Browny’s stone

Martin wrote that until lately every family of any substance in Shetland had been haunted by a spirit called Browny, who did all kinds of work and was given offerings in return. When they churned or brewed, some poured milk and wort through the hole of a stone called Browny’s stone, and on the island of Valay a cow’s milk was poured on a flat stone every Sunday. Browny appeared in the likeness of a tall man, but had been seen only rarely for twenty or thirty years. Robert Heron added that a brownie would work all night for a dish of cream, but if old clothes were laid out for him he left in distress and never came back.