"Dome was pronunceit against Barbara Naipar, the sister-in-law of the Laird of Coshogle."[17] _Torthorwald, 1596._--As Saul consulted the Witch of Endor, so in later days was the powers of witchcraft invoked by the most exalted to find out what fate or fortune the future held for them. Of the wife of Captain James Stewart, Earl of Arran, it is told "that she got a response from the witches that she would be the greatest woman in Scotland, and that her husband should have the highest head in that kingdom. Both which fell out; for she died, being all swelled out in an extraordinary manner; and he, riding to the south, was pursued by the Lord Torthoral (called Douglas[18]), whose whole family the said Captain James intended to have extirpated, and was killed, and his head carried on the point of a spear and placed upon the battlements of Torthorwald Castle."(49) [Illustration] _CHAPTER IV._ FAIRIES AND BROWNIES. "There's als much virtue, sense, and pith, In Annan or the Water of Nith, Which quietly slips by Dumfries, Als any water in all Greece; For there, and several other places, About mill-dams, and green brae faces, Both eldrich elfs and brownies stayed, And green-gowned fairies daunced and played." --_Effigies Clericorum._ No part of the folk-lore of a district finds more favour than that particular vestige which tells of the doings of "fairies and brownies," the mere expression "fairy" at once calling up and suggesting green-clad dainty figures, dwelling amid picturesque sylvan surroundings; although probably the memory of the "brownie," and the stories of his helpful midnight task, strike the more human note. It is the "fairy," however, outshining the humbler toiling "brownie," not only in gallant bearing and romantic surroundings, but in the further possession of greater supernatural power, that is the more fascinating survival of superstitious tradition. Popularly imagined, they were diminutive in form, elegant in appearance, and richly attired. They dwelt in a land of their own, in woodland dells where "Underneath the sylvan shade The fairies' spacious bower was made," or in beautiful palaces underneath the green conical mounds, so numerous, particularly in Galloway and the south-west of Scotland. Their lives and affairs were ruled by the utmost ceremony and grandeur. A King or Queen presided over their destinies. Their pageants and tournaments were the very reflection of Courtly gallantry. Processions were a frequent form of display; and clothed in exquisite green raiment, and mounted on bravely caparisoned milk-white steeds of the finest mettle, they passed with haughty mien and lordly air, that impressed to the utmost the minds of the mortals who might chance to meet them in all their pomp and bravery. The banquet-board and feast also were daily in evidence, and through their princely halls, to the most exquisite music, the stately dance went round.