Page:Shetland Folk-Lore - Spence - 1899.pdf/181

 burstin. This was the annual offering to the Water Neugle, in order to insure the good services of his godship. When this was neglected, the Neugle would sometimes grasp the tirl and stop the mill, and could only be dislodged by dropping a firebrand down by the lightnin' tree. The ground meal was sifted in sieves made of sheep-skin, fastened tightly round a hoop or rim, and perforated with red-hot revatwirries (straightened out fish hooks). When sifted, the meal fell into three divisions—meal, groats, and ootsiftins, from the last of which that delicious food called sooans, and that healthy tonic beverage known as swats, are made.

In the yard near the stiggie was often to be seen a small skroo of corn, standing apart from the rest. This was the annual offering set apart to Broonie, a household deity whose good services were thus secured, particularly in protecting the corn yard and thatch roofs during the storms of winter. No article of clothing