We now, for a change, have a religious marvel. Mrs. Zuil, 'a very
judiciouse Christian,' had a friend of devout character. This lady,
being in bed, and in 'a ravishing frame,' 'observed a pleasant
light, and one of the pleasantest forms, like a young child,
standing on her shoulder'. Not being certain that she was not
delirious, she bade her nurse draw her curtains, and bring her some
posset. Thrice the nurse came in with posset, and thrice drew back
in dread. The appearance then vanished, and for the fourth time the
nurse drew the curtains, but, on this occasion, she presented the
invalid with the posset. Being asked why she had always withdrawn
before, she said she had seen 'like a boyn (halo?) above her
mistress's head,' and added, 'it was her wraith, and a signe she
would dye'. 'From this the lady was convinced that she was in no
reverie.' A similar halo shone round pious Mr. Welsh, when in
meditation, and also (according to Patrick Walker) round two of the
Sweet Singers, followers of Meikle John Gibb, before they burned a
Bible! Gibb, a raving fanatic, went to America, where he was
greatly admired by the Red Indians, 'because of his much converse
with the devil'. The pious of Wodrow's date distrusted these
luminous appearances, as they might be angelical, but might also be
diabolical temptations to spiritual pride. Thus the blasphemous
followers of Gibb were surrounded by a bright light, no less than
pious Mr. Welsh, a very distinguished Presbyterian minister.
Indeed, this was taken advantage of by Mr. Welsh's enemies, who,
says his biographer Kirkton, 'were so bold as to call him no less
than a wizard'. When Mr. Shields and Mr. John Dickson were
imprisoned on the Bass Rock, and Mr. Shields was singing psalms in
his cell, Mr. Dickson peeping in, saw 'a figure all in white,' of
whose presence Mr. Shields was unconscious. He had only felt 'in a
heavenly and elevated frame'.
A clairvoyant dream is recorded on the authority of 'Dr. Clerk at
London, who writes on the Trinity, and may be depended on in such
accounts'. The doctor's father was Mayor of Norwich, 'or some other
town,' and a lady came to him, bidding him arrest a tailor for
murdering his wife. The mayor was not unnaturally annoyed by this
appeal, but the lady persisted. She had dreamed twice: first she
saw the beginning of the murder, then the end of it. As she was
talking to the mayor, the tailor came in, demanding a warrant to
arrest his wife's murderers! He was promptly arrested, tried, and
acquitted, but later confessed, and 'he was execut for the fact'.
This is a highly improbable story, and is capped by another from
Wodrow's mother-in-law. A man was poisoned: later his nephew slept
in his room, and heard a voice cry, 'Avenge the blood of your
uncle'. This happened twice, and led to an inquiry, and the
detection of the guilty. The nephew who received the warning was
Sir John Clerk of Penicuik, ancestor of Sir Walter Scott's friend.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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