{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_43966/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_43966","id":"gutenberg_43966","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43966","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - British","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Folklore -- Scotland","Witchcraft -- Scotland"],"text":"Witchcraft and Superstitious Record\n\n\n\n\n  Witchcraft and Superstitious Record\n  IN THE\n  South-Western District of Scotland\n\n\n  Witchcraft          Witch Trials\n  Fairy Lore          Brownie Lore\n  Wraiths             Warnings\n  Death Customs       Funeral Ceremony\n  Ghost Lore          Haunted Houses\n\n\n  BY J. MAXWELL WOOD, M.B.\n\n  _Author of \"Smuggling in the Solway and\n  Around the Galloway Sea-board\"_\n\n  _Editor of \"The Gallovidian,\" 1900-1911_\n\n\n  _Illustrated from Special Drawings by John\n  Copland, Esq., Dundrenna_\n\n\n  DUMFRIES: J. MAXWELL & SON\n  1911\n\n\n\n\n  \"For she's gathered witch dew in the Kells kirkyard,\n     In the mirk how of the moon,\n   And fed hersel' wi' th' wild witch milk\n     With a red-hot burning spoon.\"\n                                          --_M'Lehan._\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n_To_ Alison Jean Maxwell Wood\n\n_A \"witch\" of my most intimate acquaintance_\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThroughout Dumfriesshire and Galloway remnants of old-world customs still\nlinger, suggesting a remoter time, when superstitious practice and belief\nheld all-important sway in the daily round and task of the people.\n\nIn gathering together the available material bearing upon such matters,\nmore particularly in the direction of witchcraft, fairy-lore, death\nwarnings, funeral ceremony and ghost story, the author trusts that by\nrecording the results of his gleanings much as they have been received,\nand without at all attempting to subject them to higher analysis or\ncriticism, a truer aspect and reflection of the influence of superstition\nupon the social life of those older days, may be all the more adequately\npresented.\n\n  112 GEORGE STREET, EDINBURGH,\n    August 9th, 1911.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                             _Page._\n\n  CHAPTER I.\n\n    Traditional Witchcraft Described                               1\n\n  CHAPTER II.\n\n    Witch Narrative                                               21\n\n  CHAPTER III.\n\n    Witchcraft Trials and Persecution                             66\n\n  CHAPTER IV.\n\n    Fairies and Brownies                                         142\n\n  CHAPTER V.\n\n    Wraiths and Warnings                                         198\n\n  CHAPTER VI.\n\n    Death Customs and Funeral Ceremony                           216\n\n  CHAPTER VII.\n\n    Ghost Lore and Haunted Houses                                244\n\n  APPENDIX.\n\n    (_a_) Surprising Story of the Devil of Glenluce              302\n\n    (_b_) A True Relation of an Apparition which Infested\n          the house of Andrew Mackie, Ringcroft of Stocking,\n          Parish of Rerwick, etc.                                321\n\n    (_c_) The Laird o' Coul's Ghost                              344\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n\n                                                             _Page._\n\n  The Witches' Ride                                                4\n\n  \"And Perish'd Mony a Bonny Boat\"                                12\n\n  The Carlin's Cairn                                              35\n\n  A Witch-Brew and Incantation                                    38\n\n  \"A Running Stream they dare na cross\"                           69\n\n  A Witch Trial                                                   85\n\n  The Burning of the Nine Women on the Sands of Dumfries,\n  April 13th, 1659                                               114\n\n  Penance                                                        125\n\n  \"In Fairy Glade\"                                               152\n\n  \"Riddling in the Reek\"                                         167\n\n  An Eerie Companion                                             206\n\n  \"Deid Lichts\"                                                  211\n\n  Funeral Hospitality                                            222\n\n  A Galloway Funeral of Other Days                               238\n\n  The Headless Piper of Patiesthorn                              266\n\n  The Ghost of Buckland Glen                                     271\n\n  \"To Tryst with Lag\"                                            280\n\n  Ringcroft of Stocking                                          324\n\n\n  TAIL-PIECES.\n\n                                                             _Page._\n\n  A Threefold Charm 'gainst Evil                                  20\n\n  Witch Stool and Brooms                                          65\n\n  Witch Cauldron, Ducking Stool, and Stake                       141\n\n  To Kep Skaith                                                  197\n\n  A Midnight Revel                                               215\n\n  Haunted                                                        243\n\n\n\n\nWITCHCRAFT AND SUPERSTITIOUS RECORD IN THE SOUTH-WESTERN DISTRICT OF\nSCOTLAND.\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER I._\n\nTRADITIONAL WITCHCRAFT DESCRIBED.\n\n  \"When out the hellish legion sallied.\"\n                            --_Tam o' Shanter._\n\n\nIn the far-off days, when Superstition, in close association with the\n\"evil sister\" of Ignorance, walked abroad in the land, the south-western\ndistrict of Scotland shared very largely in the beliefs and terrors\nembraced under the general descriptive term of witchcraft. Active\ninterference in the routine of daily life on the part of the Prince of\nDarkness and his agencies was fully believed in. The midnight ride, the\npower of conversion into animal semblance and form, mystic rite and\nincantation, spells and cantrips, as well as the presence on earth of the\nDevil himself, who generally appeared in some alluring form--all had a\nfirmly-established place in the superstitious and impressionable minds of\nthe people who dwelt in the land of those darker days.\n\nIn approaching the whole matter for descriptive purposes, the traditional,\nor as it may perhaps be fittingly termed, the \"ideal\" form of witchcraft,\nfalls naturally first to be considered, and here the existence of a secret\nsociety or unholy order of witches and warlocks meeting together at\ncertain appointed times, figures as an outstanding feature, qualification\nto belong to which, confessed rare powers of affinity with the powers of\nevil and darkness. The more these witches and warlocks were feared in\ntheir ordinary guise as human mortals by the country-side or district to\nwhich they belonged, the higher the rank accorded to them in secret\nconclave, and the special notoriety of having been branded or \"scored,\" at\nthe hands of an angry populace, with the sign of the cross on the\nforehead, carried with it special recognition of itself. Reputed\ngatherings or witch-festivals were celebrated periodically, the most\nimportant and outstanding taking place at Hallowmass, and such eerie\nplaces of meeting as the lonely ruins of Sweetheart Abbey and Caerlaverock\nCastle, were the appropriate scenes of their midnight rites and revels;\nbut most of all in this south-western district was it to the rising slope\nof Locharbriggs Hill, not many miles from Dumfries, that the \"hellish\nlegion\" repaired.\n\nThere is a remnant extant of an old song called the \"Witches' Gathering,\"\nthat with quaint and mystic indication tells of the preliminary signals\nand signs, announcing that a midnight re-union or \"Hallowmass rade\" as it\nwas aptly termed, had been arranged and appointed:--\n\n  \"When the gray howlet has three times hoo'd,\n   When the grimy cat has three times mewed,\n   When the tod has yowled three times i' the wode,\n   At the red moon cowering ahin the cl'ud;\n   When the stars ha'e cruppen' deep i' the drift,\n   Lest cantrips had pyked them out o' the lift,\n   Up horsies a' but mair adowe,\n   Ryde, ryde for Locher-briggs-knowe!\"\n\nOn such a night the very elements themselves seemed in sympathy. The wind\nrose, gust following gust, in angry and ever-increasing intensity, till it\nhurled itself in angry blasts that levelled hay-rick and grain-stack, and\ntore the thatched roof from homestead and cot, where the frightened\ndwellers huddled and crept together in terror. Over and with higher note\nthan the blast itself, high-pitched eldritch laughter, fleeting and\nmocking, skirled and shrieked through the air. Then a lull, with a\nstillness more terrifying than even the wild force of the angry blast,\nonly to be almost immediately broken with a crash of ear-splitting\nthunder, and the flash and the glare of forked and jagged flame, lighting\nup the unhallowed pathway of the \"witches' ride.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"THE WITCHES' RIDE.\" Sketch by J. Copland, Dundrennan.]\n\nThe journey itself, or rather the mode of progression in passing to the\n\"witch gathering,\" was itself steeped in \"diabolerie\" of varying degree.\nThe simple broomstick served the more ordinary witch for a steed. Another\nvehicle was the chariot of \"rag-wort\" or ragweed, \"harnessed to the wind;\"\nfor sisters of higher rank, broomsticks specially shod with the bones of\nmurdered men, became high mettled and most spirited steeds; but the\npossession of a bridle, the leather of which was made from the skin of an\nunbaptised infant, and the iron bits forged at the \"smithy\" of the Evil\nOne himself, gave to its possessor the power of most potent spell. Only\nlet a witch shake this instrument of Satan over any living thing, man or\nbeast, and at once it was transformed into an active witch steed in the\nform generally of a gray horse, with the full knowledge and resentment\nthat a spell had been wrought, to compass this ignoble use. This was\nfamiliarly known and described as being \"ridden post by a witch.\"\n\nNo better picture was ever drawn of the wild witch diabolerie and abandon\nthan in \"Tam o' Shanter,\" but it may be claimed for Galloway that in the\npossession of the powerful poem of \"Maggie o' the Moss,\" Ayrshire is\nfollowed very closely, as the following quotation bearing upon this\nparticular point brings out:--\n\n  \"But Maggie had that nicht to gang\n   Through regions dreary, dark, and lang,\n   To hold her orgies.\n\n    *       *       *       *       *\n\n   Then cross his haunches striding o'er,\n   She gave him the command to soar:\n   At first poor Simon, sweir to yield,\n   Held hard and fast the frosty field;\n   His body now earth's surface spurn'd,\n   He seem'd like gravitation turned;\n   His heels went bickering in the air,\n   He held till he could haud nae mair,\n   Till first wi' ae han', syne the tither,\n   He lost his haud o't a' thegither;\n   And mounted up in gallant style,\n   Right perpendicular for a mile.\n\n    *       *       *       *       *\n\n   For brawly ken'd she how to ride,\n   And stick richt close to Simon's hide;\n   For aft had Maggie on a cat\n   Across the German Ocean sat;\n   And wi' aul' Nick and a' his kennel,\n   Had often crossed the British Channel,\n   And mony a nicht wi' them had gone\n   To Brussels, Paris, or Toulon;\n   And mony a stormy Hallowe'en\n   Had Maggie danced on Calais Green!\"\n\nLike a swarm of bees in full flight they passed, all astride of something,\nbe it rag-wort, broomstick, kail-runt, hare, cat, or domestic fowl, or\neven as indicated riding post on a human steed.\n\nAssembled at the Dumfriesshire or Galloway \"Brocken,\" tribute to Satan,\nwho presided in person, had to be paid for the privilege of exercising\ntheir unholy licence over their several districts and neighbourhoods. This\ntook the form of unchristened \"Kain Bairns,\" the witches' own by\npreference, but failing this, the stolen offspring of women of their own\nparticular neighbourhood.\n\nThe rite of baptismal entry, which all novitiates had to undergo, was also\na regular part of the weird proceedings of this witches' Sabbath.\n\nA magic circle was drawn round the top of the meeting mound, across which\nnone but the initiated and those about to be initiated, dare pass. In the\ncentre of this circle a fire emitting a thick, dense, sulphurous smoke\nsprang up, round which the assembled company of witches and warlocks\ndanced with joined hands and wild abandon. Into the charmed circle the\nconverts, naked and terror-stricken, were brought and dragged to the fire,\nwhich now sent forth even thicker clouds as if in a measure to screen the\nsecrecy of the rites even from those participating, and scream after\nscream arose as their naked bodies were stamped with the hellish\nsign-manual of the order. A powerful soothing ointment was, however,\nimmediately poured on the raw wounds, giving instant relief and almost\neffacement to the ordinary eye, the well-concealed cicatrix becoming the\n\"witch-mark.\" The grim nature of the ordeal now gave place to proceedings\nmore in keeping with a festival, and dancing of the \"better the worse\"\norder and general hilarity and high revelry followed, the Prince of\nDarkness joining in the dance, giving expert exhibitions with favoured\npartners.\n\nNext in importance to Satan himself at these \"Walpurgis\" night festivals\nat Locharbriggs tryst, was the celebrated witch \"Gyre Carline,\" who\npossessed a wand of great creative and destructive power. It is told how\nin the days when Lochar Moss was an open arm of the Solway Firth, an extra\nlarge tide swept up and washed away several of the witch steeds from the\nLocharbrigg hill. This so enraged the \"Gyre Carline\" that over the unruly\nwaters she waved her magic wand, and what was \"once a moss and then a sea\"\nbecame \"again a moss and aye will be.\" At other meetings of less\nconsequence the more important carlines of different districts met\ntogether, when schemes of persecution and revenge were evolved, and where\nphiltres and charms were brewed and concocted for distribution amongst\ntheir inferior sisters whose office it was to give them effect. A\nconcoction of virulent power was in the form of a bannock or cake, better\nknown as the \"witch cake,\" whose uncannie preparation and potency has\nbeen so quaintly described in verse by Allan Cunningham:--\n\nTHE WITCH CAKE.\n\n  \"I saw yestreen, I saw yestreen,\n   Little wis ye what I saw yestreen,\n   The black cat pyked out the gray ane's een\n   At the hip o' the hemlock knowe yestreen.\n\n   Wi' her tail i' her teeth, she whomel'd roun',\n   Wi' her tail i' her teeth, she whomel'd roun',\n   Till a braw star drapt frae the lift aboon,\n   An' she keppit it e'er it wan to the grun.\n\n   She hynt them a' in her mou' an' chowed,\n   She hynt them a' in her mou' an' chowed,\n   She drabbled them owre wi' a black tade's blude,\n   An' baked a bannock an' ca'd it gude!\n\n   She haurned it weel wi' ae blink o' the moon,\n   She haurned it weel wi' ae blink o' the moon,\n   An withre-shines thrice she whorled it roun',\n   There's some sall skirl ere ye be done.\n\n   Some lass maun gae wi' a kilted sark,\n   Some priest maun preach in a thackless kirk,\n   Thread maun be spun for a dead man's sark,\n   A' maun be done e'er the sang o' the lark.\n\n   Tell me what ye saw yestreen,\n   Tell me what ye saw yestreen,\n   There's yin may gaur thee sich an' green,\n   For telling what ye saw yestreen.\"\n\nAt such minor meetings also, effigies were moulded in clay of those who\nhad offended, which pierced with pins conveyed serious bodily injuries and\ndisorder in their victims corresponding to the pin punctures. Two of\nthese carlines dispensing the \"black art\" in the respective parishes of\nCaerlaverock and Newabbey were in the habit of meeting with each other for\nsuch purpose, but the holy men of Sweetheart Abbey overcame their wicked\ndesigns by earnest prayers, so much so that their meetings on the solid\nearth were rendered futile, and thus thwarted, their intercourse had to\ntake place on the water.\n\nOf this the following tale from \"Cromek,\" as reputed to be told by an\neye-witness, is descriptive:--\n\n\"I gaed out ae fine summer night to haud my halve at the Pow fit. It was\ntwal' o'clock an' a' was lowne; the moon had just gotten up--ye mought a\ngathered preens. I heard something firsle like silk--I glowered roun' an'\nlake! what saw I but a bonnie boat, wi' a nob o' gowd, and sails like\nnew-coined siller. It was only but a wee bittie frae me. I mought amaist\ntouch't it. 'Gude speed ye gif ye gang for guid,' quoth I, 'for I dreed\nour auld carline was casting some o' her pranks.' Another cunning boat\ncam' off frae Caerla'rick to meet it. Thae twa bade a stricken hour\nthegither sidie for sidie. 'Haith,' quoth I, 'the deil's grit wi' some!'\nsae I crap down amang some lang cowes till Luckie cam' back. The boat\nplayed bowte again the bank, an out lowpes Kimmer, wi' a pyked naig's head\ni' her han'. 'Lord be about us!' quo' I, for she cam' straught for me. She\nhowked up a green turf, covered her bane, an' gaed her wa's. When I\nthought her hame, up I got and pou'd up the bane and haed it. I was fleyed\nto gae back for twa or three nights, lest the deil's minnie should wyte me\nfor her uncannie boat and lair me 'mang the sludge, or maybe do waur. I\ngaed back howsever, and on that night o' the moon wha comes to me but\nKimmer. 'Rabbin,' quo' she, 'fand ye are auld bane amang the cowes?'\n''Deed no, it may be gowd for me,' quo' I. 'Weel, weel,' quo' she, 'I'll\nbyde and help ye hame wi' your fish.' God's be me help, nought grippit I\nbut tades and paddocks! 'Satan, thy nieve's here,' quo' I. 'Ken ye' (quo'\nI) 'o' yon new cheese our wyfe took but frae the chessel yestreen? I'm\ngaun to send't t' ye i' the morning, ye're a gude neebor to me: an'\nhear'st thou me? There's a bit auld bane whomeled aneath thae cowes; I\nkent nae it was thine.' Kimmer drew't out. 'Ay, ay, it's my auld bane;\nweel speed ye.' I' the very first pow I got sic a louthe o' fish that I\ncarried 'till me back cracked again.\"(1)\n\nA celebrated witch connected with Wigtownshire was Maggie Osborne.\n\n[Illustration: \"AND PERISH'D MONY A BONNY BOAT.\"--Tam o' Shanter. Sketch\nby J. Copland, Dundrennan.]\n\n\"On the wild moorland between the marches of Carrick and the valley of the\nLuce tracks are pointed out, on which the heather will not grow, as\n'Maggie's gate to Gallowa''; the sod having been so deeply burned by her\ntread, or that of her weird companion. Among the misdemeanours imputed to\nher, in aggravation of the charge for which she was cruelly condemned, was\nthat of having impiously partaken of the communion at the Moor Kirk of\nLuce. She accepted the bread at the minister's hands, but a sharp-eyed\noffice-bearer (long after) swore that he had detected her spitting out the\nwafer at the church-door, which he clearly saw swallowed by the devil, who\nhad waited for her outside in the shape of a toad. Again it was asserted\nthat when passing from Barr to Glenluce by the 'Nick o' the Balloch' she\nencountered a funeral procession, and to pass unseen she changed herself\ninto a beetle; but before she could creep out of the way, a shepherd in\nthe party unwittingly set his foot upon her, and would have crushed her\noutright had not a rut partly protected her. Much frightened and hurt she\nvowed vengeance; but the moor-man being a pious man, for long her arts\nwere of no avail against him. One night however, detained late by a storm,\nhe sat down hurriedly to supper, having forgotten to say grace. Her\nincantations then had power. A wreath of snow was collected and hurled\nfrom the hill above on the devoted cabin, and the shepherd, his wife, and\nfamily of ten were smothered in the avalanche.\"(2)\n\nIn Glenluce a story is handed down which brings out that it was not\nnecessarily the dweller in the humble cot on whom the mantle of witchcraft\nfell, but that the high-bred dames of the \"Hall\" did also at times dabble\nin the practice.\n\n\"A labouring man's wife, a sensible, decent woman, having been detained\nlate from home, was returning about the witching hour; and at a spot known\nas the 'Clay Slap' she met face to face a troop of females, as to whose\nleader, being cloven-footed, she could not be mistaken. Her consternation\nwas the greater, as one by one she recognised them all, and among them the\nladies of the manor. They stopped her, and in her terror she appealed to\none of them by name. Enraged at being known, the party declared that she\nmust die. She pleaded for mercy, and they agreed to spare her life on her\ntaking an awful oath that she would never reveal the names of any as long\nas they lived.\n\n\"Fear prevented her from breaking her pledge, but as one by one the dames\npaid the debt of nature, she would mysteriously exclaim 'There's anither\nof the gang gone!' She outlived them all, and then divulged the secret,\nadding that on that dreadful night, after getting to her bed, she lay\nentranced in an agony as if she had been roasting between two fires.\"(3)\n\nThe name of Michael Scott of Balwearie (Fife), scholar and alchemist, who\nlived in the thirteenth century, is traditionally associated with the\nAbbey of Glenluce. Regarded by the peasantry as a warlock, he was supposed\nto be here buried with his magic books, and there is a story extant to the\neffect that a man in the district who daringly disinterred his skeleton,\nfound it in a sitting position confronting him, and that the sight drove\nhim stark mad.\n\nWhilst in the neighbourhood of Glenluce, \"Michael the Warlock\" is credited\nwith having exercised strong discipline over the witches of the district.\nOne task he assigned them to keep them from more doubtful work, was to\nspin ropes from sea-sand, and it is yet said that some of the rope\nfragments may be seen to this day near Ringdoo Point, near the mouth of\nthe Luce, when laid bare by wind and tide. Another equally profitless and\nendless task set for the same purpose of keeping them from unsanctioned,\nmischievous deeds, was the threshing of barley chaff.\n\nThere is a quaint reference in MacTaggart's _Gallovidian Encyclop\u00e6dia_ to\nthe \"Library of Michael Scott.\" He says, \"One of these (vaults) at the\nAuld Abbey of Glenluce contains the famous library of Michael Scott, the\nWarlock. Here are thousands of old witch songs and incantations, books of\nthe 'Black Art,' and 'Necromancy,' 'Philosophy of the Devil,' 'Satan's\nAlmanacks,' 'The Fire Spangs of Faustus,' 'The Soothsayers' Creed,' 'The\nWitch Chronicle,' and the 'Black Clud's Wyme laid open,' with many more\nvaluable volumes.\"\n\nIt may be noted in passing that the Abbey of Holm-Cultram, in Cumberland,\nhas also been associated as the burial-place of the Wizard Michael; but it\nis with Melrose Abbey, as depicted by Sir Walter Scott in the \"Lay of the\nLast Minstrel,\" that the most cherished associations linger, even if only\nin the romance of poetry:--\n\n  \"With beating heart to the task he went;\n   His sinewy frame o'er the grave-stone bent;\n   With bar of iron heaved amain,\n   Till the toil-drops fell from his brows like rain;\n   It was by dint of passing strength,\n   That he moved the massy stone at length.\"\n\n    *       *       *       *       *\n\n  \"Before their eyes the Wizard lay,\n   As if he had not been dead a day.\"\n\nThe religious house of Tongland may be said to have some slight connection\nhere, for in Dunbar's poem of \"The Dream of the Abbot of Tungland\" (the\n\"frenziet\" Friar) there is reference to a witch--\"Janet the widow, on ane\nbesome rydand.\"\n\n\"Bess o' Borgue\" and \"Glencairn Kate\" were two notorious south-country\nwitches. They are included in the descriptive witch-poem of \"Maggie o' the\nMoss,\" already referred to.\n\nAbout the middle of the eighteenth century there was a famous witch that\nlived at Hannayston, in the Kells, who was credited with wonderful powers,\nand many stories of her exploits are still current. Some say her name was\nNicholas Grier, others that it was Girzie M'Clegg, but it matters little\nwhich now. Some of Lucky's favourite pastimes were, drowning anyone she\nhad a spite at by sinking a caup in the yill-boat in her kitchen; sucking\ncows in the shape of a hare; frightening people at night by appearing to\nthem like a little naked boy; walking in the resemblance of a cat on its\nhind legs; conversing with travellers on the road; and sending young\npeople into declines.(4)\n\nThe old Church of Dalry has a legend of witch-festival surrounding it,\nwhich gives it a distinction something akin to the better-known tradition\nof Alloway Kirk. The following version is taken from _Harper's Rambles_:--\n\n\"Adam Forester, proprietor of Knocksheen, had been detained one evening\nuntil near midnight in the public-house at Dalry. On the way home he had\nto pass the church, and being perhaps like the famous Tam o' Shanter,\nthrough indulging in inspiring bold John Barleycorn, ready to defy all\ndangers in the shape of goblin and spirit, he very soon had his mettle\ntested. On reaching the church the windows 'seemed in a bleeze,' and from\nwithin loud bursts of mirth and revelry reached the ears of the astonished\nlaird. Nothing daunted however, he dismounted, and securing his horse to a\ntree near the church-yard wall, he peered in at the window, and to his\nastonishment, amongst those engaged in the 'dance o' witches' were several\nold women of his acquaintance, amongst whom was the landlady of the\npublic-house where he had spent the greater part of the evening, and which\nhe had just left. Horrified with such desecration of the sacred edifice,\nand unable longer to restrain his displeasure, Forester shouted, 'Ho! ho!\nLucky, ye'll no deny this the morn!' knocking at the same instant against\nthe window frame with his whip. In a moment the lights were extinguished,\nand the witches with loud yells rushed out of the church after him; but\nthe laird, having gained his horse, went off at a furious gallop for the\nford on the Ken, his pursuers following hard upon him, their frantic and\nhideous shouts striking terror to his heart. As they could not cross the\nrunning stream, they flew to the Brig o' Ken, six miles distant, where\nthey crossed and overtook Adam on Waterside Hill, tearing all the hair\nout of the horse's tail, and Lucky getting her black hand on the horse's\nhip. She left its impression there for life. The laird, finding he could\nproceed no further, dismounted and was only saved from being torn to\npieces by describing a circle in God's name round himself and horse. This\ncharm proved effectual. The fury of the mysterious band was arrested, and\nat daybreak he rode home to his residence.\"\n\nThe story is still current in the Glenkens, and what is supposed to be the\ncircle drawn by the laird is pointed out on Waterside Hill.\n\nIn concluding the account of \"traditional witchcraft,\" there yet falls to\nbe mentioned one outstanding form in which beautiful and seductive female\nshapes were assumed to tempt through the flesh, the destruction of soul\nand body. There is no better reference to this than in the local\ntraditional tale of the \"Laird of Logan\" of Allan Cunningham, where the\nstruggle between the powers of darkness and those of good contend, not\nwithout a certain dignity of purpose, for the mastery. The following is\nthe dramatic denouement:--\n\n\"He took a sword from the wall, and described a circle, in the centre of\nwhich he stood himself. Over the line drawn with an instrument on which\nthe name of God is written, nought unholy can pass. 'Master, stand beside\nme, and bear ye the sword.' He next filled a cup with water, and said,\n'Emblem of purity, and resembling God, for He is pure, as nought unholy\ncan pass over thee whilst thou runnest in thy native fountain, neither can\nought unholy abide thy touch, thus consecrated--as thou art the emblem of\nGod, go and do His good work. Amen.' So saying he turned suddenly round\nand dashed the cupful of water in the face and bosom of the young\nlady--fell on his knees and bowed his head in prayer. She uttered scream\nupon scream; her complexion changed; her long locks twined and writhed\nlike serpents; the flesh seemed to shrivel on her body; and the light\nshone in her eyes which the Master trembled to look upon. She tried to\npass the circle towards him but could not. A burning flame seemed to\nencompass and consume her; and as she dissolved away he heard a voice\nsaying, 'But for that subtle priest, thou hadst supped with me in hell.'\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER II._\n\nWITCH NARRATIVE.\n\n  \"The best kye in the byre gaed yell;\n   Some died, some couldna raise themsel';\n   In short, ilk' beast the farmer had\n   Died--sicken'd--rotted--or gaed mad!\"\n                              --_Maggie o' the Moss._\n\n\nThe witchcraft however, which had a special abiding-place in rural\ndistricts, was most usually associated with the presence in their midst of\nsomeone to whom it was supposed the devil had bequeathed the doubtful\npossession of the \"evil eye,\" a possession which at all times was deemed a\ncertain means of bringing about supernatural ill. Other suspected workers\nof subtle cantrips whom the finger of suspicion was ready to point to were\nold creatures, not uncommonly poor and eccentric, perhaps even deformed or\nwith some peculiarity, but generally genuinely blameless, or in some\ninstances foolishly seeking notoriety in the pretended possession of\nwitch-power.\n\nThe spells and cantrips alleged to be cast by these agencies were usually\nsuch as brought harmful effect upon human being or farm stock, such\nsupposed incidence of supernatural interference being accepted without\nquestion. A natural consequence followed in misdirected measures of\nprotection and retaliation. The whole atmosphere of domestic life became\ncharged with suspicious attitude towards one another, and when illness\novertook either human being or four-footed beast, or some such minor\nhappening as a heated stack, or a cow failing to yield milk, took place,\nthe presence of the \"Black Art\" was proclaimed in their midst, and too\noften was accidental circumstance followed by unjust cruelty and\npersecution, sanctioned and practised, as we shall see later, by the\npowers of the State and Church.\n\nMany stories of such form of witchcraft have been handed down and still\nform a not inconsiderable part of the floating tradition pertaining to the\nsouth-western district of Dumfries and Galloway.\n\nThe following traditions, not hitherto recorded, are from western\nGalloway, and may be regarded as consequent to the influence of the \"evil\neye\":--\n\n\"There was an old woman who went about Kirkmaiden begging, or what old\npeople call 'thigging,' and one day in the course of her wanderings she\ncame to a place called 'The Clash' and asked for butter, which she seemed\nto particularly want. As luck would have it, the farm folks had only newly\nput the milk into the churn, and had no butter in the house until it was\nchurned. In passing, it may be noticed that the churn was always put out\nof sight when this old woman appeared, in case she might 'witch' it. As\nthey had no butter they offered her both meal and a piece of meat, but\nbutter she would have, so she went away, muttering 'that maybe she would\nfen' without it,' and more talk to the same purpose. The farmer met her on\nthe way from the house and heard her mutterings. On arriving at his house\nhe asked what they had done to the old woman to put her in such a temper,\nand was told the circumstances. He had two young horses in a field beside\nthe house, and going out of the house into the field he found one of them\nrolling on the ground seemingly in great pain. Of course he jumped to the\nconclusion that this was some of the witch's cantrips, and after trying to\nget it to rise, bethought himself of going after her and bringing her back\nto get her to lift the spell. Following the old woman, who was very lame,\nhe soon overtook her and tried to coax her to return to see if she could\ntell him what was wrong. She demurred at first, but he pressed her, and\nat last she said, that seeing he was so anxious she would go back. When\nthey arrived the animal was still suffering great pain, and she proceeded\nto walk round it some few times always muttering to herself, and at last\ncried, 'Whish! get up,' striking the horse; 'there's naething wrang wi'\nye.' The horse at once got up and commenced feeding, apparently nothing\nthe matter with it.\"(5)\n\n\"At the Dribblings, on what is now the farm of Low Curghie (Kirkmaiden),\nlived a cottar who was the owner of two cows. One morning on going to the\nbyre one of the cows was on the ground and unable to rise. The people did\nnot know what to do, but as luck would have it, the same old woman that\ncured the horse at The Clash happened to come in, and was informed of the\ntrouble, and was asked if she could do anything, and was promised a piece\nof butter for her trouble. She went and looked at the cow, and said\nsomeone with an 'ill e'e had overlooked it,' _i.e._, witched it, and\nproceeded to walk round it two or three times, talking to herself, and\nthen gave it a tap with her stick and told the animal to get up, she was\nall right now. The cow immediately got to her feet and commenced\nfeeding.\"(6)\n\n\"At a farm-house in the vicinity of Logan an old woman, a reputed witch,\nwas in the habit of receiving the greater part of her sustenance from the\nfarmer and his wife. The farmer began to get tired of this sorning, and\none day took his courage in both hands and turned the witch at the gate.\nThe old woman of course was sorely displeased, and told him that he would\nsoon have plenty of 'beef,' and in the course of a day or two many of his\ncattle had taken the muir-ill. Next time the old woman wanted to go to the\nhouse she was not hindered. She got her usual supply, and thereafter not\nanother beast took the disease.\"(7)\n\nIt is related of the same old woman that once she wanted some favour off\nthe factor on Logan, and one day as he rode past her dwelling she hailed\nhim. Not caring to be troubled with her he made the excuse that his horse\nwould not stand as it was young and very restive; but she said she would\nsoon make it stand, and by some spell so terrified the animal that it\nstood trembling while the sweat was running over its hooves.\n\n\"The farm of the Grennan, in the Rhinns, had been taken or was reported to\nhave been taken over the sitting tenant's head; and the new tenants, when\nthey took possession, were regarded with general disfavour. The farm\ngood-wife was a bustling, energetic woman, with some pretensions as to\ngood looks, and was always extremely busy. One day an old-fashioned\ndiminutive woman knocked at the door and asked for a wee pickle meal. The\ngood-wife answered in an off-hand manner that she had no meal for her, and\ntold her to 'tak' the gait.' The old woman looked at her steadily for a\nshort time, and then said, 'My good woman, you are strong and healthy just\nnow, but strong and weel as ye are, that can sune be altered, and big as\nye are in yer way, the hearse is no' bigget that will tak' ye to the\nkirkyaird, and a dung-cairt will ha'e to ser' ye.' In less than a year the\ngude-wife died, and the hearse broke down at the road-end leading to the\nfarm, and could come no further, and as a matter of fact a farm-cart had\nto be employed to carry the corpse to the churchyard.\"(8)\n\nThe influence of the \"evil eye\" has been somewhat crudely recorded in\nverse under the heading of \"Galloway Traditions: The Blink o' an Ill E'e,\"\nin the _Galloway Register_ for 1832, an almost forgotten periodical\npublished at Stranraer. It is here set forth, as it minutely expresses and\nbrings out, though in homely fashion, how belief in witchcraft and its\npowers was intimately bound up with the every-day conditions of the life\nof the times:--\n\n                        \"He thrave for a while,\n  And a prettier bairn was'na seen in a mile;\n  Lang ere Beltane, however, he was sairly backgane\n  And shilped to naething but mere skin and bane.\n  The mither grieved sair--thought her Sandy wad die--\n  Folk a' said he had got a blink o' an ill e'e,\n  And the health o' the baby wad bravely in time turn\n  If he had the blessing o' auld Luckie Lymeburn.\n  Now the mither min'd weel, that on ae Friday morn\n  Auld Luckie gaed past, but nae word did she say,\n  And the bairn had soon after begun to decay.\n  Ane an' a' then agreed that the child wadna mend, or\n  Do one mair guid till auld Luckie they'd send for;\n  Luckie Lymeburn is sent for, and soon there appears\n  A haggart wee grannnum sair bent down in years,\n  Whase e'en, wild demeanour, every appearance was sic,\n  That you'd easily hae guess'd that she dealt wi' Auld Nick.\n  Auld Luckie had lang kept the country in dread--\n  Nae bairn was unweil, nor beast suddenly dead,\n  Nae time had the horses stood up in the plough,\n  Nor when drying the malt had the kiln tain alow,\n  Nae roof o' a byre fa'en down in the night,\n  Nor storm at the fishing, the boatmen affright,\n  But 'twas aye Luckie Lymeburn that bare a' the blame o't,\n  While Luckie took pride and rejoiced at the name o't.\n  Thro' dread that her glamour might harm o' their gear,\n  O' ought in the house they aye ga'e her a share,\n  And ilk dame through the land was in terror o' Luckie,\n  From the point of Kirkcolm to her ain Carrick-mickie.\n  Ere Sandy is mentioned the mither takes care\n  To sooth the auld dame and to speak her right fair;\n  Anon, then, she tells how her boy's lang been ill,\n  And a' the folk say she's a hantle o' skill--\n  Begs she'll look at the bairn and see what's the matter,\n  And when neist at the mill she winna forget her.\n  Auld Granny saw well thro' the mither's contrivance,\n  So she looks on the bairn and wishes him thrivance--\n  Says he'll soon come about and be healthy and gay,\n  If dipt at the Co'[1] the first Sunday o' May.\n  The boy's health came round, as auld Luckie had said,\n  But ere Sandy came round Luckie Lymeburn was dead.\n  The laws against witches were now very stric',\n  And Luckie's accused that she dealt wi' Auld Nick--\n  That lately a storm she had raised on the coast,\n  In which many braw fishing boats had been lost;\n  Last winter that she and her conjuring ban'\n  Had smoor'd a' the sheep on the fells o' Dunman\n  But chief, that in concert wi' Luckie Agnew,\n  She had sunk, off the Mull, a fine ship with her crew.\n  The ship had been bound for Hibernia's main,\n  And smoothly was gliding o'er the watery plain\n  With the wind in her rear, when a furious blast,\n  While off the Mull head, sudden rose from the west,\n  And lays to the breeze the gallant ship's side,\n  And round and round whirls her in th' eddy o' th' tide.\n  Meantime the old hags, on the hill, are in view,\n  And boiling their caldron, or winding their clue,\n  New charms still they try, but they try them in vain:\n  The seamen still strove, nor their purpose could gain,\n  The waves are still threat'ning the ship to o'erwhelm;\n  The crew, one by one, have relinquished the helm.\n  Long, long the crew labour'd the vessel to stay,\n  Nor rudder nor sail would the vessel obey,\n  When forth steps a tar, a regardless old sinner,\n  And swore he'd her steer though the devil were in her;\n  When instant the weird-woman's spells take effect,\n  She sinks 'mang the rocks, and soon's floating a wreck--\n  For these, and some deeds of a similar kind\n  Were Luckies Agnew and Lymeburn arraigned.\n  Their trial comes on--full confession they make--\n  In the auld burgh o' Wigton they're burnt at the stake.\"\n\nThe metamorphosis to brute-form on the part of the witch or warlock is one\nof the most persistent traditions concerning witchcraft. In the south-west\ncountry the favourite animal-form selected was that of the hare, very\nprobably on account of its fleetness of foot. Of this the following are\nexamples:--\n\n\"A young man from Kirkmaiden found work at a distance, and as means of\ntravel were not so convenient as now, it was a number of years before he\nfound opportunity to visit his native parish. At the end of some years he\nreturned, however, about New-Year time, and taking down a gun that was in\nhis mother's house, remarked that he would go out to the Inshanks Moor and\nsee if he could get a hare for the dinner on New-Year's Day. His mother\ntold him to be careful he was not caught poaching. He had not been long in\nthe moor when a hare got up, at which he shot repeatedly, but apparently\nwithout effect. At last he came to the conclusion that the hare was one of\nthe numerous Kirkmaiden witches, and thought he would try the effect of\nsilver. The hare had observed him, and at once inquired if he would shoot\nhis own mother? Much startled, he desisted and went home, took to his bed,\nand did not rise for five years, though he could take his food well\nenough, and apparently was in good enough health. He had no power to rise\nuntil his mother died, when his strength being most wonderfully restored,\nhe left his bed, dressed himself and attended the funeral.\"(9)\n\nAnother reputed witch lived near the Church of Kirkmaiden, and it is told\nby a woman of the neighbourhood how her grandmother lived beside her, and\nhaving occasion to go to the well in the gloaming one evening something\ngave a sound, not unlike the noise one makes when clapping mud with a\nspade, and immediately a hare hopped past her on the road, and went over\nthe dyke into the garden. When she went round the end of the house her\nneighbour was climbing over the dyke, and the old woman firmly believed it\nwas the witch she saw the moment before in the form of a hare, which had\nreturned to human shape just before she saw her again.\n\nIn connection with the phenomenon of transformation to brute-form an\ninteresting point must be accentuated, and that is that an animal\nbewitched or about to be sacrificed by witchcraft was believed by some\nsubtle power to gain and absorb to itself some considerable part of the\nspirit or entity of the witch or warlock working the spell, which not\nuncommonly led to detection of the spell-worker. An example of this may\nalso be quoted:--\n\n\"A farmer of Galloway, coming to a new farm with a fine and healthy stock,\nsaw them die away one by one at stall and at stake. His last one was lying\nsprawling almost in death, when a fellow-farmer got him to consider his\nstock as bewitched and attempt its relief accordingly. He placed a pile\nof dried wood round his cow, setting it on fire. The flame began to catch\nhold of the victim, and its outer parts to consume, when a man, reputed to\nbe a warlock, came flying over the fields, yelling horribly and loudly,\nconjuring the farmer to slake the fire. 'Kep skaith wha brings't,'\nexclaimed the farmer, heaping on more fuel. He tore his clothes in\ndistraction, for his body was beginning to fry with the burning of his\nspirit. The farmer, unwilling to drive even the devil to despair, made him\nswear peace to all that was or should be his, and then unloosed his\nimprisoned spirit by quenching the fire.\"(10)\n\nThe counterpart of magical migration through the air has also its\nexamples, for within the memory of people still living there was an old\nwoman lived at Logan Mill, who whenever she had a mind to travel, got\nastride of the nearest dyke, and was at once conveyed to wherever she\nwished. At least it was said so.\n\nAnother reputed witch who dwelt in the neighbourhood of Port Logan was\nmuch troubled with shortness of breath, and was easily tired. When she\nfound herself in this condition of exhaustion away from her home she was\ncredited with entering the nearest field where horses and cattle were\ngrazing, and mounting one, to \"ride post\" straight for home.\n\nThe following elegy, which has been preserved in the collection of poems\nknown as the _Nithsdale Minstrel_, fully illustrates the dread in which\nthe Kirkmaiden witches were held, and more particularly the relief\nexperienced when death removed the baneful influence of \"Meg Elson,\" a\nwitch of much repute:--\n\nMEG ELSON'S ELEGY.\n\n  \"Kirkmaiden dames may crously craw\n     And cock their nose fu' canty,\n   For Maggy Elson's now awa',\n     That lately bragged sae vaunty\n   That she could kill each cow an' ca',\n     An' make their milk fu' scanty--\n   Since Death's gi'en Maggy's neck a thraw,\n     They'll a' hae butter plenty,\n         In lumps each day.\n\n   Ye fishermen, a' roun' the shore,\n     Huzza wi' might and mettle,\n   Nae mair ye'll furnish frae your store\n     A cod for Maggy's kettle--\n   Nae mair ye'll fear the clouds that lour,\n     Nor storms that roun' you rattle,\n   Lest, conjured up by cantrip power,\n     They coup you wi' a brattle\n         I' the sea some day.\n\n   Ye ewes that bleat the knowes out o'er,\n     Ye kye that roam the valley,\n   Nae dread of Maggy's magic glower\n     Need henceforth mair assail ye:\n   Nae horse nor mare, by Circean power,\n     Shall now turn up its belly,\n   For Death has lock'd Meg's prison door,\n     And gi'en the keys to Kelly\n         To keep this day.\"\n\nPassing to the Machars of Galloway, a curious witch-story comes from\nWhithorn corresponding to and somewhat similar in trend to the first acts\nin the dramatic happenings of \"Tam o' Shanter,\" and the story already told\nof Dalry Kirk:--\n\n\"Long ago there lived in Whithorn a tailor who was an elder of the Church,\nand who used to 'whip the cat,' that is, go to the country to ply his\ntrade. Being once engaged at a farm-house, the farmer told him to bring\nhis wife with him and spend an afternoon at the farm. The invitation was\naccepted, and on returning at night, the attention of the knight of the\nneedle and his better-half was attracted to an old kiln, situated at the\nlow end of the 'Rotten Row,' from which rays of light were emanating. This\nsurprised the worthy couple, all the more as the old kiln had for long\nbeen in a state of disuse. Their curiosity being thus awakened, they\napproached to look through the chinks of the door, when to their\nastonishment they beheld a sight somewhat similar to that seen by 'Tam o'\nShanter' at 'Alloway's Auld Haunted Kirk.' Among the _dramatis person\u00e6_\nwho should they recognise but the minister's wife, whom they both knew\nwell. She, along with a bevy of withered hags, was engaged in cantrips,\nbeing distinguished by a peculiar kind of garter which she wore. Next\nSabbath the tailor elder demanded a meeting of the Kirk-Session; but the\nminister declared that the story was a monstrosity, as his wife had not\nbeen out of bed that night. Not being easily repressed, however, the\ntailor requested that the minister's wife should be brought then and there\nbefore the Session. When she appeared it was found that she had on the\nidentical garters she had worn on the night when she was seen by the\ntriumphant tailor. This startling and overwhelming corroboration of the\ntruth of the 'fama' quite nonplussed the minister, and as the story has\nit, before the next Sunday he and his lady were 'owre the Borders an'\nawa'.'\"(11)\n\nA Dalry story may now be quoted which is specially concerned with the\nactual evil workings of his Satanic Majesty himself:--\n\n\"The Rev. Mr Boyd, who was appointed minister of Dalry in 1690, after his\nreturn from Holland, whither he had fled during the persecution, and who\ndied in 1741 in his 83rd year, had a daughter to whom the devil took a\nfancy. He once came to the manse in the form of a bumble-bee, but was\ndriven away by a chance pious exclamation. Another time he arrived in the\nform of a handsome young gentleman, fascinated the damsel, induced her to\nplay cards with him on a Sunday, and bore her off on a black horse.\nFortunately the minister saw the occurrence, and also a cloven hoof\nhanging at the stirrup, and shouted to his daughter to come back for\nChrist's sake, and the devil let her drop to the ground nothing the\nworse.\"(12)\n\nIn connection with the parish of Kells it may be noted that a member of\nthe old baronial family of Shaws of Craigenbay and Craigend, Sir Chesney\nShaw, is reputed to have been strangled by a witch in the guise of a black\ncat. The deed took place in the Tower of Craigend.\n\n[Illustration: THE CARLIN'S CAIRN. (By J. Copland.)]\n\nA prominent land-mark in this Dalry and Carsphairn district is the\n\"Carlin's Cairn,\" which, from its name, might be taken to have some\nspecial link with the witchcraft of the district. It has however, a more\npatriotic origin, which is set forth in Barbour's _Unique Traditions_:--\n\n\"This cairn is perched on the summit of the Kells Rhynns, and may be\ndiscerned at 15 miles distance to the south. Some say it was thrown\ntogether to commemorate the burning of a witch, others, that it was\nerected on the spot where an old female Covenanter was murdered by\nGrierson of Lag, and this last tradition stands somewhat countenanced by\nthe well-known facts that Grierson was laird of Garryhorn and other lands\nin the neighbourhood of this ancient cairn, and that his party pursued and\nslaughtered some staunch Presbyterians in the environs of Loch Doon. Yet\nthe foundation of the cairn can boast of a much older date than the\npersecutions under Charles the Second, for it was collected by the\nvenerable old woman who at once was the protectress and hostess of King\nRobert the Bruce, ... and from the circumstances of the cairn being\ncollected under the auspices of a woman, that cairn immediately bore, and\nfor 500 years hath continued to bear the name of 'Carlin's Cairn.'\"\n\nOther place-names associated with witchcraft are the \"Witch Rocks of\nPortpatrick,\" where tradition tells that on these characteristic-looking\npinnacles, the witches in their midnight flight rested for a little while,\nere winging their further flight to Ireland.\n\nIn the neighbouring parish of Stoneykirk there occurs Barnamon\n(_Barr-nam-ban_) and Cairnmon (_Cairn-nam-ban_) which, being interpreted,\nmay read--\"the gap, or round hill, of the witches.\"\n\nThe following well-recounted witch narrative was communicated to the\nDumfries and Galloway Antiquarian Society to illustrate a point of\nsuperstitious custom. It has here a wider mission in accentuating\nbewitchment in angry retaliation, evil incantation overpowered by holy\ninfluence, and the breaking of witch-power by \"_scoring_ above the\nbreath.\":--\n\n\"In the olden time, when Galloway was stocked with the black breed of\ncattle, there was a carle who had a score of cows, not one of which had a\nwhite hair on it; they were the pride of the owner, and the admiration of\nall who saw them. One day while they were being driven out, the carle's\ndog worried the cat of an old woman who lived in a hut hard by, and though\nhe had always treated her with great kindness, and expressed sorrow for\nwhat his dog had done, she cursed him and all his belongings. Afterwards,\nwhen the cows began to calve, instead of giving fine rich milk, as\nformerly, they only gave a thin watery ooze on which the calves dwined\naway to skin and bone. During this unfortunate state of affairs a pilgrim\non his journey, probably to the shrine of St. Ninian, sought lodgings\nfor the night. The wife of the carle, though rather unwilling to take in a\nstranger during the absence of her husband, who was on a journey,\neventually granted his request. On her making excuse for the poverty of\nthe milk she offered, when he tasted it he said the cows were bewitched,\nand for her kindness he would tell her what would break the spell, which\nwas to put some 'cowsherne' into the mouths of the calves before they were\nallowed to suck. As the carle approached his house, when returning from\nhis journey, he noticed a bright light in the hut of the old hag which had\ncursed him. Curiosity induced him to look in, when he saw a pot on the\nfire, into which she was stirring something and muttering incantations all\nthe while till it boiled, when, instead of milk as she doubtless expected,\nnothing came up but 'cowsherne.' He told his wife what he had seen, and\nshe told him what the pilgrim had told her to do, and which she had done,\nwhich left no doubt that it was the ungrateful old witch who had bewitched\ntheir cows. Next day, when she was expecting her usual dole, the carle's\nwife caught hold of her before she had time to cast any cantrip, and\nscored her above the breath until she drew blood, with a crooked nail from\na worn horse-shoe, which left her powerless to cast any further spells.\nThe cows now gave as rich a yield of milk as formerly, and the custom then\nbegan, of putting 'cowsherne' into the mouths of newly born calves, was\ncontinued long after witchcraft had ceased to be a power in the land.\"(13)\n\n[Illustration: A WITCH-BREW AND INCANTATION. Sketch by J. Copland,\nDundrennan.\n\n              \"Toil and trouble,\n  Fire burn; and caldron bubble.\"--MACBETH.]\n\nThe following four examples of \"witch narrative\" are gathered from the\nsouthern district of Kirkcudbrightshire:--\n\n\"Many years ago there lived near Whinnieliggate, on a somewhat lonely part\nof the road which leads from Kirkcudbright to Dumfries, an old woman with\nthe reputation of being a witch. She was feared to such an extent that her\nneighbours kept her meal-chest full, and furnished her with food, clothes,\nand all she required. An old residenter in Kelton Hill or Rhonehouse, now\npassed away, remembered her well, and has left a very minute description\nof her appearance. He told how she was of small spare build, wizened of\nfigure and face, squinted outward with one eye, the eyes themselves being\nsmall, but of peculiar whitish green colour, her nose hooked and drooping\nover very ugly teeth. She swathed her straggling grey locks in a black\nnapkin or handkerchief, wore grey drugget, and a saffron-tinted shawl with\nspots of black and green darned into the semblance of frogs, toads,\nspiders, and jackdaws, with a coiled adder or snake roughly sewn round the\nborder. Her shoes or bauchles were home-made from the untanned hides of\nblack Galloway calves, skins not difficult for her to get. The cottage in\nwhich she lived was as quaint as herself, both inside and out. A huge bed\nof orpine (stone crop) grew over one of its thatched sides, the thatch\nbeing half straw and half broom; at each end grew luxuriantly long\nwavering broom bushes, and a barberry[2] shrub, densely covered with fruit\nin its season. A row of hair ropes draped the lintel of the small windows\nat the front of the cottage, from which was suspended the whitened skulls\nof hares, and ravens, rooks or corbies. The interior was also garnished\nwith dried kail-stocks, leg and arm bones, no doubt picked up in the\nchurchyard, all arranged in the form of a star, and over her bed-head hung\na roughly drawn circle of the signs of the zodiac. She was often to be\nseen wandering about the fields in moonlight nights with a gnarled old\nblackthorn stick with a ram's horn head, and was altogether generally\nregarded as uncanny. The old man who thus describes her person and\nsurroundings told of two occasions in which he suffered at her hands. He\nwas at one time engaged with a farmer in the parish of Kelton, and one day\nhe and a son of the farmer set out for the town of Kirkcudbright with two\nheavily laden carts of hay, the farmer in a jocular way calling after them\nas they left, 'Noo Johnie, yer cairts are a' fair and square the noo, and\nlet's see ye reach Kirkcudbright without scathe, for ye maun mind ye hae\ntae pass auld Jean on the wey. Dinna ye stop aboot her door or say ocht\ntae her, tae offend her. Gude kens hoo she may tak' it.' Johnie was of a\nvery sceptical nature about such characters as Jean, and replied, 'Man,\nMaister M'C----, dae ye ken a wudna care the crack o' a coo's thumb gin a'\nthe wutches ooten the ill bit war on the road,' and so they set out. When\npassing the cottage, sure enough, the old woman appeared at the door, and,\nas was her wont, had to ask several questions as to where cam' they frae?\nand whar wur they gaun? who owned the hay and the horses? and so on. The\nlad, who was a bit of a 'limb,' recklessly asked her what the deil\nbusiness it was of hers, and John said, 'Aye, deed faith aye, boy! that's\njust true. Come away.' And so they lumbered away down through the woods by\nthe Brocklock Burn, when suddenly a hare banged across the road, right\nunder the foremost horse's nose, crossed and recrossed several times, till\nboth the horses became so restless and unmanageable that they backed and\nbacked against the old hedge on the roadside, and in a few minutes both\ncarts went over the brow into the wood, dragging the horses with them.\nThe harness fortunately snapped in pieces, saving them from being\nstrangled. Johnie and the boy were compelled to walk into the town for\nhelp, where they told the story of Jean's malevolence. Johnie's second\nadventure took place some years afterwards. On passing with a cart of\npotatoes to be shipped from Kirkcudbright to Liverpool by the old _Fin\nM'Coul_ Johnie refused to give Jean two or three potatoes for seed, with\nthe result that his horse backed his cart right into the then almost\nunprotected harbour, and they were with great difficulty rescued.\"(14)\n\n\"The parish of Twynholm in days gone by had its witch. 'Old Meg' (as the\nreputed witch was called by the neighbours) had for some years got her\nsupply of butter from one of the farms quite close to the village of\nTwynholm, and the goodwife, to safeguard her very fine dairy of cows,\nalways gave old Meg a small print, or pat, extra for luck. All went well\nuntil one day a merchant came to the farm seeking a large quantity of\nbutter for the season, and offering such a good price that a bargain was\nat once struck. The farmer's wife was obliged to tell her small customers,\nMeg among the number, that she 'would not be able tae gie them ony mair\nbutter as she had a freen in the trade who would need all she could\nspare, and more if she had it.' Meg was the only one to murmur at the\ninformation, and did so in no unmistakable terms. 'Aye, woman,' said she,\n'y'er getting far ower prood and big tae ser' a puir bodie. Folk sood na'\nseek tae haud their heeds ower high ower puir folk. There's aye a doonfa'\ntae sic pridefu' weys.' 'Weel, Margaret,' said the farmer's wife, 'ye're\nno a richt-thinkin', weel-mindet buddy or ye wudna turn on me the wey yer\ndaen efter a' my kindness tae ye; sae I wad juist be as weel pleased if\nye'd pass my door and try somebody else tae gie ye mair than I hae ony\nguid wull tae gie ye.' Meg left in great anger, and before a week was\nended three of the farmer's cows died, and one broke its leg.\"(15)\n\n\"Away back in the days when the steampacket and railway were almost\nunknown along the south or Solway shore of Scotland large numbers of\nsailing craft plied between ports and creeks along the Scottish, Irish,\nand English coasts, every little port at all safe for landing being the\nbusy scene of arrival and departure, and the discharge of cargo with\nalmost every tide. A small group of houses usually marked these little\nhavens, generally made up of an inn, a few fishermen's cottages, huts, and\nsail-lofts. On the Rerwick, or Monkland shore as it was then called, four\nor five of these little hamlets stood, some on the actual shore, others a\nshort way inland. The incident which follows was founded upon the visit of\nthree young sailors, who had for a day or two been living pretty freely,\nin a clachan about two miles from where their craft, a handy topsail\nschooner, lay at Burnfoot. On the rough moor road-side which led down from\nthe clachan to the coast there lived in a small shieling a middle-aged\nwoman, recognised by most of her neighbours and by seafaring men coming to\nthese parts as an unscrupulous and rather vindictive old woman, supposed\nto be a witch.\n\nThe three sailors had to pass this cottage on their way down to join their\nship, and before setting out decided to go right past her home rather than\ntake a round-about way to avoid her, which was at first suggested. As they\ncame to her door she was standing watching and evidently waiting for them.\n'Ye'r a fine lot you to gang away wi' a schooner,' she called to them as\nthey came up. 'Ye had a fine time o't up by at Rab's Howff, yet nane o' ye\nthocht it worth yer while tae look in an see me in the bye-gaun; but 'am\nnaebody, an' canna wheedle aboot ye like Jean o' the Howff, an' wile yer\ntwa-three bawbees frae ooten yer pooches, an' sen' ye awa' as empty as ma\nmeal poke.' The youngest of the three, being elated and reckless with\ndrink, commenced to mock and taunt the old woman, his companions foolishly\njoining him also in jeering at her, until soon she was almost beside\nherself with rage. Shaking her fist at them as they passed on she pursued\nthem with threat and invective that brought a chill of terror to their\nyoung hearts, and made them glad to find themselves at last beyond the\nrange of her bitter tongue. The tragic sequel, coincident or otherwise,\nnow falls to be related. Two nights later they set sail to cross to the\nCumberland side of the Solway. The weather was threatening when they left,\nand a stiff breeze quickly developed into half a gale of wind. The\nschooner, which was very light, was observed to be making very bad weather\nof it, and to be drifting back towards the coast they had left. The\ngathering darkness of the night soon shut them out of sight, but early\nnext morning the vessel lay a broken wreck on the rocky shore, and several\nweeks afterwards the bodies of her crew were washed ashore.\"(16)\n\n\"In a somewhat sparsely populated district in the parish of Balmaghie\nthere lived, with a crippled husband, a wrinkled-visaged old woman who was\nreckoned by all who lived near her as an uncanny character. She dwelt in a\nsmall thatched cottage well away from the public road, and had attached\nto her cottage a small croft or patch, half of which was used as a garden,\nthe remainder as a gang for pigs and poultry. Not far from where she lived\nabounded long strips of meadow land, liable to be in wet seasons submerged\nby the backwaters of the Dee. About a mile from the cottage was a farm\nwhere a number of cows were kept, the farmer usually disposing of the\nbutter made up every week to small shopkeepers, and in the villages near\nby. He was always very chary about passing the old woman's cottage with\nhis basket of butter and eggs, feeling sure of a bad market should she\nchance to get a glimpse at the contents of the basket. Moreover, he would\ngladly have dispensed with the peace-offering he was obliged to make in\nthe form of a pound of butter or a dozen or so of eggs, which was\nconsidered a sure safeguard. To avoid her he had taken a new route,\ncrossing a ford higher up the water and going over a hill to another\nvillage, where he would have little chance of coming in contact with her.\nOne day however, he found that his plan was discovered, and that to\npersist in it would be to court disaster. Crossing the moor he observed\nthe old woman busily gathering birns[3] and small whin roots. She was\nundoubtedly watching and waiting for him, and was the first to speak.\n'Aye, aye, man; ye maun reckon me gey blin' no' tae see ye stavering oot\no' the gate among moss holes tae get ooten my wey. Ye hae wat yer cloots\nmonie a mornin' tae keep awa' frae my hoose, and for nae ither guid reason\nthan tae save twa or three eggs or a morsel o' butter that ony weel-minded\nneebor wud at ony time gie an auld donnert cripple tae feed and shelter.\nLosh, man, but ye hae a puir, mean speerit. Yer auld faither wudna hae din\nony sic thing, an' mony a soup o' tea a hae geen 'im when he used to ca'\nin on his hame-gaun frae the toon gey weel the waur o' a dram.' Annoyed at\nbeing challenged the farmer was not quite in a mood to laugh the matter\noff, and accordingly he, with some degree of temper, told the old woman to\ngo to a place where neither birns nor whin roots were needed for kindling\npurposes. About a mile further over the moor he met a neighbour's boy\nhurrying along, making for his farm to ask him to come over to help his\nmaster to pull a cow out of a hole in the peat-moss. He at once went,\nasking the lad to carry one of his baskets to enable them to get along\nfaster. They left the two baskets at the end of a haystack near the muir\nfarm, and crossed over to the moss where they could see the farmer and his\nwife doing their utmost to keep the cow's head above the mire. Additional\nstrength of arm however, soon brought the cow out of her dangerous\nposition, and they retired for a little to the farm-house for a dram.\n'Dod,' said the owner of the baskets, 'I houp nae hairm has come the\nbutter an' eggs. I left them ower-by at the end o' the hey-stack yonner.'\n'O, they'll be a' richt,' said the farmer's wife; 'but Johnie 'll gang\nower and bring them, sae sit still 'til he fetches them.' Johnie went as\ntold, and came back with the tidings that 'the auld soo had eaten nearly\nall the butter an' broken maist o' the eggs, had pit her feet thro' the\nbottom o' the butter-skep, and made a deil o' a haun o' everything.' 'Aye,\naye,' quoth the farmer; 'juist what I micht hae expeckit efter the look I\ngot frae that auld deevel in woman's shape doonbye.' His neighbour was\nsilent and seemed strangely put out, and when at last he found speech it\nwas to say, 'Man Sanny, she's du'n baith o' us! Dae ye ken I refused her a\npig juist last week, an' that accoonts for \"crummie\" in the\nmoss-hole.'\"(17)\n\nA story which illustrates how witch-power was not always an influence for\nevil is recounted in the folk-lore of Tynron:--\n\n\"An old farmer who died some years ago in Tynron related his experience\nwith a witch in Closeburn when he was a boy. He was carting freestone from\na neighbouring quarry, when his horse came to a standstill at the witch's\ndoor. Two other carters passed him, and only jeered both at the witch and\nthe boy, when the former, to whom he had always been civil, came forward,\nand with a slight push adjusted the ponderous stone, which had slipped and\nwas stopping the wheel. 'Now, go,' she said; 'thou wilt find them at the\ngate below Gilchristland.' At that very spot he found the perplexed\ncarters standing, both horses trembling and sweating, so that he easily\nwent past them and got to his goal first.\"(18)\n\nNo reference to witchcraft in the south-west of Scotland would be complete\nwithout some reference to the witches of Crawick Mill, near Sanquhar. The\nfollowing allusion is drawn from a recently published work on the\nfolk-lore of Upper Nithsdale, and in it will be observed how the witch\nphenomenon of change into the form of a hare, and being shot at in that\nform, again repeats itself:--\n\n\"The village of Crawick Mill, near Sanquhar, was a noted place for\nwitches, and appears to have been a sort of headquarters for the\nsisterhood. Their doings and ongoings have been talked of far and near,\nand many a tale is told of revels at the 'Witches' Stairs'--a huge rock\namong the picturesque linns of Crawick, where, in company of other\nkindred spirits gathered from all parts of the country, they planned\ntheir deeds of evil, and cast their cantrips to the hurt of those who had\ncome under their displeasure. In many different ways were these inflicted.\nSometimes the farmer's best cow would lose its milk; a mare would miss\nfoal; or the churn would be spellbound, and the dairymaid might churn and\nchurn, and churn again, but no butter would come. No class of people was\nsafe. The malignant power of the witches reached all classes of society;\nand even the minister's churn on one occasion would yield no butter.\nEverything had been tried without effect. The manse of Sanquhar at that\ntime was situated close to the river on the site now occupied by the\nfarm-house of Blackaddie, and the good man told the servant girl to carry\nthe churn to the other side of the Nith, thinking that the crossing of a\nrunning stream would break the spell. But it was to no purpose; neither\nwas the rowan tree branch that was fixed in the byre, nor the horse-shoe\nnailed behind the door. The power of the witch was too strong for the\nminister; but his wife was more successful. She made up a nice roll of\nbutter, part of a former churning, and, with a pitcher of milk, sent it as\na present to the beldam at Crawick Mill, who was thought to have wrought\nthe mischief. The gift was thankfully received, and the churn did well\never after.\n\n\"Robert Stitt, honest man, was the miller at Crawick Mill, and well\nrespected by everybody. One day, however, he refused one of the Crawick\nwitches a peck of meal; she was enraged at the refusal, and told him 'he\nwould rue that ere mony days passed.' About a week afterwards, on a dark\nnight, Crawick was rolling in full flood. The miller went to put down the\nsluice, missed his footing, fell into the water, and was carried off by\nthe torrent and drowned. A young man going a journey started early in the\nmorning, and, shortly after he set out, met one of the witches, when some\nwords passed between them. She said to him, 'Ye're gaun briskly awa', my\nlad, but ye'll come ridin' hame the nicht.' The poor fellow got his leg\nbroken that day, and was brought home in a cart as the witch predicted. An\nold woman named Nannie is said to have been the last of the uncanny crew\nthat dwelt on the banks of the Crawick. She appears to have been a person\nsuperior in intelligence and forethought to her neighbours. She knew that\nshe was considered a witch, and she rather encouraged the idea; it kept\nher neighbours in awe, and also helped her to get a living--many a present\nshe got from the ignorant and superstitious to secure themselves from her\nspells.\"(19)\n\n\"One of the most famous witches of tradition belonging to Corrie\n(Dumfriesshire) was the witch-wife of the Wyliehole, whose strange\nexploits and infernal doings were the subject of many a winter evening's\nconversation around the farmer's hearth.\n\n\"She was represented as having been terribly implacable in her\nresentments, and those who fell under her displeasure were certain to feel\nall the severity of her revenge. She pursued them incessantly with strange\naccidents and misfortunes, sometimes with nocturnal visits in the form of\nfierce wild cats and weasels, and not only disturbed their repose but kept\nthem in constant terror of their lives. She seems also to have been\nsomewhat peculiar in her movements, as she was seen, on one occasion, on\nthe top of Burnswark crags switching lint by moonlight.\"(20)\n\nIt may now be well to dwell for a little on the popular measures resorted\nto, to counteract witch influence and render it futile.\n\nRelief and protection were sought in various ways. Charm and popular\nantidote had an abiding place in the domestic usage of the day, and faith,\nif wedded to empirical methods, was at all events all-prevailing. The\nmountain ash or rowan tree was believed to have a strong counter influence\nagainst unholy rite, and a very usual custom was to plait a branch and\nfasten it above the byre door to ensure the protection of their cows.\nYoung women wore strings of rowan berries as beads on a string of the same\ncolour, implicitly believing\n\n  \"Rowan tree and red threid,\n   Put the witches to their speed\"--\n\nand Robert Heron, in his _Journey through the Western Counties of\nScotland_ (1792), further illustrates this point of superstitious\nobservance by reference to an acquaintance:--\"An anti-burgher clergyman in\nthese parts, who actually procured from a person who pretended to skill in\nthese charms, two small pieces of wood, curiously wrought, to be kept in\nhis father's cow-house as a security for the health of his cows. It is\ncommon (he adds) to bend into a cow's tail a small piece of mountain\nash-wood as a charm against witchcraft.\"\n\nInside the cottage the rowan bunch was suspended from the top of the\ncorner-cupboard or box-bed. Salt was supposed to possess a strong power of\nevil resistance in various ways, not least in the operation of \"churning,\"\na handful being added to the cream before even commencing. To this day old\nhorse-shoes are nailed over stable and byre doors \"for luck,\" a vague\napplication of what in the older days was specific belief in their potency\nas a charm against witch-mischief.\n\nStones with holes through them naturally perforated by the action of the\nwater, popularly called \"elf-cups,\" were also considered to possess\nprotective power and were commonly nailed over the stable door.\n\nIt was further quite usual, when passing the hut of any old woman whom\npeople eyed askance, to put the thumb upon the palm of the hand and close\nthe fingers over it--a relic of the sign of the cross--to avert the evil\neye.\n\nA clear stone, called an \"adder-bead\" (supposed to be made in some\nmysterious way by the co-operation of thirteen adders), a robin's breast,\nand a fox's tongue, were other favoured charms. The witches and warlocks\nthemselves were supposed to wear a protective, jacket-like garment, which\nhad, at a certain mystic time of a March moon, been woven from the skins\nof water-snakes. These were popularly known as \"warlock feckets.\" Silver\nalone could pierce such garments and seems to have possessed properties\nentirely opposed to the invincibility of these disciples of Satan. Nothing\ncould turn or stop a silver bullet which not only destroyed the illusion\nand restored the guise which had been assumed, to the original witch-form,\nbut even inflicted bodily pain and wound.\n\n\"An old woman, still alive, tells how her father was going to Drummore on\none occasion by the road past Terally (Kirkmaiden), and saw a man a short\ndistance in front of him carrying a gun. A hare jumped over the dyke on to\nthe road in front of the man with the gun, who at once shot at it, but\napparently missed. He fired four more shots at it, but the hare only\njumped on the road as if making sport of them. Before he fired the next\nshot however, he slipped a threepenny piece into the gun, and that had\neffect. The hare limped into a whin bush near by, and when the two men\nwent to look for it they found a reputed witch lying with a broken leg.\"\n\nAn oft-practised rite in connection with the supposed bewitchment of a\ncow, and its failure to yield milk, was as follows:--\n\n\"A young maiden milked whatever dregs of milk the cow had left, which was\nof a sanguineous nature and poisonous quality. This was poured warm from\nthe cow into a brass pan, and, every inlet to the house being closed, was\nplaced over a gentle fire until it began to heat. Pins were dropped in and\nclosely stirred with a wand of rowan; when boiling, rusty nails were\nthrown in and more fuel added.\"(21)\n\nThe witch or warlock who had wrought the mischief were in some subtle way\naffected, and suffered pain so long as the distillation of the charm was\ncontinued; and the further point is brought out that the potency of the\ncharm could even drag the perpetrators of the evil to the scene of their\nwitch-work.\n\nThere is a hitherto unrecorded story bearing on this point:--\n\n\"Andrew M'Murray, farmer in Mountsallie, in the Rhinns of Galloway at one\ntime, one morning found one of his cows very ill. In the middle of the\nuneasiness about the condition of the cow a tailor 'whup-the-cat' arrived\nat the farm-house to do some sewing, and among the others, went out to\nlook at the cow. He at once said the cow was witched, and told them of a\nway to find out the person who had done so. They got the cow to her feet,\nand took whatever milk she had from her, and put it in a pot with a number\nof pins in it, and set it on the fire to boil, with a green turf on the\ntop of the lid. When the pot began to boil dry, a near neighbour, who was\na reputed witch, arrived, apparently in a state of great pain, and\nexcitedly asked to see the cow. Immediately the cow saw her it jumped to\nits feet, broke its binding, ran out of the byre, and did not stop till it\nwas at the top of Tordoo, a round hill in the neighbourhood.\"(22)\n\nThe Dalry district, as already seen, is comparatively rich in uncannie\nreminiscence, one of which also accentuates this particular point:--\n\n\"The cow of a Dalry crofter became nearly yell quite unexpectedly. A\nneighbour said she would soon find out the reason. She boiled a quantity\nof needles and pins in some milk drippings from the cow, when an old woman\nwho was reputed to be a witch knocked at the window and begged her to give\nover boiling as she was pricked all over, and if they did so the cow would\nsoon be all right, which accordingly happened.\"(23)\n\nTwo \"cantrip incantations\" concerned with love-making, strung together in\nrhyme, have been handed down:--\n\n  \"In the pingle or the pan,\n   Or the haurpan o' man,\n   Boil the heart's-bluid o' the tade,\n   Wi' the tallow o' the gled;\n   Hawcket kail an' hen-dirt,\n   Chow'd cheese an chicken-wort,\n   Yallow puddocks champit sma',\n   Spiders ten, and gellocks twa,\n   Sclaters twa, frae foggy dykes,\n   Bumbees twunty, frae their bykes,\n   Asks frae stinking lochens blue,\n   Ay, will make a better stue;\n   Bachelors maun hae a charm,\n   Hearts they hae fu' o' harm.\"\n\nThe second, while of much the same character, has evidently more special\nreference to the weaker sex:--\n\n  \"Yirbs for the blinking queen,\n   Seeth now, when it is e'en,\n   Boortree branches, yellow gowans,\n   Berry rasps and berry rowans;\n   Deil's milk frae thrissles saft,\n   Clover blades frae aff the craft;\n   Binwud leaves and blinmen's baws,\n   Heather bells and wither'd haws;\n   Something sweet, something sour,\n   Time about wi' mild and door;\n   Hinnie-suckles, bluidy-fingers,\n   Napple roots and nettle stingers,\n   Bags o' bees and gall in bladders,\n   Gowks' spittles, pizion adders:\n   May dew and fumarts' tears,\n   Nool shearings, nowt's neers,\n   Mix, mix, six and six,\n   And the auld maid's cantrip fix.\"(24)\n\nIn Allan Ramsay's pastoral play of the _Gentle Shepherd_ a vivid\nword-painting occurs of the popular estimation of the witch methods and\nwitch beliefs of the times.\n\nThe passage occurs where \"Bauldy,\" love-stricken and despairing, goes to\nseek the aid of \"Mause,\" an old woman supposed to be a witch:--\n\n  \"'Tis sair to thole; I'll try some witchcraft art.\n\n         *       *       *       *       *\n\n   Here Mausey lives, a witch that for sma' price\n   Can cast her cantraips, and gie me advice,\n   She can o'ercast the night and cloud the moon,\n   And mak the deils obedient to her crune;\n   At midnight hours, o'er the kirkyard she raves,\n   And howks unchristen'd weans out of their graves;\n   Boils up their livers in a warlock's pow,\n   Rins withershins about the hemlock low;\n   And seven times does her prayers backwards pray,\n   Till Plotcock comes with lumps of Lapland clay,\n   Mixt with the venom of black taids and snakes;\n   Of this unsonsy pictures aft she makes\n   Of ony ane she hates, and gars expire,\n   With slow and racking pains afore a fire,\n   Stuck fu' of pins; the devilish pictures melt;\n   The pain by fowk they represent is felt.\"\n\nAn old form of incantation extracted from a witch confession in 1662[4]\nrefers to the form of witchcraft just alluded to in the _Gentle\nShepherd_--the modelling in clay of the object of resentment and the\npiercing and maiming of such effigies to compass corresponding bodily\nharm. In this instance, wasting illness was intended to be induced by\nsubjecting the diminutive clay figure to roasting over a fire:--\n\n  \"In the Divellis nam, we powr in this water amang this mowld (meall)\n   For long duyning[5] and ill heall;\n   We putt it into the fyre,\n   That it may be brunt both stick and stowre,\n   It salbe[6] brunt with owr will\n   As any sticle[7] upon a kill.[8]\"\n\nA further forceful illustration of this particular form of spell-casting\nmay be quoted from the confession of a reputed witch, \"Janet Breadheid,\"\nwho was brought before the Sheriff-Principal of Elgin and Forres in 1662.\n\nIt is here referred to as the family against whom the evil was directed\nwas that of \"Hay of Park,\" an evident off-shoot of a main stem of the\nHays--the Hays of Errol (Perthshire)--a family represented in the\nsouth-west of Scotland by the Hays of Park, who inherited part of the\nlands of the Abbey of Glenluce immediately after the Reformation. The old\nfamily seat, now tenanted by farm servants, is generally described as the\n\"Old House of Park.\"\n\nThe following is the quotation:--\"My husband brought hom the clay in his\nplaid (newk). It ves maid in my hows; and the Divell himself with ws. We\nbrak the clay werie small, lyk meil, (and) sifted it with a siew, and\npowred in vater amongst it, with wordis that the Divell leardned vs (in\nthe Di.) Vellis nam. I brought hom the water, in a pig, out of the\nRud-wall. We were all upon owr (kneyes) and our hair about owr eyes, and\nowr handis liftet up to the Divell, and owr eyes stedfast looking (upon\nhim) praying and saying wordis which he learned ws, thryse ower, for\ndestroyeing of this Lairdis (meall) children, and to mak his hows airles.\nIt was werie sore wrought, lyk rye-bowt. It was about the bignes of a\nfeadge or pow. It was just maid lyk the bairn; it vanted no mark of any\nmaill child, such as heid, face, eyes, nose, mowth lippes, etc., and the\nhandis of it folded downe by its sydis. It ves putt to the fyre, first\ntill it scrunked, and then a cleir fyre about it, till it ves hard. And\nthen we took out of the fyre, in the Divell's nam; and we laid a clowt\nabout it and did lay (it) on a knag, and sometimes under a chist. Each day\nwe would water, and then rost and bek it; and turn it at the fyre, each\nother day, whill that bairne died; and then layed it up, and steired it\nnot untill the nixt bairne wes borne; And then, within half an year efter\nthat bairne was born, (we) took it out again out of the cradle and clowt,\nand would dip it now and than among water, and beck (it) and rost it at\nthe fyre, each other day once, as ve did against the other that was dead,\nuntill that bairn (died) also.\"(25)\n\nThe following is an example of a \"Devil's Grace\":--\n\n  \"We eat this meat in the Divellis nam,\n   With sorrow, and sych,[9] and meikle shame,\n   We sall destroy hows and hald;\n   Both sheip and noat in till the fald.\n   Little good sall come to the fore\n   Of all the rest of the little store.\"\n\nThe following extract from a rare and fascinating work, _The Book of\nGalloway_ (1745), possesses two points of much interest. It includes the\nprophetic utterings of a witch called Meg Macmuldroch at the \"cannie\nmoment\" when Sir William Douglas of Gelston, whose name is so intimately\nassociated with the creation and development of the town of\nCastle-Douglas, was born:--\n\n\"And anon as she came to the burden of her prophecy, pointing her\nquivering fingers to the sky, and repeating the following words with much\nemphasis:--'I looked at the starnies and they were in the right airt. It\nwas full tide, and bein' lown and in the deid howe o' nicht, in Sandy\nBlack's fey, I heard the sough o' the sea and the o'erswak o' the waves as\nthey broke their bellies on the sawns o' Wigtown. There was a scaum i' the\nlift; the young mune was in the auld mune's arms, that was bad and\nguid--bad for the father, guid for the son; and as sure as the de'ils in\nthe King's croft o' Stocking,[10] here's my benison and malison, mak' o't\nwhat ye wull.\n\n  'Grief and scaith, the faither to his death;\n   Thrift and thrive to the bairn alive.'\"\n\nThe second point contained is the practical application and mention of\nseveral witchcraft and old-world expressions, some of which have just been\nreferred to in dealing with the counteraction of witch-force:--\n\n\"'Greater pity,' said the minister abruptly, 'that the penalties against\nwitchcraft are now done away with' ... She has already cast her glamour\nof the evil eye on this man. His very horse has been hag-ridden overnight,\nand in the mornin', sair forfochten wi' nocturnal sweats, and the\n\"adder-stane\" winna bring remeid. His cow was weel fed, for ye ken 'the\ncow gives her milk by the mou', but the crone has milked the tether,' and\nhis twa stirks are stannin' slaverin' at baith mouth and een, and its\nneither side-ill, quarter-ill, tail-ill, muir-ill, or water-ill, and its\nno the rinnin' doun, the black spauld, or the warbles, but a clear case of\nelf-shot, though a piece of rowan has been tied to their tails.... John\nwent first to Shennaton on the water o' Bladnoch, bad land at the best,\nfor it girns a' summer and greets a' winter. There he couldna leeve, so\nhis 'fire was slockened,' and here he's half deid, an' a' through the\nwitches.\"(26)\n\nIn concluding this chapter further notice may be taken of the quite common\npractice in those days, of the fears of the country-side being traded upon\nby cunning old women supposed to possess, or pretending to possess,\nwitch-power. In wholesome dread of the malign influence of the \"uncannie\ne'en\" these old women were propitiated by lavish presents of produce and\nprovender, and so skillfully did many of them play their parts that they\nlived comfortably and bien at the expense of their neighbours, who were\nonly too glad to send new milk, cheese, meal, and even to cast their peats\nand help with the rents to make \"the e'en look kindly\" and avert possible\ndisaster, all of which is graphically alluded to and set forth in Allan\nCunningham's \"Pawky Auld Kimmer\":--\n\n  \"There's a pawky auld Kimmer wons low i' the glen;\n   Nane kens how auld Kimmer maun fecht and maun fen;\n   Kimmer gets maut, and Kimmer gets meal,\n   And cantie lives Kimmer, richt couthie an' hale;\n   Kimmer gets bread, and Kimmer gets cheese,\n   An' Kimmer's uncannie e'en keep her at ease.\n   'I rede ye speak lowne, lest Kimmer should hear ye;\n   Come sain ye, come cross ye, an' Gude be near ye!'\"\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER III._\n\nWITCHCRAFT TRIALS AND PERSECUTION.\n\n  \"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.\"\n                          --_Exodus xxii., 18._\n\n\nLittle is heard of witchcraft in Scotland before the latter half of the\n16th century, but in the year 1563, in the reign of Mary, Queen of\nScotland, a strenuous Act directed against the practice of witchcraft\nbecame law, and was most rigorously enforced. As this has been described\nas the law under which all the subsequent witch trials took place its\nsignificant phraseology may in part be quoted:--\n\n\"The Estates enact that nae person take upon hand to use ony matter of\nwitchcrafts, sorcery or necromancy, nor give themselves furth to have ony\nsic craft or knowledge thereof; also that nae person seek ony help,\nresponse, or consultation at ony sic users or abusers of witchcraft under\nthe pain of death.\"\n\nCuriously enough the passing of this and similar Acts was attended by\nresults as unexpected as they were unforeseen. Belief in witchcraft became\nthe passion of public credulity. Accusations, generally false and often\neven ludicrous in their solemn foolishness, were trumped up, and action\nfollowed, that hurried countless helpless human beings to the stake to die\na cruel and shameful death. It was a time of terror, an epoch of\nsuperstitious sacrifice, extending and gathering force as the reign of\nMary merged into the Regency, only finding pause at the removal of James\nVI. of Scotland to London, there to preside over the united destinies of\nthese islands. As is well known, this monarch evinced a more than personal\ninterest in matters pertaining to the \"unseen world,\" and that, gathering\nup his ideas and conclusions, he embodied them in a singular treatise\nentitled _Daemonologie_.[11] Less creditable to his memory it is told\nthat not only did he favour executions for this alleged crime, but\nactually took pleasure in witnessing the sacrifice of the condemned.\n\nWith the death of James a phase of quiescence in witch quest and sacrifice\nis entered upon, a lull which lasted for some fifteen years. It was again,\nhowever, to be broken, this time by the unfortunate intervention and\nmisdirected zeal of the Church itself. The General Assembly, stimulated by\na desire for Puritanical perfection, awakened the slumbering crudity of\nbelief, that direct Satanic Power stalked abroad in the land in the form\nof witchcraft. Condemnatory Acts were passed in the years 1640-43-44-45\nand 49. Again the stake and tar faggot blazed. The Levitical law was\naccepted as a too literal injunction, and from this time forward it is the\nclergy who particularly figure as the pursuers of witches, keen and\nrelentless to a degree; and yet with it all, however misguided the efforts\nof these Churchmen, however cruel their methods, it is only just to their\nmemories to believe in their purity of motive, and to give them all credit\nfor pious and earnest desire to combat and stamp out what to them was in\nvery truth a great evil.\n\nDifferent methods were adopted to establish proof and justify the cases\nfor the accusers, but the one test specially relied upon was to find the\nactual presence of what has already been described as the \"witch mark\"[12]\nupon the person of the suspected. When this was found, or supposed to be\nfound, it was the deliberate practice to pass through it a sharp\nneedle-like instrument, and if no pain was felt or blood drawn, then guilt\nwas held to be firmly established.\n\n[Illustration: \"A RUNNING STREAM THEY DARE NA CROSS!\" J. Copland.]\n\nSo frequent were the accusations that the \"pricking of witches\" became a\nrecognised calling: one individual, John Kincaid by name, having such a\nreputation for skill in this unhallowed work that he seems to have been\nemployed in the principal witch trials of this period, such an entry as--\n\n  \"Item, mair to Jon Kinked for brodding of her         VI. lib. Scotts\"\n\nbeing of quite common occurrence in the notes of expenses still on\nrecord.\n\nIt is to this second or later period of persecution that the record of\nwitch charge and punishment in the south-west of Scotland really belongs,\nand from 1656 the records of the civil and ecclesiastical courts teem with\naccounts of searching enquiry and trial. It must further be remembered\nthat over and above the regularly constituted enquiries of State and\nChurch a great number of Commissions were granted by the Privy Council to\ngentlemen in every county, and almost in every parish, to try persons\naccused of witchcraft, many of whom suffered the extreme penalty,[13] and\nof which no particulars can now be gleaned.\n\nIt is now our purpose to set forth as completely as possible such relative\nmatter and extracts from existing documents as will describe the\nproceedings as they actually took place in the distinctive localities of\nthe Dumfries and Galloway district, but it may perhaps be here fittingly\nnoted, not without a certain sense of gratification, that this\nsouth-western district, though far from blameless, compares more than\nfavourably with other districts in Scotland, both in fairness of judgment\nand rigour of punishment.\n\n\nPROCEEDINGS IN GALLOWAY.\n\n_Presbytery of Kirkcudbright, April, 1662._--A person, named James Welsh,\nconfessed himself guilty of the crime of witchcraft before the Presbytery\nof Kirkcudbright; but the justices refused to put him upon his trial,\nbecause he was a minor when he acknowledged his guilt, and had retracted\nhis extra-judicial confession; but on the 17th of April, 1662, they\nordered him to be scourged and put in the correction house, having so\ngrossly \"prevaricated and delated so many honest persons.\"\n\n_Kirkcudbright, 1671._--At an Assize held in the burgh of Dumfries in 1671\neight or more females were charged with witchcraft; five of them were\neventually sent for trial to Kirkcudbright.\n\n_Dalry Kirk-Session, 1696._--Elspeth M'Ewen, an old woman living alone at\na place called Bogha, near the farm of Cubbox, in Balmaclellan, was\nsuspected by the country-side of various acts of \"witching.\" In\nparticular, she was believed to have at her command a wooden pin that was\nmovable and that could be withdrawn from the base of the rafters resting\non the walls of the cottage, which particular part of the building was in\nthese old days called the \"kipple foot.\"\n\nWith this pin Elspeth was supposed to have the supernatural power of\ndrawing an exhaustive milk supply from her neighbour's cows merely by\nplacing it in contact with the udder, and this it was reported she\npractised freely. Other cantrips laid to her door included capricious\ninterference with the laying power of her neighbour's hens, causing them\nsometimes to fail altogether, at others to produce in amazing\nplenteousness.\n\nAt last complaint was made to the Session, and the beadle, by name\nM'Lambroch, was sent away with the minister's mare to bring her before the\nSession. On the journey there is a tradition that the mare in a panic of\nfright sweated great drops of blood at the rising hill near the Manse,\nsince known as the \"Bluidy Brae.\"\n\nAfter being examined she was sent to Kirkcudbright, where she lay in\nprison for about two years.\n\n_Dalry Kirk-Session, October 15th, 1697._--The following entry evidently\nrefers to the expense of her maintenance in prison: \"Given for alimenting\nElspet M'Koun, alledged of witchcraft in prison, \u00a301.01.00.\"\n\n_Kirkcudbright, 1698._--In Kirkcudbright prison Elspeth M'Ewen was so\ninhumanely treated that she frequently implored her tormentors to\nterminate a life which had become a grievous burden to her.\n\nIn March, 1698, a Commission was appointed by the Privy Council for her\ntrial, along with another woman, Mary Millar, also accused of witchcraft,\n\"to meet and conveen at Kirkcudbright.\" The following is an extract from\nthe said Commission:--\n\n_Extract from \"Commission for Judging of Elspeth M'Cowen and Mary Millar,\nalleadged Guilty of Witchcraft, 1698.\"_\n\n\"The Lords of his Majesties privie Councill, being informed that Elspeth\nM'Cowen and Mary Millar, both within the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright,\npresently prisoners within the tolboth of Kirkcudbright, are alleaged\nguilty of the horid cryme of witchcraft, and hes committed severall\nmalifices; and considering it will be a great deall of charges and\nexpenses to bring the saids Elspeth M'Cowen and Mary Millar to this place,\nin order to a tryall before the Lords commissioners of justiciary:\nBesides, that severall inconveniences may aryse by there transportation.\nAnd the saids Lords lykewayes considering that this horid cryme cannot be\ntryed and judged by any persons in the countrie without a warrant and\ncommission from their Lordships for that effect; And the saids Lords being\ndesyreous to have the said matter brought to a tryall, that the persones\nguilty may receive condigne punishment, and others may be deterred from\ncommitting so horid a cryme in time coming; They do hereby give full\npower, warrant and commission, to Sir John Maxwell of Pollock,--Maxwell of\nDalswintoune, Hugh M'Guffock of Rusco, Adam Newall of Barskeoche, Dunbar\nof Machrymore, Thomas Alexander, Stewart Depute of Kirkcudbright, Robert\nM'Clellend of Barmagachan, and Mr Alexander Fergussone of Isle, Advocate;\nAnd declare any three of the foresaids persones to be a sufficient quorum,\nthe said Stewart Depute of Kirkcudbright being one of the three, To take\ntryall off, and to judge and do justice upon the saids Elspeth M'Cowen and\nMary Millar, for the cryme of witchcraft. And in order thereto, To meitt\nand conveen at Kirkcudbright, the second ffryday of Apryle next to come,\nand there to accept for this present commission, and upon there acceptance\nto administrate the oath of fidelity to the person whom the Lord Justice\nClerk or James Montgomery of Langshare, Clerk to the Justice Court, shall\ndepute and substitute to be clerk to the present Commissione, With power\nto the saids Commissioners or their said quorum, to choyse their own Clerk\nfor whom they shall be answerable, In caise that the saids Lords Justice\nClerk and James Montgomery, shall refuse to nominate a Clerk in this\nmatter, they being first requyred so to doe, With power lykewayes to the\nsaids persones hereby commissionat or their said quorum, To create, make,\nand constitute Serjants, Dempsters, and other Members of the said court,\nAnd to Issue out and cause raise precepts or lybells of indictment at the\ninstance of Samuell Cairnmount, writer in Kirkcudbright, as procurator\nfiscall for his Majesties interest in the said matter, against the saids\nElspeth M'Cowen and Mary Millar, accused of Witchcraft, ffor sumonding and\nciteing them upon ffyfteen dayes, by delyvering to them a full copie of\nthe lybell or indictment, with the names and designationes of the Assyzers\nand witnesses subjoined; And for citeing there assyzers and witnesses in\nthe ordinary and under the usual paynes and certificationes, To compear\nbefore the saids Commissioners hereby commissionat, ... With power to the\nsaids Commissioners or their said quorums, To decern and Adjudge them to\nbe burned, or otherwise to be execute to death within such space and after\nsuch a manner as they shall think fit, and appoints the saids\ncommissioners, there said quorum or Clerk, to transmit the haill process\nwhich shall be ledd before them against the said Elspeth M'Cowen and Mary\nMillar, and severall steps thereof and verdict of the inquest to be given\nthereupon to the saids Lords of his Majesties privie Councill, betwixt and\nthe ffyfteenth day of June nixt to come.\"(27)\n\nOn the 26th of July the committee of Privy Council reported that they had\nexamined the proceedings of the commissioners in the case of Elspeth\nM'Ewen (the report signed by the Lord Advocate), who had been pronounced\nguilty upon her own confession and the evidence of witnesses \"of a compact\nand correspondence with the devil, and of charms and of accession to\nmalefices.\" It was ordered that the sentence of death against Elspeth\nshould be executed under care of the Steward of Kirkcudbright and his\ndeputies.\n\nFound guilty by her own confession, a certain means to end a miserable\nlife, Elspeth M'Ewen suffered the extreme penalty of being burned at the\nstake, the execution taking place in what is now known as Silver Craigs\nPark, on the 24th day of August, 1698.\n\nThe following extracts connected with the trial and execution are taken\nfrom some old Kirkcudbright records, which were brought to light by the\nlate Mr James Nicholson:--\n\n\"Ane accompt of my (George Welsh) depursements as Thessr.[14] from\nMichaelmas, 1697, to Michaelmas, 1698, as follows--\n\n  Item for Item to Barbara Roddin for ane pound and ane half\n    of candle yt night the Assyse sat on Elspet M'Keown          000 09 00\n\n  22 July, 1698. Item to the men that took William Kirk, by\n    Ba. Campble's order                                          000 04 00\n\n  Item given to him yt day                                       000 03 00\n\n  Item for Satterday, Sunday and Monday yrafter                  000 09 00\n\n  Item given to William Kirk of earnest by Ba. Campble's\n    orders in money and in aill with him                         00j 0j 00\n\n  Item to William Kirk for six days at three shills per\n    day                                                          000 18 00\n\n  4 Aut., 1698. Item to William Kirk for twenty days tyme\n    yt he was in prison at ffour shills per day, is              004 00 00\n\n  20 Aut., 1698. Item given to the Proveist to give William\n    Kirk to buy drink, and by his orders to buy ane leg\n    mutton                                                       000 ij 00\n\n  Item. Sspent by the Proveist wt Howell and Ba. Dunbar, the\n    day of Elspet M'Keown's execution, ane gill brandie          000 04 06\n\n  Item be the Proveist's order, to William Kirk to buy meal\n    wt.                                                          000 10 00\n\n  Item payed in James M'Colm's yt the Proveist drank with\n    Ba. Dunbar and oyrs the day of Elspet M'Keoun's\n    execution                                                    000 06 00\n\n  Item to Wm. Kirk to buy meill wt.                              000 07 06\n\n  Item to Wm. Kirk to buy meill wt.                              000 07 06\n\n  Item payed to Barbara Roddin for candles to Elspet\n    M'Keoun's guard                                              000 17 00\n\n  Item to Mart. M'Keand for ffour Ells and three quarters\n    Red, to William Kirk, at twenty shill Scots per Ell, is      004 15 00\n\n  Item to Helin Martin for plaiding to be hose to him            000 08 00\n\n  Item to thrid whyt and collured                                000 03 00\n\n  Item for ane Bonnet to him                                     000 09 00\n\n  Item for harne to be pockets, and for shoen                    000 17 00\n\n  Item for three ells harne to be ane shirt, and for making\n    yrof.                                                        001 00 00\n\n  Item for ane long gravate to him                               000 12 00\n\n  24th Aut., 1698. Item given to the Proveist to give him\n    the day of execution                                         002 16 00\n\n  Item for peits to burn Elspet wt.                              00j 04 00\n\n  Item for twa pecks of colls                                    000 16 00\n\n  Item for towes, small and great                                000 04 00\n\n  Item for ane tarr barle to Andrew Aitken                       00j 04 00\n\n  Item to Hugh Anderson for carrying of the peits and colls      000 06 00\n\n  Item to William Kirk qn she was burning, ane pint of aill      000 02 00\n\n  Item payed to Robert Creighton, conform to precept, viz.,\n    eight shill Scots for beating the drumm at Elspet\n    M'Queen's funerall, and to James Carsson, his wife\n    threeteen shillings drunken by Elspet's executioner, at\n    seall times                                                  00j 0j 00\n\nIt would thus appear that the executioner (William Kirk) had to be kept in\njail in order that he should be forthcoming at the execution. He seems to\nhave been an old, infirm man, without relations or friends, and on 8th\nJuly, 1699, he addressed the following petition to the Provost and\nMagistrates:--\n\n\"To the Right Honorable my Lord Provest, Baylies, and Cownsell of the\nRoyal Burgh of Kirkcut.--Humbly sheweth, That yor Honors patchioner is in\ngreat straits in this dear time and lik to sterv for hwnger, and whan I go\nto the cowntrie and foks many of them has it not and others of them that\nhes it say they are overburdened with poor folk that they are not able to\nstand before them, and they will bid me go hom to the town to maintain me\nand cast stanes at me. May it therefore please your honors to look upon my\nindigent condition and help me for the Lord sake, and yor honors pettioner\nshall ever pray.\"\n\nIn answer to the above \"earnest cry and prayer\" there appears the\nfollowing entry in the \"Thessr's\" account:--\n\n\"8th Jully, 1699.\n\n\"The sd day the magistrates and Counsell ordains the Thessr. to give the\npetitioner the next week six shill Scots forby his weekly allowance.\"\n\nAnother document, which throws a curious side-light on Elspeth M'Ewen's\ntrial, is the sentence against one Janet Corbie, who advised Elspeth to\nplead not guilty. It is as follows:--\n\n\"Kirkcudbright, -- day of July, 1698.\n\n\"The same day, it being most palpably and cleirly evident and made appear\nto ye magistrates and Consell yt. Janet Corbie, dauter of Wm. Corbie,\nhath been and as yet continues in a most scandlous carrige, abusing of her\nneybors by scandlous expressions, whereffor there hath been fformer ffines\nput upon her, and that she is a persoun yt leeves by pyckering and\nstealing as is most justly suspect yrof, and yt she hath been endevouring\nto harden Elspeth M'Keoun, wha is in ye laigh sellar as ane wich, in\nendevouring to dissuad her to confess and that people sinned ther sowl wha\nsaid she was a wich, and ffor her constant practis in abuse of ye Lord's\nDay emploing herselff yrin ofthymes in stealing her neybors guids such as\nunyuns and bowcaill and taking them to ye countrie and makin sale yr of,\nand sevll oyr thing yt upon just grownds could be mayd appere so yt to\nlong she hath been suffered to resyde in this place; yrfor, and yt ye\nplace may be troubled with such a miscrent, and scandlous person nae\nlanger in tym coming, ye magistrates and consell out of a due sens of yr\ndutie and of ye justice of her sentens, ordains the said Janet Corbie to\nremain in prison while Munday morning neist att ten o'clock and then to be\ntaken ffurth of the tolboth by ye officers and wt tuck of drum to be\ntransported over the ferry bote, to be exported in all tyme coming from ye\nsosiety or convercacioune of all guid Christians and indwellers in ye\nplace, and never to return yrto, prohibiting and discharging all\ninhabitants, qur parents, relaciouns, or any oyrs wtin ye toun's bouns, to\nharbor, reset, convers, commune with, or entertane the said Janet or\nreceve her to their society or company at any place or tyme in all tyme\ncoming, and yt under ye pain of fforty pounds Scots muney to be peyd by\nilk transgressor, toties quoties to ye toun's Thessr. atower whatever oyer\npunishment the magistrets and consell sall think fit further to impose,\nand ordains thir presents to be publish at ye Mercat Cross yt non may\npretend ignorans in tyme coming, and the magistrats ordane to see the\nsentence put in execution.\"\n\n_Extracts from Minute Book of the Kirk-Session of Kirkcudbright._(28)\n\n\"Janet M'Robert in Milnburn is delated to the Session for Witchcraft, the\nsigns and instances qrof (whereof) are afterwards recorded. The Session\ntherefor recommends to the Magistrates to apprehend and incarcerate her\ntill tryall be had of that matter.\"\n\n\"Feb. 6, 1701.\n\n\"As to Janet M'Robert in Milnburn, it is delated by Elizabeth Lauchlon,\nlawfull daughter to John Lauchlon yr., (there) that the sd. (said)\nElizabeth went to Janet's house, when she was not within, and looking in\nat the door saw a wheel going about and spinning without the help of any\nperson seen by her, and she went in and essayed to lay hold of the said\nwheel, but was beat back to the door and her head was hurt, though she saw\nnobody. And yt. (that) after she was in the said Janet's House (being at\nschool with her) the Devil appeared to her in the likeness of a man, and\ndid bid her deliver herself over to him, from the crown of her head to the\nsole of her foot, which she refused to do, saying she would rather give\nherself to God Almighty. After the Devil went away the sd. (said) Janet,\nwho was present with her, laid bonds on her not to tell. And yr after he\ncame a second time to her, being in Janet's house alone, in the likeness\nof a gentleman, and desired her to go with him, and yr after disappeared,\nseeming not to go out at the door.\n\n\"Robert Crichton's wife farther delates, that when she was winnowing corn\nin Bailie Dunbar's barn, the said Janet came in to her and helped her,\ntho' not desired, till she had done, and desired of her some chaff for her\ncow. She gave her a small quantity in her apron, with which she seemed not\nto be satisfied, so upon the morrow thereafter, the said Robert Crichton's\nwife's breast swelled to a great height, which continued for about the\nspace of five weeks, so that the young child who was then sucking decayed\nand vanished away to a shadow, and immediately yr after their cow took\nsuch a distemper that her milk had neither the colour nor taste that it\nused to have, so yt no use could be made of it, all which happened about\nthree years ago.\n\n\"It is further delated by Howell, that being one day in John Robertson's\nin the Milnburn, he desired to buy two hens. They said they had none, but\nperhaps Janet M'Robert would do it, and accordingly he asked Janet, who\nanswered she had none to sell to him. He replied, 'you have them to eat my\ngoodmother's bear when it is sown; but (said he), my rough lad (meaning\nhis dog) will perhaps bring them to me.' She answered, 'your rough lad\nwill bring none of my hens this two days;' and before that he went to the\ntown, the dog went mad to the beholding of many.\n\n\"Further, it is delated, that a friend of the said Janet's living in\nRerwick, whose wife was lying on childbed, did send his daughter to Janet\nto borrow some money which she refused to give at the first, yet upon a\nsecond consideration she gave her two fourteens, but still assured the\nLass that she would lose them. 'What,' (says the Lass) 'am I a child yet?'\nand for the mare security she took a purse out of her pocket in which\nthere were no holes, and took out some turmour (turmerick) which she had\nin it, and did put in the two fourteens and threw the neck of her purse\n(as she used perhaps to do) assuring herself that she should not lose them\nnow, and went home, and when she came there, she opened the purse to take\nout the two fourteens, and she had nothing.\n\n[Illustration: \"A WITCH TRIAL.\" J. Copland.]\n\n\"Further, it is delated by John M'Gympser's wife, Agnes Kirk, that the\nsaid Janet came one day there, and desired a hare's bouk (carcase) which\nshe refused, and since that time their dog hath neither been able to run\nor take ane hare.\"\n\n\"Feb. 12th, 1701.\n\n\"As to Janet M'Robert, John Bodden in Milnburn delates, that at the laik\nwake of his child three years ago, Patrick Linton's son heard a great\nnoise about Janet's house, so yt he was afraid to go out at the door, and\nJohn Bodden himself going to the door heard it also, at which he was\ngreatly affrighted. Upon the morrow yr after, the said Janet went into\nJohn's house, and they told her what they heard the night before about her\nhouse. Janet answered, 'It is nothing but my clocken hen'; but John\ndeclared that 'all the hens within twenty miles would not have made such a\nnoise.'\n\n\"The sd. John further delates that, upon the Wednesday after Janet was\nincarcerated, he did see about cock-crow a candle going through the said\nJanet's house, but saw nothing holding it.\"\n\nThe Finding--\n\n\"April 10th, 1701.\n\n\"As to Janet M'Robert, an extract of the delations against her being sent\nto Edinburgh, and a commission written for to pursue her legally it was\ndenyed in regard they judged the delations not to be sufficient\npresumptions of guilt, so as to found a process of that nature.\nNotwithstanding thereof the said Janet consented to an act of banishment,\nand went hence to Ireland.\"\n\n_Extracts from Session Book of Twynholm._(29)\n\n\"18th April, 1703.\n\n\"Jean M'Murrie in Irelandton, suspect of witchcraft, being aprehended and\nincarcerated in the tolbooth of Kirkcudbright upon a warrant from the\ncivil magistrate, the minr. (minister) is desired to cause cite to the\nnext Session any whom he can find to have any presumptions of witchcraft\nagt the said Jean.\"\n\n\"25th April, 1703.\n\n\"The minister reports that he (as he was desired) has caused cite some\npersons anent Jean M'Murrie's suspected witchcraft, such as--\n\n\"1st. Florence Sprot, who being called and compearing, declares that by\nthe report of the country Jean M'Murrie has been under the name of a witch\nfor many years.\n\n\"2d. John M'Gown in Culcray, in Tongland, declares, that he having a\ndaughter of Jean M'Murrie's with him, the said Jean came one day to his\nhouse before her daughter went from him, and the sd Jean having conceived\nsome anger because her daughter came to him without the said Jean's\nconsent, she staying a little in his house, went away to a neighbour's\nhouse, and stayed there all night, and the said John going to her\nto-morrow, when she saw the said John she inquired how it came to pass\nthat he took her daughter without her consent; and he desiring her back\nagain to his house, but she by no entreatie wd (would) go to his house,\nand left the said John in a rage, and within about four days his wife took\na dreadful stitch thro' her, as if she had been stricken with a whinger or\nknife, and his wife desiring earnestly that Jean M'Murrie would come and\nsee her, but the sd Jean would never come to see her (altho' bidden by\nJanet Dallan in Irlandton), and so the said John's wife continued in great\npain until she died.\n\n\"3d. Issobel M'Gown in Netherton, who, being called and compearing,\ndeclares that Jean M'Murrie has been under the name of a witch for many\nyears by the report of the country.\n\n\"4th. Christian Bisset in Glencroft, declares that Jean M'Murrie has been\nunder the name of a witch since she came to the parish, which is more than\nten years.\"\n\n\"2nd May, 1703.\n\n\"Janet M'Haffie in the Mark of Twynhame, declares that, in harvest 1700,\nJean M'Murrie came one night to the said Mark after they had been at the\nMill, and the said Janet M'Haffie going to milk the kye, disowned the said\nJean (not knowing that it was she), neither did any other about the Mark\nown the said Jean that night, and Jean going away without any alms that\nnight, upon the morrow their milk was made useless, having a loathsome\nsmell, likewise the said Janet M'Haffie fell sick, and was like a daft\nbody for about eight days, at the end whereof both the sd. Janet and their\nmilk grew better.\"\n\n\"2nd May, 1703.\n\n\"Margaret Kingan in Inglishtown, declares along with Quintin Furmount,\nkirk-officer, that John Neilson in Waltrees said to them, that this last\nware Jean M'Murrie was selling about a peck of corn to the said John, and\nthe said John would not give the said Jean what she would have for the\nsaid corn, and so the said Jean went away from him in anger, and the said\nJohn's horse did sweat until he died.\"\n\n\"2nd May, 1703.\n\n\"Robert Gelly and Sarah M'Nacht, in Chappell in Tongland, heaving been\nhearing sermon in Twynhame this day, were desired by the minister to wait\nupon the Session, which was to meet after sermon, which accordingly they\ndid, and the said Sarah declares before the Session that upon a day about\nMidsummer last, Jean M'Murrie came into the Chappel and sought a piece\nbread to a lass that she had with her, and Sarah M'Nacht said she had no\nbread ready. Jean M'Murrie said, she (viz. the lass that was with her)\nwould it may be take some of these pottage (Sarah having some pottage\namong her hands) but, however, Sarah gave her none, and Jean M'Murrie\ngoing away muttering, said, either 'you may have more loss,' or 'you shall\nhave more loss,' and within about six hours or thereby thereafter, Robert\nGelly lost a horse, and that the said Jean came never to Robert Gelly's\nhouse since that time, and the said Robert declares that he has still the\nthoughts that his horse was killed with divelrie.\"\n\n\"2nd May, 1703.\n\n\"Robert Bryce, Robert M'Burnie, and William Brown, ruling elders, declared\nthat Thomas Craig in Barwhinnock said to them that upon a day more than\ntwo years ago Jean M'Murrie came to his house and sought his horse, and\nbegan to discourse to the sd Thomas and his wife about flesh. Thomas said\nthey had no flesh. She went away in a rage and said, 'God send them more\nagainst the next time she should come there,' and within a week the said\nThomas lost a quey by drowning.\"\n\nThe finding:--\n\n\"9th May, 1703.\n\n\"Robert Bryce attended the Presbytery. The minister reports that Jean\nM'Murray, having sought an Act of Banishment to transport herself out of\nthe Stewartrie of Kirkcudbright within or at the end of ten days, and\nnever to be found within the same again under the pain of death, is let\nout of Prison.\"\n\nMembers of the Kirk-Session of Twynholm at this time:--William Clark,\nMinister; James Robison, Thomas Robison, John Herries, Ninian M'Nae,\nRobert Bryce, James Milrae, William Milrae, William Brown, Thomas Sproat,\nJames M'Kenna, Alexander Halliday, Robert M'Burnie.\n\n_Parish of Urr._--The following is an extract from the Presbytery records\nof Dumfries, dated 22nd April, 1656:--(30)\n\n\"John M'Quhan in Urr, compeared, confessing that he went to Dundrennan, to\na witch-wife, for medicine for his sick wife, and that he got a salve for\nher, and that the wife said to him, 'If the salve went in his wife would\nlive, if not she would die.' Janet Thomson in Urr, compearing, confessed\nthat she went to the said witch, and got a salve to her mother, and that\nthe witch bade her take her mother, and lay her furth twenty-four hours;\nand said that her mother got her sickness between the mill and her ain\nhouse, and bade her tak her to the place where she took it, and wash her\nwith (elder) leaves. She also confessed that the deceased Thomas M'Minn\nand his friends sent her at another time to the same witch, whose name is\nJanet Miller. They were both rebuked (by the Presbytery), and referred to\ntheir own Session to be rebuked from the pillar in sackcloth, and the\nwitch Janet Miller was further detained, the parish minister to announce\nfrom the pulpit that all who could were required to give evidence 'of sic\ndevilish practices.'\"\n\n_Kirkpatrick-Durham Kirk-Session._--At Bridge of Urr, Isobel M'Minn called\nJean Wallace a witch. Jean told the Session. Both women were summoned to\nappear. The Session decided there was no witchcraft in the matter.\n\n\"The Session, having shown them the evil of such strife and scolding, and\nhaving exhorted them to live in peace and be reconciled to each other,\nmade them promise each to other that no such strife should be between them\nany more.\"(31)\n\n_Parish of Carsphairn._--An arbitrary incident of witch detection took\nplace during the ministry of John Semple, a man who, if somewhat\neccentric, was graced with extraordinary piety and natural ability.\n\nOf him it is recorded that \"Upon a certain time when a neighbouring\nminister was distributing tokens before the Sacrament, and was reaching a\ntoken to a certain woman, Mr Semple (standing by) said 'Hold your hand,\nshe hath gotten too many tokens already: she is a witch,' which, though\nnone suspected her then, she herself confessed to be true, and was\ndeservedly put to death for the same.\"(32)\n\nJohn Semple died at Carsphairn about the year 1667.\n\n_Extract from Minnigaff Kirk-Session Records._--\"There being a flagrant\nreport yt. some persons in this parish in and about the house of Barcly\n(Bargaly) have practised that piece of devilrie, commonly called 'turning\nthe riddle,' as also it being reported yt. ye principal person is one\nMalley Redmond, an Irish woman, for present nurse in the house of Barcly\nto ye young lady Tonderghie, as also yt. Alex. Kelly, Gilbert Kelly his\nson, and Marion Murray, formerly servant in Barcly, now in Holme, were\nwitnesses yrto, the Session appoints ye said Malley and ye said witnesses\nto be cited to ye nixt meeting.\"\n\nMalley, after some delay, at length appeared, but positively denied having\n\"practised that piece of devilry turning the riddle,\" but acknowledged\nthat she had seen it done in her father's house in Ireland by two girls on\nthe occasion of something having been stolen, \"to fear ye guilty person\nyt. it might restore yt. was stolen.\" Malley was exhorted to be ingenuous,\nbut she persisted in asserting her innocence. The Session, therefore,\nresolved to proceed to proof. The proceedings occupy a number of pages,\nand are too long for insertion; but the particulars are comprehended in\nthe deposition of Marrion Murray:--\n\n\"Marrion Murray, aged 18 years, having been sworn, purged of malice and\npartial counsel, deponeth yt. she (not having seen any other person doing\nit before her), together with ye nurse held the riddle between ym. having\na pair of little schissors fastened into ye rim of the riddle, whereof ye\nnurse Malley Redmond held one point and she the other, and that ye nurse\nmumbled some words mentioning Peter and Paul, and that when the nurse said\nthese words the riddle stirred less or more, and after ye nurse had said\nye words she bad ye deponent say them too, and that she accordingly said\nthe same things back again to the nurse, and that the deponent had said to\nye nurse Malley before ever she meddled with it that if she knew yr. was\nanything evil in doing of it she would not meddle with it, and ye nurse\nreplied yr. was no evil in it, and further that to sift the meddling with\nit she offered to take ye child from ye lady's arms, but ye young lady put\nher to it, bidding her go do it. As also yt. further ye said Marion\ndepones yt. ye same day, a little after, ye young lady bad her go to ye\nbarn and yr do it over again with ye nurse, which she positively refused,\nwhereupon ye young lady did it herself with all the circumstances she and\nthe nurse had done it in the chambers before; moreover, that some days\nafter, the chamber door being close upon the young lady and her nurse\nMalley, ye deponent, looking through a hole in ye door, saw ye nurse and\nye lady standing and ye riddle betwixt ym. as before, but heard nothing.\nAnd further, yt. ye lady and her nurse bad her deny these things, but did\nnot bid her swear to it.\"\n\nFor her participation in the affair the young lady Tonderghie, Mrs Janet\nBlair, was cited before the Session, and having expressed her penitence\nfor being ensnared into such sinful practices, she and Marion Murray\nsubscribed a declaration to be read before the congregation, \"abhorring\nand renouncing all spelles and charmes usual to wizards; and having been\nrebooked and exhorted to greater watchfulness for the future, they were\ndismissed.\"\n\nThe originator of the affair, Malley Redmond, after making her appearance\nto be \"rebooked\" before the congregation, was banished the parish. But the\nexecution of the sentence was, through influence, delayed \"till Tonderghie\nyounger, his child, should be weaned.\"(33)\n\n_Parish of New Luce._--The only point of interest in connection with the\nparish of New Luce is that the chief witness against Maggie Osborne, who\nwas burned as a witch at Ayr, was an elder in the Moor Kirk of Luce, to\nwhich reference has already been made.\n\n_Parish of Whithorn._--An old woman named Elspeth M'Keand lived on the\nfarm of Palmallet, near Whithorn. On one occasion she was arraigned before\nthe magistrates of Whithorn for some supposed uncannie doings, but the\nauthorities, not endorsing the general belief, set her at liberty. So\ndisappointed and enraged were the community at her liberation that they\ncaught her and inserted a host of new brass pins in her body, and\nafterwards dragged her down to the shore at Dinnans, holding her below\nwater until life was nearly extinct. The old woman never fairly recovered\nfrom this cruel treatment, and when she died her remains were objected to\nas not being fit to rest in the Kirkyaird.(34)\n\n_Parish of Kirkmaiden._--In the parish of Kirkmaiden we find a zealous\nprosecutor of witches in the person of the Rev. Mr Marshall, who was\nordained in 1697. He was assisted in his efforts by a woman brought from\nthe town of Wigtown, who was credited with possessing an expert faculty of\nat once being able to distinguish and pick out witches and warlocks from\namongst ordinary mortals, however similar to them in outward appearance.\n\nAll the adults in the parish were summoned to attend at the Parish Church\non a given date and passed through the church from one door to the other.\nThe minister placed himself in the precentor's box, with writing materials\nat his hand, the witch-finder being seated beside him. When witch or\nwarlock passed, the woman tramped on the minister's toes and the name was\nat once recorded. A long list was thus made out, and the Kirk-Session\nafterwards inquired into the charges brought against the various\nindividuals, which proceedings were afterwards inserted in the Session\nrecords.\n\nThe stigma thus cast upon many families in the district was only removed\nby influence being brought to bear to destroy by burning the accusing\npages of the Session records.\n\nTradition asserts that retribution at the hands of the Kirkmaiden witches\novertook the reverend gentleman, for, taking his accustomed walk from the\nmanse to the church, a hare running out of the churchyard crossed his\npath, and from that time forward he was never again able to open his mouth\nin the pulpit of Kirkmaiden Church. He was shortly afterwards translated\nto Kirkcolm, and though he often visited Kirkmaiden he could never occupy\nthe pulpit, even on the day of Sacramental observance.(35)\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSo late as 1805 a trial took place at Kirkcudbright connected with\nwitchcraft which aroused considerable excitement in the district, creating\nkeen interest as well in legal circles.\n\nThis was the trial of \"Jean Maxwell,\" who was accused of \"pretending to\nexercise witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment, and conjuration, and\nundertaking to tell fortunes.\"\n\nThe point which is of note, and calls for accentuation is, that Jean\nMaxwell was arraigned, not for being a witch, but for the imposition of\npretending to possess witch power. This has been commented upon by\nProfessor John Ferguson of Glasgow in his paper, \"Bibliographical Notes on\nthe Witchcraft Literature of Scotland\" (_Publications of the Edinburgh\nBibliographical Society_, vol. iii., 74 (1899), in which he says: \"It will\nbe noticed that Jean is indicted for PRETENDING to exercise witchcraft,\netc. In fact, the indictment is made under the Act of George II., cap. 5,\nwhich repeals the statutes against witchcraft.... It is an interesting\ncase, as having occurred under the repealing Act.\"\n\nThe following is the indictment:--\n\n\"Jean Maxwell, present prisoner in the Tolbooth of Kirkcudbright, you are\nindicted at the instance of Robert Gordon, writer in Kirkcudbright,\nProcurator-Fiscal of the Steward Court of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright\nfor his Majesty's interest; that albeit by the Act of Parliament passed in\nthe ninth year of the Reign of King George the Second, Cap. 5th, intituled\n'An Act to repeal the Statute made in the first year of the Reign of James\nthe First, intituled, \"An Act against Conjuration, Witchcraft, and dealing\nwith Evil and Witched Spirits;\" except so much thereof as repeals an Act\nof the fifth year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, against Conjurations,\nInchantments, and Witchcraft.' And to repeal an Act passed in the\nParliament of Scotland in the Ninth Parliament of Queen Mary, intituled\n'Anentis Witchcraft; and for punishing such persons as pretend to exercise\nor use any kind of Witchcraft, Sorcery, Inchantment, or Conjuration.' It\nis enacted 'That if any person shall from and after the twenty-fourth day\nof June next, pretend to exercise or use any kind of Witchcraft, Sorcery,\nInchantment, or Conjuration, or undertake to tell Fortunes or pretend from\nhis or her skill or knowledge in ocult or crafty science, to discover\nwhere or in what manner any goods or chattels supposed to have been lost,\nmay be found; every person so offending being therefore lawfully convicted\non Indictment of Information, in that part of Great Britain called\nEngland; or on Indictment or Libel, in that part of Great Britain called\nScotland, shall for every such offence suffer imprisonment for the space\nof one whole year without Bail or Mainprize; and once in every quarter of\nthe said year, in some Market Town of the proper County, upon the Market\nDay there, stand openly on the Pillory for the space of one hour; and also\nshall (if the Court by which such Judgment shall be given think fit) be\nobliged to give surety for his or her good behaviour, in such sum, and for\nsuch time as the said Court shall judge proper, according to the\ncircumstances of the offence; and in such case shall be further imprisoned\nuntil such sureties be given.'\n\n\"Notwithstanding of the said Act of Parliament, you, the said Jean\nMaxwell, are Guilty, Actor, Art and Part of pretending to exercise\nWitchcraft, Sorcery, Inchantment, and Conjuration; and of undertaking to\ntell fortunes, &c., &c. (in the manner particularly mentioned in the\nDeposition of Jean Davidson, hereto annexed). In so far as you the said\nJean Maxwell, did, upon Thursday the twenty-seventh, Friday the\ntwenty-eighth, and Saturday the twenty-ninth days of December last, in the\nyear one thousand eight hundred and four, and upon Tuesday the first and\nTuesday the eighth days of January last, in the year one thousand eight\nhundred and five, or upon some one or other of the days or nights of these\nmonths, or of the month of November immediately preceding, or of the month\nof February immediately following, at Little Cocklick, in the Parish of\nUrr, and Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, pretend to Tell Fortunes by Tea Cups\nand the grounds of Tea; and did tell to Jean Davidson, Servant to Francis\nScott, farmer in Little Cocklick aforesaid, that she would soon bear a\nBastard to a certain young man, Hugh Rafferton; which you said you could\nprevent by certain means. And you, the said Jean Maxwell, caused the said\nJean Davidson to rub or anoint her forehead and other parts of her head\nwith a liquid contained in bottle produced by you, which so much\nintoxicated and disordered the said Jean Davidson that she would have done\nanything that you the said Jean Maxwell had asked her to do; and you the\nsaid Jean Maxwell, availing yourself of the situation that she the said\nJean Davidson was in, declared to her that the Devil would speedily appear\nand tear her in pieces, unless she obeyed you, the said Jean Maxwell, in\nevery particular. And you, the said Jean Maxwell, caused the said Jean\nDavidson take oaths of Secrecy for the purpose of concealing your wicked\nand felonious purposes. That on the said twenty-seventh day of December\nlast you, the said Jean Maxwell, caused the said Jean Davidson produce a\nGuinea Note, which you pretended to hold up in a small bit of paper,\nputting round it some lint, and stitching in it nine pins, after which you\ngave it to the said Jean Davidson and ordered her to cast it into the\nfire, which she did accordingly. And you, the said Jean Maxwell, then\nordered the said Jean Davidson to bring one of her shifts and three\nshillings with it, which you sewed up in the tail of the shift, and said\nthat the shift was to be consumed in the fire, as an Offering to the\nDevil, who was to appear at the time of the burning of the shift, in the\nshape of either a Bull or a Swine; and at the same time you, the said Jean\nMaxwell, gave to the said Jean Davidson a powder sewed up in a piece of\nfine linen and stuck through with nine pins, which you injoined her to\nwear at her breast till the day of her death, and tell no mortal of it.\nThat on the said twenty-eighth day of December last you, the said Jean\nMaxwell, told the said Jean Davidson that the Devil had rejected two\nsixpences of the money formerly sent him in the tail of the shift; that he\ninsisted in lieu of the sixpences to have two shillings with heads on\nthem; and that he was up and stirring, and must be satisfied; and the said\nJean Davidson, having furnished the shillings, you, the said Jean Maxwell,\nafter stamping on the ground twice or thrice with your foot, pretended to\nhand them to Satan as if he had stood behind you. That on the said\ntwenty-ninth day of December last you, the said Jean Maxwell, declared to\nthe said Jean Davidson that the Devil was still up, and that he must have\na man's shirt of plain linen, and in it a shoulder of mutton; and the said\nJean Davidson, terrified by your threats, gave you a check shirt of the\nsaid Francis Scott's, her master, together with a Shoulder of Mutton, also\nhis property, tied up in the shirt; and you the said Jean Maxwell, tied up\nthese articles in your own Budget; and then, telling the said Jean\nDavidson that all this was insufficient to lay the Devil, you asked her\nfor half-a-crown more; and the said Jean Davidson in confusion and fright\ngave you a Dollar, which you said would do as well, and that at any rate\nit must not be taken back being once offered; and then you the said Jean\nMaxwell, went to the back of the byre at Little Cocklick aforesaid, and\nreturned and told the said Jean Davidson that you had laid the Devil so\nthat he could not come nearer her than the back of the byre, but cautioned\nher strongly not to travel that way nor farther after it was dark. That on\nthe said first day of January last, you the said Jean Maxwell returned to\nLittle Cocklick aforesaid, and told the said Jean Davidson, that Hugh\nRafferton was to be with her on the Thursday ensuing, very lovingly and\nready to marry her, or do whatever she should ask of him: and moreover,\nyou the said Jean Maxwell declared that, if the said Jean Davidson used\nHugh Rafferton harshly, and refused to marry him, Hugh Rafferton would\nlose his reason and go stark mad at the end of eight weeks; that in the\nmeantime however you must have another Guinea Note for the Devil, with a\nfaced shilling in it; and the money was furnished by the said Jean\nDavidson; when you the said Jean Maxwell clipped or pretended to cut the\nnote, in small pieces with scissors, pretending that in this manner it was\nto be presented to the Devil alongst with the faced shilling. That soon\nafter this, you the said Jean Maxwell, told the said Jean Davidson that\nthe first note was not accepted, and that you must have an Old and very\nTattered Note and three Shillings more, which having been furnished by the\nsaid Jean Davidson, you the said Jean Maxwell bound up the Note with paper\nand lint, and having stuck it with nine pins gave it to the said Jean\nDavidson who threw it into the fire; and you the said Jean Maxwell, after\nstamping on the ground, handed the three Shillings behind you so that\nSatan might receive them as you pretended he had received the former\npresents; that these things being done, you the said Jean Maxwell left the\nsaid Jean Davidson at her father's house at Killymingan, in the Parish of\nKirkgunzeon, on the said first day of January last, declaring that Hugh\nRafferton should wait on her in deep humility on the Thursday ensuing; and\nthat all the money offered to Satan should be returned into the said Jean\nDavidson's Chest on the subsequent Friday morning by sun-rising; and that\nall should be, and really was, perfectly right. That on the said eighth\nday of January last you the said Jean Maxwell again waited on the said\nJean Davidson, at the house of the said Francis Scott, in Little Cocklick\naforesaid, and told that all was gone wrong, that the Devil had proved too\nstrong for you, the said Jean Maxwell, and had rent a check apron given\nyou by the said Jean Davidson formerly for a burnt offering; and you the\nsaid Jean Maxwell pretended to show the distinct marks of Satan's claws,\nand the mark of his Thumb on your arm, adding, that he could not be laid\nwithout the aid of John M'George, commonly called the 'Devil-Raiser' of\nUrr; and for that end, you the said Jean Maxwell demanded Two Notes more,\nand three pieces of flesh meat, one of them to be pork, which you\nprofessed to roll up at great peril in the check apron; and you the said\nJean Maxwell also insisted to have the said Jean Davidson's duffle cloak,\nbut the said Jean Davidson, having by this time got into the use of her\nreason, got the better of the terror of the oaths of secresy imposed upon\nher by the said Jean Maxwell, managed so as to detain you until a\nConstable was sent for, who took you into Custody and carried you before\nthe Reverend Dr James Muirhead of Logan, one of his Majesty's Justices of\nthe Peace for the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, in whose presence you\nemitted a Declaration, upon the ninth day of January last, in the year one\nthousand eight hundred and five, which Declaration is subscribed by your\nmark, and by the said Dr James Muirhead, because you declared that you\ncould not write; and the said declaration being to be used in evidence\nagainst you the said Jean Maxwell, will in due time be lodged with the\nSteward Clerk, that you may have an opportunity of seeing the same.\n\n\"At least times and place aforesaid, WITCHCRAFT, SORCERY, INCHANTMENT, and\nCONJURATION, were pretended to be exercised and used, and fortunes were\nundertaken to be told, all in manner particularly before mentioned; and\nyou the said Jean Maxwell, are Guilty Actor, Art and Part of the said\ncrimes; All which, or part thereof, being found proven by the Verdict of\nan Assize before the Steward-Depute of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, and\nhis Substitutes, in a Court to be holden by them or either of them within\nthe Court-House of Kirkcudbright, upon the twenty-first day of June, in\nthe present year one thousand eight hundred and five; you the said Jean\nMaxwell, Ought to be imprisoned in the Tolbooth of Kirkcudbright by the\nspace of one whole year without Bail or Mainprize; and once in every\nquarter of the said year, to stand Openly in the Jugs or Pillory, at the\nMarket Cross of the Burgh of Kirkcudbright, by the space of one hour; and\nto be farther imprisoned in the said Tolbooth, for your good behaviour, in\nsuch sum and for such time as the said court shall judge proper, agreeably\nto the provisions and enactments of the said Act of Parliament, to deter\nothers from committing the like crimes in time coming.\"\n\nThe Procurator-Fiscal concluded his Proof, and the Steward-Depute remitted\nthe Cause to the Verdict of the Assize.\n\nThe persons that passed upon the Assize of the said Jean Maxwell, returned\ntheir Verdict to the Court; and the tenor thereof is as follows:--\n\n\"At Kirkcudbright, the 21st day of June, 1805, the Assize being enclosed,\ndid make choice of Alexander Melville of Barwhar to be their Chancellor,\nand William Mure, Factor for the Earl of Selkirk, to be their Clerk; and\nhaving considered the Indictment raised at the instance of Robert Gordon,\nWriter in Kirkcudbright, Procurator-Fiscal of Court for His Majesty's\ninterest, against Jean Maxwell, present Prisoner in the Tolbooth of\nKirkcudbright, the Pannel, with the Interlocutor of the Steward-Depute of\nthe Stewartry of Kirkcudbright thereon, and the whole Proof adduced, they\nUnanimously Find the said Jean Maxwell Guilty of the Crimes charged\nagainst her in the said Indictment. In Testimony, whereof, &c.\n\n  (Signed) ALEXR. MELVILLE, Chancellor.\n  (  \"   ) WILL. MURE, Clerk.\"\n\n(Court adjourned for a week.)\n\n\"Kirkcudbright, 28th June, 1805.\n\n\"The Steward-Depute having considered the Verdict of the Assize, bearing\ndate the twenty-first day of June current, and returned into Court that\nday against Jean Maxwell, the Pannel, whereby she is found guilty of\npretending to exercise WITCHCRAFT, SORCERY, INCHANTMENT, and CONJURATION,\nand of undertaking to tell fortunes, contrary to the Enactments and\nProvisions of the Act of Parliament passed in the 5th year of the Reign of\nKing George the Second, Chapter fifth, in the manner charged against her\nin the Indictment, at instance of the Procurator-Fiscal of Court; the\nSteward Depute, in respect of the said Verdict, Decerns and Adjudges the\nsaid Jean Maxwell to be carried back from the Bar to the Tolbooth of\nKirkcudbright, and to be Imprisoned therein for the space of One Whole\nYear, without Bail or Mainprize; and Once in every Quarter of the said\nyear to stand openly upon a Market day in the Jugs or Pillory, at the\nMarket Cross of the Burgh of Kirkcudbright, for the space of One Hour,\n&c.--(Signed) ALEXR. GORDON.\"\n\nIt only remains to be added that this sentence was rigorously carried out.\n\nA small, and now scarce volume, containing a full account of the trial,\nwas published at Kirkcudbright the same year, of which the following is a\ncopy of the title-page:--\n\n  REMARKABLE TRIAL\n  OF\n  JEAN MAXWELL\n  THE\n  Galloway Sorceress:\n\n  Which took place at KIRKCUDBRIGHT\n  on the twenty-eighth day of June last,\n  1805:\n\n  For Pretending to Exercise\n  WITCHCRAFT, SORCERY, INCHANTMENT,\n  CONJURATION, etc.\n\n  \"And that distilled by Magic slights\n  Shall raise such artificial sprights,\n  As by the strength of their illusion\n  Shall draw him on to his confusion.\"\n                                  --_Macbeth._\n\n  KIRKCUDBRIGHT:\n  Printed by Alexander Gordon.\n  1805.\n\n\nPROCEEDINGS IN DUMFRIESSHIRE.\n\nConcerning Dumfriesshire there falls to be recorded numerous instances of\naccusation and trial, which includes the ever-to-be-regretted consummation\nof fanaticism in this district--the burning of nine unhappy women on the\nSands of Dumfries in the year 1659.\n\n_Burgh of Dumfries._\n\n_Extract from the Dumfries Burgh Treasurer's Books, May 27th,\n1657._--Detailed items of expenditure incurred at the burning of two women\nconvicted of witchcraft: \"For 38 load of peitts to burn the two women, \u00a33\n12s (Scots). Mair, given to William Edgar for ane tar barrell, 12s; for\nane herring barrell, 14s. Given to John Shotrick, for carrying the twa\nbarrells to the pledge (house), 6s. Mair, given to the four officers that\nday that the whiches was burnt, at the provest and bayillis command, 24s.\nGiven to Thomas Anderson for the two stoups and the two steaves (to which\nthe women were tied), 30s.\"(36)\n\n_Resolution of Kirk-Session of Dumfries, 1658._--The Kirk-Session of\nDumfries, after solemn deliberation on the subject, required the minister\nto announce from the pulpit that all persons having evidence to give\nagainst such as were under suspicion of \"the heinous and abominable sin of\nwitchcraft,\" should be ready to furnish the same to the Session without\ndelay; and at their next meeting the elders wisely qualified the order, by\nresolving that anyone who charged another with being guilty of \"sic\ndevilisch practises,\" without due reason, should be visited with the\nseverest discipline of the Kirk.(37)\n\n_Official Information regarding the burning of the nine women on the Sands\nof Dumfries, 13th April, 1659._\n\nThese women were first strangled and then burned. The following\nparticulars were gleaned from the books of the High Court of Justiciary\nkept at the Register House, Edinburgh:--\n\n_1659._--The Court was opened at Dumfries on the 2nd of April, in the\nabove year, by the \"Commissioners in Criminal Cases to the people in\nScotland,\" Judge Mosley and Judge Lawrence; and that ten women, each\ncharged with divers acts of witchcraft, were brought before them for\ntrial. The proceedings appear to have lasted until the 5th. One of the\naccused, Helen Tait, had a rather narrow escape--the jury finding by a\nplurality of voices that the \"dittay\" in her case was \"not cleirly\nproven.\" Nevertheless, before being dismissed from the bar, she was\nrequired to find security to the extent of \u00a350 sterling for her good\nbehaviour, and that she would banish herself from the parish. The nine\nother unfortunates were all convicted, as is shown by the subjoined\nminute, giving the finding of the jury and the deliverance of the judge,\nas pronounced by the official dempster, \"F. Goyyen\":--(38)\n\n\"_Drumfreis, the 5th of Apryle, 1659._--The Commissioners adjudges Agnes\nComenes, Janet M'Gowane, Jean Tomson, Margt. Clerk, Janet M'Kendrig, Agnes\nClerk, Janet Corsane, Helen Moorhead, and Janet Callon, as found guilty of\nthe severall articles of witchcraft mentioned in the dittayes, to be tane\nupon Wednesday come eight days to the ordinar place of execution for the\nburghe of Drumfreis, and ther, betuing 2 and 4 hours of the afternoon, to\nbe strangled at staikes till they be dead, and therefter ther bodyes to be\nburned to ashes, and all ther moveable goods to be esheite. Further, it is\nordained that Helen Moorhead's moveables be intromitted with by the\nShereff of Nithsdaile, to seize upon and herrie the samin for the King's\nuse.\"(39)\n\n[Illustration: THE BURNING OF THE NINE WOMEN ON THE SANDS OF DUMFRIES,\nAPRIL 13TH, 1659. (Sketch by J. Copland, Dundrennan.)]\n\n_Resolution of the Dumfries Presbytery regarding the attendance of\nclergymen before the carrying out of the sentence, and at the actual\n\"burning\" of the women, on the Sands_:--\n\n\"5th April, 1659.\n\n\"The Presbytery have appoynted Mr Hugh Henrison, Mr Wm. M'Gore, Mr George\nCampbell, Mr John Brown, Mr Jo. Welsh, Mr George Johnston, Mr Wm. Hay, and\nMr Gabriel Semple, to attend the nine witches, and that they tak thair own\nconvenient opportunity to confer with them; also that they be assisting to\nthe brethren of Dumfries and Galloway the day of the Execution.\"(40)\n\n_Dumfries, 14th November, 1664._--An edict from the Town Council: \"The\nCounsall being informed that Janet Burnes, commonly reputed a witche, and\nquho hath bein banished out of severall burghis, and put out of this burgh\nin the month of August last, for cheating the people upon pretence of\nknowledge of all things done by them in tym past, or that may fall out in\ntym cuming, with certification to be scurgit if ever she was sein within\nthe burgh theireafter; and being well informed that she was sein within\nthe town on Saturday, they have ordaint that intimation be made by touk of\ndrum, that non of the inhabitants resset or give meit or drink unto the\nsaid Janet Burnes.\"(41)\n\n_Court of Justiciary, Tolbooth of Dumfries, May 18th, 1671._--Warrant for\nthe execution of two alleged witches: \"Magistrates of Drumfreis, Forasmuch\nas in ane Court of Justiciarie, holden be us within the Tolbuthe of\nDrumfreis, upon the fyftein day of May instant, Janet Muldritche, and\nElspeth Thomsone, now found guiltie be ane assyze of the severall articles\nof witchcraft specified in the verdict given against them thereanent, were\ndecerned and adjudged be us, The Lords Commissioners of Justiciary, to be\ntane upon Thursday next, the eighteen day of May instant, betwixt two and\nfour houres in the afternoune, to (the) ordinare place of executione, for\nthe toune of Drumfreis, and there to be worried at ane stake till they be\ndead; and theirafter their bodies to be burnt to ashes, and all their\nmoveable goods and geir to be escheit. You shall thairfoir cause put the\nsaid sentence to due executione, whereanent their presents shall be your\nwarrand. Given at Drumfreis the sixteen day of May, 1671.\"(42)\n\n_Court of Justiciary, Dumfries, 1709._--Last trial for witchcraft in\nScotland: The accused was named Elspeth Rule; the indictment against her\nbeing that she was by habit and repute a witch, and had used threatening\nexpressions towards persons at enmity with her, who, in consequence of\nsuch menace, suffered from the death of friends or the loss of cattle,\nwhile one of them became mad.\n\nThe jury by a majority of votes found the charges proven; and the judge\ncondemned the prisoner to be burned upon the cheek with a hot iron and\nbanished for life. It is told how, when this brutal act of branding the\ncheek was being carried out, smoke was seen issuing from the poor woman's\nmouth.(43)\n\n    _Dumfries and Major Weir, the notorious Edinburgh warlock--a slight\n    connecting link with Dumfries._\n\n    In his more youthful days Major Weir led an active military life,\n    serving as an officer in the Puritan Army during the Civil War (1641).\n    In the Registers of the Estates under March 3rd, 1647, reference is\n    made to a supplication by Major Thomas Weir, asking \"that the\n    Parliament wald ordain John Acheson, Keeper of the Magazine, to\n    re-deliver to the supplicant the band given by him to the said John\n    upon the receipt of are thousand weight of poulder, two thousand\n    weight of match, and an thousand weight of ball, sent with the\n    supplicant to Dumfries for furnishing that part of the country.\"\n\n_Presbytery of Dumfries (Southern District), March, 1692._--Marion Dickson\nin Blackshaw, Isobel Dickson in Locherwood, Agnes Dickson (daughter of\nIsobel), and Marion Herbertson in Mouswaldbank, had for a long time been\n\"suspected of the abominable and horrid crime of witchcraft,\" and were\nbelieved to have \"committed many grievous malefices upon several persons\ntheir neighbours and others.\" It was declared to be damnifying \"to all\ngood men and women living in the country thereabouts, who cannot assure\nthemselves of safety of their lives by such frequent malefices as they\ncommit.\"\n\nUnder these circumstances, James Fraid, John Martin, William Nicolson, and\nThomas Jaffrey in Blackshaw, John Dickson in Slop of Locherwoods, John\nDickson in Locherwoods, and John Dickson in Overton of Locherwoods, took\nit upon them to apprehend the women, and carried them to be imprisoned at\nDumfries by the sheriff, which, however, the sheriff did not consent to\ntill after the six men had granted a bond engaging to prosecute. Fortified\nwith a certificate from the Presbytery of Dumfries, who were \"fully\nconvinced of the guilt (of the women), and of the many malefices committed\nby them,\" the men applied to the Privy Council for a commission to try the\ndelinquents.\n\nThe Lords ordered the women to be transported to Edinburgh for trial.(44)\n\n_Kirk-Session of Caerlaverock._--Charge of alleged divination brought at\ntheir instance, before the Dumfries Presbytery, 22nd March, 1697:\n\"Compeared John Fergusson in Woodbarns, who acknowledged his scandalous\ncarriage in charming and turning the key at Bankend conform to the\naccusation, but says he knew not there was any evil in it. The Presbytery\nappoint him to stand on the pillar in the church of Caerlaverock, and be\nsharply rebuked for his scandalous _practice_ and recommends him to the\nmagistrates to be secured till he give bail to answer and satisfy conform\nto this act.\"\n\nThe actual circumstance connected with this charge of alleged divination\nare briefly as follows:--About the middle of January, 1697, two men\nreturning from Dumfries entered the tavern of William Nairns at Bankend of\nCaerlaverock. These were John Fergusson of Woodbarns, Cummertrees, and\nWilliam Richardson, Cummertreestown. On leaving the inn Richardson\ndiscovered that a sack of provisions had been taken from the saddle of his\nhorse which had been tied to a ring at the door. Entering the house, he\nmade known his loss, declaiming loudly against the thief. In the utmost\nsympathy with his friend's loss, Fergusson declared he could soon find out\nwho the thief was, and called out that two Bibles should be brought to him\nat once, to which the landlord stoutly demurred; but Fergusson threatened\nthat unless he got his own way he \"would make bloody work among them,\" and\ntwo Bibles were accordingly brought to the said John Fergusson, \"who\nbrought a key out of his pocket and put the one end of it within one Bible\nand the bowl end out, clasping the Bible upon it, and two holding the bowl\nof the key upon their fingers. The said John then read three verses of the\n50th Psalm out of the second Bible, beginning always at the 18th verse,\nalways naming a person before he began to read, till they came to William\nM'Kinnell in the same town; and when they named him, and were reading the\nsaid Scripture, the key and the Bible turned about and fell on the table.\nThis was done three times, as attested by James Tait, mason, who is\nquartered in Townhead; James Fergusson, servitor to George Maxwell of\nIsle; George Fergusson in Bankend; and William Nairns, in whose house it\nwas done.\"(45)\n\n_Extracts from Irongray Kirk-Session Records._\n\n\"September 24th, 1691.\n\n\"David Muirhead of Drumpark and his wife, being called before the Session\nand examined anent ane strife betwixt them and Janet Sinklar, submitted\nthemselves to the will of the Session. Janet Sinklar also submitted to the\nwill of the Session for saying that she doubted Drumpark's wife of murder\nand witchcraft, and is appointed to receive publick rebuke before the\ncongregation.\"\n\n\"August 30, 1691.\n\n\"William Anderson in Hall of Forest, being called before the Session for\nbringing his child to a smith to be charmed with ane forge hammer,\nconfessed his sin and received a rebuke before the Session.\"\n\n\"November 13, 1692.\n\n\"John Charters in Barncleugh, being called before the Session as witness\nnominat by James Wright to prove witchcraft against Janet Kirk, denied\nthat he knew anything of witchcraft in her. Margaret Smyth, wife of John\nJonston, being called before the Session, declared in her hearing that\nJanet Kirk, being brought in to Elizabeth Jonston, being grievously\ntormented with sickness like to distraction, pronounced these words, that\n'if God had taken the health from her let Him given it again, and if the\ndevil had taken it from her to give it her again.' On which she was\nrebuked.\"\n\n\"April 16th, 1693.\n\n\"Jean Stot (Ingleston) confessed before the Session that she blessed God\nif Jean Grier's prayings had any pith that they lighted on a kow and not\non a person, and did say that Jean Kirkpatrick did gather root grown\nbriers on a Saboth day, and nominat Agnes Patton for a witness.\"\n\nThe Session found \"wrath and malice among the inhabitants of Ingleston,\"\nand the minister was sent as peacemaker. \"Jean Stot obeyed the minister\nand forgave Jean Grier, and also required forgiveness of her, which she\nrefused till further advisement.\"(46)\n\n_Parish of Irongray._--Traditional account of the sacrifice of a reputed\nwitch by enclosing her in a tar-barrel, setting it alight, and rolling it\ninto the Water of Cluden:--\n\n\"In the reign of James VI. of Scotland, or under the early Government of\nhis son Charles, tradition tells of a woman that was burnt as a witch in\nthe Parish of Irongray, about seven miles west from Dumfries. In a little\nmud-walled cottage, in the lower end of the Bishop's Forest, and nigh the\nbanks of the Water of Cluden, resided a poor widow woman, who earned her\nbread by spinning with a _pole_, and by weaving stockings from a clue of\nyarn depending from her bead-strings. She lived alone, and was frequently\nseen on a summer's eve, sitting upon a jagged rock, which overhung the\nRouting burn, or gathering sticks, late in a November evening, among the\nrowan-tree roots, nigh the dells which signalise the sides of that\nromantic stream. She had also, sometimes, lying in her window a\nblack-letter Bible, whose boards are covered with the skin of a _fumart_,\nand which had two very grotesque clasps of brass to close it with when she\nchose. Her lips were sometimes seen to be moving when she went to church,\nand she was observed to predict shower or sunshine at certain periods,\nwhich predictions often came to be realised....\n\n\"The Bishop of Galloway was repeatedly urged to punish this witch; and\nlest it should be reported to the king that he refused to punish witches,\nhe at last caused her to be brought before him, nigh to the spot. She was\nrudely forced from her dwelling, and several neighbours of middle or of\nold age were cited to declare all the wicked things she had done.\n\n\"She was sentenced to be drowned in the Routing burn, but the crowd\ninsisted that she should be shut up in a tar-barrel and hurled into the\nCluden. Almost against the Bishop's consent, this latter death was\nconsummated. The wretched woman was enclosed in a barrel, fire was set to\nit, and it was rolled, in a blaze, into the waters of Cluden.\n\n\"Such, says the tradition of no very doubtful date, was the savage end of\none who was reputed a witch. The spot where, 'tis said, the prelate sat,\nis yet called Bishop's Butt. The well from which she drew the water for\nher domestic use, and where the young rustic belles washed their faces,\nstill retains the name of the Witch's Well; and a pool in the Cluden, nigh\nto the well, often bears the name of the Witch's Pool. Even some rocks\nnigh to the Routing Bridge are still pointed out, where she was wont to\nsit; and a hollow into which, say some, she used to throw an elfin clue.\nThat wood yet feathering the hill side west from Drumpark, always bears\nthe name of the Bishop's Forest; and the sylvan ravine, furrowed by a\nbrawling brook, has been, by some now in their graves, named the Warlock's\nGlen.\"(47)\n\n_Parish of Closeburn._--Janet Fraser, called before the Presbytery of\nDumfries, 1691. Her remarkable revelations:--\n\n\"The person is a young woman, unmarried, of the age of about twenty years,\nwhose name is Jonet Fraser, or, as we in the south used to pronounce it,\nFrissel, who then lived, and yet lives, with her father, Thomas Frissell,\na weaver to his trade, a man of unblamed conversation, in the sheriffdome\nof Dumfries, in the countrey thereof called Nithisdale, and parochin of\nCloseburn, six miles, or thereby, from the town of Dumfriece.\n\n[Illustration: \"PENANCE.\" (Sketch by J. Copland, Dundrennan.)]\n\n\"She is, and hath been for a long time, a person in the judgment of all\nthat know her a serious Christian; and was for a good time before this\nbefell her, more then ordinary exercised in private condition with God, as\nthe relation after-specified gives the reader a little touch.\n\n\"She can read print, but cannot write herself; but whatever she saw in\nvision, was at times able to give ane exact account of it, after all was\nover; and accordingly did give the relation following to some creditable\ngentlemen, and some country people, her acquaintance:--\n\n\"The time of my exercise was eight years, and all this time was troubled\nwith the appearance of a thing like a _bee_, and other times like a black\nman, and that also at severall times, and in severall places.\n\n\"Then at the end of the eight year, I being at prayer, the black man did\nappear as at other times, he being upon the one side of me, and there\nappearing upon the other side a bonny hand and a rod in it, and the rod\nwas budding; and I said, 'Is that Thy hand and Thy rod, O Lord?' And I was\ncontent to embrace the one, and flee the other. Then, upon that night\neight nights, I was coming home near hand unto my dwelling, I grew very\ndrowsie, and fell asleep, and there was a voice said to me, 'Awake, why\nsleepest thou?' And there was lightning round about me; and I looking up\nto the top of a bush that was at my hand, there was the shape of a dove\nthat went alongst with me in company to the house.\n\n\"Then, about three quarters of a year thereafter, the rod appeared again\nto be a double rod, or a rod that was springing and forthcoming, and after\nthat time I was never troubled with the black man any more.\"\n\nHer first revelation was on the 4th of June, 1684, but it is very\ndifficult to make out what her visions portended:--\"On the 5th day of\nNovember, 1684, I being at prayer, there appeared unto me, in a bodily\nshape, three persons (as to my sight all in white), and they goe round\nabout me the way the sun goeth; their coming was still after one manner,\nwhen I was at my duty, only I discern he that spoke first at one time,\nspoke first at all times, and so continued to speak by course, with\nScripture notes, naming books, chapter, and verse--sometimes all the\nverse, sometimes a part.\"\n\nShe was greatly concerned about the _suffering remnant_, and had many\nmysterious responses as to that. This intercourse with spirits continued\nfor some years, and is very circumstantially detailed in the MS., at the\nconclusion of which is this additional miracle:--\n\n\"Besides what the reader has had formerly, he has likewise this following\naccount of a passage that befell this holy woman, the 1st May, 1687, which\nwas Sunday. This Jonet Frazer, and a young lass, a sister daughter of\nhers, about 17 or 18 years of age, having gone out into the fields, and\nboth of them lying down on the grass near the water of Nith, which is but\na bow-draught from her father's house, and both of them reading their\nBibles, and lying about the distance of four yards the one from the other,\nthis Jonet Frazer is taken with a great drouth, and goes to the water of\nNith to take a drink, leaving her Bible open at the place where she was\nreading, which was the 34th chap. of Esaiah, from verse 5 to 11,\ninclusive, which begins--'For my sword shall be bathed in heaven; behold\nit shall come down on the people of Idumea, and upon the people of my\ncurse, to judgment,' etc. And when she had returned immediately as shoon\nas she could take a drink of water, she sees her Bible is coloured with\nbloud, as she thought, though afterwards, upon inspection and tryall it\nwas not bloud, but red as bloud, and such as no person by the colour could\ndiscern from bloud; upon which she asks the other lass, 'If any thing had\nbeen near her Bible?' And she answered, 'Nothing that she saw.' She asks,\n'How could it then be that her Bible was covered over with bloud?' Which\nboth of them going near, found to be the very same place where Jonet was\nreading, viz., from verse 5 to 11, and some farther of the 34th chap., so\nas the print was not at all legible. The other lass would have her wipe\noff the blood, but she could not, but carried it as it was to her father,\nand a brother of hers, a godly young man, who is dead since, and some\nothers, and did show it to them, who were curious to taste it, and it had\na welsh taste, as if it had been some metear; the hens and birds would not\npick it up.\n\n\"The very next Lord's day, 8th May, this Jonet being in her father's barn\nabout ane hour alone, some little time before sunset, she came to the door\nof the barn to read, and while she was reading, about the 49th verse of\nJeremiah, the like bloud did cover all that place which she was reading,\nviz., from the 46th verse to the 54th, as I remember, so thick as it\nmarred all the print and made it unintelligible, nor did she ever perceive\nit fall down upon the book, or observe it till it did cover and spread\nover all that place; and it is to be remarked, she was standing within the\ndoor, the thatch of the barn being over her head and over the book that\nshe was reading on, and that the bloud covered the print in the very time\nwherein she was reading, it spread over that part of it.\n\n\"The very next Sabbath thereafter, 15th of May, while she is again in that\nsame barn, reading the 14th chap. of Revelations, the like bloud fell on\nthe book, and covered all the chapter from the 9th verse to the end of the\nchapter, in the very act of the reading it, and which, she said, that she\nperceived it not, but about half ane inches distance from the book before\nit fell down upon it.\n\n\"The relater heirof is Maister Henry Maxwell, of Dalswinton, who dwells\nwithin two miles of the place where she dwells; saw the Bible, and the\nbloud upon all the three places of that Bible, which is still extant.\n\n\"It is not bloud, for it is as tough as glew, and will not be scrapped off\nby a knife as bloud will; but it is so like bloud as none can discern any\ndifference by the colour.\"\n\nAfter this course of vision and bloody showers, Mrs Frazer, it would\nappear, fell under the suspicion of dealing with evil, in the place of\ngood, spirits. For in the year 1691 she was called before the Presbytery\nand confessed: \"That she pretended to prophecying and seeing of visions,\nand that she had sinned greatly in being deluded by Satin, causing her\nprophecie and see things future. Her book was appointed to be examined by\ntwo of the Presbytery; and on her second appearance she acknowledged that\nshe was possessed by some evil spirit, and humbly besought the prayer of\nthe ministers and of all others; upon which the further examination of\nherself and the witnesses was delayed. Nothing more is heard of her.\"(48)\n\n_Records of Penpont Presbytery, 1706._\n\nFrom January to March in the year 1706 the Presbytery of Penpont was\noccupied with the case of the Rev. Peter Rae, minister of Kirkbride. Mr\nRae was slandered by a woman who alleged that he called her a \"witch,\" and\nwhen sick said to her, \"They say you have my health, so give it again if\nyou have it,\" and also called her to come near hand him, and when she came\nhe presently bled her on the \"forrit\" (forehead).\n\nIt was proved that Mr Rae did call her a witch, and did in his illness\nendeavour to draw blood from her brow, for which he was rebuked.\n\nIn 1737 Mr Rae was translated from Kirkbride (an extinct parish in\nNithsdale now embraced in the parishes of Durisdeer and Sanquhar) and\nbecame minister of Kirkconnel. He was also clerk to the Presbytery of\nPenpont, before whom in earlier years he appeared. He is perhaps better\nknown as the author of _The History of the Late Rebellion_[15] (1715). A\nman of outstanding ability, his memory is honoured by a mural tablet\nplaced in the south wall of Kirkconnel church.\n\n_Glencairn Kirk-Session Records._\n\n\"Apryl nynth, 1694.\"--Case of Margret M'Kinch (not \"_M'Onrick_,\" as given\nby Monteith,[16] p. 44). In the evidence it is stated that:\n\n\"Robert Muir in Dunregon came in to James Rodgerson's hous, drew his knyf\nand offered to blood her abov ye b----\" [paper torn--breath (?)].\n\n\"On Apryl nynth, 1694, Margt. M'Kinch gave in an wrytten list of ye names\nwho had sclandered her by calling her an witch, earnestly desiring ye\nSession to put the same to ---- [proof(?)] that she myght be free from ye\nscandal.\"\n\n[Gap in the records, 1694-1700.]\n\n10th September, 1704.--\"Appoints yt it be publickly intimate upon Sabbath\nfirst that no Heritor, tennent, or Householder whatsomever within this\nparoch resett our harbour Jaunet Harestanes, sometime in Keir paroch, with\ncertification.\"\n\n24th September, 1704.--\"Appointment obeyed in makeing intimation anent\nJaunet Harestanes, reputed to be under the _mala-fama_ of witchcraft.\"\n\n14th November, 1707.--Case of Alexander Deuart (not \"_Douart_\" as given by\nMonteith, p. 44):--\n\nAlex. Deuart, gardener, at Maxwelton, is charged with having \"brought back\nsome stolen goods by charm or enchantment or some other pretended ocult\nquality in herbs, along with some mutterings and gestures, as makes him so\ncommonly reputed a charmer that he is sought unto by persons from divers\ncorners of the country to the great scandal of religion. The said Alex.\nbeing interrogated primo--Did you bring back those things which was stolen\nfrom Maxwelton--aiz., six pair sheets, ten ------ [undecipherable], three\naprons, at one time; a large silver tumbler at another time; and a book at\na third time?\n\n_A._ Yes; I was the causer, but had no hand in it myself.\n\n_Q._ Did you not take money for the bringing of them back?\n\n_A._ I told them I could do such things if it was not injurious to any,\nand told that he took money for the bringing of them back.\n\n_Q._ How did you bring them back?\n\n_A._ I cannot tell that, for I promised not to tell where I received my\nart.\n\n_Q._ Did you make use of herbs as it is reported of you in order to the\nbringing of them back?\n\n_A._ I did make use of herbs in part, but not for the bringing of them\nback.\n\n_Q._ How did you make use of the herbs that you might know where they\nwere?\n\n_A._ I laid them under my head and dreamed of them.\n\n_Q._ What are the herbs which had that effect upon your sleep?\n\n_A._ I will not tell that to any living if they should saw me asunder.\n\n_Q._ How came the cloaths back?\n\n_A._ I must cause some brother of trade who dwells near hand them to tell\nthem who have them that they must be brought back and they should not be\nwronged.\n\n_Q._ Why did you not tell of the people who took away these cloaths,\nseeing thieves ought to be discovered for the good of the country?\n\n_A._ It doth not belong to me to put out any man, otherwise I should be in\neternity this day eight days.\n\n_Q._ Did any person bring the things back, or how came they back?\n\n_A._ I brought them not back, but the people who took them away brought\nthem back.\n\n_Q._ But how could the silver tumbler be brought back and put in a\nfast-locked room?\n\n_A._ The person who took it flung it in at the window upon one of the\nshelves.\n\n(_Notandum_--Now it was told him that all the windows were fast-snecked,\nas the servants who went in to take up the tumbler declared.)\n\n_Q._ Did you not say when the tumbler was got, 'I must have the hair that\nwas in and about it, for it is the hair of a horse which belonged to a man\nwho is shortly to be hanged for stealing?'\n\n_A._ Yes.\n\n_Q._ Did you not say to Sir Walter Laurie, 'lock me ever so close in a\nroom and I will cause all the cloaths that were taken away hang down upon\nthe spouts of the tower upon the morrow morning?'\n\n_A._ Yes.\n\n_Q._ Did you not say before me, the Minister, 'lock the cloaths again in\nas fast a room as you can, and I'll cause them, for a little money, go all\nback in the place where they were?'\n\n_A._ Yes.\n\n_Q._ Why did you not bring back the silver spoon that was lost?\n\n_A._ It was in Edinburgh, and the name was scraped out, and I could not\nbring it back until I went to Edinburgh.\n\n_Q._ Why did you not bring back the mattock and other things?\n\n_A._ It had been on fire.\n\n_Q._ Why did you not bring back all the aprons, for there is one of them\nawanting yet?\n\n_A._ I could not bring it back because it was burnt, and when a thing is\nhid beneath the ground or the like I can't get wott of that.\n\n_Q._ Did you not mutter some words when you used these charms?\n\n_A._ Yes.\n\n_Q._ What are they?\n\n_A._ 'Cloaths, cloaths, cloaths, and other things lost.'\n\n_Q._ Whether did you use such charms afore Hallow-een as throwing nuts in\nthe fire, sowing seeds up and down the house, and herbs to every corner,\ngoing backwards from the fire to the door, round the close backwards, up\nthe stairs backward, and to your bed backward?\n\n_A._ Yes.\n\n_Q._ Being told by a Minister that from what he had heard there was either\ndevolrie in it, or he was the thief himself. To which he replied, 'I shall\nmake it out to be no devolrie; or if it be devolrie, it is unknown to\nme.'\n\n_Q._ Did you not bring back a book of Mrs Violet's?\n\n_A._ Yes.\n\n_Q._ Did you not say you could cause any woman in London come down to you\nif but told her name?\n\n_A._ I could do it, and I can.\n\n_Q._ Did you not say in the presence of Sir Walter Laurie, Bailie Corbet\nin Dumfries, James Gordoun, Wryter, Yr., and me, that you could cause any\nof us dance naked?\n\n_A._ I did, if you would take what I give you; and also added that he\ncould cause any woman follow him if she would take what he would give her.\n\n_Q._ Alexander, where learned you that art?\n\n_A._ I learned it from the gardener at Arnistoun, now dead, but was at my\nbrothering.\n\n_Q._ But are there any alyve that was at your brothering?\n\n_A._ No.\n\nAfter all which, the Moderator said unto him: 'Saunders, did you not say\nto me when I was poseing you privately about these things, and telling you\nthat from all I had heard from you that I was convinced that you were\neither a thief or a devol?' and you replied, 'Pursue me, sir, before\neither Session or Presbytery, and I shall show that I am neither.' And\nnow, Saunders, after all these interrogatories are considered, I rather\nthink you did take these things yourself, and therefore you can get no\ntestificat (certificate) until your business be further cognosed upon.\"\n\n13th July, 21st Sept., and 26th Oct., 1712.--Complaint from Jean Howatson\nin Nies that Margaret Nivison in Crichen had called her \"a witch and a\nresetter of witches.\"\n\nBoth rebuked for their \"scandelous and offensive expressions,\" and\n\"Injoyned to abstain from any such offensive carriage in time comeing,\ncertifying withall that if they be found quarrolling with one another\nunjustly this process shall be revived again upon them.\"\n\n_Indirect references affecting Durisdeer and Torthorwald._\n\n_Parish of Durisdeer._--In 1591 a member of the family of Douglas of\nDrumlanrig, \"Barbara Naipar, spous to Archibald Douglas,\" was accused of\nwitchcraft and condemned to be burned on the Castle Hill of Edinburgh.\nExamination of the indictment shows that the charge was really implication\nin the crime by countenancing and seeking help from \"users and abusers of\nwitchcraft,\" which, as we have seen, carried with it the extreme penalty.\n\nThe following is the extract from Pitcairn's _Criminal Trials_:--\n\n\"May 8, 1591.--Barbara Naipar, spous to Archibald Douglas, burges of\nEdinburgh (brother to the Laird of Carschogill), Dilaitit of sindrie\npoyntis of witchcraft, contenit in Dittay gewin in against hir be Mr David\nM'gill of Cranstoun--Rydell, advocat to our soverane lord.\n\n\"The Assyse, be the mouth of Robert Cuningham, chancillor, ffand,\npronunceit, and declarit the said Barbara Naipar to be fylit, culpabill\nand convict of the seiking of consultation from Annie Sampsoune, ane wich,\nfor the help of Dame Jeane Lyonne, Lady Angus, to keip hir from vomiting\nquhen sche was in breeding of barne. Item, for the consulting with the\nsaid Annie Sampsoune, for causing of the said Dame Jeane Lyonne, Lady\nAngus, to love hir, and to gif hir the geir awin hir agayne, and geiving\nof ane ring for this purpois to the said Anny, quhill sche had send her\nane courchie (kerchief) of linning and swa for contravening of the Act of\nParliament, in consulting with hir and seiking of hir help, being ane\nwich, &c.\"\n\n\"Dome was pronunceit against Barbara Naipar, the sister-in-law of the\nLaird of Coshogle.\"[17]\n\n_Torthorwald, 1596._--As Saul consulted the Witch of Endor, so in later\ndays was the powers of witchcraft invoked by the most exalted to find out\nwhat fate or fortune the future held for them.\n\nOf the wife of Captain James Stewart, Earl of Arran, it is told \"that she\ngot a response from the witches that she would be the greatest woman in\nScotland, and that her husband should have the highest head in that\nkingdom. Both which fell out; for she died, being all swelled out in an\nextraordinary manner; and he, riding to the south, was pursued by the Lord\nTorthoral (called Douglas[18]), whose whole family the said Captain James\nintended to have extirpated, and was killed, and his head carried on the\npoint of a spear and placed upon the battlements of Torthorwald\nCastle.\"(49)\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER IV._\n\nFAIRIES AND BROWNIES.\n\n  \"There's als much virtue, sense, and pith,\n   In Annan or the Water of Nith,\n   Which quietly slips by Dumfries,\n   Als any water in all Greece;\n   For there, and several other places,\n   About mill-dams, and green brae faces,\n   Both eldrich elfs and brownies stayed,\n   And green-gowned fairies daunced and played.\"\n                                --_Effigies Clericorum._\n\n\nNo part of the folk-lore of a district finds more favour than that\nparticular vestige which tells of the doings of \"fairies and brownies,\"\nthe mere expression \"fairy\" at once calling up and suggesting green-clad\ndainty figures, dwelling amid picturesque sylvan surroundings; although\nprobably the memory of the \"brownie,\" and the stories of his helpful\nmidnight task, strike the more human note.\n\nIt is the \"fairy,\" however, outshining the humbler toiling \"brownie,\" not\nonly in gallant bearing and romantic surroundings, but in the further\npossession of greater supernatural power, that is the more fascinating\nsurvival of superstitious tradition.\n\nPopularly imagined, they were diminutive in form, elegant in appearance,\nand richly attired. They dwelt in a land of their own, in woodland dells\nwhere\n\n  \"Underneath the sylvan shade\n   The fairies' spacious bower was made,\"\n\nor in beautiful palaces underneath the green conical mounds, so numerous,\nparticularly in Galloway and the south-west of Scotland. Their lives and\naffairs were ruled by the utmost ceremony and grandeur. A King or Queen\npresided over their destinies. Their pageants and tournaments were the\nvery reflection of Courtly gallantry. Processions were a frequent form of\ndisplay; and clothed in exquisite green raiment, and mounted on bravely\ncaparisoned milk-white steeds of the finest mettle, they passed with\nhaughty mien and lordly air, that impressed to the utmost the minds of the\nmortals who might chance to meet them in all their pomp and bravery. The\nbanquet-board and feast also were daily in evidence, and through their\nprincely halls, to the most exquisite music, the stately dance went round.\n\nThe attitude of the fairies towards mankind was, generally speaking,\nkindly and helpful, so much so that by the country people they were often\ntermed the \"good neighbours\" and the \"wee fouk\"; but underneath all their\ndisplay of nobility, an elfin craftiness and capriciousness of disposition\nexisted, malignant to a degree. They did not, for example, ride unarmed,\nbut had bows and arrows of peculiar power and potency slung at their sides\nready to assail the too curious human being or menacing beast. The bows\nthemselves were fashioned from the ribs of men buried \"where three Lairds'\nlands meet,\" and the arrows, which hung in quivers made from adders'\nsloughs, were \"tipped with deadly plagues.\" When mortals offended, it was\non their cattle the fairies usually wreaked their vengeance by shooting\nthem with their magic bows and arrows. Such elf-shot cattle exhibited all\nthe symptoms of malignant cramp. Animals quite as innocent, but who,\nblunderingly unconscious, threatened to trample their diminutive bodies\nunder foot as they passed along, were as summarily treated--at least that\nwas a common explanation to account for puzzling forms of cattle-ill; for\nthe wound of the true elf arrow was so small that evidence of penetration\nwas almost impossible of vision, unless by the eye of those favoured and\ndeeply skilled in fairy-craft practice. A less vague and more material\ndescription of the fairy arrows was, that \"these fatal shafts were formed\nof the bog reed, pointed with white field flint, and dipped in the dew of\nhemlock.\" To this day the triangular flints of the Stone Age are\nassociated with the fairy superstition, being popularly known as \"elf\nbolts,\" and the occasional turning up of these flints on cultivated land,\nfinds a superstitious explanation in the belief that a shower of these\narrows discharged into a field was quite sufficient to blast and wither\nthe expected crop.\n\nThe special characteristic of the evil element in the disposition of the\nfairies was however, a persistent practice of kidnapping unchristened\ninfants, substituting for them baby imps of their own, which in old-world\nphraseology were known as \"changelings.\" Such changelings could only be\ndetected and expelled by certain charms and mystic practice, which also\npermitted the real babe to be restored. The explanation of such kidnapping\nwas that every seventh year \"Kain,\" in the form of a living sacrifice from\nthe ranks of the fairies, was demanded by Satan, their master, as the\nprice of the supernatural privileges they enjoyed, but as a mortal infant\nwas as readily accepted, the fairies naturally acted in accordance, much\npreferring to lay a human babe at the feet of the Evil One.\n\nVery naturally the thought of such disastrous possibilities to the\ndomestic life and joy of the people created means and measures to render\nthis particular design of the fairies impotent and inefficient. The\ncutting of a cross on the head of the cradle, or even over the doorway of\nthe cottage itself, was supposed to \"kep skaith\" by means of its sacred\nsignificance; and immediately before the birth of a child it was a common\npractice to surround the expectant mother with everything about the\nhousehold made of steel, such as scissors, wool-clippers, knives, needles,\nand so forth, which it was firmly believed kept the evil disposition of\nthe fairy spirits at bay, and prevented any unhallowed tampering with the\nchild. It was also customary for the friends of the house when the child\nwas born, to form a guarding circle round it during the darkness of the\nnight, while one of their number was specially employed in waving about\nthe open leaves of a Bible. The risk of abduction immediately ceased after\nthe child was christened. It may here be mentioned that at all times the\nsound of a church bell immediately broke the fairy power and spell.\n\nThe abduction of human beings was not altogether confined to babes, and it\nwill be remembered that James Hogg's fine ballad of \"Kilmeny\" is founded\non a young maiden being carried off to Fairyland, who in the course of\ntime is allowed to return to the world again when, as so beautifully\nexpressed in the ballad,\n\n  \"Late, late in the gloamin'\n        Kilmeny cam' hame.\"\n\nYoung married women were more especially liable to be carried off, for the\nutilitarian purpose of nursing the fairy children, and young men were also\noccasionally supposed to be stolen away.\n\nIt may be noted that it was not considered good for mortals to meet with\nfairies face to face, however much by accident. Death might even follow\nsuch a meeting, although apparently quite natural in form.\n\nTouching upon the very core of unreality of fairy semblance it would seem\nto have been a general belief, that seen through eyes of those gifted with\nsupernatural power such as in olden days the \"seers\" were believed to\npossess, the whole fairy fabric crumbled to its true appearance. Golden\ntreasure became ordinary stone, fairy palace changed to gloomy cavern, and\nthe beautiful beings themselves became ugly and repulsive goblins.\n\nBefore passing to gather up the remnants of this fairy-lore in Galloway\nand Dumfriesshire, it may be of interest to refer to the theory which has\nbeen advanced to account for the firm belief by our forefathers in the\nexistence of \"fairies and brownies,\" which briefly is, that fairies and\nbrownies were none other than straggling and isolated survivors of the\nrace of the ancient Pictish Kingdom of Scotland, for like the fairy and\nbrownie of popular imagination, the Picts dwelt in underground abodes,\nbeing what is termed \"mound-dwellers.\" They were a small people, untiring\nin their labours, and possessing great strength, or as it has been aptly\nexpressed, \"they were 'unca wee' bodies, but terribly strong.\" As well as\nbeing small in stature, they were hairy in body and fleet of foot. They\nwere clever builders, as their underground dwellings excavated at the\nhands of antiquarians throughout Scotland yet affirm. Indeed there is a\ntradition that the 12th century Cathedral of Glasgow was largely built by\nindustrious and skilful Picts, brought from Galloway for that purpose.\n\nA strong point in the theory certainly is, that the localities known as\nthe prehistoric abiding places of the Picts are almost invariably\nassociated with fairy-lore and tradition, which has floated down to us on\nthe misty tides of time. At all events it may be in part at least\naccepted, in so far as it is founded on a basis of fact, and if it does\nnot quite explain the splendour and high-born attributes of Fairyland, it\nat least goes far to account for the unvarying popular description of\n\"Brownie\"--his untiring energy, his shy disposition, and his not very\nattractive appearance, all of which William Nicholson has painted with\nstrokes of genius in his matchless poem, \"The Brownie of Blednoch.\"[19]\n\n\nFAIRIES IN GALLOWAY.\n\nThe great distinctive headland of the Mull of Galloway is traditionally\ndescribed as the scene of the last stand made by the Picts, as they were\ndriven backwards and seawards to destruction by the overwhelming force of\nthe Scots.\n\n  \"There rose a King in Scotland,\n     A fell man to his foes,\n   He smote the Picts in battle,\n     He hunted them like roes,\n   Over miles of red mountain\n     He hunted as they fled\n   And strewed the dwarfish bodies\n     Of the dying and the dead.\"\n\nNot far from this classic spot, a favourite haunt of the fairies is\nlocated. South of Portankill there is a small fortification called the\nDunnan. On this spot there came once upon a time to a man sitting there,\non a fine summer evening, an old-fashioned looking, diminutive woman\ndressed in green, carrying a tiny ailing child on her back, and holding a\nlittle wooden water stoup in her hand. She earnestly asked this man to go\nto the far-famed and quite near \"Well of the Co'\" and bring her some of\nthe healing water for the decrepit little morsel she carried, as she was\ntired and done. Churlishly enough the man refused, and roughly told her\nshe could go her own errands. The little woman bore his abuse patiently\nenough, then, naming him, solemnly warned him \"never again to sit down on\nher hoose-riggin' or he might look to it\"--and then somehow she seemed to\ndisappear. The man began to regret his ungracious conduct, all the more\nthat it was generally believed that beneath the \"Dunnan\" lived the\nfairies, and if that was so, then at that very moment he was actually on\ntheir \"hoose-riggin'.\" Much disturbed in mind, he made for home; but\ntradition affirms that from that day forward everything went wrong--cattle\ndied and crops failed, and eventually, going one night to the Dunnan to\nwatch a vessel that was likely to come ashore and so help his own evil\nplight, he was stricken with illness at the hands of the fairies--so the\ncountry-side said--and died.\n\nThere is yet another rather dramatic relic of fairy-lore concerning\nKirkmaiden, which tells of an attempt by the fairies to seize upon the\nnewly-born child of a herd and his wife, who were in the service of Sir\nGodfrey M'Culloch, and who lived in a little cottage at Auchneight, which\nwas frustrated by a timely call for Divine aid. On the afternoon of the\nday of his son's birth the herd received an urgent message to proceed at\nonce to his master's castle of Cardoness, in the Stewartry of\nKirkcudbright. There were many little domestic matters to attend to before\nthe poor man could leave his wife and child to set out on his long\njourney, and the night was already well advanced before he left his home.\nIt was not without anxiety and misgiving he took his way north along the\nwestern shore of Luce Bay, \"down the path towards the Loup and the Co' of\nthe Grennan,\" a place with a very uncanny reputation, for it was the night\nof the last day of October--of all times of the year the most dreaded by\nmortals--the night\n\n  \"When Fairies ... dance,\n     Or ower the lays, with splendid blaze,\n   On sprightly coursers prance.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"IN FAIRY GLADE.\" Sketch by J. Copland, Dundrennan.]\n\nIt was very dark, and his progress was slow. When he reached the \"Loup\" he\nwas rather startled to see a faint glimmering light seawards. To his\nconsternation this came steadily towards him, and gradually took the\nform of a coach lighted with blue lamps, drawn by six horses, and coming\nsmartly on. It passed, and he could see it was crowded with elfish figures\nand surrounded by a galloping body-guard. His terror was not abated when\nhe was made aware that a little blue torch, a sure forerunner of death,\nwas burning on the side of the track they had passed along. Meanwhile his\nyoung wife and child were all alone in the cottage. About midnight the\nmother, to whom the night seemed unending, was startled by hearing the\ntrample of horses, the jingle of bridles, the lumber of wheels, and a\nbuzzing sound of voices. Clasping the child close in her arms,\nterror-stricken she waited. The door of the cottage flew open. The whole\nkitchen was lit up with a strange unnatural light, and she saw her bed\nsurrounded by a throng of little excited green-clad people, who kept up a\nconstant chattering. Then one more richly clad and taller than the others\nimperiously waved his hand for silence, and addressing the almost crazed\nwoman, said--\n\n\"This is Hallow-eve. We have come for your child, and him we must have.\"\n\n\"Oh, God forbid!\" shrieked the poor woman in her agony, and almost\ninstantly there was darkness and silence as of the grave.\n\nWhen the poor woman came to her senses, for she had fainted, she made bold\nto leave her bed, and lighting her cruisie lamp, she was overjoyed to find\nthat her child was sleeping sweetly and soundly. Everything in the cottage\nwas evidently undisturbed.\n\nAs some slight corroboration of this legend, it is told how the tenant of\nBarncorkerie, going to his door about midnight that same Hallow-eve, was\nstartled to see a group of tiny horsemen riding in hot haste through the\nmeadows a bowshot from his door.\n\nThe story of the Barncorkerie Fairy, in this same immediate neighbourhood,\nillustrates how the good offices of the fairy aided an old helpless woman\nin her day of necessity at the expense of an undutiful son.\n\nOn the road shorewards to Portencockerie Bay (Kirkmaiden) there is a\nbypath by way of what is known as the Bishop's Castle. One day there came\nby this road an old woman, weary of foot and sad of heart. Sitting down\nshe wept quietly to herself, bemoaning her poverty and the unkindness of\nher son, and more particularly of his new-made wife, who scorned her and\nrefused to give her even the bare necessities of life. With her eyes fixed\non the ground, she almost unconsciously let her attention turn to a round\nwhorl-like stone, with a hole through it, lying at her feet. Not attaching\nmuch importance to it she, almost absent-mindedly, picked it up, and as\nshe did so she thought she heard some one whispering to her, but turning\nround and seeing no one she became a little frightened, and putting the\ncurious little stone in her pocket, she rose to make her way home, which,\nby the way, bore the curious name of \"Keekafar.\"\n\nThat same night, at the gloaming, as she was lighting her cruisie lamp,\nthe cottage door seemed to open of its own accord, and, looking down, she\nsaw a diminutive little woman clad in green, who, with a pleasant smile,\nasked how she prospered?\n\nThe old woman was a proud old woman, so she answered that she was getting\nalong very comfortably.\n\nBut the little old woman laughed a kindly laugh and said, \"Not much\ncomfort an' a toom meal-barrel in the hoose.\"\n\nThe Fairy, for it was a fairy, chatted away to her for a little, and\ngradually won from her the whole story of her troubles; then, as she rose\nto go, she said, \"If ye've still got that queer little stone ye fand\nto-day wi' the hole in it, just tie a little bit grey wurset thread\nthrough it, and lay it on the meal-ark. It'll maybes be a help.\"\n\nNext night, about the same time (as it afterwards appeared), the old\nwoman's son Godfrey, who lived with his wife on his own little croft at\nPortencockerie, was startled to find when he came home a little tiny woman\nperched on a high stool at his fireside.\n\n\"What want ye here?\" he cried; and his wife, joining him, began to scold\nalso. \"Tak' yer gait, we want nae beggars here,\" she shouted.\n\nThe Fairy looked at them steadily with her little grey piercing eyes, then\nstepping from the stool on to the long wooden kitchen settle she turned to\nthe frightened man and woman, and in a tiny penetrating voice that made\nthem even more frightened, said--\"The poor folk! much they get at your\nhands! But thy old mother shall never want; she shall live at your cost.\nHer meal-ark will be always full, and yours shall supply it!\"\n\nAnd so it came about. Godfrey and his wife, under the influence of fear,\ntried hard to make amends, but the old woman received their advances with\nthe utmost indifference.\n\nThe Compass Stone, on the hill above Port Logan towards the south, was\nalso a favourite place for the fairies holding their gatherings, and there\nis a small field at Logan known as the Fairy Park. It is said that a\nlarge company of fairies were observed by two individuals, who at the time\nwere not near each other, crossing the fields near Kenmure, in the parish\nof Stoneykirk. One of the individuals said they seemed to be all talking\ntogether, and there was a continual buzz of conversation as of a large\nassemblage of people gathered together.\n\nA hill between Ringuinea and the Float is associated with the fairies. Two\nyoung women went from Ringuinea one summer morning to bring the cows home\nto be milked, when they met what seemed to be a very beautiful child, whom\nthey unsuccessfully made every endeavour to catch hold of. Skilfully,\nhowever, and with evident little exertion, the little figure eluded their\ngrasp, with the result that their futile chase led to their being\nhopelessly behind time for the milking.\n\nAnother story tells that the farmer of Ringuinea was going down the Black\nBrae, when he met a very small person handsomely dressed in green.\nThinking it was a strange child, he enquired where he was going so early\nin the morning. The supposed child answered that there was an ox down\nbelow that had annoyed him and his people for a long time by always\nstanding on the top of their dwelling-place, but that he would trouble\nthem no more. The farmer proceeded down the brae, and found one of his\nbest bullocks lying dead. He went for assistance, and proceeding to skin\nthe bullock, and knowing what to look for, they found an elf-shot right\nthrough the heart.\n\nKirkmaiden seems to have been a much-favoured district of the \"wee fouk.\"\nThe Nick of the Balloch, on the road from Barncorkerie to Castle Clanyard,\nCurghie Glen, and the Grennan were notoriously fairy-occupied; and between\nKirkbride and Killumpha their imaginary tracks left on the stones and\nrocks used to be pointed out and traced. There is a curious lingering\ntradition in the Rhinns that the fairies of Kirkmaiden always wore red\ncaps instead of green.\n\nBefore passing from this district of the Rhinns, reference may be made to\nwhat was firmly believed to be the kidnapping by fairies of a little boy\nof two years of age. The child wandered out unperceived by its mother. On\nbeing missed, an anxious search was made during the whole day by almost\nevery person in the neighbourhood, but no trace of the child could be\nfound. Late in the evening, however, from the top of the heugh, beside\nSlock-an-a-gowre, he was discovered, by the merest accident, asleep on a\ngreen plot on the cliff far below, fully two miles from his home. How he\ngot there to this day is a mystery. To assume that any person carried or\nleft him there seems highly improbable, and to suppose the child to have\nof itself crossed dykes, drains, glens, and cornfields seems even more\nimprobable. It was therefore attributed to the fairies, all the more that\nthe little boy lisped that he had followed other little boys wearing green\nclothes.[20]\n\nAway midst the solitary grandeur of the high lands of Galloway, where the\nMerrick lordly towers, and where the bleat of the sheep and the cry of the\nwhaup, the tumble and plash of burn and stream, are the only sounds that\ngreet the shepherd's ear as he pursues his long and lonely beat, a\nbeautiful fairy legend lingers, though human and homely enough in its\ntrend:--\n\n\"A shepherd's family had just taken possession of a newly-erected onstead,\nin a very secluded spot among 'the hills o' Gallowa',' when the goodwife\nwas, one day, surprised by the entrance of a little woman, who hurriedly\nasked for the loan of a 'pickle saut.' This, of course, was readily\ngranted; but the goodwife was so flurried by the appearance of 'a neibor'\nin such a lonely place, and at such a very great distance from all known\nhabitations, that she did not observe when the little woman withdrew or\nwhich way she went. Next day, however, the same little woman re-entered\nthe cottage, and duly paid the borrowed 'saut.' This time the goodwife was\nmore alert, and as she turned to replace 'the saut in the sautkit' she\nobserved 'wi' the tail o' her e'e' that the little woman moved off towards\nthe door, and then made a sudden 'bolt out.' Following quickly, the\ngoodwife saw her unceremonious visitor run down a small declivity towards\na tree which stood at 'the house en'.' She passed behind the tree, but did\nnot emerge on the other side, and the goodwife, seeing no place of\nconcealment, assumed she was a fairy.\n\nIn a few days her little 'neibor' again returned, and continued from time\nto time to make similar visits--borrowing and lending small articles,\nevidently with a view to produce an intimacy; and it was uniformly\nremarked that, on retiring, she proceeded straight to the tree, and then\nsuddenly 'gaed out o' sight.'\n\nOne day, while the goodwife was at the door, emptying some dirty water\ninto the jaw-hole (sink or cesspool), her now familiar acquaintance came\nto her and said:\n\n'Goodwife, ye're really a very obliging bodie! Wad ye be sae good as turn\nthe lade o' your jaw-hole anither way, as a' your foul water rins directly\nin at my door? It stands in the howe there, on the aff-side o' that tree,\nat the corner o' your house en'.'\n\nThe mystery was now fully cleared up--the little woman was indeed a fairy;\nand the door of her invisible habitation being situated 'on the aff-side\no' the tree at the house en',' it could easily be conceived how she must\nthere necessarily 'gae out o' sight' as she entered her sight-eluding\nportal.\"(50)\n\nProbably the most characteristic fairy story extant in the whole\nsouth-western district of Scotland is that which centres round the green\nmound on which the ruined Castle of Myrton, a stronghold of the M'Cullochs\nin bygone days, stands. Within the policies of Monreith House, in the\nparish of Mochrum, on the beautifully-wooded shore of the White Loch of\nMyrton, this mound of Myrton is peculiarly interesting in the links its\nstory joins of prehistoric days, fairy tradition, and seventeenth century\nfamily history.\n\nThe following account is drawn from _The Hereditary Sheriffs of\nGalloway_:--\n\n\"Sir Godfrey M'Culloch, having squandered his patrimony and sold his\nestates in Mochrum to the Maxwells of Monreith, took up house at\nCardoness. Here a neighbour, William Gordon, having poinded some cattle\nstraying on his lands, Sir Godfrey joined a party illegally convened to\nrelease them. A fray was the result, in which M'Culloch, in the words of\nhis indictment, 'did shot at the said Gordon with a gun charged, and by\nthe shot broke his thigh-bone and leg, so that he immediately fell to the\nground, and within a few hours thereafter died of the same shot wound.'\nSir Godfrey fled the country, and some years after ventured on a Sunday to\nattend a Church in Edinburgh. A Galloway man was among the congregation,\nwho, recognising him, jumped up and cried: 'Pit to the door; there's a\nmurderer in the kirk!' This was done, M'Culloch arrested, tried,\ncondemned, and his head 'stricken fra his body' the 5th of March, 1697.\"\n\nSo say the _Criminal Records_. There is a very different local version of\nthe story:--\n\nLong before the fatal encounter, and before he had entered on the evil\ncourses which led to his ruin, Sir Godfrey, young and curly, sat at a\nwindow in the Tower of Myrtoun watching the operations of a gang of\nworkmen forming a new sewer from his house to the White Loch below it.\nSuddenly he was startled by the apparition close beside him of a very\nlittle old man whose hair and beard were snowy white, whose strangely-cut\ncostume was green, and who seemed in a state of furious wrath. Sir Godfrey\nreceived him, notwithstanding, with the greatest urbanity, and begged to\nbe told in what way he could serve him.\n\nThe answer was a startling one: \"M'Culloch,\" said the visitor, \"I am the\nKing of the Brownies![21] My palace has been for ages in the mound on\nwhich your Tower stands, and you are driving your common sewer right\nthrough my chalmer of dais.\"\n\nSir Godfrey, confounded, threw up the window and ordered the workmen to\nstop at once, professing his perfect readiness to make the drain in any\nsuch direction as might least incommode his Majesty, if he would\ngraciously indicate the same. His courtesy was accepted, and Sir Godfrey\nreceived a promise in return from the now mollified potentate that he, the\nsaid King, would stand by and help him in the time of his greatest need.\n\nIt was long after this that the Knight of Myrtoun disposed of his enemy in\nthe summary way we have already mentioned, and for which he was condemned\nto die. The procession had started for the place of execution; a crowd\nwas collected to see the awful sight, when the spectators were surprised\nby seeing a very little man with white hair and beard, dressed, too, in an\nantique suit of green, and mounted on a white horse. He issued from the\ncastle rock, crossed the loch without a moment's hesitation, and rode\nstraight up to the cart on which Sir Godfrey, accompanied by the\nexecutioner and a minister, was standing. They plainly saw Sir Godfrey get\non the horse behind the little man, who was no other than the King of the\nBrownies (and thus fulfilled his promise by arriving in his hour of need):\nthe two recrossed the loch, and, mounting the castle rock, they\ndisappeared. When the astonished crowd again turned their eyes to the cart\na figure was still there, and wondrous like Sir Godfrey; it was,\ntherefore, generally believed that he had met a felon's doom, and most\npeople thought no more about it. A few only knew better, but these cared\nlittle to speak about the matter. At rare intervals, however, one of the\ninitiated would impart the story to a friend, and tell how a head had\nrolled upon the ground, leaving a bleeding trunk upon the scaffold; then\nadding in a confidential whisper, \"It was no' him ava; it was just a kin'\no' glamour.\"(51)\n\nThe presence of fairies was not unknown in the Whithorn district, and a\nrealistic account of the last appearance of the fairies there has been\npreserved in _Droll Recollections of Whithorn_, by James F. Cannon:--\n\n\"A farmer's wife on the Glasserton estate was engaged in washing at a\nstream near her house, when a trig little creature of her own sex, and\nperfectly human in shape and general semblance, suddenly arrested her\nattention. The mistress stared with amazement at the mite of a body that\nstood by her side, and the astonishment of the former was not lessened\nwhen, with an appealing look on her tiny features, the elf solicited the\nfavour of 'a wee sowp o' milk for an unweel wean.' They then entered\nfreely into conversation, and walked together to the byre, where the Fairy\nwas duly supplied with what she had asked for. She was very profuse with\nher thanks, and foretold that her donor would never be without a pinch of\nsnuff (of all things) while she should require it. It was not a very\nhazardous prediction, nor did it give promise of great remuneration for\nthe obligation conferred; but there was a note of gratitude in it which\nwas thoroughly appreciated by her to whom it was spoken. I believe,\nhowever, there was an additional hint dropped that the milk pails of the\nelf's patroness would always be well filled, and her husband's field\ncrops abundant.\"(52)\n\nA poetical version of the above tradition has been elaborated by Mr\nCannon, and appears in the _Bards of Galloway_, under the title of \"The\nLanghill Fairy.\"[22]\n\n\"Riddling in the reek\" was the common country-side expression for a\nrough-and-ready method of treating a fairy changeling so that it might be\nrestored to its proper human constitution. A realistic account of such an\nordeal is preserved in _Galloway Gossip_ (Wigtownshire). It sets forth how\na child, whose parents lived in Sorbie village, behaved in such a fretful,\npassionate, and vixenish way that the parents were at last forced to the\nunwelcome conclusion that it was not their child at all, but a changeling.\nMuch distressed they sought the advice of a wise woman living at\nKirkinner, who plainly enough substantiated the suspicion. Beseeching her\nhelp, the sybil pointed out the great risk they all ran with interference\nwith things uncanny, but on their consenting to place themselves entirely\nin her hands and implicitly obey her in every detail, she promised to\nmake the attempt to restore their child on the following Aul' Hallowe'en\nNicht.\n\n[Illustration: \"RIDDLING IN THE REEK.\" Sketch by J. Copland, Dundrennan.]\n\n\"When Aul' Hallowe'en came, everything was ready and set in order, and\njust a few minutes before nine, in came Lucky M'Robert, and without saying\na word steekit the door ahint her.\n\nShe then set two stools beside the fire, which, as usual at that time and\nfor long after, was made on a slightly raised place in the middle of the\nfloor, paved with water-stones. She motioned Peggy and Jamie to sit down\non them, and lighting the candle, with the ether-stane on it, put it on\nthe kerl, or long candlestick, and set it between them, and then took the\nrowan-wood and biggit it on the fire.\n\nThe wean looked terrified, and ran under the bed, but she pulled it out\nand tied his legs and arms together with some red clouts she had in her\npouch, and threw't into the riddle, and lifting it up went towards the\nfire, the wean twining and kicking and swearing most viciously.\n\nMally had previously breeked her petticoats, and as soon as a thick reek\nrose from the burning rowan-tree, she held the wean amang the thickest\no't, and riddled it in the riddle till ye wud hae thocht it wud hae been\nchokit.\n\nThe wean cursed and yelled, and spat at her, and called her a' that was\nbad, but she took nae notice; then it begged and fleech't with the father\nand mother to save't, for it was chokin', and went on pitiful, and then it\nbegood and cursed them, and abused them terribly.\n\nThen there came knockings to the door, and cries and noisings all over the\nhouse; but she riddled away, and nobody ever heeded them, till at last the\nwean gave a great scraich, and rase out of the riddle, and gaed whirling\nup amang the reek like a corkscrew, and out at the lumhead, out of sight.\n\nEverything was then quiet for a minute or two, and at last a gentle\nknocking came to the door, and Mally asked who was there, and a voice\ncried--\n\n'Let me in, I'm wee Tammie M'K----.'\"(53)\n\nThe district of Dalry seems to have been particularly favoured by the\nbeings of supernatural power. Witchcraft abounded, and now we shall see\nthat Fairyland was represented.\n\nThe place, above all, of fairy association was the Holm Glen, with which\nis associated a legend of the abduction of a youth, and an abortive\nattempt to win freedom after serving seven years. Round this vestige of\nfairy-lore Dr Robert Trotter has woven a well-told mantle of narrative,\nfrom which an extract is well worth quoting:--\n\n\"I rose early upon the morning of Hallowe'en, and having dressed myself, I\nwent out to the harvest field, just as the minute hand of my watch pointed\nto half-past five. I began busily to arrange and set up the stooks, which\na storm of wind and rain the preceding evening had blown down. I had not\nbeen long occupied in this manner when I heard the tramping of horses'\nfeet, the giggling and laughing of the riders, and the jingling of their\nbridle bits. I instantly turned round to see what this troop of early\ntravellers could be; but my eye rested not then on the broad holm of\nDalarran and the grey turrets of Kenmure Castle, of which there was a\ngoodly prospect from the place where I stood--but it fell upon the tall\nform of a young man standing close by my side, dressed in a riding-cloak\nof the lightest Lincoln green ever worn by a Nottingham Archer. By his\nside hung a hunting-horn of the purest silver, whilst his spurs and the\ndiamond chased scabbard of his sword glanced clear and bright in the rays\nof the rising sun.\n\n'I wish thee good speed, John Gordon,' said he in a well-known voice. 'I\nam thy old friend William Hoatson, who, thou mayest remember, was found\ndrowned about seven years since in the Water of Taarfe, near Red Lyon. But\nI am not dead, as is generally believed, but was carried away by the\nfairies of Holm Glen, and a body resembling mine placed in the river ford.\nAnd I have been permitted to appear unto thee at this time, knowing that\nthou art a fearless man, and one that seeketh after the Kingdom of Heaven;\nand I request thee, in the name of Heaven, that this night thou wilt win\nme back to my family and to the world!'\n\nI expressed the happiness which I felt in meeting so unexpectedly with one\nwhom I had so long considered to be dead. I shook him heartily by the\nhand, and offered him my friendship and assistance.\n\n'Oh, John!' said he, 'this night will I be offered up a sacrifice in hell,\nand thou alone can save me from destruction.'\n\nHe spoke this so mournfully that the tears trickled down my cheek, and I\nsobbed aloud.\n\n'Wilt thou promise,' continued he, 'to come this night at twelve o'clock,\nunarmed and alone, and stand by this ancient thorn-bush, where thou wilt\nsee forty-one horsemen riding past, everyone dressed as I am at present?\nPull me down from the chestnut-brown steed upon which I ride, for I will\nbe the last man of that gay troop. They will turn me into a variety of\nfrightful shapes in thy arms, and lastly into the appearance of a red-hot\ncoulter; but thou must hold me fast in the name of Heaven, for if thou\nlet me slip from thy hands they will take thee soul and body, and I also\nwill be lost for ever!'\"(54)\n\nThe conclusion of the story is not very happy, for John's courage entirely\nfailed him. Through fear he refused his aid, but ever afterwards was\nhaunted and crossed by the evil influence of the night-riding of the\nfairies of Holm Glen.\n\nOther places in Kirkcudbrightshire which have the lingering touch of fairy\nromance hovering around them are Hazelfield, Auchencairn, the Nick of\nLochenkit, \"where the fairies have been seen dancing in thousands by the\npale light o' the new moon on her third nicht,\" and on the \"rugged height\nof Bengairn.\"\n\nThe last Galloway fairy reminiscence we shall quote before passing into\nDumfriesshire illustrates the malignant side of their nature, and tells of\nthe drowning of the Morrisons in Edingham Loch, near the present town of\nDalbeattie:--\n\n\"A' the hale o' braid Gallowa' has heard the story of the drownin' o' hale\nane-an'-twenty o' the Morrisons o' Orr, in the Loch of Edingham, nae\nfarder gane than Yule was a seven year. Ye mind that year the frost held\non frae Hallowe'en till Februar, and at Yule the ice was mair than thretty\ninches in thickness, and wad hae carried a' the fouk in sax parishes\nroun' wi' perfect safety. On that day mony a weel-fared, sturdy chiel had\nbeen busy plying the channelstane, wi' a' their skill an' might, frae\nearly morn, and it was not till the last blinks of the sun had lang\ndisappeared off Brownie Fells that the contest was putten aff till the\nfollowing day, and ilka ane turned his face homewards. But they hadna\nha'en their feet three minutes on the side when the moon glowered o'er the\ntappin o' Lotus, and showed the ice they had so lately left, clad wi' unco\nplayers frae side to side; and muckle mirth, din, and deray was there,\nbumpers o' the red wine were flowin' roun', and there tripped maidens,\njimp and tall as yon rowan-trees by the burnie side and fairer than the\nsnow on Logan braes. Swiftly the weary players returned to the margin of\nthe loch, but nane durst venture on the ice for a considerable time. But\nthere were three neibor lairds, in the three Mailins of Culloch, Cocklick,\nand Drumlane. A' the three were surnamed Morrison, and ilka ane had seven\nstrapping sons, wha never feared skaith frae man nor deil, and sae they a'\nquickly joined the thrang. Bit strange to tell, the very moment the last\no' the ane-an'-twenty was aboon deep water, the ice rent from en' to en'\nwi' a crack a thousan' times louder than thunner, and dancers, players,\nand Morrisons a' disappeared in the twinkling of an eye, and the ice\nagain resumed its former solidity, without crack or flaw. And mony a time\nsinsyne has the midnight wanderer observed the loch covered o'er with\nlight-footed dancers, blithely footing it on the limpid wave, and among\nthem the three-times-seven youths, gaily clad in elfin weeds of sylvan\ngreen, and mounted on gallant steeds of the milk-white foam. Their spears\nare of the green bulrashes with targets of the braidest flutterbaus; they\nha'e braid swords o' the segg, and cockades of the water-lily; but they ay\ntak' the gate lang or the first peep o' day, and the place they left\nretains no the sma'est prent o' their airie feet, nor nane can tell the\ngate they fled.\"(55)\n\nOn the sharp descent of the Dalbeattie Road towards Dumfries there yet\nlingers the tradition of fairy song and music being heard 'mid the leafy\nsurroundings of the Long Wood.\n\n\nFAIRIES IN DUMFRIESSHIRE.\n\nTo Allan Cunningham we are indebted for several examples of fairy-lore\ngathered together in his own particular district of Nithsdale.\n\nThe three following illustrate the expression of gratitude on the part of\nthe fairies when a good turn was served, or a request complied with:--\n\n\"Two lads were opening with the plow a fairy-haunted field, and one of\nthem had described a circle around a fairy-thorn, which was not to be\nplowed. They were surprised when, on ending the furrow, a green table was\nplaced there, heaped with the choicest cheese, bread, and wine. He who\nmarked out the thorn sat down without hesitation, eating and drinking\nheartily, saying, 'Fair fa' the hands whilk gie.' His fellow-servant\nlashed his steeds, refusing to partake. The courteous plowman 'thrave,'\nsaid my informer, 'like a breckan, and was a proverb for wisdom and an\noracle of local rural knowledge ever after!'\n\nA woman of Auchencreath, in Nithsdale, was one day sifting meal warm from\nthe mill; a little, cleanly arrayed, beautiful woman came to her, holding\nout a basin of antique workmanship, requesting her courteously to fill it\nwith her new meal. Her demand was cheerfully complied with. In a week the\ncomely little dame returned with the borrowed meal. She breathed over it,\nsetting it down basin and all, saying aloud, 'Be never toom.' The guidwife\nlived to a goodly age, without ever seeing the bottom of her blessed\nbasin.\n\nA woman, who lived in the ancient Burgh of Lochmaben, was returning late\none evening to her home from a gossiping. A little, lovely boy, dressed\nin green, came to her, saying, 'Coupe yere dish-water farther frae yere\ndoorstep; it pits out our fire!' This request was complied with, and\nplenty abode in the good woman's house all her days.\"(56)\n\nThe advent of summer was an occasion of special rejoicing on the part of\nthe fairies, and was celebrated by a triumphal march or ride known as the\n\"Fairy Rade,\" which was accompanied by much, and brave, display.\n\nThe ceremony usually took place on the eve of Roodmas (May 3rd), and the\nfollowing account is supposed to have been narrated by an old Nithsdale\nwoman to Allan Cunningham:--\n\n\"I' the nicht afore Roodsmass,[23] I had trysted wi' a neebor lass, a\nScots mile frae hame, to tak anent buying braws i' the Fair. We hadnae\nsutten lang aneath the haw-buss till we heard the loud laugh o' fowk\nriding, wi' the jingling o' bridles an' the clanking o' hoofs. We banged\nup, thinking they wad ryde owre us--we kent nae but it was drunken fowk\nriding to the Fair i' the fore-nicht. We glowr'd roun' and roun', an' sune\nsaw it was the Fairie Fowks' Rade. We cowered down till they passed by. A\nleam o' light was dancing owre them, mair bonnie than moon-shine; they\nwere a' wee, wee fowk, wi' green scarfs on, but ane that rade foremost,\nand that ane was a guid deal langer than the lave, wi' bonnie lang hair\nbun' about wi' a strap, whilk glented lyke stars. They rade on braw wee\nwhyte naigs, wi' unco lang swoaping tails an' manes hung wi' whustles that\nthe win' played on. This, an' their tongues whan they sang, was like the\nsoun' of a far-awa' Psalm. Marion and me was in a brade lea fiel' whare\nthey cam' by us; a high hedge o' haw-trees keepit them frae gaun through\nJohnnie Corrie's corn, but they lap a' owre't like sparrows an' gallop'd\ninto a green knowe beyont it. We gaed i' the morning to look at the\ntredded corn, but the fient a hoof-mark was there, nor a blade\nbroken.\"(57)\n\nThe accompanying almost idealistic fairy-tale accentuates the idea of the\ninstinct of natural affection with which the fairies were always credited,\nand their preference for a human mother to nurse their offspring:--\n\n\"A fine young woman of Nithsdale was sitting singing and rocking her\nchild, when a pretty lady came into her cottage, covered with a fairy\nmantle. She carried a beautiful child in her arms, swaddled in green\nsilk.\n\n'Nurse my child,' said the Fairy.\n\nThe young woman, conscious to whom the child belonged, took it kindly in\nher arms and laid it to her breast.\n\nThe lady instantly disappeared, saying, 'Nurse kin', an' ne'er want!'\n\nThe young mother nurtured the two babes, and was astonished whenever she\nawoke at finding the richest suits of apparel for both children, with meat\nof most delicious flavour. This food tasted, says tradition, like loaf\nmixed with wine and honey. It possessed more miraculous properties than\nthe wilderness manna, preserving its relish even over the seventh day.\n\nOn the approach of summer the Fairy lady came to see her child. It bounded\nwith joy when it beheld her. She was much delighted with its freshness and\nactivity, and taking it in her arms, she bade the nurse follow. Passing\nthrough some scroggy woods, skirting the side of a beautiful green hill,\nthey walked midway up. On its sunward slope a door opened, disclosing a\nbeauteous porch, which they entered, and the turf closed behind them. The\nFairy dropped three drops of a precious dew on the nurse's left eye-lid,\nand they entered a land of most pleasant and abundant promise. It was\nwatered with fine looping rivulets, and yellow with corn; the fairest\ntrees enclosed its fields, laden with fruit, which dropped honey.\n\nThe nurse was rewarded with finest webs of cloth and food of ever-during\nsubstance. Boxes of salves, for restoring mortal health and curing mortal\nwounds and infirmities, were bestowed on her, with a promise of never\nneeding.\n\nThe Fairy dropped a green dew over her right eye, and bade her look. She\nbeheld many of her lost friends and acquaintances doing menial drudgery,\nreaping the corn and gathering the fruits.\n\n'This,' said she, 'is the punishment of evil deeds!'\n\nThe Fairy passed her hand over her eye, and restored its mortal faculties.\nShe was conducted to the porch, but had the address to secure the heavenly\nsalve.\n\nShe lived, and enjoyed the gift of discerning the earth-visiting spirits,\ntill she was the mother of many children; but happening to meet the Fairy\nlady who gave her the child, she attempted to shake hands with her.\n\n'What e'e d'ye see me wi'?' whispered she.\n\n'Wi' them baith,' said the dame.\n\nShe breathed on her eyes, and even the power of the box failed to restore\ntheir gifts again!\"(58)\n\nThe element of romantic imagery is also manifest in the following\ntradition:--\n\n\"A young man of Nithsdale, being on a love intrigue, was enchanted with\nwild and delightful music and the sound of mingled voices, more charming\nthan aught that mortal breath could utter. With a romantic daring peculiar\nto a Scottish lover he followed the sound, and discovered the fairy\nbanquet. A green table, with feet of gold, was placed across a small\nrivulet, and richly furnished with pure bread and wines of sweetest\nflavour. Their minstrelsy was raised from small reeds and stalks of corn.\nHe was invited to partake in the dance, and presented with a cup of wine.\nHe was allowed to depart, and was ever after endowed with the second\nsight.\"(59)\n\nA vivid example of the method of restoring a \"changeling\" to its own\nnatural and innocent form has already been described in connection with\nSorbie village, in Wigtownshire. The following, quite as realistic,\ndescribes a similar uncanny ceremony in Dumfriesshire:--\n\n\"A beautiful child, of Caerlaverock, in Nithsdale, on the second day of\nits birth, and before its baptism, was changed, none knew how, for an\nantiquated elf of hideous aspect. It kept the family awake with its\nnightly yells; biting the mother's breasts; and would neither be cradled\nor nursed. The mother, obliged to be from home, left it in charge of the\nservant girl.\n\nThe poor lass was sitting bemoaning herself. 'Wer't nae for thy girning\nface I would knock the big, winnow the corn, and grun the meal!'\n\n'Lowse the cradle band,' quoth the elf, 'and tent the neighbours, an' I'll\nwork yer wark.'\n\nUp started the elf, the wind arose, the corn was chafed, the outlyers were\nfoddered, the hand-mill moved around, as by instinct, and the knocking\nmell did its work with amazing rapidity.\n\nThe lass and her elfin servant rested and diverted themselves, till, on\nthe mistress's approach, it was restored to the cradle, and began to yell\nanew. The girl took the first opportunity of slyly telling her mistress\nthe adventure.\n\n'What'll we do wi' the wee diel?' said she.\n\n'I'll work it a pirn,' replied the lass.\n\nAt the middle hour of night, the chimney-top was covered up, and every\ninlet barred and closed. The embers were blown up until glowing hot, and\nthe maid, undressing the elf, tossed it on the fire. It uttered the\nwildest and most piercing yells, and, in a moment, the fairies were heard\nmoaning at every wonted avenue, and rattling at the window boards, at the\nchimney head, and at the door.\n\n'In the name o' God, bring back the bairn!' cried the lass.\n\nThe window flew up; the earthly child was laid unharmed on the mother's\nlap, while its grisly substitute flew up the chimney with a loud\nlaugh.\"[24](60)\n\nA further narrative, bringing out the idea of gratitude for a favour, and\nresentment at insult, has been gleaned from the parish of Closeburn:--\n\n\"Two men were ploughing down, in Closeburn parish, when they both felt a\nstrong smell of burning cake. One of them said in an off-hand kind o'\nway--\n\n'Yer cake's burnin'.'\n\n'Make us a spurtle tae burn it wi', then,' said a voice apparently close\nat hand.\n\nThe man, good-naturedly, did as directed, and laid the article down on the\nground. On returning to the spot he found the spurtle taken away, and\nbread and cheese left in its place. He partook of both, and likewise gave\nsome to his horses, but his companion would neither taste himself nor\nallow his horses to taste. An affront of this kind could not be\noverlooked, and he had not gone many steps until he dropped down dead in\nthe furrow.\"(61)\n\nA noted fairy tryste in this Nithsdale district was the Ward-Law Hill,\nDalswinton. It came to pass, however, that the green ring where the\nfairies had danced and gambolled became in the times of the Persecution a\nplace of worship. On this account no longer could the fairy revelry and\ndance continue, and it was firmly believed in the district that sounds of\nlamentation and regret, proceeding from no earthly voices, were heard in\nthe neighbourhood of this favourite fairy-haunt for many years afterwards.\n\nThe gardens of Drumlanrig Palace (Thornhill) were also a reputed\ngathering-place of the fairies, who were often seen dancing in the\ngloaming in the glade opposite to Jock o' the Horn.[25]\n\nThere is a \"Fairy Knowe\" at Sanquhar, described by Simpson[26] as \"a\nbeautiful little green knoll which overlooks what is called the Waird, ...\nformerly covered with the waving broom, with green spaces here and there,\nthe dancing-places of the sportive fairies.\"\n\nThe braes of Polveoch, at the west end of the Bank Wood, between\nKirkconnel and Sanquhar, was also a favourite trysting-place of the\nfairies. \"Here the good little folks assembled on May Day to celebrate the\nadvent of summer; contingents came in from Kello Water, Glen Aylmer, and\nGlen Wharry, and when all had gathered together they rode merrily over the\nknowes towards the Bale Hill, in whose sunward slope a beauteous doorway\nwas said to open for them, which they entered two at a time, the green\nturf closing over the last pair to get in.\"(62)\n\nIn Annandale the great fairy strength and palace lay in the heart of\nBurnswark Hill. The reputation of these Annandale fairies seems to have\nbeen rather disposed towards evil than good. Young men as well as young\nwomen were carried off, the former to act as very slaves and beasts of\nburden. The following is the account of the abduction of a young woman\nbelonging to Corrie:--\n\n\"One fair Corrie damsel, who was supposed to have died, appeared to her\nbrother, and informed him that she was not dead, but kept in bondage among\nthe fairies, who, when they carried her off, had left in the bed an image\nof her, which had been buried in her stead. She entreated him to repair\nalone to the barn on the following night, set open the doors, and watch\nthere till the hour of midnight, when he would see three forms pass before\nhim, of which she would be the last. She told him he was then to seize\nfast hold of her, to repeat certain words which she instructed him to use,\nand that he might thus effect her rescue. Unfortunately, the brother's\ncourage failed him when the hour of trial came, so that the captive sister\nwas never released from elfin thraldom and restored to her family.\"(63)\n\nIt may be noted in passing that all the place-names in this district\nending in \"sheen\" refer to fairy occupation of the land. _Sidh_\n(pronounced shee) is a fairy, with the diminutive _sidhean_ (sheen), which\nmore especially carries the meaning of Fairy Hill. Examples of these may\nbe cited in Auchensheen, Colvend; Brishie, Minnigaff; Knocknishy,\nWhithorn; and Shawn, Stoneykirk.\n\n\nTHE BROWNIE.\n\nThe \"Brownie,\"[27] as already indicated, was a domestic spirit of a\nfamiliar and useful kind. Grotesque in figure, small in stature, but very\nstrong, his presence and help were cheerfully accepted in the\nfarm-steading or household he elected to serve. His self-imposed and often\nheavy task was always performed in the dark hours of the night. No work\ncame amiss to Brownie--reaping, threshing, sheep-shearing, and gathering,\nchurning, and even meaner kitchen drudgery--and all in the most\ndisinterested fashion, a bowl of cream, or as Nicholson phrases it, \"a\ncogfu' o' brose\" being all that he would accept at their hands. The offer,\nindeed, of other than this simple food, or the leaving out for him of\nclothing, was fatal, and compelled Brownie, in obedience to some condition\nof his existence not understood, to forsake the abode of the gift-givers\nand depart, generally reluctantly, to seek other quarters.\n\nHowever arduous the efforts of the night it would seem that he was always\nfinished in sufficient good time to drink his cream at leasure and blow up\nthe smouldering embers of the fire to bask his full length in its warmth,\nfor at heart Brownie was, when not actually working, much disposed to take\nhis ease. At first cock-crow, however, he disappeared.\n\nEndowed with a life of many years, he seems to have been attached in some\ninstances to the same family for generations, but his service was only\ngiven to good and worthy people, although isolated instances of help to\nthe unfortunate poor were common enough experiences.\n\nHe would also seem to have had the moral welfare of young folks at heart,\nand would seat himself at the kitchen fireside and listen to their\nchatter. He was singularly alive to unworthy intentions, particularly in\nconnection with love affairs, which he took means of opposing in his own\nway.\n\nThe prosperity of the family with whom he had attached himself was\naffected by their disposition and actions towards him, of which the\nfollowing is an example:--\n\n\"A place called Liethin Hall, in Dumfriesshire, was the hereditary\ndwelling of a noted brownie. He had lived there, as he once communicated\nin confidence to an old woman, for three hundred years. He appeared only\nonce to every new master, and indeed seldom shewed more than his hand to\nanyone. On the decease of a beloved master he was heard to make moan, and\nwould not partake of his wonted delicacy for many days. The heir of the\nland arrived from foreign parts and took possession of his father's\ninheritance. The faithful Brownie shewed himself, and profered homage. The\nspruce Laird was offended to see such a famine-faced, wrinkled domestic,\nand ordered him meat and drink, with a new suit of clean livery. The\nbrownie departed, repeating loud and frequently these ruin-boding lines--\n\n  'Ca, cuttie, ca!\n   A' the luck o' Liethin Ha'\n   Gangs wi' me to Bodsbeck Ha.'\n\nLiethin Ha' was, in a few years, in ruins, and 'bonnie Bodsbeck'\nflourished under the luck-bringing patronage of the brownie.\"(64)\n\nIn the olden days there was a brownie attached to the family of Maxwell of\nDalswinton said to be so energetic as to easily perform the work of ten\nmen, and threshing with such vigour as to keep the servants awake at\nnights with the dirling of its elfin flail.\n\nHe seems to have been passionately devoted to the service of the Laird's\ndaughter, a strikingly comely dame. A lover naturally appeared, and their\nmeetings were made all the easier through Brownie's help, and eventually\nhe saw his beloved lady married to a husband he heartily approved of.\n\n\"In course of time the hour of need came nigh, and a servant was sent away\nto bring the 'canny wife.' The night was dark as a December night could\nbe, and the wind was heavy among the groves of oak. The brownie, enraged\nat the loitering serving-man, wrapped himself in his lady's fur cloak; and\nthough the Nith was foaming high flood, his steed, impelled by\nsupernatural spur and whip, passed it like an arrow. Mounting the dame\nbehind him, he took the deep water back again to the amazement of the\nworthy woman, who beheld the red waves tumbling around her, yet the\nsteed's foot-locks were dry.\n\n'Ride nae by the auld pool,' quo' she, 'lest we should meet wi' Brownie.'\n\nHe replied--'Fear nae, dame, ye've met a' the brownies ye will meet.'\n\nPlacing her down at the hall gate, he hastened to the stable, where the\nservant lad was just pulling on his boots; he unbuckled the bridle from\nhis steed, and gave him a most afflicting drubbing.\"\n\nThere is a sequel to this story which does not end happily: \"It was the\ntime of the Reformation; and a priest, more zealous than wise, exhorted\nthe Laird to have this Imp of Heathenism baptised, to which he in an evil\nhour consented, and the worthy reforming saint concealed himself in the\nbarn to surprise the brownie at his work. He appeared like a little,\nwrinkled, ancient man, and began his nightly moil. The priest leapt from\nhis ambush, and dashed the baptismal water in his face, solemnly repeating\nthe set form of Christian rite. The poor brownie set up a frightful and\nagonising yell, and instantly vanished never to return.\"(65)\n\nAllan Cunningham further tells of a brownie of a humorous turn of mind who\nheld sway about Newabbey:--\"The Abbey lands in the parish of Newabbey,\nwere the residence of a very sportive one. He loved to be, betimes,\nsomewhat mischievous. Two lasses, having made a fine bowlful of buttered\nbrose, had taken it into the byre to sup while it was yet dark. In the\nhaste of concealment they had brought but one spoon; so they placed the\nbowl between them, and took a spoonful by turns.\n\n'I hae got but three sups,' cried the one, 'an' it's a' done!'\n\n'It's a' done, indeed,' cried the other.\n\n'Ha, ha!' laughed a third voice, 'Brownie has gotten the maist o't.'\"(66)\n\nAs indicating the great skill in gathering the sheep together, the\nfollowing tradition lingers in Galloway of a brownie who had spent the\nnight long at this task. In the morning not only had he the sheep\ntogether, but amongst them was half a dozen hares. \"Deil tak' thae wee\ngrey beasties,\" he muttered, when this was pointed out to him, \"they cost\nme mair fash than a' the lave o' them.\"\n\nIn Scottish literature the brownie has a distinctive place, his unique and\nwonder-creating personality being used with rare effect. It is, however,\nthe particular part of Scotland we are dealing with--the south-west--that\nhas produced the most typical examples, in prose as well as in poetry, for\nDumfriesshire claims that fine Covenanting story, \"The Brownie of\nBodsbeck,\" while Galloway has yielded that inimitable poetical gem, \"The\nBrownie of Blednoch,\" the quotation of which in full may fittingly close\nthe chapter:--\n\nTHE BROWNIE OF BLEDNOCH.\n\n  There cam a strange wight to our town-en'\n    And the fient a body did him ken';\n  He tirled na lang, but he glided ben\n            Wi' a dreary, dreary hum.\n\n  His face did glare like the glow o' the west,\n  When the drumlie cloud has it half o'ercast;\n  Or the struggling moon when she's sair distrest--\n            O sirs! 'twas Aiken-drum.\n\n  I trow the bauldest stood aback,\n  Wi' a gape and a glower till their lugs did crack,\n  As the shapeless phantom mum'ling spak--\n            \"Hae ye wark for Aiken-drum?\"\n\n  O had ye seen the bairns' fright,\n  As they stared at this wild and unyirthly wight,\n  As he stauket in 'tween the dark and the light,\n            And graned out, \"Aiken-drum!\"\n\n  \"Sauf us!\" quoth Jock, \"d'ye see sic een;\"\n  Cries Kate, \"There's a hole where a nose should hae been;\n  And the mouth's like a gash which a horn had ri'en;\n            Wow! keep's frae Aiken-drum!\"\n\n  The black dog, growling, cowered his tail,\n  The lassie swarfed, loot fa' the pail,\n  Rob's lingle brack as he men't the flail,\n            At the sight o' Aiken-drum.\n\n  His matted head on his breast did rest,\n  A lang blue beard wan'ered down like a vest;\n  But the glare o' his e'e nae Bard hath exprest,\n            Nor the skimes o' Aiken-drum.\n\n  Roun' his hairy form there was naething seen\n  But a philibeg o' the rashes green,\n  And his knotted knees played ay knoit between;\n            What a sight was Aiken-drum!\n\n  On his wauchie arms three claws did meet,\n  As they trailed on the grun' by his taeless feet;\n  E'en the auld guidman himsel' did sweat,\n            To look at Aiken-drum.\n\n  But he drew a score, himsel' did sain,\n  The auld wife tried, but her tongue was gane;\n  While the young ane closer clasped her wean,\n            And turned frae Aiken-drum.\n\n  But the canny auld wife cam' till her breath,\n  And she deemed the Bible might ward aff scaith,\n  Be it benshee, bogle, ghaist, or wraith--\n            But it fear'dna Aiken-drum.\n\n  \"His presence protect us!\" quoth the auld guidman;\n  \"What wad ye, whare won ye--by sea or by lan'?\n  I conjure ye speak--by the Beuk in my haun!\"\n            What a grane gae Aiken-drum.\n\n  \"I lived in a lan' whar we saw nae sky,\n  I dwalt in a spot whare a burn rins na by;\n  But I'se dwall now wi' you, if ye like to try--\n            Hae ye wark for Aiken-drum?\n\n  \"I'll shiel' a' your sheep i' the mornin' sune,\n  I'll berry your crap by the light o' the moon,\n  And baa the bairns wi' an unken'd tune,\n        If ye'll keep puir Aiken-drum.\n\n  \"I'll loup the linn when ye canna wade,\n  I'll kirn the kirn, and I'll turn the bread;\n  And the wildest fillie that ever ran rede\n        I'se tame't,\" quoth Aiken-drum!\n\n  \"To wear the tod frae the flock on the fell--\n  To gather the dew frae the heather-bell--\n  And to look at my face in your clear crystal well,\n        Might gie pleasure to Aiken-drum.\n\n  \"I'se seek nae guids, gear, bond, nor mark;\n  I use nae beddin', shoon, nor sark;\n  But a cogfu' o' brose 'tween the light and dark,\n        Is the wage o' Aiken-drum.\"\n\n  Quoth the wylie auld wife, \"The thing speaks weel;\n  Our workers are scant--we hae routh o' meal;\n  Gif he'll do as he says--be he man, be he de'il,\n        Wow! we'll try this Aiken-drum.\"\n\n  But the wenches skirled \"He's no' be here!\n  His eldritch look gars us swarf wi' fear,\n  And the fient a ane will the house come near,\n        If they think but o' Aiken-drum.\n\n  \"For a foul and a stalwart ghaist is he,\n  Despair sits brooding aboon his e'e bree,\n  And unchancie to light o' a maiden's e'e,\n        Is the grim glower o' Aiken-drum.\"\n\n  \"Puir slipmalabors! ye hae little wit;\n  Is'tna Hallowmas now, and the crap out yet?\"\n  Sae she silenced them a' wi' a stamp o' her fit;\n        \"Sit yer wa's down, Aiken-drum.\"\n\n  Roun' a' that side what wark was dune,\n  By the streamer's gleam, or the glance o' the moon;\n  A word or a wish--and the Brownie cam' sune,\n        Sae helpfu' was Aiken-drum.\n\n  But he slade ay awa' or the sun was up,\n  He ne'er could look straught on Macmillan's cup;[28]\n  They watched--but nane saw him his brose ever sup,\n        Nor a spune sought Aiken-drum.\n\n  On Blednoch banks, and on crystal Cree,\n  For mony a day a toiled wight was he;\n  While the bairns played harmless roun' his knee,\n            Sae social was Aiken-drum.\n\n  But a new-made wife, fu' o' rippish freaks,\n  Fond o' a things feat for the first five weeks,\n  Laid a mouldy pair o' her ain man's breeks;\n            By the brose o' Aiken-drum.\n\n  Let the learned decide, when they convene,\n  What spell was him and the breeks between;\n  For frae that day forth he was nae mair seen,\n            And sair missed was Aiken-drum.\n\n  He was heard by a herd gaun by the _Thrieve_,\n  Crying \"Lang, lang now may I greet and grieve;\n  For alas! I hae gotten baith fee and leave,\n            O, luckless Aiken-drum.\"\n\n  Awa'! ye wrangling sceptic tribe,\n  Wi' your _pros_ and your _cons_ wad ye decide\n  'Gain the 'sponsible voice o' a hale country-side\n            On the facts 'bout Aiken-drum?\n\n  Though the \"Brownie o' Blednoch\" lang be gane,\n  The mark o' his feet's left on mony a stane;\n  And mony a wife and mony a wean\n            Tell the feats o' Aiken-drum.\n\n  E'en now, light loons that jibe and sneer\n  At spiritual guests and a' sic gear,\n  At the Glashnoch Mill hae swat wi' fear,\n            And looked roun' for Aiken-drum.\n\n  And guidly fo'ks hae gotten a fright,\n  When the moon was set, and the stars gied nae light,\n  At the roaring linn in the howe o' the night,\n            Wi' sughs like Aiken-drum.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER V._\n\nWRAITHS AND WARNINGS.\n\n  \"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,\n   Than are dreamt of in our philosophy.\"\n                                        --_Hamlet._\n\n\nIn the bygone days of a more primitive and simple life, widespread belief\nexisted in the outward and physical manifestation of the call of Death,\nwhich took the form of what were commonly known as \"wraiths\" and\n\"warnings.\"\n\nThe \"wraith\" was the natural-looking semblance of one about to die, or\njust immediately dead, appearing life-like, usually at some distance from\nthe body, but so realistic as to be unvaryingly mistaken for the actual\nperson. A further point is, that such appearances gave rise to no fear or\napprehension unless seen at some considerable distance from their usual\nsurroundings.\n\nThe \"warning,\" on the other hand, refers to noises and sounds heard within\nthe immediate precincts of the sick-chamber, but without any physical\nexplanation or evidence of the cause, although the nature of the sound or\nother phenomenon might be simple enough in character. Such unusual\noccurrences happening under usual circumstances carried with them the\nsuperstitious significance of the near presence of death.\n\nIn dealing, firstly, with the wraith, it may at once be noted that a great\nmany accounts of such appearances are still existent in the south-west of\nScotland.\n\nThe following is a hitherto unrecorded instance which happened in the\nearly twenties of last century in the neighbourhood of Dalbeattie:--\n\n\"In the late autumn of the year 182--, an old man, a cottar on a farm in\nthe parish of Buittle, was raising a basketful of potatoes in his 'yaird,'\non the rise of the hill slope that lifts itself into rugged prominence as\nit stretches towards Palnackie past Kirkennan Woods. His son William was\naway at Glencaple Quay (a distance of twelve miles as the crow flies) with\na Water of Urr sloop unloading timber, and was not expected home before\nthe end of the week. The old man had just finished his task when he very\ndistinctly saw the figure of his son passing from the roadway and turn\nround the end of the house as if to go inside. Somewhat surprised, the old\nman lifted his basket and walked down the garden path into the kitchen,\nwhere his daughter Margaret was preparing the mid-day meal.\n\n'What brings Wullie hame 'ee noo, and whaur's he gaun?' was the double\nquery he put to his daughter.\n\n'Guidsake, faither! what are ye talkin' aboot? There's nae Wullie here,'\nanswered Margaret, startled out of her usual composure.\n\n'But I saw him come roon' the house-en', and he had a queer drawn look\naboot his face that fairly fleyed me! I houp there's naething happened\nhim!'\n\nThe old man, almost absently, looked at the brass-faced clock ticking in\nthe corner between the fireplace and the white-scoured dresser, and saw\nthat it was ten minutes to twelve. In the evening twilight a messenger\nrode up to the little homestead and broke the sad news of the death by\ndrowning of 'Wullie,' a few minutes before twelve that day, when the tide\nwas at its full, and almost at the very time that his father had seen his\nsemblance, with drawn face, pass the house-en'. He had fallen between the\nside of the sloop and the quay wall, to almost immediately disappear,\nvery probably having received serious injury as he fell.\"\n\nAnother typical example may be cited from the Glencairn district, the\nfolk-lore of which has been so exhaustively collected by Mr John Corrie:--\n\n\"One afternoon a well-known lady, Mrs G----, was setting out to call upon\na neighbour who lived about half-a-mile distant across the moor, when she\nsaw her friend, evidently bent upon the same errand, coming towards\nherself. Retracing her steps, she entered the house again to wait her\nfriend's arrival. Her expected visitor not appearing, Mrs G---- went to\nthe door to see what detained her, but although she looked in every\ndirection there was no one to be seen. As the afternoon was now well\nadvanced, Mrs G---- decided to defer her visit until the following day.\nWalking across on the morrow, she remarked in the course of conversation:\n\n'I saw you on the way to see me yesterday! What made you turn half-road?'\n\n'Me coming to see you!' exclaimed her friend, 'I can assure you I wasna\nthat, for I was scarce frae my ain fireside the hale day.'\n\nA week later Mrs G----'s friend and neighbour died, and her corpse was\ncarried to the churchyard, over the very track her wraith had appeared on\nthe afternoon of her intended call.\"(67)\n\nAt Dunreggan, Moniaive, as curious an instance happened some fifty years\nago, when the father of a schoolboy, sitting at the fireside with his\nwife, saw the semblance of his son enter the cottage and pass \"doon the\nhoose.\" Not greatly surprised, but still wondering, he called his wife's\nattention to the early return of the boy from school. Very sceptical, and\nassuring him that he must be mistaken, the good woman went herself into\nthe room, to find nothing there, although she looked behind the door and\nelsewhere to make sure that no boyish prank was being played. Despite her\nassurances the husband was not convinced, and remained in a very uneasy\nstate of mind, when soon afterwards his worst fears were realised, and the\nbody of the boy was brought home, to pass through the kitchen to be laid\nupon the bed--\"doon the hoose.\"\n\nMacTaggart, in his _Gallovidian Encyclopedia_, gives several examples, of\nwhich the following instance which happened to a very intimate friend, of\nwhose intelligence and probity he had the highest regard, may be given:--\n\n\"Last vacans\" (quoth he), \"I gaed awa' to my uncle's, or rather my\ngrandfather's, to stap a week or twa, and play mysel' amang the\nMoorhills, neive trouts, and learn twa or three tunes on the flute. Weel,\nI hadna been there ony time aworth till I saw as queer a thing as ought\never I saw, or may see. A'm out at the house-en' ae morning, about aught\no'clock, and a bonny harrest morning it was: Weel, ye see, a'm making a\nbit grinwan to mysel' to tak' down wi' me to a deep pool that was i' the\nburn fu' o' trouts, and this I was gaun to do after breakfast time, for as\nyet I hadna gat my sowens. Weel, ye see, I'm tying on my grin wi' a bit o'\nwax'd thread, whan by the house-en' comes my auld grandfather wi' his\nclicked staff, that he ay had wi' him, in ae han', and in the tither his\nauld loofie o' a mitten, which he hadna as yet drawn on. He cam' close by\nme, and gaed a kinn o' a luik at what I was doing, then wised himsel' awa'\nalang the hip o' o'e hill, to look how the nowt did, and twa young foals,\nas was his usual wont. Weel, awa' he gaed; I was sae thrang when he gaed\nby that I never spake to him, neither did he to me, and I began to think\nabout this when I was mair at leisure, and gaed a glent the road he tuik,\njust to see like how the auld body was coming on, for he was on the\nborders o' four score, yet a fearie fell auld carle, and as kine a body as\never I saw; sae I gaed a glent, as I was saying, alang by the scarrow o'e\nhill, and did see him winglan awa' by the back side o' the auld saugh\nLochan. And in course o' time, maybe no' ten minutes after, I stepped my\nwaes in to see gin I could get a cap or twa o' sowens and get off to the\ntrouts; whan wha think ye's just sitting on the sattle-stane at the\ningle-cheek taking a blaw o' the pipe--but auld granfaither.\n\n'Lord, preserve me,' said I, and said na mair; I glowr'd about me awsomly.\n\n'What's wrang wi' the boy?' (quoth my auntie).\n\n'Come out' (quo' I) 'and I'll tell ye,' which she did.\n\nWe gaed up the hill a bit, to be sure, as she said, o' the thing I had\nseen; we saw nought ava, and came back again in an unco way. That vera\nnight granfaither grew ill, which was on a Saturday teen, and he was dead,\npuir body, or sax o'clock on Monday morning.\"\n\nFrom the Farm of Killumpha, in Kirkmaiden, comes another kindred\nepisode:--\n\n\"The farmer's wife, Mrs Anderson, had gone to Ayrshire on a visit to her\nfather. One night during her absence John M'Gurl, the cotman, was gaun\nthrough the close after dark to take a look at the horses and see that\neverything was right; for the outhouses were a good way from the\ndwelling-house, maybe three hundred yards. When he was crossing ower from\nthe byres to go to the stable he saw a white-clad woman coming towards\nhim, which he thought was very like the figure of Mrs Anderson, and he\nwondered if she had come back unexpectedly. She came quite close to him,\nand he saw plainly it was her, and stopped to speak to her, but she\nsuddenly disappeared. Next night news came that Mrs Anderson was dead, and\nhad died suddenly.\"(68)\n\nAt Balgreggan House, in the same district, a young woman in the service of\nthe house was much startled to meet, as she passed along a passage with a\nlighted lamp in her hand, the semblance of a gentleman of the house,\nattired in military dress, and whom she knew perfectly well was far from\nhis home at the time. The local confirmation of the uncanny nature of the\nappearance bears that about the same time the gentleman had actually died\nabroad.\n\nThe last example to be quoted has a personal interest, being an incident\nin the family history of the writer:--\n\nOne clear moonlight Sunday night, also in the early twenties of the last\ncentury, a young girl, who afterwards became my paternal grandmother, was\nreturning home from a neighbouring farm in the near district of\nDalbeattie. She was walking along, with never a thought in her head of\nanything approaching the supernatural, when to her dismay and\nconsternation she was noiselessly joined by a figure in white, who passed\nthrough, be it noticed, and did not leap or jump over, a rough larch fence\nrunning along the roadside. The figure accompanied her along a short\nstraight part of the road, then left her as noiselessly as it had\napproached. Taking to her heels, and with only the spur that terror can\ngive, she reached her own door, to tumble into the farm kitchen and\ncollapse on the floor.\n\n[Illustration: \"AN EERIE COMPANION.\" Sketch by J. Copland, Dundrennan.]\n\nThe sequel of the episode is, that three days later, a coasting schooner,\nin which her brother was a sailor, was caught in a strong gale of wind\nwhilst on the passage from Liverpool to the Water of Urr, and was never\nmore heard tell of. My grandfather, or rather the lad who was to be my\ngrandfather, scoured the Solway shore from point to point on horseback for\nseveral days, but all that the sea gave up was a small wooden chisel\ntechnically known as a \"fid,\" used for splicing large ropes, and which\nbore the initials of the young girl's brother, and which is now in the\nwriter's possession.[29]\n\nThe \"warning,\" at all events what is accepted as such, has many forms and\nvarieties. Some of the more commonly accepted forms are the switch-like\nstrokes, usually three in number, across the window of the sick-chamber,\nor even other windows in the house; the falling of pictures without\napparent cause; the baying of dogs in the watches of the night; the\nfootfall and apparent sound of footsteps in the house, heard overhead or\ncoming along passages, or ascending or descending stairs, and so realistic\nthat the door is expectantly opened, only to find nothing there; the\nstopping of clocks at the time of the passing of the spirit; and the noise\nas of approaching wheels and crunching gravel at the doors of country\nhouses when death hovers near.\n\nMany examples and accounts of such things taking place are extant and\nseriously believed in; indeed, there is not a parish in the whole district\nwe are treating of but on enquiry gives ample proof of the generality of\nbelief in such portents.\n\nBelief in the switch-like strokes across the window is in this district,\nperhaps, the commonest of all.\n\nOf the footfall type an example may be quoted from Moniaive. It is told\nhow an old lady, in her younger days in the service of a medical man in\nMoniaive, for a time heard persistent strange footfalls in an upper room\nof the house. The doctor afterwards was seized with sudden illness, lay\ndown on a sofa and died over the very spot where the strange noises had\nbeen heard.\n\nOnly the other day an account of the mysterious stopping of a clock\nassociated with death appeared in the local newspapers, which may in part\nbe given:--\n\n\"Mrs Stoba, who lived alone in a cottage at Greenmill, Caerlaverock, died\nsuddenly during the night of Thursday last, from heart failure. Her blind\nnot being drawn up on Friday morning, some neighbours forced the door\nabout half-past ten, and found that she had passed away. It is a singular\ncoincidence that an eight-day clock which had been her property, and is\nnow in the house of her son, the burgh officer of Dumfries, stopped at\nfive minutes before midnight on Thursday, although it was wound up, and\nthere was no apparent reason for the stoppage.\"(69)\n\nA special form of warning is the \"Licht before Death.\" In the parish of\nTynron it is recounted how this mysterious light illumined up, on one\noccasion, the whole interior of a byre where a woman was engaged milking\ncows, and how afterwards she learned that her mother had died the same\nevening.\n\nMr John Corrie (Moniaive) gives a good example of this form from the\nparish of Glencairn:--\n\n\"An old Glencairn lady, on looking out of the door one dark night, saw a\nstrange light shining in the vicinity of a house where an acquaintance\nlived. Entering the house she commented on what she had seen, and\nexpressed the hope that 'it wasna the deid licht.' Her fears were\nridiculed, but next morning it transpired that a member of the family over\nwhose dwelling the light was seen had committed suicide.\"\n\nThere is another illustration from Glencairn, and perhaps a more valuable\none, on account of the precision of its details:--\n\n\"Peggy D----, when going to lock her door one night, saw a light go past,\ncarried, as she supposed, by a neighbour. There was nothing unusual in\nthis, but there was a high stone dyke with a flight of steps in it close\nto the foot of the garden, and she was surprised to see the light and\nsupposed light-bearer pass right through the obstructing fence as if\nnothing of the kind had been there, and although the ground below the\nhouse was very uneven, the light itself was never lost sight of for a\nmoment. Peggy, rooted to the spot, watched the light go down through the\nfields, then along the public road until the churchyard was reached.\nWhen turning in that direction it passed through the locked gate with the\nsame apparent ease that the other obstacles had been surmounted, and,\nentering the graveyard, became lost to sight among the tombstones. A week\nlater Peggy D----'s daughter was carried a corpse to the same\nchurchyard.\"(70)\n\n[Illustration: \"DEID LICHTS.\" Sketch by J. Copland, Dundrennan.]\n\nOther old and significant terms associated with the premonition of death\nare the \"dead-watch,\" or \"dede-chack,\" really the peculiar clicking noise\nmade by wood-worms; and the \"dede-drap,\" which was the rather eerie sound\nmade by the intermittent falling of a drop of water from the eaves; and\n\"dead-bell,\" a tingling in the ears, believed to announce a friend's\ndeath.\n\nOther expressions of a similar nature are the \"dede-spall,\" which is the\nsemi-molten part of the grease of a candle (so called from its resemblance\nto wood-shaving) when it falls over the edge in semi-circular form, and\nwhich, if pronounced, and turning with an appearance of persistence toward\nsome person in particular, was supposed to indicate the approaching hand\nof death.\n\nAnother curious term is the \"dede-nip,\" whose origin is a little more\npuzzling. It is described as a blue mark which appears on the body of a\nperson about to die and without the physical explanation of a blow. It is\nalso associated with the \"blew-spot\" of witchcraft already described.[30]\n\nThe following selected verses from \"The Death of Dear-meal Johnny,\" by the\nBard of Corrie (Dumfriesshire), are quoted on account of their reference\nto several of these old-world superstitious terms:--\n\n  \"Oft his wraith had been seen gliding\n     'Mang the meal sacks i' the spence,\n   Till the house, folks scarce could bide in,\n     Terrified maist out o' sense.\n\n   'Neath his head the death-watch tinkled,\n     Constant as the lapse of time;\n   Frae his bed the dead licht twinkled,\n     Wi' its blue and sulphurous flame.\n\n   'Neath the bed auld Bawty[31] scrapit,\n     A' day, thrang as thrang could be;\n   Made a hole, sae grave-like shapit,\n     Folk glowered quaking in to see.\n\n   On the dreary kirkyaird road, aye\n     By night he raised sic eldritch howls;\n   Weel he kenned his maister's body\n     Soon must mix amang the mools.\n\n   Frae the wattles dead-draps spatter'd;\n     At the can'les dead-speals hang;\n   Pyets rave the thack, and chatter'd;\n     In folk's lugs the dead-bell rang.\"\n\nThe last class of warnings to be noticed are special appearances and\nportents occurring before death in well-known local families.\n\nIn the family of Kirkpatrick of Closeburn the tradition was, that when a\ndeath was about to take place in the family a swan invariably made its\nappearance on the loch that surrounded the castle. \"The last omen of this\nnature on record saddened the nuptials of Sir Thomas, the first baronet,\nwhen marrying for the third time. On the wedding-day his son, Roger, went\nout of the castle, and, happening to turn his eyes towards the loch,\ndescried the fatal bird. Returning, overwhelmed with melancholy, his\nfather rallied him on his desponding appearance, alleging a stepmother to\nbe the cause of his sadness, when the young man only answered 'Perhaps ere\nlong you may also be sorrowful,' expiring suddenly that very night.\"(71)\n\nThe death of a member of the family of Craigdarroch is believed to be\nheralded by a sudden and simultaneous peal of household bells.\n\nIn Western Galloway there lingers a tradition concerning the old church of\nKirkmaiden (in Fernes), the ancient burying-place of the M'Cullochs of\nMyrton, whose lands, in 1682, passed to the Maxwells of Monreith. When the\nparish ceased to exist as a separate parish and was joined to that of\nGlasserton, the pulpit and bell were removed to be taken across Luce Bay,\nthere to be placed in the new church of the same name of Kirkmaiden.\nAlthough the day was fine and the wind fair, a storm sprang up, and down\nwent boat and bell to the bottom, for, as true believers knew, the bell\nhad been consecrated, and on no account could it ring 'neath the rafters\nof a Presbyterian building. Yet, ring it did not cease to do, for on the\napproaching death of any of the representatives of the old family of\nMyrton a solemn knell comes up from the watery depths to record the\npassing of the soul to the vast unknown.\n\n  \"An' certes, there are nane, I trow,\n     That by Kirkmaiden bide,\n   Will, when they hear the wraith-bell jow,\n     Gae oot at Lammastide.\"\n\n[Illustration: A MIDNIGHT REVEL.]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER VI._\n\nDEATH CUSTOMS AND FUNERAL CEREMONY.\n\n  \"Or ever the silver cord be loosed.\"\n                          --_Ecclesiastes xii. 6._\n\n\nWhen that sure hand called Death knocked at the cottar's or laird's door,\nor stalked with unhalting step into moorland farm or upland home to beckon\naway some weary inmate, the actual decease, or passing, was of itself\nassociated with significant observance.\n\nThe nearest relative bent down to the dying face to receive the last\nbreath. The door was kept ajar,[32] although not too wide, that the spirit\nmight be untrammelled in its flight.[33]\n\nThe spirit fled the poor dead eyes were closed, also by the nearest\nrelative, and generally kept so by means of copper coins placed upon them.\n\nThe looking-glass in the death-chamber was covered with a white cloth. The\nclock was stopped, or at least the striking-weight removed. The daily\nroutine of work was discontinued, such days of enforced idleness being\nknown as the \"dead days.\" On the farm, for example, no matter the season,\nthe appropriate labour of ploughing, seed sowing, or even harvest, at once\nceased. The household companions of dog and cat were rigidly excluded from\nthe stricken house; indeed, it was not uncommon for the cat to be\nimprisoned beneath an inverted tub, for it was believed that if either of\nthese animals should jump or cross over the dead body, the welfare of the\nspirit of the deceased would certainly be affected.\n\nThe body was then washed, and dressed in its last garments, the hands of\nfemales being crossed over the breast, those of the other sex being\nextended by the sides. Last of all a plate of salt was placed upon the\nbreast, either from the higher idea of future life being signified by the\nsalt, which is the emblem of perpetuity, or from a more practical notion,\nhowever unlikely, that by this means the body would be prevented from\nswelling.\n\nOf the curious custom of \"sin-eating\"--that is, the placing of a piece of\nbread upon the salt by a recognised individual known as the sin-eater,\nwho, for money reward, at the same time partook of it, thereby, as it was\nbelieved, absorbing to himself all the sins of the deceased--there is\nlittle to be gleaned in this district. The term \"dishaloof\" still exists,\nhowever, as a vestige of the custom in lowland Scotland.(72)\n\nThere falls to be mentioned here a quaint superstition associated with\n\"bee folklore,\" as described by the late Patrick Dudgeon, Esq. of Cargen,\nKirkcudbrightshire, who specially studied this matter. The custom was,\nwhen a death took place, to at once go to the bee-hives, or skeps, and\nwhisper the tidings of the sad event to the bees. This was followed by\n\"putting the bees in mourning\"--that is, attaching black ribbons to each\nof the skeps.[34]\n\nMr Dudgeon, in a paper on the subject,(73) observes that \"the custom was\nvery general some time ago, and several of my correspondents mention\ninstances of old people having seen it observed. It is not altogether\nextinct yet.\"\n\nThe last toilet completed, it was the usual custom for friends and\nneighbours to manifest their sympathy by watching, or \"waulking,\" the\ndead. Through the long hours of night, by the glimmering candle-light at\nthe silent bedside, this was really a service that called for some\nresolution, as tales of dead bodies coming back to life were fully\nbelieved in these superstitious days. Occasionally special candles were\nused for \"the watching,\" known as Yule candles. These were the remains of\nspecially large candles burned at Yule, and extinguished at the close of\nthe day, what was left of the candle being carefully preserved and locked\naway, to be burned at the owners' own \"waulking.\"\n\nVisiting the house of the dead for the sake of seeing the corpse was a\nregular practice, and, it may be added, that to touch the corpse was\nconsidered a sure safeguard against all eerie dreams of death and ghostly\ntrappings, as well as a counter-influence to illness and disease.\n\nWith the encoffining, or \"kistin'\" of the dead, a further, stage was\nreached. The ceremony was apparently religious, and one of deep solemnity,\nthe minister, or one of his elders or deacons, attending to see the\nremains of the deceased placed in the coffin, to offer up prayer, and\ngenerally to console and sympathise with the bereaved. In reality, the\nofficial presence of the minister, elder or deacon, was directly due to an\nAct of Parliament,[35] actually framed and passed, incongruous as it may\nappear, for the \"improvement of Linen manufacture within the Kingdom.\"\nThe clerical representative was present in the house of mourning, to be\nfully satisfied that \"the corpse was shrouded in home made linen, and that\nnot exceeding in value twenty shillings per ell.\"\n\nThis curious Act had as curious a sequel, for, prompted by an evident\nspirit of fair dealing, the Linen Act was rescinded in the first\nParliament of Queen Anne in favour of a \"Woollen Act,\" insisting upon the\nexclusive use of \"wool\" as a material for shrouds, under exactly the same\npains and penalties as the previous Act laid down to compel the use of\nlinen. In course of time such rigid intrusive conditions, despite the law,\ncame to be disregarded, and people shrouded their dead as they thought\nbest, and in material of their own choice. It was, however, usual for the\nundertaker to safeguard those concerned in any such infringement by\ncharging half the statutory fine in his account, taking credit to himself\nfor the other half as being the informer against himself. This was usually\nentered as the first item of his undertaking expenses, being expressed in\nhis bill against the relatives as: \"To paying the penalty under the Act\nfor burying in Scots Linen.\"\n\nThe custom of relatives and intimate friends being at the encoffining or\n\"kistin'\" is to some extent associated with the \"lykewake,\" or\n\"latewake,\" of Roman Catholic usage. Although now quite unknown among\nadherents of the Scottish Presbyterian Church, such wakes were at one time\ncommon enough, even after the Reformation. They were, however, attended by\nsuch unseemly behaviour that in 1645 the General Assembly passed an edict\nto suppress them.\n\n[Illustration: FUNERAL HOSPITALITY. Sketch by J. Copland, Dundrennan.]\n\nThat the custom still continued is brought out by the knowledge that in\n1701 it was found necessary to revive and enforce the statute against the\npractice.\n\nThe culminating feature of the rites of bereavement, the funeral ceremony,\nwas in these old days (particularly between the years 1700 and 1800) an\noccasion altogether outstanding in social importance. It was an occasion,\nhowever, very often marred by the profuse liberality and use of\nstimulants, lavish hospitality in the house of mourning being too\nfrequently followed by ludicrous and extraordinary results as the body was\nbeing conveyed to its last resting-place. \"A funeral party,\" for example,\n\"had wended their way for miles through deep snow over Eskdale Moor, bound\nfor Moffat Churchyard. On arriving at the burial-ground it was actually\ndiscovered that they had dropped the coffin by the way, the back having\nfallen from the cart on which it was being conveyed.\"(74)\n\nTen o'clock in the morning saw the commencement of the funeral ceremonies,\nthis being so generally understood that no special hour was mentioned in\n\"the bidding to the buriall.\" The setting-out for the churchyard, however,\nor the \"liftin',\" as it was termed, did not, as a rule, take place for\nseveral hours later, and in many instances not until well on in the\nafternoon. This delay, as well as giving ample time to partake of\nrefreshment, was really meant to enable all the guests to gather together,\nmany of them travelling long distances, which were not made shorter by bad\nroads or inclement weather. A precaution sometimes taken before the\ncompany moved off was to send someone to the top of the nearest height to\nsignal when the horizon was clear and no more guests in sight.\n\nThe place of entertainment was usually the barn. Planks laid along the\ntops of wooden trestles formed a large table, on which were piled up a\nsuperabundance of food and drink, while a constant feature of the\nentertainment was an imposing array of tobacco pipes already filled by the\nwomen who had sat beside, or watched, the dead body. It was not considered\nseemly for the women of the house to mingle with the male guests. The\nusual custom in Galloway and Nithsdale was for the women folk to sit\ntogether in a room apart.\n\nAs the company gathered they formed themselves into relays--for the number\nof guests as a rule exceeded the accommodation of even the largest\nbarn--and entered the place set aside for refreshment. This took the form\nof what were known as \"services,\" and these in their usual order were,\nafter each guest had been proffered a pipe of tobacco:--\n\n    (a) Bread and cheese, with ale and porter.\n\n    (b) A glass of whisky, with again bread and cheese.\n\n    (c) A glass of rum and biscuits.\n\n    (d) A glass of brandy and currant bun.\n\n    (e) Wine and shortbread (or burial bread).\n\nIt was not, be it mentioned in passing, a very unusual thing for some of\nthe company to enter the barn again, and undertake the \"services\" a second\ntime.\n\nThe natural consequence of all this is obvious, but to a certain extent\nthe situation could be saved by the use of a private receptacle called the\n\"droddy bottle,\" into which the liquor could be poured to be taken home,\nor at least carried outside. Before partaking of each individual \"service\"\nit was solemnised by the minister offering up an appropriate prayer, a\nclerical task which must have been trying in the extreme.\n\nAs instancing the prodigality of preparation in the way of food, notice\nmay be taken of a funeral in the parish of Mochrum, where two bushels (160\nlbs.) of shortbread were provided, and it is quite unnecessary to suggest\nthat the supply of spirits would be in proportion.\n\nThe following account of funeral expenses, drawn from a Wigtownshire\nfarmer's book of expenses in 1794, may here be included, as it affords an\nexcellent illustration of how the expenses of an ordinary funeral were\nswelled by the amounts paid for alcoholic liquor:--\n\n  Mrs G.--One gallon brandy                                      \u00a30 18 0\n          15 gills gin                                            0  7 6\n          Six bottles of wine                                     0 17 0\n          One gallon rum                                          0 16 0\n          To the coffin                                           1  5 0\n          To the mort-cloath and grave digging                    0  2 0\n          To bread                                                0  5 9\n          J. C. for biding and walking and other attendance       0  4 0\n          J. S. for whiskie and ale at sitting up                 0  3 1\n\nOf the expenses of funerals in a higher rank of life those incurred on the\ndeaths of Grierson of Lag and his third son, John Grierson, afford full\nand interesting information. Mr John Grierson, third son of the Laird of\nLag, died early in 1730, and to one Jean Scott the purveying of the meat\nand drink considered requisite for the friends attending the funeral was\nentrusted. The bill came to about \u00a3160 Scots.[36] When the Laird himself\ndied, on the last day of the year 1733, there was a repetition of the\nfeasting and drinking at the house of the deceased, at the kirkyard, and\nat an adjoining house, which had evidently been requisitioned for the\naccommodation of several of the gentlemen, among whom were Lord Stormonth,\nSir Thomas Kirkpatrick, Maxwell of Carriel, and others who had come from a\ndistance to assist. The account begins two days before the death of the\nLaird, and ends on January 14. In round figures the cost of the meat and\ndrink consumed at the Laird's funeral came to \u00a3240 Scots.\n\nThe following are the detailed accounts:--(75)\n\nACCOTT. OF THE FFUNERALS OF MR JOHN GRIERSONE.\n\n  1730.               _To Jean Scott._\n\n  Feb. 23rd.  2 bottels clarit to these as set up all night wt\n                ye corps                                           \u00a30  3 0\n\n      do.     1 bottel of brandy for do.                            0  1 6\n\n  Feb. 24th.  1 bottel of clarit when the sear-cloath[37] was\n                put on                                              0  1 6\n\n      do.     1 bottel clarit when the grave-cloaths was put on     0  1 6\n\n      do.     At the in-coffining where the ladys was, 1 bottel\n                clarit, 2 bottels white wine, and 1 bottel\n                Cannary                                             0  6 2\n\n      do.     In the beg room wt the Gentelmen before the corps\n                was transported--2 bottels white wine               0  3 0\n\n      do.     When the company returned--10 bottels clarit          0 15 0\n\n      do.     2 bottels brandy for Gentelmen's Servts.              0  3 0\n\n      do.     2 bottels clarit to Sir Robert's Servts.              0  3 0\n\n  Feb. 26th.  1 bottel clarit to Sir Robert's Servts.               0  1 6\n\n  March 2nd.  1 bottel clarit to Sir Robert's Servts.               0  1 6\n\n  March 4th.  1 bottel clarit to Sir Robert's Servts.               0  1 6\n\n  March 5th.  In the two rooms when at meat 22 bottels clarit       1 13 0\n\n      do.     ffor the Servts. and Gentelmen's Servts., 4\n                bottels of brandy                                   0  6 0\n\n      do.     at night when the Gentelmen returned--25\n                bottels of clarit                                   1 17 6\n\n      do.     2 bottels brandy to Rockhall wt bottels               0  3 0\n\n  March 6th.  2 bottels clarit at dinr wt Sr Walter Laurie and\n                Cariel                                              0  3 0\n\n      do.     Ale from the 23rd of ffebr., till this day            1 19 6\n\n      do.     To 1 baccon ham                                       0  9 0\n\n      do.     To a rosting piece of beef                            0  6 6\n\n      do.     To a rost pigg                                        0  2 6\n\n      do.     To 2 rost gease                                       0  3 0\n\n      do.     To 1 rost turkey                                      0  4 0\n\n      do.     To a calf's head stwed wt wine and oysstars           0  3 6\n\n      do.     To 2 dish of neats' tongues                           0  8 0\n\n      do.     To 2 dish of capons and fowls                         0  6 0\n\n      do.     To a passtie                                          0  7 0\n\n  March 6th.  To a dozn. of tearts                                  0  6 0\n\n      do.     To 2 dozn. of mincht pys                              0  8 0\n\n      do.     To 1 quarter of rost mutton                           0  3 6\n\n      do.     To rost veal                                          0  3 6\n\n      do.     To 1 barrel of oysters, 6 limmons, and other\n                pickels                                             0  4 0\n\n      do.     To eating for Tennents and Servants                   1  0 0\n\n\nThe following is a note of some of the items of expenditure at the funeral\nof the notorious Sir Robert Grierson of Lag himself:--\n\n  1733.\n\n  Decr. 29th. 2 bottles small clarit                               \u00a30  3 0\n\n      do.     2 flint glasses                                       0  1 4\n\n  Decr. 30th. 4 bottles small clarit                                0  6 0\n\n  1734.\n\n  Janr. 1st.  12 bottles strong clarit                              1  4 0\n\n      do.     3 bottles ffrantinak                                  1  6 0\n\n      do.     3 bottles shirry                                      0  5 6\n\n      do.     1 bottle more brandy                                  0  1 6\n\n  Janr. 7th.  18 double flint glasses\n\n      do.     1 \u00a3 double refined shugar\n\n  Janr. 8th.  4 dozn. strong clarit to the lodgeing                 4 16 0\n\n      do.     6 bottles ffrantinak do.                              0 12 0\n\n      do.     6 bottles shirry do.                                  0 11 0\n\n      do.     6 more double flint glasses to ye lodgeing\n\n      do.     12 bottles strong clarit sent out to the burying\n                place                                               1  4 0\n\n      do.     12 bottles more strong clarit at night to the\n                lodgeing                                            1  4 0\n\n  Janr. 9th.  4 wine glasses returned from Dunscore\n\n  Janr. 12th. 2 bottles strong clarit to the lodgeing               0 4  0\n\n      do.     10 bottles strong clarit wt Carriel & more\n                Gentelmen                                           1  8 0\n\n  Janr. 14th. 2 bottles clarit wt Carriel                           0  4 8\n\n              8 dozn. empty bottles returned\n\n              The Wines amounts to                                 14  5 5\n\n              The Entertainments to                                 6 10 0\n\n  1734.       ACCOMPT. OF HORSSES.\n\n  Janr. 9th.  2 horses of Lord Stormonds, 2 nights' hay, oats,\n                & beans                                            \u00a30  5 0\n\n      do.     2 horses 2 nights, hay, oats, & beans, Sr Thomas\n                Kirkpatrk                                           0  5 0\n\n      do.     the smith for Sr Thomas' horsses                      0  2 0\n\n              Pyd. to Charles Herisse, smith, for iron work to\n                the Hearse                                          0  5 6\n\n              Mr Gilbert's horsses                                  1  4 6\n\nGrim legend clings around the account of Lag's last illness and his\nfuneral. \"During the latter part of his life Sir Robert had taken up his\nabode in his town-lodging in Dumfries. It was an ancient pile of building\nof singular construction, facing the principal part of the High Street of\nthe town, known as the 'Plainstones.' This old house was called the\n'Turnpike,' from the spiral staircase, a characteristic of it, as of many\nof the old Edinburgh houses; it was situated at the head of what was\ncalled the Turnpike Close, and little more than two hundred yards from the\nNith. The best known of the many legends regarding Lag is this: that when\nhe came near his end, and was sorely tormented with gout, he had relays of\nservants posted so as to hand up from one to another a succession of\nbuckets of cold water from the Nith, that he might cool his burning\nlimbs--but the moment his feet were inserted into the water it began to\nfizz and boil.\n\nIn this old Turnpike house[38] Sir Robert died on the 31st December, 1733.\nIt is related that on this occasion a 'corbie' (raven) of preternatural\nblackness and malignity of aspect, perched himself on the coffin, and\nwould not be driven off, but accompanied the funeral cort\u00e8ge to the grave\nin the churchyard of Dunscore.\n\nMoreover, when the funeral procession started, and had got some little way\non the Galloway side of the Nith, it was found that the horses, with all\ntheir struggles, and dripping with perspiration, from some mysterious\ncause could move the hearse no further. Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick, of\nCloseburn, the old friend and comrade of Lag (and his relative), who was\nbelieved to be deep in some branches of the Black Art, was one of the\nmourners. This gentleman, the stoutest of Non-jurors, on this occasion\nswore a great oath that he would drive the hearse of Lag 'though ---- were\nin it!' and ordered a team of beautiful Spanish horses of his own to be\nharnessed in place of the others. Sir Thomas mounted and took the reins,\nwhen the horses instantly dashed off at a furious gallop that he could in\nno wise restrain, and abated nought of their headlong pace till they\nreached the churchyard of Dunscore, where they suddenly pulled up--and\ndied.\"(76)\n\nWhen the funeral cort\u00e8ge did start, as already indicated, curious though\nquite consequent sequels were far from uncommon. Solemnity and deep\ndrinking only too frequently ended in unaffected hilarity or even\ndissension.\n\nMacTaggart, in his _Gallovidian Encyclop\u00e6dia_, has caught and well\nrecorded the boisterous spirit of this grim funeral festivity, as the\nfollowing graphic description amply shows:--\n\n\"At last the Laird o' the Bowertree Buss gaed his last pawt, was\nstraughted, dressed, coffined and a'; and I was bidden to his burial the\nTuesday after. There I gaed, and there were met a wheen fine boys. Tam o'\nTodholes, and Wull o' the Slack war there; Neil Wulson, the fisher, and\nWull Rain, the gunner, too. The first service that came roun' was strong\nfarintosh, famous peat reek. There was nae grief amang us. The Laird had\nplenty, had neither wife nor a wean, sae wha cud greet? We drew close to\nither, and began the cracks ding-dang, while every minute roun' came\nanither reamin' service. I faun' the bees i' my head bizzin' strong i' a\nwee time. The inside o' the burial house was like the inside o' a\nKelton-hill tent; a banter came frae the tae side of the room, and was\nsent back wi' a jibe frae the ither. Lifting at last began to be talked\nabout, and at last lift we did. 'Whaever wished for a pouchfu' o' drink\nmight tak' it.' This was the order; sae mony a douce black coat hang side\nwi' a heavy bottle. On we gaed wi' the Laird, his weight we faun' na. Wull\nWeer we left ahin drunk on the spot. Rob Fisher took a sheer as we came\ndown the green brae, and landed himself in a rossen o' breers.\nWhaup-nebbed Samuel fell aff the drift too. I saw him as we came across\nHowmcraig; the drink was gaen frae him like couters. Whan we came to the\nTaffdyke that rins cross Barrend there we laid the Laird down till we took\na rest awee. The inside o' pouches war than turned out, bottle after\nbottle was touted owre; we rowed about, and some warsled. At last a game\nat the quoits was proposed; we played, but how we played I kenna. Whan we\ngot tae the kirkyard the sun was jist plumpin' down; we pat the coffin\ntwice in the grave wrang, and as often had to draw't out again. We got it\nto fit at last, and in wi' the moulds on't. The grave-digger we made a\nbeast o'.\"\n\nA notable exception to the practice of the period was the funeral of\nWilliam Burnes, father of the National Bard, who was borne from Lochlea to\nAlloway Kirkyard, a distance of twelve miles, not a drop of anything\nexcepting a draught of water from a roadside stream being tasted.\n\nThe funeral festivities, however, did not end with the lowering of the\ndead into the grave. There yet remained the final entertainment at the\nhouse of the bereaved. If within reasonable distance at all the funeral\nparty returned from the churchyard to partake of the entertainment known\nas the \"draigie,\"[39] or \"dredgy.\" Again the drinking was long and deep,\nwith results that can only too readily be imagined.\n\nBut it must not be assumed that such scenes and proceedings passed without\nprotest on the part of the Church and those who had the welfare of decency\nand morality at heart. The Presbytery of Penpont, for example, in 1736\nissued the following warning to their own district:--\n\n\"Yet further how unaccountable and scandalous are the large gatherings and\nunbecoming behaviour at burials and 'lake-wacks,' also in some places how\nmany are grossly unmannerly in coming to burials without invitation. How\nextravagant are many in their preparations for such occasions, and in\ngiving much drink, and driving it too frequently, before and after the\ncorpse is enterred, and keeping the company too long together; how many\nscandalouslie drink until they be drunk on such occasions; this practice\ncannot but be hurtfull, therefore ought to be discouraged and reformed,\nand people that are not ashamed to be so vilely unmannerly as to thrust\nthemselves into such meetings without being called ought to be affronted.\"\n\nDespite protest and counsel, however, the custom of supplying refreshment\nto mourners in the form of \"services\" lingered until well into the\nnineteenth century.\n\nMuch good was, however, done in the south-west district of Scotland by the\nfirm position taken up by Dr Henry Duncan of Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire, a\npersonality whose memory is still held in the highest esteem and respect.\nThe method adopted was characteristic of the man, and is described by\nhimself in the Statistical Account of his Parish:--\n\n\"The present incumbent fell on a simple expedient by which this practice\nhas been completely abolished. Having engaged the co-operation of some of\nthe leading men in the parish, he drew up a subscription paper, binding\nthe subscribers, among other less important regulations, to give only\n_one_ service when they had the melancholy duty of presiding at a funeral\nthemselves, and to partake of only one service when they attended the\nfuneral of a neighbour. This paper was readily subscribed by almost every\nhead of a family in the parish, and whatever was injurious in the practice\nwas abolished at once, ... and, speaking generally, may be said to have\neffectually rooted out the former practice throughout the whole\nsurrounding district\" (March, 1834).\n\nAfter the funeral, certain old rites and customs were carried out. On the\ndeath of a tenant the mart, or herezeld (heriot, or best aucht) was seized\nby the landowner to substantiate his title. The bed and straw on which the\ndeceased had lain were burned in the open field. Concerning this practice\nJoseph Train in a note to _Strains of the Mountain Muse_, describes how,\n\"as soon as the corpse is taken from the bed on which the person died, all\nthe straw or heather of which it was composed is taken out and burned in a\nplace where no beast can get near it, and they pretend to find next\nmorning in the ashes the print of the foot of that person in the family\nwho shall die first.\"\n\nA short reference may here be made to the custom of burial without\ncoffins.\n\nThe spirit of economy went far indeed in these older days, for burial,\nparticularly of the poor, took place either without a coffin at all, or\nthey were carried to the grave in one of common and general use, from\nwhich they were removed and buried when the grave-side was reached.\n\nA doubtful advance upon this method was the introduction of the\n\"slip-coffin,\" which permitted of a bolt being drawn when lowered to the\nbottom of the grave. A hinged bottom was in this way relieved, which left\nthe poor dead body in the closest of contact with mother earth. The\nmotive, of course, was economy, and its use practically restricted to\npaupers. On the authority of Edgar, author of _Old Church Life in\nScotland_ (1886), it is gratifying to note that none of these uncoffined\ninterments had taken place in the South of Scotland for at least 150\nyears.\n\nIn this connection a story somewhat against the \"cloth\" may be given:--\n\n\"A worthy Galloway minister, feeling that the newly-passed Poor Law Act\nwith its assessments was burdensome to his flock, seriously proposed to\nthe Parochial Board of his district that to narrow down the rates a\n'slip-coffin' should be made for the poor, out of which the body could\nbe slipped into its narrow home. The proposal met with scant\nconsideration, and during the rest of his lifetime the well-meaning man\nwas known as 'Slip.'\"(77)\n\n[Illustration: A GALLOWAY FUNERAL OF OTHER DAYS. Sketch by J. Copland,\nDundrennan.]\n\nBefore the days of hearses the coffin was borne to the grave on two long\npoles or hand-spokes. Over the simple bare coffin the \"mort-cloth\" was\nspread, for the use of which the \"Kirk-Session\" made a charge, the money\nreceived being devoted to the relief of the poor of the parish. As\nsuperstitious custom refused the rites of Christian burial to those who\ndied by their own hand, so was also the use of the \"mort-cloth\" withheld.\n\nUntil comparatively recent days the bodies of suicides were buried at the\nmeeting of four cross roads, or at all events at some lonely, unfrequented\nspot, the remains having not unusually the additional indignity of being\nimpaled by a stake practised upon them. It is of interest to note that the\nname of the \"Stake Moss,\" Sanquhar, may be traced to this callous\npractice.\n\nA superstition of the churchyard itself that still lingers and is worthy\nof notice, is that the north side is less hallowed than the other portions\nof \"God's Acre.\" The origin of this comes from the Scriptural description\nof the last judgment (Matthew xxv.), which tells how \"He shall set the\nsheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left.\"\n\nA recent local writer has thus embodied the idea and its probable\nderivation:--\n\n\"This superstition (he says) is said to have originated in the New\nTestament story of the Day of Judgment, when the Lord on entering His\nhouse (the entrance of the old churches being at the west end, or on the\nsouth near the west) would separate the sheep from the goats--the former\nto His right hand, the south; and the latter to his left, the north. Our\nforefathers would not see their dear ones among the goats, 'for evil,'\nsaid they, 'is there.' This credulous imagining is not exemplified in the\nkirkyard alone. Many of our old pre-Reformation churches exhibit evidence\nof the superstition in the entire absence of windows in their north walls;\nand in general it would appear that in medi\u00e6val times there was a common\nbelief in the evil influence of the north, and that thence came all kinds\nof ill.\n\n\"In Sanquhar Kirkyard it is evident that the superstition prevailed until\ncomparatively modern times, for there are no headstones on the north side\nof the kirk earlier than the beginning of the last century, all the older\nmonuments being to the south of the kirk, and at its east and west\nends.\"(78)\n\nTo the simple earnest dweller in the country there comes at times the\nthought that brings with it a comfort all its own, that after \"life's\nfitful fever\" they will be quietly laid to rest underneath the green turf,\nwithin the shadow of the kirk itself. Of this the origin of Carsphairn\nparish, in the uplands of Galloway, gives telling proof; for in the year\n1645 complaint was made to the Scottish Parliament that in the parishes of\nDairy and Kells numbers of people had to be buried in the fields, because\nthe houses in which they lived and died were twelve miles from a\nchurchyard. The issue of this was, that the district of Carsphairn was\nerected into a separate parish, and the indignity of such burials came to\nan end.\n\nBefore closing a chapter devoted to \"death custom\" and \"funeral ceremony,\"\nthe use of the \"dead bell\" must certainly be referred to.\n\nIn these old days when methods of conveying news and information were\nrestricted, it was the routine practice when a death occurred for the\n\"beadle\" (sexton) to go, bell in hand, around the district, pausing at\nintervals to ring the \"passing bell\"[40] more particularly in front of the\nhouses of friends of the deceased, announcing at the same time not only\nthe death but also the day of burial. The usual form of his intimation\nwhich, with uncovered head, he delivered was:--\n\n\"Brethren and sisters,--I hereby let ye to wit that our brother (or\nsister), named (name, address, and occupation), departed this life at\n----of the clock, according to the pleasure Almighty God, and you are all\ninvited to attend the funeral on ----.\"\n\nParticular reference to this custom in the town of Dumfries is given in\nthe Itinerary of John Ray, naturalist, who visited the town in August,\n1662:--\n\n\"Here (he says) ... we observed the manner of their burials, which is\nthis: when anyone dies the sexton or bellman goeth about the streets, with\na small bell in his hand, which he tinkleth all along as he goeth, and now\nand then he makes a stance, and proclaims who is dead, and invites the\npeople to come to the funeral.\"\n\nOn the day of the funeral it was again customary for the \"beadle\" to ring\nthe bell, walking in front of the funeral procession ringing it as he\nwent. This is also noticed by Ray, who notes that \"The people and\nministers ... accompany the corpse to the grave ... with the bell before\nthem.\" This usage has passed to a form, common enough to this day,\nparticularly in the country, of tolling the church bell as the funeral\ncort\u00e8ge approaches the churchyard.\n\nIn the scarce _Book of Galloway_ it is recorded how \"the beadle had rung\nthe 'passing bell[41] on the bellknowe of Penninghame,' and it was heard\nagain when the mourners approached the graveyard.\"\n\nThe ringing of the \"dead bell\" had its origin in the superstitious idea\nthat by this means evil spirits were held at bay.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n_CHAPTER VII._\n\nGHOST LORE AND HAUNTED HOUSES.\n\n    \"There are many ghost stories which we do not feel at liberty to\n    challenge.\"--_Sir Walter Scott._\n\n\nPassing now to gather up the details of superstitious vestige as they\npresent themselves in the form of ghost traditions and memories of\nghost-haunted houses, we find in the district of Dumfries and Galloway\nmuch of interest to set forth.\n\nTraversing from Western Galloway to Eastern Dumfriesshire, gleaning as we\ngo, the legend connected with Dunskey Castle, which yet in ruined solitude\nstands sentinel over the rock-bound shore and restless sea at Portpatrick,\nfirst calls for mention.\n\nThe story goes back to the occupation of the Castle in the fourteenth\ncentury by Walter de Curry, a turbulent sea rover, who, becoming much\nincensed at the outspoken and fearless utterances of an Irish piper whom\nhe had taken prisoner and compelled to his service as minstrel and\njester, condemned the unfortunate man to a lingering death from starvation\nin the Castle dungeons.\n\nTradition asserts, however, that the piper found his way into a secret\nsubterranean passage leading from the Castle to a cave on the sea-shore,\nfrom which, however, he was unable to find egress, and where he perished\nmiserably.\n\nAlong this passage the troubled ghost of the piper was long reputed to\nmarch, backwards and forwards, playing the weirdest of pipe music, and so\nindicating, as was firmly believed, to the awe-stricken listeners above,\nthe line of direction of the secret underground passage.[42]\n\nPerhaps the best-known Galloway ghost story is that of the Ghost of\nGaldenoch Tower, in the parish of Leswalt. The Tower was at one time the\nproperty of the Agnews of Galdenoch, but falling on evil days their name\ndisappeared from the roll of proprietors, when it was used as a\nfarm-house. For this, however, it was given up, for no other reason than\nthat it was firmly believed to be haunted. The tradition as told by Sir\nAndrew Agnew is as follows:--\n\n\"A scion of the house had fought in one of the battles for the Covenant,\nand after a defeat had craved food and shelter at a house near the scene\nof the disaster. He was admitted by the owner, a rough blustering fellow\nof Royalist leanings, who allowed him to share in the family supper; and\nafter a long crack over the incidents of the day, let him make up a bed by\nthe ingle-side fire. The young soldier rose early, and was in the act of\nleaving when his host barred his access to the door, grumbling that he\ndoubted whether he had been on the right side the day before. Convinced\nthat he meant to detain him, the youth produced his pistol and shot his\nentertainer dead; then rushing to the stables, saddled up, and made his\nway to the west.\n\nArrived safely at the Galdenoch, the fatted calf was killed, and having\nfought all his battles over again round the family board, he went to bed.\nBut hardly had the lights been extinguished in the tower than strange\nsounds announced a new arrival, which proved to be the ghost of the slain\nmalignant, who not only disturbed the repose of his slayer, but made life\nunendurable to all within.\n\nNightly his pranks continued, and even after a change of owners the\nannoyance was continued to the new tenant and his family. One cold\nwinter's night they sat round the kitchen fire playing a well-known game.\nA burning stick passed merrily from hand to hand:\n\n  'About wi' that! about wi' that!\n   Keep alive the priest-cat!'\n\nThe spark was extinguished, and the forfeit was about to be declared, when\none of the party, looking at the hearth, which was now one brilliant mass\nof transparent red, observed, 'It wadna be hannie to steal a coal the\nnoo;' but hardly were the words out of his mouth when a glowing peat\ndisappeared as if by magic, leaving as clear a vacuum in the fire as when\na brick is displaced from a solid archway. 'That beats a',' was re-echoed\nthrough the wondering group; and but a few moments elapsed before there\nwas a cry of 'Fire' and the farm-steading was in flames. In the thatch of\nthe barn that identical 'cube of fire' was inserted, and no one doubted\nthat it had been done by the ghost. The range of buildings was preserved\nwith difficulty by the united exertions of the party.\n\nThe tenant's mother sat one morning at her spinning-wheel; an invisible\npower bore her along, and plunged her in the Mill-Isle burn, a voice\nmumbling the while, 'I'll dip thee, I'll draw thee,' till the old dame\nbecame unconscious. Great was the surprise of the family at dinner-time\nwhen grandmamma was missed. Every corner of the buildings was searched.\nThe goodman and his wife became alarmed, while the lads and lassies ran\nmadly about interrogating one another with 'Where's granny?' At last a\nwell-known voice was heard--'I've washed granny in the burn, and laid her\non the dyke to dry!' Away the whole party ran; and sure enough the poor\nold woman lay naked on the dyke, half dead with cold and fright.\n\nSeveral of the neighbouring clergymen tried to lay this ghost, but all in\nvain. If they sang, the ghost drowned the united efforts of the company.\nEventually, however, it was laid by the Rev. Mr Marshall of Kirkcolm,\nalready referred to as a zealous prosecutor of witches, by the almost\nunclerical method of roaring and shouting it down.\"(79)\n\nOn the confines of Stoneykirk parish, in the Moor of the Genoch, there is\na plantation locally known as \"Lodnagappal Plantin',\"[43] concerning which\nreport tells of an apparition in the form of a headless woman who almost\ninvariably carried a light for the dire purpose of luring the unwary to\ndeath in the treacherous moss-holes so numerous in the neighbourhood.\n\nFuller details are available of yet another \"white woman\" and her\nunwelcome methods. Early last century, when the mail packet crossed from\nPortpatrick to Ireland, a carrier, who lived at High Ardwell, regularly\njourneyed backwards and forwards to Portpatrick to bring supplies for\nthe district. On his way home he was more than once alarmed and troubled\nby a woman in white, who stopped his horse and even caused his cart to\nbreak down. Once, indeed, the horse was so affected that it became quite\nincapable of moving the load, compelling the carrier in great distress to\nunyoke, and, mounting the horse, to make for home. His fears were not much\nlessened by finding that the white lady was seated behind him.\n\nThe appearances of the ghost became more frequent as time went on, and\neventually the white woman manifested a desire to embrace the carrier,\nindicating that if he yielded even only to listen once to her whispered\ndevotion he might be freed altogether from future interference. The\ncarrier, after a good deal of doubt and hesitation, at last yielded, but,\nwishing to have some substantial barrier between himself and his ghostly\nlover, stipulated that she should come to the little back-window of his\ncottage on a particular night. The appointed time came, but the carrier,\nstill very doubtful, had planned accordingly. Cautiously and partially was\nthe window opened. The white figure was there. Bending down to what\nappeared to be the man's face--but what was really the skull of a horse\nheld towards her--there was a swift savage thrust of the ghostly face\nand half of the protruding horse's skull was severed. Thwarted in this\nunexpected way, the evil spirit slunk away, muttering \"Hard, hard, are the\nbanes and gristle of your face!\" At least that is what the tradition\ntells.\n\nAnother tale concerns Auchabrick House, in Kirkmaiden, not far from Port\nLogan. The usually accepted story is pretty much as follows: The troth of\na young lady of the house was plighted to a young gentleman whose fortune\nwas not quite equal to his rank in life. It was the days of privateering,\nand to amass some means the young fellow joined an enterprise of this\nkind, and was fortunate enough to find himself aboard a superior and\nsuccessful vessel.\n\nWhilst abroad he sent home to the lady of his heart a silk dress and a\nconsiderable sum of money. These, however, fell into the hands of an\nunscrupulous brother, who appropriated them to his own use. Perplexed at\nnot receiving news from home and acknowledgment, the lover wrote again and\nagain, but the letters were always intercepted by the brother.\n\nDisaster came, and the wanderer never reached home to learn the true state\nof matters, but his ghost came to haunt the place. Fasten the doors as\nsecurely as they might, it always obtained an entry, and the scratch of a\nghostly pen was heard writing and rewriting the stolen letters. Different\nplans were tried to relieve this eerie state of affairs. On one occasion a\nBible was placed behind the door through which the ghost seemed to pass,\nbut this was followed by terrifying and distracting noises, while the\nhouse itself was shaken as if by storm and gale.\n\nIt was also believed that the semblance of the ship on which the wanderer\npursued his calling as a privateer was at times seen to sail along a field\nabove the house.\n\nA variation of the main story is that it was a brother of one of the\nformer ladies of Auchabrick whose shade haunted the place. He had fallen\nfrom his horse and been fatally injured, his ghost taking the form of a\nyoung man, booted and spurred, riding a grey horse.\n\nAt Cardrain, in the same locality, there is another tradition of an\napparition on horseback which time and again rode up to the house, made\nfast the horse to a rope hanging from the thatch, then wandered all\nthrough the place.\n\nIn the neighbourhood of Tirally the shade of a departed medical man was\nbelieved to frequent and wander along the sea-shore. There is an authentic\naccount of the house he occupied being of necessity given up by the tenant\nwho succeeded him after his death, on account of the strange persistent\nand disturbing noises heard in it.\n\nPassing from the Rhinns of Galloway to the Machars, through the district\nof Glenluce, the surprising story of the Devil of Glenluce should\nnaturally find a place. It will, however, be included in the Appendix, in\nall its quaintness, as it occurs in _Satan's Invisible World_, published\nin 1685.\n\nIn the history of the town of Wigtown no character stands out in stronger\nrelief than Provost Coltran, proprietor of Drummorall. In 1683, along with\nDavid Graham, brother of Claverhouse, and Sir Godfrey M'Culloch, he was\nappointed to administer the test to the people of Galloway, and was Chief\nMagistrate at the drowning of the Martyrs on Wigtown Sands (May 11th,\n1685). His private character does not seem to have been beyond reproach,\nand it was commonly said that in his life time he had sold himself to the\nDevil.\n\nThe story still lingers that at his death the windows of his house looked\nas if they were in a blaze of fire, clearly indicating to the popular mind\nthat the Devil was getting his own, and for long afterwards his ghost, a\nterrifying figure snorting fire from his nostrils, walked the earth. Even\nthe house where he lived and died was for many years avoided after\nnight-fall.\n\nNot far from the village of Bladnoch, on the farm of Kirkwaugh, is a spot\nknown as the Packman's Grave, round which a grim story lingers:--\n\n\"Tradition has it that an enterprising packman lived in or near Wigtown\nlong ago. He had a consignment of cloth on board a vessel which put into a\nlocal port. The ship was plague-stricken, and the people in the district,\nfearing that the infection might spread by means of the packman and his\ncloth, seized both the merchant and his wares, and taking them to\nKirkwaugh dug a deep grave, in which they were deposited--the packman\nalive. Even until lately people imagined they saw lights and heard knocks\nat the spot, which gets the name of the Packman's Grave to this day.\"(80)\n\nNear Sorbie is the farm of Claunch, concerning which there is an old-world\nmemory of a spectral carriage and pair of horses. The origin of the\ntradition is unknown, but the following is an authentic account of its\nappearance furnished by a correspondent:--\n\n\"I can, however, recall the strange experience of one who avowed that it\nhad come within his ken. He was a blacksmith by trade, and had been doing\nsome work at the farm. It was a fine moonlight evening when he gathered\nhis tools together and started on his walk to Whithorn, where he lived. It\nchanced that the farmer by whom he had been employed during the day\naccompanied him as far as the entrance to the farmyard. As they were\ncrossing the courtyard, what certainly seemed a spectral carriage and pair\nof horses galloped past them, and in another moment disappeared as if it\nnever had been.\n\n'What in the name of wonder was that?' ejaculated the smith; to which the\nfarmer replied--\n\n'It's mair than I can tell--but it's no' the first glint o't I hae gotten,\nalthough I haena seen't aften. But dinna ye come owre what ye hae\nseen--nae guid'll come o' talkin' aboot it.'\"(81)\n\nThe old parish manse of Whithorn, which adjoined the churchyard near to\nits main entrance, and which was demolished a good many years ago, had\nrather an uncanny reputation, but nothing very definite can be gleaned to\nexplain this. It certainly was, however, avoided after darkness fell. A\nlittle short lane off the public road, between the north end of Whithorn\nand the Bishopton Crofts, is associated with an appearance denoting foul\nplay towards a very young child. But the most important ghostly\nreminiscence that can be gathered in this locality refers to the ghost at\nCraigdhu, in the parish of Glasserton, on the shore-road from Whithorn to\nPort-William. The following account was communicated by a native of the\ndistrict:--\n\n\"Many rumours used to be afloat in my younger days of people being\nterrified by some unearthly shape or other which was believed to show\nitself at Craigdhu. Such stories were, however, rather conflicting, some\ndeclaring that it was a spectre of human form and proportions, while\nothers held that it was more like a huge quadruped of an unknown species;\nbut I confine my notes to personal testimonies of three individuals whom I\nknew. The first of these was a hard-working farm servant, who insisted\nthat he had seen the something--whatever it was--not once or twice, but\nrepeatedly. The second testifier was a wood-sawyer, who had occasion to\nspend a night in the house belonging to the farm. His first consciousness\nof the ghost's presence was when he was ascending the stair to the\nsleeping apartment, which a companion and himself were to occupy. This was\nmanifested by the distinct sound of a lady's silk dress passing him and\nhis bed-fellow on their way to the garret which was to be their dormitory.\nBut that, though eerie enough, was nothing to what was to follow. As soon\nas they had extinguished their candle and crept into bed _something_ leapt\non the bed and dealt the unfortunate couple some well directed blows with\nwhat seemed like a heavy blunt instrument. The third witness was an\nex-magistrate of Whithorn, who told that he was almost run to earth by\nthe goblin. He was just able to evade it by reaching the farm-house door\nas he was actually being overtaken. Throwing himself against the door, he\nwas admitted by the farmer himself without a moment's delay. The latter at\nonce conjectured the cause of his breathlessness and terror--'Aye! come\nin, my frien', come in. I ken gey weel what has happened; but ye're safe\nhere, an' as welcome as I can mak' ye, to bide till daylicht.'\"(82)\n\nThe roofless ruin of the little pre-Reformation Church of Kirkmaiden (in\nFernes) in Glasserton parish, so beautifully situated on the very verge of\nLuce Bay, has among other associations a tradition of supernatural\nintervention and tragedy.\n\nMany tides have ebbed and flowed since the night of a merry gathering in\nthe old house of Moure, the original home of the Maxwells of Monreith. As\nthe evening wore on, some harmless rallying and boasting took place\nconcerning bravery and indifference towards darkness and things uncanny.\nAmong the guests was a young man in the hey-day of youth and recklessness,\nwho rashly wagered that he would that very night, and without delay, ride\nto the Maiden Kirk and bring away the church bible as a proof that he had\nbeen there. Amidst much careless talk and banter he galloped off. The\nnight wore on, but the young man did not return. As it was but a short\nride from Moure to the Kirk the greatest anxiety prevailed. Next day, in a\nbleak spot, his dead body was found, as also his horse lying stiff beside\nhim. Of robbery and violence there was no evidence, but the entrails of\nboth man and beast had been carefully drawn from their bodies, and were\nfound twisted and entwined round some old thorn bushes close beside them.\nIt was afterwards found that he had reached the church and was on his way\nback.\n\nSome ten miles northward, along this eastern shore of Luce Bay, are the\nruined Barracks of Auchenmalg, built in the days of the free-trade as a\nmeans of suppressing the traffic. A whisper of the old building being\nhaunted exists, but further than that the idea is associated with some\ndeed of violence in the smuggling days nothing very definite can be\ngleaned.\n\nPassing from Wigtownshire, by way of Kirkcowan, towards\nKirkcudbrightshire, it may be noted that Dr Trotter has preserved a ghost\nstory concerning Craighlaw House, originally a fifteenth century square\nkeep, now the oldest part of a mansion-house of three distinct periods.\nThe story conveys that the ghost appeared on one occasion by the side of\nthe large arched kitchen fire-place, during the absence of the cook at\nthe well. Much alarmed at the sight on her return she screamed and\ncollapsed. Her master, sceptical of anything supernatural, fervently\nexpressed the wish that he himself might meet the cause of the alarm,\nwhich he actually did, and shot at it with no effect, much to his own\nalarm. Dr Trotter adds that \"since the ghost was laid everything has been\nquiet.\"(83)\n\nIn Kirkcudbrightshire, still passing eastwards, the legends and eerie\nassociations that cluster around Machermore Castle first meet us, and call\nfor narration.\n\nThe following details are taken from an article entitled \"The White Lady\nof Machermore,\" contributed to the _Galloway Gazette_ some years ago by\nJames G. Kinna, author of the _History of the Parish of Minnigaff_:--\n\n\"Pleasantly situated on the east bank of the Cree, about a mile from the\ntown, Machermore Castle is a prominent feature in the landscape as the\ntraveller approaches Newton-Stewart by rail from the south. For wellnigh\nthree hundred years the grey old Castle of Machermore bravely weathered\nthe storms, and it would have continued to do so unscathed had not modern\ntimes necessitated structural changes. The Castle now presents a happy\ninstance of the blending of the old and new styles of architecture--an\nadaptation of the past to present requirements.\n\nIt is a curious circumstance that although certain spots near Machermore\nCastle have always been associated with the name of the White Lady no one\nhas ever actually seen the mysterious being. And yet there are few of the\nolder residenters in the parish of Minnigaff who have not heard their\ngrandfathers speak of her as a reality.\n\nMachermore Castle is believed to have been built about the latter end of\nthe sixteenth century. Tradition says that it was at first intended to\nbuild the Castle on the higher ground, a little to the north-east of the\npresent site, but that during the night the foundation stones were always\nremoved, so that what was built during the day was carried off by unseen\nhands and deposited in another place. As it was no use to strive against\nthe supernatural, the Castle was eventually built where the materials were\nalways found in the morning.\n\nIn the Castle itself was a room reputed to be haunted. In this instance\nthe particular apartment was in the north-west angle, and was always known\nas Duncan's room. Projecting from the top corner of the outer wall in the\nsame part of the Castle was the finely-carved figurehead of a man. A close\ninspection revealed the fact that the neck was encircled by an\nexquisitely-chiselled lace ruffle of the Tudor period. This piece of\nsculpture was always known as Duncan's head. On the floor of Duncan's room\nthere was the mark of a bloody hand, distinctly showing the impress of the\nfingers, thumb, and palm. It was said that removing that part of the\nflooring had been tried so as to eradicate all trace of the bygone\ntragedy, but the mark of the bloody hand appeared in the new wood as fresh\nas before. From the history of Machermore at least this legend is\nineffaceable, and the annals of the parish of Minnigaff are incomplete\nwhich do not contain a reference to this remarkable phenomenon.\n\nIt is a good many years since the incident I am about to relate took\nplace, but the circumstances are as fresh in my memory as if it had\nhappened but yesternight; nor am I ever likely to forget my first and only\nvisit from the White Lady. On that occasion I happened to be the sole\noccupant of Duncan's room, but as usage had worn off all prejudice against\nthe occupation of that particular bedroom amongst the members of the\nhousehold, little or no importance was attached to the general belief that\nthe room was haunted.\n\nIt was a midsummer night, and I had been asleep, but had awakened, and\nlay wondering what time it was, just as a clock on one of the landings\nstruck twelve. As the last stroke died away I distinctly heard a footstep\ncoming upstairs. All being perfectly quiet in the Castle at that hour, I\ncould hear the slightest sound. Nearer and nearer to the door of my room\ncame the midnight visitant, until it seemed to enter; but although the\nroom was flooded with moonlight I saw no one come in, yet I was perfectly\nconscious that some mysterious presence was near me. I was not in the\nleast frightened at the time. Although wide awake I could see nothing. A\npeculiar sound resembling the opening and shutting of a stiff drawer now\ncame from the corner of the room where was the impress of the bloody hand.\nI then sat up in bed and called out, \"Who's there? what do you want?\" but\ngot no answer. After this I must confess to feeling uncomfortable, a state\nwhich changed to something like positive fear as a rustling sound\nresembling that made by a silk dress passed out of the room. All this time\nthe door remained closed. Nothing, therefore, possessing a material body\ncould either have entered or left the room without its entrance or exit\nbeing noticed, but although I looked in the direction from which the\nmoving sound proceeded nothing could be seen. It was with a sense of\nrelief that I listened with bated breath and palpitating heart to the\nretreating footsteps as they slowly descended the stairs and gradually\ndied away in the distance, and then all was silent again, ... and here the\nmystery rests.\"\n\nThere is a tradition that somewhere about Machermore Castle there is\nburied under a flat stone a kettle full of gold:\n\n  \"Between the Castle and the River Cree\n   Lies enough o' gold to set a' Scotland free.\"\n\nThe spell of the White Lady for good or evil is exercised no longer in the\nancestral home of the Dunbars of Machermore.\n\nBetween Kirkdale House and Cassencarry, on the beautiful sea-girt road\nleading from Creetown to Gatehouse, there stood many years ago a little\ncottage in a sequestered situation among the woods, where a young girl was\nmurdered by her sweetheart under the saddest of circumstances.\n\nIn and around the cottage immediately afterwards unaccountable noises were\nheard, and the ghost of the unfortunate girl seen, which curiously enough,\nas the tradition tells, at once ceased when the young man was brought to\njustice.\n\nThere is also a further tradition about a gypsy killing a woman near\nKirkdale Bridge. At twelve o'clock at night, it is said, the ghost of a\nwoman with half of her head cut off, and all clad in white, appears at\nKirkdale Bridge, and slowly wends its way along the road and disappears by\nthe wooded pathway leading to Kirkdale Bank.(84) This apparition is firmly\nbelieved in by folks in that locality.\n\nThe district of Dalry has furnished us with tales of witch and fairy lore.\nOf ghost tradition there are also authentic details, of which the most\nimportant concerns the old mansion-house of Glenlee. The following details\nare extracts from a paper on the subject contributed to the _Gallovidian_\n(Winter, 1900):--\n\n\"In the north of Kirkcudbrightshire, in the beautiful district of the\nGlenkens, on the banks of the Ken, nearly opposite to the village of Dalry\nbut on the other side of the river, stands the fine mansion-house of\nGlenlee Park, at one time the residence of Lord Glenlee, one of the Judges\nof the Court of Session. Silent and solitary, and untenanted for years now\nexcept by a caretaker, this eligible residence has the reputation of being\nhaunted by a lady who walks about dressed in grey silk.\n\nA lady, who is still alive, tells how the grey lady appeared to her one\nevening as she was sitting in front of her dressing-glass waiting on her\nmaid to come and do up her hair. While looking into the mirror she became\naware of someone or something behind her, and then saw a lady enter by the\ndoor of her room, pass across the floor, and disappear through a door\nwhich communicated with a dressing-room. As the house was full of company\nat the time she wondered whether some of the strangers had mistaken the\nway to her room; but she waited in vain for her return, and just as she\nwas thinking of going to explore the mystery it occurred to her that there\nhad been no sound of doors opening or of footfalls on the floor, nor was\nthere any sound in the direction in which the lady had disappeared, and\nfinally it struck her that the lady was not dressed like anyone in the\nhouse.\n\nOn another occasion the same lady was sitting up with her husband, who was\nseriously ill, and during the night a kind of rap was heard on the door,\nor about the door, which roused her to go and see what it was. Upon\nopening the door a face stared at her, but spoke not, and passed silently\nalong the dimly-lighted corridor out of sight.\n\nA guest at Glenlee, before going off to some entertainment one evening ran\nup to his bedroom for something or other, and to his surprise there was a\nlady standing at his dressing-table putting some finishing touches to her\ntoilette. He at once withdrew, thinking that some of the ladies in the\nhurry of the moment had gone into the wrong bedroom. When he came down\nagain they were all upon the point of departure, and called to him to come\nalong--but before getting into the carriage he said,\n\n'You have forgotten one of the ladies.'\n\n'Oh, no!' they said, 'everyone is here, and but for your lingering we\nshould have been off.'\n\nOne evening at dark the butler was hastening down the avenue on some\nerrand to the lodge-keeper's, when suddenly a lady hurried past him, and\nhe heard nothing but a faint rustle as of her dress, or the faint\nflickering of the remaining autumn leaves in the breeze overhead. As it\nwas at a time when all the ladies were supposed to be indoors curiosity\npiqued him to follow her and watch her movements. She hurried on without\nonce looking round, and finally disappeared through a disused cellar door\nwhich he knew to be locked and rusted from want of use. Not till then did\nit strike the butler that there was anything uncanny about the lady that\nhad hurried past him in the gloom of the evening.\n\nNo satisfactory explanation of these unpleasant experiences has ever been\nestablished.\n\nMr Blacklock, in his notes on _Twenty Years' Holidaying in the Glenkens_,\nmakes mention of the Glenlee ghost, and adds that Lady Ashburton was\nsaid to have poisoned her husband, who was afflicted with _morbus\npediculus_. 'Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap'--and there\nis a further tradition that Lady Ashburton's butler poisoned her in turn,\nin order to possess himself of some valuables which he coveted.\n\n[Illustration: THE HEADLESS PIPER OF PATIESTHORN. Sketch by J. Copland,\nDundrennan.]\n\nThe disturbances are chiefly connected with the old part of the house, the\nbedroom and dressing-room previously mentioned, which seem to be the chief\nhaunts of this yet unlaid ghost.\"\n\nIn the village of Dalry itself there stood a row of houses called\nBogle-Hole, on the site now occupied by the school. In one of these houses\na man was said to have poisoned his wife, and the ghost of the murdered\nwoman has, according to credible authority, appeared even within recent\nyears.\n\nThe following singular story is connected with the lonely district of the\nMoor of Corsock:\n\n\"Many years ago a drover, while making his way north and crossing that\nwild and thinly populated district which lies between the head of the\nparish of Parton and the Moor of Corsock had the following uncanny\nexperience: He had left the Parton district late in the afternoon with the\nintention of reaching a farm-house some miles north of the village of\nCorsock. By the time he reached the path over Corsock Hill, however, it\nhad become dark, and occasional flashes of lightning foretold that a storm\nwas at hand. With loud peals of thunder, vivid flashes of lightning, and a\ndownpour of rain the storm at last broke. The only shelter near at hand\nwas some thorn bushes by the roadside, under which the drover crept and\nstayed for fully an hour, while the storm raged and the darkness\nincreased. When the storm had somewhat abated the drover set out once\nmore, hurrying as fast as the darkness would allow him. He had reached a\nvery desolate part of the moor when his collie gave a low whine and crept\nclose to his master's heels. The drover stood up for a moment to try and\nfind a reason for the dog's behaviour, when down in the glen between the\nhills he heard what at first appeared the sound of bagpipes, which\nincreased quickly to a shrill piercing wailing that struck terror to his\nheart, the collie creeping closer and closer to his heel whining in a way\nthat showed he was as much frightened as his master.\n\nStanding irresolute, a blaze of blue light flashed right in front of him,\nin the centre of which appeared the figure of a piper, his pipes standing\nlike horns against the background of blue light. The figure moved\nbackwards and forwards playing the wildest of music all the time. It next\nseemed to come nearer and nearer, and the drover, now transfixed to earth\nwith terror, saw that the piper was headless, and his body so thin that\nsurrounding hills and country could be seen right throught it. A blinding\nflash of fire, followed by an ear-splitting clap of thunder, brought\nmatters to a close for the time being, and the drover fell prostrate among\nthe heather. When he recovered his senses the strange light had gone, and\nwith it the headless piper. The storm had cleared off, and in due time he\nreached the farm, where he was put up for the night. When he told his\nstory no one spoke for a moment or two, then the farmer's aged father\nbroke silence: 'Aye, aye, lad, ye hae seen the ghost o' the piper wha was\nmurdered on his wey frae Patiesthorn.[44] I hae had the same fearsome\nexperience myself, tho' its mair than saxty years syne.'\"(85)\n\nIn the Dundrennan district of Kirkcudbright a persisted belief lingers\nconcerning a headless lady haunting the Buckland Glen. The following\nnarrative which has been handed down lends an increased interest to the\ntradition:--\n\nLong ago a Monkland farmer, accompanied by one of his farm-lads, was on\nhis return from Kirkcudbright at a very late hour. The farmer was riding a\nsmall Highland pony, the boy being on foot. It was about midnight when\nthey got to that part of Buckland Glen where a small bridge crosses the\nBuckland Burn. They had just crossed the bridge when the pony suddenly\nstood up and swerved, almost throwing the farmer out of the saddle.\n\n\"What's wrang wi' ye the nicht, Maggie--what's tae fricht ye, my lass?\"\n\n\"Eh, Maister, did ye see that?\" whispered the lad. \"See--yonner it's\nagain!\"\n\nThe old man looked, and muttering to himself whispered, \"Aye, it's there,\nladdie! It's a' true what hes been mony a time telt! That's the ghost o'\nthe headless leddy wha was murdered in the glen in the aul' wicked times.\nWe'll no gang by, but gang doon the lane and slip hame by Gilroanie.\"\n\nTurning the quivering pony they wended their way along the woods which\nthickly fringe the Buckland Burn, as it leads to the shore at the\nManxman's Lake, and reached home without further difficulty than keeping\nin hand the frightened pony. The curious fact was a week later discovered\nthat two disreputable characters had lain in wait, for the purpose of\nrobbery or perhaps worse, at a lonely turn on the Bombie road about a\nquarter of a mile from Buckland Brig. They had learned that the farmer had\nbeen to Kirkcudbright to draw a sum of money, and, had the sudden\nappearance of the Buckland ghost not turned their path, another tragedy\nmight have been that night enacted in the Buckland Glen.\n\n[Illustration: THE GHOST OF BUCKLAND GLEN. Sketch by J. Copland,\nDundrennan.]\n\nConcerning the parish of Rerwick the account of \"A true relation of an\napparition, expressions, and actings of a spirit which infested the house\nof Andrew Mackie, in Ringcroft of Stocking, in the parish of Rerwick, in\nthe Stewartry of Kirkcudbright in Scotland, 1695, by Mr Alexander Telfair,\nMinister of that parish, and attested by many other persons who were also\neye and ear witnesses,\" will be found in its original form in the\nAppendix.\n\nOne of the most interesting weird stories connected with Galloway, centres\nround a mansion-house in the neighbourhood of Castle-Douglas.\n\nA lady renting it for a few years tells how she was twice or thrice\ndisturbed in the night by hearing a horse trotting round to the front\ndoor, and on getting up to look out of the window always found there was\nnothing to be seen, and nothing to be done but to return shivering to\nbed. Several years after, returning to the neighbourhood, she met the\nowner of the house, who asked her to go and see the improvements he had\nrecently effected. On being shown over the house she was told that the\nroom she had slept in had had the partition taken down between it and the\ndressing-room next it to make a large room, and strangely enough, when\ntaking down the wall, a horse's skull was discovered built into the wall.\n\nThe only connecting link to the above curious circumstance is that a\nformer proprietor paid a hurried visit to the town of Dumfries at the time\nof the terrible epidemic of cholera (1832), the journey being naturally\naccomplished in these days on horseback. Unfortunately, he contracted the\ndisease and died shortly after his return.\n\nUntil some years ago a huge boulder lay at the roadside on the way from\nDalbeattie to Colvend, not far from the cottage known as the \"Wood\nForester's.\" The story was, that this was the scene of foul play long ago,\nthe victim being a woman, whose ghost afterwards haunted the neighbourhood\nin the black hours of the night.\n\nBearing upon this, an exceedingly graphic account has been furnished the\nwriter of such an apparition having been seen by the captain of a local\ncoasting vessel[45] late one night as he was walking from Kippford to\nDalbeattie. It made its appearance near Aikieslak, which is the next house\nto the \"Wood Forester's,\" and not very far away. The figure walked in\nfront, stopped when he stopped, and finally disappeared, to his intense\nrelief, in the wood to the left.\n\nThe parish of Kirkbean is particularly rich in ghostly record, no fewer\nthan six haunted, or once haunted localities having been noted.(86)\nTraversing the parish from Southwick towards Newabbey, the first eerie\nplace of note is a field above Torrorie known as the \"Murder Fall.\" The\nghost in this instance was that of a man who came to an untimely end by\nhanging.\n\nBetween Mainsriddel and Prestonmill there is a sequestered part of the\nroad known as \"Derry's How,\" once reputed to be haunted by an evil spirit\nin the form of a black four-footed beast. The third uncanny place was a\nfarm-house in this same immediate neighbourhood. The ghostly manifestation\nwas here that of sound--well-defined sounds of footsteps passing along a\npassage to the foot of a staircase, pausing, then seeming to return along\nthe passage again. The sound persisted for many years, and was recognised\nand described by different individuals always as footsteps, which of\nthemselves were so natural as to give rise to no alarm.\n\nBetween Prestonmill and Kirkbean--midway between the two villages--there\nis a small plantation, with, on the other side of the road, a larger wood.\nThe road itself at this particular part forms a hollow. This natural\narrangement of wood and road, known locally as the \"Howlet's Close,\" was\nthe reputed domain of a \"lady in white,\" but so little can be gleaned\nconcerning her appearance that even the origin of the tradition seems to\nbe quite forgotten.\n\nThe \"Three Cross Roads\" near Arbigland is the next spot of ghost-lore\nassociation, round which there lingers a rather romantic tale. A young\nlady, a member of the well-known family of Craik (of Arbigland) had fixed\nher affections upon a young groom in her father's employment, a lad of\ngood physique and manners, but, of course, apart in social status. The\ncourse of true love, however, did not run true, the romantic attachment\nhaving a most tragic ending. One day a single report of fire-arms was\nheard, and soon afterwards the lifeless body of the young man, whose name\nwas Dunn, was discovered. The law took the view of suicide having been\ncommitted, but it was generally believed in the district that a brother of\nthe young lady, incensed at her devotion to one he thought so far beneath\nher, had himself taken the young man's life. This deed of violence took\nplace at the \"Three Cross Roads,\" and this was the place where the\nvictim's ghost was afterwards reported to have been seen.\n\nAnother part of the road on the confines of the parish, and near to where\nit enters that of Newabbey, is associated with the midnight wanderings of\nyet another \"lady in white,\" but concerning this \"poor ghost\" also,\ntradition withholds her story.\n\nThere comes down through the long flight of centuries, a curious old story\nof supernatural sequence to the tragic death of John Comyn at the high\naltar of the Minorite Friary in Dumfries (February 10th, 1306), when the\nimpetuous dagger-thrust of the Bruce, followed by the death dealing\nstrokes of Kirkpatrick and Lindsay, completed the all-significant tale of\nmurder and sacrilege.\n\nThe terrors of the day had passed, and night had fallen. With simple and\nearnest pomp the death-watch over the slain was being held by the troubled\nand anxious Friars. Wearily the hours dragged on. It was the dead of\nnight, and many of them slumbered--all indeed, save one aged Friar, who,\nas the chronicler[46] tells, \"with terror and astonishment heard a ghostly\nvoice mournfully call out, 'How long, O Lord, shall vengeance be\ndeferred?' and in reply an answering wail, 'Endure with patience until the\nanniversary of this day shall return for the fifty-second time,'\" rising\nto the chancel roof with terrible clearness. The aged monk bowed his head,\npraying earnestly that evil might be averted, but it was otherwise to fall\nout.\n\nFifty-two years have passed away, and the hand of hospitality is being\nextended in the fortress of Caerlaverock Castle. In the great hall the\nflickering firelight fitfully lights up the faces of two men who have been\nserved with a parting cup of wine, for the hour draws late. The host is\nRoger Kirkpatrick, the guest James Lindsay, and they are the sons of\nKirkpatrick and Lindsay, whose daggers despatched the Red Comyn. Goodwill\nand friendship evidently prevail as they rise to part for the night, but\nthe rift is in the lute, and an ugly savage look comes to the face of\nLindsay as he is left alone in his room in the west tower.\n\nAn hour later a stealthy figure creeps up the eastern turret stair. There\nis a single well-directed thrust, and deep sleep becomes the deeper sleep\nof death, so sure has been the stroke that sends Roger Kirkpatrick, son of\n\"Mak' Siccar,\" to his doom.\n\nA bridled and a saddled steed stands beyond the confines of the castle\nwalls, and Lindsay, leaping to his seat, terror at his heart, rides into\nthe darkness of the night. Daybreak comes, the alarm is given, and almost\nred-handed the murderer is taken, not three miles from the castle gates,\nfrom which he had deemed himself many leagues away.\n\nHurried to Dumfries, doom is pronounced, and the common place of execution\nclaims him for its own. The ghostly call of the night, \"How long?\" echoing\nthrough the monastery walls, is fulfilled.\n\nWith the history of the South-western district of Scotland the life story\nof Sir Robert Grierson of Lag, or \"Aul' Lag,\" as he is to this day called,\nis intimately associated. In a previous chapter we have dealt with the\nsuperstitious happenings at his death and funeral. Mention must now be\nmade of a legend which concerns the passing of his soul, and which is not\nyet forgotten in Dumfries and Galloway.\n\nThe year of grace, 1733, was wearing fast towards Yule, when one stormy\nnight a small vessel found herself overtaken, at the mouth of the Solway,\nby a gale of wind that was almost too much for her. Close-hauled and\nfighting for every foot of sea-way she was slowly forcing her way\nup-channel against the angry north-west blast when a strange adventure\nbefel her. In a lull following a savage squall the moon broke through the\nblack flying cloud, lighting up the storm-tossed sea and revealing to\nthose aboard another struggling sail far astern. Curiously the seamen\ngazed, but searching glance gave place to wonder, and wonder to fear, when\nthey saw what had at first seemed a craft like themselves, come rushing\nonwards in the very teeth of the wind, and with as much ease as if running\n\"free\" before it. The moon dipped, and again darkness descended on the\nface of the waters, but not for long. Once again the moonlight pierced the\ncurtain of flying cloud. Then was seen what surely was the strangest craft\nthat ever sailed the tossing Solway sea--a great State-coach, drawn by six\njet-black horses, with out-riders, coachmen, and a great retinue of\ntorch-bearers, footmen, and followers, furiously driving onwards over the\nfoam-crested waves. As the phantom carriage plunged nearer, the skipper,\nregaining some little of his courage, ran forwards, hailing in sailor\nfashion--\"Where bound? and where from?\"--and the answer came back, clear\nand distinct across the raging waters--\"To tryst with Lag! Dumfries!\nfrom--Hell!\"\n\n[Illustration: \"TO TRYST WITH LAG.\" Sketch by J. Copland, Dundrennan.]\n\nA similar legend exists in connection with the death of William, Duke of\nQueensberry, appointed High Commissioner to James VII., 1685, and whose\nattitude towards the Covenanters is still remembered against him.\n\n\"Concerning the death of the Duke of Drumlanrig, _alias_ Queensberry, we\nhave the following relation: That a young man perfectly well acquainted\nwith the Duke (probably one of those he had formerly banished), being now\na sailor and in foreign countries, while the ship was upon the coast of\nNaples and Sicily, near one of the burning mountains, one day they espied\na coach and six, all in black, going towards the mount with great\nvelocity; when it came past them they were so near that they could\nperceive the dimensions and features of one that sat in it.\n\nThe young man said to the rest--'If I could believe my own eyes, or if I\never saw one like another, I would say that it is the Duke.'\n\nIn an instant they heard an audible voice echo from the mount--'Open to\nthe Duke of Drumlanrig!' upon which the coach, now near the mount,\nvanished.\n\nThe young man took pen and paper, and upon his return found it exactly\nanswer the day and hour the Duke died.\"(87)\n\nOf Drumlanrig Castle itself, the writer of _Drumlanrig and the Douglases_\nnotes, that \"like all old baronial residences, this castle was believed to\nbe haunted by the ghosts of the dead. The most alarming legend was\nconnected with what was known as the 'Bloody Passage,' where a foul murder\nhad been committed, and the very spot was marked out by the stains of\nblood, which no housemaid's scrubbing could obliterate. It is the passage\non the south side of the castle running above the drawing-room, from which\na number of bed-chambers enter. Here, at midnight, the perturbed spirit of\na lady, in her night clothes, parades, bewailing her sad fate, but by whom\nshe had suffered tradition tells not. There is also a haunted room on the\neast side of the castle, on the fourth storey from the ground, where in\nformer times fearful noises used to be heard.\"\n\nPassing from Thornhill to Moniaive by way of Penpont and Tynron a\nconspicuous land-mark is the truncated peak of Tynron Doon, the abrupt\nending of the hill range dividing the valley of the Scaur from that of the\nShinnel. Round Tynron Doon there linger memories of a spectre in the form\nof a headless horseman restlessly riding a black horse. The local\ntradition is, that the ghost was that of a young gentleman of the family\nof M'Milligan of Dalgarnock, who had gone to offer his addresses to the\ndaughter of the Laird of Tynron Castle. His presence was objected to,\nhowever, by one of the young lady's brothers. Hot words followed, and in\nhigh wrath the suitor rode off; but mistaking his way he galloped over the\nsteepest part of the hill and broke his neck, and so, with curses and\nwords of evil on his very lips, his spirit was not allowed to pass\nuntroubled to the realms beyond.\n\nIn the adjoining parish of Glencairn the following ghost vestiges have\nbeen gleaned:--\"At Auchenstroan and Marwhirn a white woman is seen; at\nPentoot and Gaps Mill 'pens' a crying child (supposed to have been\nmurdered) is heard. The Nut Wood at Maxwellton was long supposed to\nharbour an emissary of the Evil One, and woe betide the traveller who\nfailed to gain the running waters of Cairn or Shinnel. Jarbruck and\nKirkland bridges were also of evil repute.\"(88)\n\nIn the district of Sanquhar there are numerous stories of supernatural\nappearance and ghostly visit.\n\nConnected with Sanquhar Castle, or Crichton Peel as it is otherwise\ntermed, now a ruined remnant, there are two distinctive ghost legends.\n\nThe first is concerned with the fate--in the far-off old unhappy days--of\na servitor of Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick of Closeburn, who \"suffered\"\ninnocently at the hands of the sixth Lord Crichton. In this instance the\nghost was not seen, but manifested its presence by strange chain-clanking\nnoises within the castle walls.\n\nThe other is yet another \"Lady in White,\" whose rare appearance foretold\ngrief or misfortune to the Crichton family. The legend runs that it was\nthe ghost of a young maiden who had been wronged and murdered by one of\nthe Lords of Sanquhar.\n\nLittlemark, a small farm on the Eliock estate, three miles from Sanquhar,\nwas the scene, some two hundred years ago, of the murder of a pedlar, who\ncame into the district with a large and valuable quantity of goods carried\non a pack-horse.\n\nThe ghost which was supposed to haunt the neighbourhood was curiously\nenough not that of the pedlar himself, but took the form of the bundle or\n\"pack\" itself, moving slowly above and along the ground.\n\nStories which tell of the visitations and appearances of the ghost of\nAbraham Crichton, erstwhile Provost of Sanquhar, are to this day well\nremembered in the district. A merchant in Sanquhar, he seems in life to\nhave been a shrewd and active citizen, with the reputation of being very\nwealthy. In 1734 he became Provost, succeeding his brother in that office,\nand also inheriting the possession of Carco. But evil days came, and in\n1741 he was declared a bankrupt. The deed which seems chiefly to have\nmarked him out for unrest in the next world was the share he took in the\nabolition of the services in the old parish church of Kirkbride and of its\nexistence as a separate parish. An actual attempt, at his instigation, to\n\"ding doon the Whigs' sanctuary,\" to use his own expression, was\nfrustrated by Divine intervention--it was said--in the form of a violent\nstorm. The workmen were obliged to desist, and shortly afterwards Abraham\nmet his death by a fall from his horse near Dalpeddar. With this as an\nintroduction, let Dr Simpson continue the story as it is set down in the\n_History of Sanquhar_:--\"Though declared a bankrupt before his death, the\ngood people of Sanquhar were convinced that he must have somewhere\nsecreted his money, and acted a fradulent part. On this account it was\nsupposed that he could not rest in his grave, and hence the belief of his\nfrequent appearances in the sombre churchyard, to the affrightment of all\nand sundry who passed near the burying-ground in the evening dusk. The\nveritable apparition of this worthy was firmly credited by the populace,\nwho were kept in a state of perpetual alarm. Many a maid, with her\nmilk-pail on her head, dashed the whole to the ground when the ghost\nshowed himself at a kirkyard wall, and ran home screaming with affright,\nand finally fell on the floor in a faint. The exploits of the resuscitated\nProvost was endless. He assailed all who dared to pass near his\nresting-place, young and old, men and women. The consternation became\nuniversal, the attention of the whole district was directed to the\nsubject, which, indeed, became a topic of discussion throughout the\nsouth-west of Scotland. Its merits were discussed also in the Edinburgh\nforum, and attracted the attention of the learned North Briton, Thomas\nRudiman.[47]\n\nAt length the matter came to a crisis, and it was found necessary to do\nsomething to allay the popular excitement. In those days it was believed\nthat certain sacred charms were effectual in allaying a ghost, and that\nthe charm, whatever it might be, was chiefly to be employed by a minister\nof the gospel. The next thing, then, was to find a person of this order\nwho had the sanctity and fortitude necessary to accomplish the feat. The\nindividual fixed on was a venerable minister of the name of Hunter, in the\nparish of Penpont. During the night he went to the churchyard, and on the\nfollowing day gave out that he had laid Abraham's ghost, and that in\nfuture no person need have the least alarm in passing the churchyard, as\nhe never again would trouble anyone. Mr Hunter's statement was implicitly\nbelieved, and nothing supernatural has since been seen within the ancient\nburying-ground of Sanquhar. To add to the seeming mystery which Mr Hunter\nwished to keep up, when questioned on what he had said or done to the\nspirit he replied, 'No person shall ever know that.' In order, however, to\nprevent all such annoyances for the time coming, and to retain Abraham\nmore effectually within the bounds of his narrow cell, it was deemed\nprudent to keep down the flat gravestone with a strong band of iron or\nstout chain. This precaution, it was supposed, would keep the popular mind\nmore at ease.\"\n\nTo Poldean, in Wamphray, situated at the north-west corner of the parish,\non the Annan, about five miles from Moffat, there is a curious old-world\nghost reference in _Law's Memorials_, edited by Kirkpatrick Sharp. In the\nnarrative, which is here given, Poldean is described as \"Powdine in\nAnnandale\":--\n\n\"Also in the south-west border of Scotland, in Annandale, there is a house\ncalled Powdine belonging to a gentleman called Johnston; that house hath\nbeen haunted these fifty or sixty years. At my coming to Worcester, 1651,\nI spoke with the gentleman (being myself quartered within two miles of the\nhouse). He told me many extraordinary relations consisting in his own\nknowledge; and I carried him to my master, to whom he made the same\nrelations--noises and apparitions, drums and trumpets heard before the\nlast war; yea, he said, some English soldiers quartered in his house were\nsoundly beaten by that irresistible inhabitant.... He tells me that the\nspirit now speaks, and appears frequently in the shape of a naked arm.\"\n\nThree and a half miles north-east of Lochmaben, on the banks of the Annan,\nstands the turreted ruin of Spedlins Tower, the old home of the Jardines\nof Applegarth.\n\nGrim, gaunt, and lonely, one of the best accredited ghost legends in the\nsouth-west of Scotland lingers round its walls. The story has been told\nmany times, and the version here selected is that of Francis Grose, the\nantiquary, who described the Tower in his _Antiquities of Scotland_\n(1789-91):--\n\n\"Spedlins Tower is chiefly famous for being haunted by a bogle or ghost.\nAs the relation will enliven the dullness of antiquarian disquisition, I\nwill here relate it as it was told me by an honest woman who resides on\nthe spot, and who, I will be sworn from her manner, believed every\nsyllable of it. In the time of the late Sir John Jardine's grandfather, a\nperson named Porteous, living in the parish of Applegarth, was taken up on\nsuspicion of setting fire to a mill, and confined in the lord's prison,\nthe pit or dungeon, at this castle. The lord being suddenly called to\nEdinburgh on some pressing and unexpected business, in his hurry forgot to\nleave the key of the pit, which he always held in his own custody. Before\nhe discovered his mistake and could send back the key--which he did the\nmoment he found it out--the man was starved to death, having first,\nthrough the extremity of hunger, gnawed off one of his hands. Ever after\nthat time the castle was terribly haunted till a Chaplain of the family\nexorcised and confined the bogle to the pit, whence it could never come\nout, so long as a large Bible, which he had used on that business,\nremained in the castle. It is said that the Chaplain did not long survive\nthis operation. The ghost, however, kept quietly within the bounds of his\nprison till a long time after, when the Bible, which was used by the whole\nfamily, required a new binding, for which purpose it was sent to\nEdinburgh. The ghost, taking advantage of its absence, was extremely\nboisterous in the pit, seeming as if it would break through the iron door,\nand making a noise like that of a large bird fluttering its wings. The\nBible being returned, and the pit filled up, everything has since remained\nperfectly quiet. But the good woman declared, that should it again be\ntaken off the premises no consideration whatever would induce her to\nremain there a single night.\"\n\nJardine Hall, the new home of the Jardines, to which the family had\nremoved, is situated on the opposite side of the river Annan, its windows\noverlooking the old walls of Spedlins Tower. It also was by no means free\nfrom a share of the haunting of the dead miller, for during the time the\nBible had gone to Edinburgh to be re-bound, the ghost, getting out of the\ndungeon, crossed the river and presented itself at the new house, making a\ngreat disturbance, and actually hauling the baronet and his lady out of\nbed. Some accounts indeed, say that so terrifying was its behaviour that\nthe unhappy owner of Jardine Hall refused to wait until the Bible was\nrepaired, but recalled it hastily before it reached the Capital, in order\nthat its holy presence might quell the restless spirit and keep it\nconfined to its dungeon.\n\nThe Bible which plays so prominent a part in the story is an old\nblack-letter edition, printed by Robert Baker, A.D. 1634. It is covered\nwith old calf-skin, and inclosed in a massive brass-bound box made out of\none of the old beams of Spedlins Tower itself, which, needless to say, is\nmost carefully preserved.\n\nThe spirited ballad of \"The Prisoner of Spedlins,\" by Robert Chambers, may\nhere not inappropriately be included:--\n\n  To Edinburgh, to Edinburgh,\n    The Jardine he maun ride;\n  He locks the gates behind him,\n    For lang he means to bide,\n\n  And he, nor any of his train,\n    While minding thus to flit,\n  Thinks of the weary prisoner\n    Deep in the castle pit.\n\n  They were not gane a day, a day,\n    A day but barely four,\n  When neighbours spake of dismal cries\n    Were heard from Spedlins Tower.\n\n  They mingled wi' the sighs of trees\n    And the thud-thud o' the linn;\n  But nae ane thocht 'twas a deein' man\n    That made that eldrich din.\n\n  At last they mind the gipsy loon\n    In dungeon lay unfed;\n  But ere the castle key was got\n    The gipsy loon was dead.\n\n  They found the wretch stretch'd out at length\n    Upon the cold, cold stone,\n  With starting eyes and hollow cheek,\n    And arms peeled to the bone.\n\n    *       *       *       *       *\n\n  Now Spedlins is an eerie house,\n    For oft at mirk midnight\n  The wail of Porteous' starving cry\n    Fills a' that house wi' fright:\n\n  \"O let me out, O let me out,\n    Sharp hunger cuts me sore;\n  If ye suffer me to perish so,\n    I'll haunt you evermore.\"\n\n  O sad, sad was the Jardine then,\n    His heart was sorely smit;\n  Till he could wish himself had been\n    Left in that deadly pit.\n\n  But \"Cheer up,\" cried his lady fair,\n    \"'Tis purpose makes the sin;\n  And where the heart has had no part\n    God holds his creature clean.\"\n\n  Then Jardine sought a holy man\n    To lay that vexing sprite;\n  And for a week that holy man\n    Was praying day and night.\n\n  And all that time in Spedlins House\n    Was held a solemn fast,\n  Till the cries waxed low, and the boglebo\n    In the deep red sea was cast.\n\n    *       *       *       *       *\n\n  There lies a Bible in Spedlins Ha',\n    And while it there shall lie\n  Nae Jardine can tormented be\n    With Porteous' starving cry.\n\n  But Applegarth's an altered man,\n    He is no longer gay;\n  The thought of Porteous clings to him\n    Until his dying day.\n\nThe mansion-house of Knockhill, in the parish of Hoddom, was the scene of\na tragedy in the earlier part of last century, which had the sequence of\nghost visitation. It is referred to in the \"Irvings of Hoddom,\" an\ninteresting contribution to the family history of the district. Shortly\nthe story is as follows:--A young man named Bell who had been\nsurreptitiously visiting his sweetheart, one of the maids in the house,\nwas heard by the butler, who shot him as he was escaping through a\nbasement window. The butler was tried and acquitted, but Knockhill was\nafterwards haunted by the ghost of the victim so much that servants would\nnot remain. At last the proprietor, then a Mr Scott, asked the Rev. W.\nWallace Duncan, then helper to Mr Yorstoun, parish minister, to sleep in\nthe house, with the result, it is told, that from then the ghost\ndisappeared from Knockhill.(89)\n\nIn this same parish of Hoddom, the student of Carlyle will remember that\n\"old John Orr,\" the only schoolmaster that Carlyle's father ever had,\n\"laid a ghost.\" It was in \"some house or room at Orchard, in the parish of\nHoddom. He entered the haunted place, was closeted in it for some time,\nspeaking and praying. The ghost was really and truly laid, for no one\nheard more of it.\"(90)\n\nBonshaw Tower, on the Kirtle (parish of Annan), the original home of the\nIrvings, also contributes to the ghost-lore of the district.\n\nTradition tells that a daughter of the house was thrown from the\nbattlements of the Tower by her own relatives, whom she had deeply\nincensed by her determination to marry a \"Maxwell,\" with which family the\nIrvings held long and bitter feud. It is, or rather was, the ghost of this\nyoung lady who haunted the Tower of Bonshaw, but she has not been visible\nwithin living memory.\n\nBlackett Tower, also on the Kirtle (parish of Kirkpatrick-Fleming), was a\nborder fortress well known in the records of border raid and foray. It was\nfor long the home of the family of Bell.\n\nThe ruined tower has a ghost legend which claims it as the abode of a\nspectre known as \"Old Red-Cap, or Bloody Bell.\" A poetical descriptive\nreference to the tower and its phantom occurs in the poem of \"Fair Helen.\"\nThe passage is of undoubted vigour and masterly touch, and is here given,\nthe author, William Scott Irving, at the same time offering the opinion\n\"that the legends and anecdotes of 'Bloody Bell' would fill a large quarto\nvolume\":\n\n  Of Blackett's Towers strange tales are told:\n  The legendary lore of old,\n  That dread belief, whose mystic spell\n  Could people Gothic vault or cell\n  With being of terrific form,\n  And superstition bound the charm.\n  'Tis said, that here, at the night's high noon,\n  When broad and red the eastern moon\n  Beams through the chinks of its vast saloon,\n  A ghastly phantom takes its stand\n  On the wall that frowns o'er wear and strand,\n  A bloody dagger in its hand,\n  And ever and aye on the hollow gale\n  Is heard its honorie and wail\n  Dying along the distant vale.\n  The 'nighted peasant starts aghast\n  To hear its shriekings on the blast;\n  Turns him to brave the wintry wind,\n  Nor dares he lingering look behind,\n  But hurries across the moaning flood,\n  And deems its waters swollen with blood--\n  Such are the tales at Lyke-wake drear,\n  When the unholy hour of night draws near,\n  When the ban-dog howls, and the lights burn blue,\n  And the phantom fleets before the view;\n  When \"Red-Cap\" wakes his eldrich cry,\n  And the winds of the wold come moaning by.(91)\n\nThe Old Hall of Ecclefechan (Kirkconnel Hall) is also supposed to be\nhaunted. Little is known about it, but the opinion has been expressed\nthat \"the mysterious apparition of the 'Ha' Ghost' seems to have haunted\nthe place from the distant past, and its mysterious and noisy\ndemonstrations have from time to time disturbed the residents. It is said\nto make its appearance before and at the time of the death of any member\nof the family.\"(92)\n\nIn the parish of Eskdalemuir there is a farm-house called Todshawhill. It\nis on the Black Esk, about three miles in a south-westerly direction from\nthe Parish Church. With the name of this farm there is associated the\nmemory of something uncanny, known far and wide as the \"Bogle of\nTodshawhill.\" It seems rather to have been a \"brownie\" than a \"ghost,\" but\nsome account of it is here given as described by Dr Brown and embodied in\nan antiquarian account of the parish. According to Dr Brown, one of the\nbogle's biographers, this creature made a stay of a week, less or more, at\nTodshawhill farmhouse, disappearing for the most part during the day, only\nto reappear towards evening. Its freaks and eccentricities very naturally\nattracted a number of people to the neighbourhood, and among the number,\nThomas Bell from Westside, the neighbouring farmer, who, in order to\nassure himself that it had flesh and blood like other folks, took it up\nin his arms and fully satisfied himself that it had its ample share of\nboth. In appearance it resembled an old woman above the middle, with very\nshort legs and thighs, and it affected a style of walk at once so comical\nand undignified that the Rev. Dr aforesaid was compelled to pronounce it\n\"waddling.\" The first intimation or indication of its presence in these\nparts was given, I understand, at the head of Todshawhill Bog, where some\nyoung callants who were engaged in fastening up the horses of the farm\nheard a cry at some little distance off--\"Tint, Tint, Tint\"--to which one\nof the lads, William Nichol by name, at once replied, \"You shall not tine\nand me here,\" and then the lads made off, helter-skelter, with the\nmisshapen little creature at their heels. In his terror one of the lads\nfell head foremost into a hole or moss hag, and the creature, \"waddling\"\npast him to get at the rest, came into violent contact with a cow, which,\nnaturally resenting such unceremonious treatment, pushed at it with its\nhorns, whereupon the creature replied, \"God help me, what means the cow?\"\nThis expression soothed, if it did not wholly allay, the fears of all\nconcerned, for they at once concluded that if the creature had been a\nspirit it would not have mentioned the name of Deity in the way it\ndid.(93)\n\nThe last account to be quoted of supernatural visitation in the\nsouth-western district of Scotland is a particularly striking one, and is\ntaken from an interesting contribution to a recent number of _Chambers's\nJournal_ dealing with apparitions:--\n\n\"In the Lowlands of Scotland stood an old manor house, where the owner's\nwife was on her death-bed. The ancient furniture still remained in the\nroom, so the invalid lay in a four-post bed, with curtains all round it,\nwherein many generations of the family had been born and died. The\ncurtains were drawn at its foot and on the side nearest the wall, but they\nwere open on the other to a blazing fire, before which sat an attendant\nnurse. A tall screen on her left hand shielded her from the draught from a\ndoor, whose top was visible above it; and as the nurse sat there she\nbecame conscious that the door was opening and that a hand seemed to rest\nfor a moment on the top of the screen. Presently, as she watched,\nhalf-paralysed with fear, a figure appeared from behind the screen--the\nfigure of a young woman clothed in a sacque of rich brocade, over a pink\nsilk petticoat, and wearing a head-dress of the time of Queen Anne. This\nfigure advanced with a gentle undulating movement to the bed and bent down\nover it. Then the nurse jumped up and stretched out her hand to the\nbell-pull; and, lo! when she looked again the figure had vanished, and her\npatient lay there dead, with an expression of rapturous content on her\nsunken face.(94)\n\nLater, when the last sad rites had been accomplished, this nurse wandered\ninto the picture gallery in company with the housekeeper, and pausing\nbefore a certain portrait, exclaimed that there was the original of the\nunknown lady.\n\n'Ah,' came the answer, 'that lady lived here when Queen Anne was on the\nthrone. They say she had a sad life with her lord, and died young. Ever\nsince she is believed, when the mistress of the manor dies, to appear\nbeside the bed, and--and'----\n\n'You need not tell me more,' said the nurse, 'for I also have seen\nher.'\"(94)\n\nNo account of superstitious belief in Galloway would be complete without\nreference to three remarkable tracts, giving quaint and circumstantial\naccounts of alleged supernatural visitations from the spirit-world beyond.\nIn their order of publication these are--(_a_) \"The Surprising Story of\nthe Devil of Glenluce\"; (_b_) \"A True Account of an Apparition which\ninfested the house of Andrew Mackie, in Ringcroft, Parish of Rerwick, and\nStewartry of Kirkcudbright in 1695, ... Mr Alexander Telfair\"; and (_c_)\n\"The Laird o' Coul's Ghost.\"\n\nThe \"Devil of Glenluce\" first appeared in an old work on _Hydrostaticks_\nby George Sinclair, Professor of Philosophy and afterwards of Mathematics\nin the University of Glasgow. This work was published in 1672. It was\nagain printed in his more important work, _Satan's Invisible World_, in\n1685. The theme is concerned with the persecution of one Gilbert Campbell,\na weaver, and his family, in the village of Glenluce, by an evil and\ntormenting spirit. As a chapbook this curious work had a very wide\ncirculation.\n\nThe \"True Account of the Rerwick Apparition\" when first published called\nfor two editions within the first year, and with many alterations it was\nalso published in London under the title of \"New Confutation of Sadducism,\nbeing a narrative of a Spirit which infested the house of Andrew Mackie of\nRingcroft, Galloway, in 1695.\" Only the site of Ringcroft of Stoking,\nmarked by some old fir trees, remains, near the village of Auchencairn.\n\n\"The Laird o' Coul's Ghost\" seems to have originally appeared as a\nchapbook, and is thought to have been first published in 1750. It is\nsupposed to be--and the purpose is quaintly carried out--an account of\nfour conferences which the Rev. William Ogilvie (Minister of Innerwick,\nEast Lothian, 1715-1729), held with the restless spirit of Thomas Maxwell,\nLaird of Cuil, a small estate in the parish of Buittle, in Galloway, and\nwho in his lifetime had done a dishonourable action which tormented him\nbeyond the grave.\n\nAs these tracts have a direct bearing on the general consideration of\nsuperstitious record in the South-west of Scotland, and as they are not\nparticularly easy of access, it has been deemed advisable to reprint them,\nand include them as an appendix to this volume.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX.\n\n\n\"Surprising Story of the Devil of Glenluce,\" reprinted from _Satan's\nInvisible World_, written by George Sinclair, and printed in Edinburgh in\nthe year 1685.\n\nThis is that famous and notable Story of the Devil of Glenluce, which I\npublished in my _Hydrostaticks_, _anno_ 1672, and which since hath been\ntranscribed word by word by a learned pen, and published in the late book\nintitutled _Saducismus Triumphaius_, whom nothing but the truth thereof,\nand usefulness for refuting Atheism could have perswaded to transcribe.\nThe subject matter then of this story is a true and short account of the\ntroubles wherewith the family of one Gilbert Campbel, by profession a\nWeaver in the old Parish of Glenluce in Galloway, was exercised. I have\nadventured to publish it _de novo_ in this book, first because it was but\nhudled up among purposes of another nature. But now I have reduced it to\nits own proper place. Next, because this story is more full, being\nenlarged with new additions, which were not in the former, and ends not so\nabruptly, as the other did.\n\nIt happened (says my informer, Gilbert Campbel's son, who was then a\nstudent of philosophy in the Colledge of Glasgow) that after one Alexander\nAgnew, a bold and sturdy beggar, who afterwards was hanged at Drumfries\nfor blasphemy, had threatened hurt to the familie because he had not\ngotten such an almes as he required, the said Gilbert Campbel was\noften-times hindered in the exercise of his calling, and yet could not\nknow by what means this was done. This Agnew, among many blasphemous\nexpressions had this one, when he was interrogate by the judges whether or\nnot he thought there was a God, he answered, he knew no God but salt,\nmeal, and water. When the stirs began first there was a whistling heard\nboth within and without the house. And Jennet Campbel, going one day to\nthe well to bring home some water, was conveyed with a shril whistling\nabout her ears, which made her say, \"I would fain hear thee speake as well\nas whistle.\" Hereupon it said, after a threatening manner, \"I'le cast thee\nJennet into the well.\" The voice was most exactlie like the damsel's\nvoice, and did resemble it to the life. The gentlewoman that heard this\nand was a witness thought the voice was very near to her own ears, and\nsaid the whistling was such as children use to make with their smal\nslender glass whistles.\n\nAbout the middle of November the Foul-Fiend came on with new and\nextraordinary assaults, by throwing of stones in at the doors and windows\nand down the chimney-head, which were of great quantity and thrown with\nforce, yet by God's providence there was not one person in the family that\nwas hurt. This did necessitate Gilbert Campbel to reveale that to the\nMinister of the Parish and to some other neighbours and friends which\nhitherto he had suffered secretly. Notwithstanding of this, his trouble\nwas enlarged; for not long after he found often-times his warp and threeds\ncut as with a pair of sizzers, and not only so, but their apparel were cut\nafter the same manner, even while they were wearing them--their coats,\nbonnets, hose, shoes--but could not discern how or by what mean. Only it\npleased God to preserve their persons, that the least harm was not done.\nYet in the night time they had not liberty to sleep, something coming and\npulling their bedcloaths and linnings off them and leaving their bodies\nnaked. Next their chests and trunks were opened and all things in them\nstrawed here and there. Likewise the parts of their working-instruments\nwhich had escaped were carried away and hid in holes and bores of the\nhouse, where hardly they could be found again. Nay, what ever piece of\ncloath or household-stuff was in any part of the house it was carried away\nand so cut and abused that the goodman was necessitate in all haste and\nspeed to remove and transport the rest to a neighbour's house, and he\nhimself compelled to quite the exercise of his calling, whereby he only\nmaintained his family. Yet he resolved to remain in his house for a\nseason; during which time some persons about, not very judicious,\ncounselled him to send his children out of the family here and there to\ntry whom the trouble did most follow, assuring him that this trouble was\nnot against the whole family, but against some one person or other in it,\nwhom he too willingly obeyed. Yet, for the space of four or five dayes\nthere were no remarkable assaults as before. The Minister hearing thereof\nshewed him the evil of such a course, and assured him that if he repented\nnot and called back his children he might not expect that his trouble\nwould end in a right way. The children that were nigh by being brought\nhome, no trouble followed, till one of his sons called Thomas that was\nfarest off came home. Then did the Devil begin afresh, for upon the Lord's\nDay following, in the afternoon, the house was set on fire; but by the\nhelp of some neighbors going home from sermon, the fire was put out and\nthe house saved, not much loss being done. And Munday after being spent in\nprivate prayer and fasting, the house was again set on fire upon the\nTuesday about nine o'clock in the morning, yet by the speedy help of\nneighbors it was saved, little skaith being done.\n\nThe Weaver being thus vexed and wearied both day and night, went to the\nMinister of the Parish, an honest and Godly man, desiring him to let his\nson Thomas abide with him for a time, who condescended, but withal assured\nhim that he would find himself deceived; and so it came to pass, for\nnotwithstanding that the lad was without the family yet were they that\nremained in it sore troubled both in the day time and night season, so\nthat they were forced to wake till midnight and sometimes all the night\nover, during which time the persons within the family suffered many\nlosses, as the cutting of their cloaths, the throwing of piets, the\npulling down of turff and feal from the roof and walls of the house, and\nthe stealing of their cloaths, and the pricking of their flesh and skin\nwith pins.\n\nSome Ministers about, having conveened at the place for a solemn\nhumiliation, perswaded Gilbert Campbel to call back his son Thomas,\nnotwithstanding of whatsoever hazard might follow. The boy returning home\naffirmed that he heard a voice speak to him, forbidding him to enter\nwithin the house or in any other place where his father's calling was\nexercised. Yet he entered, but was sore abused, till he was forced to\nreturn to the Minister's house again.\n\nUpon Munday, the 12 of February, the rest of the family began to hear a\nvoice speak to them, but could not well know from whence it came. Yet from\nevening till midnight too much vain discourse was kept up with Satan, and\nmany idle and impertinent questions proposed, without that due fear of God\nthat should have been upon their spirits under so rare and extraordinary a\ntrial. They came that length in familiar discourse with the Foul-Thief\nthat they were no more afrayed to keep up the clash with him than to speak\nto one another. In this they pleased him well, for he desired no better\nthan to have sacrifices offered to him. The Minister, hearing of this,\nwent to the house upon the Tuesday, being accompanied with some gentlemen,\none James Bailie of Carphin, Alexander Bailie of Dunraged, Mr Robert Hay,\nand a gentlewoman called Mistris Douglas, whom the Minister's wife did\naccompanie.\n\nAt their first in-coming the Devil says, \"_Quum literarum_, is good\nLatine.\" These are the first words of the Latine rudiments which\nschollars are taught when they go to the grammar school. He crys again, \"A\ndog.\"\n\nThe Minister, thinking that he had spoken it to him, said, \"He took it not\nill to be reviled by Satan, since his Master had troden that path before\nhim.\"\n\nAnswered Satan, \"It was not you, sir, I spoke it to; I meant by the dog\nthere,\" for there was a dog standing behind backs.\n\nThis passing, they all went to prayer, which being ended, they heard a\nvoice speaking out of the ground from under a bed in the proper countrey\ndialect, which he did counterfeit exactly, saying, \"Would you know the\nwitches of Glenluce? I will tell you them\"--and so related four or five\npersons' names that went under a bad report.\n\nThe Weaver informed the company that one of them was dead long ago.\n\nThe Devil answered and said, \"It is true, she is dead long ago, but her\nspirit is living with us in the world.\"\n\nThe Minister replied, saying (though it was not convenient to speak to\nsuch an excommunicat and intercommuned person), \"The Lord rebuke thee,\nSatan, and put thee to silence; we are not to receive information from\nthee whatsoever fame any person goes under; thou are seeking to seduce\nthis family, for Satan's kingdom is not divided against itself.\"\n\nAfter which all went to prayer again, which being ended (for during the\ntime of prayer no noise or trouble was made, except once that a loud\nfearful youel was heard at a distance) the Devil with many threatnings\nboasted and terrified the lad Tom, who had come back that day with the\nMinister, that if he did not depart out of the house he would set all on\nfire.\n\nThe Minister answered and said, \"The Lord will preserve the house and the\nlad too, seeing he is one of the family and hath God's warrant to tarry in\nit.\"\n\nThe Fiend answered, \"He shall not get liberty to tarry; he was once put\nout already, and shal not abide here, though I should pursue him to the\nend of the world.\"\n\nThe Minister replied, \"The Lord will stop thy malice against him.\"\n\nAnd then they all went to prayer again, which being ended, the Devil said,\n\"Give me a spade and a shovel, and depart from the house for seven days,\nand I will make a grave and ly down in it, and shall trouble you no more.\"\n\nThe goodman answered, \"Not so much as a straw shal be given thee through\nGod's assistance, even though that would do it.\" The Minister also added,\n\"God shal remove thee in due time.\"\n\nThe Spirit answered, \"I will not remove for you; I have my commission from\nChrist to tarry and vex this family.\"\n\nThe Minister answered, \"A permission thou hast indeed, but God will stop\nit in due time.\"\n\nThe Devil replied, \"I have, sir, a commission which perhaps will last\nlonger than your own.\"\n\nThe Minister died in the year 1655, in December. The Devil had told them\nthat he had given his commission to Tom to keep.\n\nThe company enquired at the lad, who said there was a something put into\nhis pocket, but it did not tarry.\n\nAfter this the Minister and the gentlemen arose and went to the place\nwhence the voice seemed to come, to try if they could see or find any\nthing. After diligent search, nothing being found, the gentlemen began to\nsay, \"We think this voice speaks out of the children,\" for some of them\nwere in their beds.\n\nThe Foul-Spirit answered, \"You lie; God shall judge you for your lying,\nand I and my father will come and fetch you to hell with warlock thieves:\"\nand so the Devil discharged the gentlemen to speak any thing, saying, \"Let\nhim speak that hath a commission (meaning the Minister), for he is the\nservant of God.\"\n\nThe gentlemen, returning back with the Minister, sat down near the place\nwhence the voice seemed to come, and he opening his mouth spake to them\nafter this manner: \"The Lord will rebuke this spirit in his own time and\ncast it out.\"\n\nThe Devil answering, said, \"It is written in the _9th of Mark_, The\nDisciples could not cast him out.\"\n\nThe Minister replyed, \"What the Disciples could not do, yet the Lord,\nhaving hightned the parents' faith, for His own glory did cast him out and\nso shall He thee.\"\n\nThe Devil replyed, \"It is written in the _4th of Luke_, 'And He departed\nand left him for a season.'\"\n\nThe Minister said, \"The Lord in the dayes of His humiliation not only got\nthe victory over Satan in that assault in the wilderness, but when he came\nagain his success was no better, for it is written (_John 14_), 'Behold\nthe Prince of this World cometh and hath nothing in me,' and being now in\nglory He will fulfil His promise, and (_Rom. 16_) 'God shal bruise Satan\nunder your feet shortly.'\"\n\nThe Devil answered, \"It is written (_Matth. 25_) 'There were ten virgins,\nfive wise & five foolish; and the bridegroom came, the foolish virgins had\nno oyl in their lamps, and went unto the wise to seek oyl, and the wise\nsaid, Go and buy for your selves; and while they went the bridegroom came\nand entered in, and the door was shut, and the foolish virgins were sent\nto hell's fire.'\"\n\nThe Minister answered, \"The Lord knows the sincerity of His servants, and\nthough there be sin and folly in us here, yet there is a fountain opened\nto the house of David for sin and for uncleanness. When He hath washen us\nand pardoned our sins for His name's sake He will cast the unclean spirit\nout of the land.\"\n\nThe Devil answered and said, \"Sir, you should have cited for that place of\nScripture the 13 chap. of _Zech._,\" and so he began at the first verse and\nrepeated several verses, and concluded with these words, \"'In that day I\nwill cause the prophet and the unclean spirit pass out of the land'; but\nafterwards it is written, 'I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall\nbe scattered.'\"\n\nThe Minister answered and said, \"Well are we that our blessed Shepherd was\nsmitten, and thereby hath bruised thy head, and albeit in the hour of His\nsufferings His Disciples forsook Him (_Matth. 26_). Yet now having\nascended on high He sits in glory, and is preserving, gathering in, and\nturning His hand upon His little ones, and will save His poor ones in this\nfamily from thy malice.\"\n\nThe Minister returning back a little and standing upon the floor, the\nDevil said, \"I knew not these Scriptures till my father taught me them.\"\n\nThen the Minister conjured him to tell whence he was.\n\nThe Foul-Fiend replyed that he was an evil spirit come from the bottomless\npit of hell to vex this house, and that Satan was his father; and\npresently there appeared a naked hand and an arm, from the elbow down,\nbeating upon the floor till the house did shake again, and also he uttered\na most fearful and loud cry, saying, \"Come up, Father, come up; I will\nsend my father among you; see, there he is behind your backs.\"\n\nThe Minister said, \"I saw indeed an hand and an arm when the stroak was\ngiven, and heard.\"\n\nThe Devil said to him, \"Say you that? It was not my hand, it was my\nfather's: my hand is more black in the loof.\"\n\n\"O,\" said Gilbert Campbel, \"that I might see thee as well as I hear thee!\"\n\n\"Would you see me?\" says the Foul-Thief; \"put out the candle and I shal\ncome butt the house among you like fire balls. I shall let you see me\nindeed.\"\n\nAlexander Bailie of Dunraged says to the Minister, \"Let us go ben and see\nif there be any hand to be seen.\"\n\nThe Devil answered, \"No, let him come ben alone; he is a good honest man,\nhis single word may be believed.\"\n\nAbout this time the Devil abused Mr Robert Hay, a very honest gentleman,\nvery ill, with his tongue, calling him witch and warlock. A little after,\nthe Devil cryes (it seems out of purpose and in a purpose), \"A witch, a\nwitch, ther's a witch sitting upon the ruist, take her away:\" he meant a\nhen sitting upon the balk of the house.\n\nThese things being past, all went to prayer, during which time he was\nsilent. Prayer being ended, the Devil answered and said, \"If the goodman's\nson's prayers at the Colledge of Glasgow did not prevail with God: my\nfather and I had wrought a mischief here ere now.\"\n\nTo which Alexander Bailie of Dunraged replied, \"Well, well, I see you\nconfess there is a God, and that prayer prevails with Him, and therefore\nwe must pray to God, and commit the event to Him.\"\n\nTo whom the Devil replied, \"Yea, sir, you speak of prayer with your\nbroad-lipped hat (for the gentleman had lately gotten a hat in the fashion\nwith broad lipps). I'le bring a pair of shears from my father, which shall\nclip the lipps off it a little.\" Whereupon he presently imagined that he\nheard and felt a pair of shears going round about his hat, which caused\nhim lift it to see if the Foul-Thief had medled with it.\n\nDuring this time several things, but of less moment, passed, as that he\nwould have Tom a merchant, Rob a smith, John a minister, and Hue a lawier,\nall which in some measure came to pass. As to Jennet, the goodman's\ndaughter, he cryes to her, \"Jennet Campbel, Jennet Campbel, wilt thou cast\nme thy belt?\"\n\nQuoth she, \"what a widdy would thou do with my belt?\"\n\n\"I would fain (says he) fasten my loose bones closs together with it.\"\n\nA younger daughter sitting busking her puppies, as young girls use to do,\nbeing threatned by the Fiend that he would ding out her harns, that is,\nbrain her, answered without being concerned, \"No, if God be to the fore,\"\nand so fell to her work again.\n\nThe goodwife of the house having brought out some bread was breaking it,\nto give everyone of the company a piece.\n\nCryes he, \"Grissel Wyllie, Grissel Wyllie, give me a piece of that hard\nbread (for so they call their oat cakes). I have gotten nothing this day\nbut a bit from Marrit\"--that is, as they speak in that countrey,\nMargaret.\n\nThe Minister said, \"Beware of that, for it is a sacrificing to the Devil.\"\n\nThe girle was called for, and asked if she gave him any hard bread. \"No,\"\nsays she, \"but when I was eating my due piece this morning something came\nand clicked it out of my hand.\"\n\nThe evening being now far spent, it was thought fit that every one should\nwithdraw to his own home. Then did the Devil cry out fearfully, \"Let not\nthe Minister goe home, I shall burn the house if he go,\" and many other\nways did he threaten.\n\nAfter the Minister had gone foorth Gilbert Campbel was very instant with\nhim to tarry, whereupon he returned, all the rest going home. When he came\ninto the house the Devil gave a great gaff of laughter: \"You have now,\nsir, done my bidding.\"\n\n\"Not thine,\" answered the other, \"but in obedience to God have I returned\nto bear this man companie, whom thou doest afflict.\" Then did the Minister\ncall upon God, and when prayer was ended he discharged the Weaver and all\nthe persons of the familie to speak a word to the Devil, and when it spake\nthat they should only kneel down and speak to God.\n\nThe Devil then roared mightily and cryed out, \"What! will ye not speake to\nme? I shall strike the bairns and do all manner of mischief.\"\n\nBut after that time no answer was made to it, and so for a long time no\nspeech was heard. Several times hath he beat the children in their beds,\nand the claps of his loof upon their buttocks would have been heard, but\nwithout any trouble to them. While the Minister and gentlemen were\nstanding at the door readie to go home the Minister's wife and the\ngoodwife were within.\n\nThen cryed Satan, \"Grissel, put out the candle.\"\n\nSayes she to the Minister's wife, \"Shall I do it?\"\n\n\"No,\" says the other, \"For then you shal obey the Devil.\"\n\nUpon this he cryes again with a louder shout, \"Put out the candle.\" The\ncandle still burns. The third time he cries, \"Put out the candle,\" and no\nobedience being given to him he did so often reiterate these words and\nmagnify his voice that it was astonishment to hear him, which made them\nstop their ears, they thinking the sound was just at their ears. At last\nthe candle was put out. \"Now,\" says he, \"I'le trouble you no more this\nnight.\"\n\nI must insert here what I heard from one of the Ministers of that\nPresbytrie, who with the rest were appointed to meet at the Weaver's house\nfor prayer and other exercises of that kind. When the day came, five only\nmet. But before they went in they stood a while in the croft, which layes\nround about the house, consulting what to do. They resolved upon two\nthings--First, there should be no words of conjuration used, as commanding\nhim in the name of God to tell whence he was or to depart from the\nfamilie, for which they thought they had no call from God. Secondly, that\nwhen the Devil spake none should answer him, but hold on in their\nworshipping of God and the duties they were called to. When all of them\nhad prayed by turns and three of them had spoken a word or two from the\nScripture, they prayed again, and then ended without any disturbance. When\nthat brother who informed me had gone out, one Hue Nisbet, one of the\ncompany, came running after him, desiring him to come back, for he had\nbegun to whistle. \"No,\" sayes the other, \"I tarried as long as God called\nme, but go in again I will not.\"\n\nAfter this the said Gilbert suffered much loss, and had many sad nights,\nnot two nights in one week free, and thus it continued till April; from\nApril till July he had some respite and ease, but after he was molested\nwith new assaults, and even their victuals were so abused that the family\nwas in hazard of starving, and that which they eat gave them not their\nordinary satisfaction they were wont to find.\n\nIn this sore and sad affliction Gilbert Campbel resolved to make his\naddresses to the Synod of Presbyters for advice and counsel what to do,\nwhich was appointed to conveen in October, 1655--namely, whether to\nforsake the house or not? The Synod, by their committy appointed to meet\nat Glenluce in February, 1656, thought fit that a solemn humiliation\nshould be kept through all the bounds of the Synod; and, among other\ncauses, to request God in behalf of that afflicted family, which, being\ndone carefully, the event was that his troubles grew less till April, and\nfrom April to August he was altogether free. About which time the Devil\nbegan with new assaults, and taking the ready meat that was in the house\ndid sometimes hide it in holes by the door-posts, and at other times did\nhide it under the beds, and sometimes among the bedcloaths, and under the\nlinnings, and at last did carry it quite away, till nothing was left\nthere, save bread and water. This minds me of a small passage, as a proof\nof what is said. The goodwife one morning making pottage for the\nchildren's breakfasts had the tree-plate, wherein the meal lay, snatched\nfrom her quickly.\n\n\"Well,\" says she, \"let me have the plate again.\" Whereupon it came flying\nat her without any skaith done. 'Tis like if she had sought the meale too\nshe might have got it; such is his civility when he is entreated. A small\nhomage will please him ere he want all. After this he exercised his malice\nand cruelty against all persons in the family in wearying them in the\nnight time by stirring and moving thorow the house, so that they had no\nrest for noise, which continued all the moneth of August after this\nmanner. After which time the Devil grew yet worse by roaring, and\nterrifying them by casting of stones, by striking them with staves on\ntheir beds in the night time. And upon the 18 of September, about\nmidnight, he cryed out with a loud voice, \"I shall burn the house.\" And\nabout three or four nights after he set one of the beds on fire, which was\nsoon put out without any prejudice, except the bed itself.\n\nThus I have written a short and true account of all the material passages\nwhich occurred. To write every particular, especially of lesser moment,\nwould fill a large volum. The goodman lived several years after this in\nthe same house; and it seems that by some conjuration or other the Devil\nsuffered himself to be put away, and gave the Weaver a peaceable\nhabitation. This Weaver has been a very odd man that endured so long these\nmarvellous disturbances.\n\n\n\"A True Relation of an Apparition, Expressions and Actings, of a Spirit\nwhich infested the house of Andrew Mackie, in Ringcroft of Stocking, in\nthe Parish of Rerwick, in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, in Scotland.\"\nPrinted in Edinburgh by George Mosman, and sold at his shop in the\nParliament Close, 1696.\n\nWhereas many are desirous to know the truth of the matter, as to the Evil\nSpirit and its actings, that troubled the family of Andrew Mackie, in\nRingcroft of Stocking, &c., and are liable to be mis-informed, as I do\nfind by the reports that come to my own ears of that matter; therefore\nthat satisfaction may be given, and such mistakes cured or prevented, I,\nthe Minister of the said parish (who was present several times, and was\nwitness to many of its actings, and have heard an account of the whole of\nits methods and actings from the persons present, towards whom, and before\nwhom it did act), have given the ensuing and short account of the whole\nmatter, which I can attest to be the very truth as to that affair; and\nbefore I come to the relation itself, I premise these things with respect\nto what might have been the occasion and rise of that spirit's appearing\nand acting.\n\n1. The said Andrew Mackie being a mason to his employment, 'tis given out,\nthat when he took the mason word, he devoted his first child to the Devil;\nbut I am certainly informed he never took the same, and knows not what\nthat word is. He is outwardly moral; there is nothing known to his life\nand conversation, but honest, civil, and harmless, beyond many of his\nneighbours; doth delight in the company of the best; and when he was under\nthe trouble of that evil spirit, did pray to the great satisfaction of\nmany. As for his wife and children, none have imputed any thing to them as\nthe rise of it, nor is there any ground, for aught I know, for any to do\nso.\n\n2. Whereas it is given out that a woman, _sub mala fama_, did leave some\nclothes in that house in the custody of the said Andrew Mackie, and died\nbefore they were given up to her, and he and his wife should have kept\nsome of them back from her friends. I did seriously pose both him and his\nwife upon the matter; they declared they knew not what things were left,\nbeing bound up in a sack, but did deliver entirely to her friends all they\nreceived from the woman, which I am apt to believe.\n\n[Illustration: \"RINGCROFT OF STOCKING,\" NOW NO LONGER IN EXISTENCE.\n(Sketch by J. Copland, Dundrennan.)]\n\n3. Whereas one, ---- Macknaught, who sometime before possessed the house,\ndid not thrive in his own person or goods. It seems he had sent his son to\na witch-wife who lived then at the Routing Bridge, in the parish of\nIrongray, to enquire what might be the cause of the decay of his person\nand goods. The youth, meeting with some foreign soldiers, went abroad to\nFlanders, and did not return with an answer. Some years after there was\none John Redick in this parish who, having had occasion to go abroad, met\nwith the said young Macknaught in Flanders, and they knowing other,\nMacknaught enquired after his father and other friends; and finding the\nsaid John Redick was to go home, desired him to go to his father, or\nwhoever dwelt in the Ringcroft, and desire them to raise the door\nthreshold, and search till they found a tooth, and burn it, for none who\ndwelt in that house would thrive till that was done. The said John Redick\ncoming home, and finding the old man Macknaught dead and his wife out of\nthat place, did never mention the matter nor further mind it till this\ntrouble was in Andrew Mackie's family, then he spoke of it and told the\nmatter to myself. Betwixt Macknaught's death and Andrew Mackie's\npossession of this house there was one Thomas Telfair who possessed it\nsome years. What way he heard the report of what the witch-wife had said\nto Macknaught's son I cannot tell; but he searched the door threshold and\nfound something like a tooth, did compare it with the tooth of a man,\nhorse, nolt, and sheep (as he said to me), but could not say which it did\nresemble, only it did resemble a tooth. He did cast it into the fire,\nwhere it burnt like a candle or so much tallow; yet he never knew any\ntrouble about that house by night or by day, before or after, during his\npossession. These things premised being suspected to have been the\noccasion of the troubles, and there being no more known as to them than\nwhat is now declared, I do think the matter still unknown what may have\ngiven a rise thereto, but leaving this I subjoin the matter as follows:\n\nIn the month of February, 1695, the said Andrew Mackie had some young\nbeasts, which in the night-time were still loosed and their bindings\nbroken, he taking it to be the unrulyness of the beasts, did make stronger\nand stronger bindings, of withes and other things, but still all were\nbroken. At last he suspected it to be some other thing, whereupon he\nremoved them out of that place; and the first night thereafter one of them\nwas bound with a hair-tedder to the back of the house, so strait that the\nfeet of the beast only touched the ground, but could move no way else, yet\nit sustained no hurt. Another night, when the family were all sleeping,\nthere was the full of a back creel of peats set together in the midst of\nthe house floor, and fire put in them; the smoke wakened the family,\notherwise the house had been burnt; yet nothing all the time was either\nseen or heard.\n\nUpon the 7th of March there were stones thrown in the house in all the\nplaces of it; but it could not be discovered from whence they came, what,\nor who threw them. After this manner it continued till the Sabbath, now\nand then throwing both in the night and day, but was busiest throwing in\nthe night-time.\n\nUpon Saturday, the family being all without, the children coming in saw\nsomething which they thought to be a body sitting by the fireside, with a\nblanket (or cloth) about it, whereat they were afraid. The youngest, being\na boy about nine or ten years of age, did chide the rest saying, \"Why are\nyou feared, let us saine (or bless) ourselves, and then there is no ground\nto fear it.\" He perceived the blanket to be his, and saining (or blessing)\nhimself, ran and pulled the blanket from it saying, \"Be what it will, it\nhath nothing to do with my blanket;\" and then they found it to be a\nfourfooted stool set upon the end, and the blanket cast over it.\n\nUpon the Sabbath, being the 11th of March, the crook and pot-cleps were\ntaken away, and were awanting four days, and were found at last on a loft,\nwhere they had been sought several times before.--This is attested by\nCharles Macklellan of Colline, and John Cairns in Hardhills. It was\nobserved that the stones which hit any person had not half their natural\nweight; and the throwing was more frequent on the Sabbath than at other\ntimes, and especially in time of prayer, above all other times, it was\nbusiest then, throwing most at the person praying. The said Andrew Mackie\ntold the matter to me upon Sabbath after sermon.\n\nUpon the Tuesday thereafter I went to the house, did stay a considerable\ntime with them and prayed twice, and there was no trouble. Then I came out\nwith a resolution to leave the house, and as I was standing speaking to\nsome men at the barn end I saw two little stones drop down on the croft at\na little distance from me, and then immediately some crying out of the\nhouse that it was become as ill as ever within; whereupon I went into the\nhouse again, and as I was at prayer it threw several stones at me, but\nthey did no hurt, being very small; and after there was no more trouble\ntill the eighteenth day of March, and then it began as before, and threw\nmore frequently greater stones, whose strokes were sorer where they hit,\nand thus it continued to the 21st. Then I went to the house, and stayed a\ngreat part of the night, but was greatly troubled; stones and several\nother things were thrown at me, I was struck several times on the sides\nand shoulders very sharply with a great staff, so that those who were\npresent heard the noise of the strokes. That night it tore off the\nbedside, and rapped upon the chests and boards as one calling for\naccess.--This is attested by Charles Macklellan of Colline, William\nMackminn, and John Tait in Torr. That night as I was once at prayer,\nleaning on a bedside, I felt something pressing on my arm; I, casting my\neyes thither, perceived a little white hand and arm from the elbow down,\nbut presently it evanished. It is to be observed that, notwithstanding of\nall that was felt and heard, from the first to the last of this matter,\nthere was never anything seen, except that hand I saw; and a friend of the\nsaid Andrew Mackie's said he saw as it were a young boy about the age of\nfourteen years, with gray clothes, and a bonnet on his head, but presently\ndisappeared, as also what the three children saw sitting at the fireside.\n\nUpon the 22d the trouble still increased, both against the family and\nagainst the neighbours who came to visit them, by throwing stones and\nbeating them with staves; so that some were forced to leave the house\nbefore their inclination.--This is attested by Charles Macklellan in\nColline, and Andrew Tait in Torr. Some it would have met as they came to\nthe house, and stoned with stones about the yards, and in like manner\nstoned as they went from the house, of whom Thomas Telfair in Stocking was\none. It made a little wound on the said Andrew Mackie's brow; did thrust\nseveral times at his shoulder, he not regarding; at last it gripped him so\nby the hair, that he thought something like nails of fingers scratched his\nskin. It dragged severals up and down the house by the cloathes.--This is\nattested by Andrew Tait. It gripped one Keige, miller in Auchencairn, so\nby his side that he entreated his neighbours to help, and cried it would\nrive the side from him. That night it lifted the cloathes off the children\nas they were sleeping in bed, and beat them on the hips as if it had been\nwith one's hand, so that all that were in the house heard it. The door bar\nand other things would go through the house as if a person had been\ncarrying them in their hand, yet nothing seen doing it.--This is attested\nby John Telfair in Auchinleck, and others. It rattled on the chests and\nbedsides with a staff, and made a great noise; and thus it continued by\nthrowing stones, striking with staves and rattling in the house, till the\n2d of April. At night it cryed \"Whist, whist,\" at every sentence in the\nclose of prayer; and it whistled so distinctly that the dog barked and ran\nto the door, as if one had been calling to hound him.\n\nAprile 3d, it whistled several times and cryed \"Whist, whist.\"--This is\nattested by Andrew Tait.\n\nUpon the 4th of April Charles Macklellan of Colline, landlord, with the\nsaid Andrew Mackie, went to a certain number of ministers met at Buittle,\nand gave them an account of the matter, whereupon these ministers made\npublic prayers for the family, and two of their number, viz., Mr Andrew\nEwart, minister of Kells, and Mr John Murdo, minister of Crossmichael,\ncame to the house and spent that night in fasting and praying, but it was\nvery cruel against them, especially by throwing great stones, some of them\nabout half a stone weight. It wounded Mr Andrew Ewart twice in the head,\nto the effusion of his blood, it pulled off his wig in time of prayer, and\nwhen he was holding out his napkin betwixt his hands it cast a stone in\nthe napkin and therewith threw it from him. It gave Mr John Murdo several\nsore strokes, yet the wounds and bruises received did soon cure. There\nwere none in the house that night escaped from its fury and cruelty. That\nnight it threw a fiery peat amongst the people, but it did no hurt, it\nonly disturbed them in time of prayer. And also in the dawning as they\nrose from prayer the stones poured down on all who were in the house to\ntheir hurt.--This is attested by Mr Andrew Ewart, Mr John Murdo, Charles\nMacklellan, and John Tait.\n\nUpon the 5th of April it set some thatch straw on fire which was in the\nbarn yard; at night, the house being very throng with neighbours, the\nstones were still thrown down among them. As the said Andrew Mackie and\nhis wife went out to bring in some peats to the fire, when she came to the\ndoor she found a broad stone to shake under her foot, which she never knew\nto be loose before; she resolved with herself to see what was beneath it\nin the morning thereafter.\n\nUpon the 6th of April, when the house was quiet, she went to the stone and\nthere found seven small bones, with blood and some flesh, all closed in a\npiece of old suddled paper; the blood was fresh and bright. The sight\nwhereof troubled her, and being afraid laid all down again and ran to\nColline's house, being a quarter of a mile distant; but in that time it\nwas worse than ever before, by throwing stones and fire balls in and about\nthe house, but the fire as it lighted did evanish. In that time it threw\na hot stone into the bed betwixt the children, which burnt through the\nbed-cloathes; and after it was taken out by the man's eldest son, and had\nlayen on the floor more than an hour and a half, the said Charles\nMacklellan of Colline could not hold it in his hand for heat.--This is\nattested by Charles Macklellan. It thrust a staff through the wall of the\nhouse above the children in the bed, shook it over them and groaned. When\nColline came to the house he went to prayer before he offered to lift the\nbones; all the time he was at prayer it was most cruel, but as soon as he\ntook up the bones the trouble ceased.--This is attested by Charles\nMacklellan. He sent them presently to me, upon sight whereof I went\nimmediately to the house. While I was at prayer it threw great stones\nwhich hit me, but did no hurt, then there was no more trouble that night.\n\nThe 7th of April being Sabbath, it began again and threw stones, and\nwounded William Macminn, a blacksmith, on the head; it cast a plough-sock\nat him and also a trough stone upwards of three stone weight, which did\nfall upon his back, yet he was not hurt thereby.--Attested by William\nMacminn. It set the house twice on fire, yet there was no hurt done, in\nrespect some neighbours were in the house who helped to quench it. At\nnight in the twilight as John Mackie, the said Andrew Mackie's eldest\nson, was coming home, near to the house, there was an extraordinary light\nfell about him and went before him to the house with a swift motion; that\nnight it continued after its wonted manner.\n\nApril 8th, in the morning as Andrew Mackie went down the close he found a\nletter both written and sealed with blood. It was directed on the back\nthus, \"3 years thou shall have to repent a nett it well,\" and within was\nwritten, \"Wo be to thee Scotland Repent and tak warning for the doors of\nhaven ar all Redy bart against thee, I am sent for a warning to thee to\nflee to God yet troublt shall this man be for twenty days, repent repent\nrepent Scotland or else thou shall.\" In the middle of the day the persons\nalive who lived in that house since it was built, being about twenty-eight\nyears, were conveined by appointment of the civil magistrate before\nColline, myself, and others, and did all touch the bones, in respect there\nwas some suspicion of secret murder committed in the place, but nothing\nwas found to discover the same.\n\nUpon the 9th of April the letter and bones were sent to the ministers, who\nwere all occasionally met at Kirkcudbright; they appointed five of their\nnumber, viz., Mr John Murdo, Mr James Monteith, Mr John Macmillan, Mr\nSamuel Spalding, and Mr William Falconer, with me, to go to the house and\nspend so much time as we were able in fasting and prayer.\n\nUpon the 10th of April we went to the house, and no sooner did I begin to\nopen my mouth but it threw stones at me and all within the house, but\nstill worst at him who was at duty. It came often with such force upon the\nhouse that it made all the house to shake, it broke a hole through the\ntimber and thatch of the house and powred in great stones, one whereof,\nmore than a quarter weight, fell upon Mr Monteith's back, yet he was not\nhurt. It threw another with great force at him when he was praying, bigger\nthan a man's fist, which hit him on the breast, yet he was neither hurt\nnor moved thereby. It was thought fit that one of our number with another\nperson should go by turns and stand under the hole in the outside, so\nthere was no more trouble from that place; but the barn being joined to\nthe end of the house, it brake down the barn door and mid wall and threw\nstones up the house, but did no great hurt. It gripped and handled the\nlegs of some as with a man's hand, it hoised up the feet of others while\nstanding on the ground, thus it did to William Lennox of Millhouse,\nmyself, and others. In this manner it continued till ten o'clock at\nnight, but after that there was no more trouble while we were about the\nhouse.--This is attested by Messrs James Monteith, John Murdo, Samuel\nSpalding, Wm. Falconer, William Lennox, and John Tait.\n\nThe 11th, 12th, and 13th it was worse than ever it was before, for not one\nthat came into the house did escape heavy strokes. There was one Andrew\nTait in Torr, as he was coming to stay with the family all night, by the\nway his dog catched a thulmart, when he came in he cast it by in the\nhouse; thereafter there were other three young men who came in also, and\nwhen they were all at prayer the Evil Spirit beat them with the dead\nthulmart and threw it before them. The three who knew it not to be in the\nhouse were greatly affrighted, especially one Samuel Thomson, a chapman,\nwhom it also gripped by the side and back, and thrust as if it had been an\nhand beneath his clothes and into his pockets, he was so affrighted that\nhe took sickness immediately.--This is attested by Andrew Tait.\n\nThe 14th being the Sabbath, it set some straw on fire that was in the barn\nyard, and threw stones till ten o'clock at night; it threw an dike spade\nat the said Andrew Mackie, with the mouth toward him, but he received no\nhurt; while an meal-sive was tossed up and down the house, the said\nAndrew Mackie takes hold of it, and as it were with difficulty gets the\ngrip keeped, at last all within the rim is torn out. Thereafter it threw a\nhandful of the sive rolled together at Thomas Robertson in Airds, who was\nwitness to this, yet in all its actings there was never any thing seen,\nbut what I mentioned before.\n\nUpon the 15th of April, William Anderson, a drover, and James Paterson,\nhis son-in-law, came to the house with Colline in the evening. Colline\ngoing home a while within night, the said Andrew Mackie sent his sons to\nconvey him; as they returned they were cruelly stoned, and the stones\nrolled amongst their legs, like to break them. Shortly after they came in,\nit wounded William Anderson on the head, to the great effusion of his\nblood. In time of prayer it whistled, groaned, and cryed \"Whist,\nwhist.\"--This is attested by John Cairns.\n\nThe 16th it continued whisting, groaning, whistling, and throwing stones\nin time of prayer; it cryed \"Bo, bo,\" and kick, cuck, and shook men back\nand forward, and hoised them up as if to lift them off their knees.--This\nis attested by Andrew Tait.\n\nThe whole family went from the house, and left five honest neighbours to\nwait on the same all night; but there was no hurt done to them, nor the\nfamily where they were, nor to those neighbours who stayed in the said\nAndrew Mackie's house, only the cattle were cast over other to the hazard\nof killing them, as they were bound to the stakes, and some of them were\nloosed.--This is attested by John Cairns.\n\nUpon the 18th they returned to their house again, and there was no hurt to\nthem or their cattle that night, except in a little house, where there\nwere some sheep, it coupled them together in pairs by the neck with straw\nropes, made of an bottle of straw, which it took off an loft in the stable\nand carried to the sheep house, which is three or four pair of butts\n(arrow shots) distant, and it made more ropes than it needed for binding\nthe sheep, which it left beside the straw in the sheep-house.--This is\nattested by Andrew Tait.\n\nUpon the 19th it fired the straw in the barn, but Andrew Mackie put it\nout, (being there threshing) without doing any harm. It shot staves\nthrough the wall at him, but did no hurt.\n\nThe 20th, it continued throwing stones, whistling, and whisting, with all\nits former words. When it hit any person, and said, \"Take you that till\nyou get more,\" that person was sure immediately of another; but when it\nsaid, \"Take you that,\" the person got no more for a while.--This is\nattested by John Tait.\n\nThe 21st, 22nd, and 23rd it continued casting stones, beating with staves,\nand throwing peat mud in the faces of all in the house, especially in time\nof prayer, with all its former tricks.\n\nThe 24th being a day of humiliation appointed to be kept in the parish for\nthat cause, all that day from morning till night it continued in a most\nfearful manner without intermission, throwing stones with such cruelty and\nforce that all in the house feared lest they should be killed.\n\nThe 25th it threw stones all night, but did no great hurt.\n\nThe 26th it threw stones in the evening and knocked several times on a\nchest, as one to have access; and began to speak and call those that were\nsitting in the house witches and rooks, and said it would take them to\nhell. The people then in the house said among themselves, if it had any to\nspeak to it now, it would speak. In the meantime Andrew Mackie was\nsleeping. They wakened him, and then he, hearing it say \"Thou shalt be\ntroubled till Tuesday,\" asked, \"Who gave thee a commission?\"\n\nTo whom it answered, \"God gave me a commission, and I am sent to warn the\nland to repent, for a judgment is to come if the land do not quickly\nrepent,\" and commanded him to reveal it upon his peril; and if the land\ndid not repent it said it would go to its father and get a commission to\nreturn with a hundred worse than itself, and would trouble every\nparticular family in the land.\n\nAndrew Mackie said to those that were with him, \"If I should tell this I\nwould not be believed.\"\n\nThen it said, \"Fetch betters; fetch the Minister of the parish and two\nhonest men upon Tuesday's night, and I shall declare before them what I\nhave to say.\" Then it said, \"Praise me and I will whistle to you; worship\nme and I will trouble you no more.\"\n\nThen Andrew Mackie said, \"The Lord who delivered the three children out of\nthe fiery furnace, deliver me and mine this night from the temptations of\nSatan.\"\n\nThen it replied, \"You might as well have said, Shadrach, Meshach,\nAbednego.\" In the meantime, while Andrew Mackie was speaking, there was\none James Telfair in Buittle who was adding a word, to whom it said, \"You\nare basely bred, meddling in other men's discourse, wherein you are not\nconcerned.\" It likewise said, \"Remove your goods, for I will burn the\nhouse.\"\n\nHe answered, \"The Lord stop Satan's fury and hinder him of his designs.\"\n\nThen it said, \"I will do it, or you shall guide well.\"--All this is\nattested by John Tait in Torr and several others who cannot subscribe.\n\nUpon the 27th it set fire to the house seven times.\n\nThe 28th, being the Sabbath, from sun-rising till sun-setting it still set\nthe house on fire--as it was quenched in one part, instantly it was fired\nin another--and in the evening, when it could not get its designs\nfulfilled in burning the house, it pulled down the end of the house, all\nthe stonework thereof, so that they could not abide in it any longer, but\nwent and kindled their fire in the stable.\n\nUpon the Sabbath night it pulled one of the children out of the bed,\ngripping him, as he thought, by the craig and shoulders; and took up a\nblock of a tree as great as a plough-head, and held above the children,\nsaying, \"If I had a commission I would brain them.\" Thus it expressed\nitself, in the hearing of all who were in the house.--Attested by William\nMacminn and John Crosby.\n\nThe 29th, being Monday, it continued setting fire to the house. The said\nAndrew Mackie finding the house so frequently set on fire, and being weary\nquenching it, he went and put out all the fire that was about the house,\nand poured water upon the hearth; yet after it fired the house several\ntimes, when there was no fire within a quarter of a mile of the\nhouse.--This is attested by Charles Macklellan and John Cairnes. In the\nmidst of the day, as Andrew Mackie was threshing in the barn, it whispered\nin the wall and then cried, \"Andrew, Andrew,\" but he gave no answer to it.\nThen with an austere angry voice as it were, it said, \"Speak;\" yet he gave\nno answer. Then it said, \"Be not troubled; you shall have no more trouble,\nexcept some casting of stones upon Tuesday to fulfill the promise,\" and\nsaid, \"Take away your straw.\" I went to the house about 11 o'clock; it\nfired the house once after I went there. I stayed all night till betwixt\nthree and four on Tuesday's morning, during which time there was no\ntrouble about the house, except two little stones dropped down at the\nfireside as we were sitting down at our first entry. A little after I went\naway it began to throw stones as formerly.--This is attested by Charles\nMacklellan and John Tait.\n\nUpon Tuesday's night, being the 30th of April, Charles Macklellan of\nColline, with several neighbours, were in the barn. As he was at prayer he\nobserved a black thing in the corner of the barn, and it did encrease as\nif it would fill the whole house. He could not discern it to have any form\nbut as if it had been a black cloud; it was affrightning to them all, and\nthen it threw bear-chaff and other mud upon their faces; and after did\ngripp severals that were in the house by the middle of the body, by the\narms and other parts of their bodies, so strait that some said for five\ndays thereafter that they thought they felt these gripps. After an hour or\ntwo of the night was thus past there was no more trouble.--This is\nattested by Charles Macklellan, Thomas Macminn, Andrew Paline, John\nCairnes, and John Tait.\n\nUpon Wednesday's night, being the 1st of May, it fired a little\nsheep-house; the sheep were got out safe, but the sheep-house was wholly\nburnt. Since there has not been any trouble about the house by night nor\nby day.\n\nNow all things aforesaid, being of undoubted verity, therefore I conclude\nwith that of the Apostle, _1 Peter v., 8-9_, \"Be sober, be vigilant;\nbecause your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,\nseeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith.\"\n\nThis relation is attested, as to what they particularly saw, heard, and\nfelt, by Andrew Ewart, minister of Kells; James Monteith, minister of\nBorgue; John Murdo, minister of Crossmichael; Samuel Spalding, minister of\nParton; William Falconer, minister of Kelton; Charles Macklellan of\nColline, William Lennox of Millhouse, Andrew Tait in Torr, John Tait in\nTorr, John Cairns in Hardhills, William Macminn, John Crosby, Thomas\nMacminn, Andrew Paline, &c.\n\n\n\"The Laird o' Coul's Ghost: an Eighteenth Century Chapbook. An Account of\nMr Maxwell, Laird of Coul, his Appearance after Death to Mr Ogilvie, a\nMinister of the present Establishment at Innerwick.\" (Abridged.)\n\nUpon the third day of February, 1722, at seven o'clock at night, after I\nhad parted with Thurston [his name Cant], and was coming up the Burial\nRoad, one came riding up after me: upon hearing the noise of his horse's\nfeet, I took it to be Thurston, but upon looking back, and seeing the\nhorse of a greyish colour, I called \"Who is there?\" The answer was, \"The\nLaird of Coul [his name Maxwell], be not afraid.\" Then looking to him by\nthe help of the dark light which the moon afforded, I took him to be\nCollector Castellow designing to put a trick upon me, and immediately I\nstruck at him with all my force with my cane, thinking I should leave upon\nhim a mark, to make him remember his presumption; but being sensible, I\naimed as well as ever I did in my life, yet my cane finding no resistance,\nbut flying out of my hand the distance of about 60 feet, and observing it\nby its white head, I dismounted and took it up, and had some difficulty\nin mounting again, what by the ramping of my horse and what by reason of a\ncertain kind of trembling throughout my whole joints, something likewise\nof anger had its share in the confusion; for, as I thought, he laughed\nwhen my staff flew away. Coming up with him again, who halted all the time\nI sought my staff, I asked once more \"Who he was?\" He answered, \"The Laird\nof Coul.\" I enquired, \"If he was the Laird of Coul, what brought him\nhither?\" and \"What was his business with me?\"\n\n_Coul_--The reason of my waiting on you is that I know you are disposed to\ndo for me a thing which none of your brethren in Nithsdale will so much as\nattempt, though it serve to ever so good purposes. I told him I would\nnever refuse to do a thing to serve a good purpose, if I thought I was\nobliged to do it as my duty. He answered, since I had undertaken what he\nfound few in Nithsdale would, for he had tried some upon that subject, who\nwere more obliged to him than ever I was, or to any person living: I drew\nmy horse, and halted in surprise, asking what I had undertaken?\n\n_Ogilvie_--Pray, Coul, who informed you that I talked at that rate?\n\n_Coul_--You must know that we are acquainted with many things that the\nliving know nothing about. These things you did say, and much more to that\npurpose; and all that I want is that you fulfil your promise and deliver\nmy commissions to my loving wife.\n\n_Ogilvie_--'Tis a pity, Coul, that you who know so many things, should not\nknow the difference between an absolute and a conditional promise.\n\nBut did I ever say that if you would come to Innerwick and employ me that\nI would go all the way to Dumfries upon that errand? That is what never so\nmuch as once entered into my thought.\n\n_Coul_--What was in your thought I do not pretend to know, but I can\ndepend upon my information that these were your words; but I see you are\nin some disorder; I will wait on you again, when you have more presence of\nmind.\n\nBy the time we were got to James Dickson's inclosure below the churchyard,\nand while I was collecting in my mind whether ever I had spoken these\nwords he alleged, he broke from me through the churchyard with greater\nviolence than ever any man on horseback is capable of, and with such a\nsinging and buzzing noise as put me in greater disorder than I was all the\ntime I was with him. I came to my house, and my wife observed something\nmore than ordinary paleness in my countenance, and would allege that\nsomething ailed me. I called for a dram and told her I was a little\nuneasy. After I found myself a little eased and refreshed, I retired to my\ncloset to meditate on this the most astonishing adventure of my whole\nlife.\n\nTHE SECOND CONFERENCE.\n\nUpon the 5th of March, 1722. Being at Blarehead baptising the shepherd's\nchild, I came off at sunsetting, or a very little after. Near Will.\nWhite's march the Laird of Coul came up with me on horseback as formerly,\nand, after his first salutation, bid me not be afraid, for he would do me\nno harm. I told him I was not in the least afraid, in the name of God and\nof Christ my Saviour, that he would do the least harm to me; for I knew\nthat He in whom I trusted was stronger than all them put together, and if\nany of them should attempt even to do the horse I rode upon harm, as you\nhave done to Dr Menzies' man,[48] if it be true that is said, and\ngenerally believed about Dumfries, I have free access to complain to my\nLord and Master, to the lash of whose resentment you are as much liable\nnow as before.\n\n_Coul_--You need not multiply words upon that head, for you are as safe\nwith me and safer, if safer can be, than when I was alive.\n\nI said--Well then, Coul, let me have a peaceable and easy conversation\nwith you for the time we ride together, and give me some information about\nthe affairs of the other world, for no man inclines to lose his time in\nconversing with the dead without having a prospect of hearing and learning\nsomething that may be useful.\n\n_Coul_--Well, sir, I will satisfy you as far as I think it proper and\nconvenient. Let me know what information you want from me.\n\n_Ogilvie_--Well, then, what sort of body is it that you appear in, and\nwhat sort of a horse is it that you ride on that appears so full of\nmettle?\n\n_Coul_--You may depend upon it 'tis not the same body that I was witness\nto your marriage in, nor in which I died, for that is in the grave\nrotting; but it is such a body as answers me in a moment, for I can fly as\nfast as my soul can do without it, so that I can go to Dumfries and return\nagain before you ride twice the length of your horse: nay, if I incline\nto go to London, or to Jerusalem, or to the moon, if you please, I can\nperform all these journeys equally soon, for it costs me nothing but a\nthought or wish; for this body you see is as fleet as your thought, for in\nthe same moment of time that you carry your thoughts to Rome I can go\nthere in person. And for my horse, he is much like myself, for 'tis Andrew\nJohnstoun, who was seven years my tenant, and he died 48 hours before me.\n\n_Ogilvie_--So it seems when Andrew Johnstoun inclines to ride you must\nserve him for a horse, as he now does you?\n\nTHE THIRD CONFERENCE.\n\nUpon the 9th of April, 1722, as I was returning from Old Hamstocks, Coul\nstruck up with me upon the back, at the foot of the ruinous inclosure\nbefore we come to Dodds. I told him his last conversation had proven so\nacceptable to me that I was well pleased to see him again, and that there\nwas a vast number of things which I wanted to inform myself further of, if\nhe would be so good as to satisfy me.\n\n_Coul_--Last time we met I refused you nothing that you asked, and now I\nexpect you will refuse me nothing that I ask.\n\n_Ogilvie_--Nothing, sir, that is in my power, or that I can with safety to\nmy reputation and character. What then are your demands upon me?\n\n_Coul_--All I desire is that, as you promised that Sabbath day, you will\ngo to my wife, who now possesses all my effects, and tell her the\nfollowing particulars, and desire her in my name to rectify these matters.\nFirst, that I was justly owing to Provost Crosby \u00a3500 Scots, and three\nyears' interest; but upon hearing of his death, my good-brother (the laird\nof Chapel) and I did forge a discharge narrating the date of the bond, the\nsum, and other particulars, with this onerous clause that at that time it\nwas fallen by and could not be found, with an obligation on the Provost's\npart to deliver up the bond as soon as he could hit upon it, and this\ndischarge was dated three months before the Provost's death; and when his\nonly son and successor, Andrew Crosby, wrote to me concerning this bond, I\ncame to him and showed him that discharge, which silenced him, so that I\ngot my bond without more ado. And when I heard of Robert Kennedy's death,\nwith the same help of Chapel, I got a bill upon him for \u00a3190 sterling,\nwhich I got full and compleat payment of, and Chapel got the half. When I\nwas in Dumfries the day Thomas Greer died, to whom I was owing an account\nof \u00a336 sterling, Chapel, my good-brother, at that time was at London, and\nnot being able of myself, being but a bad writer, to get a discharge of\nthe account, which I wanted exceedingly, I met accidentally with Robert\nBoyd, a poor writer lad in Dumfries. I took him to Mrs Carrick's, gave him\na bottle of wine and told him that I had paid Thomas Greer's account, but\nwanted a discharge, and if he would help me to it I would reward him. He\nflew away from me in great passion, saying he would rather be hanged, but\nif I had a mind for these things I had best wait till Chapel came home.\nThis gave me great trouble, fearing that what he and I had formerly done\nwas no secret. I followed Boyd to the street, made an apology that I was\njesting, commended him for his honesty, and took him solemnly engaged that\nhe should not repeat what had passed. I sent for my cousin Barnhourie,\nyour good-brother, who with no difficulty, for one guinea and a half\nundertook and performed all that I wanted, and for one guinea more made me\nup a discharge for \u00a3200 Scots, which I was owing to your father-in-law and\nhis friend Mr Morehead, which discharge I gave in to John Ewart when he\nrequired the money, and he, at my desire, produced it to you, which you\nsustained. A great many of the like instances were told, of which I cannot\nremember the persons' names and sums. But, added he, what vexes me more\nthan all these is the injustice I did to Homer Maxwell, tenant to Lord\nNithsdale, for whom I was factor. I had borrowed 2000 merks from him, 500\nof which he borrowed from another hand, and I gave him my bond. For\nreasons I contrived, I obliged him to secrecy. He died within the year. He\nhad nine children, and his wife had died a month before himself. I came to\nseal up his papers for my lord's security. His eldest daughter entreated\nme to look through them all, and to give her an account what was their\nstock and what was their debt. I very willingly undertook it, and in going\nthrough his papers I put my own bond in my pocket. His circumstances\nproved bad, and the nine children are now starving. These things I desire\nyou to represent to my wife; take her brother with you, and let them be\nimmediately rectified, for she has sufficient fund to do it upon, and, if\nthat were done, I think I would be easy and happy. Therefore I hope you\nwill make no delay.\n\n_Ogilvie_--After a short pause I answered--'Tis a good errand, Coul, that\nyou are sending me to do justice to the oppressed and injured; but\nnotwithstanding that I see myself among the rest that come in for \u00a3200\nScots, yet I beg a little time to consider on the matter.\n\nTHE FOURTH CONFERENCE.\n\nUpon the 10th of April, 1722, coming from Old Camus, upon the post road I\nmet with Coul, as formerly, upon the head of the path called the _Pease_.\nHe asked me if I had considered the matter he had recommended? I told him\nI had, and was in the same opinion that I was of when we parted: that I\ncould not possibly undertake his commission unless he would give it in\nwriting under his hand. I wanted nothing but reason to determine me, not\nonly in that, but all other affairs of my life. I added that the list of\nhis grievances was so long that I could not possibly remember them without\nbeing in writing.\n\nI know, said he, that this is a mere evasion; but tell me if your\nneighbour, the laird of Thurston, will do it? I would gladly wait upon\nhim.\n\n_Ogilvie_--I am sure, said I, he will not, and if he inclined so I would\ndo what I could to hinder him, for I think he has as little concern in\nthese matters as I. But tell me, Coul, is it not as easy for you to write\nyour story as it is to tell it, or to ride on--what-is-it-you-call-him?\nfor I have forgotten your horse's name.\n\n_Coul_--No, sir, 'tis not, and perhaps I may convince you of it\nafterwards.\n\n_Ogilvie_--I would be glad to hear a reason that is solid for your not\nspeaking to your wife yourself. But, however, any rational creature may\nsee what a fool I would make of myself if I should go to Dumfries and tell\nyour wife that you had appeared to me and told me of so many forgeries and\nvillainies which you had committed, and that she behoved to make\nreparation. The event might, perhaps, be that she would scold me; for as\n'tis very probable, she will be loth to part with any money she possesses,\nand therefore tell me I was mad, or possibly might pursue me for calumny.\nHow could I vindicate myself? how should I prove that ever you had spoken\nwith me? Mr Paton and the rest of my brethren would tell me that it was a\ndevil who had appeared to me, and why should I repeat these things as\ntruth, which he that was a liar from the beginning had told me? Chapel and\nBarnhourie would be upon my top and pursue me before the Commissary, and\neverybody will look upon me as brainsick or mad. Therefore, I entreat you,\ndo not insist upon sending me an April errand. The reasonableness of my\ndemand I leave to your consideration, as you did your former to mine, for\nI think what I ask is very just. But dropping these matters till our next\ninterview, give me leave to enter upon some more diverting subject; and I\ndo not know, Coul, but through the information given to me, you may do as\nmuch service to mankind as the redress of all the wrongs you have\nmentioned would amount to, &c.\n\n\n\n\nAuthorities Consulted and Quoted.\n\n\n  No.                                                                 Page\n\n   1. Cromek's Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song, appendix\n      p. 228                                                            11\n\n   2. Hereditary Sheriffs of Galloway, vol. II., p. 13                  14\n\n   3.           Do.               do. p. 459                            15\n\n   4. _Gallovidian_, vol. IV., p. 40                                    17\n\n   5. Andrew Donaldson, Esq., Ardwell, Stranraer, letter from           24\n\n   6.           Do.               do.                                   24\n\n   7.           Do.               do.                                   25\n\n   8.           Do.               do.                                   26\n\n   9.           Do.               do.                                   29\n\n  10. Cromek's Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song, appendix\n      p. 230                                                            31\n\n  11. Wigtown: Historical and Descriptive Sketches, by Fraser,\n      p. 359                                                            34\n\n  12. East Galloway Sketches (Dalry), p. 349                            35\n\n  13. Dumfries and Galloway Antiquarian Society, Transactions\n      of--\"Superstitious Custom in Galloway,\" by J. M'Kie\n      (March, 1895)                                                     40\n\n  14. John Copland, Esq., The Studio, Dundrennan, letter from           43\n\n  15.          Do.               do.                                    44\n\n  16.          Do.               do.                                    46\n\n  17.          Do.               do.                                    49\n\n  18. Dumfries and Galloway Antiquarian Society, Transactions\n      of--\"Folk-Lore in Tynron,\" by James Shaw (November, 1887)         50\n\n  19. Folk-Lore of Uppermost Nithsdale, by Wilson, p. 17                52\n\n  20. The Bard and Belted Knight, by Johnstone, p. 21                   53\n\n  21. Cromek's Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song, appendix\n      p. 233                                                            56\n\n  22. Andrew Donaldson, Esq., Ardwell, Stranraer, letter from           57\n\n  23. East Galloway Sketches (Dalry), p. 350                            58\n\n  24. Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia (2nd ed.), p. 114               59\n\n  25. Law's Memorials, edited by Kirkpatrick Sharpe                     62\n\n  26. The Book of Galloway (privately printed)                          64\n\n  27. History of Galloway, by Mackenzie, vol. II., appendix p. 37       77\n\n  28.          Do.               do. p. 40                              82\n\n  29.          Do.               do. p. 42                              87\n\n  30. History of Dumfries, by M'Dowall (2nd ed.,) p. 375                91\n\n  31. The Book of Kirkpatrick-Durham, by Stark, p. 94                   93\n\n  32. The Scots Worthies (Howie), by John Semple                        93\n\n  33. History of the Parish of Minnigaff, by Jas. G. Kinna, p. 119      96\n\n  34. Wigtown: Historical and Descriptive Sketches, by Fraser,\n      p. 360                                                            97\n\n  35. Kirkmaiden, Guide to, by Andrew Donaldson, p. 40                  98\n\n  36. History of Dumfries, by M'Dowall (2nd ed.), p. 377               111\n\n  37.          Do.               do. p. 375                            112\n\n  38.          Do.               do. p. 376                            113\n\n  39.          Do.               do. p. 376                            113\n\n  40.          Do.               do. p. 376                            115\n\n  41. History of Dumfries, by M'Dowall (2nd ed.), p. 375               116\n\n  42.          Do.                do. p. 377                           116\n\n  43.          Do.                do. p. 379                           117\n\n  44. Domestic Annals of Scotland, vol. III., p. 66                    118\n\n  45. History of Dumfries, by M'Dowall (2nd ed.), pp. 378 and 379      120\n\n  46. Dumfries and Galloway Antiquarian Society, Transactions\n      of--\"Kirk-session Records of Irongray Parish, 1691-1700\"\n      (February, 1906)                                                 122\n\n  47. Unique Traditions of the West and South of Scotland, by\n      Barbour--\"The Witch's Well\"                                      124\n\n  48. History of Witchcraft in Scotland, by C. Kirkpatrick Sharpe,\n      p. 160                                                           131\n\n  49. Law's Memorials, edited by Kirkpatrick Sharpe                    141\n\n  50. The Testimony of Tradition, by M'Ritchie, p. 115                 161\n\n  51. Hereditary Sheriffs of Galloway, by Agnew, vol. II., pp. 168\n      and 169                                                          164\n\n  52. Droll Recollections of Whithorn, by Jas. F. Cannon, p. 105       166\n\n  53. Galloway Gossip, by \"Saxon\"--\"Riddled in the Reek\"--p. 289       169\n\n  54. _Dumfries and Galloway Magazine_, 1822--\"Glenkens\n      Anecdotes\"--p. 456                                               172\n\n  55. The Castle-Douglas Miscellany, 1827                              174\n\n  56. Cromek's Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song, appendix\n      p. 241                                                           176\n\n  57. Cromek's Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song, appendix\n      p. 239                                                           177\n\n  58.          Do.               do. p. 242                            179\n\n  59.          Do.               do. p. 238                            180\n\n  60.          Do.               do. p. 246                            182\n\n  61. Dumfries and Galloway Antiquarian Society, Transactions\n      of--\"Folk-Lore of Glencairn,\" by John Corrie (February,\n      1891)                                                            183\n\n  62. Folk-Lore of Uppermost Nithsdale, by Wilson, p. 75               184\n\n  63. Bard and Belted Knight, by Johnstone, p. 19                      185\n\n  64. Cromek's Remains of Galloway and Nithsdale Song, appendix\n      p. 265                                                           188\n\n  65.          Do.               do. p. 266                            190\n\n  66.          Do.               do. p. 268                            191\n\n  67. Dumfries and Galloway Antiquarian Society, Transactions\n      of--\"Folk-Lore of Glencairn,\" by John Corrie (February,\n      1891)                                                            202\n\n  68. Galloway Gossip, by \"Saxon,\" p. 175                              205\n\n  69. _Dumfries Standard_                                              209\n\n  70. Dumfries and Galloway Antiquarian Society, Transactions\n      of--\"Folk-Lore of Glencairn,\" by John Corrie (December,\n      1890)                                                            212\n\n  71. Drumlanrig and the Douglases, by Ramage, p. 185                  214\n\n  72. Celtic Lecture, Glasgow University, by Dr Henderson              218\n\n  73. Dumfries and Galloway Antiquarian Society, Transactions\n      of--\"Bee Folk-Lore,\" by P. Dudgeon (May, 1892)                   218\n\n  74. Life and Times of the Rev. John Wightman, D.D., p. 120           224\n\n  75. The Laird of Lag, by Lieut.-Col. Fergusson, appendices II.\n      and III., p. 251                                                 227\n\n  76.          Do.               do. p. 144                            232\n\n  77. Old Church Life in Scotland, by Edgar (2nd series), p. 249       239\n\n  78. Memorials of Sanquhar Kirkyard, by Tom Wilson (_Courier\n      and Herald_, Dumfries)                                           240\n\n  79. Hereditary Sheriffs of Galloway, by Agnew, vol. II., p. 164      248\n\n  80. Wigtown: Historical and Descriptive Sketches, by Fraser,\n      p. 208                                                           253\n\n  81. Jas. F. Cannon, Esq., Edinburgh, letter from                     254\n\n  82.          Do.               do.                                   256\n\n  83. Galloway Gossip, by \"Saxon,\" p. 337                              258\n\n  84. The Tinkler-Gypsies of Galloway, by M'Cormick, p. 123            263\n\n  85. John Copland, Esq., The Studio, Dundrennan, letter from          269\n\n  86. Dumfries and Galloway Antiquarian Society, Transactions\n      of--\"Kirkbean Folk-Lore,\" by Sam. Arnott, Esq. (November,\n      1894)                                                            274\n\n  87. Appendix to the earlier (1774, 1781, 1816) editions of\n      Howie's Scots Worthies                                           282\n\n  88. John Corrie, Esq., Burnbank, Moniaive, letter from               283\n\n  89. Dumfries and Galloway Antiquarian Society, Transactions of\n      (March 14th, 1902)                                               293\n\n  90. Reminiscences of Thomas Carlyle, by Froude (Longmans, Green\n      & Co., 1881)                                                     294\n\n  91. Poets of Dumfriesshire, by Miller (1910), p. 220                 295\n\n  92. Dumfries and Galloway Antiquarian Society, Transactions of\n      (November 18th, 1898)                                            296\n\n  93. Dumfries and Galloway Antiquarian Society, Transactions\n      of--\"Antiquities of Eskdalemuir,\" by Rev. John C. Dick\n      (November 18th, 1896)                                            297\n\n  94. Concerning Certain Apparitions, by Frances M'Laughlin\n      (_Chambers' Journal_, January 1909)                              299\n\n\n\n\nGLOSSARY.\n\n    The student of Scots dialect will not always find the quoted\n    vernacular running through the text quite pure, many words having been\n    unconsciously modified by a too free use of phonetic spelling.\n\n\nA\n\nADDER-STANE, the adder-bead charm.\n\nADOWE, stir.\n\nAIRLESS, heirless.\n\nAIRT, direction.\n\nANON, immediately, thereupon.\n\nASK, newt.\n\nAVA, at all.\n\nAWSOMLY, in fear.\n\n\nB\n\nBACKGANE, not thriving, wasting.\n\nBAGS, entrails.\n\nBAYILLIS, bailies.\n\nBEES BIZIN', noises in the head caused by alcohol.\n\nBELDAM, an old woman.\n\nBELTANE, the festival of May first.\n\nBEK, bake.\n\nBENISON, prognostication for good.\n\nBENSHEE, a banshee or fairy, really an Irish fairy.\n\nBERRY, thresh.\n\nBESOME, broom.\n\n\"BEST AUCHT,\" the most valuable possession, usually a horse or ox, claimed\nby the superior on the death of a farm tenant.\n\nBICKERING, moving noisily.\n\nBIEN, prosperous.\n\nBIGGIT, built.\n\nBINWUD, ivy.\n\nBLACK-SPAULD (SPAUL), a pleuritic disease of cattle.\n\nBLEW SPOT, a significant witch-mark also another term for \"dede-nip.\"\n\nBLINMENS' BAWS, common puff-ball (devil's snuff-box).\n\nBLINKING, attractive, comely.\n\nBLUIDY-FINGERS, foxglove.\n\nBOGLE-BO, hobgoblin.\n\nBOOR-TREE, elder-tree.\n\nBOWCAIL, cabbage.\n\nBOWTE, to strike against.\n\nBRATTLE, a clattering sound.\n\nBRECKAN, bracken.\n\nBREERS, briars\n\n\"BROCKEN,\" the important medi\u00e6val place of witch festival in Germany (see\n_Faust_).\n\nBROSE, pease-meal mixed with boiling water.\n\nBUMBEE, humble-bee.\n\nBUTTER-SKEP, butter-basket.\n\nBYKE, a wasp's or bee's nest.\n\n\nC\n\n\"CA CUTTIE CA,\" called upon to eat freely, even greedily.\n\n\"CANNIE MOMENT,\" significant time.\n\nCANTIE, canty, contentedly.\n\nCANTRIP, charm or spell.\n\nCAP, caup, a wooden bowl.\n\nCARLE, a man.\n\nCERTES, certainly.\n\nCHAMPIT, bruised.\n\nCHANNEL-STANE, curling-stone.\n\nCHESSEL, the tub for pressing cheese.\n\nCHICKEN-WORT, chicken-weed.\n\nCHIST (KIST), a wooden box.\n\nCHOWED, chewed.\n\nCLOWT, cloth.\n\nCOG, a wooden domestic vessel.\n\nCOGFU', the full of such a vessel.\n\nCOMPEARED, appeared.\n\nCOUPE, to empty or capsize.\n\nCOUTERS, thick mucous secretion.\n\nCOUTHIE, in rude comfort.\n\nCOWER, to bend down.\n\nCOWES, bushes, more particularly of the broom.\n\nCOWSHERNE, cow-dung.\n\nCRAFT, croft or field.\n\nCRONE, hag, old woman.\n\nCROUSELY, proudly.\n\n\"CRUMMIE,\" a term for cows with usually crooked horns.\n\nCRUNE, a murmuring sound, sometimes threatening.\n\nCRUPPEN, contracted.\n\n\nD\n\n  DEAD-BELI   }\n              }\n  DEDE-CHACK  }\n              }\n  DEDE-DRAP   }\n              }\n  DEID-LICHT  } See text, pages 210 to 213.\n              }\n  DEDE-NIP    }\n              }\n  DEDE-SPALL  }\n              }\n  DEDE-SPEAL  }\n              }\n  DEAD-WATCH  }\n\nDEIL'S MILK, milky sap.\n\nDEMPSTER, judge.\n\nDEERAY, disorder.\n\nDIVINATION, conjuration.\n\nDOME, doom.\n\nDONNERT, stupid.\n\nDOOR (DOUR) here used (page 59) in the sense of sour or astringent.\n\nDRABBLED, slobbered.\n\nDRUBBING, thrashing.\n\nDRUGGET, coarse woollen cloth.\n\nDRUMLIE, thick.\n\nDWINED, pined away or wasted.\n\n\nE\n\nEEN, eyes.\n\n\"EFFIGIES CLERICORUM,\" a mock poem on the clergie when they met to consult\nabout taking the Test in the year 1681 (printed A.D. MDCXVII.).\n\nELFIN, fairy.\n\nESHEITE, forfeited.\n\n\nF\n\nFALD, fold.\n\nFARINTOSH, whisky.\n\nFASH, trouble.\n\nFEARIE, used here (page 203) in the sense of fearless.\n\nFEAT, tidy.\n\nFEATS, clever doings.\n\nFECKET, under-jacket.\n\nFEN, to strive hard for the means of livelihood.\n\nFEY, a small field or croft.\n\nFIENT, no one at all.\n\nFIRSLE, to rustle.\n\nFLEYED, frightened.\n\nFLUTTERBAWS, puff-balls (see blinmens' baws).\n\nFOGGY, mossy.\n\nFORFOCHTEN, exhausted.\n\nFOWK, people.\n\nFRENZIET, eccentric, mad.\n\nFUMART, pole-cat.\n\n\nG\n\nGALL, bile.\n\nGARS, makes or compels.\n\nGAUR, to compel.\n\nGELLOCKS, earwigs.\n\nGIRN, girning, whining, or fretting.\n\nGLAMOUR, bewitchment.\n\nGLED, kite.\n\nGLENTED, sparkled, gleamed.\n\nGLOWER, to gaze intently.\n\nGOWAN, mountain daisy.\n\nGOWK'S SPITTLES, plant froth (discharged by an insect, Cicada).\n\nGREETS, cries or weeps.\n\nGRINWAN, a noose of horse-hair attached to a stick or rod.\n\nGRUN, ground, referring to the grinding of grain.\n\nGYRE-CARLINE, a mother-witch.\n\n\nH\n\nHAED, possessed.\n\n\"HAGGERT WEE GRANUM,\" a rather ragged small old woman.\n\nHAG-RIDDEN, bewitched (_lit._, ridden by a witch).\n\nHALD, hall.\n\nHALE, well, in good health.\n\nHALLOW-EVE, the night before All-Hallow.\n\nHALVE, a hand-fishing net on a wooden frame.\n\nHANNIE, suitable, a fitting time.\n\nHANTLE, much.\n\nHAURNED, roasted.\n\nHAURPAN, brain-pan or skull.\n\nHAWCKET, probably finely chopped.\n\nHAWS, fruit of the hawthorn.\n\nHEREZELD, the best beast on the land, given to the landlord on the death\nof a farm tenant.\n\nHERIOT, the fine exacted by the superior on the death of a tenant.\n\nHERRIE, confiscate.\n\nHEUGH, a small height or eminence.\n\nHIP O', shoulder or edge of.\n\nHINNIE-SUCKLES, honeysuckle.\n\nHOOSE-RIGGIN', roof.\n\nHOOVES, abdomen, (_lit._, swollen by gaseous distension).\n\nHOWE, depth.\n\nHOUK, to dig up.\n\nHOWLET, an owl.\n\nHOWS, house.\n\nHYNT, caught up.\n\n\nI\n\nILK, the same name.\n\nILL E'E, evil eye.\n\n\nJ\n\nJIMP, neat and slender.\n\nJOW, ringing of a bell.\n\n\nK\n\nKAIN, rent or exchange in kind.\n\n\"KELLY,\" Satan, Old Nick.\n\nKEP SKAITH, avert evil.\n\nKEPPIT, caught.\n\nKILTED, tucked up.\n\nKIMMER, witch-wife or \"gossip.\"\n\nKNAG, keg, or wooden vessel.\n\n\"KNOCK THE BIG,\" to hull the barley.\n\nKOW, a goblin.\n\nKYE, cows or oxen.\n\n\nL\n\nLAIR, quagmire, to entice into a quagmire.\n\nLAMMASTIDE, August, beginning of.\n\nLAVE, remainder.\n\nLIFT, vault of the heavens.\n\nLINGLE, leather-thong.\n\nLOCHEN, small loch or tarn.\n\nLOOFIE, fingerless glove.\n\nLOUPES, jumps.\n\nLOURING, lowering of clouds.\n\nLOUTHE, abundance.\n\nLOWNE, silent, still.\n\nLOWSE, loosen.\n\nLUGS, ears.\n\n\nM\n\nMALEFICES, offences.\n\nMALISON, prognostication for evil.\n\nMART, a fattened ox (killed at Martinmas for winter use).\n\nMAUN, must.\n\nMAUT, meal.\n\nMEAL-ARK, meal chest.\n\nMEALL, male.\n\nMEIKLE, much.\n\nMEIL, meal.\n\nMETTLE, with spirit.\n\n\"MILKED THE TETHER,\" extracted the milk by witchcraft through the halter.\n\nMINNIE, mother.\n\nMOOLS, earth or soil.\n\nMORT-CLOTH, funeral pall.\n\nMOU', mouth.\n\nMUIR-ILL, a disease specially affecting black cattle.\n\n\nN\n\nNAIG, riding-horse or nag.\n\nNAPPLE-ROOTS, heath peas.\n\nNEERS, kidneys.\n\nNEIST, nearest or next.\n\nNETTLE-STINGERS, nettle leaves.\n\nNIEVE, hand or fist.\n\nNOB, nose, also boat's prow.\n\nNOOL-SHEARINGS, horn parings.\n\nNOWT, oxen (a corrupt form is noat).\n\n\nO\n\nO'ERSWAK, sound of breakers.\n\nONSTEAD, home or farm-steading.\n\n\nP\n\nPADDOCK, a frog.\n\nPAWKY, shrewd and crafty.\n\nPAWT, movement of foot, kick.\n\nPHILIBEG, a pouch worn in front of a kilt.\n\nPICKLE, small quantity.\n\nPIG, an earthenware vessel.\n\nPINGLE, a small pan.\n\nPIRN, a reel.\n\nPIZION, poison.\n\nPLOTCOCK, the Devil.\n\nPOULDER, gun-powder.\n\nPOYNTIS, points.\n\nPOW, head or skull.\n\nPREENS, pins.\n\nPUDDOCKS (YELLOW), here (page 58) probably the toad-stool fungus.\n\nPYCKERING, pilfering.\n\nPYET, magpie.\n\nPYKED, picked.\n\n\nQ\n\nQUARTER-ILL, a disease of cattle affecting one limb or quarter only.\n\nQUEEN (QUEAN), girl, damsel.\n\n\nR\n\nRASPS, raspberries.\n\n\"RAVE THE THACK,\" tear the thatch.\n\nREAMIN, full to overflowing.\n\nREDE, wild.\n\nREDE, counsel.\n\nREID, red.\n\nREMEID, remedy.\n\nRIDDLE, sieve.\n\nRIDDLE-TURNING, divination by means of a riddle balanced on the points of\nscissors.\n\nRINNEN DOON (DARN), a disease of cattle with diarrhoea present.\n\nRIPPISH, cleanly.\n\nRESSET, receive.\n\nROSSEN, clump of thorns.\n\nROUTH, abundance.\n\nROWANS, mountain-ash berries.\n\nRUE, regret.\n\nRYDAND, riding.\n\nRYE-BOWT (RYBAT), hewn stone.\n\n\nS\n\nSAIN, to make the sign of the cross.\n\nSALL, shall.\n\nSAMIN, same.\n\nSARK, shirt or chemise.\n\nSAUGH, willow.\n\nSAWNS, sands.\n\nSCAITH, injury.\n\nSCAUM, thin mist.\n\nSCARROW (SCARRIE), stony incline.\n\nSCLATER, wood-louse.\n\nSCRUNKED, dried (_lit._, shrunk).\n\nSEGG, yellow iris plant.\n\nSHEIP, sheep.\n\nSHEARINGS, clippings or parings.\n\nSHIELING, a shepherd's hut.\n\nSHILPED (SHILPIT), puny and shrunken.\n\n\"SICH AND GREIN,\" sigh and regret.\n\nSIDE-ILL, a disease of cattle named from the situation of the disease.\n\nSIEW, sieve.\n\nSINDRIE, sundry.\n\nSKAITH, injury.\n\nSKELLET, dead-bell.\n\nSKIMES, side-glances.\n\nSKIRL, a shrill cry.\n\nSLADE, glided.\n\nSLAVERIN', saliva running down.\n\nSLOCKENED, quenched, _i.e._, put out.\n\nSLUDGE, miry-mud.\n\nSMOORED, smothered.\n\nSORNING, exacting free board and lodging.\n\nSOUGH, moaning as of wind.\n\nSOWENS, a dish made by steeping, fermenting, and then boiling the husks or\nsiftings of oats in water.\n\nSPANGS, leaps or bounds.\n\nSPATTER'D, dropped.\n\nSPENCE, country parlour.\n\nSPURTLE, porridge-stick.\n\nSTANCE, stand.\n\nSTARNIES, stars.\n\nSTAVERING, sauntering.\n\nSTICK AND STOWRE, completely.\n\nSTRAUGHTED, straightened in preparation for burial.\n\nSTRICKEN HOUR, a full hour.\n\nSTUE, stew or concoction.\n\nSUGHS, moaning of the wind.\n\nSWARFED, swooned.\n\nSWEIR, reluctant.\n\nSWITCHING, threshing with a thin stick or switch.\n\nSYNE, afterwards.\n\n\nT\n\nTADE, toad.\n\nTAIL-ILL, a disease of animals affecting the tail.\n\n\"TAK' THE GAIT,\" peremptory dismissal.\n\nTAIN ALOWE, caught fire.\n\nTAPPIN, the crest of a hill.\n\nTATE, spot (_lit._, a small lock of hair).\n\nTHACKLESS, roofless.\n\nTHIGGING, begging.\n\nTHRAW, a twist.\n\nTHREID, thread.\n\nTHRISSLES, thistles.\n\nTIRLED, rattled at the door.\n\nTOD, a fox.\n\nTOOM, empty.\n\nTOUK OF DRUM, sound of drum.\n\nTREDDED, trodden.\n\nTRYSTED, made an appointment with.\n\n\nU\n\nUNCA, unusually.\n\nUNCHANCY, ill-omened.\n\nUNSONSY, ill-proportioned.\n\nUNYIRTHLY, unearthly.\n\n\nV\n\nVAUNTY, inclined to be boastful.\n\nVACANS, holidays.\n\n\nW\n\nWALPURGIS NIGHT, Eve of First of May, a night of witch revelry (see witch\nSabbath).\n\nWAUCHIE, clammy.\n\nWARBLES, a parasitic worm disease of cattle.\n\nWATER-ILL, a disease of the kidneys in cattle.\n\nWATTLES, wooden roof supports on which the thatch is placed.\n\nWHOMEL'D, turned round and round (_lit._, upset).\n\nWHORLED, wheeled or spun.\n\nWIGHT, man or fellow.\n\nWIND A CLEW, a witchcraft rite in which a reel of coloured thread is\nwound.\n\nWINGLAN, walking feebly.\n\nWIRREIT, strangled.\n\nWIS, know.\n\nWITCH'S SABBATH, the gathering together of all the witches of Scotland on\nthe evening between the first Friday and Saturday of April.\n\nWITHRE-SHINES, contrarily (_lit._, against the sun's course).\n\nWONS, dwells.\n\nWYLIE, wily.\n\nWYME, belly.\n\nWYTE, blame.\n\n\nY\n\nYAIRD, yard or garden.\n\nYELL, barren, dry.\n\nYESTREEN, last night.\n\nYILL-BOAT, ale-barrel or brewing tub.\n\nYIRBS, herbs.\n\nYOWLED, howled.\n\nYULE, Christmas, also Hogmanay (December 31st).\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n\n  A\n\n  Abbey of Glenluce, 15, 61\n\n  Abbey of Holm-Cultram, 16\n\n  Abraham Crichton, Ghost of, 285\n\n  Abraham Crichton, Laying of ghost of, 287\n\n  Act against Witchcraft (1563), 66\n\n  Act for burying in Scots linen (1686), 220\n\n  Adder Beads, 55\n\n  Agnew, Sir Andrew, 245\n\n  Agnews of Galdenoch, 245\n\n  Aikieslak (Dalbeattie), 274\n\n  Aikendrum, 191\n\n  Alloway Kirk, 17\n\n  Annan River, 290\n\n  Auchabrick House (ghost legend), 250\n\n  Auchencairn, 300\n\n  Auchenmalg Barracks, 257\n\n  Auchensheen (Colvend), 185\n\n  Auchenstroan (Glencairn), 283\n\n\n  B\n\n  Ballad--Prisoner of Spedlins, 291\n\n  Balmaghie, 46\n\n  Bard of Corrie, 213\n\n  \"Bards of Galloway,\" 166\n\n  Barnamon (Stoneykirk), 37\n\n  Barncorkerie, 154\n\n  Barr, 13\n\n  Beadle (Sexton), 241\n\n  Bee Folklore, 218\n\n  Bell of St. Ninian (Clog Rinny), 243\n\n  Bellknowe of Penninghame, 243\n\n  Bengairn, 172\n\n  Bess o' Borgue, 17\n\n  Birns, 47\n\n  Bishop's Castle (Kirkmaiden), 154\n\n  Bishopton Crofts (Whithorn), 254\n\n  Blackaddie (Sanquhar), 51\n\n  Black Art, 10, 16\n\n  \"Black Clud's Wyme,\" 16\n\n  Black Esk, 296\n\n  Blackett Tower (legend of spectre), 294\n\n  Bladnoch, 64\n\n  Blew Spot, 213\n\n  Blink o' an ill e'e, 26\n\n  \"Bloody Bell,\" 295\n\n  \"Bloody Passage\" (Drumlanrig), 282\n\n  \"Bluidy Brae,\" 73\n\n  Bodsbeck Ha', 188\n\n  Bogha (Balmaclellan), 72\n\n  Bogle-Hole (Dalry), 267\n\n  Bonshaw Tower, 294\n\n  \"Book of Galloway,\" 62\n\n  Bower, Walter, Abbot of Inchcolm, 277\n\n  Boyd, Rev. Mr (Dalry, 1690), 34\n\n  Breath-blasting, 182\n\n  Brig o' Ken, 18\n\n  Brishie (Minnigaff), 185\n\n  \"Brocken\" of Dumfries and Galloway, 7\n\n  Brocklock Burn, 42\n\n  Brownie, The, 186\n\n  Brownie o' Blednoch, 149, 191\n\n  Brownie of Newabbey, 190\n\n  Buckland Burn, 270\n\n  Buckland Glen, Ghost of, 269\n\n  Buittle, 301\n\n  Burial without Coffins, 237\n\n  Burnfoot, 45\n\n  Burnes, William (father of Poet), funeral of, 234\n\n\n  C\n\n  Caerlaverock Castle, 2, 10, 277\n\n  Cairn, 283\n\n  Cairnmon (Stoneykirk), 37\n\n  Cantrip Incantations, 58\n\n  Cardoness Castle, 151\n\n  Cardrain, Ghost of, 251\n\n  Carlin's Cairn, 35\n\n  Carrick, 13\n\n  Carsphairn Parish (origin of), 55\n\n  Castle-Douglas, 63\n\n  Cassencarry, 262\n\n  Changelings, 182\n\n  Charles the Second, 36\n\n  Charms against Witchcraft, 54\n\n  Churchyard Superstitions, 239\n\n  Cere-cloth, 227\n\n  Clash, The (Kirkmaiden), 23\n\n  Claunch (Sorbie), 253\n\n  Clay Slap (Glenluce), 14\n\n  \"Clog Rinny\" (Bell of St. Ninian), 243\n\n  Closeburn, 49\n\n  Cocklick, 173\n\n  Coltran, Provost (Wigtown), Ghost of, 252\n\n  Comyn, John (murder of and ghostly legend), 276\n\n  Corbie, Janet, Sentence of, 80\n\n  Corrie (Dumfriesshire), 53\n\n  Craigdhu (Glasserton), 254\n\n  Craighlaw House (ghost legend), 257\n\n  Craik of Arbigland (family tragedy), 275\n\n  Crichton Family, 284\n\n  Crawick Mill, Witches of, 50\n\n  \"Cromek's Remains,\" 10, 182\n\n  Cubbox (Balmaclellan), 72\n\n  Culloch, 173\n\n  Cumberland, 46\n\n  Cunningham, Allan, 9\n\n\n  D\n\n  Dalry, 34, 35, 57, 263\n\n  Dalry Kirk, 17\n\n  \"Daemonologie,\" 67\n\n  Dead-bell, 212\n\n  Dead-bell (skellat), 241\n\n  Dead-days, 217\n\n  Dead-watch, 212\n\n  \"Dear Meal Johnny,\" 213\n\n  Death Customs and Funeral Ceremony, 216\n\n  Dede-chack, 212\n\n  Dede-drap, 212\n\n  Dede-nip, 212\n\n  Dede-spall, 212\n\n  Dee, The, 47\n\n  Deid-lichts, 213\n\n  Derry's Howe (Kirkbean), 274\n\n  Devil's Grace, 62\n\n  Devil of Glenluce, 252\n\n  \"Devil-Raiser of Urr,\" 106\n\n  Dinnans (Whithorn), 97\n\n  Douglas, Sir Wm., of Gelston, 62\n\n  Dream of the Abbot of Tungland, 16\n\n  Dribblings (Kirkmaiden), 24\n\n  \"Droll Recollections of Whithorn\" (Cannon), 165\n\n  Drumlane, 173\n\n  Drumlanrig Castle, 282\n\n  Drummore, 55\n\n  Drumrash, 269\n\n  Duncan, Henry, of Ruthwell, 235\n\n  Dunbars of Mochrum, 262\n\n  Dundrennan, 269\n\n  Dunnan Fort, 149\n\n  Dunreggan (Moniaive), 202\n\n  Dunskey Castle, 244\n\n\n  E\n\n  Edinburgh Bibliographical Society publications (note on Jean Maxwell), 99\n\n  \"Effigies Clericorum,\" 142\n\n  Elf-cups, 55\n\n  Eliock, 284\n\n  Elspeth M'Ewen--\n    Suspected of Witchcraft, 72\n    Examined, 73\n    Prison Expenses, 73\n    Commission appointed for new trial, 74\n    Execution at Silver Craigs, Kirkcudbright, 77\n    Note of expenses of trial and execution, 78\n    Executioner's petition, 80\n\n  Encoffining, or \"kistin',\" 219\n\n  Eskdalemuir Parish, 296\n\n  Eskdale Moor (funeral adventures), 223\n\n\n  F\n\n  Fairies and Brownies, 143\n\n  Fairies--\n    Attitude towards mankind, 143\n    Capriciousness of, 144\n    Elf-shot wounds, 144\n    Explanation of fairy and brownie belief, 148, 149\n    \"Fairy Rade,\" 176\n    Fairy Park (Logan), 157\n    Feasting and dancing, 143\n    \"Good neighbours,\" 144\n    Kidnapping by, 145\n    Pageants, 143\n    Practices to counteract fairy influence, 146\n    Unreality of fairy fabric, 147\n    \"Wee fouk,\" 144\n\n  Fairy-lore in Galloway and Dumfriesshire (from West to East)--\n    Dunnan Fort, 149\n    Kirkmaiden, 151\n    Barncorkerie, 154\n    Compass Stone (Port Logan), 156\n    Ringuinea, 157\n    Nick of the Balloch, 158\n    Curghie Glen, 158\n    Grennan, 158\n    Kirkbride, 158\n    Killumpha, 158\n    Slock-an-a-gowre, 158\n    Sorbie, 166\n    Kirkinner, 166\n    Longhill, 166\n    Dalry District, 169\n    Hazelfield (Auchencairn), 172\n    Nick of Lochenkit, 172\n    Dalbeattie, 172\n    Edingham Loch, 172\n    Long Wood (Lochanhead), 174\n    Dumfriesshire--\n      Caerlaverock, 180\n      Auchencreath, 175\n      Dalswinton, 183\n      Closeburn, 182\n      Drumlanrig, 183\n      Sanquhar, 184\n      Kirkconnel, 184\n      Polveoch, 184\n      Kello Water, 184\n      Glen Aylmer, 184\n      Glen Wharry, 184\n      Bale Hill, 186\n      Annandale, 184\n      Lochmaben, 175\n      Burnswark, 184\n      Corrie, 185\n\n  Fin M'Coul, 43\n\n  \"Fire Spangs of Faustus,\" 16\n\n  Funeral festivities (\"Gallovidian Encyclop\u00e6dia\"), 232\n\n  Funeral refreshment (Draigie), 234\n\n  Funeral rites and customs, 236\n\n  Funeral \"services,\" 225\n\n\n  G\n\n  Galdenoch Tower, 245\n\n  \"Galloway Gossip,\" 166\n\n  Galloway Mansion near Castle-Douglas, Ghostly story of, 273\n\n  \"Galloway Register,\" 26\n\n  \"Galloway Traditions,\" 26\n\n  Galloway, Western, Traditions of, 22\n\n  Gap's Mill, Glencairn, 283\n\n  Garryhorn, 36\n\n  Gatehouse, 262\n\n  General Assembly (Condemnatory Acts), 68\n\n  \"Gentle Shepherd\" (extract from), 59\n\n  Ghost-lore and Haunted Houses, 244\n\n  Ghost Legends of the South-west of Scotland (arranged in their order,\n        from West to East)--\n    Dunskey Castle, 244\n    Galdenoch Tower, 245\n    \"Lodnagappal Plantin',\" 248\n    High Ardwell, 248\n    Auchabrick House, 250\n    Cardrain House, 251\n    Tirally, 251\n    Glenluce, 252\n    Provost Coltran (Drummorall), 252\n    Packman's Grave (Bladnoch), 253\n    Claunch, Sorbie, 254\n    Whithorn, 254\n    Craigdhu, Glasserton, 255\n    Church of Kirkmaiden, 256\n    Auchenmalg Barracks, 257\n    Craighlaw House, 257\n    Machermore Castle, 258\n    Creetown, 262\n    Kirkdale Bridge, 263\n    Glenlee, Dalry, 263\n    Bogle-Hole, Dalry, 267\n    Moor of Corsock, 267\n    Buckland Glen, 269\n    Ringcroft of Stocking, 272\n    Mansion House near Castle-Douglas, 273\n    Wood Forester's, Dalbeattie, 274\n    Laird o' Coul's Ghost, 300, 344\n    Kirkbean--\n      Murder Fall, 274\n      Derry's How, 274\n      Farm-house, 274\n      Howlet's Close, 275\n      Three Cross Roads, 275\n    Near Newabbey, 276\n    Minorite Friary, Dumfries (1306) and Caerlaverock Castle, (1358), 276\n    Solway legend of the passing of \"Aul' Lag,\" 278\n    Coach legend of passing of William Duke of Queensberry (Drumlanrig),\n        281\n    Drumlanrig Castle, 282\n    Tynron Doon, 282\n    Glencairn--\n      Auchenstroan, 283\n      Marwhirn, 283\n      Pentoot, 283\n      Gaps Mill, 283\n      Nut Wood, 283\n      Jarbruck Bridge, 283\n      Kirkland Bridge, 283\n    Sanquhar Castle, 283\n    Littlemark, Sanquhar, 284\n    Abraham Crichton's Ghost, 285\n    Poldean, Wamphray, 287\n    Spedlins Tower, 288\n    Jardine Hall, 290\n    Knockhill, 293\n    Orchard, Hoddom, 294\n    Bonshaw Tower, 294\n    Blackett Tower, 294\n    Kirkconnel Hall, 295\n    Todshawhill, 296\n    Lowland Manor House, 298\n\n  Gilchristland, 50\n\n  Gilroanie, 270\n\n  \"Girzie M'Clegg,\" 17\n\n  Glasserton, 165, 215\n\n  Glencairn, 283\n\n  \"Glencairn Kate,\" 17\n\n  Glencaple Quay, 199\n\n  Glenkens, 19\n\n  Glenkens, twenty years' holidaying in (Blacklock), 265\n\n  Glenlee House (ghost narrative), 263\n\n  Glenluce, 13, 14\n\n  Greenmill (Caerlaverock), 209\n\n  Grennan, The, 25\n\n  Grierson, John, of Lag (funeral expenses of), 227\n\n  Grierson of Lag, Sir Robert (funeral expenses of), 229\n\n  Grierson of Lag, Sir Robert (funeral legend), 230\n\n  Grierson of Lag (Solway legend of his \"passing\"), 278\n\n  Grose's \"Antiquities of Scotland,\" 289\n\n  \"Gyre Carline,\" 8\n\n\n  H\n\n  Hallowmass, 2\n\n  Hallowmass Rade, 3\n\n  Hannayston, Witch of, 17\n\n  Harper's \"Rambles in Galloway,\" 17\n\n  Hay of Park, 60\n\n  Heron, Robert (Journey through Western Scotland), 54\n\n  High Ardwall (white woman apparition), 248\n\n  Holm Glen (Dalry), 275\n\n  Howlet's Close (Kirkbean), 275\n\n  \"Hydrostatics,\" Sinclair's, 300\n\n\n  I\n\n  \"Il Penseroso\" (extract from), 186\n\n  Inshanks Moor, 29\n\n  Irvings of Hoddom, 293\n\n\n  J\n\n  James VI. of Scotland, 67\n\n  Jarbruck, 283\n\n  Jardine's of Applegarth, 289\n\n  Jardine Hall, 290\n\n  \"Jean o' the Howff\" (Rerwick), 45\n\n  \"Jock o' the Horn,\" 182\n\n\n  K\n\n  Kain Bairns, 7\n\n  \"Keekafar\" (Kirkmaiden), 155\n\n  Kells, 35\n\n  Kells Rhynns, 36\n\n  Keltonhill, 40\n\n  Kenmure (Stoneykirk), 157\n\n  Kenmure Castle (Dalry), 269\n\n  Killymingan (Kirkgunzeon), 105\n\n  Killumpha Farm (Kirkmaiden), 204\n\n  Kilmeny (Jas. Hogg), 146\n\n  Kincaid, John (Witch-pricker), 70\n\n  King's Croft of Stocking, 63\n\n  Kirkdale Bridge, Ghost of, 263\n\n  Kirkdale House, 262\n\n  Kirkmaiden, 22, 29, 151\n\n  Kirkmaiden Church, 30\n\n  Kirkmaiden, Legend of, 256\n\n  Kirkmaiden Witches, 29, 32, 98\n\n  Kirk-session (Borgue) examination for alleged fairycraft, 159\n\n  Kirkpatricks of Closeburn, 214, 227, 231, 284\n\n  Kirkpatrick, Roger, 277\n\n  Kirkpatrick Sharpe, Charles, 288\n\n  Kirkwaugh (Bladnoch), pedlar's ghost at, 253\n\n  Kippford, 274\n\n  Kirkennan Woods (Dalbeattie), 199\n\n  Kirkland Bridge (Glencairn), 283\n\n  Knockhill Mansion (tragedy at), 293\n\n  Knocknishy (Whithorn), 185\n\n  Knocksheen (Dalry), 17\n\n\n  L\n\n  Lady Ashburton, 267\n\n  Laird o' Coul's Ghost, 344\n\n  Langhill Fairy, The, 166\n\n  Lapps or Finns, 149\n\n  Latewake, 223\n\n  Law's Memorials, 287\n\n  \"Lay of the last Minstrel\" (extract from), 16\n\n  Liethin Hall, 187\n\n  Leswalt, 245\n\n  Levitical Law, 68\n\n  Library of Michael Scott (list of works), 16\n\n  Lichts before death, 209\n\n  Lindsay, James (Caerlaverock tragedy), 277\n\n  Little Cocklick (Urr), 101\n\n  Littlemark Farm, Sanquhar, Ghostly appearance at, 284\n\n  Locharbriggs Hill, 3\n\n  Lochar Moss, 8\n\n  Loch Doon, 36\n\n  \"Lodnagappal Plantin,\" Apparitions at, 248\n\n  Logan, 24, 25\n\n  Logan Mill, 31\n\n  Lord Crichton (6th), 284\n\n  Lord Glenlee, 263\n\n  Lords of Sanquhar, 284\n\n  Lord Stormonth, 227\n\n  Lotus Hill (Kirkgunzeon), 173\n\n  Loup o' the Grennan, 151\n\n  Low Curghie (Kirkmaiden), 24\n\n  Luce, 13, 15\n\n  Luce Bay, 215\n\n  Lykewake, 223\n\n\n  M\n\n  Machars of Galloway, 33\n\n  Machermore Castle, Legend of, 258\n\n  Maggie's gate to Gallowa', 13\n\n  Mainsriddel, 274\n\n  \"Maggie o' the Moss,\" 6, 17, 21\n\n  \"Mak' Siccar\" (tragedy, Dumfries), 278\n\n  Manor House in Lowlands (story of apparition), 298\n\n  Manxman's Lake, 270\n\n  March Moon, 55\n\n  Marshall, Rev. Mr (Kirkmaiden), 97, 248\n\n  Marwhirn, 283\n\n  Millar, Mary (alleged witch), 74\n\n  Mary Queen of Scotland (Act against witchcraft), 66\n\n  Master of Logan (Allan Cunningham), 19\n\n  Maxwell of Carriel (Carzield), 227\n\n  Maxwell of Dalswinton, 188\n\n  Maxwells of Monreith (successors to M'Cullochs), 214\n\n  Maxwell, Thomas (Laird of Coul), 301\n\n  Maxwell, Jean, trial of (for pretended witchcraft), 98\n\n  Maxwell, Jean (copy of title page of publication of trial), 110\n\n  Meg Elson (Kirkmaiden witch), 32\n\n  Meg Elson's Elegy, 32\n\n  Meg Macmuldroch (Galloway witch), 62\n\n  Melrose Abbey, 16\n\n  Michael Scott of Balwearie, 15\n\n  Mochrum Parish (extravagant funeral expenditure), 226\n\n  Moffat Churchyard, 213\n\n  Monkland Shore, 44\n\n  Monreith House, 161\n\n  Moor of Corsock (ghost of headless piper), 267\n\n  Moor of the Genoch, 248\n\n  Moor Kirk of Luce, 13\n\n  Mort-cloth (use of), 239\n\n  Mountsallie (Rhinns), Witchcraft at, 57\n\n  Muirhead, Dr James, 107\n\n  Mull of Galloway, 149\n\n  Murder Fall (Kirkbean), 274\n\n  Myrton Mound (fairy legend), 161\n\n  M'Cullochs of Myrton, 214\n\n  M'Culloch, Sir Godfrey, 151\n\n  M'Millan Cup, 195\n\n  M'Milligan of Dalgarnock, 283\n\n\n  N\n\n  \"Necromancy,\" 16\n\n  Newabbey, Witchcraft at, 10\n\n  Newabbey (ghost of lady in white), 276\n\n  Nicholas Grier (witch of Hannayston), 17\n\n  Nick o' the Balloch, 13\n\n  \"Nithsdale Minstrel\" (poetical collection), 34\n\n  Nith, 51, 189\n\n  Nut Wood, Maxwelton (Moniaive), 283\n\n  Nicholson, Wm., poet (fairycraft examination, recollection by his\n        mother), 159\n\n\n  O\n\n  \"Old Church life in Scotland\" (Edgar), 237\n\n  Old Hall at Ecclefechan, Ghost at, 295\n\n  Old House of Park, 61\n\n  Old John Orr (Carlyle reminiscence), 293\n\n  Old Meg of Twynholm (reputed witch), 43\n\n  Old Red Cap (ghost of Blackett Tower), 294\n\n  Old Turnpike House, Dumfries, 231\n\n  Orchard, Hoddom (laying of ghost), 294\n\n  Osborne, \"Maggie\" (Wigtownshire witch), 11\n\n\n  P\n\n  Packman's Grave (Bladnoch), 258\n\n  Palmallet (Whithorn), 96\n\n  Palnackie, 199\n\n  \"Passing Bell\" (custom of ringing), 241\n\n  Passing Bell (reference in \"Book of Galloway\"), 243\n\n  Patiesthorn, Legend of, 269\n\n  \"Pawky Auld Kimmer,\" 65\n\n  Pentoot (Glencairn), 283\n\n  \"Philosophy of the Devil,\" 16\n\n  Picts, 148, 149\n\n  Poldean, Wamphray (ghost reference), 287\n\n  Portankill (fairy haunt), 149\n\n  Porteous, ghost of, at Spedlins Tower, 289\n\n  Portencockerie Bay (fairy haunt), 156\n\n  Port Logan, 31, 156\n\n  Portpatrick, Legend of, 245\n\n  Port-William, 254\n\n  Presbytery of Penpont (warning regarding burial festivity abuse), 234\n\n  Prestonmill, 274\n\n  \"Pricking\" of Witches, 70\n\n  \"Prince of Darkness\" (and witch revelry), 8\n\n  Privy Council Commissions (to try cases of witchcraft), 71\n\n\n  R\n\n  Rab's Howff (Rerwick), 45\n\n  Ray's Itinerary (Dumfries), 242\n\n  Red Comyn, 277\n\n  Rerwick, 44\n\n  Rerwick Apparition, 272, 321\n\n  Rhinns, 25\n\n  Rhonehouse, 40\n\n  \"Riddling in the Reek,\" 166\n\n  \"Ridden post by a witch,\" 5\n\n  Ringdoo Point, 15\n\n  Ringcroft of Stocking, 272\n\n  Ringcroft of Stocking, site of, 300\n\n  Robert the Bruce, 36\n\n  \"Robin Goodfellow,\" 186\n\n  Roodmas, 176\n\n  Rotten Row (Whithorn), 33\n\n\n  S\n\n  Sanquhar, 50\n\n  Sanquhar Castle (ghostly legends), 283\n\n  Sanquhar, History of (Simpson), 184, 285\n\n  Sanquhar Kirkyard, 240\n\n  \"Satan's Almanac,\" 16\n\n  \"Satan's Invisible World,\" 300\n\n  Scots Money, 227\n\n  Shaws of Craigenbay and Craigend, 35\n\n  Shawn (Stoneykirk), 185\n\n  Shennaton (Bladnoch), 64\n\n  Shinnel Water, 283\n\n  Shirmers, 269\n\n  Sin-eating, 218\n\n  Sir Chesney Shaw, 35\n\n  Sir Walter Scott, 16, 244\n\n  Slip Coffins, 237\n\n  Solway Firth, 8\n\n  \"Soothsayers' Creed,\" 16\n\n  Spell-casting, 60\n\n  Spedlins Tower, Ghost of, 288\n\n  Spedlins Tower Bible, 291\n\n  St. Ninian, 39\n\n  Stake Moss, Sanquhar, 239\n\n  State and Church (action against witchcraft), 22\n\n  Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, 151\n\n  Stoneykirk, 36, 248\n\n  Suicides, Burial of, 239\n\n  Surprising Story of the Devil of Glenluce, 299, 302\n\n  Sweetheart Abbey, 2, 10\n\n\n  T\n\n  Tam o' Shanter, 6, 17\n\n  Telfair, Alexander (Minister of Rerwick), 272\n\n  Three Cross Roads (Kirkbean), 275\n\n  Tirally (Kirkmaiden), 56\n\n  Tirally, Ghost at, 251\n\n  Todshawhill, Bogle of, 296\n\n  Tolbooth of Kirkcudbright, 108\n\n  Tongland, 16\n\n  Tower of Craigend, 35\n\n  Traditional Witchcraft described, 1\n\n  Train, Joseph (account of funeral superstitions), 236\n\n  True account of an apparition in Ringcroft, parish of Rerwick, 299, 321\n\n  Tynron, 49\n\n  Tynron Doon, Spectre of, 282\n\n\n  U\n\n  \"Unique Traditions of the West and South of Scotland\" (Barbour), 35\n\n  Upper Nithsdale, 50\n\n\n  W\n\n  \"Warlock Feckets,\" 55\n\n  \"Walpurgis\" (witch festivals), 8\n\n  Warnings, accounts of from--\n    Caerlaverock, 209\n    Closeburn, 214\n    Corrie, 2\n    Craigdarroch, 214\n    Dumfries, 213\n    Glencairn, 210\n    Kirkmaiden (in Fernes), 214\n    Moniaive, 208\n    Tynron, 209\n\n  Waterside Hill (Dalry), 19\n\n  Water of Urr, 207\n\n  \"Waulking\" the dead, 219\n\n  Walter de Curry, 244\n\n  Well of the Co' (Kirkmaiden), 150\n\n  White Loch of Myrton, 161\n\n  Whithorn, Old Manse, 254\n\n  Whinnieliggate, 40\n\n  Whithorn (similar legend to Tam o' Shanter), 33\n\n  White Lady of Machermore, 258\n\n  \"Witch Cake,\" 9\n\n  \"Witch Chronicle, The,\" 16\n\n  Witches Gathering, 3\n\n  Witch Marks, 8, 70\n\n  Witch Narrative, 21\n\n  Witch Narrative (Southern Kirkcudbrightshire), 40\n\n  Witches Sabbath, 7\n\n  Witches' Stairs (Crawick), 50\n\n  Witches' Rocks (Portpatrick), 36\n\n  William, Duke of Queensberry (legend of ghostly coach), 281\n\n  Witchcraft, proceedings against, in Galloway--\n    Kirkcudbright (Presbytery, 1662), 72\n    Kirkcudbright, 1671, 72\n    Dalry (Kirk-session, 1696), 72\n    Dalry (Kirk-session, 1697), 73\n    Kirkcudbright, 1698, 74\n    Kirkcudbright, 1698, 80\n    Kirkcudbright, 1701, 82, 86, 87\n    Twynholm, 1703, 87\n    Urr (parish of) 1656, 91\n    Kirkpatrick-Durham (parish of), 92\n    Carsphairn (parish of), 93\n    Minnigaff (parish of), 93\n    New Luce (parish of), 96\n    Whithorn (parish of), 96\n    Kirkmaiden (parish of), 97\n    Kirkcudbright, 1805, 97\n    Maxwell, Jean, trial of (pretended witchcraft), 98\n\n    Dumfriesshire (proceedings in)--\n      Burgh of Dumfries, 1657, 111\n      Kirk-Session of Dumfries, 1658, 111\n      Dumfries (official information regarding the judicial burning of\n        nine women), 112\n      Dumfries (attendance of clergy at the burning), 115\n      Dumfries (resolution against Janet Burnes, alleged witch), 115\n      Dumfries (warrant of execution against two alleged witches), 116\n      Dumfries (last trial for witchcraft in Scotland, Elspeth Rule), 117\n      Dumfries (Presbytery of--Southern district), 118\n      Caerlaverock, Kirk-session records, 118\n      Irongray, Kirk-session records, 120\n      Irongray Parish (traditional account of witch punishment), 122\n      Closeburn Parish, 124\n      Penpont Presbytery, 131\n      Glencairn Kirk-session records, 132\n      Glencairn, Case of Alexander Deuart, 133\n      Durisdeer, 138\n      Torthorwald, 140\n\n  Wood Foresters', Dalbeattie (scene of murder and ghost appearance), 273\n\n  Warnings, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212\n\n  Wraiths--\n    Seen at Balgreggan House, 205\n      \"     Buittle, 199\n      \"     Dalbeattie, 205\n      \"     Glencairn, 201\n      \"     Kirkmaiden, 204\n      \"     Moniaive, 202\n\n  Wraiths (account of from \"Gallovidian Encyclop\u00e6dia\"), 202\n\n  Wylliehole, Witch of, 53\n\n\n  Y\n\n  Yule, 278\n\n  Yule Candles, 219\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] The Well of the Co', Kirkmaiden, once much celebrated for the healing\nand medicinal properties of its waters.\n\n[2] These berries make excellent preserves.\n\n[3] Heather after being burned.\n\n[4] \"Confessions of Isobell Goudie.\"\n\n[5] Dwining.\n\n[6] Shall be.\n\n[7] Stubble.\n\n[8] Kiln.\n\n[9] Sighing.\n\n[10] A famous haunt of witches in the parish of Rerwick.\n\n[11] Extract from King James's _Daemonologie concerning Sorcery and\nWitchcraft_ (1597):--\n\n\"The persons that give themselves to witchcraft are of two sorts, rich and\nof better accompt, poore and of baser degree. These two degrees answere to\nthe passions in them, which the divell uses as means to entice them to his\nservice: for such of them as are in great miserie and povertie, he allures\nto follow him, by promising unto them great riches and worldly commoditie.\nSuch as though rich, yet burne in a desperate desire of revenge, he\nallures them by promises to get their turne satisfied to their heart's\ncontentment.\"\n\n[12] \"The witch mark is sometimes like a blewspot, or a little tate, or\nreid spots, like flea-biting; sometimes also the flesh is sunk in, and\nhallow, and this is put in secret places, as among the hair of the head,\nor eyebrows, within the lips, under the armpits, _et sic de ceteris_.\" Mr\nRobert, minister at Aberfoill, in his _Secret Commonwealth_, describes the\nwitch's mark--\"A spot that I have seen as a small mole, horny, and\nbrown-coloured; through which mark, when a large brass pin was thrust\n(both in buttock, nose, and rooff of the mouth) till it bowed and became\ncrooked, the witches, both men and women nather felt a pain nor did bleed,\nnor knew the precise time when this was being done to them (their eyes\nonly being covered).\"--_Law's \"Memorials,\" ed. by C. Kirkpatrick Sharpe._\n\n[13] The extreme penalty took two forms. The condemned were either in the\nfirst place strangled or, to use an old expression, \"wirreit\" and then\nburned; or, worse still, they were straightway burned quick (alive).\n\n[14] Thessr = Treasurer.\n\n[15] Printed in Dumfries by his brother, Robert Rae, 1718.\n\n[16] _The Parish of Glencairn_, Rev. John Monteith.\n\n[17] Coshogle mansion-house or keep, belonging to the Douglases, was\nsituated on the hill overhanging the Enterkine burn, above the farm-house\nof the same name. A marriage stone, built into a cottage wall, is all that\nremains of the structure.\n\n[18] Sir James Douglas of Parkhead, styled Lord Torthorwald as having\nmarried the heiress of that barony, was afterwards run through the body on\nthe High Street of Edinburgh by a nephew of Captain James Stewart, and\ndied without uttering one word. On clearing away the rubbish, which till\nlately covered the pavement of the Chapel at Holyrood House, his tombstone\nwas found, with this mutilated inscription:--\"Heir lyes ane nobil and\npotent Lord James Douglas--and Cairlell and Torthorall wha mariet Daime\nElizabeth Cairlell, air and heretrix yr. of, wha was slaine in Edinburgh\nye 14 day of July, in ye yeir God 1608.\"--_Law's Memories._\n\n[19] Another theory associates the fairies with the dwarfish Lapps or\nFinns who, driven out of their own country, settled in the outlying\ndistricts of Scotland.\n\n[20] The mother of William Nicholson the poet, a native of Borgue, where\nher family had long been settled, and a woman of great intelligence, often\ntold that in her day there lived a man belonging to Borgue parish whose\nmother and grandmother had been examined before the Kirk-Session regarding\nhis having been carried away by the fairies.\n\n[21] \"Brownie\" here synonymus with \"Fairy.\"\n\n[22] Langhill (now Longhill), adjacent to the Rispain Roman Camp, about a\nmile from Whithorn on the Glasserton Road.\n\n[23] Roodmass: The festival of the finding of the Holy Cross (May 3rd).\n\n[24] \"When the mother's vigilance hinders the fairies from carrying her\nchild away, or changing it, the touch of fairy hands and their unearthly\nbreath make it wither away in every limb and lineament like a blighted ear\nof corn, saving the countenance, which unchangeably retains the sacred\nstamp of divinity. The way to cure a breath-blasted child is worthy of\nnotice. The child is undressed and laid out in unbleached linen new from\nthe loom. Water is brought from a blessed well, in the utmost silence,\nbefore sunrise, in a pitcher never before wet; in which the child is\nwashed, and its clothes dipped by the fingers of a maiden. Its limbs, on\nthe third morning's experiment, plump up, and all its former vigour\nreturns.\"--_Allan Cunningham, in \"Cromek's Remains of Nithsdale and\nGalloway Song.\"_\n\n[25] The leaden figure of a man connected with a cascade, once a prominent\nfeature of the gardens.\n\n[26] Simpson's _History of Sanquhar_.\n\n[27] The \"Brownie\" of Scotland corresponds with the \"Robin Goodfellow\" of\nEngland.\n\n  \"Tells how the drudging goblin sweat\n   To earn his cream bowl duly set,\n   When in one night, ere glimpse of morn,\n   His shadowy flail hath threshed the corn\n   That ten day labourers could not end;\n   Then lies him down the lubber fiend,\n   And, stretched out all the chimney's length,\n   Basks at the fire his hairy strength,\n   And crop-full out of door he flings\n   Ere the first cock his matin rings.\"\n                                  --_Il Penseroso_\n\n[28] A communion cup, belonging to M'Millan, the well-known ousted\nminister of Balmaghie, and founder of a variety of the species\n_Covenanter_. This cup was treasured by a zealous disciple in the parish\nof Kirkcowan, and long used as a test by which to ascertain the orthodoxy\nof suspected persons. If, on taking the precious relic into his hand, the\nperson trembled, or gave other symptoms of agitation, he was denounced as\nhaving bowed the knee to Baal, and sacrificed at the altar of idolatry;\nand it required, through his future life, no common exertion in the good\ncause, to efface the stigma thus fixed upon him.--_Note to original\nedition._\n\n[29] Several striking examples of wraith appearance may be found in\nWilson's _Folk-lore of Uppermost Nithsdale_ (1904).\n\n[30] A wonderfully graphic account of a manifestation of \"deid lichts\" to\na Dumfries lady occurs in the _Dumfries and Galloway Monthly Magazine_,\n1822, p. 169.\n\n[31] The dog.\n\n[32]\n\n  \"Open lock, end strife,\n   Come death and pass life.\"\n      --\"Meg Merrilees\" in _Guy Mannering_.\n\n[33] There seems to have been some variation in this usage. On the\nBorders, for example, the door was usually left wide open. (See\nPreparatory Note to \"Young Bengie,\" _Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_.)\n\n[34] Bearing upon this last statement of Mr Dudgeon's, the writer has been\ntold of a comparatively recent instance in the parish of Anwoth.\n\n[35] \"In the second session of the first Parliament of James VII., held at\nEdinburgh, 1686, an Act was passed called the 'Act for Burying in Scots\nLinen,' in which it was ordained, for the encouragement of the linen\nmanufactures within the kingdom, that no person whatsoever, of high or low\ndegree, should be buried in any shirt, sheet, or anything else, except in\nplain linen or cloth, of Hards made and spun within the kingdom, and\nwithout lace or point. There was specially prohibited the use of Holland,\nor other linen cloth made in other kingdoms: and of silk, woollen, gold,\nor silver, or any other stuff than what was made of Hards spun and wrought\nwithin the kingdom, under the penalty of 300 pounds Scots for a nobleman,\nand 200 pounds for every other person for each offence. One-half of this\npenalty was to go to the informer, and the other half to the poor of the\nparish of where the body should be interred. And, for the better discovery\nof contraveners, it was ordained that every minister within the kingdom\nshould keep an account and register of all persons buried in his parish. A\ncertificate upon oath, in writing, duly attested by two \"famous\" persons,\nwas to be delivered by one of the relatives to the minister within eight\ndays, declaring that the deceased person had been shrouded in the manner\nprescribed; which certificate was to be recorded without charge. The\npenalty was to be sued for by the minister before any judge competent; and\nif he should prove negligent in pursuing the contraveners within six\nmonths after the interment, he himself was liable for the said\nfine.\"--_Life and Times of Rev. John Wightman, D.D., of Kirkmahoe._\n\n[36] Scots money, equal to one-twelfth value of our present currency,\nabandoned after 1760.\n\n[37] Cere-cloth--a cloth smeared with wax, put upon the body after a\nmodified embalming, only used, on account of its expense, by the rich.\n\n[38] \"An old antiquarian friend, long since dead, told me that Sir Robert\nhad grown so corpulent in his latter days that his body could not be\ndecently carried down the winding stair for burial; and that accordingly a\nportion of the wall between the two windows looking on to the Plainstones\nhad to be temporarily removed, and that through the wide vacancy thus\ncreated the coffin was lowered down. My informant, who was old enough to\nremember all about the taking down of the lodging in 1826, added that the\nappearance of the wall between the windows justified the\ntradition.\"--Letter from Wm. M'Dowall, Esq., author of the _History of\nDumfries_, to Lieut.-Col. Alexander Fergusson, author of the _Laird of\nLag_.\n\n[39] A corrupt form of the Latin \"dirige,\" from a Catholic chant for the\ndead.\n\n[40] A commonly used term for the dead bell is \"skellat.\"\n\n[41] The bell here referred to was the old bell of St. Ninian, the \"Clog\nRinny\" or bell of Saint Ninian, made of malleable iron coated with bronze,\nand which only measured 6-1/2 inches in height. It is mentioned in the\naccounts of James IV.: \"March 17, 1506, in Penyghame to ane man that bure\nSaint Ninian's bell IX._s._\" It was in existence at old Penninghame in\n1684 when Symson wrote, one hundred and seventy years after. It is\ndescribed and illustrated in Wilsons' _Prehistoric Annals of Scotland_\n(1857).\n\n[42] Curiously enough, a few years ago, workmen engaged in the Portpatrick\nwater and drainage scheme stumbled upon a large cavernous space at the\nvery place where the reputed sounds of the ghostly pipe music were heard.\n\n[43] Lodnagappal (Celtic): The swamp of the horses.\n\n[44] Patiesthorn, situated at the north end of Parton Mill, overlooking\nDrumrash and Skirmers and the Ken below Kenmure Castle. There is no house\nnow--only Patiesthorn Wood.\n\n[45] Captain John Garmory of the _Bardsea_, lost afterwards with all hands\non the passage from Liverpool to the Water of Urr.\n\n[46] Walter Bower, or Bowmaker, Abbot of Inchcolm.\n\n[47] The account of these wonderful happenings was published in the form\nof a chapbook, and obtained a large circulation.\n\n[48] The first appearance that Coul made was to Dr Menzies' servant at a\ntime he was watering his master's horse. At some subsequent appearance,\nwhile the lad was upon the same business, whether Coul had done him any\nreal harm, or that the lad had fallen from his horse through fear and\ncontusion, is uncertain, but so it was that the lad was found dead on the\nroad.","title":"Witchcraft and superstitious record in the south-western district of Scotland","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":79487}