The Little Sea Witch

Gaelic traditional

Confound thee, little sea witch!

Confound thee, little sea witch!

Confound thee, little sea witch!

What has brought thee here?

To wash the shirt of the two Rodericks

And the shirt of Roderick thy son.

There is many a lair beneath the sea

Though ev'ry cave is not a tomb.

Is that the linen I planted and the linen I pulled?

The linen I rippled and the linen I broke?

The linen I scutched and the linen I scraped?

The linen I hackled and the linen I combed

To be soft and elegant?

The linen I spun and the linen I wove?

The linen I steeped and the linen I washed?

The linen I cut and the linen I sewed?

The linen I bleached on the grass of the green?

Oh! Oh! My plight and my torment!

The linen I consecrated with my scalding tears

To the one son of God for my only lambkin.

Oh sea witch of the sea mysteries,

I wonder what has brought thee here to this stream?

Thee will need this shirt my poor woman.

The two Rodericks shall be drowned.

But thy dear lambkin shall make the shore,

Thy son shall make the shore!