Editing Trow (folklore) (section)

== Sea-trow ==
{{See also|tangie}}

There are varying descriptions concerning the sea-trow.

An early account is that of the trow ({{langx|la|Troicis|italic=no}} ''{{linktext|recté}}'' '''{{lang|la|Trowis|italic=no}}'''){{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Ben's "trowis" is mentioned by [[John Graham Dalyell|Dalyell]] in 1835,<ref name="dalyell"/> but read as "Troicis" and recognized as "trow" by [[Samuel Hibbert-Ware|Samuel Hibbert]] (1822).<ref>{{harvp|Hibbert|1822|p=569†}}; {{harvp|Hibbert|1891 |p=263†}}</ref> The word was later also misread or misprinted as ''Troicis'' in MacFarlane & Mitchell edd. (1908),<ref name="ben-macfarlane&mitchell-edd"/> though emended back to ''Trowis'' against three manuscripts in Calder & MacDonald (1936).<ref name="calder&macdonald"/>}} of [[Stronsay]], as described by Jo. Ben (i.e., John or Joseph Ben)'s{{efn|Jo. being an abbreviation for "John"<ref name="orkney-handbook"/> or "Joseph".<ref name="bicket"/> He was said to be a non-local itinerant, a Scottish ecclesiastic making a tour of Orkney.<ref name="orkney-handbook"/>}} ''Description of the Orkney Islands'' (1529); it was a maritime monster resembling a [[colt (horse)|colt]] whose entire body was cloaked in seaweed, with a coiled or matted coat of hair, sexual organs like a horse's, and known to engage in [[sexual intercourse]] {{efn|''[[wikt:concubuit|concubuit]]'', [[wikt:coeunt|coeunt]]'' "copulate"}} with the women of the island.<ref name="ben-macfarlane&mitchell-edd"/>{{sfnp|Grydehøj|2009|p=59}}

The sea-trow of Orkney is "the ugliest imaginable" according to [[Walter Traill Dennison|W. Traill Dennison]], who says that it has been represented as a scaly creature with matted hair,{{sfnp|Dennison, W. Traill|1891|p=168}} having monkey-like face and sloping head.  It was said to be frail-bodied with disproportionately huge sets of limbs, disc-shaped feet ("round as a millstone") with webbings on their hands and feet, causing them to move with a lumbering and "wabbling" slow gait.{{sfnp|Dennison, W. Traill|1891|pp=167–168}}{{Refn|[[Ernest Marwick]] restates the same physical description, and remarks that the seaweed-covered, monstrously large creature is also known as "tangy" ([[tangie]]), in contrast to the Norse merman which is human-sized if not a bit smaller.{{sfnp|Marwick, E.|1991|p=262}}}}

However, in Shetland, "da mokkl sea-trow", a great evil spirit that dwelled in the depths,{{Refn|Translated as "the big sea-troll" by Teit, with the reminder that Scots ''trow'' is defined as‘sprite or fairy’, and Teit himself notes:"'trow' 'trou' or 'troll' seems to be applicable to any kind of super-natural being, but particularly to fairies or elves".<ref name="teit"/>}}<ref name="teit"/> was said to take on the shape of a woman, at least in some instances.{{Refn|[[Edward Charlton (historian)]] remarks that a piece of coral from the deep "which bore a rude though striking resemblance to the human face and figure... was no doubt, regarded with awe by the.. Shetlanders, who would .. believe it to be a petrified mermaid or a great sea-trow converted into cranzie (coral)".<ref name="charlton1832"/>}}

It is blamed for awaiting in the depths and stealing from the fish caught on fishermen's lines,{{sfnp|Dennison, W. Traill|1891|pp=167–168}} and otherwise feared for causing storms or causing ill luck to fishermen.<ref name="teit"/> In the form of the wailing woman, she portends some misfortune befalling the witness/audience.<ref name="teit"/>

According to [[Samuel Hibbert-Ware|Samuel Hibbert]] the sea-trow was a local version of the ''[[Neck (water spirit)|neckar]]'', and he specified that it was reputed to be decked with various stuff from out of the sea, especially ''fuci'' (''[[Fucus]]'' spp. of seaweed),{{sfnp|Hibbert|1822|p=524}} whose larger forms near shore are known as "tang" in Shetland.{{sfnp|Hibbert|1822|p=586}}<ref>''Dictionary of the Scots Language'' (2004) s.v. "[https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/tang_n1 Tang n.1]"</ref> And though Hibbert does not make the connection, E. Marwick equated the sea-trow with the "[[tangie|tangy]]", as already noted.<ref>{{harvp|Marwick, H.|1933a|p=32}}; {{harvp|Marwick, E.|1991|p=262}}</ref>