Wild Orkney

Today's Folklore Thursday theme is 'wild men, wild women, wild places.'


One wild place in Orkney is the island of Swona.


Swona is an island situated in the Pentland Firth, south of Orkney and to the West of South Ronaldsay. It is often confused with Stroma which is further South and therefore seen as part of Caithness.

This island has been uninhabited since 1974 when batchelor Jim Rosie left and there were only ever about 8 houses on the island. Its position in the Pentland Firth means that it is not easily accessible and therefore it is rarely visited.

People who have made the trip have returned with descriptions of houses left as if the occupants had meant to return moments later. Pictures are still on the walls and the tables are set for tea.

The only inhabitants are a herd of beef cattle which are now feral and have become a seperate species. Apparently, these cattle forage for seaweed and move around the island in one unit like a scary cow gang. As somone who is already scared of cows, I have made a mental note to never visit this island.


As for wild men and women, the amphibious, shape-shifting Finfolk were said to live in Finfolkaheem, described variously as either a vanishing island, a city at the bottom of the sea, or perhaps the island of Eynhallow.

'The sand of that country was gold dust, its palaces, built of coral and crystal and adorned with pearls and precious stones, shone like stars in the weird light of that magic land; all furniture and utensils were silver and gold; the halls were hung with gorgeous curtains, the colours of which were like the aurora borealis in most brilliant coruscations.'

Sanday man Arthur Deerness was apparently dragged down to this magical submarine land and enchanted by a mermaid named Auga. He forgot all about his family, home and fiancé Clara Peace.

Clara was distraught at his appearance and the local speywife, Marion of Grindalay determined to help her. Locking herself away for the night, Marion emerged in the morning looking spent yet cheerful.

Meanwhile, Arthur's first night in Finfolkaheem had been full of rich foods, fine wines and the bed of Auga. The only irritation had been a black cat which stole some food, spilt his wine and came between him and his mermaid bride in their matrimonial bed. The cat later appeared whilst the couple sat together and, grabbing Arthur's finger, traced a cross on Auga's brow.

The enchantment was instantly broken and Arthur found himself on the rocks at Hamaness, the exact spot he'd disappeared from, free to return to Clara's waiting arms.

Image of Swona's feral cattle taken from article Feral Cattle of Swona, Orkney Islands, by S. J. G. Hall and G. F. Moore.

Finfolkaheem story taken from Walter Traill Dennison's Orkney Folklore and Traditions and information on Fin Folk taken from The Folklore of Orkney and Shetland by Ernest W. Marwick.

Fairy Folklore

The wonderful Ernest Walker Marwick collected many tales, superstitions, songs, rhymes and memories over the years. He was interested in everything and saw fit to record a local woman's recollection of seeing a fairy when she was three years old:

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He also spoke to film-maker Margaret Tait about fairy lore she had heard:



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...and he collected the story of Mansie Ritch of Hoy's visit to fairyland:









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It is interesting that two people described their fairy folk as being eighteen inches in height and dapperly dressed...also that fairies like potatoes.

Do any readers have some fairy folk recollections?



Information taken from Orkney Archive references: D31/1/1/25, D31/2/5 and D31/3/2



Sieve and Let Sieve

Our old Hallowe'en post gained a couple of new comments when we re-tweeted it at the start of the week. One comment asked about the significance of the sieve and knife used by brave lasses trying to divine the identity of their future husband.


I had a look back at the Ernest Walker Marwick notes we had looked at before and the full extract reads:

"How would you like to sit in a dark barn, with all the doors open, when all the bogles are around, winnowing with an empty sieve on which you placed a knife, and knowing that an apparition having the appearance of your future partner would pass the door?"

'Winnowing' means to sift or sort the wheat from the chaff and I wonder if shaking the sieve around with a reflective blade on the top was meant to bounce any moonlight that made its way through the open bar door, thus producing a fleeting 'apparition'?

I found another reference to a sieve in the same record in an extract discussing old fashioned medical treatments:

Orkney Archive Reference D31/72/1/22

I seem to recall a few witchy stories involving sieves too which I shall try and unearth in the next week or so. To be continued...


See also these weird sieve-related punishments as unearthed by dusty. Here and here.


Does anyone have any more sieve stories to share?

Black Cat Thursday

Today is Black Cat awareness day and we enjoy a Folklore Thursday sooooo....

We've written before about a wizard who supposedly shapeshifted into a cat and this idea appears again in the Ernest Walker Marwick papers:

Two young men on the isle of Sanday were taken ill with a very infectious fever. The locals were too afraid of falling ill to tend to them and it was said that Recchel Tulloch brought them food in the guise of a cat.

Unfortunately for Recchel, she broke her leg soon after this and was confined to bed. At this time, a cat had been caught in a rabbit trap on the Backaskaill links!!! It also broke its leg!!! The only conclusion to be reached is that they were one and the same!

The Marwick papers also tell how cats were the Macbeth of the seas... you never mentioned or even alluded to a cat whilst on the ocean as it was a terrible omen. This is why some Shetland boys decided to smuggle a cat on board their father's fishing boat; secreting the poor thing within the sail.

Ernest Walker Marwick's notes, Orkney Archive reference D31/6/8

When the material unfurled to reveal the unlucky moggy, their father turned straight back to dry land, ordered a new boat and did not fish  until it was ready.

One of the lovelier Orcadian tales is that of 'Finfolkaheem' - home of the Fin men as told by Walter Traill Dennison:

'The sand of that country was gold dust, its palaces, built of coral and crystal and adorned with pearls and precious stones, shone like stars in the weird light of that magic land; all furniture and utensils were silver and gold; the halls were hung with gorgeous curtains, the colours of which were like the aurora borealis in most brilliant coruscations.'

Sanday man Arthur Deerness was apparently dragged down to this magical submarine land and enchanted by a mermaid named Auga. He forgot all about his family, home and fiancé Clara Peace.

Clara was distraught at his appearance and the local speywife, Marion of Grindalay determined to help her. Locking herself away for the night, Marion emerged in the morning looking spent yet cheerful.

Meanwhile, Arthur's first night in Finfolkaheem had been full of rich foods, fine wines and the bed of Auga. The only irritation had been a black cat which stole some food, spilt his wine and came between him and his mermaid bride in their matrimonial bed. The cat later appeared whilst the couple sat together and, grabbing Arthur's finger, traced a cross on Auga's brow.

The enchantment was instantly broken and Arthur found himself on the rocks at Hamaness, the exact spot he'd disappeared from, free to return to Clara's waiting arms.

So black cats can save the day too...

Information taken from Orkney Archive references D31/6/8, D31/2/4 and

Walter Traill Dennison's Orkney Folklore and Traditions.