120 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



A Certificate of Character. 



Captain Campbell took a great fancy to Ramsay. He found 

 Ramsay to be "a man of strict veracity, honesty and integrity" and 

 gave full credit to his narrative. 



He adds: — "David was a staunch friend to the British during 

 the last war; and was well known to those who were in high command, 

 and had ample recommendations and certificates of his services from 

 them. Scarce a corner of the British colonies or United States but 

 he is acquainted in." 



When Campbell wrote, Ramsay had never married, and Campbell 

 thought he never would. Engaged in smuggling skins into the States 

 he had suffered a loss of £150 by a seizure of goods, and was reduced 

 in circumstances. His sole employment at this time was "carrying 

 dispatches and money for gentlemen of the fort and district of Niagara 

 to and from any place they may have occasion." He had a con- 

 spicuous reputation for honesty and fidelity. No receipt was required 

 from him for moneys entrusted to him. Congress made use of his 

 influence with the Indians in negotiations with chiefs assembled at 

 Philadelphia. 



The Captain also informs us that Ramsay's strange adventures 

 were well known. A New York printer had offered him £100 for an 

 account of them. The offer had ben refused, as Ramsay was un- 

 willing to incur the trouble. He was more complaisant to Captain 

 Campbell, for he sat up a whole night to give the latter his story. 



Let us now turn to the historical basis for the other character 

 in the drama. 



Troyer, the Witch Doctor. 



The late E. A. Owen's book was published in 1898. He had been 

 assiduous in gathering traditions of the pioneers and a whole chapter 

 is devoted to "Doctor Troyer and his big 'witch-trap.' " From this it 

 appears that Troyer was the first white settler to erect a habitation in 

 Norfolk. The date was not long after 1790. His log house was erected 

 on a bar or flat of about fifteen acres running into Long Point Bay, 

 about a mile and a half east of Port Rowan. The earliest apple trees 

 in the settlement were planted by Troyer. Some of these are still 

 productive. He was "Norfolk's first medical practitioner," uncerti- 

 ficated, it is true. Owen describes him as "insanely superstitious, 

 being a hopeless and confirmed believer in witchcraft. This peculiar 

 mental malady caused him a world of trouble and made him ridicu- 

 lously notorious. To prompt the recital of some witch story, all that 

 is necessary is to mention the name of Dr. Troyer in the presence of 



