An ancient sea spirit of the Isle of Lewis, to whom an oblation was made even as late as the i8th century. Martin, in A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland (1716), gives an account of the celebration by which Shony was propitiated at Hallowtide, not for a yield offish, but of seaweed to manure the land:

They gathered to the Church of St Mulvey, Lewis: each family furnished a peck of malt, and this was brew'd into ale: one of their number was picked out to wade into the sea up to the middle, and carrying a cup of ale in his hand, standing still in that posture, cry'd out with a loud voice saying: 'Shony, I give you this cup ofale, hoping that you'll be so kind as to send us plenty of sea ware, for enriching our ground the ensuing year', and so threw the cup of ale into the sea. This was performed in the night time. At his return to land they all went to church; there was a candle burning on the altar: and then, standing silent for a little time, one of them gave a signal at which the candle was put out, and immediately all ofthem went to the fields, where they fell a-drinking their ale, and spent the remainder of the night in dancing and singing.

Ruth Tongue records tributes paid to a similar sea spirit in Somerset, Ina Pic Winna.

[Motif: A421; VI 2.9]