120 APPENDIX. 



when the boat has floated, is it deemed safe to turn 

 it but with the sun. If a man tread on the tongs 

 in the morning, or be asked where he is going, he 

 need not go to the fishing that day. When at sea, 

 the fishermen employ a nomenclature peculiar to 

 the occasion, and scarcely a single thing then re- 

 tains its usual name. Most of their names are of 

 Norwegian origin ; for the Norwaymen were re- 

 ported to have been successful fishers. Certain 

 names must not be mentioned while they are set- 

 ting their lines, especially the minister and the cat ; 

 and many others equally unmeaning. 



" Witchcraft is still believed by the peasantry 

 to exist in Zetland ; and some old women live bv 

 pretending to be witches, for no one ventures to re- 

 fuse what they ask. About six years ago, a man 

 entered a prosecution in the sheriff-court at Lerwick 

 against a woman for witchcraft. He stated, that she 

 uniformly assumed the form of a raven, and in that 

 character killed his cattle, and prevented the milk 

 of his cows from yielding butter. The late Mr. 

 Scott, then sheriff-substitute, permitted the case to 

 come into court, and was at great pains to explain 

 the folly, and even criminality of such proceed- 

 ings. 



" Nearly allied to witchcraft is a firm belief in 

 the efficacy of alms. When a person is anxious 



