Witchcraft -- England; Witchcraft -- Great Britain; Witchcraft -- Scotland
queen would have made him pay for his footing in a manner not quite
congenial to his tastes. But, being a Man of God, none of these charms and
devilries prevailed against him. A further count was, that once again he
consorted with Satan and his crew, still in North Berwick church, where
they paced round the church wider shins (wider scheins?), that is,
contrary to the way of the sun. Fian blew into the lock--a favourite trick
of his--to open the door, and blew in the lights which burned blue, and
were like big black candles held in an old man's hand round about the
pulpit. Here Satan as a "mekill blak man, with ane blak baird stikand out
lyke ane gettis (goat's) baird; and ane hie ribbit neise, falland doun
scharp lyke the beik of ane halk; with ane lang rumpill (tail); cled in
ane blak tatie goune, and ane ewill favorit scull bonnett on his heid;
haifand ane blak buik in his hand," preached to them, commanding them to
be good servants to him, and he would be a good master to them, and never
let them want. But he made them all very angry by calling Robert Grierson
by his Christian name. He ought to have been called "Ro' the Comptroller,
or Rob the Rower." This slip of the master's displeased them sorely, and
they ran "hirdie girdie" in great excitement, for it was against all
etiquette to be named by their earthly names; indeed, they always received
new names when the devil gave them their infernal christening, and they
made themselves over to him and denied their holy baptism. It was at this
meeting that John Fian was specially accused of rifling the graves of the
dead, and dismembering their bodies for charms. And many other things did
this Secretar and Register to the devil. Once, at the house of David
Seaton's mother, he breathed into the hand of a woman sitting by the fire,
and opened a lock at the other end of the kitchen. Once he raised up four
candles on his horse's two ears, and a fifth on the staff which a man
riding with him carried in his hand. These magic candles gave as much
light as the sun at noonday, and the man was so terrified that he fell
dead on his own threshold. He sent an evil spirit, who tormented a man for
twenty weeks; and he was seen to chase a cat, and in the chase to be
carried so high over a hedge that he could not touch her head. The dittay
says he flew through the air--a not infrequent mode of progression with
such people. When asked why he hunted the cat, he said that Satan had need
of her, and that he wanted all the cats he could lay hands on, to cast
into the sea, and cause storms and shipwrecks. He was further accused of
endeavouring to bewitch a young maiden by his devilish cantrips and horrid
charms; but, by a wile of the girl's mother, up to men's arts, he
practised on a heifer's hairs instead of the girl's, and the result was
that a luckless young cow went lowing after him everywhere--even into his
school-room--rubbing herself against him, and exhibiting all the languish
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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