Part 8
"The very next Sabbath thereafter, 15th of May, while she is again in that same barn, reading the 14th chap. of Revelations, the like bloud fell on the book, and covered all the chapter from the 9th verse to the end of the chapter, in the very act of the reading it, and which, she said, that she perceived it not, but about half ane inches distance from the book before it fell down upon it.
"The relater heirof is Maister Henry Maxwell, of Dalswinton, who dwells within two miles of the place where she dwells; saw the Bible, and the bloud upon all the three places of that Bible, which is still extant.
"It is not bloud, for it is as tough as glew, and will not be scrapped off by a knife as bloud will; but it is so like bloud as none can discern any difference by the colour."
After this course of vision and bloody showers, Mrs Frazer, it would appear, fell under the suspicion of dealing with evil, in the place of good, spirits. For in the year 1691 she was called before the Presbytery and confessed: "That she pretended to prophecying and seeing of visions, and that she had sinned greatly in being deluded by Satin, causing her prophecie and see things future. Her book was appointed to be examined by two of the Presbytery; and on her second appearance she acknowledged that she was possessed by some evil spirit, and humbly besought the prayer of the ministers and of all others; upon which the further examination of herself and the witnesses was delayed. Nothing more is heard of her."(48)
_Records of Penpont Presbytery, 1706._
From January to March in the year 1706 the Presbytery of Penpont was occupied with the case of the Rev. Peter Rae, minister of Kirkbride. Mr Rae was slandered by a woman who alleged that he called her a "witch," and when sick said to her, "They say you have my health, so give it again if you have it," and also called her to come near hand him, and when she came he presently bled her on the "forrit" (forehead).
It was proved that Mr Rae did call her a witch, and did in his illness endeavour to draw blood from her brow, for which he was rebuked.
In 1737 Mr Rae was translated from Kirkbride (an extinct parish in Nithsdale now embraced in the parishes of Durisdeer and Sanquhar) and became minister of Kirkconnel. He was also clerk to the Presbytery of Penpont, before whom in earlier years he appeared. He is perhaps better known as the author of _The History of the Late Rebellion_[15] (1715). A man of outstanding ability, his memory is honoured by a mural tablet placed in the south wall of Kirkconnel church.
_Glencairn Kirk-Session Records._
"Apryl nynth, 1694."--Case of Margret M'Kinch (not "_M'Onrick_," as given by Monteith,[16] p. 44). In the evidence it is stated that:
"Robert Muir in Dunregon came in to James Rodgerson's hous, drew his knyf and offered to blood her abov ye b----" [paper torn--breath (?)].
"On Apryl nynth, 1694, Margt. M'Kinch gave in an wrytten list of ye names who had sclandered her by calling her an witch, earnestly desiring ye Session to put the same to ---- [proof(?)] that she myght be free from ye scandal."
[Gap in the records, 1694-1700.]
10th September, 1704.--"Appoints yt it be publickly intimate upon Sabbath first that no Heritor, tennent, or Householder whatsomever within this paroch resett our harbour Jaunet Harestanes, sometime in Keir paroch, with certification."
24th September, 1704.--"Appointment obeyed in makeing intimation anent Jaunet Harestanes, reputed to be under the _mala-fama_ of witchcraft."
14th November, 1707.--Case of Alexander Deuart (not "_Douart_" as given by Monteith, p. 44):--
Alex. Deuart, gardener, at Maxwelton, is charged with having "brought back some stolen goods by charm or enchantment or some other pretended ocult quality in herbs, along with some mutterings and gestures, as makes him so commonly reputed a charmer that he is sought unto by persons from divers corners of the country to the great scandal of religion. The said Alex. being interrogated primo--Did you bring back those things which was stolen from Maxwelton--aiz., six pair sheets, ten ------ [undecipherable], three aprons, at one time; a large silver tumbler at another time; and a book at a third time?
_A._ Yes; I was the causer, but had no hand in it myself.
_Q._ Did you not take money for the bringing of them back?
_A._ I told them I could do such things if it was not injurious to any, and told that he took money for the bringing of them back.
_Q._ How did you bring them back?
_A._ I cannot tell that, for I promised not to tell where I received my art.
_Q._ Did you make use of herbs as it is reported of you in order to the bringing of them back?
_A._ I did make use of herbs in part, but not for the bringing of them back.
_Q._ How did you make use of the herbs that you might know where they were?
_A._ I laid them under my head and dreamed of them.
_Q._ What are the herbs which had that effect upon your sleep?
_A._ I will not tell that to any living if they should saw me asunder.
_Q._ How came the cloaths back?
_A._ I must cause some brother of trade who dwells near hand them to tell them who have them that they must be brought back and they should not be wronged.
_Q._ Why did you not tell of the people who took away these cloaths, seeing thieves ought to be discovered for the good of the country?
_A._ It doth not belong to me to put out any man, otherwise I should be in eternity this day eight days.
_Q._ Did any person bring the things back, or how came they back?
_A._ I brought them not back, but the people who took them away brought them back.
_Q._ But how could the silver tumbler be brought back and put in a fast-locked room?
_A._ The person who took it flung it in at the window upon one of the shelves.
(_Notandum_--Now it was told him that all the windows were fast-snecked, as the servants who went in to take up the tumbler declared.)
_Q._ Did you not say when the tumbler was got, 'I must have the hair that was in and about it, for it is the hair of a horse which belonged to a man who is shortly to be hanged for stealing?'
_A._ Yes.
_Q._ Did you not say to Sir Walter Laurie, 'lock me ever so close in a room and I will cause all the cloaths that were taken away hang down upon the spouts of the tower upon the morrow morning?'
_A._ Yes.
_Q._ Did you not say before me, the Minister, 'lock the cloaths again in as fast a room as you can, and I'll cause them, for a little money, go all back in the place where they were?'
_A._ Yes.
_Q._ Why did you not bring back the silver spoon that was lost?
_A._ It was in Edinburgh, and the name was scraped out, and I could not bring it back until I went to Edinburgh.
_Q._ Why did you not bring back the mattock and other things?
_A._ It had been on fire.
_Q._ Why did you not bring back all the aprons, for there is one of them awanting yet?
_A._ I could not bring it back because it was burnt, and when a thing is hid beneath the ground or the like I can't get wott of that.
_Q._ Did you not mutter some words when you used these charms?
_A._ Yes.
_Q._ What are they?
_A._ 'Cloaths, cloaths, cloaths, and other things lost.'
_Q._ Whether did you use such charms afore Hallow-een as throwing nuts in the fire, sowing seeds up and down the house, and herbs to every corner, going backwards from the fire to the door, round the close backwards, up the stairs backward, and to your bed backward?
_A._ Yes.
_Q._ Being told by a Minister that from what he had heard there was either devolrie in it, or he was the thief himself. To which he replied, 'I shall make it out to be no devolrie; or if it be devolrie, it is unknown to me.'
_Q._ Did you not bring back a book of Mrs Violet's?
_A._ Yes.
_Q._ Did you not say you could cause any woman in London come down to you if but told her name?
_A._ I could do it, and I can.
_Q._ Did you not say in the presence of Sir Walter Laurie, Bailie Corbet in Dumfries, James Gordoun, Wryter, Yr., and me, that you could cause any of us dance naked?
_A._ I did, if you would take what I give you; and also added that he could cause any woman follow him if she would take what he would give her.
_Q._ Alexander, where learned you that art?
_A._ I learned it from the gardener at Arnistoun, now dead, but was at my brothering.
_Q._ But are there any alyve that was at your brothering?
_A._ No.
After all which, the Moderator said unto him: 'Saunders, did you not say to me when I was poseing you privately about these things, and telling you that from all I had heard from you that I was convinced that you were either a thief or a devol?' and you replied, 'Pursue me, sir, before either Session or Presbytery, and I shall show that I am neither.' And now, Saunders, after all these interrogatories are considered, I rather think you did take these things yourself, and therefore you can get no testificat (certificate) until your business be further cognosed upon."
13th July, 21st Sept., and 26th Oct., 1712.--Complaint from Jean Howatson in Nies that Margaret Nivison in Crichen had called her "a witch and a resetter of witches."
Both rebuked for their "scandelous and offensive expressions," and "Injoyned to abstain from any such offensive carriage in time comeing, certifying withall that if they be found quarrolling with one another unjustly this process shall be revived again upon them."
_Indirect references affecting Durisdeer and Torthorwald._
_Parish of Durisdeer._--In 1591 a member of the family of Douglas of Drumlanrig, "Barbara Naipar, spous to Archibald Douglas," was accused of witchcraft and condemned to be burned on the Castle Hill of Edinburgh. Examination of the indictment shows that the charge was really implication in the crime by countenancing and seeking help from "users and abusers of witchcraft," which, as we have seen, carried with it the extreme penalty.
The following is the extract from Pitcairn's _Criminal Trials_:--
"May 8, 1591.--Barbara Naipar, spous to Archibald Douglas, burges of Edinburgh (brother to the Laird of Carschogill), Dilaitit of sindrie poyntis of witchcraft, contenit in Dittay gewin in against hir be Mr David M'gill of Cranstoun--Rydell, advocat to our soverane lord.
"The Assyse, be the mouth of Robert Cuningham, chancillor, ffand, pronunceit, and declarit the said Barbara Naipar to be fylit, culpabill and convict of the seiking of consultation from Annie Sampsoune, ane wich, for the help of Dame Jeane Lyonne, Lady Angus, to keip hir from vomiting quhen sche was in breeding of barne. Item, for the consulting with the said Annie Sampsoune, for causing of the said Dame Jeane Lyonne, Lady Angus, to love hir, and to gif hir the geir awin hir agayne, and geiving of ane ring for this purpois to the said Anny, quhill sche had send her ane courchie (kerchief) of linning and swa for contravening of the Act of Parliament, in consulting with hir and seiking of hir help, being ane wich, &c."
"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.
The attitude of the fairies towards mankind was, generally speaking, kindly and helpful, so much so that by the country people they were often termed the "good neighbours" and the "wee fouk"; but underneath all their display of nobility, an elfin craftiness and capriciousness of disposition existed, malignant to a degree. They did not, for example, ride unarmed, but had bows and arrows of peculiar power and potency slung at their sides ready to assail the too curious human being or menacing beast. The bows themselves were fashioned from the ribs of men buried "where three Lairds' lands meet," and the arrows, which hung in quivers made from adders' sloughs, were "tipped with deadly plagues." When mortals offended, it was on their cattle the fairies usually wreaked their vengeance by shooting them with their magic bows and arrows. Such elf-shot cattle exhibited all the symptoms of malignant cramp. Animals quite as innocent, but who, blunderingly unconscious, threatened to trample their diminutive bodies under foot as they passed along, were as summarily treated--at least that was a common explanation to account for puzzling forms of cattle-ill; for the wound of the true elf arrow was so small that evidence of penetration was almost impossible of vision, unless by the eye of those favoured and deeply skilled in fairy-craft practice. A less vague and more material description of the fairy arrows was, that "these fatal shafts were formed of the bog reed, pointed with white field flint, and dipped in the dew of hemlock." To this day the triangular flints of the Stone Age are associated with the fairy superstition, being popularly known as "elf bolts," and the occasional turning up of these flints on cultivated land, finds a superstitious explanation in the belief that a shower of these arrows discharged into a field was quite sufficient to blast and wither the expected crop.
The special characteristic of the evil element in the disposition of the fairies was however, a persistent practice of kidnapping unchristened infants, substituting for them baby imps of their own, which in old-world phraseology were known as "changelings." Such changelings could only be detected and expelled by certain charms and mystic practice, which also permitted the real babe to be restored. The explanation of such kidnapping was that every seventh year "Kain," in the form of a living sacrifice from the ranks of the fairies, was demanded by Satan, their master, as the price of the supernatural privileges they enjoyed, but as a mortal infant was as readily accepted, the fairies naturally acted in accordance, much preferring to lay a human babe at the feet of the Evil One.
Very naturally the thought of such disastrous possibilities to the domestic life and joy of the people created means and measures to render this particular design of the fairies impotent and inefficient. The cutting of a cross on the head of the cradle, or even over the doorway of the cottage itself, was supposed to "kep skaith" by means of its sacred significance; and immediately before the birth of a child it was a common practice to surround the expectant mother with everything about the household made of steel, such as scissors, wool-clippers, knives, needles, and so forth, which it was firmly believed kept the evil disposition of the fairy spirits at bay, and prevented any unhallowed tampering with the child. It was also customary for the friends of the house when the child was born, to form a guarding circle round it during the darkness of the night, while one of their number was specially employed in waving about the open leaves of a Bible. The risk of abduction immediately ceased after the child was christened. It may here be mentioned that at all times the sound of a church bell immediately broke the fairy power and spell.
The abduction of human beings was not altogether confined to babes, and it will be remembered that James Hogg's fine ballad of "Kilmeny" is founded on a young maiden being carried off to Fairyland, who in the course of time is allowed to return to the world again when, as so beautifully expressed in the ballad,
"Late, late in the gloamin' Kilmeny cam' hame."
Young married women were more especially liable to be carried off, for the utilitarian purpose of nursing the fairy children, and young men were also occasionally supposed to be stolen away.
It may be noted that it was not considered good for mortals to meet with fairies face to face, however much by accident. Death might even follow such a meeting, although apparently quite natural in form.
Touching upon the very core of unreality of fairy semblance it would seem to have been a general belief, that seen through eyes of those gifted with supernatural power such as in olden days the "seers" were believed to possess, the whole fairy fabric crumbled to its true appearance. Golden treasure became ordinary stone, fairy palace changed to gloomy cavern, and the beautiful beings themselves became ugly and repulsive goblins.
Before passing to gather up the remnants of this fairy-lore in Galloway and Dumfriesshire, it may be of interest to refer to the theory which has been advanced to account for the firm belief by our forefathers in the existence of "fairies and brownies," which briefly is, that fairies and brownies were none other than straggling and isolated survivors of the race of the ancient Pictish Kingdom of Scotland, for like the fairy and brownie of popular imagination, the Picts dwelt in underground abodes, being what is termed "mound-dwellers." They were a small people, untiring in their labours, and possessing great strength, or as it has been aptly expressed, "they were 'unca wee' bodies, but terribly strong." As well as being small in stature, they were hairy in body and fleet of foot. They were clever builders, as their underground dwellings excavated at the hands of antiquarians throughout Scotland yet affirm. Indeed there is a tradition that the 12th century Cathedral of Glasgow was largely built by industrious and skilful Picts, brought from Galloway for that purpose.
A strong point in the theory certainly is, that the localities known as the prehistoric abiding places of the Picts are almost invariably associated with fairy-lore and tradition, which has floated down to us on the misty tides of time. At all events it may be in part at least accepted, in so far as it is founded on a basis of fact, and if it does not quite explain the splendour and high-born attributes of Fairyland, it at least goes far to account for the unvarying popular description of "Brownie"--his untiring energy, his shy disposition, and his not very attractive appearance, all of which William Nicholson has painted with strokes of genius in his matchless poem, "The Brownie of Blednoch."[19]
FAIRIES IN GALLOWAY.
The great distinctive headland of the Mull of Galloway is traditionally described as the scene of the last stand made by the Picts, as they were driven backwards and seawards to destruction by the overwhelming force of the Scots.
"There rose a King in Scotland, A fell man to his foes, He smote the Picts in battle, He hunted them like roes, Over miles of red mountain He hunted as they fled And strewed the dwarfish bodies Of the dying and the dead."
Not far from this classic spot, a favourite haunt of the fairies is located. South of Portankill there is a small fortification called the Dunnan. On this spot there came once upon a time to a man sitting there, on a fine summer evening, an old-fashioned looking, diminutive woman dressed in green, carrying a tiny ailing child on her back, and holding a little wooden water stoup in her hand. She earnestly asked this man to go to the far-famed and quite near "Well of the Co'" and bring her some of the healing water for the decrepit little morsel she carried, as she was tired and done. Churlishly enough the man refused, and roughly told her she could go her own errands. The little woman bore his abuse patiently enough, then, naming him, solemnly warned him "never again to sit down on her hoose-riggin' or he might look to it"--and then somehow she seemed to disappear. The man began to regret his ungracious conduct, all the more that it was generally believed that beneath the "Dunnan" lived the fairies, and if that was so, then at that very moment he was actually on their "hoose-riggin'." Much disturbed in mind, he made for home; but tradition affirms that from that day forward everything went wrong--cattle died and crops failed, and eventually, going one night to the Dunnan to watch a vessel that was likely to come ashore and so help his own evil plight, he was stricken with illness at the hands of the fairies--so the country-side said--and died.