FOLK-LORE FROM UNST. 215 



said, " That was what I got for saving my brother's 

 wife frae the Trows." 



One night a family having gone to bed heard a noise 

 in their but-end-o'-the-hoose, and the woman peeped 

 through a chink and saw a number of Trows at the 

 fire nursing a sick one. She heard them say that 

 their invalid was afflicted with jaundice, and they were 

 pouring water on her out of a small wooden bowl 

 (known in Shetland by the name of cap). As they 

 poured the water they said, " This is the way to cure 

 it." The woman instantly fixed her eyes upon the 

 cap and called out, " Glide be aboot you," and the 

 Trows instantly fled, leaving the cap, which was kept 

 in that family and lent to people suffering from 

 jaundice. Whether the woman had failed to gain all 

 the needful information regarding the cure or not, 

 certainly the use of the cap was not successful in all 

 cases. But once a man (in another island) dreamt 

 that if he went to a certain place among the cliffs he 

 would there find a shell that would cure the jaundice, 

 if he would use it as directed. He went to the place 

 and found the shell, which he supposed to be a knee- 

 cap. It was formed of bone, smooth inside. He was 

 told to use it along with the Trow-cap, and the 

 directions for use were as follows. 



The patient must go out fasting — speechless — must 

 utter no word — must go to a well flowing east. The 

 person who accompanies the patient must carry the 

 cap, inside of which must rest the shell. The cap 

 must be dropped on the water and allowed to fill 



