HUNTING HARE AND WITCH. 73 



An interesting old MS., which fell into my hands some time ago, gives 

 an account of her being hunted by hounds, which runs as follows : — 

 Of this dame it is remembered that once she being hard pressed by 

 hounds upon her track, did from ye cliffe fling herself bodily into 

 Gormire Lake, and there sinking came not forth from that place but 

 from a keld spring or hole, ower nine good miles from ye lake. On 

 another chance was she seen of several trusty folk to rise from white 

 steam astride on her broom, and take for ower Kilbum towards Cox- 

 wold. 



The MS. goes on to say she was seen by one Kilt on Gilling 

 and two others at Terrington Churchyard, where she rendered 

 aid to a maiden, and worked a spell upon the man who was 

 to wrong her, for on lifting his hand up to strike Abigail he 

 found he could not bring it down again. The witch could 

 " when need be turn herself into a hare or black bitch, the 

 which there is good proof that she did." 



The superstition is by no means confined to Yorkshire, 

 for from the "People's Friend" of September 15, 1902, 

 I take the following extract from an article on " Witchcraft 

 in Scotland." 



Witches had the power, as was generally believed, of turning 

 themselves into the shape of any of the lower animals, in which guise 

 they were invulnerable to lead or steel, but succumbed to silver. In 

 the year 1863, the writer was the fellow-servant of a ploughman, a very 

 worthy man, who in all sincerity, being fully persuaded of the truth of 

 what he said, narrated the following experience he had with a witch 

 in an upland parish of Aberdeenshire, about the middle of the century. 

 In the winter time, when snow was on the ground, it used to be a com- 

 mon thing when turnips were in the field unstored to build a snow-house, 

 and from its shelter, when there was moonlight, to shoot hares coming 

 to the turnips. My informant, whom we shall call John, was engaged 

 in this cold pastime one winter in the neighbourhood of a small clachan 

 in which resided an old woman suspected of being uncanny. One 

 evening, John, who prided himself on being a good marksman at a 

 sitting object, fired at a hare which had come within easy range ; but 

 to his no small surprise, it scampered off unscathed. The next night 

 the same thing happened, and John, now convinced that he had no 

 ordinary maukin to deal with, on the third night rammed a sixpence 

 down on the top of his charge of lead. The hare came as usual, and 

 John, taking a cool, deliberate aim, fired. A shrill scream came from 

 the hare, which tumbled over, and when she got up one leg, a hind one, 

 hung useless. She, however, make off as quickly as possible on the 

 three legs with John in hot pursuit. But instead of fiying to the open 



