A witch tried to enchant a man to come to her daughter but h...
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1970.244
Original Tape ID
Summary
A witch tried to enchant a man to come to her daughter but his dog got the magic brunie instead.
An old woman who was supposed to be a witch lived in a thatched house with her daughter. A young man who was courting the daughter got cold feet and went with another girl instead, making the old woman angry. The man avoided the house for a long time, but one day he went to pick limpets for fish bait and had to pass the house. He went in to visit the pair and was warmly welcomed. The old woman was baking brunies [beremeal bannocks] while the girl worked around the house.
After a while he said he would have to go to the ebb [exposed shore at low tide] for the limpets, but the woman insisted he take a certain brunie with him that she had spent a long time preparing. He suspected something, so threw the brunie to his dog. The dog disappeared on the way home and he eventually found it lying down on the roof of the old woman's house. He took the dog back home, but every chance it got it went back to the old woman's house and could not be cured, so he ended up destroying the dog.
Recording Location
County - Shetland
Parish - Fetlar
Island - Fetlar
Item Location
County - Shetland
Language
English, Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good