16 Transactions. 



drowned wliile asleep, as a punishment for the fatal blow he had 

 given. 



Up to the time of writing this I have only been able to hear 

 one instance of the appearance of the apparition of a living 

 person — an omen which was believed to foretell death or disaster 

 to the person whose vision was seen. A man, who was going 

 towards a farm house to call at the house of one of the cotmen, 

 saw, as he imagined, the cotman's wife come from the liouse 

 towards a stream which flowed close by, and return with water. 

 He followed at once, and on entering the house saw the woman 

 at work baking. He was astonished to see her at work in such 

 an incredibly short time, and remarked to the woman that she 

 had surely been very quick. The woman asked what he meant, 

 and on being informed said she had not been out of the house. 

 Unfortunately the misfortune which was believed to follow such 

 an apparition has not been recorded in this case. 



Tradition tells not only of a reputed witch just over the 

 border of an adjoining parish, but who, so far as T can learn, was 

 innocent, but also of one who seems to have traded upon her 

 reputation as such. Some of the parishioners would have gone 

 a long way out of their [taths to avoid meeting her for fear of her 

 evil eye. 



One of the tales told about this woman was that one day a 

 party of sportsmen from Cavens were shooting on Criffel, and one 

 of the party observed a hare sitting on a lai-ge granite boulder. 

 Levelling his gun at the hare he fired, and it fell over behind tlie 

 boulder. On going to pick up his game no hare was to be found, 

 but in its stead was the witch, who was standing rubbing her 

 thish. The belief was that she had taken the form of a hare 

 and had thus deceived the sportsmen. Another tale, which is, 

 I believe, quite true, shows how deep was the belief in her super- 

 natural powers. Curling was in progress in the parish, and the 

 devotees of the " roai-ing game " were anxious that their pleasure 

 should not be interfered with by a thaw. One enthusiast, who 

 occupied no unimportant position in the parish, and who was a 

 devout believer in the supernatural, went to the old woman and 

 promised her a pair of new shoes on condition that she secured 

 them three days' hard frost. The three days' frost succeeded, the 

 shoes were given, and belief in the old woman's powers was 

 greatly strengthened. One of my informants gravely assured me 

 that he had seen the shoes himself, The same curler when taking 



