Shetland Halloween divination customs including spanning the...
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1970.242
Original Tape ID
Summary
Shetland Halloween divination customs including spanning the scroo and washing a blouse.
Divination customs at Halloween and Hallow Night included spanning the scroo [measuring the haystack] with a rope. Boys would climb to the top of the scroo and lower the rope saying, "Wha hauds my clew [string ball] end?" If no one had the rope, it meant the boy would remain unmarried. Someone might say that the muckle [great] devil was holding onto the end. Alternatively a girl might grab the clew end [signalling romantic interest].
At Halloween a girl might wash her blouse in a burn [stream] at a bridge where a corpse had crossed for burial in the churchyard. The blouse would be taken home for drying and as she left the burn the girl was supposed to see the man she would marry passing by. Another custom was to burn two nuts or orange seeds together as a divination rite.
Recording Location
County - Shetland
Parish - Yell
Island - Yell
Village/Place - Arisdale
Item Location
County - Shetland
Parish - Yell
Island - Yell
Language
English, Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good