Page:Shetland Folk-Lore - Spence - 1899.pdf/40

 ancient craigsman had sat, where his feet had stood, and where his böddie had hung. These holes are not often met with on the low shores of our inland voes, because there the primitive boat of the period could fish in ordinary weather.

Several conjectures have been made as to the origin and use of those ancient marks. Some have supposed that they have been used in connection with worship. I do not believe that those who made them were so foolish as to climb the heights of Tukkabersoada or Lucegrood, or descend to the Bersit o' Millyague to offer their devotions.

It is commonly supposed that these holes were formed for the purpose of pounding and holding rooder for soe, or lure. Probably this latter theory contains an element of truth. The craig fisherman would have found the cup hole very convenient for holding bait, and no doubt he utilised it for that purpose while engaged in fishing. The bait, I imagine, was Rh