‘At which time shee confessed, that this Geillis Duncane did goe before them, playing this reill or daunce, uppon a small trumpe, called a Jewe’s trump, untill they entred into the Kirk of North Barrick.’

This Agnes Sampson was tried on January 27, 1591, for conspiring the King’s death, witchcraft, sorcery, incantation, etc., and her ultimate fate was ‘to be tane to the Castle (hill) of Edinburgh, and thair bund to ane staik and werreit (strangled), quhill sche wes deid; and thairefter her body to be brunt in assis.’‘Item, fylit and convict, ffor as mekle as sche confest before his Maiestie, That the Dewill, in mannis liknes, mett hir going out in the fieldis frome hir awin hous att Keyth, betwix fyve and sax at ewin, being hir allane; and commandit hir to be at North Bervick Kirk the nixt nycht: And she passit thair on horsbak, and lychtit at the Kirk yaird. Or a lytill before sche come to itt, about ellewin houris att ewin, they danceit alangis the Kirk yaird, Gelie Duncan playit to thame one a trump.’

She then gives the names of many who were present. ‘Quhairof thair wes sax men, and all the rest wemen. The wemen maid fyrst thair homage, and nixt the men. The men wer turnit nyne tymes widderschinnes about, and the wemen sax tymes. Johnne Fien blew up the duris, and blew in the lychtis, quhilkis wer lyke mekle blak candillis, stiking round about the pulpett. The Devill start up himselff in the pulpett, lyke are mekle blak man, and callit ewerie man be his name, and ewerie ane ansuerit: “Heir, Mr.” The fyrst thing he demandit, was “Gif thay kepit all promeis, and bene guid servandis?” and “Quhat thay had done since the last tyme thay had convenit?”—One his command, thay opnit up the graves, twa within and ane without the kirk, and tuik of the jountis of thair fingaris, tais and neife,[64] and partit thame amangis thame: and the said Agnes Sampsoune gatt for hir pairt, ane windene scheit and twa jountis, quhilk sche tint negligentlie. The Devill commandit thame to keip the jountis upoun thame, quhill thay wer dry, and thane to mak ane powder of thame, to do ewill withall. Then he commandit thame to keip his commandmentis, quhilkis war, to do all the ewill they could.’

Their initiation was similar to their English sisters’, as the aforesaid Agnes Sampson affirms. ‘The fyrst tyme sche begane to serue the Dewill, was eftir the death of hir husband; and that he apperit to hir, in liknes of ane man, quha commandit hir to acknowledge him as hir maister, and to renunce Chryste; quhairunto sche grant it, being movit be pouertie and his promesis, that sche and hir bairnis sould be maid ritch, and sould gif hir power to be revangeit of hir inimeis; and eftir that, he appointit tyme and place for thair nycht meting; and that tyme, in signe that sche wes becum his seruand, he markit hir in the rycht kne, quhilk mark sche belevit to haif bene ane hurt ressavit be hir fra ane of hir bairnies that wes lyand in the bed with hir; quhilk hurt wes nocht haill for half ane yeir.’

Before finishing with this lady, I must give another portion of her most extraordinary confession. ‘Moreover she confessed, that, at the time when his Majestie was in Denmarke, shee being accompanied by the parties before speciallie named, took a cat, and christened it, and afterwards bounde to each part of that cat, the cheefest part of a dead man, and severall joyntis of his bodie: And that, in the night following, the saide cat was convayed into the middest of the sea by all these witches, sayling in their riddles or cives, and so left the saide cat right before the towne of Leith in Scotland. This doone, there did arise such a tempest in the sea, as a greater hath not beene seene.’

This was the way they baptized the cat: ‘In the wobstaris[65] hous, in maner following: Fyrst, twa of thame held ane fingar,[66] in the ane syd of the chimnay cruik, and ane uther held ane uther fingar in the uther syd, the twa nebbis[67] of the fingaris meeting togidder; than thay patt the catt thryis throw the linkis of the cruik, and passit itt thryis under the chimnay.’

The confession of Issobell Gowdie, May 3, 1662, although it is somewhat mutilated, gives us a good insight into the manners and customs of Scotch witches:

‘Efter that tym ther vold meit bot sometymes a Coven, somtymes mor, somtymes les; bot a Grand Meitting vold be about the end of ilk Quarter. Ther is threttein persones in ilk Coven; and ilk on of us has a Spirit to wait wpon us, quhan ve pleas to call wpon him. I remember not all the Spritis names; bot thair is on called Swein, quhilk waitis wpon the said Margaret Wilson in Aulderne; he is still[68] clothed in grass grein; and the said Margret Wilson hes an niknam called Pikle neirest the Wind. The nixt Sprit is called Rorie who waitis wpon Bessie Wilsone, in Aulderne; he is still clothed in yallow; and hir nikname is Throw the Corne yaird. The third Sprit is called The Roring Lyon, who waitis wpon Issobell Nicoll in Locklow; and [he is still clothed] in sea grein; her niknam is Bessie Rule. The fowrth Sprit is called Mak Hector, qwho waitis wpon Jean Martein, dawghter to the said Margaret Wilson; he is a yowng-lik Devill, clothed still in grass [green. Jean Martein is] Maiden to the Coven that I am of; and hir nikname is Over the Dyke with it, becaws the Divill [alwayis takis the] Maiden in his hand nix him, quhan ve daunce Gillatrypes, and quhan he vold lowp from ...[69] he and she will say, “Ower the dyk with it.” The name of the fyft Sprit is Robert the [Rule and he is still clothed in] sadd dun, and seimis to be a Comander of the rest of the Spiritis; and he waittis wpon Margret Brodie, in Aulderne. [The name of the saxt Spirit] is called Thieff of Hell wait upon hir selfe, and he waitis also on the said Bessie Wilson. The name of the sevinth [Sprit is called] The Read Reiver, and he is my owin Spirit, that waittis on my selfe, and is still clothed in blak. The aught Spirit [is called] Robert the Jackis, still clothed in dune, and seimes to be aiged. He is ane glaiked gowked Spirit! The woman’s [nikname] that he waitis on, is Able and Stowt! The nynth Spirit is called Laing, and the womans nikname that he vaitis wpon is Bessie Bauld. The Tenth Spirit is named Thomas a Fearie, &c.—Ther wil be many uther Divellis, waiting wpon [our] Maister Divell; bot he is bigger and mor awfull than the rest of the Divellis, and they all reverence him. I will ken them all, on by on, from utheris, quhan they appeir lyk a man.

‘Quhan we rease the wind, we tak a rag of cloth, and weitts[70] it in water; and we take a beetle[71] and knokis the rage on a stone, and we say thryse ower:

‘[Whan] we wold lay the wind, we dry the ragg, and say [thryse ower]:

‘And if the wind will not lye instantlie [after we say this] we call wpon owr Spirit, and say to him:

‘We haw no power of rain, bot ve will rease the wind quhan ve pleas.—He maid us beliew [...] that ther wes no God besyd him.

‘As for Elf-arrow-heidis, the Diuell shapes them with his awin hand, and syne deliueris thame to Elf-boyes, who whyttis and dightis[73] them with a sharp thing lyk a paking neidle; bot [quhan I was in Elfland?] I saw them whytting and dighting them. Quhan I wes in the Elfes howssis, they will haw werie ... them whytting and dighting: and the Diwell giwes them to ws, each of ws so many, quhen.... Thes that dightis thaim ar litle ones, holow, and boss baked![74] They speak gowstie[75] lyk. Quhen the Divell giwes them to ws, he sayes:

‘And quhan we shoot these arrowes we say:

‘We haw no bow to shoot with, but spang[77] them from the naillis of our thowmbes. Som tymes we will misse, bot if thay twitch[78] be it beast, or man, or woman, it will kill, tho’ they haid an jack[79] wpon them. Qwhen we goe in the shape of an haire, we say thryse owr:

‘And instantlie we start in an hair, And when we wold be owt of that shape, we vill say:

‘When we vold goe in the liknes of an Cat, we say thryse ower:

‘And if ve [wold goe in ane Craw,[80] then] we say thryse ower:

‘And quhen ve vold be owt of thes shapes, we say:

‘Giff we in the [shape of an catt, an craw, an] haire, or ony uther liknes, &c., go to any of our neighbouris howssis, being Witches, we will [say]:

‘And presentlie they becom as we ar, either cats, hearis, crowes, &c., and goe [with ws whither we wold. Quhan] we wold ryd, we tak windlestrawes, or bean stakes,[81] and put them betwixt owr foot, and say thryse:

‘And immediatlie we flie away whair [evir we wold]; and least our husbandis sould miss vs owt of owr beddis, we put in a boosom,[82] or a thrie [leggit stoole besyde thame] and say thryse ower:

‘And immediatlie it seimis a voman, besyd our husbandis.

‘Ve can not turn in the lik[nes of ...] Quhen my husband sold beeff, I used to put a swellowes feather in the hyd of the beast, and [say thryse]:

‘I did ewin so [quhenevir I putt] furth either horse, noat,[83] vebs,[84] or any uther thing to be sold, and still put in this feather, and said the [samin wordis thryse] ower, to caws the comodities sell weill.

Quhan we vold heall ony sor or brokin limb, we say thryse ower

‘And this we say thryse ower, straiking[85] the sor, and it becomes heall.

‘2^dli For the Bean-straw,[86] or pain in the heaunce,[87] Wee ar heir thrie Maidens charming for the bean-straw; y^e man of the Midle-earth, blew beaver, land-feaver, maneris of stooris, The Lord fleigged[88] the Feind with his holy candles and yeird foot stone!—Thair she sittis, and heir she is gon!—Let hir nevir com heir again!

3^dli For the Feaveris, we say thrise ower, I forbid the qwaking-feavers, the sea-feaveris, the land-feaveris, and all the feaveris that ewir God ordained, owt of the head, owt of the heart, owt of the bak, owt of the sydis, owt of the kneyis, owt of the thieghes, fra the pointis of the fingeris, to the nebes[89] of the toes; owt fall the feaveris goe, [som] to the hill, som to the hap, som to the stone, som to the stok. In Saint Peiteris nam, Saint Paullis nam, and all the Saintis of Hevin: In the nam of The Father, the Sone, and The Halie Gost!

‘And when we took the frwit of the fishes from [the] fisheris, we went to the shore, before the boat wold com to it; and we wold say, on the shore syd, thrie seuerall tymes ower,

So we either steall a fish, or buy a fish, or get a fish from them [for nowght] an or ma.[90] And with that we haw all the fruit of the heall fishes in the boat; and the fishes that the fishermen thamselues will haw, will be bot froath &c.

‘The first woyag that ewer I went with the rest of owr Covens wes to Plewghlandis; and thair we shot an man betwixt the plewgh-stiltis, and he presentlie fell to the ground, wpon his neise and his mowth; and then the Divell gaw me an arrow, and cawsed me shoot an voman in that fieldis; quhilk I did, and she fell down dead. In Winter 1660, quhen Mr. Harie Forbes, Minister at Aulderne, was seik, we maid an bagg of the gallis, flesh, and guttis of toadis, pickles of bear,[91] pairingis of the nailis of fingeris and toes, the liewer of ane hair, and bittis of clowtis. We steipit this all together, all night among watter, all haked[92] throw uther. And whan we did put it among the water, Satan wes with ws, and learned ws the wordis following, to say thryse ower. They ar thus.

‘Quhan we haid learned all these wordis from the Devill, as said is, we all fell down [wpon owr] kneis, with owr hear down ower owr showlderis and eyes, and owr handis lifted wp, and owr eyes [stedfastlie fixed wpon] the Divell; and said the forsaidis wordis thryse ower to the Divell, striktlie, against Maister Harie Forbes [his recowering from the said seiknes]. In the night tym we cam into Mr. Harie Forbes chalmer, quhair he lay, with owr handis all smeared [... out] of the bagg to swing it upon Mr. Harie, quhair he wes seik in his bed; and, in the day tyme [... ane of owr] nwmber, quho wes most familiar and intimat with him, to wring or swing the bagg wpon the said Mr. Harie, as we could not prevaill in the night tym against him; quhilk wes accordinglie done.’

‘Johne Taylor and his wyff, Bessie, and Margret Wilsones, and I, maid a pictur for the Laird of Parkis maill children. Johnne Taylor brought hom the clay in his plaid newk;[93] his wyff sifted it; we poured in water in a cowg[94] amongst it, and wrought it sor,[95] and maid a pictor of it, lyk a child, als big as a pow. It vanted no mark of the imag of a bairn, eyes, nose, mouth, little lippies, and the hands of it folded down by its sydis. The vordis, quhan we maid it, ver thes:

The Divell sitton on an blak kist. Ve wer al on owr kneyis, and owr hair about our eyes, looking on the Divell stedfastlie, and our handis lifted up to him, saying the vordes ower. And by this the bairnis died.’

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