The influence of the "evil eye" has been somewhat crudely recorded in verse under the heading of "Galloway Traditions: The Blink o' an Ill E'e," in the _Galloway Register_ for 1832, an almost forgotten periodical published at Stranraer. It is here set forth, as it minutely expresses and brings out, though in homely fashion, how belief in witchcraft and its powers was intimately bound up with the every-day conditions of the life of the times:-- "He thrave for a while, And a prettier bairn was'na seen in a mile; Lang ere Beltane, however, he was sairly backgane And shilped to naething but mere skin and bane. The mither grieved sair--thought her Sandy wad die-- Folk a' said he had got a blink o' an ill e'e, And the health o' the baby wad bravely in time turn If he had the blessing o' auld Luckie Lymeburn. Now the mither min'd weel, that on ae Friday morn Auld Luckie gaed past, but nae word did she say, And the bairn had soon after begun to decay. Ane an' a' then agreed that the child wadna mend, or Do one mair guid till auld Luckie they'd send for; Luckie Lymeburn is sent for, and soon there appears A haggart wee grannnum sair bent down in years, Whase e'en, wild demeanour, every appearance was sic, That you'd easily hae guess'd that she dealt wi' Auld Nick. Auld Luckie had lang kept the country in dread-- Nae bairn was unweil, nor beast suddenly dead, Nae time had the horses stood up in the plough, Nor when drying the malt had the kiln tain alow, Nae roof o' a byre fa'en down in the night, Nor storm at the fishing, the boatmen affright, But 'twas aye Luckie Lymeburn that bare a' the blame o't, While Luckie took pride and rejoiced at the name o't. Thro' dread that her glamour might harm o' their gear, O' ought in the house they aye ga'e her a share, And ilk dame through the land was in terror o' Luckie, From the point of Kirkcolm to her ain Carrick-mickie. Ere Sandy is mentioned the mither takes care To sooth the auld dame and to speak her right fair; Anon, then, she tells how her boy's lang been ill, And a' the folk say she's a hantle o' skill-- Begs she'll look at the bairn and see what's the matter, And when neist at the mill she winna forget her. Auld Granny saw well thro' the mither's contrivance, So she looks on the bairn and wishes him thrivance-- Says he'll soon come about and be healthy and gay, If dipt at the Co'[1] the first Sunday o' May. The boy's health came round, as auld Luckie had said, But ere Sandy came round Luckie Lymeburn was dead. The laws against witches were now very stric', And Luckie's accused that she dealt wi' Auld Nick-- That lately a storm she had raised on the coast, In which many braw fishing boats had been lost; Last winter that she and her conjuring ban' Had smoor'd a' the sheep on the fells o' Dunman But chief, that in concert wi' Luckie Agnew,