A midwife who delivered a fairy child was able to see the fa...
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1970.244
Original Tape ID
Summary
A midwife who delivered a fairy child was able to see the fairy world, until a fairy blinded her.
An old woman who lived on Fetlar attended a lengthy birth, and it was getting dark when she went home. She met a man who asked her to attend a woman giving birth in his house. She helped deliver the baby and was asked to rub the child all over with ointment. She had never heard of such a thing, but did so. After rubbing her eye and accidentally getting some ointment in it, she saw that she was in a fairy house. The man put her on her road home, paid her, and thanked her for her help.
A long time afterwards, she saw the same man walking over the hill with a staff. She went up to him and asked after the woman and the baby. Instead of being pleased, the man looked distressed. He asked her which eye she saw him with and when she told him, he lifted his stick and knocked her on the eye. She was blind for the rest of her life.
This is a Fetlar story that the old folk told when Mrs Anderson was a child.
Item Notes
A similar story, told by Brucie Henderson, is set in Yell and concerns a midwife called Merran Widwick.
Recording Location
County - Shetland
Parish - Fetlar
Island - Fetlar
Item Location
County - Shetland
Parish - Fetlar
Island - Fetlar
Language
English, Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good