Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 2, 1891.djvu/526

 470 When the sin sets in a bank

Wasterly win' ye winna want." (Buckie.)

"If the sin set in a bank,

A westerly ween ye winna want;

If she set clear

An easterly ween is near." (Macduff.)

A variant of the last line is: —

"A clear in the nor' never hairm nae man," said a Portessie man. It is a common opinion that all the bad weather " makes up" in the south-west (Portessie).

"When it thickens in the wast," said a man of Portessie, "it will be southerly winds in the firth."

Of a summer afternoon the rays of the sun stretch at times down to the horizon. The sun is then said to be "shaftit", and there is a formula:—

Of a summer afternoon, when the sun is westering, there is at times a peculiar glassy-like glitter on the sea. Some fishermen say that it is an indication of coming stormy weather or of rain (Pittulie).

A halo round the sun is called "a sin-bow", and is regarded as the forerunner of rain. The opening in the halo indicates the point from which the wind is to blow (Pittulie). It indicates foul weather (Rosehearty).

A mock-sun goes by the names of:—Dog (general), falcon (Buckie, Portessie), ferrick (general), sin-ferrick, sin-dog (general). The fishermen of Buckie speak of a