Page:Shetland Folk-Lore - Spence - 1899.pdf/31

 the neugle for a real horse, should get astride the uncanny beast, he was at once borne with the swiftness of an arrow into the middle of the nearest lake or dam, and there left struggling in the water, while he beheld the creature rushing towards the opposite shore like a streak of mareel. It is not said that anyone was ever actually drowned by the neugle. But the Finns could ride the water horse, and were supposed to utilise him in some of their rapid movements.

In Shetland folk-lore the Finns, both men and women, were supposed to possess a skin or garment like the covering of a selkie (seal). Enrobed in this magic coat, they could take to the water as readily and as safely as an amphibious animal. But if by any mischance they lost or were deprived of it, then the rest of their days must be spent on terra firma like other ordinary mortals.

In old times there was an aversion to and superstitious dread of killing a selkie,