Some kindle, couthie, side by side,
An' burn thegither trimly;

Some start awa wi' saucy pride,
And jump out-owre the chimlie

Fu' high that night.

VIII.

Jean slips in twa wï' tentie e'e;
Wha 'twas, she wadna tell;
But this is Jock, an' this is me,
She says in to hersel:

He bleez'd owre her, an' she owre him,
As they wad never mair part;
"Till, fuff! he started up the lum,

An' Jean had e'en a sair heart

To see't that night.

IX.

Poor Willie, wi' his bow-kail runt,
Was brunt wi' primsie Mallie;
An' Mallie, nae doubt, took the drunt,
To be compar'd to Willie :

Mall's nit lap out wi' pridefu' fling,

An' her ain fit it brunt it;

While Willie lap, and swoor by jing, 'Twas just the way he wanted

To be that night.

X.

Nell had the fause-house in her min',
She pits herself an' Robin;
In loving bleeze they sweetly join,
'Till white in ase they're sobbin :
Nell's heart was dancin at the view,

She whisper'd Rob to leuk for't:
Rob, stowlins, prie'd her bonie mou,
Fu' cozie in the neuk for't,

Unseen that night.

XI.

But Merran sat behint their backs,
Her thoughts on Andrew Bell;
She lea'es them gashin at their cracks,
And slips out by hersel:

She thro' the yard the nearest taks,
An' to the kiln she goes then,
An' darklins grapit for the banks,
And in the blue-clue throws them,

Right fear't that night.

XII.

An' aye she win't, an' aye she swat,
I wat she made nae jaukin;
'Till something held within the pat,
Guid L-d! but she was quakin!
But whether 'twas the deil himsel,
Or whether 'twas a bauk-en',
Or whether it was Andrew Bell,
She did na wait on talkin

To spier that night.

XIII.

Wee Jenny to her graunie says,
"Will ye go wi' me, graunie?
I'll eat the applet at the glass,
I gat frae uncle Johnie :"

Whoever would, with success, try this spell, must strictly observe these directions: Steal out, all alone, to the kiln, and, darkling, throw into the pot, a clue of blue yarn; wind it in a new clue off the old one; and, towards the latter end, something will hold the thread; demand, who hauds? i. e. who holds; and answer will be returned from the kiln-pot, by naming the christian and sirname of your future spouse.

Take a candle, and go alone to a lookingglass; 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.

She suff't her pipe wi' sie a lunt,
In wrath she was sae vap'rin,
She notic't na, an aizle brunt

Her braw new worset apron

Out thro' that nighte

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 delèeret

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;

An' aye a rantin kirn we gat,

And just on Halloween

It fell that night.

XVI.

"Our stibble-rig was Rab M'Graen,

A clever, sturdy fallow;
His 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."

*Steal out, unperceived, and sow a handful of hemp-seed; harrowing it with any thing you can conveniently draw after you. Repeat now and

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 him,

An' try't that night.

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 cheary;
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.

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 omit the harrowing, and say, come after me, and harrow thee."

XX.

He roar'd a horrid murder-shaut,
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' eaunie thraw,

An' owre the threshold ventures;

But first on Sawnie gies a ca',
Syne bauldly in she enters:

* 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.