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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.

Nell had the fause-house in her min',
She pits hersel an' Rob in ;
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.

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 bauks,

And in the blue-clue 9 throws then,

Right fear't that night.

9 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, wha hauds?

An' ay she win't, an' ay 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

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To spier that night.

Wee Jenny to her Graunie says,
'Will ye go wi' me, graunnie?
I'll eat the apple 10 at the glass,
I gat frae uncle Johnie.'
She suff'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.

"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.

i. e. who holds; and answer will be returned from the kilapot, by naming the christian and surname of your future spouse.

10 Take a candle, and go alone to a looking glass: eat an apple before it, and some traditions say, you should comb

'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' ay a rantin kirn we gat,
And just on Halloween

It fell that night.

'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.'

Then up gat fetchtin Jamie Fleck,

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

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.

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11 Steal out, unperceived, and sow a handful of hempseed; 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 the,' that is, show thyself; in which case it simply appears. Others omit the harrowing, and say, come after, me, and harrow thee.'

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.

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.'

He whistled 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 winte

Out-owre that night.

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!

Meg fain wad to the barn gaen,

To win three wechts o' naething 12;
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.

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 and fervour,

Fu' fast that night.

They hoy't out Will, wi' sair advice;
They hecht him some fine braw ane;
It chanc'd the stack he faddom't thrice 13,
Was timmer-propt for thrawin;

12 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 wetch; 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.

13 Take an opportunity of going, unnoticed, to a bearstack, and fathom it three times round. The last fathom of

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