A shape-changing witch met her end when a jilted suitor cast...

Original Track ID

SA1972.241.B6

Original Tape ID

SA1972.241

Summary

A shape-changing witch met her end when a jilted suitor cast a spell on her.

Many hundreds of years ago a beautiful young girl called Mary lived in Arisdale with her mother. The pair worked magic on people they disliked. Mary was much sought after for her beauty. One day her suitors came to the house and she turned herself into a crow to escape. Her mother discovered her sitting in a panic on the dyke with one leg still human. She changed back and was locked inside, but not before she had been seen by one of the boys.

The Arisdale people had difficulty getting their sheep into the pund [communal pen]. They built another cro [sheep pen], but that was no use either. They hired a man from Unst, called James Banks, to caa [drive] the sheep in. He tried twenty times and failed, but said he'd known the enterprise would fail as he'd met two lovely mares on his way to Arisdale and this had been Mary and her mother. He had been able to see them for what they really were by standing in a particular fashion.

Eventually Mary was to marry but spurned her husband-to-be when a better catch came along. She was then plagued by cocks crowing, which only she could hear. If she went outside she saw and heard unearthly things. This had all been put on her by the man, and was the end of her.

Recording Location

Item Location

Language

Scots

Genre

Story Information

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Poor