her son had perished, and gave expression to her sorrow in the last verse.” I've replaced this Note by a detail from the story of Lady Odivere: 14. “Alas, alas, this woeful fate, this weary fate that's been laid on me.” An' ance or twice she sobbed and sighed, an' her tender heart did brak in three.		child's … lies or what by and come awake how soundly do you sleep you where your child's father lies your your and where your dwelling it might be it is the good out when Home it is in the get a child Go wed your weddings with whom you will you'll never wed none with me. yet you will nurse my little young son your And at the end of seven years he came back with gold and the white money (using repeat of tune lines 3 and 4) you with with … with thee Go wed your weddings with whom you will you'll ……… with a chain around his neck and of right fine gold I'm sure it'll be swims you'll know right well that your son he be. you … marry right good gunner I'm sure he'll be go married right he went out on a fine May morning seal And he has taken the chain of gold And he did place it upon her knee (using repeat of tune lines 3 and 4) Oh, You have slain my good Hein Mailer Break

Notes on my changes:

My aim is always to make the story words understandable to a modern audience.
I always anglicise; never try Scottish etc! But try to get as near to the meaning of the unfamiliar words as possible. 'Northern' English dialect words and vowel sounds help a lot.
Only use old-form 3rd person, thee and thou, if it adds to the meaning, eg. “I'll wed ~~thee~~ you with a ring”… he's trying to woo her.
Now and again I use extra lines on the end of a verse (to a repeat of the end section of the melody) to condense meaning, move the story on a bit more quickly, or avoid a repetition that I don't want. (Repetition is important to the ballad form, so I use this device sparingly) Eg. verse 8 becomes six lines, and verse 9 is left out.
I sometimes change words if vowel sounds are good, eg. verse 1 'child's father lies' instead of 'baby's father is'
Change words to make the language flow better for me.
Add extra words to enhance or change the rhythm 'My name is good Hein Mailer' becomes 'My name it is the good Hein Mailer'.
Change key words to heighten the story. (I'm aware that this is interference. I'm a story-teller first and foremost, but I do always make note of changes.) For Example:
Verse 11 - 'that if ever he swims to the Norway lands' as a slanting reference to the fact that her son is a seal.
Verses 12 and 13 - 'get a gunner good' becomes 'marry a gunner good' as is found in the text printed in Child.
This is fascinating stuff! He predicts the two deaths and tells her, but she still marries the gunner etc etc. Does she forget what has happened?
Verse 14 - 'and ance or twice she sobbed and sighed, and her tender heart it broke in three'… I read this as for her son, herself and Hein Mailer; ie. she loved the selchie and I unashamedly emphasise that in the penultimate line in order to get rid of the phrase 'sobbing and sighing' which I hate! (Sounds as if she's out of control, and that doesn't ring true somehow.)
Change words, phrases, rhythms etc with each singing; liking to elongate or shorten text lines so that the tune and/or rhythm have to change to accommodate.

Sources:

Records:
John Sinclair - Caedmon TC 1162 / Topic 12T 194 Sailormen & Servingmen
John Sinclair - Folktracks 60-189 The Great Silkie
John G Halcro - Greentrax CDTRAX 9021, Scottish Tradition 21 - Orkney. Land, Sea & Community.

Books:
Palmer, Everyman's Book of British Ballads pp.56-58
Buchan & Hall, Scottish Folksinger pp.100-101
Kinsley, Oxford Book of Ballads (1969 edn.) pp.91-93
Lyle, Scottish Ballads pp.124-125
Tocher 26 (1977) pp.97-100

Further information: