The Selkie and the Swans

 The Selkie and the Swans



The King went out riding, riding, riding

With his Court and Horse so gay

With jangles and clopping they rode along

Bright and shiny banners waving in the wind


The King he rode down streets so broad

The King he rode down streets so far

Then came the King and all his court

To the blue-white sea. 


There on the Strand stood a girl

A girl so lovely there to see

The King stopped his horse to look upon her

And saw the Sealskin at her feet


I love her, thought the King

I shall have her, thought the king

And as King’s thoughts are wishes, 

Those wishes do come true


Swiftly he sent his horse running, running, running

Ere the girl could reach the sea

Took he her sealskin coat, 

Too her too, upon his horse


And back the King went riding, riding riding

With his court so gay and fair

Swiftly their horses went running running running

Back to his castle, far from the sea


All that time the girl did weep

For she was a maiden on the land

And only on the sea, a seal so free

But without her sealskin coat, a maiden she would be.


At the Castle many dresses she was given

Many fine flowers for her hair

But not a smile would she give him

Nor a cheek without a tear


For her sealskin coat was missing

And she knew not where it would be

And without it she would never swim so free

With her brothers and sisters, the selkies of the sea


Yet the King he loved her and the King would wed her

All her tears and all her sighs could not turn his heart away

So on the tower on her bower, in the air and in the sun

The selkie girl sat and wept, and wept some more.


Then above her three Swans flew by

Their leader black as the midnight sky

The two behind as white as foaming waves

Above her they circled, once, twice, thrice


Oh Selkie Girl, Oh Selkie Girl

The Black Swan cried, when a Maid she came to be

Why weep you here upon this tower?

When you should be swimming with your sisters in the sea?


The Selkie girl ceased her weeping

And spoke to the three Swan ladies before her

Her words were soaked in tears

But she spoke them clear and true


Oh Swan Sisters, I weep here upon this tower

For tonight the King will marry me

My sealskin he has stolen

And I cannot go back to the sea


The Black Swan hissed and jeered

And her sisters flexed their arms with womanly fury

The King would no longer hurt this Selkie girl

And she would no longer weep.


Oh Maiden, Sweet Maiden, the Black Swan said

Here is the plan, follow it close

Go to the King with smiles bright

And ask him for a Black Swan, to bedeck your wedding feast


So the Selkie girl went to the king

Eyes shining brightly, like the jewels placed in her hair

And with smiling lips she asked him

For a black swan freshly killed, to bedeck their wedding feast


Thinking that at last he had her

And thinking no further than that night

The King gave his word most gladly

And set out to hunt the Black Swan


His huntsman had seen a black swan just that day

Flying east with two white swans behind

So off the King rode, on his horse so fine,

To hunt the Black Swan, and sway his winsome bride


Through the forest wound the track, thick with trees and many branches

Swiftly he rode, the king so brave and bold

Until he came to a pond in a wide green glade

A pond where the black swan swam


Speedily the King drew his bow, with keen eye he sighted

And drawing back the bow, would have plunged the arrow deep

But then two lasses beat him down with staves so sturdy

And strung him up against the oak, with ropes thickly entwining


Then came the Black Swan gadding up before him

And lo! - A maiden stout and strong loomed above him

Her arms like siege towers, her eyes as battle-ready warsteeds

When the trumpets sound, and death is in their nostrils.


Tell me oh King, and Tell my sisters too

Tell us of the Selkie Maid who weeps within your tower

And tell us too, of that sealskin coat you have hidden away

That she never swims again in the sea so free.


The King could not but tell them all

For the Swan ladies had crowded close about him

He told them of the Maiden he had seen and loved

And the sealskin coat he had hidden so cleverly away forever.


At those words the Black Swan leapt astride his fine red stallion

And two white swans flew to the blue-cast sky

Swiftly they crossed through the forest, with branches looming

And swifter still they came to the castle tower


Fear not, dear Maiden, the Swans assured her

Our sister knows where the King has hidden your sealskin coat

And she now rides to bring it hither

And the King shall not marry you, this day or any other.


Then up came the Black Swan maiden, riding riding riding

On the King’s own red stallion, through the castle gates

Not a word to servant or soldier did she speak, 

But with sealskin coat she ran on swan-light feet.


Selkie Girl, my little sister, here take back your sealskin coat

Take it back, and swim once more in the sea so free

Take it back, and swim once more with brothers and sisters

Selkies all, and be free.


Oh Swans, the Selkie girl said, truly you have saved me

And now I shall return home to the sea

If ever you fly far from forest to the sea

Know you have a friend there, it shall be me.


The Selkie girl rode away from the castle to the sea

And above her were fair swans three

Two white and a black, strong and fierce

They flew above, until the seal dove back under the sea.


And now you may find a sight so strange to see

Where the white sand meets the churning sea

Four friends gathered, two as white as sea foam

One as black as winter night, and a selkie from the sea.

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