Measuring a live bear to win supernatural power.
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1973.63.A3
Original Tape ID
Summary
Measuring a live bear to win supernatural power.
Tom Tulloch was told the following story by a man whose father gained supernatural powers by spanning [measuring by hand] a living polar bear.
It was a belief among the Shetland seal hunters working in Greenland that if they could span a live polar bear, they would be imbued with magical force. Lowrie was one of the few to have done it. Years later, Lowrie and his son (Tom's source) were walking home from work in Yell when they were summoned to attend a woman gravely ill in childbirth. Lowrie laid hands on the woman, who recovered and bore a healthy son, who is a man of about 65 still living in Lerwick [in 1973].
Item Subject/Person
Lowrie, seal hunter
Recording Location
County - Shetland
Parish - Yell
Island - Yell
Village/Place - Gutcher
Item Location
County - Shetland
Parish - Yell
Island - Yell
Village/Place - Cullivoe
Non Scottish Item Location
Greenland
Non Scottish Item Location
A' Ghraonlainn
Language
Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good