BLACK MEG OF DARNWICK 237 



doon to the Tweed at the gloamin' in the likeness 

 of a lang-craiged heron, flapping her muckle wings, 

 and uttering dreidfu' shrieks ; and again she was a 

 cormorant, perched upon a blastit tree on the moor. 

 I have seen her mysel' mair than ance." 



" Seen her, man ! why you said she lived with 

 Thomas the Rymer ; and it is some centuries since 

 he was taken away by the fairies." 



" Aweel, aweel, that may be ; but as sure as 

 deid I aince saw her in her ain proper shape ; and 

 she had a long neb, and a muckle mouth, and a red 

 petticoat on, and she held a leister under her oxter, 

 as if she war gaen to the burning ; and wha kens 

 but she may live till this day ? for her deid body 

 was never found, nor the corpse-light 1 seen. There 

 are three towers on the muir a long way aboon the 

 Elfin glen ; ye'll hae seen them yoursel' ; and Meg 

 used to live in ane of these towers by turns : no 

 one kent in which she was,* and nobody cared to 

 speer. At nightfall she would come doon the 

 glen to seek thae grey stanes 2 that the fairies cast 

 their cantrips with, and muckle scaith she wrought, 

 rotting the sheep of ae body, and takkin' the milk 

 from the kye of anither ; so the lads waylaid her 

 wf flails, and pitchforks, and sic-like gear. They 



1 When a dead body was lost, it was supposed that a light appeared 

 over it at night, to indicate its position. 



2 These fairy stones, as they are called, are to be found in the Elfin 

 glen, where the Maid of Avenel is said to have appeared. This 

 romantic spot belongs to Lord Somerville, and is in the ornamental 

 grounds belonging to his house called the Pavilion. The stones are of 

 a grey colour, and of various curious shapes, sometimes closely re- 

 sembling articles in common use, such as tea-cups, saucers, &c. ; 

 they are supposed to contain some charm, and are constantly sought 

 for to this day by all sorts of people. 



