Folk-Lore
I gaed oot ae moarnin' in May,
I fan a thing in a cole o' hay,
It wis nedder fish, flesh, feather, or bane,
Bit I kept it till it could gaeng its lane.”
Answer—An egg.
These may serve as specimens of Shetland
riddles. There was scarcely anything
either about the house, within or without
the house, that was not made the subject
of a guddik.
Another favourite pastime was going in wads (forfeits). There were various forms practised in this game. I shall mention one that I remember seeing in Unst, and which, I doubt not, is very old.
The young people are seated round the open fireplace. A piece of straw, or better still, of dried dockweed, say about eight inches long, is bent in the form of an acute triangle. Both the ends are lighted in the fire and begin to burn slowly, something like a cigar. It is now carefully balanced at the angular point on another straw held
perpendicularly in the hand of No. 1, who
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