The Great Silkie Of Sule Skerry

<br>(Traditional Child Ballad)<br>An earthly nourris sits and sings<br>And aye she sings, "Ba lily wean!<br>Little ken I of my bairn`s father,<br>Far less the land in where he be."<br>Then one arose at her bedside,<br>And a grim-faced man inded was he,<br>Saying, "Here I am, thy bairn`s father,<br>Though I be not handsome unto thee."<br>"I am a man upon the land,<br>I am a silkie on the sea,<br>And when I`m far and far frae land,<br>I make my home in Sule Skerry."<br>"It was nae weel," quoth the maiden fair,<br>"It was nae weel, indeed," quoth she,<br>"For the Great Silkie of Sule Skerry<br>Should have come and gi`en a bairn to me."<br>Now he has ta`en a purse of gold,<br>And he has placed it on her knee,<br>Saying, "Give to me my wee young son,<br>And take this gold as thy nourris fee."<br>"It shall come to pass, on a summer`s day,<br>When the sun shines hot on every stone,<br>That I will take my wee young son<br>And teach him for to swim the foam."<br>"And thou shalt marry a proud gunner,<br>And a proud gunner I`m sure he`ll be,<br>And the very first shot that e`er he shoots,<br>He`ll kill both my young son and me."