XIII. Wee Jenny to her Graunie says, Out thro' that night. XIV. 'Ye little skelpie-limmer's face! 'On sic a night. XV. 'Ae hairst afore the Sherra-moor, 'I mind't as weel's yestreen, 'I was a gilpey then, I'm sure 'I was na past fyfteen: The simmer had been cauld an' wat, 'An' stuff was unco green; • Take a candle, and go alone to a looking-glass; eat an apple before it, and some traditions say, you should comb your hair all the time; the face of your conjugal companion to be, will be seen in the glass, as if peeping over your shoulder. An' ay a rattin kirn we gat, 'An' just on Halloween 'It fell that night. XVI. Our stibble-rig was Rab M'Graen, 'A clever, sturdy fellow; 'He's sin' gat Eppie Sim wi' wean, "He gat hemp-seed,* I mind it weel, That vera night." XVII. Then up gat fechtin Jamie Fleck, An' he swoor by his conscience, The auld guidman raught down the pock, Syne bad him slip frae 'mang the folk, An' try't that night. * Steal out unperceived, and sow a handful of hemp seed: harrowing it with any thing you can conveniently draw after you. Repeat now and then, Hemp seed I saw thee, hemp seed I saw thee; and him (or her) that is to be my true love, come after me and pou thee.' Look over your left shoulder, and you will see the appearance of the person invoked, in the attitude of pulling hemp. Some traditions say, 'come after me, and shaw thee,' that is, show thyself': in which case it simply appears. Others ●mit the harrowing, and say, 'come after me, and harrow thee.' L " XVIII. He marches thro' amang the stacks, 'An' her that is to be my lass, 'Come after me, and draw thee, As fast this night.' XIX. He whistl'd up Lord Lenox' march, Out-owre that night. XX. He roar'd a horrid murder-shout, An' young an' auld came rinnin out, He swoor 'twas hilchin Jean M'Craw, Till stop! she trotted thro' them a'; Asteer that night! XXI. Meg fain wad to the Barn gaen To watch, while for the barn she sets, In hopes to see Tam Kipples That vera night. XXII. She turns the key wi' cannie thraw, An owre the threshold ventures; But first on Sawnie gies a ca' Syne bauldly in she enters; A ratton rattled up the wa', An' she cry'd L-d preserve her! Fu' fast that night. XXIII. They hoy't out Will, wi' sair advice; * This charm must likewise be performed unperceived, and alone. You go to the barn, and open both doors, taking them off the hinges, if possible; for there is danger that the being, about to appear, may shut the doors, and do you some mischief. Then take that instrument used in winnowing the corn, which, in our country dialect, we call a wecht; and go through all the attitudes of letting down corn against the wind. Repeat it three times; and the third time an apparition will pass through the barn, in at the windy door, and out at the other, having both the figure in question, and the appearance or retinue, marking the employment or station in life. It chanc'd the stack he faddom'd thrice,* XXIV. A wanton widow Leezie was, As canty as a kittlen; But Och! that night, amang the shaws, She thro' the whins, an' by the cairn, To dip her left sark-sleeve in, Was bent that night. XXV. Whyles owre a linn the burnie plays, * Take an opportunity of going, unnoticed, to a Bearstack, and fathom it three times round. The last fathom of the last time, you will catch in your arms the appearance of your future conjugal yoke fellow. + You go out, one or more, for this is a social spell, to a south running spring or rivulet, where three lairds' lands meet,' and dip your left shirt sleeve. Go to bed in sight of a fire, and hang your wet sleeve before it to dry. Lie awake; and some time near midnight, an apparition, having the exact figure of the grand object in question, will come and turn the sleeve, as if to dry the other side of it. |