Witchcraft -- England; Witchcraft -- Great Britain; Witchcraft -- Scotland
On the Sunday following Master Tom's return, the house was set on
fire--the devil's doing: but the neighbours put the flames out again
before much damage had ensued. Monday was spent in prayer; but on Tuesday
the place was again set on fire, to be again saved by the neighbours'
help. The weaver, in much trouble, went to the minister, and besought him
to take back that unlucky Tom, whom the devil so cruelly followed and
molested; which request he, after a time, "condescended to," though
assuring the weaver that he would find himself deceived if he thought
that the devil would quit with the boy. And so it proved; for Tom, having
now indoctrinated some of his juniors with the same amount of mechanics
and legerdemain as he himself possessed, managed that they should be still
sore troubled--the demon cutting their clothes, throwing peats down the
chimney, pulling off turf and "feal" from the roof and walls, stealing
their coats, pricking their poor bodies with pins, and raising such a
clamour that there was no peace or rest to be had.
The case was becoming serious. Glenluce objected to be made the
head-quarters of the devil; and the ministers convened a solemn meeting
for fast and humiliation; the upshot of which was that weaver Campbell was
led to take back his unlucky Tom, with the devil or without him. For this
was the point at issue in the beginning; the motive of which is not hard
to be discovered. Whereupon Tom returned; but as he crossed the threshold
he heard a voice "forbidding him to enter that house, or any other place
where his father's calling was exercised." Was Tom, the Glasgow student,
afraid of being made a weaver, consent or none demanded? In spite of the
warning voice he valiantly entered, and his persecutions began at once. Of
course they did. They were tremendous, unheard of, barbarous; in fact, so
bad that he was forced to return once more for a time to the minister's
house; but his imitator or disciple left behind carried on business in his
absence. On Monday, the 12th day of February, the demon began to speak to
the family, who, nothing afraid, answered quite cheerily: so they and the
devil had long confidential chats together, to the great improvement of
mind and morals. The ministers, hearing of this, convened again, and met
at weaver Campbell's, to see what they could do. As soon as they entered,
Satan began: "Quum literatum is good Latin," quoth he. These were the
first words of the Latin rudiments, as taught in the grammar-school. Tom's
classical knowledge was coming into play.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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