Shetland Folk-Lore
formance seldom practised, except by some person of a "“deil-may-care” disposition, for while the other Hallowmas sports had for their object merely the forecasting of matters matrimonial, this was supposed to unfold the future, even the spirit-world; and the person who had the hardihood to “go i' da harrow” never revealed what they either saw or heard, and always warned others not to try such a trick. The performance was very simple. Three harrows were placed, some distance apart, outside the open fodder door of an old barn, and at the hour of midnight a person went blindfold into the yard and passed back foremost over each harrow in turn, thence through the barn window, and at the end of this journey he was supposed to fall into a sort of trance and hear and see unutterable things.
When Hallowmas was past, the people set themselves in right earnest to their winter duties. Handline or klak fishing
was practised when weather permitted, and
194
