Unhelpful to Wolfgang, but although Partan may be Scotch for crab, in Orkney it means one that is too small to be worth selling. When I was up there last year I heard a touching song about a young man whose love was unwilling to marry until there were "more than partans in the creel". Sung by Sarah Jane Grieve, but I suspect from her mother Barbara's collection. No idea of age of song or writer.