THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF MICHAEL SCOT 



. 'ully by transferring what seems like a spade- 



, of earth, still visible as a distinct prominence 



the sky-line of the hill. Next night brought 



J need for another task, and Michael gave orders 



i the river Tweed should be bound in its course 



t , curb of stone. The remarkable basaltic dyke 



^ ^h crosses the bed of the stream near Ednam 



E aid to have been the result of this command. 



d the third night, finding his familiar still keen 



-A employment, Scot bade him go spin ropes of 



ej ', at the river mouth. This task proved so 



ii cult as to relieve the magician from further em- 



b; ""assment. It is said to be still in progress, and 



h( successive attempts and failures of the spirit 



w oointed out as every tide casts up, or receding, 



to overs, the ever-shifting sands of Berwick bar. 



w]. Another Scottish story, borrowed perhaps from 



oj relations between Michael Scot and Frede- 



8) ' . IL, and possibly suggested by the philosopher's 



c 6 'ney in 1230, speaks of a high commission he 



< , r ; held from the King of Scotland. 1 Some 



nchmen, it is said, had commenced pirates, 



'. had plundered Scottish ships. The King 



;e Michael as his ambassador, sending him to 



JLS to demand justice and redress. The magi- 



'., however, made none of the ordinary prepara- 



s for so considerable a journey, but opened 



Book of Might and read a spell therein ; 



^reupon his familiar appeared in the form of 



> Jack horse, just as Folengo describes him. In 



1 shape the demon carried his rider through 



air with incredible speed. When the channel 



ifbeneath them, he asked Michael what words 



jj, 1 Lay of the Last Minstrel, Note Y. 



