She selt winds tae sailors, an luck charms tae whalers
An blissins tae Hudson's Bay men
They wid come tae Bess Millie, an pey her right freely
Tae mak sure they'd see land again
Fore they'd tak sail fae Orkney, they'd struggle up Brinkie's Brae
An the spaewife the islands aa kent
For sixpence wid sell them a breeze in a bag
An they'd aa coont hid money weel spent

Whin the revenue cutter cam up tae the islands
Tae pit doon the smugglers' schemes
She curst Captain Phillips, an threitent his crew
Tae send them aa tae Fidler's Green
But the Captain he stuid firm an telt her he'd burn doon
Her hoos gin she didna gie in
Sa they made an accord, an she blisst aa on board
Even offert tae sell him a wind

Eyes blue as the seas whar folk claimt she'd bin seen
Conversin wi selkies an trows
Near a hunder year owld whin she telt Walter Scott
The tale o the pirate, John Gow
No a teeth in her heid, bit still shairp as a blade
An the author wrote doon every line
Then she bylt up her tea an she spak him a spell
Sa the rest o his travels war fine

She selt winds tae sailors, an luck charms tae whalers
An aa their hopes oan her war peend
Bess Millie the spaewife o owld Stromness toun
A real seafarers' fair-wither freend

To download, click on "...more" on the Soundcloud site. This is written in Orcadian Scots and is based on one of the last of the Stromness witches, Bessie Millie. She made a living by selling fair winds to sailors - particularly the ships of the Hudson Bay Company who would take on supplies and men in Stromness. She once cursed a revenue cutter that came up to Orkney to suppress the smuggling trade. The crewmen wouldn't sail until their Captain set fire to her curtains and said he'd burn down the whole house if she didn't withdraw the curse. When she was nearly 100, Walter Scott visited her and she gave him the idea for his novel The Pirate - based on the real buccaneer, John Gow, who resided in Orkney when she was young. She also sold him a wind (and a cup of tea!)!