296 Scottish Life in the 17TH Century. 



witches than the ministers of the church. Kirk Sessions were 

 turned into inquisitorial courts, and invitations were addressed 

 from the pulpits to any who might be possessed of information 

 that would aid in convicting suspected persons to make it known 

 to the church court, that it might be communicated to the 

 secular authorities. Again referring to "The Gentle Shepherd," 

 we have an indication of the powers and practices with which 

 the popular imagination credited its objects in the soliloquy of 

 Bauldy when he is going to consult the witch upon the prospects 

 of his courtship : — 



" She can o'ercast the uicht and cloud the mune, 



And mak' the de'ils obedient to her crune : 



At midnight oor, o'er the kirkyard she raves, 



An' howks unchristened weans oot o' their graves ; 



Boils up their livers in a waidock's pow ; 



Rins withershins aboot the hemlock lowe, [from west 



to east] 

 And seven times does her prayers backward pray, 

 Till Plotcock comes wi' lumps o' Lapland clay, 

 Mixt wi' the venom o' black tades and snakes. 

 0' this, unsonsy pictures aft she makes 

 O' ony ane she hates — and gars expire 

 Wi' slaw an' racking pains afore a fire, 

 Stuck fou o' preens, the devilish picture;; melt ; 

 The pain, by fouk they represent, is felt." 



Numerous charms and incantations were used by the people to 

 protect themselves and their cattle from the arts of witches. 

 A favourite charm was the wood of the rowan-tree, a slip of 

 which was often worn on the person and tied to the tails of 

 cows or hung over their head in the byre. A pin made of it 

 would also be placed above the door of the dwelling, and 

 sometimes the tree itself would be planted beside the door. 

 The sprinkling of blood was also considered effective, as we 

 learn from the lilt which Hogg, in " The Brownie o' Bodes- 

 beck," puts into the mouth of the weird visitor that so much 

 alarmed the family at Riskinhope : — 



" There's neither blood nor rown-tree pin; 

 At open doors the dogs go in." 



A hill at Locharbriggs was believed to be a favourite place of 

 assembly for the witches, who doubtless would proceed to it in 

 proper fashion, riding upon a broomstick. If the superstition 

 had expended itself in such absurd fancies and frivolous 

 practices, it would have been a theme only for amusement. 

 But it forms the subject of one of the darkest chapters in our 

 national annals. The imaginary crime of witchcraft was the 

 object of numerous prosecutions, and was often visited with 

 sentence of death. In 1569 Sir William Stewart, the Lyon King 

 at Arms, was burned to death at St Andrews by sentence of the 

 Regent Moray. One of the most tragic events that ever 



