Folk-Lore
cross witches above the breath, i.e., on the forehead, so as to draw their drörie (blood) with a steel noraleg (a needle with the eye broken), deprived them of their power to hurt. A steel knife stuck in the mast of a boat was used as a means of raising the wind; but some old fishermen would rather have rowed in a calm than had recourse to this expedient, which it was said had been the overthrow of some.
A story is told in verse by one of the Scotts of Lund of a belated traveller who was sorely pressed by a swarm of hillfolk or trows near the Heugins o' Watley:
“Whin Johnnie cam' ta Watley burn,
They (trows) tried to do 'im an ill turn;
Bit haein his gun weel lod,
He cocked an' fired ta clear da rodd.
Bit Johnnie's gun refused ta fire,
Which made 'im cry: “O, dems er dier”;
Then in the barrel he did drive
English shillings number five,
Which into bodies did divide
That walked close by Johnnie's side.”
When instruments of domestic use or
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