16 Transactions. 
drowned while asleep, as a punishment for the fatal blow he had 
given. 
Up to the time of writing this I have only been able to hear 
one instance of the appearance of the apparition of a living 
person—an omen which was believed to foretell death or disaster 
to the person whose vision was seen. A man, who was going 
towards a farm house to call at the house of one of the cotmen, 
saw, as he imagined, the ‘cotman’s wife come from the house 
towards a stream which flowed close by, and return with water, 
He followed at once, and on entering the house saw the woman 
at work baking. He was astonished to see her at work in such 
an incredibly short time, and remarked to the woman that she 
had surely been very quick. The woman asked what he meant, 
and on being informed said she had not been out of the house. 
Unfortunately the misfortune which was believed to follow such 
an apparition has not been recorded in this case. 
Tradition tells not only of a reputed witch just over the 
border of an adjoining parish, but who, so far as [ can learn, was 
innocent, but also of one who seems to have traded upon her 
reputation as such. Some of the parishioners would have gone 
a long way out of their paths to avoid meeting her for fear of her 
evil eye. 
One of the tales told about this woman was that one day a 
party of sportsmen from Cavens were shooting on Criffel, and one 
of the party observed a hare sitting on a large granite boulder. 
Levelling his gun at the hare he fired, and it fell over behind the 
boulder. On going to pick up his game no hare was to be found, 
but in its stead was the witch, who was standing rubbing her 
thigh. The belief was that she had taken the form of a hare, 
and had thus deceived the sportsmen. Another tale, which is, 
I believe, quite true, shows how deep was the belief in her super- 
natural powers. Curling was in progress in the parish, and the 
devotees of the “ roaring game ” were anxious that their pleasure 
should not be interfered with by a thaw. One enthusiast, who 
occupied no unimportant position in the parish, and who was a 
devout believer in the supernatural, went to the old woman and 
promised her a pair of new shoes on condition that she secured 
them three days’ hard frost. The three days’ frost succeeded, the 
shoes were given, and belief in the old woman’s powers was 
greatly strengthened. One of my informants gravely assured me 
that he had seen the shoes himself. The same curler when taking 
