John Spence set down a body of Shetland tradition about the Finns, magicians who could vanish at will, take the form of beast, bird or fish, and understand the speech of corbies. A Finn could cross from Norwick in Unst to Bergen in Norway and back between sunset and sunrise, the traditional speed being nine miles to each stroke of the oar. They were said to wear a skin like a selkie, and to be the only beings who could safely ride the nuggle.
A tale from Unst tells of a Finn whose two sons fished with a handline. They came home after dark and spoke of a turbot that had broken a line their father had prepared. A little later he told them to put on the supper, as he was going out for a short time and would be back before the kettle was poured. As the supper was ready he walked in with a large turbot on his back, with the lost hook-line in its mouth. Asked where he had been, he said he had had the Ora at the Otsta with Vytaberg at Tonga before he made up with him.
The story is folklore, and the Finns here are a legendary people, not the kayakers sometimes called Finnmen in Orkney. Spence also records that people with a name for being lucky or skilled in the black art were called Norway Finns long after.
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