42 Trnnmrfions. 



formed, aiitl iu rural districts even yet a selected party of those 

 who liave been assisting at the mari'iage festivities accompany 

 the bi'ide and bridegroom to church. 



The solemn and mysterious nature of death renders it a 

 peculiarly fit subject for superstition, and in no other event of 

 life has it shown the same vitality. Death warnings are 

 not now, perhaps, generally believed in, but there are still 

 those who cannot hear the howling of a dog or the ticking of a 

 death watch without a certain feeling of trepidation. When we 

 remember the numberless other portents of approaching dissolu- 

 tion believed in by our forefathers, we cannot help commiserating 

 them in the many discomforts to which they must have been 

 subjected by an over-credulous faith. 



Among local portents a mysterious ligh*: known as " the licht 

 before death " holds an important place, and instances are 

 frequent in which the light has not only been seen, but has 

 proved itself a faithful forerunner. The following, extracted 

 from our gleanings, may serve to illustrate the belief. An old 

 Glencairn lady on looking out of her door one dark night saw a 

 strange light shining in the vicinity of a house where an acquaint- 

 ance lived. Entering the house she commented on what she had 

 seen, and expressed the hope that "it wisna the deid licht." Her 

 fears were ridiculed ; but next morning it transpired that a 

 member of the family, over whose dwelling the light was seen, 

 had committed suicide. 



We have another illustration, and perhaps a more valuable one, 



on account of its precision. Peggy D when going to lock her 



door one night saw a light go past, carried, as she supposed, by a 

 neighbour. There was nothing unusual in this, but there was a 

 high stone dyke with a iliglit of steps in it, close to the foot of 

 the garden, and she was surprised to see the ligiit and supposed 

 light-bearer pass right through the obstructing fence as if nothing 

 of the kind had been there. Then, again, althougli the ground 

 below the house was very uneven, the light itself was never lost 

 sight of for a moment. Peggy, rooted to the spot, watched the 

 light go down through the fields, then along the public road until 

 the churchyard was reached, when turning in that direction it 

 passed through the locked gate with the same apparent ease that 

 the other obstacles had been surmounted, and, entering the 

 araveyard, became lost to siglit among the tombstones. A week 



