The Black Dog

Shetlopedia - The Shetland Encyclopaedia

The story of Minnie Merrin, a witch who changes herself into a black dog so she can attack and injure a neighbour. However, the unusual formation of the dogs eyelids causes the neighbour to recognise the witch within, so he attacks her.

Bringing down a pair of tongs on the dog, he cries out "Tak' doo yon, Minnie Merran, an bear doo da weight o' dis auld airm as lang as doo leeves."

When the witch was next seen, she had a hump on her back and was walking with a stick. She claimed to have fallen from a height and broken her back. But local folk called it "the mark o' auld Jockie's taings."