That was how the devil came to remove the side-fins from the trout.
The herring is the king of fishes, but the fish from which St. Peter got the tribute money was the haddock.[1]
St. Columkille is very much mixed up with beast stories. There is a story of how the flounder got a crooked mouth, which belongs to the folklore of many countries, but is here associated with the saint, who was one day wading through one of the sandy fords common in the islands, when the flounder, who was resting on a stone, mocked him, and had a crooked mouth for ever after.
It is not right to remove any fish found dead upon the shore of loch or sea. Three Eriskay men were landing in a boat a little below the chapel-house, when they saw a dead salmon and some large trout on the shore. All made a rush for it; but the one that got it was thereafter sorry, for a near relative soon died.
It is not right to put a whelk to roast on the fire, it will produce seven years of famine.
There is a little univalve shell the people call fuoitrag, which it is lucky to carry in the pocket, and three of them will save one from being lost in a mist.
We heard of a little black-beetle that strikes a smart ticking blow. Children call him "the little smith," and they call "Little Smith, little Smith, strike the hammer," and then they listen for the little blow.
The bare-footed children are expected to wash their feet in the burn before coming indoors to bed. If they omit this duty they are threatened with the centipede, which is called "Martin of the knives," or "the lad of the knives," sometimes "the red fox," from his colour.
The children apparently understand the habits of the
- ↑ [Off the American coast there is a fish called the King-fish; a kind of herring, clad in glistening silver scales, a most beautiful object, six feet long. It is not good for food, however.—E. S. H.]
