A short Shetland version, from a lady at Snarra Voe, was published in the 1850s by Captain F. W. L. Thomas, and Child included it in his English and Scottish Popular Ballads. Orkney versions came out through R. Menzies Fergusson in the 1880s, and some of them change the opening to put the heroine in Norway.
Sule Skerry is a real rocky island and lighthouse station far to the west of Orkney, in the council area.
This record is included for the place association and is a literary ballad. It should not be read as local belief in a particular seal man at the skerry. The pin is approximate at the island.
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