Silkie
The Silkie be a creature strange;
He rises from the sea to change
Into a man, a weird one he,
Whose home it is in Skule Skerrie.
When he be man, he takes a wife;
When he be beast, he takes her life.
Ladies, beware of him who be
A silkie come from Skule Skerrie.
His love they willingly accept,
But after they have loved and slept,
Who is the monster that they see?
'Tis "Silkie" come from Skule Skerrie.
A maiden from the Orkney Isles,
A target for his charm, his wiles,
Eager for love, no fool was she,
She knew the secret of Skule Skerrie.
And so, while Silkie kissed the lass,
She rubbed his neck with Orkney grass,
This had the magic power, you see
To slay the beast from Skule Skerrie.
Skule Skerrie, listed as Sule Skerry on most maps but can also be seen as Skule Skerry, is a remote rocky island off the coast of Orkney in northern Scotland. It is the site of the most isolated manned lighthouse in Europe.
This version of the silkie folk ballad appears to be an American adaptation possibly inspired by the Child ballad #113, The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry or The Grey Selkie of Suleskerry which is a traditional folk song from the Orkney Islands.