XIII.

Wee Jenny to her Graunie says,
'Will ye go wi' me, graunie ?
'I'll eat the apple* at the glass,
'I gat frae uncle Johnie :'
She fuff't her pipe wi' sic a lunt,
In wrath she was sae vap'rin,
She notic❜t na, an aizle brunt
Her braw new worset apron

Out thro' that night.

XIV.

'Ye little skelpie-limmer's face!
'How daur you try sic sportin,
'As seek the foul Thief ony place,
"For him to spae your fortune:
'Nae doubt but ye may get a sight!
'Great cause ye hae to fear it;
'For monie a ane has gotten a fright,
'An' liv'd an' di'd deleeret

'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,
'That liv'd in Achmacalla:

"He gat hemp-seed,* I mind it weel,
'An' he made unco light o't;
But monie a day was by himsel,
'He was sae sairly frighted

That vera night."

XVII.

Then up gat fechtin Jamie Fleck,

An' he swoor by his conscience,
That he could saw hemp-seed a peck;
For it was a' but nonsense;

The auld guidman raught down the pock,
An' out a handfu' gied him;

Syne bad him slip frae 'mang the folk,
Sometime when nae ane see'd nim,

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,
Tho' he was something sturtin;
The graip he for a harrow taks,
An' haurls at his curpin:
An' ev'ry now an' then, he says,
'Hemp-seed I saw thee,

'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,
To keep his courage cheery;
Altho' his hair began to arch,
He was sae fley'd an' eerie :
Till presently he hears a squeak,
An' then a grane an' gruntle;
He by his shouther gae a keek,
An' tumbl'd wi' a wintle

Out-owre that night.

XX.

He roar'd a horrid murder-shout,
In dreadfu' desperation!

An' young an' auld came rinnin out,
An' hear the sad narration:

He swoor 'twas hilchin Jean M'Craw,
Or crouchie Merran Humphie,

Till stop! she trotted thro' them a';
An' wha was it but Grumphie

Asteer that night!

XXI.

Meg fain wad to the Barn gaen
To win three wechts o' naething ;*
But for to meet the deil her lane,
She pat but little faith in:
She gies the herd a pickle nits,
An' twa red cheekit apples,

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!
An' ran thro' midden-hole an' a',
An' pray'd wi' zeal an' fervour,

Fu' fast that night.

XXIII.

They hoy't out Will, wi' sair advice;
They hecht him some fine braw ane;

* 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,*
Was timmer propt for thrawin:
He taks a swirlie, auld moss-oak,
For some black, grousome carlin;
An' loot a winze, an' drew a stroke,
Till skin in blypes came haurlin
Aff's nieves that night.

XXIV.

A wanton widow Leezie was,

As canty as a kittlen;

But Och! that night, amang the shaws,
She got a fearfu' settlin!

She thro' the whins, an' by the cairn,
An' owre the hill gaed scrievin,
Whare three lairds' lands met at a burnt

To dip her left sark-sleeve in,

Was bent that night.

XXV.

Whyles owre a linn the burnie plays,
As thro' the glen it wimpl't;
Whyles round a rocky scar it strays;
Whyles in a wiel it dimpl't;

* 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.