Transactions. 43 
later Peggy D——’s daughter was,carried a corpse to the same 
churchyard. 
The howling of a dog as a death-warning has already been 
referred to. It ‘is one of the oldest as well as one of the most 
prevalent of superstitions. “C. W. J.,” writing in Chambers’s 
“ Book of Days,” suggests that there may be some truth in the 
notion, as a peculiar odour frequently precedes death, which may 
render the dog uneasy. No one acquainted with the dog’s acute 
powers of scent will be disposed to call this an extravagant sug- 
gestion. Another widespread belief is that the genius of death 
announces his coming by means of some mysterious and super- 
natural noise. Thus, a knock on the door, or on the floor of a 
room, or in the vicinity of a sick person’s bed, is sure to be looked 
upon as “a call.” We have heard of one family to whom the 
warning came in the form of a sound resembling the smack of a 
switch against the window-pane. This sound was heard three 
times in succession, and immediately after the third repetition an 
ailing member died. A native of the neighbouring parish of Tynron 
informs me that to hear a cock crow six times before six o’clock is a 
sign of a death. The magpie is another bird of evil omen, and its 
chattering near a dwelling is supposed to foretell the decease of 
one of the inmates. The raven and the owl are even more 
unpopular than the magpie. Spencer speaks of “The ill-fac’d 
owle, death’s dreadful messenger;” while the raven is invariably 
associated by our old Scottish balladists with scenes of death 
and dolour. 
In addition to these general portents of death, we have death 
warnings peculiar to certain families of rank. Thus the death of 
a member of the Craigdarroch family is supposed to be heralded 
by a sudden and simultaneous peal of household bells, while to a 
member of the Closeburn family the warning comes in the form 
of a white swan. The Jate Dr Ramage says that this omen sad- 
dened the nuptials of Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick, the first baronet, 
when marrying for the third time. , 
In Glencairn there formerly existed a curious belief that the 
soul flew out of the mouth of the dying in the form of a bird. A 
story still lingers in the district of a joiner’s apprentice who made 
this belief the subject of a somewhat ill-timed practical joke. An 
old man had died in the village, and the joiner and his apprentice 
were busy preparing the coffin. Just as it was finished a sparrow 
