196 BELIEF IN WITCHCRAFT. 



Those who come in contact with passing strangers will 

 naturally be reluctant to confess any superstition for fear 

 of being derided; but such as live in the country, and 

 have free intercourse with the cottagers, well know with 

 what deep reverence they relate such stories as these. 

 They have descended from their ancestors, and they regard 

 them as part of their creed. In a family in Atholl, where 

 there is now an old man residing, many of the long winter 

 nights are spent in telling stories about ghosts, fairies, 

 witches, warlocks, &c., which are solemnly listened to, 

 and most religiously believed ; and should any one of the 

 company attempt to discredit these stories, or to try to 

 account for them on natural principles, the hoary sage 

 would treat such incredulity with ridicule, and regard the 

 person as a most infatuated sceptic. 



There is great talk of a witch that still haunts Ben-y- 

 gloe. She is represented as of a very mischievous and 

 malevolent disposition, driving cattle into morasses, where 

 they perish, and riding the forest horses by night, till, 

 covered with mire and sweat, they drop down from fatigue 

 and exhaustion. She has the power of taking the shape 

 of an eagle, raven, hind, or any other animal that may suit 

 her purpose. She destroys bridges, and allures people to 

 the margin of the flood by exhibiting a semblance of 

 floating treasures, which they lose their lives in grasping at. 



This very formidable person, in conjunction with the 

 hunt given to James the Fifth, gave rise to the following 

 legendary tale, which was given me in manuscript at 

 Blair. It was written by the late M. Gr. Lewis during 

 his visit there, and I am not aware that it has ever ap- 

 peared in print : 



