A woman gains special knowledge at a cost.
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1954.112.4+11
Original Tape ID
Summary
A woman gains special knowledge at a cost.
Brucie Henderson relates a 132-year-old tale of the supernatural that he heard from his father.
Merran Windwick lived in Norwick in Unst. She was a widow with one daughter and was a kind of doctor who could cure every ailment of man and beast. She moved to North Yell, and one night she was summoned by a stranger to attend his pregnant wife. She delivered a fairy child in a cave in the cliffs. As a reward Merran was offered one of three talents and chose "knowledge that passes all the bounds of moderation" and became an even greater healer and herbalist, invoking the name of the Lord to help her cures. Years later, she saw the stranger again. He asked her what eye she saw him with, then, "He blew in her eye and she never saw from that day till the day that she died, but she still had the knowledge."
Item Subject/Person
Windwick, Marion (Merran)
Recording Location
County - Shetland
Parish - Yell
Island - Yell
Village/Place - Arisdale
Item Location
County - Shetland
Parish - Unst
Island - Unst
Language
Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good