i /r , t , 
 
 I/O 
 
 ( t *' 

 
 THE 
 
 POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS, &c. 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HIGHLANDERS OF SCOTLAND.
 
 "Boaald Doul- Donald Dool- Donald Don I - 
 tear me, and tremUe 
 
 See paar. 31
 
 THE 
 
 POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS 
 
 AND 
 
 FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HIGHLANDERS OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 " Of Brownyis and of Bogilis full is this Beuk." 
 
 GAWIX DOUGLAS. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 
 PRINTED FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY; 
 AND HURST, ROBINSON, AND CO; LONDON. 
 
 1823.
 
 TO 
 
 THE HONOURABLE 
 
 LADY ANNE MARGARET GRANT 
 
 OF GRANT. 
 
 MADAM, 
 
 IT is with sincere feelings of diffidence that the 
 writer of tlie following little Sketches ventures, 
 in this manner, to place his imperfect perform- 
 ance under the Patronage of your Ladyship's 
 name. Faulty, however 9 as his gleanings may 
 be, in a literary point of view, they may perhaps, 
 nevertheless, afford an hour's agreeable pastime 
 to those amiable and benevolent characters, whose 
 hearts, however much elevated in station above 
 the sphere of the humble cottage, yet love to study 
 and contemplate the romantic feelings and primi- 
 b
 
 IV DEDICATION. 
 
 five manners of its lowly inhabitants. From the 
 ancient and venerable Castle of your Forefathers, 
 your eye can behold many a neat and comfortable 
 cottage^ around the hearth of which the little 
 stories recorded in the following pages are often 
 told ; and those lively scenes of innocent amuse- 
 ments attempted to be pourtrayed, are occasionally 
 acted. To the Family of GRANT, those scenes of 
 rural conviviality amongst their dependants must 
 be particularly interesting, if they know how much 
 the mention of their names, and the praise of 
 their virtues, are blended with their celebration. 
 
 It is true, Madam, the external chivalry of 
 Feudal Clanship has now almost wholly decayed 
 with the interesting institutions which gave rise 
 to it. But there is still a magic chain of connec- 
 tion existing betwixt the Chief of GRANT and his 
 Clan, which all the laws of Legislation, and all 
 the revolutions of time, shall never be able to dis- 
 solve ; a chain originally forged, and daily r- 
 vetted, by paternal acts of generosity on the part 
 of the Chief, and unbounded attachment on the
 
 , DEDICATION. V 
 
 part of the Clan. Of this inviolable attachment, 
 the sons of the Spey, on a late occasion, peculiar- 
 ly momentous to your Ladyship and an amiable 
 Sister, exhibited a memorable proof to the woiid. 
 
 That your Ladyship may be long spared to 
 exercise those rare virtues of heart, which so emi- 
 nently distinguished your much revered Parents, 
 and which are so happily inherited by their illus- 
 trious Offspring, shall always be the sincere pray- 
 er of , 
 
 Your Ladyship's 
 
 Most devoted, humble Servant, 
 W. GRANT STEWART, 
 
 Congash, Strathspey) \ 
 December, 1822. J
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 No part of the United Kingdom has of late 
 years attracted a greater portion of public atten- 
 tion than the Highlands of Scotland. Formerly 
 isolated as the inhabitants were from their fellow 
 subjects, by a different language and separate 
 interests, their character was but little known 
 and less admired. Devoted to their chiefs and 
 feudal institutions, they entertained a sovereign 
 contempt for their neighbours ; and, in their 
 occasional intercourse with them, displayed feel- 
 ings and manners little calculated to gain confi- 
 dence or secure esteem. 
 
 But when the Rebellion in 1745, and its con- 
 sequences, nearly annihilated feudal power, and
 
 tiii PREFACE. 
 
 broke down the wall of partition, by which the 
 mountaineer was so long divided from the inha- 
 bitant of the plain, a new light was reflected 
 upon his manners and habits. The gradual 
 establishment of commercial arid friendly rela- 
 tions with the inhabitants of other countries, ac- 
 celerated the decay of mutual prejudices ; and 
 the virtues of the Highlander, which were pre- 
 viously reserved for home consumption, were 
 now duly appreciated by the world. He no 
 longer appeared the rude and unprincipled de- 
 predator, but the generous and disinterested 
 character, whose romantic and chivalrous habits 
 were rendered peculiarly interesting, as the re- 
 mains of those boldly defined virtues which dis- 
 tinguished our primitive ancestors. According- 
 ly, the genius of the age became speedily alive 
 to the importance of so novel and interesting a 
 character. Shaping its course to the Highland 
 mountains, it discovered among their unexplor- 
 ed recesses, those plentiful materials, on which 
 are founded some of the most splendid works 
 which adorn the circle of British literature.
 
 PREFACE. IX 
 
 Nor have all those superstructures yet ex- 
 hausted so fertile a mine. Notwithstanding all 
 the research that has been employed in tracing 
 the origin, and delineating the manners of the 
 inhabitants, and the many ingenious descriptions 
 we have had of their local scenery, there are 
 still many hidden treasures left for discovery, 
 which presently languish in obscurity. This 
 observation applies with great truth to those 
 more remote and romantic regions which, from 
 their secluded situations, have been long inac- 
 cessible to the approach of learning and genius ; 
 and where the native inhabitants, from want of 
 intercourse with their more refined and effemi- 
 nate countrymen, are the true representatives of 
 our ancient forefathers in their various feelings 
 and habits. 
 
 Of the manners and character of this noble 
 and poetic race of mountaineers, little is known 
 further than what may be collected from the 
 manners of their contemporaries, in more acces- 
 sible parts of the country ; and it yet remains 
 for the Great Unknown^ or one possessing some
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 share of his pre-eminent abilities, to paint their 
 character in its genuine colours. The great de- 
 fect which especially exists in the delineation of 
 the Highlander's superstitions, becomes pecu- 
 liarly apparent to one, who has an opportunity 
 of investigating those relics of the less polished 
 ages of the world, as they are still exhibited in 
 the habits of the people of whom we are writing. 
 Many of the more prominent and common fea- 
 tures of this branch of our national peculiarities 
 have, indeed, been long ago celebrated by the 
 pens of the immortal Burns, Ramsay, Sir 
 Walter Scott, and others of less note, while 
 much light has been lately thrown on the gene- 
 ral character of the Scottish Highlander, by the 
 ingenious Mrs Grant of Laggan, and the gallant 
 Colonel Stewart of Garth ; but the more inter- 
 esting and latent peculiarities have been left to 
 expire in the dark. The want of a complete 
 and systematic account of the Highland and 
 Scottish Superstitions, is a desideratum in our 
 national literature, which the philosophic mind 
 will readily regret ; and this regret will be
 
 PREFACE. Xi 
 
 the more sincere on reflecting, that, from the 
 fading aspects those interesting relics have now 
 assumed, it is a desideratum which, in the 
 course of a few years, cannot be supplied. The 
 decline of popular romance is keeping pace with 
 the progress of knowledge and civilization, 
 which, as they illumine the unenlightened mind, 
 open it to the folly of its prejudices; and thus 
 the time is hastening its approach, when the na- 
 tives of our remotest glens shall be no longer in- 
 spired with reverence for the fairy turret, nor 
 shall their social circle be contracted by the 
 frightful tale. 
 
 Far be it, however, from the writer of these 
 pages to wish the reign of superstition prolong- 
 ed. But, while he would hail with delight, the 
 total extirpation of every prejudice tending to 
 enslave the mental energy of the noble Gael, 
 he would as ardently desire their perpetuation 
 on the page of history, as his ancient peculiari- 
 ties. Divested as they will soon be of their 
 formidable character, we would preserve them 
 as the most ancient relics we could transmit to
 
 Xtt PKEFACK. 
 
 our posterity, to whom, in the course of a fe\r 
 centuries, they may appear as preposterous and 
 incredible, as the Poems of Ossian, do now, to 
 the more sceptical part of the present genera- 
 tion. 
 
 It was not, however, the writer's conviction of 
 the utility of such a work as this alone, that in- 
 duced him to undertake a task for which, he is 
 afraid, he will be found to have been ill quali- 
 fied. A considerable time ago, an impaired state 
 of health rendered it necessary for him to aban- 
 don his professional labours for a time, and to 
 retire from the metropolis to the place of his na- 
 tivity. The lassitude of mind consequent on a 
 total remission from all employment, induced 
 him to seek some rational source of amusement ; 
 and the idea of investigating the opinions and 
 customs of his countrymen, was suggested to him 
 by various circumstances, as likely to afford in- 
 struction as well as entertainment. His op- 
 portunities were most ample, and his task, of 
 course, comparatively easy. Surrounded by 
 the most original, brave, and ingenuous class of
 
 PHEFACE. Xtti 
 
 Highlanders existing, and possessing considera- 
 ble knowledge of their language and manners, 
 the writer found it no difficult matter to become 
 completely acquainted with their prejudices and 
 habits. By visiting the most celebrated profes- 
 sors of traditional lore in the district, he speedi- 
 ly acquired not only a fundamental knowledge 
 of the reigning principles of superstition, but 
 likewise an inexhaustible store of tales and tra- 
 ditions* And by mingling occasionally with the 
 peasantry in their public and private festivities, 
 he was enabled, from personal observation, to 
 draw faithful portraits of those scenes of mirth 
 and festivity, for which the inhabitants are so 
 eminently distinguished. The result of his ob- 
 servations afforded him so much satisfaction, 
 that he thought it worth while, from time to 
 time, to commit the particulars to paper, not 
 with the view of urging them on the public, 
 but for his own private amusement. Of late, 
 however, the increasing avidity with which traits 
 of the Highland Superstitions have been received, 
 as developed in the tales of the day, suggested to
 
 XIV PREFACE. 
 
 him the idea of submitting his gleanings to the 
 public, in the form of a detailed account of the 
 Superstitions and Festivities of the Highlanders 
 of Scotland ; and he hopes, however defective 
 may be its execution, the design is not altoge- 
 ther unworthy of public patronage. 
 
 To arrange his gleanings in a connected and 
 systematic order, was an undertaking far more 
 tedious than the collection of them. The traits 
 of Highland superstition are of so various and 
 heterogeneous a character, that it appeared al- 
 most wholly impracticable to connect and digest 
 them into the form of a connected narrative ; 
 and yet, in any other shape, they would neces- 
 sarily lose much of the interest which they pos- 
 sess in their present form. Sensible of this, he 
 has endeavoured, to the best of his ability, to 
 arrange the different traits under their proper 
 heads, in the most systematic and connected man- 
 ner practicable, without introducing extraneous 
 matter, which would not only destroy the native 
 complexion of the subject, but also swell the li- 
 mits of the work. By excluding solemn disserta-
 
 PEEFACE. XV 
 
 tion from such ludicrous relations as the follow- 
 ing, he has been enabled to compress many par- 
 ticulars into little space, while his delineations 
 possess a greater degree of truth and fidelity. 
 To illustrate the various traits set forth, the 
 writer has interspersed his delineations with a 
 collection of the most popular tales of the day. 
 These tales, whether they be the creation of the 
 imagination, or the offspring of the credulity of 
 their own original authors, cannot now fail to in- 
 terest the philosopher or the antiquary, while 
 they may amuse the less profound. For, ut- 
 terly destitute of all probability, and broadly 
 ludicrous as they may appear to the polished 
 reader, they are, nevertheless, those interesting 
 channels, by which the feelings and habits of our 
 earliest forefathers have been kept alive, and 
 transmitted down through so many changeful 
 ages, to their posterity of the present day. 
 
 The length of those primitive relations is ne- 
 cessarily much abridged, but a strict regard has 
 been had to their original style and phraseology. 
 The language is almost entirely borrowed from
 
 XVI PHEFACE. 
 
 the mouth of the Highland narrator, and trans- 
 lated, it is hoped, in a manner so simple and un- 
 varnished, as to be perfectly intelligible to the 
 capacity of the peasant, for whose fireside enter- 
 tainment this little volume may, perhaps, be pe- 
 culiarly adapted.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 PART I GHOSTS 1 
 
 CHAP. 1 Of the Highland Ghosts in General 3 
 
 2. Of the Ghost in his co-existent State 
 His personal Similitudes and 
 Habits . J'; ijl . . 16 
 
 3 Of the Ghost in his Intermediate 
 
 State His Similitudes and Habits 28 
 4 Of the Ghost in his Post-existent 
 
 State . ' . -' . . 37 
 
 Safeguards from Ghosts . 53 
 
 PART II. FAIRIES . 55 
 
 CHAP. 1. Origin and Genealogy of the Fairies 57 
 
 2. Similitude of the Fairy . 63 
 
 3 Of the Fairies as a Community 
 
 Their Political Principles and 
 Ingenious Habits . . 72 
 
 4. Of their Domestic Economy and Fes- 
 tive Habits . . 90 
 5 Of the Passions and Propensities of 
 
 the Fairies .'''. . 10$ 
 
 6. Of the Fairy's Embezzling and Cri- 
 minal Propensities 109
 
 XV1U CONTEXTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 PART III BROWNIES . 137 
 
 PART IV. WATER-KELPIES 145 
 
 PARTY SPUNKIES . 159 
 
 PART VI WITCHCRAFT . 163 
 
 CHAP. 1 Origin and History of Witchcraft 165 
 
 2. Of the Agents Qualifications,, and 
 
 Ceremonies of their Constitution 1 69 
 3 Of the Personal Similitude of the 
 
 Agents or Members of the Craft 179 
 
 4 Of their Professional Powers and 
 
 Practices , . . . 182 
 
 5. Of the Witch's Powers of Transfor- 
 mation .... 204- 
 
 6. Safeguards from Witchcraft . 209 
 PART VII HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS 225 
 Hallowe'en ; .. . ,,-,> . ;,> 22? 
 
 Christmas . , . ; ' ,, , . , , . . 236 
 
 New- Year's Eve ( , .. ( . p. . 246 
 Fasten's Eve . ; ,.. j;; , . , ; ,: . . 255 
 
 Belton Eve . > . 1 ,,,,./ 258 
 Christenings (J .,. ,; - f -. , , . . 263 
 
 Weddings ". . . .. . . - .. . 268 
 
 Wakes . ^ . -..,.*... ... .,*.* . 281 
 
 Funerals . x . 284
 
 THE 
 
 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 ff The gleaming path of the steel winds through the 
 gloomy ghost. The form fell shapeless into air, like 
 a column of smoke which the staff of the boy disturbs 
 as it rises from the half-extinguished furnace." 
 
 OSSIAN.
 
 THE 
 
 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Of the Highland Ghosts in General. 
 
 OF whatever country, station, or character 
 the reader may be, we presume it will be unne- 
 cessary for us, on this our outset, to intrude 
 upon his time by entering into a logical definition 
 of the term Ghost. There is perhaps no nation 
 or clime, from California to Japan, where that 
 very ancient and fantastic race of beings call- 
 ed Ghosts is not, under different terms, and 
 different characters, more or less familiar to the
 
 4 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 inhabitants. We do not mean, however, to follow 
 this fleeting race of patriarchs throughout their 
 wide course of wandering and colonization from 
 the beginning of time to the present day as. in 
 all likelihood, our research would turn out equal- 
 ly arduous and unprofitable ; we confine our 
 lucubrations to the colony of the tribe, which, 
 from time immemorial, have settled themselves 
 among the inhabitants of the Highland Moun- 
 tains. 
 
 Be it known then to the reader, that, so early 
 as the days of Ossian, the son of Fingal, and ever 
 since, ghosts have been, at all times, a plenti- 
 ful commodity among the hills of Caledonia. 
 Every native Highlander has allied to him, from 
 his birth, one of those airy beings, in the cha- 
 racter of an auxiliary or helpmate, who continues 
 his companion, not only during all the days of 
 the Highlander's life, but also for an indefinite 
 period of time after his decease. It will be rea- 
 dily believed, that this ancient class of our 
 mountaineers cannot have descended through so 
 many changeful ages of the world, without shar-
 
 GHOSTS. 
 
 ing, in some measure, those revolutions of man- 
 ners and habits, to which all classes and com- 
 munities of people are equally liable. According- 
 ly, the ghost has suffered as great a degeneracy 
 from that majesty of person, and chivalry of ha- 
 bits, which anciently distinguished the primitive 
 inhabitants of Caledonia, as his mortal contempo- 
 rary, man. Unlike the present puny, green, 
 worm-eaten effigies that now-a-days stalk about 
 our premises, and, like the cameleon, feed upon 
 the air, the ancient race of Highland ghosts were 
 a set of stout, lusty, sociable ghosts, " as tall as a 
 pine, and as broad as a house" Differing widely 
 in his habits from those of his posterity, the 
 ghost of antiquity would enter the habitation of 
 man, descant a lee-long night upon the news of the 
 times, until the long-wished-for supper was 
 once prepared, when this pattern of frankness 
 and good living would invite himself to the 
 table, and do as much justice to a bicker of 
 Highland crowdie as his earthly contemporaries. 
 Indeed, if all tales be true, many centuries are 
 not elapsed since those social practices of the
 
 6 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 ghosts of the day proved an eminent pest to so- 
 ciety. With voracious appetites, those greedy 
 gormandizers were in the habit of visiting the 
 humble hamlets, where superabundance of store 
 seldom resided, and of ravishing from the grasp 
 of a starving progeny the meagre fare allotted 
 to their support. 
 
 Beyond their personal attractions, however, 
 it is believed, they displayed few enviable quali- 
 ties for, besides their continual depredations on 
 the goods and chattels of the adjacent hamlets, 
 they were ill-natured and cruel, and cared not a 
 spittle for woman or child. The truth of this 
 remark is well exemplified in the history of two 
 celebrated ghosts, who " once upon a time"" lived, 
 or rather existed, in the Wilds of Craig- A ul- 
 naic, a romantic place in the district of Strath- 
 down, Banffshire. The one was a male and the 
 other a female. The male was called Fhua 
 Mhoir Rein Bay nac, after one of the mountains 
 of Glenavon, where at one time he resided ; and 
 the female was called Clasknichd Aulnaic, from 
 her having had her abode in Craig-Aulnaic*
 
 GHOSTS. 
 
 But, although the great ghost of Ben-Bay nac 
 was bound, by the common ties of nature and of 
 honour, to protect and cherish his weaker com- 
 panion, Clashmchd Aulnaic, yet he often treated 
 her in the most cruel and unfeeling manner. In 
 the dead of night, when the surrounding ham- 
 lets were buried in deep repose, and when no- 
 thing else disturbed the solemn stillness of the 
 midnight scene, "oft," says our narrator, "would 
 the shrill shrieks of poor Clashmchd burst upon 
 the slumberers 1 ears, and awake him to any thing 
 but pleasant reflections." 
 
 But of all those who were incommoded by the 
 noisy and unseemly quarrels of these two ghosts, 
 James Owre or Gray, the tenant of the farm of 
 Balbig of Delnabo, was the greatest sufferer. 
 From the proximity of his abode to their haunts, 
 it was the misfortune of himself and family to 
 be the nightly audience of Clashmchd 1 s cries and 
 lamentations, which they considered any thing 
 but agreeable entertainment. 
 
 One day as James Gray was on his rounds 
 looking after his sheep, he happened to fall in
 
 8 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 with Clashnichd, the Ghost of Aulnaic, with 
 whom he entered into a long conversation. In 
 the course of this conversation he took occasion 
 to remonstrate with her on the very disagreeable 
 disturbance she caused himself and family, by 
 her wild and unearthly cries, cries which, he 
 said, few mortals could relish in the dreary hours 
 of midnight. Poor Clashnichd, by way of apo- 
 logy for her conduct, gave James Gray a sad 
 account of her usage, detailing at full length the 
 series of cruelties committed upon her by Ben- 
 Baynac. From this account, it appeared that 
 her cohabitation with the latter was by no means 
 a matter of choice with Clashnichd ; on the con- 
 trary, it appeared that she had, for a long time, 
 led a life of celibacy with much comfort, resid- 
 ing in a snug dwelling, as already mentioned, 
 in the wilds of Craig- Ailnac ; but Ben-Baynac 
 having unfortunately taken it into his head to 
 pay her a visit, he took a fancy, not to herself, 
 but her dwelling, of which, in his own name and 
 authority, he took immediate possession, and 
 soon after expelled poor Clashnichd, with many
 
 GHOSTS. 9 
 
 stripes, from her natural inheritance ; while 
 not satisfied with invading and depriving her of 
 her just rights, he was in the habit of following 
 her into her private haunts, not with the view of 
 offering her any endearments, but for the pur- 
 pose of inflicting on her person every degrading 
 torment which his brain could invent. 
 
 Such a moving relation could not fail to affect 
 the generous heart of James Gray, who deter- 
 mined from that moment to risk life and limb in 
 order to vindicate the rights and revenge the 
 wrongs of poor Clash nichd the Ghost of Craig-- 
 Aulnac. He, therefore, took good care to inter- 
 rogate his new protege touching the nature of 
 her oppressor's constitution, whether he was of 
 that tollable species of ghost that could be shot 
 with a silver sixpence, or if there was any other 
 weapon that could possibly accomplish his anni- 
 hilation. Clashnichd informed him that she had 
 occasion to know that Ben-Baynac was wholly 
 invulnerable to all the weapons of man, with 
 the exception of a large mole on his left breast, 
 which was no doubt penetrable by silver or steel ;
 
 10 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 but that, from the specimens she had of his per- 
 sonal prowess and strength, it were vain for mere 
 man to attempt to combat Ben-Baynac the great 
 ghost. Confiding, however, in his expertness 
 as an archer for he was allowed to be the best 
 marksman of his age James Gray told Clash- 
 nichd he did not fear him with all his might, 
 that Tie was his man ; and desired her, more- 
 over, next time he chose to repeat his incivilities 
 to her, to apply to him, James Gray, for re- 
 dress. 
 
 It was not long ere he had an opportunity of 
 fulfilling his promises. Ben-Baynac having one 
 night, in the want of better amusement, enter- 
 tained himself by inflicting an inhuman castiga- 
 tion on Clashnichd, she lost no time in waiting 
 on James Gray, with a full and particular ac- 
 count of it. She found him smoking his cutty^ 
 and unbuttoning his habiliments for bed ; but, 
 notwithstanding the inconvenience of the hour, 
 James needed no great persuasion to induce him 
 to proceed directly along with Clashnichd to 
 hold a communing with their friend Ben-Bay-
 
 GHOSTS. 11 
 
 nac the great ghost. Clashnichd was a stout 
 sturdy hussey, who understood the nack of 
 travelling much better than our women do. 
 She expressed a wish, that, for the sake of expe- 
 dition, James Gray would mount himself on her 
 ample shoulders, a motion to which the latter 
 agreed ; and a few minutes brought them close 
 to the scene of Ben-Baynac's residence. As 
 they approached his haunt, he came forth to 
 meet them, with looks and gestures which did 
 not at all indicate a cordial welcome. It was a 
 fine moonlight night, and they could easily ob- 
 serve his actions. Poor Clashnichd was now 
 sorely afraid of the great ghost. Apprehend- 
 ing instant destruction from his fury, she ex- 
 claimed to James Gray, that they would be both 
 dead people, and that immediately, unless James 
 could hit with an arrow the mole which covered 
 Ben-Baynac's heart. This was not so difficult 
 a task as James had hitherto apprehended it. 
 The mole was as large as a common bonnet, and 
 yet nowise disproportioned to the natural size of 
 his body, for he certainly was a great and a 
 mighty ghost. Ben-Baynac cried out to James
 
 12 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 Gray, that he would soon make eagle's-meat of 
 him ; and certain it is, such was his intention, 
 had not James Gray so effectually stopped him 
 from the execution of it. Raising his bow to his 
 eye when within a few yards of Ben-Baynac, he 
 took an important aim ; the arrow flew it hit 
 a yell from Ben-Baynac announced its fatality. 
 A hideous howl re-echoed from the surrounding 
 mountains, responsive to the groans of a thou- 
 sand ghosts ; and Ben-Baynac, like the smoke of 
 a shot, evanished into air. * 
 
 Clashnichd, the Ghost of Aulnac, now found 
 
 * Nothing can appear more surprising to the refined 
 reader, than that any human being, possessing the ra- 
 tional faculties of human nature, could for a moment en- 
 tertain a notion so preposterous, as that a ghost, which 
 conveys the idea of an immortal spirit, could be killed, 
 or rather annihilated, by an arrow, dirk, or sixpence. 
 It was, however, the opinion of the darker ages, that such 
 an exploit as killing a ghost was perfectly practicable. A 
 spirit was supposed to be material in its nature, quite 
 susceptible of mortal pain, and liable to death or anni- 
 hilation from the weapons of man. Such an opinion is 
 repeatedly expressed in several passages of the Poems of 
 Ossian, and in the doctrine of the Seanachy, down to the 
 present day.
 
 GHOSTS. 
 
 herself emancipated from the most abject state 
 of slavery, and restored to freedom and liberty, 
 through the invincible courage of James Gray. 
 Overpowered with gratitude, she fell at James 
 Gray's feet, and vowed to devote the whole of 
 her time and talents towards his service and pro- 
 sperity. Meanwhile, being anxious to have her 
 remaining goods and furniture removed to her 
 former dwelling, whence she had been so iniqui- 
 tously expelled by Ben-Baynac the great ghost, 
 she requested of her new master the use of his 
 horses to remove them. James observing on 
 the adjacent hill a flock of deer, and wishing to 
 have a trial of his new servant's sagacity or ex- 
 pertness, told her those were his horses, she was 
 welcome to the use of them ; desiring, when she 
 was done with them, that she would inclose 
 them in his stable. Clash nichd then proceeded 
 to make use of the horses, and James Gray 
 returned home to enjoy his night's rest. 
 
 " Scarce had he reached his arm-chair, and 
 reclined his cheek on his hand, to ruminate over 
 the bold adventure of the night, when the Clash- 
 nichd entered, with her ' breath in her throat,'
 
 14 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 and venting the bitterest complaints at the un- 
 ruliness of his horses, which had broken one-half 
 of her furniture, and caused more trouble in the 
 stabling of them than their services were worth . 
 ' Oh ! they'are stabled, then ?' inquired James 
 Gray. Clashnichd replied in the affirmative. 
 ' Very well,' rejoined James, ' they shall be tame 
 enough to-morrow.' n 
 
 From this specimen of Clashnichd the Ghost 
 of Craig- Ailnaig's expertness, it will be seen 
 what a valuable acquisition her service proved to 
 James Gray and his young family ; of which, 
 however, they were too speedily deprived by a 
 most unfortunate accident. From the sequel of 
 the story, and of which the foregoing is but an 
 extract, it appears, that poor Clashnichd was but 
 too deeply addicted to those guzzling propen- 
 sities, which at that time rendered her kin so ob- 
 noxious to their human neighbours. She was 
 consequently in the habit of visiting her friends 
 much oftener than she was invited, and, in the 
 course of such visits, was never very scrupulous 
 in making free with any eatables that fell with- 
 in the circle of her observation.
 
 GHOSTS. 15 
 
 One day, while engaged on a foraging expedi- 
 tion of this description, she happened to enter the 
 Millof Delnabo, which was inhabited in thosedays 
 by the miller's family. She found the miller's 
 wife engaged in roasting a large gridiron of fine 
 savoury fish, the agreeable effluviaproceeding from 
 which perhaps occasioned her visit. With the 
 usual inquiries after the health of the miller and 
 his family, Clashnichd proceeded, with the great- 
 est familiarity and good humour, to make herself 
 comfortable at the expence of their entertain- 
 ment. But the miller's wife, enraged at the loss 
 of her fish, and not relishing such unwelcome fa- 
 miliarity, punished the unfortunate Clashnichd 
 rather too severely for her freedom. It happen- 
 ed that there was at the time a large caldron of 
 boiling water suspended over the fire, and this 
 caldron the beldam of a miller's wife overturned 
 in Clashnichd's bosom ! Scalded beyond reco- 
 very, she fled up the wilds of Craig- Ailnaig, 
 uttering the most melancholy lamentations, nor 
 has she been ever since heard of to the present 
 day.
 
 16 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Of the Ghost in his co-existent State His per- 
 sonal Similitudes and Habits. 
 
 HAVING, in the preceding Chapter, endeavour- 
 ed, as briefly as possible, to throw some light 
 upon the general character of the primitive race 
 of Highland ghosts, in order to enable the reader 
 to judge of the difference of manners which dis- 
 tinguish them from the modern ghosts, we 
 shall now proceed to the consideration of the lat- 
 ter during the interval betwixt the birth and the 
 eve of the death of the mortal, and which, for the 
 sake of illustration, we shall call his co-existent 
 state- 
 
 From the birth of the mortal to the eve of his 
 death, the ghost, in point of similitude, is a per- 
 fect counterpart or representative of his earthly 
 yoke-fellow. As the child grows towards man-
 
 GHOSTS. 17 
 
 hood, his ghost keeps pace with him, and so ex- 
 actly do they resemble each other in the features, 
 complexions, and aspect, when seen by a third 
 party, that, without the use of prescribed spells, 
 no human observer can distinguish the mortal 
 from the immortal. Nor is this resemblance con- 
 fined to the personal appearance alone it is like- 
 wise extended to the habiliments. Whether the 
 mortal equips himself in the Highland garb or 
 Lowland costume, the imitative ghost instantly 
 assumes the same attire. The bonnet or the hat, 
 the philibeg or the trews, are equally convenient 
 and agreeable to him ; for in this solitary parti- 
 cular he has never been known to dissent from 
 his human partner. 
 
 During this period the ghost is supposed either 
 to accompany or precede, at some distance, his 
 human partner (of course invisible to those not 
 possessing the second-sight) in all those multifa- 
 rious journeys and duties which the mortal per- 
 forms throughout the course of his eventful life, 
 and the moral utility of the ghost is supposed to 
 consist in propitiating the mortal's undertakings,
 
 18 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 by guarding them from the influence of evil 
 spirits. But, however this may be, it is a well- 
 known fact, that all ghosts do not devote the 
 whole of their time to the discharge of this com- 
 mendable duty. Common fame errs much if 
 those capricious beings do not love their own 
 pleasures more than their partner's interest ; and 
 this their negligence is a subject of still deeper 
 regret, when we consider the nature of those 
 practices in which they employ their time. 
 
 If the appetites of the modern ghost are bet- 
 ter restrained than those of his predecessors were 
 in the " greedy times' 1 we have written of, the 
 mischievous habits he has acquired in lieu of his 
 predecessor's social accomplishments, are to some 
 far more calamitous than even ClashnichcTs 
 practices. It is true, a dose of Highland crow- 
 die would but ill agree with the refined delicacy 
 of the stomach of the former. Such squeamish 
 appetites must look out for more delicate and sa- 
 voury food. But if the modern ghost does not 
 possess those keen digestive powers which dis- 
 tinguished " Clashnichd" he inherits all the ill
 
 GHOSTS. 19 
 
 nature of " Ben-Baynac" without one-third of 
 his might ; and we question much if his regard 
 for the fair sex is a bit more tender. 
 
 Instead of being the peaceable and indus- 
 trious associate of his yoke-fellow, it is a com- 
 mon practice with the ghost of the present day to 
 prowl about the country with the laudable inten- 
 tion of committing all the mischief in his power 
 to the friends and acquaintances of his partner. 
 Planting himself in some wild and convenient po- 
 sition, he will open on the ears of the slumbering 
 inhabitants, or the more unfortunate traveller, 
 his wild and unearthly cries, highly gratified, no 
 doubt, at the paralyzing effect they produce on 
 his audience. Of the hideousness of these cries 
 nothing short of auric demonstration can convey 
 an adequate conception. Partaking at once of 
 all that is horrid and unnatural, if any resem- 
 blance to them can be figured, we are told, it is 
 the " expiring shrieks of a goat under the 
 butcher's knife, or the howling of a dog in a so- 
 litary cavern." Proportioned to the strength of 
 the ghost, the cry is loud or faint, and has
 
 20 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 something so peculiar in it, that the least note 
 never fails to give the hearer a temporary palsy. 
 But were his practices confined to those com- 
 paratively harmless proceedings, the conduct of 
 the ghost would be far less intolerable than it 
 is. His vocal entertainments; however hurtful 
 they sometimes prove to those unfortunate 
 enough to hear them, are not sufficiently iniqui- 
 tous to satisfy the extent of his malice. Being, 
 no doubt, well disciplined in the noble and 
 fashionable art of pugilism by long experience 
 and practice among his kindred species, never 
 remarkable for their social harmony, he is, 
 perhaps, the best bruiser in the universe, and 
 will never be backward in showing those peo- 
 ple who come in his way his expertness in 
 this science. As, however, the greatest part 
 of his human contemporaries are, perhaps, 
 too strikingly convinced of his decided supe- 
 riority, few of them are disposed to hazard a 
 set-to with so pithy a combatant, and it is con- 
 sequently no easy matter for the ghost to fall in 
 with those who are inclined to fight merely for
 
 GHOSTS. 21 
 
 fighting's sake. Finding, therefore, so few willing 
 to quarrel with him in that open and gentleman- 
 like manner usual in those countries, the fertili- 
 ty of his noddle suggests to him the more indi- 
 rect or Irish mode of proceeding, and it is to 
 this ingenious mode of raising a row, that the 
 Modern Ghost owes the most of his laurels. 
 Presenting himself before the unsuspecting tra- 
 veller in the servile appearance of a scabbed colt, 
 or some such equally contemptible animal, he 
 will in this guise place himself in the passenger's 
 way, as if to graze by the road's side. Raising 
 his staff, the passenger will very aptly apply it 
 to the colt's back to clear his way, when the 
 malicious animal will instantly retort, and a con- 
 flict ensues, in which the unwary transgressor is 
 severely punished for his indiscretion. 
 
 In former times, however, and even in recent 
 times, we have heard of some instances where 
 those wanton pugilists proceeded upon more 
 honourable and systematic principles than they 
 do at present. Instead of the dastardly mode 
 of cajoling his adversary into a fight by stra-
 
 22 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 tagem, and conquering him by surprise, the 
 warlike bogle of the last century carried about 
 with him flails, cudgels, and such other pithy 
 weapons as were suitable to the spirit of the 
 times, and on his meeting with a human ad- 
 venturer who had no objection to become his 
 antagonist, his choice of weapons was left with 
 the latter. Hence it followed, that this equita- 
 ble and impartial mode of proceeding ended 
 riot unfrequently to the ghost's great disadvan- 
 tage. For the human bullies of those days were 
 so diligently trained up to the handling of a 
 flail or the wielding of a cudgel, that their 
 ghostly combatants, with all their might and 
 dexterity, have often been the first to propose 
 an armistice. To multiply details of such en- 
 counters would be as tedious as they are nume- 
 rous and similar ; a single narrative, communicat- 
 ed to the compiler by the grand-nephew of the 
 person concerned, will, we suppose, be sufficient 
 to confirm our statements. 
 
 " Late one night, as my grand-uncle Lachlan 
 
 Dhu Macpherson, who was well known as 
 1
 
 GHOSTS. 23 
 
 the best fiddler of his day, was returning home 
 from a ball, at which he had acted as a musi- 
 cian, he had occasion to pass through the once 
 haunted Bog of Torrans. Now, it happened at 
 that time that that Bog was frequented by a 
 huge bogle or ghost, who was of a most mis- 
 chievous disposition, and took particular plea- 
 sure in abusing every traveller who had occa-' 
 sion to pass through the place betwixt the twi- 
 light at night and cock- crowing in the morning. 
 Suspecting much that he would also come in for 
 a share of his abuse, my grand-uncle made up 
 his mind, in the course of his progress, to return 
 him any civilities which he might think meet to 
 offer him. On arriving on the spot, he found 
 his suspicions were too well grounded ; for, 
 whom did he see but the Ghost of Bogandoran 
 apparently ready waiting him, and seeming by 
 his ghastly grin not a little overjoyed at the 
 meeting ? Then marching up to my grand-uncle, 
 the bogle clapt a huge club into his hand, and 
 furnishing himself with one of the same dimen- 
 sions, he put a spittle in his hand, and delibe-
 
 24 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 rately commenced the combat. My granduncle 
 returned the salute with equal spirit, and so 
 ably did both parties ply their batons, that for a 
 while the issue of the combat was extremely 
 doubtful. At length, however, the fiddler could 
 easily discover that his opponent's vigour was 
 much in the fagging order. Picking up renew- 
 ed courage in consequence, my granduncle, the 
 fiddler, plied the ghost with renovated vigour, 
 and after a stout resistance, in the course of 
 which both parties were seriously handled, the 
 Ghost of Bogandoran thought it prudent to give 
 up the night. 
 
 " At same time, filled, no doubt, with great in- 
 dignation at this signal defeat, it seems the ghost 
 resolved to re-engage my granduncle on some other 
 occasion, under more favourable circumstances. 
 Not long after, as my granduncle was returning 
 home quite unattended from another ball in the 
 Braes of the country, he had just entered the 
 hollow of Auldichoish, well known for its 
 1 eery 1 properties, when, lo ! who presented him- 
 self to his view on the adjacent eminence, but
 
 GHOSTS. 25 
 
 his old friend of Bogandoran, advancing as large 
 as the gable of a house, putting himself in the 
 most threatening and fighting attitudes. 
 
 " Looking on the very dangerous nature of the 
 ground in which they were met, and feeling no 
 anxiety for a second encounter with a combatant 
 of his weight, in a situation so little desirable, 
 the fiddler would have willingly deferred the 
 settlement of their differences till a more conve- 
 nient season. He, accordingly, assuming the 
 most submissive aspect in the world, endeavour- 
 ed to pass by his champion in peace, but in 
 vain. Longing, no doubt, to retrieve the dis- 
 grace of his late discomfiture, the bogle instant- 
 ly seized the fiddler, and attempted with all his 
 might to pull the latter down the precipice, with 
 the diabolical intention, it is supposed, of drown- 
 ing him in the river Avon below. In this pious 
 design the bogle was happily frustrated by the 
 intervention of some trees, which grew in the 
 precipice, and to which my unhappy grand-un- 
 cle clung with the zeal of a drowning man. 
 The enraged ghost, finding it impossible to extri-
 
 6 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 cate him from those friendly trees, and resolving, 
 at all events, to be revenged of him, he fell upon 
 maltreating the fiddler with his hands and feet 
 in the most inhuman manner. 
 
 " Such gross indignities my worthy grand-un- 
 cle was not accustomed to, and being incensed 
 beyond all measure at the liberties taken by Bo- 
 gandoran, he resolved again to try his mettle, 
 whether life or death should be the consequence. 
 Having no other weapon wherewith to defend 
 himself but his biodag; which, considering the 
 nature of his opponent's constitution, he suspect- 
 ed much would be of little avail to him I say, 
 in the absence of any other weapon, he sheathed 
 the biodag three times in the Ghost of Bogan- 
 doran's belly. And what was the consequence ? 
 why, to the great astonishment of my courage- 
 ous forefather, the ghost fell down cold-dead at 
 his feet, and was never more seen or heard of-" 
 
 Thus it will be seen, that in those chivalrous 
 days, the stout and energetic sons of Caledonia had 
 courage and prowess enough to cope with those 
 powerful warriors, however unequally matched,
 
 GHOSTS. 27 
 
 with spirit and even with success. In the present 
 effeminate times, we hear of none that will even 
 contend with those miserable scare-crows of the 
 present day. Overcome, more by fear than by 
 force, at the first encounter, they throw them- 
 selves down, and, like the lamb beneath the fox, 
 tamely submit to the most abusive treatment. 
 Hence, encouraged by those servile submissions, 
 it is almost incredible to what extent those in- 
 vincible corps sometimes carry their audacity. 
 We have heard of not a few of them, who hav- 
 ing, in the first place, intruded their company 
 on peaceable travellers on the public road, 
 in the next place, offered them the most pro- 
 voking indignities, one time piping their un- 
 earthly cries into the passenger's ears, at another 
 time tripping him by the heels, and even com- 
 mitting indecencies, which delicacy forbids us to 
 repeat, while the fears and agitation manifested 
 by the traveller constituted a subject of great 
 merriment to the mischievous ghost.
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Of the Ghost in his Intermediate State His 
 Similitudes and Habits. 
 
 A SHORT time previous to the mortal's death, 
 and when just on the eve of dissolution, the 
 ghost undergoes a striking revolution in his ap- 
 pearance and habits. Seized with the locked 
 jaw, and all the other disabilities common to the 
 dead, he then becomes the awful emblem of 
 death in all its similitudes. Attired in a shroud, 
 and all the ensigns of the grave, the ghost noc- 
 turnally proceeds to the narrow house of his 
 future residence, and there disappears. He is 
 lighted on his way by a pale azure-coloured 
 light of the size of that emitted by a tallow 
 candle, which is of a flickering unsteady nature, 
 sometimes vivid, and sometimes faint, as the 
 mortal inhales and respires his breath ; and, in
 
 GHOSTS. 29 
 
 his course towards the grave, he will follow mi- 
 nutely the line of march destined to be followed 
 by his earthly partner's approaching funeral. 
 His pace is slow, and his footsteps imperceptible 
 even to a passenger; who, although he sees 
 clearly all his trappings, cannot discern his mode 
 of travelling. To the naked eye the ghost's vi- 
 sage is not discernible by reason of the face- 
 cloth. There is a very simple process, however, 
 which has been discovered for enabling a spec- 
 tator to discern whose ghost he is, although we 
 never heard of more than one person who had 
 the hardihood to put the experiment in prac- 
 tice. 
 
 It is an admitted fact, in those countries, that 
 a ghost may be recognised, in the appearance of 
 his human partner, on his passing a spectator, by 
 the latter's reversing the cuff of his own coat, or 
 any other part of his raiment, which puts an in- 
 stant stop to the ghost's career, and clearly ex- 
 poses him to the recognition of the courageous 
 experimenter. 
 
 A sage philosopher, who had long desired an
 
 30 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 opportunity of practising this bold experiment, 
 found, " late one night," when returning home 
 from a market, a very convenient one. Observ- 
 ing a stout lusty ghost stalking very majestically 
 along the public road, this bold adventurer he- 
 sitated not a moment. Clapping himself into 
 a defensive attitude, he reversed his cuff when, 
 lo ! his next-door neighbour's wife was instantly 
 confronted to his face clad in death's awful ap- 
 parelthe death-candle lowing in her throat, 
 and mouth full distended. Such an exhibition 
 was too appalling to wish for a long interview ; 
 and, accordingly, Donald Doul, the adventurer, 
 made a motion to be off, but in vain. The un- 
 happy man, as if transformed into a stone, could 
 no more move than Lot's wife, and was obliged 
 to stand confronted to his loving companion, both 
 equally sparing of their talk, until the crowing 
 of the cock in the morning. Finding himself 
 then released from his uncomfortable stance, he 
 was about to make the best of his way home, to 
 communicate the result of his experiment, when 
 the friendly wife's ghost thus addressed him :
 
 GHOSTS. 31 
 
 " Donald Doul Donald Doul Donald Doul 
 hear me, and tremble. Great is the hindrance 
 you have caused me this night, a hindrance for 
 which you should have been severely punished, 
 but for the friendship which formerly subsisted 
 between yourself and my partner. Dare not 
 again to pry into the mysteries of the dead. The 
 time will come when youl! know those secrets." 
 To this poetical harangue Donald Doul made 
 no other reply than a profound obeisance. It 
 is possible, however, the ghost would have pro- 
 posed a rejoinder, had not a chanticleer, in the 
 adjacent hamlet, emitted his third clarion, at the 
 magic sound of which the wife's ghost fairly took 
 to her heels, leaving Donald Doul to resume his 
 course homewards without further advice. Sa- 
 tisfied of the interesting nature of the occurrence, 
 and that his reputation for courage and veracity 
 would suffer no diminution from the relation, 
 Donald Doul made no secret of what happened. 
 This clearly foretold what speedily took place, 
 the dissolution of the neighbour's wife, (who, by 
 the way, was dangerously ill at the time,) to the
 
 82 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 great grief of her husband, and the credit of 
 Donald Doul's name. 
 
 A short time after the ghost, bearing the 
 death-candle, has thus been seen, the house of 
 the undertaker, who is to make the mortal's cof- 
 fin, will be nightly disturbed by the sounds of 
 saws, and knocking of hammers ; no doubt, pro- 
 ceeding from the ghost of the undertaker and 
 his assistants preparing the coffin of the ghost ; 
 while invisible messengers will parade the coun- 
 try for necessaries, for the ghost's funeral, or 
 foregoing. And a very imposing and interest- 
 ing spectacle may be looked for. 
 
 The mortal resigns his breath, and is about 
 to follow the course of the dead-candle to his 
 new abode, when Taish na Tialedh, or the fu- 
 neral foregoing, takes the road. This is not a pal- 
 try spectacle of one ghost, a sight so common in 
 those countries, but a superb assemblage of 
 them, all drest in their best attire, each reflect- 
 ing lustre on the other. On this occasion, the 
 ghost of every man, who is destined to accom- 
 pany the mortars funeral, will attend, dressed
 
 GHOSTS. 33 
 
 in apparel of the same colour, and mounted on 
 a horse of the same appearance, (if he is to have 
 one,) as his mortal companion on the day of the 
 corporeal interment. On this occasion, too, their 
 characteristic austerity of manners is dispensed 
 with. Mellowed, no doubt, by the generous 
 qualities of the Usquebaugh, the jocund laugh, 
 the jest, and repartee, go slapping round, re- 
 sponsive to some mournful dirge proceeding 
 from the defunct's immediate friends and rela- 
 tions. 
 
 In the motley group, the ghost of a father 
 or brother is easily recognised by his well-known 
 voice and Sabbath vestment. Nay, the specta- 
 tor may even recognise himself, if his senses en- 
 able him to discriminate, joyous or sorry, as oc- 
 casion suggests, mingled in the throng. In the 
 middle of the procession the coffin is seen, con- 
 taining, we presume, the dead ghost, circled by 
 mourning relatives ; and on the front, flanks, 
 and rear of the burden, the company are like- 
 wise seen approaching and retiring, relieving 
 each other by turns. At length, the noise of 
 
 B2
 
 34 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 horses and tongues, horsemen and footmen, 
 mingled indiscriminately together, closes the 
 procession. 
 
 The following account of \hejbregolng of the 
 funeral of an illustrious chief, who died some 
 few score of years ago, (witnessed by a man 
 whose veracity was a perfect proverb,) will not, 
 we trust, be unacceptable : 
 
 " A smith, who had a large family to provide 
 for, was often necessitated to occupy his smithy 
 till rather a late hour. One night, in particu- 
 lar, as he was turning the key of his smithy 
 door, his notice was attracted to the public road, 
 which lay contiguous to the smithy, by a confu- 
 sion of sounds, indicative of the approach of a 
 great concourse of people. Immediately there 
 appeared the advanced ranks of a procession, 
 marching four men deep, in tolerable good or- 
 der, unless occasionally some unaccountable cir- 
 cumstance occasioned the fall of a lusty fellow, 
 as if he had been shot by a twenty-four pound- 
 er. Thunderstruck at the nature and number 
 of the marvellous procession, the smith, honest
 
 GHOSTS. 35 
 
 man, reclined his back to the door, witnessing a 
 continuation of the same procession for nearly an 
 hour, without discovering any thing further of 
 the character of those who composed it, than that 
 they betokened a repletion of the Usquebaugh. 
 At length, the appearance of the hearse, and its 
 awful ensigns, together with the succeeding line 
 of coaches, developed the nature of the concern. 
 It was then that the smith's knees began to smite 
 each other, and his hair to stand on an end. 
 The recent demise of his venerable chieftain 
 confirmed his conviction of its being a Taish, 
 and a very formidable one too. Not choosing 
 to see the rear, he directed his face homewards, 
 whither he fled with the swiftness of younger 
 years, and was not backward in favouring his 
 numerous acquaintances with a full and particu- 
 lar account of the whole scene. This induced 
 many honest people to assume the smithy door 
 as their stance of observation on the day of the 
 funeral, which took place a few days after ; and, 
 to his honour be it told, every circumstance de- 
 tailed by the smith in his relation accurately
 
 36 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 happened, even to the decanting of two dogs, 
 and this established the smith's veracity in all 
 time thereafter." 
 
 Akin to this are all the relations of those good 
 people, whose evil destiny it has been to fall in 
 with those ghostly processions, some of whom 
 having inadvertently involved themselves into 
 the crowd, were repulsed in every attempt to ex- 
 tricate themselves, until carried along, nobody 
 knows how far, by the tumultuous rabble, who 
 seemed to enjoy themselves vastly at the standing 
 hair, protruding eyes, and awry visage of the un- 
 conscious intruder. 
 
 In concluding this part of our subject, it is 
 hardly necessary to add, that in two or three 
 days after the ghostly procession, the human 
 or corporeal procession will succeed it, following 
 most minutely and accurately every course, 
 winding, and turn taken by the foregoing, while 
 the dress, conversation, and every other incident 
 attending the company will be precisely the 
 same.
 
 37 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 OftJie Ghost In his Post-existent State. 
 
 IT might, no doubt, be readily supposed by 
 the ingenious reader, that the mortars decease 
 should be the term of dissolution assigned to the 
 copartnery connection subsisting between the 
 mortal and his ghost, as it generally terminates 
 every other engagement into which the people 
 of this world enter. The event, however, only 
 serves to blend their interests still more strictly 
 together. Whatever doubt may exist as to the 
 ghost's attention to his partner's worldly inter- 
 ests in his lifetime, his solicitude for his spiritual 
 interest, after the mortal's death, is universally 
 acknowledged. He then becomes the sole means 
 of remedying past errors, and obtaining redress
 
 38 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 for past injuries. To enable one fully to appre- 
 ciate a ghost's utility in the k< land of the leal? 
 he must acquaint himself with the nature of the 
 life which the defunct led, whether regular in 
 his habits, and moral in his life, or otherwise, 
 and the particular situation of his affairs at 
 death. If, for instance, a man falls suddenly 
 like a tree in a storm, whatever may be the si- 
 tuation or circumstances in which he happens to 
 drop, so he must lie. In this respect, then, the 
 peculiar advantage of the Highlander over his 
 Lowland neighbour becomes perfectly apparent. 
 Through the medium of a faithful ghost and a 
 confidential friend, transactions, as intricate and 
 ravelled as those of the Laird of Coul, can be 
 easily simplified and assorted. 
 
 No man should, therefore, be surprised, if the 
 ghost of some departed friend should take an 
 opportunity of saluting him, and for his own 
 sake he should also lose no time in enabling the 
 awful emissary to declare the purpose of his 
 mission ; whoever will defer doing so only in-
 
 GHOSTS. 39 
 
 creases his own misery, and it is a task, however 
 uncomfortable, that is sacredly due to depart- 
 ed friendship ; for how many, by yielding to 
 the influence of cowardly fear, have exposed 
 themselves and their household to those noctur- 
 nal rackets sometimes raised by those disappoints 
 ed ambassadors, whereas a little resolution would 
 not only have averted it, but have also greatly 
 conduced to the repose and quietude of an old 
 and esteemed acquaintance. The following state- 
 ment of a circumstance which, we are told, hap- 
 pened in Strathspey not a great many years ago, 
 will best enforce this counsel. 
 
 " Not many years ago there lived in Kincar- 
 dine of Strathspey, a poor man, who contracted 
 a severe and sudden illness, which, to the great 
 grief of his family, terminated in his death. 
 From the suddenness of the honest man's call, 
 he had not time to settle his affairs, and this cir- 
 cumstance, it seems, as might have been suppos- 
 ed, caused him no small disquietude in the eter- 
 nal world. He wished, in particular, to have had
 
 40 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 an axe and a whisky barrel, which he had borrow- 
 ed of a friend, restored to him; for iron, you must 
 know, in such cases, is very bad. In order, there- 
 fore, to have this matter adjusted, the dead man 
 commissioned his ghost to wait on a particular 
 friend to disclose to him the circumstance, not 
 doubting in the least but the friend would have 
 bestowed his best attention on the subject. The 
 faithful ghost lost no time in proceeding to get the 
 object of his mission accomplished, which, how- 
 ever, turned out rather a difficult undertaking, 
 for it was no easy matter for the ghost to procure 
 a conference with the friend on the business. One 
 glimpse of the former never failed to communi- 
 cate to the latter the feet of a roe, nor could all 
 his dexterity bring the matter to a bearing. At 
 length, exasperated by a long course of night 
 watching, and useless travelling, the wily com- 
 missioner had recourse to an expedient which 
 ultimately effected his purpose. As soon as the 
 sun went down every evening, the ghost opened 
 a cannonade of bricks and stones upon the un-
 
 GHOSTS. 41 
 
 happy friend, and the inmates of his house, 
 which did not terminate till cock-crowing in 
 the morning, and so expert an archer was this 
 pawky ghost, that he scarcely ever missed an 
 aim, while every stroke would kill a bullock. 
 Smarting under the effect of this unseasonable 
 chastisement, the friend and his family raised 
 the most outrageous clamour at their unaccount- 
 able misfortune, which induced some of their 
 neighbours nightly to assemble in considerable 
 bodies to protect them from this nocturnal war- 
 fare. But the wily ghost, far from relaxing his 
 operations on that account, only plied them 
 with additional vigour, sparing neither sex nor 
 ege in his sweeping career. All sorts of missiles 
 announced themselves rebounding on the should- 
 ers of the protectors as well as the protected, 
 the pithy weight of which, and the unaccount- 
 able manner in which they were flung, convinc- 
 ed the sufferers they were not flung by mortal 
 hand. All the acquaintances of the friend, 
 therefore, urged on him to challenge the invisible 
 demon who thus savagely persecuted him at the
 
 42 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 hour of midnight, in order to afford the latter 
 an opportunity of explaining his business, and 
 the reason of his cruel and unchristian conduct. 
 But this advice the friend of the deceased was 
 disposed to consider a dernier resort, and one 
 that required some cool consideration. At 
 length, rendered quite desperate by a series of 
 unparalleled persecutions, which rendered him 
 as thin in body as a silver sixpence, the good- 
 uian came to a final determination to call 
 the ghost to account the very first opportu- 
 nity, for his mean and pusillanimous attacks 
 on himself and poor family. Accordingly, one 
 night, on receiving a tart pill on the cheek, 
 which gave him an earach, and which wonder- 
 fully improved his courage, the goodman march- 
 ed forth, with a mixture of rage and fear, de- 
 manding of the unfeeling ghost, in a voice 
 resembling the falling notes of the gamut, 
 " Wha-a-t i-i-s you-r bus-n-ess wi' m-my ho-use 
 a-and fa-fa-fa-mi-ly ?" The ghost instantly ap- 
 peared happy to answer the question ; but, ere 
 he could do so, it was necessary to go through a
 
 GHOSTS. 43 
 
 ceremony, which is no less curious than it is dis- 
 agreeable to the feelings of the parties concern- 
 ed. This ceremony consists in the mortals 
 embracing the ghost, and raising his feet from 
 the ground, so as to allow the wind to pass be- 
 tween the soles of his feet and the ground, 
 which enables the tongue-tied ghost to speak 
 a volume. What was then to be done in this 
 particular case ? Encouraged by the eloquent 
 cheers and arguments held forth to him, through 
 the crevices of his house, by his anxious family, 
 he made several attempts to encircle the awful 
 emissary in his arms, which, by a sort of me- 
 chanical motion, receded from the embrace ; and 
 it was not without great difficulty he could per- 
 suade himself to give a friendly embrace to this 
 mischievous ghost ; this, however, he did at 
 last, seizing him as he would a bush of thorns. 
 The ghost's long locked jaws now began to speak 
 in so sepulchral a tone as to palsy all who heard 
 it. The friend of the deceased promised strict 
 attention to all the ghost's injunctions, upon 
 which he evanished in a flame of fire, leaving the
 
 44 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 unhappy man scarce able to totter to his chair. 
 A minute compliance with all his instructions 
 rendered a second visit from the ghost unneces- 
 sary and this was no small matter of comfort 
 to the friend." 
 
 This frigid display of a Highlandman's cou- 
 rage will appear very contemptible when com- 
 pared to the undaunted resolution of the female 
 alluded to in the following story : 
 
 " About forty or fifty years ago, a native of 
 Strathdown, whose manner of living (like that 
 of other folks) did not qualify him for a sud- 
 den death, was unfortunately drowned in the 
 following manner : While in the act of cut- 
 ting down a tree, in a steep precipice pend- 
 ing over the river Avon, he slipped his foot- 
 ing fell headlong into the abyss below, and 
 rose no more. His lamentable fate was speedily 
 discovered his body interred, and his affairs ar- 
 ranged in the best possible order. Time, the 
 parent of oblivion, soon rendered his name ex- 
 tinct among the living, and he was no longer 
 heard of; when, on a certain day, in the height
 
 GHOSTS. 45 
 
 of it, the deceased appeared in his human like- 
 ness at the window of a female friend. On the 
 woman's exhibiting some surprise and terror at 
 his appearance, the drowned man called to her to 
 fear nothing, but to come forth and speak with 
 him, for it seems he had been enabled to speak 
 without the " dead-lift" The honest woman 
 suspecting, no doubt, that, if she did not go out 
 to him, he would make the best of his way to her, 
 obeyed his summons ; and, in the course of a 
 long convoy she gave him, he divulged to her 
 several acts of misconduct he had been guilty of 
 towards an old master and some others, which 
 disturbed much his repose. Anxious, no doubt, 
 to get rid of his company, she promised to ex- 
 ert the best of her endeavours to atone for his 
 misconduct, on condition he would leave her, 
 and never again renew his visit, a promise 
 which she faithfully performed, and the dead 
 friend gave her no farther trouble. 11 
 
 But the settlement of unassorted affairs, after 
 death, is not the only thing in which the ghost is 
 extremely useful. As an ambassador ever ready
 
 46 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 to discharge any piece of useful service such 
 as appeasing the unavailing grief of lamenting 
 relatives he is ever ready and expert, and the 
 delicate manner in which the ghost sometimes 
 executes this commission, indicates that he is 
 far more friendly and conciliatory in his beha- 
 viour when dead than he was when alive. 
 Sometimes, but very rarely, he leaves his abode 
 to benefit an old acquaintance or friend of 
 his partner ; but it will no doubt be done at the 
 instigation of the devoted latter. We present 
 the particulars of a favour of this sort conferred 
 on an inhabitant of Strathspey, no doubt a long 
 time ago, which deserved a better return than 
 what the ghost at first met with. 
 
 " Engaged one night in the arrangement of 
 his farming affairs, a certain farmer, living in 
 the parish of Abernethy, was a good deal sur- 
 prised at seeing an old acquaintance, who had a 
 considerable time previously departed this life, 
 entering quite coolly at his dwelling-house door. 
 Instead of following his old acquaintance into 
 his house, to receive an explanation from him- 
 12
 
 GHOSTS. 47 
 
 self of the marvellous circumstance, his curiosity 
 led him into the church-yard where his friend 
 was buried, and which was near by, to see if he 
 had actually risen from the dead. On examina- 
 tion, he not only found the grave, but also the 
 coffin wide open, which left no doubt on his 
 mind of the reality of the vision which he 
 thought had deluded his sight. Making the 
 sign of the cross on the grave, he returned to 
 his house, not caring whether he found his 
 friend before him or not. He was not, however, 
 to be seen ; but, in the course of a short time, 
 he returned, and upbraided the farmer for his 
 improper interference with his grave, explaining 
 to him the cause of his resurrection. It appear- 
 ed, that a scabbed stirk, which had a greedy cus- 
 tom of prowling about the doors, seeking what 
 he might devour, thief-like entered the dwelling- 
 house in the absence of the family, and, finding 
 no better subject of entertainment, attacked the 
 straw in the cradle which stood by the fire-side, 
 and in which his only child was sleeping at the 
 time. The tugging of the stirk at the straw
 
 48 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 would have inevitably overturned the cradle and 
 the child into the fire but for the generous in- 
 terposition of the ghost. The farmer expressed 
 his most grateful acknowledgments for so signal 
 an instance of his kindness ; and immediately re- 
 traced his steps to the grave, on which he made 
 a counter-sign to that which he formerly made, 
 and the good-hearted ghost obtained admission 
 into his dreary abode." 
 
 But these are not all the ghost's useful quali- 
 ties, He possesses another very important one 
 in this unchristian and uncharitable age, in 
 which the repositories of the dead are exposed to 
 the nocturnal spoliation of the ruthless resurrec- 
 tionist. It is vain for the church-sexton to 
 plant steel-traps and spring-guns in the 
 field of his labours, the wily depredator will 
 contrive to elude them all when this vigilant 
 watchman is wanted to direct them. To show 
 the vigilance of this agent's attention to his own 
 interest, and that of his friends, on such occa- 
 sions, take the following narration : 
 
 " There was at one time a woman, who lived in
 
 GHOSTS. 49 
 
 Camp-del-more of Strathavon, whose cattle were 
 seized with a murrain, or some such fell disease, 
 which ravaged the neighbourhood at the time, 
 carry ing off great numbers of them daily. All the 
 forlorn fires and hallowed waters failed of their 
 customary effects ; and she was at length told by 
 the wise people whom she consulted on the occa- 
 sion, that it was evidently the effect of some in- 
 fernal agency, the power of which could not be 
 destroyed by any other means than the never- 
 failing specific the juice of a dead head from the 
 church-yard, a nostrum certainly very difficult 
 to be procured, considering the head must needs 
 be abstracted from a grave in the hour of mid- 
 night. Being, however, a woman of a stout heart 
 and strong faith, native feelings of delicacy to- 
 wards the blessed sanctuary of the dead had more 
 weight in restraining her for some time from re- 
 sorting to this desperate remedy than those of 
 fear. At length, seeing that her bestial stock 
 would soon be completely annihilated by the de- 
 structive career of the disease, the wife of Camp- 
 del-more resolved to put the experiment in prac-
 
 50 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS, 
 
 tice, whatever the result might be. Accordingly, 
 having, with considerable difficulty, engaged a 
 neighbouring woman to be her companion in this 
 hazardous expedition, they set out, about mid- 
 night, for the parish church-yard, distant about 
 a mile and a half from her residence, to execute 
 her determination. On arriving at the church- 
 yard, her companion, whose courage was not so 
 notable, appalled by the gloomy prospect before 
 her, refused to enter among the habitations of 
 the dead. She, however, agreed to remain at 
 the gate till her friend's business was accomplish- 
 ed. This circumstance, however, did not stag- 
 ger our heroine's resolution. She, with the 
 greatest coolness and intrepidity, proceeded to- 
 wards what she supposed an old grave, took 
 down her spade, and commenced her opera- 
 tions. After a good deal of toil she arrived 
 at the object of her labour. Raising the first 
 head, or rather skull, that came her way, she 
 was about to make it her own property, when, 
 lo ! a hollow wild sepulchral voice exclaimed, 
 " That is my head let it alone !" Not wishing
 
 GHOSTS. 51 
 
 to dispute the claimant's title to this head, and 
 supposing she could be otherwise provided, she 
 very good naturedly returned it, and took up 
 another. " That is my father's head, 1 ' bellowed 
 the same voice. Wishing, if possible, to 
 avoid disputes, the wife of Camp-del-more took 
 up another head, when the same voice instantly 
 started a claim to it aS his grandfather's head. 
 " Well," replied the wife, nettled at her disap- 
 pointments, " although it were your grandmo- 
 ther's head, you shan't get it till I am done with 
 it." " What do you say, you limmer ?" says the 
 ghost, starting up in his awry habiliments ; 
 " What do you say, you limmer ?" repeated he 
 in a great rage. " By the great oath you had 
 better leave my grandfather's head." Upon 
 matters coming this length, the wily wife of 
 Camp-del-more thought it proper to assume a 
 more conciliatory aspect. Telling the claimant 
 the whole particulars of the predicament in which 
 she was placed by the foresaid calamity, she 
 promised faithfully, that, if his Honour would 
 only allow her to carry off his grandfather's
 
 52 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 skull, or head, in a peaceable manner, she would 
 restore it again when done with it. Here, after 
 some communing, they came to an understand- 
 ing, and she was allowed to take the head along 
 with her, on condition she should restore it be- 
 fore .cock-crowing, under the heaviest penal- 
 ties. 
 
 4C On coming out of the church-yard, and look- 
 ing for her companion, she had the mortifica- 
 tion to find her * without a mouthful of breath in 
 her body ;' for, on hearing the dispute between 
 her friend and the guardian of the grave, and 
 suspecting much that she was likely to share the 
 unpleasant punishments with which he threaten- 
 ed her friend, at the bare recital of them she 
 fell down in a faint, from which it was no easy 
 matter to recover her. This proved no small 
 inconvenience to Camp-del-more's wife, as there 
 were not above two hours to elapse ere she 
 had to return the head in terms of her agree- 
 ment. Taking her friend upon her back, 
 she carried her up a steep acclivity to the 
 nearest adjoining house, where she left her for
 
 GHOSTS. 55 
 
 the night; then repaired home with the utmost, 
 speed made dead bree of the dead head., and, 
 ere the appointed time had expired, she restored 
 the head to its guardian, and placed the grave 
 in its former condition. It is needless to add, 
 that, as a reward for her exemplary courage, the 
 ' bree "* had its desired effect the cattle speedily 
 recovered and, so long as she retained any of it,, 
 all sorts of diseases were of short duration.-" 
 
 Safeguards from Ghosts* 
 HAVING now briefly described the leading 
 features of a ghost's character in those countries, 
 we shall close our account of him by annexing a 
 few of those safeguards which protect us from 
 those wanton encounters and impertinent inter- 
 ferences which we have related, and which must 
 be far from being palatable to the more effemi- 
 nate inhabitants of the Highland mountains at 
 die present day. 
 
 One simple plan of obtaining perfect securi- 
 ty from supernatural agents of any kind is, 
 (whenever we apprehend the approach or pre-
 
 54 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 sence of a ghost,) to repeat certain words, which 
 can be taught by any wise patriarch or matron, 
 the powerful charm of which instantly reper- 
 cusses the ghost back to his own proper abode, 
 and, for the time, defeats all his machinations. 
 Note If in the house, the words must be re- 
 peated three times behind the door. A ghost 
 then can neither enter at the door, window, nor 
 any other crevice of the house- The operation 
 of the words is like that of an infeftment, which, ta- 
 ken on one part of the property, affects the whole. 
 Were it not for this grand discovery, vain would 
 be the attempt of any man to bar out a ghost as he 
 might do a mortal. A ghost can enter in at 
 the key-hole nay, even through the wall of 
 the house, if there is no other caveat to arrest 
 him in his career. 
 
 Another safeguard consists in forming a piece 
 of the rowan-tree into the shape of a cross with 
 a red thread. This cross you will insert be- 
 tween the lining and cloth of your garment, 
 and, so long as it lasts, neither ghost nor witch 
 shall ever interfere with you.
 
 PART II. 
 FAIRIES. 
 
 There are fairies, and brownies, and shades Amazonian, 
 Of harper, and sharper, and old Cameronian : 
 Some small as pigmies, some tall as a steeple, 
 The spirits are all gone as mad as the people. 
 
 HOGG.
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Origin and Genealogy of the Fairies. 
 
 THOUGH the ghost is confessedly entitled to no 
 small degree of consideration from his intimate 
 connection with our own species, no one will 
 pretend to deny, that the fairy is a charac- 
 ter whose greatness of descent renders him 
 equally interesting and respectable. The ge- 
 nealogy of the ghost can no doubt be traced 
 back to the earliest ages of the world, and it is 
 pretty certain that he has been amongst the first 
 of its inhabitants, still, on the score of antiqui- 
 ty, he cannot pretend to compete with the fairy, 
 who, it seems, existed long before the world it- 
 self. The origin and descent of the fairies, which 
 had so long proved such knotty subjects of con- 
 troversy in other quarters of the kingdom, are
 
 58 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 points which have been finally settled and dig- 
 posed of in these countries. No doubt now re- 
 mains, in the minds of those who have bestowed 
 any attention on the important subject, of their 
 being those unhappy angels whose diabolical 
 deeds produced their expulsion from Paradise. 
 In support of this rational theory, the wise 
 men of the day never fail to quote the highest 
 authority. Scripture, they say, tells us, those 
 angels were cast down ; and although, indeed, 
 it does not mention to what place, sad expe- 
 rience proves the fact, that the Highland moun- 
 tains received an ample share of them. Here, 
 wandering up and down like the hordes of 
 Tartary, they pitch their camp where spoil is 
 most plentiful ; and taking advantage of the ob- 
 stinate incredulity of some of their human neigh- 
 bours, contrive to make themselves perfectly 
 comfortable at the latter's expence. To dispel 
 any doubt that may remain on the mind of the 
 reader as to the soundness of this doctrine, we 
 present him with the following particulars : 
 
 " Not long since, as a pious clergyman was 
 11
 
 FAIRIES. 59 
 
 returning home, after administering spiritual 
 consolation to a dying member of his flock, it 
 was late of the night, and he had to pass through 
 a good deal of uncanny ground. He was, how- 
 ever, a good and a conscientious minister of the 
 gospel, and feared not all the spirits in the coun- 
 try. On his reaching the end of a lake which 
 stretched alongst the road- side for some distance, 
 he was a good deal surprised to have his atten- 
 tion arrested by the most melodious strains of 
 music. Overcome by pleasure and curiosity, 
 the minister coolly sat down to listen to the har- 
 monious sounds, and try what new discoveries 
 he could make with regard to their nature and 
 source. He had not sitten many minutes when 
 he could distinguish the approach of the music, 
 and also observe a light in the direction from 
 whence it proceeded gliding across the lake to- 
 wards him. Instead of taking to his heels, as 
 any faithless wight would have done, the pastor 
 fearlessly determined to await the issue of the 
 phenomenon. As the light and music drew 
 near, the clergyman could at length distinguish
 
 60 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 an object resembling a human being walking on 
 the surface of the water, attended by a group of 
 diminutivemusicians, some of them bearinglights, 
 and others of them instruments of music, on 
 which they continued to perform those melo- 
 dious strains which first attracted his attention. 
 The leader of the band dismissed his attend- 
 ants, landed on the beach, and afforded the 
 minister the amplest opportunities of examining 
 his appearance. He was a little primitive look- 
 ing grey-headed man, clad in the most grotesque 
 habit he ever witnessed, and such as led the 
 venerable minister all at once to suspect his real 
 character. He walked up to the minister, whom 
 he saluted with great grace, offering an apology 
 for his intrusion. The pastor returned his 
 compliments, and without farther explanation, 
 invited the mysterious stranger to sit down by 
 his side. The invitation was complied with, 
 upon which the minister proposed the following 
 question : " Who art thou, stranger, and from 
 whenceV To this question the fairy, with 
 
 downcast eye, replied, that he was one of those 
 10
 
 FAIRIES. 61 
 
 sometimes called " Doane Shee, or men of peace, 
 or good men, though the reverse of this title was 
 a more fit appellation for them. Originally ange- 
 lic in his nature and attributes, and once a sharer 
 of the indescribable joys of the regions of light, 
 he was seduced by Satan to join him in his mad 
 conspiracies ; and, as a punishment for his trans- 
 gression, he was cast down from those regions of 
 bliss, and was now doomed, along with millions 
 of fellow-sufferers, to wander through seas and 
 mountains, until the coming of the great day ; 
 what their fate would be then they could not 
 divine, but they apprehended the worst. And," 
 continued he, turning to the minister, with great 
 anxiety, " the object of my present intrusion on 
 you is to learn your opinion, as an eminent di- 
 vine, as to our final condition on that dreadful 
 day." Here the venerable pastor entered upon 
 a long conversation with the fairy, (the particu- 
 lars of which we shall be excused for omitting,) 
 touching the principles of faith and repentance. 
 Receiving rather unsatisfactory answers to his 
 questions, the minister desired the " Sheech" to
 
 62 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 repeat after him the Paternoster, in attempting 
 to do which, it was not a little remarkable, that 
 he could not repeat the word " art? but " wert,"" 
 in heaven. Inferring from every circumstance, 
 that their fate was extremely precarious, the 
 minister resolved not to puff' the fairies up with 
 presumptuous and perhaps groundless expecta- 
 tions. Accordingly, addressing himself to the 
 unhappy fairy, who was all anxiety to know the 
 nature of his sentiments, the reverend gentleman 
 told him, that he could not take it upon him to 
 give them any hopes of pardon, as their crime 
 was of so deep a hue as scarcely to admit of it- 
 On this the unhappy fairy uttered a shriek of 
 despair, plunged headlong into the loch, and 
 the minister resumed his course to his home.""
 
 63 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Similitude of the Fairy. 
 
 OF all the different species of supernatural 
 tribes which inhabit those countries, none of 
 them could ever vie with the fairy community 
 for personal elegance. Indeed, this seems to be 
 the only remaining vestige they possess of their 
 primitive character. Though generally low in 
 stature, they are exceedingly well proportioned, 
 and prepossessing in their persons. The females, 
 in particular, are said to be the most enchant- 
 ing beings in the world, and far beyond what 
 the liveliest fancy can paint. Eyes sparkling 
 as the brightest of the stars, or the polished 
 gem of Cairngorm,- cheeks in which the white- 
 ness of the snow and red of the reddan are 
 blended with the softness of the Cannoch down, 
 lips like the coral, and teeth like the ivory,
 
 64 HIGHLAND SUPEHSTITIONS. 
 
 a redundant luxuriance of auburn hair, hang 1 - 
 
 * O 
 
 ing down the shoulders in lovely ringlets, and a 
 gainly simplicity of dress, always of the colour 
 of green, are prominent features in the descrip- 
 tion of a Highland fairy nymph. 
 
 But, while we agree in some measure with 
 our fellow historians who have described the 
 fairy race as they exist in other quarters of the 
 country, in so far as regards their personal 
 beauty, we widely differ from those historians 
 as to the splendour of their dress as exhibited in 
 the character of the Highland fairies. Instead 
 of the gorgeous habiliments of " white and gold 
 dropped with diamonds, and coats of the threads 
 of gold," which we are told are worn by those 
 more luxurious and refined fairies, living within 
 the sphere of splendour and fashion in the Low- 
 lands of Scotland ; the Highland fairies, more 
 thrifty and less voluptuous, clothe themselves in 
 plain worsted green, not woven by the " shuttle 
 of Iris" but by the greasy shuttle of some 
 Highland weaver. This description, let it be 
 understood, however, applies only to the por-
 
 FAIRIES. 65 
 
 tion of them inhabiting terra Jirma ; for the 
 dress of those whose lot it was to fall in the 
 deep is of a very different nature, consisting 
 entirely of seal-skins, and such other marine 
 apparel as is most suitable and appropriate to 
 their element. 
 
 The following story .will throw some light 
 upon the manners and habits of this portion of 
 the fairy tribes. 
 
 There was once upon a time, a man who lived 
 on the northern coasts, not far from " Taigh 
 Jan Crot Callow"* and he gained his liveli- 
 hood by catching and killing fish, of all sizes 
 and denominations. He had a particular liking 
 to the killing of those wonderful beasts, half 
 dog half fish, called " Roane," or Seals, DO 
 doubt because he got a long price for their 
 
 skins, which are not less curious than they are 
 
 w 
 
 valuable. The truth is, that the most of these 
 animals are neither dogs nor cods, but down- 
 right fairies, as this narration will show ; and, 
 indeed, it is easy for any man to convince him- 
 
 * John-o'- Groat's House.
 
 66 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 self of the fact by a simple examination of his 
 tobocco-spluichdan, for the dead skins of those 
 beings are never the same for four and twenty 
 hours together. Sometimes the " spluichdan" 
 will erect its bristles almost perpendicularly, 
 while, at other times, it reclines them even down ; 
 one time it resembles a bristly sow, at another 
 time a sleekit cat ; and what dead skin, except 
 itself, could perform such cantrips ? Now, it 
 happened one day, as this notable fisher had re- 
 turned from the prosecution of his calling, that 
 he was called upon by a man who seemed a 
 great stranger, and who said, he had been dis- 
 patched for him by a person who wished to con- 
 tract for a quantity of seal-skins, and that it was 
 necessary for the fisher to accompany him (the 
 stranger) immediately to see the person who 
 wished to contract for the skins, as it was neces- 
 sary that he should be served that evening. 
 Happy in the prospect of making a good bar- 
 gain, and never suspecting any duplicity in the 
 stranger, he instantly complied. They both 
 mounted a steed belonging to the stranger, and
 
 FAIRIES. 67 
 
 took the road with such velocity that, although the 
 direction of the wind was towards their backs, 
 yet the fleetness of their movement made it ap- 
 pear as if it had been in their faces. On reach- 
 ing a stupendous precipice which overhung 
 the sea, his guide told him, they had now reach- 
 ed the point of their destination. " Where is the 
 person you spoke of?" inquired the astonished 
 seal-killer. " You shall see that presently," 
 replied the guide. With that they immediately 
 alighted, and, without allowing the seal-killer 
 much time to indulge the frightful suspicions 
 that began to pervade his mind, the stranger 
 seized him with irresistible force, and plunged 
 headlong with the seal-killer into the sea. Af- 
 ter sinking down down nobody knows how 
 far, they at length reached a door, which, being 
 open, led them into a range of apartments, filled 
 with inhabitants not people, but seals, who 
 could nevertheless speak and feel like human 
 folk ; and how much was the seal-killer surpris- 
 ed to find that he himself had been unconsci- 
 ously transformed into the like image. If it
 
 68 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 were not so, he would probably have died, from 
 the want of breath. The nature of the poor 
 fisher's thoughts may be more easily conceived 
 than described. Looking on the nature of the 
 quarters into which he was landed, all hopes of 
 escape from them appeared wholly chimerical, 
 whilst the degree of comfort, and length of life 
 which the barren scene promised him, were 
 far from being flattering. The " Roane," 
 who all seemed in very low spirits, appeared 
 to feel for him, and endeavoured to soothe 
 the distress which he evinced, by the amplest 
 assurances of personal safety. Involved irv 
 sad meditation on his evil fate, he was quickly 
 roused from his stupor, by his guided producing 
 a huge gully or joctaleg, the object of which he 
 supposed was to put an end to all his earthly 
 cares. Forlorn as was his situation, however, 
 he did not wish to be killed; and, apprehend- 
 ing instant destruction, he fell down, and ear- 
 nestly implored for mercy. The poor generous 
 animals did not mean him any harm, however 
 much his, former conduct deserved it ; and he
 
 FAIRIES. 69 
 
 was accordingly desired to pacify himself, and 
 cease his cries. " Did you ever see that knife 
 before? 11 says the stranger to the fisher. The 
 latter instantly recognising his own knife, which 
 he had that day stuck into a seal, and with which 
 it made its escape, acknowledged it was formerly 
 his own, for what would be the use of denying it ? 
 " Well I 1 ' rejoins the guide, " the apparent seal, 
 which made away with it, is my father, who lies 
 dangerously ill ever since, and no means could 
 stay his fleeting breath, without your aid. I 
 have been obliged to resort to the artifice I have 
 practised to bring you hither, and I trust that 
 my filial duty to my father will readily operate 
 my excuse. 11 Having said this, he led into another 
 apartment the trembling seal-killer, who expect- 
 ed every minute a return of his own favour to 
 the father ; and here he found the identical seal, 
 with which he had the encounter in the morn- 
 ing, suffering most grievously from a tremen- 
 dous cut in its hind-quarter. The seal-killer 
 was then desired, with his hand, to cicatrize the 
 wound, upon doing which, it immediately healed,
 
 70 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 and the seal arose from its bed in perfect health. 
 Upon this, the scene changed from mourning to 
 rejoicing, all was mirth and glee. Very differ- 
 ent, however, were the feelings of the unfortu- 
 nate seal-catcher, expecting, no doubt, to be a 
 seal for the remainder of his life, until his late 
 guide accosted him as follows : " Now, Sir, you 
 are at liberty to return to your wife and family, 
 to whom I am about to conduct you ; but it is 
 on this express condition, to which you must 
 bind yourself by a solemn oath, viz. that you 
 shall never maim or kill a seal in all your lifetime 
 hereafter." To this condition, hard as it was, he 
 joyfully acceded ; and the oath being admini- 
 stered in all due form, he bade his new acquaint- 
 ance most heartily and sincerely a long farewell. 
 Taking hold of his guide, they issued from the 
 place, and swam up up till they regained the 
 surface of the sea ; and, landing at the said stu- 
 pendous pinnacle, they found their former rid- 
 ing steed ready for a second canter. The guide 
 breathed upon the fisher, and they became like 
 men. They mounted their horse ; and fleet as
 
 FAIKIES. 71 
 
 was their course towards the precipice or pinna- 
 cle, their return from it was doubly swift ; and 
 the honest seal-killer was laid down at his own 
 door-cheek, where his guide made him such a 
 present, as would have almost reconciled him to 
 another similar expedition, and such as rendered 
 his loss of profession, in so far as regarded the 
 seals, a far less intolerable hardship than he had 
 at first contemplated it-
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 'Of the Fairies as a Community Their Politi- 
 cal Principles and Ingenious Habits. 
 
 FROM the descriptions the reader may have 
 seen of the fairy community in general, as 
 drawn in the works of the eminent writers of the 
 day, he may have been led to form very errone- 
 ous estimates not only of the dress of the High- 
 land fairies, but also of their political economy 
 and government. 
 
 There are few who have not heard of the il- 
 lustrious and divine beauty the Queen of the 
 Fairies, and the splendid and dazzling courts 
 with which her majesty is surrounded on all oc- 
 casions of intercourse with the inhabitants of this 
 world. It appears, however, from all that the 
 compiler can learn, that the empire of Queen
 
 FAIRIES. 73 
 
 Mab, like that of the renowned Caesar, never 
 was extended to the northern side of the Gram- 
 pians, for she is entirely unknown in those 
 countries. Indeed, it is believed that the High- 
 land fairies acknowledge no distinctions of this 
 sort. As there were originally none such amongst 
 them in Paradise, so they are not disposed to 
 create any on earth, and a more complete re- 
 public never was. 
 
 It is true, Satan, no doubt, exercises a sort of 
 impotent chieftainship over them as his once re- 
 bellious confederates, but, it is believed, his 
 laws and his edicts are as much despised by 
 them as those of the Great Mogul. In spite of 
 all his power and policy, like the Israelites of old 
 each does what is right in his own eyes ; and, 
 unless on a Halloweven, or such occasion of 
 state, they may submit to a pageant review 
 more from motives of vanity than of loyalty, 
 Auld Nick's ancient sovereignty over the fairy 
 community in this land of freedom has fallen 
 into desuetude. 
 
 The fairies are a very ingenious people. At 
 
 D
 
 74 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 may be expected from the nature of their origin 
 and descent, they are possessed of very superior 
 intellectual powers, which they know well enough 
 how to apply to useful purposes. Nor are they 
 so vain .of their abilities as to scorn to direct 
 them to the prosecution of those more ignoble 
 employments, on which the politer part of man- 
 kind commonly look down with contempt. Whe- 
 ther this condescension, on the part of the fairy, 
 be more the result of choice or necessity, it is 
 hard for us to determine ; but certain it is, that 
 few communities can boast of a more numerous 
 or more proficient body of artisans. We are 
 told, indeed, by some of those well acquainted 
 with their manners, that every individual fairy 
 combines all the necessary arts in his own person 
 that he is his own weaver his own tailor 
 and his own shoemaker. Whether this is truly 
 the case public opinion is rather divided ; 
 but all our informants concur in this conclusion 
 that by far the greater number of them under- 
 stand well enough those several callings; and 
 the expertnessthey display in handling the shut-
 
 FAIRIES. 75 
 
 tie, the needle, and the awl, evidently demon- 
 strate their practical knowledge of these imple- 
 ments. In support of this conclusion, we have 
 the authority of a decent old man, whose vera- 
 city, on subjects of this description, has never 
 been questioned in the district in which he lived, 
 who favoured the compiler with the following 
 narration : 
 
 "My great-grandfather, (peace to his manes !) 
 who was by profession a weaver, and, by the bye, 
 a very honest man, though I should not say it, was 
 waked one night from his midnight sleep by a tre- 
 mendous noise. On looking " out over" the bed, to 
 see whence it proceeded,' he was not a little asto- 
 nished to find the house full of operative fairies, 
 who, with the greatest familiarity, had made free 
 with his manufacturing implements. Having 
 provided themselves with a large sack of wool, 
 from whence it came they best knew, they were 
 actively employed in converting it into cloth. 
 While one teethed it, another carded it ; while 
 another span it, another wove it ; while another 
 dyed it, another pressed it ; while the united
 
 76 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 bustle of their several operations, joined to the 
 exclamations uttered by each expressive of his 
 avocation, created a clamour truly intolerable to 
 the gudeman of the house with whom they used 
 so unacceptable a freedom. So diligent were 
 they, that long ere day they decamped with a 
 web of green cloth, consisting of fifty ells and 
 more, without even thanking my venerable 
 grandfather for the use of his machinery." 
 
 Another narrative, with which we were favour- 
 ed, related the activity of a fairy shoemaker, 
 who sewed a pair of shoes for a " mountain shep- 
 herd" during the time the latter mealed a bicker 
 of pottage for them. And another narrative re- 
 lated the expertness of a fairy barber ', who shav- 
 ed an acquaintance so effectually with no sharper 
 a razor than the palm of his hand, that he never 
 afterwards required to undergo the same opera- 
 tion. These, and a number of equally credit- 
 able stories, confirm their transcendent superiori- 
 ty as artisans over any other class of people in 
 Christendom. 
 
 Nor in the more honourable and learned pro-
 
 FAIRIES. 77 
 
 fessions are they less dexterous. As architects 
 they stand quite unrivalled. To prove their ex- 
 cellence in this art we have only to consider the 
 durability of their habitations. Some of these, 
 it is said, have outlived the ravages of time and 
 vicissitudes of weather for some thousand years, 
 without sustaining any other injury than the suf- 
 focation of the smoke-vents defects which could 
 no doubt be repaired with little trouble. But 
 as the relics of former ages receive additional in- 
 terest from their rude and ruinous appearance, 
 so must these monuments of fairy genius excite 
 in the breasts of the community the most pro- 
 found sentiments of respect and veneration. 
 
 Nor are these the only monuments remaining 
 calculated to perpetuate their excellence as ar- 
 chitects and engineers, there are others of too 
 lasting and extraordinary a character to escape 
 the notice of the traditional historian. We al- 
 lude to those stupendous superstructures built 
 by the fairies under the auspices of that distin- 
 guished arch-architect Mr Michael Scott, which 
 sufficiently demonstrate the skill of the designer
 
 78 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 and the ability of the workman. As the history 
 of this celebrated character (rendered not the 
 less interesting by the notices of him written 
 by the Minstrel of Minstrels) is not yet quite 
 complete, we shall make no apology for submit- 
 ting to the reader the following anecdotes of his 
 life, which we have collected in the course of our 
 peregrinations. 
 
 MICHAEL SCOTT. 
 
 In the early part of Michael Scott's life he 
 was in the habit, as is not yet uncommon with 
 northern tradesmen, of emigrating annually to 
 the Scottish metropolis, for the purpose of be- 
 ing employed in his capacity of mason. One 
 time as himself and two companions were jour- 
 neying to the place of their destination for a 
 similar object, they had occasion to pass over 
 a high hill, the name of which is not men- 
 tioned, but supposed to be one of the Gram- 
 pians, and being fatigued with climbing, they
 
 FAIRIES. 79 
 
 sat down to rest themselves. They had no 
 sooner done so than they were warned to 
 take to their heels by the hissing of a large 
 serpent, which they observed revolving itself 
 towards them with great velocity. Terrified 
 at the sight, Michael's two companions fled, 
 while he, on the contrary, resolved to encounter 
 the serpent. The appalling monster approached 
 Michael Scott with distended mouth and forked 
 tongue; and, throwing itself into a coil at his 
 feet, was raising its head to inflict a mortal 
 sting, when Michael, with one stroke of his 
 stick, severed its body into three pieces. Hav- 
 ing rejoined his affrighted comrades, they r& 
 sumed their journey ; and, on arriving at the 
 next public-house, it being late, and the travel- 
 lers being weary, they took up their quarters at 
 it for the night. In the course of the night's 
 conversation, recurrence was naturally had to 
 Michael's recent exploit with the serpent, when 
 the landlady of the house, who was remarkable 
 for her " arts," happened to be present. Her 
 curiosity appeared much excited by the conver-
 
 80 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 sation ; and, after making some inquiries regard- 
 ing the colour of the serpent, which she was told 
 was white, she offered any of them, that would 
 procure her the middle piece, such a tempting 
 reward, as induced one of the party instantly to 
 go for it. The distance was not very great ; 
 and, on reaching the spot, he found the middle 
 and tail piece in the place where Michael left 
 them, but the head piece was gone, it is suppos- 
 ed, to a contiguous stream, for which the ser- 
 pent is said always to resort, after an encounter 
 with the human race, and, on immersing itself 
 into the water, " like polypus asunder cut," it 
 again regenerates and recovers. On the other 
 hand) it is a circumstance deserving the atten- 
 tion of the medical world, that should an indivi- 
 dual, unfortunate enough to be bitten by this 
 galling enemy of mankind, reach the water be- 
 fore the serpent, his recovery from the effects of 
 the calamity is equally indubitable. 
 
 The landlady, on receiving the piece, which 
 still vibrated with life, seemed highly gratified 
 at her acquisition ; and, over and above the pro-
 
 1'AIRIES. 81 
 
 mised reward, regaled her lodgers very plenti- 
 fully with the choicest dainties in her house. 
 Fired with curiosity, to know the purpose for 
 which the serpent was intended, the wily Michael 
 Scott was immediately seized with a severe fit of 
 indisposition, an excruciating colic, the pains 
 of which could only be alleviated by continual 
 exposure to the fire, the warmth of which, he af- 
 firmed, was in the highest degree beneficial to 
 him. 
 
 Never suspecting Michael Scott's hypocrisy, 
 and naturally supposing that a person so severe- 
 ly indisposed should feel very little curiosity 
 about the contents of any cooking utensils which 
 might lie around the fire, the landlady consent- 
 ed to his desire of being allowed to recline all 
 night along the fireside. As soon as the other 
 inmates of the house were retired to bed, the 
 landlady resorted to her darling occupation ; 
 and, in this feigned state of indisposition, Mi- 
 chael had a favourable opportunity of watching 
 most scrupulously all her actions, through the 
 key-hole of a door leading to the next apart- 
 
 D2
 
 82 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 ment where she was. He could see the rites and 
 ceremonies with which the serpent was put in- 
 to an oven, along with many mysterious ingre- 
 dients. After which, the unsuspicious landlady 
 placed it by the fireside,, where lay our distress- 
 ed traveller, to stove till the morning. 
 
 Once or twice, in the course of the night, the 
 " wife of the change-house,"" under pretence of 
 inquiring for her sick lodger, and administering 
 to him some renovating cordials, the beneficial 
 effects of which he gratefully acknowledged, 
 took occasion to dip her finger in her saucepan, 
 upon which the cock, parched on his roost, 
 crowed aloud. All Michael's sickness could not 
 prevent him from considering very inquisitively 
 the landlady's cantrips, and particularly the in- 
 fluence of the sauce upon the crowing of the 
 cock. Nor could he dissipate some inward de- 
 sires he felt to follow her example. At the same 
 time, that he suspected that Satan had a hand 
 in the pye, yet he liked very much to be at the 
 bottom of the concern ; and thus his reason and 
 his curiosity clashed against each other for the
 
 FAIRIES. ik> 
 
 space of several hours. At length, passion, as 
 is too often the case, became the conqueror. 
 Michael, too, dipt his finger in the sauce, and 
 applied it to the tip of his tongue, and imme- 
 diately the cock parched on the spardan an- 
 nounced the circumstance in a mournful clarion. 
 Instantly his mind received a new light to which 
 he was formerly a stranger, and the astonished 
 dupe of a landlady now found it her interest to 
 admit her sagacious lodger into a knowledge of 
 the remainder of her secrets. 
 
 Endowed with the knowledge of " Good and 
 evil? and all the " second sights" that can be ac- 
 quired, Michael left his lodgings in the morn- 
 ing, with the philosopher's stone in his pocket- 
 By daily perfecting his supernatural attainments, 
 by new series of discoveries, he was more than a 
 match for Satan himself. Having seduced some 
 thousands of Satan's best workmen into his em- 
 ployment, he trained them up so successfully to 
 the architective business, and inspired them with 
 such industrious habits, that he was more than 
 sufficient for the architectural work of the em-
 
 84 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 pire. To establish this assertion, we need only 
 refer to some remains of his workmanship still 
 existing north of the Grampians, some of them 
 stupendous bridges built by him in one short 
 night, with no other visible agents than two or 
 three workmen. 
 
 As the following anecdote is so applicable to 
 our purpose, we shall submit it to the reader as 
 a specimen of the expertness of Mr Scott and 
 his agents. 
 
 On one occasion, work was getting scarce as 
 might have been naturally expected, and his 
 workmen, as they were wont, flocked to his 
 doors, perpetually exclaiming, Work ! work ! 
 work ! Continually annoyed by their incessant 
 entreaties, he called out to them in derision to 
 go and make a dry road from Fortrose to Ar- 
 derseir over the Moray Firth. Immediately 
 their cry ceased, and as Mr Scott supposed it 
 wholly impracticable for them to execute his or- 
 der, he retired to rest, laughing most heartily at 
 the chimerical sort of employment he had given 
 to his industrious workmen. Early in the morn-
 
 FAIRIES. 85 
 
 ing, however, he got up and took a walk down 
 at the break of day to the shore, to divert him- 
 self at the fruitless labours of his zealous work- 
 men. But on reaching the spot, what was his 
 astonishment to find the formidable piece of 
 work allotted to them only a few hours before 
 almost quite finished. Seeing the great damage 
 the commercial class of the community would 
 sustain from the operation, he ordered them to 
 demolish the most part of their work ; leaving, 
 however, the point of Fortrose to show the tra- 
 veller to this day the wonderful exploit of 
 Michael Scott's fairies. 
 
 On being thus again thrown out of employ- 
 ment, their former clamour was resumed, nor 
 could Michael Scott, with all his sagacity, de- 
 vise a plan to keep them in innocent employ- 
 ment. He at length discovered one. " Go," 
 says he, " and manufacture me ropes that will 
 carry me to the back of the moon, of those ma- 
 terials, millers-sudds and sea-sand." Michael 
 Scott here obtained rest from his active opera- 
 tors ; for, when other work failed them, he al-
 
 86 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 ways dispatched them to their rope-manufac- 
 tory. " But," says our relator, " though these 
 agents could never make proper ropes of those 
 materials, their efforts to that effect are far from 
 being contemptible, for some of their ropes are 
 seen by the sea-side till this blessed day." 
 
 We shall close our notice of Michael Scott 
 by reciting one anecdote of him in the latter 
 end of his life, which, on that account, will not 
 be the less interesting. 
 
 In consequence of a violent quarrel which 
 Michael Scott once had with a person whom he 
 conceived to have caused him some injury, Mi- 
 chael resolved, as the highest punishment he 
 could inflict upon him, to send his adversary 
 to that evil place, designed only for Satan and 
 his black companions. He, accordingly, by 
 means of his supernatural machinations, sent 
 the poor unfortunate man thither ; and had he 
 been sent by any other means than those of 
 Michael Scott, he would no doubt have met 
 with a warm reception. Out of pure spite to 
 Michael, however, when Satan learned who was
 
 FAIRIES. 87 
 
 his billet-master, he would no more receive him 
 than he would receive the Wife of Beth ; and, 
 instead of treating the unfortunate man with 
 that harshness characteristic of him, he showed 
 him considerable civilities. Introducing him to 
 his " Ben Taigh" he directed her to show the 
 stranger any curiosities he might wish to see, 
 hinting very significantly, that he had pro- 
 vided some accommodations for their mutual 
 friend Michael Scott, the sight of which 
 might afford him some gratification. The po- 
 lite house-keeper, accordingly, conducted the 
 stranger through the principal apartments in the 
 house, where he saw sights which, it is hoped, 
 the reader will never witness. But the bed of 
 Michael Scott ! his greatest enemy could not 
 but feel satiate with revenge at the sight of it. It 
 was a place too horrid to be described, filled pro- 
 miscuously with all the horrid brutes imaginable. 
 Toads and lions, lizards and leeches, and, amongst 
 the rest, not the least conspicuous, a large ser- 
 pent gaping for Michael Scott, with its mouth 
 wide open. This last sight having satisfied the
 
 88 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 stranger's curiosity, he was led to the outer gate, 
 and came off with far more agreeable reflections 
 than when he entered. 
 
 He reached his friends, and, among other 
 pieces of news touching his travels, he was not 
 backward in relating the entertainment that 
 awaited his friend Michael Scott, as soon as he 
 would stretch hisjbot for the other world. But 
 Michael did not at all appear disconcerted at his 
 friend's intelligence. He affirmed, that he would 
 disappoint the d 1 and him both in their ex- 
 pectations. In proof of which, he gave the fol- 
 lowing signs : " When I am just dead," says 
 he, " open my breast, and extract my heart. 
 Carry it to some place where the public may see 
 the result. You will then transfix it upon a long 
 pole, and if Satan will have my soul, he will 
 come in the likeness of a black raven, and carry 
 it off; and if my soul will be saved, it will be 
 carried off by a white dove." His friends faith- 
 fully obeyed his instructions. Having exhibited 
 his heart in the manner directed, a large black 
 raven was observed to come from the east with
 
 FAIRIES. 89 
 
 great fleetness ; while a white dove came from 
 the west with equal velocity. The raven made 
 a furious dash at the heart, missing which, it 
 was unable to curb its force, till it was consider- 
 ably past it ; and the dove, reaching the spot at 
 the same time, carried off the heart amidst the 
 cheers and ejaculations of the spectators-
 
 90 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Of their Domestic Economy and Festive Habits. 
 
 IT is well known that the fairies are a sociable 
 people, passionately given to festive amusements 
 and jocund hilarity Hence, it seldom happens 
 that they cohabit in pairs, like most other spe- 
 cies, but rove about in bands, each band having 
 a stated habitation or residence, to which they 
 resort as occasion suggests. 
 
 Their habitations are generally found in rough 
 irregular precipices and broken caverns, remark- 
 able for wildness of scenery, from whence we 
 may infer that they are particularly fond of what 
 we term the Romantic. These habitations are 
 composed of stones, in the form of irregular tur- 
 rets, of such size and shapes as the nature of the 
 materials, and the taste of the architect, happen- 
 ed to suggest, and so solid in their structure, as
 
 FAIRIES. 91 
 
 frequently to resemble " masses of rocks or earth- 
 en hillocks." 
 
 Their doors, windows, smoke-vents, and other 
 conveniences, are so artfully constructed, as to 
 be invisible to the naked eye in day-light, though 
 in dark nights splendid lights are frequently re- 
 flected through their invisible casements. 
 
 Within those " Tomhans" or, as others term 
 them, " Shian," sociality and mirth are ever the 
 inmates, and they are so much addicted to 
 dancing, that it forms their chief and favourite 
 amusement. The length of their reels will be 
 judged of from the following narrative : 
 
 *' Once upon a time, a tenant in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Cairngorm in Strathspey, emigrat- 
 ed with his family and cattle to the forest of 
 Glenavon, which is well known to be inhabited 
 by many fairies as well as ghosts. Two of his 
 sons having been one night late out in search of 
 some of their sheep which had strayed, they had 
 occasion to pass a fairy turret, or dwelling, of 
 very large dimensions ; and what was their as- 
 tonishment on observing streams of the most
 
 92 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 refulgent light shining forth through innumera- 
 ble crevices in the rock crevices which the 
 sharpest eye in the country had never seen be- 
 fore. Curiosity led them towards the turret, 
 when they were charmed by the most exquisite 
 sounds ever emitted by a fiddle-string, which, 
 joined to the sportive mirth and glee accompa- 
 nying it, reconciled them in a great measure to 
 the scene, although they knew well enough the 
 inhabitants were fairies. Nay, overpowered by 
 the enchanting jigs played by the fiddler, one of 
 the brothers had even the hardihood to propose 
 that they should pay the occupants of the tur- 
 ret a short visit. To this motion the other bro- 
 ther, fond as he was of dancing, and animated 
 as he was by the music, would by no means 
 consent, and very earnestly inculcated upon his 
 brother many pithy arguments well calculated 
 to restrain his curiosity. But every new jig that 
 was played, and every new reel that was danced, 
 inspired the adventurous brother with additional 
 ardour ; and at length, completely fascinated by 
 the enchanting revelry, leaving all prudence
 
 FAIRIES. 93 
 
 behind, at one leap he entered the " Shian." 
 The poor forlorn brother was now left in a most 
 uncomfortable situation. His grief for the loss 
 of a brother whom he dearly loved, suggested 
 to him more than once the desperate idea of 
 sharing his fate, by following his example. 
 But, on the other hand, when he coolly con- 
 sidered the possibility of sharing very different 
 entertainment from that whictf rung upon his 
 ears, and remembering, too, the comforts and 
 conveniences of his father's fireside, the idea 
 immediately appeared to him any thing but pru- 
 dent. After a long and disagreeable altercation 
 between his affection for his brother and his re- 
 gard for himself, he came to the resolution of 
 trying a middle course ; that is, to send in at 
 the window a few remonstrances to his bro- 
 ther, which, if he did not attend to, let the 
 consequences be upon his own head. Ac- 
 cordingly, taking his station at one of the cre- 
 vices, and, calling upon his brother, three several 
 times, by name, as use is, he sent in to him, as afore- 
 said, the most moving pieces of elocution he
 
 94 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS* 
 
 could think upon, imploring him, as he Valued 
 his poor parent's life and blessing, to come forth 
 and go home with him y Donald Macgillivray, his 
 thrice affectionate and unhappy brother. But, 
 whether it was he could not hear this eloquent 
 harangue, or, what is more probable, that he 
 did not choose to attend to it, certain it is, that 
 it proved totally ineffectual to accomplish its ob- 
 ject, and the consequence was, that Donald 
 Macgillivray found it equally much his duty 
 and his interest to return home to his family with 
 the melancholy tale of poor Rory's fate. All the 
 prescribed ceremonies calculated to rescue him 
 from the fairy dominion were resorted to by 
 his mourning relatives without effect, and Rory 
 was supposed as lost for ever, when a wise man of 
 the day having learned the circumstance, set 
 them upon a plan of having him delivered at 
 the end of twelve months from his entry. " Re- 
 turn, 1 ' says the Duin Glichd to Donald, " to the 
 place where you lost your brother, a year and a 
 day from the time. You will insert in your gar- 
 ment a Rowan Cross, which will protect you 
 10
 
 FAIRIES. 95 
 
 from the fairies 1 interposition. Enter the turret 
 boldly and resolutely, in the name of the High- 
 est claim your brother, and, if he does not ac- 
 company you voluntarily, seize him and carry him 
 off by force, none dare interfere with you. 11 
 
 The experiment appeared to the cautious con- 
 templative brother as one that was fraught with 
 no ordinary danger, and he would have most 
 willingly declined the prominent character al- 
 lotted to him in the performance of it, but for 
 the importunate entreaty of his friends, who im- 
 plored him, as he valued their blessing, not to 
 slight such excellent advice. Their entreaties, 
 together with his confidence in the virtues of the 
 Rowan Cross, overcame his scruples, and he> at 
 length, agreed to put the experiment in practice, 
 whatever the result might be. 
 
 Well then, the important day arrived, when 
 the father of those two sons was destined either 
 to recover his lost son, or to lose the only son 
 he had, and, anxious as the father felt, Donald 
 Macgillivray, the intended adventurer, felt no 
 less on the occasion. The hour of midnight ap-
 
 96 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 proached, when the drama was to be acted, and 
 Donald Macgillivray, loaded with all the charms 
 and benedictions in his country, took mournful 
 leave of his friends, and proceeded to the scene 
 of his intended enterprise. On approaching the 
 well-known turret, a repetition of that mirth and 
 those ravishing sounds, that had been the source 
 of so much sorrow to himself and family, once 
 more attracted his attention, without at all 
 creating in his mind any extraordinary feelings 
 of satisfaction. On the contrary, he abhorred 
 the sounds most heartily, and felt much greater 
 inclination to recede than to advance. But what 
 was to be done ? courage, character, and every 
 thing dear to him, were at stake so that to 
 advance was his only alternative. In short, he 
 reached the " Shian" and after twenty fruitless 
 attempts, he at length entered the place with 
 trembling footsteps, and amidst the brilliant and 
 jovial scene the not least gratifying spectacle, 
 which presented itself to Donald, was his brother 
 Rory earnestly engaged at the Highland Fling on 
 the floor, at which, as might have been expected, 
 4
 
 FAIRIES. 97 
 
 he had greatly improved. Without losing much 
 time in satisfying his curiosity, by examining 
 the quality of the company, he ran to his bro- 
 ther, repeating, most vehemently, the words 
 prescribed to him by the " Wise man" seized 
 him by the collar, and insisted he should imme- 
 diately accompany him home to his poor afflict- 
 ed parents. Rory assented, provided he would 
 allow him to finish his single reel, assuring Do- 
 nald, very earnestly, that he had not been half 
 an hour in the house. In vain did the latter as- 
 sure the former, that, instead of half an hour, he 
 had actually remained twelve months. Nor 
 would he have believed his overjoyed friends on 
 reaching home, " did not the calves, now grown 
 into slots, and the new-born babes, now travel- 
 ling the house, at length convince him, that in 
 his single reel he had danced for a twelvemonth 
 and a day. 11 
 
 This reel, however, in which Rory Macgilli- 
 vray had been engaged, although it may be con- 
 sidered of pretty moderate length, will form but
 
 98 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 a short space in a night's entertainment, of which 
 the following is a brief account : 
 
 " Nearly three hundred years ago, there lived 
 in Strathspey two men, greatly celebrated for 
 their performances on the fiddle. It happened 
 upon a certain Christmas time, that they iiad 
 formed the resolution of going to Inverness, to 
 be employed in their musical capacities, during 
 that festive season. Accordingly, having arriv- 
 ed in that great town, and secured lodgings, 
 they sent round the newsman and his bell, to 
 announce to the inhabitants their arrival in town, 
 and the object of it, their great celebrity in their 
 own country, the number of tunes they played, 
 and their rate of charge per day, per night, or 
 hour. Very soon after, they were called upon 
 by a venerable looking old man, grey haired and 
 somewhat wrinkled, of genteel deportment and 
 liberal disposition ; for, instead of grudging 
 their charges, as they expected, he only said 
 that he would double the demand- They 
 cheerfully agreed to accompany him, and soon 
 they found themselves at the door of a very cu-
 
 FAIRIES. 99 
 
 t ions dwelling, the appearance of which they did 
 not at all relish. It was night, but still they could 
 easily distinguish the house to be neither like 
 the great Castle Grant, Castle Lethindry, Castle 
 Roy, or Castle-na-muchkeruch at home, nor like 
 any other house they had seen on their travels. 
 It resembled a huge fairy ' Tomhan,' such as 
 are seen in Glenmore. But the mild persuasive 
 eloquence of the guide, reinforced by the irre- 
 sistible arguments of a purse of gold, soon re- 
 moved any scruples they felt at the idea of en- 
 tering so novel a mansion. They entered the 
 place, and all sensations of fear were soon ab- 
 sorbed in those of admiration of the august as- 
 sembly which surrounded them ; strings tuned 
 to sweet harmony, soon gave birth to glee in the 
 dwelling. The floor bounded beneath the agile 
 'fantastic toe,' and gaiety in its height pervad- 
 ed every soul present. The night passed on 
 harmoniously, while the diversity of the reels, 
 and the loveliness of the dancers, presented to 
 the fiddlers the most gratifying scene they 
 ever witnessed ; and in the morning, when the
 
 100 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 ball was terminated, they took their leave, sorry 
 that the time of their engagement was so short, 
 and highly gratified at the liberal treatment 
 which they experienced. But what was their 
 astonishment, on issuing forth from this strange 
 dwelling, when they beheld the novel scene which 
 surrounded them. Instead of coming out of a 
 castle, they found they had come out of a little 
 hill, they knew not what way, and on entering 
 the town they found those objects which yester- 
 day shone in all the splendour of novelty, to- 
 day exhibit only the ruins and ravages of time, 
 while the strange innovations of dress and man- 
 ners displayed by their numerous spectators, fill- 
 ed them with wonder and consternation. At 
 last a mutual understanding took place between 
 themselves, and the crowd assembled to look 
 upon them, and a short account of their adven- 
 tures led the more sagacious part of the spectators 
 to suspect at once, that they had been paying a 
 visit to the inhabitants of Tomnafurich, which, 
 not long ago, was the grand rendezvous of ma- 
 ny of the fairy bands inhabiting the surrounding 
 11
 
 FAIRIES. 101 
 
 districts ; and the arrival of a very old man on 
 the spot set the matter fairly at rest. On being 
 attracted by the crowd, he walked up to the two 
 poor old oddities, who were the subject of a- 
 mazement, and having learned their history, 
 thus addressed them: * You are the two men 
 my great-grandfather lodged, and who, it was 
 supposed, were decoyed by Thomas Rymer to 
 Tomnafurich. Sore did your friends lament 
 your loss but the lapse of a hundred years 
 ha? now rendered your name extinct.' 
 
 " Finding every circumstance conspire to veri- 
 fy the old man's story, the poor fiddlers were 
 naturally inspired with feelings of reverential 
 awe at the secret wonders of the Deity and it 
 being the Sabbath-day, they naturally wished to 
 indulge those feelings in a place of worship. 
 They, accordingly, proceeded to church, and 
 took their places, to hear public worship, and 
 sat for a while listening to the pealing bells 
 which, while they summoned the remainder of 
 the congregation to church, summoned them to 
 their long homes. When the ambassador of
 
 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 peace ascended the sacred place, to announce 
 to his flock the glad tidings of the gospel 
 strange to tell, at the first word uttered by his 
 lips, his ancient hearers, the poor deluded fid- 
 dlers, both crumbled into dust."
 
 103 
 
 CHAP. V 
 
 Of the Passions and Propensities of the Fairies* 
 
 THE ingenious reader must not suppose that, 
 because the fairies were once angelic, they have 
 continued so in this corrupt \vorld to the present 
 clay. They will be found to exhibit in their 
 conduct as signal proofs of degeneracy from 
 their original innocence and worth, as their mor- 
 tal contemporary man ; and, as may be conclud- 
 ed, this degeneracy has entailed upon them those 
 passions and infirmities, from which they were, 
 no doubt, once on a time exempt. 
 
 The fairies are remarkable for the amorous- 
 ness of their dispositions, and are not very back- 
 ward in forming attachments and connections 
 with people that cannot with propriety be called 
 their own species. We are told it is an unde- 
 niable fact, that it was once a common practice
 
 104 HIGHLAND SUPEKSTITIONS. 
 
 with both sexes of the fairy people to form inti- 
 macies with human swains and damsels, whom 
 they would visit at times and in places highly 
 unbecoming and suspicious ; and these impro- 
 per intimacies not unfrequently produced, as 
 may be well believed, their natural consequen- 
 ces. It exposed the fairy-females to that indis- 
 position to which, before their fall, they were 
 no doubt strangers we mean the pains of 
 child-birth, which, it seems, they suffer in com- 
 mon with their earthly neighbours. To the 
 more sceptical part of our readers, the idea of 
 fairy fruition may appear somewhat incredible. 
 In order, however, to remove any doubt on the 
 subject, we submit the particulars of a fairy ac- 
 couchement, which took place, no doubt, " a 
 considerable time ago, 1 ' in the wilds of Cairn- 
 gorm. 
 
 " A considerable time ago there was a wo- 
 man living in the neighbourhood of Cairngorm 
 in Strathspey, by profession a midwife, of ex- 
 tensive practice, and esteemed, indeed, the best 
 midwife in the district- One night, while she
 
 FAIKIES. 105 
 
 was preparing for bed, there came a loud knock- 
 ing to her door, indicating great haste in the 
 person that knocked. The midwife was accus- 
 tomed to such late intrusions, and concluded, 
 even before she opened the door, that her pre- 
 sence was too much required at a sick-bed. 
 She found the person that knocked to be a rider 
 and his horse, both out of breath, and most im- 
 patient for her company. The rider entreated 
 the midwife to make haste, and jump up behind 
 him without a single moment's delay, else that 
 the life of an amiable woman was lost for ever. 
 But the midwife, having a great regard to clean- 
 liness and decorum, requested leave to exchange 
 her apparel before she set out ; a motion which, 
 on the part of the rider, was met with a decided 
 negative, and nothing would satisfy the rider 
 but that the midwife would immediately jump 
 up behind him on his grey horse. His impor- 
 tunities were irresistible, the midwife mounted, 
 and off they flew at full gallop. The midwife 
 being now seated, and fleeing on the road, she 
 began naturally to question her guide what he
 
 106 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 was where he was going and how far. He, 
 however, declined immediately making any other 
 reply to her questions than merely saying, that 
 she would be well rewarded, which, however 
 consoling, was far from being satisfactory infor- 
 mation to the midwife. At length the course 
 they pursued, and the road they took, alarmed 
 the midwife beyond measure, and her guide 
 found it necessary to appease her fears by ex- 
 plaining the matter, otherwise she would, in all 
 probability, prove inadequate to the discharge 
 of her duty. * My good woman,' says the 
 fairy to the midwife, ' be not alarmed ; though 
 I am conducting you to a fairy habitation to as- 
 sist a fairy lady in distress, be not dismayed, I 
 beseech you ; for, I promise you by all that is 
 sacred, you shall sustain no injury, but will be 
 safely restored to your dwelling when your 
 business is effected, with such boon or present 
 as you shall choose to ask or accept of. 1 The 
 fairy was a sweet good-looking young fellow, 
 and the candour of his speech, and the mildness 
 of his demeanour, soothed her fears, and recon-
 
 FAIRIES. 107 
 
 ciled the Ben-Ghlun, in a great measure, to 
 the enterprise. They were not long in reaching 
 the place, when the midwife found the fairy 
 lady in any thing but easy circumstances, and 
 soon proved the auspicious instrument of bring- 
 ing to the world a fine lusty boy. All was joy 
 and rejoicing in consequence, and all the fairies 
 in the turret flattered and caressed the midwife. 
 She was desired to choose any gift in the power 
 of fairies to grant, which was instantly to be 
 given her. Upon which she asked, as a boon, 
 that whomsoever she, or her posterity, should 
 attend in her professional capacity, a safe and 
 speedy delivery should be insured them. The 
 favour was instantly conferred on her, and all 
 know to this day, that Muruch-na-Ban, the man- 
 midwife, possesses, in no inconsiderable degree, 
 the professional talents of his great-grandmo- 
 ther." 
 
 Before concluding this chapter, we owe it, in 
 justice to both the human and fairy communi- 
 ties of the present day to say, that such inter- 
 course as that described to have taken place be-
 
 108 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 twixt them is now extremely rare; and, with 
 the single exception of a good old shoemaker, 
 now or lately living in the village of Tomantoul, 
 who confesses having had some dalliances with 
 a " lanan shi" in his younger days, we do not 
 know personally any one who has carried mat- 
 ters this length,
 
 109 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Of the Fairy* s Embezzling and Criminal Pro- 
 pensities. 
 
 BUT, although the correspondence now sub- 
 sisting between the human and fairy people 
 is much more chaste and innocent than it was of 
 old, still it appears that the strong predilection 
 which the fairies entertained for human society 
 is far from being yet extinguished. It is no 
 doubt the existence of this predilection on the 
 part of the former, and the increasing shyness on 
 the part of the latter, that could induce the 
 fairies to resort to those dishonest methods 
 to which they now recur, to have their passion 
 for human society gratified. 
 
 We presume the reader is aware that the 
 fairies are much addicted to that heinous crime 
 child- stealing a crime which these people, in
 
 110 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 consequence, no doubt, of their long experience 
 in the practice, commit with wonderful address. 
 Often have they robbed the inexperienced mo- 
 ther of her tender babe in the height of day, 
 while his place is taken by an impudent impos- 
 tor, whose sham sickness and death entail on 
 the unhappy parent an additional load of mi- 
 sery. To warn unsuspicious mothers of the 
 dangers to which themselves and their offspring 
 are exposed from fairy practices, the following 
 narrative may be of use : 
 
 " There were once two natives of Strathspey 
 who were in the habit of dealing a little in the 
 whisky way that is to say, they were accustomed 
 occasionally to visit a family in Glenlivat, from 
 whom they would buy a few barrels, which they 
 Would again dispose of among the gentlemen of 
 Badenoch and Fort- William, to pretty good ac- 
 count ; and on those occasions, for reasons well 
 known to every district gauger, (an evil death 
 to him,) the Strathspeymen always found it 
 most convenient to travel by night. Well, then, 
 on one of those occasions, as they were busy
 
 FAIRIES. Ill 
 
 measuring the whisky in the friend's house at 
 Glenlivat, a little child belonging to the good- 
 man, and which lay in the cradle, uttered a pi- 
 teous cry, as if it had been shot. The good- 
 wife, according to custom, blessed her child, and, 
 as she supposed, raised it from the cradle. As- 
 cribing the cry merely to infantine frailty or fret- 
 fulness, the Strathspeymen took no particular 
 notice of it, and having their business transact- 
 ed, they proceeded on their way with their car- 
 go. A short distance from their friend's house, 
 they were not a little astonished to find a little 
 child abandoned on the high road, without a 
 being in sight of it. One of the lads took it up 
 in his arms, on which it ceased its plaintive cries, 
 and with great fondness, clasped his little hands 
 round his neck, and smiled. This naturally ex- 
 cited some curiosity, and on closer examination 
 they clearly recognised it to be their friend's 
 child. Suspicion was instantly attached to the 
 fairies, and this suspicion was a great deal 
 strengthened by the circumstance of the cry ut- 
 tered by the child, as already mentioned. In-
 
 112 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 deed, they came to an immediate conclusion, that 
 the fairies having embezzled the real child, then 
 in their possession, and deposited a stock or sub- 
 stitute in its place, it was the lucky presence of 
 mind discovered by its mother in blessing it on 
 its having uttered the cry, that rescued it from 
 fairy dominion, for no sooner was the blessing 
 pronounced than they were compelled to aban- 
 don the child. As their time was limited, they 
 could not wkh convenience immediately return 
 to .their friend's house to solve the mysterious 
 occurrence, but proceeded on their journey, tak- 
 ing special care of their little foundling. 
 
 " In about a fortnight thereafter, having occa- 
 sion for a few barrels more, they returned to 
 Glenlivat, taking the child along with them, 
 which, however, they concealed on arriving at 
 the father's house. In the course of mutual in- 
 quiries for each other's welfare, the goodwife 
 took occasion to lament very bitterly a severe and 
 protracted illness which seized her child on the 
 night of their preceding visit, the nature of 
 which illness could not be ascertained, but, at
 
 FAIRIES. 113 
 
 all events, certain death was the consequence to 
 the child. During this lamentation, the impos- 
 tor uttered the most piteous cries, and appeared 
 in the last stage of his sufferings ; upon this, the 
 lads, without any preliminary remarks, produced 
 their little charge, telling the mother to take 
 courage, that they now presented her with her 
 real child, as healthy and thriving as a trout, 
 and that the object of her great solicitude was 
 nothing more than a bare-faced fairy impostor. 
 A short statement of facts induced the happy 
 mother to agree to an exchange, she receiving 
 back her child, and the lads the stock or impos- 
 tor, to whom his new proprietors proceeded to 
 administer a warm specific commonly given to 
 his kin on similar occasions. They procured 
 an old creel and a bunch of straw, in order to 
 try the effects the burning element would have 
 in curing him of his grievous complaints. But 
 at the appearance of those articles, the stock 
 took the hint, and not choosing to wait a trial of 
 its effects, flew out at the smoke-hole, telling 
 the exulting spectators, on attaining the top of
 
 114 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 the ' Zfcw,' that, had it not been for the unfor- 
 tunate arrival of the two travellers, he should 
 have given the inmates very different entertain- 
 ment." 
 
 When we reflect upon the extreme covetous- 
 ness manifested by the fairies for human child- 
 ren, the frequent instances of their embezzle- 
 ment ; and, on the other hand, the ease and 
 simplicity by which these robberies can be foil- 
 ed, we feel persuaded neither mother nor nurse 
 will now neglect the safe-guards prescribed for 
 the preservation of children from such practices. 
 It is universally allowed by people conversant in 
 those important matters, that suspending the 
 child's head downwards, on its being dressed in 
 the morning, is an excellent preservative from 
 every species of supernatural agency, and this is 
 certainly a cheap and simple process. A red 
 thread tied about its neck, or a rowan cross, are 
 said to be equally efficacious in preventing the 
 influence of evil spirits, evil eyes, and other ca- 
 lamities of the same description. 
 
 But as it is natural to suppose that those pre-
 
 FAIRIES. 115 
 
 cautions \vill still be sometimes neglected, as 
 they have always too often been, it is fortunate 
 that a remedy has been discovered for those 
 desperate cases, where repentance for past im- 
 prudence would not avail. When a child has 
 actually been stolen, and a stock or substitute 
 left in its stead, the child may be recovered in 
 the following manner : Let the stock be carried 
 to the junction of three shires, or the confluence 
 of three rivers, where it is to be left for the 
 night, and it is a certain fact, that if the child 
 has been stolen by the fairies, they must, in the 
 course of the night, return the genuine offspring, 
 and take away the spurious one. * 
 
 * We are informed, that there is a woman still living 
 in the parish of Abernethy, on whom this experiment 
 was tried. She was found one night, rather unaccount- 
 ably, as it appeared to her wise parents, on the outside of 
 a window. No doubt, therefore, remained, but that she 
 had been stolen by the fairies, and a stock left as her 
 substitute. It was, therefore, unanimously resolved to 
 carry the stock to the junction of the shires of Inverness, 
 Moray, and Banff, where the poor child was left for a night 
 to enjoy the pleasures of solitude. Being well rolled up
 
 116 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 But children are not the only objects of their 
 envy. They are equally covetous of pregnant 
 females at a certain juncture, when they embrace 
 every opportunity of securing them, well knowing, 
 that, by such acquisitions, they obtain a double 
 bargain. The process of stealing women is the 
 same as that of stealing children, only their 
 ranges in quest of such prizes are much more ex- 
 tensive, as the following story will show : 
 
 " There was once a courageous clever man, of 
 the name of John Roy, who lived in Glenbrown, 
 in the parish of Abernethy. One night as John 
 Roy was out traversing the hills for his cattle, 
 he happened to fall in with a fairy banditti, 
 whose manner of travelling indicated that they 
 carried along with them some booty. Recollect- 
 ing an old, and, it seems, a faithful saying, that 
 the fairies are obliged to exchange any booty 
 they may possess for any return, however un- 
 
 in a comfortable blanket, she sustained no material inju- 
 ry from this monstrous exposure, and, accordingly, the 
 result proved highly satisfactory to her enlightened guar- 
 dians.
 
 FAIRIES. 117 
 
 equal in value, on being challenged to that ef- 
 fect, John Roy took off his bonnet, and threw 
 it towards them, demanding a fair exchange in 
 the emphatic Gaelic phrase; Sluis sho slumus 
 sheen. * It was, no doubt, an unprofitable bar- 
 ter for the fairies. They, however, it would ap- 
 pear, had no other alternative, but to comply 
 with John Roy's demand ; and in room of the 
 bonnet, they abandoned the burden, which turn- 
 ed out to be nothing more nor less than a fine 
 fresh lady, who, from her dress and language, 
 appeared to be a Sasonach. With great huma- 
 nity, John Roy conducted the unfortunate lady 
 to his house, where she was treated with the ut- 
 most tenderness for several years ; and the en- 
 dearing attentions paid to her by John and his 
 family won so much her affections, as to render 
 her soon happy in her lot. Her habits became 
 gradually assimilated to those of her new society; 
 and the Saxon lady was no longer viewed in any 
 other character than as a member of John Roy's 
 family. 
 
 * Mine is yours, and yours is mine.
 
 118 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 ** It happened, however, in the course of time-, 
 that the new king found it necessary to make the 
 great roads through those countries by means of 
 soldiers, for the purpose of letting coaches and 
 carriages pass to the northern cities ; and those 
 soldiers had officers and commanders in the same 
 way as our fighting army have now. Those sol- 
 diers were never great favourites in these coun- 
 tries, particularly during the time that our own 
 kings were alive ; and, consequently, it was no 
 easy matter for them, either officers or men, to 
 procure for themselves comfortable quarters. But 
 John Roy forgot the national animosity of his coun- 
 trymen to the Cottan Darg, when the latter ap- 
 pealed to his generosity as an individual ; and 
 he, accordingly, did not hesitate to offer an asy- 
 lum under his roof to a Saxon captain and his 
 son, who commanded a party employed in his 
 immediate neighbourhood. His offer was thank- 
 fully accepted of, and while the strangers were 
 highly delighted at the cleanliness and economy 
 of the house and family of their host, the latter 
 was quite satisfied with the frankness and urba- 
 10
 
 FAIRIES. 119 
 
 nky of manners displayed by his guests. One 
 thing, however, caused some feelings of uneasi- 
 ness to John Roy, and that was the extreme cu- 
 riosity manifested by them, whenever they were 
 in the company or presence of his English found- 
 ling, on whom their eyes were continually rivet- 
 ted, as if she were a ghost or a fairy. On one 
 occasion, it happened that the captain's son laps- 
 ed into a state of the profoundest meditation, 
 gazing upon this lady with silent emotion. 
 * My son,' says the captain, his father, * tell 
 me what is the cause of your deep meditation? 1 
 ' Father,' replies the sweet youth, ' I think 
 on the days that are gone ; and of my dearest 
 mother, who is now no more. I have been led 
 into those reflections by the appearance of that 
 lady who is now before me. Oh, father ! does 
 she not strikingly resemble the late partner of 
 your heart ; she for whom you so often mourn 
 in secret ?' ' Indeed, my son, 1 replied the fa- 
 ther, ' the resemblance has frequently recurred 
 to me too forcibly. Never were twin sisters 
 more like ; and, were not the thing impossible,
 
 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 I should even say she was my dearest departed 
 wife ;' pronouncing her name as he spoke, and 
 also the names of characters nearly connected to 
 both parties. Attracted by the mention of her 
 real name, which she had not heard repeated for 
 a number of years before, and, attracted still 
 more by the nature of their conversation, the 
 lady, on strict examination of the appearance of 
 the strangers, instantly recognised her tender 
 husband and darling son. Natural instinct could 
 be no longer restrained. She threw herself up- 
 on her husband's bosoin; and Ossian, the son 
 of Fingal, could not describe in adequate terms 
 the transports of joy that prevailed at the meet- 
 ing. Suffice it to say, that the Saxon lady was 
 again restored to her affectionate husband, pure 
 and unblemished as when he lost her, and John 
 Roy gratified by the only reward he would ac- 
 cept of the pleasure of doing good." 
 
 From the sequel of the story, it appears that 
 some of the hordes of fairies, inhabiting the 
 " Shian of Coir-laggack," found it convenient, 
 for purposes which may be easily guessed at, to
 
 FAIRIES. 121 
 
 take a trip to the south of England, and made 
 no scruple to kidnap this lady in the absence of 
 her husband, and on the occasion of her ac- 
 couchement. A stock was, of course, deposited 
 in her stead which, of course, died in a few 
 days after and which, of course, was interred 
 in the full persuasion of its being the lady in 
 question, with all the splendour which her me- 
 rits deserved. Thus would the perfidious Tai- 
 ries have enjoyed the fruits of their cunning, 
 without even a suspicion of their knavery, were 
 it not for the " cleverness and generosity of 
 John Roy, who once lived in Glenbrown." 
 
 The natural passions, lusts, and covetousness 
 of which we have now shown the fairies to be 
 possessed, are not, however, our only grounds 
 for calling in question the fitness ot their title to 
 angelic nature and attributes. For it will be 
 seen from some traits in their character about to 
 be detailed, that their appetites are as keen and 
 voluptuous, as their inclinations are corrupt and 
 wicked. Our readers would be apt to believe 
 from the first outline of their character, that 
 F
 
 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS, 
 
 they were an amiable harmless race of people, 
 strictly honest, and given entirely to innocent 
 amusements. But it is a fact too well known, 
 that many of them are employed in very differ- 
 ent avocations from mirth and dancing ; for, to 
 repeat an old Scottish proverb, *' if a' tales be 
 true,'' thieving and blackguarding occupy fully 
 as much of their time as mirth and dancing. 
 And what is still worse, it is much suspected, 
 that their proneness to theft and knavery is not 
 so much the effect of necessity, as it is the effect 
 of wanton depravity. However base and de- 
 grading in the eyes of society appears the thief, 
 even when his deviation from honesty is the re- 
 sult of sheer necessity, he appears infinitely more 
 so when he is solely led to the commission of 
 crimes from wanton levity. Hence the indigna- 
 tion which a worthy man feels, whenever those 
 pilfering depredators embezzle the fruits of his 
 honest industry. The whirlwind is not the alone 
 engine of robbery to which the fairies resort ; 
 they recur to others of a more direct and ruin- 
 ous character; while the loser, from the specious-
 
 FAIRIES. 
 
 ness of their artifices, is seldom conscious of the 
 true cause of his loss. In order to expose the 
 wantonness of such pillage as they will be shown 
 to be guilty of, we need only call our readers 
 attention to the extent of the indisputable per- 
 quisites which they derive from fire and other 
 calamities incident to the estate of man, many of 
 which calamities, we are told, are accomplished 
 by their agency. As, however, we would not 
 readily accuse them of crimes so atrocious, with- 
 out some foundation, we submit the following 
 particulars to the judgment of our readers, 
 leaving them to draw their own inferences. 
 
 " One day a fairy woman, residing in the tur- 
 rets of Craig-ail- naic, called on one of the ten- 
 ants' wives in Delnabo, in her neighbourhood, 
 and requested of her the loan of a firlot of oat- 
 meal for meat to her family, promising she would 
 return it in a very short time, as she herself 
 hourly expected a considerable supply. Not 
 choosing, for so small a trifle, to incur the 
 fairy's displeasure, the tenant's wife complied 
 with her request, from the same motives as
 
 124 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 if she had been the exciseman. After regal- 
 ing the fairy with a dram and bread and cheese, 
 as is the custom of the country, she went out to 
 give her the customary convoy. On ascending 
 the eminence above the town, the l Benshi 
 paused, and, with apparent exultation, told the 
 tenant's wife that she might take her meal home 
 with her, as she herself was now supplied as she 
 expected. The woman, without putting any 
 impertinent questions to the lady, as to the 
 source whence her supply proceeded, cheerfully 
 agreed to receive back her meal, and took leave 
 of her visitor. She was not a little surprised, 
 however, to observe, in a few minutes thereafter, 
 the corn-kiln of an adjacent farm in total con- 
 flagration, with all its contents." 
 
 Over and above this, all liquids spilled on the 
 ground are supposed to go to their use ; and 
 there are some people even so charitable, as pur- 
 posely to reserve for their participation a share 
 of the best they possess. It is not unlikely, 
 that such generous actions were in some degree 
 influenced by such returns as the following :
 
 FAIRIES. 125 
 
 " Once upon a time, a farmer, in Strathspey, 
 was engaged sowing a field upon his farm, and, 
 as is not uncommon, he accompanied his labours 
 with a cheerful song. Now the fairies are very 
 fond of music, and not less so of spoil, and 
 whether it was the music or the seed that at- 
 tracted her most to the spot, certain it is, that a 
 fairy damsel, of great beauty and elegance, pre- 
 sented herself to the farmer. She requested of 
 him, as a particular favour, to sing her an old 
 Gaelic song, * Nighan Donne naBucd; 1 and, when 
 this favour was granted her, she sought of him 
 a present of corn. Although he had far less ob- 
 jections to her first request than he had to her 
 second, he did not flatly refuse her, but he did 
 what any prudent man would do in similar cir- 
 cumstances, he inquired what she would give 
 him in return. She answered, that, provided he 
 granted her request, his seed would not the more 
 speedily fail him ; anH this assurance she enforced 
 with a look so significant, as to induce him at 
 once to supply her very liberally from his bag. 
 She then departed, and he resumed his work.
 
 126 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 He was soon after very agreeably surprised, when 
 he found that, after sowing abundantly a large 
 field, wont to take five times the bulk of his bag, 
 it appeared equal in size and weight to what it 
 was when he met with the fairy nymph. 
 Far from being in the least confounded at the 
 agreeable circumstance, he threw his bag over 
 his shoulder, highly satisfied at the act of 
 munificence he did in the morning, and sowed 
 with it another field of equal extent without its 
 exhibiting any appearance of diminution. Per- 
 fectly satisfied now with his day's labour, he re- 
 turned home, fully determined to take care of his 
 bag. But, just as he was entering the barn- 
 door, who met him but his wife, ' who was a fool- 
 ish talkative hussey, having a tongue as long, 
 and a head as empty, as the parish church bell.' 
 With her usual loquacity she accosted him, ex- 
 pressing her astonishment at the unaccountable 
 nature of the sack, that had thus sown half their 
 farm, expressing, moreover, very notable sus- 
 picions of the cause. Now it is well known, 
 that, whenever any supernatural agency is chal-
 
 FAIU1I.S. 137 
 
 lenged, the spell is instantly broken. So that 
 the clashmaciavcring Je/ebcl had scarcely ut- 
 tered tho.<*e inconsiderate and highly reprehensi- 
 ble words, when the burden on the farmer's 
 back became an empty bag. ' I'll be your 
 death, you foolish, foolish woman,' exclaimed 
 her woe-struck husband ; ' were it not for your 
 imprudent talk, this bag were worth its weight 
 of gold.' " 
 
 Such relations as die foregoing should go very 
 far to induce every prudent and foreseeing man 
 to be on as friendly a footing, as possible, with 
 those capricious and all-powerful people, especi- 
 ally when their friendship w to be purchased on 
 such reasonable terms as those of which we have 
 just read. The unhappy hero of the follow- 
 ing narrative was convinced, when too late, of 
 the truth of this observation. 
 
 " A farmer, who at one time occupied the 
 farm of Auchriachan, of Strathavon, was one day 
 searching for his goats in a remote hill in Glen- 
 livat, and what came on, but a thick hazy fog, 
 which marred his way, and bewildered his
 
 128 HIGHLAND SUPEESTITIONS. 
 
 senses.' Every stone, magnified by the delu- 
 sion of the moment, appeared a mountain; 
 every rivulet seemed to him to run in an oppo- 
 site direction to its usual course ; and the unhap- 
 py traveller thought of his fireside, which he 
 expected never to see more. Night came on 
 apace ; its horrific gloom, as it approached, dis- 
 pelled the unhappy wanderer's for lorn hopes, and 
 he now sat down to prepare for the world that 
 has no end. Involved in perplexity at his un- 
 happy situation, he threw a mournful look on 
 the gloomy scene around him, as if to bid the 
 world an eternal adieu, when, lo ! a twinkling 
 light glimmered on his eye. It was a cheering 
 blink that administered comfort to his soul. 
 His frigid limbs, which lately refused their office, 
 recovered their vigour. His exhausted frame 
 became animated and energetic ; and he imme- 
 diately directed his course towards the light, 
 which, from its reflection, seemed not far distant. 
 On reaching the place, however, his joy was a 
 good deal damped when he examined the nature 
 of the place whence the light reflected. A
 
 FAIRIES. 
 
 human , foot never seemed to have visited the 
 scene ; it was one of wildness and horror- Life, 
 however, is exceedingly sweet when we are on 
 the brink of losing it, and necessity had so far 
 subdued every vestige of fear, that AuchriacJtan 
 resolved at all hazards to take a night's lodging 
 with the inmates, whatever their nature or call- 
 ing might be. The door was open, and he en- 
 tered the place. His courage, however, was a 
 good deal appalled, on meeting at the door an 
 old female acquaintance, whose funeral he had 
 recently attended, and who, it appeared, acted in 
 this family in the capacity of housewife. But 
 this meeting, however disagreeable it proved to 
 Auchriachan, in one respect, ultimately turned 
 out a fortunate circumstance for him, in as 
 much as his old acquaintance was the happy 
 means of saving his life. On observing Auch- 
 riachan, for that was the farmer's title, enter the 
 abode, she instantly ran towards him, and told 
 him he was done for, unless he chose to slip in 
 into a bye-corner off the principal apartment, 
 
 where he had better remain until she found an 
 F 2
 
 130 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 opportunity of effecting his escape. The advice 
 of the friendly housekeeper he thought it pru- 
 dent to adopt, and he was accordingly content to 
 hide himself in a crevice in the apartment. 
 Scarce had he done so, when there entered the 
 dwelling an immense concourse of fairies, who 
 had been all day absent upon some important ex- 
 pedition ; and being well appetized by their jour- 
 ney, they all cried out for some food. Having 
 all sat in council, the question proposed for dis- 
 cussion was, ' What was their supper to consist 
 of?' When an old sagacious looking fairy, who 
 sat in the chimney corner, spoke as follows: 
 ' Celestial gentlemen, you all know and abhor 
 that old miserly fellow the tacksman of Auch- 
 riachan. Mean and penurious, he appropriates 
 nothing to us ; but, on the contrary, disappoints 
 us of our very dues. By learning too well the 
 lesson taught him by his old and wizend grand- 
 mother, nothing escapes a blessing and a safe- 
 guard ; and the consequence is, that we cannot in- 
 terfere with the gleanings on his fields, far less the 
 
 stock and produce. Now, Auchriachan himself 
 
 10
 
 DAIRIES. 131 
 
 is not at home this night, he is in search of his 
 goats, our allies,* his less careful household 
 have neglected the customary safeguards ; and, 
 lo ! his goods are at our mercy. Come, let us 
 have his favourite ox to supper/ 4 Bravo T ex- 
 claimed the whole assembly ; * the opinion of 
 Thomas Rymer is always judicious; Auchria- 
 chan is certainly a miserable devil, and we shall 
 have his favourite ox to supper." 1 c But whence 
 shall we procure bread to eat with him?' inquired 
 a greedy-looking fairy. ' We shall have the 
 new baken bread of Auchriachan,* replied the 
 sagacious and sage counsellor, Mr Rymer ; * for 
 he is a miserly old fellow he himself is not at 
 home, and his wife has forgot to cross the first 
 bannock.' ' Bravo !' exclaimed the whole assem- 
 bly. * By all means, let us have the new baken 
 bread of Auchriachan.' 
 
 " Thus did Auchriachan, honest man, who, in- 
 deed, was not at home, with no very grateful 
 
 * The goats are supposed to be upon a very good under- 
 standing with the fairies, and possessed of more cunning 
 and knowledge than their appearance bespeaks.
 
 182 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 feelings, learn the fate of his favourite ox, with- 
 out, however, dissenting from the general voice 
 that pronounced his doom. And, in pursuance 
 of the same unpleasant decision, he had the ad- 
 ditional mortification to see his ill-fated ox deli- 
 berately introduced by the nose and killed in his 
 presence. Meantime, when all were engaged 
 cooking the ox, the officious housekeeper took 
 occasion, under pretence of some other errand, 
 to relieve Auchriachan from his uncomfortable 
 seclusion. On issuing forth from Mr Rymer's 
 council-chamber, Auchriachan found the mist had 
 entirely disappeared the stones were now of their 
 natural size the rivulets now ran their usual 
 course the moon threw her silver mantle over 
 the lately murky scene, and he had now no diffi- 
 culty to make his way home, lamenting most sin- 
 cerely the lot of his favourite ox. 
 
 " On arriving at home, he was cordially wel- 
 comed by his happy family, whose great anxiety 
 for his safety was probably the cause of the omis- 
 sion of that duty that poor Auchriachan had so 
 
 much cause to deplore. His overjoyed wife, 
 11
 
 FAIRIES. 133 
 
 supposing her husband to be no doubt in a hun- 
 gry case, provided a basket of new baked bread 
 and milk, and urged him to eat, for sure he 
 might well be hungry. He did not, however, 
 mind her solicitude for his comfort he was sorry 
 and sullen, and cared not for the provision, par- 
 ticularly the bread, well knowing it was only an 
 abominable phantom. At last he inquired, 
 ' Which of you served the oxen this night, my 
 lads ?' * It was I, my father,' replied one of his 
 sons. ' And did you mind the customary safe- 
 guard?' * Indeed,' says the son, * from my 
 great agitation for the fate of my father, I be- 
 lieve I forgot.' f Alas ! Alas !' exclaimed the 
 affectionate farmer. * My dear and favourite ox 
 is no more !' * What !' exclaims one of his sons, 
 ' I saw him alive not two hours ago!' * It was 
 only a fairy stock,' says Auchriachan. ( Bring 
 him out here until I dispatch him.' The farmer 
 then, venting the most unqualified expressions 
 of his indignation upon the stock and its knavish 
 proprietors, struck it such a pithy blow on the 
 forehead as felled it to the ground. Rolling down
 
 134 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 the brae, at the back of the house, to the bottom, 
 there it lay and the bread along with it, both 
 unmolested ; for it was a remarkable circum- 
 stance, that neither dog nor cat ever put a tooth 
 on the carcase." 
 
 It now only remains for us to describe the 
 most heinous of all their crimes, a crime which 
 we are peculiarly reluctant to bring so open- 
 ly to light, did not our impartiality as an his- 
 torian compel us. This crime consists in their 
 destruction of human beings, and their cattle, 
 by means of their magical dart commonly called 
 an elf-bolt. Those bolts are of various sizes, of 
 a hard yellowish substance, resembling somewhat 
 the flint, for which they are no bad substitutes. 
 The bolt is very frequently of the shape of a 
 heart, its edges being indented like a saw, and 
 very sharp at the point. This deadly weapon the 
 wicked fairy will throw at man or beast with such 
 precision as seldom to miss his aim, and whenever 
 it hits, the stroke is fatal. Such is the great 
 force with which it is flung, that on its striking 
 the object, it instantaneously perforates it to the
 
 FAIRIES. 135 
 
 heart, and a sudden death is the consequence. 
 In the blinking of an eye, a man or an ox is struck 
 down cold dead, and, strange to say, the wound 
 is not discernible to an ordinary person, unless 
 he is possessed of the charm that enables some 
 wise people to trace the course of the bolt, and 
 ultimately discover it in the dead body. Note, 
 whenever this fatal instrument is discovered, it 
 should be carefully preserved, as it defends its 
 possessor from the fatal consequences of the 
 " Fay" so long as he retains it about him. 
 
 Having now travelled over the leading traits 
 of the fairy^s character, publicly and privately, 
 we shall now conclude our treatise of him by 
 subjoining a few of the most approved cures and 
 safeguards, which afford protection from his 
 dangerous practices. An abler historian might 
 be disposed to offer some learned observations 
 on the strange incongruity of character exhi- 
 bited by the fairy in the preceding sketches, and 
 endeavour, if he could, to reconcile them so as to 
 form any thing like a rational subject. As a 
 plain unvarnished compiler, however, we have
 
 136 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 discharged our duty ; we have detailed, to the 
 best of our ability, the fairy's character, according 
 to the nature of our materials ; and if our deli- 
 neations are strange and inconsistent, the fault 
 lies either with the fairy or his professed histo- 
 rians, and not with the mere machine, ourself, 
 the compiler. 
 
 Go to the summit of some stupendous cliff or 
 mountain, where any species of quadruped has 
 never fed nor trod, and gather of that herb in 
 the Gaelic language called " Mohan" which 
 can be pointed out by any " wise person."" This 
 herb you will give to a cow, and of the milk of 
 that cow you are to make a cheese, and who- 
 ever eats of that cheese is for ever after, as well 
 as his gear, perfectly secure from every species 
 of fairy agency. 
 
 A piece of torch fir carried about the person, 
 and a knife made of iron which has never been 
 applied to any purpose, are both excellent pre- 
 servatives.
 
 PART III. 
 BROWNIES. 
 
 Brownie has got a cowl and coat, 
 And never more will work a jot.
 
 139 
 
 BROWNIES. 
 
 ALTHOUGH this mysterious and very useful 
 agent has now become very rare among the 
 Highland mountains, it appears that, at one 
 time, he was the common appendage of every 
 family of rank in those countries. Hence, his 
 history and character are well known ; and his 
 memory still retains a powerful interest in the 
 minds of the inhabitants. It may not, there- 
 fore, be improper to give a condensed account 
 of the most prominent traits of the Highland 
 Brownie's character, to enable the reader to com- 
 pare his manners and habits with those of the 
 Brownie of Bodspeck, or any other Brownie 
 with the manners of whom he may happen to be 
 acquainted.
 
 140 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 With regard to the Brownie's origin, it is a 
 point that is involved in much obscurity. It 
 was always a peculiar trait in his character, that 
 he never would favour his earthly acquaintances 
 with any information regarding his own private 
 affairs. From some resemblance the Brownie 
 bore to the Fairy, joined to a similarity of habits, 
 it was shrewdly suspected by the more discrimi- 
 nating sort of people, that if he were not actually a 
 member of the Fairy people he was, at least, 
 a mongrel species of them. But on this im- 
 portant topic the sagacious Brownie himself 
 opened not his mouth ; leaving them to argue 
 the matter as they thought proper. 
 
 In his personal appearance, the Highland 
 Brownie was highly interesting. His person was 
 not quite so tall as that of the Fairy, but it was 
 well proportioned and comely ; and, from the 
 peculiar brownness of his complexion, he received 
 the appellation of Brownie. 
 
 In his manners and habits he differed widely 
 from all the supernatural beings of his day; 
 inasmuch as he was laborious and faithful to
 
 BROWNIES. 141 
 
 his master's interest content to labour day and 
 night for no other fee or reward than a scanty 
 diet, and occasionally a suit of cast-off apparel. 
 Hence, the possession of so cheap and useful an 
 agent was an acquisition highly desirable. But 
 he was what neither money nor interest could 
 procure. Having once united himself to the 
 founder of an ancient family, he adhered to him 
 and to his issue so long as he had any lineal poste- 
 rity ; and hence it is, that the Brownie was only 
 found the heir-loom of an ancient and honour- 
 able family. 
 
 Unexampled for his fidelity, he was the inde- 
 fatigable guardian and promoter of his adopted 
 master's interest ; and, from his powers of pro- 
 phecy and information, his services were truly 
 invaluable. Over the servants he was always a 
 vigilant and faithful spy, ready to give faithful 
 account of their good or bad actions ; and 
 hence it followed, that with these he was very 
 seldom on a good understanding. So that, if 
 the Brownie was left to the servants' mercy, he 
 would not, in all likelihood, fare the better for
 
 142 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 his fidelity. But if the master had any regard 
 to his own interest, he was careful to have seen 
 him properly cared for in his meat and in his 
 drink, which care was rewarded by the most 
 unlimited devotion to his interest. 
 
 The last two brownies known in this quarter 
 of Jhe Highlands were long the appendages of 
 the ancient family of Tullochgorm in Strath- 
 spey. They were male and female, and, for 
 aught we know, they might likewise have been 
 man and wife. The male was of an exceeding- 
 ly jocose and humorous disposition, often in- 
 dulging in li ttle sports at the expence of his fel- 
 low-servants. He had, in particular, a great 
 trick of flinging clods at the passengers, and 
 from thence he got the name of " Brownie-Clod" 
 He had, however, with all his humour, a great 
 deal of simplicity about him, and became, in 
 his turn, the dupe of those on whom he affected 
 to play. An eminent instance of this appears 
 from a contract into which he foolishly entered 
 with the servants of Tullochgorm, whereby he 
 bound and obliged himself to thrash as much
 
 BROWNIES. 
 
 corn and straw as two men could do for the 
 space of a whole winter, on condition he was to 
 be gratified with an old coat and a Kilniarnock 
 cowl, pieces of apparel for which, it seems, he had 
 a great liking. While the servants were reclin- 
 ing themselves at their ease upon the straw, poor 
 Brownie-Clod thrashed on unremittingly, and 
 performed such Herculean tasks as no human 
 constitution could bear for a week together. 
 Some time before the expiry of the contract, 
 the lads, out of pure gratitude and pity, left 
 the coat and cowl for him on a mow of corn in 
 the barn, on receipt of which he instantly struck 
 work, and, with the greatest triumph at the 
 idea of taking in his acquaintances, he sneering- 
 ly told them, that, since they were so foolish as 
 to give him the coat and cowl before he had 
 wrought for them, he would now decline to 
 thrash another sheaf. 
 
 " Huar Prownie coad agus curochd 
 Agus cha dian Prownie opar tullidh." 
 
 The female was more pawky in her ways;
 
 144 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 and, instead of being a laughing-stock to the 
 female-servants with whom she wrought, she 
 was a sort of a mistress over them. She was 
 seldom on good terms with them, in conse- 
 quence of the fidelity with which she reported 
 their neglect of duty to their master or mis- 
 tress. It was her custom to wear a super- 
 abundance of hair, in consequence of which, she 
 was commonly called " Maug Vuluchd" or 
 " Hairy Mag." Mag was an honest and ex- 
 cellent housekeeper, and had the service of the 
 table generally assigned her, in which capacity 
 she was extremely useful. The dexterity and 
 care with which she covered the table, always 
 invisible, was not less amusing to strangers than 
 it was convenient to their host. Whatever was 
 called for came as if it floated on the air, and 
 lighted on the table with the utmost ease and 
 celerity ; and, for cleanliness and attention, she 
 had not her equal in this land.
 
 PART IV. 
 WATER-KELPIES. 
 
 When thaws dissolve the snawy hoord, 
 An' float the jingling icy boord, 
 The water-kelpies haunt the foord, 
 
 By your direction, 
 And nightly travellers are allur'd 
 
 To their destruction. 
 
 BURNS' Address to the DeiL
 
 147 
 
 WATER-KELPIES. 
 
 IN the former and darker ages of the world, 
 when people had not half the wit and sagacity 
 they now possess, and when, consequently, they 
 weremuch easier duped by such designing agents, 
 the " Ech Uisque, 11 or Water-Horse, as the Kel- 
 pie is commonly called, was a well known cha- 
 racter in those countries. The Kelpie was an 
 infernal agent, retained in the service and pay of 
 Satan, who granted him a commission to exe- 
 cute such services as appeared profitable to his 
 interest. He was an amphibious character, and 
 generally took up his residence in lochs and 
 pools, bordering on public roads and other situa- 
 tions, most convenient for his professional calling. 
 
 His commission consisted in the destruction of 
 human beings, without affording them time to
 
 148 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 prepare for their immortal interests, and thus 
 endeavour to send their souls to his master, 
 while he, the Kelpie, enjoyed the body. How- 
 ever, he had no authority to touch a human 
 being of his own free accord, unless the latter 
 was the aggressor. In order, therefore, to delude 
 public travellers and others to their destruction, 
 it was the common practice of the Kelpie to as- 
 sume the most fascinating form, and assimulate 
 himself to that likeness, which he supposed most 
 congenial to the inclinations of his intended vic- 
 tim. The likness of a fine riding steed was his 
 favourite disguise. Decked out in the most splen- 
 did riding accoutrements, the perfidious Kelpie 
 would place himself in the weary traveller's way, 
 and graze by the road-side with all the seeming 
 innocence and simplicity in the world. The 
 traveller, supposing this fine horse to have stray- 
 ed from his master, and considering him as a 
 good catch for carrying him a part of the way, 
 would approach the horse with the greatest cau- 
 tion, soothing it with proogy proogy, and many 
 other terms of endearment, in the event of his
 
 WATER-KELPIES. 149 
 
 taking to his heels, as wild horses are sometimes 
 apt to do. But this horse knew better what he 
 was about ; he was as calm and peaceable as a 
 lamb, until his victim was once fairly mounted 
 on his back ; with a fiend-like yell he would then 
 announce his triumph, and plunging headlong 
 with his woe- struck rider into an adjacent 
 pool, enjoy him for his repast. The follow- 
 ing curious relation, communicated to the com- 
 piler by the celebrated Mr Wellox, who pos- 
 sesses the precious relic captured from the kel- 
 pie alluded to in the story, will complete all the 
 information that is necessary regarding this once 
 formidable en trapper of mankind. 
 
 " In the time of my renowned ancestor, Mr 
 James Macgrigor, (rest to his soul !) who was 
 well known to be a good man, and a man of 
 great strength and courage in his day, there was 
 a most mischievous water-kelpie that lived in 
 Lochness, and which committed the most atro- 
 cious excesses on the defenceless inhabitants of 
 the surrounding districts. It was the common 
 practice of this iniquitous agent to prowl about
 
 150 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 the public roads, decked out in all the trappings 
 of a riding horse, and, in this disguise, place 
 himself in the way of the passenger, who often 
 took it into his head to mount him to his no small 
 prejudice ; for upon this the vicious brute would 
 immediately fly into the air, and in a jiffy light 
 with his rider in Lochnadorb, Lochspynie, or 
 Lochness, where he would enjoy his victim at 
 his leisure. Filled with indignation at the re- 
 peated relations he had heard of the kelpie's 
 practices, my ancestor, Mr Macgrigor, ardently 
 wished to fall in with his kelpieship, in order to 
 have a bit of a communing with him touching 
 his notorious practices. And Providence, in its 
 wise economy, thought it meet that Mr Mac- 
 grigor should be gratified in his wish- 
 
 " One day as he was travelling along ' Slochd 
 MuichdJ a wild and solitary pass on the road 
 between Strathspey and Inverness, whom did 
 he observe but this identical water-kelpie, 
 browsing away by the road-side with the great- 
 est complacency, thinking, no doubt, in his 
 mind, that he would kidnap Mr Macgrigor as
 
 WATER-KELPIES. 151 
 
 he had done others. But in this idea he found 
 himself woefully mistaken ! For no sooner did 
 Mr Macgrigor espy him, than he instantly de- 
 termined to have a trial of his mettle. Accord- 
 ingly, marching up to the horse, who thought, 
 no doubt, he was just coming to mount him, 
 Mr Macgrigor soon convinced him of the con- 
 trary by drawing his trusty sword, with which 
 he dealt the kelpie such a pithy blow on the 
 nose, as almost felled him to the ground. The 
 stroke maltreated the kelpie's jaw very consider- 
 ably, cutting through his bridle, in consequence 
 of which, one of the bits, being that which you 
 have just examined, fell down on the ground. 
 Observing the bit lying at his feet, Mr Macgrigor 
 had the curiosity to pick it up, whilst the asto- 
 nished kelpie was recovering from the effects of 
 the blow, and this bit Mr Macgrigor carelessly 
 threw into his pocket. He then prepared for a 
 renewal of his conflict with its former owner, 
 naturally supposing the kelpie would return him 
 his compliment. But what was Mr Macgrigor's 
 surprise, when he found that, instead of retort-
 
 152 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 ing his blow, and fighting out the matter to the 
 last, the kelpie commenced a cool dissertation 
 upon the injustice and illegality of Mr Mac- 
 grigor's proceedings. * What is your business 
 with me?* says he. ' What is your business 
 with me, Mr Macgrigor ? I have often heard of 
 you as a man of great honour and humanity ; 
 why, therefore, thus abuse a poor defenceless 
 animal like me, let me be a horse, or let me be a 
 kelpie, so long as I did you no harm. In my 
 humble opinion, Mr Macgrigor,' continued the 
 kelpie, * you acted both cruelly and illegally ; 
 and certainly your conduct would justify me, if 
 I should return you twofold your assault upon 
 me- However, I abominate quarrels of this sort,' 
 says the conciliatory kelpie, * and if you peace- 
 ably return me the bit of my bridle, we shall 
 say no more on the subject.' To this learned 
 argument of the kelpie Mr Macgrigor made 
 no other reply, than flatly denying his request in 
 the first place; and, in the second place, mention- 
 ing, in pretty unqualified terms, his opinion of 
 his character and profession. * It is true,' re-
 
 WATEK-KELPIES. 153 
 
 plied the other, ' that I am what you call a 
 kelpie ; but it is known to my heart, that my 
 profession was never quite congenial to my feel- 
 ings. We kelpies engage in many disagreeable 
 undertakings. But, as the proverb says, Neces- 
 sity has no law ; and there is no profession that 
 a man or spirit will not sometimes try, for the 
 sakeofanlwnest livelihood) so you will please have 
 the goodness to give me the bit of my bridle.' 
 Observing the great anxiety evinced by the kelpie 
 to have the bit of his bridle restored to him, and 
 feeling anxious to learn its properties, my saga- 
 cious ancestor immediately concocted a plan, 
 whereby he might elicit from the poor dupe of 
 a kelpie an account of its virtues. ' Well, Mr 
 Kelpie,' says Mr Macgrigor, ' all your logic 
 cannot change my opinion of the criminality of 
 your profession, though, I confess, it has some- 
 what disarmed me of my personal hostility to 
 you as a member of it ; I am, therefore, dispos- 
 ed to deliver up to you the bit of your bridle, 
 but it is on this express condition, that you will 
 favour me with an account of its use and quali-
 
 154 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 ties, for I am naturally very curious, do you 
 know.' To this proposition the kelpie joyfully 
 acceded, and thus addressed Mr Macgrigor : 
 ' My dear Sir, you must know that such agents 
 as I are invested by our Royal Master with a 
 particular commission, consisting of some docu- 
 ment delivered to us by his own hand. The 
 commission delivered to a kelpie consists in a 
 bridle invested with all those powers of transfor- 
 mation, information, and observation, necessary 
 for our calling ; and whenever we lose this 
 commission, whether voluntarily or by accident, 
 our power is at an end, and certain annihilation 
 within four and twenty hours is the consequence. 
 Had it not been that my bridle was broken by 
 your matchless blow, I must be so candid as to 
 declare, I might have broken every bone in your 
 body ; but now you are stronger than myself, 
 and you can be half a kelpie at your pleasure : 
 only please to look through the holes of the bit of 
 the bridle, and you will see myriads of invisible 
 agents, fairies, witches, and devils, all flying 
 around you, the same as if you had been giftec| 
 with the second sight, and all their machinations
 
 WATER-KELPIES. 155 
 
 clearly exposed to your observation.' < My 
 dear Sir/ replied my ancestor, ' I am much 
 obliged to you for your information ; but I am 
 sorry to inform you, that your relation has so 
 endeared the bit of your bridle to myself, that 
 I have resolved to keep it for your sake. I 
 could not persuade myself to part with it for 
 any consideration whatever.' ' What ! ' ex- 
 claimed the petrified Kelpie, * do you really 
 mean, in the face of our solemn agreement, to 
 retain the bit of my bridle ?' ' I not only 
 mean it, but I am resolved on it,' replies my 
 ancestor, who immediately proceeded to make 
 the best of his way home with the bit. ' Come, 
 come,' the Kelpie would perpetually exclaim, 
 ' you have carried the joke far enough, you 
 surely do not mean to keep my bridle ?' ' Time 
 will show,' was always his laconic answer. The 
 Kelpie still continued his earnest entreaties, 
 interlarded with anecdotes of great squabbles 
 which he had formerly had with as powerful 
 characters as Mr Macgrigor, and which al- 
 ways ended to his eminent advantage, but
 
 156 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 which, he politely insinuated, he would be sor- 
 ry to see repeated. But when his grief and 
 solicitude for his bridle began to evince them- 
 selves in a threatening aspect, a single flourish of 
 this trusty sword disarmed him of all his might, 
 and made him calm as a cat. At length, when 
 they arrived in sight of Mr Macgrigor's house, 
 his grief and despair for his bridle became per- 
 fectly outrageous. Galloping off before Mr 
 Macgrigor, the Kelpie told him as he went, 
 that he and the bit should never pass his 
 threshold together; and, in pursuance of this 
 assurance, he planted himself in Mr Macgrigor's 
 door, summoning up all his powers for the im- 
 pending conflict. However, James Macgrigor 
 resolved, if possible, to evade the Kelpie's de- 
 cree ; and accordingly going to a back window 
 on his house, he called his wife towards him, and 
 threw the bit of the Kelpie's bridle into her lap. 
 He then returned to the Kelpie, who stood sen- 
 try at his door, and told him candidly he was a 
 miserable legislator ; for that, in spite of his de- 
 cree, the bit of his bridle was that moment in
 
 WATER-KELPIES. 157 
 
 his wife's possession. The Kelpie now finding 
 himself fairly outwitted, saw the vanity of con- 
 tending with James Macgrigor and his claymore, 
 for what could not be recovered. As there was a 
 rowan cross above the door, his kelpieship 
 could no more enter the house than he could 
 pass through the eye of a needle ; and he, 
 therefore, thought it best to take himself off, 
 holding forth, at the same time, the most beastly 
 language to my ancestor, which he most sin- 
 cerely despised. 1 " 

 
 PART V. 
 
 SPUNKIES. 
 
 An' oft your moss- traversing spunkies 
 Decoy some wight that late and drunk is ; 
 The bleezin, curst, mischievous monkies 
 
 Delude his eyes, 
 Till in some miry slough he sunk is 
 
 Ne'er more to rise. 
 BURNS' Address to the Deil.
 
 161 
 
 SPUNKIES. 
 
 THE Spunkie is another of those now-retired 
 ministers, formerly employed by the Enemy of 
 mankind to accomplish their destruction. And, 
 in all truth, he could not have taken into his pay 
 a servant more faithful to his trust than the 
 spunkie. Whenever the traveller had the mis- 
 fortune to lose his way, or whenever there was 
 a prospect of deluding him from it, this vigilant 
 link-boy was ever at hand, to light him into far 
 worse quarters than even the purlieus of Covent 
 Garden. 
 
 Suddenly the traveller's attention was arrested 
 by the most resplendent light, apparently re- 
 flected from a window not far distant; which, 
 however, as the traveller approached, receded 
 from him like the rainbow. Still pursuing his
 
 162 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 course towards it, the wily spunkie manoeuvred 
 so dexterously> that the unhappy wanderer was 
 speedily decoyed into the nearest moss or preci- 
 pice. Plunging headlong into some fatal abyss, 
 the deluded victim never returned to his mourn- 
 ing wife and family, to relate to them the spun- 
 kie^ perfidy. 
 
 Happily now, however, the roads are better, 
 and travellers more cautious. All the glitter- 
 ing meteors of the spunkie, cannot make the 
 knowing Highlander of the present ,day, turn to 
 the right or to the left. So that the spunkie has 
 now shut shop, and become bankrupt in his 
 department.
 
 PART VI. 
 WITCHCRAFT. 
 
 When Satan, for weighty dispatches, 
 Sought messengers cunning and bold, 
 
 He pass'd by the beautiful faces, 
 And pick'd out the ugly and old. 
 
 VOLM.
 
 165 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Origin and History of Witchcraft. 
 
 WE are now come to consider and describe 
 the ancient and well-known order of Witchcraft ; 
 the nature and object of which require very lit- 
 tle explanation in a country where it has been 
 so long established, as in Scotland. Taking a re- 
 trospective view of the rise and progress of this 
 once flourishing institution, we are told it was 
 founded by the Grand Master, shortly after the 
 creation of the world. That the wickedness of 
 the inhabitants having kept pace with their in- 
 crease, Satan found work multiplying so fast 
 on his hands, that his own spiritual minions, 
 numerous as they were, became inadequate to 
 their employment. Being seldom blind to his 
 own interest, the idea of enlisting a few human 
 instruments to supply their deficiencies, naturally
 
 166 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 suggested itself to his fertile genius, and such 
 has been the thirst for magic and power, which 
 has at all times pervaded the old women of those 
 countries, that he never had great difficulty in 
 procuring abundance of volunteers to join his 
 banners. 
 
 Having thus established his new order of 
 emissaries, Satan found them to answer his pur- 
 poses uncommonly well. They drudged on in 
 his work so laboriously, and with such good suc- 
 cess, that he found them more profitable tools, 
 for deluding and hooking-in the best portion of 
 mankind, than his own proper agents, whose 
 means of communication and seduction were 
 much more confined and disadvantageous. Ac- 
 cordingly, he has found it his interest to conti- 
 nue the institution to this day. 
 
 It will, no doubt, prove a matter of some 
 astonishment to the amiable and considerate 
 reader, how any body that has the honour of 
 wearing a human face, could think of espousing 
 so desperate a cause, for the sake of any gratifi- 
 cation which Satan's kingdom affords. Common 
 12
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 167 
 
 fame errs too much, if he is at all a liberal mas- 
 ter to those who are his servants, for it is said, 
 he seldom or never fulfils his conditions with 
 any one of them. Though mighty forward to 
 enter into pactions, and extraordinarily liberal in 
 his terms, while making a bargain, he is said to 
 be far less ready to perform his share of the con- 
 ditions, when it is once concluded ; and what is 
 still worse, when he forfeits a penalty, there is no 
 law that can exact it of him. Accordingly, we 
 have heard of not a few deluded mortals, who 
 sold themselves to him for sums of money and 
 other considerations, but never yet heard of his 
 having paid the purchase money. 
 
 So once fared a poor needy wretch of a High- 
 landman, that bartered his soul to Satan for a 
 cow, and who never could get the latter to ful- 
 fil his bargain. It is no doubt true, that after 
 much importunity he did, at length, perform his 
 stipulation, in a way not very creditable to him. 
 Urgently importuned by the disponer to give 
 him his cow, he ultimately fetched him one, 
 which was but a few hours in his possession,
 
 168 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 when it was challenged by a third party as his 
 stolen property ; unwilling to explain how he 
 came by it, the poor fellow was flung into a 
 prison, and speedily brought before the laird 
 for trial. In this distressing situation, the dis- 
 poner was compelled to tell the truth and the 
 manner he came by the cow, not doubting but that 
 the disclosure would have at once exculpated him 
 from the charge. But unfortunately for him, his 
 ingenuous confession failed of its object, and the 
 poor man was condemned to the wuddie, reserv- 
 ing to him such recourse against Satan as he 
 might be advised to adopt.
 
 169 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Of the Agent" 1 s Qualifications, and Ceremonies of 
 their Constitution. 
 
 WHEN the candidates for Satan's employment 
 have, by a course of probation, given sufficient 
 proofs of their ability for the discharge of the 
 duties of the profession they are about to adopt, 
 and when they have arrived at an age befitting 
 the importance of the calling, men and women 
 are equally eligible, though it is well known 
 that women are preferred. Their initiation into 
 infernal orders is preceded by the execution of a 
 formal covenant with Satan, sealed with the mu- 
 tual blood oL the parties, whereby, for the con- 
 siderations therein expressed, Satan engages, on 
 the one hand, to commit to the entrant the va- 
 rious powers and qualifications which shall be 
 H
 
 170 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 detailed in the following pages; and, on the 
 other hand, the said entrant binds and obliges 
 himself, or herself, to apply himself, or herself, 
 faithfully and diligently in his service, by day 
 and by night, promising to conceal the secrets of 
 his trade and profession, (much in the style of 
 our common indentures.) The candidates are 
 then inducted into the mysteries and secrets of 
 their new profession with great pomp, in pre- 
 sence of the Royal Grand-Master, who, set forth 
 in proprlo terrore, presides over the ceremony. 
 The place selected for this imposing ceremony 
 is not ^infrequently a spacious lake or pool, the 
 members of the craft in attendance being fur- 
 nished with their sea-worthy navy, their brooms 
 and riddles. The following particulars rela- 
 tive to an intended initiation, which was attempt- 
 ed in Strathdown, " in the memory of the grand- 
 mothers of some people still living, 11 while it con- 
 veys some idea of such a scene as that to which 
 we alluded, may also prove a warning to those 
 who may be thoughtlessly led to embrace the 
 profession : 
 
 12
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 171 
 
 "In the time of my grandmother, the farm 
 of Delnabo was proportionally divided between 
 three tenants. At first equally comfortable in 
 their circumstances, it was in the course of some 
 time remarked by all, and by none more forci- 
 bly than by one of the said three portioners, 
 that, although superior in point of industry and 
 talent to his two fellow-portioners, one of the 
 tenants was daily lapsing into poverty, while his 
 two neighbours were daily improving in estate. 
 Amazed and grieved at the adverse fortune 
 which thus attended his family, compared to the 
 prosperous condition of his neighbours, the wife 
 of the poor man was in the habit of expressing 
 her astonishment at the circumstance, not only 
 to her own particular friends, but likewise to the 
 wives of her neighbours themselves. On one of 
 these occasions, the other two wives asked her 
 what would she do to ameliorate her condition, if 
 it were in her power ? She answered them, she 
 would do any thing whatever. (Here the other 
 wives thought they had got a gudgeon, that would 
 snap at any bait, and immediately resolved to
 
 172 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 make her their confidant. " Well, then, 11 says 
 one of the other two wives, " if you agree to 
 keep our communications strictly secret, and im- 
 plicitly obey our instructions, neither poverty nor 
 want shall ever assail you more. 11 This speech 
 of the other wife immediately impressed the poor 
 man's wife with a strong suspicion of their real 
 character. Dissembling all surprise at the cir- 
 cumstance, she promised to agree to all their 
 conditions. She was then directed, when she 
 went to bed that night, to carry along with 
 her the floor-broom, well known for its magi- 
 cal properties, which she was to leave by her 
 husband's side in the course of the night, and 
 which would represent her so exactly, that the 
 husband could not distinguish the difference in 
 the morning. They, at the same time, enjoined 
 her to discard all fears of detection, as their own 
 husbands had been satisfied with those lovely 
 substitutes (the brooms) for a great number of 
 years. Matters being thus arranged, she was 
 desired to join them at the hour of midnight, in
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 173 
 
 order to accompany them to that scene which 
 was to realize her future happiness. 
 
 " Promising to attend to their instructions, the 
 poor man's wife took leave of her neighbours, 
 full of those sensations of horror which the dis- 
 covery of such depravity was calculated to pro- 
 duce in a virtuous mind. Hastening home to 
 her husband, she thought it no crime to break 
 her promise to her wicked neighbours, and, like 
 a dutiful and prudent wife, to reveal to the hus- 
 band of her bosom the whole particulars of their 
 interview. The husband greatly commended 
 his wife's fidelity, and immediately entered into 
 a collusion with her, which displays no ordinary 
 degree of ingenuity. It was agreed, that the 
 husband should exchange apparel with the wife, 
 and that he should, in this disguise, accompany 
 the wives to the place appointed, to see what can- 
 trips they intended to perform. He accordingly 
 arrayed himself in his wife's habiliments, and, 
 at the hour of midnight, joined the party at 
 the place appointed. The 4 Bride? as they 
 called him, was most cordially received by the
 
 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 two Ladies of the Broom, who warmly congra- 
 tulated the ' Bride' upon her good fortune, and 
 the speedy consummation of her happiness. 
 He was then presented with a fir torch, a broom, 
 and a riddle, articles with which they them- 
 selves were furnished. They directed their 
 course along the banks of the rolling Avon, 
 until they reached Craic-pol-nain, or the Craig 
 of the Birdspool. Here, in consequence of the 
 steepness of the craig, they found it convenient 
 to pass to the other side of the river. This 
 passage they effected without the use of their 
 navy, the river being fordable at the place. 
 They then came in sight of Pol-nain, and, lo ! 
 what human eye ever witnessed such a scene 
 before ! The pool appeared as if actually en- 
 veloped in a flame of fire. A hundred torches 
 blazed aloft, reflecting their beams on the tower- 
 ing woods of Loynchork. And what ear ever 
 heard such shrieks and yells as proceeded from 
 the horrid crew engaged at their hellish orgies 
 on Pol-nain. Those cries were, however, sweet 
 music to the two wives of Delnabo- Every yell
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 175 
 
 produced from them a burst of unrestrained 
 pleasure, and away they frisked, leaving the 
 amiable bride a considerable way behind. For 
 the fact is, that he was in no hurry to reach the 
 scene, and when he did reach it, it was with a 
 determination to be only a spectator, and not a 
 participator in the night's performance. On 
 reaching the pool's side he saw what was going 
 on, he saw abundance of hags steering them- 
 selves to and fro in their riddles, by means of 
 their oars the brooms, hallooing and skirling 
 worse than the bogles, and each holding in her 
 left hand a torch of fir, whilst at other times 
 they would swirl themselves into a row, and make 
 profound obeisance to a large black ugly tyke, 
 perched on a lofty rock, who was no doubt 
 the ' muckle thief himself, and who was pleased 
 to acknowledge most graciously those expres- 
 sions of their loyalty and devotion, by bowing, 
 grinning, and clapping his paws. Having ad- 
 ministered to the bride some preliminary in 
 structions, the impatient wives desired him to 
 remain by the pool's side until they should com*
 
 176 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 inane with his Satanic Highness on the subject 
 of her inauguration, directing her, as they pro- 
 ceeded on their voyage across the pool, to speed 
 them in their master's name. To this order of 
 the black pair, the bride was resolved to pay par- 
 ticular attention. As soon as they were em- 
 barked in their riddles, and had wriggled them- 
 selves, by means of their brooms, into a proper 
 depth of water, < Go," 1 says he, ' in the name of 
 the Best.' A horrid yell from the witches an- 
 nounced their instant fate, the magic spell was 
 now dissolved crash went the riddles, and down 
 sank the two witches, never more to rise, amidst 
 the shrieks and lamentations of the Old Thief 
 and all his infernal crew, whose combined power 
 and policy could not save them from a watery 
 end. All the torches were extinguished in an in- 
 stant, and the affrighted company fled in differ- 
 ent directions, in such forms and similitudes as 
 they thought most convenient for them to adopt, 
 and the wily bride returned home at his leisure, 
 enjoying himself vastly at the clever manner in 
 which he had executed the instructions of his
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 177 
 
 deceased friends. On arriving at his house, he 
 dressed himself in his own clothes, and, without 
 immediately satisfying his wife's curiosity at the 
 result of his excursion, he yoked his cattle, and 
 commenced his morning labours with as little 
 concern as usual. His two neighbours, who were 
 not even conscious of the absence of their wives, 
 (so ably substituted were they by the brooms,) 
 did the same. Towards breakfast-time, how- 
 ever, the two neighbours were not a little as- 
 tonished that they observed no signs of their 
 wives having risen from bed notwithstand- 
 ing their customary earliness and this sur- 
 prise they expressed to the late bride,, their 
 neighbour The latter archly remarked, that 
 he had great suspicions, in his own mind, of 
 their rising even that day. * What mean 
 you by that P" 1 replied they. * We left our 
 wives apparently in good health when we 
 ourselves arose. 1 ' Find them now,' was the 
 reply the bride setting up as merry a whistle 
 as before. Running each to his bed, what was 
 the astonishment of the husbands, when, instead 
 
 H2
 
 178 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 of his wife, he only found an old broom. Their 
 neighbour then told them, that, if they chose to 
 examine Pol-nain well, they would find both their 
 dear doxies there. The grieving husbands accord- 
 ingly proceeded thither, and, with the necessary 
 instruments, dragged their late worthy partners to 
 dry land; and afterwards privately interred them. 
 The shattered vessels and oars of those unfortu- 
 nate navigators, whirling about the pool, satis- 
 fied their lords of the manner by which they 
 came to their ends ; and their names were no 
 longer mentioned by their kindred in the land. 
 It need scarcely be added, that the poor man 
 gradually recovered his former opulence; and 
 that, in the course of a short time, he was com- 
 paratively as rich as he was formerly poor."
 
 179 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Of the Personal Similitude of the Agents or 
 Members of the Craft. 
 
 IT is well known, that no sooner do men or 
 women enter on this profession, than there is a 
 striking change in their personal appearance. 
 Their countenances are no longer the emblems 
 of human nature, but the sign-posts of malice 
 and bad luck. " Looking like a witch" is a 
 proverb that has been always descriptive of the 
 most exquisite ugliness ; and whoever has seen 
 the frontispiece of a Highland witch will be sa- 
 tisfied with its force and propriety. 
 
 The face is so wrinkled, that it commonly re- 
 sembles the channels of dried waters, and the 
 colour of it resembles nothing so much as a piece 
 of rough tanned leather. The eyes are small
 
 180 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 and piercing, sunk into the forehead, like the 
 expiring remains of a candle in a socket. The 
 nose is large, prominent, and sharp, forming a 
 bridge to the contacting chin. These are repre- 
 sented as the amiable features of a witch. The 
 wizard's appearance differs very little from 
 that of his amiable sister the witch, only that his 
 face is covered over with a preternatural redun- 
 dance of hair, and that he wears beneath his 
 chin a bunch of hair in the manner of a goat. 
 
 It has been long a subject of tough contro- 
 versy to what cause this striking deformity is 
 justly to be ascribed. Some logicians rational- 
 ly enough maintain, that the characteristic de- 
 formity of the order arises from their frequent 
 interviews with Satan. That the tremor of the 
 limbs, the horror of the aspect, and stare of the 
 eyes, with which they are always seized dur- 
 ing the season of their noviciation, is rendered 
 habitual to them by the force of custom, which 
 is justly called a second nature. And, in sup- 
 port of this doctrine, we are told it is a fact, 
 that, whenever we behold a ghost, or any other
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 181 
 
 uncanny being, our features become contracted 
 exactly the same way. But, be this as it may, 
 it is an acknowledged fact, that ugliness was, 
 from the beginning of their cast, their distin- 
 guishing characteristic.
 
 182 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Of their Professional Powers and Practices. 
 
 ON a nearer examination of a witches charac- 
 ter, we will find her face a very correct index to 
 her heart. She is the arch-enemy of whatever 
 is good and amiable. Invested as she is with 
 as ample powers of seduction and mischief as 
 Satan himself, she is equally expert in accom- 
 plishing the ruin of the soul and body of the 
 objects of her malignity. In order to convey 
 to the reader an idea of those powers with 
 which she is invested, and which she never 
 fails to exercise, we shall detail them in their 
 order, illustrating our statements, as we go 
 along, with proofs from the best authorities. 
 
 The most formidable of all the powers con- 
 ferred on a witch consists in the torture and de-
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 183 
 
 struction of human beings by infernal machination. 
 There are various processes by which those hel- 
 lish practices are accomplished, but the most 
 common process is that invented and used by 
 that eminent and distinguished witch, lf Crea 
 Mhoir cun Drochdair" who was burnt and wor- 
 ried at a stake at Inverness, about two centuries 
 ago, for bewitching and keeping in torment the 
 body of the provost's son. Crea made an effigy 
 of clay, and other hellish ingredients, into which 
 she stuck pins and other sharp instruments. 
 This effigy of the provost's son she placed on a 
 spit at a large fire, and by these cantrips the hag 
 communicated such agonizing torments to the 
 young gentleman, that he must have had spee- 
 dily fallen a victim to his sufferings, had it not 
 been for the happy discovery made by means of 
 a little grandchild of Crea Mhoir's, who divulg- 
 ed the whole secret to a little companion, for the 
 small gratification of a piece of bread and cheese. 
 But although Crea, honest woman, was long 
 ago disposed of, to the great comfort and satis- 
 faction of her countrymen, who naturally enough
 
 184 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 ascribed to her all the calamities which happened 
 in the country during her lifetime, she left 
 behind her the immortal fruits of her genius, for 
 the benefit of her black posterity, in those mis- 
 chievous inventions practised by the witches of 
 the present day, who understand the knack 
 of torturing their unhappy contemporaries in all 
 its branches. 
 
 The next important power of a witch, and a 
 warlock, consists in their control over air and 
 water, whereby they raise most dreadful storms 
 and hurricanes by sea, and by land, and thus ac- 
 complish the destruction of many a valuable 
 life, which otherwise might have been long spar- 
 ed. The following account of the loss of a most 
 excellent gentleman exhibits too melancholy an 
 instance of the success of their experiments in 
 this way : 
 
 " John Garve Macgillichallum of Razay was 
 an ancient hero of great celebrity. Distinguish- 
 ed in the age in which he lived for the gallantry 
 of his exploits, he has often been selected by the 
 bard as the theme of his poems and songs. A-
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 185 
 
 longst with a constitution of body naturally vi- 
 gorous and powerful, Razay was gifted with all 
 those noble qualities of the mind which a true 
 hero is supposed to possess. And what reflected 
 additional lustreon his character, was thathenever 
 failed to apply his talents and powers to the best 
 uses. He was the active and inexorable enemy 
 of the weird sisterhood, many of whom he was 
 the auspicious instrument of sending to their 
 ' black inheritance'* much sooner than they either 
 expected or desired. It was not therefore to be 
 supposed, that, while those amiable actions en- 
 deared Razay to all good people, they were at 
 all calculated to win him the regard of those in- 
 fernal hags to whom he was so deadly a foe. As 
 might be naturally expected, they cherished to- 
 wards him the most implacable thirst of revenge, 
 and sought, with unremitting vigilance, for an 
 opportunity of quenching it. That such an op- 
 portunity did unhappily occur, and that the me- 
 ditated revenge of these hags was too well ac- 
 complished, will speedily appear from this me- 
 lancholy story.
 
 186 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 "It happened upon a time, that Razay and a 
 number of friends planned an expedition to the 
 island of Lewes, for the purpose of hunting the 
 deer of that place. Tney accordingly embarked 
 on board the chieftain's yacht, manned by the 
 flower of the young men of Razay, and in a few 
 hours they chased the fleet-bounding hart on the 
 mountains of Lewes. Their sport proved excel- 
 lent. Hart after hart, and hind after hind, were 
 soon levelled to the ground by the unerring hand 
 of Razay ; and when night terminated the chace, 
 they retired to their shooting quarters, where 
 they spent the night with jovially and mirth, 
 little dreaming of their melancholy fate in the 
 morning. 
 
 " In the morning of next day, the chief of Ra- 
 zay and his followers rose with the sun, with the 
 view of returning to Razay. The day was squally 
 and occasionally boisterous, and the billows raged 
 with great violence. But Razay was determined 
 to cross the channel to his residence, and order- 
 ed his yacht to prepare for the voyage. The 
 more cautious and less courageous of his suite,
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 187 
 
 however, urged on him to defer the expedition 
 till the weather should somewhat settle an ad- 
 vice which Razay, with a courage which knew 
 no fear, rejected, and expressed his firm deter- 
 mination to proceed without delay. Probably 
 with a view to inspire his company with the 
 necessary degree of courage to induce them all 
 to concur in the undertaking, he adjourned with 
 them to the ferry-house, where they had re- 
 course to that supporter of spirits under every 
 trial, the usquebaugh, a few bottles of which 
 added vastly to the resolution of the company. 
 Just as the party were disputing the practi- 
 cability of the proposed adventure, an old wo- 
 man, with wrinkled front, bending on a crutch, 
 entered the ferry-house ; and Razay, in the 
 heat of argument, appealed to the old wo- 
 man, whether the passage of the channel on 
 such a day was not perfectly practicable and 
 free from danger. The woman, without hesi- 
 tation, replied in the affirmative, adding such 
 observations, reflecting on their courage, as im- 
 mediately silenced every opposition to the voy-
 
 188 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 age ; and, accordingly, the whole party embark- 
 ed in the yacht for Razay. But, alas ! what 
 were the consequences ? No sooner were they 
 abandoned to the mercy of the waves than the 
 elements seemed to conspire to their destruction. 
 All attempts to put back the vessel proved un- 
 availing, and she was speedily driven out before 
 the wind in the direction of Razay. The he- 
 roic chieftain laboured hard to animate his com- 
 pany, and to dispel the despair which began to 
 seize them, by the most exemplary courage and 
 resolution. He took charge of the helm, and, 
 in spite of the combined efforts of the sea, wind, 
 and lightning, he kept the vessel steadily on 
 her course towards the lofty point of Aird in 
 Skye. The drooping spirits of his crew began 
 to revive, and hope began to smile upon them 
 when, lo ! to their great astonishment, a large 
 cat was seen to climb the rigging. This cat 
 was soon followed by another of equal size, and 
 the last by a successor, until at length the 
 shrouds, masts, and whole tackle, were actually 
 covered with them. Nor did the sight of all
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 189 
 
 those cats, although he knew well enough their 
 real character, intimidate the resolute Razay, 
 until a large black cat, larger than any of the 
 rest, appeared on the mast-head, as commander- 
 in-chief of the whole legion. Razay, on ob- 
 serving him, instantly foresaw the result; he, 
 however, determined to sell his life as dearly as 
 possible, and immediately commanded an attack 
 upon the cats but, alas ! it soon proved abor- 
 tive. With a simultaneous effort the cats over- 
 turned the vessel on her leeward wale, and 
 every soul on board were precipitated into a 
 watery grave. Thus ended the glorious life of 
 Jan Garbh Macgiltichdllum of Razay, to the 
 lasting regret of the brave clan Leod and all 
 good people, and to the great satisfaction of the 
 abominable witches who thus accomplished his 
 lamentable doom. 
 
 " The same day, another hero, celebrated for 
 his hatred of witchcraft, was warming himself 
 in his hunting hut, in the forest of Gaick in Ba- 
 denoch. His faithful hounds, fatigued with the 
 morning chacc, lay stretched on the turf by his
 
 190 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 side, his gun, that would not miss, reclined in 
 the neuk of the boothy, the skian dhu of the 
 sharp edge hung by his side, and these alone 
 constituted his company. As the hunter sat 
 listening to the howling storm as it whistled by, 
 there entered at the door an apparently poor 
 weather-beaten cat, shivering with cold, and 
 drenched to the skin. On observing her, the 
 hairs of the dogs became erected bristles, and 
 they immediately rose to attack the pitiable cat, 
 which stood trembling at the door. ' Great 
 hunter of the hills,' exclaims the poor-looking 
 trembling cat, ' I claim your protection. I 
 know your hatred to my craft, and perhaps it 
 is just. Still spare, oh spare a poor jaded 
 wretch, who thus flies to you for protection 
 from the cruelty and oppression of her sister- 
 hood. 1 Moved to compassion by her eloquent 
 address, and disdaining to take advantage of his 
 greatest enemy in such a seemingly forlorn 
 situation, he pacified his infuriated dogs, and 
 desired her to come forward to the fire and 
 warm herself. ' Nay," 1 says she, * in the first
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 191 
 
 place, you will please bind with this long hair 
 those two furious hounds of yours, for I am 
 afraid they will tear my poor hams to pieces. 
 I pray you, therefore, my dear Sir, that you 
 would have the goodness to bind them together 
 by the necks with this long hair.' But the cu- 
 rious nature of the hair induced the hunter to 
 dissemble a little. Instead of having bound his 
 dogs with it, as he pretended, he threw it across 
 a beam of wood which connected the couple of 
 the boothy. The witch then supposing the 
 dogs securely bound, approached the fire, and 
 squatted herself down as if to dry herself. She 
 had not sitten many minutes, when the hunter 
 could easily discover a striking increase in her 
 size, which he could not forbear remarking in a 
 jocular manner to herself. * A bad death to 
 you, you nasty beast,' says the hunter ; f you are 
 getting very large.' ( Aye, aye/ replied the 
 cat, equally jocosely, * as my hairs imbibe the 
 heat, they naturally expand.' These jokes, 
 however, were but a prelude to a more serious 
 conversation. The cat still continuing her
 
 192 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 growth, bad at length attained a most extraor- 
 dinary size, when, in the twinkling of an eye, 
 she transformed herself into her proper likeness 
 of the Goodwife of Laggan, and thus addressed 
 him : * Hunter of the Hills, your hour of reck- 
 oning is arrived. Behold me before you, the 
 avowed champion of my devoted sisterhood, of 
 whom Macgillichallum of Razay and you were 
 always the most relentless enemies. But Razay 
 is no more. His last breath is fled. He lies a 
 lifeless corpse on the bottom of the main ; and 
 now, Hunter of the Hills, it is your turn.' With 
 these words, assuming a most hideous and ter- 
 rific appearance, she made a spring at the hunt- 
 er. The two dogs, which she supposed sec'ire- 
 ly bound by the infernal hair, sprung at her in 
 her turn, and a most furious conflict ensued. 
 The witch, thus unexpectedly attacked by the 
 dogs, now began to repent of her temerity. 
 * Fasten^ hair, fasten? she perpetually exclaim- 
 ed, supposing the dogs to have been bound by 
 the hair, and so effectually did the hair fasten, 
 
 according to her order, that it at last snapt the 
 10
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 103 
 
 beam in twain. At length, finding herself com- 
 pletely overpowered, she attempted a retreat, 
 but so closely were the hounds fastened in her 
 breasts, that it was with no small difficulty she 
 could get herself disengaged from them. Scream- 
 ing and shrieking, the Wife of Laggan dragged 
 herself out of the house, trailing after her the 
 dogs, which were fastened in her so closely, 
 that they never loosed their hold, until she de- 
 molished every tooth in their heads. Then me- 
 tamorphosing herself into the likeness of a ra- 
 ven, she fled over the mountains in the direc- 
 tion of her home. The two faithful dogs, bleed- 
 ing and exhausted, returned to their master, 
 and, in the act of caressing his hand, both fell 
 down and expired at his feet. Regretting their 
 loss with a sorrow only known to the parent 
 who weeps over the remains of departed child- 
 ren, he buried his devoted dogs, and returned 
 home to his family. His wife was not in the house 
 when he arrived, but she soon made her appear- 
 ance. 'Where have you been, my love P 1 inquired 
 the husband. ( Indeed,' replies she, ' I have 
 I
 
 194 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS, 
 
 been seeing the Goodwife of Laggan, who has 
 been just seized with so severe an illness, that she 
 is not expected to live for any time.' ' Aye ! 
 aye !' says he, ' what is the matter with the 
 worthy woman ?' ' She was all day absent in 
 the moss at her peats,' replies the wife, * and 
 was seized with a sudden cholic, in consequence 
 of getting wet feet, and now all her friends and 
 neighbours are expecting her demision.' ' Poor 
 woman,' savs the husband, ' I am sorry for her. 
 Get me some dinner, it will be right that I 
 should go and see her also.' Dinner being pro- 
 vided and dispatched, the hunter immediate- 
 Jy proceeded to the house of Laggan, where 
 he found a great assemblage of neighbours 
 mourning, with great sincerky, the approaching 
 decease of a woman whom they all had hitherto 
 esteemed virtuous. The hunter, walking up to 
 the sick woman's bed in a rage, proportioned to 
 the greatness of its cause, stripped the sick wo- 
 man of all her coverings. A shriek from the 
 now exposed witch brought all the company 
 around her. * Behold,' says he, ' the object of
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 195 
 
 your solicitude, who is nothing less than an in- 
 fernal witch. To-day, she informs me, she was 
 present at the death of the Laird of Razay, and 
 only a few hours have elapsed since she attempt- 
 ed to make me share his fate. This night, how- 
 ever, she shall expiate her crime, by the forfeit- 
 ure of her horrid life.' Relating to the com- 
 pany the whole circumstances of her attack upon 
 him, which were too well corroborated by the 
 conclusive marks she bore on her person, the 
 whole company were perfectly convinced of her 
 criminality ; and the customary punishment was 
 about to be inflicted on her, when the miserable 
 wretch addressed them as follows : * My ill- 
 requited friends, spare an old acquaintance, 
 already in the agonies of death, from any farther 
 mortal degradation. My crimes and my folly 
 now stare me in the face, in their true colours, 
 while my vile and perfidious seducer, the enemy 
 of your temporal and spiritual interests, only 
 laughs at me in my distress ; and, as a reward 
 for my fidelity to his interest, in seducing every 
 thing that was amiable, and in destroying every
 
 196 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS 
 
 thing that was good, he is now about to consign 
 my soul to eternal misery. Let my example be 
 a, warning to all the people of the earth to 
 shun the fatal rock on which I have split ; and 
 as a strong inducement for them to do so, I shall 
 atone for my iniquity to the utmost of my abi- 
 lity, by detailing to you the awful history of 
 my life.' Here the Wife of Laggan detailed at 
 full length the way she was seduced into the 
 service of the evil one, all the criminal adven- 
 tures in which she had been engaged, and ended 
 with a particular account of the death of Mac- 
 gillichallum of Razay, and her attack upon the 
 hunter, and then expired. 
 
 " Meanwhile, a neighbour of the Wife of 
 Laggan was returning home late at night from 
 Strathdearn, where he had been upon some bu- 
 siness, and had just entered the dreary forest 
 of Monalea in Badenoch, when he met a woman 
 dressed in black, who ran with great speed, and 
 inquired at the traveller, with great agitation, 
 how far she was distant from the church-yard 
 of Dalarossie, and if she could be there by twelve
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 197 
 
 o'clock. The traveller told her she mioht, if 
 she continued to go at the same pace that she 
 did then. She then fled alongst the road, utter- 
 ing the most desponding lamentations, and the 
 traveller continued his road to Badenoch. He 
 had not, however, walked many miles when he 
 met a large black dog, which travelled past him 
 with much velocity, as if upon the scent of a 
 track or footsteps, and soon after he met another 
 large black dog sweeping along in the same 
 manner. The last dog, however, was scarcely 
 past, when he met a stout black man on a fine 
 fleet black courser, prancing along in the same 
 direction after the dogs. ' Pray,' says the rider 
 to the traveller, * did you meet a woman as you 
 came along the hill ?' The traveller replied in 
 the affirmative. ' And did you meet a dog soon 
 after ?' rejoined the rider. The traveller replied 
 he did. * And,' added the rider, * do you 
 think the dog will overtake her ere she can 
 reach the church of Dalarossie ?' * He will, at 
 any rate, be very close upon her heels, 1 answer- 
 ed the traveller. Each then took his own way.
 
 198 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 But before the traveller had got the length of 
 Glenbanchar, the rider overtook him on his re- 
 turn, with the foresaid woman before him across 
 the bow of his saddle, and one of the dogs fixed 
 in her breast, and another in her thigh. ' Where 
 did you overtake the woman ?' inquired the 
 traveller. ' Just as she was entering the church- 
 yard of Dalarossie,' was his reply. On the tra- 
 veller's return home, he heard of the fate of the 
 unfortunate Wife of Laggan, which soon ex- 
 plained the nature of the company he had met 
 on the road. It was, no doubt, the spirit of the 
 Wife of Laggan flying for protection from the 
 infernal spirits, (to whom she had sold herself,) 
 to the church-yard of Dalarossie, which is so sa- 
 cred a place, that a witcli is immediately dis- 
 solved from all her ties with Satan, on making a 
 pilgrimage to it, either dead or alive. But, it 
 seems the unhappy Wife of Laggan was a stage 
 too late."" 
 
 There is another power given to them, which 
 is a most mischievous one, and proves the fruit- 
 ful source of almost all the crimes and miseries
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 199 
 
 which deluge the land, that of sowing the 
 seeds of discord amongst mankind in public and 
 private life. We will say nothing of the degree 
 of secret influence which these worthies probably 
 enjoy in overruling the councils of our nation, 
 and thwarting the judgment of our ministers 
 so as to answer their private purposes, as 
 it would be out of our strict line of delinea- 
 tion. But we speak from the best authority 
 when we say, that they are the common and 
 secret instigators of those deplorable quarrels 
 and divisions which sometimes happen between 
 those who ought to be one flesh. Whenever we 
 see a broken-hearted wife, mourning over the 
 misconduct of her husband, who, once tenderly 
 affectionate and attentive to the discharge of his 
 domestic duties, is now changed into the domes- 
 tic tyrant and whisky-bibber, we need never he- 
 sitate for a moment to pronounce the cause to 
 be witchcraft. And the same rule holds good 
 in regard to the misconduct of the wife, vice 
 versa- Behold, again, the man of sin, clothed 
 in the garment of disgrace, that sits
 
 200 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 the creepy." Ask him what blindfold infatua- 
 tion could have induced him to have defiled his 
 neighbour's bed, and he will tell you, with 
 a groan, it was " Suchuchd."" 
 
 Nor are their operations confined to the inju- 
 ry of a person's spiritual interest alone they 
 even descend to the lowest incidents in a man's 
 calling. If the reader should see a termagant 
 of a wife raise over the caput of her poor 
 cuckold of a husband, the tongs or spurtle, de- 
 manding of him, with vehement eloquence, the 
 cause of purchasing a horse or a cow at double 
 its value, his answer to her will certainly be 
 " Me ve ar mu Buchuchd." 
 
 Thus the ruination of our spiritual interests 
 is not enough to satisfy their inveterate maligni- 
 ty, they must likewise injure our temporal in- 
 terests, which, however incomparable to the 
 former in point of intrinsic importance, yet 
 causes the sufferer fully as much grief. Indeed, 
 so dearly do the most of the people of this 
 world love their temporal means and estate, 
 that we feel fully persuaded, that did those
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 201 
 
 agents confine their operations to the injury of 
 our spiritual interests alone, which, as Satan's in- 
 struments, we should naturally suppose to be 
 their proper line of business, the clamour against 
 their ruinous and abominable practices would be 
 much less violent than it is. This much, how- 
 ever, of the Highlander's liberal disposition 
 the sly sounding witch is intimately acquainted 
 with, and for this very reason she redoubles 
 her diligence to cause him all the loss in her 
 power, as the most effectual way of completing 
 his misery. Hence, it often happens, that 
 should a horse, an ox, or a cow, of unequalled 
 symmetry and beauty, be so unlucky as to at- 
 tract the favour of its affectionate owner ; by 
 whatever means the sagacious witch discovers 
 the secret we know not, but certain annihilation, 
 accomplished by some means or other, will be 
 the poor animal's lot. Such a calamity as this 
 is sufficiently mortifying, but it is a small one 
 when compared to the loss of a person's whole 
 stock, which too frequently follows the loss of 
 one. Having once inserted the infernal pillow
 
 202 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 into some snug corner, its influence will give 
 the finishing stroke to all the cattle and creeping 
 things on a farm. This pillow, not to give it a 
 worse name, is a little four-cornered bag, pack- 
 ed with diverse exterminating diseases, in the 
 familiar likeness of hair, grease, pairings of 
 nails, shoe-tackets, salt, powder, and other in- 
 fernal knick-knacks, too tedious to be described, 
 which, when thrown into the fire, makes a noise 
 the like of which has seldom been heard. 
 
 No sooner is this bag deposited in a cleft in 
 the stable or byre than it commences its de- 
 structive career, producing the death of the 
 bestial in whole lots, until the last hen on the 
 roost will fall a sacrifice to its deadly influence. 
 Nor is this all ; they will attach some infernal 
 cantrips to the farming-utensils that no good 
 crop will follow their operations, and what may 
 escape the influence of the baggie is commonly 
 destroyed by frost, rain, lightning, and other 
 calamities, which the craft can produce at their 
 pleasure, so that it is unfit for the use of man or 
 beast. In short, of all the ills incident to the
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 203' 
 
 life of man, none are so formidable as witch- 
 craft, before the combined influence of which, 
 to use the language of an honest man who had 
 himself severely suffered from its effects, the 
 great Laird of Grant himself could not stand 
 them if they should fairly yoke upon him.
 
 204 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Of the Witch's Powers of Transformation. 
 
 THOSE of our readers who are not very well 
 acquainted with the theory of witchcraft will 
 not be a little surprised at the unaccountable 
 activity of its agents, who are capable of pay- 
 ing not only proper attention to their own pri- 
 vate affairs, but likewise of carrying on almost 
 all the business of the Evil One in this land. 
 In order to obviate all surprise on this head, be 
 it remembered, that they are endowed with 
 as ample powers of transmigration (at their in- 
 stitution into the craft) as any other of Satan's 
 spiritual agents ; consequently, there is no simi- 
 litude from their own proper likenesses to that 
 of a cat or a stone, but they can assume at 
 pleasure. Hence the speed and privacy with 
 which they attain their evil ends- 
 
 9
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 205 
 
 One of the most ordinary disguises of a " Baii- 
 BuchichcF is the similitude of a hare. This 
 transformation she finds exceedingly convenient 
 while performing her cantrips in the field be- 
 witching farming implements destroying corn 
 and grass holding communion with the sis- 
 terhood, and similar pieces of business. It en- 
 ables her to execute her undertakings with great- 
 er expedition, and flee more fleetly on any emer- 
 gency, than she could do in any other cha- 
 racter. 
 
 A second is the likeness of a cat by person- 
 ating which, she procures admission to the in- 
 most recesses of a house, to deposit her infernal 
 machinery, without exciting the least suspicions 
 of her real character and intentions. 
 
 A third is her transformation into a stone, 
 which is a common practice with the witch in 
 the season of agricultural operations, by which 
 she is afforded great opportunities of mischief 
 to the farmer's interest. The wily witch will 
 penetrate into the ground, and place herself in 
 the line of the plough, and, as it passes her, she
 
 206 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 will creep in betwixt the sock and the culter. 
 The plough is consequently expelled from the 
 ground for a considerable space, and a " buuJc" 
 is the consequence. For these insidious and 
 barefaced acts of iniquity, the witch, if discover- 
 ed, seldom escapes with impunity. Stopping the 
 cattle, the ploughman will take hold of the stone, 
 bestowing upon it the most abusive and oppro- 
 brious epithets, and dashes her with all his 
 might against the hardest substance he can find, 
 as a mark of his hatred and contempt for her 
 character. 
 
 A fourth is her transformation inta the shape 
 of a raven ; which now, in a great measure, su- 
 persedes the use of her ancient and renowned 
 hobby-horse, the Broom, on which she formerly 
 walloped with such surprising velocity. This 
 similitude is commonly assumed by her when on 
 excursions to any distance, to attend the counsels 
 of Satan to hold communion with the sister- 
 hood or to attend some important enterprise. 
 
 The witch likewise assumes the character of 
 on occasions of sudden emergency,
 
 WITCIIC11AFT. 207 
 
 which require immediate conference with a num- 
 ber of the members of the craft. The likeness 
 of this bird, which is of a domestic character, 
 and fond of hopping and picking about the 
 doors, screens the witch from suspicion, as she 
 visits another witch's dwelling. Hence, when a 
 number of magpies convene together side by side 
 on a house top, it is no wonder that their ap- 
 pearance should occasionally excite suspicion. 
 But we humbly think that mere suspicion by no 
 means justifies that hostility of temper which in 
 several districts the inhabitants are led to enter- 
 tain against the whole race of magpies, merely 
 because the witches sometimes assume their si- 
 militude. These suspicions are no doubt a good 
 deal heightened by the circumstance of the poor 
 magpie's being a little endowed with the gift of 
 prophecy. As a foreteller of minor events 
 such as the coming of visitors, the change of 
 weather, and such like little occurrences the 
 magpie has never been excelled ; and notwith- 
 standing the illiberal conduct of its human 
 neighbours, those little qualities are always ex-
 
 208 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 erted by the magpie for their comfort and con- 
 venience. 
 
 On the morning of that auspicious day on 
 which the factor, the parson, or any other of the 
 country gentry of equal importance, is to pay a 
 visit to the lord of the manor on which the mag- 
 pie may have pitched her residence, she will ap- 
 proach the house, and, by her incessant chatter- 
 ing, announce to the inhabitants the coming of 
 the consequential stranger. The state apart- 
 ment, perhaps rather deranged, is consequently 
 arrayed in proper order ; and the necessary pro- 
 visions to entertain the expected guests are time- 
 ously procured, which, but for the magpie^s ge- 
 nerous and ill-rewarded premonition, could not 
 perhaps be provided for the occasion.
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Safeguards from Witchcraft. 
 
 As witchcraft is in itself by far the greatest 
 calamity the Highlander is subject to, so Provi- 
 dence, in its wise economy, has afforded him the 
 amplest means of guarding against its effects. 
 And if a radical remedy has not yet been dis- 
 covered for the evil in all its bearings, it is only 
 because mankind have not been equally solicit- 
 ous for the discovery of it. Adverse to a mur- 
 muring discontented spirit, the Highlander is 
 satisfied with the removal of a share of his 
 grievances. Having obtained a knowledge of a 
 certain remedy for those practices of the craft 
 which weigh most heavily on his temporal inte- 
 rests, he is not so presumptuous as to suppose, 
 that Providence is so partial in its favours, as to 
 grant him a remedy for those that affect his im-
 
 210 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 mortal interests also. Satisfied with the benefits 
 he enjoys, he is not clamorous for an extension 
 of them, leaving the concerns of another world 
 for a season of more convenience and leisure. 
 
 As a sovereign protection for goods and chat- 
 tels of every description from the machinations 
 of those despicable agents, the rowan cross, of 
 invaluable excellence, has never been known to 
 prove ineffectual. Its salutary influence on every 
 species of supernatural agents is well known, 
 and there are none to whom the smell of the 
 rowan is more obnoxious than the " Ban Bu- 
 chichd. 1 " As a proof of its efficacy, we can pro- 
 duce no better authority than the following af- 
 fecting story : 
 
 " There is, in the vicinity of Forres, an old 
 decayed edifice, called ' Castle Boorgicj in which 
 once lived a rich Laird, who had a beautiful 
 daughter. Seemingly possessed of every en- 
 gaging accomplishment, and apparently endowed 
 with the most amiable disposition, she was the 
 darling of her aged father, whose hopes and 
 joys were wholly centered in her. One spring
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 211 
 
 morning, as her father and herself were survey- 
 ing the delightful prospects which the castle 
 commanded, the immense number of ploughs at 
 work within the compass of their vision happened 
 to attract their attention. ' Father,' says this 
 ill-fated, unconscious child, * do we not behold 
 a vast number of ploughs in the widely-extended 
 district now in our view ?' * Yes, my love, we 
 do,' replied the father, ' and it is a pleasant 
 thing to look at them.' ' What reward will you 
 give me,' added she, 'if, by a single word, I 
 shall cause them all stand as immoveablo as if 
 the cattle were transformed into stones ?' ' On 
 that condition,' replied the astonished father, 
 f the most superb and costly gown in the town 
 of Forres shall be yours/ ' It is done, 1 says 
 the daughter. Raising her hand, she muttered 
 an unintelligible sound, and, lo ! all the ploughs 
 in the district, with the exception of a single 
 one, stood stock still and immoveable. ' In- 
 deed !' exclaims her father, ' you are a rare con- 
 juror, my dear ; but how is that plough in the 
 adjacent park exempted from the magical effect
 
 212 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 of your powerful charm ?' * The cause I can 
 easily guess,' says she ; ' there is, in one of the 
 oxen's bows, a pin of the rowan tree, the vir- 
 tue of which defeats all attempts at preternatural 
 fascination.' ' Aye, aye,' says he, * all those 
 things are wonderfully pretty ; pray who taught 
 them to you ?' ' My old nurse taught me those 
 fine things, and am not I greatly obliged to her, 
 Sir ?' ' You are, undoubtedly,' he replies, ' and 
 she shall soon have her reward. Oh ! my dear, 
 my only child support and comfort of my aged 
 head would to God you had never been born.' 
 (( Summoning immediately a council of his 
 friends, the broken-hearted parent revealed to 
 them the whole circumstance ; and craved their 
 opinion as to the measures that should be adopted 
 in this deeply-to-be-deplored case. After due 
 consultation, the council gave it as their decided 
 opinion, that, concluding that she was irrecover- 
 ably lost to all good in this world, the extension 
 .of her life would be only productive of eternal 
 disgrace and infamy to her friends, while her 
 spiritual interests would every day be destroyed
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 213 
 
 by accumulating guilt. Therefore, that her life 
 should be instantly terminated by a private 
 death ; and that the old hag, the author of her 
 ruin, should be publicly burned under every 
 ignominious circumstance. To this hard deci- 
 sion the agonised father] was persuaded to as- 
 sent ; and a doctor was immediately dispatched 
 for to Forres, to point out the easiest mode 
 of taking her life. Bleeding the temporal 
 arteries was the mode of death agreed on, and 
 the poor innocent victim of the old hag's depra- 
 vity was introduced into a private apartment, 
 in order to undergo the awful operation. On 
 entering the apartment, her unhappy father 
 burst out into a flood of tears. Observing his 
 distress, his affectionate little daughter also fell 
 a crying. ' What is the matter with you, my 
 dear father ?' says she. * Have you received any 
 bad news ? Oh ! tell me what is the matter with 
 you, that I may share your sorrows and dry 
 your tears." 1 Fearing that the father's courage 
 might naturally fail him under so signal a trial, 
 the friends present instantly seized the astonish-
 
 214 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 ed dear girl, bound her hand and foot, and 
 placed her in a vat, and the surgeon inflicted on 
 her two brows, fair and beautiful as those of 
 an angel, the fatal wounds. As the blood flow- 
 ed, the poor affrighted victim perpetually ex- 
 claimed, ' Do not kill me, do not kill me ; what 
 have I done to offend my dearest father ? I am 
 sure I did no harm. For the sake of my dear 
 mother, who is no more, and for whose sake you 
 loved me so well, do not let them kill me, my 
 dear father. 1 The unhappy father sunk sense- 
 less on the floor, and his expiring child soon 
 closed her eye on this world, sighing, with her 
 last breath, ' My dearest father, do not kill me." 
 
 " The old hag was then brought out to the 
 lawn in front of the castle, and thrown into a 
 huge furnace of tar and other combustibles, 
 amidst the general execration of the assembled 
 multitude. And it is said, that while the witch 
 was burning, every crack she gave was as loud 
 as the report of a war cannon." 
 
 When, by the neglect of the prescribed safe- 
 guards, the seeds of iniquity have taken root, 
 
 12
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 215 
 
 and a person's means are decaying in conse- 
 quence, the only alternative, in this case, is to 
 resort to that grand remedy, the " Tein Econ- 
 uch" or " Forlorn Fire? which seldom fails of 
 being productive of the best effects. The cure 
 for witchcraft, called " Tein Econuch" is 
 wrought in the following manner : 
 
 A consultation being held by the unhappy 
 sufferer and his friends as to the most advisable 
 measures of effecting a cure, if this process is 
 adopted, notice is privately communicated to all 
 those householders who reside within the near- 
 est two running streams, to extinguish their 
 lights and fires on some appointed morning. 
 On its being ascertained that this notice ha been 
 duly observed, a spinning-wheel, or some other 
 convenient instrument, calculated to produce 
 fire by friction, is set to work with the most 
 furious earnestness by the unfortunate sufferer, 
 and all who wish well to his cause. Relieving 
 each other by turns, they drive on with such 
 persevering diligence, that at length the spindle 
 of the wheel, ignited by excessive friction, emits
 
 216 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 " Forlorn Fire" in abundance, which, by the 
 application of tow, or some other combustible 
 material, is widely 'extended over the whole 
 neighbourhood. Communicating the fire to the 
 tow, the tow communicates it to a candle, the 
 candle to a fir-torch, the torch to a cartful of 
 peats, which the master of the ceremonies, with 
 pious ejaculations for the success of the experi- 
 ment, distributes to messengers, who will pro- 
 ceed with portions of it to the different houses 
 within the said two running streams, to kindle 
 the different fires. By the influence of this opera- 
 tion, the machinations and spells of witchcraft 
 " are rendered null and void," and, in the lan- 
 guage of Scots law, " of no avail, force, strength, 
 or effect, with all that has followed, or may fol- 
 low thereupon." 
 
 But should the evil prove so obstinate and 
 deep-rooted, as to triumph over this most com- 
 monly efficacious remedy, the dernier resort is 
 an application to that arch enemy of Satan, Mr 
 Grigor Willox Macgrigor, Emperor of all the 
 Conjurors.
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 217 
 
 The name of this gentleman is well known to 
 the inhabitants of the northern counties of Scot- 
 land, as the happy proprietor of that invaluable 
 and wonderful relic, which the vulgar are some- 
 times pleased to denominate " Clach Ghrigair 
 Willock," alias " Clach Ban na BuchuchdJ' 
 but which, in our opinion, deserves a far more 
 dignified, if not a more appropriate appellation. 
 We humbly submit it should be called the 
 Philosopher's Stone, not so much out of com- 
 pliment to its learned and elegant proprietor, 
 although, by the bye, he is wonderfully philoso- 
 phic, as out of pure justice to the stone itself, 
 for it certainly is the best substitute for the 
 grand object of the chemist's research, that has 
 hitherto been discovered. If the philosopher's 
 stone will convert metal into gold, the " war- 
 lock's stone' 1 will convert water into silver by a 
 process perhaps more round-about, but equally 
 certain. 
 
 The history of such a precious curiosity as 
 this would, no doubt, prove highly interesting 
 to the " curious reader ;" and the writer has to 
 K
 
 218 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 blame the shortness of his memory for not gra- 
 tifying him to the utmost of his wish, Mr Wil- 
 lox having more than once personally favoured 
 him with a very eloquent account of it. Suffice 
 it to say, that this stone was originally extorted 
 by a very ancient ancestor of Mr Willox from 
 an amorous slut of a mermaid, who, unfortu- 
 nately for her, happened to take a fancy to him, 
 and no wonder, too, if he possessed in any de- 
 gree the personal attractions of his lineal posteri- 
 ty. It happened, then, that this silly fool of a 
 mermaid once thought it proper to throw herself 
 in this gentleman's way, expecting, no doubt, 
 very different treatment from that which she ex- 
 perienced, when her unnatural sweetheart, in- 
 stead of offering her any endearments, most un- 
 graciously chained her to a post, until she re- 
 deemed her liberty by this precious ransom. 
 This was, no doubt, long, long ago, nobody 
 knows how long, and the stone has necessarily 
 seen many revolutions of times and masters in 
 the course of its day. It graced for a long 
 time the warlike standard of the brave clan
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 219 
 
 Grregor, combining, as the upholsterer says, 
 '' great ornament with much utility ;" for, 
 while it served to set off not a little those splen- 
 did banners, it invariably secured their follow- 
 ers victory /over their contending foes. It af- 
 terwards returned to the Willox family, with 
 whom it has continued to the present day. It 
 could not descend to a race of gentlemen who 
 could do greater justice to its excellent qualities, 
 and certainly the fault cannot be traced to the 
 present proprietor, if, during his liferent use of 
 it, the stone has lost an iota of its former cele- 
 brity. 
 
 Whatever might have been the ornamental 
 qualities of this wonderful stone in the days of 
 yore, it has now no great ornaments to boast of. 
 It is a plain-looking article, strongly resembling 
 the knob or bottom of a crystal bottle ; and 
 were it not that Mr Willox solemnly assured 
 us of his having been told by the great Lord 
 Henderland himself, it must have at one time 
 composed one of the Pleiades, we should have 
 had much difficulty in believing it to consist of
 
 220 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 any other substance ; but who could resist such 
 respectable authority ? * Although Mr Wil- 
 lox informed us that a single collision with the 
 ground would instantly divest it of all its won- 
 derful virtues, the stone certainly bears ex 
 facie marks of rough usage, and even such 
 inauspicious accidents as coming into contact 
 with the ground, or perhaps harder materials, in 
 its time. However, the stone itself will tell no se- 
 crets, and on the subject of accidents of this 
 sort, it is the proprietor's interest to be equally 
 mute 
 
 But whatever may be the nature and quali- 
 ties of this stone, its virtues are sufficiently no- 
 torious. A single immersion of it into a hogs- 
 head of water, instantaneously communicates to 
 it such inconceivable virtue, that one drop 
 of it is sufficient to cure the most desperate 
 case of witchcraft in the land. Nor do the pre- 
 
 * J. A. Murray, Esq. Advocate, is supposed to have 
 been the gentleman who discovered to Mr Willox this 
 convenient piece of information regarding the original na- 
 ture and use of the stone.
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 
 
 vention and cure of witchcraft alone constitute 
 the stone's sole line of business ; for a valuable 
 reward, there is no secret nor calamity natural 
 to man or beast in all this wide world, but 
 it will reveal or prevent. Exempli gratia, 
 Should some miserable vagabond of a thief, re- 
 siding within the pale of Mr Willox's celebrity, 
 be so fool-hardy as to lay his dishonest hands 
 upon the goods or chattels of a neighbour, re- 
 covery of the goods, or at least an exposure of 
 the thief, is the absolute consequence. The 
 loser of the goods looks about him for his purse, 
 and immediately proceeds to consult the GRAND 
 ORACLE, Mr Grigor Willox, as to the person 
 who had the effrontery to steal his goods. Mr 
 Willox, willing to afford every information on 
 reasonable terms, instantly produces the black 
 stocking containing the stone, a single dip of 
 which clearly developes the whole circumstance. 
 After a long consultation, involving some inqui- 
 ries as to suspected characters, the lynx-eyed 
 Mr Willox easily recognizes some figures re- 
 flected on the vessel containing the water by
 
 HIGHLAND SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 the stone, conveying an exact representation of 
 some old hag not very reputable for her habits, 
 residing in the complainant's neighbourhood ; 
 and thus all doubt is removed as to his sus- 
 picions being too well founded. 
 
 It is no subject for wonder, then, that this 
 Great Oracle should be so highly prized and 
 suitably encouraged. With commendable re- 
 gard to the good of his beloved countrymen, 
 Mr Willox is in the habit of occasionally mak- 
 ing a tour of pleasure through the counties of 
 Inverness, Ross, and Caithness, whence, after 
 some weeks absence, he returns home, with the 
 double satisfaction of thinking, that, while he 
 has, in the course of his rambles, conferred the 
 greatest benefit on suffering humanity, he has, 
 at the same time, a good deal improved his own 
 pecuniary resources. Those occasional peregri- 
 nations of this gentleman are now become abso- 
 lutely necessary. Funds are not only very low 
 in these bad times, but Mr Willox is convinced 
 more and more, every day lie rises, of the truth 
 of that proverb, " A prophet has no honour in
 
 WITCHCRAFT. 
 
 his own country ;" and he therefore finds it no 
 less his interest, than his duty, to take a trip, 
 as occasion suggests, to see his friends in the 
 Duigh Tua. * For the most part, however, he 
 resides at his seat of Gaulrig in Strathavon, 
 (usually called Strathdown,) where, like the late 
 Doctor Samuel Solomon, inventor and proprie- 
 tor of that renovating cordial the Balm of Gi- 
 lead, he may be consulted, either personally or 
 by letter post paid, on payment of the usual 
 compliment of a pound note. Accordingly, there 
 are pilgrimages made to Gaulrig as well as to 
 Gilead House. It is no rare matter for the in- 
 habitants of both sides of the Avon to fall in 
 with unfortunate pilgrims, whose longitude of 
 face and decrepitude of limbs indicate the extent 
 of their misfortunes and the length of their jour- 
 ney, inquiring the way for Taigh Maisliter Wil- 
 lack* 
 
 * North.
 
 PART VII. 
 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 Yes, let the rich deride, the proud disdain, 
 The simple pleasures of the lowly train ; 
 To me more dear, congenial to my heart, 
 One native charm, than all the gloss of art. 
 
 GOLDSMITH.
 
 227 
 
 HALLOWE'EN. 
 
 Ye powers of darkness and of hell, 
 Propitious to the magic spell, 
 Who rule in silence o'er the night, 
 Be present now. 
 
 FRANCES. 
 
 OF the whole series of annual festivals, Hal- 
 lowe'en forms the most important occasion in the 
 Highlands of Scotland. The fascinating round 
 of varied enjoyments the night presents to the 
 young and juvenile the delightful peeps into 
 futurity it affords to the enchanted lover and 
 the fond recollections it revives in old age all 
 conspire to render its approach more interesting, 
 and its celebration more joyful, than any other 
 occasion within the compass of the year. Nor 
 is the happy influence diffused by Hallowe'en 
 confined to the human class of the inhabitants of
 
 228 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 the Highlands alone ; most of the supernatural 
 inhabitants are in some degree partakers in the 
 genera] happiness. With the fairy community, 
 in particular, it is an occasion of peculiar gran- 
 deur, as the great anniversary on which they are 
 reviewed by Auld Nick, their nominal chief po- 
 tentate, in person ; whilst many others of the 
 classes treated of in the foregoing pages regard 
 it as a night of no ordinary pomp and jovialty. 
 On this occasion of universal hilarity, the na- 
 tural coldness and jealousy which generally sub- 
 sist between the human species and their super- 
 natural neighbours, are changed into perfect 
 harmony and benevolence. Like two bellige- 
 rent armies, whose hostility towards each other 
 is more the offspring of public duty than private 
 resentment, and who, therefore, during the in- 
 tervals of war, exhibit in their mutual inter- 
 course the marks of personal good will so, in 
 like manner, those two classes forget for the 
 night all animosity, in their more laudable zeal 
 to contribute to each other's gratification. Nay, 
 stern Satan himself relaxes for this night his
 
 HALLOWE'EN. 229 
 
 avarice ; and, alive to no other object than the 
 promotion of universal enjoyments, dispatches 
 showers of his emissaries to the several kiln- 
 pots, peat-stacks, and barn-yards in the High- 
 lands, to afford to those adventurers who desire 
 it, a peep into the secrets of futurity. 
 
 Such a display of seeming benevolence, did it 
 proceed from any other individual than Satan, 
 could not fail to meet with some share of ap- 
 plause. But heads of families, whose opinions 
 are entitled to some respect, have been known 
 to affirm, that Satan's affected generosity on this 
 occasion is nothing but a mere stratagem, for 
 inveigling the more effectually the young and 
 unwary into his vile snares ; and that he gets 
 more game by those specious artifices than he 
 could realize by any other means. Hence it is 
 that the anxious parent this night, instead of 
 extolling Satan's generosity, is so intent on mag- 
 nifying his perfidy ; and in order the better to 
 dissuade his offspring and family from the dan- 
 gerous practices of the night, details, without 
 qualification, his numerous treacheries on simi- 
 lar occasions.
 
 280 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 But these ebullitions of the parent's jealousy 
 of Satan's practices are soon subdued. The 
 big-bellied bottle and bumper glass will have a 
 great effect in relaxing his heart of its illiberal 
 suspicions. Speedily animated by the conciliat- 
 ing qualities of the " barley bree" and softened 
 by the recollection of his own youthful frolics 
 and manly deeds on similar occasions, he no 
 longer regards as a crime those practices which 
 he recently condemned ; and the good-natured 
 matron, being happy at her husband's felicity, 
 and averse to chide, they both tacitly connive at 
 the family's indulgence in the customary arts of 
 divination. 
 
 Generally the first spell they try is pulling the 
 stock of kail. Joining hand in hand they go 
 forth to the kail-yard, previously blind-folded, 
 lads, lasses, and children, equally anxious to 
 have their fortunes told as their seniors. Pull- 
 ing the first stock they meet with, they imme- 
 diately return to the light to have an examina- 
 tion of its qualities ; its being large or little, 
 straight or crooked, is prophetic of the size and 
 
 12
 
 HALLOWE'EN. 231 
 
 shape of its puller's conjugal companion. If any 
 earth adheres to the root, it indicates tocher 
 or fortune ; and the taste of the custoc or stem, 
 whether sour or sweet, shows the nature of his 
 disposition. 
 
 They go next to the barn-yard, and pull each 
 a stalk of oats, and according to the number of 
 grains upon the stalk the puller will have a cor- 
 responding number of children. It may be ob- 
 served, that it is essential to a female's good 
 fame that her stalk should have the top-grain 
 attached to it. 
 
 An individual goes to the barn, opens both 
 its doors, then takes the instrument used in 
 winnowing corn, called a wecht, and goes 
 
 * 
 
 through all the gestures of letting down corn 
 against the wind. This is repeated three seve- 
 ral times, and the third time an apparition will 
 pass through the barn, in at the one door and 
 out at the other, having a retinue emblematical 
 of his or her station in life. 
 
 A person goes privately to Tor-na-ka, or 
 the kiln-pot, throws into it a clew of blue
 
 232 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 thread, which the person winds into a new clew. 
 Towards the latter end something will hold the 
 thread, on which the person demands, " Who 
 holds ?" an answer will be returned by the agent 
 below, by naming the Christian name and sir- 
 name of the person's future spouse. 
 
 A person steals out unperceived to the peat- 
 stack sows a handful of hemp-seed, calling 
 out something to the following effect : 
 
 " Hemp-seed I saw thee, 
 Hemp-seed I saw thee, 
 And he who is my true love 
 Come after me and pu' thee." 
 
 And, on looking over his shoulder, he sees the 
 apparition of the person invoked in the attitude 
 of pulling the hemp, which had immediately 
 grown at the magic command. Or, if hemp- 
 seed is not at hand, let the person take the 
 floor-besom, which he will ride in. the manner of 
 a witch three times round the peat-stack, and 
 the last time the apparition will appear to him. 
 
 They go one or more to what is called a 
 dead and living ford, or, in other words, a ford 
 11
 
 HALLOWE'EN. 233 
 
 which has been crossed by a funeral, and ob- 
 serving profound silence, dip the sleeve of their 
 shirt in it. On returning home they go to bed 
 in sight of a fire, and, lying awake in bed, they 
 will observe an apparition, being an exact simi- 
 litude of the grand object in question, turn the 
 shirt-sleeve as if to dry the other side. 
 
 An individual goes to a public road, which 
 branches in three several directions, (i.tf.the junc- 
 tion of three roads,) bearing with him the cutty 
 or three-legged stool, on which the person seats 
 himself just on the eve of twelve o'clock ; and, 
 as the hour strikes, he hears proclaimed the 
 names of the several persons who shall die in 
 the parish before the next anniversary. Nota 
 If the person carries along with him articles of 
 wearing-apparel, and throws an article away on 
 the proclamation of each person's name, it will 
 rescue the person from his impending fate. 
 
 These and some other out-of-door spells 
 having been tried, the parties return to the 
 dwelling-house to burn the nuts. Burning the 
 nuts is a very popular charm. They name a
 
 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 lad and a lass to each particular nut, as they lay 
 them in the fire, and, accordingly, as they burn 
 quietly, or start from beside one another, so 
 the issue of the courtship will be. 
 
 A person takes a candle and goes unattended 
 to a looking-glass eats an apple before it, 
 combing his or her hair all the while, occasion- 
 ally holding over the shoulder a table-fork with 
 a piece of the apple upon it, and ultimately the 
 adventurer's conjugal partner will be seen in the 
 glass, in the attitude of taking the proffered 
 piece of apple. 
 
 These and some other spells of less note, such 
 as dipping for the apple, groping for the clean 
 dish, which are generally known, and, there- 
 fore, need not be particularly described, joined 
 to each individual's relation of the sights which 
 he saw on the present and former occasions, to- 
 gether with the reflections they draw from 
 " narrative old age," bring the well buttered 
 sowans, or more favourite Banbrishd* upon 
 
 * Switched cream.
 
 HALLOWE'EN. 235 
 
 the table. The sonsie kebbock is roasted at the 
 fire, and fangs cut down from end to end. 
 Brandered bannocks, and every other luxury 
 that can be procured, load the hospitable board. 
 The welcome guests surround it; the silver 
 head is bared with solemn reverence, and the 
 temperate feast, qualified with a few rounds of 
 the Boghtle dhu y is as much relished as if it 
 consisted of the most delicious luxuries that 
 crown a monarch's board. But the hours are 
 too happy to remain long; they flee like a 
 shadow, and call the guests to their respective 
 homes. Each swain and damsel now repose 
 themselves on their pillows, full of those tender 
 emotions which the night's amusements excited, 
 and in their midnight slumbers see those ob- 
 jects, whose image they so ardently wished to 
 see in all their comeliness and beauty.
 
 236 
 
 CHRISTMAS. 
 
 The children of years to come shall hear the fame of 
 Carthon, when they sit round the burning oak, and the 
 night is spent in songs of eld. 
 
 OSSIAN. 
 
 CHRISTMAS EVE is chiefly spent in prepara- 
 tion for the succeeding days. The housewife is 
 busily engaged in the provision and cooking of 
 dainties. The flailman still chaps in the barn, 
 desirous of providing the necessary store of fod- 
 der for the Christmas. The herd-boy's axe re- 
 v sounds on the fir-stock, determined to prepare 
 plenty of light, and the gudeman, and others, 
 are abroad on a not less important errand. 
 
 This errand, on which we suppose the gude- 
 man and his assistants employed, is the procur- 
 ing of Calluch Nottic, or Christmas Old Wife, an
 
 CHRISTMAS. 237 
 
 indispensable requisite for this occasion, and it 
 will perhaps puzzle some of our readers, to guess 
 the purpose for which the good woman is want- 
 ed. If they suppose it is to contribute to the 
 hilarity of the time, or to assist in the festive 
 preparations, the idea is not very erroneous 
 the old woman does so in a very effectual man- 
 ner. But the return she meets with, however 
 warm, will not be admired by the reader, when 
 he is told, that it consists in being stowed into a 
 cartful of burning peats, with as little ceremony 
 and feeling as an old broom. This usage, so 
 inconsistent with the Highlander's characteristic 
 humanity, she does not, however, regard as a 
 great punishment, for her feelings are as fire- 
 proof as those of a Salamander. Indeed, it is 
 no rare sight, though strange it must be, to see 
 an honest woman, who has undergone the un- 
 pleasant process of being Christmas fire to a 
 circle of unfeeling fellows, perhaps oftener than 
 once, heartily spinning at her wheel, and grati- 
 fying those, it may be, who had a hand in the 
 unfriendly act, with her marvellous tales. But
 
 238 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 to avoid a certain imputation which some may 
 be inclined to fix on us, it will be proper to ex- 
 plain our meaning. 
 
 The reader will please understand, that this 
 good woman only undergoes this process by 
 representation. Among those valuable dis- 
 coveries which distinguish former ages, that 
 which gave rise to this custom deserves notice. 
 Some wiseacre, by some lucky chance, discover- 
 ed, that at this festive season, when the asperity 
 of his character is probably much softened, even 
 relentless death himself can be compromised 
 with on very advantageous terms. By the sa- 
 crifice of an old woman, or any other body whom 
 he wished in a better world, and whom, by the 
 following process, he chose to send to it, death 
 was debarred from any farther claim to himself, 
 or his friends, until the return of the next an- 
 niversary. He went to the wood this night, 
 fetched home the stump of some withered tree, 
 which he regularly constituted the representa- 
 tive of some person of the description we have 
 mentioned, and whose doom was inevitably fix-
 
 CHRISTMAS. 239 
 
 cd by the process, without resort or appeal. 
 Such a simple mode of obtaining security from 
 a foe whom every body fears, could not be sup- 
 posed to fall into desuetude ; and the custom is 
 therefore retained, whatever faith may exist as 
 to its utility, in some parts of the country, even 
 to this day. 
 
 But to return to the busy fireside whence we 
 set out, we shall suppose the goodman and the 
 " carling" arrived, and the other members of 
 the family now relieved from their eager toil, 
 with the old wife in the centre. The question 
 now is, how the remainder of the night is to be 
 disposed of ? The nature of it requires, that it 
 should be spent with gaiety; and a game at 
 cards, the clod,* or the bag, is generally fixed 
 
 * The game called " Clodhan," or Clod, is a favourite 
 amusement with the youth in the Highlands. One of 
 the company goes round the circle with a clod, or some 
 other article, putting his hand into each person's lap or 
 hand, and leaves the clod with one of the number. The 
 whole circle are then desired to guess the person who 
 possesses the clod, (he guessing like the rest to prevent 
 suspicion,) when all those who err are subjected to a
 
 240 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 upon. At the ordinary hour, however, all re- 
 tire to rest with minds bent on the morrow's 
 gratifications, and the house is soon changed 
 from that scene of bustle and confusion it re- 
 cently exhibited, to that of peaceful tranquillity, 
 where nothing is heard but the slumbering of 
 the inmates, and the growling bark of the faith- 
 ful collie on the midden-head. 
 
 At length the brightening glow of the eastern 
 sky warns the anxious house-maid of the ap- 
 proach of 
 
 small penalty, which shall be afterwards determined by 
 an appointed judge ; and, in the mean time, he must 
 deliver some pledge to enforce his compliance with the 
 arbiter's decision. When a sufficient number of pledges 
 are obtained, judgment is pronounced against their own- - 
 ers, who must redeem them, by doing various little pe- 
 nances, some of which are sufficiently ludicrous. 
 
 The bag is another popular juvenile amusement. One 
 pops his head into a bag, holding his hand spread on his 
 back, and the palm uppermost. One of the company, in 
 rotation, strikes his hand, not unfrequently with all his 
 might, upon that of the person in the bag, who is desir- 
 ed to guess who struck him last. If his guessing proves 
 correct, the last striker then puts his head in the bag in 
 his turn.
 
 CHRISTMAS. 241 
 
 CHRISTMAS DAY. 
 
 She rises full of anxiety at the prospect of her 
 morning labours. The meal, which was steeped 
 in the soivans-bowie a fortnight ago, to make the 
 Prechdachdan sour, or sour scones, is the first 
 object of her attention. The gridiron is put on 
 the fire, and the sour scones are soon followed 
 by hard cakes, soft cakes, buttered cakes, bran- 
 dered bannocks, and pannich perm. The bak- 
 ing being once over, the sowans pot succeeds 
 the gridiron, full of new sowans, which are to 
 be given to the family, agreeably to custom, 
 this day in their beds. The sowans are boiled 
 into the consistence of molasses, when the La- 
 gan-le-vrich, * to distinguish it from boiled 
 sowans, is ready. It is then poured into as 
 many bickers as there are individuals to partake 
 of it, and presently served to the whole, old 
 and young. It would suit well the pen of a 
 Burns, or the pencil of a Hogarth, to paint the 
 scene which follows. The ambrosial food is 
 
 * Yeast-bread. 
 
 L
 
 242 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 soon dispatched in aspiring draughts by the fa- 
 mily, who soon give evident proofs of the en- 
 livening effects of the Lagan-le-vrich* As soon 
 as each dispatches his bicker, he jumps out of 
 bed the elder branches to examine the ominous 
 signs of the day, * and the younger to enter on 
 its amusements. Flocking to the swing, a fa- 
 vourite amusement on this occasion, the young- 
 est of the family get the first " shouder" and 
 the next oldest to him, in regular succession. 
 In order to add the more to the spirit of the ex- 
 ercise, it is a common practice with the person 
 in the swing, and the person appointed to swing 
 him, to enter into a very warm and humorous 
 altercation. As the swinged person approaches 
 the swinger, he exclaims, JEi mi tu chal, " I'll 
 eat your kail." To this the swinger replies, with 
 a violent shove, Cha ni u mu chal, " You shan't 
 eat my kail." These threats and repulses are 
 
 * " A black Christmas makes a fat kirk-yard." A 
 windy Christmas and a calm Candlemas are signs of a 
 good year.
 
 CHRISTMAS. 243 
 
 sometimes carried to such a height, as to break 
 down or capsize the threatener, which generally 
 puts an end to the quarrel. 
 
 As the day advances, those minor amusements 
 are terminated at the report of the gun, or the 
 rattle of the ball-clubs the gun inviting the 
 marksman to the " Kiavamuchd" or prize-shoot- 
 ing, and the latter to " Luchd-vouil? or the ball 
 combatants both the principal sports of the 
 day. A description of either of these sports is 
 unnecessary, as nothing new distinguishes them 
 from similar amusements in other places ; unless 
 it be a consummate precision in the marksman, 
 and a vigorous intrepidity in the ball combat- 
 ants, that cannot perhaps be equalled by the 
 peasantry of any other country. 
 
 Tired at length of the active amusements ol 
 the field, they exchange them for the substantial 
 entertainments of the table. Groaning under the 
 " sonsy haggis" and many other savoury dain- 
 ties, unseen for twelve months before, the relish 
 communicated to the company, by the appear- 
 ance of the festive board, is more easily con-
 
 244 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 ceived than described. The dinner once dis- 
 patched, the flowing bowl succeeds, and the 
 sparkling glass flies to and fro like a weaver's 
 shuttle. As it continues its rounds, the spirits 
 of the company become the more jovial and 
 happy. Animated by its cheering influence, 
 even old decrepitude no longer feels his habitual 
 pains the fire of youth is in his eye, as he de- 
 tails to the company the exploits which distin- 
 guished him in- the days of " auld langsyne ;"" 
 while the young, with hearts inflamed with 
 " love and glory" long to mingle in the more 
 lively scenes of mirth, to display their prowess 
 and agility. Leaving the patriarchs to finish 
 those professions of friendship for each other, in 
 which they are so devoutly engaged, the younger 
 part of the company will shape their course to 
 the ball-room, or the card-table, as their indivi- 
 dual inclinations suggest ; and the remainder of 
 the evening is spent with the greatest pleasure 
 of which human nature is susceptible. Nor will 
 this happy evening terminate the festivities of 
 this occasion. Christmas mid-day awakes all
 
 CHRISTMAS. 245 
 
 but old age, to a renewal of former hilarity. 
 To age, however, there is no permanent enjoy- 
 ment ordained in this sublunary state- The 
 transient gleam of happiness which animated his 
 feeble frame, lias given place, with the cause of 
 it, to a gloom proportionate to his former joys. 
 Headaches, rheumatisms, and other wonted in- 
 firmities, are this day returned with more than 
 usual virulence. He wakes only to recline his 
 head on a pillow of sorrow, and to think on the 
 days that are gone.
 
 246 
 
 NEW-YEAR'S EVE. 
 
 " A gude New- Year I wish thee, Maggy." 
 
 BURNS. 
 
 THE Highlander's native proneness to festive 
 enjoyments, far from being cloyed by recent se- 
 ries of feasts and diversions, only receives from 
 their speedy recurrence an additional excite- 
 ment. Anxious by all means to secure this oc- 
 casion its accustomed share of hilarity, fresh 
 schemes of amusement are studied and promoted 
 with unabated avidity. The peculiar character 
 of the time pre-eminently entitles it to every de- 
 monstration of satisfaction which mankind can 
 evince ; and it must be no small stimulus to the 
 Highlander's laudable zeal, to see that in this
 
 NEW-YEAR'S EVE. 247 
 
 he is imitated by beings whose abilities are far 
 inferior to his own. 
 
 We presume it is a circumstance that is very 
 little known in other quarters of the kingdom, 
 that, on this particular occasion, even the brute 
 creation (if we may use the expression) have an 
 instinctive knowledge of its auspices. In parti- 
 cular, that admirable object of Highland curio- 
 sity, the " Candlemas * Bull manifests no small 
 degree of respect for the occasion. This strange 
 and curious animal, which has so long escaped 
 the observation of all the Saxon naturalists and 
 astronomers that ever lived, has been long since 
 discovered by our Highland philosophers- We 
 say astronomers ! because, however strange it 
 may appear, this bull forms an object of specu- 
 lation connected with their department of science. 
 It must not, however, be inferred from this cir- 
 
 * The term Candlemas is applied to the New-Year in 
 the Highlands. The origin of the term arose from some 
 old religious ceremonies performed on this occasion by 
 candle light.
 
 248 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 cumstance, that it is of that celestial species of 
 bulls designated by astronomers to distinguish a 
 particular division of the zodiac ; neither is it of 
 that terrestrial species known to naturalists and 
 cattle-dealers it is of a species distinct from 
 both. Partaking together of the aerial and ter- 
 restrial nature and qualities, both the earth and 
 the air are equally its elements. This bull makes 
 an annual excursion, in some latitude or other, 
 about the twilight of this night, no doubt in ho- 
 nour of the occasion. He has, it is said, neither 
 wings nor any other apparent buoyants ; but he 
 takes advantage of the course of the wind, on 
 which he glides along in fellowship with the 
 clouds, in a manner that would do credit to the 
 best aeronaut of the day. The particular place 
 of his ascension or descent, which varies with 
 the direction of the wind, cannot be exactly as- 
 certained. Nor can we favour the curious with 
 a minute description of its bodily appearance, 
 since we never had the good fortune to be pre- 
 sent when it was seen. All our informants, 
 however, agree in representing it as of a very
 
 NEW-YEAR'S EVE. 249 
 
 large size, the colour of a dark cloud, and hav- 
 ing all the limbs of a common bull. * 
 
 As soon as night sets in, it is the signal for 
 the suspension of common employments ; and 
 the Highlander's attention is directed to more 
 agreeable and important callings. Associating 
 themselves into bands, the men, with tethers and 
 axes, shape their course towards the juniper 
 bushes, which are as much in request this night 
 as kail is on Hallowe'en. Returning home with 
 Herculean loads, the juniper is arranged around 
 the fire to dry till the morning. Some careful 
 person is also dispatched to the dead and living 
 ford, who draws a pitcher of water, observing 
 all the time the most profound silence. Great 
 
 * We are totally unable to account for the origin of this 
 strange piece of superstition. It is unnecessary to remark, 
 that the object of this delusion is nothing but a passing 
 cloud, which the perverted imagination of the original 
 Highlander shapes into the form of a bull. There is 
 something very ominous as to the art or direction in 
 which the bull rises or falls we believe it to be prog- 
 nostic of its being a good or bad year. 
 L2
 
 250 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 care must be; taken that the vessel containing 
 the water does not touch the ground, otherwise 
 it would lose all its virtues. These and every 
 other necessary peculiar to the occasion being 
 provided, the inmates retire to rest for the night, 
 full of the thoughts of the morrow. 
 
 The Highlander's morning cheer this day is 
 far less palatable than that with which he is 
 served so comfortably on Christmas day. But 
 if it be not so agreeable to his temporal inclina- 
 tions, it is far more beneficial to his spiritual in- 
 terests. The Lagan-le-vrich, though very good 
 in itself as a substantial dish, will do no more 
 than satisfy for a time the cravings of nature. 
 But the treat of which he partakes this day ex- 
 tends its effects to the good of both soul and 
 body. This treat, if we may so call it, is di- 
 vided into two courses, which are productive of 
 the following good effects. 
 
 The first course, consisting of the Usque- 
 Cashrichd, or water from the dead and living 
 fwd, by its sacred virtues, preserves the High- 
 lander, until the next anniversary, from all those
 
 NEW-YEAR'S DAY. 251 
 
 direful calamities proceeding from the agency of 
 all infernal spirits, witchcraft, evil eyes, and the 
 like. And the second course, consisting of the 
 fumes of juniper, not only removes whatever 
 diseases may affect the human frame at the time, 
 but it likewise fortifies the constitution against 
 their future attacks. These courses of medicine 
 are administered in the following manner : 
 
 Light and fire being kindled, and the neces- 
 sary arrangements having been effected, the 
 high priest of the ceremonies for the day, and 
 his assistants, proceed with the hallowed water 
 to the several beds in the house, and, by means 
 of a large brush, sprinkles upon their occupants 
 a profuse shower of the precious preservative, 
 which, notwithstanding its salutary properties, 
 they sometimes receive with jarring ingratitude. 
 
 The first course being thus served, the second 
 is about tobe administered preliminary to which, 
 it is necessary to stuff all the crevices and win- 
 dows in the house, even to the key-hole. This 
 done, piles of juniper are kindled into a confla- 
 gration in the different apartments in the house.
 
 252 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 Rising in fantastic curls, the fumes of the blaz- 
 ing juniper spread along the roof, and gradually 
 condense themselves into an opaque cloud, filling 
 the apartment with an odoriferous fumigation 
 altogether overpowering. Penetrating into the 
 inmost recesses of the patients 1 system, (for pa- 
 tients they may well be called,) it brings on an 
 incessant shower of hiccupping, sneezing, wheez- 
 ing, and coughing, highly demonstrative of its 
 expectorating qualities. But it not unfrequently 
 happens, that young and thoughtless urchins, 
 not relishing such physic, and unmindful of the 
 important benefits they reap from it, diversify 
 the scene by cries of suffocation and the like, 
 which never fail to call forth from the more re- 
 flecting part of the family, if able to speak, a 
 very severe reproof. Well knowing, however, 
 that the more intense the " smuchdan? the more 
 propitious are its effects, the high priest, with 
 dripping eyes and distorted mouth, continues 
 his operations, regardless of the feelings of his 
 flock, until he considers the dose fully sufficient 
 
 upon which he opens the vent, and the other 
 10
 
 NEW-YEAR'S DAY. 253 
 
 crevices, to admit the genial fluid, to recover the 
 spirits of the exhausted patients. He then pro- 
 ceeds to gratify the horses, cattle, and other 
 bestial stock in the town, with the same enter- 
 tainment in their turn. * 
 
 Meanwhile, the gudewife gets up, venting 
 the most latent embryo of disease in a copious 
 expectoration ; and clapping her hand upon the 
 bottle dhu, she administers a renovating cordial 
 to the sufferers around her. The painful ordeal 
 is therefore soon forgotten, and nothing is heard 
 but the salutations of the season. All the family 
 now get up, to wash their besmeared faces, and 
 prepare themselves for the festivities of the day, 
 and for receiving the visits of their neighbours. 
 These last soon arrive in bodies, venting upon 
 the family broadsides of salutation peculiar to 
 
 * It is believed that this extraordinary entertainment 
 is now administered in no part of the Highlands, except 
 in Strathdown and its immediate neighbourhood. In that 
 district, however, the inhabitants generally attend to it, 
 merely, it is believed, from the influence of inveterate 
 custom.
 
 254 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 the day. * Breakfast being served up, consist- 
 ing of all the luxuries that can be procured, 
 those of the neighbours not engaged are invited 
 to partake of it ; and the day is terminated with 
 balls, drinking, card parties, and other sports 
 too tedious to be mentioned. 
 
 * The literal expressions used in the salutation appli- 
 cable to this day in the Gaelic language, the writer could 
 never perfectly comprehend. The literal translation of 
 the words are, (Mu nase choil orst,") " My Candlemas 
 bond upon you." The real meaning of the words, how- 
 ever, is, " You owe me a New- Year's gift ;" and it is a 
 point of great emulation who will salute the other first 
 the one who does so being considered entitled to a gift 
 from the person so saluted.
 
 255 
 
 FASTEN'S EVE. 
 
 " And oft I hear your dearest name 
 Whispered in my troubled dream." 
 
 THE most substantial entertainment peculiar 
 to this night is the matrimonial brose, which is a 
 dish, we believe, well known throughout the 
 country at large. This savoury dish is gener- 
 ally made of the bree of a good fat jigget of 
 beef or mutton, which, being sometimes a good 
 while in retentum, renders the addition of salt 
 to the meal unnecessary. Before the bree is put 
 in the bicker or plate, a ring is mixed with the 
 meal, which it will be the aim of every partaker 
 to get. The first bicker being discussed, the 
 ring is put into two other bickers successively ;
 
 256 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 and should any of the candidates for matrimony 
 find the ring more than once, he may rest as- 
 sured of his marrying before the next anniver- 
 sary. 
 
 The brose, and plenty of other good cheer, 
 being dispatched, the guests betake themselves 
 to another part of the night's entertainment- 
 Soon as the evening circle convenes, the " Ban- 
 nich Junit" or " sauty bannocks," are resorted 
 to- The component ingredients of those dain- 
 ties are eggs and meal, and a sufficient quantity 
 of salt, in order to sustain their ancient and ap- 
 propriate appellation of " sauty." These in- 
 gredients, well mixed together, are baked or 
 toasted on the gridiron, and are regarded by 
 old and young as a most delicious treat ; and, 
 as may be expected, they have a charm attached 
 to them, which enables the happy Highlander 
 to discover the object of all his spells his con- 
 nubial bed-fellow. 
 
 A sufficient number of those designed for the 
 palate being prepared, the great or matrimonial 
 bannock is made, of which all the young people
 
 FASTEN'S EVE. 257 
 
 in the house partake. Into the ingredients 
 of it there is some particle intermixed, which, 
 in the distribution, will fall to the lot of some 
 happy person, who may be sure, if not al- 
 ready married, to be so before the next anniver- 
 sary. 
 
 Last of all are made the Bannich Bruader, 
 or dreaming bannocks, to the ingredients com- 
 posing which is added a little of that substance 
 which chimney-sweeps call soot, and which con- 
 tains some charm of which we have not yet 
 come to the knowledge. In baking these last 
 bannocks, the baker must be as mute as a stone 
 one word would destroy the charm of the 
 whole concern. One is given to each indivi- 
 dual, who slips off with it quietly to bed ; and, 
 reposing his head on his bannock, he will be 
 gratified by a sight of his beloved in the course 
 of his midnight slumbers.
 
 258 
 
 BELTON EVE. 
 
 ' Now the sun's gone out o' sight, 
 Beet the ingle, snuff the light ; 
 In glens the fairies skip and dance, 
 And witches wallop o'er to France." 
 
 RAMSAY. 
 
 BELTON EVE * is a night of considerable im- 
 portance and of much anxiety to the Highland 
 farmer, as being the grand anniversary review 
 night, on which all the tribes of witches, war- 
 locks, wizards, and fairies, in the kingdom, are 
 to be reviewed by Satan and his chief generals 
 
 * Belton is derived from two Gaelic words conjoined : 
 " Paletein," signifying Pale's fire, and not BaaVsJire, as 
 some suppose. The strange relic of Pagan idolatry which 
 gave rise to this feast was no doubt introduced into these 
 countries, like many others of our more prominent super-
 
 BELTON EVE. 259 
 
 in person, and new candidates admitted into in- 
 fernal orders. When such a troop, under such 
 a commander, are let loose upon the community, 
 it is natural to suppose that much misery and 
 devastation will follow their train; and when 
 rewards are only conferred on those most con- 
 summate in wickedness, and those most adept 
 in cutting diabolical cantrips, it is natural for 
 every honest man to feel anxious that they may 
 
 stitions, by the Druids. Pales (of whom we read in the 
 Heathenish mythologies) was the Goddess of Shepherds, 
 and protectress of flocks. Her feast was always celebrated 
 in the month of April, on which occasion no victim was 
 killed, and nothing was offered but the fruits of the 
 earth. The shepherds purified their flocks with the 
 smoke of sulphur, juniper, boxwood, rosemary, &c. 
 They then made a large fire, round which tliey danced, 
 and offered to the goddess milk, cheese, eggs, &c. hold- 
 ing their faces towards the east, and uttering ejaculations 
 peculiar to the occasion. Those interesting relics of the 
 religious opinions of our ancestors, until of late, remained 
 pretty entire in some parts of the Highlands. But they 
 have now, however, declined into those childish ceremo- 
 nies above described.
 
 260 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 not obtain promotion at his expence. In order, 
 therefore, to be perfectly secure from the ma- 
 chinations of so dangerous a society, every pru- 
 dent man will resort to those safeguards that 
 will keep them at the staff's end. Messengers 
 are therefore dispatched to the woods for car- 
 goes of the blessed rowan tree, the virtues of 
 which are well known. Being formed into the 
 shape of a cross, by means of a red thread, the 
 virtues of which too are very eminent, those 
 crosses are, with all due solemnity, inserted in 
 the different door lintels in the town, and pro- 
 tect those premises from the cantrips of the 
 most diabolical witch in the universe. Care 
 should also be taken to insert one of them in 
 the midden, which has at all times been a fa- 
 vourite site of rendezvous with the black sister- 
 hood. This cheaply purchased precaution once 
 observed, the people of those countries will now 
 go to bed as unconcernedly, and sleep as sound- 
 ly, as on any other night. 
 
 While those necessary precautions are in pre- 
 paration, the matron or housekeeper is employed
 
 BELTON DAY. 261 
 
 in a not less interesting avocation to the juvenile 
 generation, i. e. baking the Belton bannocks. 
 Next morning the children are presented each 
 with a bannock, with as much joy as an heir to 
 an estate his title-deeds ; and having their pock- 
 ets well lined with cheese and eggs, to render 
 the entertainment still more sumptuous, they 
 hasten to the place of assignation, to meet the 
 little band assembled on the brow of some slop- 
 ing hill, to reel their bannocks, and learn their 
 future fate. With hearty greetings they meet, 
 and with their knives make the signs of life and 
 death on their bannocks. These signs are a 
 cross, or the sign of life, on the one side ; and 
 a cypher, or the sign of death, on the other. 
 This being done, the bannocks are all arranged 
 in a line, and on their edges let down the hill. 
 This process is repeated three times, and if the 
 cross most frequently present itself, the owner 
 will live to celebrate another Belton day ; but if 
 the cypher is oftenest uppermost, he is doomed 
 to die of course. This sure prophecy of short 
 life, however, seldom spoils the appetites of the
 
 262 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 unfortunate short-livers, who will handle their 
 knives with as little signs of death as their more 
 fortunate companions. Assembling around a 
 rousing fire of collected heath and brushwood, 
 the ill-fated bannocks are soon demolished, a- 
 midst the cheering and jollity of the youthful 
 association.
 
 263 
 
 CHRISTENINGS. 
 
 " When we sit bowsing at the nappy, 
 And getting fu' and unco happy, 
 We think not on the lang Scots miles, 
 The mosses, waters, slaps, an' stiles." 
 
 BUBNS. 
 
 HAVING travelled over the prominent fea- 
 tures which distinguish public annual festivities 
 in the Highlands of Scotland, we shall now 
 briefly direct the reader's attention to those 
 particular occasions which only interest private 
 circles of friends; and of all these it may be 
 said, that the birth and christening of a child 
 forms one of the most pleasant and important. 
 The fond parent, filled with those visionary 
 hopes and expectations which the imagination is 
 so apt to conceive as the portion of those objects 
 most dear to us, fancies he beholds in his new
 
 264 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 offspring the future hero or statesman, whose 
 fragile hand may be destined to wield the sword 
 of a general or the pen of a statesman. Such is 
 the impression of the Highland parent in parti- 
 cular an impression in which he is perhaps 
 confirmed by superior authority. The great 
 utility and comfort derived from having the as- 
 sistance of those wise people, whose experience 
 and judgment enable them to discover those 
 great destinies in an infant, is abundantly appa- 
 rent ; and of this capacity most of the Highland 
 matrons are possessed. It is no doubt this 
 weighty consideration that induces every honest 
 woman to have her own junto of matron coun- 
 sellors, whose presence is as indispensable on 
 the occasion of an accouchement as that of the 
 aecouctieur. If the offspring is a son, it is likely 
 those sage physiognomists will already trace in 
 his infantile lineaments clear signs of that future 
 greatness which he is destined some happy day 
 to display, as well as the striking resemblance 
 he bears to his father and mother. The great- 
 ness of such a blessing as this they never fail to
 
 CHRISTENINGS. 265 
 
 impress upon the overjoyed father, (though, by 
 the bye, he may have had too many of those 
 blessings before,) who is thus induced cheerfully 
 to devote more of his little property than he can 
 well afford, to give the occasion its deserved eclat. 
 Filled with pleasure, elated with hope, Highland 
 hospitality has no bounds a score of lives are 
 sacrificed at the shrine of festivity, and all the 
 neighbours and kinsmen invited to the christen- 
 ing. The day arrived, the little great man des- 
 tined to grace some name is arrayed in his robes 
 of state, and confided to the care of the happy 
 sponsors, who, (should the parson not attend 
 the feast,) together with the company present, 
 will proceed with him to the parsonage, to re- 
 ceive the ordinance of baptism- On their re- 
 turn, the guests assembled will pledge the health 
 of their host and the Bonheen, or the sick wife, 
 in overflowing bumpers not forgetting young 
 Donald, who, " may he thrive" every body 
 praises for a fine child. 
 
 The seating and tables being next sorted in 
 some snug place, the feast commences with a 
 M
 
 266 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMtlSEMENTS. 
 
 course of savoury soup, which is pronounced 
 good by all. A succeeding course of broth is 
 still better ; and a third still better than the se- 
 cond. Mutton and beef follow, each good in 
 its kind. Plenty of fowls, equally delicious, are 
 next ushered in, calling forth the unqualified 
 praise of the guests, who, upon the whole, pro- 
 nounce the banquet the most luxurious which 
 they have seen for a long time before. The 
 desert once dispatched, the flowing bowl suc- 
 ceeds, and the rafters are made again to resound 
 to the healths of the young hero and his parents. 
 A long catalogue of those toasts and sentiments 
 most congenial to the feelings of the company, 
 are next drank with the greatest glee ; and bowl 
 after bowl is speedily drained " to friendship's 
 growth" the effects of which bespeak themselves 
 in the aspect of the company. 
 
 Enveloped in a cloud of tobacco-smoke, in one 
 corner a hamlet politician is retailing to his half- 
 attentive neighbour the various news of the day. 
 Another guest is as warmly engaged in the 
 praise of his wife, his horses, or his cattle ; and
 
 CHRISTENINGS. 267 
 
 another is eagerly soliciting attention to his im- 
 proved mode of ploughing his ground, sowing 
 his turnips, and planting his potatoes. At 
 length, when the house begins to revolve, each 
 thinks it time to withdraw. The officious mid- 
 wife then comes to the door, full of kind in- 
 quiries, if each has got his own plaid, bonnet, 
 and staff; and being rewarded for her attention 
 by the customary douceur, she wishes them all a 
 good night and a pleasant journey.
 
 268 
 
 WEDDINGS. 
 
 iff) 
 
 > Tfff -.? : , P: -.- --''^i '--"K .v 
 " Was ne'er in Scotland heard or seen 
 
 Sic dancing and deray ; 
 Nouther at Falkland on the green, 
 Nor Peebles at the play." 
 
 KING JAMES I. 
 
 INTERESTING as a christening undoubtedly is 
 to the parents of the child, it is, neither in a 
 public nor private sense, so happy an occasion 
 as that which we are about to describe. If 
 there is any thing under the sun in which true 
 happiness really consists, we are told it is in the 
 consummation of a marriage, where the parties, 
 uninfluenced by sordid motives, are entirely 
 brought together by the magnetic power of love. 
 Of such a description the Highland marriages 
 are in general. The lower classes, being pretty 
 equal in their circumstances, policy and interest
 
 WEDDINGS. 369 
 
 have less influence in their marriages than is the 
 case with any other rank of people ; and conse- 
 quently the parties are left more to the unbiassed 
 dictates of their own voluntary choice. 
 
 When a couple of young lovers propose to 
 get married, the nearest relations of both 
 parties meet to take the case into consider- 
 ation ; and, in general, it is no difficult matter 
 for the lovers and their advocates to get a deci- 
 sion consonant to their inclinations. This is 
 called the booking (" leurucW) or contract, 
 which is very often ratified by no other cove- 
 nant than a few bottles of whisky. If the par- 
 ties come to an understanding, the lovers are 
 immediately declared bride and bridegroom ; 
 and some Tuesday or Thursday in the growth 
 of the moon is fixed upon for the celebration of 
 the nuptials. Meanwhile, to sustain the dignity 
 of the bridal pair, from motives of policy as 
 well as of state, they select from their kinsmen 
 two trustworthy persons each, who are delegated 
 to the other the male to protect the party from 
 being stolen, (a practice once common, and not
 
 270 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 yet extinct,) and the female to act as maid of 
 honour and lady of the bedchamber on the bri- 
 dal occasion. 
 
 A few days prior to the bridal day, the par- 
 ties, with their attendants, perambulate the coun- 
 try, inviting the guests, on which occasion they 
 meet with marked attention from old and young. 
 The invitations are all delivered to the parties 
 propria persona at their firesides ; and if the 
 wedding is to be a cheap one, a small present 
 is sometimes offered to the bride, and accepted 
 of. 
 
 On the morning of the wedding-day, some 
 lady, who is above the ordinary level, and who 
 has been constituted mistress of the ceremonies 
 for the day, arrives to deck the bride in her 
 splendid habiliments. She is received by the 
 clean white bride, previously prepared for her 
 by a duck in the cold bath; and, retiring to 
 the wardrobe chamber, she is speedily metamor- 
 phosed from a " sonsy country lassie" into a 
 downright lady at least, if muslins and ribbons 
 are all that is requisite to confer this distinction,
 
 WEDDINGS. 
 
 she is entitled to it. The bridegroom, too, at 
 his apartments, has his own decorators, who 
 deck him out most splendidly with marriage 
 favours and other ornaments suitable to the oc- 
 casion. 
 
 Meanwhile, repeated vollies of musketry sum- 
 mon the guests to the wedding. Mounted on 
 his palfry, each " crony" shapes his course to 
 the house to which he was invited ; while droves 
 of youngsters flock along the road", whose hearts 
 at every shot are bounding with joy. On their 
 arrival, they are ushered into the breakfasting 
 apartment, to partake of the forenoon's enter- 
 tainment, consisting of good milk porridge and 
 cream, on which they fare very sumptuously. 
 After this mid-day repast, they are led to the 
 ball-room, or dancing apartment, to share in its 
 enjoyment. Here the bride or bridegroom is 
 seated at the upper end of the ball-room, and 
 receives the company, as they successively ar- 
 rive, with great pomp and ceremony ; and the 
 dancing and mirth is prolonged for some hours. 
 
 At the time appointed, the bridegroom selects
 
 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 a party of young men, who are dispatched to 
 summon the bride and her party to the marriage 
 ceremony. Their approach is announced by 
 showers of musketry opened upon them by 
 some of the bride's men, and returned, most of 
 the guests being furnished with pistols. The 
 bride's party accordingly prepare themselves for 
 the procession. The bride is mounted upon 
 some canny charger behind an expert rider; 
 drams go round to her health and prosperity ; 
 and, the company being all in readiness, she 
 leaves her native residence for another, amidst 
 the cheers and feu-de-jole of the assembly. 
 Marching to the sound of the inspiring bag- 
 pipes, and the discharge of fire-arms, the bride's 
 party proceed to the place appointed for the 
 marriage. The bridegroom's party follow at 
 some little distance ; and, both arrived at the 
 appointed place of rendezvous, the bridegroom's 
 party stand in the rear till the bride's party en- 
 ter the meeting-house, agreeably to the rules of 
 precedence, which on this occasion are decided-
 
 WEDDINGS. 273 
 
 ly in favour of the bride in all the proceedings 
 of the day. 
 
 Soon as the Hymeneal knot is tied, the can- 
 didates for the honour of wonning the kail, as 
 they call it, drive off pell-mell for the bridegroom's 
 house, horsemen and footmen promiscuously. 
 Both parties, now mingled together, proceed 
 with multitudinous jovially towards the bride- 
 groom's, the scene of the future festivities of the 
 night. A volley of fire-arms announce their ar- 
 rival ; and the company assembled at the door, 
 to welcome the bride, assail her with a basket of 
 the bridal bread and cheese, the properties of 
 which are well known. The bridal pair are then 
 seated at the upper end of the banquet, and the 
 guests are arrayed, according to their quality, 
 around the far-extending tables, formed of doors, 
 chests, and cart bottoms, sustained by sturdy 
 supporters of wood or stone ; and wooden beams 
 and deals for chairs, in common form. The 
 more plebeian part of the guests, freely dis- 
 posed of in the stables or byres, make them.*, 
 selves very comfortable with their cheer.
 
 74 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 Shortly the waiters come round the circle, 
 presenting each with a spoon, which he must 
 carefully return when done with it. The spoon 
 is followed with the hardly-contested kail. Af- 
 ter this, a remove of savoury broth is presently 
 brought in ; of which all having partaken, the 
 still more delicious " hotch-potch" succeeds. 
 Then follow fowl of every feather, and every 
 beast and creeping thing 
 
 ** Hind and fore spalls of a sheep 
 Drew whittles frae ilk sheath ; 
 
 Wi' gravie a' their beards did creep, 
 They kempit wi' their teeth." 
 
 The dinner being over, the " shemit reel" is 
 the next object of attention. All the company 
 assemble on the lawn with flambeaux, and form 
 into a circle. The bridal pair and their retinue 
 then dance a sixsome red, each putting a piece 
 of silver into the musician's hand. Those de- 
 sirous may then succeed, and dance with the 
 bride and the two maids of honour ; and are 
 gratified at the commencement and termination 
 of each reel by the usual salutes.
 
 In the mttntmtf the fttwardi of the to* 
 having removed tne tiMfmrtuji erection* from 
 the dancing apartment*, the nhemtt ntl Wing 
 o?tr, the guet re-occupy then' *eat* in ibe ori- 
 ginal ordrr, and dancing and mirth in again re- 
 wjf/ir-d. Tartan plaid*, isprradjng in <-v< r y 
 r:r, mvit, h- f^ir to ta *beker i 
 eoagenml to thirir inclination*. The joirial 
 ing U>wl, /ujw nuking in a corner, allure* to iM 
 jilt iu vfjtariet the etrcling gla* add* addi- 
 tional htimuliu to the riotou* ij;irit of the com- 
 pany. In nhort, Plearare prenent* herself for 
 r^'j'-.hip in all her luring form*. 
 
 A* the night advance*, the company grow* 
 till more happy. The numerau* ill* of the 
 huiriaa lot, which at other time* no mu/:h afflict 
 them, now cau*e them no concern ; oft the con- 
 trary, they are entirely full of it* plcafwm 
 Hence, all the corner* of the notice, imrtead of 
 declamation* againt the nmcntatt of age, or 
 rhr ; Iwlntm of the time*, are foil of the happiest 
 communication*. OpfmtiMtiie* long *oaa^tt ibr 
 declaring *ecret friend *hip have now occurred,
 
 276 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 and the warmth with which they are expressed 
 forcibly bespeak their fervency. Two patriarchs 
 " had long indulged the hope of seeing an ho- 
 nourable alliance betwixt their families. Both 
 honest and respectable, the union of their chil- 
 dren would be a highly suitable match ; and 
 should such a desirable event ever occur, there 
 was a black stocking in secret, which would 
 spew on the occasion of the wedding. 11 In an- 
 other, you may see two hearty grey-beards, 
 whose locked hands and contacting noddles 
 show the closeness of their friendship, relating 
 to each other, with much complacency, those 
 tales of " auld langsynf? in which they them- 
 selves acted so prominent a part. In another 
 corner, the fond lover, with his dearly beloved 
 locked in his affectionate embrace, melting her 
 heart with his wooing strains ; and in another, 
 the vocal choir, whose throats of steel vociferate 
 their harmonious ditties on the gratified ears of 
 the company ; while, on the top of a bed, or at 
 the back of- the door, the juvenile part of the
 
 WEDDINGS. 277 
 
 guests, assembled in tumultuous rabble, will 
 also join their voices in the general uproar. 
 
 On the floor the dancers are beyond compare. 
 Fired with emulation who shall win the dcmce, 
 every nerve and muscle is put in active exer- 
 cise. The lads are gaining greater agility every 
 successive reel ; while, in the language of the 
 poet, 
 
 " The lasses bab'd about the reel, 
 
 Gart a' their hurdies wallop, 
 And swat like ponies when they speel 
 
 Up braes, or when they gallop." 
 
 This scene lasts for some hours, until the pre- 
 sence of day warns the bride to prepare for the 
 bedding. Wishing, if possible, to elude the 
 public gaze, she attempts to steal away pri- 
 vately, when, observed by some vigilant eye, 
 her departure is announced, and all push to the 
 bridal chamber. 
 
 The door is instantly forced open, and the 
 devoted bride, divested of all her braws, and 
 stripped nearly to the state of nature, is placed 
 in bed in presence of the whole company. Her
 
 278 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 left stocking is then flung, and falls upon some 
 individual, whose turn to the Hymeneal alt'ar 
 will be the next. The bridegroom, next led in, 
 is as rapidly demolished, and cosily stowed along- 
 side of his darling. A bottle and glass being 
 then handed to the bridegroom, he rewards the 
 friendliness of those who come forward to offer 
 their congratulations, with a flowing bumper. 
 When the numerous levee have severally paid 
 their court, they retire, and leave the young 
 couple to repose 
 
 On returning to the grand scene of festivity, 
 we shall find that the aspect of the company 
 there has suffered no small alteration during 
 our absence. Overpowered by the peculiar in- 
 fluence of the ardent friendship which fills the 
 elder branches of the company, those boisterous 
 expressions of esteem which recently occupied 
 them so much, have declined into the calmest 
 complacency. Overcome by the most unspeak- 
 able sensations, the tongue, which was lately so 
 voluble, has totally failed. Those legs, which 
 
 but a few hours ago displayed the greatest agi- 
 10
 
 WEDDINGS. 279 
 
 lity, have now refused their office ; and the 
 whole machine is become perfectly unwieldy 
 and unmanageable : 
 
 " In their mawes there was na mank ; 
 
 Upon the firms some snor'd ; 
 I thcrs frae aff the bunkers sank, 
 
 Wi' een like collops scor'd." 
 
 Seated by the victorious bowl, the Far Cuil is 
 still engaged in his musical vocation. With 
 bow alternately above and below the strings, he 
 is earnestly employed at Tullochgorum, while 
 cries for the same spring, proceeding from the 
 dancers on the floor, incessantly ring on his ears. 
 Insensible to time or measure, some of the young 
 people still wallop on the floor, and unabated 
 clamour reigns throughout the house. 
 
 Meanwhile, all the avenues leading from the 
 town are thronged with retiring guests " career- 
 ing" on their way home ; and the company is 
 ultimately reduced to the immediate friends 
 and relations of the young couple, who wait to 
 offer their morning congratulations. When the 
 bridal pair are supposed to have reposed them-
 
 280 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 selves sufficiently long, they are warned to get 
 up, to prepare for the breakfast and the morn- 
 ing levee. On entering the grand breakfasting 
 parlour, the whole concourse of friends receive 
 them with showers of compliments and congra- 
 tulations, accompanied by such gifts as may be 
 convenient ; and yesterday's scene of festivity 
 is again renewed, and prolonged for the day.
 
 281 
 
 WAKES. 
 
 " But turn to yonder cloister'd gloom, 
 Where pallid Sorrow leads the way, 
 To muse upon some hallow'd tomb, 
 Where Friendship's dearest relics lie." 
 
 W. S. 
 
 SHORT and unstable are the joys of man ! 
 How often does it happen, that such ardent 
 scenes of pleasure as we have been just endea- 
 vouring to describe, are but like the gleam 
 which precedes the storm a prelude to direful 
 woe ! Oft has the tender parent, or loving 
 child, who but yesterday animated such a scene 
 of festivity, to-day exhibited the most despond- 
 ing spectacle which human nature can witness. 
 Those eyes, which then sparkled at the pibroch's 
 harmonious sounds, are now sealed for ever ;
 
 282 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 and his relations and friends are involved in 
 grief more vehement than their former joys. 
 
 Prone to partake in his neighbour's joys, the 
 Highlander, on such occasions as this, is equally 
 ready to share in his sorrows ; and will not 
 grudge to contribute his exertions, by night as 
 well as by day, to add to his comfort or conso- 
 lation. On the last offices of friendship being 
 performed, the body is laid on a bed in that 
 apartment of the house most commodious and 
 suitable for the company ; and the neighbours 
 immediately collect in bands, to watch over the 
 remains of departed friendship. During the si- 
 lent hours of midnight, the solemnity of the oc- 
 casion is heightened by the sound of sacred 
 praise, and reading of the blessed Gospel. Such 
 are now the laudable employments which have 
 assumed the place of that revelry which former- 
 ly disgraced the Highland wakes when im- 
 moderate drinking, dancing, wanton levity, and 
 profane amusements, were the prominent fea- 
 tures of such an assembly. It is true, the mo- 
 derate use of liquor, and singing of soflgs, are
 
 WAKES 283 
 
 still tolerated ; but excess on these occasions is 
 now unknown. On the departure of every 
 group, one of the friends in attendance con- 
 ducts them to the melancholy bier, when each 
 generally testifies the ardour of his friendship 
 by shaking the hand, which now cannot feel 
 his proffered kindness, and retires full of those 
 solemn reflections which the scene is calculated 
 to produce.
 
 284 
 
 FUNERALS. 
 
 " In some fond breast still lives the face. 
 Its wonted smile, the darling form. 
 
 Which awful death cannot efface, 
 However much it may deform." 
 
 W. S. 
 
 ON the third day after the defunct's decease, 
 if the person occupied no station above the or- 
 dinary level, the body will be led to its destined 
 abode. This sorrowful day is early distinguished 
 by melancholy arrangements. Verbal warnings 
 having been previously circulated to the male 
 inhabitants of the district, large and timeous 
 preparations are necessary for their accommo- 
 dation and entertainment. While the seating 
 of the apartments destined to receive the com- 
 pany occupies the men, the arrangement of the
 
 FUNERALS. 285 
 
 entertainment occupies no less the attention of 
 the women. In the meanwhile, the relations 
 and family of the deceased attire themselves in 
 the best mournings their circumstances can af- 
 ford, and prepare themselves for going through 
 the duties of the day with all possible fortitude 
 and decency. The arrival of the wooden house 
 of death, and the deposition of its inhabitant, 
 early call forth many a sigh and tear at the part- 
 ing which is about to take place. But the clos- 
 ing of the coffin is deferred till the eve of re- 
 moval. 
 
 About twelve o'clock, the company, or, to 
 speak more properly, the guests, successively 
 arrive in scattered groups, dressed in all the 
 variegated colours of the rainbow ; and are re- 
 ceived by some near connection of the deceased, 
 who conducts them to the place appointed for 
 their station. 
 
 With becoming gravity they take their seats, 
 condoling very feelingly with the present friends 
 on their lamentable loss, and carry on for a while 
 a conversation very suitable to the business which
 
 286 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 brought them together. They are each served 
 on their arrival with what is called a dram of 
 " dry whisky and some fit person is appointed 
 to keep the glass in active circulation. To him 
 is also delegated a discretionary power of impos- 
 ing extra penalties on late comers, who must 
 compensate for their absence by drinking a 
 double quantity on their arrival. 
 
 Thus, all equally well plied with the enliven- 
 ing glass, the solemn aspect of the company is 
 soon changed into a mixture of sorrow and joy. 
 The moralist, who so recently uttered such sage 
 reflections upon the shortness of life and its un- 
 certainty, is transformed by some secret influence 
 into the sprightly wit, whose humorous jokes 
 and repartees continually agitate the risible 
 powers of his audience. In short, the house of 
 mourning is rapidly changing into a house of 
 mirth ; and such would be the opinion of any 
 stranger who might visit the scene. 
 
 As soon as he approaches the door of the 
 meeting-house, his ears are assailed with a con- 
 fusion of sounds, which conveys to him the idea
 
 FUNERALS. 287 
 
 of entering a house full of bees. Seated in 
 double rows, extending from one end of the 
 house to the other, he finds it literally crammed, 
 not with bees, but Highlandmen of every age 
 and condition. In each end of the house he 
 sees overflowing bowls, and, walking to and fro, 
 a host of waiters, bearing the full and empty 
 glasses of the company, followed by others with 
 bread and cheese, which are liberally distributed 
 amongst the guests. Being seated in the place 
 befitting his rank or station, if curiosity leads 
 him to a closer examination of the complexion 
 of his company, he will not be a little amused 
 at the diversity of feelings and conversation dis- 
 tinguishing the individuals composing it. If the 
 visitor or stranger whom we have supposed, is of 
 a serious cast of mind, and if he addresses him- 
 self to his elbow neighbour on the solemn cha- 
 racter of the occasion, and laments the pitiful 
 state of the family that may be thus deprived of 
 their parent or provider perhaps, if he listens 
 for a moment with counterfeited seriousness, the 
 sprightly sally of a rustic wit rings upon his ear,
 
 288 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 and a horse-laugh immediately shows the spec- 
 tator he has no great relish for his subject. If, 
 again, he addresses himself to one of a less jo- 
 vial temperament, who has not yet been so much 
 affected by the general infection upon the same 
 subject, he will perhaps acknowledge the just- 
 ness of his observations with a significant shake 
 of the head, declaring, at the same time, the 
 poignancy of his sorrow for the deceased, who, 
 " now peace to him, was the best of souls." But, 
 at the same time, and in the same breath, he 
 will make a digression to the alarming deprecia- 
 tion of agricultural produce, and the consequent 
 inevitable ruin of poor farmers, if they do not 
 immediately get a reduction of the one half of 
 their rents ; and the concern he evinces for both 
 matters makes it difficult to determine which 
 loss he considers the greater calamity. Listen- 
 ing to the various topics of conversation discussed 
 by the company in general, he will find serious- 
 ness form no part of it. Having already suffi- 
 ciently moralized on the evils of life, they are 
 now resolved to confine themselves entirely to its
 
 FUNEXALS. 289 
 
 goods. Death, low prices, and high rents, have 
 now given place to balls, feasts, and diversions. 
 One group is warmly engaged in scheming a 
 " dry or a wet ball ;" another group is warmly 
 expatiating upon the good signs of the year, 
 corroborated as they are by the " annual prog- 
 nostic ;" and others are as warmly engaged ia 
 recriminating each other for their notorious gal- 
 lantries, and the like; while a good spring, a 
 good harvest, and ready sale to sheep and cat- 
 tle, are drunk by all with the greatest enthu- 
 siasm. All are become suddenly acquainted 
 with the proverb, " A pound of care will not 
 pay an ounce of debt ;" and therefore they are 
 determined to spend life in friendship and good 
 hopes. In obedience to this wholesome resolu- 
 tion, each crony, as he gives his neighbour the 
 hand, will also give him the pipe or the " snee- 
 shan mill," and would be very sorry to see him 
 ill used in a " pley or any such cause, without 
 rendering him a helping hand. 
 
 As the drinking continues, the company be- 
 come still more noisy. Repetitions of toasts, the 
 it
 
 290 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 vacant laugh, and incoherent exclamation, min- 
 gled with a few little oaths, are what perpetually 
 burst upon the ear ; and the sequel of such un- 
 hallowed carousals exhibit but too frequently a 
 scene of the most improper levity. * 
 
 Far different, however, are the feelings and 
 conduct of those mournful individuals, who oc- 
 cupy another apartment, where the affectionate 
 widow or fatherless orphans are now assembled, 
 to take the last and long farewell of the relics of 
 love. In deep dismay, behold the sorrowing 
 group bending over the dear remains, absorbed 
 in frantic woe, bathing with their tears unfeeling 
 death, insensible to all their sorrows. 
 
 * Let not the Highland reader be led to view this de- 
 scription of a Highland funeral as casting any reflection 
 on his moral or religious character. Whatever ill-timed 
 levity he may manifest on such an occasion, the blame 
 must be ascribed, not to him, but to that evil spirit, the 
 usquebaugh, the real cause of it. We cannot, however, 
 help regretting, that either the ill-judged hospitality of 
 the entertainer, or his own social habits, should expose 
 him on this particular occasion to the unruly influence of 
 his demoralizing countryman. 
 *
 
 FUNEEALS. 291 
 
 When the weeping relatives have severally 
 bade the corpse the last adieu, by imparting the 
 farewell kiss to the cold and pallid lip of death, 
 (which, nevertheless, is perhaps the sweetest we 
 ever impart,) the dearest form is for ever con- 
 cealed from their view. 
 
 " Long on the lip the kiss will dwell, 
 And on the ear the mournful sigh, 
 
 Which seal'd the last and fond farewell, 
 And forg'd a bond time can't untie." 
 
 The necessary arrangements being effected, 
 the coffin is brought forth, surrounded by the 
 bereaved friends, and bound on the hanspecks 
 on some convenient supports at the door; and 
 when time will no longer permit the guests to 
 indulge in their hilarity, an unwelcome summons 
 invites them to their duty. Issuing forth tumul* 
 tuously, they surround their charge ; and all 
 the riders being provided with their horses, the 
 signal for setting off is given. The female rela- 
 tions, according to the custom of some countries, 
 get the first lift, and the supports on which the 
 body was bound being carefully overturned, for
 
 292 HIGHLAND FESTIVE AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 some reason best known to the wise men of the 
 day, the multitudinous procession takes the 
 road. 
 
 At this moment a scene presents itself to the 
 cool spectator, wholly without a parallel. The 
 various habiliments of the company riders and 
 pedestrians mingled together the sound of the 
 horses and the united clamour of the multi- 
 tude are altogether striking. At one time, the 
 expressions of mirth predominate; while, at 
 others, the heart-rending lamentations of the fe- 
 male relations of the defunct prevail, and in 
 their turn vibrate upon the ear. The women, 
 at length unwillingly disentangled from the 
 body, return home with mournful wailing, and 
 the procession continues its course to its desti- 
 nation. Too many of the company are some- 
 times more intent upon their own pleasures 
 than mindful of their business, roving about 
 ill scattered parties ; while others exhibit, in 
 their attention, a pattern of correctness and de- 
 corum ; and, warmly enumerating the good qua- 
 lities of the deceased, descant on the happy
 
 FUNERALS. 293 
 
 change he has made at the same time walking 
 with a careful step, lest an unfortunate fall be- 
 neath the body should doom themselves to share 
 his enviable lot. * 
 
 At length, arrived at the mansions of the 
 dead, the body is lowered into its drear abode, 
 amidst the sorrowing of some and the insensibi- 
 lity of others. The slate planted on the grave 
 terminates its earthly career, and consigns it for 
 ever to the land of forgetful ness. 
 
 " Yet, though consign 'd to death's dark shade, 
 
 And ever hid from mortal view, 
 Still constant Love, by Fancy led, 
 
 The dreary scene will oft review." 
 
 * A fall sustained by a person, while supporting the 
 body, is ominous of the person's speedy death. It may 
 also be remarked, that it is considered very imprudent to 
 look at a passing funeral from the door of the house, or 
 from a window having a stone linteL 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Printed by George Ramsay & Co. 
 Edinburgh, 1823.
 
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