Page:Shetland Folk-Lore - Spence - 1899.pdf/231

 belonged to Delting, but there is no doubt he was a real person. Like most Shetland crofters, he owned a number of sheep, and as was his custom, he went out one morning to look for some that were straying, As he trudges over the snow-clad hills, what does he spy but the bröd o' dratsie (the footmarks or trail of an otter). Over hill and glen with eager step he follows the bröd until its end at the entrance to a yarff (hole in the moor) near the side of a burn. The hadd is too narrow to allow Robbie to enter and beard the otter in his den. He must dislodge him, and this is done by setting fire to a bundle of dry heather placed in the mouth of the yarff The smoke entering the recess is very offensive to the amphibious creature, and he hastens to escape; but Robbie is on the alert, and throws himself on the poor beast. The struggle is short and severe. The poor otter is stunned with repeated blows and laid aside as dead, while Robbie has received a bite in the left thumb. A