A trow (, Similar development also appear in (1729) as well as in Scanian: dråe, drå, dro.

  • The form is thought to stem from L-vocalization of ("troll"), and then intermixing with via linguistic and figurative convergence. Shetlandic: ("mound-found"); Orcadian: , ; Lincolnshire: shag-boy.

Terminology

Trow

The trow , in the Scots language, is defined as a "sprite or fairy" of mischievous nature in dictionaries of Scots, particularly Orcadian and Shetland dialects.

Their portrayed appearance can vary greatly: in some tellings they are described as gigantic and even multi-headed, as are some giants in English lore; in other tellings they are described as small or human-sized, like as is more typical of other fairies, but dressed in grey.

Trows consist of two kinds, the hill-trows (land trows) and sea-trows, and the two kinds are said to be mortal enemies.

Of the hill-dwelling types, it is said they can only appear out of their dwellings ("knowes"=knolls; "trowie knowes") after sunset, and if they miss the opportunity to return before sunrise, they do not perish but must await above ground and bide his time until "the Glüder (the sun) disappears again".

The trows are fond of music and constantly play the fiddle themselves. The word was later also misread or misprinted as Troicis in MacFarlane & Mitchell edd. (1908), And though Hibbert does not make the connection, E. Marwick equated the sea-trow with the "tangy", as already noted.

Landmarks

Most mounds in Orkney are associated with "mound-dweller[s]" (hogboon; ; ) living inside them, and though local lore does always specify, the dweller is commonly the trow.

A reputedly trow-haunted mound may not in fact be a burial mound. The Long Howe in Tankerness, a glacial mound, was believed to contain trows, and thus avoided after dark. A group of mounds around Trowie Glen in Hoy are also geological formations, but feared for its trows throughout the valley, and also unapproached after dark.

They are said to consume earth formed into shapes of fish and fowl, even babies, which taste and smell like the real thing.

. (orig. pub. Glasgow: Richard Griffin, 1830)

Bibliography

  • (U.S. version of A Dictionary of Fairies, London: Penguin. 1976)
  • pp. 205–208, 233–234, and 263†.
  • Orkneyjar.com