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