FOLK-LORE FROM UNST. ixj 



" The men called it a sea-devil, and all the descrip- 

 tion they could ever give of it was, that it resembled 

 a large lump of grey slub " (jelly-fish sort of stuff). 



" Had it a face ? " 



" No ; it had no form at all." 



" How could it walk ? It must have had legs, at 

 least." 



" No ; it had no legs nor wings, but it kept the 

 man running, and run what he could, he could not go 

 so fast as it." 



" What could it be ? " 



" That no human can tell. The men never could 

 tell what it was like, but they called it a sea-devil, 

 and they said it was the same thing which came up 

 at the Haaf one day, and told the fishers that they 

 must never go to sea on the fourth day of Yule, else 

 evil would betide them." 



The Norsemen understood the language of ravens, 

 and many strange secrets were revealed through the 

 bird of the air telling the matter. If two ravens are 

 seen " contending as they fly," one will turn round 

 on its back and cry, " Corp ! corp ! " and the beholder 

 knows that some one he loves will die soon ! 



Sea-gulls watch over fishermen and foretell their end 

 — if you can understand their language ! 



Mice could be banished from the corn-yards by using 

 .a charm, which those who knew kept to themselves ! 



It is lucky to catch a turbot, and luck will follow 

 the fishermen who do so if they attend to what a 

 turbot once said : — 



