OUR PASTORAL LIFE. 233 



by wizard book and spell ; there tbe coloured uneraseable stain cries 

 out for yet unavenged blood, and a spirit yet unquieted; here a white 

 rabbit has been made visible to many a belated boy ; and the steep 

 bank of this wooded ravine is speeled with haste, for 'tis certain that 

 goblin, ghaist and fairie haunt it now and for ever. The well- 

 remembered spots are all before me, and well do I love to recall 

 them, dressed in those charms with which old memory clothes them ! 

 The elder boy knew every particular spot, and he could deftly rehearse 

 its appropriated tale, or even impart new wonder to it. Thus when 

 the Roan-tree, which hung across the narrow footpath in the dean, 

 had evolved its beautiful pinnated leaves, and its bunches of fragrant 

 flowers, he cautioned his little followers to put themselves under its 

 protective charm, for wiser heads had taught him that 



" Roan-tree and red thread 

 Haud the witches a' in dread*." 



The younger boy laughs at these phantasies, and boasts himself incre- 

 dulous, but his infidelity is not contagious, for the earnest faith of 

 the elder is more persuasive and genial to the confiding nature of the 

 little flock. And he strengthens their belief by many a tale, — 

 amongst others the tale of the loathly toad of Bamborough Castle f. 

 The tale runs thus : Once on a time — a long time ago — the castle 

 was the residence of a witch stepmother, who, from hatred and 

 jealousy, banished her lord's son beyond the seas, and changed his 

 fair daughter — the fairest among women— into a toad ; and this 

 loathsome shape she was to endure until her brother could return 

 and dissolve the enchantment. The fond brother very often made 

 the attempt to return, but as often in vain, for the coast was guarded 

 by a powerful spell, and every ship that strove to reach the shore 

 was either driven off by invisible agents, or the nails drew off them- 

 selves from the beams, and the vessel went to pieces. At length the 

 brother bethought himself of having a ship built entirely of roan-tree 

 wood, and the sails and the ropes bound with red thread. The 

 scheme was the inspiration of a benevolent fairy ; and immediately 

 on the brother's embarkation, the magic vessel bounded over the 

 favouring sea, and, in spite of the might and skill of the witches 

 under the command of the stepdame, it sailed, as if self-moved, into 

 the desired haven ! I may quote a few verses, since they illustrate a 



* Margaret Barclay tried for Witchcraft, — " and the only appearance of 

 conviction obtained against her was, that she carried about her Rowan-tree 

 and coloured thread, to make, as she said, her cow give milk, when it 

 began to fail." Scott's Demonology, p. 325. 



f This was a fitting place wherein to localize the creations of romance. 

 " Bamborough Castle, as we learn from Kington, was the ' chastel 

 orgueilleux,' and Berwick the ' chateau de la joyeuse garde,' the favourite 

 habitation of Sir Launcelot," — the favoured knight of the pretty faithless 

 Guenever. See EUis's Metrical Romances, p. 36 & 166. Bohn's edit. 

 Lond. 1847. 



