Bannatyne Club > Criminal trials in Scotland, from A.D. M.CCCC.LXXXVIII to A.D. M.DC.XXIV, embracing the entire reigns of James IV. and V., Mary Queen of Scots and James VI > Volume 3

APPENDIX. 603
craft, and that Iho haul boin ower lang in that lervice ; without ony compuUitouris,' proceidit in liir
CoxFESsioNE, in mauev etter following, to wit. As I wes goeing betuix tlie townes^ of Diumdewin
and the Headis, I met witli the Divell, and ther covenanted, in a nianer, witli him; and I pro-
meifit to uieit hiiu, in the niglit time, in the Kirk of Auldertie ; quhilk I did. And the firfl thing I
did thcr that niglit, I denyi'd my baptifme, and did put tiie on of my handis to the ciowne of my Lead
and the vther to the fole of my foot, and tlieu lenuncet all betuixt my two liandis, ower to the Divell.
He wes in the Rcaderis dalle, and a blak book in his hand.^ Murgrcl JJrodle, in Auldeme, held me
vp to the Divell to be baptifed be him ; and he marked me in the Ihowlder, and fuked owt my blood
at that mark, and fpowted it in his hand, and, fprinkling it on my head, laid, ' / bapti/e the, J.ixet,
in my awin name !' And within a quhill we all remoowed. The nixt tym that I met with him ves
in the New IVardis of Injlioch, and haid carnall cowpulation and dealling with me. He wes a meikle,
blak, roch' man, werie cold ; and I found his nature als cold within me as Ipring-wall- water. Somtymes
he haid buitis and Ibmetymes (lioes on his foot •,^ but ftill his foot ar forked and cloven. He void be
fomtymes with ws lyk a dear, or a rae. Johne Taylor and Janet Breadhead, his vyfl','' in Belmakeilh,
Doivglas, and I my felf, met in the Kirk-yaird of Nairue, and ve railed an vnchriflened child
owt of its greaff ; and at the end of Breadleyis corn-field-land, juft oppofit to the 3Iihie of Xainie, we
took the laid child, with the naillis" of our fingeris and toes, pikles of all fortis of grain, and blaidis of
keall,' and baked' thaim all verie fniall, mixed altogither ; and did put a pairt therof among the niuk-
heapes'" of Breadleyes landis, and therby took away the ftruit of his cornes, &c. ; and we ])airted it
among two of our Coevex*." Wlian we tak cornes at Lanibes,'- we tak hot abowt two Iheawes, whan
the cornes ar full ; or two ftokis of keall, or therby, and that giwes ws the fruit of the corn- land, or
keall-yaird, whair they grew :" And it may be, we will keip yt while Yewll or Pace, ' ' and than devyd
it araongll ws. Therar threttein perfones in my Coven.'^
The laft tyme that owr Covex met, we, and an vther Coven, wer dauncing at the Hill ofEurlfeat;
and befor that, betwixt Moynes and Bowgholl ; and befor that we ves beyond the Meikle-buriie ; and
the vther Coven being at the Doivnie-hillis, we went from beyond the Meihle-burne-, and went befyd
them, to the howffis at the Wood-end of InJIwch ; and within a qwhyll went hom to our howffis.
Befor Candbnas, we went be-eaft Kiiilq/Je, and ther we yoaked an plewghe of paddokis."' The
Divell held the plewgh, and Johne Yomnge in Meheftowne, our Officer, did drywe the plewghe.
Paddokis did draw the plewgh, as oxen ; qwickens wer fowmes,'' a riglen's home wes a cowter,'*and
an piece of an riglen's home wes an fok. We^^went two feuerall tymes abowt ; and all we of the Coeven
went ftill wp and downe with the plewghe, prayeing to the Divell for the fruit of that land, and
that thillles and brieris might grow ther.
When we goe to any hous," we tak meat and drink ; and we fill wp the barrellis with owr ovens'*
' Indicating, in the outset, that no tortl're or compulsion Itad been resorted to, for the purpose of extortin-r Con-
fessioD ; but that she came forward, and voJimtarihj made her Declaration, bewailing her former oifences. ■ Farm-
steadings. ^ It is a singular circumstance, that in almost all the CoxrEssioKs of Witches, their initiation, and
many of their meetings, are said to have taken place within Churches, Churchyards, and consecrated giound ; and a
certain ritual, in imitation, or mockery, of the forms of the Church, is uniformly said to have been gone through.
' Rough ; hairy ; hirsute. ^ Throughout this Confession,/oo( is used for feet. ' See her Confession, which fol-
lows this, (No. VIII.) ' Parings of the nails. In such incantations, the nails and joints, &c. of dead men were
commonly made use of. » ^ajV-JWfs; the leaves of colewort. ' i/ac/(e(/; chopped. '"Dung-heaps;
middiiis. " Companies; Witches' Conventicles. Perhaps from Lat. convenire. The word cove is still in use
(in the Gipsy, flash, or slang Vocabulary) as an associate, chum, or companion, &c. '- Lammas : 1st August.
" This symbolical mode of taking the fruit, crop, or produce of land, &c., is frequently alluded to in Witch-Trials.
The soil appurenlli/ bore only straw and empty eai-s ; but the real produce was, in due season, conveyed to the barns
of the enchanter. The milk of a dairy was taken by means of a hair tetlter, rope, or halter, passing imder the door,
and attached to one of tlie stalls where the cattle stood, &c. The Witch procured the entire produce by ' milking the
tether !' Another method is afterwards recited in this Confession. '* Until Christmas or Easter. " fijg
number thirteen is stiU proverbially called ' the Diil's dozen,' in Scotland. "■ Yoked a plougli of frogs. '" Dog-
grass, or guicA-grass, served for sowmes or soains ,- being the traces, chains, or iron links, by which, of old, the oxen
were yoked to the plough. The sowmc (soi/me) was fastened by a hook to the sou/c or soU- (swivel. ) " The coulter
of the plough was formed of the horn of a half-castrated ram, called a riylen ; (j. d. a lidyil-ram. '» Enter by
stealth. ^° -Vwin ; own,
VOL. III. 4 G