Campbell sets this beside a second contest in which the Uist and Tiree witches tried each other. The Tiree witches prevailed, and men of the old generation believed that every flounder caught that year on the Tiree shore had a hole in its tail, made in the struggle. On the shallows between Tiree and Coll the witches of the two islands were often seen fighting for the flounders, an appearance Campbell thinks arose from the sea's look in stormy weather.
There is no date or name for the Barra witch. The tale reflects a belief that luck in the fishing could be directed by witchcraft, and that rival communities had witches working for them.
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