 Suggestions to explain the mythical blue men include that they may be a personification of the sea , or originate with the Picts , whose painted bodies may have given the impression of men raising themselves out of the water if they were seen crossing the sea in boats that might have resembled kayaks . The genesis of the blue men may alternatively lie with the North African slaves the Vikings took with them to Scotland , where they spent the winter months close to the Shiant Isles in the Minch . 
