"Now do thy speedy utmost, Meg, And win the key-stane of the brig; There at them thou thy tail may toss, A running stream they dare na cross!" BURNS: _Tam o' Shanter._ but poor Meg had no tail thereafter to toss at them, for though she saved her rider, she was only her tail's length beyond the middle of the bridge when the foremost witch grasped it and seared it to a stub. Such witches might be questioned about the past or future. "He that dare sit on St. Swithin's Chair, When the Night-Hag wings the troubled air, Questions three, when he speaks the spell, He may ask, and she must tell." SCOTT: _St. Swithin's Chair._ Children make of themselves bogies on this evening, carrying the largest turnips they can save from harvest, hollowed out and carved into the likeness of a fearsome face, with teeth and forehead blacked, and lighted by a candle fastened inside. If the spirit of a person simply appears without being summoned, and the person is still alive, it means that he is in danger. If he comes toward the one to whom he appears the danger is over. If he seems to go away, he is dying. An apparition from the future especially is sought on Hallowe'en. It is a famous time for divination in love affairs. A typical eighteenth century party in western Scotland is described by Robert Burns. Cabbages are important in Scotch superstition. Children believe that if they pile cabbage-stalks round the doors and windows of the house, the fairies will bring them a new brother or sister. "And often when in his old-fashioned way He questioned me,... Who made the stars? and if within his hand He caught and held one, would his fingers burn? If I, the gray-haired dominie, was dug From out a cabbage-garden such as he Was found in----" BUCHANAN: _Willie Baird._ Kale-pulling came first on the program in Burns's _Hallowe'en_. Just the single and unengaged went out hand in hand blindfolded to the cabbage-garden. They pulled the first stalk they came upon, brought it back to the house, and were unbandaged. The size and shape of the stalk indicated the appearance of the future husband or wife. "Maybe you would rather not pull a stalk that was tall and straight and strong--that would mean Alastair? Maybe you would rather find you had got hold of a withered old stump with a lot of earth at the root--a decrepit old man with plenty of money in the bank? Or maybe you are wishing for one that is slim and supple and not so tall--for one that might mean Johnnie Semple." BLACK: _Hallowe'en Wraith._