Search

Fishing superstitions and sea names of Foula.

Date 1958
Track ID 34250
Part 1
Part 2

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1958.184.3

Original Tape ID

SA1958.184

Summary

Fishing superstitions and sea names of Foula.

In "ancient times" fishermen had to beware of meeting the bad foot [unlucky person] on their way to sea. According to Robbie Isbister, that is nowadays rightly dismissed as superstition. Certain taboo things were not to be referred to by their normal names at sea and had special sea names instead, e.g.

yongers [horse],
scaffin (or fittin) [cat],
klibna [tongs],
blethers [sheep],
hyuncie [hen],
tounskerrie [cock],
rakki [dog],
cunning [rabbit].

Foula women did not bait lines as they did in other places, but were involved in agriculture.

Item Notes

With yongers, cf. 'The Scottish National Dictionary' s.v. younker. For scaffin, see s.v. skaave (scrape, scratch). With clibna, cf. clivin; with hyuncie, cf. yonsi; for tounskerrie see s.v. toun. With 'blether', cf. the East Coast fishermen's sense 'a buoy'.

See:
'The Scottish National Dictionary', available online [[http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/]] (accessed 19 January 2009)

Recording Location

County - Shetland

Parish - Walls and Sandness

Island - Foula

Item Location

County - Shetland

Parish - Walls and Sandness

Island - Foula

Language

English, Scots

Genre

Information

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good