A Halloween divination custom.
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1974.197.B2
Original Tape ID
Summary
A Halloween divination custom.
It was customary at Halloween for schoolboys to go to an old woman who was supposed to have some supernatural ability, and get her to cast a glass. She half-filled a wine glass with water and cracked an egg into it, saying: "A egg I crack in three; a egg I brak in three; a egg I drap in three; let so-and-so his wife and bairns see." She'd drop three drops of the egg white into the glass and blibes [bubbles] would rise to the surface, a larger one in the centre and others around it. These were the man's future wife and children. If nothing happened and no blibes came up, the boy would die a bachelor.
Recording Location
County - Shetland
Parish - Delting
Island - Shetland Mainland
Village/Place - Lunnasting, Laxo
Item Location
County - Shetland
Parish - Nesting
Island - Shetland Mainland
Village/Place - Lunnasting
Language
English, Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good