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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Goblin Tales of Lancashire, by James Bowker
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
+
+
+Title: Goblin Tales of Lancashire
+
+Author: James Bowker
+
+Illustrator: Charles Gliddon
+
+Release Date: May 16, 2012 [EBook #39712]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOBLIN TALES OF LANCASHIRE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by sp1nd, Mebyon, Matthew Wheaton and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+    GOBLIN TALES OF LANCASHIRE.
+
+    BY JAMES BOWKER, F.R.G.S.I.
+
+
+    AUTHOR OF 'PHOEBE CAREW, A NORTH COAST STORY,'
+    'NAT HOLT'S FORTUNE,' ETC.
+
+    _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM DRAWINGS
+    BY THE LATE CHARLES GLIDDON._
+
+    'Of Faery-land yet if he more enquire,
+    By certain signes here sett in sondrie place,
+    He may itt fynd.'
+
+    SPENSER
+
+    'La veuve du même Plogojovits déclara que son mari depuis
+    sa mort lui était venu demander des souliers.'
+
+    CALMET, _Traité sur les Apparitions_, 1751.
+
+    London
+
+    W. SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO.
+    PATERNOSTER ROW
+
+
+    TO
+
+    THE MOST NOBLE
+    THE MARQUIS OF HARTINGTON, P.C., D.C.L.
+    THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS DEDICATED
+    IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF
+    MUCH KINDNESS.
+
+
+
+
+    CONTENTS.
+
+
+               INTRODUCTION,
+           I.--THE SKRIKER,
+          II.--THE UNBIDDEN GUEST,
+         III.--THE FAIRY'S SPADE,
+          IV.--THE KING OF THE FAIRIES,
+           V.--MOTHER AND CHILD,
+          VI.--THE SPECTRAL CAT,
+         VII.--THE CAPTURED FAIRIES,
+        VIII.--THE PILLION LADY,
+          IX.--THE FAIRY FUNERAL,
+           X.--THE CHIVALROUS DEVIL,
+          XI.--THE ENCHANTED FISHERMAN,
+         XII.--THE SANDS OF COCKER,
+        XIII.--THE SILVER TOKEN,
+         XIV.--THE HEADLESS WOMAN,
+          XV.--THE RESCUE OF MOONBEAM,
+         XVI.--THE WHITE DOBBIE,
+        XVII.--THE LITTLE MAN'S GIFT,
+       XVIII.--SATAN'S SUPPER,
+         XIX.--THE EARTHENWARE GOOSE,
+          XX.--THE PHANTOM OF THE FELL,
+         XXI.--ALLHALLOW'S NIGHT,
+        XXII.--THE CHRISTMAS-EVE VIGIL,
+       XXIII.--THE CRIER OF CLAIFE,
+        XXIV.--THE DEMON OF THE OAK,
+         XXV.--THE BLACK COCK,
+        XXVI.--THE INVISIBLE BURDEN,
+    APPENDIX.--COMPARATIVE NOTES,
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+For many of the superstitions which still cling to him the Lancashire
+man of the present day is indebted to his Celtic and Scandinavian
+ancestors. From them the Horse and Worm stories, and the Giant lore of
+the northern and southern mountains and fells, have come down, while
+the relationship of the 'Jinny Greenteeth,' the presiding nymph of the
+ponds and streams, with allusions to whom the Lancastrian mother
+strives to deter her little ones from venturing near the pits and
+brooks; to the water-spirits of the Gothic mythology, is too evident
+to admit of any doubt. The source of the 'Gabriel Ratchets,' the
+hell-hounds whose fear-inspiring yelps still are heard by the
+benighted peasant, who finds in the dread sound a warning of the
+approach of the angel of death; in the Norse Aasgaardsveia, the souls
+condemned to ride about the world until doomsday, and who gallop
+through the midnight storm with shrieks and cries which ring over the
+lonely moors; or in that other troop of souls of the brave ones who
+had died in battle, being led by the storm-god Woden to Walhalla, also
+is undeniable.
+
+Striking, however, as are the points of similitude between some of the
+Lancastrian traditions and those of the north of Europe, others seem
+to be peculiar to the county, and that these are of a darker and
+gloomier cast than are the superstitions of districts less wild and
+mountainous, and away from the weird influence of the sea, with its
+winter thunderings suggestive of hidden and awful power, may in a
+great measure be correctly attributed to the nature of the scenery.
+
+It is easy to understand how the unlettered peasant would people with
+beings of another world either the bleak fells, the deep and gloomy
+gorges, the wild cloughs, the desolate moorland wastes two or three
+thousand feet above the level of the sea, of the eastern portion of
+the county; or the salt marshes where the breeze-bent and
+mysterious-looking trees waved their spectral boughs in the wind; the
+dark pools fringed with reeds, amid which the 'Peg-o'-Lantron'
+flickered and danced, and over which came the hollow cry of the
+bittern and the child-like plaint of the plover; and the dreary glens,
+dark lakes, and long stretches of sand of the north and west.
+
+To him the forest, with its solemn Rembrandtesque gloom,
+
+    Where Druids erst heard victims groan,
+
+the lonely fir-crowned pikes, and the mist-shrouded mountains, would
+seem fitting homes for the dread shapes whose spite ended itself in
+the misfortunes and misery of humanity. Pregnant with mystery to such
+a mind would be the huge fells, with their shifting 'neetcaps' of
+cloud, the towering bluffs, the swampy moors, and trackless morasses,
+across which the setting sun cast floods of blood-red light; and
+irresistible would be the influence of such scenery upon the lonely
+labourer who would go about his daily tasks with a feeling that he was
+surrounded by the supernatural.
+
+And wild as are many parts of the county to-day, it is difficult to
+conceive its condition a century or two ago, when much of the land
+was not only uncultivated, but was, for at least a portion of the
+year, covered by sheets of water, the highways being little more than
+bridle roads, or, if wider than usual, very sloughs of despond, the
+carts in several of the rural districts being laid aside in winter as
+utterly useless, and grain and other commodities, even in summer time,
+being conveyed from place to place on the backs of long strings of
+pack-horses.
+
+Living in lonely houses and cottages shut out from civilisation by the
+difficulties of communication, and hemmed in by floating mists and by
+much that was awe-inspiring, with in winter additional barriers of
+storm, snow and flood, it is easy to imagine how in the fancy of the
+yeoman, shepherd, farmer, or solitary lime burner, as 'th' edge o'
+dark' threw its weird glamour over the scene, boggarts and phantoms
+would begin to creep about to the music of the unearthly voices heard
+in every sough and sigh of the wandering wind as it wailed around the
+isolated dwellings.
+
+In everything weird they found a message from the unknown realms of
+death. The noise of the swollen waters of the Ribble or the Lune, or
+the many smaller streams hurrying down to the sea, was to them the
+voice of the Water Spirit calling for its victim, and the howling of
+their dogs bade the sick prepare to meet 'the shadow with the keys.'
+All around them were invisible beings harmful or mischievous, and to
+them they traced much of the misfortune which followed the stern
+working of nature's laws.
+
+The superstitions which date from, as well as the actual annals of the
+Witch Mania in Lancashire, in some slight degree confirm this theory,
+for whereas in the flat and more thickly-populated districts the hag
+contented herself with stealing milk from her neighbour's cows,
+spoiling their bakings, and other practical jokes of a comparatively
+harmless kind, in the wilder localities--the region of pathless moors
+and mist-encircled mountains--the witch ever was raising terrible
+storms, bringing down the thunder, killing the cattle, dealing out
+plagues and pestilence at will, wreaking evil of every conceivable
+kind upon man and beast, and, hot from her sabbath of devil-worship,
+even casting the sombre shadows and dread darkness of death over the
+households of those who had fallen under the ban of her hate.
+
+Lancashire has, however, an extensive ghost lore to which this theory
+has no reference, consisting as it does of stories of haunted houses
+and churchyards, indelible blood-stains, and all the paraphernalia of
+the
+
+                            Shapes that walk
+    At dead of night, and clank their chains and wave
+    The torch of hell around the murderer's bed.
+
+The sketch in this volume, 'Mother and Child,' for the skeleton of
+which tradition I am indebted to the late Mr. J. Stanyan Bigg, may be
+considered a fair specimen of these stories. In most cases these
+legends are not simply the vain creations of ignorance and darkness,
+although they fade before the light of knowledge like mists before the
+sun, for under many of them may be found a moral and a warning, or a
+testimony to the beauty of goodness, hidden it is true beneath the
+covering of a rude fable, just as inscriptions rest concealed below
+the moss of graveyards. The well-known legend of the Boggart of
+Townley Hall, with its warning cry of 'Lay out, lay out!' and its
+demand for a victim every seventh year, is a striking example of
+traditions of this class--emphatic protests against wrong, uttered in
+the form of a nerve-affecting fable. In more than one of the stories
+of this kind to which I have listened, the ghost of the victim has
+re-visited 'the pale glimpses of the moon,' and made night so hideous
+to the wrong-doer, that, in despair and remorse, he has put an end to
+himself; and trivial as these things may seem to Mr. Gradgrind and his
+school, they have, like other and nobler parables, influenced minds
+impervious to dry fact.
+
+To the devil lore of the county, however, the theory certainly will
+apply, for surely it is in a gloomy gorge, through which forked
+lightnings flash and chase each other, and the thunder rolls and
+reverberates, or on a dark and lonesome moor, rather than upon the
+shady side of Pall Mall, one would expect to meet the Evil One.
+
+Yet, undoubtedly, other causes contributed to enrich the store of
+tales of fiends with which the county abounds.
+
+In Lancashire many of the old customs, even such as the riding of the
+wooden Christ on Palm Sunday, continued to be kept up at a later
+period than was the case in other parts of England; and,
+notwithstanding the prohibitory edicts of the commissioners appointed
+by Queen Elizabeth, Miracle Plays and Moralities doubtless were
+performed there even during the early part of the reign of James I.,
+for the Reformation, rapidly as its principles took root and spread in
+other parts of the country, did not make rapid headway in Lancashire,
+where great numbers of the people remained true to the faith of their
+forefathers. In fact, in many parishes, long after the Church of
+England had been by law established, Catholic priests continued to be
+the only officiating ministers. Probably the people loved their church
+not only on account of its doctrines, of which it may be presumed most
+of them knew but little, and of its impressive ceremonies, but also
+because of its recognition of the holy days and fair days, wakes, and
+games it was powerless to suppress; and perhaps of all the amusements
+thus winked at or even patronised by the church, that of dramatic
+representations, rude and grotesque as they undoubtedly were, was the
+most important. In many places the members of the various guilds and
+brotherhoods were the performers, but in the majority of cases the
+entertainments were given by the priests and other ecclesiastical
+functionaries.
+
+What part the Devil played in these amusements is well known to the
+antiquary, the old accounts containing particulars of the expenditure
+upon not only hair for the Evil One's wig, but also for canvas, of
+which to construct black shirts for the Satanic tag-rag, or, as the
+old scribes plainly put it, 'for the damned.' It is evident from the
+old records that Satan left the hands of his dresser an object
+compared with which the most hideous jack-in-the-box of the modern toy
+shop would be a vision of loveliness; and, as his chief occupations
+were those of roaring and yelling, and of suffering all sorts of
+indignities at the hands of the Vice, as does the pantaloon at the
+hands of the clown in a pantomime of to-day, it is easy to see that
+his _rôle_ was not a very dignified one. Everywhere the stage devil
+was simply the stage fool. Even in France, where the drama ever has
+been submitted to precise rules, 'there was,' as Albert Reville has
+remarked (_Histoire du Diable, ses origines, sa grandeur et sa
+decadence._ Strasbourg: 1870), 'a class of popular pieces called
+devilries (_diableries_), gross and often obscene masquerades, in
+which at least four devils took part.... In Germany also the devil
+was diverting on the stage. There exists an old Saxon Mystery of the
+Passion, in which Satan repeats, like a mocking echo, the last words
+of Judas who hangs himself; and when, in accordance with the sacred
+tradition, the traitor's bowels fall asunder, the Evil One gathers
+them into a basket, and, as he carries them away, sings a
+little melody appropriate to the occasion.' Undoubtedly these
+misrepresentations of the apostate angel helped to familiarise the
+popular mind with the idea of a personal devil going about veritably
+seeking whom he might devour; and although, when with the crowd in the
+presence of the Thespian ecclesiastics, people might feel quite at
+home with, and really enjoy, the company of the Evil One, away again
+on the dreary moor, or in the lonely hillside cottage, with the night
+wind howling at the door, fear would resume its wonted supremacy, and
+the feeling would be deepened and intensified by the memory of the
+horrid appearance of the stage Satan.
+
+It is possible that in a great measure we owe to these performances
+the somewhat monotonous frequency with which, in the purely local
+Lancashire devil stories, the Evil One, who generally in the most
+stupid manner permits himself to be overreached, comes oft second
+best, for doubtless many of the traditions were moulded in accordance
+with the lot of Satan in the miracle plays, as, in their turn, these
+were, although perhaps indirectly, based upon the teachings of the
+church, and that, in its turn, upon the writings of the Fathers, some
+of whom, and notably Origen, did not hesitate to speak of the
+Redemption even as due in no small degree to Satanic stupidity, a view
+so lastingly predominant in the Church that as Reville has said, 'la
+poesie ecclésiastique, la prédication populaire, des enseignements
+pontificaux même le repandirent, le dramatisèrent, le consacrèrent
+partout.'
+
+An interesting chapter in the history of religious beliefs might be
+written upon the views of the early Fathers with reference to Satan
+and his legion, and the student is not inclined to be quite so severe
+upon the superstitions of the unlettered peasant when he finds Jerome
+recording it as the opinion of all the doctors in the church, that the
+air between heaven and earth is filled with Evil Spirits, and
+Augustine and others stating that the devils had fallen there from a
+higher and purer region of the air. The early Christian Church too had
+its order of _Exorcists_, who had care of those possessed by Evil
+Spirits, the _energumeni_, and the Bishops, departing from the
+original idea that laymen had the power of exorcism, ordained men to
+the office and called upon them to exercise their functions even
+before the rite of baptism, to deliver the candidates 'from the
+dominion of the power of darkness.'
+
+Of the lighter superstitions in Lancashire, that of belief in fairies
+appears to be almost extinct, and it is to be lamented that forty
+years ago folk lore was considered of so little importance, for the
+slight and vague references in a rare little 'History of Blackpool,'
+by the Rev. W. Thornber, upon two of which the sketches entitled 'The
+Silver Token,' and 'The Fairy's Spade' are founded, show that the task
+of gathering a goodly store of such vestiges of ancient faiths would
+at the time when that volume was written have been a comparatively
+easy one. To-day, however, the case is different. Even my friend, the
+late Mr. John Higson, of Lees, to whose kindness I owe the tradition
+upon which the story of 'The King of the Fairies' is based, and whose
+labours in out-of-the-way paths dear to antiquaries were for some
+years as untiring as successful and praiseworthy, was not able to
+gather much bearing upon the fairy mythology of the Lancashire people.
+
+Most of the fairy and folk stories it was my good fortune to hear in
+the county and moorland districts were of a conventional kind, lubber
+fiends, death warnings, fairy ointment, and fairy money being as
+plentiful as diamonds in Eastern tales, and for that reason it was not
+thought necessary to reproduce them in this volume.
+
+The darker forms of superstition, like lower organisms, are more
+tenacious of life, and in many a retired nook of Lancashire there
+still may be found small congregations of believers in all the mystic
+lore of devildom and witchcraft. Readers of Mr. Edwin Waugh's
+exquisite sketches of north country life will at once call to mind, in
+the 'Grave of the Griselhurst Boggart,' an illustration of that dim
+fear of the supernatural which is yet so all-powerful, while the
+valuable collection of Folk Lore from the pens of the late Mr.
+Wilkinson and Mr. John Harland is full of testimony to the vitality of
+many of these offshoots from old-world creeds.
+
+
+
+
+GOBLIN TALES OF LANCASHIRE.
+
+
+
+
+TH' SKRIKER (SHRIEKER).
+
+
+On a fine night, about the middle of December, many years ago, a
+sturdy-looking young fellow left Chipping for his cottage, three or
+four miles away, upon the banks of the Hodder. The ground was covered
+with snow, which in many places had drifted into heaps, and the keen
+frost had made the road so slippery that the progress he made was but
+slow. Nature looked very beautiful, and the heart of the rustic even
+was touched by the sweet peacefulness of the scene. The noble old
+Parlick, and the sweeping Longridge, with its fir-crowned Thornley
+Height and Kemple End, stood out boldly against the clear sky, and the
+moon shed her soft silvery light into the long silent valley,
+stretching away until its virgin paleness mingled with the shadows and
+the darkness of the distant fells beyond Whitewell.
+
+All was still, save when the sighing wind rustled gently through the
+frosted branches of the leafless trees by the roadside, and shook down
+upon the wayfarer a miniature shower of snow; for even the tiny
+stream, so full of mirth and music in the summer time, had been lulled
+to sleep by the genius of winter; and the cottagers, whose little
+houses, half-hidden by the rime, seemed hardly large enough for the
+dwellings of dwarfs, had been snugly sleeping for hours.
+
+Adam was by no means a timid or nervous being, but there was a
+nameless something in the deathly silence which oppressed, if it did
+not actually frighten, him; and although he sang aloud a verse of the
+last song he had heard before he left the kitchen of the Patten Arms,
+his voice had lost its heartiness. He earnestly wished himself safely
+across the little bridge over the brook; but he was yet some distance
+from the stream when the faint chimes of midnight fell upon the air.
+Almost immediately after the last stroke of twelve had broken the
+silence a cloud passed over the face of the moon, and comparative
+darkness enveloped the scene; the wind, which before had been gentle
+and almost noiseless, began to howl amid the boughs and branches of
+the waving trees, and the frozen snow from the hedgerows was dashed
+against the wayfarer's face.
+
+He had already begun to fancy that he could distinguish in the
+soughing of the wind and the creaking of the boughs unearthly cries
+and fiendish shouts of glee; but as he approached the dreaded stream
+his courage almost entirely failed him, and it required a great effort
+to keep from turning his back to it, and running away in the direction
+of the little village at the foot of Parlick. It struck him, however,
+that he had come a long distance; that if he did go back to the Patten
+Arms the company would be dispersed, and the inmates asleep, and, what
+was more effective than all, that if he could only cross the bridge he
+would be safe, the Greenies, Boggarts, and Feorin not having power
+over any one who had passed over the water. Influenced by this
+thought, yet with his knees trembling under him, he pushed forward
+with assumed boldness, and he had almost reached the bridge when he
+heard the noise of passing feet in the crunching snow, and became
+conscious of the presence of a ghastly thing he was unable to see.
+Suddenly a sepulchral howl brought him to a stop, and, with his heart
+throbbing loudly enough to be heard, he stood gazing fixedly into the
+darkness. There was nothing to be perceived, however, save the copings
+of the bridge, with their coverings of rime; and he might have stood
+there until daylight had not another cry, louder and even more
+unearthly and horrible than the preceding one, called him from his
+trance. No sooner had this second scream died away than, impelled by
+an irresistible impulse, he stepped forward in the direction whence
+the noise had come. At this moment the moon burst forth from behind
+the clouds which had for some time obscured her light, and her rays
+fell upon the road, with its half-hidden cart-tracks winding away into
+the dim distance; and in the very centre of the bridge he beheld a
+hideous figure with black shaggy hide, and huge eyes closely
+resembling orbs of fire.
+
+Adam at once knew from the likeness the dread object bore to the
+figure he had heard described by those who had seen the Skriker, that
+the terrible thing before him was an Ambassador of Death.
+
+Without any consciousness of what he was doing, and acting as though
+under the sway of a strange and irresistible mesmeric influence, he
+stepped towards the bridge; but no sooner did he stir than the
+frightful thing in front of him, with a motion that was not walking,
+but rather a sort of heavy gliding, moved also, slowly retreating,
+pausing when he paused, and always keeping its fiery eyes fixed upon
+his blanched face. Slowly he crossed the stream, but gradually his
+steps grew more and more rapid, until he broke into a run. Suddenly a
+faint knowledge of the horrible nature of his position dawned upon
+him. A little cottage stood by the roadside, and from one of its
+chamber-windows, so near to the ground as to be within his reach, a
+dim light shone, the room probably being occupied by a sick person, or
+by watchers of the dead. Influenced by a sudden feeling of
+companionship, Adam tried to cry out, but his tongue clave to his
+parched mouth, and ere he could mumble a few inarticulate sounds,
+scarcely audible to himself, the dwelling was left far behind, and a
+sensation of utter loneliness and helplessness again took possession
+of him.
+
+He had thus traversed more than a mile of the road, in some parts of
+which, shaded by the high hedgerows and overhanging boughs, the only
+light seemed to him to be that from the terrible eyes, when suddenly
+he stumbled over a stone and fell. In a second, impressed by a fear
+that the ghastly object would seize him, he regained his feet, and, to
+his intense relief, the Skriker was no longer visible. With a sigh of
+pleasure he sat down upon a heap of broken stones, for his limbs, no
+longer forced into mechanical movement by the influence of the
+spectre's presence, refused to bear him further. Bitterly cold as was
+the night, the perspiration stood in beads upon his whitened face,
+and, with the recollection of the Skriker's terrible eyes and horrible
+body strong upon him, he shook and shivered, as though in a fit of the
+ague. A strong and burly man, in the very prime of life, he felt as
+weak as a girl, and, fearing that he was about to sink to the ground
+in a swoon, he took handfuls of the crisp snow and rubbed them upon
+his forehead. Under this sharp treatment he soon revived a little,
+and, after several unsuccessful efforts, he succeeded in regaining his
+feet, and resumed his lonely journey.
+
+Starting at the least sough of the breeze, the faintest creak of a
+bending branch, or the fall of a piece of frozen rime from a bough, he
+slowly trudged along.
+
+He had passed the quaint old house at Chaigely, the sudden yelp of a
+chained dog in the court-yard giving him a thrill of horror as he went
+by, and he had reached the bend in that part of the road which is
+opposite the towering wood-covered Kemple End. A keen and cutting
+blast swept through the black firs that crowned the summit, and stood,
+like solemn sentinels, upon the declivity. There was a music in the
+wind mournful as a croon over the corpse of a beautiful woman, whose
+hair still shimmers with the golden light of life; but Adam heard no
+melody in the moaning sighs which seemed to fill the air around. To
+him, whose soul was yet under the influence of the terror through
+which he had so recently passed, the sounds assumed an awful nature;
+whilst the firs, standing so clearly defined against the snow, which
+lay in virgin heaps upon the beds of withered fern, seemed like so
+many weird skeletons shaking their bony arms in menace or in warning.
+
+With a suddenness that was more than startling, there was a lull, and
+the breeze ceased even to whisper. The silence was more painful than
+were the noises of the blast battling with the branches, for it filled
+the breast of the solitary wayfarer with forebodings of coming woe. At
+the point he had reached the road sank, and as Adam stepped into the
+almost utter darkness, caused by the high banks, to which clung masses
+of decayed vegetation, beautified by the genius of winter into white
+festoons, again and again the terrible shriek rang out.
+
+There was no mistaking the voice of the Skriker for that of anything
+else upon earth, and, with a sickly feeling at his heart, Adam slowly
+emerged from the gloom, and, in expectation of the appearance of the
+ghastly figure, passed on. He had not to wait long, for as he reached
+the old bridge spanning the Hodder, once more he saw, in the centre
+of the road, about midway of the stream, the same terrible object he
+had followed along the lane from the brook at Thornley.
+
+With a sensation of terror somewhat less intense than that which had
+previously influenced him, he again yielded to the power which
+impelled him forward, and once more the strange procession commenced,
+the Skriker gliding over the snow, not, however, without a peculiar
+shuffling of its feet, surrounded, as they were, by masses of long
+hair, which clung to them, and deadened the sound, and Adam following
+in his mechanical and involuntary trot. The journey this time,
+however, was of but short duration, for the poor fellow's cottage was
+only a little way from the river. The distance was soon traversed, and
+the Skriker, with its face towards the terrified man, took up its
+position against the door of the dwelling. Adam could not resist the
+attraction which drew him to the ghastly thing, and as he neared it,
+in a fit of wild desperation, he struck at it, but his hand banged
+against the oak of the door, and, as the spectre splashed away, he
+fell forward in a swoon.
+
+Disturbed by the noise of the fall, the goodwife arose and drew him
+into the cottage, but for some hours he was unable to tell the story
+of his terrible journey. When he had told of his involuntary chase of
+the Skriker, a deep gloom fell over the woman's features, for she well
+knew what the ghastly visit portended to their little household. The
+dread uncertainty did not continue long, however, for on the third day
+from that upon which Adam had reached his home the eldest lad was
+brought home drowned; and after attending the child's funeral, Adam's
+wife sickened of a fever, and within a few weeks she too was carried
+to Mytton churchyard. These things, together with the dreadful
+experience of the journey from Chipping, so affected Adam that he lost
+his reason, and for years afterwards the sound of his pattering
+footsteps, as in harmless idiotcy, with wild eyes and outstretched
+hands, he trotted along the roads in chase of an imaginary Boggart,
+fell with mournful impressiveness upon the ears of groups gathered by
+farm-house fires to listen to stories of the Skriker.{1}
+
+
+
+
+THE UNBIDDEN GUEST.
+
+
+In a little lane leading from the town of Clitheroe there once lived a
+noted 'cunning man,' to whom all sorts of applications were made, not
+only by the residents, but also by people from distant places, for the
+fame of the wizard had spread over the whole country side. If a theft
+was committed, at once the services of 'Owd Jeremy' were enlisted,
+and, as a result, some one entirely innocent was, if not accused, at
+least suspected; while maidens and young men, anxious to pry into
+futurity, and behold the faces of their unknown admirers, paid him
+trifling fees to enable them to gratify their curiosity. In short,
+Jeremy professed to be an able student of the Black Art, on familiar
+speaking terms with Satan, and duly qualified to foretell men's
+destinies by the aid of the stars.
+
+The cottage in which the old man resided was of a mean order, and its
+outward appearance was by no means likely to impress visitors with an
+idea that great pecuniary advantages had followed that personal
+acquaintance with the Evil One of which the wizard boasted. If,
+however, the outside was mean and shabby, the inside of the dwelling
+was of a nature better calculated to inspire inquirers with feelings
+of awe, hung round, as the one chamber was, with faded and moth-eaten
+black cloth, upon which grotesque astrological designs and the figure
+of a huge dragon were worked in flaming red. The window being hidden
+by the dingy tapestry, the only light in the room came from a
+starved-looking candle, which was fixed in the foot of the skeleton of
+a child, attached to a string from the ceiling, and dangling just over
+the table, where a ponderous volume lay open before a large crystal
+globe and two skulls.
+
+In an old-fashioned chair, above which hung suspended a dirty and
+dilapidated crocodile, the wizard sat, and gave audience to the stray
+visitors whose desire to peer into futurity overmastered the fear with
+which the lonely cottage was regarded. A quaint-looking old man was
+Jeremy, with his hungry-looking eyes and long white beard; and, as
+with bony fingers he turned over the leaves of the large book, there
+was much in his appearance likely to give the superstitious and
+ignorant customers overwhelming ideas of his wondrous wisdom. The
+'make up' was creditable to Jeremy, for though he succeeded in
+deceiving others with his assumption of supernatural knowledge, he
+himself did not believe in those powers whose aid he so frequently
+professed to invoke on behalf of his clients.
+
+One day, when the ragged cloth had fallen behind a victim who was
+departing from the wizard's sanctum with a few vague and mysterious
+hints in exchange for solid coin, the old man, after laughing
+sarcastically, pulled aside the dingy curtains and stepped to the
+casement, through which the glorious sunlight was streaming. The scene
+upon which the wizard looked was a very beautiful one; and the old man
+leaned his head upon his hands and gazed intently upon the landscape.
+
+''Tis a bonnie world,' said he,--''tis a bonnie world, and there are
+few views in it to compare with this one for beauty. My soul is drawn
+toward old Pendle, yon, with a love passing that of woman, heartless
+and passionless though the huge mass be. Heartless!' said he, after a
+pause,--'heartless! when every minute there is a fresh expression upon
+its beautiful front? Ay, even so, for it looms yonder calm and
+unconcerned when we are ushered into the world, and when we are
+ushered out of it, and laid to moulder away under the mountain's
+shadow; and it will rear its bold bluffs to heaven and smile in the
+sunlight or frown in the gloom after we who now love to gaze upon it
+are blind to the solemn loveliness of its impassable face. Poor
+perishable fools are we, with less power than the breeze which ruffles
+yon purple heather!'
+
+With a heavy sigh Jeremy turned away from the window, and as the
+curtain fell behind him, and he stood again in the wretchedly-lighted
+room, he saw that he was not alone. The chair in which the trembling
+hinds generally were asked to seat themselves held a strange-looking
+visitor of dark and forbidding aspect.
+
+'Jeremiah,' said this personage, 'devildom first and poetising
+afterwards.'
+
+There was an unpleasant tone of banter in this speech, which did not
+seem in keeping with the character of one who fain would pry into
+futurity; and as the wizard took his usual position beneath the
+crocodile, he looked somewhat less oracular than was his wont when in
+front of a shivering and terrified inquirer.
+
+'What wantest thou with me?' said he, with an ill-assumed appearance
+of unconcern.
+
+The occupant of the chair smiled sardonically as he replied--
+
+'A little security--that's all. For five-and-twenty years thou hast
+been amassing wealth by duping credulous fools, and it is time I had
+my percentage.'
+
+The wizard stared in astonishment. Was the stranger a thief, or worse?
+he wondered, but after a time, however, he said, drily--
+
+'Even if thou hadst proved thy right to a portion of the profits of my
+honest calling--and thou hast not--thou wouldst not require a
+packhorse to carry thy share away. Doth this hovel resemble the abode
+of a possessor of great wealth? Two chairs, a table, and a few old
+bones, its furniture; and its tenant a half-starved old man, who has
+had hard work to support life upon the pittance he receives in return
+for priceless words of wisdom! Thou art a stranger to me, and thy
+portion of my earnings is correctly represented by a circle.'
+
+A loud and unmusical laugh followed the wizard's words; and before the
+unpleasant sound had died away the visitor remarked--
+
+'If I am yet a stranger to thee, Jeremiah, 'tis not thy fault, for
+during the last quarter of a century thou hast boasted of me as thy
+willing servant, and extorted hard cash from thy customers upon the
+strength of my friendship and willingness to help thee; and now, true
+to thy beggarly instincts, thou wouldst deny me! But 'twill be in
+vain, Jeremiah--'twill be in vain! I have postponed this visit too
+long already to be put off with subterfuges now.'
+
+'I repeat, I know thee not,' said the wizard, in a trembling voice.
+And, hurriedly rising from his chair, he flung aside the thick
+curtain, in order that the light of day might stream into the chamber,
+for a nameless fear had taken possession of him, and he did not care
+to remain in the darkened apartment with his suspicious visitor. To
+his surprise and terror, however, darkness had fallen upon the scene,
+and, as he gazed in alarm at the little diamond-framed window,
+through which so short a time before he had looked upon a fair
+prospect of meadow and mountain, a vivid flash of lightning darted
+across the heavens, and a clap of thunder burst over the cottage.
+
+''Twill spoil good men's harvests, Jeremiah,' the stranger calmly
+said; 'but it need not interrupt our interesting conversation.'
+
+Angry at the bantering manner in which the visitor spoke, the wizard
+flung open the door, and cried--
+
+'Depart from my dwelling, ere I cast thee forth into the mire!'
+
+'Surely thou wouldst not have the heart to fulfil thy threat,' said
+the stranger, 'although 'tis true I have but one shoe to be soiled by
+the mud.' And as he spoke he quietly crossed his legs, and Jeremiah
+perceived a hideous cloven foot.
+
+With a groan, the wizard sank into his chair, and, deaf to the roaring
+of the thunder, and to the beating of the rain through the doorway, he
+sat helplessly gazing at his guest, whose metallic laughter rang
+through the room.
+
+'Hast thou at length recognised me, Jeremiah?' asked the Evil One,
+after an interval, during which he had somewhat prominently displayed
+the hoof, and gloated over the agony its exhibition had caused his
+victim.
+
+The old man was almost too terrified to answer, but at last he
+whispered--
+
+'I have.'
+
+'And thou no longer wilt refuse me the security?' hissed the
+tormentor, as he placed a parchment upon the table.
+
+'What security dost thou demand?' feebly inquired the quaking wizard.
+
+'Personal only,' said Satan. 'Put thy name to this,' and he pointed to
+the bond.
+
+Jeremy pushed his chair as far from the suspicious-looking document as
+he could ere he replied--
+
+'Thou shalt not have name of mine.'
+
+He had expected that an outburst of fiendish wrath would follow this
+speech, but to his surprise the guest simply remarked--
+
+'Very well, Jeremiah. By to-morrow night, however, thou shalt be
+exposed as the base and ignorant pretender thou art. Thou hast
+trespassed upon the rightful trade of my faithful servants long
+enough, and 'tis time I stopped thy prosperous career. Ere sunset
+thou shalt have a rival, who will take the bread from thy ungrateful
+mouth.'
+
+After this polite speech the visitor picked up the parchment, and
+began to fold it in a methodical manner.
+
+Such utterly unexpected gentlemanly behaviour somewhat reassured
+Jeremiah, and in a fainter voice he humbly asked what his visitor had
+to give in exchange for a wizard's autograph.
+
+'Twenty-two years of such success as thou hast not even dared to dream
+of! No opposition--no exposure to thy miserable dupes,' readily
+answered Satan.
+
+Jeremiah considered deeply. The offer undoubtedly was a tempting one,
+for after all, his profession had not been very lucrative, and to lose
+his customers, therefore, meant starvation. He was certain that if
+another wizard opened an establishment the people would flock to him,
+even through mere curiosity; but he knew what signing the bond
+included, and he was afraid to take the step.
+
+After a long delay, during which Satan carefully removed a sharp
+stone from his hoof, Jeremiah therefore firmly said--
+
+'Master, I'll not sign!'
+
+Without more ado the visitor departed, and almost before he was out of
+sight the storm abated, and old Pendle again became visible.
+
+A few days passed, and no one came to the dwelling of the wizard; and
+as such an absence of customers was very unusual, Jeremy began to fear
+that the supernatural stranger had not forgotten his threat. On the
+evening of the fifth day he crept into the little town to purchase
+some articles of food. Previously, whenever he had had occasion to
+make a similar journey, as he passed along the street the children ran
+away in terror, and the older people addressed him with remarkable
+humility; but this time, as he stepped rapidly past the houses, the
+youngsters went on with their games as though only an ordinary mortal
+went by, and a burly fellow who was leaning against a door jamb took
+his pipe from his mouth to cry familiarly--
+
+'Well, Jerry, owd lad, heaw are ta'?'
+
+These marks of waning power and fading popularity were sufficiently
+unmistakable; but as he was making his few purchases he was informed
+that a stranger, who seemed to be possessed of miraculous powers, had
+arrived in the town, and that many people who had been to him were
+going about testifying to his wonderful skill. With a heavy heart the
+wizard returned to his cottage. Next night a shower of stones dashed
+his window to pieces, and, as he peered into the moonlight lane, he
+saw a number of rough fellows, who evidently were waiting and watching
+in hopes that he would emerge from his dwelling. These were the only
+visitors he had during an entire week; and at length, quite prepared
+to capitulate, he said to himself--
+
+'I wish I had another chance.'
+
+No sooner had he uttered the words, than there was a sudden burst of
+thunder, wind roared round the house, again the clients' chair was
+occupied, and the parchment lay upon the table just as though it had
+not been disturbed.
+
+'Art thou ready to sign?' asked Satan.
+
+'Ay!' answered the old man.
+
+The Evil One immediately seized the wizard's hand, upon which Jeremy
+gave a piercing yell, as well he might do, for the Satanic grip had
+forced the blood from the tips of his fingers.
+
+'Sign!' said the Devil.
+
+'I can't write,' said the wizard.
+
+The Evil One forthwith took hold of one of the victim's fingers, and
+using it as a pen, wrote in a peculiarly neat hand 'Jeremiah Parsons,
+his × mark,' finishing with a fiendish flourish.
+
+After doing this he again vacated the chair and the room as
+mysteriously as on the previous occasion.
+
+The autograph-loving visitor had barely departed with the parchment
+ere a knock at the door was heard, and in stepped a man who wished to
+have the veil lifted, and who brought the pleasing news that,
+influenced by the reports of the opposition wizard, he had been to his
+house in Clitheroe, but had found it empty, the whilom tenant having
+fled no one knew whither. From that time things looked up with Jeremy,
+and money poured into the skulls, for people crowded from far and near
+to test his skill. For two-and-twenty years he flourished and was
+famous, but the end came.{2} One morning, after a wild night when the
+winds howled round Pendle, and it seemed as though all the powers of
+darkness were let loose, some labourers who were going to their work
+were surprised to find only the ruins of the wizard's cottage. The
+place had been consumed by fire; and although search was made for the
+magician's remains, only a few charred bones were found, and these,
+some averred, were not those of old Jeremy, but were relics of the
+dusty old skeleton and the dirty crocodile under the shadow of which
+the wizard used to sit.
+
+
+
+
+THE FAIRY'S SPADE.
+
+
+'Th' fairies han getten varra shy sin' thee an' me wir young, Matty,
+lass!' said an old grey-headed man, who, smoking a long pipe, calmly
+sat in a shady corner of the kitchen of a Fylde country farm-house.
+'Nubry seems to see 'em neaw-a-days as they ust. I onst had a seet o'
+one on 'em, as plain as I con see thee sittin' theer, ravellin' thi
+owd stockin'. I wir ploughin' varra soon after dayleet, an' ther
+worn't a saand to be heeart nobbut th' noise o'th' graand oppenin',
+an' th' chirp ov a few brids wakkenin' an' tunin' up, an' ov a
+toothrey crows close at after mi heels a-pikin' up th' whorms. O ov a
+suddent I heeard sumbry cry, i' a voice like owd Luke wench i'th'
+orgin loft ov a Sundays, "I've brokken mi speet!" I lost no toime i'
+tornin' to see whoa wir at wark at that haar, an' i' aar fielt too,
+an' I clapt mi een on as pratty a little lass as ever oppent een i'
+this country side. Owd England choilt's bonny, yone warrant mi, but
+hoo's as feaw as sin aside o'th' face as I see that morn. Hoo stood
+theer wi' th' brokken spade i' her hond, an' i'th' tother a hommer an'
+a toothrey nails, an' hoo smoilt at mi, an' offert mi th' tackle, as
+mich as t' say, "Naaw, Isik, be gradely for onst i' thi loife, an'
+fettle this speet for mi, will ta?" For a whoile I stood theear gapin'
+like a foo', and wontherin' wheear hoo could ha' risen fray, but hoo
+cried aat onst mooar, "I've brokken mi speet!" Sooa I marcht toart her
+and tuk th' hommer an' th' nails, an' tacklet it up. It didn't tek mi
+long a-dooin', for it wir but a loile un; but when I'd done hoo smoilt
+at mi, an' so bonny, summat loike tha ust, Margit, when owd Pigheeod
+wir cooartin' tha; an' gan mi a hanful o' brass,{3} an' afooar I'd
+time to say owt off hoo vanisht. That wur th' only feorin as ivver
+I've seen, an' mebbi th' only one as I'm likely to luk at, for mi
+seet's getten nooan o'th' best latterly.'
+
+
+
+
+THE KING OF THE FAIRIES.
+
+
+Many years ago there lived in a farm-house at a point of the high-road
+from Manchester to Stockport, where Levenshulme Church now stands, a
+worthy named Burton, 'Owd Dannel Burton.'[A] The farm held by Daniel
+was a model one in its way, the old man raising finer crops than any
+other farmer in the district. It was rumoured that Daniel was very
+comfortably provided for, and that a few bad years would not harm him;
+and so wonderfully did everything he took in hand prosper, that his
+'luck' became proverbial. Such uniform prosperity could not long
+continue without the tongue of envy and detraction being set wagging,
+and the neighbours who permitted thistles to overrun their pastures
+whilst they gadded about to rush-bearings and wakes, finding a
+reproach to their idleness not only in the old man's success, but also
+in the careful, industrious habits of his daily life, were not slow to
+insinuate that there was something more than farming at the bottom of
+it. 'Dannel' had sold himself to Satan, said some whose pigs had faded
+away, and whose harvests had not been worth the gathering; and others
+pretended to know even the terms of the contract, and how many years
+the old man yet had to play on. A few of these detractors were young
+men whose imaginations were not kept in sufficient control, but they
+grew wonderfully reserved respecting the Satanic bargain after the
+hearty Daniel had had an interview with them, and proved to them that
+he had not forgotten the use of a good tough black-thorn.
+
+[A] Mr. Burton's grandson was for many years rector of All Saints',
+Manchester.
+
+'It's nobbut luck,' philosophically remarked others, 'mebbe it'll be
+my turn to-morn;' but the remainder vowed that neither luck or Evil
+One had anything to do with it, for the success was due to the labours
+of Puck, King of the Fairies.
+
+They were right. It was Puck, although no one ever knew how the old
+man had been able to enlist the services of so valuable an auxiliary,
+Daniel being strangely reticent upon the point, although generally by
+no means loth to speak of the fairies and their doings. Reserve with
+reference to these things, however, would not have availed much, for
+the farm labourers, the ruddy-cheeked milkmaids, and the other
+women-folk about the farm-house, were fond of boasting of the exploits
+of Puck--how during the night everything was 'cleaned up,' and all was
+in apple-pie order when they came into the kitchen at daybreak, the
+milk churned, the cows foddered, the necessary utensils filled with
+water from the well, the horses ready harnessed for their day's work
+at the plough, and even a week's threshing done and the barn left as
+tidy as though it had just been emptied and swept. Evidently the
+servant lasses had no fear of, or objection to, a hard-working
+supernatural visitor of this kind, but just the reverse, and many of
+their listeners found themselves wishing that their house, too, had
+its Boggart.
+
+For so long a period did this state of things continue, each morning
+revealing an astounding amount of work performed by the willing and
+inexpensive workman, that at length the assistance was taken for
+granted, and as a matter of course, offering no food for surprise,
+although it did not cease to be a cause of envy to the neighbours.
+
+On one occasion, however, as old Daniel was despatching a hearty and
+substantial breakfast, a heated labourer brought word that all the
+corn had been housed during the past night. The strange story was true
+enough, for when the old man reached the field, where on the previous
+evening the golden sheaves of wheat had stood, he found the expanse
+quite bare, and as clean as though reapers, leaders, gleaners, and
+geese had been carefully over it. The harvest was in the barn, but not
+content with this, Daniel, illustrating the old proverb that 'much
+would have more,' suddenly exclaimed, 'I wonder whose horses Puck{4}
+used in this work. If yon of mine, I daresay he sweated them rarely;'
+and away he strode towards the stable. He had not reached the fold,
+however, when he met Puck coming towards him, and in a fever of greedy
+anxiety he cried, 'Puck, I doubt thou'st spoiled yon horses!' No
+sooner were the words out of his mouth, however, than he saw that for
+once in his life he had made a mistake, for the fairy went pale with
+anger as he shouted in a shrill treble:--
+
+    Sheaf to field, and horse to stall,
+    I, the Fairy King, recall!
+    Never more shall drudge of mine
+    Stir a horse or sheaf of thine.
+
+After which vow he at once vanished.
+
+The old man walked home in a sorrowful mood, and actually forgot to go
+to the stable; but next morning early he was disturbed by a knocking
+at his chamber door. 'Mesthur, ger up,' cried the messenger, who on
+the previous day had brought the news of the housing of the corn,
+'Mesthur, ger up, th' corn's back i'th' fielt.' With a groan of
+anguish Daniel arose, and hastily made his way to the barn. All the
+pile was gone, and the floor littered with straw, exactly as it was
+before the fairy labour had so transformed the place.
+
+It did not take the farmer long to get over the ground between his
+barn and the corn-field, and arrived there he found the expanse once
+more covered with yellow sheaves, on which the beams of the rising sun
+were beginning to fall. Here and there a sheaf had fallen upon the
+ground, and everywhere straw and ears of corn were scattered about as
+though the reapers had not long before left the place. The old man
+turned away in despair.
+
+From that time forward there was no more work done about the farm, or
+the shippons, and stables; but in the house, however, the maids
+continued to find their tasks performed as usual.
+
+Great were the rejoicings in the locality when the story of the
+sheaves became known, and it got noised about that 'Dannel's' fairy
+had 'fown eawt' with him. The old man became very dejected, for
+although he did not clearly perceive that the rupture was entirely due
+to his own selfish greed, he could not go about the farm without
+observing how much he had lost.
+
+One summer evening in a thoughtful mood he was walking homewards, and
+wishing that the meadows were mown. Plunged in such reflections, he
+met a neighbour, who at once asked the cause of his trouble. Daniel
+turned to point to the meadows, and as he did so he saw the fairy, in
+an attitude of rapt attention, stooping behind the hedgerow as though
+anxious to overhear the conversation. 'Yo' miss your neet-mon?' said
+the neighbour. The old man thought that the time was come to make his
+peace with offended royalty, and with a cunning glance in the
+direction of the hiding-place, he answered, 'I do, Abrum, and may God
+bless Puck, th' King o'th' Fayrees.'{5} There was a startled cry from
+behind the hedgerow, and both men turned in that direction, but there
+was nothing to be observed. The fairy had vanished, never again to be
+seen in Daniel Burton's fields. That night the work was left undone
+even inside the farm-house, and thenceforward when the kitchen needed
+cleaning, water was wanted from the well, or when milk had to be
+churned, the maids had to get up early and do the work, for Puck, King
+of the Fairies, would not touch either mop or pail.
+
+
+
+
+MOTHER AND CHILD.
+
+
+The tenants of Plumpton Hall had retired to rest somewhat earlier than
+was their wont, for it was the last night of November.
+
+The old low rooms were in darkness, and all was silent as the grave;
+for though the residents, unfortunately for themselves, were not
+asleep, they held their breath, and awaited in fear the first stroke
+of the hour from the old clock in the kitchen. Suddenly the sound of
+hurried footsteps broke the silence; but with sighs of relief the
+terrified listeners found that the noise was made by a belated
+wayfarer, almost out of his wits with fright, but who was unable to
+avoid passing the hall, and who, therefore, ran by the haunted
+building as quickly as his legs could carry him. The sensation of
+escape, however, was of but short duration, for the hammer commenced
+to strike; and no sooner had the last stroke of eleven startled the
+echoes than loud thuds, as of a heavy object bumping upon the stairs,
+were heard.
+
+The quaking occupants of the chambers hid their heads beneath the
+bedclothes, for they knew that an old-fashioned oak chair was on its
+way down the noble staircase, and was sliding from step to step as
+though dragged along by an invisible being who had only one hand at
+liberty.
+
+If any one had dared to follow that chair across the wide passage and
+into the wainscoted parlour, he would have been startled by the sight
+of a fire blazing in the grate, whence, ere the servants retired, even
+the very embers had been removed, and in the chair, the marvellous
+movement of which had so frightened all the inmates of the hall, he
+would have seen a beautiful woman seated, with an infant at her
+breast.
+
+Year after year, on wild nights, when the snow was driven against the
+diamond panes, and the cry of the spirit of the storm came up from the
+sea, the weird firelight shone from the haunted room, and through the
+house sounded a mysterious crooning as the unearthly visitor softly
+sang a lullaby to her infant. Lads grew up into grey-headed men in the
+old house; and from youth to manhood, on the last night of each
+November, they had heard the notes, but none of them ever had caught,
+even when custom had somewhat deadened the terror which surrounded the
+events of the much-dreaded anniversary, the words of the song the
+ghostly woman sang. The maids, too, had always found the grate as it
+was left before the visit--not a cinder or speck of dust remaining to
+tell of the strange fire, and no one had ever heard the chair ascend
+the stairs. Chair and fire and child and mother, however, were seen by
+many a weary wayfarer, drawn to the house by the hospitable look of
+the window, through which the genial glow of the burning logs shone
+forth into the night, but who, by tapping at the pane and crying for
+shelter, could not attract the attention of the pale nurse, clad in a
+quaint old costume with lace ruff and ruffles, and singing a mournful
+and melodious lullaby to the child resting upon her beautiful bosom.
+
+Tradition tells of one of these wanderers, a footsore and miserable
+seafaring man on the tramp, who, attracted by the welcome glare, crept
+to the panes, and seeing the cosy-looking fire, and the Madonna-faced
+mother tenderly nursing her infant, rapped at the glass and begged for
+a morsel of food and permission to sleep in the hayloft--and, finding
+his pleadings unanswered, loudly cursed the woman who could sit and
+enjoy warmth and comfort and turn a deaf ear to the prayers of the
+homeless and hungry; upon which the seated figure turned the weird
+light of its wild eyes upon him and almost changed him to stone--a
+labourer, going to his daily toil in the early morn, finding the poor
+wretch gazing fixedly through the window, against which his
+terror-stricken face was closely pressed, his hair turned white by
+fear, and his fingers convulsively clutching the casement.
+
+
+
+
+THE SPECTRAL CAT.
+
+
+Long ago--so long, in fact, that the date has been lost in
+obscurity--the piously-inclined inhabitants of the then thickly wooded
+and wild country stretching from the sea-coast to Rivington Pike and
+Hoghton determined to erect a church at Whittle-le-Woods, and a site
+having been selected, the first stone was laid with all the ceremony
+due to so important and solemn a proceeding. Assisted by the labours
+as well as by the contributions of the faithful, the good priest was
+in high spirits; and as the close of the first day had seen the
+foundations set out and goodly piles of materials brought upon the
+ground ready for the future, he fell asleep congratulating himself
+upon having lived long enough to see the wish of his heart gratified.
+What was his surprise, however, when, after arising at the break of
+day, and immediately rushing to his window to gaze upon the work, he
+could not perceive either foundation or pile of stone, the field in
+which he expected to observe the promising outline being as green and
+showing as few marks of disturbance as the neighbouring ones.{6}
+
+'Surely I must have been dreaming,' said the good man, as he stood
+with rueful eyes at the little casement, 'for there are not any signs
+either of the gifts or the labours of the pious sons of the church.'
+
+In this puzzled frame of mind, and with a heavy sigh, he once more
+courted sleep. He had not slumbered long, however, when loud knocks at
+the door of his dwelling and lusty cries for Father Ambrose disturbed
+him. Hastily attiring himself, he descended, to find a concourse of
+people assembled in front of the house; and no sooner had he opened
+the door than a mason cried out--
+
+'Father Ambrose, where are the foundations we laid yesterday, and
+where is the stone from the quarry?'
+
+'Then I did not simply dream that I had blessed the site?' said the
+old man, inquiringly.
+
+Upon which there was a shout of laughter, and a sturdy young fellow
+asked--
+
+'And I did not dream that I carted six loads from the quarry?'
+
+'Th' Owd Lad's hed a hand int',' said a labourer, 'for t' fielt's as
+if fuut hed never stept int'.'
+
+The priest and his people at once set off to inspect the site, and
+sure enough it was in the state described by the mason; cowslips and
+buttercups decking the expanse of green, which took different shades
+as the zephyr swept over it.
+
+'Well, I'm fair capped,' said a grey-headed old farmer. 'I've hed
+things stown afoor today, bud they'n generally bin things wi' feathers
+on an' good to heyt an' not th' feaundations uv a church. Th' warlt's
+gerrin' ter'ble wickit. We's hev' to bi lukkin' eawt for another
+Noah's flood, I warrant.'
+
+A peal of laughter followed this sally, but Father Ambrose, who was in
+no mood for mirth, sternly remarked--'There is something here which
+savoureth of the doings of Beelzebub;' and then he sadly turned away,
+leaving the small crowd of gossips speculating upon the events of the
+night. Before the father reached his dwelling, however, he heard his
+name called by a rustic who was running along the road.
+
+'Father Ambrose,' cried the panting messenger, 'here's the strangest
+thing happened at Leyland. The foundations of a church and all sorts
+of building materials have been laid in a field during the night, and
+Adam the miller is vowing vengeance against you for having trespassed
+on his land.'
+
+The priest at once returned to the little crowd of people, who still
+were gaping at the field from which all signs of labour had been so
+wonderfully removed, and bade the messenger repeat the strange story,
+which he did at somewhat greater length, becoming loquacious in the
+presence of his equals, for he enjoyed their looks of astonishment.
+When the astounding narrative had been told, the crowd at once started
+for Leyland, their pastor promising to follow after he had fortified
+himself with breakfast.
+
+When the good man reached the village he had no need to inquire which
+was Adam the miller's field, for he saw the crowd gathered in a
+rich-looking meadow. As he opened the gate Adam met him, and without
+ceremony at once accused him of having taken possession of his field.
+'Peace, Adam,' said the priest. 'The field hath been taken not by me,
+but by a higher power, either good or evil--I fear the latter,' and he
+made his way to the people. True enough, the foundations were laid as
+at Whittle, and even the mortar was ready for the masons. 'I am loth
+to think that this is a sorry jest of the Evil One,' said Father
+Ambrose; 'ye must help me to outwit him, and to give him his labour
+for his pains. Let each one carry what he can, and, doubtless, Adam
+will be glad to cart the remainder,'--a proposition the burly miller
+agreed to at once. Accordingly each of the people walked off with a
+piece of wood, and Adam started for his team. Before long the field
+was cleared, and ere sunset the foundations were again laid in the
+original place, and a goodly piece of wall had been built.
+
+Grown wise by experience, the priest selected two men to watch the
+place during the night. Naturally enough, these worthies, who by no
+means liked the task, but were afraid to decline it, determined to
+make themselves as comfortable as they could under the circumstances.
+
+They therefore carried to the place a quantity of food and drink, and
+a number of empty sacks, with which they constructed an impromptu
+couch near the blazing wood fire. Notwithstanding the seductive
+influence of the liquor, they were not troubled with much company, for
+the few people who resided in the vicinity did not care to remain out
+of doors late after what Father Ambrose had said as to the proceeding
+having been a joke of Satan's. The priest, however, came to see the
+men, and after giving them his blessing, and a few words of advice, he
+left them to whatever the night might bring forth. No sooner had he
+gone than the watchers put up some boards to shield them from the
+wind, and, drawing near to the cheerful fire, they began to partake of
+a homely but plentiful supper. Considering how requisite it was that
+they should be in possession of all their wits, perhaps it would have
+been better had not a large bottle been in such frequent requisition,
+for, soon after the meal was ended, what with the effects of the
+by-no-means weak potion, the warmth and odour sent forth by the
+crackling logs, and the musical moaning of the wind in the branches
+overhead, they began to feel drowsy, to mutter complaints against the
+hardship of their lot, and to look longingly upon the heap of sacks.
+
+'If owt comes,' said the oldest of the two, 'one con see it as well as
+two, an' con wakken t' tother--theerfore I'm in for a nod.' And he at
+once flung himself upon the rude bed.
+
+'Well,' said the younger one, who was perched upon a log close to the
+fire, 'hev thi own way, an' tha'll live lunger; but I'se wakken tha
+soon, an' hev a doze mysen. That's fair, isn't it?'
+
+To this question there was no response, for the old man was already
+asleep. The younger one immediately reached the huge bottle, and after
+drinking a hearty draught from it placed it within reach, saying, as
+he did so--
+
+'I'm nooan freetunt o' thee, as heaw it is! Thaart not Belsybub, are
+ta?'
+
+Before long he bowed his head upon his hands, and gazing into the fire
+gave way to a pleasant train of reflections, in which the miller's
+daughter played a by-no-means unimportant part. In a little while he,
+too, began to doze and nod, and the ideas and thronging fancies soon
+gave way to equally delightful dreams.
+
+Day was breaking when the pair awoke; the fire was out, and the noisy
+birds were chirping their welcome to the sun. For a while the watchers
+stared at each other with well-acted surprise.
+
+'I'm freetunt tha's o'erslept thysel',' said the young fellow; 'and
+rayly I do think as I've bin noddin' a bit mysen.' And then, as he
+turned round, 'Why, it's gone ageean! Jacob, owd lad! th' foundation,
+an' th' wo's, an' o th' lots o' stooans are off t' Leyland ageean!'
+
+The field was again clear, grass and meadow flowers covering its
+expanse, and after a long conference the pair determined that the best
+course for them to pursue would be that of immediately confessing to
+Father Ambrose that they had been asleep. Accordingly they wended
+their way to his house, and having succeeded in arousing him, and
+getting him to the door, the young man informed him that once more the
+foundations were missing.
+
+'What took them?' asked the priest. To which awkward query the old man
+replied, that they did not see anything.
+
+'Then ye slept, did ye?' asked the Father.
+
+'Well,' said the young man, 'we did nod a minnit or two; but we wir
+toired wi' watchin' so closely; an', yo' see, that as con carry th'
+foundations ov a church away connot hev mich trouble i' sendin'
+unlarnt chaps loike Jacob an' me to sleep agen eaur will.'
+
+This ended the colloquy, for Father Ambrose laughed heartily at the
+ready answer. Shortly afterwards, as on the preceding day, the
+messenger from Leyland arrived with tidings that the walls had again
+appeared in Adam's field. Again they were carted back, and placed in
+their original position, and once more was a watch set, the priest
+taking the precaution of remaining with the men until near upon
+midnight. Almost directly after he had left the field one of the
+watchers suddenly started from his seat, and cried--
+
+'See yo', yonder, there's summat wick!'
+
+Both men gazed intently, and saw a huge cat, with great
+unearthly-looking eyes, and a tail with a barbed end. Without any
+seeming difficulty this terrible animal took up a large stone, and
+hopped off with it, returning almost immediately for another. This
+strange performance went on for some time, the two observers being
+nearly petrified by terror; but at length the younger one said--
+
+'I'm like to put a stop to yon wark, or hee'll say win bin asleep
+ageean,' and seizing a large piece of wood he crept down the field,
+the old man following closely behind. When he reached the cat, which
+took no notice of his approach, he lifted his cudgel, and struck the
+animal a heavy blow on its head. Before he had time to repeat it,
+however, the cat, with a piercing scream, sprang upon him, flung him
+to the ground, and fixed its teeth in his throat. The old man at once
+fled for the priest. When he returned with him, cat, foundations, and
+materials were gone; but the dead body of the poor watcher was there,
+with glazed eyes, gazing at the pitiless stars.
+
+After this terrible example of the power of the fiendish labourer it
+was not considered advisable to attempt a third removal, and the
+building was proceeded with upon the site at Leyland chosen by the
+spectre.
+
+The present parish church covers the place long occupied by the
+original building; and although all the actors in this story passed
+away centuries ago, a correct likeness of the cat has been preserved,
+and may be seen by the sceptical.{7}
+
+
+
+
+THE CAPTURED FAIRIES.
+
+
+There once lived in the little village of Hoghton two idle,
+good-for-nothing fellows, who, somehow or other, managed to exist
+without spending the day, from morn to dewy eve, at the loom. When
+their more respectable neighbours were hard at work they generally
+were to be seen either hanging about the doorway of the little
+ale-house or playing at dominoes inside the old-fashioned hostelry;
+and many a time in broad daylight their lusty voices might be heard as
+they trolled forth the hearty poaching ditty,
+
+    'It's my delight, on a shiny night.'
+
+It was understood that they had reason to sympathise with the
+sentiments expressed in the old ballad. Each was followed by a ragged,
+suspicious-looking lurcher; and as the four lounged about the place
+steady-going people shook their heads, and prophesied all sorts of
+unpleasant terminations to so unsatisfactory a career. So far as the
+dogs were concerned the dismal forebodings were verified, for from
+poaching in the society of their masters the clever lurchers took to
+doing a little on their own account, and both were shot in the pursuit
+of game by keepers, who were only too glad of an opportunity of
+ridding the neighbourhood of such misdirected intelligence. Soon after
+this unfortunate event, the two men, who themselves had a narrow
+escape, had their nets taken; and, as they were too poor to purchase
+others, and going about to borrow such articles was equivalent to
+accusing their friends of poaching habits, they were reduced to the
+necessity of using sacks whenever they visited the squire's fields.
+
+One night, after climbing the fence and making their way to a
+well-stocked warren, they put in a solitary ferret and rapidly fixed
+the sacks over the burrows. They did not wait long in anxious
+expectation of an exodus before there was a frantic rush, and after
+hastily grasping the sacks tightly round the necks, and tempting their
+missionary from the hole, they crept through the hedgerow, and at a
+sharp pace started for home. For some time they remained unaware of
+the nature of their load, and they were congratulating themselves upon
+the success which had crowned their industry, when suddenly there came
+a cry from one of the prisoners, 'Dick, wheer art ta?' The poachers
+stood petrified with alarm; and almost immediately a voice from the
+other bag piped out--
+
+    'In a sack,
+    On a back,
+    Riding up Hoghton Brow.'{8}
+
+The terrified men at once let their loads fall, and fled at the top of
+their speed, leaving behind them the bags full of fairies, who had
+been driven from their homes by the intruding ferret. Next morning,
+however, the two poachers ventured to the spot where they had heard
+the supernatural voices. The sacks neatly folded were lying at the
+side of the road, and the men took them up very tenderly, as though in
+expectation of another mysterious utterance, and crept off with them.
+
+Need it be said that those bags were not afterwards used for any
+purpose more exciting than the carriage of potatoes from the
+previously neglected bit of garden, the adventure having quite cured
+the men of any desire to 'pick up' rabbits.
+
+Like most sudden conversions, however, that of the two poachers into
+hard-working weavers was regarded with suspicion by the inhabitants of
+the old-world village, and in self-defence the whilom wastrels were
+forced to tell the story of the imprisonment of the fairies. The
+wonderful narrative soon got noised abroad; and as the changed
+characters, on many a summer evening afterwards, sat hard at work in
+their loom-house, and, perhaps almost instinctively, hummed the old
+ditty,
+
+    'It's my delight, on a shiny night,'
+
+the shock head of a lad would be protruded through the honeysuckle
+which almost covered the casement, as the grinning youngster, who had
+been patiently waiting for the weaver to commence his song and give an
+opportunity for the oft-repeated repartee, cried, 'Nay, it isn't thi
+delight; "Dick, wheer art ta?"'
+
+
+
+
+THE PILLION LADY.
+
+
+It was on a beautiful night in the middle of summer that Humphrey
+Dobson, after having transacted a day's business at Garstang market,
+and passed some mirthful hours with a number of jovial young fellows
+in the best parlour of the Ffrances Arms, with its oak furniture and
+peacock feathers, mounted his steady-going mare, and set off for home.
+He had got some distance from the little town, and was rapidly nearing
+a point where the road crossed a stream said to be haunted by the
+spirit of a female who had been murdered many years back; and although
+the moon was shining brightly, and the lonely rider could see far
+before him, there was one dark spot overshadowed by trees a little in
+advance which Humphrey feared to reach. He felt a thrill of terror as
+he suddenly remembered the many strange stories told of the headless
+woman whose sole occupation and delight seemed to be that of
+terrifying travellers; but, with a brave endeavour to laugh off his
+fears, he urged his horse forward, and attempted to troll forth the
+burden of an old song:--
+
+    'He rode and he rode till he came to the dooar,
+    And Nell came t' oppen it, as she'd done afooar:
+    "Come, get off thy horse," she to him did say,
+    "An' put it i'th' stable, an' give it some hay."'
+
+It would not do, however; and suddenly he put spurs to the mare and
+galloped towards the little bridge. No sooner did the horse's hoofs
+ring upon the stones than Humphrey heard a weird and unearthly laugh
+from beneath the arch, and, as the animal snorted and bounded forward,
+the young fellow felt an icy arm glide round his waist and a light
+pressure against his back. Drops of perspiration fell from his brow,
+and his heart throbbed wildly, but he did not dare to look behind lest
+his worst fears should be verified, and he should behold 'th' boggart
+o'th' bruk.'
+
+As though conscious of its ghastly burden, the old mare ran as she
+never had run before; the hedgerows and trees seemed to fly past,
+while sparks streamed from the flints in the road, and in an
+incredibly short space of time the farm-house was reached.
+Instinctively, Humphrey tried to guide the mare into the yard, but his
+efforts were powerless, for the terrified animal had got the bit in
+her teeth, and away she sped past the gateway.
+
+As the rider was thus borne away, another sepulchral laugh broke the
+silence, but this time it sounded so close to the horseman's ear that
+he involuntarily looked round.
+
+He found that the figure, one of whose arms was twined round his
+waist, was not the headless being of whom he had heard so many fearful
+narratives, but another and a still more terrible one, for, grinning
+in a dainty little hood, and almost touching his face, there was a
+ghastly skull, with eyeless sockets, and teeth gleaming white in the
+clear moonlight.
+
+Petrified by fear, he could not turn his head away, and, as the mare
+bore him rapidly along, ever and anon a horrid derisive laugh sounded
+in his ears as for a moment the teeth parted and then closed with a
+sudden snap. Terrified as he was, however, he noticed that the arm
+which encircled his body gradually tightened around him, and putting
+down his hand to grasp it he found it was that of a fleshless
+skeleton.
+
+How long he rode thus embraced by a spectre he knew not, but it seemed
+an age.
+
+Suddenly, however, as at a turn in the road the horse stumbled and
+fell, Humphrey, utterly unprepared for any such occurrence, was thrown
+over the animal's head and stunned by the fall.
+
+When he recovered full consciousness it was daybreak. The sun was
+rising, the birds were singing in the branching foliage overhead, and
+the old mare was quietly grazing at a distance. With great difficulty,
+for he was faint through loss of blood, and lame, he got home and told
+his story. There were several stout men about the farm who professed
+to disbelieve it, and pretended to laugh at the idea of a skeleton
+horsewoman, who, without saying with your leave or by your leave, had
+ridden pillion with the young master, but it was somewhat remarkable
+that none of them afterwards could be induced to cross the bridge over
+the haunted stream after 'th' edge o' dark.'
+
+
+
+
+THE FAIRY FUNERAL.
+
+
+There are few spots in Lancashire more likely to have been peopled by
+fairies than that portion of the highway which runs along the end of
+Penwortham wood.
+
+At all times the locality is very beautiful, but it is especially so
+in summer, when the thin line of trees on the one side of the road and
+the rustling wood upon the other cast a welcome shade upon the
+traveller, who can rest against the old railings, and look down upon a
+rich expanse of meadow-land and corn-fields, bounded in the distance
+by dim, solemn-looking hills, and over the white farm-houses, snugly
+set in the midst of luxurious vegetation. From this vantage-ground a
+flight of steps leads down to the well of St. Mary, the water of
+which, once renowned for its miraculous efficacy, is as clear as
+crystal and of never-ceasing flow.
+
+To this sacred neighbourhood thousands of pilgrims have wended their
+way; and although the legend of the holy well has been lost, it is
+easy to understand with what superstitious reverence the place would
+be approached by those whose faith was of a devout and unquestioning
+kind, and what feelings would influence those whose hearts were heavy
+with the weight of a great sorrow as they descended the steps worn by
+the feet of their countless predecessors.
+
+From the little spring a pathway winds across meadows and through
+corn-fields to the sheltered village, and a little further along the
+highway a beautiful avenue winds from the old lodge gates to the
+ancient church and priory. Wide as is this road it is more than shaded
+by the tall trees which tower on each side, their topmost branches
+almost interlaced, the sunbeams passing through the green network, and
+throwing fantastic gleams of light upon the pathway, along which so
+many have been carried to the quiet God's Acre.
+
+At the end of this long and beautiful walk stands the old priory, no
+longer occupied by the Benedictines from Evesham, the silvery sound of
+whose voices at eventide used to swell across the rippling Ribble;
+and, a little to the right of the pile, the Church of St. Mary, with
+its background of the Castle Hill.
+
+By the foot of this Ancient British and Roman outlook there is a
+little farm-house, with meadow land stretching away to the broad
+river; and one night, fifty or sixty years ago, two men, one of whom
+was a local 'cow-doctor,' whose duties had compelled him to remain
+until a late hour, set out from this dwelling to walk home to the
+straggling village of Longton. It was near upon midnight when they
+stepped forth, but it was as light as mid-day, the moon shining in all
+her beauty, and casting her glamour upon the peaceful scene. So quiet
+was it that it seemed as though even the Zephyrs were asleep. There
+was not a breath of wind, and not a leaf rustled or a blade of grass
+stirred, and had it not been for the sounds of the footsteps of the
+two men, who were rapidly ascending the rough cart-track winding up
+the side of the hill, all would have been as still as death. The sweet
+silence was a fitting one, for in the graveyard by the side of the
+lane through which the travellers were passing, and over the low
+moss-covered wall of which might be seen the old-fashioned tombstones,
+erect like so many sentinels marking the confines of the battle-field
+of life, hundreds were sleeping the sleep with which only the music of
+the leaves, the sough of the wind, and the sigh of the sea seem in
+harmony.
+
+As the two men opened the gate at the corner of the churchyard, the
+old clock sounded the first stroke of midnight.
+
+'That's twelve on 'em,' said the oldest of the two.
+
+'Ay, Adam,' said the other, a taller and much younger man. 'Another
+day's passin' away, an' it con't dee wi'eaut tellin' everybody; yet
+ther's bod few on us as tez onny notice on't, for we connot do to be
+towd as wer toime's growin' bod short. I should think as tha dusn't
+care to hear th' clock strike, Adam, to judge bith' colour o' thi
+toppin', for tha 'rt gerrin' varra wintry lookin'.'
+
+The old man chuckled at this sally, and then said, slowly and drily:--
+
+'Speyk for thisen, Robin--speyk for thisen; an' yet why should ta
+speyk at o? Choilt as tha are--an' tha art nobbut a choilt, clivver as
+tha fancies thisen--tha 'rt owd enough to mind as it's nod olus th'
+grey-heeoded uns as dees th' fost. Th' chickins fo' off th' peeark
+mooar oftener nor th' owd brids. Ther's monny an owd tree wi' nobbud a
+twothree buds o' green abaat it, to show as it wur yung wonst, as
+tha'd hev herd wark to delve up, th' roots bein' so deep i'th' graand;
+an' ther's monny a rook o' young-lukkin' uns as tha met poo up as
+yezzy as a hondful o' sallet. It teks leetnin' to kill th' owd oak,
+but th' fost nippin' woint off th' Martch yon soon puts th' bonnie
+spring posies out o' seet. If I'm growin' owd, let's hope I'm roipnin'
+as weel. Tha'rt not th' fost bit of a lad as thowt heer baan to last o
+th' tothers aat, an' as hed hardly toime to finish his crowin' afoor
+th' sexton clapt o honful o' sond i' his meauth.'
+
+This conversation brought the two beyond the gate and some distance
+along the avenue, in which the moonlight was somewhat toned by the
+thickness of the foliage above, and they were rapidly nearing the
+lodge gates, when suddenly the solemn sound of a deep-toned bell
+broke the silence. Both men stopped and listened intently.
+
+'That's th' passin'-bell,'{9} said Adam. 'Wodever con be up? I never
+knew it rung at this toime o'th' neet afooar.'
+
+'Mek less racket, will ta,' said Robin. 'Led's keep count an' see heaw
+owd it is.'
+
+Whilst the bell chimed six-and-twenty both listeners stood almost
+breathless, and then Adam said:--
+
+'He's thy age, Robin, chuz who he is.'
+
+'Ther wer no leet i 'th' belfry as wi come by, as I see on,' said the
+young man, 'I'd rayther be i' bed nor up theer towlin' ad this toime,
+wudn't tha?'
+
+'Yoi,' said Adam. 'But owd Jemmy dusn't care, an' why should he? Hee's
+bin amung th' deeod to' long to be freet'nt on 'em neet or day, wake
+an' fable as he is. I dar' say hee's fun aat afoor neaw as they'r not
+varra rough to dale wi'. Ther's nod mich feightin i'th' bury-hoyle,
+beaut ids wi' th' resurrectioners. Bud led's get to'art whoam, lad;
+we're loikely enough to larn o abaat it to-morn.'
+
+Without more words they approached the lodge, but to their great
+terror, when they were within a few yards from the little dwelling,
+the gates noiselessly swung open, the doleful tolling of the
+passing-bell being the only sound to be heard. Both men stepped back
+affrighted as a little figure clad in raiment of a dark hue, but
+wearing a bright red cap, and chanting some mysterious words in a low
+musical voice as he walked, stepped into the avenue.
+
+'Ston back, mon,' cried Adam, in a terrified voice--'ston back; it's
+th' feeorin; bud they'll not hort tha if tha dusna meddle wi' um.'
+
+The young man forthwith obeyed his aged companion, and standing
+together against the trunk of a large tree, they gazed at the
+miniature being stepping so lightly over the road, mottled by the
+stray moonbeams. It was a dainty little object; but although neither
+Adam nor Robin could comprehend the burden of the song it sang, the
+unmistakable croon of grief with which each stave ended told the
+listeners that the fairy was singing a requiem. The men kept perfectly
+silent, and in a little while the figure paused and turned round, as
+though in expectation, continuing, however, its mournful notes.
+By-and-by the voices of other singers were distinguished, and as they
+grew louder the fairy standing in the roadway ceased to render the
+verse, and sang only the refrain, and a few minutes afterwards Adam
+and Robin saw a marvellous cavalcade pass through the gateway. A
+number of figures, closely resembling the one to which their attention
+had first been drawn, walked two by two, and behind them others with
+their caps in their hands, bore a little black coffin, the lid of
+which was drawn down so as to leave a portion of the contents
+uncovered. Behind these again others, walking in pairs, completed the
+procession. All were singing in inexpressibly mournful tones, pausing
+at regular intervals to allow the voice of the one in advance to be
+heard, as it chanted the refrain of the song, and when the last couple
+had passed into the avenue, the gates closed as noiselessly as they
+had opened.
+
+As the bearers of the burden marched past the two watchers, Adam bent
+down, and, by the help of a stray gleam of moonlight, saw that there
+was a little corpse in the coffin.
+
+'Robin, mi lad,' said he, in a trembling voice and with a scared look,
+'it's th' pictur o' thee as they hev i' th' coffin!'
+
+With a gasp of terror the young man also stooped towards the
+bearers, and saw clearly enough that the face of the figure borne by
+the fairies indeed closely resembled his own, save that it was ghastly
+with the pallor and dews of death.
+
+The procession had passed ere he was able to speak, for, already much
+affrighted by the appearance of the fairies, the sight of the little
+corpse had quite unnerved him. Clinging in a terrified manner to the
+old man, he said, in a broken voice--
+
+'It raley wor me, Adam! Dust think it's a warnin', an' I'm abaat to
+dee?'
+
+The old man stepped out into the road as he replied--
+
+'It wur a quare seet, Robin, no daat; bud I've sin monny sich i' mi
+toime, an' theyne come to nowt i' th' end. Warnin' or not, haaever,'
+he added, with strong common sense, 'ther'll be no harm done bi thee
+livin' as if it wur one.'
+
+The mournful music of the strange singers and the solemn sound of the
+passing bell could still be heard, and the two awe-struck men stood
+gazing after the cavalcade.
+
+'It mon be a warnin', again said Robin, 'an' I wish I'd axed um haa
+soon I've to dee. Mebbee they'n a towd me.'
+
+'I don't think they wod,' said Adam. 'I've olus heeard as they'r rare
+and vext if they'r spokken to. Theyn happen a done tha some lumberment
+if tha 'ad axed owt.'
+
+'They could but a kilt mi,' replied Robin, adding, with that grim
+humour which so often accompanies despair, 'an' they're buryin' mi
+neaw, ar'nod they?' Then in a calm and firm voice he said--'I'm baan
+to ax 'em, come wod will. If tha 'rt freetent tha con goo on whoam.'
+
+'Nay, nay,' said Adam warmly, 'I'm nooan scaret. If tha'rt for
+catechoizing um, I'll see th' end on it.'
+
+Without further parley the men followed after and soon overtook the
+procession, which was just about to enter the old churchyard, the
+gates of which, like those of the lodge, swung open apparently of
+their own accord, and no sooner did Robin come up with the bearers
+than, in a trembling voice, he cried--
+
+'Winnot yo' tell mi haaw lung I've to live?'
+
+There was not any answer to this appeal, the little figure in front
+continuing to chant its refrain with even deepened mournfulness.
+Imagining that he was the leader of the band, Robin stretched out his
+hand and touched him. No sooner had he done this than, with startling
+suddenness, the whole cavalcade vanished, the gates banged to with a
+loud clang, deep darkness fell upon everything, the wind howled and
+moaned round the church and the tombstones in the graveyard, the
+branches creaked and groaned overhead, drops of rain pattered upon the
+leaves, mutterings of thunder were heard, and a lurid flash of
+lightning quivered down the gloomy avenue.
+
+'I towd tha haa it ud be,' said Adam, and Robin simply answered--
+
+'I'm no worse off than befooar. Let's mak' toart whoam; bud say nowt
+to aar fowk--it ud nobbut freeten th' wimmin.'
+
+Before the two men reached the lodge gates a terrible storm burst over
+them, and through it they made their way to the distant village.
+
+A great change came over Robin, and from being the foremost in every
+countryside marlock he became serious and reserved, invariably at the
+close of the day's work rambling away, as though anxious to shun
+mankind, or else spending the evening at Adam's talking over 'th'
+warnin'.' Strange to say, about a month afterwards he fell from a
+stack, and after lingering some time, during which he often
+deliriously rambled about the events of the dreadful night, he dozed
+away, Old Jemmy, the sexton, had another grave to open, and the
+grey-headed Adam was one of the bearers who carried Robin's corpse
+along the avenue in which they had so short a time before seen the
+fairy funeral.{10}
+
+
+
+
+THE CHIVALROUS DEVIL.
+
+
+About half-a-century ago there lived, in a lane leading away from a
+little village near Garstang, a poor idiot named Gregory. He was at
+once the sport and the terror of the young folks. Uniformly kind to
+them, carefully convoying them to the spots where, in his lonely
+rambles, he had noticed birds' nests, or pressing upon them the wild
+flowers he had gathered in the neighbouring woods and thickets, he
+received at their ungrateful hands all kinds of ill treatment, not
+always stopping short of personal violence. In this respect, however,
+the thoughtless children only followed the example set them by their
+elders, for seldom did poor Gregory pass along the row of cottages,
+dignified by the name of street, which constituted the village,
+without an unhandsome head being projected from the blacksmith's or
+cobbler's shop, or from a doorway, and a cruel taunt being sent after
+the idiot, who, in his ragged clothing, with his handful of harebells
+and primroses, and a wreath of green leaves round his battered, old
+hat, jogged along towards his mother's cottage, singing as he went, in
+a pathetic monotone, a snatch of an old Lancashire ballad.
+
+In accordance with that holy law which, under such circumstances,
+influences woman's heart, the mother loved this demented lad with
+passionate fondness, all the tenderness with which her nature had been
+endowed having been called forth by the needs of the afflicted child,
+whose only haven of refuge from the harshness of his surroundings and
+the cruelty of those who, had not they been as ignorant as the hogs
+they fed, would have pitied and protected him, was her breast.
+Lavishing all her affection upon the poor lad, she had no kindness to
+spare for those who tormented him; and abstaining from any of those
+melodramatic and vulgar curses with which a person of less education
+would have followed those who abused her child, she studiously held
+herself aloof from her neighbours, and avoided meeting them, except
+when she was compelled to purchase food or other articles for her
+little household. This conduct gave an excuse for much ill
+feeling, and as the woman had no need to toil for her daily bread, and
+as her cottage was the neatest in the district, there was much
+jealousy.
+
+One night, at a jovial gathering, it was arranged that a practical
+joke, of what was considered a very humorous kind, should be played
+upon the idiot. The boors selected one of their party, whose task it
+should be to attire himself in a white sheet, and to emerge into the
+lane when the poor lad should make his appearance. In accordance with
+this plan the pack of hobbledehoys watched the cottage night after
+night, in the hope of seeing the idiot leave the dwelling, and at
+length their patience was rewarded. They immediately hid themselves in
+the ditch, while the mock ghost concealed himself behind the trunk of
+a tree. The lad, not suspecting any evil, came along, humming, in his
+melancholy monotone, the usual fragment, and just before he reached
+the tree the sheeted figure slowly stepped forth to the accompaniment
+of the groanings and bellowings of his associates. They had expected
+to see the idiot flee in terror; but instead of so doing, he laughed
+loudly at the white figure, and then suddenly, as the expression of
+his face changed to one of intense interest, he shouted, 'Oh, oh! a
+black one! a black one!' Sure enough, a dark and terrible figure stood
+in the middle of the road. The mock ghost fled, with his companions at
+his heels, the real spectre chasing them hotly, and the idiot bringing
+up the rear, shouting at the top of his voice, 'Run, black devil!
+catch white devil!'
+
+They were not long in reaching the village, down the street of which
+they ran faster than they ever had run before. Several of them darted
+into the smithy, where the blacksmith was scattering the sparks right
+and left as he hammered away at the witch-resisting horseshoes, and
+others fled into the inn, where they startled the gathered company of
+idle gossips; but the mock ghost kept on wildly, looking neither to
+the left nor to the right. The idiot had kept close behind the phantom
+at the heels of the mock ghost, and when at the end of the village the
+spectre vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, the lad ran a little
+faster and took its place. Of this, however, the white-sheeted young
+fellow was not aware, and, fearing every moment that the shadow would
+catch him in its awful embrace, he dashed down a by lane. Before he
+got very far, however, the idiot, who had gradually been lessening the
+distance between them, overtook and seized him by the neck. With a
+terrible cry the rustic fell headlong into the ditch, dragging Gregory
+with him as he fell. The latter was soon upon his feet, and dancing
+about the lane as he cried, 'Catch white devil! catch white devil!'
+The mock ghost, however, lay quiet enough among the nettles.
+
+Roused by the story told by the affrighted ones who had rushed so
+unceremoniously into their presence, as well as by the startling cry
+of 'Run, black devil! catch white devil!' which the idiot had shouted
+as he sped past the door, several of the topers emerged from their
+abiding place; and as nothing could be seen of either mock ghost,
+spectre, or idiot, they bravely determined to go in search of them. As
+they passed along the road from the village, their attention was
+attracted by the cries which seemed to come from the lonely lane, and
+somewhat nervously making their way along it, they soon saw the idiot
+dancing about the side of the ditch. With a sudden access of courage,
+due to the presence of anything human, however weak, they hurried
+along, and as they drew nearer, the idiot paused in his gambols, and
+pointed to the mock ghost, who lay stretched in the shadow of the
+hedgerow. He was soon carried away to the village, where he lay ill
+for weeks.
+
+The kindness of Gregory's mother to the sick lad's parents, who were
+very poor and could ill afford to provide the necessary comforts his
+condition required, caused public feeling to turn in her favour, and
+those who formerly had been loudest in defaming her became her warmest
+eulogists. Between the idiot and the young fellow, too, a strange
+friendship sprang up, and the pair might often be seen passing along
+the lanes, the idiot chanting his melancholy fragments to the
+companion whose cap he had adorned with wreaths of wild flowers.
+
+With such a protector the idiot was quite safe, and, indeed, had the
+village children been wishful to torment Gregory, if the presence of
+this companion had not sufficed to restrain them, they had only to
+remember that it was in defence of poor Gregory the Evil One himself
+had raced through the village.{11}
+
+
+
+
+THE ENCHANTED FISHERMAN.
+
+
+There are few views in the north of England more beautiful than that
+which is seen from Morecambe, as the spectator looks over the
+beautiful bay, with its crescent coast-line of nearly fifty miles in
+extent. At low water the dazzling sands, streaked by silvery deceptive
+channels, stretch to the distant glimmering sea, the music of whose
+heavings comes but faintly on the gentle breeze; but at tide-time a
+magnificent expanse of rolling waves sweeps away to Peel, and is
+dotted over with red-sailed fishing boats and coasters. Far to the
+north the huge heather-covered Furness Fells stand sentinel-like over
+the waters, and above them, dimly seen through the faint blue haze,
+tower the grand mountains of the magic lake country. The scene is full
+of a sweet dream-like beauty; but there are times when the beautiful
+is swallowed in the majestic, as the mists come creeping over the sea,
+obscuring the coasts, and hiding everything save the white caps of the
+waves gleaming in the darkness, through which the muttering diapasons
+of the wind, as though in deep distress, sound mysteriously; or when,
+in winter, the moon is hidden by scudding clouds, and the huge
+rollers, driven before the breeze, dash themselves to death, as upon
+the blast come the solemn boom of a signal gun, and the faint cries of
+those in danger on the deep.
+
+Years ago, however, before the little village of Poulton changed its
+name, and began to dream of becoming a watering-place, with terraces
+and hotels, instead of the picturesque, tumble-down huts of the
+fishermen, against which, from time immemorial, the spray had been
+dashed by the salt breezes, the only people who gazed upon the lovely
+prospect were, with the exception of an occasional traveller, the
+families of the toilers of the sea, and the rough-looking men
+themselves. These hardy fellows, accustomed to a wild life, and whose
+days from childhood had been spent on or by the sea, loved the deep
+with as much tenderness as a strong man feels towards a weak and
+wayward maiden, for they were familiar with its every mood, with the
+soothing wash of its wavelets when the sunbeams kissed the foam-bells,
+as they died on the white sands, and with the noise of the thunder of
+the breakers chased up the beach by the roaring gales.
+
+One evening a number of these men were seated in the cosy kitchen of
+the John-o'-Gaunt, listening to 'Owd England' as he narrated some of
+his strange experiences.
+
+'I moind,' said he, 'when I was nobbut a bit of a lad, Tum Grisdale
+bein' dreawnt; an' now as we're tawkin' abeaut th' dangers o' th'
+sonds, yo'll mebbi hearken to th' tale. Poor Tum was th' best cockler
+i' Hest Bank, an' as ust to th' sands as a choilt is to th' face o'
+its mother; but for o that he wir dreawnt on 'em after o. I can co to
+moind yet--for young as I wor I're owd enough to think a bit when owt
+quare happent, an' th' seet o' th' deead bodies th' next ebb wir wi'
+me day an' neet fur lung afterwart--th' day when Tum an' his missis
+an' th' two lasses seet eawt o' seein' some relations o' th' missis's
+soide, as livt i' th' Furness country yon, th' owd mon an' th'
+dowters i' th' shandray, an' th' missis ridin' upo' th' cowt at th'
+soide. It wir a gradely bonnie afternoon, at th' back eend o' th'
+year. Th' day as they should o come back wir varra misty; an' abaat
+th' edge o' dark, just as here an' theear a leet wir beginnin' to
+twinkle i' th' windows, an' th' stars to peep aat, th' noise ov a cart
+comin' crunchin' o'er th' beach tuk mi feyther to th' door. "Why,
+yon's owd Tum Grisdale cart back ageean," he cried eaut. An' he dartit
+eawt o' th' dur, an' me after, as fast as I could. A creawd o' folk
+an' childer soon gathert reawnt, wonderin' what wir up; but neawt
+could bi larnt, for though th' lasses as seet eawt, as breet an'
+bonnie as posies o gillivers, wir theear i' th' shandray, they wir too
+freetent an' dazed, an' too wake wi' th' weet an' cowd, to say a
+whord. One thing, however, wir sewer enough, th' owd folk hedn't come
+back; an' altho' th' toide then hed covert th' track, an' wir shinin'
+i' th' moonleet, wheear th' mist could bi sin through, just as if it
+hedn't mony a Hest Bank mon's life to answer for, a lot o' young
+cocklers wir for startin' off theear an' then i' search on 'em. Th'
+owder an' mooar expayrienced, heawiver, wodn't hear on it. Two lives
+i' one day wir quoite enough, they said; so they o waitit till th'
+ebb, an' then startit, me, loile as i'wir, among th' rest, for mi
+feyther wir too tekken up i' talking to send me whoam. It wir a sad
+outin', but it wir loively compaart wi' t' comin' back, for when we
+tornt toart Hest Bank, th' strungest o' th' lads carriet owd Tum an'
+his missis, for we hedn't getten far o'er th' sonds afooar we feawnt
+th' poor owd lass, an' not far off, i' th' deep channel, owd Tum
+hissel. They wir buriet i' th' owd church-yart, an' one o' th' lasses
+wir laid aside on 'em, th' freet hevin' bin too mich for her. When t'
+tother sister recovert a bit, an' could bide to talk abaat it, hoo
+said as they geet lost i' th' mist, an' th' owd mon left 'em i' th'
+shandray while he walkt a bit to foind th' channel. When he didn't
+come back they geet freetent, but t' owd woman wodn't stir fray th'
+spot till they heeart t' watters comin', an' then they went a bit fur,
+but could find nowt o' Tum, though they thowt neaw an' then they could
+heear him sheautin' to 'em. Th' sheawts, heawiver, geet fainter an'
+fainter, an' at last stopt o' together. Givin' thersels up for lost,
+they left th' reins to th' mare an' t' cowt. Th' poor owd lass wir
+quoite daz't at th' absence o' Tum; an' as th' cowt wir swimmin'
+across th' channel hoo lost her howd, an' wir carriet away. Th' lasses
+knew neawt no mooar, th' wench olus said, till th' fowk run deawn to
+th' cart uppo' th' beach. Hor as wir left, hoo wir olus quare at
+after; an' hoo uset to walk alung t' bay at o heawers just at th'
+toide toime, yo' known, an' it wir pitiful t' heear her when th' woint
+wir a bit sriller nor usal, sayin' as hoo could heear her owd
+fayther's voice as he sheauted when hee'd wander't fray 'em an'
+couldn't foint way to 'em through t' mist. Hoo afterwarts went to
+sarvice at Lankister, to a place as th' paason fun' for her, i' th'
+idea o' th' change dooin' her good; but it worn't lung afooar th' news
+come as hoo wir i' th' 'sylum, an' I heeart as hoo deed theear some
+toime after.'
+
+No sooner had the grey-headed old fisherman finished his story than
+one of the auditors said, 'Hoo met weel fancy hoo heeart th' voice ov
+her fayther, for monnie a neet, an' monnie another hev I heeart that
+cry mysen. Yo' may stare, bud theear's mooar saands to be heeard i'
+th' bay nor some o' yo' lads known on; an' I'm no choilt to be
+freetent o' bein' i' th' dark. Why nobbut th' neet afooar last I
+heeart a peal o' bells ringin' under th' watter.'{12} There was a
+moment of surprise, for Roger Heathcote was not a likely man to be a
+victim to his own fancies, or to be influenced by the superstitions
+which clung to his fellows. Like the rest of his companions, he had
+spent the greatest portion of his life away from land; and either
+because he possessed keener powers of observation than they, or loved
+nature more, and therefore watched her more closely, he had gradually
+added to his store of knowledge, until he had become the recognised
+authority on all matters connected with the dangerous calling by which
+the men-folk of the little colony earned daily bread for their
+families. As he was by no means addicted to yarns, looks of wonder
+came over the faces of the listeners; and in deference to the wishes
+of Old England, who pressed him as to what he had heard and seen,
+Roger narrated the adventure embodied in this story.{13}
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The fisherman's little boat was dancing lightly on the rippling waters
+of the bay.
+
+The night was perfectly calm, the moon shining faintly through a thin
+mist which rested on the face of the deep. It was nearly midnight, and
+Roger was thinking of making for home, when he heard the sweet sounds
+of a peal of bells. Not without astonishment, he endeavoured to
+ascertain from what quarter the noises came, and, strange and unlikely
+as it seemed, it appeared that the chimes rang up through the water,
+upon which, with dreamy motion, his boat was gliding. Bending over the
+side of the skiff he again heard with singular distinctness the music
+of the bells pealing in weird beauty. For some time he remained in
+this attitude, intently listening to the magical music, and when he
+arose, the mist had cleared off, and the moon was throwing her lovely
+light upon the waters, and over the distant fells. Instead, however,
+of beholding a coast with every inch of which he was acquainted, Roger
+gazed upon a district of which he knew nothing. There were mountains,
+but they were not those whose rugged outlines were so vividly
+impressed upon his memory. There was a beach, but it was not the one
+where his little cottage stood with its light in the window and its
+background of wind-bent trees. The estuary into which his boat was
+gliding was not that of the Kent, with its ash and oak-covered crags.
+Everything seemed unreal, even the streaming moonlight having an
+unusual whiteness, and Roger rapidly hoisted his little sails, but
+they only flapped idly against the mast, as the boat, in obedience to
+an invisible and unknown agency, drifted along the mysterious looking
+river. As the fisherman gazed in helpless wonder, gradually the water
+narrowed, and in a short time a cove was gained, the boat grating upon
+the gleaming sand. Roger at once jumped upon the bank, and no sooner
+had he done so, than a number of little figures clad in green ran
+towards him from beneath a clump of trees, the foremost of them
+singing--
+
+    To the home of elf and fay,
+      To the land of nodding flowers,
+    To the land of Ever Day
+      Where all things own the Fay Queen's powers,
+              Mortal come away!
+
+and the remainder dancing in circles on the grass, and joining in the
+refrain--
+
+    To the home of elf and fay,
+    To the land of Ever Day,
+        Mortal come away!
+
+The song finished, the little fellow who had taken the solo, tripped
+daintily to Roger, and, with a mock bow, grasped one of the fingers of
+the fisherman's hand, and stepped away as though anxious to lead him
+from the water.
+
+Assuming that he had come upon a colony of Greenies, and feeling
+assured that such tiny beings could not injure him, even if anxious to
+do so, Roger walked on with his conductor, the band dancing in a
+progressing circle in front of them, until a wood was reached, when
+the dancers broke up the ring and advanced in single file between the
+trees. The light grew more and more dim, and when the cavalcade
+reached the entrance to a cavern, Roger could hardly discern the
+Greenies. Clinging to the little hand of his guide, however, the
+undaunted fisherman entered the cave, and groped his way down a flight
+of mossy steps. Suddenly he found himself in a beautiful glade, in
+which hundreds of little figures closely resembling his escort, and
+wearing dainty red caps, were disporting themselves and singing--
+
+    Moonbeams kissing odorous bowers
+    Light our home amid the flowers;
+
+    While our beauteous King and Queen
+    Watch us dance on rings of green.
+      Rings of green, rings of green,
+      Dance, dance, dance, on rings of green.
+
+No sooner had the fisherman entered the glade than the whole party
+crowded round him, but as they did so a strain of enchanting music was
+heard, and the little beings hopped away again, and whirled round in a
+fantastic waltz. Roger himself was so powerfully influenced by the
+melody that he flung himself into the midst of the dancers, who
+welcomed him with musical cries, and he capered about until sheer
+fatigue forced him to sink to rest upon a flowery bank. Here, after
+watching for a while the graceful gambols of the Greenies, and soothed
+by the weird music, the sensuous odours, and the dreamy light, he fell
+into a deep sleep. When he awoke from his slumber the fairies had
+vanished, and the fisherman felt very hungry. No sooner, however, had
+he wished for something to eat than on the ground before him there
+appeared a goodly array of delicacies, of which, without more ado,
+Roger partook.
+
+'I'm in luck's way here,' he said to himself; 'It's not every day of
+the week I see a full table like this. I should like to know where I
+am, though.' As the wish passed his lips he saw before him a beautiful
+little being, who said in a sweet low voice--
+
+    In the land of nodding flowers,
+    Where all things own the Fay Queen's powers!
+
+The fisherman no sooner saw the exquisite face of the dainty Greenie
+than he forgot altogether the rosy-cheeked wife at home, and fell
+hopelessly over head and ears in love with the sweet vision. Gazing
+into her beautiful eyes he blurted out, 'I don't care where it is if
+you are there.' With a smile the queen, for it was indeed the queen,
+seated herself at his side. 'Dost thou, Mortal, bow to my power?'
+asked she. 'Ay, indeed, do I to the forgetfulness of everything but
+thy bonny face,' answered Roger; upon which the queen burst into a
+hearty fit of laughter, so musical, however, that for the life of him
+the fisherman could not feel angry with her. 'If the king were to hear
+thee talking thus thou wouldst pay dearly for thy presumption,' said
+the Fay, as she rose and tripped away to the shadow of the trees. The
+enraptured Roger endeavoured to overtake her before she reached the
+oaks, but without success; and though he wandered through the wood
+for hours, he did not again catch a glimpse of her. He gained an
+appetite by the freak however, and no sooner had he wished for food
+again than dishes of rich viands appeared before him.
+
+'I wish I could get money at this rate,' said the fisherman, and the
+words had hardly left his lips when piles of gold ranged themselves
+within his reach. Roger rapidly filled his pockets with the glittering
+coins, and even took the shoes from off his feet, and filled them
+also, and then slung them round his neck by the strings.
+
+'Now, if I could but get to my boat,' thought he, 'my fortune would be
+made,' and accordingly he began to make his way in what he believed to
+be the direction of the river. He had not proceeded very far, however,
+when he emerged upon an open space surrounded by tall foxgloves,{14}
+in all the beautiful bells of which dreamy-eyed little beings were
+swinging lazily as the quiet zephyr rocked their perfumed dwellings.
+Some of the Greenies were quite baby fairies not so large as Roger's
+hand, but none of them seemed alarmed at the presence of a mortal. A
+score of larger ones were hard at work upon the sward stitching
+together moth and butterfly wings for a cloak for their Queen, who,
+seated upon a mushroom, was smiling approvingly as she witnessed the
+industry of her subjects. Roger felt a sudden pang as he observed her,
+for although he was glad once more to behold the marvellous beauty of
+her face, he was jealous of a dainty dwarf in a burnished suit of
+beetles' wing cases and with a fantastic peaked cap in which a red
+feather was coquettishly stuck, for this personage he suspected was
+the King, and forgetting his desire to escape with the gold, and at
+once yielding to his feelings, he flung himself on the luxuriant grass
+near the little being whose weird loveliness had thrown so strange a
+glamour over him, and without any thought or fear as to the
+consequences he at once bent himself and kissed one of her dainty
+sandalled feet. No sooner had he performed this rash act of devotion
+than numberless blows fell upon him from all sides, but he was unable
+to see any of the beings by whom he was struck. Instinctively the
+fisherman flung his huge fists about wildly, but without hitting any
+of the invisible Greenies, whose tantalising blows continued to fall
+upon him. At length, however, wearying of the fruitless contest, he
+roared out, 'I wish I were safe in my boat in the bay,' and almost
+instantaneously he found himself in the little skiff, which was
+stranded high and dry upon the Poulton beach. The shoes which he had
+so recently filled with glittering pieces of gold and suspended round
+his neck were again upon his feet, his pockets were as empty as they
+were when he had put out to sea some hours before, and somewhat
+dubious and very disgusted, in a few minutes he had crept off to bed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When the strange tale of the fisherman's wonderful adventure with the
+hill folk was ended, the unbelievers did not hesitate to insinuate
+that Roger had not been out in the bay at all, and that the land of
+nodding flowers might be found by anyone who stayed as long and
+chalked up as large a score at the John-o'-Gaunt as he had done on the
+night when he heard the submerged bells and had so unusual a catch.
+
+Others, however, being less sceptical, many were the little boats that
+afterwards went on unsuccessful voyages in search of the mysterious
+estuary and the colony of Greenies, and a year afterwards, when a
+sudden gale swept over the restless face of the deep and cast Roger's
+boat bottom upwards upon the sandy beach, many believed that the
+fisherman had again found the land of Ever Day.
+
+
+
+
+THE SANDS OF COCKER.
+
+
+The quiet little village of Cockerham is hardly the spot one would
+expect to find selected as a place of residence by a gentleman of
+decidedly fast habits, and to whom a latch-key is indispensable; yet
+once upon a time the Evil One himself, it is said, took up his
+quarters in the go-to-bed-early hamlet. It hardly need be stated that
+the undesirable resident caused no small stir in the hitherto drowsy
+little place. Night after night he prowled about with clanking chains,
+and shed an unpleasantly-suggestive odour of sulphur, that rose to the
+diamond-paned windows and crept through cracks and chinks to the nasal
+organs of the horrified villagers, who had been disturbed by the
+ringing of the Satanic bracelets, and, fearing to sleep whilst there
+was so strong a smell of brimstone about, lay awake, thinking of the
+sins they had committed, or intended to commit if they escaped 'Old
+Skrat.'
+
+Before the wandering perfumer had thus, above a score of times,
+gratuitously fumigated the villagers, a number of the more daring
+ones, whose courage rose when they found that after all they were not
+flown away with, resolved that they would have a meeting, at which the
+unjustifiable conduct of a certain individual should be discussed, and
+means be devised of ridding the village of his odoriferous presence.
+In accordance with this determination, a gathering was announced for
+noonday, for the promoters of the movement did not dare to assemble
+after sunset to discuss such a subject. After a few cursory remarks
+from the chairman, and a long and desultory discussion as to the best
+way of getting rid of the self-appointed night watchman, it was
+settled that the schoolmaster, as the most learned man in the place,
+should be the deputation, and have all the honour and profit of an
+interview with the nocturnal rambler.
+
+Strange as it may appear, the pedagogue was nothing loath to accept
+the office, for if there was one thing more than another for which he
+had longed, it was an opportunity of immortalising himself; the daily
+round of life in the village certainly affording but few chances of
+winning deathless fame. He therefore at once agreed to take all the
+risks if he might also have all the glory. Not that he purposed to go
+to the Devil; no, the mountain should come to Mahomet; the Evil One
+should have the trouble of coming to him.
+
+His determination was loudly applauded by the assembled villagers,
+each of whom congratulated himself upon an escape from the dangerous,
+if noble, task of ridding the place of an intolerable nuisance.
+
+There was no time to be lost, and a night or two afterwards, no sooner
+had the clock struck twelve, than the schoolmaster, who held a branch
+of ash and a bunch of vervain in his hand, chalked the conventional
+circle{15} upon the floor of his dwelling, stepped within it, and in
+a trembling voice began to repeat the Lord's Prayer backwards. When he
+had muttered about half of the spell thunder began to roar in the
+distance; rain splashed on the roof, and ran in streams from the
+eaves; a gust of wind moaned round the house, rattling the loose
+leaded panes, shaking the doors, and scattering the embers upon the
+hearth. At the same time the solitary light, which had begun to burn a
+pale and ghastly blue, was suddenly extinguished, as though by an
+invisible hand; but the terrified schoolmaster was not long left in
+darkness, for a vivid flash of lightning illuminated the little
+chamber, and almost blinded the would-be necromancer, who tried to
+gabble a prayer in the orthodox manner, but his tongue refused to
+perform its office, and clave to the roof of his mouth.
+
+At that moment, could he have made his escape, he would willingly have
+given to the first comer all the glory he had panted to achieve; but
+even had he dared to leave the magic circle, there was not time to do
+so, for almost immediately there was a second blast of wind, before
+which the trees bent like blades of grass, a second flash lighted up
+the room, a terrible crash of thunder shook the house to its
+foundations, and, as a number of evil birds, uttering doleful cries,
+dashed themselves through the window, the door burst open, and the
+schoolmaster felt that he was no longer alone.
+
+An instantaneous silence, dreadful by reason of the contrast,
+followed, and the moon peeped out between the driving clouds and threw
+its light into the chamber. The birds perched themselves upon the
+window sill and ceased to cry, and with fiery-looking eyes peered into
+the room, and suddenly the trembling amateur saw the face of the dark
+gentleman whose presence only a few minutes before he had so eagerly
+desired.
+
+Overpowered by the sight, his knees refused to bear him up, what
+little hair had not been removed from his head by the stupidity of the
+rising generation stood on end, and with a miserable groan he sank
+upon his hands and knees, but, fortunately for himself, within the
+magic ring, round which the Evil One was running rapidly. How long
+this gratuitous gymnastic entertainment continued he knew not, for he
+was not in a state of mind to judge of the duration of time, but it
+seemed an age to the unwilling observer, who, afraid of having the
+Devil behind him, and yielding to a mysterious mesmeric influence,
+endeavoured, by crawling round backward, to keep the enemy's face in
+front. At length, however, the saltatory fiend asked in a shrill and
+unpleasant voice,
+
+'Rash fool, what wantest thou with me? Couldst thou not wait until in
+the ultimate and proper course of things we had met?'
+
+Terrified beyond measure not only at the nature of the pertinent
+question, but also by the insinuation and the piercing and horrible
+tone in which it was spoken, the tenant of the circle knew not what
+reply to make, and merely stammered and stuttered--
+
+'Good Old Nick,{16} go away for ever, and'--
+
+'Take thee with me,' interrupted the Satanic one quickly. 'Even so;
+such is my intent.'
+
+Upon this the poor wretch cried aloud in terror, and again the Evil
+One began to hop round and round and round the ring, evidently in the
+hope of catching a part of the body of the occupant projecting over
+the chalk mark.
+
+'Is there no escape,' plaintively asked the victim in his extremity,
+'is there no escape?'
+
+Upon this Old Nick suddenly stopped his gambols and quietly said,
+
+'Three chances of escape shalt thou have,{17} but if thou failest,
+then there is no appeal. Set me three tasks, and if I cannot perform
+any one of them, then art thou free.'
+
+There was a glimmer of hope in this, and the shivering necromancer
+brightened up a little, actually rising from his ignoble position and
+once more standing erect, as he gleefully said,
+
+'I agree.'
+
+'Ah, ah,' said the Evil One _sotto voce_.
+
+'Count the raindrops on the hedgerows from here to Ellel,' cried the
+schoolmaster.
+
+'Thirteen,' immediately answered Satan, 'the wind I raised when I came
+shook all the others off.'
+
+'One chance gone,' said the wizard, whose knees again began to
+manifest signs of weakness.
+
+There was a short pause, the schoolmaster evidently taking time to
+consider, for, after all, life, even in a place like Cockerham, was
+sweet in comparison with what might be expected in the society of the
+odoriferous one whose mirth was so decidedly ill-timed and unmusical.
+The silence was not of long continuance, however, for the Evil One
+began to fear that a detestably early cock might crow, and thereby
+rescue the trembling one from his clutches. In his impatience,
+therefore, he knocked upon the floor with his cloven hoof and whistled
+loudly, after the manner followed now-a-days by dirty little patrons
+of the drama, perched high in the gallery of a twopenny theatre, and
+again danced rapidly round the ring in what the tenant deemed
+unnecessary proximity to the chalk mark.
+
+'Count the ears of corn in old Tithepig's field,' suddenly cried the
+schoolmaster.
+
+'Three millions and twenty-six,' at once answered Satan.
+
+'I have no way of checking it,' moaned the pedagogue.
+
+'Ah, ah,' bellowed the fiend, who now, instead of hopping round the
+ring, capered in high glee about the chamber.
+
+'Ho, ho!' laughed the schoolmaster, 'I have it! Here it is! Ho, ho!
+Twist a rope of sand{18} and wash it in the river Cocker without
+losing a grain.'
+
+The Evil One stepped out of the house, to the great relief of its
+occupier, who at once felt that the atmosphere was purer; but in a few
+minutes he returned with the required rope of sand.
+
+'Come along,' said he, 'and see it washed.' And he swung it over his
+shoulder, and stepped into the lane.
+
+In the excitement of the moment the wizard had almost involuntarily
+stepped out of the magic circle, when suddenly he bethought himself of
+the danger, and drily said--
+
+'Thank you; I'll wait here. By the light of the moon I can see you
+wash it.'
+
+The baffled fiend, without more ado, stepped across to the rippling
+streamlet, and dipped the rope into the water, but when he drew it out
+he gave utterance to a shout of rage and disappointment, for half of
+it had been washed away.
+
+'Hurrah!' shouted the schoolmaster. 'Cockerham against the world!' And
+as in his joy he jumped out of the ring, the Evil One, instead of
+seizing him, in one stride crossed Pilling Moss and Broadfleet, and
+vanished, and from that night to the present day Cockerham has been
+quite free from Satanic visits.{19}
+
+
+
+
+THE SILVER TOKEN.
+
+
+Believe i' Fairies? 'Ay, that I do, though I never clapped mi een on
+'em,' said old Nancy to a group of gaping listeners seated by the
+farm-house kitchen fire.
+
+'That's quare,' remarked a sceptical young woman in the ingle nook.
+
+Old Nancy gave her a scornful glance, and then went on:--
+
+'I never see'd a fairy as I know on, but I used to sarve one on 'em
+wi' milk. Yo' mon stare; but th' way on it wir this. I wir at mi wark
+i' th' dairy one day, abaat th' edge o' dark, when o ov a suddent a
+loile jug clapt itsel daan afooar mi on th' stooan. Yo' may be sure I
+wir fair capt, for wheear it come fray, or heaw it geet theear, I
+couldn't mek aat. I stoopt mi daan to pike howd on it, and it met a'
+bin silver, it wir that breet and bonnie; but it wir as leet as a
+feather, an' I couldn't tell what it wir med on. I wir baan to set it
+o' th' stooan again, when I seed at a new sixpenny bit hed bin put
+theer wi' it, so it struck mi as milk wir wantit. Accordingly I fillt
+th' jug and seet it daan again, an' welly as soon as I'd clapt it
+wheear I fun' it, it up an' whipt eaut o' seet. Well I thowt it
+meeterly quare, bud I'd heeard mi feyther say, monny an' monny a
+toime, as thuse as geet fairy brass gin 'em should tell nubry, so I
+kept it to mysen, though I'd hard wark, yo' may be sure. Every neet
+th' jug an' th' sixpenny bit clapt theirsens o' th' stooan as reglar
+as milkin' toime, an' I fillt th' jug and piked up th' brass. At last,
+ha'ever, I thowt happen no lumber could come on it if I towd nobbut
+one, so when Roger theear and me settlet a beein wed I towd him what
+sooart ov a nest-egg I'd getten so quarely. Mi feyther wir reet,
+ha'ever, for th' next neet nayther jug nor th' sixpenny bit showed
+thersels, an' fray that day to this I've sin no mooar on 'em, an' it's
+ower forty year sin I piked up th' last brass.{3}
+
+
+
+
+THE HEADLESS WOMAN.
+
+(BEAWT HEEOD.)
+
+
+It was near upon twelve when Gabriel Fisher bade good night to the
+assembled roysterers who were singing and shouting in the kitchen of
+the White Bull, at Longridge, and, turning his back to the cosy
+hearth, upon which a huge log was burning, emerged into the moonlit
+road. With his dog Trotty close at his heels, he struck out manfully
+towards Tootal Height and Thornley, for he had a long and lonely walk
+before him. It was a clear and frosty night, but occasionally a light
+cloud sailed across the heavens, and obscured the moon. Rapidly
+passing between the two rows of cottages which constituted the little
+straggling village, his footsteps ringing upon the frozen ground,
+Gabriel made for the fells, and, as he hurried along, he hummed to
+himself a line of the last song he had heard, and now and again burst
+into a fit of laughter as he remembered a humorous story told by 'Owd
+Shuffler.' When he reached the highest point of the road whence he
+could see the beautiful Chipping valley, a soft breeze was whispering
+among the fir-trees, with that faint rustle suggestive of the gentle
+fall of waves upon a beach. Here and there a little white farm-house
+or labourer's cottage was gleaming in the moonlight, but the inmates
+had been asleep for hours. There was an air of loneliness and mystery
+over everything; and though Gabriel would have scorned to admit that
+he was afraid of anything living or dead, before he had passed out of
+the shadow of the weird-looking melodious branches he found himself
+wishing for other company than that of his dog. He suddenly
+remembered, too, with no access of pleasurable feelings, that on the
+previous day he had seen a solitary magpie, and all sorts of stories
+of 'Banister Dolls' and 'Jinny Greenteeths,' with which his youthful
+soul had been carefully harrowed, came across his mind. He tried to
+laugh at these recollections, but the attempt was by no means a
+successful one, and he gave expression to a hearty wish that Kemple
+End were not quite so far off.
+
+Just then a sharp shrill cry fell upon his ear, and then another and
+another. 'Th' Gabriel Ratchets,'{33} he shouted, 'what's abaat to
+happen?' The cries were not repeated, however, and he went on, but
+when he reached the peak of the fell, and gazed before him into the
+deep shade of a plantation, he could not repress a slight shudder, for
+he fancied that he saw something moving at a distance. He paused for a
+moment or two to assure himself, and then went on again slowly, his
+heart throbbing violently as he lessened the space between the moving
+object and himself. The dog, as though equally influenced by similar
+feelings, crept behind him in a suspicious and terrified manner.
+
+'It's nobbut a woman,' said he, somewhat re-assured; 'it's a woman
+sewerly. Mebbee someburry's badly, an' hoo's gooin' for help. Come on,
+Trotty, mon.'
+
+So saying, he quickened his pace, the dog hanging behind, until he
+approached almost close to the figure, when, with a wild howl, away
+Trotty fled down the hillside. As Gabriel drew still closer, he saw
+that the object wore a long light cloak and hood, and a large
+coal-scuttle bonnet; and surprised to find that the sound of his
+footsteps did not cause her to turn to see who was following, he
+called out:
+
+'It's a bonny neet, Missis; bud yo're aat rayther late, arn't yo'?'
+
+'It is very fine,' answered the woman, in a voice which Gabriel
+thought was the sweetest he had ever heard, but without turning
+towards him as she spoke.
+
+'Summat wrong at your fowk's, happen?' he asked, anxious to prolong
+the talk. There was no reply to this, though, and Gabriel knew not
+what to think, for the silent dame, although she declined to reply,
+continued to keep pace with him, and to walk at his side. Was it some
+one who had no business to be out at that hour, and who did not wish
+to be recognised, he wondered? But if so, thought he, why did she
+continue to march in a line with him? The voice, certainly, was that
+of one of a different rank to his own; but, on the other hand, he
+reflected, if she were one of the gentle folks, why the cottager's
+cloak and bonnet, and the huge market basket? These conjectures
+crossed his brain in rapid succession; and influenced by the last
+one--that as to his companion's clothing--he determined again to
+address her.
+
+'Yo' met a left yir tung at whoam, Missis,' said he, 'sin' yo' connot
+answer a civil mon.'
+
+This taunt, however, like the direct query, failed to provoke an
+answer, although the startled Gabriel could have sworn that a
+smothered laugh came from beneath the white cloth which covered the
+contents of the basket 'Let me carry yer baskit,' said he; 'it's heavy
+for yo'.'
+
+Without a word, the woman held it out to him; but, as Gabriel grasped
+the handle, a voice, which sounded as though the mouth of the speaker
+were close to his hand, slowly said:
+
+'You're very kind, I'm sure;' and then there came from the same
+quarter a silvery peal of laughter.
+
+'What i' th' warld can it be?' said Gabriel, as without more ado he
+let the basket fall to the ground. He did not remain in ignorance very
+long, however, for, as the white cloth slipped off, a human head, with
+fixed eyes, rolled out 'Th' yedless boggart!' cried he, as the figure
+turned to pick up the head, and revealed to him an empty bonnet, and
+away he fled down the hill, fear lending him speed. He had not run
+far, however, before he heard a clatter of feet on the hard road
+behind him; but Gabriel was one of the fleetest lads about the fells,
+and the sight he had just seen was calculated to bring out all his
+powers; so the sound did not grow louder, but just as he turned into
+the old Chaighley Road, the head, thrown by the boggart, came whizzing
+past in unpleasant proximity to his own, and went rolling along in
+front of him. For a second or two Gabriel hesitated what to do, the
+headless woman behind and the equally terrible head in front; but it
+did not take long to decide, and he went forward with renewed vigour,
+thinking to pass the dreadful thing rapidly rolling along in advance
+of him. No sooner was he near to it, however, than, with an impish
+laugh, which rang in his ears for days afterwards, the ghastly object
+diverged from its course and rolled in his way. With a sudden and
+instinctive bound, he leaped over it; and as he did so the head jumped
+from the ground and snapped at his feet, the teeth striking together
+with a dreadfully suggestive clash. Gabriel was too quick for it,
+however, but for some distance he heard with horrible distinctness the
+clattering of the woman's feet and the banging of the head upon the
+road behind him.
+
+Gradually the sounds grew fainter as he speeded along, and at length,
+after he had crossed a little stream of water which trickled across
+the lane from a fern-covered spring in the fell side, the sounds
+ceased altogether. The runner, however, did not pause to take breath
+until he had reached his home and had crept beneath the blankets, the
+trembling Trotty, whom he found crouched in terror at the door of the
+cottage, skulking upstairs at his heels and taking refuge under the
+bed.
+
+'I olus said as tha'd be seein' a feeorin wi' thi stoppin' aat o'
+neets,' remarked his spouse after he had narrated his adventure; 'bud
+if it nobbut meks tha fain o' thi own haath-stooan I'se be some glad
+on it, for it's moor nor a woman wi' a heead on her shoothers hes bin
+able to do.'{20}
+
+
+
+
+THE RESCUE OF MOONBEAM.
+
+
+From one corner of Ribbleton Moor, the scene of Cromwell's victory
+over Langdale, there is as lovely a view as ever painter dreamed of.
+Far below the spectator the Ribble sweeps almost in a circle beneath
+the scars which, by the action of years of this washing, have been
+scooped out so as to form a large precipice, under which the waters
+flow, marking out in their course the great 'horse-shoe meadow,' with
+its fringe of shining sand. The peaceful valley through which the
+river, reflecting in its moving bosom the overhanging many-tinted
+woods and cliffs, meanders on its way to the sea, is bounded afar-off
+by noble hills, the whale-like Pendle towering in majestic grandeur
+above the rest. From the moor a rough and stony lane winds down the
+wooded hillside, past a beautiful old half-timbered house down to the
+dusty highway and the bridge over the Belisamia of the Romans. The
+beautiful river, with its tremulous earth and sky pictures, the
+meadows and corn-fields whence come now and again the laugh and song
+of the red-faced mowers and reapers, the clearly-defined roads and
+white farm-houses, the spires of distant hillside churches, and the
+rich green of the waving woods, make up an enchanting picture. When
+night comes, however, and the lovely stars peep out, and the crescent
+moon casts her glamour over the dreaming earth, and half-hidden in a
+dimly transparent veil of shimmering mist the Ribble glides as gently
+as though it had paused to listen to its own melody, a still deeper
+loveliness falls upon the dreaming landscape, over which the very
+genius of beauty seems to hover silently with outspread wings.
+
+At such a time, when moon and stars threw a faint and mysterious light
+over the sleeping woods, and not a sound, save the cry of a restless
+bird, broke the silence, a young countryman made his way rapidly
+across the horse-shoe meadow to the bend of the stream under Red
+Scar.
+
+It was not to admire the beautiful scenery, however, that Reuben
+Oswaldwistle was crossing the dew-besprinkled field, over which faint
+odours of hay were wafted by a gentle breeze. The sturdy young fellow
+was too practical to yield entirely to such an influence, and although
+he was by no means unlearned in the traditions and stories of the
+neighbourhood, long familiarity had taught him to look upon the
+landscape with the eye of a farmer. He was simply about to practise
+the gentle art in the hope of beguiling a few stray 'snigs' for dinner
+on the following day. Still the scene in all its glamour of moonlight
+and peace was not powerless even upon his rude nature; so, after
+setting his lines, he took out a little black pipe, filled it from a
+capacious moleskin pouch, and after lighting the fragrant weed, gave
+way to a train of disconnected fancies--past, present, and future
+mingling strangely in his reverie.
+
+What with the rustling of the leaves overhead, the musical rippling of
+the river as it danced over the stones on its way to the sea, and the
+soothing effect of the tobacco, Reuben was beginning to doze, when
+suddenly he fancied he heard the sound of a light footstep in the
+grass behind him. Turning round somewhat drowsily, he beheld a little
+figure of about a span high, clad in green, and wearing a dainty red
+cap, struggling along under the load of a flat-topped mushroom much
+larger than itself. After having more than once fallen with its load,
+the dwarf cried out in a sweet, faint voice, 'Dewdrop, Dewdrop!' and
+no sooner had the sound died into silence than another little fellow,
+who evidently answered to the pretty name, came tripping from the
+shadow of a hawthorn.
+
+'What's the matter, Moonbeam?' said the new-comer, cheerily.
+
+'This table is too much for me,' answered the labourer whom Reuben had
+seen first, 'and if the king's dinner is not ready to a minute he will
+have me stung. Help me with this load, there's a good sort.'
+
+Without any more ado Dewdrop came forward and the tiny pair put their
+shoulders beneath the load and marched off. They did not bear it very
+far, however, for the astonished Reuben simply stretched himself at
+full length on the grass and again was quite close to them.
+
+The two dots stopped when they came to a hole, into which they at once
+stuck the stem of the mushroom. Moonbeam then took from his pocket a
+butterfly's wing, which served him as a handkerchief, and wiping his
+forehead as he spoke, he said:--
+
+'I'm about tired of this. Every night the table is stolen, Dewdrop,
+and I've to find a new one for each dinner, and no thanks for it
+either. What has come of late over the king I am at a loss to imagine,
+for he has done nothing but have me stung. I shall emigrate if this
+continues, that's all.'
+
+'So would I,' answered the other little fellow, 'if Blue-eyes would go
+also, but I can't leave her.'
+
+After a hearty peal of laughter, during which he had held his shaking
+sides, Moonbeam shouted--
+
+'Why, my dear innocent, if you went she would be after you in a trice.
+I remember that when I was as guileless as you I fell in love with
+Ravenhair, the daughter of old Pigear. She treated me just as
+Blue-eyes uses you, but when, in a fit of jealous rage, I began to pay
+delicate attentions to Jasmine, the tables soon were turned, and one
+evening, as I was dozing in a flower cup, I heard some one call me,
+and peeping out of my chamber, I saw the once scornful Ravenhair
+weeping at the foot of the stalk. No sooner did she catch a glimpse of
+the tip of my nightcap than in piteous tones, that went straight to my
+heart, she cried out, "Dearest Moony, let me come up and"--. But,
+hush! wasn't that the dinner gong?'
+
+The pair listened intently as over the grass came the solemn hum of a
+bee.
+
+'I'm in for it,' said the fairy whose tale had been so suddenly
+interrupted; 'there's the first bell, and I haven't got even the table
+set.'
+
+The pair darted off, and tripping away into the shade of the hawthorn,
+they were for a moment or two lost to the sight of the wondering
+Reuben, but they soon returned, each bearing a dish and cover made of
+a little pearl shell. These they placed upon the mushroom, and away
+they scudded, again to return in a minute with another load. In an
+incredibly short space of time the table was set out with a goodly
+array of tiny dishes and plates.
+
+Once more the hum of the bee was heard booming over the grass, and
+from the shadow of the tree there emerged a dainty being whose attire
+glittered in the moonlight, and whose step was like that of a proud
+monarch. He was clad in a many-hued coat made of wings of dragon
+flies, a green vest cut from a downy mouse-ear leaf, and with buttons
+of buttercup buds; little knee-breeches of fine-spun silk dyed in the
+juice of a whinberry, stockings of cobweb, and shoes of shining beetle
+case; his shirt, which was as white as falling snow, had been cut from
+convolvulus flowers ere they had opened to the light; and his hat, a
+gem of a thing fit only for a fairy, was of red poppy, with a waving
+white feather, and a band of fur from a caterpillar. He led by the
+hand another personage, equally daintily dressed, but of a higher
+order of loveliness, with a pale oval face, and dreamy-looking eyes,
+gleaming like the sea when the moon and stars are bending over its
+bosom, and the wind is whispering its sad secrets. Her hair was
+golden, and rippled almost to her exquisite feet, and over it she wore
+a blue cornflower wreath, with diamond dewdrops here and there amid
+the leaves. Her dress was of damask rose leaves looped up with
+myosotis.
+
+The grass hardly bent beneath her, so daintily did she trip along,
+just touching the tips of the fingers of the hand the king extended
+to her. Following this royal pair came a group of gaily-clad
+attendants, and a band discoursing sweet sounds, the deep bass of bees
+harmonising happily with the barytone of a beetle and the crescendo
+chirp of a cricket.
+
+With a loud flourish from the musicians all took their places at the
+festive mushroom, and the banquet began. The dishes were sufficiently
+various to tempt even an anchorite to excess, for all the delicacies
+of the season were there. Ladybird soup, baked stickleback, roasted
+leg of nightingale, boiled shoulder of frog with cranberry sauce, wild
+strawberry tarts, and numerous kinds of fruits and juices, made up a
+dainty repast, of which king, queen, and courtiers partook heartily.
+The band, the members of which were perched in the swinging flowers of
+a foxglove close by, played lustily during the feast.
+
+'For once,' said the king, 'for once--and let the circumstance be
+remembered when the annals of our reign are written--a day hath passed
+without anything having annoyed our royal self, without anything
+unpleasant having happened in our royal presence, and without
+anything having disagreed with our royal stomach.'
+
+No sooner had these words passed the royal lips, however, than the
+queen gave a faint shriek, and cried out--
+
+'My love, there is not a drop of my chickweed wine on the table.'
+
+A dark cloud passed over the monarch's face as he angrily shouted--
+
+'Methinks we were congratulating our royal self somewhat too early in
+the day. Bring hither the rascally Moonbeam and bid the executioners
+attend for orders.'
+
+One of the courtiers, with an alacrity marvellously resembling that of
+beings of a larger growth, rushed out, and speedily returned with the
+unfortunate dependant, who at once flung himself on the ground before
+the angry king and begged to be forgiven. What result might have
+followed these prayers is uncertain, for, unfortunately, the
+suppliant's tears fell upon one of the monarch's shoes and dimmed its
+lustre.
+
+'Bring hither the executioners and their instruments,' roared the
+infuriated king, and almost immediately a couple of sturdy little
+fellows appeared leading by a chain two large wasps.
+
+'Do your disreputable work!' shouted the monarch.
+
+The executioners seized Moonbeam, fastened him to a stake, and pressed
+a wasp against him. The insect instantly stung him, and the miserable
+little fellow howled with pain.
+
+'Take him away,' cried the queen; 'we don't want _whine_ of that
+kind.'
+
+'What a wretched pun!' involuntarily said Moonbeam, as they were
+dragging him from the royal presence.
+
+'Bring the villain back,' roared the King; 'bring him back, and sting
+him until he is less critical.'
+
+'If tha hez him stung ageeon,' interrupted the indignant Reuben, who
+in his excitement had gradually crept nearer to the royal table, 'I'll
+knock thi proud little heeod off, chuz who tha art.'
+
+Neither the king or the executioners, however, took the slightest
+notice of the warning, so, as the latter were once more forcing the
+unhappy Moonbeam against the other wasp, down came a huge fist upon
+the royal head.
+
+'Theer,' said the fisherman, exultingly, 'I towd tha, didn't I, bud
+tha wouldn't tek wernin'. Tha 'rt on 't' penitent form bi this time, I
+daat.'
+
+Lifting up his hand, however, what was the surprise of the wondering
+Reuben to find only a little crushed grass under it. King, Queen,
+courtiers, Moonbeam, executioners, and wasps, all had vanished, and
+even the band, whose humming and droning he had heard so distinctly
+during the whole banquet, no longer broke the silence.
+
+'Well,' said the fisherman, 'that's a capper, in o mi born days. I see
+'em as plain as a pikestaff. Th' last day connot be far off, I'm
+sewer. Bud I'll hev th' tabble, at onny rate, beawt axin.' And, so
+saying, he took possession of the huge mushroom, and after hurriedly
+gathering up his lines, he wended his way across the meadow to his
+little cottage by the high road, and arrived there, he narrated to his
+drowsy wife the story of the banquet.
+
+'Drat th' fairies, an' thee, too, wi' thi gawmless tales,' said his
+sceptical helpmate, 'I wondered what hed getten tha. Tha's bin asleep
+for hours i' th' meadow istid a lookin' after th' fish. Tha never seed
+a fairy i' thi life. Tha'rt nod hauve sharp enough, clivver as tha
+art i' owt as is awkurt.' There was a short pause after this sally,
+and then the sly Reuben drily answered--
+
+'Yoy, I 've sin a fairy monny an' monny a time. Olus when I used to
+come a cooartin' to thi moather's. Bud tha 'r nod mich like a fairy
+neaw, tha 'st autert terbly. Tha 'rt too thrivin' lookin'.'
+
+'Be off wi' thi fawseness,' said the pleased woman; 'tha 'd ollus a
+desayvin tung i' thi heead;' and then after a drowsy pause as she was
+dosing to sleep; 'but for o that I'll mek a soop o' good catsup out
+o' thi fairy tabble.'
+
+
+
+
+THE WHITE DOBBIE.
+
+
+Many years ago, long before the lovely Furness district was invaded by
+the genius of steam, the villagers along the coast from Bardsea to
+Rampside were haunted by a wandering being whose errand, the purpose
+of which could never be learned, used to bring him at night along the
+lonely roads and past the straggling cottages. This pilgrim was a
+wearied, emaciated-looking man, on whose worn and wan face the sorrows
+of life had left deep traces, and in whose feverish, hungry-looking
+eyes, mystery and terror seemed to lurk. Nobody knew the order of his
+coming or going, for he neither addressed anyone, nor replied if
+spoken to, but disregarded alike the 'good neet' of the tramp who knew
+him not, and the startled cry of the belated villager who came
+suddenly upon him at a turn of the road. Never stopping even for a
+minute to gaze through the panes whence streamed the ruddy glow of the
+wood fires, and to envy the dwellers in the cosy cottages, he kept on
+his way, as though his mission was one of life and death, and,
+therefore, would not brook delay.
+
+On wild wintry nights, however, when the salt wind whirled the foam
+across the bay, and dashed the blinding snow into heaps upon the
+window-sills and against the cottage doors, and darkness and storm
+spread their sombre wings over the coast, then was it certain that the
+mysterious being would be seen, for observation had taught the
+villagers and the dwellers in solitary houses along the lonely roads
+between the fishing hamlets that in storm and darkness the weird
+voyager was most likely to appear.
+
+At such times, when the sound of footsteps, muffled by the snow, was
+heard between the soughs and moans of the wailing wind, the women
+cried, 'Heaven save us; 'tis th' White Dobbie,' as, convulsively
+clutching their little ones closer to their broad bosoms, they crept
+nearer to the blazing log upon the hearth, and gazed furtively and
+nervously at the little diamond-paned window, past which the restless
+wanderer was making his way, his companion running along a little way
+in advance, for not of the mysterious man alone were the honest people
+afraid. In front of him there invariably ran a ghastly-looking,
+scraggy white hare,{21} with bloodshot eyes. No sooner however did
+anyone look at this spectral animal than it fled to the wanderer, and
+jumping into his capacious pocket, was lost to sight.
+
+Verily of an unearthly stock was this white hare, for upon its
+approach and long before it neared a village, the chained dogs, by
+some strange instinct conscious of its coming, trembled in terror, and
+frantically endeavoured to snap their bonds; unfastened ones fled no
+man knew whither; and if one happened to be trotting alongside its
+belated master as he trudged homeward and chanced to meet the ghastly
+Dobbie with its blood-red eyes, with a scream of pain almost human in
+its keen intensity, away home scampered the terrified animal, madly
+dashing over hedge and ditch as though bewitched and fiend-chased.
+
+For many years the lonely wanderer had traversed the roads, and for
+many years had the hare trotted in front of him; lads who were cradled
+upon their mother's knee when first they heard the awe-inspiring
+footfalls had grown up into hearty wide-chested men, and men who were
+ruddy fishers when the pilgrim first startled the dwellers in Furness
+had long passed away into the silent land; but none of them ever had
+known the wayfarer to utter a syllable. At length, however, the time
+came when the solemn silence was to be broken.
+
+One night when the breeze, tired of whispering its weird messages to
+the bare branches, and chasing the withered leaves along the lanes,
+had begun to moan a hushed prelude to the music of a storm, through
+the mist that had crept over the bay, and which obscured even the
+white-crested wavelets at the foot of the hill on which stood the
+sacred old church, there came at measured intervals the melancholy
+monotone of the Bardsea passing bell{9} for the dead.
+
+Dismally upon the ears of the dwellers in the straggling hamlet fell
+the announcement of the presence of death, and even the woman who had
+for years been bell-ringer and sexton, felt a thrill of fear as she
+stood in the tower but dimly lighted by a candle in a horn lantern,
+and high above her head the message of warning rang out; for, although
+accustomed to the task, it was not often that her services were
+required at night. Now and again she gazed slowly round the chamber,
+upon the mouldering walls of which fantastic shadows danced, and she
+muttered broken fragments of prayers in a loud and terrified voice,
+for as the door had been closed in order that the feeble light in the
+lantern might not be extinguished by the gusts of wind, isolated as
+she was from the little world upon the hillside, she felt in an
+unwonted manner the utter loneliness of the place and its dread
+surroundings.
+
+Suddenly she uttered a shrill shriek, for she heard a hissing whisper
+at her ear and felt an icy breath upon her cheek. She dared not turn
+round, for she saw that the door opening upon the churchyard remained
+closed as before, and that occasionally passing within the range of
+her fixed stare, a white hare with blood-red eyes gambolled round the
+belfry.
+
+'T' Dobbie!' sighed she, as the dim light began to flicker and the
+hare suddenly vanished.
+
+As she stood almost paralysed, again came the terrible whisper, and
+this time she heard the question--
+
+'Who for this time?'
+
+The horrified woman was unable to answer, and yet powerless to resist
+the strange fascination which forced her to follow the direction of
+the sound; and when the question was put a second time, in an agony of
+fear she gazed into the wild eyes of the being at her elbow, her
+parched tongue cleaving to her open mouth. From the pocket of the
+dread visitor the ghastly animal gazed at the ringer, who mechanically
+jerked the bell-rope, and the poor woman was fast losing her senses,
+when suddenly the door was burst open, and a couple of villagers, who
+had been alarmed by the irregular ringing, entered the tower. They at
+once started back as they saw the strange group--the wanderer with
+sad, inquiring look, and pallid face, the phantom hare with its
+firelit eyes, and the old ringer standing as though in a trance. No
+sooner, however, did one of the intruders gaze at the animal than it
+slipped out of sight down into the pocket of its companion and keeper,
+and the wanderer himself hastily glided between the astonished men,
+and out into the darkness of the graveyard.
+
+On many other gloomy nights afterwards the ringer was accosted in the
+same manner, but although the unnatural being and the spectral hare
+continued for some winters to pass from village to village and from
+graveyard to graveyard, a thick cloud of mystery always hung over and
+about them, and no one ever knew what terrible sin the never-resting
+man had been doomed to expiate by so lonely and lasting a pilgrimage.
+
+Whence he came and whither he went remained unknown; but long as he
+continued to patrol the coast the hollow sound of his hasty footsteps
+never lost its terror to the cottagers; and even after years had
+passed over without the usual visits, allusions to the weird pilgrim
+and his dread companion failed not to cause a shudder, for it was
+believed that the hare was the spirit of a basely-murdered friend, and
+that the restless voyager was the miserable assassin doomed to a
+wearisome, lifelong wandering.{22}
+
+
+
+
+THE LITTLE MAN'S GIFT.
+
+
+Many are the wells in Lancashire that once were supposed to be the
+homes of good or evil spirits--of demons or of beneficent
+fairies--and, despite the injunctions of the Church against the
+customs of praying at and waking wells, down to a comparatively recent
+period they were resorted to by pilgrims of all grades who were in
+search of health. One such spring near Blackpool, known as the
+Fairies' Well, had its daily crowds of the ailing and the sorrowful,
+for its water was credited with virtues as wonderful as they were
+manifold, and from far and near people brought vessels to be filled
+with the miraculous fluid.
+
+One day at noon, a poor woman who had journeyed many a weary mile in
+order to obtain a supply of the water with which to bathe the eyes of
+her child, whose sight was fast failing, and upon whom all the usual
+remedies had been tried without success, on rising from her knees at
+the well side, was surprised to find standing near her a handsome
+little man clad in green, who certainly was not in sight when she bent
+to fill her bottle. As she stood gazing at the dainty object, the
+visitor, without having previously asked her any questions, handed to
+her a beautiful box filled with ointment, and directed her to apply
+the salve to the eyes of her child, whose sight it would restore.
+Surprised beyond measure at the little man's knowledge of her family
+affairs, the woman mechanically accepted the gift, but when, after
+carefully placing the box in her pocket, she turned to thank the
+giver, he was no longer to be seen; and satisfied that she had had an
+interview with one of the beings after whom the well was named, she
+started on her journey to her distant home.
+
+The strangeness of the present, given as she trusted it was by a fairy
+who was conversant with the painful circumstances under which she had
+made her pilgrimage, caused her to hope that the ointment would prove
+efficacious in removing the disorder under which her child was
+labouring; but this vague feeling, based as it was upon the mysterious
+nature of the gift, was accompanied by a perfectly natural fear that,
+after all, the giver might have been one of those mischievous beings
+whose delight it was to wreak harm and wrong upon humanity.
+
+When she reached home and told the strange story to her wondering
+husband, the nervous pair decided that the ointment should not be used
+unless a further mark of fairy interest in the child's welfare were
+vouchsafed to them; but when a few days had passed, and the child
+continued to grow worse, the anxious mother, in the absence of her
+husband, determined to test the salve upon one of her own eyes. She
+did so, and after a few minutes of dreadful suspense, finding that
+evil results did not follow, and saying to herself that surely the
+fairy could not be desirous of harming her child, she anointed the
+little girl's eyes. She refrained, however, from making her helpmate
+acquainted with what she had done, until in the course of a few days
+the child's eyesight was so nearly restored that it was no longer
+necessary or possible to keep the matter from him. Great were the
+rejoicings of the worthy pair over their little one's recovery; but
+there was not for a very long time any opportunity afforded them of
+expressing their gratitude.
+
+Some years had passed,--and, as the girl had never had a relapse, the
+strange gift was almost forgotten,--when one day, in the market-place
+at Preston, the woman, who was haggling about the price of a load of
+potatoes, saw before her the identical little fellow in green attire
+from whom, long before, she had received the box of wonder-working
+ointment. Although he was busily engaged in a pursuit in which,
+perhaps, few gentlemen would care to be interrupted, that of stealing
+corn from an open sack, the thoughtless woman, regardless of
+etiquette, and yielding to the sudden impulse which prompted her to
+thank him, stepped forward, and, grasping the fairy's hand, gave
+utterance to her gratitude.
+
+To her surprise, however, the little fellow seemed very angry with
+her, and, instead of acknowledging her thanks, hastily asked if she
+could see him with both eyes, and if she had used the ointment
+intended for her child. The frightened woman at once said that she
+saw him with only one eye, and was entering into a long account of the
+circumstances under which, with maternal instinct, she had tested the
+value of the gift, when, without more ado, the irritated fairy struck
+her a violent blow and vanished, and from that time forward the poor
+woman, instead of being able to see better than her neighbours, was
+blind of one eye. The daughter, however, often saw the fairies, but,
+profiting by her mother's painful experience, she was wise enough to
+refrain from speaking to them either when they gathered by moonlight
+beneath the trees or in broad daylight broke the Eighth Commandment,
+utterly unconscious that they were observed by a mortal to whom had
+been given the wondrous gift of fairy vision.{23}
+
+
+
+
+SATAN'S SUPPER.{24}
+
+
+                                      I.
+
+  Ye Evil One         The 'Old Lad' sat upon his throne,
+  giveth unto           Beneath a blasted oak,
+  them a stayve.      And fiddled to the mandrake's groan,
+                        The marsh-frog's lonely croak;
+
+
+                                     II.
+
+  Ye corpses          Whilst winds they hissed, and shrieked, and moaned
+  dashe their           About the branches bare,
+  wigges.             And all around the corpses groaned,
+                        And shook their mould'ring hair;
+
+
+                                    III.
+
+  Ye hagges           As witches gathered one by one,
+  crowde to ye          And knelt at Satan's feet,
+  _levee_.            With faces some all worn and wan,
+                        And some with features sweet,
+
+
+                                     IV.
+
+  Ye power            The earth did ope and imps upsprang
+  of                    Of every shape and shade,
+  Musicke.            Who 'gan to dance as th' welkin rang
+                        With tunes the 'Old Lad' played;
+
+
+                                      V.
+
+  Ye poetrie          At which the witches clapped their hands,
+  of                    And laughed and screamed in glee;
+  motion.             Or jumped about in whirling bands,
+                        And hopped in revelry,
+
+
+                                     VI.
+
+  Ye delicacies       Till Satan ceased, when all did rest,
+  of ye                 And swarmed unto the meat:
+  season,             The flesh of infants from the breast,
+                        The toes from dead men's feet,
+
+
+                                    VII.
+
+  Ye ditto,           With sand for salt, and brimstone cates,
+                        With blood for old wine red;
+                      On glittering dish and golden plates
+                        The dainty food was spread.
+
+
+                                   VIII.
+
+  Ye                  From heavy cups, with jewels rough,
+  coolinge              The witches quenched their thirst;
+  drinkes.            Yet not before the ruddie stuff
+                        Had been by Satan cursed.
+
+
+                                     IX.
+
+  Ye barde            But one lank fiend of skin and bone,
+  telleth of            With hungry-looking eyne,
+  an outcaste         Gazed at the food with dreary moans,
+  impe.                 And many a mournful whine;
+
+
+                                      X.
+
+  Of hys              For Satan would not let him feed
+  unparalleled          Upon the toothsome cheer,
+  wickednesse;        (He had not done all day a deed
+                        To cause a human tear);
+
+
+                                     XI.
+
+  Of hys              And so he hopped from side to side,
+  gamboles              To beg a bit of 'toke,'
+  and praieres,       And, vagrant-like, his plea denied,
+                        He prayed that they might choke
+
+
+                                    XII.
+
+  And of              Themselves with morsels rich and fat
+  hys                   Or die upon the floor,
+  revylyngs of        Like paupers (grieving much thereat
+  goode menne.          The guardians of the poor).
+
+
+                                   XIII.
+
+  Ye earlie byrde     A cock then flapped his wings and crew,
+  prepareth for ye       Announcing coming light;
+  'Diet of            When, seizing on a jar of stew,
+  Wormes.'              The snubbed imp took his flight.
+
+
+                                    XIV.
+
+  _Les Adieux._       And at the solemn sound of doom
+                        The witches flew away,
+                      While Satan slunk off through the gloom,
+                        Afraid of break of day;
+
+
+                                     XV.
+
+  Ye fruitlesse       And in the darkness drear he cried--
+  remorse of            His voice a trifle gruff,
+  Beelzebubbe.        'Those omelettes were nicely fried;
+                        I have not had enough!'
+
+
+                                    XVI.
+
+  Ye resulte          A blight fell on the trembling flowers
+  of ye meetynge        And on the quivering trees--
+  uponne ye           No buds there drink the passing showers,
+                        Or leaves wave in the breeze;
+
+
+                                   XVII.
+
+  Agryculture         For Satan's presence withered all
+  of ye                 The daisies and the grass,
+  dystricte.          And all things over which like pall
+                        His sulphurous tail did pass.
+
+
+
+
+THE EARTHENWARE GOOSE.
+
+
+Once upon a time, which somewhat vague reference in this instance
+means long before it was considered a compliment by the fair dames of
+Lancashire to be termed witches, there lived in the Fylde country
+village of Singleton a toothless, hooknosed old woman, whose ill
+fortune it was to be credited with the friendship of the Evil One.
+Perhaps had the ancient dame been somewhat better looking she might
+have borne a better character. In those distant days to be poor was
+considered decidedly discreditable, but to be ugly also was to add
+insult to injury. The old woman knew only too well that she was poor
+and that she was plain, for the urchins and hobbledehoys of the
+locality lost no opportunity of reminding her of the facts, whenever,
+on frugal mind intent, she emerged from her rude cottage to expend a
+few pence upon articles of food.
+
+Ugliness and poverty, however, Mag Shelton persisted in considering
+misfortunes and not crimes, and when anybody to whom she was an
+eyesore, with gallantry peculiar to the time and place let us hope,
+wished that she would die and rid the village of her objectionable
+presence, the old woman took no notice of the polite expression. To
+die by particular desire was not in Mag's line. What harm could a
+toothless old woman do, that the world, by which term the half-dazed
+creature meant the village in which she had spent her life, should
+evince so much anxiety to be rid of her?--argued Mag. True, if
+toothless, she had her tongue; but without a visiting circle, and with
+no benefactors to belie, that valuable weapon in the service of spite
+might just as well have been in the mouth of an uneducated heathen.
+Harmless, however, as the old dame thought herself, the villagers held
+a different opinion, and the children, afraid of disturbing the witch,
+invariably removed their wooden-soled clogs before they ran past the
+hut in which Mag lived,{25} while the older folk, if they did not
+literally take the coverings from their feet as they passed the
+lonely dwelling, crept by on tiptoe, and glanced furtively at the
+unsuspecting inhabitant of the cottage, who, by the aid of the fitful
+firelight, might be seen dozing near the dying embers, and now and
+again stroking a suspiciously bright-eyed cat, nestled snugly upon her
+knee.
+
+The old woman's solitary way of life favoured the growth of
+superstitions regarding her, for the Singletonians were not without
+their share of that comforting vanity which impresses the provincial
+mind with a sense of the high importance of its society, parish, and
+creed; and they could not imagine anyone preferring to keep away from
+them and to sit alone, without at once believing, as a necessary
+consequence, that the unappreciative ones must have dealings with
+Satan.
+
+It soon was found convenient to attribute anything and everything of
+an unpleasant nature to the denizen of the lonely cottage, 'th' Owd
+Witch,' as she was termed. Was a cow or a child ailing? Mag had done
+it! Had the housewife omitted to mark with the sign of the cross the
+baking of dough left in the mug on the hearth, and the bread had
+turned out 'heavy,' Mag Shelton had taken advantage of the overworked
+woman's negligence! Was there but a poor field of wheat? 'Twas the
+fault of old Mag, swore the farmer. In short, whatever went wrong
+throughout the entire country-side was judged to be clearly traceable
+to the spite and malevolence of the toothless old woman and her
+suspicious-looking cat.
+
+This state of things might, however, have continued without any
+interruption, until Nature had interposed and released Mag from her
+attendance upon such a world, had it not begun to be noticed that
+almost every farmer in the neighbourhood was complaining of the
+mysterious disappearance of milk, not only from the dairies, but also
+from the udders of the cows grazing in the pastures. A bucolic genius
+immediately proclaimed that in this case, too, the culprit must be
+Mag, for had not she her familiars to feed, and what could be more
+agreeable to the palate of a parched fiend or perspiring imp, than a
+beaker of milk fresh from the cow and redolent of meadow-flowers? With
+such a gaping family to satisfy, what regard could the old lady retain
+for the Eighth Commandment?
+
+This logic was deemed unanswerable, and a number of the farmers
+determined to conceal themselves one night about the witch's cottage,
+in the hope of something confirmatory turning up. It was late when
+they took their places, and they barely had settled themselves
+comfortably behind the hedgerow before a noise was heard, and the old
+woman emerged from the house,--the cat, and, of all things else in the
+world, a stately goose solemnly paddling behind her.
+
+The men in ambush remained silent until Mag and her attendants had
+passed out of sight and hearing, when one of them said, 'Keep still,
+chaps, till hoo comes back. Hoo's gone a milkin', I daat.' The
+watchers therefore kept perfectly quiet, and in a little while their
+patience was rewarded; for the old woman reappeared, walking slowly
+and unattended by her former companions. As she paused to unfasten the
+cottage door, the men pounced out of their hiding-place, seized her
+roughly, and at once tore off her cloak. To the surprise of the rude
+assailants, however, no sign of milkjugs could be observed; and, as
+they stood aghast, Mag cried, in a shrill and angry voice, 'Will ye
+never learn to respect grey hair, ye knaves?' 'We'll respect tha'
+into th' pit yon, mi lady,' immediately responded one of the roughest
+of the men. 'What hes ta done with th' milk to-neet?'
+
+In vain were the old woman's protestations,--that, driven from the
+roads and lanes in the daytime by the children and the hobbledehoys
+who persecuted her, she had of late taken her exercise by night; the
+judicial mind was made up, and rude hands were outstretched to drag
+her to the horsepond, when, fortunately for Mag, the appearance of the
+goose, waddling in a hurried and agitated manner, created a timely
+diversion in her favour.
+
+'I thowt it quare,' said one of the would-be executioners--'varra
+quare, that th' goose worn't somewheer abaat, for hoo an' it's as
+thick as Darby an' Jooan.'
+
+As though conscious that all was not well with its mistress, the
+ungainly and excited bird, stretching its neck towards the bystanders,
+and hissing loudly, placed itself by the old woman's side.
+
+'We want no hissin' heear,' said the leader of the band, as he lifted
+a heavy stick and struck the sibilant fowl a sharp rap on its head.
+
+No sooner had the sound of the blow fallen upon the ears of the
+assembled rustics than the goose vanished, not a solitary feather
+being left behind, and in its place there stood a large broken
+pitcher, from which milk, warm from the cow, was streaming. Here was
+proof to satisfy even the most credulous, and, as a consequence, in a
+moment the old woman was floundering in the pond, from which she
+barely escaped with her life. A few days afterwards, however, upon the
+interposition of the Vicar, she was permitted to leave the
+inhospitable village, and away she tramped in search of 'fresh woods
+and pastures new,' her cat and the revivified goose bearing her
+company.{26}
+
+She had left the inhospitable place, when the landlord of the Blue Pig
+discovered that the jug in which the witch-watchers had conveyed their
+'allowance' to the place of ambush had not been returned. It was not
+again seen in its entirety, and the sarcastic host often vowed that it
+was here and there in the village in the shape of cherished fragments
+of the broken one into which the watchers declared that they had seen
+Mag's goose transformed.
+
+
+
+
+THE PHANTOM OF THE FELL.
+
+
+On a beautiful night late in summer a solitary man, who was returning
+from some wedding festivities, was rapidly crossing Fair Snape. The
+moon was at the full, and threw her glamour upon the lovely fell, as a
+breeze sighed among the tall ferns which waved gently to and fro under
+the sweet invisible influence, and the only sounds which fell upon the
+wayfarer's ear were the almost inaudible rustling of the bracken, and
+the occasional faint bark of a distant watch-dog. Giles Roper,
+however, was not thinking of the beauty of the night, or of the
+scenery, but, naturally enough, was congratulating himself upon being
+ever so much nearer to the stocking of that farm without which he
+could not hope for the hand of the miller's rosy daughter. Thoughts of
+a chubby, good-hearted little woman like Liza were calculated to
+drive out all other and less pleasant ones; but Giles was rapidly
+approaching a part of the hillside said to be haunted. Many tales had
+he heard by the winter's fire of the doings of the nameless
+appearance, the narrators speaking in hushed voices, and the hearers
+instinctively drawing closer together on the old settle; and these
+narratives crowded into his recollection as he left the cheerful
+moonlight and stepped into the shade of the little clough. Before he
+had got very far down he was prepared to see or hear anything; but,
+making allowance for the fear which somehow or other had taken
+possession of him, he knew that there was something more than fancy in
+a melancholy wail which broke upon his ears as he reached a bend in
+the ravine. There was nothing however in the sad note of lamentation
+calculated to terrify, save the consciousness that such sweet music
+could not be that of a mortal. Instinctively Giles looked in the
+direction whence the sound had come, and in the dim light he saw the
+figure of a woman with a pallid face of singular and unearthly beauty,
+her hair falling behind her like a sheet of gold, and her eyes
+emitting a strange lustre, which, however, was not sufficiently
+intense to conceal their beautiful azure hue. The bewildered spectator
+gazed in rapt worship, for though his limbs still trembled he no
+longer felt any fear, but rather a wild delirious longing to speak to,
+and to be addressed by, the beautiful being before him. He was
+sufficiently near to the appearance to be able to distinguish the
+features clearly, and when he saw a movement of the lips his heart
+throbbed violently under the expectation that he was about to receive
+a mysterious commission. He was, however, doomed to be disappointed,
+for the only sound emitted by the phantom was another low melodious
+cry, even more pathetic and mournful than that by which his attention
+had first been attracted to the lovely object. At the same time Giles
+saw that the figure was more distant than before, and that it was
+slowly gliding away, but beckoning to him, as though anxious that he
+should follow. The young man, spell-bound and fascinated by the
+enchanting eyes, which were beautiful enough to turn the head of one
+wiser than the raw country lad upon whom they were fixed, followed
+eagerly, but at the end of the clough, where the moonlight was
+brilliant, the figure vanished, leaving Giles, not with that feeling
+of relief said to follow the disappearance of a mysterious visitant,
+but, on the contrary, anxious to behold the vision again. He therefore
+turned and retraced his steps to the undulating summit of the fell,
+where the wind was sighing over the many-flowered heather, but there
+was nothing to be seen of the blue-eyed phantom, and only for the
+faint wash of the rustling ferns all would have been silent.
+
+Unwilling to leave the spot, although he was conscious that the task
+was a fruitless one, he continued to wander from one point to another,
+and it was not until daybreak that he finally gave up the search and
+descended the fell. Not caring to allude to his adventure and vain
+search upon the pike, Giles accounted for his lateness by asserting
+that he had remained until midnight at the distant farmhouse where the
+rejoicings had taken place, and had afterwards lost his way on the
+fells. With this excuse, however, his relatives were quite content,
+one sarcastic farm-servant drily remarking that after wedding
+festivities it was wonderful he had been able to find his way home at
+all.
+
+The extraordinary thoughtfulness which Giles evinced during the day
+was of too marked a nature to remain unobserved; but the old father
+attributed it merely to that natural dislike to settled labour which
+generally follows boisterous relaxation, and the mother thought it was
+due to a desire to be off again to see the chubby daughter of the
+miller. The old dame, therefore, was not surprised when her son
+announced his intention to leave home for a few hours, and she
+congratulated herself on her foresight and discernment, finishing her
+soliloquy by saying--'Well, hoo's a bonny wench as he's after; an',
+what's mooar, hoo's as good as hoo's pratty.'
+
+It was not, however, to the far-off dwelling of the miller that Giles
+was making his way.
+
+On the contrary, he was leisurely pacing in quite an opposite
+direction, his back turned to the old mill, and his eyes fixed upon
+the distant fells, which he did not care to reach until the gloaming
+had given way to moonlight. Not that he was afraid of being seen, the
+road he trod was too lonely for that; but he thought it was unlikely
+his watchings would be rewarded before the night had properly set in.
+If the beautiful object was a spirit--and what else could it have
+been?--it would come at its own time, and who ever heard of spirits
+appearing before midnight? The young fellow, therefore, waited until
+the moon rose and bathed the hills in her golden flood, when he at
+once began to climb the fell, making his way up the ravine in which on
+the previous night he had heard the mysterious voice.
+
+It was some time from midnight, and he stopped to rest, taking his
+seat upon a moss-covered stone. Here he waited patiently; but he had
+begun to fear that his visit was to be a fruitless one, when once more
+he heard the peculiar mournful wail, and rapidly turning round, he saw
+that he was not alone. Again the weird eyes, in all their unearthly
+beauty, were fixed upon him, and the long white arms were extended as
+though to beckon him to draw nigh.
+
+Instinctively Giles rose in obedience to the pleading attitude of the
+fair vision; but as he approached the phantom it grew less and less
+distinct, and at length vanished. As on the previous night, the young
+fellow wandered about in the hope of again seeing the lovely being,
+and once more he was obliged to return to the farm unsuccessful.
+
+Possessed by a maddening and irresistible desire to gaze upon the
+wondrous face which had bewitched him, the approach of nightfall
+invariably found Giles on his way to the fell, and it can easily be
+imagined to what unpleasantness in his family circle this course of
+conduct gave rise. On the one hand the parents gave the rein to all
+sorts of vague suspicions as to the cause of the night rambles; and
+the lad's disinclination to give any explanations did not help the old
+people to think more kindly of him. The father of the girl whom he had
+asked in marriage also did not fail to expostulate with him, in the
+idea that he had fallen into evil ways, and that his pilgrimages were
+to a distant town; while the girl herself, loving him as she did with
+all the vigour of her simple and earnest nature, and uninfluenced by
+any foolish feeling of false shame, came to his parents' house in the
+hope of obtaining a promise of better things.
+
+Her pleadings and her womanly threats, however, were unavailing, the
+whilom lover in a shamefaced manner refusing to make any promise of
+different behaviour. The interview was a painful one; for the girl,
+feeling certain that her father's interpretation was correct, used all
+her powers to induce Giles to abandon his evil courses; but at length,
+finding that her prayers were ineffectual, she bitterly reproached him
+with his want of honesty.
+
+'It's no evil as I'm after, lass! Don't think that on mi,' said the
+young man, in an appealing tone; but the girl was not to be convinced
+by mere assertion.
+
+'It's no good as teks tha away o'er t' pike neet after neet,' said
+she, with a sudden access of grief, 'it'ull come by tha in some way or
+another, Giles.' And in tears she turned away from him.
+
+'Whisht, lass, whisht! If tha nobbut knew, O tha'd pity i'stid o'
+blaming mi.'
+
+The girl heeded not these words, but kept on her way. When she got to
+a turn in the road, however, she looked back mournfully, as though in
+doubt whether to return and cast herself upon his breast, and bid him
+trust in her; but pride overcame her, and she resisted the impulse.
+
+That night, as two of the miller's men were poaching, they were
+startled by the unexpected sound of a human voice, and hastily hiding
+themselves beneath the tall ferns, they saw Giles emerge from the
+clough and run towards the place where they were concealed. He seemed
+to be half mad with excitement, and as he ran he was crying aloud some
+words they could not catch. When he drew nearer, however, they were
+able to hear more distinctly, and to their surprise they found that he
+was appealing to an invisible being to appear to him.
+
+For some time they remained in their place of concealment, Giles
+hovering about the spot; but when the young fellow ran to a distance,
+they emerged from their hiding-place and rapidly made their way to the
+mill. For obvious reasons, however, they agreed to keep silence as to
+what they had seen and heard.
+
+The day after this episode Giles was in a fever and delirious, raving
+continually about the bonny face and 'breet een' of the being he had
+seen in the ravine. His afflicted parents found in the wild utterances
+sad confirmation of their worst fears, and, half broken-hearted, they
+hovered sorrowfully about his bed. For weeks he battled with the
+disorder, and at nightfall frequently endeavoured to leave the house,
+and vainly struggled with the friends who prevented him, to whom he
+frantically cried that she of the blue eyes was calling him.
+
+A cloud fell over the hitherto happy household. Night and day the old
+people watched over their sick lad, each of them feeling that the task
+would have been a comparatively easy one had not the patient's
+delirious ravings revealed to them so terrible a background to the
+round of their primitive and innocent daily life. Not that they loved
+their child any less because of the revelations he had unconsciously
+made to them, but they brooded and fretted over his supposed
+wickedness, and bowed their heads in grief and shame as they
+unwillingly heard his impassioned cries.
+
+By-and-by the story of these ravings got noised about, and the
+miller's daughter, who hitherto had been suffering bravely, broke down
+altogether when she knew that she was an object of pity to the
+gossips. It fortunately happened, however, that the miller's men who
+had seen Giles at the pike got into conversation with their master
+about the matter, and it struck one of them that the woman about whom
+Giles was supposed to be raving, and of whom tales of all sorts were
+being circulated, was a feeorin of some kind that the young fellow had
+seen on the lonely fell. No sooner was this idea arrived at than off
+they started to see the distressed parents, the miller's daughter
+hastening with them. They found no difficulty in gaining credence for
+their narrative, and with a burst of thankfulness the old people felt
+that the gulf which had yawned between them and their eldest born was
+for ever closed; while, as for the girl, her transports of joy were
+almost painful in their intensity. So great a weight was lifted from
+all hearts that the illness of the patient was for the time almost
+forgotten. Giles, however, still remained in a very critical
+condition, but he soon had an additional nurse, who, despite the
+watchings and the toil of which she relieved the old people, was
+rapidly becoming more and more like the ruddy-faced damsel to whom the
+young fellow had plighted his troth, for she could listen to and
+disregard the ravings of her lover and look forward to the time when
+happiness should again smile upon them.
+
+A few weeks passed. The violence of the disorder abated, and the
+patient recovered so far as to be able to bear removal to a large
+chair by the kitchen fire. As he sat quietly dreaming the short autumn
+days away, without any allusions to the beauty about whom he had so
+constantly raved during his delirium, the old people and the miller's
+daughter began to congratulate themselves that the dream-madness had
+passed away with the worst phase of the illness. The girl, however,
+although she did not utter any complaint, suffered deeply from the
+coolness with which Giles treated her. Not that he was ungrateful,
+for, on the contrary, it was impossible to do anything for him,
+however slight the service might be, without a thankful
+acknowledgment; but there was a visible constraint in his manner which
+could not escape the keen sight of love. Fearing to distress him by
+any remonstrances, the patient girl refrained from referring to the
+past or showing that she was observant of any change in his behaviour
+towards her, but she brooded over her grief when she was alone. The
+young fellow knew that the poor girl was suffering, but for the life
+of him he could not assume that which he did not feel. Much as he had
+loved her before the night of his adventure on the pike, from the
+moment when he had first seen the face of the mysterious being his
+affection for her had faded away, consumed by the intense longing
+which filled his soul night and day whenever he thought of the eyes
+illumined by a fire that was not human, and of the features and hair
+so exquisitely beautiful in the faint moonlight. Calm and quiet as he
+looked, seated propped with cushions in the old chair by the fire, he
+was inwardly fretting against the weakness that kept him from the
+fells, and his longing soul came into his eyes as he gazed through the
+little diamond-paned window, and saw the pike, in all the beauty of
+many-tinted autumn, kissed by the setting sun as the blushing day sank
+into the swarthy arms of night.
+
+Slowly winter came, bringing snow and storm, and as though influenced
+by a feeling that even Nature had interposed her barriers between him
+and the lovely being, one afternoon, as the mists crept slowly over
+the white landscape, and hid in their shimmering folds the distant
+fells where he had first seen the sweet face so seldom absent from
+his feverish dreams, he could not resist the desire which seized him
+to visit once more the haunted ravine. The various members of the
+little household were away from the house engaged in their labours
+about the farm, and taking advantage of this, Giles fled from the
+dwelling, and made his way through the dim light to the hills. It was
+not long, however, before his absence was discovered, but some time
+elapsed before the men-folk could be gathered, and the shades of night
+had fallen before the anxious pursuers reached the foot of the pike.
+
+The thick mist had enveloped everything, and as the lanterns, choked
+as they were by the damp, threw but a fitful light, it was with the
+utmost difficulty that the men found the footmarks of the wanderer in
+the snow up the fell side. The searchers were led by the father of
+Giles, who spoke not, but glanced at the track as though in dread of
+discovering that which he had come to find. Suddenly the old man gave
+a startled cry, for he had followed the marks to the edge of a little
+cliff, over which he had almost fallen in his eagerness. It was
+forthwith determined to follow the ravine to its commencement, and
+although nothing was said by any of the party, each man felt certain
+that the missing young fellow would be found at the bottom. It did not
+take long to reach the entrance, and with careful steps the old man
+led the way over the boulders. He had not gone far before the light
+from his lantern fell upon the upturned face of his son, whose body
+lay across the course of a little frozen stream. The features were set
+in the sleep of death, for Giles had fallen from the level above, the
+creeping mists having obscured the gorge where he first saw the lovely
+phantom, in search of which he had met an untimely end.
+
+
+
+
+ALLHALLOW'S NIGHT.
+
+
+To many a beautiful landscape the majestic Pendle adds a nameless
+charm, and the traveller who gazes upon it from any of the points
+whence a view of the whalelike mass is to be obtained, would hardly
+dream that the moss and fern-covered hill, smiling through the dim
+haze, once was the headquarters of witchcraft and devilry. Readers of
+the quaint and sad trials of the witchmania period, and of Harrison
+Ainsworth's celebrated novel based thereon, will, however, remember
+what dread scenes were said to have transpired in the dim light of its
+cloughs and upon its wild sides, when Chattox, Mouldheels, and the
+other poor wretches whose 'devilish practices and hellish means,' as
+they were termed in the old indictments, made the neighbourhood of the
+mountain so unsafe a locality.
+
+In a lonely little house some distance from the foot of Pendle, there
+dwelt a farmer and his family, together with a labourer whom he
+employed. Entirely illiterate, and living in a wild and weird
+district, with but few houses nearer than a mile away, the household
+believed firmly in all the dreadful boggart, witch, and feeorin
+stories current in the district. For a long time, however, the farmer
+had not any personal experience of the power of either witch or
+boggart; but at length his turn came. After a tempestuous night, when
+the windows and doors rattled in their frames, and the wind, dashing
+the big rain drops against the little diamond-shaped panes, moaned and
+shrieked round the lonely dwelling, three of the beasts were found
+dead in the shippon. A few days afterwards two of the children
+sickened, and when 'th' edge o' dark' was creeping up the hill-side
+one of them died. As though this trouble was not enough, the crops
+were blighted. With reluctance the farmer saw in these things proof
+that he had in some unknown manner incurred the displeasure of the
+invisible powers, and that the horse-shoe over his door, the branches
+of ash over the entrance to the shippon, and the hag stones hung up
+at the head of his own and of the children's bed, had lost their power
+of protection.
+
+The family council, at which the unprotected condition of the house
+was discussed, was of the saddest kind, for even the rough labourer
+missed the prattle of the little one whose untimely end had cast a
+shadow over the dwelling, and he thoroughly sympathised with his
+master in his losses; while, as for the farmer and his wife, dread of
+what the future might have in store for them mingled with their
+sorrow, and added to the heaviness of their hearts.
+
+'Isaac, yo' may as weel tek' th' wiggin{27} an' th' horse shoes
+deawn, for onny use they seem to be on. We'en nowt to keep th' feorin'
+off fra' us, an' I deawt we'es come off bud badly till November,' said
+the farmer, as he knocked the ashes from his pipe.
+
+'An' why nobbut till November, Ralph,' asked the wife in a terrified
+voice, as she gazed anxiously towards the little window through which
+Pendle could be dimly seen looming against the evening sky.
+
+'Because on O'Hallow neet, mi lass, I meean to leet th' witches{28}
+on Pendle.'
+
+'Heaven save us!' cried the woman. 'Tha'll be lost as sewer as th'
+whorld.'
+
+There was a short silence, and then old Isaac spoke--
+
+'If th' mestur goes, Isik guz too. Wis be company, at onny rate.'
+
+The farmer gratefully accepted this offer of fellowship, and the
+appeals of his wife, who implored him to abandon the notion, were of
+no avail. Others had lighted the witches, and thereby secured a
+twelvemonth's immunity from harm, and why should not he go and do
+likewise? Ruin was staring him in the face if things did not improve,
+thought he, and his determination to 'leet' his unseen enemies grew
+stronger and stronger.
+
+At length the last day of October came, bringing with it huge clouds
+and a misty rain, which quite obscured the weird hill; but at
+nightfall the wind rose, the rain ceased, the stars began to appear,
+and the huge outline of Pendle became visible.
+
+When the day's work was over, the farmer and Isaac sat in the kitchen,
+waiting for the hour at which they were to start for the haunted
+mountain, and the dread and lonesome building where the witches from
+all parts gathered in mysterious and infernal conclave. Neither of the
+men looked forward to the excursion with pleasurable feelings, for, as
+the emotion caused by the losses had somewhat subsided, terror of the
+beings who were supposed to assemble in the Malkin Tower resumed its
+sway; but soon after the old clock had chimed ten they rose from the
+settle and began their preparations for the lighting. Each man grasped
+a branch of mountain ash, to which several sprigs of bay were tied as
+a double protection against thunder and lightning, and any stray
+fiends that might happen to be lurking about, and each carried in the
+other hand an unlighted candle.
+
+As they passed from the house the tearful goodwife cried a blessing
+upon them, and a massive old bulldog crept from a corner of the yard
+and took its place at their heels.
+
+The three stepped along bravely, and before long they had crossed the
+brook and reached the foot of Pendle. Rapidly making their way to a
+well-known ravine they paused to light the candles. This operation,
+performed by means of a flint and steel and a box of tinder, occupied
+some time; and while they were so engaged clouds obscured the moon, a
+few heavy drops of rain fell, the wind ceased to whisper, and an
+ominous silence reigned, and the dog, as though terrified, crept
+closer to its master and uttered a low whine.
+
+'We's hev' a storm, I daat, Isik,' said the farmer.
+
+'Ise think mysen weel off an' win nowt else bud a storm,' drily
+replied the old man, as, lighted candle in hand, he began to climb the
+hill-side, his master and the dog following closely behind.
+
+When they had almost reached the top of the ravine a flash of
+lightning suddenly pierced the darkness, and a peal of thunder seemed
+to shake the earth beneath them; while a weird and unearthly shriek of
+laughter rang in their ears as a black figure flew slowly past them,
+almost brushing against their faces in its flight. The dog immediately
+turned and fled, howling terribly as it ran down the hill-side; but
+the men went on, each one carefully shading his light with the hand in
+which the branch of ash was grasped. The road gradually became
+rougher, and occasionally Isaac stumbled over a stone, and almost
+fell, the farmer frantically shouting to him to be careful of his
+candle, but without any serious mishap the pair managed to get within
+sight of the tower.
+
+Evidently some infernal revelry was going on, for light streamed from
+the window-openings, and above the crash of the thunder came shrieks
+of discordant laughter. Every now and again a dark figure floated over
+their heads and whirled in at one of the windows, and the noise became
+louder, by the addition of another shrill voice.
+
+'It mon be drawin' nee midneet,' said the farmer. 'If we con but pass
+th' hour wis be reet for a twelvemonth. Let's mek for whoam neaw.'
+
+Both men readily turned their backs to the building, but no sooner had
+they done so than a Satanic face, with gleaming eyes, was visible for
+a moment, and instantaneously both lights were extinguished.
+
+'God bless us!' immediately cried both men.
+
+Almost before the words had left their lips the tower was plunged in
+total darkness, the shrieks of unholy laughter were suddenly stilled,
+and sounds were heard as of the rapid flight of the hags and their
+familiars, for the ejaculations had broken up the gathering.
+
+Terrified beyond measure at the extinction of their lights, but still
+clinging tenaciously to the branches, which apparently had proved so
+ineffectual to preserve them against the power of the witches, the men
+hurried away. They had not proceeded far in the direction in which
+they supposed the farm lay, when, with a cry, the farmer, who was a
+little in advance of his aged companion, fell and vanished. He had
+slipped down the cleft, on the brink of which Isaac stood, tremblingly
+endeavouring to pierce the darkness below.
+
+Not a sound came up to tell the old man that his master had escaped
+with his life; and, as no response came to his shouts, at length he
+turned away, feeling sure that he was masterless, and hoping to be
+able to reach the farm, and obtain assistance. After wandering about
+for some time, however, half-blinded by the lightning, and terrified
+beyond measure at the result of their mutual boldness, Isaac crept
+under a large stone, to wait for the dawn. Influenced by the cold and
+by fatigue, the old man fell asleep; but no sooner had the first faint
+rays of coming day kissed the hill-summit, than he was aroused by the
+old bulldog licking his face, and as he gazed around in sleepy
+astonishment some men appeared. The farmer's wife, terrified by the
+arrival of the howling dog, and the non-arrival of the 'leeters,' had
+made her way to a distant farm-house and alarmed the inmates, and a
+party of sturdy fellows had started off to find the missing men.
+Isaac's story was soon told; and when the searchers reached the gorge
+the farmer was found nursing a broken leg.
+
+Great were the rejoicings of the goodwife when the cavalcade reached
+the farm, for, bad as matters were, she had expected even a worse
+ending; and afterwards, when unwonted prosperity had blessed the
+household, she used to say, drily, 'Yo' met ha' kept th' candles in to
+leet yo' whoam, for it mon ha' bin after midneet when _he_ blew 'em
+aat,' a joke which invariably caused the farmer and old Isaac to smile
+grimly.
+
+
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS-EVE VIGIL.
+
+
+Many years have passed since the living of Walton-le-Dale was held by
+a gentleman of singularly-reserved and studious habits, who, from noon
+till night, pored over dusty black-letter folios. Although he was by
+no means forgetful of the few duties which pertained to his sacred
+office, and never failed to attend to the wants of those of his
+parishioners who were in trouble and had need of kind words of
+sympathy and advice, or even of assistance of a more substantial
+nature, the length of time he devoted to his mysterious-looking
+volumes, and a habit he had of talking to himself, as, late at night,
+with head bent down, he passed along the village street, and vanished
+into the darkness of a lonely lane, gave rise to cruel rumours that he
+was a professor of the black art; and it was even whispered that his
+night walks were pilgrimages to unholy scenes of Satanic revelry.
+These suspicions deepened almost into certainty when the old people
+who had charge of his house informed the gossips that the contents of
+a large package, since the arrival of which the women in the village
+had been unable to sleep for curiosity, were strange-looking bottles,
+of a weird shape, with awful signs and figures upon them; and that,
+during the evening, after the carrier had brought them, noises were
+heard in the clergyman's room, and the house was filled with
+sulphurous smoke. Passing from one gossip to another, the story did
+not fail to receive additions as usual, until when it reached the last
+house in the straggling village the narrator told how the student had
+raised the Evil One, who, after filling the house with brimstone,
+vanished in a ball of fire, not, however, without first having
+imprinted the mark of his claws upon the study table.
+
+Had the unconscious clergyman lived more in the everyday world around
+him, and less in that of black-letter books, he would not have failed
+to perceive the averted looks with which his parishioners acknowledged
+his greetings, or, what would have pained him even more deeply, the
+frightened manner in which the children either fled at his approach,
+if they were playing in the lanes, or crept close to their parents
+when he entered the dwellings of the cottagers. Ignorant alike of the
+absurd rumours, and unobservant of the change which had come over his
+flock, or at least acting as though unaware of them, the clergyman
+continued to perform the duties of his sacred office, and to fly from
+them to his beloved volumes and experiments, growing more and more
+reserved in his habits, and visibly paling under his close
+application.
+
+After matters had gone on in this way for some time, the villagers
+were surprised to see a friendship spring up and ripen between their
+pastor and an old resident in the village, of almost equally strange
+habits. There was, however, in reality but little to wonder at in
+this, for the similarity between the pursuits and tastes of the two
+students was sufficiently great to bridge over the gulf of
+widely-different social positions.
+
+Abraham, or 'Owd Abrum,' as he was generally named, was a herb doctor,
+whose knowledge of out-of-the-way plants which possessed mysterious
+medicinal virtues, and of still more wonderful charms and spells, was
+the theme of conversation by every farmhouse fireside for miles round.
+At that day, and in that locality, the possession of a few books
+sufficed to make a man a wonder to his neighbours; and Abraham had a
+little shelf full of volumes upon his favourite subjects of botany and
+astrology.
+
+The old man lived by himself in a little cottage, some distance along
+a lane leading from the village across the meadows; and, despite the
+absence of female supervision, the place always was as clean and
+bright as a new pin. Had he needed any assistance in his household
+duties, Abraham would not have asked in vain for it, for he was feared
+as well as respected. If he was able to charm away evil and sickness,
+could he not also bring sickness and evil? So reasoned the simple
+villagers; and those who were not, even unconsciously, influenced by
+the guileless everyday life of the old man, were impressed by the idea
+that he had the power to cast trouble upon them if they failed to
+maintain an outward show of reverence.
+
+However early the villagers might be astir, as they passed along the
+lanes on their way to their labour in the fields, they were certain to
+find 'Owd Abrum' searching by the hedgerows or in the plantations for
+herbs, to be gathered with the dew upon them; and at night the belated
+cottager, returning from a distant farm, was equally certain of
+finding Abraham gazing at the heavens, 'finding things aat abaat
+fowk,' as the superstitious country people said and believed.
+
+Addicted to such nocturnal studies, it was not likely that the old
+herb doctor and the pale student would remain unknown to each other.
+The acquaintance however, owing to the reserved habits of both, began
+in a somewhat singular manner. Returning from a long and late walk
+about midnight, the minister was still some distance from his abode,
+when he heard a clear voice say: 'Now is the time, if I can find any:
+Jupiter is angular, the moon's applied to him, and his aspect is
+good.'
+
+The night was somewhat cloudy--the stars being visible only at
+intervals--and it was not until the clergyman had advanced a little
+way that he was able to perceive the person who had spoken. He saw
+that it was the old herbalist, and immediately accosted him. An
+animated conversation followed, Abraham expatiating on the virtues of
+the plants he had been gathering under the dominion of their
+respective planets, and astonishing the pale student by the extent of
+his information. In his turn, the old man was delighted to find in the
+clergyman a fellow-enthusiast in the forbidden ways of science; and as
+the student was no less charmed to discover in the 'yarb doctor' a
+scholar who could sympathise with him and understand his yearnings
+after the invisible, late as was the hour, the pair adjourned to
+Abraham's cottage. The visitor did not emerge until the labourers were
+going to their toil, the time having been spent in conversation upon
+the powers exercised by the planets upon plants and men, the old man
+growing eloquent as to the wonderful virtue of the Bay Tree, which, he
+said, could resist all the evil Saturn could do to the human body, and
+in the neighbourhood of which neither wizard nor devil, thunder or
+lightning, could hurt man; of Moonwort, with the leaves of which locks
+might be opened, and the shoes be removed from horses' feet; of
+Celandine, with which, if a young swallow loseth an eye, the parent
+birds will renew it; of Hound's Tongue, a leaf of which laid under the
+foot will save the bearer from the attacks of dogs; of Bugloss, the
+leaf of which maketh man poison-proof; of Sweet Basil, from which
+(quoting Miraldus) venomous beasts spring--the man who smelleth it
+having a scorpion bred in his brain; and of a score of other herbs
+under the dominion of the Moon and Cancer, and of the cures wrought by
+them through antipathy to Saturn.
+
+From that time the pair became intimate friends, the clergyman
+yielding, with all the ardour of youth, to the attraction which drew
+him towards the learned old man; and Abraham gradually growing to love
+the pale-faced student, whose thirst after knowledge was as intense as
+his own. Seldom a day passed on which one of them might not have been
+observed on his way to the abode of the other; and often at night the
+pair walked together, their earnest voices disturbing the slumbering
+echoes, as at unholy hours they passed up the hill, and through the
+old churchyard, with its moss-covered stones and its rank vegetation.
+
+Upon one of these occasions they had talked about supernatural
+appearances; and as they were coming through the somewhat neglected
+God's Acre, the clergyman said he had read, in an old volume, that to
+anyone who dared, after the performance of certain ghastly ceremonies,
+wait in the church porch on Christmas-eve, the features of those who
+were to die during the following year would be revealed, and that he
+intended upon the night before the coming festival to try the spell.
+The old man at once expressed a wish to take part in the trial, and
+before the two parted it was agreed that both should go through the
+preliminary charms, and keep the vigil.
+
+In due time the winter came, with its sweet anodyne of snow, and as
+Christmas approached everything was got in readiness.
+
+Soon after sunset on Christmas-eve the old herb doctor wended his way
+to the dwelling of his friend, taking with him St. John's Wort,
+Mountain Ash, Bay leaves, and Holly. The enthusiasts passed the
+evening in conversation upon the mysterious qualities of graveyard
+plants; but shortly after the clock struck eleven they arose, and
+began to prepare for the vigil, by taking precautions against the
+inclemency of the weather, for the night was very cold, large flakes
+of snow falling silently and thickly upon the frozen ground.
+
+When both were ready the old man stepped to the door to see that the
+road was clear, for, in order to go through the form of incantation, a
+small fire was requisite; and as they were about to convey it in a
+can, they were anxious that the strange proceeding should not be
+noticed by the villagers. Late as it was, however, lights shone here
+and there in the windows, and even from the doorways, for, although it
+was near midnight, many of the cottage doors were wide open, it being
+believed that if, on Christmas-eve, the way was thus left clear, and a
+member of the family read the Gospel according to St. Luke, the saint
+himself would pass through the house.
+
+As the two men, after carefully closing the door behind them, stepped
+into the road, a distant singer trolled forth a seasonable old hymn.
+This was the only noise, however, the village street being deserted.
+They reached the churchyard without having been observed, and at once
+made their way round the sacred building, so as not to be exposed to
+the view of any chance reveller returning to his home. It was well
+that they did so, for they had hardly deposited the can of burning
+charcoal upon a tombstone ere sounds of footsteps, somewhat muffled by
+the snow, were heard, and several men passed through the wicket. They
+were, however, only the ringers, on their way to the belfry, and in a
+few minutes they had entered the building, and all was still again for
+a few moments, when, upon the ears of the somewhat nervous men there
+fell the voices of choristers singing under the window of a
+neighbouring house the old Lancashire carol--
+
+    'As I sat anonder yon green tree,
+    Yon green tree, yon green tree--
+
+    As I sat anonder yon green tree
+    A Christmas day in the morning.'{29}
+
+The words could be heard distinctly, and almost unconsciously the two
+men stood to listen; but directly the voices ceased the student asked
+if they had not better begin, as the time was passing rapidly.
+
+'Ay,' replied Abraham, 'we han it to do, an' we'd better ger it ower.'
+
+Without any more words they entered the porch, and at once made a
+circle around them with leaves of Vervain, Bay, and Holly. The old man
+gave to his companion a branch of Wiggintree,{27} and firmly held
+another little bough, as with his disengaged hand he scattered a
+powder upon the embers. A faint odour floated around them, as they
+chanted a singular Latin prayer; and no sooner was the last word
+uttered than a strain of sweet sad music, too inexpressibly soft and
+mournful to be of earth, was heard. Every moment it seemed to be dying
+away in a delicious cadence, but again and again was the weird melody
+taken up by the invisible singers, as the listeners sank to their
+knees spell-bound. An icy breath of wind hissed round the porch,
+however, and called the entranced men to their senses, and suddenly
+the student grasped the arm of his aged companion, and cried, in a
+terrified voice--
+
+'Abraham, the spell works. Behold!'
+
+The old man gazed in the direction pointed out, and, to his
+inexpressible horror, saw a procession wending its way towards the
+porch. It consisted of a stream of figures wrapped up in
+grave-clothes, gleaming white in the dim light. With solemn and
+noiseless steps the ghastly objects approached the circle in which
+stood the venturesome men, and, as they drew nearer, the faces of the
+first two could be seen distinctly, for the blazing powder cast a
+lurid glow upon them, and made them even more ghastly.
+
+Both spectators had almost unconsciously recognised the features of
+several of the villagers, when they were aroused from their lethargy
+of terror by the appearance of one face, which seemed to linger longer
+than its predecessors had done. Abraham at once saw that the likeness
+was that of the man by his side, and the clergyman sank to the ground
+in a swoon.
+
+For some time the old man was too much affected by the lingering face
+to think of restoring the unconscious man at his feet; but at length
+the clashing of the bells over his head, as they rang forth a
+Christmas greeting, called him to himself, and he bent over the
+prostrate form of his friend. The minister soon recovered, but as he
+was too weak to walk, the old man ran to the belfry to beg the ringers
+to come to his assistance. When these men came round to the porch the
+fire was still burning, the flickering flames of various colours
+casting dancing shadows upon the walls.
+
+'Abraham,' said one of the ringers, 'there's bin some wizzard wark
+goin' on here, an' yo' sin what yo'n getten by it.'
+
+'Han yo' bin awsin to raise th' devul, an' Kesmus-eve an' o'?' asked
+another, in a low and terrified voice.
+
+With a satirical smile, Abraham answered the last speaker: 'It dusn't
+need o' this mak' o' things to raise th' devul, lad. He's nare so far
+fra' thuse as wants him.'
+
+Bearing the clergyman in their arms, the men walked through the
+village, but they did not separate without having, in return for the
+confidence Abraham reposed in them by confiding to them the secret of
+the vigil, promised strict secrecy as to what they had witnessed.
+
+Abraham's companion soon recovered from the shock, but not before the
+story of the night-watch had gone the round of the village. Many were
+the appeals made to the old herbalist to reveal his strangely-acquired
+knowledge, but Abraham remained sternly obdurate, remarking to each of
+his questioners--
+
+'Yo'll know soon enough, mebbi.'
+
+The clergyman, however, was in a more awkward position, and his
+parishioners soon made him aware how unwise he had been in giving way
+to the desire to pry into futurity; for, when any of them were ill and
+he expressed a kindly wish for their recovery, it was by no means
+unusual for the sick person to reply--
+
+'Yo could tell me heaw it will end iv yo' loiked.'
+
+This oftentimes being followed by a petition from the assembled
+relatives--
+
+'Will yo tell us if he wir one o' th' processioners?'
+
+Ultimately Abraham's companion went away, in the hope of returning
+when the memory of the watch should have become less keen, but, before
+a few months had passed away, news came of his death, after a violent
+attack of fever caught during a visit to a wretched hovel in the
+fishing village where he was staying. By the next December, all the
+people whose features the old herbalist had recognised during the
+procession had been carried to the churchyard; but, although several
+men offered to accompany Abraham to the porch on the forthcoming
+Christmas-eve, he dared not again go through the spells and undergo
+the terrors of a church-porch vigil.{30}
+
+
+
+
+THE CRIER OF CLAIFE.
+
+
+Upon a wild winter night, some centuries ago, the old man who plied
+the ferry-boat on Windermere, and who lived in a lonely cottage on the
+Lancashire side of the Lake, was awakened from his sleep by an
+exceedingly shrill and terrible shriek, which seemed to come from the
+opposite shore. The wind was whistling and moaning round the house,
+and for a little while the ferryman and his family fancied that the
+cry by which they had been disturbed was nothing more than one of the
+mournful voices of the storm; but soon again came another shriek, even
+more awe-inspiring than the former one, and this was followed by
+smothered shouts and groans of a most unearthly nature.
+
+Against the wishes of his terrified relatives, who clung to him, and
+besought him to remain indoors, the old fellow bravely determined to
+cross the water, and heeding not the prayers of his wife and daughter,
+he unfastened his boat, and rowed away. The two women, clasped in each
+other's arms, trembling with fear, stood at the little door, and
+endeavoured to make out the form of their protector; but the darkness
+was too deep for them to see anything upon the lake. At intervals,
+however, the terrible cry rang out through the gloom, and shrieks and
+moans were heard loud above the mysterious noises of the night.
+
+In a state of dreadful suspense and terror the women stood for some
+time, but at length they saw the boat suddenly emerge from the
+darkness, and shoot into the little cove. To their great surprise,
+however, the ferryman, who could be seen sitting alone, made no effort
+to land, and make his way to the cottage; so, fearing that something
+dreadful had happened to him, and, impelled by love, they rushed to
+the side of the lake. They found the old man speechless, his face as
+white and blanched as the snow upon the Nab, and his whole body
+trembling under the influence of terror, and they immediately led him
+to the cottage, but though appealed to, to say what terrible object
+he had seen, he made no other response than an occasional subdued
+moan. For several days he remained in that state, deaf to their
+piteous entreaties, and staring at them with wild-looking eyes; but at
+length the end came, and, during the gloaming of a beautiful day, he
+died, without having revealed to those around him what he had seen
+when, in answer to the midnight cry, he had rowed the ferry-boat
+across the storm-ruffled lake.
+
+After the funeral had taken place the women left the house, its
+associations being too painful to permit of their stay, and went to
+live at Hawkshead, whence two sturdy men, with their respective
+families, removed to the ferry. The day following that of the arrival
+of the new-comers was rough and wild, and, soon after darkness had
+hidden everything in its sable folds, across the lake came the fearful
+cry, followed by a faint shout for a boat, and screams and moans. The
+men, hardy as they were, and often as they had laughed at the story
+told by the widow of the dead man, no sooner heard the first shriek
+ring through the cottage than they were smitten with terror.
+Profiting, however, by the experience of their predecessor, and
+influenced by fear, they did not make any attempt to cross the lake,
+and the cries continued until some time after midnight.
+
+Afterwards, whenever the day closed gloomily, and ushered in a stormy
+night, and the wind lashed the water of the lake into fury, the
+terrible noises were heard with startling distinctness, until at
+length the dwellers in the cottage became so accustomed to the noises
+as not to be disturbed by them, or, if disturbed, to fall asleep again
+after an ejaculation of 't' crier!' Pedlars and others who had to
+cross the lake, however, were not so hardened, and after a time the
+ferry-boat was almost disused, for the superstitious people did not
+dare to cross the haunted water, save in the broad daylight of summer.
+
+It therefore struck the two individuals who were most concerned in the
+maintenance of the ferry that if they intended to live they must do
+something to rid the place of its bad name, and of the unseen being
+who had driven away all their patrons. In their extremity they asked
+each other who should help them, if not the holy monks, who had come
+over the sea to the abbey in the Valley of Deadly Night Shade; and one
+of the ferrymen at once set out for Furness. No sooner had he set eyes
+upon the stately pile erected by the Savignian and his companions than
+his heart felt lighter, for he had a simple faith in the marvellous
+power of the white-robed men, whose voices were seldom if ever heard,
+save when lifted in worship during one of their seven daily services.
+
+Knocking at the massive door, he was received by a ruddy-looking
+servitor, who ushered him into the presence of the abbot. The ferryman
+soon told his story, and begged that a monk might return with him to
+lay the troubled spirit, and after hearing the particulars of the
+visitation, the abbot granted the request, making a proviso, however,
+that the abbey coffers should not be forgotten when the lake was freed
+from the fiend.
+
+No sooner had the visitor finished the meal set before him by the
+hospitable monks than, in company with one of the holy men, he set out
+homeward. As, by a rule of his order, the monk was not permitted to
+converse, the journey was not an enlivening one, and the ferryman was
+heartily glad when they reached his cottage.
+
+The first night passed without any alarm, the monk and his hosts
+spending the dreary hours in watching and waiting. The following day,
+however, was as stormy as the worst enemy of the ferry could have
+wished, and, when night fell, all the dwellers in the cottage, as well
+as the silent monk, gathered together again to wait for the cries, but
+some hours passed without any other sounds having been heard than
+those caused by the restless wind, as it swept over the lake and among
+the trees. The Cistercian was beginning to imagine himself the victim
+of an irreverent practical joke, and that the stories of the spectral
+crier which had reached the distant abbey long before the ferryman's
+visit were a pack of falsehoods, when about midnight, he suddenly
+jumped from the chair upon which he was dozing by the wood fire,
+hastily made the sign of the cross, and hurriedly commended himself to
+the protection of his patron saint, for sharp and clear came the dread
+cry, followed rapidly by a number of shrieks and groans and a
+smothered appeal for a boat.
+
+In an instant one of the men, with courage doubtless inspired by the
+presence of the holy man, shouldered the oars and opened the door, and
+the monk at once stepped into the open air and hurried to the lake,
+the men following at a respectful distance. The white-robed father was
+the first to get into the boat, and the ferrymen hoped that he
+intended to go alone, but he called upon them to propel the boat to
+the middle of the lake, and much as they disliked the task, as it was
+on their behalf that the monk was about to combat the evil spirit,
+they could not well refuse to accompany him.
+
+When they were about half-way across the lake the wind suddenly
+lulled, and once more they heard the awful scream, and this time it
+sounded as though the crier was quite close to them. The occupants of
+the boat were terribly frightened, and one of them, after suddenly
+shrieking 'he's here,' fainted, and lay still at the bottom of the
+boat, while the monk and the other man stared straight before them, as
+though petrified.
+
+There was a fourth person present, a grim and ghastly figure, with the
+trappings of this life still dangling about its withered and shrunken
+limbs, and a gaping wound in its pallid throat. For a few minutes
+there was a dead silence, but at last it was broken by the monk, who
+rapidly muttered a prayer for protection against evil spirits, and
+then took a bottle from a pocket of his robe, and sprinkled a few
+drops of holy water upon himself and the ferryman, who remained in the
+same statuesque attitude, and upon the unconscious occupant of the
+bottom of the boat. After this ceremony, he opened a little book, and,
+in a sonorous voice, intoned the form for the exorcism of a wandering
+soul, concluding with _Vade ad Gehennam!_ when to the infinite relief
+of the ferryman, and probably of the monk also, the ghastly figure
+forthwith vanished.
+
+The Cistercian asked to be immediately taken to the shore, and when he
+neared the house, the little book was again brought into requisition,
+and the spirit's visits, should it ever again put in an appearance,
+limited to an old and disused quarry, a distance from the
+cottage.{31}
+
+From that time to this, the wild, lonely place has indeed been
+desolate and deserted, the boldest people of the district not having
+sufficient courage to venture near it at nightfall, and the more timid
+ones shunning the locality even at noonday. These folks aver that
+even yet, despite the prayers and exorcisms of the white-robed
+Cistercian from Furness, whenever a storm descends upon the lake, the
+Crier escapes from his temporary prison house, and revisits the scene
+of his first and second appearance to men, and that on such nights,
+loud above the echoed rumble of the thunder, and the lonely sough of
+the wind, the benighted wayfarer still hears the wild shrieks and the
+muffled cry for a boat.
+
+
+
+
+THE DEMON OF THE OAK.
+
+
+Once a fortress and a mansion, but now, unfortunately, little more
+than a noble ruin, Hoghton Tower stands on one of the most commanding
+sites in Lancashire. From the fine old entrance-gate a beautiful
+expanse of highly-cultivated land slopes down and stretches away to
+the distant sea, glimmering like a strip of molten silver; and on
+either hand there are beautiful woods, in the old times 'so full of
+tymber that a man passing through could scarce have seen the sun shine
+in the middle of the day.' At the foot of these wooded heights a
+little river ripples through a wild ravine, and meanders through the
+rich meadows to the proud Ribble. From the building itself, however,
+the glory has departed. Over the noble gateway, with its embattled
+towers, and in one of the fast-decaying wainscots, the old family
+arms, with the motto, _Mal Gre le Tort_, still remain; but these
+things, and a few mouldering portraits, are all that are left there to
+tell of the stately women who, from the time of Elizabeth down to
+comparatively modern days, pensively watched the setting sun gild the
+waters of the far-off Irish Sea, and dreamed of lovers away in the
+wars--trifling things to be the only unwritten records of the noble
+men who buckled on their weapons, and climbed into the turrets to gaze
+over the road along which would come the expected besieging parties.
+Gone are the gallants and their ladies, the roystering Cavalier and
+the patient but none the less brave Puritan, for, as Isaac Ambrose has
+recorded, during the troublous times of the Restoration, the place,
+with its grand banqueting chamber, its fine old staircases, and quaint
+little windows, was 'a colledge for religion.' The old Tower resounds
+no more with the gay song of the one or the solemn hymn of the other,
+
+     'Men may come, and men may go,'
+
+and an old tradition outlives them all.
+
+To this once charming mansion there came, long ago, a young man,
+named Edgar Astley. His sable garments told that he mourned the loss
+of a relative or friend; and he had not been long at the Tower before
+it began to be whispered in the servants'-hall that 'the trappings and
+the suits of woe' were worn in memory of a girl who had been false to
+him, and who had died soon after her marriage to his rival. This story
+in itself was sufficient to throw a halo of romance around the young
+visitor; but when it was rumoured that domestics, who had been
+returning to the Tower late at night, had seen strange-coloured lights
+burning in Edgar's room, and that, even at daybreak, the early risers
+had seen the lights still unextinguished, and the shadow of the
+watcher pass across the curtains, an element of fear mingled with the
+feelings with which he was regarded.
+
+There was much in the visitor calculated to deepen the impressions by
+which the superstitious domestics were influenced, for, surrounded by
+an atmosphere of gloom, out of which he seemed to start when any of
+them addressed him, and appearing studiously to shun all the society
+which it was possible for him to avoid, he spent most of his time
+alone, seated beneath the spreading branches of the giant oak tree at
+the end of the garden, reading black-letter volumes, and plunged in
+meditation. Not that he was in any way rude to his hosts; on the
+contrary, he was almost chivalrous in his attention to the younger
+members of the family and to the ladies of the house, who, in their
+turn, regarded him with affectionate pity, and did their utmost to
+wean him from his lonely pursuits. Yet, although he would willingly
+accompany them through the woods, or to the distant town, the approach
+of the gloaming invariably found him in his usual place beneath the
+shadow of the gnarled old boughs, either poring over his favourite
+books, or, with eyes fixed upon vacancy, lost in a reverie.
+
+Time would, the kind people thought, bring balm to his wounds, and in
+the meanwhile they were glad to have their grief-stricken friend with
+them; and fully appreciating their sympathy, Edgar came and went about
+the place and grounds just as the whim of the moment took him. This
+absence of curiosity on the part of the members of the family was,
+however, amply compensated for by the open wonder with which many of
+the domestics regarded the young stranger; and before he had been many
+months in the house his nightly vigils were the theme of many a
+serious conversation in the kitchen, where, in front of a cosy fire,
+the gossips gathered to compare notes.
+
+Unable to repress their vulgar curiosity, or to gratify it in any more
+honourable or less dangerous manner, it was determined that one of the
+domestics should, at the hour of twelve, creep to the door of the
+visitor's chamber, and endeavour to discover what was the nature of
+those pursuits which rendered lights necessary during the whole of the
+night. The selection was soon made, and after a little demur the
+chosen one agreed to perform the unpleasant task.
+
+At midnight, therefore, the trembling ambassador made his way to the
+distant door, and after a little hesitation, natural enough under the
+circumstances, he stooped, and gazed through a hole in the dried oak
+whence a knot had fallen. Edgar Astley was seated at a little table,
+an old black-looking book with huge clasps open before him. With one
+hand he shaded his eyes from the light which fell upon his face from
+the flames of many colours dancing in a tall brazen cup. Suddenly,
+however, he turned from his book, and put a few pinches of a
+bright-looking powder to the burning matter in the stand. A searching
+and sickly odour immediately filled the room, and the quivering flames
+blazed upwards with increased life and vigour as the student turned
+once more to the ponderous tome, and, after hastily glancing down its
+pages, muttered: 'Strange that I cannot yet work the spell. All things
+named here have I sought for and found, even blood of bat, dead man's
+hand, venom of viper, root of gallows mandrake, and flesh of
+unbaptized and strangled babe. Am I, then, not to succeed until I try
+the charm of charms at the risk of life itself? And yet,' said he,
+unconscious of the presence of the terrified listener, 'what should I
+fear? So far have I gone uninjured, and now will I proceed to the
+triumphant or the bitter end. Once I would have given the future
+happiness of my soul to have called her by my name, and now what is
+this paltry life to me that I should hesitate to risk it in this
+quest, and perhaps win one glimpse of her face?'
+
+There was a moment of silence as the student bent his head over the
+book, but though no other person was visible, the listener, to his
+horror, quickly heard a sharp hissing voice ask, 'And wouldst thou not
+even yet give thy soul in exchange for speech with thy once
+betrothed?' The student hastily stood erect, and rapidly cried: 'Let
+me not be deceived! Whatever thou art, if thou canst bring her to me
+my soul shall be thine now and for ever!'
+
+There was a dead hush for a minute or two, during which the lout at
+the door heard the beating of his own heart, and then the invisible
+being again spoke: 'Be it so. Thou hast but one spell left untried.
+When that has been done thou shalt have thy reward. Beneath the oak at
+midnight she shall be brought to thee. Darest thou first behold me?'
+
+'I have no fear,' calmly replied the student, but such was not the
+state of the petrified listener, for no sooner had the lights
+commenced to burn a weird blue than he sank fainting against the door.
+
+When he came to consciousness he was within the awful room, the
+student having dragged him in when he fell.
+
+'What art thou, wherefore dost thou watch me at this hour, and what
+hast thou seen?' sternly demanded Edgar, addressing the terrified
+boor, and in few and trembling words the unhappy domestic briefly
+answered the queries; but the student did not permit him to leave the
+chamber, through the little window of which the dawn was streaming,
+before he had sworn that not a word as to anything he had seen or
+heard should pass his lips. The solemnity of the vow was deepened by
+the mysterious and awful threats with which it was accompanied, and
+the servant, therefore, loudly protested to his fellows that he had
+not seen or heard anything, but that, overcome by his patient
+watching, he had fallen asleep at the door; and many were the
+congratulations which followed when it was imagined what the
+consequences would have been had he been discovered in his strange
+resting-place.
+
+The day following that of the adventure passed over without anything
+remarkable beyond the absence of Edgar from his usual seat under the
+shade of the giant oak, but the night set in stormily, dark clouds
+scudded before the wind, which swept up from the distant sea, and
+moaned around the old tower, whirling the fallen leaves in fantastic
+dances about the garden and the green, and shaking in its rage even
+the iron boughs of the oak. The household had retired early, and at
+eleven o'clock only Edgar and another were awake. In the student's
+chamber the little lamp was burning and the book lay open as usual,
+and Edgar pored over the pages, but at times he glanced impatiently at
+the quaint clock. At length, with a sigh of relief, he said, sternly
+and sadly, 'The time draws nigh, and once more we shall meet!' He then
+gathered together a few articles from different corners of the room
+and stepped out upon the broad landing, passed down the noble old
+staircase, and out from the hall. Here he was met by a cold blast of
+wind, which shrieked round him, as though rejoicing over its prey; and
+as Edgar was battling with it, a man emerged from a recess and joined
+him.
+
+The night was quite dark, not a star or a rift in the sky visible, and
+the two men could hardly pick their way along the well-known path.
+They reached the oak tree, however, and Edgar placed the materials at
+its foot, and at once, with a short wand, drew a large circle around
+the domestic and himself. This done, he placed a little cauldron on
+the grass, and filled it with a red powder, which, although the wind
+was roaring through the branches above, immediately blazed up with a
+steady flame.
+
+The old mastiffs chained under the gateway began to howl dismally;
+but, regardless of the omen,{32} Edgar struck the ground three times
+with his hazel stick, and cried in a loud voice: 'Spirit of my love, I
+conjure thee obey my words, and verily and truly come to me this
+night!'
+
+Hardly had he spoken when a shadowy figure of a beautiful child
+appeared, as though floating around the magic ring. The servant sank
+upon his knees, but the student regarded it not, and it vanished, and
+the terrified listener again heard Edgar's voice as he uttered another
+conjuration. No sooner had he begun this than terrible claps of
+thunder were heard, lightning flashed round the tree, flocks of birds
+flew across the garden and dashed themselves against the window of the
+student's chamber, where a light still flickered; and, loud above the
+noises of the storm, cocks could be heard shrilly crowing, and owls
+uttering their mournful cries. In the midst of this hubbub the
+necromancer calmly went on with his incantation, concluding with the
+dread words: 'Spirit of my love, I conjure thee to fulfil my will
+without deceit or tarrying, and without power over my soul or body
+earthly or ghostly! If thou comest not, then let the shadow and the
+darkness of death be upon thee for ever and ever!'
+
+As the last word left his lips the storm abated its violence, and
+comparative silence followed. Suddenly the little flame in the
+cauldron flared up some yards in height, and sweet voices chanting
+melodiously could be heard. 'Art thou prepared to behold the dead?'
+asked an invisible being.
+
+'I am!' undauntedly answered Edgar.
+
+An appearance as of a thick mist gathered opposite him, and slowly, in
+the midst of it, the outlines of a beautiful human face, with mournful
+eyes, in which earthly love still lingered, could be discerned.
+
+Clad in the garments of the grave, the betrothed of Edgar Astley
+appeared before him.
+
+For some time the young man gazed upon her as though entranced, but at
+length he slowly extended his arms as though to embrace the beautiful
+phantom. The domestic fell upon his face like one stricken by death,
+the spectre vanished, and again the pealing thunder broke forth.
+
+'Thou art for ever mine,' cried a hissing voice; but as the words
+broke upon the ears of the two men, the door of the mansion was flung
+open, and the old baronet and a number of the servants, who had been
+disturbed by the violence of the storm, the howling of the dogs, and
+the shrill cries of the birds, rushed forth.
+
+'Come not near me if ye would save yourselves,' cried the necromancer.
+
+'We would save thee,' shouted the old man, still advancing. '_In
+nomine Patris_,' said he, solemnly, as he neared the magic circle; and
+no sooner had the words left his lips than sudden stillness fell upon
+the scene; the lightning no longer flashed round the oak; and, as the
+flame in the cauldron sank down, the moon broke through a cloud, and
+threw her soft light over the old garden.
+
+Edgar was leaning against the oak tree, his eyes fixed in the
+direction where the image of his betrothed had appeared; and when they
+led him away, it was as one leads a trusting child, for the light of
+reason had left him. The unfortunate domestic, being less sensitive,
+retained his faculties; but he ever afterwards bore upon his wrist, as
+if deeply burned into the flesh, the marks of a broad thumb and
+fingers. This strange appearance he was wont to explain to stray
+visitors, by saying that when, terrified almost out of his wits, he
+fell to the ground, his hand was outside the magic circle, and
+'summat' seized him; which lucid explanation was generally followed up
+by an old and privileged servitor, who remarked, 'Tha'll t'hev mooar
+marks nor thuse on tha' next toime as _He_ grabs tha', mi lad.'
+
+
+
+
+THE BLACK COCK.
+
+
+'Ay,' said Old 'Lijah, 'I mind one time when they said th' Owd Lad
+hissel appear't i' broad dayleet, an' wir seen bi hunderts o' fowk,
+owd an' yung.'
+
+There was a dead silence for a little while as the listeners gathered
+nearer the blazing fire, two or three of them getting a little further
+away from the door, against which the wind was dashing the snow, and
+then 'Lijah resumed: 'When I wir a lad, me an' mi mestur wer ast to a
+berryin. Ther wer a deeol o' drink stirrin, th' coffee pot, wi th'
+lemon peel hangin aat, gooin abaat fray one side to th' tother fast
+enough, and at last o' wer ready, but just as they wer baan to lift
+th' coffin a clap o' thunder shuke th' varra glasses o' th' table.
+
+'Th' chaps as hed howd stopped a bit an' lukt raand, but th' deead
+chap's feythur shouted, "Come on, lads, or wist be late, an' th'
+paason waynt berry;" so they piked off, but no sooner hed they
+getten' i' th' street nor a lad i' th' craad cried out, "Heigh, chaps,
+luk at th' black cock {34} on th' top o' th' coffin," an' sure enough
+theer it wor. One o' th' beerers said directly as they'd enough to
+carry wi'out ony passingers, an' up wi' his fist an' knockt it off,
+but it wer on ageean in a minit, an one bi' one they o' hed a slap at
+it, but every time it wer knockt off back it flew to it' place at th'
+deead mon's feet, so at last th' owd mon give th' word of command, an'
+off they startit wi' th' looad. Th' craad geet bigger afooar they
+reached th' owd country church wheer he hed to be berried, an' th'
+fowk geet a throwin stooans at th' black bird, an' hittin it wi'
+sticks an' shaatin at it, but it stuck theer like a fixter.
+
+'After a while we reached th' graveyart, an' th' paason come deawn th'
+road fray th' church door to meet th' coffin, an' he wer just baan to
+start th' service when he see th' bird an' stopped.
+
+'"What han yo' got theere?" he says, lukin varra vext, for he thowt
+some marlock wer gooin on. "What han yo' theere, men?"
+
+'Th' owd feythur stepped forrut an' towd him what hed happent, an' as
+nooan on 'em could freetun it off it peeark naythur wi' sticks or
+stooans or sweearin.
+
+'"It's a strange tale," said th' vicar, "but we moant hev no brids
+here! Yo' fowk keep eaut o' th' graveyart nobbut thuse as is invitet
+to th' funeral! I'll settle him for yo!" an' so sayin he grabbed howd
+o' th' cock, an' walked o'er th' graves wi' it to a place wheer th'
+bruk run under th' hedges, an' then he bent deawn o' th' floor an'
+dipped th' bird i'th' watter, an' held it theer for abaat a quarter ov
+an hour.
+
+'No sooner had he getten up, heawever, nor th' brid flew up eaut o'
+th' watter quite unhort, an' hopped o'er th' grass to th' coffin an'
+peearkt ageean as if nowt hed happent.
+
+'Th' vicar lukt varra consarnt for a while, an' skrat his yed as he
+staret at th' fowk.
+
+'Theer's summat not reet abaat that brid,' he said, 'but that's no
+rayson why we shouldn't bury th' deead!' an' he pottert off toart th'
+grave, an' th' beerers carriet th' coffin to th' side, an' th' sarvice
+wer gone through, wi' th' bird harkenin every word like a Christian.
+
+'Th' chaps then startit o' lowerin th' coffin into th' grave, an' th'
+brid still stuck o' th' peeark, an' it wer nobbut when th' hole wer
+filled, as it came above graand ageean, an' theer it set on th' maand.
+
+'A craad o' fowk waited abaat an' hung on th' graveyart wo' till th'
+edge o' dark, an' then they piket off whoam, for they begun to think
+as mebbi it were th' Owd Lad hissel, but a twothree on us stopped till
+it wer neet afooar we went after 'em, th' cock sittin theear just th'
+same as it hed done i' th' dayleet.
+
+'It were usual i' thuse days to watch th' graves for a few neets, for
+ther wer a deeal o' resurrectionin' gooin on i'o' directions, th'
+body-snatchers hevin mooar orders than they could attend to; but
+though th' deead chap's feythur offert brass an' plenty o' drink an'
+meyt to anybody as ud keep a look aat, not one dar do it, an' th'
+deead mon wer laft to tek care o' hissel, or for th' brid to mind him.
+
+'Soon after dayleet th' next mornin I went wi' a twothree moor young
+chaps to see heaw th' place lukt, an' th' grave hedn't bin brokken
+into, but th' brid had flown, and fray that day to this I could never
+find aat ayther wheer it coom fray or went to, but I heeart as th'
+vicar said it met be th' Owd Lad claimin' his own.'
+
+
+
+
+THE INVISIBLE BURDEN.
+
+
+At the junction of the four cross roads, gleaming white in the hot
+sunshine and hawthorn-bounded, and marked by the parallel ruts made by
+the broad wheels of the country carts, the old public house of the
+_Wyresdale Arms_ was scarcely ever without a number of timber wagons
+or hay carts about its open door, the horses quietly munching from the
+nose-bags and patiently waiting until their owners or drivers should
+emerge from the sanded kitchen.
+
+Nathan Peel's hostelry was the half-way house for all the farmers and
+cart-drivers in the district, and generally quiet enough at night
+time, but from its capacious kitchen roars of laughter rang out many a
+summer afternoon, as the carters and yeomen told their droll stories.
+
+On one of these occasions, when the sun was blazing outside, and
+shimmering upon the sands and the distant sea, and through the open
+window the perfume of the may-blossom stole gently, a quaint looking
+old fellow, whose face had been bronzed by three-score summers and
+winters, happened to mention an occurrence as having taken place about
+the time of 'th' quare weddin',' and a chorus of voices at once called
+upon him for the story.
+
+'It's quite forty year sin,' he said thoughtfully, 'an' I wir quite a
+young chap then, an' ready for any marlock. I could dance too wi' hear
+an' thear one, an' no weddin' wir reet wi'aat axin' me. This one I'm
+baan to tell abaat heawivir wir Mester Singleton's owdest son o' th'
+Dyke Farm, an' as he wir weddin' th' prattiest lass i' o' th' country
+side, varra nigh everybody wir theear, 'specially as Mester Singleton
+hed given it aat ther'd be a welcome for onnybody. A string o' nearly
+twenty conveyances, milk carts, an' shandrys, an' gigs, went to th'
+church wi' fowk o' seein' 'em wed; but comin' back, young Adam started
+off wi' his young wife as if he wir mad, an' isted o' gooin' th' owd
+road across th' Stone Brig, an' through th' Holme meadow he pelted
+off through th' Ingleton Road an' th' Owd Horse Lane. Th' mare seemed
+to know what th' young chap wir up to, an' to enter into th' spirit
+o't' thing an' off hoo went like th' woint, th' string o' shandrys an'
+milk carts an' gigs peltin' on at after abaat a mile behint, an' th'
+fowk laughin' an' shaatin' at th' fun. Th' gate into th' Owd Horse
+Lane wir wide open, so th' fowk wir disappointed as expected to gain a
+minnit or two wi' Adam hevin' to get daan theer to oppen it, an' into
+th' lane th' mare dashed, an' on hoo went as if th' shandry an' Adam
+an' his wife wir nowt behint her. Abaat midway i'th' lane heawever th'
+road dipped a bit, an' th' watter fra a spring i'th' bank ran o'er it,
+an' just afoor th' shandry reyched it th 'mare stopped o' of a sudden,
+an' Adam flew aat o'er th' horse's back an' pitched into th' hedge
+like leetnin'. Th' wife shaated as if he wir kilt, but he'd no bones
+brokken, an' when we geet up to him he crept aat o'th' prickles wi' a
+shame-faced look as if he'd bin catcht thievin'. Ther wir some rare
+jokin' as he climbed up to th' side of his wife an' lasht the mare for
+another start, but it wir no use, th' mare couldn't stir th'
+conveyance. Adam lasht away at her, but stir it hoo couldn't, an' at
+last eight or ten on us set to an' turned th' wheels for twenty or
+thirty yards an' it wir th' same as if it wir a timber-wagon, it wir
+that heavy. It wir th' same wi' every one o'th' conveyances, not one
+could be got o'er th' watter only wi' eight or ten on us toilin' an'
+slavin' at th' wheels, no matter heaw th' horse strained an' pulled.
+Nobody could make aat what it wir, an' th' Vicar came an' look't abaat
+but could find nowt. He said, heawever, th' Owd Lad had some hand in
+it, an' he warned th' fowk not to use th' road when they could help
+it. Many an' many a time heawivir, I see carts stuck theear bi' th'
+day together, for some chaps wouldn't be persuaded not to go through
+th' lane, for it wir a short cut, an' other chaps went i' nowt but
+darin' when they'd hed a sup o' drink. It went on for some years like
+that, an' fowk came fray far an' near to see it. I'd gettin' wed mysen
+and hed a farm on the Holme, but I used to go raand to it bi'th' owd
+road across the Brig, but one day, a breet hot day, I'd mi little lad
+i'th cart an' he bothert mi to go through th' lane, he wantit to see
+th' Owd Lad he said, an' as he started o' cryin' abaat it, I went.
+Well, the cart stuck i'th' owd place bi th' runnin' watter, an' th'
+little lad wir deleeted. I geet daan an' took howd o'th' wheel, for I
+knew it wir no use usin' the whip, an' th' horse wir sweatin' as if it
+wir rare an' 'freetont, when little Will shaated aat o' ov a sudden
+'Feythar, I con see him!' 'See what?' I sang aat, an' broad dayleet as
+it wir, mi knees wir quakin'. 'A little chap i'th' cart,' he said, 'a
+fat little chap wi' a red neet cap on.' 'Wheer is he?' I shaated, for
+I couldn't see owt. 'Theer on th' cart tail,' he said, an' then he
+shaated 'Why, he's gone,' an' no sooner hed he spokken than th' horse
+started off wi' th' cart as if it hed nowt behint it.
+
+Thir never wir a cart stuck theer at after that, an' th' Vicar said it
+wir because little Will hed persayved th' Feeorin, an' as Will hed th'
+gift o' seein' feeorin an' sich like because he wir born at midneet.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+_COMPARATIVE NOTES._
+
+
+1.
+
+Belief in the appearance of the Skriker, Trash, or Padfoot, as the
+apparition is named in Lancashire, or Padfooit, as it is designated in
+Yorkshire, is still very prevalent in certain parts of the two
+counties. This boggart is invariably looked upon as the forerunner of
+death, and it is supposed that only the relatives of persons about to
+die, or the unfortunate doomed persons themselves, ever see the
+apparition.
+
+Of quite a distinct class to that of the 'Skrikin' Woman,' an
+appearance which, at a but recent period, obtained for a lane at
+Warrington the reputation of being haunted, the Padfoot seems to be
+peculiar to Lancashire and Yorkshire, unless, indeed, the Welsh
+Gwyllgi or Dog of Darkness, and the Shock of the Norfolk seaboard, are
+of the same family. In Norfolk, the spectre, as it does in Lancashire,
+portends death, but I have been unable to find any Welsh story of the
+apparition with a more tragic ending than fright and illness.
+
+As the Trash generally takes the form of a large shaggy dog or small
+bear, can the superstition be an offshoot from that old Aryan belief
+which gave so important an office to the dog as a messenger from the
+world of the dead, and an attendant upon the dying, or has the grim
+idea come down to us from the ancient times, when, as the Rev. S.
+Baring Gould says, 'It was the custom to bury a dog or a boar alive
+under the corner-stone of a church, that its ghost might haunt the
+neighbourhood, and drive off any who would profane it--_i.e._ witches
+or warlocks'?
+
+
+2.
+
+In most of these stories of compacts with the Evil One it is singular
+how little is received in exchange for the soul. In a few instances
+poverty bargains for untold wealth, or ugliness and age for youth and
+loveliness, but generally it is for the bare means of prolonging or
+supporting life that the daring and despairing one enters into the
+everlasting agreement. In fact, as a French authoress has said, it is
+'for a mouthful of bread to nourish their debilitated stomachs, and
+the bundle of sticks which warms again their benumbed limbs.' In
+Sussex it would appear, from what a country-lad told the Rev. S.
+Baring Gould, that half-a-crown is the price Satan pays for a soul,--a
+letter addressed to the Evil One, and containing an offer of the soul,
+bringing a response in that practical form, if placed under the pillow
+at night.
+
+In Normandy it is considered sufficient to make the compact binding
+for the acceptance to be simply a verbal one; but in Lancashire the
+formal parchment deed, with its signatures in blood, is indispensable.
+
+
+3.
+
+Old Isaac, it would seem, was not disappointed when he came to make
+use of his handful of money, and probably, therefore, he had spent it
+before he told the story, for in all instances where the fairies are
+recorded as rewarding mortals with money, any revelation as to its
+source is invariably followed by the gift being turned to bits of
+paper or leaves.
+
+
+4.
+
+Although there appears to have been some little confusion in the mind
+of the old farmer as to the rank in the world of faerie held by his
+little benefactor, he seems to have designated him correctly, for
+although the general idea of Puck is that of a mere mischief-loving
+and mischief-working sprite, such as is painted by Drayton, Shakspere
+credits Puck not only with wanton playfulness, but also with industry,
+for in the second act of the 'Midsummer Night's Dream,' the fairy,
+addressing the sprite, says:
+
+    'Those that hobgoblin call you, and sweet Puck,
+    _You do their work_.'
+
+Shakspere and Ben Jonson, however, agree in making Oberon King of the
+Fairies--a king, too, with a stately presence, and far above showing
+an interest in a farmer's fields. Under any circumstances one is not
+prepared to find Puck of royal estate, and doubtless the labouring
+spirit of our story was simply one of those goblins who, according to
+the author of the _Anatomy of Melancholy_, would 'grind corn for a
+mess of milk, cut wood, or do any manner of nursery work'--a Robin
+Goodfellow merely, the 'lubber fiend' of Milton, the Bwbach or
+household fairy of Wales. Lancashire had many such. Stories of beings
+rejoicing in the name of Hobthrust or Throbthrush, but in all other
+respects closely resembling the fairy king of the foregoing tradition,
+still are told by the farm-house fires in Furness, in South-East
+Lancashire, and in the Fylde country. Rewarded night after night with
+a supply of oatmeal porridge--strange relic, probably, of the old
+libations to the gods--they toiled at the churn till daybreak. A
+Furness legend chronicles how a farmer, whose house was the favourite
+resting-place of one of these visitors, one evening, when threatening
+clouds were gathering, wished that he had the harvest carted. Next
+morning the work was found done, but a horse was found dead in the
+stable, Hob having been unsparing. As the day was a beautiful one, the
+farmer did not appreciate the housing as he ought to have done, and
+testily wished that Hob was in the mill-dam. A few hours afterwards,
+not Hob, but the grain was found there.
+
+'Crawshaws in Berwickshire,' says the author of the _Popular Rhymes of
+Berwickshire_, 'was once the abode of an industrious Brownie, who both
+saved the corn and thrashed it for several seasons. At length, after
+one harvest, some person thoughtlessly remarked that the corn was not
+well mowed or piled up in the barn. The sprite took offence at this,
+and the next night threw the whole of the corn over the Raven Crag, a
+precipice about two miles off, muttering--
+
+    "It's no weel mowed! It's no weel mowed!
+    Then it's ne'er be mowed by me again.
+    I'll scatter it o'er the Raven stone,
+    And they'll hae some wark ere it's mowed again."'
+
+The North Lancashire Hobthrusts, however, do not seem to have been
+made to disappear by man's ingratitude, but, like the Irish Cluricaun
+and the Scotch Brownie, were to be driven away by kindness. In one
+instance, a tailor, for whom a Hobthrust had done some work,
+gratefully made him a coat and hood for winter wear, and in the night
+the workman was heard bidding farewell to his old quarters--
+
+    'Throb-thrush has got a new coat and new hood,
+    And he'll never do no more good.'
+
+Readers of the Brothers Grimm and lovers of George Cruikshank will not
+need to be reminded how the grateful shoemaker deprived himself of the
+assistance of the elves. In the German story, however, as in Breton
+ones, although the elves depart, prosperity continues to bless the
+labours of the people whose practical gratitude has driven the little
+beings away.
+
+The Hob which, according to Harrison Ainsworth, haunted the Gorge of
+Cliviger, does not appear to have been at all domesticated, the
+novelist, in the only allusion he makes to it, characterising it as 'a
+frightful hirsute demon, yclept Hobthrust.' In the Fylde country,
+however, the lubber fiends seem to have been as industrious as was
+that of our legend. Tradition tells of one at Rayscar which not only
+housed the grain but also got the horses ready for the journey to the
+distant market. At Hackensall Hall one took the Celtic form of a great
+horse, and required only a pie in reward for its toil.
+
+The Hobs of the neighbouring county of Yorkshire are credited with
+greater powers than those required for the rapid performance of
+household duties. One of these beings is still said to haunt a cave in
+the vicinity of the old-world hamlet of Runswick. To this place
+anxious and superstitious mothers brought their ailing little ones,
+and as they stood at the mouth of the cavity, cried, 'Hob, my bairn's
+gettent kinkcough (whooping-cough?), takkt off, takkt off!' In the
+same district there is a haunted tumulus called 'Obtrash Roque,'
+rendered by Walcott 'the Heap of Hob-o'-the-Hurst.' Of the bogle
+denizen of this mound a story similar to that told by Mr. Crofton
+Croker, in Roby's _Traditions (Clegg Hall Boggart)_, is current in the
+district. A farmer who was bothered by the spirit, determined to
+remove to a quieter locality, and as the carts were leaving with the
+goods and implements a neighbour cried out, 'It's flittin yo' are,'
+when the Hob at once replied, from a churn, 'Ay, we're flitting;' upon
+which the farmer thought he might as well remain where he was. Similar
+flitting stories, however, are told of the Scandinavian _Nis_, the
+Irish _Cluricaun_, the Welsh _Bwbach_, and the Polish _Ickrzycki_.
+
+
+5.
+
+Why the expression of a wish like this should have offended Puck is
+not very evident. There is in Sweden a lubber fiend named the _Tomte_,
+and of this being the peasantry believe that only by unrewarded toil
+can it work out its salvation. Can the Lancashire King of the Fairies
+have been one of the same order, and have considered the utterance of
+a good wish as a reward, or even as a sarcastic allusion to his 'lost
+condition'?
+
+The belief is by no means uncommon that the fairies are the angels who
+were neutral during the Satanic rebellion. In Brittany, however
+(_Chants Populaires de la Bretagne_, par Th. Hersart de la
+Villemarqué), they are the Princesses who, in the days of the
+Apostles, would not embrace Christianity.
+
+The traditions of most countries agree, however, in attributing to
+the fairies extreme sensitiveness on the subject of their condition.
+Mr. Campbell has recorded that when the elves, who had grown weary of
+crossing the Dornoch Frith in cockle-shells, were engaged in building
+a bridge of gold across its mouth, a passer-by lifted his hands and
+blessed the tiny workmen, who immediately vanished, the bridge sinking
+with them beneath the waves, and its place being at once taken by
+quicksands. Almost every district haunted by 'greenies' or 'hill folk'
+has its story of a piteous appeal on the subject of their future state
+made by visible or invisible fairies. In a Highland story it is an old
+man reading the Bible who is accosted, the inquirer screaming and
+plunging into the sea upon being answered that the sacred pages did
+not contain any allusion to the salvation of any but the sons of Adam.
+My friend, Mr. Kennedy, in his valuable _Legendary Fictions of the
+Irish Celts_, gives a charming traditionary story of a priest who was
+benighted and lost upon a moor, and who was similarly accosted, and
+implored to declare that at the last day the lot of the fairies would
+not be with Satan. After the appeal had been somewhat ambiguously
+answered, 'a weak light was shed around where he stood, and he
+distinguished the path and an opening in the fence.'
+
+In Cornwall they are supposed to be the spirits of the people who
+inhabited the country long before the birth of Christ, and who,
+although not good enough to partake of the joys of Heaven, yet are too
+good for Hell. In Wales there is a somewhat similar belief, but it is
+said that their probation will end at the day of judgment, when they
+will be admitted to Paradise. It is commonly believed by the Cornish
+peasants that they are gradually growing smaller, and that at length
+they will change into ants. Few people in Cornwall, therefore, are
+sufficiently venturesome to destroy a colony of those insects.
+
+
+6.
+
+Many are the old sacred piles in Lancashire with the building of which
+it is believed that goblins had something to do. The parish church of
+Rochdale, the old church of Samlesbury, that of St. Oswald's at
+Winwick, near Warrington, and the parish church of Burnley, may be
+instanced as a few of those which are popularly supposed to have been
+interfered with by superhuman labourers. At Rochdale the unexpected
+workpeople took the form of 'strange-looking men;' in other cases, as
+in those of Winwick and Burnley, pigs removed the materials, it being
+traditional that their cry of 'we-week' gave its name to the former
+place; while at Newchurch, in Rossendale, although the interloping
+builders were invisible, a little old woman with a bottle was not only
+seen, but was fraternised with by the thirsty watchers who had been
+appointed to guard the foundations. Similar stories of changed site
+are told of numerous churches throughout Britain. The legend of
+Gadshill church, near Ventnor, like that of Hinderwell, Yorkshire,
+attributes the removal of the foundations to supernatural means, the
+stones having hopped after each other from their original place at the
+foot of the hill to that in which they were afterwards found, the
+shins of the watchers having been 'barked' in the most unceremonious
+manner by certain little blocks of somewhat erratic tendencies. It is,
+however, by no means improbable that at Gadshill, as at Rochdale, the
+fact of the building having been erected in a position so difficult of
+access, and so trying to aged and infirm parishioners, may have caused
+a testy and irreverent, and perhaps asthmatic, worshipper to invent
+the Satanic theory. In one case, that of Bredon, in Leicestershire,
+the objectors appear to have taken the form of doves. Loth as one may
+be to think harm of such sweet messengers, Mr. Kennedy, after telling
+the story of the building of the cathedral of Ardfert, in Kerry, by
+St. Brendain, and the trouble caused by a large crow, which took the
+measuring line in its bill and flew across the valley with it, adds,
+'The bird was a fairy in disguise. If the messenger had been _from
+another quarter_, he would have made his appearance under snowy
+plumes.'[B]
+
+[B] The foundations of the priory church of Christchurch, Hampshire,
+were, tradition says, removed by unseen hands, down from the lonely
+St. Catherine's Hill to the present site in the valley. The beams and
+rafters, too short on the hill, were too long in the vale. In the
+valley, too, an extra workman, Christ, always came on the pay-night.
+
+
+7.
+
+This work of art was one of the gargoyles of the old building, and was
+purchased by Mr. Ffarington, the father of the present lady of the
+manor, when the church was rebuilt. It bore the name of 'the Cat
+Stone.'
+
+Another version of this tradition, of but limited circulation, and
+little known even in the immediate locality, credits an angel with the
+removal of the foundations and with the utterance of the following
+anything but angelic strain:--
+
+    Here I have placed thee,
+      And here shalt thou stand;
+    And thou shalt be called
+      The church of Leyland!
+
+
+8.
+
+This legend appears to have had a Teutonic origin. Mr. Kelly, in his
+chapter on the 'Wild Hunt,' quotes a somewhat similar story from a
+German source: 'The wild huntsman's hounds can talk like men. A
+peasant caught one of them, a little one, and hid it in his pack. Up
+came the wild huntsman and missed it. "Where are you, Waldmann?" he
+cried. "In Heineguggeli's sack," was the answer.'
+
+
+9.
+
+'The passing bell,' says Harland, 'according to Grose, was anciently
+rung for two purposes, one to bespeak the prayers of all good
+Christians for a soul just departing, the other to drive away the evil
+spirits who stood at the bed's foot ready to seize their prey, or at
+least to molest and terrify the soul on its passage.'
+
+Mr. Sikes says that in Wales, before the Reformation, 'there was kept
+in all Welsh churches, a handbell which was taken by the Sexton to the
+house where a funeral was to be held, and rung at the head of the
+procession,' and that 'the custom survived long after the Reformation
+in many places, as at Caerleon, the little Monmouthshire village,
+which was a bustling Roman city when London was a hamlet. The bell,
+called the _bangu_, was still preserved in the parish of Llanfair
+Duffryn Clwyd half a dozen years ago.'
+
+The bell might now with greater propriety be called the _passéd_ bell,
+as it is tolled only after a death, the ringing concluding with a
+number of distinct knells to announce the years and sex of the
+deceased, which the authority alluded to above considers 'a vestige of
+an ancient Roman Catholic injunction.' Until a comparatively recent
+period it was customary at Walton-le-Dale, Lancashire, to inter
+Protestants in the afternoon, a bell being tolled at intervals prior
+to the funeral; Catholics, however, were buried in the evening, a full
+peal being rung upon the bells immediately before the procession
+started.
+
+Mr. Thornber, writing in 1844, says that at the beginning of this
+century, at Poulton, the more respectable portion of the inhabitants
+were buried by candle-light, and that it was considered a sacred duty
+to expose a lighted candle in the windows of every house as the corpse
+was carried through the streets. He speaks of the custom as a mark of
+respect to the dead, but possibly there was something more than this
+in it. In Ireland even to-day it is usual to leave lighted candles in
+the room where a corpse is laid out.
+
+This belief in the power of bells over not only demons and evil
+spirits of every kind, but also over the elves and 'good people,'
+appears to have been held in all countries ever inhabited by fairies
+and hill folk. The Danish trolls are said to have been driven out of
+the country by the hanging of bells in the churches, the noise
+reminding them forcibly of the time when Thor used to fling his hammer
+after them. It is recorded in a bit of local doggrel from the pen of a
+dead and forgotten rhymester, that the fairies remained at
+Saddleworth, on the confines of Lancashire and Yorkshire, until
+
+                'The steeple rose,
+    And bells began to play;'
+
+when the Queen wandered away to the wild district
+
+    'Where Todmore's kingdom lay;'
+
+and the less important plebeians of fairy land 'disperséd, went.' Mr.
+Henderson says that 'at Horbury, near Wakefield, and at Dewsbury, on
+Christmas Eve, is rung the "devil's knell," a hundred strokes, then a
+pause, then three strokes, three strokes, and three strokes again.'
+
+In Iceland it is believed that at daybreak or upon the ringing of a
+bell the trolls flee.
+
+
+10.
+
+Fairy funerals, according to tradition, have been seen in other
+counties beside Lancashire, for an old Welsh writer alludes to such
+sights as having been witnessed in his day. Mr. Wirt Sikes, in his
+_British Goblins_, a recent and most valuable contribution to the folk
+lore and mythology of South Wales, says that the bell of Blaenporth,
+Cardiganshire, was noted for tolling thrice at midnight, unrung by
+human hands, to foretell death, and that when the 'Tolaeth before the
+burying,' the sound of an unseen funeral-procession passing by, is
+heard, the voices sing the 'Old Hundredth,' and the tramping of feet
+and the sobbing and groaning of mourners can be heard. In Normandy,
+says P. Le Fillastre, _Annuaire de la Manche_, 1832, the large white
+coffins, _les bières_, which the belated voyager sees along the roads,
+or placed on the churchyard fences, are unaccompanied by either
+bearers or mourners, and the cemetery bell is silent.
+
+Readers of Professor Hunt's volumes of Cornish Drolls and Romances
+will remember the beautiful legend of the fisherman who, gazing by
+night through the window of a lonely church, saw a procession passing
+along the aisle, and witnessed the interment, near the sacramental
+table, of the fairy queen. The only point of resemblance, however,
+between the Southern and Northern traditions is to be found in the
+solemn tolling of the church-bell. The Cornish story is unique in one
+respect, inasmuch as, although we have plenty of legends in which the
+fairies evince a desire to peer into their future state, and even some
+in which their deaths are alluded to, it is extremely rare to find one
+in which the burial of a fairy is narrated; and this fact would seem
+to point to a defect in the 'Finn theory,' so plausibly advocated by
+Mr. Campbell; for, surely, if once upon a time 'the fairies were a
+real people, like the Lapps,' tradition would not be so silent, as it
+almost universally is, with reference to the outward and visible signs
+of their mortality.[C]
+
+[C] Only since these notes were in type have I seen the excellent
+paper from the pen of Mr. Grant Allen (_Cornhill Magazine_, March
+1881), on the Genesis of the Myth of the Fairies. See also the same
+charming writer's _Vignettes from Nature_, p. 206, and papers by B.
+Melle and F. A. Allen, in _Science Gossip_ for 1866, 'The Track of the
+Pigmies.'
+
+
+11.
+
+My friend, Mr. W. E. A. Axon, in his interesting _Black Knight of
+Ashton_, tells a story of a 'Race with the Devil,' the hero of which
+was one of a party of _pace-eggers_, who, waking up after a doze by a
+farm-house fire, beside which the party had been permitted to sleep on
+a wild night, and, feeling cold, had put on his Beelzebub dress, to
+the terror of another member of the company, who awoke afterwards, and
+seeing, as he supposed, the Devil seated airing himself by the fire,
+fled into the darkness and the storm, his equally terrified companions
+following him, and the no-less-frightened Beelzebub bringing up the
+rear.
+
+The Mid and South Lancashire stories, as will at once be seen, do not
+resemble each other in any way, however; and I refer to Mr. Axon's
+legend for the sake of directing my readers' attention to a valuable
+note appended to it, in which Mr. Axon points out that there is a
+similar old Hindoo story of such a chase, which was translated from
+the Sanscrit into Chinese not later than the year 800.
+
+It seems hardly probable that the Lancashire pace-egging story, so
+exquisitely narrated by my friend, could have had an Aryan origin, yet
+the resemblance is a striking and remarkable one.
+
+
+12.
+
+Many are the traditions of submerged bells told along the Lancashire
+coast. 'Here,' says the Rev. W. Thornber in the scarce _History of
+Blackpool_ (1844), 'or out at sea opposite this spot, once stood the
+cemetery of Kilgrimol, mentioned in the above-quoted chapter of the
+Priory of Lytham. Of this fact, tradition is not silent, and the
+rustic who dwells in the neighbourhood relates tales of fearful
+sights, and how many a benighted wanderer has been terrified with the
+sounds of bells pealing dismal chimes.' In Wales, too, the
+superstition is a common one. It is by no means improbable that there
+may be more in these faint whispers than would at first appear, and
+that underneath these dim traditions of churches swallowed by the sea
+there may rest a faint stratum of the old Scandinavian superstition
+that sweet singing and beautiful music could be heard by any who stood
+to listen on an Elf hill; for, although the idea of submerged cities
+may be found floating in the lore of all Celtic peoples, and in some
+places the submersion is a matter even of history,[D] in others, as at
+Kilgrimol, it is doubtful whether the sounds come from the sea or the
+earth. It is, therefore, more than likely that the traditions of
+submersion have received the addition of pealing bells from natural
+causes. There is an Indian superstition which in another way
+illustrates this theory. Manitobah Lake, in the Red River region,
+derives its name from a small island, upon which is heard, whenever
+the gales blow from the north, a sound resembling the pealing of
+distant church-bells, and which is caused by the waves beating on the
+shore at the foot of the cliffs and the rubbing of the fallen
+fragments against each other. This island the Ojibeways suppose to be
+the home of Manitobah, 'the speaking god,' and upon it they dare not
+land.
+
+[D] _Vide_ Lyell's _Principles of Geology_, Chapter on _Encroachments
+of the Sea_, for many instances of submerged villages and churches
+along the English coast.
+
+There is in Normandy a singular tradition of a submerged bell, dating
+back to the time of the English occupation, along with others of
+buried and hidden treasure. It is said that, as the English soldiers
+were abandoning the country, they destroyed the abbey of Corneville,
+and were taking away with them the principal bell, when the barge
+capsized. As they were trying to recover the prize, the French came
+upon them, and they were obliged to hurry away, leaving the bell
+behind. Since that time, whenever the bells of the churches in the
+district ring out their joyous peals upon solemn festival days, the
+submerged bell also can be heard joining in the carillon. (_Essai sur
+l'arrondissement de Pont-Audemer_.)
+
+A story somewhat similar to this is told of a bell from St. David's,
+Pembrokeshire, carried off by Cromwellian troops whose vessel
+afterwards was wrecked in Ramsay Sound, from the moving waters of
+which the pealing can be heard when a storm is rising.
+
+
+13.
+
+For the sake of those who are not 'native and to the manner born,'
+Roger's story is not given in his vernacular, a mixture of the
+Mid-Lancashire and the Furness dialects, trying even to those who are
+acquainted with the expressive Doric of other parts of the County
+Palatine.
+
+
+14.
+
+Mr. Henderson, in his _Notes on the Folk Lore of the Northern Counties
+of England and the Borders_, states that Mr. Wilkie maintains that the
+_Digitalis purpurea_ was in high favour with the witches, who used to
+decorate their fingers with its largest bells; hence called Witches'
+Thimbles. Mr. Hartley Coleridge has more pleasing associations with
+this gay wild-flower. He writes of 'the fays
+
+    That sweetly nestle in the foxglove bells;'
+
+and adds in a note, 'popular fancy has generally conceived a
+connection between the foxglove and the good people.' In Ireland,
+where it is called _lusmore_, or the great herb, and also Fairy Cup,
+the bending of its stalks is believed to denote the unseen presence of
+supernatural beings. The Shefro, or gregarious fairy, is represented
+as wearing the corona of the foxglove on his head, and no unbecoming
+head-dress either. In Wales, that the elves wear gloves of the bells
+of _Digitalis_ is a common fancy.
+
+
+15.
+
+This conventional circle seems to be universally common to such
+stories of summoning the Evil One. Even in China, as Mr. Dennys has
+stated, the ring is drawn round the summoner, and the incantation
+uttered, as in our own stories.
+
+
+16.
+
+In Lancashire, Old Nick (afterwards St. Nicholas, the patron saint of
+sailors) is considered the patron saint of the wind, just as in the
+Scandinavian mythology it is Odin, also termed Nick and Hold Neckar,
+who raises storms.
+
+In Normandy, near Aigle, there is a superstition respecting a Mother
+_Nique_, doubtless, says Vaugeois, of Scandinavian origin.
+
+
+17.
+
+Instances of generous treatment of opponents on the part of the Evil
+One are by no means rare. Readers of Mr. Roby will remember that Satan
+gave a loophole of escape to Michael Waddington, the hero of 'Th' Dule
+upo' Dun' legend, by granting him an extra wish, although the poor
+wretch's time was up.
+
+
+18.
+
+The Cockerham schoolmaster appears to have lacked originality, for in
+the Scottish legend of 'Michael Scott' it is recorded that when the
+fairies crowded round his dwelling crying for work, he bade them twine
+ropes of sand to reach the moon, and tradition has it that traces of
+their unsuccessful attempts may yet be found. A more recent instance
+is told in a sketch of Dr. Linkbarrow, a Westmoreland wizard, who
+lived about a hundred years ago, quoted from the _Kendal Mercury_ by
+Mr. Sullivan, in his _Cumberland and Westmoreland, Ancient and
+Modern_. The Doctor, who was disturbed at church by a terrible storm,
+hurried home, and on the way met the devil, who asked for work. He
+immediately set him to make 'thumb symes' of river sand. Imitating the
+Israelites, perhaps not unconsciously--for Satan's knowledge of
+Scripture is proverbial--the Evil One asked for straw, which was
+refused him. On his arrival at home, the Doctor found his servant
+prying into his black-letter book, which imprudence had caused the
+storm and Satan's pilgrimage.
+
+Several similar stories, illustrating the danger of tampering with
+books of magic, are told in Normandy. In one of them it is recorded
+that the servant of a village curé, moved by curiosity, read a page or
+two of one of his master's volumes, when suddenly Satan appeared. The
+domestic fled, but the Evil One captured him, and was making away with
+him when the curé arrived and simply read a few other words from the
+book, upon which Satan dropped his prey. In another one Satan keeps
+his victim three years, but at length is obliged to let him go.
+
+In the last story of this kind, however, which has come under my
+notice--a French one by the way--the incautious student has scarcely
+read a line of the open book when Satan appears and strangles him. The
+sorcerer, quietly returning home, sees devils perched on the house,
+and, surprised, beckons them to approach. One does so, and tells him
+the story, and he thereupon rushes to his study and finds the student
+stretched dead upon the floor. Afraid of being accused of murder, he
+orders the devil who had assassinated the scholar to pass into the
+body of his victim. The demon obeys, and goes to promenade in the
+street at the point most frequented by the students, but suddenly,
+upon another order, he quits the body, and the corpse falls in the
+midst of the terrified promenaders.
+
+In Cornwall, instead of the devil, it is the ghost of Tregeagle, the
+wizard, that is doomed to make trusses of sand in Genvor Cove, and to
+bear them to the top of Escol's Cliff. Having once succeeded in
+carrying a truss, after having first brought water from a neighbouring
+stream and frozen the sand, he is now condemned to make the trusses
+without water.
+
+
+19.
+
+Another version of this story, which is still told in the lonely
+farm-houses of the district, gives the scholars the credit of having
+raised the devil during the absence of their master. Similar tasks
+were given to the infernal visitor by a sharp-witted lad, who feared
+lest his should be the soul the Evil One threatened to take back with
+him; and not many years ago a flag, said to have been broken by the
+outwitted Satan in his passage across the floor, used to be
+triumphantly exhibited to any daring and irreverent sceptic who
+expressed doubts as to the truthfulness of the narrative.
+
+At Burnley Grammar School a black mark on a stone was at one time
+exhibited in proof of a state visit of the same kind, and a similar
+ignominious flight.
+
+The Grammar School of Middleton, near Manchester, also can boast of
+the patronage of the Evil One; and Samuel Bamford has recorded that in
+his youth a hole in the school flags was shown as an impression of the
+Satanic hoof. The Middleton legend credits the lads with the
+unenviable honour of having called up the fiend and afterwards
+innocently wishing him to withdraw, which he sternly declined to do
+without having received his usual fee of a soul. As at Cockerham, he
+was requested to make a rope of sand; and he was rapidly completing
+the task, when, to the joy of the urchins, the schoolmaster came upon
+the scene, and quickly exorcised the visitor, who, in his disgusted
+and disordered flight, broke down nearly half of the building.
+
+
+20.
+
+Stories of headless beings may be found in the lore of most countries
+of Europe, and are of the same class as those of the men, women and
+horses 'beawt yeds,' common to the hilly districts of both North and
+South Lancashire. As a general rule, in South Lancashire, the head is
+not seen at all, whereas in the northern part of the county the
+spectre almost invariably carries it under the left arm, as is done by
+the wandering beings in similar Danish stories. A Scotch legend,
+alluded to by Sir Walter Scott, credits the ghost of a Duchess of
+Queensberry with an innovation, as the spectre is said to wheel its
+head in a barrow through the galleries of Drumlanrick Castle. In
+Glamorganshire there is a tradition of a headless woman, who appears
+every sixty years, and many are the terrible stories told of her
+dreadful visitations.
+
+Although tales of headless horses are not rare in Lancashire, there
+does not appear to be any tradition of hearses, or other conveyances
+drawn by them, similar to the Northumberland legend of the midnight
+cavalcade along the subterraneous passage between Tarset and Dalby
+Castles, or to the stories told by the Irish peasants.
+
+It is more than probable that many of the legends and stories of
+headless beings of both sexes had their origin in the old Saxon belief
+that if a person who was guilty of a crime for which he deserved to
+lose his head, died without having paid the penalty, he was condemned
+after death to travel over the earth with his head under his arm.
+
+
+21.
+
+Not very long ago it was commonly believed at Warrington, on the
+authority of many persons who declared they had seen the apparition,
+that a spectral white rabbit haunted Bank Quay, its appearance
+invariably foretelling the early death of a relative of the person
+whose misfortune it was to behold the animal.
+
+'In Cornwall,' says Mr. Hunt, 'it is a very popular fancy that when a
+maiden who has loved not wisely but too well, dies forsaken and
+broken-hearted, she comes back in the shape of a white hare to haunt
+her deceiver. The phantom follows the false one everywhere, mostly
+invisible to all else. It sometimes saves him from danger, but
+invariably the white hare causes the death of the betrayer in the
+end.'
+
+
+22.
+
+Can this tradition be an offshoot of the legend of Ahasuerus, the
+Wandering Jew, the man who, standing at his door, refused the cup of
+water for which the Saviour, bowed down beneath the burden of the
+cross, begged, but who bade the Lord walk quicker, and was answered,
+'I go, but thou shalt thirst and tarry till I come'? In one shape or
+another most European countries have the weird myth of this restless
+being. In none of the stories, however, have I found any reference to
+an animal accompanying the wanderer.
+
+
+23.
+
+The belief in the efficacy of fairy ointment appears to have been
+somewhat generally held in England. A Northumberland tradition tells
+of a midwife who was fetched to attend a lady, and who received a box
+of ointment with which to anoint the infant. By accident the woman
+touched one of her eyes with the mixture, and at once saw that she was
+in a fairy palace. She had the good sense, however, to conceal her
+astonishment, and reached her home in safety. Some time afterwards she
+saw the lady stealing bits of butter in the market-place, and
+thoughtlessly accosted her, when, after an inquiry similar to that of
+the Lancashire legend, the fairy breathed upon the offending eye and
+destroyed the sight. Other versions still current in Northumberland
+make the thief a fairy stealing corn. Similar stories are told in
+Devonshire and in both the Lowlands and Highlands of Scotland. In
+Scotland, however, the fairy spits into the woman's eye. The Irish
+fairy (Co. Wexford), a vindictive being, uses a switch.
+
+In Cornwall a fairy bantling has to be put out to nurse, and has to be
+washed regularly in water and carried to its room by its invisible
+relatives. The nurse receives the marvellous sight after some of the
+liquid has splashed upon her eyes, and the usual result follows. She
+sees a thief in the market-place--that of St. Ives; and after he has
+muttered--
+
+    'Water for elf, not water for self!
+    You've lost your eye, your child, and yourself!'
+
+she becomes blind. In another Cornish legend a green ointment, made
+with four-leaved clover, gathered at a certain time of the moon,
+confers the wondrous gift. In Lancashire the four-leaved clover does
+not require any preparation; the mere possession of it being supposed
+to render fairies visible.
+
+The Scandinavian belief appears to have been that, although the hill
+folk could bestow the gift of this sight upon whom they chose, all
+children born on Sunday possessed the faculty. This superstition seems
+to survive in a slightly altered form in the Lancashire one that
+children born during twilight can see spirits and foretell deaths,
+the latter faculty, probably, having been substituted for the
+prophetic power of the chosen of the elves in the Northern mythology.
+
+It is more than probable that these ointment stories came from the
+East. Who does not remember the charming history of the blind man,
+Baba Abdalla, whose sight was destroyed by a little miraculous
+ointment, and afterwards as wonderfully restored by a box on the ear?
+
+
+24.
+
+An old farm-labourer pointed out to me a place where the Evil One used
+to meet the witches, and gambol with them until cock-crow. It was at
+the junction of four cross-roads, between Stonyhurst and Ribchester;
+and as I stood there at 'th' edge o' dark,' when the wind was
+whispering through the fir woods on either hand, with that mysterious
+sound so like the gentle wash of waves upon a sandy shore, the spot
+seemed indeed a suitable one for such gatherings.
+
+My informant, however, although very circumstantial in his account of
+what had transpired at the nocturnal assemblies, scouted the idea of
+anything of the sort taking place in these times, and remarked drily:
+'Ther's too mich leet neaw-a-days, Mesthur, fur eawt o' that mak'. Wi'
+should hev' th' caanty police after um afooar they'd time to torn
+raand!'
+
+
+25.
+
+Until recently, there was an ancient British tumulus by the side of
+the highway from Darwen to Bolton, where the road passes through the
+domains of White Hall and Low Hill. This spot, long before the urns of
+bones were disinterred, was looked upon by the country people as being
+haunted by various boggarts, and Mr. Charles Hardwick says that
+children were in the habit of taking off their clogs and shoes, and
+walking past the heap barefooted when compelled to traverse the road
+after nightfall.[E]
+
+[E] _Vide_ Footnote [C]
+
+
+26.
+
+Mag did not wander far, for her grave is shown in the churchyard at
+Woodplumpton, in which village her memory still is green. But few
+people venture to rest themselves upon the huge stone which marks the
+spot where her spirit was laid.
+
+A strangely jumbled tradition tells how a priest managed to 'catch'
+her and 'lay her spirit.' In Cornwall and other counties a clergyman
+of the Establishment was considered qualified to 'lay' a ghost; but in
+Lancashire it was believed that only a Roman Catholic priest had the
+wondrous power. In Wales the magical number three is brought in, for
+three clergymen are necessary to exorcise a spirit. In Normandy, as a
+matter of course, only the priests have the power.
+
+
+27.
+
+Witchen or quicken, old English names of the rowan or mountain ash.
+Mr. Kelly (_Indo-European Tradition and Folklore_) accounts for the
+reputation of the 'wiggin' by connecting it with the Indian Palasa,
+the tree that, according to the Vedas, sprang from the feather which,
+together with a claw, fell from the falcon bringing the heavenly
+_soma_ to earth. The same writer also compares it with the Mimosa, and
+quotes a singular passage from Bishop Heber, to the effect that the
+natives of Upper India are in the habit of wearing sprigs of it in
+their turbans, and of suspending pieces of it over their beds, as
+security against wizards, spells, the Evil Eye, etc. Naturally enough
+the Bishop expresses his surprise at finding the superstitions, which
+in England and Scotland attach to the rowan, applied in India to a
+tree of similar form, and he asks, 'From what common centre are these
+common notions derived?' The Mimosa is popularly supposed to have
+sprung from the claw alluded to above.
+
+On account of its reputed power against the 'feorin,' a rowan tree was
+almost invariably planted near the moorland or mountain side
+farm-house.
+
+    'Rowan, ash, and red thread
+    Keep the devils from their speed,'
+
+says the old distich.
+
+In some parts of Scotland ash sap still is given to infants as a
+preservative against fairies.
+
+
+28.
+
+It was firmly believed in Lancashire, says Mr. Harland, that a great
+gathering of witches assembled on this night at their general
+rendezvous in the Forest of Pendle--a ruined and desolate farm-house
+called the _Malkin Tower_ (Malkin being the name of a familiar demon
+in Middleton's old play of _The Witch_, derived from _maca_, an equal,
+a companion). This superstition led to another, that of _lighting_,
+_lating_, or _leeting_ the witches (from _leoht_, A.-S., light). It
+was believed that if a lighted candle were carried about the fells or
+hills from eleven to twelve o'clock at night, and it burned all the
+time steadily, it had so far triumphed over the evil power of the
+witches, who, as they passed to the Malkin Tower, would employ their
+utmost efforts to extinguish the light, that the person whom it
+represented might safely defy their malice during the season; but if
+by any accident the light went out, it was an omen of evil to the
+luckless wight for whom the experiment was made. It was also deemed
+inauspicious to cross the threshold of that person until after the
+return from leeting, and not then unless the candle had preserved its
+light. Mr. Milner describes the ceremony as having been recently
+performed.
+
+
+29.
+
+Mr. Sullivan quotes this quaint old carol at length in his _Cumberland
+and Westmoreland, Ancient and Modern_; and adds, 'This song is still
+sung at Penrith, having replaced one called "Joseph and Mary," in the
+early part of the century. Yet its antiquity is undoubted, and it has
+probably come here from Lancashire, where it is well known.'
+
+As, however, it is by no means so widely known as Mr. Sullivan
+supposes, we may be pardoned if we reproduce it here. The second and
+remaining verses are as follows:--
+
+    'I met three ships come sailing by,
+    Come sailing by, etc.
+
+    Who do you think was in one of them?
+    In one of them? etc.
+
+    The Virgin Mary and her Son,
+    And her Son, etc.
+
+    She combed His hair with an ivory comb,
+    An ivory comb, etc.
+
+    She washed His face in a silver bowl,
+    A silver bowl, etc.
+
+    She sent Him up to heaven to school,
+    To heaven to school, etc.
+
+    All the angels began to sing,
+    Began to sing, etc.
+
+    The bells of heaven began to ring,
+    Began to ring, etc.'
+
+
+30.
+
+Mr. Samuel Bamford says that Middleton Parish Church was the scene of
+a procession similar to that described in the above legend, the
+observer being an avaricious old sexton who was anxious to know what
+fees he should receive in the following year. This worthy, on All
+Souls' night, stationed himself in the sacred building, and counted
+the spirits he saw enter and walk about, until he observed a double of
+himself. Of course, soon afterwards there was a vacancy for a
+gravedigger at Middleton, the sight having been too much for 'Old
+Johnny.'
+
+A similar superstition reigns in various parts of England and in
+Wales, where, at Christmas-time, says Mr. Croker, quoting from a Welsh
+authority, the relatives of the deceased listen at the church door in
+the dark, 'when they sometimes fancy they hear the names called over
+in church of those who are destined shortly to join their lost
+relatives in the tomb.'
+
+In Cornwall, strange to say, it is a young unmarried woman who,
+standing in the church porch at midnight on Midsummer's-eve, sees the
+strange gathering. 'This is so serious an affair,' says Professor
+Hunt, 'that it is not, I believe, often tried. I have, however, heard
+of young women who have made the experiment. But every one of the
+stories relate that they have seen shadows of themselves coming last
+in the procession; that pining away from that day forward, ere
+Midsummer has again come round they have been laid to rest in the
+village graveyard.'
+
+Mr. Sikes says that it is a Hallow-Een custom in some parts of Wales
+to listen at the church door in the dark to hear shouted by a ghostly
+voice in the edifice the names of those who are shortly to be buried
+in the adjoining churchyard. In other parts, he says, 'the window
+serves the same purpose,' and, he adds, 'there are said to be still
+extant outside some village churches steps which were constructed in
+order to enable the superstitious peasantry to climb to the window to
+listen.' These steps in several places seemed to me to be merely old
+mounting blocks, but they may have been made use of for the less
+practical purpose in question.
+
+
+31.
+
+It is asserted that at the present day dogs cannot be induced to go
+near this quarry, and that even closely hunted animals will permit
+themselves to be captured rather than enter its recesses.
+
+
+32.
+
+Few superstitions have a wider circle of believers in Lancashire than
+that which attributes to dogs the power of foretelling death and
+disaster. There are few people, however well educated, who would be
+able to resist a foreboding of coming woe if they heard the howling of
+a strange dog under the window of a sick person's room; and, absurd as
+the dread so inspired may seem to the sceptic, there is more ground
+for it than can easily be explained away. It has frequently been urged
+that the animals are attracted by the lighted window, and that their
+howlings are nothing more than unpleasant appeals for admittance; and
+that often, by reason of the awe with which tradition has surrounded
+the noises, they terrify the invalid, and produce the end they are
+supposed to foretell. This plausible theory, however, does not account
+in any way for the similar visitations made in the daytime, when there
+is no artificial light to attract; or for the singular facts, that
+generally the dog is a stranger to the locality--that it does not
+loiter about, but makes its way direct to the particular house--that
+it will wait until a gate is opened, so that it may get near to the
+window--that it cannot be driven away before its mission has been
+performed--and that, in all cases, the howling is alike, invariably
+terminating in three peculiar yelping barks, which are no sooner
+uttered than the animal runs off, and is no more seen in the
+neighbourhood.
+
+In Normandy the noise is considered an infallible presage of death.
+
+Mr. Kelly says that this superstition obtains credence in France and
+Germany; and that in Westphalia, a dog howling along a road is
+considered a sure sign that a funeral soon will pass that way. In the
+Scandinavian mythology, Hel, Goddess of Death, is visible only to
+dogs.
+
+The superstition has, at any rate, antiquity to recommend it, and it
+seems evident from Exodus xi. 5-7, that even in the days of the
+captivity of the Children of Israel in Egypt, the omen was firmly
+believed in.
+
+I was seated one summer evening in the drawing-room of a house in one
+of the large London squares. The conversation was of the ordinary
+after-dinner nature, but enlivened by the remarks of more than one
+gifted guest. It was, however, suddenly interrupted in a very
+startling manner by the howling of a dog, which had placed itself in
+the roadway facing the house, regardless alike of the wheels of the
+numerous passing carriages and cabs, and of the whips of the drivers.
+The lady of the house, a north-country woman, said at once, as she
+rose from her seat at the open window, 'That means death. I shall hear
+of some sad trouble.' The dog would not be driven away by the angry
+coachmen and cabmen, but finished the howling with three peculiar
+yelps, and then trotted off rapidly; and there was much jesting during
+the rest of the evening about the strange occurrence. A few days
+afterwards, however, I was informed that on the evening of the
+dinner-party the brother of the hostess had died in North Lancashire.
+
+
+33.
+
+'Th' Gabriel Ratchets' strike terror into the heart of many a moorland
+dweller in Lancashire and Yorkshire still, presaging, as they are
+believed to do, death or sorrow to every one who is so unfortunate as
+to hear them. In the popular idea they are a pack of dogs yelping
+through the air. Our old literature has many references to the
+superstition. In more recent days, Wordsworth has introduced it in one
+of his sonnets:--
+
+                  'And oftentimes will start--
+    For overhead are sweeping GABRIEL'S HOUNDS.'
+
+Mr. Philip Gilbert Hamerton, in a poem dated 1849, in his _Isles of
+Loch Awe and other Poems_, which he has kindly given me permission to
+quote here, says of them,--
+
+    'Faintly sounds the airy note,
+    And the deepest bay from the staghound's throat,
+    Like the yelp of a cur, on the air doth float,
+    And hardly heard is the wild halloo.'
+
+and--
+
+    'They fly on the blast of the forest
+    That whistles round the withered tree,
+    But where they go we may not go,
+    Nor see them as they fly.'
+
+Mr. Hamerton, however, goes beyond the Lancashire peasant, at any rate
+so far as I have been able to ascertain, for I never met any one in
+the hill country or on the moorlands of the North who fancied that the
+throng included anything but _Ratchets_, _i.e._ dogs, for the poet
+goes on to sing--
+
+      'Hark! 'tis the goblin of the wood
+      Rushing down the dark hill-side,
+    With steeds that neigh and hounds that bay.'
+
+Mr. Henderson has recorded that, about Leeds, the flight is supposed
+to be that of 'the souls of unbaptized children doomed to flit
+restlessly above their parents' abode.' In Germany, certainly the Wild
+Hunt or Furious Host is accompanied by unbaptized children, and it has
+been recorded that a woman, about the year 1800, died of grief upon
+learning that the Furious Host had passed over the village where her
+still-born child had died just before. Mr. Kelly (_Indo-European
+Tradition_) very ably and poetically resolves all the various
+superstitions of this Wild Hunt into figurative descriptions of
+natural phenomena, but Mr. Yarrell, the distinguished naturalist,
+reduces the cries of the Gabriel Hounds into the whistling of the Bean
+Goose, _Anser Segetum_, as the flocks are flying southward in the
+night, migrating from Scandinavia.
+
+In Wales 'The Whistlers,' the cry of the golden-plover, is considered
+an omen of death, but it seems to be a quite distinct superstition
+from that of the _Cwn Annwn_, or Dogs of Hell, which latter is a Wild
+Hunt.
+
+I have heard the weird cry of the Gabriel Ratchets at night in several
+of the northern countries, and in the loneliness and gloom of early
+winter in the heart of the hills, or upon a wild bleak moorland, it
+was difficult to overcome a sudden feeling of dread when the yelps
+rang forth, even with Mr. Yarrell's scientific explanation fresh in my
+mind.
+
+To sketch the ramifications of the superstition of the Wild Hunt,
+however, would require a volume, so numerous and various are they.
+
+
+34.
+
+In the old witch-mania records it is not unusual to find a cock
+sacrificed to the Evil One, and Satan's dislike of cock-crow has
+become proverbial. Brand has pointed out that the Christian poet
+Prudentius (fourth century) mentions that antipathy as a tradition of
+common belief. In an old German story Satan builds a house for a
+peasant who agrees to pay his soul for the work. A condition is made,
+however, that this house must be completed before cock-crow, and the
+wily peasant, just before the last tile is put on the roof, imitates
+the bird of morn, upon which all the cocks in the locality crow, and
+Satan, baffled, flees.
+
+The Evil One's appearance in the form of a cat, a goat, a pig, an old
+woman, a black dog, a stylish gentleman, and the conventional shape,
+with hoof and horns, have been testified to, and Calmet (_Traité sur
+les apparitions des Esprits et sur les Vampires_, 1751) alludes to his
+taking the shape of a raven, but I have not met with any record of his
+appearance as a cock. In this case, however, that was insisted upon,
+although it was suggested that it might have been some other fowl.
+
+
+EDINBURGH: T. AND A. CONSTABLE,
+
+PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN, AND TO THE UNIVERSITY.
+
+
+                       ADVERTISEMENTS
+
+
+THE ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY OF
+
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+
+
+     'The Boys and Girls of to-day owe a deep debt of gratitude to
+     Messrs. Sonnenschein & Co. for the treat here prepared for
+     them.'--_School Board Chronicle._
+
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+     Students of comparative Folk-lore.'--_British Quarterly
+     Review._
+
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+
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+     from the People,= by T. CROFTON CROKER. 5_s._
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+    =Popular Books of the Middle Ages.--Tales of Enchantment
+    from all Lands.=
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+
+Archaic and inconsistent spelling, dialect, and punctuation retained.
+
+Advertisements were moved from the front of the book to the end.
+
+Numbers in braces {} refer to sections of the appendix.
+
+Letters in brackets [] refer to footnotes at the end of the paragraph.
+
+
+
+
+
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Goblin Tales of Lancashire, by James Bowker
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
+
+
+Title: Goblin Tales of Lancashire
+
+Author: James Bowker
+
+Illustrator: Charles Gliddon
+
+Release Date: May 16, 2012 [EBook #39712]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOBLIN TALES OF LANCASHIRE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by sp1nd, Mebyon, Matthew Wheaton and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="400" height="624" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">Goblin Tales of Lancashire</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/i008.jpg" width="565" height="378" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="spacer">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h1 class="booktitle">GOBLIN TALES OF LANCASHIRE.</h1>
+
+<p class="spacer">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/i010.jpg" width="292" height="266" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/i012.jpg" width="600" height="406" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption"><i>Page <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</i></p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="border2" src="images/i013.jpg" width="400" height="645" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="h1">GOBLIN TALES<br />
+OF LANCASHIRE</p>
+
+<p class="h4">BY</p>
+
+<p class="h3">JAMES BOWKER, F.R.G.S.I.</p>
+
+<p class="h5">
+AUTHOR OF 'PH&OElig;BE CAREW, A NORTH COAST STORY,'
+'NAT HOLT'S FORTUNE,' ETC.</p>
+
+<p class="h3"><i>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM DRAWINGS<br />
+BY THE LATE CHARLES GLIDDON.</i></p>
+
+<p class="spacer">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="inset20">
+<p>'Of Faery-land yet if he more enquire,<br />
+By certain signes here sett in sondrie place,<br />
+He may itt fynd.'</p>
+<p class="smcap author">Spenser</p>
+</div>
+
+<blockquote><p>'La veuve du m&ecirc;me Plogojovits d&eacute;clara que son mari depuis
+sa mort lui &eacute;tait venu demander des souliers.'</p>
+<p class="author">
+<span class="smcap">Calmet</span>, <i>Trait&eacute; sur les Apparitions</i>, 1751.</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p class="spacer">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="h3">London<br />
+W. SWAN SONNENSCHEIN &amp; CO.<br />
+PATERNOSTER ROW</p>
+
+<p class="spacer">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="h3">TO<br />
+<br />
+THE MOST NOBLE<br />
+<br />
+THE MARQUIS OF HARTINGTON, P.C., D.C.L.<br />
+<br />
+THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS DEDICATED<br />
+<br />
+<small><small>IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF<br />
+<br />
+MUCH KINDNESS.</small></small></p>
+
+<p class="spacer">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/i016.jpg" width="238" height="471" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/i017.jpg" width="423" height="288" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents">
+<tr>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdrfirst">PAGE</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">13</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">I.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#TH_SKRIKER_SHRIEKER">THE SKRIKER,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">27</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">II.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_UNBIDDEN_GUEST">THE UNBIDDEN GUEST,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">37</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">III.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_FAIRYS_SPADE">THE FAIRY'S SPADE,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">50</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">IV.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_KING_OF_THE_FAIRIES">THE KING OF THE FAIRIES,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">52</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">V.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#MOTHER_AND_CHILD">MOTHER AND CHILD,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">59</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">VI.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_SPECTRAL_CAT">THE SPECTRAL CAT,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">63</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">VII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_CAPTURED_FAIRIES">THE CAPTURED FAIRIES,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">73</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">VIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_PILLION_LADY">THE PILLION LADY,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">77</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">IX.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_FAIRY_FUNERAL">THE FAIRY FUNERAL,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">83</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">X.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_CHIVALROUS_DEVIL">THE CHIVALROUS DEVIL,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">97</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XI.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_ENCHANTED_FISHERMAN">THE ENCHANTED FISHERMAN,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">104</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_SANDS_OF_COCKER">THE SANDS OF COCKER,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">120</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_SILVER_TOKEN">THE SILVER TOKEN,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">129</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XIV.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_HEADLESS_WOMAN">THE HEADLESS WOMAN,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">131</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XV.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_RESCUE_OF_MOONBEAM">THE RESCUE OF MOONBEAM,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">140</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XVI.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_WHITE_DOBBIE">THE WHITE DOBBIE,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">152</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XVII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_LITTLE_MANS_GIFT">THE LITTLE MAN'S GIFT,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">159</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XVIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#SATANS_SUPPER">SATAN'S SUPPER,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">164</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XIX.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_EARTHENWARE_GOOSE">THE EARTHENWARE GOOSE,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">167</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XX.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_PHANTOM_OF_THE_FELL">THE PHANTOM OF THE FELL,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">174</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXI.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#ALLHALLOWS_NIGHT">ALLHALLOW'S NIGHT,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">189</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_CHRISTMAS-EVE_VIGIL">THE CHRISTMAS-EVE VIGIL,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">198</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXIII.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_CRIER_OF_CLAIFE">THE CRIER OF CLAIFE,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">212</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXIV.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_DEMON_OF_THE_OAK">THE DEMON OF THE OAK,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">221</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXV.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_BLACK_COCK">THE BLACK COCK,</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">234</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td class="tdr">XXVI.</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#THE_INVISIBLE_BURDEN">THE INVISIBLE BURDEN.</a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">238</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+  <td>&nbsp;</td>
+  <td class="tdl"><a href="#APPENDIX">APPENDIX.--<span class="smcap">Comparative Notes</span></a></td>
+  <td class="tdr">243</td>
+</tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/i018.jpg" width="295" height="395" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<div class="main">
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13">13</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i019.jpg" width="94" height="105" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">F</span>OR</b> many of the superstitions which still cling to him the Lancashire
+man of the present day is indebted to his Celtic and Scandinavian
+ancestors. From them the Horse and Worm stories, and the Giant lore of
+the northern and southern mountains and fells, have come down, while
+the relationship of the 'Jinny Greenteeth,' the presiding nymph of the
+ponds and streams, with allusions to whom the Lancastrian mother
+strives to deter her little ones from venturing near the pits and
+brooks; to the water-spirits of the Gothic mythology, is too evident
+to admit of any doubt. The source of the 'Gabriel Ratchets,' the
+hell-hounds whose fear-inspiring yelps still are heard by the
+benighted peasant, who finds in the dread sound a warning of the
+approach of the angel of death; in the Norse Aasgaardsveia, the souls
+condemned<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14">14</a></span> to ride about the world until doomsday, and who gallop
+through the midnight storm with shrieks and cries which ring over the
+lonely moors; or in that other troop of souls of the brave ones who
+had died in battle, being led by the storm-god Woden to Walhalla, also
+is undeniable.</p>
+
+<p>Striking, however, as are the points of similitude between some of the
+Lancastrian traditions and those of the north of Europe, others seem
+to be peculiar to the county, and that these are of a darker and
+gloomier cast than are the superstitions of districts less wild and
+mountainous, and away from the weird influence of the sea, with its
+winter thunderings suggestive of hidden and awful power, may in a
+great measure be correctly attributed to the nature of the scenery.</p>
+
+<p>It is easy to understand how the unlettered peasant would people with
+beings of another world either the bleak fells, the deep and gloomy
+gorges, the wild cloughs, the desolate moorland wastes two or three
+thousand feet above the level of the sea, of the eastern portion of
+the county; or the salt marshes where the breeze-bent and
+mysterious-looking trees waved<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15">15</a></span> their spectral boughs in the wind; the
+dark pools fringed with reeds, amid which the 'Peg-o'-Lantron'
+flickered and danced, and over which came the hollow cry of the
+bittern and the child-like plaint of the plover; and the dreary glens,
+dark lakes, and long stretches of sand of the north and west.</p>
+
+<p>To him the forest, with its solemn Rembrandtesque gloom,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Where Druids erst heard victims groan,<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>the lonely fir-crowned pikes, and the mist-shrouded mountains, would
+seem fitting homes for the dread shapes whose spite ended itself in
+the misfortunes and misery of humanity. Pregnant with mystery to such
+a mind would be the huge fells, with their shifting 'neetcaps' of
+cloud, the towering bluffs, the swampy moors, and trackless morasses,
+across which the setting sun cast floods of blood-red light; and
+irresistible would be the influence of such scenery upon the lonely
+labourer who would go about his daily tasks with a feeling that he was
+surrounded by the supernatural.</p>
+
+<p>And wild as are many parts of the county to-day, it is difficult to
+conceive its condition a century or two ago, when much of the land
+was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16">16</a></span> not only uncultivated, but was, for at least a portion of the
+year, covered by sheets of water, the highways being little more than
+bridle roads, or, if wider than usual, very sloughs of despond, the
+carts in several of the rural districts being laid aside in winter as
+utterly useless, and grain and other commodities, even in summer time,
+being conveyed from place to place on the backs of long strings of
+pack-horses.</p>
+
+<p>Living in lonely houses and cottages shut out from civilisation by the
+difficulties of communication, and hemmed in by floating mists and by
+much that was awe-inspiring, with in winter additional barriers of
+storm, snow and flood, it is easy to imagine how in the fancy of the
+yeoman, shepherd, farmer, or solitary lime burner, as 'th' edge o'
+dark' threw its weird glamour over the scene, boggarts and phantoms
+would begin to creep about to the music of the unearthly voices heard
+in every sough and sigh of the wandering wind as it wailed around the
+isolated dwellings.</p>
+
+<p>In everything weird they found a message from the unknown realms of
+death. The noise of the swollen waters of the Ribble or the Lune,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17">17</a></span> or
+the many smaller streams hurrying down to the sea, was to them the
+voice of the Water Spirit calling for its victim, and the howling of
+their dogs bade the sick prepare to meet 'the shadow with the keys.'
+All around them were invisible beings harmful or mischievous, and to
+them they traced much of the misfortune which followed the stern
+working of nature's laws.</p>
+
+<p>The superstitions which date from, as well as the actual annals of the
+Witch Mania in Lancashire, in some slight degree confirm this theory,
+for whereas in the flat and more thickly-populated districts the hag
+contented herself with stealing milk from her neighbour's cows,
+spoiling their bakings, and other practical jokes of a comparatively
+harmless kind, in the wilder localities&mdash;the region of pathless moors
+and mist-encircled mountains&mdash;the witch ever was raising terrible
+storms, bringing down the thunder, killing the cattle, dealing out
+plagues and pestilence at will, wreaking evil of every conceivable
+kind upon man and beast, and, hot from her sabbath of devil-worship,
+even casting the sombre shadows and dread darkness of death over the
+households of those who had fallen under the ban of her hate.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18">18</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Lancashire has, however, an extensive ghost lore to which this theory
+has no reference, consisting as it does of stories of haunted houses
+and churchyards, indelible blood-stains, and all the paraphernalia of
+the</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i10">Shapes that walk<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">At dead of night, and clank their chains and wave<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The torch of hell around the murderer's bed.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The sketch in this volume, 'Mother and Child,' for the skeleton of
+which tradition I am indebted to the late Mr. J. Stanyan Bigg, may be
+considered a fair specimen of these stories. In most cases these
+legends are not simply the vain creations of ignorance and darkness,
+although they fade before the light of knowledge like mists before the
+sun, for under many of them may be found a moral and a warning, or a
+testimony to the beauty of goodness, hidden it is true beneath the
+covering of a rude fable, just as inscriptions rest concealed below
+the moss of graveyards. The well-known legend of the Boggart of
+Townley Hall, with its warning cry of 'Lay out, lay out!' and its
+demand for a victim every seventh year, is a striking example of
+traditions of this class&mdash;emphatic protests against wrong, uttered in
+the form of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19">19</a></span> a nerve-affecting fable. In more than one of the stories
+of this kind to which I have listened, the ghost of the victim has
+re-visited 'the pale glimpses of the moon,' and made night so hideous
+to the wrong-doer, that, in despair and remorse, he has put an end to
+himself; and trivial as these things may seem to Mr. Gradgrind and his
+school, they have, like other and nobler parables, influenced minds
+impervious to dry fact.</p>
+
+<p>To the devil lore of the county, however, the theory certainly will
+apply, for surely it is in a gloomy gorge, through which forked
+lightnings flash and chase each other, and the thunder rolls and
+reverberates, or on a dark and lonesome moor, rather than upon the
+shady side of Pall Mall, one would expect to meet the Evil One.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, undoubtedly, other causes contributed to enrich the store of
+tales of fiends with which the county abounds.</p>
+
+<p>In Lancashire many of the old customs, even such as the riding of the
+wooden Christ on Palm Sunday, continued to be kept up at a later
+period than was the case in other parts of England; and,
+notwithstanding the prohibitory edicts of the commissioners appointed
+by<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20">20</a></span> Queen Elizabeth, Miracle Plays and Moralities doubtless were
+performed there even during the early part of the reign of James I.,
+for the Reformation, rapidly as its principles took root and spread in
+other parts of the country, did not make rapid headway in Lancashire,
+where great numbers of the people remained true to the faith of their
+forefathers. In fact, in many parishes, long after the Church of
+England had been by law established, Catholic priests continued to be
+the only officiating ministers. Probably the people loved their church
+not only on account of its doctrines, of which it may be presumed most
+of them knew but little, and of its impressive ceremonies, but also
+because of its recognition of the holy days and fair days, wakes, and
+games it was powerless to suppress; and perhaps of all the amusements
+thus winked at or even patronised by the church, that of dramatic
+representations, rude and grotesque as they undoubtedly were, was the
+most important. In many places the members of the various guilds and
+brotherhoods were the performers, but in the majority of cases the
+entertainments were given by the priests and other ecclesiastical
+functionaries.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21">21</a></span></p>
+
+<p>What part the Devil played in these amusements is well known to the
+antiquary, the old accounts containing particulars of the expenditure
+upon not only hair for the Evil One's wig, but also for canvas, of
+which to construct black shirts for the Satanic tag-rag, or, as the
+old scribes plainly put it, 'for the damned.' It is evident from the
+old records that Satan left the hands of his dresser an object
+compared with which the most hideous jack-in-the-box of the modern toy
+shop would be a vision of loveliness; and, as his chief occupations
+were those of roaring and yelling, and of suffering all sorts of
+indignities at the hands of the Vice, as does the pantaloon at the
+hands of the clown in a pantomime of to-day, it is easy to see that
+his <i>r&ocirc;le</i> was not a very dignified one. Everywhere the stage devil
+was simply the stage fool. Even in France, where the drama ever has
+been submitted to precise rules, 'there was,' as Albert Reville has
+remarked (<i>Histoire du Diable, ses origines, sa grandeur et sa
+decadence.</i> Strasbourg: 1870), 'a class of popular pieces called
+devilries (<i>diableries</i>), gross and often obscene masquerades, in
+which at least four devils took part.... In Germany also<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22">22</a></span> the devil
+was diverting on the stage. There exists an old Saxon Mystery of the
+Passion, in which Satan repeats, like a mocking echo, the last words
+of Judas who hangs himself; and when, in accordance with the sacred
+tradition, the traitor's bowels fall asunder, the Evil One gathers
+them into a basket, and, as he carries them away, sings a
+little melody appropriate to the occasion.' Undoubtedly these
+misrepresentations of the apostate angel helped to familiarise the
+popular mind with the idea of a personal devil going about veritably
+seeking whom he might devour; and although, when with the crowd in the
+presence of the Thespian ecclesiastics, people might feel quite at
+home with, and really enjoy, the company of the Evil One, away again
+on the dreary moor, or in the lonely hillside cottage, with the night
+wind howling at the door, fear would resume its wonted supremacy, and
+the feeling would be deepened and intensified by the memory of the
+horrid appearance of the stage Satan.</p>
+
+<p>It is possible that in a great measure we owe to these performances
+the somewhat monotonous frequency with which, in the purely local
+Lancashire devil stories, the Evil One,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23">23</a></span> who generally in the most
+stupid manner permits himself to be overreached, comes oft second
+best, for doubtless many of the traditions were moulded in accordance
+with the lot of Satan in the miracle plays, as, in their turn, these
+were, although perhaps indirectly, based upon the teachings of the
+church, and that, in its turn, upon the writings of the Fathers, some
+of whom, and notably Origen, did not hesitate to speak of the
+Redemption even as due in no small degree to Satanic stupidity, a view
+so lastingly predominant in the Church that as Reville has said, 'la
+poesie eccl&eacute;siastique, la pr&eacute;dication populaire, des enseignements
+pontificaux m&ecirc;me le repandirent, le dramatis&egrave;rent, le consacr&egrave;rent
+partout.'</p>
+
+<p>An interesting chapter in the history of religious beliefs might be
+written upon the views of the early Fathers with reference to Satan
+and his legion, and the student is not inclined to be quite so severe
+upon the superstitions of the unlettered peasant when he finds Jerome
+recording it as the opinion of all the doctors in the church, that the
+air between heaven and earth is filled with Evil Spirits, and
+Augustine and others stating that the devils had fallen<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24">24</a></span> there from a
+higher and purer region of the air. The early Christian Church too had
+its order of <i>Exorcists</i>, who had care of those possessed by Evil
+Spirits, the <i>energumeni</i>, and the Bishops, departing from the
+original idea that laymen had the power of exorcism, ordained men to
+the office and called upon them to exercise their functions even
+before the rite of baptism, to deliver the candidates 'from the
+dominion of the power of darkness.'</p>
+
+<p>Of the lighter superstitions in Lancashire, that of belief in fairies
+appears to be almost extinct, and it is to be lamented that forty
+years ago folk lore was considered of so little importance, for the
+slight and vague references in a rare little 'History of Blackpool,'
+by the Rev. W. Thornber, upon two of which the sketches entitled 'The
+Silver Token,' and 'The Fairy's Spade' are founded, show that the task
+of gathering a goodly store of such vestiges of ancient faiths would
+at the time when that volume was written have been a comparatively
+easy one. To-day, however, the case is different. Even my friend, the
+late Mr. John Higson, of Lees, to whose kindness I owe the tradition
+upon which the story of 'The King of the Fairies' is based, and whose
+labours in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25">25</a></span> out-of-the-way paths dear to antiquaries were for some
+years as untiring as successful and praiseworthy, was not able to
+gather much bearing upon the fairy mythology of the Lancashire people.</p>
+
+<p>Most of the fairy and folk stories it was my good fortune to hear in
+the county and moorland districts were of a conventional kind, lubber
+fiends, death warnings, fairy ointment, and fairy money being as
+plentiful as diamonds in Eastern tales, and for that reason it was not
+thought necessary to reproduce them in this volume.</p>
+
+<p>The darker forms of superstition, like lower organisms, are more
+tenacious of life, and in many a retired nook of Lancashire there
+still may be found small congregations of believers in all the mystic
+lore of devildom and witchcraft. Readers of Mr. Edwin Waugh's
+exquisite sketches of north country life will at once call to mind, in
+the 'Grave of the Griselhurst Boggart,' an illustration of that dim
+fear of the supernatural which is yet so all-powerful, while the
+valuable collection of Folk Lore from the pens of the late Mr.
+Wilkinson and Mr. John Harland is full of testimony to the vitality of
+many of these offshoots from old-world creeds.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27">27</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="GOBLIN_TALES_OF_LANCASHIRE">GOBLIN TALES OF LANCASHIRE.</a></h2>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<h2><a id="TH_SKRIKER_SHRIEKER">TH' SKRIKER (SHRIEKER).</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i033.jpg" width="95" height="98" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">O</span>N</b> a fine night, about the middle of December, many years ago, a
+sturdy-looking young fellow left Chipping for his cottage, three or
+four miles away, upon the banks of the Hodder. The ground was covered
+with snow, which in many places had drifted into heaps, and the keen
+frost had made the road so slippery that the progress he made was but
+slow. Nature looked very beautiful, and the heart of the rustic even
+was touched by the sweet peacefulness of the scene. The noble old
+Parlick, and the sweeping Longridge, with its fir-crowned Thornley
+Height and Kemple End, stood out boldly against the clear sky, and the
+moon shed her soft silvery<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28">28</a></span> light into the long silent valley,
+stretching away until its virgin paleness mingled with the shadows and
+the darkness of the distant fells beyond Whitewell.</p>
+
+<p>All was still, save when the sighing wind rustled gently through the
+frosted branches of the leafless trees by the roadside, and shook down
+upon the wayfarer a miniature shower of snow; for even the tiny
+stream, so full of mirth and music in the summer time, had been lulled
+to sleep by the genius of winter; and the cottagers, whose little
+houses, half-hidden by the rime, seemed hardly large enough for the
+dwellings of dwarfs, had been snugly sleeping for hours.</p>
+
+<p>Adam was by no means a timid or nervous being, but there was a
+nameless something in the deathly silence which oppressed, if it did
+not actually frighten, him; and although he sang aloud a verse of the
+last song he had heard before he left the kitchen of the Patten Arms,
+his voice had lost its heartiness. He earnestly wished himself safely
+across the little bridge over the brook; but he was yet some distance
+from the stream when the faint chimes of midnight fell upon the air.
+Almost immediately<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29">29</a></span> after the last stroke of twelve had broken the
+silence a cloud passed over the face of the moon, and comparative
+darkness enveloped the scene; the wind, which before had been gentle
+and almost noiseless, began to howl amid the boughs and branches of
+the waving trees, and the frozen snow from the hedgerows was dashed
+against the wayfarer's face.</p>
+
+<p>He had already begun to fancy that he could distinguish in the
+soughing of the wind and the creaking of the boughs unearthly cries
+and fiendish shouts of glee; but as he approached the dreaded stream
+his courage almost entirely failed him, and it required a great effort
+to keep from turning his back to it, and running away in the direction
+of the little village at the foot of Parlick. It struck him, however,
+that he had come a long distance; that if he did go back to the Patten
+Arms the company would be dispersed, and the inmates asleep, and, what
+was more effective than all, that if he could only cross the bridge he
+would be safe, the Greenies, Boggarts, and Feorin not having power
+over any one who had passed over the water. Influenced by this
+thought, yet with his knees trembling under him, he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30">30</a></span> pushed forward
+with assumed boldness, and he had almost reached the bridge when he
+heard the noise of passing feet in the crunching snow, and became
+conscious of the presence of a ghastly thing he was unable to see.
+Suddenly a sepulchral howl brought him to a stop, and, with his heart
+throbbing loudly enough to be heard, he stood gazing fixedly into the
+darkness. There was nothing to be perceived, however, save the copings
+of the bridge, with their coverings of rime; and he might have stood
+there until daylight had not another cry, louder and even more
+unearthly and horrible than the preceding one, called him from his
+trance. No sooner had this second scream died away than, impelled by
+an irresistible impulse, he stepped forward in the direction whence
+the noise had come. At this moment the moon burst forth from behind
+the clouds which had for some time obscured her light, and her rays
+fell upon the road, with its half-hidden cart-tracks winding away into
+the dim distance; and in the very centre of the bridge he beheld a
+hideous figure with black shaggy hide, and huge eyes closely
+resembling orbs of fire.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31">31</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Adam at once knew from the likeness the dread object bore to the
+figure he had heard described by those who had seen the Skriker, that
+the terrible thing before him was an Ambassador of Death.</p>
+
+<p>Without any consciousness of what he was doing, and acting as though
+under the sway of a strange and irresistible mesmeric influence, he
+stepped towards the bridge; but no sooner did he stir than the
+frightful thing in front of him, with a motion that was not walking,
+but rather a sort of heavy gliding, moved also, slowly retreating,
+pausing when he paused, and always keeping its fiery eyes fixed upon
+his blanched face. Slowly he crossed the stream, but gradually his
+steps grew more and more rapid, until he broke into a run. Suddenly a
+faint knowledge of the horrible nature of his position dawned upon
+him. A little cottage stood by the roadside, and from one of its
+chamber-windows, so near to the ground as to be within his reach, a
+dim light shone, the room probably being occupied by a sick person, or
+by watchers of the dead. Influenced by a sudden feeling of
+companionship, Adam tried to cry out, but his tongue clave to his
+parched<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32">32</a></span> mouth, and ere he could mumble a few inarticulate sounds,
+scarcely audible to himself, the dwelling was left far behind, and a
+sensation of utter loneliness and helplessness again took possession
+of him.</p>
+
+<p>He had thus traversed more than a mile of the road, in some parts of
+which, shaded by the high hedgerows and overhanging boughs, the only
+light seemed to him to be that from the terrible eyes, when suddenly
+he stumbled over a stone and fell. In a second, impressed by a fear
+that the ghastly object would seize him, he regained his feet, and, to
+his intense relief, the Skriker was no longer visible. With a sigh of
+pleasure he sat down upon a heap of broken stones, for his limbs, no
+longer forced into mechanical movement by the influence of the
+spectre's presence, refused to bear him further. Bitterly cold as was
+the night, the perspiration stood in beads upon his whitened face,
+and, with the recollection of the Skriker's terrible eyes and horrible
+body strong upon him, he shook and shivered, as though in a fit of the
+ague. A strong and burly man, in the very prime of life, he felt as
+weak as a girl, and, fearing that he was about to sink to the ground<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33">33</a></span>
+in a swoon, he took handfuls of the crisp snow and rubbed them upon
+his forehead. Under this sharp treatment he soon revived a little,
+and, after several unsuccessful efforts, he succeeded in regaining his
+feet, and resumed his lonely journey.</p>
+
+<p>Starting at the least sough of the breeze, the faintest creak of a
+bending branch, or the fall of a piece of frozen rime from a bough, he
+slowly trudged along.</p>
+
+<p>He had passed the quaint old house at Chaigely, the sudden yelp of a
+chained dog in the court-yard giving him a thrill of horror as he went
+by, and he had reached the bend in that part of the road which is
+opposite the towering wood-covered Kemple End. A keen and cutting
+blast swept through the black firs that crowned the summit, and stood,
+like solemn sentinels, upon the declivity. There was a music in the
+wind mournful as a croon over the corpse of a beautiful woman, whose
+hair still shimmers with the golden light of life; but Adam heard no
+melody in the moaning sighs which seemed to fill the air around. To
+him, whose soul was yet under the influence of the terror through
+which he had so recently passed,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34">34</a></span> the sounds assumed an awful nature;
+whilst the firs, standing so clearly defined against the snow, which
+lay in virgin heaps upon the beds of withered fern, seemed like so
+many weird skeletons shaking their bony arms in menace or in warning.</p>
+
+<p>With a suddenness that was more than startling, there was a lull, and
+the breeze ceased even to whisper. The silence was more painful than
+were the noises of the blast battling with the branches, for it filled
+the breast of the solitary wayfarer with forebodings of coming woe. At
+the point he had reached the road sank, and as Adam stepped into the
+almost utter darkness, caused by the high banks, to which clung masses
+of decayed vegetation, beautified by the genius of winter into white
+festoons, again and again the terrible shriek rang out.</p>
+
+<p>There was no mistaking the voice of the Skriker for that of anything
+else upon earth, and, with a sickly feeling at his heart, Adam slowly
+emerged from the gloom, and, in expectation of the appearance of the
+ghastly figure, passed on. He had not to wait long, for as he reached
+the old bridge spanning the Hodder,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35">35</a></span> once more he saw, in the centre
+of the road, about midway of the stream, the same terrible object he
+had followed along the lane from the brook at Thornley.</p>
+
+<p>With a sensation of terror somewhat less intense than that which had
+previously influenced him, he again yielded to the power which
+impelled him forward, and once more the strange procession commenced,
+the Skriker gliding over the snow, not, however, without a peculiar
+shuffling of its feet, surrounded, as they were, by masses of long
+hair, which clung to them, and deadened the sound, and Adam following
+in his mechanical and involuntary trot. The journey this time,
+however, was of but short duration, for the poor fellow's cottage was
+only a little way from the river. The distance was soon traversed, and
+the Skriker, with its face towards the terrified man, took up its
+position against the door of the dwelling. Adam could not resist the
+attraction which drew him to the ghastly thing, and as he neared it,
+in a fit of wild desperation, he struck at it, but his hand banged
+against the oak of the door, and, as the spectre splashed away, he
+fell forward in a swoon.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36">36</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Disturbed by the noise of the fall, the goodwife arose and drew him
+into the cottage, but for some hours he was unable to tell the story
+of his terrible journey. When he had told of his involuntary chase of
+the Skriker, a deep gloom fell over the woman's features, for she well
+knew what the ghastly visit portended to their little household. The
+dread uncertainty did not continue long, however, for on the third day
+from that upon which Adam had reached his home the eldest lad was
+brought home drowned; and after attending the child's funeral, Adam's
+wife sickened of a fever, and within a few weeks she too was carried
+to Mytton churchyard. These things, together with the dreadful
+experience of the journey from Chipping, so affected Adam that he lost
+his reason, and for years afterwards the sound of his pattering
+footsteps, as in harmless idiotcy, with wild eyes and outstretched
+hands, he trotted along the roads in chase of an imaginary Boggart,
+fell with mournful impressiveness upon the ears of groups gathered by
+farm-house fires to listen to stories of the Skriker.
+<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a1">1</a></span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37">37</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_UNBIDDEN_GUEST">THE UNBIDDEN GUEST.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i043.jpg" width="93" height="96" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">I</span>N</b> a little lane leading from the town of Clitheroe there once lived a
+noted 'cunning man,' to whom all sorts of applications were made, not
+only by the residents, but also by people from distant places, for the
+fame of the wizard had spread over the whole country side. If a theft
+was committed, at once the services of 'Owd Jeremy' were enlisted,
+and, as a result, some one entirely innocent was, if not accused, at
+least suspected; while maidens and young men, anxious to pry into
+futurity, and behold the faces of their unknown admirers, paid him
+trifling fees to enable them to gratify their curiosity. In short,
+Jeremy professed to be an able student of the Black Art, on familiar
+speaking terms with Satan, and duly qualified to foretell men's
+destinies by the aid of the stars.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38">38</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The cottage in which the old man resided was of a mean order, and its
+outward appearance was by no means likely to impress visitors with an
+idea that great pecuniary advantages had followed that personal
+acquaintance with the Evil One of which the wizard boasted. If,
+however, the outside was mean and shabby, the inside of the dwelling
+was of a nature better calculated to inspire inquirers with feelings
+of awe, hung round, as the one chamber was, with faded and moth-eaten
+black cloth, upon which grotesque astrological designs and the figure
+of a huge dragon were worked in flaming red. The window being hidden
+by the dingy tapestry, the only light in the room came from a
+starved-looking candle, which was fixed in the foot of the skeleton of
+a child, attached to a string from the ceiling, and dangling just over
+the table, where a ponderous volume lay open before a large crystal
+globe and two skulls.</p>
+
+<p>In an old-fashioned chair, above which hung suspended a dirty and
+dilapidated crocodile, the wizard sat, and gave audience to the stray
+visitors whose desire to peer into futurity overmastered the fear with
+which the lonely cottage<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39">39</a></span> was regarded. A quaint-looking old man was
+Jeremy, with his hungry-looking eyes and long white beard; and, as
+with bony fingers he turned over the leaves of the large book, there
+was much in his appearance likely to give the superstitious and
+ignorant customers overwhelming ideas of his wondrous wisdom. The
+'make up' was creditable to Jeremy, for though he succeeded in
+deceiving others with his assumption of supernatural knowledge, he
+himself did not believe in those powers whose aid he so frequently
+professed to invoke on behalf of his clients.</p>
+
+<p>One day, when the ragged cloth had fallen behind a victim who was
+departing from the wizard's sanctum with a few vague and mysterious
+hints in exchange for solid coin, the old man, after laughing
+sarcastically, pulled aside the dingy curtains and stepped to the
+casement, through which the glorious sunlight was streaming. The scene
+upon which the wizard looked was a very beautiful one; and the old man
+leaned his head upon his hands and gazed intently upon the landscape.</p>
+
+<p>''Tis a bonnie world,' said he,&mdash;''tis a bonnie world, and there are
+few views in it to compare<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40">40</a></span> with this one for beauty. My soul is drawn
+toward old Pendle, yon, with a love passing that of woman, heartless
+and passionless though the huge mass be. Heartless!' said he, after a
+pause,&mdash;'heartless! when every minute there is a fresh expression upon
+its beautiful front? Ay, even so, for it looms yonder calm and
+unconcerned when we are ushered into the world, and when we are
+ushered out of it, and laid to moulder away under the mountain's
+shadow; and it will rear its bold bluffs to heaven and smile in the
+sunlight or frown in the gloom after we who now love to gaze upon it
+are blind to the solemn loveliness of its impassable face. Poor
+perishable fools are we, with less power than the breeze which ruffles
+yon purple heather!'</p>
+
+<p>With a heavy sigh Jeremy turned away from the window, and as the
+curtain fell behind him, and he stood again in the wretchedly-lighted
+room, he saw that he was not alone. The chair in which the trembling
+hinds generally were asked to seat themselves held a strange-looking
+visitor of dark and forbidding aspect.</p>
+
+<p>'Jeremiah,' said this personage, 'devildom first and poetising
+afterwards.'</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41">41</a></span></p>
+
+<p>There was an unpleasant tone of banter in this speech, which did not
+seem in keeping with the character of one who fain would pry into
+futurity; and as the wizard took his usual position beneath the
+crocodile, he looked somewhat less oracular than was his wont when in
+front of a shivering and terrified inquirer.</p>
+
+<p>'What wantest thou with me?' said he, with an ill-assumed appearance
+of unconcern.</p>
+
+<p>The occupant of the chair smiled sardonically as he replied&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'A little security&mdash;that's all. For five-and-twenty years thou hast
+been amassing wealth by duping credulous fools, and it is time I had
+my percentage.'</p>
+
+<p>The wizard stared in astonishment. Was the stranger a thief, or worse?
+he wondered, but after a time, however, he said, drily&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Even if thou hadst proved thy right to a portion of the profits of my
+honest calling&mdash;and thou hast not&mdash;thou wouldst not require a
+packhorse to carry thy share away. Doth this hovel resemble the abode
+of a possessor of great wealth? Two chairs, a table, and a few old
+bones, its furniture; and its tenant a half-starved old man, who has
+had hard work to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42">42</a></span> support life upon the pittance he receives in return
+for priceless words of wisdom! Thou art a stranger to me, and thy
+portion of my earnings is correctly represented by a circle.'</p>
+
+<p>A loud and unmusical laugh followed the wizard's words; and before the
+unpleasant sound had died away the visitor remarked&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'If I am yet a stranger to thee, Jeremiah, 'tis not thy fault, for
+during the last quarter of a century thou hast boasted of me as thy
+willing servant, and extorted hard cash from thy customers upon the
+strength of my friendship and willingness to help thee; and now, true
+to thy beggarly instincts, thou wouldst deny me! But 'twill be in
+vain, Jeremiah&mdash;'twill be in vain! I have postponed this visit too
+long already to be put off with subterfuges now.'</p>
+
+<p>'I repeat, I know thee not,' said the wizard, in a trembling voice.
+And, hurriedly rising from his chair, he flung aside the thick
+curtain, in order that the light of day might stream into the chamber,
+for a nameless fear had taken possession of him, and he did not care
+to remain in the darkened apartment with his suspicious visitor. To
+his surprise and terror, however, darkness had fallen upon the scene,
+and, as he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43">43</a></span> gazed in alarm at the little diamond-framed window,
+through which so short a time before he had looked upon a fair
+prospect of meadow and mountain, a vivid flash of lightning darted
+across the heavens, and a clap of thunder burst over the cottage.</p>
+
+<p>''Twill spoil good men's harvests, Jeremiah,' the stranger calmly
+said; 'but it need not interrupt our interesting conversation.'</p>
+
+<p>Angry at the bantering manner in which the visitor spoke, the wizard
+flung open the door, and cried&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Depart from my dwelling, ere I cast thee forth into the mire!'</p>
+
+<p>'Surely thou wouldst not have the heart to fulfil thy threat,' said
+the stranger, 'although 'tis true I have but one shoe to be soiled by
+the mud.' And as he spoke he quietly crossed his legs, and Jeremiah
+perceived a hideous cloven foot.</p>
+
+<p>With a groan, the wizard sank into his chair, and, deaf to the roaring
+of the thunder, and to the beating of the rain through the doorway, he
+sat helplessly gazing at his guest, whose metallic laughter rang
+through the room.</p>
+
+<p>'Hast thou at length recognised me, Jeremiah?'<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44">44</a></span> asked the Evil One,
+after an interval, during which he had somewhat prominently displayed
+the hoof, and gloated over the agony its exhibition had caused his
+victim.</p>
+
+<p>The old man was almost too terrified to answer, but at last he
+whispered&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I have.'</p>
+
+<p>'And thou no longer wilt refuse me the security?' hissed the
+tormentor, as he placed a parchment upon the table.</p>
+
+<p>'What security dost thou demand?' feebly inquired the quaking wizard.</p>
+
+<p>'Personal only,' said Satan. 'Put thy name to this,' and he pointed to
+the bond.</p>
+
+<p>Jeremy pushed his chair as far from the suspicious-looking document as
+he could ere he replied&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Thou shalt not have name of mine.'</p>
+
+<p>He had expected that an outburst of fiendish wrath would follow this
+speech, but to his surprise the guest simply remarked&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Very well, Jeremiah. By to-morrow night, however, thou shalt be
+exposed as the base and ignorant pretender thou art. Thou hast
+trespassed upon the rightful trade of my faithful servants long
+enough, and 'tis time I<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45">45</a></span> stopped thy prosperous career. Ere sunset
+thou shalt have a rival, who will take the bread from thy ungrateful
+mouth.'</p>
+
+<p>After this polite speech the visitor picked up the parchment, and
+began to fold it in a methodical manner.</p>
+
+<p>Such utterly unexpected gentlemanly behaviour somewhat reassured
+Jeremiah, and in a fainter voice he humbly asked what his visitor had
+to give in exchange for a wizard's autograph.</p>
+
+<p>'Twenty-two years of such success as thou hast not even dared to dream
+of! No opposition&mdash;no exposure to thy miserable dupes,' readily
+answered Satan.</p>
+
+<p>Jeremiah considered deeply. The offer undoubtedly was a tempting one,
+for after all, his profession had not been very lucrative, and to lose
+his customers, therefore, meant starvation. He was certain that if
+another wizard opened an establishment the people would flock to him,
+even through mere curiosity; but he knew what signing the bond
+included, and he was afraid to take the step.</p>
+
+<p>After a long delay, during which Satan carefully<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46">46</a></span> removed a sharp
+stone from his hoof, Jeremiah therefore firmly said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Master, I'll not sign!'</p>
+
+<p>Without more ado the visitor departed, and almost before he was out of
+sight the storm abated, and old Pendle again became visible.</p>
+
+<p>A few days passed, and no one came to the dwelling of the wizard; and
+as such an absence of customers was very unusual, Jeremy began to fear
+that the supernatural stranger had not forgotten his threat. On the
+evening of the fifth day he crept into the little town to purchase
+some articles of food. Previously, whenever he had had occasion to
+make a similar journey, as he passed along the street the children ran
+away in terror, and the older people addressed him with remarkable
+humility; but this time, as he stepped rapidly past the houses, the
+youngsters went on with their games as though only an ordinary mortal
+went by, and a burly fellow who was leaning against a door jamb took
+his pipe from his mouth to cry familiarly&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Well, Jerry, owd lad, heaw are ta'?'</p>
+
+<p>These marks of waning power and fading popularity were sufficiently
+unmistakable; but<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47">47</a></span> as he was making his few purchases he was informed
+that a stranger, who seemed to be possessed of miraculous powers, had
+arrived in the town, and that many people who had been to him were
+going about testifying to his wonderful skill. With a heavy heart the
+wizard returned to his cottage. Next night a shower of stones dashed
+his window to pieces, and, as he peered into the moonlight lane, he
+saw a number of rough fellows, who evidently were waiting and watching
+in hopes that he would emerge from his dwelling. These were the only
+visitors he had during an entire week; and at length, quite prepared
+to capitulate, he said to himself&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I wish I had another chance.'</p>
+
+<p>No sooner had he uttered the words, than there was a sudden burst of
+thunder, wind roared round the house, again the clients' chair was
+occupied, and the parchment lay upon the table just as though it had
+not been disturbed.</p>
+
+<p>'Art thou ready to sign?' asked Satan.</p>
+
+<p>'Ay!' answered the old man.</p>
+
+<p>The Evil One immediately seized the wizard's hand, upon which Jeremy
+gave a piercing yell, as well he might do, for the Satanic grip<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48">48</a></span> had
+forced the blood from the tips of his fingers.</p>
+
+<p>'Sign!' said the Devil.</p>
+
+<p>'I can't write,' said the wizard.</p>
+
+<p>The Evil One forthwith took hold of one of the victim's fingers, and
+using it as a pen, wrote in a peculiarly neat hand 'Jeremiah Parsons,
+his &times; mark,' finishing with a fiendish flourish.</p>
+
+<p>After doing this he again vacated the chair and the room as
+mysteriously as on the previous occasion.</p>
+
+<p>The autograph-loving visitor had barely departed with the parchment
+ere a knock at the door was heard, and in stepped a man who wished to
+have the veil lifted, and who brought the pleasing news that,
+influenced by the reports of the opposition wizard, he had been to his
+house in Clitheroe, but had found it empty, the whilom tenant having
+fled no one knew whither. From that time things looked up with Jeremy,
+and money poured into the skulls, for people crowded from far and near
+to test his skill. For two-and-twenty years he flourished and was
+famous, but the end came.<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a2">2</a></span> One morning, after a wild night when the
+winds howled round Pendle, and it seemed as though all the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49">49</a></span> powers of
+darkness were let loose, some labourers who were going to their work
+were surprised to find only the ruins of the wizard's cottage. The
+place had been consumed by fire; and although search was made for the
+magician's remains, only a few charred bones were found, and these,
+some averred, were not those of old Jeremy, but were relics of the
+dusty old skeleton and the dirty crocodile under the shadow of which
+the wizard used to sit.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50">50</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_FAIRYS_SPADE">THE FAIRY'S SPADE.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i056.jpg" width="132" height="107" alt="" />
+<span class="hide">'Th'</span> fairies han getten varra shy sin' thee an' me wir young, Matty,
+lass!' said an old grey-headed man, who, smoking a long pipe, calmly
+sat in a shady corner of the kitchen of a Fylde country farm-house.
+'Nubry seems to see 'em neaw-a-days as they ust. I onst had a seet o'
+one on 'em, as plain as I con see thee sittin' theer, ravellin' thi
+owd stockin'. I wir ploughin' varra soon after dayleet, an' ther
+worn't a saand to be heeart nobbut th' noise o'th' graand oppenin',
+an' th' chirp ov a few brids wakkenin' an' tunin' up, an' ov a
+toothrey crows close at after mi heels a-pikin' up th' whorms. O ov a
+suddent I heeard sumbry cry, i' a voice like owd Luke wench i'th'
+orgin loft ov a Sundays, "I've brokken mi speet!" I lost no toime i'
+tornin' to see whoa wir at wark at that haar, an' i' aar<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51">51</a></span> fielt too,
+an' I clapt mi een on as pratty a little lass as ever oppent een i'
+this country side. Owd England choilt's bonny, yone warrant mi, but
+hoo's as feaw as sin aside o'th' face as I see that m&#x014D;rn. Hoo stood
+theer wi' th' brokken spade i' her hond, an' i'th' tother a hommer an'
+a toothrey nails, an' hoo smoilt at mi, an' offert mi th' tackle, as
+mich as t' say, "Naaw, Isik, be gradely for onst i' thi loife, an'
+fettle this speet for mi, will ta?" For a whoile I stood theear gapin'
+like a foo', and wontherin' wheear hoo could ha' risen fray, but hoo
+cried aat onst mooar, "I've brokken mi speet!" Sooa I marcht toart her
+and tuk th' hommer an' th' nails, an' tacklet it up. It didn't tek mi
+long a-dooin', for it wir but a loile un; but when I'd done hoo smoilt
+at mi, an' so bonny, summat loike tha ust, Margit, when owd Pigheeod
+wir cooartin' tha; an' gan mi a hanful o' brass,<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a3">3</a></span> an' afooar I'd
+time to say owt off hoo vanisht. That wur th' only feorin as ivver
+I've seen, an' mebbi th' only one as I'm likely to luk at, for mi
+seet's getten nooan o'th' best latterly.'</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52">52</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_KING_OF_THE_FAIRIES">THE KING OF THE FAIRIES.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i058.jpg" width="94" height="97" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">M</span>ANY</b>
+years ago there lived in a farm-house at a point of the high-road
+from Manchester to Stockport, where Levenshulme Church now stands, a
+worthy named Burton, 'Owd Dannel Burton.'<a id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">A</a> The farm held by Daniel
+was a model one in its way, the old man raising finer crops than any
+other farmer in the district. It was rumoured that Daniel was very
+comfortably provided for, and that a few bad years would not harm him;
+and so wonderfully did everything he took in hand prosper, that his
+'luck' became proverbial. Such uniform prosperity could not long
+continue without the tongue of envy and detraction being set wagging,
+and the neighbours who permitted thistles to overrun their pastures
+whilst they gadded about to rush-<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53">53</a></span>bearings and wakes, finding a
+reproach to their idleness not only in the old man's success, but also
+in the careful, industrious habits of his daily life, were not slow to
+insinuate that there was something more than farming at the bottom of
+it. 'Dannel' had sold himself to Satan, said some whose pigs had faded
+away, and whose harvests had not been worth the gathering; and others
+pretended to know even the terms of the contract, and how many years
+the old man yet had to play on. A few of these detractors were young
+men whose imaginations were not kept in sufficient control, but they
+grew wonderfully reserved respecting the Satanic bargain after the
+hearty Daniel had had an interview with them, and proved to them that
+he had not forgotten the use of a good tough black-thorn.</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">A</span></a> Mr. Burton's grandson was for many years rector of All
+Saints', Manchester.</p></div>
+
+<p>'It's nobbut luck,' philosophically remarked others, 'mebbe it'll be
+my turn to-morn;' but the remainder vowed that neither luck or Evil
+One had anything to do with it, for the success was due to the labours
+of Puck, King of the Fairies.</p>
+
+<p>They were right. It was Puck, although no one ever knew how the old
+man had been able<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54">54</a></span> to enlist the services of so valuable an auxiliary,
+Daniel being strangely reticent upon the point, although generally by
+no means loth to speak of the fairies and their doings. Reserve with
+reference to these things, however, would not have availed much, for
+the farm labourers, the ruddy-cheeked milkmaids, and the other
+women-folk about the farm-house, were fond of boasting of the exploits
+of Puck&mdash;how during the night everything was 'cleaned up,' and all was
+in apple-pie order when they came into the kitchen at daybreak, the
+milk churned, the cows foddered, the necessary utensils filled with
+water from the well, the horses ready harnessed for their day's work
+at the plough, and even a week's threshing done and the barn left as
+tidy as though it had just been emptied and swept. Evidently the
+servant lasses had no fear of, or objection to, a hard-working
+supernatural visitor of this kind, but just the reverse, and many of
+their listeners found themselves wishing that their house, too, had
+its Boggart.</p>
+
+<p>For so long a period did this state of things continue, each morning
+revealing an astounding amount of work performed by the willing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55">55</a></span> and
+inexpensive workman, that at length the assistance was taken for
+granted, and as a matter of course, offering no food for surprise,
+although it did not cease to be a cause of envy to the neighbours.</p>
+
+<p>On one occasion, however, as old Daniel was despatching a hearty and
+substantial breakfast, a heated labourer brought word that all the
+corn had been housed during the past night. The strange story was true
+enough, for when the old man reached the field, where on the previous
+evening the golden sheaves of wheat had stood, he found the expanse
+quite bare, and as clean as though reapers, leaders, gleaners, and
+geese had been carefully over it. The harvest was in the barn, but not
+content with this, Daniel, illustrating the old proverb that 'much
+would have more,' suddenly exclaimed, 'I wonder whose horses Puck<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a4">4</a></span>
+used in this work. If yon of mine, I daresay he sweated them rarely;'
+and away he strode towards the stable. He had not reached the fold,
+however, when he met Puck coming towards him, and in a fever of greedy
+anxiety he cried, 'Puck, I doubt thou'st spoiled yon horses!' No
+sooner were the words out of his mouth, however,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56">56</a></span> than he saw that for
+once in his life he had made a mistake, for the fairy went pale with
+anger as he shouted in a shrill treble:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Sheaf to field, and horse to stall,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I, the Fairy King, recall!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Never more shall drudge of mine<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Stir a horse or sheaf of thine.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>After which vow he at once vanished.</p>
+
+<p>The old man walked home in a sorrowful mood, and actually forgot to go
+to the stable; but next morning early he was disturbed by a knocking
+at his chamber door. 'Mesthur, ger up,' cried the messenger, who on
+the previous day had brought the news of the housing of the corn,
+'Mesthur, ger up, th' corn's back i'th' fielt.' With a groan of
+anguish Daniel arose, and hastily made his way to the barn. All the
+pile was gone, and the floor littered with straw, exactly as it was
+before the fairy labour had so transformed the place.</p>
+
+<p>It did not take the farmer long to get over the ground between his
+barn and the corn-field, and arrived there he found the expanse once
+more covered with yellow sheaves, on which the beams of the rising sun
+were beginning to fall. Here and there a sheaf had fallen upon the
+ground, and everywhere straw and ears of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57">57</a></span> corn were scattered about as
+though the reapers had not long before left the place. The old man
+turned away in despair.</p>
+
+<p>From that time forward there was no more work done about the farm, or
+the shippons, and stables; but in the house, however, the maids
+continued to find their tasks performed as usual.</p>
+
+<p>Great were the rejoicings in the locality when the story of the
+sheaves became known, and it got noised about that 'Dannel's' fairy
+had 'fown eawt' with him. The old man became very dejected, for
+although he did not clearly perceive that the rupture was entirely due
+to his own selfish greed, he could not go about the farm without
+observing how much he had lost.</p>
+
+<p>One summer evening in a thoughtful mood he was walking homewards, and
+wishing that the meadows were mown. Plunged in such reflections, he
+met a neighbour, who at once asked the cause of his trouble. Daniel
+turned to point to the meadows, and as he did so he saw the fairy, in
+an attitude of rapt attention, stooping behind the hedgerow as though
+anxious to overhear the conversation.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58">58</a></span> 'Yo' miss your neet-mon?' said
+the neighbour. The old man thought that the time was come to make his
+peace with offended royalty, and with a cunning glance in the
+direction of the hiding-place, he answered, 'I do, Abrum, and may God
+bless Puck, th' King o'th' Fayrees.'<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a5">5</a></span> There was a startled cry from
+behind the hedgerow, and both men turned in that direction, but there
+was nothing to be observed. The fairy had vanished, never again to be
+seen in Daniel Burton's fields. That night the work was left undone
+even inside the farm-house, and thenceforward when the kitchen needed
+cleaning, water was wanted from the well, or when milk had to be
+churned, the maids had to get up early and do the work, for Puck, King
+of the Fairies, would not touch either mop or pail.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59">59</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="MOTHER_AND_CHILD">MOTHER AND CHILD.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i065.jpg" width="96" height="96" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">T</span>HE</b>
+tenants of Plumpton Hall had retired to rest somewhat earlier than
+was their wont, for it was the last night of November.</p>
+
+<p>The old low rooms were in darkness, and all was silent as the grave;
+for though the residents, unfortunately for themselves, were not
+asleep, they held their breath, and awaited in fear the first stroke
+of the hour from the old clock in the kitchen. Suddenly the sound of
+hurried footsteps broke the silence; but with sighs of relief the
+terrified listeners found that the noise was made by a belated
+wayfarer, almost out of his wits with fright, but who was unable to
+avoid passing the hall, and who, therefore, ran by the haunted
+building as quickly as his legs could carry him. The sensation of
+escape, however, was of but short<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60">60</a></span> duration, for the hammer commenced
+to strike; and no sooner had the last stroke of eleven startled the
+echoes than loud thuds, as of a heavy object bumping upon the stairs,
+were heard.</p>
+
+<p>The quaking occupants of the chambers hid their heads beneath the
+bedclothes, for they knew that an old-fashioned oak chair was on its
+way down the noble staircase, and was sliding from step to step as
+though dragged along by an invisible being who had only one hand at
+liberty.</p>
+
+<p>If any one had dared to follow that chair across the wide passage and
+into the wainscoted parlour, he would have been startled by the sight
+of a fire blazing in the grate, whence, ere the servants retired, even
+the very embers had been removed, and in the chair, the marvellous
+movement of which had so frightened all the inmates of the hall, he
+would have seen a beautiful woman seated, with an infant at her
+breast.</p>
+
+<p>Year after year, on wild nights, when the snow was driven against the
+diamond panes, and the cry of the spirit of the storm came up from the
+sea, the weird firelight shone from<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61">61</a></span> the haunted room, and through the
+house sounded a mysterious crooning as the unearthly visitor softly
+sang a lullaby to her infant. Lads grew up into grey-headed men in the
+old house; and from youth to manhood, on the last night of each
+November, they had heard the notes, but none of them ever had caught,
+even when custom had somewhat deadened the terror which surrounded the
+events of the much-dreaded anniversary, the words of the song the
+ghostly woman sang. The maids, too, had always found the grate as it
+was left before the visit&mdash;not a cinder or speck of dust remaining to
+tell of the strange fire, and no one had ever heard the chair ascend
+the stairs. Chair and fire and child and mother, however, were seen by
+many a weary wayfarer, drawn to the house by the hospitable look of
+the window, through which the genial glow of the burning logs shone
+forth into the night, but who, by tapping at the pane and crying for
+shelter, could not attract the attention of the pale nurse, clad in a
+quaint old costume with lace ruff and ruffles, and singing a mournful
+and melodious lullaby to the child resting upon her beautiful bosom.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62">62</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Tradition tells of one of these wanderers, a footsore and miserable
+seafaring man on the tramp, who, attracted by the welcome glare, crept
+to the panes, and seeing the cosy-looking fire, and the Madonna-faced
+mother tenderly nursing her infant, rapped at the glass and begged for
+a morsel of food and permission to sleep in the hayloft&mdash;and, finding
+his pleadings unanswered, loudly cursed the woman who could sit and
+enjoy warmth and comfort and turn a deaf ear to the prayers of the
+homeless and hungry; upon which the seated figure turned the weird
+light of its wild eyes upon him and almost changed him to stone&mdash;a
+labourer, going to his daily toil in the early morn, finding the poor
+wretch gazing fixedly through the window, against which his
+terror-stricken face was closely pressed, his hair turned white by
+fear, and his fingers convulsively clutching the casement.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63">63</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_SPECTRAL_CAT">THE SPECTRAL CAT.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i069.jpg" width="95" height="97" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">L</span>ONG</b>
+ago&mdash;so long, in fact, that the date has been lost in
+obscurity&mdash;the piously-inclined inhabitants of the then thickly wooded
+and wild country stretching from the sea-coast to Rivington Pike and
+Hoghton determined to erect a church at Whittle-le-Woods, and a site
+having been selected, the first stone was laid with all the ceremony
+due to so important and solemn a proceeding. Assisted by the labours
+as well as by the contributions of the faithful, the good priest was
+in high spirits; and as the close of the first day had seen the
+foundations set out and goodly piles of materials brought upon the
+ground ready for the future, he fell asleep congratulating himself
+upon having lived long enough to see the wish of his heart gratified.
+What was his surprise, however, when, after<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64">64</a></span> arising at the break of
+day, and immediately rushing to his window to gaze upon the work, he
+could not perceive either foundation or pile of stone, the field in
+which he expected to observe the promising outline being as green and
+showing as few marks of disturbance as the neighbouring ones.<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a6">6</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Surely I must have been dreaming,' said the good man, as he stood
+with rueful eyes at the little casement, 'for there are not any signs
+either of the gifts or the labours of the pious sons of the church.'</p>
+
+<p>In this puzzled frame of mind, and with a heavy sigh, he once more
+courted sleep. He had not slumbered long, however, when loud knocks at
+the door of his dwelling and lusty cries for Father Ambrose disturbed
+him. Hastily attiring himself, he descended, to find a concourse of
+people assembled in front of the house; and no sooner had he opened
+the door than a mason cried out&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Father Ambrose, where are the foundations we laid yesterday, and
+where is the stone from the quarry?'</p>
+
+<p>'Then I did not simply dream that I had blessed the site?' said the
+old man, inquiringly.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65">65</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Upon which there was a shout of laughter, and a sturdy young fellow
+asked&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'And I did not dream that I carted six loads from the quarry?'</p>
+
+<p>'Th' Owd Lad's hed a hand int',' said a labourer, 'for t' fielt's as
+if fuut hed never stept int'.'</p>
+
+<p>The priest and his people at once set off to inspect the site, and
+sure enough it was in the state described by the mason; cowslips and
+buttercups decking the expanse of green, which took different shades
+as the zephyr swept over it.</p>
+
+<p>'Well, I'm fair capped,' said a grey-headed old farmer. 'I've hed
+things stown afoor today, bud they'n generally bin things wi' feathers
+on an' good to heyt an' not th' feaundations uv a church. Th' warlt's
+gerrin' ter'ble wickit. We's hev' to bi lukkin' eawt for another
+Noah's flood, I warrant.'</p>
+
+<p>A peal of laughter followed this sally, but Father Ambrose, who was in
+no mood for mirth, sternly remarked&mdash;'There is something here which
+savoureth of the doings of Beelzebub;' and then he sadly turned away,
+leaving the small crowd of gossips speculating upon<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66">66</a></span> the events of the
+night. Before the father reached his dwelling, however, he heard his
+name called by a rustic who was running along the road.</p>
+
+<p>'Father Ambrose,' cried the panting messenger, 'here's the strangest
+thing happened at Leyland. The foundations of a church and all sorts
+of building materials have been laid in a field during the night, and
+Adam the miller is vowing vengeance against you for having trespassed
+on his land.'</p>
+
+<p>The priest at once returned to the little crowd of people, who still
+were gaping at the field from which all signs of labour had been so
+wonderfully removed, and bade the messenger repeat the strange story,
+which he did at somewhat greater length, becoming loquacious in the
+presence of his equals, for he enjoyed their looks of astonishment.
+When the astounding narrative had been told, the crowd at once started
+for Leyland, their pastor promising to follow after he had fortified
+himself with breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>When the good man reached the village he had no need to inquire which
+was Adam the miller's field, for he saw the crowd gathered in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67">67</a></span> a
+rich-looking meadow. As he opened the gate Adam met him, and without
+ceremony at once accused him of having taken possession of his field.
+'Peace, Adam,' said the priest. 'The field hath been taken not by me,
+but by a higher power, either good or evil&mdash;I fear the latter,' and he
+made his way to the people. True enough, the foundations were laid as
+at Whittle, and even the mortar was ready for the masons. 'I am loth
+to think that this is a sorry jest of the Evil One,' said Father
+Ambrose; 'ye must help me to outwit him, and to give him his labour
+for his pains. Let each one carry what he can, and, doubtless, Adam
+will be glad to cart the remainder,'&mdash;a proposition the burly miller
+agreed to at once. Accordingly each of the people walked off with a
+piece of wood, and Adam started for his team. Before long the field
+was cleared, and ere sunset the foundations were again laid in the
+original place, and a goodly piece of wall had been built.</p>
+
+<p>Grown wise by experience, the priest selected two men to watch the
+place during the night. Naturally enough, these worthies, who by no
+means liked the task, but were afraid to decline<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68">68</a></span> it, determined to
+make themselves as comfortable as they could under the circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>They therefore carried to the place a quantity of food and drink, and
+a number of empty sacks, with which they constructed an impromptu
+couch near the blazing wood fire. Notwithstanding the seductive
+influence of the liquor, they were not troubled with much company, for
+the few people who resided in the vicinity did not care to remain out
+of doors late after what Father Ambrose had said as to the proceeding
+having been a joke of Satan's. The priest, however, came to see the
+men, and after giving them his blessing, and a few words of advice, he
+left them to whatever the night might bring forth. No sooner had he
+gone than the watchers put up some boards to shield them from the
+wind, and, drawing near to the cheerful fire, they began to partake of
+a homely but plentiful supper. Considering how requisite it was that
+they should be in possession of all their wits, perhaps it would have
+been better had not a large bottle been in such frequent requisition,
+for, soon after the meal was ended, what with the effects of the
+by-no-means weak potion, the warmth and odour sent forth by the
+crackling logs, and the musical moaning of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69">69</a></span> wind in the branches
+overhead, they began to feel drowsy, to mutter complaints against the
+hardship of their lot, and to look longingly upon the heap of sacks.</p>
+
+<p>'If owt comes,' said the oldest of the two, 'one con see it as well as
+two, an' con wakken t' tother&mdash;theerfore I'm in for a nod.' And he at
+once flung himself upon the rude bed.</p>
+
+<p>'Well,' said the younger one, who was perched upon a log close to the
+fire, 'hev thi own way, an' tha'll live lunger; but I'se wakken tha
+soon, an' hev a doze mysen. That's fair, isn't it?'</p>
+
+<p>To this question there was no response, for the old man was already
+asleep. The younger one immediately reached the huge bottle, and after
+drinking a hearty draught from it placed it within reach, saying, as
+he did so&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I'm nooan freetunt o' thee, as heaw it is! Thaart not Belsybub, are
+ta?'</p>
+
+<p>Before long he bowed his head upon his hands, and gazing into the fire
+gave way to a pleasant train of reflections, in which the miller's
+daughter played a by-no-means unimportant part. In a little while he,
+too, began to doze and nod, and the ideas and thronging fancies soon
+gave way to equally delightful dreams.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70">70</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Day was breaking when the pair awoke; the fire was out, and the noisy
+birds were chirping their welcome to the sun. For a while the watchers
+stared at each other with well-acted surprise.</p>
+
+<p>'I'm freetunt tha's o'erslept thysel',' said the young fellow; 'and
+rayly I do think as I've bin noddin' a bit mysen.' And then, as he
+turned round, 'Why, it's gone ageean! Jacob, owd lad! th' foundation,
+an' th' w&#x014D;'s, an' o th' lots o' stooans are off t' Leyland ageean!'</p>
+
+<p>The field was again clear, grass and meadow flowers covering its
+expanse, and after a long conference the pair determined that the best
+course for them to pursue would be that of immediately confessing to
+Father Ambrose that they had been asleep. Accordingly they wended
+their way to his house, and having succeeded in arousing him, and
+getting him to the door, the young man informed him that once more the
+foundations were missing.</p>
+
+<p>'What took them?' asked the priest. To which awkward query the old man
+replied, that they did not see anything.</p>
+
+<p>'Then ye slept, did ye?' asked the Father.</p>
+
+<p>'Well,' said the young man, 'we did nod a minnit or two; but we wir
+toired wi' watchin'<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71">71</a></span> so closely; an', yo' see, that as con carry th'
+foundations ov a church away connot hev mich trouble i' sendin'
+unlarnt chaps loike Jacob an' me to sleep agen eaur will.'</p>
+
+<p>This ended the colloquy, for Father Ambrose laughed heartily at the
+ready answer. Shortly afterwards, as on the preceding day, the
+messenger from Leyland arrived with tidings that the walls had again
+appeared in Adam's field. Again they were carted back, and placed in
+their original position, and once more was a watch set, the priest
+taking the precaution of remaining with the men until near upon
+midnight. Almost directly after he had left the field one of the
+watchers suddenly started from his seat, and cried&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'See yo', yonder, there's summat wick!'</p>
+
+<p>Both men gazed intently, and saw a huge cat, with great
+unearthly-looking eyes, and a tail with a barbed end. Without any
+seeming difficulty this terrible animal took up a large stone, and
+hopped off with it, returning almost immediately for another. This
+strange performance went on for some time, the two observers being
+nearly petrified by terror; but at length the younger one said<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72">72</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I'm like to put a stop to yon wark, or hee'll say win bin asleep
+ageean,' and seizing a large piece of wood he crept down the field,
+the old man following closely behind. When he reached the cat, which
+took no notice of his approach, he lifted his cudgel, and struck the
+animal a heavy blow on its head. Before he had time to repeat it,
+however, the cat, with a piercing scream, sprang upon him, flung him
+to the ground, and fixed its teeth in his throat. The old man at once
+fled for the priest. When he returned with him, cat, foundations, and
+materials were gone; but the dead body of the poor watcher was there,
+with glazed eyes, gazing at the pitiless stars.</p>
+
+<p>After this terrible example of the power of the fiendish labourer it
+was not considered advisable to attempt a third removal, and the
+building was proceeded with upon the site at Leyland chosen by the
+spectre.</p>
+
+<p>The present parish church covers the place long occupied by the
+original building; and although all the actors in this story passed
+away centuries ago, a correct likeness of the cat has been preserved,
+and may be seen by the sceptical.<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a7">7</a></span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73">73</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_CAPTURED_FAIRIES">THE CAPTURED FAIRIES.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i079.jpg" width="97" height="96" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">T</span>HERE</b>
+once lived in the little village of Hoghton two idle,
+good-for-nothing fellows, who, somehow or other, managed to exist
+without spending the day, from morn to dewy eve, at the loom. When
+their more respectable neighbours were hard at work they generally
+were to be seen either hanging about the doorway of the little
+ale-house or playing at dominoes inside the old-fashioned hostelry;
+and many a time in broad daylight their lusty voices might be heard as
+they trolled forth the hearty poaching ditty,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'It's my delight, on a shiny night.'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It was understood that they had reason to sympathise with the
+sentiments expressed in the old ballad. Each was followed by a ragged,
+suspicious-looking lurcher; and as the four lounged about the place
+steady-going people<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74">74</a></span> shook their heads, and prophesied all sorts of
+unpleasant terminations to so unsatisfactory a career. So far as the
+dogs were concerned the dismal forebodings were verified, for from
+poaching in the society of their masters the clever lurchers took to
+doing a little on their own account, and both were shot in the pursuit
+of game by keepers, who were only too glad of an opportunity of
+ridding the neighbourhood of such misdirected intelligence. Soon after
+this unfortunate event, the two men, who themselves had a narrow
+escape, had their nets taken; and, as they were too poor to purchase
+others, and going about to borrow such articles was equivalent to
+accusing their friends of poaching habits, they were reduced to the
+necessity of using sacks whenever they visited the squire's fields.</p>
+
+<p>One night, after climbing the fence and making their way to a
+well-stocked warren, they put in a solitary ferret and rapidly fixed
+the sacks over the burrows. They did not wait long in anxious
+expectation of an exodus before there was a frantic rush, and after
+hastily grasping the sacks tightly round the necks, and tempting their
+missionary from the hole,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75">75</a></span> they crept through the hedgerow, and at a
+sharp pace started for home. For some time they remained unaware of
+the nature of their load, and they were congratulating themselves upon
+the success which had crowned their industry, when suddenly there came
+a cry from one of the prisoners, 'Dick, wheer art ta?' The poachers
+stood petrified with alarm; and almost immediately a voice from the
+other bag piped out&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'In a sack,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On a back,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Riding up Hoghton Brow.'<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a8">8</a></span><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The terrified men at once let their loads fall, and fled at the top of
+their speed, leaving behind them the bags full of fairies, who had
+been driven from their homes by the intruding ferret. Next morning,
+however, the two poachers ventured to the spot where they had heard
+the supernatural voices. The sacks neatly folded were lying at the
+side of the road, and the men took them up very tenderly, as though in
+expectation of another mysterious utterance, and crept off with them.</p>
+
+<p>Need it be said that those bags were not afterwards used for any
+purpose more exciting<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76">76</a></span> than the carriage of potatoes from the
+previously neglected bit of garden, the adventure having quite cured
+the men of any desire to 'pick up' rabbits.</p>
+
+<p>Like most sudden conversions, however, that of the two poachers into
+hard-working weavers was regarded with suspicion by the inhabitants of
+the old-world village, and in self-defence the whilom wastrels were
+forced to tell the story of the imprisonment of the fairies. The
+wonderful narrative soon got noised abroad; and as the changed
+characters, on many a summer evening afterwards, sat hard at work in
+their loom-house, and, perhaps almost instinctively, hummed the old
+ditty,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'It's my delight, on a shiny night,'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>the shock head of a lad would be protruded through the honeysuckle
+which almost covered the casement, as the grinning youngster, who had
+been patiently waiting for the weaver to commence his song and give an
+opportunity for the oft-repeated repartee, cried, 'Nay, it isn't thi
+delight; "Dick, wheer art ta?"'</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77">77</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_PILLION_LADY">THE PILLION LADY.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i083.jpg" width="92" height="96" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">I</span>T</b>
+was on a beautiful night in the middle of summer that Humphrey
+Dobson, after having transacted a day's business at Garstang market,
+and passed some mirthful hours with a number of jovial young fellows
+in the best parlour of the Ffrances Arms, with its oak furniture and
+peacock feathers, mounted his steady-going mare, and set off for home.
+He had got some distance from the little town, and was rapidly nearing
+a point where the road crossed a stream said to be haunted by the
+spirit of a female who had been murdered many years back; and although
+the moon was shining brightly, and the lonely rider could see far
+before him, there was one dark spot overshadowed by trees a little in
+advance which Humphrey feared to reach. He felt a thrill of terror as
+he suddenly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78">78</a></span> remembered the many strange stories told of the headless
+woman whose sole occupation and delight seemed to be that of
+terrifying travellers; but, with a brave endeavour to laugh off his
+fears, he urged his horse forward, and attempted to troll forth the
+burden of an old song:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'He rode and he rode till he came to the dooar,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And Nell came t' oppen it, as she'd done afooar:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"Come, get off thy horse," she to him did say,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">"An' put it i'th' stable, an' give it some hay."'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It would not do, however; and suddenly he put spurs to the mare and
+galloped towards the little bridge. No sooner did the horse's hoofs
+ring upon the stones than Humphrey heard a weird and unearthly laugh
+from beneath the arch, and, as the animal snorted and bounded forward,
+the young fellow felt an icy arm glide round his waist and a light
+pressure against his back. Drops of perspiration fell from his brow,
+and his heart throbbed wildly, but he did not dare to look behind lest
+his worst fears should be verified, and he should behold 'th' boggart
+o'th' bruk.'</p>
+
+<p>As though conscious of its ghastly burden, the old mare ran as she
+never had run before; the hedgerows and trees seemed to fly past,
+while sparks streamed from the flints in the road, and in an
+incredibly short space of time the farm-house was reached.
+Instinctively, Humphrey tried to guide the mare into the yard, but his
+efforts were powerless, for the terrified animal had got the bit in
+her teeth, and away she sped past the gateway.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79">79</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/i085.jpg" width="600" height="396" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="caption">THE PILLION LADY.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81">81</a></span>As the rider was thus borne away, another sepulchral laugh broke the
+silence, but this time it sounded so close to the horseman's ear that
+he involuntarily looked round.</p>
+
+<p>He found that the figure, one of whose arms was twined round his
+waist, was not the headless being of whom he had heard so many fearful
+narratives, but another and a still more terrible one, for, grinning
+in a dainty little hood, and almost touching his face, there was a
+ghastly skull, with eyeless sockets, and teeth gleaming white in the
+clear moonlight.</p>
+
+<p>Petrified by fear, he could not turn his head away, and, as the mare
+bore him rapidly along, ever and anon a horrid derisive laugh sounded
+in his ears as for a moment the teeth parted and then closed with a
+sudden snap. Terrified as he was, however, he noticed that the arm
+which encircled his body gradually tightened<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82">82</a></span> around him, and putting
+down his hand to grasp it he found it was that of a fleshless
+skeleton.</p>
+
+<p>How long he rode thus embraced by a spectre he knew not, but it seemed
+an age.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly, however, as at a turn in the road the horse stumbled and
+fell, Humphrey, utterly unprepared for any such occurrence, was thrown
+over the animal's head and stunned by the fall.</p>
+
+<p>When he recovered full consciousness it was daybreak. The sun was
+rising, the birds were singing in the branching foliage overhead, and
+the old mare was quietly grazing at a distance. With great difficulty,
+for he was faint through loss of blood, and lame, he got home and told
+his story. There were several stout men about the farm who professed
+to disbelieve it, and pretended to laugh at the idea of a skeleton
+horsewoman, who, without saying with your leave or by your leave, had
+ridden pillion with the young master, but it was somewhat remarkable
+that none of them afterwards could be induced to cross the bridge over
+the haunted stream after 'th' edge o' dark.'</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83">83</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_FAIRY_FUNERAL">THE FAIRY FUNERAL.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i089.jpg" width="95" height="96" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">T</span>HERE</b> are few spots in Lancashire more likely to have been peopled by
+fairies than that portion of the highway which runs along the end of
+Penwortham wood.</p>
+
+<p>At all times the locality is very beautiful, but it is especially so
+in summer, when the thin line of trees on the one side of the road and
+the rustling wood upon the other cast a welcome shade upon the
+traveller, who can rest against the old railings, and look down upon a
+rich expanse of meadow-land and corn-fields, bounded in the distance
+by dim, solemn-looking hills, and over the white farm-houses, snugly
+set in the midst of luxurious vegetation. From this vantage-ground a
+flight of steps leads down to the well of St. Mary, the water of
+which, once renowned for its miraculous<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84">84</a></span> efficacy, is as clear as
+crystal and of never-ceasing flow.</p>
+
+<p>To this sacred neighbourhood thousands of pilgrims have wended their
+way; and although the legend of the holy well has been lost, it is
+easy to understand with what superstitious reverence the place would
+be approached by those whose faith was of a devout and unquestioning
+kind, and what feelings would influence those whose hearts were heavy
+with the weight of a great sorrow as they descended the steps worn by
+the feet of their countless predecessors.</p>
+
+<p>From the little spring a pathway winds across meadows and through
+corn-fields to the sheltered village, and a little further along the
+highway a beautiful avenue winds from the old lodge gates to the
+ancient church and priory. Wide as is this road it is more than shaded
+by the tall trees which tower on each side, their topmost branches
+almost interlaced, the sunbeams passing through the green network, and
+throwing fantastic gleams of light upon the pathway, along which so
+many have been carried to the quiet God's Acre.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of this long and beautiful walk<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85">85</a></span> stands the old priory, no
+longer occupied by the Benedictines from Evesham, the silvery sound of
+whose voices at eventide used to swell across the rippling Ribble;
+and, a little to the right of the pile, the Church of St. Mary, with
+its background of the Castle Hill.</p>
+
+<p>By the foot of this Ancient British and Roman outlook there is a
+little farm-house, with meadow land stretching away to the broad
+river; and one night, fifty or sixty years ago, two men, one of whom
+was a local 'cow-doctor,' whose duties had compelled him to remain
+until a late hour, set out from this dwelling to walk home to the
+straggling village of Longton. It was near upon midnight when they
+stepped forth, but it was as light as mid-day, the moon shining in all
+her beauty, and casting her glamour upon the peaceful scene. So quiet
+was it that it seemed as though even the Zephyrs were asleep. There
+was not a breath of wind, and not a leaf rustled or a blade of grass
+stirred, and had it not been for the sounds of the footsteps of the
+two men, who were rapidly ascending the rough cart-track winding up
+the side of the hill, all would have been as still as death. The sweet
+silence was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86">86</a></span> a fitting one, for in the graveyard by the side of the
+lane through which the travellers were passing, and over the low
+moss-covered wall of which might be seen the old-fashioned tombstones,
+erect like so many sentinels marking the confines of the battle-field
+of life, hundreds were sleeping the sleep with which only the music of
+the leaves, the sough of the wind, and the sigh of the sea seem in
+harmony.</p>
+
+<p>As the two men opened the gate at the corner of the churchyard, the
+old clock sounded the first stroke of midnight.</p>
+
+<p>'That's twelve on 'em,' said the oldest of the two.</p>
+
+<p>'Ay, Adam,' said the other, a taller and much younger man. 'Another
+day's passin' away, an' it c&#x014D;n't dee wi'eaut tellin' everybody; yet
+ther's bod few on us as tez onny notice on't, for we connot do to be
+towd as wer toime's growin' bod short. I should think as tha dusn't
+care to hear th' clock strike, Adam, to judge bith' colour o' thi
+toppin', for tha 'rt gerrin' varra wintry lookin'.'</p>
+
+<p>The old man chuckled at this sally, and then said, slowly and drily:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Speyk for thisen, Robin&mdash;speyk for thisen;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87">87</a></span> an' yet why should ta
+speyk at o? Choilt as tha are&mdash;an' tha art nobbut a choilt, clivver as
+tha fancies thisen&mdash;tha 'rt owd enough to mind as it's nod olus th'
+grey-heeoded uns as dees th' fost. Th' chickins fo' off th' peeark
+mooar oftener nor th' owd brids. Ther's monny an owd tree wi' nobbud a
+twothree buds o' green abaat it, to show as it wur yung wonst, as
+tha'd hev herd wark to delve up, th' roots bein' so deep i'th' graand;
+an' ther's monny a rook o' young-lukkin' uns as tha met poo up as
+yezzy as a hondful o' sallet. It teks leetnin' to kill th' owd oak,
+but th' fost nippin' woint off th' Martch yon soon puts th' bonnie
+spring posies out o' seet. If I'm growin' owd, let's hope I'm roipnin'
+as weel. Tha'rt not th' fost bit of a lad as thowt heer baan to last o
+th' tothers aat, an' as hed hardly toime to finish his crowin' afoor
+th' sexton clapt o honful o' sond i' his meauth.'</p>
+
+<p>This conversation brought the two beyond the gate and some distance
+along the avenue, in which the moonlight was somewhat toned by the
+thickness of the foliage above, and they were rapidly nearing the
+lodge gates, when suddenly the solemn sound of a deep-toned<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88">88</a></span> bell
+broke the silence. Both men stopped and listened intently.</p>
+
+<p>'That's th' passin'-bell,'<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a9">9</a></span> said Adam. 'Wodever con be up? I never
+knew it rung at this toime o'th' neet afooar.'</p>
+
+<p>'Mek less racket, will ta,' said Robin. 'Led's keep count an' see heaw
+owd it is.'</p>
+
+<p>Whilst the bell chimed six-and-twenty both listeners stood almost
+breathless, and then Adam said:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'He's thy age, Robin, chuz who he is.'</p>
+
+<p>'Ther wer no leet i 'th' belfry as wi come by, as I see on,' said the
+young man, 'I'd rayther be i' bed nor up theer towlin' ad this toime,
+wudn't tha?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yoi,' said Adam. 'But owd Jemmy dusn't care, an' why should he? Hee's
+bin amung th' deeod to' long to be freet'nt on 'em neet or day, wake
+an' fable as he is. I dar' say hee's fun aat afoor neaw as they 'r not
+varra rough to dale wi'. Ther's nod mich feightin i'th' bury-hoyle,
+beaut ids wi' th' resurrectioners. Bud led's get to'art whoam, lad; we're
+loikely enough to larn o abaat it to-morn.'</p>
+
+<p>Without more words they approached the lodge, but to their great
+terror, when they were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89">89</a></span> within a few yards from the little dwelling,
+the gates noiselessly swung open, the doleful tolling of the
+passing-bell being the only sound to be heard. Both men stepped back
+affrighted as a little figure clad in raiment of a dark hue, but
+wearing a bright red cap, and chanting some mysterious words in a low
+musical voice as he walked, stepped into the avenue.</p>
+
+<p>'Ston back, mon,' cried Adam, in a terrified voice&mdash;'ston back; it's
+th' feeorin; bud they'll not hort tha if tha dusna meddle wi' um.'</p>
+
+<p>The young man forthwith obeyed his aged companion, and standing
+together against the trunk of a large tree, they gazed at the
+miniature being stepping so lightly over the road, mottled by the
+stray moonbeams. It was a dainty little object; but although neither
+Adam nor Robin could comprehend the burden of the song it sang, the
+unmistakable croon of grief with which each stave ended told the
+listeners that the fairy was singing a requiem. The men kept perfectly
+silent, and in a little while the figure paused and turned round, as
+though in expectation, continuing, however, its mournful notes.
+By-and-by the voices of other singers were distinguished, and as they
+grew<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90">90</a></span> louder the fairy standing in the roadway ceased to render the
+verse, and sang only the refrain, and a few minutes afterwards Adam
+and Robin saw a marvellous cavalcade pass through the gateway. A
+number of figures, closely resembling the one to which their attention
+had first been drawn, walked two by two, and behind them others with
+their caps in their hands, bore a little black coffin, the lid of
+which was drawn down so as to leave a portion of the contents
+uncovered. Behind these again others, walking in pairs, completed the
+procession. All were singing in inexpressibly mournful tones, pausing
+at regular intervals to allow the voice of the one in advance to be
+heard, as it chanted the refrain of the song, and when the last couple
+had passed into the avenue, the gates closed as noiselessly as they
+had opened.</p>
+
+<p>As the bearers of the burden marched past the two watchers, Adam bent
+down, and, by the help of a stray gleam of moonlight, saw that there
+was a little corpse in the coffin.</p>
+
+<p>'Robin, mi lad,' said he, in a trembling voice and with a scared look,
+'it's th' pictur o' thee as they hev i' th' coffin!'</p>
+
+<p>With a gasp of terror the young man also
+stooped towards the
+bearers, and saw clearly enough that the face of the figure borne by
+the fairies indeed closely resembled his own, save that it was ghastly
+with the pallor and dews of death.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91">91</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/i097.jpg" width="400" height="596" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92">92</a></span>
+The procession had passed ere he was able to speak, for, already much
+affrighted by the appearance of the fairies, the sight of the little
+corpse had quite unnerved him. Clinging in a terrified manner to the
+old man, he said, in a broken voice&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'It raley wor me, Adam! Dust think it's a warnin', an' I'm abaat to
+dee?'</p>
+
+<p>The old man stepped out into the road as he replied&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'It wur a quare seet, Robin, no daat; bud I've sin monny sich i' mi
+toime, an' theyne come to nowt i' th' end. Warnin' or not, haaever,'
+he added, with strong common sense, 'ther'll be no harm done bi thee
+livin' as if it wur one.'</p>
+
+<p>The mournful music of the strange singers and the solemn sound of the
+passing bell could still be heard, and the two awe-struck men stood
+gazing after the cavalcade.</p>
+
+<p>'It mon be a warnin', again said Robin,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94">94</a></span> 'an' I wish I'd axed um haa
+soon I've to dee. Mebbee they'n a towd me.'</p>
+
+<p>'I don't think they wod,' said Adam. 'I've olus heeard as they'r rare
+and vext if they'r spokken to. Theyn happen a done tha some lumberment
+if tha 'ad axed owt.'</p>
+
+<p>'They could but a kilt mi,' replied Robin, adding, with that grim
+humour which so often accompanies despair, 'an' they're buryin' mi
+neaw, ar'nod they?' Then in a calm and firm voice he said&mdash;'I'm baan
+to ax 'em, come wod will. If tha 'rt freetent tha con goo on whoam.'</p>
+
+<p>'Nay, nay,' said Adam warmly, 'I'm nooan scaret. If tha'rt for
+catechoizing um, I'll see th' end on it.'</p>
+
+<p>Without further parley the men followed after and soon overtook the
+procession, which was just about to enter the old churchyard, the
+gates of which, like those of the lodge, swung open apparently of
+their own accord, and no sooner did Robin come up with the bearers
+than, in a trembling voice, he cried&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Winnot yo' tell mi haaw lung I've to live?'</p>
+
+<p>There was not any answer to this appeal, the little figure in front
+continuing to chant its refrain with even deepened mournfulness.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95">95</a></span>
+Imagining that he was the leader of the band, Robin stretched out his
+hand and touched him. No sooner had he done this than, with startling
+suddenness, the whole cavalcade vanished, the gates banged to with a
+loud clang, deep darkness fell upon everything, the wind howled and
+moaned round the church and the tombstones in the graveyard, the
+branches creaked and groaned overhead, drops of rain pattered upon the
+leaves, mutterings of thunder were heard, and a lurid flash of
+lightning quivered down the gloomy avenue.</p>
+
+<p>'I towd tha haa it ud be,' said Adam, and Robin simply answered&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I'm no worse off than befooar. Let's mak' toart whoam; bud say nowt
+to aar fowk&mdash;it ud nobbut freeten th' wimmin.'</p>
+
+<p>Before the two men reached the lodge gates a terrible storm burst over
+them, and through it they made their way to the distant village.</p>
+
+<p>A great change came over Robin, and from being the foremost in every
+countryside marlock he became serious and reserved, invariably at the
+close of the day's work rambling away, as though anxious to shun
+mankind, or else spending the evening at Adam's talking over<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96">96</a></span> 'th'
+warnin'.' Strange to say, about a month afterwards he fell from a
+stack, and after lingering some time, during which he often
+deliriously rambled about the events of the dreadful night, he dozed
+away, Old Jemmy, the sexton, had another grave to open, and the
+grey-headed Adam was one of the bearers who carried Robin's corpse
+along the avenue in which they had so short a time before seen the
+fairy funeral.<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a10">10</a></span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97">97</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_CHIVALROUS_DEVIL">THE CHIVALROUS DEVIL.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i103.jpg" width="93" height="97" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">A</span>BOUT</b> half-a-century ago there lived, in a lane leading away from a
+little village near Garstang, a poor idiot named Gregory. He was at
+once the sport and the terror of the young folks. Uniformly kind to
+them, carefully convoying them to the spots where, in his lonely
+rambles, he had noticed birds' nests, or pressing upon them the wild
+flowers he had gathered in the neighbouring woods and thickets, he
+received at their ungrateful hands all kinds of ill treatment, not
+always stopping short of personal violence. In this respect, however,
+the thoughtless children only followed the example set them by their
+elders, for seldom did poor Gregory pass along the row of cottages,
+dignified by the name of street, which constituted the village,
+without an<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98">98</a></span> unhandsome head being projected from the blacksmith's or
+cobbler's shop, or from a doorway, and a cruel taunt being sent after
+the idiot, who, in his ragged clothing, with his handful of harebells
+and primroses, and a wreath of green leaves round his battered, old
+hat, jogged along towards his mother's cottage, singing as he went, in
+a pathetic monotone, a snatch of an old Lancashire ballad.</p>
+
+<p>In accordance with that holy law which, under such circumstances,
+influences woman's heart, the mother loved this demented lad with
+passionate fondness, all the tenderness with which her nature had been
+endowed having been called forth by the needs of the afflicted child,
+whose only haven of refuge from the harshness of his surroundings and
+the cruelty of those who, had not they been as ignorant as the hogs
+they fed, would have pitied and protected him, was her breast.
+Lavishing all her affection upon the poor lad, she had no kindness to
+spare for those who tormented him; and abstaining from any of those
+melodramatic and vulgar curses with which a person of less education
+would have followed those who abused her child, she studiously held
+herself<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99">99</a></span> aloof from her neighbours, and avoided meeting them, except
+when she was compelled to purchase food or other articles for her
+little household. This conduct gave an excuse for much ill
+feeling, and as the woman had no need to toil for her daily bread, and
+as her cottage was the neatest in the district, there was much
+jealousy.</p>
+
+<p>One night, at a jovial gathering, it was arranged that a practical
+joke, of what was considered a very humorous kind, should be played
+upon the idiot. The boors selected one of their party, whose task it
+should be to attire himself in a white sheet, and to emerge into the
+lane when the poor lad should make his appearance. In accordance with
+this plan the pack of hobbledehoys watched the cottage night after
+night, in the hope of seeing the idiot leave the dwelling, and at
+length their patience was rewarded. They immediately hid themselves in
+the ditch, while the mock ghost concealed himself behind the trunk of
+a tree. The lad, not suspecting any evil, came along, humming, in his
+melancholy monotone, the usual fragment, and just before he reached
+the tree the sheeted figure slowly stepped forth to the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100">100</a></span> accompaniment
+of the groanings and bellowings of his associates. They had expected
+to see the idiot flee in terror; but instead of so doing, he laughed
+loudly at the white figure, and then suddenly, as the expression of
+his face changed to one of intense interest, he shouted, 'Oh, oh! a
+black one! a black one!' Sure enough, a dark and terrible figure stood
+in the middle of the road. The mock ghost fled, with his companions at
+his heels, the real spectre chasing them hotly, and the idiot bringing
+up the rear, shouting at the top of his voice, 'Run, black devil!
+catch white devil!'</p>
+
+<p>They were not long in reaching the village, down the street of which
+they ran faster than they ever had run before. Several of them darted
+into the smithy, where the blacksmith was scattering the sparks right
+and left as he hammered away at the witch-resisting horseshoes, and
+others fled into the inn, where they startled the gathered company of
+idle gossips; but the mock ghost kept on wildly, looking neither to
+the left nor to the right. The idiot had kept close behind the phantom
+at the heels of the mock ghost, and when at the end of the village the
+spectre vanished as suddenly as it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101">101</a></span> had appeared, the lad ran a little
+faster and took its place. Of this, however, the white-sheeted young
+fellow was not aware, and, fearing every moment that the shadow would
+catch him in its awful embrace, he dashed down a by lane. Before he
+got very far, however, the idiot, who had gradually been lessening the
+distance between them, overtook and seized him by the neck. With a
+terrible cry the rustic fell headlong into the ditch, dragging Gregory
+with him as he fell. The latter was soon upon his feet, and dancing
+about the lane as he cried, 'Catch white devil! catch white devil!'
+The mock ghost, however, lay quiet enough among the nettles.</p>
+
+<p>Roused by the story told by the affrighted ones who had rushed so
+unceremoniously into their presence, as well as by the startling cry
+of 'Run, black devil! catch white devil!' which the idiot had shouted
+as he sped past the door, several of the topers emerged from their
+abiding place; and as nothing could be seen of either mock ghost,
+spectre, or idiot, they bravely determined to go in search of them. As
+they passed along the road from the village, their attention was
+attracted by the cries which<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102">102</a></span> seemed to come from the lonely lane, and
+somewhat nervously making their way along it, they soon saw the idiot
+dancing about the side of the ditch. With a sudden access of courage,
+due to the presence of anything human, however weak, they hurried
+along, and as they drew nearer, the idiot paused in his gambols, and
+pointed to the mock ghost, who lay stretched in the shadow of the
+hedgerow. He was soon carried away to the village, where he lay ill
+for weeks.</p>
+
+<p>The kindness of Gregory's mother to the sick lad's parents, who were
+very poor and could ill afford to provide the necessary comforts his
+condition required, caused public feeling to turn in her favour, and
+those who formerly had been loudest in defaming her became her warmest
+eulogists. Between the idiot and the young fellow, too, a strange
+friendship sprang up, and the pair might often be seen passing along
+the lanes, the idiot chanting his melancholy fragments to the
+companion whose cap he had adorned with wreaths of wild flowers.</p>
+
+<p>With such a protector the idiot was quite safe, and, indeed, had the
+village children been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103">103</a></span> wishful to torment Gregory, if the presence of
+this companion had not sufficed to restrain them, they had only to
+remember that it was in defence of poor Gregory the Evil One himself
+had raced through the village.<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a11">11</a></span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104">104</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_ENCHANTED_FISHERMAN">THE ENCHANTED FISHERMAN.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i110.jpg" width="98" height="100" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">T</span>HERE</b> are few views in the north of England more beautiful than that
+which is seen from Morecambe, as the spectator looks over the
+beautiful bay, with its crescent coast-line of nearly fifty miles in
+extent. At low water the dazzling sands, streaked by silvery deceptive
+channels, stretch to the distant glimmering sea, the music of whose
+heavings comes but faintly on the gentle breeze; but at tide-time a
+magnificent expanse of rolling waves sweeps away to Peel, and is
+dotted over with red-sailed fishing boats and coasters. Far to the
+north the huge heather-covered Furness Fells stand sentinel-like over
+the waters, and above them, dimly seen through the faint blue haze,
+tower the grand mountains of the magic lake country. The scene is full
+of a sweet dream-like beauty; but there are<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105">105</a></span> times when the beautiful
+is swallowed in the majestic, as the mists come creeping over the sea,
+obscuring the coasts, and hiding everything save the white caps of the
+waves gleaming in the darkness, through which the muttering diapasons
+of the wind, as though in deep distress, sound mysteriously; or when,
+in winter, the moon is hidden by scudding clouds, and the huge
+rollers, driven before the breeze, dash themselves to death, as upon
+the blast come the solemn boom of a signal gun, and the faint cries of
+those in danger on the deep.</p>
+
+<p>Years ago, however, before the little village of Poulton changed its
+name, and began to dream of becoming a watering-place, with terraces
+and hotels, instead of the picturesque, tumble-down huts of the
+fishermen, against which, from time immemorial, the spray had been
+dashed by the salt breezes, the only people who gazed upon the lovely
+prospect were, with the exception of an occasional traveller, the
+families of the toilers of the sea, and the rough-looking men
+themselves. These hardy fellows, accustomed to a wild life, and whose
+days from childhood had been spent on or by the sea, loved the deep
+with as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106">106</a></span> much tenderness as a strong man feels towards a weak and
+wayward maiden, for they were familiar with its every mood, with the
+soothing wash of its wavelets when the sunbeams kissed the foam-bells,
+as they died on the white sands, and with the noise of the thunder of
+the breakers chased up the beach by the roaring gales.</p>
+
+<p>One evening a number of these men were seated in the cosy kitchen of
+the John-o'-Gaunt, listening to 'Owd England' as he narrated some of
+his strange experiences.</p>
+
+<p>'I moind,' said he, 'when I was nobbut a bit of a lad, Tum Grisdale
+bein' dreawnt; an' now as we 're tawkin' abeaut th' dangers o' th'
+sonds, yo'll mebbi hearken to th' tale. Poor Tum was th' best cockler
+i' Hest Bank, an' as ust to th' sands as a choilt is to th' face o'
+its mother; but for o that he wir dreawnt on 'em after o. I can co to
+moind yet&mdash;for young as I wor I're owd enough to think a bit when owt
+quare happent, an' th' seet o' th' deead bodies th' next ebb wir wi'
+me day an' neet fur lung afterwart&mdash;th' day when Tum an' his missis
+an' th' two lasses seet eawt o' seein' some relations o' th' missis's
+soide, as livt i' th' Furness<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107">107</a></span> country yon, th' owd mon an' th'
+dowters i' th' shandray, an' th' missis ridin' upo' th' cowt at th'
+soide. It wir a gradely bonnie afternoon, at th' back eend o' th'
+year. Th' day as they should o come back wir varra misty; an' abaat
+th' edge o' dark, just as here an' theear a leet wir beginnin' to
+twinkle i' th' windows, an' th' stars to peep aat, th' noise ov a cart
+comin' crunchin' o'er th' beach tuk mi feyther to th' door. "Why,
+yon's owd Tum Grisdale cart back ageean," he cried eaut. An' he dartit
+eawt o' th' dur, an' me after, as fast as I could. A creawd o' folk
+an' childer soon gathert reawnt, wonderin' what wir up; but neawt
+could bi larnt, for though th' lasses as seet eawt, as breet an'
+bonnie as posies o gillivers, wir theear i' th' shandray, they wir too
+freetent an' dazed, an' too wake wi' th' weet an' cowd, to say a
+whord. One thing, however, wir sewer enough, th' owd folk hedn't come
+back; an' altho' th' toide then hed covert th' track, an' wir shinin'
+i' th' moonleet, wheear th' mist could bi sin through, just as if it
+hedn't mony a Hest Bank mon's life to answer for, a lot o' young
+cocklers wir for startin' off theear an' then i' search on 'em. Th'
+owder an' mooar expayrienced,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108">108</a></span> heawiver, wodn't hear on it. Two lives
+i' one day wir quoite enough, they said; so they o waitit till th'
+ebb, an' then startit, me, loile as i'wir, among th' rest, for mi
+feyther wir too tekken up i' talking to send me whoam. It wir a sad
+outin', but it wir loively compaart wi' t' comin' back, for when we
+tornt toart Hest Bank, th' strungest o' th' lads carriet owd Tum an'
+his missis, for we hedn't getten far o'er th' sonds afooar we feawnt
+th' poor owd lass, an' not far off, i' th' deep channel, owd Tum
+hissel. They wir buriet i' th' owd church-yart, an' one o' th' lasses
+wir laid aside on 'em, th' freet hevin' bin too mich for her. When t'
+tother sister recovert a bit, an' could bide to talk abaat it, hoo
+said as they geet lost i' th' mist, an' th' owd mon left 'em i' th'
+shandray while he walkt a bit to foind th' channel. When he didn't
+come back they geet freetent, but t' owd woman wodn't stir fray th'
+spot till they heeart t' watters comin', an' then they went a bit fur,
+but could find nowt o' Tum, though they thowt neaw an' then they could
+heear him sheautin' to 'em. Th' sheawts, heawiver, geet fainter an'
+fainter, an' at last stopt o' together. Givin' thersels up for lost,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109">109</a></span>
+they left th' reins to th' mare an' t' cowt. Th' poor owd lass wir
+quoite d&#x0101;z't at th' absence o' Tum; an' as th' cowt wir swimmin'
+across th' channel hoo lost her howd, an' wir carriet away. Th' lasses
+knew neawt no mooar, th' wench olus said, till th' fowk run deawn to
+th' cart uppo' th' beach. Hor as wir left, hoo wir olus quare at
+after; an' hoo uset to walk alung t' bay at o heawers just at th'
+toide toime, yo' known, an' it wir pitiful t' heear her when th' woint
+wir a bit sriller nor usal, sayin' as hoo could heear her owd
+fayther's voice as he sheauted when hee'd wander't fray 'em an'
+couldn't foint way to 'em through t' mist. Hoo afterwarts went to
+sarvice at Lankister, to a place as th' paason fun' for her, i' th'
+idea o' th' change dooin' her good; but it worn't lung afooar th' news
+come as hoo wir i' th' 'sylum, an' I heeart as hoo deed theear some
+toime after.'</p>
+
+<p>No sooner had the grey-headed old fisherman finished his story than
+one of the auditors said, 'Hoo met weel fancy hoo heeart th' voice ov
+her fayther, for monnie a neet, an' monnie another hev I heeart that
+cry mysen. Yo' may stare, bud theear's mooar saands to be heeard i'
+th' bay nor some o' yo' lads known<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110">110</a></span> on; an' I'm no choilt to be
+freetent o' bein' i' th' dark. Why nobbut th' neet afooar last I
+heeart a peal o' bells ringin' under th' watter.'<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a12">12</a></span> There was a
+moment of surprise, for Roger Heathcote was not a likely man to be a
+victim to his own fancies, or to be influenced by the superstitions
+which clung to his fellows. Like the rest of his companions, he had
+spent the greatest portion of his life away from land; and either
+because he possessed keener powers of observation than they, or loved
+nature more, and therefore watched her more closely, he had gradually
+added to his store of knowledge, until he had become the recognised
+authority on all matters connected with the dangerous calling by which
+the men-folk of the little colony earned daily bread for their
+families. As he was by no means addicted to yarns, looks of wonder
+came over the faces of the listeners; and in deference to the wishes
+of Old England, who pressed him as to what he had heard and seen,
+Roger narrated the adventure embodied in this story.<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a13">13</a></span></p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>The fisherman's little boat was dancing lightly on the rippling waters
+of the bay.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111">111</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The night was perfectly calm, the moon shining faintly through a thin
+mist which rested on the face of the deep. It was nearly midnight, and
+Roger was thinking of making for home, when he heard the sweet sounds
+of a peal of bells. Not without astonishment, he endeavoured to
+ascertain from what quarter the noises came, and, strange and unlikely
+as it seemed, it appeared that the chimes rang up through the water,
+upon which, with dreamy motion, his boat was gliding. Bending over the
+side of the skiff he again heard with singular distinctness the music
+of the bells pealing in weird beauty. For some time he remained in
+this attitude, intently listening to the magical music, and when he
+arose, the mist had cleared off, and the moon was throwing her lovely
+light upon the waters, and over the distant fells. Instead, however,
+of beholding a coast with every inch of which he was acquainted, Roger
+gazed upon a district of which he knew nothing. There were mountains,
+but they were not those whose rugged outlines were so vividly
+impressed upon his memory. There was a beach, but it was not the one
+where his little cottage stood with its light in the window<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112">112</a></span> and its
+background of wind-bent trees. The estuary into which his boat was
+gliding was not that of the Kent, with its ash and oak-covered crags.
+Everything seemed unreal, even the streaming moonlight having an
+unusual whiteness, and Roger rapidly hoisted his little sails, but
+they only flapped idly against the mast, as the boat, in obedience to
+an invisible and unknown agency, drifted along the mysterious looking
+river. As the fisherman gazed in helpless wonder, gradually the water
+narrowed, and in a short time a cove was gained, the boat grating upon
+the gleaming sand. Roger at once jumped upon the bank, and no sooner
+had he done so, than a number of little figures clad in green ran
+towards him from beneath a clump of trees, the foremost of them
+singing&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">To the home of elf and fay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To the land of nodding flowers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To the land of Ever Day<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Where all things own the Fay Queen's powers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">Mortal come away!<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>and the remainder dancing in circles on the grass, and joining in the
+refrain&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6">To the home of elf and fay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i6">To the land of Ever Day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i10">Mortal come away!<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113">113</a></span></div></div>
+
+<p>The song finished, the little fellow who had taken the solo, tripped
+daintily to Roger, and, with a mock bow, grasped one of the fingers of
+the fisherman's hand, and stepped away as though anxious to lead him
+from the water.</p>
+
+<p>Assuming that he had come upon a colony of Greenies, and feeling
+assured that such tiny beings could not injure him, even if anxious to
+do so, Roger walked on with his conductor, the band dancing in a
+progressing circle in front of them, until a wood was reached, when
+the dancers broke up the ring and advanced in single file between the
+trees. The light grew more and more dim, and when the cavalcade
+reached the entrance to a cavern, Roger could hardly discern the
+Greenies. Clinging to the little hand of his guide, however, the
+undaunted fisherman entered the cave, and groped his way down a flight
+of mossy steps. Suddenly he found himself in a beautiful glade, in
+which hundreds of little figures closely resembling his escort, and
+wearing dainty red caps, were disporting themselves and singing&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Moonbeams kissing odorous bowers<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Light our home amid the flowers;<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114">114</a></span></div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">While our beauteous King and Queen<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Watch us dance on rings of green.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Rings of green, rings of green,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Dance, dance, dance, on rings of green.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>No sooner had the fisherman entered the glade than the whole party
+crowded round him, but as they did so a strain of enchanting music was
+heard, and the little beings hopped away again, and whirled round in a
+fantastic waltz. Roger himself was so powerfully influenced by the
+melody that he flung himself into the midst of the dancers, who
+welcomed him with musical cries, and he capered about until sheer
+fatigue forced him to sink to rest upon a flowery bank. Here, after
+watching for a while the graceful gambols of the Greenies, and soothed
+by the weird music, the sensuous odours, and the dreamy light, he fell
+into a deep sleep. When he awoke from his slumber the fairies had
+vanished, and the fisherman felt very hungry. No sooner, however, had
+he wished for something to eat than on the ground before him there
+appeared a goodly array of delicacies, of which, without more ado,
+Roger partook.</p>
+
+<p>'I'm in luck's way here,' he said to himself; 'It's not every day of
+the week I see a full table like this. I should like to know where I<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115">115</a></span>
+am, though.' As the wish passed his lips he saw before him a beautiful
+little being, who said in a sweet low voice&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">In the land of nodding flowers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where all things own the Fay Queen's powers!<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The fisherman no sooner saw the exquisite face of the dainty Greenie
+than he forgot altogether the rosy-cheeked wife at home, and fell
+hopelessly over head and ears in love with the sweet vision. Gazing
+into her beautiful eyes he blurted out, 'I don't care where it is if
+you are there.' With a smile the queen, for it was indeed the queen,
+seated herself at his side. 'Dost thou, Mortal, bow to my power?'
+asked she. 'Ay, indeed, do I to the forgetfulness of everything but
+thy bonny face,' answered Roger; upon which the queen burst into a
+hearty fit of laughter, so musical, however, that for the life of him
+the fisherman could not feel angry with her. 'If the king were to hear
+thee talking thus thou wouldst pay dearly for thy presumption,' said
+the Fay, as she rose and tripped away to the shadow of the trees. The
+enraptured Roger endeavoured to overtake her before she reached the
+oaks, but without success; and though he wandered through the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116">116</a></span> wood
+for hours, he did not again catch a glimpse of her. He gained an
+appetite by the freak however, and no sooner had he wished for food
+again than dishes of rich viands appeared before him.</p>
+
+<p>'I wish I could get money at this rate,' said the fisherman, and the
+words had hardly left his lips when piles of gold ranged themselves
+within his reach. Roger rapidly filled his pockets with the glittering
+coins, and even took the shoes from off his feet, and filled them
+also, and then slung them round his neck by the strings.</p>
+
+<p>'Now, if I could but get to my boat,' thought he, 'my fortune would be
+made,' and accordingly he began to make his way in what he believed to
+be the direction of the river. He had not proceeded very far, however,
+when he emerged upon an open space surrounded by tall foxgloves,<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a14">14</a></span>
+in all the beautiful bells of which dreamy-eyed little beings were
+swinging lazily as the quiet zephyr rocked their perfumed dwellings.
+Some of the Greenies were quite baby fairies not so large as Roger's
+hand, but none of them seemed alarmed at the presence of a mortal. A
+score of larger ones were hard<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117">117</a></span> at work upon the sward stitching
+together moth and butterfly wings for a cloak for their Queen, who,
+seated upon a mushroom, was smiling approvingly as she witnessed the
+industry of her subjects. Roger felt a sudden pang as he observed her,
+for although he was glad once more to behold the marvellous beauty of
+her face, he was jealous of a dainty dwarf in a burnished suit of
+beetles' wing cases and with a fantastic peaked cap in which a red
+feather was coquettishly stuck, for this personage he suspected was
+the King, and forgetting his desire to escape with the gold, and at
+once yielding to his feelings, he flung himself on the luxuriant grass
+near the little being whose weird loveliness had thrown so strange a
+glamour over him, and without any thought or fear as to the
+consequences he at once bent himself and kissed one of her dainty
+sandalled feet. No sooner had he performed this rash act of devotion
+than numberless blows fell upon him from all sides, but he was unable
+to see any of the beings by whom he was struck. Instinctively the
+fisherman flung his huge fists about wildly, but without hitting any
+of the invisible Greenies, whose tantalising blows continued<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118">118</a></span> to fall
+upon him. At length, however, wearying of the fruitless contest, he
+roared out, 'I wish I were safe in my boat in the bay,' and almost
+instantaneously he found himself in the little skiff, which was
+stranded high and dry upon the Poulton beach. The shoes which he had
+so recently filled with glittering pieces of gold and suspended round
+his neck were again upon his feet, his pockets were as empty as they
+were when he had put out to sea some hours before, and somewhat
+dubious and very disgusted, in a few minutes he had crept off to bed.</p>
+
+<hr class="tb" />
+
+<p>When the strange tale of the fisherman's wonderful adventure with the
+hill folk was ended, the unbelievers did not hesitate to insinuate
+that Roger had not been out in the bay at all, and that the land of
+nodding flowers might be found by anyone who stayed as long and
+chalked up as large a score at the John-o'-Gaunt as he had done on the
+night when he heard the submerged bells and had so unusual a catch.</p>
+
+<p>Others, however, being less sceptical, many were the little boats that
+afterwards went on<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119">119</a></span> unsuccessful voyages in search of the mysterious
+estuary and the colony of Greenies, and a year afterwards, when a
+sudden gale swept over the restless face of the deep and cast Roger's
+boat bottom upwards upon the sandy beach, many believed that the
+fisherman had again found the land of Ever Day.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120">120</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_SANDS_OF_COCKER">THE SANDS OF COCKER.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i126.jpg" width="97" height="100" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">T</span>HE</b> quiet little village of Cockerham is hardly the spot one would
+expect to find selected as a place of residence by a gentleman of
+decidedly fast habits, and to whom a latch-key is indispensable; yet
+once upon a time the Evil One himself, it is said, took up his
+quarters in the go-to-bed-early hamlet. It hardly need be stated that
+the undesirable resident caused no small stir in the hitherto drowsy
+little place. Night after night he prowled about with clanking chains,
+and shed an unpleasantly-suggestive odour of sulphur, that rose to the
+diamond-paned windows and crept through cracks and chinks to the nasal
+organs of the horrified villagers, who had been disturbed by the
+ringing of the Satanic bracelets, and, fearing to sleep whilst there
+was so<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121">121</a></span> strong a smell of brimstone about, lay awake, thinking of the
+sins they had committed, or intended to commit if they escaped 'Old
+Skrat.'</p>
+
+<p>Before the wandering perfumer had thus, above a score of times,
+gratuitously fumigated the villagers, a number of the more daring
+ones, whose courage rose when they found that after all they were not
+flown away with, resolved that they would have a meeting, at which the
+unjustifiable conduct of a certain individual should be discussed, and
+means be devised of ridding the village of his odoriferous presence.
+In accordance with this determination, a gathering was announced for
+noonday, for the promoters of the movement did not dare to assemble
+after sunset to discuss such a subject. After a few cursory remarks
+from the chairman, and a long and desultory discussion as to the best
+way of getting rid of the self-appointed night watchman, it was
+settled that the schoolmaster, as the most learned man in the place,
+should be the deputation, and have all the honour and profit of an
+interview with the nocturnal rambler.</p>
+
+<p>Strange as it may appear, the pedagogue<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122">122</a></span> was nothing loath to accept
+the office, for if there was one thing more than another for which he
+had longed, it was an opportunity of immortalising himself; the daily
+round of life in the village certainly affording but few chances of
+winning deathless fame. He therefore at once agreed to take all the
+risks if he might also have all the glory. Not that he purposed to go
+to the Devil; no, the mountain should come to Mahomet; the Evil One
+should have the trouble of coming to him.</p>
+
+<p>His determination was loudly applauded by the assembled villagers,
+each of whom congratulated himself upon an escape from the dangerous,
+if noble, task of ridding the place of an intolerable nuisance.</p>
+
+<p>There was no time to be lost, and a night or two afterwards, no sooner
+had the clock struck twelve, than the schoolmaster, who held a branch
+of ash and a bunch of vervain in his hand, chalked the conventional
+circle<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a15">15</a></span> upon the floor of his dwelling, stepped within it, and in
+a trembling voice began to repeat the Lord's Prayer backwards. When he
+had muttered about half of the spell thunder began to roar in the
+distance; rain splashed on the roof, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123">123</a></span> ran in streams from the
+eaves; a gust of wind moaned round the house, rattling the loose
+leaded panes, shaking the doors, and scattering the embers upon the
+hearth. At the same time the solitary light, which had begun to burn a
+pale and ghastly blue, was suddenly extinguished, as though by an
+invisible hand; but the terrified schoolmaster was not long left in
+darkness, for a vivid flash of lightning illuminated the little
+chamber, and almost blinded the would-be necromancer, who tried to
+gabble a prayer in the orthodox manner, but his tongue refused to
+perform its office, and clave to the roof of his mouth.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment, could he have made his escape, he would willingly have
+given to the first comer all the glory he had panted to achieve; but
+even had he dared to leave the magic circle, there was not time to do
+so, for almost immediately there was a second blast of wind, before
+which the trees bent like blades of grass, a second flash lighted up
+the room, a terrible crash of thunder shook the house to its
+foundations, and, as a number of evil birds, uttering doleful cries,
+dashed themselves through the window, the door burst open, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124">124</a></span> the
+schoolmaster felt that he was no longer alone.</p>
+
+<p>An instantaneous silence, dreadful by reason of the contrast,
+followed, and the moon peeped out between the driving clouds and threw
+its light into the chamber. The birds perched themselves upon the
+window sill and ceased to cry, and with fiery-looking eyes peered into
+the room, and suddenly the trembling amateur saw the face of the dark
+gentleman whose presence only a few minutes before he had so eagerly
+desired.</p>
+
+<p>Overpowered by the sight, his knees refused to bear him up, what
+little hair had not been removed from his head by the stupidity of the
+rising generation stood on end, and with a miserable groan he sank
+upon his hands and knees, but, fortunately for himself, within the
+magic ring, round which the Evil One was running rapidly. How long
+this gratuitous gymnastic entertainment continued he knew not, for he
+was not in a state of mind to judge of the duration of time, but it
+seemed an age to the unwilling observer, who, afraid of having the
+Devil behind him, and yielding to a mysterious mesmeric influence,
+endeavoured, by<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125">125</a></span> crawling round backward, to keep the enemy's face in
+front. At length, however, the saltatory fiend asked in a shrill and
+unpleasant voice,</p>
+
+<p>'Rash fool, what wantest thou with me? Couldst thou not wait until in
+the ultimate and proper course of things we had met?'</p>
+
+<p>Terrified beyond measure not only at the nature of the pertinent
+question, but also by the insinuation and the piercing and horrible
+tone in which it was spoken, the tenant of the circle knew not what
+reply to make, and merely stammered and stuttered&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Good Old Nick,<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a16">16</a></span> go away for ever, and'&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Take thee with me,' interrupted the Satanic one quickly. 'Even so;
+such is my intent.'</p>
+
+<p>Upon this the poor wretch cried aloud in terror, and again the Evil
+One began to hop round and round and round the ring, evidently in the
+hope of catching a part of the body of the occupant projecting over
+the chalk mark.</p>
+
+<p>'Is there no escape,' plaintively asked the victim in his extremity,
+'is there no escape?'</p>
+
+<p>Upon this Old Nick suddenly stopped his gambols and quietly said,</p>
+
+<p>'Three chances of escape shalt thou have,<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a17">17</a></span> but if thou failest,
+then there is no appeal.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126">126</a></span> Set me three tasks, and if I cannot perform
+any one of them, then art thou free.'</p>
+
+<p>There was a glimmer of hope in this, and the shivering necromancer
+brightened up a little, actually rising from his ignoble position and
+once more standing erect, as he gleefully said,</p>
+
+<p>'I agree.'</p>
+
+<p>'Ah, ah,' said the Evil One <i>sotto voce</i>.</p>
+
+<p>'Count the raindrops on the hedgerows from here to Ellel,' cried the
+schoolmaster.</p>
+
+<p>'Thirteen,' immediately answered Satan, 'the wind I raised when I came
+shook all the others off.'</p>
+
+<p>'One chance gone,' said the wizard, whose knees again began to
+manifest signs of weakness.</p>
+
+<p>There was a short pause, the schoolmaster evidently taking time to
+consider, for, after all, life, even in a place like Cockerham, was
+sweet in comparison with what might be expected in the society of the
+odoriferous one whose mirth was so decidedly ill-timed and unmusical.
+The silence was not of long continuance, however, for the Evil One
+began to fear that a detestably early cock might crow, and thereby
+rescue the trembling one from his clutches. In his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127">127</a></span> impatience,
+therefore, he knocked upon the floor with his cloven hoof and whistled
+loudly, after the manner followed now-a-days by dirty little patrons
+of the drama, perched high in the gallery of a twopenny theatre, and
+again danced rapidly round the ring in what the tenant deemed
+unnecessary proximity to the chalk mark.</p>
+
+<p>'Count the ears of corn in old Tithepig's field,' suddenly cried the
+schoolmaster.</p>
+
+<p>'Three millions and twenty-six,' at once answered Satan.</p>
+
+<p>'I have no way of checking it,' moaned the pedagogue.</p>
+
+<p>'Ah, ah,' bellowed the fiend, who now, instead of hopping round the
+ring, capered in high glee about the chamber.</p>
+
+<p>'Ho, ho!' laughed the schoolmaster, 'I have it! Here it is! Ho, ho!
+Twist a rope of sand<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a18">18</a></span> and wash it in the river Cocker without
+losing a grain.'</p>
+
+<p>The Evil One stepped out of the house, to the great relief of its
+occupier, who at once felt that the atmosphere was purer; but in a few
+minutes he returned with the required rope of sand.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128">128</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Come along,' said he, 'and see it washed.' And he swung it over his
+shoulder, and stepped into the lane.</p>
+
+<p>In the excitement of the moment the wizard had almost involuntarily
+stepped out of the magic circle, when suddenly he bethought himself of
+the danger, and drily said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Thank you; I'll wait here. By the light of the moon I can see you
+wash it.'</p>
+
+<p>The baffled fiend, without more ado, stepped across to the rippling
+streamlet, and dipped the rope into the water, but when he drew it out
+he gave utterance to a shout of rage and disappointment, for half of
+it had been washed away.</p>
+
+<p>'Hurrah!' shouted the schoolmaster. 'Cockerham against the world!' And
+as in his joy he jumped out of the ring, the Evil One, instead of
+seizing him, in one stride crossed Pilling Moss and Broadfleet, and
+vanished, and from that night to the present day Cockerham has been
+quite free from Satanic visits.<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a19">19</a></span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129">129</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_SILVER_TOKEN">THE SILVER TOKEN.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i135.jpg" width="94" height="98" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">B</span>ELIEVE</b> i' Fairies? 'Ay, that I do, though I never clapped mi een on
+'em,' said old Nancy to a group of gaping listeners seated by the
+farm-house kitchen fire.</p>
+
+<p>'That's quare,' remarked a sceptical young woman in the ingle nook.</p>
+
+<p>Old Nancy gave her a scornful glance, and then went on:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I never see'd a fairy as I know on, but I used to sarve one on 'em
+wi' milk. Yo' mon stare; but th' way on it wir this. I wir at mi wark
+i' th' dairy one day, abaat th' edge o' dark, when o ov a suddent a
+loile jug clapt itsel daan afooar mi on th' stooan. Yo' may be sure I
+wir fair capt, for wheear it come fray, or heaw it geet theear, I
+couldn't mek aat. I stoopt mi daan to pike howd on it, and it met a'
+bin<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130">130</a></span> silver, it wir that breet and bonnie; but it wir as leet as a
+feather, an' I couldn't tell what it wir med on. I wir baan to set it
+o' th' stooan again, when I seed at a new sixpenny bit hed bin put
+theer wi' it, so it struck mi as milk wir wantit. Accordingly I fillt
+th' jug and seet it daan again, an' welly as soon as I'd clapt it
+wheear I fun' it, it up an' whipt eaut o' seet. Well I thowt it
+meeterly quare, bud I'd heeard mi feyther say, monny an' monny a
+toime, as thuse as geet fairy brass gin 'em should tell nubry, so I
+kept it to mysen, though I'd hard wark, yo' may be sure. Every neet
+th' jug an' th' sixpenny bit clapt theirsens o' th' stooan as reglar
+as milkin' toime, an' I fillt th' jug and piked up th' brass. At last,
+ha'ever, I thowt happen no lumber could come on it if I towd nobbut
+one, so when Roger theear and me settlet a beein wed I towd him what
+sooart ov a nest-egg I'd getten so quarely. Mi feyther wir reet,
+ha'ever, for th' next neet nayther jug nor th' sixpenny bit showed
+thersels, an' fray that day to this I've sin no mooar on 'em, an' it's
+ower forty year sin I piked up th' last brass.<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a3">3</a></span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131">131</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_HEADLESS_WOMAN">THE HEADLESS WOMAN.</a></h2>
+
+<p class="h3">(BEAWT HEEOD.)</p>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i137.jpg" width="95" height="99" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">I</span>T</b> was near upon twelve when Gabriel Fisher bade good night to the
+assembled roysterers who were singing and shouting in the kitchen of
+the White Bull, at Longridge, and, turning his back to the cosy
+hearth, upon which a huge log was burning, emerged into the moonlit
+road. With his dog Trotty close at his heels, he struck out manfully
+towards Tootal Height and Thornley, for he had a long and lonely walk
+before him. It was a clear and frosty night, but occasionally a light
+cloud sailed across the heavens, and obscured the moon. Rapidly
+passing between the two rows of cottages which constituted the little
+straggling village, his footsteps ringing upon the frozen ground,
+Gabriel made for the fells, and, as he hurried along, he hummed to
+himself a line of the last song he had heard,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132">132</a></span> and now and again burst
+into a fit of laughter as he remembered a humorous story told by 'Owd
+Shuffler.' When he reached the highest point of the road whence he
+could see the beautiful Chipping valley, a soft breeze was whispering
+among the fir-trees, with that faint rustle suggestive of the gentle
+fall of waves upon a beach. Here and there a little white farm-house
+or labourer's cottage was gleaming in the moonlight, but the inmates
+had been asleep for hours. There was an air of loneliness and mystery
+over everything; and though Gabriel would have scorned to admit that
+he was afraid of anything living or dead, before he had passed out of
+the shadow of the weird-looking melodious branches he found himself
+wishing for other company than that of his dog. He suddenly
+remembered, too, with no access of pleasurable feelings, that on the
+previous day he had seen a solitary magpie, and all sorts of stories
+of 'Banister Dolls' and 'Jinny Greenteeths,' with which his youthful
+soul had been carefully harrowed, came across his mind. He tried to
+laugh at these recollections, but the attempt was by no means a
+successful one, and he gave expression to a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133">133</a></span> hearty wish that Kemple
+End were not quite so far off.</p>
+
+<p>Just then a sharp shrill cry fell upon his ear, and then another and
+another. 'Th' Gabriel Ratchets,'<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a33">33</a></span> he shouted, 'what's abaat to
+happen?' The cries were not repeated, however, and he went on, but
+when he reached the peak of the fell, and gazed before him into the
+deep shade of a plantation, he could not repress a slight shudder, for
+he fancied that he saw something moving at a distance. He paused for a
+moment or two to assure himself, and then went on again slowly, his
+heart throbbing violently as he lessened the space between the moving
+object and himself. The dog, as though equally influenced by similar
+feelings, crept behind him in a suspicious and terrified manner.</p>
+
+<p>'It's nobbut a woman,' said he, somewhat re-assured; 'it's a woman
+sewerly. Mebbee someburry's badly, an' hoo's gooin' for help. Come on,
+Trotty, mon.'</p>
+
+<p>So saying, he quickened his pace, the dog hanging behind, until he
+approached almost close to the figure, when, with a wild howl, away
+Trotty fled down the hillside. As Gabriel<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134">134</a></span> drew still closer, he saw
+that the object wore a long light cloak and hood, and a large
+coal-scuttle bonnet; and surprised to find that the sound of his
+footsteps did not cause her to turn to see who was following, he
+called out:</p>
+
+<p>'It's a bonny neet, Missis; bud yo're aat rayther late, arn't yo'?'</p>
+
+<p>'It is very fine,' answered the woman, in a voice which Gabriel
+thought was the sweetest he had ever heard, but without turning
+towards him as she spoke.</p>
+
+<p>'Summat wrong at your fowk's, happen?' he asked, anxious to prolong
+the talk. There was no reply to this, though, and Gabriel knew not
+what to think, for the silent dame, although she declined to reply,
+continued to keep pace with him, and to walk at his side. Was it some
+one who had no business to be out at that hour, and who did not wish
+to be recognised, he wondered? But if so, thought he, why did she
+continue to march in a line with him? The voice, certainly, was that
+of one of a different rank to his own; but, on the other hand, he
+reflected, if she were one of the gentle folks, why the cottager's
+cloak and bonnet, and the huge market basket? These conjectures
+crossed his brain in rapid succession; and influenced by the last
+one&mdash;that as to his companion's clothing&mdash;he determined again to
+address her.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136">136</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/i142.jpg" width="400" height="611" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137">137</a></span>'Yo' met a left yir tung at whoam, Missis,' said he, 'sin' yo' connot
+answer a civil mon.'</p>
+
+<p>This taunt, however, like the direct query, failed to provoke an
+answer, although the startled Gabriel could have sworn that a
+smothered laugh came from beneath the white cloth which covered the
+contents of the basket 'Let me carry yer baskit,' said he; 'it's heavy
+for yo'.'</p>
+
+<p>Without a word, the woman held it out to him; but, as Gabriel grasped
+the handle, a voice, which sounded as though the mouth of the speaker
+were close to his hand, slowly said:</p>
+
+<p>'You're very kind, I'm sure;' and then there came from the same
+quarter a silvery peal of laughter.</p>
+
+<p>'What i' th' warld can it be?' said Gabriel, as without more ado he
+let the basket fall to the ground. He did not remain in ignorance very
+long, however, for, as the white cloth slipped off, a human head, with
+fixed eyes, rolled out 'Th' yedless boggart!' cried he, as the figure<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138">138</a></span>
+turned to pick up the head, and revealed to him an empty bonnet, and
+away he fled down the hill, fear lending him speed. He had not run
+far, however, before he heard a clatter of feet on the hard road
+behind him; but Gabriel was one of the fleetest lads about the fells,
+and the sight he had just seen was calculated to bring out all his
+powers; so the sound did not grow louder, but just as he turned into
+the old Chaighley Road, the head, thrown by the boggart, came whizzing
+past in unpleasant proximity to his own, and went rolling along in
+front of him. For a second or two Gabriel hesitated what to do, the
+headless woman behind and the equally terrible head in front; but it
+did not take long to decide, and he went forward with renewed vigour,
+thinking to pass the dreadful thing rapidly rolling along in advance
+of him. No sooner was he near to it, however, than, with an impish
+laugh, which rang in his ears for days afterwards, the ghastly object
+diverged from its course and rolled in his way. With a sudden and
+instinctive bound, he leaped over it; and as he did so the head jumped
+from the ground and snapped at his feet, the teeth striking together
+with a dreadfully<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139">139</a></span> suggestive clash. Gabriel was too quick for it,
+however, but for some distance he heard with horrible distinctness the
+clattering of the woman's feet and the banging of the head upon the
+road behind him.</p>
+
+<p>Gradually the sounds grew fainter as he speeded along, and at length,
+after he had crossed a little stream of water which trickled across
+the lane from a fern-covered spring in the fell side, the sounds
+ceased altogether. The runner, however, did not pause to take breath
+until he had reached his home and had crept beneath the blankets, the
+trembling Trotty, whom he found crouched in terror at the door of the
+cottage, skulking upstairs at his heels and taking refuge under the
+bed.</p>
+
+<p>'I olus said as tha'd be seein' a feeorin wi' thi stoppin' aat o'
+neets,' remarked his spouse after he had narrated his adventure; 'bud
+if it nobbut meks tha fain o' thi own haath-stooan I'se be some glad
+on it, for it's moor nor a woman wi' a heead on her shoothers hes bin
+able to do.'<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a20">20</a></span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140">140</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_RESCUE_OF_MOONBEAM">THE RESCUE OF MOONBEAM.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i146.jpg" width="93" height="100" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">F</span>ROM</b> one corner of Ribbleton Moor, the scene of Cromwell's victory
+over Langdale, there is as lovely a view as ever painter dreamed of.
+Far below the spectator the Ribble sweeps almost in a circle beneath
+the scars which, by the action of years of this washing, have been
+scooped out so as to form a large precipice, under which the waters
+flow, marking out in their course the great 'horse-shoe meadow,' with
+its fringe of shining sand. The peaceful valley through which the
+river, reflecting in its moving bosom the overhanging many-tinted
+woods and cliffs, meanders on its way to the sea, is bounded afar-off
+by noble hills, the whale-like Pendle towering in majestic grandeur
+above the rest. From the moor a rough and stony lane winds down the
+wooded hillside, past a beautiful<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141">141</a></span> old half-timbered house down to the
+dusty highway and the bridge over the Belisamia of the Romans. The
+beautiful river, with its tremulous earth and sky pictures, the
+meadows and corn-fields whence come now and again the laugh and song
+of the red-faced mowers and reapers, the clearly-defined roads and
+white farm-houses, the spires of distant hillside churches, and the
+rich green of the waving woods, make up an enchanting picture. When
+night comes, however, and the lovely stars peep out, and the crescent
+moon casts her glamour over the dreaming earth, and half-hidden in a
+dimly transparent veil of shimmering mist the Ribble glides as gently
+as though it had paused to listen to its own melody, a still deeper
+loveliness falls upon the dreaming landscape, over which the very
+genius of beauty seems to hover silently with outspread wings.</p>
+
+<p>At such a time, when moon and stars threw a faint and mysterious light
+over the sleeping woods, and not a sound, save the cry of a restless
+bird, broke the silence, a young countryman made his way rapidly
+across the horse-shoe meadow to the bend of the stream under Red
+Scar.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142">142</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It was not to admire the beautiful scenery, however, that Reuben
+Oswaldwistle was crossing the dew-besprinkled field, over which faint
+odours of hay were wafted by a gentle breeze. The sturdy young fellow
+was too practical to yield entirely to such an influence, and although
+he was by no means unlearned in the traditions and stories of the
+neighbourhood, long familiarity had taught him to look upon the
+landscape with the eye of a farmer. He was simply about to practise
+the gentle art in the hope of beguiling a few stray 'snigs' for dinner
+on the following day. Still the scene in all its glamour of moonlight
+and peace was not powerless even upon his rude nature; so, after
+setting his lines, he took out a little black pipe, filled it from a
+capacious moleskin pouch, and after lighting the fragrant weed, gave
+way to a train of disconnected fancies&mdash;past, present, and future
+mingling strangely in his reverie.</p>
+
+<p>What with the rustling of the leaves overhead, the musical rippling of
+the river as it danced over the stones on its way to the sea, and the
+soothing effect of the tobacco, Reuben was beginning to doze, when
+suddenly he fancied he heard the sound of a light footstep in the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143">143</a></span>
+grass behind him. Turning round somewhat drowsily, he beheld a little
+figure of about a span high, clad in green, and wearing a dainty red
+cap, struggling along under the load of a flat-topped mushroom much
+larger than itself. After having more than once fallen with its load,
+the dwarf cried out in a sweet, faint voice, 'Dewdrop, Dewdrop!' and
+no sooner had the sound died into silence than another little fellow,
+who evidently answered to the pretty name, came tripping from the
+shadow of a hawthorn.</p>
+
+<p>'What's the matter, Moonbeam?' said the new-comer, cheerily.</p>
+
+<p>'This table is too much for me,' answered the labourer whom Reuben had
+seen first, 'and if the king's dinner is not ready to a minute he will
+have me stung. Help me with this load, there's a good sort.'</p>
+
+<p>Without any more ado Dewdrop came forward and the tiny pair put their
+shoulders beneath the load and marched off. They did not bear it very
+far, however, for the astonished Reuben simply stretched himself at
+full length on the grass and again was quite close to them.</p>
+
+<p>The two dots stopped when they came to a hole, into which they at once
+stuck the stem of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144">144</a></span> the mushroom. Moonbeam then took from his pocket a
+butterfly's wing, which served him as a handkerchief, and wiping his
+forehead as he spoke, he said:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I'm about tired of this. Every night the table is stolen, Dewdrop,
+and I've to find a new one for each dinner, and no thanks for it
+either. What has come of late over the king I am at a loss to imagine,
+for he has done nothing but have me stung. I shall emigrate if this
+continues, that's all.'</p>
+
+<p>'So would I,' answered the other little fellow, 'if Blue-eyes would go
+also, but I can't leave her.'</p>
+
+<p>After a hearty peal of laughter, during which he had held his shaking
+sides, Moonbeam shouted&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Why, my dear innocent, if you went she would be after you in a trice.
+I remember that when I was as guileless as you I fell in love with
+Ravenhair, the daughter of old Pigear. She treated me just as
+Blue-eyes uses you, but when, in a fit of jealous rage, I began to pay
+delicate attentions to Jasmine, the tables soon were turned, and one
+evening, as I was dozing in a flower cup, I heard some one call<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145">145</a></span> me,
+and peeping out of my chamber, I saw the once scornful Ravenhair
+weeping at the foot of the stalk. No sooner did she catch a glimpse of
+the tip of my nightcap than in piteous tones, that went straight to my
+heart, she cried out, "Dearest Moony, let me come up and"&mdash;. But,
+hush! wasn't that the dinner gong?'</p>
+
+<p>The pair listened intently as over the grass came the solemn hum of a
+bee.</p>
+
+<p>'I'm in for it,' said the fairy whose tale had been so suddenly
+interrupted; 'there's the first bell, and I haven't got even the table
+set.'</p>
+
+<p>The pair darted off, and tripping away into the shade of the hawthorn,
+they were for a moment or two lost to the sight of the wondering
+Reuben, but they soon returned, each bearing a dish and cover made of
+a little pearl shell. These they placed upon the mushroom, and away
+they scudded, again to return in a minute with another load. In an
+incredibly short space of time the table was set out with a goodly
+array of tiny dishes and plates.</p>
+
+<p>Once more the hum of the bee was heard booming over the grass, and
+from the shadow of the tree there emerged a dainty being whose attire
+glittered in the moonlight, and whose<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146">146</a></span> step was like that of a proud
+monarch. He was clad in a many-hued coat made of wings of dragon
+flies, a green vest cut from a downy mouse-ear leaf, and with buttons
+of buttercup buds; little knee-breeches of fine-spun silk dyed in the
+juice of a whinberry, stockings of cobweb, and shoes of shining beetle
+case; his shirt, which was as white as falling snow, had been cut from
+convolvulus flowers ere they had opened to the light; and his hat, a
+gem of a thing fit only for a fairy, was of red poppy, with a waving
+white feather, and a band of fur from a caterpillar. He led by the
+hand another personage, equally daintily dressed, but of a higher
+order of loveliness, with a pale oval face, and dreamy-looking eyes,
+gleaming like the sea when the moon and stars are bending over its
+bosom, and the wind is whispering its sad secrets. Her hair was
+golden, and rippled almost to her exquisite feet, and over it she wore
+a blue cornflower wreath, with diamond dewdrops here and there amid
+the leaves. Her dress was of damask rose leaves looped up with
+myosotis.</p>
+
+<p>The grass hardly bent beneath her, so daintily did she trip along,
+just touching the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147">147</a></span> tips of the fingers of the hand the king extended
+to her. Following this royal pair came a group of gaily-clad
+attendants, and a band discoursing sweet sounds, the deep bass of bees
+harmonising happily with the barytone of a beetle and the crescendo
+chirp of a cricket.</p>
+
+<p>With a loud flourish from the musicians all took their places at the
+festive mushroom, and the banquet began. The dishes were sufficiently
+various to tempt even an anchorite to excess, for all the delicacies
+of the season were there. Ladybird soup, baked stickleback, roasted
+leg of nightingale, boiled shoulder of frog with cranberry sauce, wild
+strawberry tarts, and numerous kinds of fruits and juices, made up a
+dainty repast, of which king, queen, and courtiers partook heartily.
+The band, the members of which were perched in the swinging flowers of
+a foxglove close by, played lustily during the feast.</p>
+
+<p>'For once,' said the king, 'for once&mdash;and let the circumstance be
+remembered when the annals of our reign are written&mdash;a day hath passed
+without anything having annoyed our royal self, without anything
+unpleasant having happened in our royal presence, and without<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148">148</a></span>
+anything having disagreed with our royal stomach.'</p>
+
+<p>No sooner had these words passed the royal lips, however, than the
+queen gave a faint shriek, and cried out&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'My love, there is not a drop of my chickweed wine on the table.'</p>
+
+<p>A dark cloud passed over the monarch's face as he angrily shouted&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Methinks we were congratulating our royal self somewhat too early in
+the day. Bring hither the rascally Moonbeam and bid the executioners
+attend for orders.'</p>
+
+<p>One of the courtiers, with an alacrity marvellously resembling that of
+beings of a larger growth, rushed out, and speedily returned with the
+unfortunate dependant, who at once flung himself on the ground before
+the angry king and begged to be forgiven. What result might have
+followed these prayers is uncertain, for, unfortunately, the
+suppliant's tears fell upon one of the monarch's shoes and dimmed its
+lustre.</p>
+
+<p>'Bring hither the executioners and their instruments,' roared the
+infuriated king, and almost immediately a couple of sturdy little<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149">149</a></span>
+fellows appeared leading by a chain two large wasps.</p>
+
+<p>'Do your disreputable work!' shouted the monarch.</p>
+
+<p>The executioners seized Moonbeam, fastened him to a stake, and pressed
+a wasp against him. The insect instantly stung him, and the miserable
+little fellow howled with pain.</p>
+
+<p>'Take him away,' cried the queen; 'we don't want <i>whine</i> of that
+kind.'</p>
+
+<p>'What a wretched pun!' involuntarily said Moonbeam, as they were
+dragging him from the royal presence.</p>
+
+<p>'Bring the villain back,' roared the King; 'bring him back, and sting
+him until he is less critical.'</p>
+
+<p>'If tha hez him stung ageeon,' interrupted the indignant Reuben, who
+in his excitement had gradually crept nearer to the royal table, 'I'll
+knock thi proud little heeod off, chuz who tha art.'</p>
+
+<p>Neither the king or the executioners, however, took the slightest
+notice of the warning, so, as the latter were once more forcing the
+unhappy Moonbeam against the other wasp, down came a huge fist upon
+the royal head.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150">150</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Theer,' said the fisherman, exultingly, 'I towd tha, didn't I, bud
+tha wouldn't tek wernin'. Tha 'rt on 't' penitent form bi this time, I
+daat.'</p>
+
+<p>Lifting up his hand, however, what was the surprise of the wondering
+Reuben to find only a little crushed grass under it. King, Queen,
+courtiers, Moonbeam, executioners, and wasps, all had vanished, and
+even the band, whose humming and droning he had heard so distinctly
+during the whole banquet, no longer broke the silence.</p>
+
+<p>'Well,' said the fisherman, 'that's a capper, in o mi born days. I see
+'em as plain as a pikestaff. Th' last day connot be far off, I'm
+sewer. Bud I'll hev th' tabble, at onny rate, beawt axin.' And, so
+saying, he took possession of the huge mushroom, and after hurriedly
+gathering up his lines, he wended his way across the meadow to his
+little cottage by the high road, and arrived there, he narrated to his
+drowsy wife the story of the banquet.</p>
+
+<p>'Drat th' fairies, an' thee, too, wi' thi gawmless tales,' said his
+sceptical helpmate, 'I wondered what hed getten tha. Tha's bin asleep
+for hours i' th' meadow istid a lookin' after th' fish. Tha never seed
+a fairy i' thi life.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151">151</a></span> Tha'rt nod hauve sharp enough, clivver as tha
+art i' owt as is awkurt.' There was a short pause after this sally,
+and then the sly Reuben drily answered&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Yoy, I 've sin a fairy monny an' monny a time. Olus when I used to
+come a cooartin' to thi moather's. Bud tha 'r nod mich like a fairy
+neaw, tha 'st autert terbly. Tha 'rt too thrivin' lookin'.'</p>
+
+<p>'Be off wi' thi fawseness,' said the pleased woman; 'tha 'd ollus a
+desayvin tung i' thi heead;' and then after a drowsy pause as she was
+dosing to sleep; 'but for o that I'll mek a soop o' good catsup out
+o' thi fairy tabble.'</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152">152</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_WHITE_DOBBIE">THE WHITE DOBBIE.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i158.jpg" width="95" height="96" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">M</span>ANY</b> years ago, long before the lovely Furness district was invaded by
+the genius of steam, the villagers along the coast from Bardsea to
+Rampside were haunted by a wandering being whose errand, the purpose
+of which could never be learned, used to bring him at night along the
+lonely roads and past the straggling cottages. This pilgrim was a
+wearied, emaciated-looking man, on whose worn and wan face the sorrows
+of life had left deep traces, and in whose feverish, hungry-looking
+eyes, mystery and terror seemed to lurk. Nobody knew the order of his
+coming or going, for he neither addressed anyone, nor replied if
+spoken to, but disregarded alike the 'good neet' of the tramp who knew
+him not, and the startled cry of the belated villager who came
+suddenly upon him<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153">153</a></span> at a turn of the road. Never stopping even for a
+minute to gaze through the panes whence streamed the ruddy glow of the
+wood fires, and to envy the dwellers in the cosy cottages, he kept on
+his way, as though his mission was one of life and death, and,
+therefore, would not brook delay.</p>
+
+<p>On wild wintry nights, however, when the salt wind whirled the foam
+across the bay, and dashed the blinding snow into heaps upon the
+window-sills and against the cottage doors, and darkness and storm
+spread their sombre wings over the coast, then was it certain that the
+mysterious being would be seen, for observation had taught the
+villagers and the dwellers in solitary houses along the lonely roads
+between the fishing hamlets that in storm and darkness the weird
+voyager was most likely to appear.</p>
+
+<p>At such times, when the sound of footsteps, muffled by the snow, was
+heard between the soughs and moans of the wailing wind, the women
+cried, 'Heaven save us; 'tis th' White Dobbie,' as, convulsively
+clutching their little ones closer to their broad bosoms, they crept
+nearer to the blazing log upon the hearth,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154">154</a></span> and gazed furtively and
+nervously at the little diamond-paned window, past which the restless
+wanderer was making his way, his companion running along a little way
+in advance, for not of the mysterious man alone were the honest people
+afraid. In front of him there invariably ran a ghastly-looking,
+scraggy white hare,<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a21">21</a></span> with bloodshot eyes. No sooner however did
+anyone look at this spectral animal than it fled to the wanderer, and
+jumping into his capacious pocket, was lost to sight.</p>
+
+<p>Verily of an unearthly stock was this white hare, for upon its
+approach and long before it neared a village, the chained dogs, by
+some strange instinct conscious of its coming, trembled in terror, and
+frantically endeavoured to snap their bonds; unfastened ones fled no
+man knew whither; and if one happened to be trotting alongside its
+belated master as he trudged homeward and chanced to meet the ghastly
+Dobbie with its blood-red eyes, with a scream of pain almost human in
+its keen intensity, away home scampered the terrified animal, madly
+dashing over hedge and ditch as though bewitched and fiend-chased.</p>
+
+<p>For many years the lonely wanderer had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155">155</a></span> traversed the roads, and for
+many years had the hare trotted in front of him; lads who were cradled
+upon their mother's knee when first they heard the awe-inspiring
+footfalls had grown up into hearty wide-chested men, and men who were
+ruddy fishers when the pilgrim first startled the dwellers in Furness
+had long passed away into the silent land; but none of them ever had
+known the wayfarer to utter a syllable. At length, however, the time
+came when the solemn silence was to be broken.</p>
+
+<p>One night when the breeze, tired of whispering its weird messages to
+the bare branches, and chasing the withered leaves along the lanes,
+had begun to moan a hushed prelude to the music of a storm, through
+the mist that had crept over the bay, and which obscured even the
+white-crested wavelets at the foot of the hill on which stood the
+sacred old church, there came at measured intervals the melancholy
+monotone of the Bardsea passing bell<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a9">9</a></span> for the dead.</p>
+
+<p>Dismally upon the ears of the dwellers in the straggling hamlet fell
+the announcement of the presence of death, and even the woman who had
+for years been bell-ringer and sexton,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156">156</a></span> felt a thrill of fear as she
+stood in the tower but dimly lighted by a candle in a horn lantern,
+and high above her head the message of warning rang out; for, although
+accustomed to the task, it was not often that her services were
+required at night. Now and again she gazed slowly round the chamber,
+upon the mouldering walls of which fantastic shadows danced, and she
+muttered broken fragments of prayers in a loud and terrified voice,
+for as the door had been closed in order that the feeble light in the
+lantern might not be extinguished by the gusts of wind, isolated as
+she was from the little world upon the hillside, she felt in an
+unwonted manner the utter loneliness of the place and its dread
+surroundings.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly she uttered a shrill shriek, for she heard a hissing whisper
+at her ear and felt an icy breath upon her cheek. She dared not turn
+round, for she saw that the door opening upon the churchyard remained
+closed as before, and that occasionally passing within the range of
+her fixed stare, a white hare with blood-red eyes gambolled round the
+belfry.</p>
+
+<p>'T' Dobbie!' sighed she, as the dim light began to flicker and the
+hare suddenly vanished.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157">157</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As she stood almost paralysed, again came the terrible whisper, and
+this time she heard the question&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Who for this time?'</p>
+
+<p>The horrified woman was unable to answer, and yet powerless to resist
+the strange fascination which forced her to follow the direction of
+the sound; and when the question was put a second time, in an agony of
+fear she gazed into the wild eyes of the being at her elbow, her
+parched tongue cleaving to her open mouth. From the pocket of the
+dread visitor the ghastly animal gazed at the ringer, who mechanically
+jerked the bell-rope, and the poor woman was fast losing her senses,
+when suddenly the door was burst open, and a couple of villagers, who
+had been alarmed by the irregular ringing, entered the tower. They at
+once started back as they saw the strange group&mdash;the wanderer with
+sad, inquiring look, and pallid face, the phantom hare with its
+firelit eyes, and the old ringer standing as though in a trance. No
+sooner, however, did one of the intruders gaze at the animal than it
+slipped out of sight down into the pocket of its companion and keeper,
+and the wanderer himself<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158">158</a></span> hastily glided between the astonished men,
+and out into the darkness of the graveyard.</p>
+
+<p>On many other gloomy nights afterwards the ringer was accosted in the
+same manner, but although the unnatural being and the spectral hare
+continued for some winters to pass from village to village and from
+graveyard to graveyard, a thick cloud of mystery always hung over and
+about them, and no one ever knew what terrible sin the never-resting
+man had been doomed to expiate by so lonely and lasting a pilgrimage.</p>
+
+<p>Whence he came and whither he went remained unknown; but long as he
+continued to patrol the coast the hollow sound of his hasty footsteps
+never lost its terror to the cottagers; and even after years had
+passed over without the usual visits, allusions to the weird pilgrim
+and his dread companion failed not to cause a shudder, for it was
+believed that the hare was the spirit of a basely-murdered friend, and
+that the restless voyager was the miserable assassin doomed to a
+wearisome, lifelong wandering.<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a22">22</a></span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159">159</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_LITTLE_MANS_GIFT">THE LITTLE MAN'S GIFT.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i165.jpg" width="95" height="96" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">M</span>ANY</b> are the wells in Lancashire that once were supposed to be the
+homes of good or evil spirits&mdash;of demons or of beneficent
+fairies&mdash;and, despite the injunctions of the Church against the
+customs of praying at and waking wells, down to a comparatively recent
+period they were resorted to by pilgrims of all grades who were in
+search of health. One such spring near Blackpool, known as the
+Fairies' Well, had its daily crowds of the ailing and the sorrowful,
+for its water was credited with virtues as wonderful as they were
+manifold, and from far and near people brought vessels to be filled
+with the miraculous fluid.</p>
+
+<p>One day at noon, a poor woman who had journeyed many a weary mile in
+order to obtain a supply of the water with which to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160">160</a></span> bathe the eyes of
+her child, whose sight was fast failing, and upon whom all the usual
+remedies had been tried without success, on rising from her knees at
+the well side, was surprised to find standing near her a handsome
+little man clad in green, who certainly was not in sight when she bent
+to fill her bottle. As she stood gazing at the dainty object, the
+visitor, without having previously asked her any questions, handed to
+her a beautiful box filled with ointment, and directed her to apply
+the salve to the eyes of her child, whose sight it would restore.
+Surprised beyond measure at the little man's knowledge of her family
+affairs, the woman mechanically accepted the gift, but when, after
+carefully placing the box in her pocket, she turned to thank the
+giver, he was no longer to be seen; and satisfied that she had had an
+interview with one of the beings after whom the well was named, she
+started on her journey to her distant home.</p>
+
+<p>The strangeness of the present, given as she trusted it was by a fairy
+who was conversant with the painful circumstances under which she had
+made her pilgrimage, caused her to hope that the ointment would prove
+efficacious<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161">161</a></span> in removing the disorder under which her child was
+labouring; but this vague feeling, based as it was upon the mysterious
+nature of the gift, was accompanied by a perfectly natural fear that,
+after all, the giver might have been one of those mischievous beings
+whose delight it was to wreak harm and wrong upon humanity.</p>
+
+<p>When she reached home and told the strange story to her wondering
+husband, the nervous pair decided that the ointment should not be used
+unless a further mark of fairy interest in the child's welfare were
+vouchsafed to them; but when a few days had passed, and the child
+continued to grow worse, the anxious mother, in the absence of her
+husband, determined to test the salve upon one of her own eyes. She
+did so, and after a few minutes of dreadful suspense, finding that
+evil results did not follow, and saying to herself that surely the
+fairy could not be desirous of harming her child, she anointed the
+little girl's eyes. She refrained, however, from making her helpmate
+acquainted with what she had done, until in the course of a few days
+the child's eyesight was so nearly restored that it was no longer<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162">162</a></span>
+necessary or possible to keep the matter from him. Great were the
+rejoicings of the worthy pair over their little one's recovery; but
+there was not for a very long time any opportunity afforded them of
+expressing their gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>Some years had passed,&mdash;and, as the girl had never had a relapse, the
+strange gift was almost forgotten,&mdash;when one day, in the market-place
+at Preston, the woman, who was haggling about the price of a load of
+potatoes, saw before her the identical little fellow in green attire
+from whom, long before, she had received the box of wonder-working
+ointment. Although he was busily engaged in a pursuit in which,
+perhaps, few gentlemen would care to be interrupted, that of stealing
+corn from an open sack, the thoughtless woman, regardless of
+etiquette, and yielding to the sudden impulse which prompted her to
+thank him, stepped forward, and, grasping the fairy's hand, gave
+utterance to her gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>To her surprise, however, the little fellow seemed very angry with
+her, and, instead of acknowledging her thanks, hastily asked if she
+could see him with both eyes, and if she had used the ointment
+intended for her child. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163">163</a></span> frightened woman at once said that she
+saw him with only one eye, and was entering into a long account of the
+circumstances under which, with maternal instinct, she had tested the
+value of the gift, when, without more ado, the irritated fairy struck
+her a violent blow and vanished, and from that time forward the poor
+woman, instead of being able to see better than her neighbours, was
+blind of one eye. The daughter, however, often saw the fairies, but,
+profiting by her mother's painful experience, she was wise enough to
+refrain from speaking to them either when they gathered by moonlight
+beneath the trees or in broad daylight broke the Eighth Commandment,
+utterly unconscious that they were observed by a mortal to whom had
+been given the wondrous gift of fairy vision.<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a23">23</a></span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164">164</a></span></p>
+
+<h2 id="SATANS_SUPPER">SATAN'S SUPPER.<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a24">24</a></span></h2>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">I.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ye Evil One giveth unto them a stayve.</div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The 'Old Lad' sat upon his throne,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Beneath a blasted oak,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And fiddled to the mandrake's groan,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The marsh-frog's lonely croak;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">II.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ye corpses dashe their wigges.</div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Whilst winds they hissed, and shrieked, and moaned<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">About the branches bare,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And all around the corpses groaned,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And shook their mould'ring hair;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">III.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ye hagges crowde to ye <i>levee</i>.</div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">As witches gathered one by one,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And knelt at Satan's feet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With faces some all worn and wan,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And some with features sweet,<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">IV.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ye power of Musicke.</div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The earth did ope and imps upsprang<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Of every shape and shade,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Who 'gan to dance as th' welkin rang<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With tunes the 'Old Lad' played;<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165">165</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">V.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ye poetrie of motion.</div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">At which the witches clapped their hands,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And laughed and screamed in glee;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or jumped about in whirling bands,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And hopped in revelry,<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">VI.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ye delicacies of ye season,</div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Till Satan ceased, when all did rest,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And swarmed unto the meat:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The flesh of infants from the breast,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The toes from dead men's feet,<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">VII.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ye ditto,</div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">With sand for salt, and brimstone cates,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With blood for old wine red;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">On glittering dish and golden plates<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The dainty food was spread.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">VIII.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ye coolinge drinkes.</div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">From heavy cups, with jewels rough,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The witches quenched their thirst;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Yet not before the ruddie stuff<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Had been by Satan cursed.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">IX.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ye barde telleth of an outcaste impe.</div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">But one lank fiend of skin and bone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">With hungry-looking eyne,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Gazed at the food with dreary moans,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And many a mournful whine;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">X.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Of hys unparalleled wickednesse;</div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">For Satan would not let him feed<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Upon the toothsome cheer,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">(He had not done all day a deed<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To cause a human tear);<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">XI.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Of hys gamboles and praieres,</div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And so he hopped from side to side,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To beg a bit of 'toke,'<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And, vagrant-like, his plea denied,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">He prayed that they might choke<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166">166</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">XII.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">And of hys revylyngs of goode menne.</div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Themselves with morsels rich and fat<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Or die upon the floor,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Like paupers (grieving much thereat<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The guardians of the poor).<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">XIII.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ye earlie byrde prepareth for ye 'Diet of Wormes.'</div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A cock then flapped his wings and crew,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Announcing coming light;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When, seizing on a jar of stew,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The snubbed imp took his flight.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">XIV.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote"><i>Les Adieux.</i></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And at the solemn sound of doom<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The witches flew away,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While Satan slunk off through the gloom,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Afraid of break of day;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">XV.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ye fruitlesse remorse of Beelzebubbe.</div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">And in the darkness drear he cried&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His voice a trifle gruff,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Those omelettes were nicely fried;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">I have not had enough!'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">XVI.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ye resulte of ye meetynge uponne ye</div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">A blight fell on the trembling flowers<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And on the quivering trees&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No buds there drink the passing showers,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Or leaves wave in the breeze;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">XVII.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Agryculture of ye dystricte.</div>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">For Satan's presence withered all<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The daisies and the grass,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And all things over which like pall<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">His sulphurous tail did pass.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167">167</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_EARTHENWARE_GOOSE">THE EARTHENWARE GOOSE.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i173.jpg" width="96" height="99" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">O</span>NCE</b> upon a time, which somewhat vague reference in this instance
+means long before it was considered a compliment by the fair dames of
+Lancashire to be termed witches, there lived in the Fylde country
+village of Singleton a toothless, hooknosed old woman, whose ill
+fortune it was to be credited with the friendship of the Evil One.
+Perhaps had the ancient dame been somewhat better looking she might
+have borne a better character. In those distant days to be poor was
+considered decidedly discreditable, but to be ugly also was to add
+insult to injury. The old woman knew only too well that she was poor
+and that she was plain, for the urchins and hobbledehoys of the
+locality lost no opportunity of reminding her of the facts, whenever,
+on frugal mind intent, she emerged from her<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168">168</a></span> rude cottage to expend a
+few pence upon articles of food.</p>
+
+<p>Ugliness and poverty, however, Mag Shelton persisted in considering
+misfortunes and not crimes, and when anybody to whom she was an
+eyesore, with gallantry peculiar to the time and place let us hope,
+wished that she would die and rid the village of her objectionable
+presence, the old woman took no notice of the polite expression. To
+die by particular desire was not in Mag's line. What harm could a
+toothless old woman do, that the world, by which term the half-dazed
+creature meant the village in which she had spent her life, should
+evince so much anxiety to be rid of her?&mdash;argued Mag. True, if
+toothless, she had her tongue; but without a visiting circle, and with
+no benefactors to belie, that valuable weapon in the service of spite
+might just as well have been in the mouth of an uneducated heathen.
+Harmless, however, as the old dame thought herself, the villagers held
+a different opinion, and the children, afraid of disturbing the witch,
+invariably removed their wooden-soled clogs before they ran past the
+hut in which Mag lived,<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a25">25</a></span> while the older folk, if they did not
+literally<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169">169</a></span> take the coverings from their feet as they passed the
+lonely dwelling, crept by on tiptoe, and glanced furtively at the
+unsuspecting inhabitant of the cottage, who, by the aid of the fitful
+firelight, might be seen dozing near the dying embers, and now and
+again stroking a suspiciously bright-eyed cat, nestled snugly upon her
+knee.</p>
+
+<p>The old woman's solitary way of life favoured the growth of
+superstitions regarding her, for the Singletonians were not without
+their share of that comforting vanity which impresses the provincial
+mind with a sense of the high importance of its society, parish, and
+creed; and they could not imagine anyone preferring to keep away from
+them and to sit alone, without at once believing, as a necessary
+consequence, that the unappreciative ones must have dealings with
+Satan.</p>
+
+<p>It soon was found convenient to attribute anything and everything of
+an unpleasant nature to the denizen of the lonely cottage, 'th' Owd
+Witch,' as she was termed. Was a cow or a child ailing? Mag had done
+it! Had the housewife omitted to mark with the sign of the cross the
+baking of dough left in the mug on<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170">170</a></span> the hearth, and the bread had
+turned out 'heavy,' Mag Shelton had taken advantage of the overworked
+woman's negligence! Was there but a poor field of wheat? 'Twas the
+fault of old Mag, swore the farmer. In short, whatever went wrong
+throughout the entire country-side was judged to be clearly traceable
+to the spite and malevolence of the toothless old woman and her
+suspicious-looking cat.</p>
+
+<p>This state of things might, however, have continued without any
+interruption, until Nature had interposed and released Mag from her
+attendance upon such a world, had it not begun to be noticed that
+almost every farmer in the neighbourhood was complaining of the
+mysterious disappearance of milk, not only from the dairies, but also
+from the udders of the cows grazing in the pastures. A bucolic genius
+immediately proclaimed that in this case, too, the culprit must be
+Mag, for had not she her familiars to feed, and what could be more
+agreeable to the palate of a parched fiend or perspiring imp, than a
+beaker of milk fresh from the cow and redolent of meadow-flowers? With
+such a gaping family to satisfy, what regard could the old lady retain
+for the Eighth Commandment?</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171">171</a></span></p>
+
+<p>This logic was deemed unanswerable, and a number of the farmers
+determined to conceal themselves one night about the witch's cottage,
+in the hope of something confirmatory turning up. It was late when
+they took their places, and they barely had settled themselves
+comfortably behind the hedgerow before a noise was heard, and the old
+woman emerged from the house,&mdash;the cat, and, of all things else in the
+world, a stately goose solemnly paddling behind her.</p>
+
+<p>The men in ambush remained silent until Mag and her attendants had
+passed out of sight and hearing, when one of them said, 'Keep still,
+chaps, till hoo comes back. Hoo's gone a milkin', I daat.' The
+watchers therefore kept perfectly quiet, and in a little while their
+patience was rewarded; for the old woman reappeared, walking slowly
+and unattended by her former companions. As she paused to unfasten the
+cottage door, the men pounced out of their hiding-place, seized her
+roughly, and at once tore off her cloak. To the surprise of the rude
+assailants, however, no sign of milkjugs could be observed; and, as
+they stood aghast, Mag cried, in a shrill and angry voice, 'Will ye
+never learn to respect grey hair, ye<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172">172</a></span> knaves?' 'We'll respect tha'
+into th' pit yon, mi lady,' immediately responded one of the roughest
+of the men. 'What hes ta done with th' milk to-neet?'</p>
+
+<p>In vain were the old woman's protestations,&mdash;that, driven from the
+roads and lanes in the daytime by the children and the hobbledehoys
+who persecuted her, she had of late taken her exercise by night; the
+judicial mind was made up, and rude hands were outstretched to drag
+her to the horsepond, when, fortunately for Mag, the appearance of the
+goose, waddling in a hurried and agitated manner, created a timely
+diversion in her favour.</p>
+
+<p>'I thowt it quare,' said one of the would-be executioners&mdash;'varra
+quare, that th' goose worn't somewheer abaat, for hoo an' it's as
+thick as Darby an' Jooan.'</p>
+
+<p>As though conscious that all was not well with its mistress, the
+ungainly and excited bird, stretching its neck towards the bystanders,
+and hissing loudly, placed itself by the old woman's side.</p>
+
+<p>'We want no hissin' heear,' said the leader of the band, as he lifted
+a heavy stick and struck the sibilant fowl a sharp rap on its head.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173">173</a></span></p>
+
+<p>No sooner had the sound of the blow fallen upon the ears of the
+assembled rustics than the goose vanished, not a solitary feather
+being left behind, and in its place there stood a large broken
+pitcher, from which milk, warm from the cow, was streaming. Here was
+proof to satisfy even the most credulous, and, as a consequence, in a
+moment the old woman was floundering in the pond, from which she
+barely escaped with her life. A few days afterwards, however, upon the
+interposition of the Vicar, she was permitted to leave the
+inhospitable village, and away she tramped in search of 'fresh woods
+and pastures new,' her cat and the revivified goose bearing her
+company.<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a26">26</a></span></p>
+
+<p>She had left the inhospitable place, when the landlord of the Blue Pig
+discovered that the jug in which the witch-watchers had conveyed their
+'allowance' to the place of ambush had not been returned. It was not
+again seen in its entirety, and the sarcastic host often vowed that it
+was here and there in the village in the shape of cherished fragments
+of the broken one into which the watchers declared that they had seen
+Mag's goose transformed.</p><hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174">174</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_PHANTOM_OF_THE_FELL">THE PHANTOM OF THE FELL.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i180.jpg" width="97" height="98" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">O</span>N</b> a beautiful night late in summer a solitary man, who was returning
+from some wedding festivities, was rapidly crossing Fair Snape. The
+moon was at the full, and threw her glamour upon the lovely fell, as a
+breeze sighed among the tall ferns which waved gently to and fro under
+the sweet invisible influence, and the only sounds which fell upon the
+wayfarer's ear were the almost inaudible rustling of the bracken, and
+the occasional faint bark of a distant watch-dog. Giles Roper,
+however, was not thinking of the beauty of the night, or of the
+scenery, but, naturally enough, was congratulating himself upon being
+ever so much nearer to the stocking of that farm without which he
+could not hope for the hand of the miller's rosy daughter. Thoughts of
+a chubby, good-hearted little woman like Liza<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175">175</a></span> were calculated to
+drive out all other and less pleasant ones; but Giles was rapidly
+approaching a part of the hillside said to be haunted. Many tales had
+he heard by the winter's fire of the doings of the nameless
+appearance, the narrators speaking in hushed voices, and the hearers
+instinctively drawing closer together on the old settle; and these
+narratives crowded into his recollection as he left the cheerful
+moonlight and stepped into the shade of the little clough. Before he
+had got very far down he was prepared to see or hear anything; but,
+making allowance for the fear which somehow or other had taken
+possession of him, he knew that there was something more than fancy in
+a melancholy wail which broke upon his ears as he reached a bend in
+the ravine. There was nothing however in the sad note of lamentation
+calculated to terrify, save the consciousness that such sweet music
+could not be that of a mortal. Instinctively Giles looked in the
+direction whence the sound had come, and in the dim light he saw the
+figure of a woman with a pallid face of singular and unearthly beauty,
+her hair falling behind her like a sheet of gold, and her eyes
+emitting a strange lustre, which, however,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176">176</a></span> was not sufficiently
+intense to conceal their beautiful azure hue. The bewildered spectator
+gazed in rapt worship, for though his limbs still trembled he no
+longer felt any fear, but rather a wild delirious longing to speak to,
+and to be addressed by, the beautiful being before him. He was
+sufficiently near to the appearance to be able to distinguish the
+features clearly, and when he saw a movement of the lips his heart
+throbbed violently under the expectation that he was about to receive
+a mysterious commission. He was, however, doomed to be disappointed,
+for the only sound emitted by the phantom was another low melodious
+cry, even more pathetic and mournful than that by which his attention
+had first been attracted to the lovely object. At the same time Giles
+saw that the figure was more distant than before, and that it was
+slowly gliding away, but beckoning to him, as though anxious that he
+should follow. The young man, spell-bound and fascinated by the
+enchanting eyes, which were beautiful enough to turn the head of one
+wiser than the raw country lad upon whom they were fixed, followed
+eagerly, but at the end of the clough, where the moonlight<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177">177</a></span> was
+brilliant, the figure vanished, leaving Giles, not with that feeling
+of relief said to follow the disappearance of a mysterious visitant,
+but, on the contrary, anxious to behold the vision again. He therefore
+turned and retraced his steps to the undulating summit of the fell,
+where the wind was sighing over the many-flowered heather, but there
+was nothing to be seen of the blue-eyed phantom, and only for the
+faint wash of the rustling ferns all would have been silent.</p>
+
+<p>Unwilling to leave the spot, although he was conscious that the task
+was a fruitless one, he continued to wander from one point to another,
+and it was not until daybreak that he finally gave up the search and
+descended the fell. Not caring to allude to his adventure and vain
+search upon the pike, Giles accounted for his lateness by asserting
+that he had remained until midnight at the distant farmhouse where the
+rejoicings had taken place, and had afterwards lost his way on the
+fells. With this excuse, however, his relatives were quite content,
+one sarcastic farm-servant drily remarking that after wedding
+festivities it was wonderful he had been able to find his way home at
+all.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178">178</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The extraordinary thoughtfulness which Giles evinced during the day
+was of too marked a nature to remain unobserved; but the old father
+attributed it merely to that natural dislike to settled labour which
+generally follows boisterous relaxation, and the mother thought it was
+due to a desire to be off again to see the chubby daughter of the
+miller. The old dame, therefore, was not surprised when her son
+announced his intention to leave home for a few hours, and she
+congratulated herself on her foresight and discernment, finishing her
+soliloquy by saying&mdash;'Well, hoo's a bonny wench as he's after; an',
+what's mooar, hoo's as good as hoo's pratty.'</p>
+
+<p>It was not, however, to the far-off dwelling of the miller that Giles
+was making his way.</p>
+
+<p>On the contrary, he was leisurely pacing in quite an opposite
+direction, his back turned to the old mill, and his eyes fixed upon
+the distant fells, which he did not care to reach until the gloaming
+had given way to moonlight. Not that he was afraid of being seen, the
+road he trod was too lonely for that; but he thought it was unlikely
+his watchings would be rewarded before the night had properly set in.
+If the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179">179</a></span> beautiful object was a spirit&mdash;and what else could it have
+been?&mdash;it would come at its own time, and who ever heard of spirits
+appearing before midnight? The young fellow, therefore, waited until
+the moon rose and bathed the hills in her golden flood, when he at
+once began to climb the fell, making his way up the ravine in which on
+the previous night he had heard the mysterious voice.</p>
+
+<p>It was some time from midnight, and he stopped to rest, taking his
+seat upon a moss-covered stone. Here he waited patiently; but he had
+begun to fear that his visit was to be a fruitless one, when once more
+he heard the peculiar mournful wail, and rapidly turning round, he saw
+that he was not alone. Again the weird eyes, in all their unearthly
+beauty, were fixed upon him, and the long white arms were extended as
+though to beckon him to draw nigh.</p>
+
+<p>Instinctively Giles rose in obedience to the pleading attitude of the
+fair vision; but as he approached the phantom it grew less and less
+distinct, and at length vanished. As on the previous night, the young
+fellow wandered about in the hope of again seeing the lovely<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180">180</a></span> being,
+and once more he was obliged to return to the farm unsuccessful.</p>
+
+<p>Possessed by a maddening and irresistible desire to gaze upon the
+wondrous face which had bewitched him, the approach of nightfall
+invariably found Giles on his way to the fell, and it can easily be
+imagined to what unpleasantness in his family circle this course of
+conduct gave rise. On the one hand the parents gave the rein to all
+sorts of vague suspicions as to the cause of the night rambles; and
+the lad's disinclination to give any explanations did not help the old
+people to think more kindly of him. The father of the girl whom he had
+asked in marriage also did not fail to expostulate with him, in the
+idea that he had fallen into evil ways, and that his pilgrimages were
+to a distant town; while the girl herself, loving him as she did with
+all the vigour of her simple and earnest nature, and uninfluenced by
+any foolish feeling of false shame, came to his parents' house in the
+hope of obtaining a promise of better things.</p>
+
+<p>Her pleadings and her womanly threats, however, were unavailing, the
+whilom lover in a shamefaced manner refusing to make any<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181">181</a></span> promise of
+different behaviour. The interview was a painful one; for the girl,
+feeling certain that her father's interpretation was correct, used all
+her powers to induce Giles to abandon his evil courses; but at length,
+finding that her prayers were ineffectual, she bitterly reproached him
+with his want of honesty.</p>
+
+<p>'It's no evil as I'm after, lass! Don't think that on mi,' said the
+young man, in an appealing tone; but the girl was not to be convinced
+by mere assertion.</p>
+
+<p>'It's no good as teks tha away o'er t' pike neet after neet,' said
+she, with a sudden access of grief, 'it'ull come by tha in some way or
+another, Giles.' And in tears she turned away from him.</p>
+
+<p>'Whisht, lass, whisht! If tha nobbut knew, O tha'd pity i'stid o'
+blaming mi.'</p>
+
+<p>The girl heeded not these words, but kept on her way. When she got to
+a turn in the road, however, she looked back mournfully, as though in
+doubt whether to return and cast herself upon his breast, and bid him
+trust in her; but pride overcame her, and she resisted the impulse.</p>
+
+<p>That night, as two of the miller's men were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182">182</a></span> poaching, they were
+startled by the unexpected sound of a human voice, and hastily hiding
+themselves beneath the tall ferns, they saw Giles emerge from the
+clough and run towards the place where they were concealed. He seemed
+to be half mad with excitement, and as he ran he was crying aloud some
+words they could not catch. When he drew nearer, however, they were
+able to hear more distinctly, and to their surprise they found that he
+was appealing to an invisible being to appear to him.</p>
+
+<p>For some time they remained in their place of concealment, Giles
+hovering about the spot; but when the young fellow ran to a distance,
+they emerged from their hiding-place and rapidly made their way to the
+mill. For obvious reasons, however, they agreed to keep silence as to
+what they had seen and heard.</p>
+
+<p>The day after this episode Giles was in a fever and delirious, raving
+continually about the bonny face and 'breet een' of the being he had
+seen in the ravine. His afflicted parents found in the wild utterances
+sad confirmation of their worst fears, and, half broken-hearted, they
+hovered sorrowfully about his bed. For<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183">183</a></span> weeks he battled with the
+disorder, and at nightfall frequently endeavoured to leave the house,
+and vainly struggled with the friends who prevented him, to whom he
+frantically cried that she of the blue eyes was calling him.</p>
+
+<p>A cloud fell over the hitherto happy household. Night and day the old
+people watched over their sick lad, each of them feeling that the task
+would have been a comparatively easy one had not the patient's
+delirious ravings revealed to them so terrible a background to the
+round of their primitive and innocent daily life. Not that they loved
+their child any less because of the revelations he had unconsciously
+made to them, but they brooded and fretted over his supposed
+wickedness, and bowed their heads in grief and shame as they
+unwillingly heard his impassioned cries.</p>
+
+<p>By-and-by the story of these ravings got noised about, and the
+miller's daughter, who hitherto had been suffering bravely, broke down
+altogether when she knew that she was an object of pity to the
+gossips. It fortunately happened, however, that the miller's men who
+had seen Giles at the pike got into conversation with their master
+about the matter, and it struck one of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184">184</a></span> them that the woman about whom
+Giles was supposed to be raving, and of whom tales of all sorts were
+being circulated, was a feeorin of some kind that the young fellow had
+seen on the lonely fell. No sooner was this idea arrived at than off
+they started to see the distressed parents, the miller's daughter
+hastening with them. They found no difficulty in gaining credence for
+their narrative, and with a burst of thankfulness the old people felt
+that the gulf which had yawned between them and their eldest born was
+for ever closed; while, as for the girl, her transports of joy were
+almost painful in their intensity. So great a weight was lifted from
+all hearts that the illness of the patient was for the time almost
+forgotten. Giles, however, still remained in a very critical
+condition, but he soon had an additional nurse, who, despite the
+watchings and the toil of which she relieved the old people, was
+rapidly becoming more and more like the ruddy-faced damsel to whom the
+young fellow had plighted his troth, for she could listen to and
+disregard the ravings of her lover and look forward to the time when
+happiness should again smile upon them.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185">185</a></span></p>
+
+<p>A few weeks passed. The violence of the disorder abated, and the
+patient recovered so far as to be able to bear removal to a large
+chair by the kitchen fire. As he sat quietly dreaming the short autumn
+days away, without any allusions to the beauty about whom he had so
+constantly raved during his delirium, the old people and the miller's
+daughter began to congratulate themselves that the dream-madness had
+passed away with the worst phase of the illness. The girl, however,
+although she did not utter any complaint, suffered deeply from the
+coolness with which Giles treated her. Not that he was ungrateful,
+for, on the contrary, it was impossible to do anything for him,
+however slight the service might be, without a thankful
+acknowledgment; but there was a visible constraint in his manner which
+could not escape the keen sight of love. Fearing to distress him by
+any remonstrances, the patient girl refrained from referring to the
+past or showing that she was observant of any change in his behaviour
+towards her, but she brooded over her grief when she was alone. The
+young fellow knew that the poor girl was suffering, but for the life
+of him he could not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186">186</a></span> assume that which he did not feel. Much as he had
+loved her before the night of his adventure on the pike, from the
+moment when he had first seen the face of the mysterious being his
+affection for her had faded away, consumed by the intense longing
+which filled his soul night and day whenever he thought of the eyes
+illumined by a fire that was not human, and of the features and hair
+so exquisitely beautiful in the faint moonlight. Calm and quiet as he
+looked, seated propped with cushions in the old chair by the fire, he
+was inwardly fretting against the weakness that kept him from the
+fells, and his longing soul came into his eyes as he gazed through the
+little diamond-paned window, and saw the pike, in all the beauty of
+many-tinted autumn, kissed by the setting sun as the blushing day sank
+into the swarthy arms of night.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly winter came, bringing snow and storm, and as though influenced
+by a feeling that even Nature had interposed her barriers between him
+and the lovely being, one afternoon, as the mists crept slowly over
+the white landscape, and hid in their shimmering folds the distant
+fells where he had first seen the sweet face so<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187">187</a></span> seldom absent from
+his feverish dreams, he could not resist the desire which seized him
+to visit once more the haunted ravine. The various members of the
+little household were away from the house engaged in their labours
+about the farm, and taking advantage of this, Giles fled from the
+dwelling, and made his way through the dim light to the hills. It was
+not long, however, before his absence was discovered, but some time
+elapsed before the men-folk could be gathered, and the shades of night
+had fallen before the anxious pursuers reached the foot of the pike.</p>
+
+<p>The thick mist had enveloped everything, and as the lanterns, choked
+as they were by the damp, threw but a fitful light, it was with the
+utmost difficulty that the men found the footmarks of the wanderer in
+the snow up the fell side. The searchers were led by the father of
+Giles, who spoke not, but glanced at the track as though in dread of
+discovering that which he had come to find. Suddenly the old man gave
+a startled cry, for he had followed the marks to the edge of a little
+cliff, over which he had almost fallen in his eagerness. It was
+forthwith determined to follow<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188">188</a></span> the ravine to its commencement, and
+although nothing was said by any of the party, each man felt certain
+that the missing young fellow would be found at the bottom. It did not
+take long to reach the entrance, and with careful steps the old man
+led the way over the boulders. He had not gone far before the light
+from his lantern fell upon the upturned face of his son, whose body
+lay across the course of a little frozen stream. The features were set
+in the sleep of death, for Giles had fallen from the level above, the
+creeping mists having obscured the gorge where he first saw the lovely
+phantom, in search of which he had met an untimely end.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189">189</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="ALLHALLOWS_NIGHT">ALLHALLOW'S NIGHT.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i195.jpg" width="96" height="96" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">T</span>O</b> many a beautiful landscape the majestic Pendle adds a nameless
+charm, and the traveller who gazes upon it from any of the points
+whence a view of the whalelike mass is to be obtained, would hardly
+dream that the moss and fern-covered hill, smiling through the dim
+haze, once was the headquarters of witchcraft and devilry. Readers of
+the quaint and sad trials of the witchmania period, and of Harrison
+Ainsworth's celebrated novel based thereon, will, however, remember
+what dread scenes were said to have transpired in the dim light of its
+cloughs and upon its wild sides, when Chattox, Mouldheels, and the
+other poor wretches whose 'devilish practices and hellish means,' as
+they were termed in the old indictments, made the neighbourhood of the
+mountain so unsafe a locality.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190">190</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In a lonely little house some distance from the foot of Pendle, there
+dwelt a farmer and his family, together with a labourer whom he
+employed. Entirely illiterate, and living in a wild and weird
+district, with but few houses nearer than a mile away, the household
+believed firmly in all the dreadful boggart, witch, and feeorin
+stories current in the district. For a long time, however, the farmer
+had not any personal experience of the power of either witch or
+boggart; but at length his turn came. After a tempestuous night, when
+the windows and doors rattled in their frames, and the wind, dashing
+the big rain drops against the little diamond-shaped panes, moaned and
+shrieked round the lonely dwelling, three of the beasts were found
+dead in the shippon. A few days afterwards two of the children
+sickened, and when 'th' edge o' dark' was creeping up the hill-side
+one of them died. As though this trouble was not enough, the crops
+were blighted. With reluctance the farmer saw in these things proof
+that he had in some unknown manner incurred the displeasure of the
+invisible powers, and that the horse-shoe over his door, the branches
+of ash over the entrance<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191">191</a></span> to the shippon, and the hag stones hung up
+at the head of his own and of the children's bed, had lost their power
+of protection.</p>
+
+<p>The family council, at which the unprotected condition of the house
+was discussed, was of the saddest kind, for even the rough labourer
+missed the prattle of the little one whose untimely end had cast a
+shadow over the dwelling, and he thoroughly sympathised with his
+master in his losses; while, as for the farmer and his wife, dread of
+what the future might have in store for them mingled with their
+sorrow, and added to the heaviness of their hearts.</p>
+
+<p>'Isaac, yo' may as weel tek' th' wiggin<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a27">27</a></span> an' th' horse shoes
+deawn, for onny use they seem to be on. We'en nowt to keep th' feorin'
+off fra' us, an' I deawt we'es come off bud badly till November,' said
+the farmer, as he knocked the ashes from his pipe.</p>
+
+<p>'An' why nobbut till November, Ralph,' asked the wife in a terrified
+voice, as she gazed anxiously towards the little window through which
+Pendle could be dimly seen looming against the evening sky.</p>
+
+<p>'Because on O'Hallow neet, mi lass, I meean to leet th' witches<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a28">28</a></span>
+on Pendle.'</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192">192</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Heaven save us!' cried the woman. 'Tha'll be lost as sewer as th'
+whorld.'</p>
+
+<p>There was a short silence, and then old Isaac spoke&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'If th' mestur goes, Isik guz too. Wis be company, at onny rate.'</p>
+
+<p>The farmer gratefully accepted this offer of fellowship, and the
+appeals of his wife, who implored him to abandon the notion, were of
+no avail. Others had lighted the witches, and thereby secured a
+twelvemonth's immunity from harm, and why should not he go and do
+likewise? Ruin was staring him in the face if things did not improve,
+thought he, and his determination to 'leet' his unseen enemies grew
+stronger and stronger.</p>
+
+<p>At length the last day of October came, bringing with it huge clouds
+and a misty rain, which quite obscured the weird hill; but at
+nightfall the wind rose, the rain ceased, the stars began to appear,
+and the huge outline of Pendle became visible.</p>
+
+<p>When the day's work was over, the farmer and Isaac sat in the kitchen,
+waiting for the hour at which they were to start for the haunted
+mountain, and the dread and lonesome<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193">193</a></span> building where the witches from
+all parts gathered in mysterious and infernal conclave. Neither of the
+men looked forward to the excursion with pleasurable feelings, for, as
+the emotion caused by the losses had somewhat subsided, terror of the
+beings who were supposed to assemble in the Malkin Tower resumed its
+sway; but soon after the old clock had chimed ten they rose from the
+settle and began their preparations for the lighting. Each man grasped
+a branch of mountain ash, to which several sprigs of bay were tied as
+a double protection against thunder and lightning, and any stray
+fiends that might happen to be lurking about, and each carried in the
+other hand an unlighted candle.</p>
+
+<p>As they passed from the house the tearful goodwife cried a blessing
+upon them, and a massive old bulldog crept from a corner of the yard
+and took its place at their heels.</p>
+
+<p>The three stepped along bravely, and before long they had crossed the
+brook and reached the foot of Pendle. Rapidly making their way to a
+well-known ravine they paused to light the candles. This operation,
+performed by means of a flint and steel and a box of tinder,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194">194</a></span> occupied
+some time; and while they were so engaged clouds obscured the moon, a
+few heavy drops of rain fell, the wind ceased to whisper, and an
+ominous silence reigned, and the dog, as though terrified, crept
+closer to its master and uttered a low whine.</p>
+
+<p>'We's hev' a storm, I daat, Isik,' said the farmer.</p>
+
+<p>'Ise think mysen weel off an' win nowt else bud a storm,' drily
+replied the old man, as, lighted candle in hand, he began to climb the
+hill-side, his master and the dog following closely behind.</p>
+
+<p>When they had almost reached the top of the ravine a flash of
+lightning suddenly pierced the darkness, and a peal of thunder seemed
+to shake the earth beneath them; while a weird and unearthly shriek of
+laughter rang in their ears as a black figure flew slowly past them,
+almost brushing against their faces in its flight. The dog immediately
+turned and fled, howling terribly as it ran down the hill-side; but
+the men went on, each one carefully shading his light with the hand in
+which the branch of ash was grasped. The road gradually became
+rougher, and occasionally Isaac stumbled over a stone,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195">195</a></span> and almost
+fell, the farmer frantically shouting to him to be careful of his
+candle, but without any serious mishap the pair managed to get within
+sight of the tower.</p>
+
+<p>Evidently some infernal revelry was going on, for light streamed from
+the window-openings, and above the crash of the thunder came shrieks
+of discordant laughter. Every now and again a dark figure floated over
+their heads and whirled in at one of the windows, and the noise became
+louder, by the addition of another shrill voice.</p>
+
+<p>'It mon be drawin' nee midneet,' said the farmer. 'If we con but pass
+th' hour wis be reet for a twelvemonth. Let's mek for whoam neaw.'</p>
+
+<p>Both men readily turned their backs to the building, but no sooner had
+they done so than a Satanic face, with gleaming eyes, was visible for
+a moment, and instantaneously both lights were extinguished.</p>
+
+<p>'God bless us!' immediately cried both men.</p>
+
+<p>Almost before the words had left their lips the tower was plunged in
+total darkness, the shrieks of unholy laughter were suddenly stilled,
+and sounds were heard as of the rapid<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196">196</a></span> flight of the hags and their
+familiars, for the ejaculations had broken up the gathering.</p>
+
+<p>Terrified beyond measure at the extinction of their lights, but still
+clinging tenaciously to the branches, which apparently had proved so
+ineffectual to preserve them against the power of the witches, the men
+hurried away. They had not proceeded far in the direction in which
+they supposed the farm lay, when, with a cry, the farmer, who was a
+little in advance of his aged companion, fell and vanished. He had
+slipped down the cleft, on the brink of which Isaac stood, tremblingly
+endeavouring to pierce the darkness below.</p>
+
+<p>Not a sound came up to tell the old man that his master had escaped
+with his life; and, as no response came to his shouts, at length he
+turned away, feeling sure that he was masterless, and hoping to be
+able to reach the farm, and obtain assistance. After wandering about
+for some time, however, half-blinded by the lightning, and terrified
+beyond measure at the result of their mutual boldness, Isaac crept
+under a large stone, to wait for the dawn. Influenced by the cold and
+by fatigue, the old man fell asleep; but no sooner had the first faint
+rays of coming<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197">197</a></span> day kissed the hill-summit, than he was aroused by the
+old bulldog licking his face, and as he gazed around in sleepy
+astonishment some men appeared. The farmer's wife, terrified by the
+arrival of the howling dog, and the non-arrival of the 'leeters,' had
+made her way to a distant farm-house and alarmed the inmates, and a
+party of sturdy fellows had started off to find the missing men.
+Isaac's story was soon told; and when the searchers reached the gorge
+the farmer was found nursing a broken leg.</p>
+
+<p>Great were the rejoicings of the goodwife when the cavalcade reached
+the farm, for, bad as matters were, she had expected even a worse
+ending; and afterwards, when unwonted prosperity had blessed the
+household, she used to say, drily, 'Yo' met ha' kept th' candles in to
+leet yo' whoam, for it mon ha' bin after midneet when <i>he</i> blew 'em
+aat,' a joke which invariably caused the farmer and old Isaac to smile
+grimly.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198">198</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_CHRISTMAS-EVE_VIGIL">THE CHRISTMAS-EVE VIGIL.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i204.jpg" width="93" height="93" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">M</span>ANY</b> years have passed since the living of Walton-le-Dale was held by
+a gentleman of singularly-reserved and studious habits, who, from noon
+till night, pored over dusty black-letter folios. Although he was by
+no means forgetful of the few duties which pertained to his sacred
+office, and never failed to attend to the wants of those of his
+parishioners who were in trouble and had need of kind words of
+sympathy and advice, or even of assistance of a more substantial
+nature, the length of time he devoted to his mysterious-looking
+volumes, and a habit he had of talking to himself, as, late at night,
+with head bent down, he passed along the village street, and vanished
+into the darkness of a lonely lane, gave rise to cruel rumours that he
+was a professor of the black art; and it was even<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199">199</a></span> whispered that his
+night walks were pilgrimages to unholy scenes of Satanic revelry.
+These suspicions deepened almost into certainty when the old people
+who had charge of his house informed the gossips that the contents of
+a large package, since the arrival of which the women in the village
+had been unable to sleep for curiosity, were strange-looking bottles,
+of a weird shape, with awful signs and figures upon them; and that,
+during the evening, after the carrier had brought them, noises were
+heard in the clergyman's room, and the house was filled with
+sulphurous smoke. Passing from one gossip to another, the story did
+not fail to receive additions as usual, until when it reached the last
+house in the straggling village the narrator told how the student had
+raised the Evil One, who, after filling the house with brimstone,
+vanished in a ball of fire, not, however, without first having
+imprinted the mark of his claws upon the study table.</p>
+
+<p>Had the unconscious clergyman lived more in the everyday world around
+him, and less in that of black-letter books, he would not have failed
+to perceive the averted looks with which his parishioners acknowledged
+his greetings, or,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200">200</a></span> what would have pained him even more deeply, the
+frightened manner in which the children either fled at his approach,
+if they were playing in the lanes, or crept close to their parents
+when he entered the dwellings of the cottagers. Ignorant alike of the
+absurd rumours, and unobservant of the change which had come over his
+flock, or at least acting as though unaware of them, the clergyman
+continued to perform the duties of his sacred office, and to fly from
+them to his beloved volumes and experiments, growing more and more
+reserved in his habits, and visibly paling under his close
+application.</p>
+
+<p>After matters had gone on in this way for some time, the villagers
+were surprised to see a friendship spring up and ripen between their
+pastor and an old resident in the village, of almost equally strange
+habits. There was, however, in reality but little to wonder at in
+this, for the similarity between the pursuits and tastes of the two
+students was sufficiently great to bridge over the gulf of
+widely-different social positions.</p>
+
+<p>Abraham, or 'Owd Abrum,' as he was generally named, was a herb doctor,
+whose knowledge of out-of-the-way plants which possessed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201">201</a></span> mysterious
+medicinal virtues, and of still more wonderful charms and spells, was
+the theme of conversation by every farmhouse fireside for miles round.
+At that day, and in that locality, the possession of a few books
+sufficed to make a man a wonder to his neighbours; and Abraham had a
+little shelf full of volumes upon his favourite subjects of botany and
+astrology.</p>
+
+<p>The old man lived by himself in a little cottage, some distance along
+a lane leading from the village across the meadows; and, despite the
+absence of female supervision, the place always was as clean and
+bright as a new pin. Had he needed any assistance in his household
+duties, Abraham would not have asked in vain for it, for he was feared
+as well as respected. If he was able to charm away evil and sickness,
+could he not also bring sickness and evil? So reasoned the simple
+villagers; and those who were not, even unconsciously, influenced by
+the guileless everyday life of the old man, were impressed by the idea
+that he had the power to cast trouble upon them if they failed to
+maintain an outward show of reverence.</p>
+
+<p>However early the villagers might be astir,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202">202</a></span> as they passed along the
+lanes on their way to their labour in the fields, they were certain to
+find 'Owd Abrum' searching by the hedgerows or in the plantations for
+herbs, to be gathered with the dew upon them; and at night the belated
+cottager, returning from a distant farm, was equally certain of
+finding Abraham gazing at the heavens, 'finding things aat abaat
+fowk,' as the superstitious country people said and believed.</p>
+
+<p>Addicted to such nocturnal studies, it was not likely that the old
+herb doctor and the pale student would remain unknown to each other.
+The acquaintance however, owing to the reserved habits of both, began
+in a somewhat singular manner. Returning from a long and late walk
+about midnight, the minister was still some distance from his abode,
+when he heard a clear voice say: 'Now is the time, if I can find any:
+Jupiter is angular, the moon's applied to him, and his aspect is
+good.'</p>
+
+<p>The night was somewhat cloudy&mdash;the stars being visible only at
+intervals&mdash;and it was not until the clergyman had advanced a little
+way that he was able to perceive the person who had spoken. He saw
+that it was the old<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203">203</a></span> herbalist, and immediately accosted him. An
+animated conversation followed, Abraham expatiating on the virtues of
+the plants he had been gathering under the dominion of their
+respective planets, and astonishing the pale student by the extent of
+his information. In his turn, the old man was delighted to find in the
+clergyman a fellow-enthusiast in the forbidden ways of science; and as
+the student was no less charmed to discover in the 'yarb doctor' a
+scholar who could sympathise with him and understand his yearnings
+after the invisible, late as was the hour, the pair adjourned to
+Abraham's cottage. The visitor did not emerge until the labourers were
+going to their toil, the time having been spent in conversation upon
+the powers exercised by the planets upon plants and men, the old man
+growing eloquent as to the wonderful virtue of the Bay Tree, which, he
+said, could resist all the evil Saturn could do to the human body, and
+in the neighbourhood of which neither wizard nor devil, thunder or
+lightning, could hurt man; of Moonwort, with the leaves of which locks
+might be opened, and the shoes be removed from horses' feet; of
+Celandine, with which, if a young swallow<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204">204</a></span> loseth an eye, the parent
+birds will renew it; of Hound's Tongue, a leaf of which laid under the
+foot will save the bearer from the attacks of dogs; of Bugloss, the
+leaf of which maketh man poison-proof; of Sweet Basil, from which
+(quoting Miraldus) venomous beasts spring&mdash;the man who smelleth it
+having a scorpion bred in his brain; and of a score of other herbs
+under the dominion of the Moon and Cancer, and of the cures wrought by
+them through antipathy to Saturn.</p>
+
+<p>From that time the pair became intimate friends, the clergyman
+yielding, with all the ardour of youth, to the attraction which drew
+him towards the learned old man; and Abraham gradually growing to love
+the pale-faced student, whose thirst after knowledge was as intense as
+his own. Seldom a day passed on which one of them might not have been
+observed on his way to the abode of the other; and often at night the
+pair walked together, their earnest voices disturbing the slumbering
+echoes, as at unholy hours they passed up the hill, and through the
+old churchyard, with its moss-covered stones and its rank vegetation.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205">205</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Upon one of these occasions they had talked about supernatural
+appearances; and as they were coming through the somewhat neglected
+God's Acre, the clergyman said he had read, in an old volume, that to
+anyone who dared, after the performance of certain ghastly ceremonies,
+wait in the church porch on Christmas-eve, the features of those who
+were to die during the following year would be revealed, and that he
+intended upon the night before the coming festival to try the spell.
+The old man at once expressed a wish to take part in the trial, and
+before the two parted it was agreed that both should go through the
+preliminary charms, and keep the vigil.</p>
+
+<p>In due time the winter came, with its sweet anodyne of snow, and as
+Christmas approached everything was got in readiness.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after sunset on Christmas-eve the old herb doctor wended his way
+to the dwelling of his friend, taking with him St. John's Wort,
+Mountain Ash, Bay leaves, and Holly. The enthusiasts passed the
+evening in conversation upon the mysterious qualities of graveyard
+plants; but shortly after the clock struck eleven they arose, and
+began to prepare for the vigil, by taking<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206">206</a></span> precautions against the
+inclemency of the weather, for the night was very cold, large flakes
+of snow falling silently and thickly upon the frozen ground.</p>
+
+<p>When both were ready the old man stepped to the door to see that the
+road was clear, for, in order to go through the form of incantation, a
+small fire was requisite; and as they were about to convey it in a
+can, they were anxious that the strange proceeding should not be
+noticed by the villagers. Late as it was, however, lights shone here
+and there in the windows, and even from the doorways, for, although it
+was near midnight, many of the cottage doors were wide open, it being
+believed that if, on Christmas-eve, the way was thus left clear, and a
+member of the family read the Gospel according to St. Luke, the saint
+himself would pass through the house.</p>
+
+<p>As the two men, after carefully closing the door behind them, stepped
+into the road, a distant singer trolled forth a seasonable old hymn.
+This was the only noise, however, the village street being deserted.
+They reached the churchyard without having been observed, and at once
+made their way round the sacred<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207">207</a></span> building, so as not to be exposed to
+the view of any chance reveller returning to his home. It was well
+that they did so, for they had hardly deposited the can of burning
+charcoal upon a tombstone ere sounds of footsteps, somewhat muffled by
+the snow, were heard, and several men passed through the wicket. They
+were, however, only the ringers, on their way to the belfry, and in a
+few minutes they had entered the building, and all was still again for
+a few moments, when, upon the ears of the somewhat nervous men there
+fell the voices of choristers singing under the window of a
+neighbouring house the old Lancashire carol&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'As I sat anonder yon green tree,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Yon green tree, yon green tree&mdash;</span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">As I sat anonder yon green tree<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A Christmas day in the morning.'<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a29">29</a></span><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The words could be heard distinctly, and almost unconsciously the two
+men stood to listen; but directly the voices ceased the student asked
+if they had not better begin, as the time was passing rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>'Ay,' replied Abraham, 'we han it to do, an' we'd better ger it ower.'</p>
+
+<p>Without any more words they entered the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208">208</a></span> porch, and at once made a
+circle around them with leaves of Vervain, Bay, and Holly. The old man
+gave to his companion a branch of Wiggintree,<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a27">27</a></span> and firmly held
+another little bough, as with his disengaged hand he scattered a
+powder upon the embers. A faint odour floated around them, as they
+chanted a singular Latin prayer; and no sooner was the last word
+uttered than a strain of sweet sad music, too inexpressibly soft and
+mournful to be of earth, was heard. Every moment it seemed to be dying
+away in a delicious cadence, but again and again was the weird melody
+taken up by the invisible singers, as the listeners sank to their
+knees spell-bound. An icy breath of wind hissed round the porch,
+however, and called the entranced men to their senses, and suddenly
+the student grasped the arm of his aged companion, and cried, in a
+terrified voice&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Abraham, the spell works. Behold!'</p>
+
+<p>The old man gazed in the direction pointed out, and, to his
+inexpressible horror, saw a procession wending its way towards the
+porch. It consisted of a stream of figures wrapped up in
+grave-clothes, gleaming white in the dim light. With solemn and
+noiseless steps the ghastly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209">209</a></span> objects approached the circle in which
+stood the venturesome men, and, as they drew nearer, the faces of the
+first two could be seen distinctly, for the blazing powder cast a
+lurid glow upon them, and made them even more ghastly.</p>
+
+<p>Both spectators had almost unconsciously recognised the features of
+several of the villagers, when they were aroused from their lethargy
+of terror by the appearance of one face, which seemed to linger longer
+than its predecessors had done. Abraham at once saw that the likeness
+was that of the man by his side, and the clergyman sank to the ground
+in a swoon.</p>
+
+<p>For some time the old man was too much affected by the lingering face
+to think of restoring the unconscious man at his feet; but at length
+the clashing of the bells over his head, as they rang forth a
+Christmas greeting, called him to himself, and he bent over the
+prostrate form of his friend. The minister soon recovered, but as he
+was too weak to walk, the old man ran to the belfry to beg the ringers
+to come to his assistance. When these men came round to the porch the
+fire was still burning, the flickering flames of various colours
+casting dancing shadows upon the walls.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210">210</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Abraham,' said one of the ringers, 'there's bin some wizzard wark
+goin' on here, an' yo' sin what yo'n getten by it.'</p>
+
+<p>'Han yo' bin awsin to raise th' devul, an' Kesmus-eve an' o'?' asked
+another, in a low and terrified voice.</p>
+
+<p>With a satirical smile, Abraham answered the last speaker: 'It dusn't
+need o' this mak' o' things to raise th' devul, lad. He's nare so far
+fra' thuse as wants him.'</p>
+
+<p>Bearing the clergyman in their arms, the men walked through the
+village, but they did not separate without having, in return for the
+confidence Abraham reposed in them by confiding to them the secret of
+the vigil, promised strict secrecy as to what they had witnessed.</p>
+
+<p>Abraham's companion soon recovered from the shock, but not before the
+story of the night-watch had gone the round of the village. Many were
+the appeals made to the old herbalist to reveal his strangely-acquired
+knowledge, but Abraham remained sternly obdurate, remarking to each of
+his questioners&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Yo'll know soon enough, mebbi.'</p>
+
+<p>The clergyman, however, was in a more awkward position, and his
+parishioners soon made<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211">211</a></span> him aware how unwise he had been in giving way
+to the desire to pry into futurity; for, when any of them were ill and
+he expressed a kindly wish for their recovery, it was by no means
+unusual for the sick person to reply&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Yo could tell me heaw it will end iv yo' loiked.'</p>
+
+<p>This oftentimes being followed by a petition from the assembled
+relatives&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Will yo tell us if he wir one o' th' processioners?'</p>
+
+<p>Ultimately Abraham's companion went away, in the hope of returning
+when the memory of the watch should have become less keen, but, before
+a few months had passed away, news came of his death, after a violent
+attack of fever caught during a visit to a wretched hovel in the
+fishing village where he was staying. By the next December, all the
+people whose features the old herbalist had recognised during the
+procession had been carried to the churchyard; but, although several
+men offered to accompany Abraham to the porch on the forthcoming
+Christmas-eve, he dared not again go through the spells and undergo
+the terrors of a church-porch vigil.<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a30">30</a></span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212">212</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_CRIER_OF_CLAIFE">THE CRIER OF CLAIFE.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i218.jpg" width="97" height="99" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">U</span>PON</b> a wild winter night, some centuries ago, the old man who plied
+the ferry-boat on Windermere, and who lived in a lonely cottage on the
+Lancashire side of the Lake, was awakened from his sleep by an
+exceedingly shrill and terrible shriek, which seemed to come from the
+opposite shore. The wind was whistling and moaning round the house,
+and for a little while the ferryman and his family fancied that the
+cry by which they had been disturbed was nothing more than one of the
+mournful voices of the storm; but soon again came another shriek, even
+more awe-inspiring than the former one, and this was followed by
+smothered shouts and groans of a most unearthly nature.</p>
+
+<p>Against the wishes of his terrified relatives, who clung to him, and
+besought him to remain<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213">213</a></span> indoors, the old fellow bravely determined to
+cross the water, and heeding not the prayers of his wife and daughter,
+he unfastened his boat, and rowed away. The two women, clasped in each
+other's arms, trembling with fear, stood at the little door, and
+endeavoured to make out the form of their protector; but the darkness
+was too deep for them to see anything upon the lake. At intervals,
+however, the terrible cry rang out through the gloom, and shrieks and
+moans were heard loud above the mysterious noises of the night.</p>
+
+<p>In a state of dreadful suspense and terror the women stood for some
+time, but at length they saw the boat suddenly emerge from the
+darkness, and shoot into the little cove. To their great surprise,
+however, the ferryman, who could be seen sitting alone, made no effort
+to land, and make his way to the cottage; so, fearing that something
+dreadful had happened to him, and, impelled by love, they rushed to
+the side of the lake. They found the old man speechless, his face as
+white and blanched as the snow upon the Nab, and his whole body
+trembling under the influence of terror, and they immediately led him
+to the cottage, but<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214">214</a></span> though appealed to, to say what terrible object
+he had seen, he made no other response than an occasional subdued
+moan. For several days he remained in that state, deaf to their
+piteous entreaties, and staring at them with wild-looking eyes; but at
+length the end came, and, during the gloaming of a beautiful day, he
+died, without having revealed to those around him what he had seen
+when, in answer to the midnight cry, he had rowed the ferry-boat
+across the storm-ruffled lake.</p>
+
+<p>After the funeral had taken place the women left the house, its
+associations being too painful to permit of their stay, and went to
+live at Hawkshead, whence two sturdy men, with their respective
+families, removed to the ferry. The day following that of the arrival
+of the new-comers was rough and wild, and, soon after darkness had
+hidden everything in its sable folds, across the lake came the fearful
+cry, followed by a faint shout for a boat, and screams and moans. The
+men, hardy as they were, and often as they had laughed at the story
+told by the widow of the dead man, no sooner heard the first shriek
+ring through the cottage than they were smitten with terror.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215">215</a></span>
+Profiting, however, by the experience of their predecessor, and
+influenced by fear, they did not make any attempt to cross the lake,
+and the cries continued until some time after midnight.</p>
+
+<p>Afterwards, whenever the day closed gloomily, and ushered in a stormy
+night, and the wind lashed the water of the lake into fury, the
+terrible noises were heard with startling distinctness, until at
+length the dwellers in the cottage became so accustomed to the noises
+as not to be disturbed by them, or, if disturbed, to fall asleep again
+after an ejaculation of 't' crier!' Pedlars and others who had to
+cross the lake, however, were not so hardened, and after a time the
+ferry-boat was almost disused, for the superstitious people did not
+dare to cross the haunted water, save in the broad daylight of summer.</p>
+
+<p>It therefore struck the two individuals who were most concerned in the
+maintenance of the ferry that if they intended to live they must do
+something to rid the place of its bad name, and of the unseen being
+who had driven away all their patrons. In their extremity they asked
+each other who should help them, if not the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216">216</a></span> holy monks, who had come
+over the sea to the abbey in the Valley of Deadly Night Shade; and one
+of the ferrymen at once set out for Furness. No sooner had he set eyes
+upon the stately pile erected by the Savignian and his companions than
+his heart felt lighter, for he had a simple faith in the marvellous
+power of the white-robed men, whose voices were seldom if ever heard,
+save when lifted in worship during one of their seven daily services.</p>
+
+<p>Knocking at the massive door, he was received by a ruddy-looking
+servitor, who ushered him into the presence of the abbot. The ferryman
+soon told his story, and begged that a monk might return with him to
+lay the troubled spirit, and after hearing the particulars of the
+visitation, the abbot granted the request, making a proviso, however,
+that the abbey coffers should not be forgotten when the lake was freed
+from the fiend.</p>
+
+<p>No sooner had the visitor finished the meal set before him by the
+hospitable monks than, in company with one of the holy men, he set out
+homeward. As, by a rule of his order, the monk was not permitted to
+converse, the journey was not an enlivening one, and the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217">217</a></span> ferryman was
+heartily glad when they reached his cottage.</p>
+
+<p>The first night passed without any alarm, the monk and his hosts
+spending the dreary hours in watching and waiting. The following day,
+however, was as stormy as the worst enemy of the ferry could have
+wished, and, when night fell, all the dwellers in the cottage, as well
+as the silent monk, gathered together again to wait for the cries, but
+some hours passed without any other sounds having been heard than
+those caused by the restless wind, as it swept over the lake and among
+the trees. The Cistercian was beginning to imagine himself the victim
+of an irreverent practical joke, and that the stories of the spectral
+crier which had reached the distant abbey long before the ferryman's
+visit were a pack of falsehoods, when about midnight, he suddenly
+jumped from the chair upon which he was dozing by the wood fire,
+hastily made the sign of the cross, and hurriedly commended himself to
+the protection of his patron saint, for sharp and clear came the dread
+cry, followed rapidly by a number of shrieks and groans and a
+smothered appeal for a boat.</p>
+
+<p>In an instant one of the men, with courage<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218">218</a></span> doubtless inspired by the
+presence of the holy man, shouldered the oars and opened the door, and
+the monk at once stepped into the open air and hurried to the lake,
+the men following at a respectful distance. The white-robed father was
+the first to get into the boat, and the ferrymen hoped that he
+intended to go alone, but he called upon them to propel the boat to
+the middle of the lake, and much as they disliked the task, as it was
+on their behalf that the monk was about to combat the evil spirit,
+they could not well refuse to accompany him.</p>
+
+<p>When they were about half-way across the lake the wind suddenly
+lulled, and once more they heard the awful scream, and this time it
+sounded as though the crier was quite close to them. The occupants of
+the boat were terribly frightened, and one of them, after suddenly
+shrieking 'he's here,' fainted, and lay still at the bottom of the
+boat, while the monk and the other man stared straight before them, as
+though petrified.</p>
+
+<p>There was a fourth person present, a grim and ghastly figure, with the
+trappings of this life still dangling about its withered and shrunken
+limbs, and a gaping wound in its<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219">219</a></span> pallid throat. For a few minutes
+there was a dead silence, but at last it was broken by the monk, who
+rapidly muttered a prayer for protection against evil spirits, and
+then took a bottle from a pocket of his robe, and sprinkled a few
+drops of holy water upon himself and the ferryman, who remained in the
+same statuesque attitude, and upon the unconscious occupant of the
+bottom of the boat. After this ceremony, he opened a little book, and,
+in a sonorous voice, intoned the form for the exorcism of a wandering
+soul, concluding with <i>Vade ad Gehennam!</i> when to the infinite relief
+of the ferryman, and probably of the monk also, the ghastly figure
+forthwith vanished.</p>
+
+<p>The Cistercian asked to be immediately taken to the shore, and when he
+neared the house, the little book was again brought into requisition,
+and the spirit's visits, should it ever again put in an appearance,
+limited to an old and disused quarry, a distance from the
+cottage.<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a31">31</a></span></p>
+
+<p>From that time to this, the wild, lonely place has indeed been
+desolate and deserted, the boldest people of the district not having
+sufficient courage to venture near it at nightfall, and the more timid
+ones shunning the locality even<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220">220</a></span> at noonday. These folks aver that
+even yet, despite the prayers and exorcisms of the white-robed
+Cistercian from Furness, whenever a storm descends upon the lake, the
+Crier escapes from his temporary prison house, and revisits the scene
+of his first and second appearance to men, and that on such nights,
+loud above the echoed rumble of the thunder, and the lonely sough of
+the wind, the benighted wayfarer still hears the wild shrieks and the
+muffled cry for a boat.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221">221</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_DEMON_OF_THE_OAK">THE DEMON OF THE OAK.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i227.jpg" width="95" height="97" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">O</span>NCE</b> a fortress and a mansion, but now, unfortunately, little more
+than a noble ruin, Hoghton Tower stands on one of the most commanding
+sites in Lancashire. From the fine old entrance-gate a beautiful
+expanse of highly-cultivated land slopes down and stretches away to
+the distant sea, glimmering like a strip of molten silver; and on
+either hand there are beautiful woods, in the old times 'so full of
+tymber that a man passing through could scarce have seen the sun shine
+in the middle of the day.' At the foot of these wooded heights a
+little river ripples through a wild ravine, and meanders through the
+rich meadows to the proud Ribble. From the building itself, however,
+the glory has departed. Over the noble gateway, with its embattled
+towers, and in one of the fast-decaying wainscots,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222">222</a></span> the old family
+arms, with the motto, <i>Mal Gre le Tort</i>, still remain; but these
+things, and a few mouldering portraits, are all that are left there to
+tell of the stately women who, from the time of Elizabeth down to
+comparatively modern days, pensively watched the setting sun gild the
+waters of the far-off Irish Sea, and dreamed of lovers away in the
+wars&mdash;trifling things to be the only unwritten records of the noble
+men who buckled on their weapons, and climbed into the turrets to gaze
+over the road along which would come the expected besieging parties.
+Gone are the gallants and their ladies, the roystering Cavalier and
+the patient but none the less brave Puritan, for, as Isaac Ambrose has
+recorded, during the troublous times of the Restoration, the place,
+with its grand banqueting chamber, its fine old staircases, and quaint
+little windows, was 'a colledge for religion.' The old Tower resounds
+no more with the gay song of the one or the solemn hymn of the other,</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>'Men may come, and men may go,'</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>and an old tradition outlives them all.</p>
+
+<p>To this once charming mansion there came,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223">223</a></span> long ago, a young man,
+named Edgar Astley. His sable garments told that he mourned the loss
+of a relative or friend; and he had not been long at the Tower before
+it began to be whispered in the servants'-hall that 'the trappings and
+the suits of woe' were worn in memory of a girl who had been false to
+him, and who had died soon after her marriage to his rival. This story
+in itself was sufficient to throw a halo of romance around the young
+visitor; but when it was rumoured that domestics, who had been
+returning to the Tower late at night, had seen strange-coloured lights
+burning in Edgar's room, and that, even at daybreak, the early risers
+had seen the lights still unextinguished, and the shadow of the
+watcher pass across the curtains, an element of fear mingled with the
+feelings with which he was regarded.</p>
+
+<p>There was much in the visitor calculated to deepen the impressions by
+which the superstitious domestics were influenced, for, surrounded by
+an atmosphere of gloom, out of which he seemed to start when any of
+them addressed him, and appearing studiously to shun all the society
+which it was possible for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224">224</a></span> him to avoid, he spent most of his time
+alone, seated beneath the spreading branches of the giant oak tree at
+the end of the garden, reading black-letter volumes, and plunged in
+meditation. Not that he was in any way rude to his hosts; on the
+contrary, he was almost chivalrous in his attention to the younger
+members of the family and to the ladies of the house, who, in their
+turn, regarded him with affectionate pity, and did their utmost to
+wean him from his lonely pursuits. Yet, although he would willingly
+accompany them through the woods, or to the distant town, the approach
+of the gloaming invariably found him in his usual place beneath the
+shadow of the gnarled old boughs, either poring over his favourite
+books, or, with eyes fixed upon vacancy, lost in a reverie.</p>
+
+<p>Time would, the kind people thought, bring balm to his wounds, and in
+the meanwhile they were glad to have their grief-stricken friend with
+them; and fully appreciating their sympathy, Edgar came and went about
+the place and grounds just as the whim of the moment took him. This
+absence of curiosity on the part of the members of the family was,
+however,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_225">225</a></span> amply compensated for by the open wonder with which many of
+the domestics regarded the young stranger; and before he had been many
+months in the house his nightly vigils were the theme of many a
+serious conversation in the kitchen, where, in front of a cosy fire,
+the gossips gathered to compare notes.</p>
+
+<p>Unable to repress their vulgar curiosity, or to gratify it in any more
+honourable or less dangerous manner, it was determined that one of the
+domestics should, at the hour of twelve, creep to the door of the
+visitor's chamber, and endeavour to discover what was the nature of
+those pursuits which rendered lights necessary during the whole of the
+night. The selection was soon made, and after a little demur the
+chosen one agreed to perform the unpleasant task.</p>
+
+<p>At midnight, therefore, the trembling ambassador made his way to the
+distant door, and after a little hesitation, natural enough under the
+circumstances, he stooped, and gazed through a hole in the dried oak
+whence a knot had fallen. Edgar Astley was seated at a little table,
+an old black-looking book with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_226">226</a></span> huge clasps open before him. With one
+hand he shaded his eyes from the light which fell upon his face from
+the flames of many colours dancing in a tall brazen cup. Suddenly,
+however, he turned from his book, and put a few pinches of a
+bright-looking powder to the burning matter in the stand. A searching
+and sickly odour immediately filled the room, and the quivering flames
+blazed upwards with increased life and vigour as the student turned
+once more to the ponderous tome, and, after hastily glancing down its
+pages, muttered: 'Strange that I cannot yet work the spell. All things
+named here have I sought for and found, even blood of bat, dead man's
+hand, venom of viper, root of gallows mandrake, and flesh of
+unbaptized and strangled babe. Am I, then, not to succeed until I try
+the charm of charms at the risk of life itself? And yet,' said he,
+unconscious of the presence of the terrified listener, 'what should I
+fear? So far have I gone uninjured, and now will I proceed to the
+triumphant or the bitter end. Once I would have given the future
+happiness of my soul to have called her by my name, and now what is
+this paltry life to me that I should<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_227">227</a></span> hesitate to risk it in this
+quest, and perhaps win one glimpse of her face?'</p>
+
+<p>There was a moment of silence as the student bent his head over the
+book, but though no other person was visible, the listener, to his
+horror, quickly heard a sharp hissing voice ask, 'And wouldst thou not
+even yet give thy soul in exchange for speech with thy once
+betrothed?' The student hastily stood erect, and rapidly cried: 'Let
+me not be deceived! Whatever thou art, if thou canst bring her to me
+my soul shall be thine now and for ever!'</p>
+
+<p>There was a dead hush for a minute or two, during which the lout at
+the door heard the beating of his own heart, and then the invisible
+being again spoke: 'Be it so. Thou hast but one spell left untried.
+When that has been done thou shalt have thy reward. Beneath the oak at
+midnight she shall be brought to thee. Darest thou first behold me?'</p>
+
+<p>'I have no fear,' calmly replied the student, but such was not the
+state of the petrified listener, for no sooner had the lights
+commenced to burn a weird blue than he sank fainting against the door.</p>
+
+<p>When he came to consciousness he was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_228">228</a></span> within the awful room, the
+student having dragged him in when he fell.</p>
+
+<p>'What art thou, wherefore dost thou watch me at this hour, and what
+hast thou seen?' sternly demanded Edgar, addressing the terrified
+boor, and in few and trembling words the unhappy domestic briefly
+answered the queries; but the student did not permit him to leave the
+chamber, through the little window of which the dawn was streaming,
+before he had sworn that not a word as to anything he had seen or
+heard should pass his lips. The solemnity of the vow was deepened by
+the mysterious and awful threats with which it was accompanied, and
+the servant, therefore, loudly protested to his fellows that he had
+not seen or heard anything, but that, overcome by his patient
+watching, he had fallen asleep at the door; and many were the
+congratulations which followed when it was imagined what the
+consequences would have been had he been discovered in his strange
+resting-place.</p>
+
+<p>The day following that of the adventure passed over without anything
+remarkable beyond the absence of Edgar from his usual seat under the
+shade of the giant oak, but the night set in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_229">229</a></span> stormily, dark clouds
+scudded before the wind, which swept up from the distant sea, and
+moaned around the old tower, whirling the fallen leaves in fantastic
+dances about the garden and the green, and shaking in its rage even
+the iron boughs of the oak. The household had retired early, and at
+eleven o'clock only Edgar and another were awake. In the student's
+chamber the little lamp was burning and the book lay open as usual,
+and Edgar pored over the pages, but at times he glanced impatiently at
+the quaint clock. At length, with a sigh of relief, he said, sternly
+and sadly, 'The time draws nigh, and once more we shall meet!' He then
+gathered together a few articles from different corners of the room
+and stepped out upon the broad landing, passed down the noble old
+staircase, and out from the hall. Here he was met by a cold blast of
+wind, which shrieked round him, as though rejoicing over its prey; and
+as Edgar was battling with it, a man emerged from a recess and joined
+him.</p>
+
+<p>The night was quite dark, not a star or a rift in the sky visible, and
+the two men could hardly pick their way along the well-known path.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_230">230</a></span>
+They reached the oak tree, however, and Edgar placed the materials at
+its foot, and at once, with a short wand, drew a large circle around
+the domestic and himself. This done, he placed a little cauldron on
+the grass, and filled it with a red powder, which, although the wind
+was roaring through the branches above, immediately blazed up with a
+steady flame.</p>
+
+<p>The old mastiffs chained under the gateway began to howl dismally;
+but, regardless of the omen,<span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a32">32</a></span> Edgar struck the ground three times
+with his hazel stick, and cried in a loud voice: 'Spirit of my love, I
+conjure thee obey my words, and verily and truly come to me this
+night!'</p>
+
+<p>Hardly had he spoken when a shadowy figure of a beautiful child
+appeared, as though floating around the magic ring. The servant sank
+upon his knees, but the student regarded it not, and it vanished, and
+the terrified listener again heard Edgar's voice as he uttered another
+conjuration. No sooner had he begun this than terrible claps of
+thunder were heard, lightning flashed round the tree, flocks of birds
+flew across the garden and dashed themselves against the window of the
+student's chamber,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_231">231</a></span> where a light still flickered; and, loud above the
+noises of the storm, cocks could be heard shrilly crowing, and owls
+uttering their mournful cries. In the midst of this hubbub the
+necromancer calmly went on with his incantation, concluding with the
+dread words: 'Spirit of my love, I conjure thee to fulfil my will
+without deceit or tarrying, and without power over my soul or body
+earthly or ghostly! If thou comest not, then let the shadow and the
+darkness of death be upon thee for ever and ever!'</p>
+
+<p>As the last word left his lips the storm abated its violence, and
+comparative silence followed. Suddenly the little flame in the
+cauldron flared up some yards in height, and sweet voices chanting
+melodiously could be heard. 'Art thou prepared to behold the dead?'
+asked an invisible being.</p>
+
+<p>'I am!' undauntedly answered Edgar.</p>
+
+<p>An appearance as of a thick mist gathered opposite him, and slowly, in
+the midst of it, the outlines of a beautiful human face, with mournful
+eyes, in which earthly love still lingered, could be discerned.</p>
+
+<p>Clad in the garments of the grave, the betrothed of Edgar Astley
+appeared before him.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_232">232</a></span></p>
+
+<p>For some time the young man gazed upon her as though entranced, but at
+length he slowly extended his arms as though to embrace the beautiful
+phantom. The domestic fell upon his face like one stricken by death,
+the spectre vanished, and again the pealing thunder broke forth.</p>
+
+<p>'Thou art for ever mine,' cried a hissing voice; but as the words
+broke upon the ears of the two men, the door of the mansion was flung
+open, and the old baronet and a number of the servants, who had been
+disturbed by the violence of the storm, the howling of the dogs, and
+the shrill cries of the birds, rushed forth.</p>
+
+<p>'Come not near me if ye would save yourselves,' cried the necromancer.</p>
+
+<p>'We would save thee,' shouted the old man, still advancing. '<i>In
+nomine Patris</i>,' said he, solemnly, as he neared the magic circle; and
+no sooner had the words left his lips than sudden stillness fell upon
+the scene; the lightning no longer flashed round the oak; and, as the
+flame in the cauldron sank down, the moon broke through a cloud, and
+threw her soft light over the old garden.</p>
+
+<p>Edgar was leaning against the oak tree, his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_233">233</a></span> eyes fixed in the
+direction where the image of his betrothed had appeared; and when they
+led him away, it was as one leads a trusting child, for the light of
+reason had left him. The unfortunate domestic, being less sensitive,
+retained his faculties; but he ever afterwards bore upon his wrist, as
+if deeply burned into the flesh, the marks of a broad thumb and
+fingers. This strange appearance he was wont to explain to stray
+visitors, by saying that when, terrified almost out of his wits, he
+fell to the ground, his hand was outside the magic circle, and
+'summat' seized him; which lucid explanation was generally followed up
+by an old and privileged servitor, who remarked, 'Tha'll t'hev mooar
+marks nor thuse on tha' next toime as <i>He</i> grabs tha', mi lad.'</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_234">234</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_BLACK_COCK">THE BLACK COCK.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i240.jpg" width="139" height="93" alt="" />
+<span class="hide">'AY,'</span> said Old 'Lijah, 'I mind one time when they said th' Owd Lad
+hissel appear't i' broad dayleet, an' wir seen bi hunderts o' fowk,
+owd an' yung.'</p>
+
+<p>There was a dead silence for a little while as the listeners gathered
+nearer the blazing fire, two or three of them getting a little further
+away from the door, against which the wind was dashing the snow, and
+then 'Lijah resumed: 'When I wir a lad, me an' mi mestur wer ast to a
+berryin. Ther wer a deeol o' drink stirrin, th' coffee pot, wi th'
+lemon peel hangin aat, gooin abaat fray one side to th' tother fast
+enough, and at last o' wer ready, but just as they wer baan to lift
+th' coffin a clap o' thunder shuke th' varra glasses o' th' table.</p>
+
+<p>'Th' chaps as hed howd stopped a bit an' lukt raand, but th' deead
+chap's feythur shouted, "Come on, lads, or wist be late, an' th'
+paason<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_235">235</a></span> waynt berry;" so they piked off, but no sooner hed they
+getten' i' th' street nor a lad i' th' craad cried out, "Heigh, chaps,
+luk at th' black cock <span class="fnanchor"><a href="#a34">34</a></span> on th' top o' th' coffin," an' sure enough
+theer it wor. One o' th' beerers said directly as they'd enough to
+carry wi'out ony passingers, an' up wi' his fist an' knockt it off,
+but it wer on ageean in a minit, an one bi' one they o' hed a slap at
+it, but every time it wer knockt off back it flew to it' place at th'
+deead mon's feet, so at last th' owd mon give th' word of command, an'
+off they startit wi' th' looad. Th' craad geet bigger afooar they
+reached th' owd country church wheer he hed to be berried, an' th'
+fowk geet a throwin stooans at th' black bird, an' hittin it wi'
+sticks an' shaatin at it, but it stuck theer like a fixter.</p>
+
+<p>'After a while we reached th' graveyart, an' th' paason come deawn th'
+road fray th' church door to meet th' coffin, an' he wer just baan to
+start th' service when he see th' brid an' stopped.</p>
+
+<p>'"What han yo' got theere?" he says, lukin varra vext, for he thowt
+some marlock wer gooin on. "What han yo' theere, men?"</p>
+
+<p>'Th' owd feythur stepped forrut an' towd<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_236">236</a></span> him what hed happent, an' as
+nooan on 'em could freetun it off it peeark naythur wi' sticks or
+stooans or sweearin.</p>
+
+<p>'"It's a strange tale," said th' vicar, "but we moant hev no brids
+here! Yo' fowk keep eaut o' th' graveyart nobbut thuse as is invitet
+to th' funeral! I'll settle him for yo!" an' so sayin he grabbed howd
+o' th' cock, an' walked o'er th' graves wi' it to a place wheer th'
+bruk run under th' hedges, an' then he bent deawn o' th' floor an'
+dipped th' bird i'th' watter, an' held it theer for abaat a quarter ov
+an hour.</p>
+
+<p>'No sooner had he getten up, heawever, nor th' brid flew up eaut o'
+th' watter quite unhort, an' hopped o'er th' grass to th' coffin an'
+peearkt ageean as if nowt hed happent.</p>
+
+<p>'Th' vicar lukt varra consarnt for a while, an' skrat his yed as he
+staret at th' fowk.</p>
+
+<p>'Theer's summat not reet abaat that brid,' he said, 'but that's no
+rayson why we shouldn't bury th' deead!' an' he pottert off toart th'
+grave, an' th' beerers carriet th' coffin to th' side, an' th' sarvice
+wer gone through, wi' th' bird harkenin every word like a Christian.</p>
+
+<p>'Th' chaps then startit o' lowerin th' coffin into th' grave, an' th'
+brid still stuck o' th'<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_237">237</a></span> peeark, an' it wer nobbut when th' hole wer
+filled, as it came above graand ageean, an' theer it set on th' maand.</p>
+
+<p>'A craad o' fowk waited abaat an' hung on th' graveyart wo' till th'
+edge o' dark, an' then they piket off whoam, for they begun to think
+as mebbi it were th' Owd Lad hissel, but a twothree on us stopped till
+it wer neet afooar we went after 'em, th' cock sittin theear just th'
+same as it hed done i' th' dayleet.</p>
+
+<p>'It were usual i' thuse days to watch th' graves for a few neets, for
+ther wer a deeal o' resurrectionin' gooin on i'o' directions, th'
+body-snatchers hevin mooar orders than they could attend to; but
+though th' deead chap's feythur offert brass an' plenty o' drink an'
+meyt to anybody as ud keep a look aat, not one dar do it, an' th'
+deead mon wer laft to tek care o' hissel, or for th' brid to mind him.</p>
+
+<p>'Soon after dayleet th' next mornin I went wi' a twothree moor young
+chaps to see heaw th' place lukt, an' th' grave hedn't bin brokken
+into, but th' brid had flown, and fray that day to this I could never
+find aat ayther wheer it coom fray or went to, but I heeart as th'
+vicar said it met be th' Owd Lad claimin' his own.'</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_238">238</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="THE_INVISIBLE_BURDEN">THE INVISIBLE BURDEN.</a></h2>
+
+<p><img class="dropimg" src="images/i244.jpg" width="96" height="96" alt="" />
+<b><span class="hide">A</span>T</b> the junction of the four cross roads, gleaming white in the hot
+sunshine and hawthorn-bounded, and marked by the parallel ruts made by
+the broad wheels of the country carts, the old public house of the
+<i>Wyresdale Arms</i> was scarcely ever without a number of timber wagons
+or hay carts about its open door, the horses quietly munching from the
+nose-bags and patiently waiting until their owners or drivers should
+emerge from the sanded kitchen.</p>
+
+<p>Nathan Peel's hostelry was the half-way house for all the farmers and
+cart-drivers in the district, and generally quiet enough at night
+time, but from its capacious kitchen roars of laughter rang out many a
+summer afternoon, as the carters and yeomen told their droll stories.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_239">239</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On one of these occasions, when the sun was blazing outside, and
+shimmering upon the sands and the distant sea, and through the open
+window the perfume of the may-blossom stole gently, a quaint looking
+old fellow, whose face had been bronzed by three-score summers and
+winters, happened to mention an occurrence as having taken place about
+the time of 'th' quare weddin',' and a chorus of voices at once called
+upon him for the story.</p>
+
+<p>'It's quite forty year sin,' he said thoughtfully, 'an' I wir quite a
+young chap then, an' ready for any marlock. I could dance too wi' hear
+an' thear one, an' no weddin' wir reet wi'aat axin' me. This one I'm
+baan to tell abaat heawivir wir Mester Singleton's owdest son o' th'
+Dyke Farm, an' as he wir weddin' th' prattiest lass i' o' th' country
+side, varra nigh everybody wir theear, 'specially as Mester Singleton
+hed given it aat ther'd be a welcome for onnybody. A string o' nearly
+twenty conveyances, milk carts, an' shandrys, an' gigs, went to th'
+church wi' fowk o' seein' 'em wed; but comin' back, young Adam started
+off wi' his young wife as if he wir mad, an' isted o' gooin' th' owd
+road across th' Stone Brig, an'<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_240">240</a></span> through th' Holme meadow he pelted
+off through th' Ingleton Road an' th' Owd Horse Lane. Th' mare seemed
+to know what th' young chap wir up to, an' to enter into th' spirit
+o't' thing an' off hoo went like th' woint, th' string o' shandrys an'
+milk carts an' gigs peltin' on at after abaat a mile behint, an' th'
+fowk laughin' an' shaatin' at th' fun. Th' gate into th' Owd Horse
+Lane wir wide open, so th' fowk wir disappointed as expected to gain a
+minnit or two wi' Adam hevin' to get daan theer to oppen it, an' into
+th' lane th' mare dashed, an' on hoo went as if th' shandry an' Adam
+an' his wife wir nowt behint her. Abaat midway i'th' lane heawever th'
+road dipped a bit, an' th' watter fra a spring i'th' bank ran o'er it,
+an' just afoor th' shandry reyched it th 'mare stopped o' of a sudden,
+an' Adam flew aat o'er th' horse's back an' pitched into th' hedge
+like leetnin'. Th' wife shaated as if he wir kilt, but he'd no bones
+brokken, an' when we geet up to him he crept aat o'th' prickles wi' a
+shame-faced look as if he'd bin catcht thievin'. Ther wir some rare
+jokin' as he climbed up to th' side of his wife an' lasht the mare for
+another start, but<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_241">241</a></span> it wir no use, th' mare couldn't stir th'
+conveyance. Adam lasht away at her, but stir it hoo couldn't, an' at
+last eight or ten on us set to an' turned th' wheels for twenty or
+thirty yards an' it wir th' same as if it wir a timber-wagon, it wir
+that heavy. It wir th' same wi' every one o'th' conveyances, not one
+could be got o'er th' watter only wi' eight or ten on us toilin' an'
+slavin' at th' wheels, no matter heaw th' horse strained an' pulled.
+Nobody could make aat what it wir, an' th' Vicar came an' look't abaat
+but could find nowt. He said, heawever, th' Owd Lad had some hand in
+it, an' he warned th' fowk not to use th' road when they could help
+it. Many an' many a time heawivir, I see carts stuck theear bi' th'
+day together, for some chaps wouldn't be persuaded not to go through
+th' lane, for it wir a short cut, an' other chaps went i' nowt but
+darin' when they'd hed a sup o' drink. It went on for some years like
+that, an' fowk came fray far an' near to see it. I'd gettin' wed mysen
+and hed a farm on the Holme, but I used to go raand to it bi'th' owd
+road across the Brig, but one day, a breet hot day, I'd mi little lad
+i'th cart an' he bothert mi to go through th' lane, he wantit to see
+th' Owd<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_242">242</a></span> Lad he said, an' as he started o' cryin' abaat it, I went.
+Well, the cart stuck i'th' owd place bi th' runnin' watter, an' th'
+little lad wir deleeted. I geet daan an' took howd o'th' wheel, for I
+knew it wir no use usin' the whip, an' th' horse wir sweatin' as if it
+wir rare an' 'freetont, when little Will shaated aat o' ov a sudden
+'Feythar, I con see him!' 'See what?' I sang aat, an' broad dayleet as
+it wir, mi knees wir quakin'. 'A little chap i'th' cart,' he said, 'a
+fat little chap wi' a red neet cap on.' 'Wheer is he?' I shaated, for
+I couldn't see owt. 'Theer on th' cart tail,' he said, an' then he
+shaated 'Why, he's gone,' an' no sooner hed he spokken than th' horse
+started off wi' th' cart as if it hed nowt behint it.</p>
+
+<p>Thir never wir a cart stuck theer at after that, an' th' Vicar said it
+wir because little Will hed persayved th' Feeorin, an' as Will hed th'
+gift o' seein' feeorin an' sich like because he wir born at midneet.</p>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_245">245</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a id="APPENDIX">APPENDIX.</a></h2>
+
+<p class="h3"><i>COMPARATIVE NOTES.</i></p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a1">1.</p>
+
+<p>Belief in the appearance of the Skriker, Trash, or Padfoot, as the
+apparition is named in Lancashire, or Padfooit, as it is designated in
+Yorkshire, is still very prevalent in certain parts of the two
+counties. This boggart is invariably looked upon as the forerunner of
+death, and it is supposed that only the relatives of persons about to
+die, or the unfortunate doomed persons themselves, ever see the
+apparition.</p>
+
+<p>Of quite a distinct class to that of the 'Skrikin' Woman,' an
+appearance which, at a but recent period, obtained for a lane at
+Warrington the reputation of being haunted, the Padfoot seems to be
+peculiar to Lancashire and Yorkshire, unless, indeed, the Welsh
+Gwyllgi or Dog of Darkness, and the Shock of the Norfolk seaboard, are
+of the same family. In Norfolk, the spectre, as it does in Lancashire,
+portends death, but I have been unable to find any Welsh story of the
+apparition with a more tragic ending than fright and illness.</p>
+
+<p>As the Trash generally takes the form of a large shaggy dog or small
+bear, can the superstition be an offshoot from that old Aryan belief
+which gave so important an office to the dog as a messenger from the
+world of the dead, and an attendant upon the dying, or has the grim
+idea come down to us from the ancient times, when, as the Rev. S.
+Baring Gould says, 'It was the custom to bury a dog or a boar alive
+under the corner-stone of a church, that its ghost might haunt the
+neighbourhood, and drive off any who would profane it&mdash;<i>i.e.</i> witches
+or warlocks'?</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a2">2.</p>
+
+<p>In most of these stories of compacts with the Evil One it is singular
+how little is received in exchange for the soul. In a few instances
+poverty bargains for untold wealth, or ugliness and age for youth and
+loveliness, but generally it is for the bare<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_246">246</a></span> means of prolonging or
+supporting life that the daring and despairing one enters into the
+everlasting agreement. In fact, as a French authoress has said, it is
+'for a mouthful of bread to nourish their debilitated stomachs, and
+the bundle of sticks which warms again their benumbed limbs.' In
+Sussex it would appear, from what a country-lad told the Rev. S.
+Baring Gould, that half-a-crown is the price Satan pays for a soul,&mdash;a
+letter addressed to the Evil One, and containing an offer of the soul,
+bringing a response in that practical form, if placed under the pillow
+at night.</p>
+
+<p>In Normandy it is considered sufficient to make the compact binding
+for the acceptance to be simply a verbal one; but in Lancashire the
+formal parchment deed, with its signatures in blood, is indispensable.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a3">3.</p>
+
+<p>Old Isaac, it would seem, was not disappointed when he came to make
+use of his handful of money, and probably, therefore, he had spent it
+before he told the story, for in all instances where the fairies are
+recorded as rewarding mortals with money, any revelation as to its
+source is invariably followed by the gift being turned to bits of
+paper or leaves.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a4">4.</p>
+
+<p>Although there appears to have been some little confusion in the mind
+of the old farmer as to the rank in the world of faerie held by his
+little benefactor, he seems to have designated him correctly, for
+although the general idea of Puck is that of a mere mischief-loving
+and mischief-working sprite, such as is painted by Drayton, Shakspere
+credits Puck not only with wanton playfulness, but also with industry,
+for in the second act of the 'Midsummer Night's Dream,' the fairy,
+addressing the sprite, says:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'Those that hobgoblin call you, and sweet Puck,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>You do their work</i>.'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Shakspere and Ben Jonson, however, agree in making Oberon King of the
+Fairies&mdash;a king, too, with a stately presence, and far above showing
+an interest in a farmer's fields. Under any circumstances one is not
+prepared to find Puck of royal estate, and doubtless the labouring
+spirit of our story was simply one of those goblins who, according to
+the author of the <i>Anatomy of Melancholy</i>, would 'grind corn for a
+mess of milk, cut wood, or do any manner of nursery work'&mdash;a Robin
+Goodfellow merely, the 'lubber fiend' of Milton, the Bwbach<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_247">247</a></span> or
+household fairy of Wales. Lancashire had many such. Stories of beings
+rejoicing in the name of Hobthrust or Throbthrush, but in all other
+respects closely resembling the fairy king of the foregoing tradition,
+still are told by the farm-house fires in Furness, in South-East
+Lancashire, and in the Fylde country. Rewarded night after night with
+a supply of oatmeal porridge&mdash;strange relic, probably, of the old
+libations to the gods&mdash;they toiled at the churn till daybreak. A
+Furness legend chronicles how a farmer, whose house was the favourite
+resting-place of one of these visitors, one evening, when threatening
+clouds were gathering, wished that he had the harvest carted. Next
+morning the work was found done, but a horse was found dead in the
+stable, Hob having been unsparing. As the day was a beautiful one, the
+farmer did not appreciate the housing as he ought to have done, and
+testily wished that Hob was in the mill-dam. A few hours afterwards,
+not Hob, but the grain was found there.</p>
+
+<p>'Crawshaws in Berwickshire,' says the author of the <i>Popular Rhymes of
+Berwickshire</i>, 'was once the abode of an industrious Brownie, who both
+saved the corn and thrashed it for several seasons. At length, after
+one harvest, some person thoughtlessly remarked that the corn was not
+well mowed or piled up in the barn. The sprite took offence at this,
+and the next night threw the whole of the corn over the Raven Crag, a
+precipice about two miles off, muttering&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"It's no weel mowed! It's no weel mowed!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then it's ne'er be mowed by me again.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I'll scatter it o'er the Raven stone,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And they'll hae some wark ere it's mowed again."'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The North Lancashire Hobthrusts, however, do not seem to have been
+made to disappear by man's ingratitude, but, like the Irish Cluricaun
+and the Scotch Brownie, were to be driven away by kindness. In one
+instance, a tailor, for whom a Hobthrust had done some work,
+gratefully made him a coat and hood for winter wear, and in the night
+the workman was heard bidding farewell to his old quarters&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'Throb-thrush has got a new coat and new hood,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And he'll never do no more good.'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Readers of the Brothers Grimm and lovers of George Cruikshank will not
+need to be reminded how the grateful shoemaker deprived himself of the
+assistance of the elves. In the German story, however, as in Breton
+ones, although the elves depart, prosperity continues to bless the
+labours of the people whose practical gratitude has driven the little
+beings away.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_248">248</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The Hob which, according to Harrison Ainsworth, haunted the Gorge of
+Cliviger, does not appear to have been at all domesticated, the
+novelist, in the only allusion he makes to it, characterising it as 'a
+frightful hirsute demon, yclept Hobthrust.' In the Fylde country,
+however, the lubber fiends seem to have been as industrious as was
+that of our legend. Tradition tells of one at Rayscar which not only
+housed the grain but also got the horses ready for the journey to the
+distant market. At Hackensall Hall one took the Celtic form of a great
+horse, and required only a pie in reward for its toil.</p>
+
+<p>The Hobs of the neighbouring county of Yorkshire are credited with
+greater powers than those required for the rapid performance of
+household duties. One of these beings is still said to haunt a cave in
+the vicinity of the old-world hamlet of Runswick. To this place
+anxious and superstitious mothers brought their ailing little ones,
+and as they stood at the mouth of the cavity, cried, 'Hob, my bairn's
+gettent kinkcough (whooping-cough?), takkt off, takkt off!' In the
+same district there is a haunted tumulus called 'Obtrash Roque,'
+rendered by Walcott 'the Heap of Hob-o'-the-Hurst.' Of the bogle
+denizen of this mound a story similar to that told by Mr. Crofton
+Croker, in Roby's <i>Traditions (Clegg Hall Boggart)</i>, is current in the
+district. A farmer who was bothered by the spirit, determined to
+remove to a quieter locality, and as the carts were leaving with the
+goods and implements a neighbour cried out, 'It's flittin yo' are,'
+when the Hob at once replied, from a churn, 'Ay, we're flitting;' upon
+which the farmer thought he might as well remain where he was. Similar
+flitting stories, however, are told of the Scandinavian <i>Nis</i>, the
+Irish <i>Cluricaun</i>, the Welsh <i>Bwbach</i>, and the Polish <i>Ickrzycki</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a5">5.</p>
+
+<p>Why the expression of a wish like this should have offended Puck is
+not very evident. There is in Sweden a lubber fiend named the <i>Tomte</i>,
+and of this being the peasantry believe that only by unrewarded toil
+can it work out its salvation. Can the Lancashire King of the Fairies
+have been one of the same order, and have considered the utterance of
+a good wish as a reward, or even as a sarcastic allusion to his 'lost
+condition'?</p>
+
+<p>The belief is by no means uncommon that the fairies are the angels who
+were neutral during the Satanic rebellion. In Brittany, however
+(<i>Chants Populaires de la Bretagne</i>, par Th. Hersart de la
+Villemarqu&eacute;), they are the Princesses who, in the days of the
+Apostles, would not embrace Christianity.</p>
+
+<p>The traditions of most countries agree, however, in attributing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_249">249</a></span> to
+the fairies extreme sensitiveness on the subject of their condition.
+Mr. Campbell has recorded that when the elves, who had grown weary of
+crossing the Dornoch Frith in cockle-shells, were engaged in building
+a bridge of gold across its mouth, a passer-by lifted his hands and
+blessed the tiny workmen, who immediately vanished, the bridge sinking
+with them beneath the waves, and its place being at once taken by
+quicksands. Almost every district haunted by 'greenies' or 'hill folk'
+has its story of a piteous appeal on the subject of their future state
+made by visible or invisible fairies. In a Highland story it is an old
+man reading the Bible who is accosted, the inquirer screaming and
+plunging into the sea upon being answered that the sacred pages did
+not contain any allusion to the salvation of any but the sons of Adam.
+My friend, Mr. Kennedy, in his valuable <i>Legendary Fictions of the
+Irish Celts</i>, gives a charming traditionary story of a priest who was
+benighted and lost upon a moor, and who was similarly accosted, and
+implored to declare that at the last day the lot of the fairies would
+not be with Satan. After the appeal had been somewhat ambiguously
+answered, 'a weak light was shed around where he stood, and he
+distinguished the path and an opening in the fence.'</p>
+
+<p>In Cornwall they are supposed to be the spirits of the people who
+inhabited the country long before the birth of Christ, and who,
+although not good enough to partake of the joys of Heaven, yet are too
+good for Hell. In Wales there is a somewhat similar belief, but it is
+said that their probation will end at the day of judgment, when they
+will be admitted to Paradise. It is commonly believed by the Cornish
+peasants that they are gradually growing smaller, and that at length
+they will change into ants. Few people in Cornwall, therefore, are
+sufficiently venturesome to destroy a colony of those insects.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a6">6.</p>
+
+<p>Many are the old sacred piles in Lancashire with the building of which
+it is believed that goblins had something to do. The parish church of
+Rochdale, the old church of Samlesbury, that of St. Oswald's at
+Winwick, near Warrington, and the parish church of Burnley, may be
+instanced as a few of those which are popularly supposed to have been
+interfered with by superhuman labourers. At Rochdale the unexpected
+workpeople took the form of 'strange-looking men;' in other cases, as
+in those of Winwick and Burnley, pigs removed the materials, it being
+traditional that their cry of 'we-week' gave its name to the former
+place; while at Newchurch, in Rossendale,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_250">250</a></span> although the interloping
+builders were invisible, a little old woman with a bottle was not only
+seen, but was fraternised with by the thirsty watchers who had been
+appointed to guard the foundations. Similar stories of changed site
+are told of numerous churches throughout Britain. The legend of
+Gadshill church, near Ventnor, like that of Hinderwell, Yorkshire,
+attributes the removal of the foundations to supernatural means, the
+stones having hopped after each other from their original place at the
+foot of the hill to that in which they were afterwards found, the
+shins of the watchers having been 'barked' in the most unceremonious
+manner by certain little blocks of somewhat erratic tendencies. It is,
+however, by no means improbable that at Gadshill, as at Rochdale, the
+fact of the building having been erected in a position so difficult of
+access, and so trying to aged and infirm parishioners, may have caused
+a testy and irreverent, and perhaps asthmatic, worshipper to invent
+the Satanic theory. In one case, that of Bredon, in Leicestershire,
+the objectors appear to have taken the form of doves. Loth as one may
+be to think harm of such sweet messengers, Mr. Kennedy, after telling
+the story of the building of the cathedral of Ardfert, in Kerry, by
+St. Brendain, and the trouble caused by a large crow, which took the
+measuring line in its bill and flew across the valley with it, adds,
+'The bird was a fairy in disguise. If the messenger had been <i>from
+another quarter</i>, he would have made his appearance under snowy
+plumes.'<a id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">B</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">B</span></a> The foundations of the priory church of Christchurch,
+Hampshire, were, tradition says, removed by unseen hands, down from
+the lonely St. Catherine's Hill to the present site in the valley. The
+beams and rafters, too short on the hill, were too long in the vale.
+In the valley, too, an extra workman, Christ, always came on the
+pay-night.</p></div>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a7">7.</p>
+
+<p>This work of art was one of the gargoyles of the old building, and was
+purchased by Mr. Ffarington, the father of the present lady of the
+manor, when the church was rebuilt. It bore the name of 'the Cat
+Stone.'</p>
+
+<p>Another version of this tradition, of but limited circulation, and
+little known even in the immediate locality, credits an angel with the
+removal of the foundations and with the utterance of the following
+anything but angelic strain:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Here I have placed thee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And here shalt thou stand;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And thou shalt be called<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The church of Leyland!<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_251">251</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a8">8.</p>
+
+<p>This legend appears to have had a Teutonic origin. Mr. Kelly, in his
+chapter on the 'Wild Hunt,' quotes a somewhat similar story from a
+German source: 'The wild huntsman's hounds can talk like men. A
+peasant caught one of them, a little one, and hid it in his pack. Up
+came the wild huntsman and missed it. "Where are you, Waldmann?" he
+cried. "In Heineguggeli's sack," was the answer.'</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a9">9.</p>
+
+<p>'The passing bell,' says Harland, 'according to Grose, was anciently
+rung for two purposes, one to bespeak the prayers of all good
+Christians for a soul just departing, the other to drive away the evil
+spirits who stood at the bed's foot ready to seize their prey, or at
+least to molest and terrify the soul on its passage.'</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Sikes says that in Wales, before the Reformation, 'there was kept
+in all Welsh churches, a handbell which was taken by the Sexton to the
+house where a funeral was to be held, and rung at the head of the
+procession,' and that 'the custom survived long after the Reformation
+in many places, as at Caerleon, the little Monmouthshire village,
+which was a bustling Roman city when London was a hamlet. The bell,
+called the <i>bangu</i>, was still preserved in the parish of Llanfair
+Duffryn Clwyd half a dozen years ago.'</p>
+
+<p>The bell might now with greater propriety be called the <i>pass&eacute;d</i> bell,
+as it is tolled only after a death, the ringing concluding with a
+number of distinct knells to announce the years and sex of the
+deceased, which the authority alluded to above considers 'a vestige of
+an ancient Roman Catholic injunction.' Until a comparatively recent
+period it was customary at Walton-le-Dale, Lancashire, to inter
+Protestants in the afternoon, a bell being tolled at intervals prior
+to the funeral; Catholics, however, were buried in the evening, a full
+peal being rung upon the bells immediately before the procession
+started.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Thornber, writing in 1844, says that at the beginning of this
+century, at Poulton, the more respectable portion of the inhabitants
+were buried by candle-light, and that it was considered a sacred duty
+to expose a lighted candle in the windows of every house as the corpse
+was carried through the streets. He speaks of the custom as a mark of
+respect to the dead, but possibly there was something more than this
+in it. In Ireland<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_252">252</a></span> even to-day it is usual to leave lighted candles in
+the room where a corpse is laid out.</p>
+
+<p>This belief in the power of bells over not only demons and evil
+spirits of every kind, but also over the elves and 'good people,'
+appears to have been held in all countries ever inhabited by fairies
+and hill folk. The Danish trolls are said to have been driven out of
+the country by the hanging of bells in the churches, the noise
+reminding them forcibly of the time when Thor used to fling his hammer
+after them. It is recorded in a bit of local doggrel from the pen of a
+dead and forgotten rhymester, that the fairies remained at
+Saddleworth, on the confines of Lancashire and Yorkshire, until</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i4">'The steeple rose,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And bells began to play;'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>when the Queen wandered away to the wild district</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'Where Todmore's kingdom lay;'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>and the less important plebeians of fairy land 'dispers&eacute;d, went.' Mr.
+Henderson says that 'at Horbury, near Wakefield, and at Dewsbury, on
+Christmas Eve, is rung the "devil's knell," a hundred strokes, then a
+pause, then three strokes, three strokes, and three strokes again.'</p>
+
+<p>In Iceland it is believed that at daybreak or upon the ringing of a
+bell the trolls flee.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a10">10.</p>
+
+<p>Fairy funerals, according to tradition, have been seen in other
+counties beside Lancashire, for an old Welsh writer alludes to such
+sights as having been witnessed in his day. Mr. Wirt Sikes, in his
+<i>British Goblins</i>, a recent and most valuable contribution to the folk
+lore and mythology of South Wales, says that the bell of Blaenporth,
+Cardiganshire, was noted for tolling thrice at midnight, unrung by
+human hands, to foretell death, and that when the 'Tolaeth before the
+burying,' the sound of an unseen funeral-procession passing by, is
+heard, the voices sing the 'Old Hundredth,' and the tramping of feet
+and the sobbing and groaning of mourners can be heard. In Normandy,
+says P. Le Fillastre, <i>Annuaire de la Manche</i>, 1832, the large white
+coffins, <i>les bi&egrave;res</i>, which the belated voyager sees along the roads,
+or placed on the churchyard fences, are unaccompanied by either
+bearers or mourners, and the cemetery bell is silent.</p>
+
+<p>Readers of Professor Hunt's volumes of Cornish Drolls and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_253">253</a></span> Romances
+will remember the beautiful legend of the fisherman who, gazing by
+night through the window of a lonely church, saw a procession passing
+along the aisle, and witnessed the interment, near the sacramental
+table, of the fairy queen. The only point of resemblance, however,
+between the Southern and Northern traditions is to be found in the
+solemn tolling of the church-bell. The Cornish story is unique in one
+respect, inasmuch as, although we have plenty of legends in which the
+fairies evince a desire to peer into their future state, and even some
+in which their deaths are alluded to, it is extremely rare to find one
+in which the burial of a fairy is narrated; and this fact would seem
+to point to a defect in the 'Finn theory,' so plausibly advocated by
+Mr. Campbell; for, surely, if once upon a time 'the fairies were a
+real people, like the Lapps,' tradition would not be so silent, as it
+almost universally is, with reference to the outward and visible signs
+of their mortality.<a id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">C</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">C</span></a> Only since these notes were in type have I seen the
+excellent paper from the pen of Mr. Grant Allen (<i>Cornhill Magazine</i>,
+March 1881), on the Genesis of the Myth of the Fairies. See also the
+same charming writer's <i>Vignettes from Nature</i>, p. 206, and papers by
+B. Melle and F. A. Allen, in <i>Science Gossip</i> for 1866, 'The Track of
+the Pigmies.'</p></div>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a11">11.</p>
+
+<p>My friend, Mr. W. E. A. Axon, in his interesting <i>Black Knight of
+Ashton</i>, tells a story of a 'Race with the Devil,' the hero of which
+was one of a party of <i>pace-eggers</i>, who, waking up after a doze by a
+farm-house fire, beside which the party had been permitted to sleep on
+a wild night, and, feeling cold, had put on his Beelzebub dress, to
+the terror of another member of the company, who awoke afterwards, and
+seeing, as he supposed, the Devil seated airing himself by the fire,
+fled into the darkness and the storm, his equally terrified companions
+following him, and the no-less-frightened Beelzebub bringing up the
+rear.</p>
+
+<p>The Mid and South Lancashire stories, as will at once be seen, do not
+resemble each other in any way, however; and I refer to Mr. Axon's
+legend for the sake of directing my readers' attention to a valuable
+note appended to it, in which Mr. Axon points out that there is a
+similar old Hindoo story of such a chase, which was translated from
+the Sanscrit into Chinese not later than the year 800.</p>
+
+<p>It seems hardly probable that the Lancashire pace-egging story, so
+exquisitely narrated by my friend, could have had an Aryan origin, yet
+the resemblance is a striking and remarkable one.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_254">254</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a12">12.</p>
+
+<p>Many are the traditions of submerged bells told along the Lancashire
+coast. 'Here,' says the Rev. W. Thornber in the scarce <i>History of
+Blackpool</i> (1844), 'or out at sea opposite this spot, once stood the
+cemetery of Kilgrimol, mentioned in the above-quoted chapter of the
+Priory of Lytham. Of this fact, tradition is not silent, and the
+rustic who dwells in the neighbourhood relates tales of fearful
+sights, and how many a benighted wanderer has been terrified with the
+sounds of bells pealing dismal chimes.' In Wales, too, the
+superstition is a common one. It is by no means improbable that there
+may be more in these faint whispers than would at first appear, and
+that underneath these dim traditions of churches swallowed by the sea
+there may rest a faint stratum of the old Scandinavian superstition
+that sweet singing and beautiful music could be heard by any who stood
+to listen on an Elf hill; for, although the idea of submerged cities
+may be found floating in the lore of all Celtic peoples, and in some
+places the submersion is a matter even of history,<a id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">D</a> in others, as at
+Kilgrimol, it is doubtful whether the sounds come from the sea or the
+earth. It is, therefore, more than likely that the traditions of
+submersion have received the addition of pealing bells from natural
+causes. There is an Indian superstition which in another way
+illustrates this theory. Manitobah Lake, in the Red River region,
+derives its name from a small island, upon which is heard, whenever
+the gales blow from the north, a sound resembling the pealing of
+distant church-bells, and which is caused by the waves beating on the
+shore at the foot of the cliffs and the rubbing of the fallen
+fragments against each other. This island the Ojibeways suppose to be
+the home of Manitobah, 'the speaking god,' and upon it they dare not
+land.</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">D</span></a> <i>Vide</i> Lyell's <i>Principles of Geology</i>, Chapter on
+<i>Encroachments of the Sea</i>, for many instances of submerged villages
+and churches along the English coast.</p></div>
+
+<p>There is in Normandy a singular tradition of a submerged bell, dating
+back to the time of the English occupation, along with others of
+buried and hidden treasure. It is said that, as the English soldiers
+were abandoning the country, they destroyed the abbey of Corneville,
+and were taking away with them the principal bell, when the barge
+capsized. As they were trying to recover the prize, the French came
+upon them, and they were obliged to hurry away, leaving the bell
+behind. Since that time, whenever the bells of the churches in the
+district ring out their joyous peals upon solemn festival days, the
+submerged bell also can be heard joining in the carillon. (<i>Essai sur
+l'arrondissement de Pont-Audemer</i>.)</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_255">255</a></span></p><p>A story somewhat similar to this is told of a bell from St. David's,
+Pembrokeshire, carried off by Cromwellian troops whose vessel
+afterwards was wrecked in Ramsay Sound, from the moving waters of
+which the pealing can be heard when a storm is rising.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a13">13.</p>
+
+<p>For the sake of those who are not 'native and to the manner born,'
+Roger's story is not given in his vernacular, a mixture of the
+Mid-Lancashire and the Furness dialects, trying even to those who are
+acquainted with the expressive Doric of other parts of the County
+Palatine.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a14">14.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Henderson, in his <i>Notes on the Folk Lore of the Northern Counties
+of England and the Borders</i>, states that Mr. Wilkie maintains that the
+<i>Digitalis purpurea</i> was in high favour with the witches, who used to
+decorate their fingers with its largest bells; hence called Witches'
+Thimbles. Mr. Hartley Coleridge has more pleasing associations with
+this gay wild-flower. He writes of 'the fays</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">That sweetly nestle in the foxglove bells;'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>and adds in a note, 'popular fancy has generally conceived a
+connection between the foxglove and the good people.' In Ireland,
+where it is called <i>lusmore</i>, or the great herb, and also Fairy Cup,
+the bending of its stalks is believed to denote the unseen presence of
+supernatural beings. The Shefro, or gregarious fairy, is represented
+as wearing the corona of the foxglove on his head, and no unbecoming
+head-dress either. In Wales, that the elves wear gloves of the bells
+of <i>Digitalis</i> is a common fancy.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a15">15.</p>
+
+<p>This conventional circle seems to be universally common to such
+stories of summoning the Evil One. Even in China, as Mr. Dennys has
+stated, the ring is drawn round the summoner, and the incantation
+uttered, as in our own stories.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a16">16.</p>
+
+<p>In Lancashire, Old Nick (afterwards St. Nicholas, the patron saint of
+sailors) is considered the patron saint of the wind, just<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_256">256</a></span> as in the
+Scandinavian mythology it is Odin, also termed Nick and Hold Neckar,
+who raises storms.</p>
+
+<p>In Normandy, near Aigle, there is a superstition respecting a Mother
+<i>Nique</i>, doubtless, says Vaugeois, of Scandinavian origin.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a17">17.</p>
+
+<p>Instances of generous treatment of opponents on the part of the Evil
+One are by no means rare. Readers of Mr. Roby will remember that Satan
+gave a loophole of escape to Michael Waddington, the hero of 'Th' Dule
+upo' Dun' legend, by granting him an extra wish, although the poor
+wretch's time was up.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a18">18.</p>
+
+<p>The Cockerham schoolmaster appears to have lacked originality, for in
+the Scottish legend of 'Michael Scott' it is recorded that when the
+fairies crowded round his dwelling crying for work, he bade them twine
+ropes of sand to reach the moon, and tradition has it that traces of
+their unsuccessful attempts may yet be found. A more recent instance
+is told in a sketch of Dr. Linkbarrow, a Westmoreland wizard, who
+lived about a hundred years ago, quoted from the <i>Kendal Mercury</i> by
+Mr. Sullivan, in his <i>Cumberland and Westmoreland, Ancient and
+Modern</i>. The Doctor, who was disturbed at church by a terrible storm,
+hurried home, and on the way met the devil, who asked for work. He
+immediately set him to make 'thumb symes' of river sand. Imitating the
+Israelites, perhaps not unconsciously&mdash;for Satan's knowledge of
+Scripture is proverbial&mdash;the Evil One asked for straw, which was
+refused him. On his arrival at home, the Doctor found his servant
+prying into his black-letter book, which imprudence had caused the
+storm and Satan's pilgrimage.</p>
+
+<p>Several similar stories, illustrating the danger of tampering with
+books of magic, are told in Normandy. In one of them it is recorded
+that the servant of a village cur&eacute;, moved by curiosity, read a page or
+two of one of his master's volumes, when suddenly Satan appeared. The
+domestic fled, but the Evil One captured him, and was making away with
+him when the cur&eacute; arrived and simply read a few other words from the
+book, upon which Satan dropped his prey. In another one Satan keeps
+his victim three years, but at length is obliged to let him go.</p>
+
+<p>In the last story of this kind, however, which has come under my
+notice&mdash;a French one by the way&mdash;the incautious student<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_257">257</a></span> has scarcely
+read a line of the open book when Satan appears and strangles him. The
+sorcerer, quietly returning home, sees devils perched on the house,
+and, surprised, beckons them to approach. One does so, and tells him
+the story, and he thereupon rushes to his study and finds the student
+stretched dead upon the floor. Afraid of being accused of murder, he
+orders the devil who had assassinated the scholar to pass into the
+body of his victim. The demon obeys, and goes to promenade in the
+street at the point most frequented by the students, but suddenly,
+upon another order, he quits the body, and the corpse falls in the
+midst of the terrified promenaders.</p>
+
+<p>In Cornwall, instead of the devil, it is the ghost of Tregeagle, the
+wizard, that is doomed to make trusses of sand in Genvor Cove, and to
+bear them to the top of Escol's Cliff. Having once succeeded in
+carrying a truss, after having first brought water from a neighbouring
+stream and frozen the sand, he is now condemned to make the trusses
+without water.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a19">19.</p>
+
+<p>Another version of this story, which is still told in the lonely
+farm-houses of the district, gives the scholars the credit of having
+raised the devil during the absence of their master. Similar tasks
+were given to the infernal visitor by a sharp-witted lad, who feared
+lest his should be the soul the Evil One threatened to take back with
+him; and not many years ago a flag, said to have been broken by the
+outwitted Satan in his passage across the floor, used to be
+triumphantly exhibited to any daring and irreverent sceptic who
+expressed doubts as to the truthfulness of the narrative.</p>
+
+<p>At Burnley Grammar School a black mark on a stone was at one time
+exhibited in proof of a state visit of the same kind, and a similar
+ignominious flight.</p>
+
+<p>The Grammar School of Middleton, near Manchester, also can boast of
+the patronage of the Evil One; and Samuel Bamford has recorded that in
+his youth a hole in the school flags was shown as an impression of the
+Satanic hoof. The Middleton legend credits the lads with the
+unenviable honour of having called up the fiend and afterwards
+innocently wishing him to withdraw, which he sternly declined to do
+without having received his usual fee of a soul. As at Cockerham, he
+was requested to make a rope of sand; and he was rapidly completing
+the task, when, to the joy of the urchins, the schoolmaster came upon
+the scene, and quickly exorcised the visitor, who, in his disgusted
+and disordered flight, broke down nearly half of the building.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_258">258</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a20">20.</p>
+
+<p>Stories of headless beings may be found in the lore of most countries
+of Europe, and are of the same class as those of the men, women and
+horses 'beawt yeds,' common to the hilly districts of both North and
+South Lancashire. As a general rule, in South Lancashire, the head is
+not seen at all, whereas in the northern part of the county the
+spectre almost invariably carries it under the left arm, as is done by
+the wandering beings in similar Danish stories. A Scotch legend,
+alluded to by Sir Walter Scott, credits the ghost of a Duchess of
+Queensberry with an innovation, as the spectre is said to wheel its
+head in a barrow through the galleries of Drumlanrick Castle. In
+Glamorganshire there is a tradition of a headless woman, who appears
+every sixty years, and many are the terrible stories told of her
+dreadful visitations.</p>
+
+<p>Although tales of headless horses are not rare in Lancashire, there
+does not appear to be any tradition of hearses, or other conveyances
+drawn by them, similar to the Northumberland legend of the midnight
+cavalcade along the subterraneous passage between Tarset and Dalby
+Castles, or to the stories told by the Irish peasants.</p>
+
+<p>It is more than probable that many of the legends and stories of
+headless beings of both sexes had their origin in the old Saxon belief
+that if a person who was guilty of a crime for which he deserved to
+lose his head, died without having paid the penalty, he was condemned
+after death to travel over the earth with his head under his arm.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a21">21.</p>
+
+<p>Not very long ago it was commonly believed at Warrington, on the
+authority of many persons who declared they had seen the apparition,
+that a spectral white rabbit haunted Bank Quay, its appearance
+invariably foretelling the early death of a relative of the person
+whose misfortune it was to behold the animal.</p>
+
+<p>'In Cornwall,' says Mr. Hunt, 'it is a very popular fancy that when a
+maiden who has loved not wisely but too well, dies forsaken and
+broken-hearted, she comes back in the shape of a white hare to haunt
+her deceiver. The phantom follows the false one everywhere, mostly
+invisible to all else. It sometimes saves him from danger, but
+invariably the white hare causes the death of the betrayer in the
+end.'</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a22">22.</p>
+
+<p>Can this tradition be an offshoot of the legend of Ahasuerus, the
+Wandering Jew, the man who, standing at his door, refused<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_259">259</a></span> the cup of
+water for which the Saviour, bowed down beneath the burden of the
+cross, begged, but who bade the Lord walk quicker, and was answered,
+'I go, but thou shalt thirst and tarry till I come'? In one shape or
+another most European countries have the weird myth of this restless
+being. In none of the stories, however, have I found any reference to
+an animal accompanying the wanderer.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a23">23.</p>
+
+<p>The belief in the efficacy of fairy ointment appears to have been
+somewhat generally held in England. A Northumberland tradition tells
+of a midwife who was fetched to attend a lady, and who received a box
+of ointment with which to anoint the infant. By accident the woman
+touched one of her eyes with the mixture, and at once saw that she was
+in a fairy palace. She had the good sense, however, to conceal her
+astonishment, and reached her home in safety. Some time afterwards she
+saw the lady stealing bits of butter in the market-place, and
+thoughtlessly accosted her, when, after an inquiry similar to that of
+the Lancashire legend, the fairy breathed upon the offending eye and
+destroyed the sight. Other versions still current in Northumberland
+make the thief a fairy stealing corn. Similar stories are told in
+Devonshire and in both the Lowlands and Highlands of Scotland. In
+Scotland, however, the fairy spits into the woman's eye. The Irish
+fairy (Co. Wexford), a vindictive being, uses a switch.</p>
+
+<p>In Cornwall a fairy bantling has to be put out to nurse, and has to be
+washed regularly in water and carried to its room by its invisible
+relatives. The nurse receives the marvellous sight after some of the
+liquid has splashed upon her eyes, and the usual result follows. She
+sees a thief in the market-place&mdash;that of St. Ives; and after he has
+muttered&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'Water for elf, not water for self!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">You've lost your eye, your child, and yourself!'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>she becomes blind. In another Cornish legend a green ointment, made
+with four-leaved clover, gathered at a certain time of the moon,
+confers the wondrous gift. In Lancashire the four-leaved clover does
+not require any preparation; the mere possession of it being supposed
+to render fairies visible.</p>
+
+<p>The Scandinavian belief appears to have been that, although the hill
+folk could bestow the gift of this sight upon whom they chose, all
+children born on Sunday possessed the faculty. This superstition seems
+to survive in a slightly altered form in the Lancashire one that
+children born during twilight can see<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_260">260</a></span> spirits and foretell deaths,
+the latter faculty, probably, having been substituted for the
+prophetic power of the chosen of the elves in the Northern mythology.</p>
+
+<p>It is more than probable that these ointment stories came from the
+East. Who does not remember the charming history of the blind man,
+Baba Abdalla, whose sight was destroyed by a little miraculous
+ointment, and afterwards as wonderfully restored by a box on the ear?</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a24">24.</p>
+
+<p>An old farm-labourer pointed out to me a place where the Evil One used
+to meet the witches, and gambol with them until cock-crow. It was at
+the junction of four cross-roads, between Stonyhurst and Ribchester;
+and as I stood there at 'th' edge o' dark,' when the wind was
+whispering through the fir woods on either hand, with that mysterious
+sound so like the gentle wash of waves upon a sandy shore, the spot
+seemed indeed a suitable one for such gatherings.</p>
+
+<p>My informant, however, although very circumstantial in his account of
+what had transpired at the nocturnal assemblies, scouted the idea of
+anything of the sort taking place in these times, and remarked drily:
+'Ther's too mich leet neaw-a-days, Mesthur, fur eawt o' that mak'. Wi'
+should hev' th' caanty police after um afooar they'd time to torn
+raand!'</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a25">25.</p>
+
+<p>Until recently, there was an ancient British tumulus by the side of
+the highway from Darwen to Bolton, where the road passes through the
+domains of White Hall and Low Hill. This spot, long before the urns of
+bones were disinterred, was looked upon by the country people as being
+haunted by various boggarts, and Mr. Charles Hardwick says that
+children were in the habit of taking off their clogs and shoes, and
+walking past the heap barefooted when compelled to traverse the road
+after nightfall.<a id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">E</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_E_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">E</span></a> <i>Vide</i> foot-note, p. <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</p></div>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a26">26.</p>
+
+<p>Mag did not wander far, for her grave is shown in the churchyard at
+Woodplumpton, in which village her memory still is green. But few
+people venture to rest themselves upon the huge stone which marks the
+spot where her spirit was laid.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_261">261</a></span></p><p>A strangely jumbled tradition tells how a priest managed to 'catch'
+her and 'lay her spirit.' In Cornwall and other counties a clergyman
+of the Establishment was considered qualified to 'lay' a ghost; but in
+Lancashire it was believed that only a Roman Catholic priest had the
+wondrous power. In Wales the magical number three is brought in, for
+three clergymen are necessary to exorcise a spirit. In Normandy, as a
+matter of course, only the priests have the power.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a27">27.</p>
+
+<p>Witchen or quicken, old English names of the rowan or mountain ash.
+Mr. Kelly (<i>Indo-European Tradition and Folklore</i>) accounts for the
+reputation of the 'wiggin' by connecting it with the Indian Palasa,
+the tree that, according to the Vedas, sprang from the feather which,
+together with a claw, fell from the falcon bringing the heavenly
+<i>soma</i> to earth. The same writer also compares it with the Mimosa, and
+quotes a singular passage from Bishop Heber, to the effect that the
+natives of Upper India are in the habit of wearing sprigs of it in
+their turbans, and of suspending pieces of it over their beds, as
+security against wizards, spells, the Evil Eye, etc. Naturally enough
+the Bishop expresses his surprise at finding the superstitions, which
+in England and Scotland attach to the rowan, applied in India to a
+tree of similar form, and he asks, 'From what common centre are these
+common notions derived?' The Mimosa is popularly supposed to have
+sprung from the claw alluded to above.</p>
+
+<p>On account of its reputed power against the 'feorin,' a rowan tree was
+almost invariably planted near the moorland or mountain side
+farm-house.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'Rowan, ash, and red thread<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Keep the devils from their speed,'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>says the old distich.</p>
+
+<p>In some parts of Scotland ash sap still is given to infants as a
+preservative against fairies.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a28">28.</p>
+
+<p>It was firmly believed in Lancashire, says Mr. Harland, that a great
+gathering of witches assembled on this night at their general
+rendezvous in the Forest of Pendle&mdash;a ruined and desolate farm-house
+called the <i>Malkin Tower</i> (Malkin being the name of a familiar demon
+in Middleton's old play of <i>The Witch</i>, derived from <i>maca</i>, an equal,
+a companion). This<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_262">262</a></span> superstition led to another, that of <i>lighting</i>,
+<i>lating</i>, or <i>leeting</i> the witches (from <i>leoht</i>, A.-S., light). It
+was believed that if a lighted candle were carried about the fells or
+hills from eleven to twelve o'clock at night, and it burned all the
+time steadily, it had so far triumphed over the evil power of the
+witches, who, as they passed to the Malkin Tower, would employ their
+utmost efforts to extinguish the light, that the person whom it
+represented might safely defy their malice during the season; but if
+by any accident the light went out, it was an omen of evil to the
+luckless wight for whom the experiment was made. It was also deemed
+inauspicious to cross the threshold of that person until after the
+return from leeting, and not then unless the candle had preserved its
+light. Mr. Milner describes the ceremony as having been recently
+performed.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a29">29.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Sullivan quotes this quaint old carol at length in his <i>Cumberland
+and Westmoreland, Ancient and Modern</i>; and adds, 'This song is still
+sung at Penrith, having replaced one called "Joseph and Mary," in the
+early part of the century. Yet its antiquity is undoubted, and it has
+probably come here from Lancashire, where it is well known.'</p>
+
+<p>As, however, it is by no means so widely known as Mr. Sullivan
+supposes, we may be pardoned if we reproduce it here. The second and
+remaining verses are as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'I met three ships come sailing by,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Come sailing by, etc.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Who do you think was in one of them?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In one of them? etc.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The Virgin Mary and her Son,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And her Son, etc.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">She combed His hair with an ivory comb,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">An ivory comb, etc.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">She washed His face in a silver bowl,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A silver bowl, etc.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">She sent Him up to heaven to school,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To heaven to school, etc.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">All the angels began to sing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Began to sing, etc.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">The bells of heaven began to ring,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Began to ring, etc.'<br /></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_263">263</a></span></div></div>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a30">30.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Samuel Bamford says that Middleton Parish Church was the scene of
+a procession similar to that described in the above legend, the
+observer being an avaricious old sexton who was anxious to know what
+fees he should receive in the following year. This worthy, on All
+Souls' night, stationed himself in the sacred building, and counted
+the spirits he saw enter and walk about, until he observed a double of
+himself. Of course, soon afterwards there was a vacancy for a
+gravedigger at Middleton, the sight having been too much for 'Old
+Johnny.'</p>
+
+<p>A similar superstition reigns in various parts of England and in
+Wales, where, at Christmas-time, says Mr. Croker, quoting from a Welsh
+authority, the relatives of the deceased listen at the church door in
+the dark, 'when they sometimes fancy they hear the names called over
+in church of those who are destined shortly to join their lost
+relatives in the tomb.'</p>
+
+<p>In Cornwall, strange to say, it is a young unmarried woman who,
+standing in the church porch at midnight on Midsummer's-eve, sees the
+strange gathering. 'This is so serious an affair,' says Professor
+Hunt, 'that it is not, I believe, often tried. I have, however, heard
+of young women who have made the experiment. But every one of the
+stories relate that they have seen shadows of themselves coming last
+in the procession; that pining away from that day forward, ere
+Midsummer has again come round they have been laid to rest in the
+village graveyard.'</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Sikes says that it is a Hallow-Een custom in some parts of Wales
+to listen at the church door in the dark to hear shouted by a ghostly
+voice in the edifice the names of those who are shortly to be buried
+in the adjoining churchyard. In other parts, he says, 'the window
+serves the same purpose,' and, he adds, 'there are said to be still
+extant outside some village churches steps which were constructed in
+order to enable the superstitious peasantry to climb to the window to
+listen.' These steps in several places seemed to me to be merely old
+mounting blocks, but they may have been made use of for the less
+practical purpose in question.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a31">31.</p>
+
+<p>It is asserted that at the present day dogs cannot be induced to go
+near this quarry, and that even closely hunted animals will permit
+themselves to be captured rather than enter its recesses.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_264">264</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a32">32.</p>
+
+<p>Few superstitions have a wider circle of believers in Lancashire than
+that which attributes to dogs the power of foretelling death and
+disaster. There are few people, however well educated, who would be
+able to resist a foreboding of coming woe if they heard the howling of
+a strange dog under the window of a sick person's room; and, absurd as
+the dread so inspired may seem to the sceptic, there is more ground
+for it than can easily be explained away. It has frequently been urged
+that the animals are attracted by the lighted window, and that their
+howlings are nothing more than unpleasant appeals for admittance; and
+that often, by reason of the awe with which tradition has surrounded
+the noises, they terrify the invalid, and produce the end they are
+supposed to foretell. This plausible theory, however, does not account
+in any way for the similar visitations made in the daytime, when there
+is no artificial light to attract; or for the singular facts, that
+generally the dog is a stranger to the locality&mdash;that it does not
+loiter about, but makes its way direct to the particular house&mdash;that
+it will wait until a gate is opened, so that it may get near to the
+window&mdash;that it cannot be driven away before its mission has been
+performed&mdash;and that, in all cases, the howling is alike, invariably
+terminating in three peculiar yelping barks, which are no sooner
+uttered than the animal runs off, and is no more seen in the
+neighbourhood.</p>
+
+<p>In Normandy the noise is considered an infallible presage of death.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Kelly says that this superstition obtains credence in France and
+Germany; and that in Westphalia, a dog howling along a road is
+considered a sure sign that a funeral soon will pass that way. In the
+Scandinavian mythology, Hel, Goddess of Death, is visible only to
+dogs.</p>
+
+<p>The superstition has, at any rate, antiquity to recommend it, and it
+seems evident from Exodus xi. 5-7, that even in the days of the
+captivity of the Children of Israel in Egypt, the omen was firmly
+believed in.</p>
+
+<p>I was seated one summer evening in the drawing-room of a house in one
+of the large London squares. The conversation was of the ordinary
+after-dinner nature, but enlivened by the remarks of more than one
+gifted guest. It was, however, suddenly interrupted in a very
+startling manner by the howling of a dog, which had placed itself in
+the roadway facing the house, regardless alike of the wheels of the
+numerous passing carriages and cabs, and of the whips of the drivers.
+The lady of the house, a north-country woman, said at once, as she
+rose from her seat at the open window, 'That means death. I shall hear
+of some sad trouble.' The dog would not be driven away by<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_265">265</a></span> the angry
+coachmen and cabmen, but finished the howling with three peculiar
+yelps, and then trotted off rapidly; and there was much jesting during
+the rest of the evening about the strange occurrence. A few days
+afterwards, however, I was informed that on the evening of the
+dinner-party the brother of the hostess had died in North Lancashire.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a33">33.</p>
+
+<p>'Th' Gabriel Ratchets' strike terror into the heart of many a moorland
+dweller in Lancashire and Yorkshire still, presaging, as they are
+believed to do, death or sorrow to every one who is so unfortunate as
+to hear them. In the popular idea they are a pack of dogs yelping
+through the air. Our old literature has many references to the
+superstition. In more recent days, Wordsworth has introduced it in one
+of his sonnets:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i6">'And oftentimes will start&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For overhead are sweeping <span class="smcap">Gabriel's Hounds</span>.'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Mr. Philip Gilbert Hamerton, in a poem dated 1849, in his <i>Isles of
+Loch Awe and other Poems</i>, which he has kindly given me permission to
+quote here, says of them,&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">'Faintly sounds the airy note,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And the deepest bay from the staghound's throat,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Like the yelp of a cur, on the air doth float,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And hardly heard is the wild halloo.'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>and&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">'They fly on the blast of the forest<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">That whistles round the withered tree,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">But where they go we may not go,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Nor see them as they fly.'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Mr. Hamerton, however, goes beyond the Lancashire peasant, at any rate
+so far as I have been able to ascertain, for I never met any one in
+the hill country or on the moorlands of the North who fancied that the
+throng included anything but <i>Ratchets</i>, <i>i.e.</i> dogs, for the poet
+goes on to sing&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">'Hark! 'tis the goblin of the wood<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Rushing down the dark hill-side,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">With steeds that neigh and hounds that bay.'<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Mr. Henderson has recorded that, about Leeds, the flight is supposed
+to be that of 'the souls of unbaptized children doomed to flit
+restlessly above their parents' abode.' In Germany, certainly the Wild
+Hunt or Furious Host is accompanied by unbaptized children, and it has
+been recorded that a woman, about the year 1800, died of grief upon
+learning that the Furious Host had passed over the village where her
+still-born child had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_266">266</a></span> died just before. Mr. Kelly (<i>Indo-European
+Tradition</i>) very ably and poetically resolves all the various
+superstitions of this Wild Hunt into figurative descriptions of
+natural phenomena, but Mr. Yarrell, the distinguished naturalist,
+reduces the cries of the Gabriel Hounds into the whistling of the Bean
+Goose, <i>Anser Segetum</i>, as the flocks are flying southward in the
+night, migrating from Scandinavia.</p>
+
+<p>In Wales 'The Whistlers,' the cry of the golden-plover, is considered
+an omen of death, but it seems to be a quite distinct superstition
+from that of the <i>Cwn Annwn</i>, or Dogs of Hell, which latter is a Wild
+Hunt.</p>
+
+<p>I have heard the weird cry of the Gabriel Ratchets at night in several
+of the northern countries, and in the loneliness and gloom of early
+winter in the heart of the hills, or upon a wild bleak moorland, it
+was difficult to overcome a sudden feeling of dread when the yelps
+rang forth, even with Mr. Yarrell's scientific explanation fresh in my
+mind.</p>
+
+<p>To sketch the ramifications of the superstition of the Wild Hunt,
+however, would require a volume, so numerous and various are they.</p>
+
+<p class="h4" id="a34">34.</p>
+
+<p>In the old witch-mania records it is not unusual to find a cock
+sacrificed to the Evil One, and Satan's dislike of cock-crow has
+become proverbial. Brand has pointed out that the Christian poet
+Prudentius (fourth century) mentions that antipathy as a tradition of
+common belief. In an old German story Satan builds a house for a
+peasant who agrees to pay his soul for the work. A condition is made,
+however, that this house must be completed before cock-crow, and the
+wily peasant, just before the last tile is put on the roof, imitates
+the bird of morn, upon which all the cocks in the locality crow, and
+Satan, baffled, flees.</p>
+
+<p>The Evil One's appearance in the form of a cat, a goat, a pig, an old
+woman, a black dog, a stylish gentleman, and the conventional shape,
+with hoof and horns, have been testified to, and Calmet (<i>Trait&eacute; sur
+les apparitions des Esprits et sur les Vampires</i>, 1751) alludes to his
+taking the shape of a raven, but I have not met with any record of his
+appearance as a cock. In this case, however, that was insisted upon,
+although it was suggested that it might have been some other fowl.</p>
+
+<p class="h4">EDINBURGH: T. AND A. CONSTABLE,<br />
+PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN, AND TO THE UNIVERSITY.</p>
+
+</div><!--main-->
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="trnote">
+
+<p class="h4">Transcriber's Notes:</p>
+
+<p>Numbered superscripts refer to sections of the Appendix.</p>
+<p>Alphabetical
+superscripts refer to footnotes.</p>
+
+<p>Archaic and inconsistent spelling, dialect, and punctuation retained.</p>
+
+<p>Advertisements were moved from the front of the book to the end.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="chap" />
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img class="border2" src="images/i007.jpg" width="400" height="599" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Goblin Tales of Lancashire, by James Bowker
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+</body>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Goblin Tales of Lancashire, by James Bowker
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
+
+
+Title: Goblin Tales of Lancashire
+
+Author: James Bowker
+
+Illustrator: Charles Gliddon
+
+Release Date: May 16, 2012 [EBook #39712]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOBLIN TALES OF LANCASHIRE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by sp1nd, Mebyon, Matthew Wheaton and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+    GOBLIN TALES OF LANCASHIRE.
+
+    BY JAMES BOWKER, F.R.G.S.I.
+
+
+    AUTHOR OF 'PHOEBE CAREW, A NORTH COAST STORY,'
+    'NAT HOLT'S FORTUNE,' ETC.
+
+    _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM DRAWINGS
+    BY THE LATE CHARLES GLIDDON._
+
+    'Of Faery-land yet if he more enquire,
+    By certain signes here sett in sondrie place,
+    He may itt fynd.'
+
+    SPENSER
+
+    'La veuve du meme Plogojovits declara que son mari depuis
+    sa mort lui etait venu demander des souliers.'
+
+    CALMET, _Traite sur les Apparitions_, 1751.
+
+    London
+
+    W. SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO.
+    PATERNOSTER ROW
+
+
+    TO
+
+    THE MOST NOBLE
+    THE MARQUIS OF HARTINGTON, P.C., D.C.L.
+    THIS LITTLE VOLUME IS DEDICATED
+    IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF
+    MUCH KINDNESS.
+
+
+
+
+    CONTENTS.
+
+
+               INTRODUCTION,
+           I.--THE SKRIKER,
+          II.--THE UNBIDDEN GUEST,
+         III.--THE FAIRY'S SPADE,
+          IV.--THE KING OF THE FAIRIES,
+           V.--MOTHER AND CHILD,
+          VI.--THE SPECTRAL CAT,
+         VII.--THE CAPTURED FAIRIES,
+        VIII.--THE PILLION LADY,
+          IX.--THE FAIRY FUNERAL,
+           X.--THE CHIVALROUS DEVIL,
+          XI.--THE ENCHANTED FISHERMAN,
+         XII.--THE SANDS OF COCKER,
+        XIII.--THE SILVER TOKEN,
+         XIV.--THE HEADLESS WOMAN,
+          XV.--THE RESCUE OF MOONBEAM,
+         XVI.--THE WHITE DOBBIE,
+        XVII.--THE LITTLE MAN'S GIFT,
+       XVIII.--SATAN'S SUPPER,
+         XIX.--THE EARTHENWARE GOOSE,
+          XX.--THE PHANTOM OF THE FELL,
+         XXI.--ALLHALLOW'S NIGHT,
+        XXII.--THE CHRISTMAS-EVE VIGIL,
+       XXIII.--THE CRIER OF CLAIFE,
+        XXIV.--THE DEMON OF THE OAK,
+         XXV.--THE BLACK COCK,
+        XXVI.--THE INVISIBLE BURDEN,
+    APPENDIX.--COMPARATIVE NOTES,
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+For many of the superstitions which still cling to him the Lancashire
+man of the present day is indebted to his Celtic and Scandinavian
+ancestors. From them the Horse and Worm stories, and the Giant lore of
+the northern and southern mountains and fells, have come down, while
+the relationship of the 'Jinny Greenteeth,' the presiding nymph of the
+ponds and streams, with allusions to whom the Lancastrian mother
+strives to deter her little ones from venturing near the pits and
+brooks; to the water-spirits of the Gothic mythology, is too evident
+to admit of any doubt. The source of the 'Gabriel Ratchets,' the
+hell-hounds whose fear-inspiring yelps still are heard by the
+benighted peasant, who finds in the dread sound a warning of the
+approach of the angel of death; in the Norse Aasgaardsveia, the souls
+condemned to ride about the world until doomsday, and who gallop
+through the midnight storm with shrieks and cries which ring over the
+lonely moors; or in that other troop of souls of the brave ones who
+had died in battle, being led by the storm-god Woden to Walhalla, also
+is undeniable.
+
+Striking, however, as are the points of similitude between some of the
+Lancastrian traditions and those of the north of Europe, others seem
+to be peculiar to the county, and that these are of a darker and
+gloomier cast than are the superstitions of districts less wild and
+mountainous, and away from the weird influence of the sea, with its
+winter thunderings suggestive of hidden and awful power, may in a
+great measure be correctly attributed to the nature of the scenery.
+
+It is easy to understand how the unlettered peasant would people with
+beings of another world either the bleak fells, the deep and gloomy
+gorges, the wild cloughs, the desolate moorland wastes two or three
+thousand feet above the level of the sea, of the eastern portion of
+the county; or the salt marshes where the breeze-bent and
+mysterious-looking trees waved their spectral boughs in the wind; the
+dark pools fringed with reeds, amid which the 'Peg-o'-Lantron'
+flickered and danced, and over which came the hollow cry of the
+bittern and the child-like plaint of the plover; and the dreary glens,
+dark lakes, and long stretches of sand of the north and west.
+
+To him the forest, with its solemn Rembrandtesque gloom,
+
+    Where Druids erst heard victims groan,
+
+the lonely fir-crowned pikes, and the mist-shrouded mountains, would
+seem fitting homes for the dread shapes whose spite ended itself in
+the misfortunes and misery of humanity. Pregnant with mystery to such
+a mind would be the huge fells, with their shifting 'neetcaps' of
+cloud, the towering bluffs, the swampy moors, and trackless morasses,
+across which the setting sun cast floods of blood-red light; and
+irresistible would be the influence of such scenery upon the lonely
+labourer who would go about his daily tasks with a feeling that he was
+surrounded by the supernatural.
+
+And wild as are many parts of the county to-day, it is difficult to
+conceive its condition a century or two ago, when much of the land
+was not only uncultivated, but was, for at least a portion of the
+year, covered by sheets of water, the highways being little more than
+bridle roads, or, if wider than usual, very sloughs of despond, the
+carts in several of the rural districts being laid aside in winter as
+utterly useless, and grain and other commodities, even in summer time,
+being conveyed from place to place on the backs of long strings of
+pack-horses.
+
+Living in lonely houses and cottages shut out from civilisation by the
+difficulties of communication, and hemmed in by floating mists and by
+much that was awe-inspiring, with in winter additional barriers of
+storm, snow and flood, it is easy to imagine how in the fancy of the
+yeoman, shepherd, farmer, or solitary lime burner, as 'th' edge o'
+dark' threw its weird glamour over the scene, boggarts and phantoms
+would begin to creep about to the music of the unearthly voices heard
+in every sough and sigh of the wandering wind as it wailed around the
+isolated dwellings.
+
+In everything weird they found a message from the unknown realms of
+death. The noise of the swollen waters of the Ribble or the Lune, or
+the many smaller streams hurrying down to the sea, was to them the
+voice of the Water Spirit calling for its victim, and the howling of
+their dogs bade the sick prepare to meet 'the shadow with the keys.'
+All around them were invisible beings harmful or mischievous, and to
+them they traced much of the misfortune which followed the stern
+working of nature's laws.
+
+The superstitions which date from, as well as the actual annals of the
+Witch Mania in Lancashire, in some slight degree confirm this theory,
+for whereas in the flat and more thickly-populated districts the hag
+contented herself with stealing milk from her neighbour's cows,
+spoiling their bakings, and other practical jokes of a comparatively
+harmless kind, in the wilder localities--the region of pathless moors
+and mist-encircled mountains--the witch ever was raising terrible
+storms, bringing down the thunder, killing the cattle, dealing out
+plagues and pestilence at will, wreaking evil of every conceivable
+kind upon man and beast, and, hot from her sabbath of devil-worship,
+even casting the sombre shadows and dread darkness of death over the
+households of those who had fallen under the ban of her hate.
+
+Lancashire has, however, an extensive ghost lore to which this theory
+has no reference, consisting as it does of stories of haunted houses
+and churchyards, indelible blood-stains, and all the paraphernalia of
+the
+
+                            Shapes that walk
+    At dead of night, and clank their chains and wave
+    The torch of hell around the murderer's bed.
+
+The sketch in this volume, 'Mother and Child,' for the skeleton of
+which tradition I am indebted to the late Mr. J. Stanyan Bigg, may be
+considered a fair specimen of these stories. In most cases these
+legends are not simply the vain creations of ignorance and darkness,
+although they fade before the light of knowledge like mists before the
+sun, for under many of them may be found a moral and a warning, or a
+testimony to the beauty of goodness, hidden it is true beneath the
+covering of a rude fable, just as inscriptions rest concealed below
+the moss of graveyards. The well-known legend of the Boggart of
+Townley Hall, with its warning cry of 'Lay out, lay out!' and its
+demand for a victim every seventh year, is a striking example of
+traditions of this class--emphatic protests against wrong, uttered in
+the form of a nerve-affecting fable. In more than one of the stories
+of this kind to which I have listened, the ghost of the victim has
+re-visited 'the pale glimpses of the moon,' and made night so hideous
+to the wrong-doer, that, in despair and remorse, he has put an end to
+himself; and trivial as these things may seem to Mr. Gradgrind and his
+school, they have, like other and nobler parables, influenced minds
+impervious to dry fact.
+
+To the devil lore of the county, however, the theory certainly will
+apply, for surely it is in a gloomy gorge, through which forked
+lightnings flash and chase each other, and the thunder rolls and
+reverberates, or on a dark and lonesome moor, rather than upon the
+shady side of Pall Mall, one would expect to meet the Evil One.
+
+Yet, undoubtedly, other causes contributed to enrich the store of
+tales of fiends with which the county abounds.
+
+In Lancashire many of the old customs, even such as the riding of the
+wooden Christ on Palm Sunday, continued to be kept up at a later
+period than was the case in other parts of England; and,
+notwithstanding the prohibitory edicts of the commissioners appointed
+by Queen Elizabeth, Miracle Plays and Moralities doubtless were
+performed there even during the early part of the reign of James I.,
+for the Reformation, rapidly as its principles took root and spread in
+other parts of the country, did not make rapid headway in Lancashire,
+where great numbers of the people remained true to the faith of their
+forefathers. In fact, in many parishes, long after the Church of
+England had been by law established, Catholic priests continued to be
+the only officiating ministers. Probably the people loved their church
+not only on account of its doctrines, of which it may be presumed most
+of them knew but little, and of its impressive ceremonies, but also
+because of its recognition of the holy days and fair days, wakes, and
+games it was powerless to suppress; and perhaps of all the amusements
+thus winked at or even patronised by the church, that of dramatic
+representations, rude and grotesque as they undoubtedly were, was the
+most important. In many places the members of the various guilds and
+brotherhoods were the performers, but in the majority of cases the
+entertainments were given by the priests and other ecclesiastical
+functionaries.
+
+What part the Devil played in these amusements is well known to the
+antiquary, the old accounts containing particulars of the expenditure
+upon not only hair for the Evil One's wig, but also for canvas, of
+which to construct black shirts for the Satanic tag-rag, or, as the
+old scribes plainly put it, 'for the damned.' It is evident from the
+old records that Satan left the hands of his dresser an object
+compared with which the most hideous jack-in-the-box of the modern toy
+shop would be a vision of loveliness; and, as his chief occupations
+were those of roaring and yelling, and of suffering all sorts of
+indignities at the hands of the Vice, as does the pantaloon at the
+hands of the clown in a pantomime of to-day, it is easy to see that
+his _role_ was not a very dignified one. Everywhere the stage devil
+was simply the stage fool. Even in France, where the drama ever has
+been submitted to precise rules, 'there was,' as Albert Reville has
+remarked (_Histoire du Diable, ses origines, sa grandeur et sa
+decadence._ Strasbourg: 1870), 'a class of popular pieces called
+devilries (_diableries_), gross and often obscene masquerades, in
+which at least four devils took part.... In Germany also the devil
+was diverting on the stage. There exists an old Saxon Mystery of the
+Passion, in which Satan repeats, like a mocking echo, the last words
+of Judas who hangs himself; and when, in accordance with the sacred
+tradition, the traitor's bowels fall asunder, the Evil One gathers
+them into a basket, and, as he carries them away, sings a
+little melody appropriate to the occasion.' Undoubtedly these
+misrepresentations of the apostate angel helped to familiarise the
+popular mind with the idea of a personal devil going about veritably
+seeking whom he might devour; and although, when with the crowd in the
+presence of the Thespian ecclesiastics, people might feel quite at
+home with, and really enjoy, the company of the Evil One, away again
+on the dreary moor, or in the lonely hillside cottage, with the night
+wind howling at the door, fear would resume its wonted supremacy, and
+the feeling would be deepened and intensified by the memory of the
+horrid appearance of the stage Satan.
+
+It is possible that in a great measure we owe to these performances
+the somewhat monotonous frequency with which, in the purely local
+Lancashire devil stories, the Evil One, who generally in the most
+stupid manner permits himself to be overreached, comes oft second
+best, for doubtless many of the traditions were moulded in accordance
+with the lot of Satan in the miracle plays, as, in their turn, these
+were, although perhaps indirectly, based upon the teachings of the
+church, and that, in its turn, upon the writings of the Fathers, some
+of whom, and notably Origen, did not hesitate to speak of the
+Redemption even as due in no small degree to Satanic stupidity, a view
+so lastingly predominant in the Church that as Reville has said, 'la
+poesie ecclesiastique, la predication populaire, des enseignements
+pontificaux meme le repandirent, le dramatiserent, le consacrerent
+partout.'
+
+An interesting chapter in the history of religious beliefs might be
+written upon the views of the early Fathers with reference to Satan
+and his legion, and the student is not inclined to be quite so severe
+upon the superstitions of the unlettered peasant when he finds Jerome
+recording it as the opinion of all the doctors in the church, that the
+air between heaven and earth is filled with Evil Spirits, and
+Augustine and others stating that the devils had fallen there from a
+higher and purer region of the air. The early Christian Church too had
+its order of _Exorcists_, who had care of those possessed by Evil
+Spirits, the _energumeni_, and the Bishops, departing from the
+original idea that laymen had the power of exorcism, ordained men to
+the office and called upon them to exercise their functions even
+before the rite of baptism, to deliver the candidates 'from the
+dominion of the power of darkness.'
+
+Of the lighter superstitions in Lancashire, that of belief in fairies
+appears to be almost extinct, and it is to be lamented that forty
+years ago folk lore was considered of so little importance, for the
+slight and vague references in a rare little 'History of Blackpool,'
+by the Rev. W. Thornber, upon two of which the sketches entitled 'The
+Silver Token,' and 'The Fairy's Spade' are founded, show that the task
+of gathering a goodly store of such vestiges of ancient faiths would
+at the time when that volume was written have been a comparatively
+easy one. To-day, however, the case is different. Even my friend, the
+late Mr. John Higson, of Lees, to whose kindness I owe the tradition
+upon which the story of 'The King of the Fairies' is based, and whose
+labours in out-of-the-way paths dear to antiquaries were for some
+years as untiring as successful and praiseworthy, was not able to
+gather much bearing upon the fairy mythology of the Lancashire people.
+
+Most of the fairy and folk stories it was my good fortune to hear in
+the county and moorland districts were of a conventional kind, lubber
+fiends, death warnings, fairy ointment, and fairy money being as
+plentiful as diamonds in Eastern tales, and for that reason it was not
+thought necessary to reproduce them in this volume.
+
+The darker forms of superstition, like lower organisms, are more
+tenacious of life, and in many a retired nook of Lancashire there
+still may be found small congregations of believers in all the mystic
+lore of devildom and witchcraft. Readers of Mr. Edwin Waugh's
+exquisite sketches of north country life will at once call to mind, in
+the 'Grave of the Griselhurst Boggart,' an illustration of that dim
+fear of the supernatural which is yet so all-powerful, while the
+valuable collection of Folk Lore from the pens of the late Mr.
+Wilkinson and Mr. John Harland is full of testimony to the vitality of
+many of these offshoots from old-world creeds.
+
+
+
+
+GOBLIN TALES OF LANCASHIRE.
+
+
+
+
+TH' SKRIKER (SHRIEKER).
+
+
+On a fine night, about the middle of December, many years ago, a
+sturdy-looking young fellow left Chipping for his cottage, three or
+four miles away, upon the banks of the Hodder. The ground was covered
+with snow, which in many places had drifted into heaps, and the keen
+frost had made the road so slippery that the progress he made was but
+slow. Nature looked very beautiful, and the heart of the rustic even
+was touched by the sweet peacefulness of the scene. The noble old
+Parlick, and the sweeping Longridge, with its fir-crowned Thornley
+Height and Kemple End, stood out boldly against the clear sky, and the
+moon shed her soft silvery light into the long silent valley,
+stretching away until its virgin paleness mingled with the shadows and
+the darkness of the distant fells beyond Whitewell.
+
+All was still, save when the sighing wind rustled gently through the
+frosted branches of the leafless trees by the roadside, and shook down
+upon the wayfarer a miniature shower of snow; for even the tiny
+stream, so full of mirth and music in the summer time, had been lulled
+to sleep by the genius of winter; and the cottagers, whose little
+houses, half-hidden by the rime, seemed hardly large enough for the
+dwellings of dwarfs, had been snugly sleeping for hours.
+
+Adam was by no means a timid or nervous being, but there was a
+nameless something in the deathly silence which oppressed, if it did
+not actually frighten, him; and although he sang aloud a verse of the
+last song he had heard before he left the kitchen of the Patten Arms,
+his voice had lost its heartiness. He earnestly wished himself safely
+across the little bridge over the brook; but he was yet some distance
+from the stream when the faint chimes of midnight fell upon the air.
+Almost immediately after the last stroke of twelve had broken the
+silence a cloud passed over the face of the moon, and comparative
+darkness enveloped the scene; the wind, which before had been gentle
+and almost noiseless, began to howl amid the boughs and branches of
+the waving trees, and the frozen snow from the hedgerows was dashed
+against the wayfarer's face.
+
+He had already begun to fancy that he could distinguish in the
+soughing of the wind and the creaking of the boughs unearthly cries
+and fiendish shouts of glee; but as he approached the dreaded stream
+his courage almost entirely failed him, and it required a great effort
+to keep from turning his back to it, and running away in the direction
+of the little village at the foot of Parlick. It struck him, however,
+that he had come a long distance; that if he did go back to the Patten
+Arms the company would be dispersed, and the inmates asleep, and, what
+was more effective than all, that if he could only cross the bridge he
+would be safe, the Greenies, Boggarts, and Feorin not having power
+over any one who had passed over the water. Influenced by this
+thought, yet with his knees trembling under him, he pushed forward
+with assumed boldness, and he had almost reached the bridge when he
+heard the noise of passing feet in the crunching snow, and became
+conscious of the presence of a ghastly thing he was unable to see.
+Suddenly a sepulchral howl brought him to a stop, and, with his heart
+throbbing loudly enough to be heard, he stood gazing fixedly into the
+darkness. There was nothing to be perceived, however, save the copings
+of the bridge, with their coverings of rime; and he might have stood
+there until daylight had not another cry, louder and even more
+unearthly and horrible than the preceding one, called him from his
+trance. No sooner had this second scream died away than, impelled by
+an irresistible impulse, he stepped forward in the direction whence
+the noise had come. At this moment the moon burst forth from behind
+the clouds which had for some time obscured her light, and her rays
+fell upon the road, with its half-hidden cart-tracks winding away into
+the dim distance; and in the very centre of the bridge he beheld a
+hideous figure with black shaggy hide, and huge eyes closely
+resembling orbs of fire.
+
+Adam at once knew from the likeness the dread object bore to the
+figure he had heard described by those who had seen the Skriker, that
+the terrible thing before him was an Ambassador of Death.
+
+Without any consciousness of what he was doing, and acting as though
+under the sway of a strange and irresistible mesmeric influence, he
+stepped towards the bridge; but no sooner did he stir than the
+frightful thing in front of him, with a motion that was not walking,
+but rather a sort of heavy gliding, moved also, slowly retreating,
+pausing when he paused, and always keeping its fiery eyes fixed upon
+his blanched face. Slowly he crossed the stream, but gradually his
+steps grew more and more rapid, until he broke into a run. Suddenly a
+faint knowledge of the horrible nature of his position dawned upon
+him. A little cottage stood by the roadside, and from one of its
+chamber-windows, so near to the ground as to be within his reach, a
+dim light shone, the room probably being occupied by a sick person, or
+by watchers of the dead. Influenced by a sudden feeling of
+companionship, Adam tried to cry out, but his tongue clave to his
+parched mouth, and ere he could mumble a few inarticulate sounds,
+scarcely audible to himself, the dwelling was left far behind, and a
+sensation of utter loneliness and helplessness again took possession
+of him.
+
+He had thus traversed more than a mile of the road, in some parts of
+which, shaded by the high hedgerows and overhanging boughs, the only
+light seemed to him to be that from the terrible eyes, when suddenly
+he stumbled over a stone and fell. In a second, impressed by a fear
+that the ghastly object would seize him, he regained his feet, and, to
+his intense relief, the Skriker was no longer visible. With a sigh of
+pleasure he sat down upon a heap of broken stones, for his limbs, no
+longer forced into mechanical movement by the influence of the
+spectre's presence, refused to bear him further. Bitterly cold as was
+the night, the perspiration stood in beads upon his whitened face,
+and, with the recollection of the Skriker's terrible eyes and horrible
+body strong upon him, he shook and shivered, as though in a fit of the
+ague. A strong and burly man, in the very prime of life, he felt as
+weak as a girl, and, fearing that he was about to sink to the ground
+in a swoon, he took handfuls of the crisp snow and rubbed them upon
+his forehead. Under this sharp treatment he soon revived a little,
+and, after several unsuccessful efforts, he succeeded in regaining his
+feet, and resumed his lonely journey.
+
+Starting at the least sough of the breeze, the faintest creak of a
+bending branch, or the fall of a piece of frozen rime from a bough, he
+slowly trudged along.
+
+He had passed the quaint old house at Chaigely, the sudden yelp of a
+chained dog in the court-yard giving him a thrill of horror as he went
+by, and he had reached the bend in that part of the road which is
+opposite the towering wood-covered Kemple End. A keen and cutting
+blast swept through the black firs that crowned the summit, and stood,
+like solemn sentinels, upon the declivity. There was a music in the
+wind mournful as a croon over the corpse of a beautiful woman, whose
+hair still shimmers with the golden light of life; but Adam heard no
+melody in the moaning sighs which seemed to fill the air around. To
+him, whose soul was yet under the influence of the terror through
+which he had so recently passed, the sounds assumed an awful nature;
+whilst the firs, standing so clearly defined against the snow, which
+lay in virgin heaps upon the beds of withered fern, seemed like so
+many weird skeletons shaking their bony arms in menace or in warning.
+
+With a suddenness that was more than startling, there was a lull, and
+the breeze ceased even to whisper. The silence was more painful than
+were the noises of the blast battling with the branches, for it filled
+the breast of the solitary wayfarer with forebodings of coming woe. At
+the point he had reached the road sank, and as Adam stepped into the
+almost utter darkness, caused by the high banks, to which clung masses
+of decayed vegetation, beautified by the genius of winter into white
+festoons, again and again the terrible shriek rang out.
+
+There was no mistaking the voice of the Skriker for that of anything
+else upon earth, and, with a sickly feeling at his heart, Adam slowly
+emerged from the gloom, and, in expectation of the appearance of the
+ghastly figure, passed on. He had not to wait long, for as he reached
+the old bridge spanning the Hodder, once more he saw, in the centre
+of the road, about midway of the stream, the same terrible object he
+had followed along the lane from the brook at Thornley.
+
+With a sensation of terror somewhat less intense than that which had
+previously influenced him, he again yielded to the power which
+impelled him forward, and once more the strange procession commenced,
+the Skriker gliding over the snow, not, however, without a peculiar
+shuffling of its feet, surrounded, as they were, by masses of long
+hair, which clung to them, and deadened the sound, and Adam following
+in his mechanical and involuntary trot. The journey this time,
+however, was of but short duration, for the poor fellow's cottage was
+only a little way from the river. The distance was soon traversed, and
+the Skriker, with its face towards the terrified man, took up its
+position against the door of the dwelling. Adam could not resist the
+attraction which drew him to the ghastly thing, and as he neared it,
+in a fit of wild desperation, he struck at it, but his hand banged
+against the oak of the door, and, as the spectre splashed away, he
+fell forward in a swoon.
+
+Disturbed by the noise of the fall, the goodwife arose and drew him
+into the cottage, but for some hours he was unable to tell the story
+of his terrible journey. When he had told of his involuntary chase of
+the Skriker, a deep gloom fell over the woman's features, for she well
+knew what the ghastly visit portended to their little household. The
+dread uncertainty did not continue long, however, for on the third day
+from that upon which Adam had reached his home the eldest lad was
+brought home drowned; and after attending the child's funeral, Adam's
+wife sickened of a fever, and within a few weeks she too was carried
+to Mytton churchyard. These things, together with the dreadful
+experience of the journey from Chipping, so affected Adam that he lost
+his reason, and for years afterwards the sound of his pattering
+footsteps, as in harmless idiotcy, with wild eyes and outstretched
+hands, he trotted along the roads in chase of an imaginary Boggart,
+fell with mournful impressiveness upon the ears of groups gathered by
+farm-house fires to listen to stories of the Skriker.{1}
+
+
+
+
+THE UNBIDDEN GUEST.
+
+
+In a little lane leading from the town of Clitheroe there once lived a
+noted 'cunning man,' to whom all sorts of applications were made, not
+only by the residents, but also by people from distant places, for the
+fame of the wizard had spread over the whole country side. If a theft
+was committed, at once the services of 'Owd Jeremy' were enlisted,
+and, as a result, some one entirely innocent was, if not accused, at
+least suspected; while maidens and young men, anxious to pry into
+futurity, and behold the faces of their unknown admirers, paid him
+trifling fees to enable them to gratify their curiosity. In short,
+Jeremy professed to be an able student of the Black Art, on familiar
+speaking terms with Satan, and duly qualified to foretell men's
+destinies by the aid of the stars.
+
+The cottage in which the old man resided was of a mean order, and its
+outward appearance was by no means likely to impress visitors with an
+idea that great pecuniary advantages had followed that personal
+acquaintance with the Evil One of which the wizard boasted. If,
+however, the outside was mean and shabby, the inside of the dwelling
+was of a nature better calculated to inspire inquirers with feelings
+of awe, hung round, as the one chamber was, with faded and moth-eaten
+black cloth, upon which grotesque astrological designs and the figure
+of a huge dragon were worked in flaming red. The window being hidden
+by the dingy tapestry, the only light in the room came from a
+starved-looking candle, which was fixed in the foot of the skeleton of
+a child, attached to a string from the ceiling, and dangling just over
+the table, where a ponderous volume lay open before a large crystal
+globe and two skulls.
+
+In an old-fashioned chair, above which hung suspended a dirty and
+dilapidated crocodile, the wizard sat, and gave audience to the stray
+visitors whose desire to peer into futurity overmastered the fear with
+which the lonely cottage was regarded. A quaint-looking old man was
+Jeremy, with his hungry-looking eyes and long white beard; and, as
+with bony fingers he turned over the leaves of the large book, there
+was much in his appearance likely to give the superstitious and
+ignorant customers overwhelming ideas of his wondrous wisdom. The
+'make up' was creditable to Jeremy, for though he succeeded in
+deceiving others with his assumption of supernatural knowledge, he
+himself did not believe in those powers whose aid he so frequently
+professed to invoke on behalf of his clients.
+
+One day, when the ragged cloth had fallen behind a victim who was
+departing from the wizard's sanctum with a few vague and mysterious
+hints in exchange for solid coin, the old man, after laughing
+sarcastically, pulled aside the dingy curtains and stepped to the
+casement, through which the glorious sunlight was streaming. The scene
+upon which the wizard looked was a very beautiful one; and the old man
+leaned his head upon his hands and gazed intently upon the landscape.
+
+''Tis a bonnie world,' said he,--''tis a bonnie world, and there are
+few views in it to compare with this one for beauty. My soul is drawn
+toward old Pendle, yon, with a love passing that of woman, heartless
+and passionless though the huge mass be. Heartless!' said he, after a
+pause,--'heartless! when every minute there is a fresh expression upon
+its beautiful front? Ay, even so, for it looms yonder calm and
+unconcerned when we are ushered into the world, and when we are
+ushered out of it, and laid to moulder away under the mountain's
+shadow; and it will rear its bold bluffs to heaven and smile in the
+sunlight or frown in the gloom after we who now love to gaze upon it
+are blind to the solemn loveliness of its impassable face. Poor
+perishable fools are we, with less power than the breeze which ruffles
+yon purple heather!'
+
+With a heavy sigh Jeremy turned away from the window, and as the
+curtain fell behind him, and he stood again in the wretchedly-lighted
+room, he saw that he was not alone. The chair in which the trembling
+hinds generally were asked to seat themselves held a strange-looking
+visitor of dark and forbidding aspect.
+
+'Jeremiah,' said this personage, 'devildom first and poetising
+afterwards.'
+
+There was an unpleasant tone of banter in this speech, which did not
+seem in keeping with the character of one who fain would pry into
+futurity; and as the wizard took his usual position beneath the
+crocodile, he looked somewhat less oracular than was his wont when in
+front of a shivering and terrified inquirer.
+
+'What wantest thou with me?' said he, with an ill-assumed appearance
+of unconcern.
+
+The occupant of the chair smiled sardonically as he replied--
+
+'A little security--that's all. For five-and-twenty years thou hast
+been amassing wealth by duping credulous fools, and it is time I had
+my percentage.'
+
+The wizard stared in astonishment. Was the stranger a thief, or worse?
+he wondered, but after a time, however, he said, drily--
+
+'Even if thou hadst proved thy right to a portion of the profits of my
+honest calling--and thou hast not--thou wouldst not require a
+packhorse to carry thy share away. Doth this hovel resemble the abode
+of a possessor of great wealth? Two chairs, a table, and a few old
+bones, its furniture; and its tenant a half-starved old man, who has
+had hard work to support life upon the pittance he receives in return
+for priceless words of wisdom! Thou art a stranger to me, and thy
+portion of my earnings is correctly represented by a circle.'
+
+A loud and unmusical laugh followed the wizard's words; and before the
+unpleasant sound had died away the visitor remarked--
+
+'If I am yet a stranger to thee, Jeremiah, 'tis not thy fault, for
+during the last quarter of a century thou hast boasted of me as thy
+willing servant, and extorted hard cash from thy customers upon the
+strength of my friendship and willingness to help thee; and now, true
+to thy beggarly instincts, thou wouldst deny me! But 'twill be in
+vain, Jeremiah--'twill be in vain! I have postponed this visit too
+long already to be put off with subterfuges now.'
+
+'I repeat, I know thee not,' said the wizard, in a trembling voice.
+And, hurriedly rising from his chair, he flung aside the thick
+curtain, in order that the light of day might stream into the chamber,
+for a nameless fear had taken possession of him, and he did not care
+to remain in the darkened apartment with his suspicious visitor. To
+his surprise and terror, however, darkness had fallen upon the scene,
+and, as he gazed in alarm at the little diamond-framed window,
+through which so short a time before he had looked upon a fair
+prospect of meadow and mountain, a vivid flash of lightning darted
+across the heavens, and a clap of thunder burst over the cottage.
+
+''Twill spoil good men's harvests, Jeremiah,' the stranger calmly
+said; 'but it need not interrupt our interesting conversation.'
+
+Angry at the bantering manner in which the visitor spoke, the wizard
+flung open the door, and cried--
+
+'Depart from my dwelling, ere I cast thee forth into the mire!'
+
+'Surely thou wouldst not have the heart to fulfil thy threat,' said
+the stranger, 'although 'tis true I have but one shoe to be soiled by
+the mud.' And as he spoke he quietly crossed his legs, and Jeremiah
+perceived a hideous cloven foot.
+
+With a groan, the wizard sank into his chair, and, deaf to the roaring
+of the thunder, and to the beating of the rain through the doorway, he
+sat helplessly gazing at his guest, whose metallic laughter rang
+through the room.
+
+'Hast thou at length recognised me, Jeremiah?' asked the Evil One,
+after an interval, during which he had somewhat prominently displayed
+the hoof, and gloated over the agony its exhibition had caused his
+victim.
+
+The old man was almost too terrified to answer, but at last he
+whispered--
+
+'I have.'
+
+'And thou no longer wilt refuse me the security?' hissed the
+tormentor, as he placed a parchment upon the table.
+
+'What security dost thou demand?' feebly inquired the quaking wizard.
+
+'Personal only,' said Satan. 'Put thy name to this,' and he pointed to
+the bond.
+
+Jeremy pushed his chair as far from the suspicious-looking document as
+he could ere he replied--
+
+'Thou shalt not have name of mine.'
+
+He had expected that an outburst of fiendish wrath would follow this
+speech, but to his surprise the guest simply remarked--
+
+'Very well, Jeremiah. By to-morrow night, however, thou shalt be
+exposed as the base and ignorant pretender thou art. Thou hast
+trespassed upon the rightful trade of my faithful servants long
+enough, and 'tis time I stopped thy prosperous career. Ere sunset
+thou shalt have a rival, who will take the bread from thy ungrateful
+mouth.'
+
+After this polite speech the visitor picked up the parchment, and
+began to fold it in a methodical manner.
+
+Such utterly unexpected gentlemanly behaviour somewhat reassured
+Jeremiah, and in a fainter voice he humbly asked what his visitor had
+to give in exchange for a wizard's autograph.
+
+'Twenty-two years of such success as thou hast not even dared to dream
+of! No opposition--no exposure to thy miserable dupes,' readily
+answered Satan.
+
+Jeremiah considered deeply. The offer undoubtedly was a tempting one,
+for after all, his profession had not been very lucrative, and to lose
+his customers, therefore, meant starvation. He was certain that if
+another wizard opened an establishment the people would flock to him,
+even through mere curiosity; but he knew what signing the bond
+included, and he was afraid to take the step.
+
+After a long delay, during which Satan carefully removed a sharp
+stone from his hoof, Jeremiah therefore firmly said--
+
+'Master, I'll not sign!'
+
+Without more ado the visitor departed, and almost before he was out of
+sight the storm abated, and old Pendle again became visible.
+
+A few days passed, and no one came to the dwelling of the wizard; and
+as such an absence of customers was very unusual, Jeremy began to fear
+that the supernatural stranger had not forgotten his threat. On the
+evening of the fifth day he crept into the little town to purchase
+some articles of food. Previously, whenever he had had occasion to
+make a similar journey, as he passed along the street the children ran
+away in terror, and the older people addressed him with remarkable
+humility; but this time, as he stepped rapidly past the houses, the
+youngsters went on with their games as though only an ordinary mortal
+went by, and a burly fellow who was leaning against a door jamb took
+his pipe from his mouth to cry familiarly--
+
+'Well, Jerry, owd lad, heaw are ta'?'
+
+These marks of waning power and fading popularity were sufficiently
+unmistakable; but as he was making his few purchases he was informed
+that a stranger, who seemed to be possessed of miraculous powers, had
+arrived in the town, and that many people who had been to him were
+going about testifying to his wonderful skill. With a heavy heart the
+wizard returned to his cottage. Next night a shower of stones dashed
+his window to pieces, and, as he peered into the moonlight lane, he
+saw a number of rough fellows, who evidently were waiting and watching
+in hopes that he would emerge from his dwelling. These were the only
+visitors he had during an entire week; and at length, quite prepared
+to capitulate, he said to himself--
+
+'I wish I had another chance.'
+
+No sooner had he uttered the words, than there was a sudden burst of
+thunder, wind roared round the house, again the clients' chair was
+occupied, and the parchment lay upon the table just as though it had
+not been disturbed.
+
+'Art thou ready to sign?' asked Satan.
+
+'Ay!' answered the old man.
+
+The Evil One immediately seized the wizard's hand, upon which Jeremy
+gave a piercing yell, as well he might do, for the Satanic grip had
+forced the blood from the tips of his fingers.
+
+'Sign!' said the Devil.
+
+'I can't write,' said the wizard.
+
+The Evil One forthwith took hold of one of the victim's fingers, and
+using it as a pen, wrote in a peculiarly neat hand 'Jeremiah Parsons,
+his x mark,' finishing with a fiendish flourish.
+
+After doing this he again vacated the chair and the room as
+mysteriously as on the previous occasion.
+
+The autograph-loving visitor had barely departed with the parchment
+ere a knock at the door was heard, and in stepped a man who wished to
+have the veil lifted, and who brought the pleasing news that,
+influenced by the reports of the opposition wizard, he had been to his
+house in Clitheroe, but had found it empty, the whilom tenant having
+fled no one knew whither. From that time things looked up with Jeremy,
+and money poured into the skulls, for people crowded from far and near
+to test his skill. For two-and-twenty years he flourished and was
+famous, but the end came.{2} One morning, after a wild night when the
+winds howled round Pendle, and it seemed as though all the powers of
+darkness were let loose, some labourers who were going to their work
+were surprised to find only the ruins of the wizard's cottage. The
+place had been consumed by fire; and although search was made for the
+magician's remains, only a few charred bones were found, and these,
+some averred, were not those of old Jeremy, but were relics of the
+dusty old skeleton and the dirty crocodile under the shadow of which
+the wizard used to sit.
+
+
+
+
+THE FAIRY'S SPADE.
+
+
+'Th' fairies han getten varra shy sin' thee an' me wir young, Matty,
+lass!' said an old grey-headed man, who, smoking a long pipe, calmly
+sat in a shady corner of the kitchen of a Fylde country farm-house.
+'Nubry seems to see 'em neaw-a-days as they ust. I onst had a seet o'
+one on 'em, as plain as I con see thee sittin' theer, ravellin' thi
+owd stockin'. I wir ploughin' varra soon after dayleet, an' ther
+worn't a saand to be heeart nobbut th' noise o'th' graand oppenin',
+an' th' chirp ov a few brids wakkenin' an' tunin' up, an' ov a
+toothrey crows close at after mi heels a-pikin' up th' whorms. O ov a
+suddent I heeard sumbry cry, i' a voice like owd Luke wench i'th'
+orgin loft ov a Sundays, "I've brokken mi speet!" I lost no toime i'
+tornin' to see whoa wir at wark at that haar, an' i' aar fielt too,
+an' I clapt mi een on as pratty a little lass as ever oppent een i'
+this country side. Owd England choilt's bonny, yone warrant mi, but
+hoo's as feaw as sin aside o'th' face as I see that morn. Hoo stood
+theer wi' th' brokken spade i' her hond, an' i'th' tother a hommer an'
+a toothrey nails, an' hoo smoilt at mi, an' offert mi th' tackle, as
+mich as t' say, "Naaw, Isik, be gradely for onst i' thi loife, an'
+fettle this speet for mi, will ta?" For a whoile I stood theear gapin'
+like a foo', and wontherin' wheear hoo could ha' risen fray, but hoo
+cried aat onst mooar, "I've brokken mi speet!" Sooa I marcht toart her
+and tuk th' hommer an' th' nails, an' tacklet it up. It didn't tek mi
+long a-dooin', for it wir but a loile un; but when I'd done hoo smoilt
+at mi, an' so bonny, summat loike tha ust, Margit, when owd Pigheeod
+wir cooartin' tha; an' gan mi a hanful o' brass,{3} an' afooar I'd
+time to say owt off hoo vanisht. That wur th' only feorin as ivver
+I've seen, an' mebbi th' only one as I'm likely to luk at, for mi
+seet's getten nooan o'th' best latterly.'
+
+
+
+
+THE KING OF THE FAIRIES.
+
+
+Many years ago there lived in a farm-house at a point of the high-road
+from Manchester to Stockport, where Levenshulme Church now stands, a
+worthy named Burton, 'Owd Dannel Burton.'[A] The farm held by Daniel
+was a model one in its way, the old man raising finer crops than any
+other farmer in the district. It was rumoured that Daniel was very
+comfortably provided for, and that a few bad years would not harm him;
+and so wonderfully did everything he took in hand prosper, that his
+'luck' became proverbial. Such uniform prosperity could not long
+continue without the tongue of envy and detraction being set wagging,
+and the neighbours who permitted thistles to overrun their pastures
+whilst they gadded about to rush-bearings and wakes, finding a
+reproach to their idleness not only in the old man's success, but also
+in the careful, industrious habits of his daily life, were not slow to
+insinuate that there was something more than farming at the bottom of
+it. 'Dannel' had sold himself to Satan, said some whose pigs had faded
+away, and whose harvests had not been worth the gathering; and others
+pretended to know even the terms of the contract, and how many years
+the old man yet had to play on. A few of these detractors were young
+men whose imaginations were not kept in sufficient control, but they
+grew wonderfully reserved respecting the Satanic bargain after the
+hearty Daniel had had an interview with them, and proved to them that
+he had not forgotten the use of a good tough black-thorn.
+
+[A] Mr. Burton's grandson was for many years rector of All Saints',
+Manchester.
+
+'It's nobbut luck,' philosophically remarked others, 'mebbe it'll be
+my turn to-morn;' but the remainder vowed that neither luck or Evil
+One had anything to do with it, for the success was due to the labours
+of Puck, King of the Fairies.
+
+They were right. It was Puck, although no one ever knew how the old
+man had been able to enlist the services of so valuable an auxiliary,
+Daniel being strangely reticent upon the point, although generally by
+no means loth to speak of the fairies and their doings. Reserve with
+reference to these things, however, would not have availed much, for
+the farm labourers, the ruddy-cheeked milkmaids, and the other
+women-folk about the farm-house, were fond of boasting of the exploits
+of Puck--how during the night everything was 'cleaned up,' and all was
+in apple-pie order when they came into the kitchen at daybreak, the
+milk churned, the cows foddered, the necessary utensils filled with
+water from the well, the horses ready harnessed for their day's work
+at the plough, and even a week's threshing done and the barn left as
+tidy as though it had just been emptied and swept. Evidently the
+servant lasses had no fear of, or objection to, a hard-working
+supernatural visitor of this kind, but just the reverse, and many of
+their listeners found themselves wishing that their house, too, had
+its Boggart.
+
+For so long a period did this state of things continue, each morning
+revealing an astounding amount of work performed by the willing and
+inexpensive workman, that at length the assistance was taken for
+granted, and as a matter of course, offering no food for surprise,
+although it did not cease to be a cause of envy to the neighbours.
+
+On one occasion, however, as old Daniel was despatching a hearty and
+substantial breakfast, a heated labourer brought word that all the
+corn had been housed during the past night. The strange story was true
+enough, for when the old man reached the field, where on the previous
+evening the golden sheaves of wheat had stood, he found the expanse
+quite bare, and as clean as though reapers, leaders, gleaners, and
+geese had been carefully over it. The harvest was in the barn, but not
+content with this, Daniel, illustrating the old proverb that 'much
+would have more,' suddenly exclaimed, 'I wonder whose horses Puck{4}
+used in this work. If yon of mine, I daresay he sweated them rarely;'
+and away he strode towards the stable. He had not reached the fold,
+however, when he met Puck coming towards him, and in a fever of greedy
+anxiety he cried, 'Puck, I doubt thou'st spoiled yon horses!' No
+sooner were the words out of his mouth, however, than he saw that for
+once in his life he had made a mistake, for the fairy went pale with
+anger as he shouted in a shrill treble:--
+
+    Sheaf to field, and horse to stall,
+    I, the Fairy King, recall!
+    Never more shall drudge of mine
+    Stir a horse or sheaf of thine.
+
+After which vow he at once vanished.
+
+The old man walked home in a sorrowful mood, and actually forgot to go
+to the stable; but next morning early he was disturbed by a knocking
+at his chamber door. 'Mesthur, ger up,' cried the messenger, who on
+the previous day had brought the news of the housing of the corn,
+'Mesthur, ger up, th' corn's back i'th' fielt.' With a groan of
+anguish Daniel arose, and hastily made his way to the barn. All the
+pile was gone, and the floor littered with straw, exactly as it was
+before the fairy labour had so transformed the place.
+
+It did not take the farmer long to get over the ground between his
+barn and the corn-field, and arrived there he found the expanse once
+more covered with yellow sheaves, on which the beams of the rising sun
+were beginning to fall. Here and there a sheaf had fallen upon the
+ground, and everywhere straw and ears of corn were scattered about as
+though the reapers had not long before left the place. The old man
+turned away in despair.
+
+From that time forward there was no more work done about the farm, or
+the shippons, and stables; but in the house, however, the maids
+continued to find their tasks performed as usual.
+
+Great were the rejoicings in the locality when the story of the
+sheaves became known, and it got noised about that 'Dannel's' fairy
+had 'fown eawt' with him. The old man became very dejected, for
+although he did not clearly perceive that the rupture was entirely due
+to his own selfish greed, he could not go about the farm without
+observing how much he had lost.
+
+One summer evening in a thoughtful mood he was walking homewards, and
+wishing that the meadows were mown. Plunged in such reflections, he
+met a neighbour, who at once asked the cause of his trouble. Daniel
+turned to point to the meadows, and as he did so he saw the fairy, in
+an attitude of rapt attention, stooping behind the hedgerow as though
+anxious to overhear the conversation. 'Yo' miss your neet-mon?' said
+the neighbour. The old man thought that the time was come to make his
+peace with offended royalty, and with a cunning glance in the
+direction of the hiding-place, he answered, 'I do, Abrum, and may God
+bless Puck, th' King o'th' Fayrees.'{5} There was a startled cry from
+behind the hedgerow, and both men turned in that direction, but there
+was nothing to be observed. The fairy had vanished, never again to be
+seen in Daniel Burton's fields. That night the work was left undone
+even inside the farm-house, and thenceforward when the kitchen needed
+cleaning, water was wanted from the well, or when milk had to be
+churned, the maids had to get up early and do the work, for Puck, King
+of the Fairies, would not touch either mop or pail.
+
+
+
+
+MOTHER AND CHILD.
+
+
+The tenants of Plumpton Hall had retired to rest somewhat earlier than
+was their wont, for it was the last night of November.
+
+The old low rooms were in darkness, and all was silent as the grave;
+for though the residents, unfortunately for themselves, were not
+asleep, they held their breath, and awaited in fear the first stroke
+of the hour from the old clock in the kitchen. Suddenly the sound of
+hurried footsteps broke the silence; but with sighs of relief the
+terrified listeners found that the noise was made by a belated
+wayfarer, almost out of his wits with fright, but who was unable to
+avoid passing the hall, and who, therefore, ran by the haunted
+building as quickly as his legs could carry him. The sensation of
+escape, however, was of but short duration, for the hammer commenced
+to strike; and no sooner had the last stroke of eleven startled the
+echoes than loud thuds, as of a heavy object bumping upon the stairs,
+were heard.
+
+The quaking occupants of the chambers hid their heads beneath the
+bedclothes, for they knew that an old-fashioned oak chair was on its
+way down the noble staircase, and was sliding from step to step as
+though dragged along by an invisible being who had only one hand at
+liberty.
+
+If any one had dared to follow that chair across the wide passage and
+into the wainscoted parlour, he would have been startled by the sight
+of a fire blazing in the grate, whence, ere the servants retired, even
+the very embers had been removed, and in the chair, the marvellous
+movement of which had so frightened all the inmates of the hall, he
+would have seen a beautiful woman seated, with an infant at her
+breast.
+
+Year after year, on wild nights, when the snow was driven against the
+diamond panes, and the cry of the spirit of the storm came up from the
+sea, the weird firelight shone from the haunted room, and through the
+house sounded a mysterious crooning as the unearthly visitor softly
+sang a lullaby to her infant. Lads grew up into grey-headed men in the
+old house; and from youth to manhood, on the last night of each
+November, they had heard the notes, but none of them ever had caught,
+even when custom had somewhat deadened the terror which surrounded the
+events of the much-dreaded anniversary, the words of the song the
+ghostly woman sang. The maids, too, had always found the grate as it
+was left before the visit--not a cinder or speck of dust remaining to
+tell of the strange fire, and no one had ever heard the chair ascend
+the stairs. Chair and fire and child and mother, however, were seen by
+many a weary wayfarer, drawn to the house by the hospitable look of
+the window, through which the genial glow of the burning logs shone
+forth into the night, but who, by tapping at the pane and crying for
+shelter, could not attract the attention of the pale nurse, clad in a
+quaint old costume with lace ruff and ruffles, and singing a mournful
+and melodious lullaby to the child resting upon her beautiful bosom.
+
+Tradition tells of one of these wanderers, a footsore and miserable
+seafaring man on the tramp, who, attracted by the welcome glare, crept
+to the panes, and seeing the cosy-looking fire, and the Madonna-faced
+mother tenderly nursing her infant, rapped at the glass and begged for
+a morsel of food and permission to sleep in the hayloft--and, finding
+his pleadings unanswered, loudly cursed the woman who could sit and
+enjoy warmth and comfort and turn a deaf ear to the prayers of the
+homeless and hungry; upon which the seated figure turned the weird
+light of its wild eyes upon him and almost changed him to stone--a
+labourer, going to his daily toil in the early morn, finding the poor
+wretch gazing fixedly through the window, against which his
+terror-stricken face was closely pressed, his hair turned white by
+fear, and his fingers convulsively clutching the casement.
+
+
+
+
+THE SPECTRAL CAT.
+
+
+Long ago--so long, in fact, that the date has been lost in
+obscurity--the piously-inclined inhabitants of the then thickly wooded
+and wild country stretching from the sea-coast to Rivington Pike and
+Hoghton determined to erect a church at Whittle-le-Woods, and a site
+having been selected, the first stone was laid with all the ceremony
+due to so important and solemn a proceeding. Assisted by the labours
+as well as by the contributions of the faithful, the good priest was
+in high spirits; and as the close of the first day had seen the
+foundations set out and goodly piles of materials brought upon the
+ground ready for the future, he fell asleep congratulating himself
+upon having lived long enough to see the wish of his heart gratified.
+What was his surprise, however, when, after arising at the break of
+day, and immediately rushing to his window to gaze upon the work, he
+could not perceive either foundation or pile of stone, the field in
+which he expected to observe the promising outline being as green and
+showing as few marks of disturbance as the neighbouring ones.{6}
+
+'Surely I must have been dreaming,' said the good man, as he stood
+with rueful eyes at the little casement, 'for there are not any signs
+either of the gifts or the labours of the pious sons of the church.'
+
+In this puzzled frame of mind, and with a heavy sigh, he once more
+courted sleep. He had not slumbered long, however, when loud knocks at
+the door of his dwelling and lusty cries for Father Ambrose disturbed
+him. Hastily attiring himself, he descended, to find a concourse of
+people assembled in front of the house; and no sooner had he opened
+the door than a mason cried out--
+
+'Father Ambrose, where are the foundations we laid yesterday, and
+where is the stone from the quarry?'
+
+'Then I did not simply dream that I had blessed the site?' said the
+old man, inquiringly.
+
+Upon which there was a shout of laughter, and a sturdy young fellow
+asked--
+
+'And I did not dream that I carted six loads from the quarry?'
+
+'Th' Owd Lad's hed a hand int',' said a labourer, 'for t' fielt's as
+if fuut hed never stept int'.'
+
+The priest and his people at once set off to inspect the site, and
+sure enough it was in the state described by the mason; cowslips and
+buttercups decking the expanse of green, which took different shades
+as the zephyr swept over it.
+
+'Well, I'm fair capped,' said a grey-headed old farmer. 'I've hed
+things stown afoor today, bud they'n generally bin things wi' feathers
+on an' good to heyt an' not th' feaundations uv a church. Th' warlt's
+gerrin' ter'ble wickit. We's hev' to bi lukkin' eawt for another
+Noah's flood, I warrant.'
+
+A peal of laughter followed this sally, but Father Ambrose, who was in
+no mood for mirth, sternly remarked--'There is something here which
+savoureth of the doings of Beelzebub;' and then he sadly turned away,
+leaving the small crowd of gossips speculating upon the events of the
+night. Before the father reached his dwelling, however, he heard his
+name called by a rustic who was running along the road.
+
+'Father Ambrose,' cried the panting messenger, 'here's the strangest
+thing happened at Leyland. The foundations of a church and all sorts
+of building materials have been laid in a field during the night, and
+Adam the miller is vowing vengeance against you for having trespassed
+on his land.'
+
+The priest at once returned to the little crowd of people, who still
+were gaping at the field from which all signs of labour had been so
+wonderfully removed, and bade the messenger repeat the strange story,
+which he did at somewhat greater length, becoming loquacious in the
+presence of his equals, for he enjoyed their looks of astonishment.
+When the astounding narrative had been told, the crowd at once started
+for Leyland, their pastor promising to follow after he had fortified
+himself with breakfast.
+
+When the good man reached the village he had no need to inquire which
+was Adam the miller's field, for he saw the crowd gathered in a
+rich-looking meadow. As he opened the gate Adam met him, and without
+ceremony at once accused him of having taken possession of his field.
+'Peace, Adam,' said the priest. 'The field hath been taken not by me,
+but by a higher power, either good or evil--I fear the latter,' and he
+made his way to the people. True enough, the foundations were laid as
+at Whittle, and even the mortar was ready for the masons. 'I am loth
+to think that this is a sorry jest of the Evil One,' said Father
+Ambrose; 'ye must help me to outwit him, and to give him his labour
+for his pains. Let each one carry what he can, and, doubtless, Adam
+will be glad to cart the remainder,'--a proposition the burly miller
+agreed to at once. Accordingly each of the people walked off with a
+piece of wood, and Adam started for his team. Before long the field
+was cleared, and ere sunset the foundations were again laid in the
+original place, and a goodly piece of wall had been built.
+
+Grown wise by experience, the priest selected two men to watch the
+place during the night. Naturally enough, these worthies, who by no
+means liked the task, but were afraid to decline it, determined to
+make themselves as comfortable as they could under the circumstances.
+
+They therefore carried to the place a quantity of food and drink, and
+a number of empty sacks, with which they constructed an impromptu
+couch near the blazing wood fire. Notwithstanding the seductive
+influence of the liquor, they were not troubled with much company, for
+the few people who resided in the vicinity did not care to remain out
+of doors late after what Father Ambrose had said as to the proceeding
+having been a joke of Satan's. The priest, however, came to see the
+men, and after giving them his blessing, and a few words of advice, he
+left them to whatever the night might bring forth. No sooner had he
+gone than the watchers put up some boards to shield them from the
+wind, and, drawing near to the cheerful fire, they began to partake of
+a homely but plentiful supper. Considering how requisite it was that
+they should be in possession of all their wits, perhaps it would have
+been better had not a large bottle been in such frequent requisition,
+for, soon after the meal was ended, what with the effects of the
+by-no-means weak potion, the warmth and odour sent forth by the
+crackling logs, and the musical moaning of the wind in the branches
+overhead, they began to feel drowsy, to mutter complaints against the
+hardship of their lot, and to look longingly upon the heap of sacks.
+
+'If owt comes,' said the oldest of the two, 'one con see it as well as
+two, an' con wakken t' tother--theerfore I'm in for a nod.' And he at
+once flung himself upon the rude bed.
+
+'Well,' said the younger one, who was perched upon a log close to the
+fire, 'hev thi own way, an' tha'll live lunger; but I'se wakken tha
+soon, an' hev a doze mysen. That's fair, isn't it?'
+
+To this question there was no response, for the old man was already
+asleep. The younger one immediately reached the huge bottle, and after
+drinking a hearty draught from it placed it within reach, saying, as
+he did so--
+
+'I'm nooan freetunt o' thee, as heaw it is! Thaart not Belsybub, are
+ta?'
+
+Before long he bowed his head upon his hands, and gazing into the fire
+gave way to a pleasant train of reflections, in which the miller's
+daughter played a by-no-means unimportant part. In a little while he,
+too, began to doze and nod, and the ideas and thronging fancies soon
+gave way to equally delightful dreams.
+
+Day was breaking when the pair awoke; the fire was out, and the noisy
+birds were chirping their welcome to the sun. For a while the watchers
+stared at each other with well-acted surprise.
+
+'I'm freetunt tha's o'erslept thysel',' said the young fellow; 'and
+rayly I do think as I've bin noddin' a bit mysen.' And then, as he
+turned round, 'Why, it's gone ageean! Jacob, owd lad! th' foundation,
+an' th' wo's, an' o th' lots o' stooans are off t' Leyland ageean!'
+
+The field was again clear, grass and meadow flowers covering its
+expanse, and after a long conference the pair determined that the best
+course for them to pursue would be that of immediately confessing to
+Father Ambrose that they had been asleep. Accordingly they wended
+their way to his house, and having succeeded in arousing him, and
+getting him to the door, the young man informed him that once more the
+foundations were missing.
+
+'What took them?' asked the priest. To which awkward query the old man
+replied, that they did not see anything.
+
+'Then ye slept, did ye?' asked the Father.
+
+'Well,' said the young man, 'we did nod a minnit or two; but we wir
+toired wi' watchin' so closely; an', yo' see, that as con carry th'
+foundations ov a church away connot hev mich trouble i' sendin'
+unlarnt chaps loike Jacob an' me to sleep agen eaur will.'
+
+This ended the colloquy, for Father Ambrose laughed heartily at the
+ready answer. Shortly afterwards, as on the preceding day, the
+messenger from Leyland arrived with tidings that the walls had again
+appeared in Adam's field. Again they were carted back, and placed in
+their original position, and once more was a watch set, the priest
+taking the precaution of remaining with the men until near upon
+midnight. Almost directly after he had left the field one of the
+watchers suddenly started from his seat, and cried--
+
+'See yo', yonder, there's summat wick!'
+
+Both men gazed intently, and saw a huge cat, with great
+unearthly-looking eyes, and a tail with a barbed end. Without any
+seeming difficulty this terrible animal took up a large stone, and
+hopped off with it, returning almost immediately for another. This
+strange performance went on for some time, the two observers being
+nearly petrified by terror; but at length the younger one said--
+
+'I'm like to put a stop to yon wark, or hee'll say win bin asleep
+ageean,' and seizing a large piece of wood he crept down the field,
+the old man following closely behind. When he reached the cat, which
+took no notice of his approach, he lifted his cudgel, and struck the
+animal a heavy blow on its head. Before he had time to repeat it,
+however, the cat, with a piercing scream, sprang upon him, flung him
+to the ground, and fixed its teeth in his throat. The old man at once
+fled for the priest. When he returned with him, cat, foundations, and
+materials were gone; but the dead body of the poor watcher was there,
+with glazed eyes, gazing at the pitiless stars.
+
+After this terrible example of the power of the fiendish labourer it
+was not considered advisable to attempt a third removal, and the
+building was proceeded with upon the site at Leyland chosen by the
+spectre.
+
+The present parish church covers the place long occupied by the
+original building; and although all the actors in this story passed
+away centuries ago, a correct likeness of the cat has been preserved,
+and may be seen by the sceptical.{7}
+
+
+
+
+THE CAPTURED FAIRIES.
+
+
+There once lived in the little village of Hoghton two idle,
+good-for-nothing fellows, who, somehow or other, managed to exist
+without spending the day, from morn to dewy eve, at the loom. When
+their more respectable neighbours were hard at work they generally
+were to be seen either hanging about the doorway of the little
+ale-house or playing at dominoes inside the old-fashioned hostelry;
+and many a time in broad daylight their lusty voices might be heard as
+they trolled forth the hearty poaching ditty,
+
+    'It's my delight, on a shiny night.'
+
+It was understood that they had reason to sympathise with the
+sentiments expressed in the old ballad. Each was followed by a ragged,
+suspicious-looking lurcher; and as the four lounged about the place
+steady-going people shook their heads, and prophesied all sorts of
+unpleasant terminations to so unsatisfactory a career. So far as the
+dogs were concerned the dismal forebodings were verified, for from
+poaching in the society of their masters the clever lurchers took to
+doing a little on their own account, and both were shot in the pursuit
+of game by keepers, who were only too glad of an opportunity of
+ridding the neighbourhood of such misdirected intelligence. Soon after
+this unfortunate event, the two men, who themselves had a narrow
+escape, had their nets taken; and, as they were too poor to purchase
+others, and going about to borrow such articles was equivalent to
+accusing their friends of poaching habits, they were reduced to the
+necessity of using sacks whenever they visited the squire's fields.
+
+One night, after climbing the fence and making their way to a
+well-stocked warren, they put in a solitary ferret and rapidly fixed
+the sacks over the burrows. They did not wait long in anxious
+expectation of an exodus before there was a frantic rush, and after
+hastily grasping the sacks tightly round the necks, and tempting their
+missionary from the hole, they crept through the hedgerow, and at a
+sharp pace started for home. For some time they remained unaware of
+the nature of their load, and they were congratulating themselves upon
+the success which had crowned their industry, when suddenly there came
+a cry from one of the prisoners, 'Dick, wheer art ta?' The poachers
+stood petrified with alarm; and almost immediately a voice from the
+other bag piped out--
+
+    'In a sack,
+    On a back,
+    Riding up Hoghton Brow.'{8}
+
+The terrified men at once let their loads fall, and fled at the top of
+their speed, leaving behind them the bags full of fairies, who had
+been driven from their homes by the intruding ferret. Next morning,
+however, the two poachers ventured to the spot where they had heard
+the supernatural voices. The sacks neatly folded were lying at the
+side of the road, and the men took them up very tenderly, as though in
+expectation of another mysterious utterance, and crept off with them.
+
+Need it be said that those bags were not afterwards used for any
+purpose more exciting than the carriage of potatoes from the
+previously neglected bit of garden, the adventure having quite cured
+the men of any desire to 'pick up' rabbits.
+
+Like most sudden conversions, however, that of the two poachers into
+hard-working weavers was regarded with suspicion by the inhabitants of
+the old-world village, and in self-defence the whilom wastrels were
+forced to tell the story of the imprisonment of the fairies. The
+wonderful narrative soon got noised abroad; and as the changed
+characters, on many a summer evening afterwards, sat hard at work in
+their loom-house, and, perhaps almost instinctively, hummed the old
+ditty,
+
+    'It's my delight, on a shiny night,'
+
+the shock head of a lad would be protruded through the honeysuckle
+which almost covered the casement, as the grinning youngster, who had
+been patiently waiting for the weaver to commence his song and give an
+opportunity for the oft-repeated repartee, cried, 'Nay, it isn't thi
+delight; "Dick, wheer art ta?"'
+
+
+
+
+THE PILLION LADY.
+
+
+It was on a beautiful night in the middle of summer that Humphrey
+Dobson, after having transacted a day's business at Garstang market,
+and passed some mirthful hours with a number of jovial young fellows
+in the best parlour of the Ffrances Arms, with its oak furniture and
+peacock feathers, mounted his steady-going mare, and set off for home.
+He had got some distance from the little town, and was rapidly nearing
+a point where the road crossed a stream said to be haunted by the
+spirit of a female who had been murdered many years back; and although
+the moon was shining brightly, and the lonely rider could see far
+before him, there was one dark spot overshadowed by trees a little in
+advance which Humphrey feared to reach. He felt a thrill of terror as
+he suddenly remembered the many strange stories told of the headless
+woman whose sole occupation and delight seemed to be that of
+terrifying travellers; but, with a brave endeavour to laugh off his
+fears, he urged his horse forward, and attempted to troll forth the
+burden of an old song:--
+
+    'He rode and he rode till he came to the dooar,
+    And Nell came t' oppen it, as she'd done afooar:
+    "Come, get off thy horse," she to him did say,
+    "An' put it i'th' stable, an' give it some hay."'
+
+It would not do, however; and suddenly he put spurs to the mare and
+galloped towards the little bridge. No sooner did the horse's hoofs
+ring upon the stones than Humphrey heard a weird and unearthly laugh
+from beneath the arch, and, as the animal snorted and bounded forward,
+the young fellow felt an icy arm glide round his waist and a light
+pressure against his back. Drops of perspiration fell from his brow,
+and his heart throbbed wildly, but he did not dare to look behind lest
+his worst fears should be verified, and he should behold 'th' boggart
+o'th' bruk.'
+
+As though conscious of its ghastly burden, the old mare ran as she
+never had run before; the hedgerows and trees seemed to fly past,
+while sparks streamed from the flints in the road, and in an
+incredibly short space of time the farm-house was reached.
+Instinctively, Humphrey tried to guide the mare into the yard, but his
+efforts were powerless, for the terrified animal had got the bit in
+her teeth, and away she sped past the gateway.
+
+As the rider was thus borne away, another sepulchral laugh broke the
+silence, but this time it sounded so close to the horseman's ear that
+he involuntarily looked round.
+
+He found that the figure, one of whose arms was twined round his
+waist, was not the headless being of whom he had heard so many fearful
+narratives, but another and a still more terrible one, for, grinning
+in a dainty little hood, and almost touching his face, there was a
+ghastly skull, with eyeless sockets, and teeth gleaming white in the
+clear moonlight.
+
+Petrified by fear, he could not turn his head away, and, as the mare
+bore him rapidly along, ever and anon a horrid derisive laugh sounded
+in his ears as for a moment the teeth parted and then closed with a
+sudden snap. Terrified as he was, however, he noticed that the arm
+which encircled his body gradually tightened around him, and putting
+down his hand to grasp it he found it was that of a fleshless
+skeleton.
+
+How long he rode thus embraced by a spectre he knew not, but it seemed
+an age.
+
+Suddenly, however, as at a turn in the road the horse stumbled and
+fell, Humphrey, utterly unprepared for any such occurrence, was thrown
+over the animal's head and stunned by the fall.
+
+When he recovered full consciousness it was daybreak. The sun was
+rising, the birds were singing in the branching foliage overhead, and
+the old mare was quietly grazing at a distance. With great difficulty,
+for he was faint through loss of blood, and lame, he got home and told
+his story. There were several stout men about the farm who professed
+to disbelieve it, and pretended to laugh at the idea of a skeleton
+horsewoman, who, without saying with your leave or by your leave, had
+ridden pillion with the young master, but it was somewhat remarkable
+that none of them afterwards could be induced to cross the bridge over
+the haunted stream after 'th' edge o' dark.'
+
+
+
+
+THE FAIRY FUNERAL.
+
+
+There are few spots in Lancashire more likely to have been peopled by
+fairies than that portion of the highway which runs along the end of
+Penwortham wood.
+
+At all times the locality is very beautiful, but it is especially so
+in summer, when the thin line of trees on the one side of the road and
+the rustling wood upon the other cast a welcome shade upon the
+traveller, who can rest against the old railings, and look down upon a
+rich expanse of meadow-land and corn-fields, bounded in the distance
+by dim, solemn-looking hills, and over the white farm-houses, snugly
+set in the midst of luxurious vegetation. From this vantage-ground a
+flight of steps leads down to the well of St. Mary, the water of
+which, once renowned for its miraculous efficacy, is as clear as
+crystal and of never-ceasing flow.
+
+To this sacred neighbourhood thousands of pilgrims have wended their
+way; and although the legend of the holy well has been lost, it is
+easy to understand with what superstitious reverence the place would
+be approached by those whose faith was of a devout and unquestioning
+kind, and what feelings would influence those whose hearts were heavy
+with the weight of a great sorrow as they descended the steps worn by
+the feet of their countless predecessors.
+
+From the little spring a pathway winds across meadows and through
+corn-fields to the sheltered village, and a little further along the
+highway a beautiful avenue winds from the old lodge gates to the
+ancient church and priory. Wide as is this road it is more than shaded
+by the tall trees which tower on each side, their topmost branches
+almost interlaced, the sunbeams passing through the green network, and
+throwing fantastic gleams of light upon the pathway, along which so
+many have been carried to the quiet God's Acre.
+
+At the end of this long and beautiful walk stands the old priory, no
+longer occupied by the Benedictines from Evesham, the silvery sound of
+whose voices at eventide used to swell across the rippling Ribble;
+and, a little to the right of the pile, the Church of St. Mary, with
+its background of the Castle Hill.
+
+By the foot of this Ancient British and Roman outlook there is a
+little farm-house, with meadow land stretching away to the broad
+river; and one night, fifty or sixty years ago, two men, one of whom
+was a local 'cow-doctor,' whose duties had compelled him to remain
+until a late hour, set out from this dwelling to walk home to the
+straggling village of Longton. It was near upon midnight when they
+stepped forth, but it was as light as mid-day, the moon shining in all
+her beauty, and casting her glamour upon the peaceful scene. So quiet
+was it that it seemed as though even the Zephyrs were asleep. There
+was not a breath of wind, and not a leaf rustled or a blade of grass
+stirred, and had it not been for the sounds of the footsteps of the
+two men, who were rapidly ascending the rough cart-track winding up
+the side of the hill, all would have been as still as death. The sweet
+silence was a fitting one, for in the graveyard by the side of the
+lane through which the travellers were passing, and over the low
+moss-covered wall of which might be seen the old-fashioned tombstones,
+erect like so many sentinels marking the confines of the battle-field
+of life, hundreds were sleeping the sleep with which only the music of
+the leaves, the sough of the wind, and the sigh of the sea seem in
+harmony.
+
+As the two men opened the gate at the corner of the churchyard, the
+old clock sounded the first stroke of midnight.
+
+'That's twelve on 'em,' said the oldest of the two.
+
+'Ay, Adam,' said the other, a taller and much younger man. 'Another
+day's passin' away, an' it con't dee wi'eaut tellin' everybody; yet
+ther's bod few on us as tez onny notice on't, for we connot do to be
+towd as wer toime's growin' bod short. I should think as tha dusn't
+care to hear th' clock strike, Adam, to judge bith' colour o' thi
+toppin', for tha 'rt gerrin' varra wintry lookin'.'
+
+The old man chuckled at this sally, and then said, slowly and drily:--
+
+'Speyk for thisen, Robin--speyk for thisen; an' yet why should ta
+speyk at o? Choilt as tha are--an' tha art nobbut a choilt, clivver as
+tha fancies thisen--tha 'rt owd enough to mind as it's nod olus th'
+grey-heeoded uns as dees th' fost. Th' chickins fo' off th' peeark
+mooar oftener nor th' owd brids. Ther's monny an owd tree wi' nobbud a
+twothree buds o' green abaat it, to show as it wur yung wonst, as
+tha'd hev herd wark to delve up, th' roots bein' so deep i'th' graand;
+an' ther's monny a rook o' young-lukkin' uns as tha met poo up as
+yezzy as a hondful o' sallet. It teks leetnin' to kill th' owd oak,
+but th' fost nippin' woint off th' Martch yon soon puts th' bonnie
+spring posies out o' seet. If I'm growin' owd, let's hope I'm roipnin'
+as weel. Tha'rt not th' fost bit of a lad as thowt heer baan to last o
+th' tothers aat, an' as hed hardly toime to finish his crowin' afoor
+th' sexton clapt o honful o' sond i' his meauth.'
+
+This conversation brought the two beyond the gate and some distance
+along the avenue, in which the moonlight was somewhat toned by the
+thickness of the foliage above, and they were rapidly nearing the
+lodge gates, when suddenly the solemn sound of a deep-toned bell
+broke the silence. Both men stopped and listened intently.
+
+'That's th' passin'-bell,'{9} said Adam. 'Wodever con be up? I never
+knew it rung at this toime o'th' neet afooar.'
+
+'Mek less racket, will ta,' said Robin. 'Led's keep count an' see heaw
+owd it is.'
+
+Whilst the bell chimed six-and-twenty both listeners stood almost
+breathless, and then Adam said:--
+
+'He's thy age, Robin, chuz who he is.'
+
+'Ther wer no leet i 'th' belfry as wi come by, as I see on,' said the
+young man, 'I'd rayther be i' bed nor up theer towlin' ad this toime,
+wudn't tha?'
+
+'Yoi,' said Adam. 'But owd Jemmy dusn't care, an' why should he? Hee's
+bin amung th' deeod to' long to be freet'nt on 'em neet or day, wake
+an' fable as he is. I dar' say hee's fun aat afoor neaw as they'r not
+varra rough to dale wi'. Ther's nod mich feightin i'th' bury-hoyle,
+beaut ids wi' th' resurrectioners. Bud led's get to'art whoam, lad;
+we're loikely enough to larn o abaat it to-morn.'
+
+Without more words they approached the lodge, but to their great
+terror, when they were within a few yards from the little dwelling,
+the gates noiselessly swung open, the doleful tolling of the
+passing-bell being the only sound to be heard. Both men stepped back
+affrighted as a little figure clad in raiment of a dark hue, but
+wearing a bright red cap, and chanting some mysterious words in a low
+musical voice as he walked, stepped into the avenue.
+
+'Ston back, mon,' cried Adam, in a terrified voice--'ston back; it's
+th' feeorin; bud they'll not hort tha if tha dusna meddle wi' um.'
+
+The young man forthwith obeyed his aged companion, and standing
+together against the trunk of a large tree, they gazed at the
+miniature being stepping so lightly over the road, mottled by the
+stray moonbeams. It was a dainty little object; but although neither
+Adam nor Robin could comprehend the burden of the song it sang, the
+unmistakable croon of grief with which each stave ended told the
+listeners that the fairy was singing a requiem. The men kept perfectly
+silent, and in a little while the figure paused and turned round, as
+though in expectation, continuing, however, its mournful notes.
+By-and-by the voices of other singers were distinguished, and as they
+grew louder the fairy standing in the roadway ceased to render the
+verse, and sang only the refrain, and a few minutes afterwards Adam
+and Robin saw a marvellous cavalcade pass through the gateway. A
+number of figures, closely resembling the one to which their attention
+had first been drawn, walked two by two, and behind them others with
+their caps in their hands, bore a little black coffin, the lid of
+which was drawn down so as to leave a portion of the contents
+uncovered. Behind these again others, walking in pairs, completed the
+procession. All were singing in inexpressibly mournful tones, pausing
+at regular intervals to allow the voice of the one in advance to be
+heard, as it chanted the refrain of the song, and when the last couple
+had passed into the avenue, the gates closed as noiselessly as they
+had opened.
+
+As the bearers of the burden marched past the two watchers, Adam bent
+down, and, by the help of a stray gleam of moonlight, saw that there
+was a little corpse in the coffin.
+
+'Robin, mi lad,' said he, in a trembling voice and with a scared look,
+'it's th' pictur o' thee as they hev i' th' coffin!'
+
+With a gasp of terror the young man also stooped towards the
+bearers, and saw clearly enough that the face of the figure borne by
+the fairies indeed closely resembled his own, save that it was ghastly
+with the pallor and dews of death.
+
+The procession had passed ere he was able to speak, for, already much
+affrighted by the appearance of the fairies, the sight of the little
+corpse had quite unnerved him. Clinging in a terrified manner to the
+old man, he said, in a broken voice--
+
+'It raley wor me, Adam! Dust think it's a warnin', an' I'm abaat to
+dee?'
+
+The old man stepped out into the road as he replied--
+
+'It wur a quare seet, Robin, no daat; bud I've sin monny sich i' mi
+toime, an' theyne come to nowt i' th' end. Warnin' or not, haaever,'
+he added, with strong common sense, 'ther'll be no harm done bi thee
+livin' as if it wur one.'
+
+The mournful music of the strange singers and the solemn sound of the
+passing bell could still be heard, and the two awe-struck men stood
+gazing after the cavalcade.
+
+'It mon be a warnin', again said Robin, 'an' I wish I'd axed um haa
+soon I've to dee. Mebbee they'n a towd me.'
+
+'I don't think they wod,' said Adam. 'I've olus heeard as they'r rare
+and vext if they'r spokken to. Theyn happen a done tha some lumberment
+if tha 'ad axed owt.'
+
+'They could but a kilt mi,' replied Robin, adding, with that grim
+humour which so often accompanies despair, 'an' they're buryin' mi
+neaw, ar'nod they?' Then in a calm and firm voice he said--'I'm baan
+to ax 'em, come wod will. If tha 'rt freetent tha con goo on whoam.'
+
+'Nay, nay,' said Adam warmly, 'I'm nooan scaret. If tha'rt for
+catechoizing um, I'll see th' end on it.'
+
+Without further parley the men followed after and soon overtook the
+procession, which was just about to enter the old churchyard, the
+gates of which, like those of the lodge, swung open apparently of
+their own accord, and no sooner did Robin come up with the bearers
+than, in a trembling voice, he cried--
+
+'Winnot yo' tell mi haaw lung I've to live?'
+
+There was not any answer to this appeal, the little figure in front
+continuing to chant its refrain with even deepened mournfulness.
+Imagining that he was the leader of the band, Robin stretched out his
+hand and touched him. No sooner had he done this than, with startling
+suddenness, the whole cavalcade vanished, the gates banged to with a
+loud clang, deep darkness fell upon everything, the wind howled and
+moaned round the church and the tombstones in the graveyard, the
+branches creaked and groaned overhead, drops of rain pattered upon the
+leaves, mutterings of thunder were heard, and a lurid flash of
+lightning quivered down the gloomy avenue.
+
+'I towd tha haa it ud be,' said Adam, and Robin simply answered--
+
+'I'm no worse off than befooar. Let's mak' toart whoam; bud say nowt
+to aar fowk--it ud nobbut freeten th' wimmin.'
+
+Before the two men reached the lodge gates a terrible storm burst over
+them, and through it they made their way to the distant village.
+
+A great change came over Robin, and from being the foremost in every
+countryside marlock he became serious and reserved, invariably at the
+close of the day's work rambling away, as though anxious to shun
+mankind, or else spending the evening at Adam's talking over 'th'
+warnin'.' Strange to say, about a month afterwards he fell from a
+stack, and after lingering some time, during which he often
+deliriously rambled about the events of the dreadful night, he dozed
+away, Old Jemmy, the sexton, had another grave to open, and the
+grey-headed Adam was one of the bearers who carried Robin's corpse
+along the avenue in which they had so short a time before seen the
+fairy funeral.{10}
+
+
+
+
+THE CHIVALROUS DEVIL.
+
+
+About half-a-century ago there lived, in a lane leading away from a
+little village near Garstang, a poor idiot named Gregory. He was at
+once the sport and the terror of the young folks. Uniformly kind to
+them, carefully convoying them to the spots where, in his lonely
+rambles, he had noticed birds' nests, or pressing upon them the wild
+flowers he had gathered in the neighbouring woods and thickets, he
+received at their ungrateful hands all kinds of ill treatment, not
+always stopping short of personal violence. In this respect, however,
+the thoughtless children only followed the example set them by their
+elders, for seldom did poor Gregory pass along the row of cottages,
+dignified by the name of street, which constituted the village,
+without an unhandsome head being projected from the blacksmith's or
+cobbler's shop, or from a doorway, and a cruel taunt being sent after
+the idiot, who, in his ragged clothing, with his handful of harebells
+and primroses, and a wreath of green leaves round his battered, old
+hat, jogged along towards his mother's cottage, singing as he went, in
+a pathetic monotone, a snatch of an old Lancashire ballad.
+
+In accordance with that holy law which, under such circumstances,
+influences woman's heart, the mother loved this demented lad with
+passionate fondness, all the tenderness with which her nature had been
+endowed having been called forth by the needs of the afflicted child,
+whose only haven of refuge from the harshness of his surroundings and
+the cruelty of those who, had not they been as ignorant as the hogs
+they fed, would have pitied and protected him, was her breast.
+Lavishing all her affection upon the poor lad, she had no kindness to
+spare for those who tormented him; and abstaining from any of those
+melodramatic and vulgar curses with which a person of less education
+would have followed those who abused her child, she studiously held
+herself aloof from her neighbours, and avoided meeting them, except
+when she was compelled to purchase food or other articles for her
+little household. This conduct gave an excuse for much ill
+feeling, and as the woman had no need to toil for her daily bread, and
+as her cottage was the neatest in the district, there was much
+jealousy.
+
+One night, at a jovial gathering, it was arranged that a practical
+joke, of what was considered a very humorous kind, should be played
+upon the idiot. The boors selected one of their party, whose task it
+should be to attire himself in a white sheet, and to emerge into the
+lane when the poor lad should make his appearance. In accordance with
+this plan the pack of hobbledehoys watched the cottage night after
+night, in the hope of seeing the idiot leave the dwelling, and at
+length their patience was rewarded. They immediately hid themselves in
+the ditch, while the mock ghost concealed himself behind the trunk of
+a tree. The lad, not suspecting any evil, came along, humming, in his
+melancholy monotone, the usual fragment, and just before he reached
+the tree the sheeted figure slowly stepped forth to the accompaniment
+of the groanings and bellowings of his associates. They had expected
+to see the idiot flee in terror; but instead of so doing, he laughed
+loudly at the white figure, and then suddenly, as the expression of
+his face changed to one of intense interest, he shouted, 'Oh, oh! a
+black one! a black one!' Sure enough, a dark and terrible figure stood
+in the middle of the road. The mock ghost fled, with his companions at
+his heels, the real spectre chasing them hotly, and the idiot bringing
+up the rear, shouting at the top of his voice, 'Run, black devil!
+catch white devil!'
+
+They were not long in reaching the village, down the street of which
+they ran faster than they ever had run before. Several of them darted
+into the smithy, where the blacksmith was scattering the sparks right
+and left as he hammered away at the witch-resisting horseshoes, and
+others fled into the inn, where they startled the gathered company of
+idle gossips; but the mock ghost kept on wildly, looking neither to
+the left nor to the right. The idiot had kept close behind the phantom
+at the heels of the mock ghost, and when at the end of the village the
+spectre vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, the lad ran a little
+faster and took its place. Of this, however, the white-sheeted young
+fellow was not aware, and, fearing every moment that the shadow would
+catch him in its awful embrace, he dashed down a by lane. Before he
+got very far, however, the idiot, who had gradually been lessening the
+distance between them, overtook and seized him by the neck. With a
+terrible cry the rustic fell headlong into the ditch, dragging Gregory
+with him as he fell. The latter was soon upon his feet, and dancing
+about the lane as he cried, 'Catch white devil! catch white devil!'
+The mock ghost, however, lay quiet enough among the nettles.
+
+Roused by the story told by the affrighted ones who had rushed so
+unceremoniously into their presence, as well as by the startling cry
+of 'Run, black devil! catch white devil!' which the idiot had shouted
+as he sped past the door, several of the topers emerged from their
+abiding place; and as nothing could be seen of either mock ghost,
+spectre, or idiot, they bravely determined to go in search of them. As
+they passed along the road from the village, their attention was
+attracted by the cries which seemed to come from the lonely lane, and
+somewhat nervously making their way along it, they soon saw the idiot
+dancing about the side of the ditch. With a sudden access of courage,
+due to the presence of anything human, however weak, they hurried
+along, and as they drew nearer, the idiot paused in his gambols, and
+pointed to the mock ghost, who lay stretched in the shadow of the
+hedgerow. He was soon carried away to the village, where he lay ill
+for weeks.
+
+The kindness of Gregory's mother to the sick lad's parents, who were
+very poor and could ill afford to provide the necessary comforts his
+condition required, caused public feeling to turn in her favour, and
+those who formerly had been loudest in defaming her became her warmest
+eulogists. Between the idiot and the young fellow, too, a strange
+friendship sprang up, and the pair might often be seen passing along
+the lanes, the idiot chanting his melancholy fragments to the
+companion whose cap he had adorned with wreaths of wild flowers.
+
+With such a protector the idiot was quite safe, and, indeed, had the
+village children been wishful to torment Gregory, if the presence of
+this companion had not sufficed to restrain them, they had only to
+remember that it was in defence of poor Gregory the Evil One himself
+had raced through the village.{11}
+
+
+
+
+THE ENCHANTED FISHERMAN.
+
+
+There are few views in the north of England more beautiful than that
+which is seen from Morecambe, as the spectator looks over the
+beautiful bay, with its crescent coast-line of nearly fifty miles in
+extent. At low water the dazzling sands, streaked by silvery deceptive
+channels, stretch to the distant glimmering sea, the music of whose
+heavings comes but faintly on the gentle breeze; but at tide-time a
+magnificent expanse of rolling waves sweeps away to Peel, and is
+dotted over with red-sailed fishing boats and coasters. Far to the
+north the huge heather-covered Furness Fells stand sentinel-like over
+the waters, and above them, dimly seen through the faint blue haze,
+tower the grand mountains of the magic lake country. The scene is full
+of a sweet dream-like beauty; but there are times when the beautiful
+is swallowed in the majestic, as the mists come creeping over the sea,
+obscuring the coasts, and hiding everything save the white caps of the
+waves gleaming in the darkness, through which the muttering diapasons
+of the wind, as though in deep distress, sound mysteriously; or when,
+in winter, the moon is hidden by scudding clouds, and the huge
+rollers, driven before the breeze, dash themselves to death, as upon
+the blast come the solemn boom of a signal gun, and the faint cries of
+those in danger on the deep.
+
+Years ago, however, before the little village of Poulton changed its
+name, and began to dream of becoming a watering-place, with terraces
+and hotels, instead of the picturesque, tumble-down huts of the
+fishermen, against which, from time immemorial, the spray had been
+dashed by the salt breezes, the only people who gazed upon the lovely
+prospect were, with the exception of an occasional traveller, the
+families of the toilers of the sea, and the rough-looking men
+themselves. These hardy fellows, accustomed to a wild life, and whose
+days from childhood had been spent on or by the sea, loved the deep
+with as much tenderness as a strong man feels towards a weak and
+wayward maiden, for they were familiar with its every mood, with the
+soothing wash of its wavelets when the sunbeams kissed the foam-bells,
+as they died on the white sands, and with the noise of the thunder of
+the breakers chased up the beach by the roaring gales.
+
+One evening a number of these men were seated in the cosy kitchen of
+the John-o'-Gaunt, listening to 'Owd England' as he narrated some of
+his strange experiences.
+
+'I moind,' said he, 'when I was nobbut a bit of a lad, Tum Grisdale
+bein' dreawnt; an' now as we're tawkin' abeaut th' dangers o' th'
+sonds, yo'll mebbi hearken to th' tale. Poor Tum was th' best cockler
+i' Hest Bank, an' as ust to th' sands as a choilt is to th' face o'
+its mother; but for o that he wir dreawnt on 'em after o. I can co to
+moind yet--for young as I wor I're owd enough to think a bit when owt
+quare happent, an' th' seet o' th' deead bodies th' next ebb wir wi'
+me day an' neet fur lung afterwart--th' day when Tum an' his missis
+an' th' two lasses seet eawt o' seein' some relations o' th' missis's
+soide, as livt i' th' Furness country yon, th' owd mon an' th'
+dowters i' th' shandray, an' th' missis ridin' upo' th' cowt at th'
+soide. It wir a gradely bonnie afternoon, at th' back eend o' th'
+year. Th' day as they should o come back wir varra misty; an' abaat
+th' edge o' dark, just as here an' theear a leet wir beginnin' to
+twinkle i' th' windows, an' th' stars to peep aat, th' noise ov a cart
+comin' crunchin' o'er th' beach tuk mi feyther to th' door. "Why,
+yon's owd Tum Grisdale cart back ageean," he cried eaut. An' he dartit
+eawt o' th' dur, an' me after, as fast as I could. A creawd o' folk
+an' childer soon gathert reawnt, wonderin' what wir up; but neawt
+could bi larnt, for though th' lasses as seet eawt, as breet an'
+bonnie as posies o gillivers, wir theear i' th' shandray, they wir too
+freetent an' dazed, an' too wake wi' th' weet an' cowd, to say a
+whord. One thing, however, wir sewer enough, th' owd folk hedn't come
+back; an' altho' th' toide then hed covert th' track, an' wir shinin'
+i' th' moonleet, wheear th' mist could bi sin through, just as if it
+hedn't mony a Hest Bank mon's life to answer for, a lot o' young
+cocklers wir for startin' off theear an' then i' search on 'em. Th'
+owder an' mooar expayrienced, heawiver, wodn't hear on it. Two lives
+i' one day wir quoite enough, they said; so they o waitit till th'
+ebb, an' then startit, me, loile as i'wir, among th' rest, for mi
+feyther wir too tekken up i' talking to send me whoam. It wir a sad
+outin', but it wir loively compaart wi' t' comin' back, for when we
+tornt toart Hest Bank, th' strungest o' th' lads carriet owd Tum an'
+his missis, for we hedn't getten far o'er th' sonds afooar we feawnt
+th' poor owd lass, an' not far off, i' th' deep channel, owd Tum
+hissel. They wir buriet i' th' owd church-yart, an' one o' th' lasses
+wir laid aside on 'em, th' freet hevin' bin too mich for her. When t'
+tother sister recovert a bit, an' could bide to talk abaat it, hoo
+said as they geet lost i' th' mist, an' th' owd mon left 'em i' th'
+shandray while he walkt a bit to foind th' channel. When he didn't
+come back they geet freetent, but t' owd woman wodn't stir fray th'
+spot till they heeart t' watters comin', an' then they went a bit fur,
+but could find nowt o' Tum, though they thowt neaw an' then they could
+heear him sheautin' to 'em. Th' sheawts, heawiver, geet fainter an'
+fainter, an' at last stopt o' together. Givin' thersels up for lost,
+they left th' reins to th' mare an' t' cowt. Th' poor owd lass wir
+quoite daz't at th' absence o' Tum; an' as th' cowt wir swimmin'
+across th' channel hoo lost her howd, an' wir carriet away. Th' lasses
+knew neawt no mooar, th' wench olus said, till th' fowk run deawn to
+th' cart uppo' th' beach. Hor as wir left, hoo wir olus quare at
+after; an' hoo uset to walk alung t' bay at o heawers just at th'
+toide toime, yo' known, an' it wir pitiful t' heear her when th' woint
+wir a bit sriller nor usal, sayin' as hoo could heear her owd
+fayther's voice as he sheauted when hee'd wander't fray 'em an'
+couldn't foint way to 'em through t' mist. Hoo afterwarts went to
+sarvice at Lankister, to a place as th' paason fun' for her, i' th'
+idea o' th' change dooin' her good; but it worn't lung afooar th' news
+come as hoo wir i' th' 'sylum, an' I heeart as hoo deed theear some
+toime after.'
+
+No sooner had the grey-headed old fisherman finished his story than
+one of the auditors said, 'Hoo met weel fancy hoo heeart th' voice ov
+her fayther, for monnie a neet, an' monnie another hev I heeart that
+cry mysen. Yo' may stare, bud theear's mooar saands to be heeard i'
+th' bay nor some o' yo' lads known on; an' I'm no choilt to be
+freetent o' bein' i' th' dark. Why nobbut th' neet afooar last I
+heeart a peal o' bells ringin' under th' watter.'{12} There was a
+moment of surprise, for Roger Heathcote was not a likely man to be a
+victim to his own fancies, or to be influenced by the superstitions
+which clung to his fellows. Like the rest of his companions, he had
+spent the greatest portion of his life away from land; and either
+because he possessed keener powers of observation than they, or loved
+nature more, and therefore watched her more closely, he had gradually
+added to his store of knowledge, until he had become the recognised
+authority on all matters connected with the dangerous calling by which
+the men-folk of the little colony earned daily bread for their
+families. As he was by no means addicted to yarns, looks of wonder
+came over the faces of the listeners; and in deference to the wishes
+of Old England, who pressed him as to what he had heard and seen,
+Roger narrated the adventure embodied in this story.{13}
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The fisherman's little boat was dancing lightly on the rippling waters
+of the bay.
+
+The night was perfectly calm, the moon shining faintly through a thin
+mist which rested on the face of the deep. It was nearly midnight, and
+Roger was thinking of making for home, when he heard the sweet sounds
+of a peal of bells. Not without astonishment, he endeavoured to
+ascertain from what quarter the noises came, and, strange and unlikely
+as it seemed, it appeared that the chimes rang up through the water,
+upon which, with dreamy motion, his boat was gliding. Bending over the
+side of the skiff he again heard with singular distinctness the music
+of the bells pealing in weird beauty. For some time he remained in
+this attitude, intently listening to the magical music, and when he
+arose, the mist had cleared off, and the moon was throwing her lovely
+light upon the waters, and over the distant fells. Instead, however,
+of beholding a coast with every inch of which he was acquainted, Roger
+gazed upon a district of which he knew nothing. There were mountains,
+but they were not those whose rugged outlines were so vividly
+impressed upon his memory. There was a beach, but it was not the one
+where his little cottage stood with its light in the window and its
+background of wind-bent trees. The estuary into which his boat was
+gliding was not that of the Kent, with its ash and oak-covered crags.
+Everything seemed unreal, even the streaming moonlight having an
+unusual whiteness, and Roger rapidly hoisted his little sails, but
+they only flapped idly against the mast, as the boat, in obedience to
+an invisible and unknown agency, drifted along the mysterious looking
+river. As the fisherman gazed in helpless wonder, gradually the water
+narrowed, and in a short time a cove was gained, the boat grating upon
+the gleaming sand. Roger at once jumped upon the bank, and no sooner
+had he done so, than a number of little figures clad in green ran
+towards him from beneath a clump of trees, the foremost of them
+singing--
+
+    To the home of elf and fay,
+      To the land of nodding flowers,
+    To the land of Ever Day
+      Where all things own the Fay Queen's powers,
+              Mortal come away!
+
+and the remainder dancing in circles on the grass, and joining in the
+refrain--
+
+    To the home of elf and fay,
+    To the land of Ever Day,
+        Mortal come away!
+
+The song finished, the little fellow who had taken the solo, tripped
+daintily to Roger, and, with a mock bow, grasped one of the fingers of
+the fisherman's hand, and stepped away as though anxious to lead him
+from the water.
+
+Assuming that he had come upon a colony of Greenies, and feeling
+assured that such tiny beings could not injure him, even if anxious to
+do so, Roger walked on with his conductor, the band dancing in a
+progressing circle in front of them, until a wood was reached, when
+the dancers broke up the ring and advanced in single file between the
+trees. The light grew more and more dim, and when the cavalcade
+reached the entrance to a cavern, Roger could hardly discern the
+Greenies. Clinging to the little hand of his guide, however, the
+undaunted fisherman entered the cave, and groped his way down a flight
+of mossy steps. Suddenly he found himself in a beautiful glade, in
+which hundreds of little figures closely resembling his escort, and
+wearing dainty red caps, were disporting themselves and singing--
+
+    Moonbeams kissing odorous bowers
+    Light our home amid the flowers;
+
+    While our beauteous King and Queen
+    Watch us dance on rings of green.
+      Rings of green, rings of green,
+      Dance, dance, dance, on rings of green.
+
+No sooner had the fisherman entered the glade than the whole party
+crowded round him, but as they did so a strain of enchanting music was
+heard, and the little beings hopped away again, and whirled round in a
+fantastic waltz. Roger himself was so powerfully influenced by the
+melody that he flung himself into the midst of the dancers, who
+welcomed him with musical cries, and he capered about until sheer
+fatigue forced him to sink to rest upon a flowery bank. Here, after
+watching for a while the graceful gambols of the Greenies, and soothed
+by the weird music, the sensuous odours, and the dreamy light, he fell
+into a deep sleep. When he awoke from his slumber the fairies had
+vanished, and the fisherman felt very hungry. No sooner, however, had
+he wished for something to eat than on the ground before him there
+appeared a goodly array of delicacies, of which, without more ado,
+Roger partook.
+
+'I'm in luck's way here,' he said to himself; 'It's not every day of
+the week I see a full table like this. I should like to know where I
+am, though.' As the wish passed his lips he saw before him a beautiful
+little being, who said in a sweet low voice--
+
+    In the land of nodding flowers,
+    Where all things own the Fay Queen's powers!
+
+The fisherman no sooner saw the exquisite face of the dainty Greenie
+than he forgot altogether the rosy-cheeked wife at home, and fell
+hopelessly over head and ears in love with the sweet vision. Gazing
+into her beautiful eyes he blurted out, 'I don't care where it is if
+you are there.' With a smile the queen, for it was indeed the queen,
+seated herself at his side. 'Dost thou, Mortal, bow to my power?'
+asked she. 'Ay, indeed, do I to the forgetfulness of everything but
+thy bonny face,' answered Roger; upon which the queen burst into a
+hearty fit of laughter, so musical, however, that for the life of him
+the fisherman could not feel angry with her. 'If the king were to hear
+thee talking thus thou wouldst pay dearly for thy presumption,' said
+the Fay, as she rose and tripped away to the shadow of the trees. The
+enraptured Roger endeavoured to overtake her before she reached the
+oaks, but without success; and though he wandered through the wood
+for hours, he did not again catch a glimpse of her. He gained an
+appetite by the freak however, and no sooner had he wished for food
+again than dishes of rich viands appeared before him.
+
+'I wish I could get money at this rate,' said the fisherman, and the
+words had hardly left his lips when piles of gold ranged themselves
+within his reach. Roger rapidly filled his pockets with the glittering
+coins, and even took the shoes from off his feet, and filled them
+also, and then slung them round his neck by the strings.
+
+'Now, if I could but get to my boat,' thought he, 'my fortune would be
+made,' and accordingly he began to make his way in what he believed to
+be the direction of the river. He had not proceeded very far, however,
+when he emerged upon an open space surrounded by tall foxgloves,{14}
+in all the beautiful bells of which dreamy-eyed little beings were
+swinging lazily as the quiet zephyr rocked their perfumed dwellings.
+Some of the Greenies were quite baby fairies not so large as Roger's
+hand, but none of them seemed alarmed at the presence of a mortal. A
+score of larger ones were hard at work upon the sward stitching
+together moth and butterfly wings for a cloak for their Queen, who,
+seated upon a mushroom, was smiling approvingly as she witnessed the
+industry of her subjects. Roger felt a sudden pang as he observed her,
+for although he was glad once more to behold the marvellous beauty of
+her face, he was jealous of a dainty dwarf in a burnished suit of
+beetles' wing cases and with a fantastic peaked cap in which a red
+feather was coquettishly stuck, for this personage he suspected was
+the King, and forgetting his desire to escape with the gold, and at
+once yielding to his feelings, he flung himself on the luxuriant grass
+near the little being whose weird loveliness had thrown so strange a
+glamour over him, and without any thought or fear as to the
+consequences he at once bent himself and kissed one of her dainty
+sandalled feet. No sooner had he performed this rash act of devotion
+than numberless blows fell upon him from all sides, but he was unable
+to see any of the beings by whom he was struck. Instinctively the
+fisherman flung his huge fists about wildly, but without hitting any
+of the invisible Greenies, whose tantalising blows continued to fall
+upon him. At length, however, wearying of the fruitless contest, he
+roared out, 'I wish I were safe in my boat in the bay,' and almost
+instantaneously he found himself in the little skiff, which was
+stranded high and dry upon the Poulton beach. The shoes which he had
+so recently filled with glittering pieces of gold and suspended round
+his neck were again upon his feet, his pockets were as empty as they
+were when he had put out to sea some hours before, and somewhat
+dubious and very disgusted, in a few minutes he had crept off to bed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When the strange tale of the fisherman's wonderful adventure with the
+hill folk was ended, the unbelievers did not hesitate to insinuate
+that Roger had not been out in the bay at all, and that the land of
+nodding flowers might be found by anyone who stayed as long and
+chalked up as large a score at the John-o'-Gaunt as he had done on the
+night when he heard the submerged bells and had so unusual a catch.
+
+Others, however, being less sceptical, many were the little boats that
+afterwards went on unsuccessful voyages in search of the mysterious
+estuary and the colony of Greenies, and a year afterwards, when a
+sudden gale swept over the restless face of the deep and cast Roger's
+boat bottom upwards upon the sandy beach, many believed that the
+fisherman had again found the land of Ever Day.
+
+
+
+
+THE SANDS OF COCKER.
+
+
+The quiet little village of Cockerham is hardly the spot one would
+expect to find selected as a place of residence by a gentleman of
+decidedly fast habits, and to whom a latch-key is indispensable; yet
+once upon a time the Evil One himself, it is said, took up his
+quarters in the go-to-bed-early hamlet. It hardly need be stated that
+the undesirable resident caused no small stir in the hitherto drowsy
+little place. Night after night he prowled about with clanking chains,
+and shed an unpleasantly-suggestive odour of sulphur, that rose to the
+diamond-paned windows and crept through cracks and chinks to the nasal
+organs of the horrified villagers, who had been disturbed by the
+ringing of the Satanic bracelets, and, fearing to sleep whilst there
+was so strong a smell of brimstone about, lay awake, thinking of the
+sins they had committed, or intended to commit if they escaped 'Old
+Skrat.'
+
+Before the wandering perfumer had thus, above a score of times,
+gratuitously fumigated the villagers, a number of the more daring
+ones, whose courage rose when they found that after all they were not
+flown away with, resolved that they would have a meeting, at which the
+unjustifiable conduct of a certain individual should be discussed, and
+means be devised of ridding the village of his odoriferous presence.
+In accordance with this determination, a gathering was announced for
+noonday, for the promoters of the movement did not dare to assemble
+after sunset to discuss such a subject. After a few cursory remarks
+from the chairman, and a long and desultory discussion as to the best
+way of getting rid of the self-appointed night watchman, it was
+settled that the schoolmaster, as the most learned man in the place,
+should be the deputation, and have all the honour and profit of an
+interview with the nocturnal rambler.
+
+Strange as it may appear, the pedagogue was nothing loath to accept
+the office, for if there was one thing more than another for which he
+had longed, it was an opportunity of immortalising himself; the daily
+round of life in the village certainly affording but few chances of
+winning deathless fame. He therefore at once agreed to take all the
+risks if he might also have all the glory. Not that he purposed to go
+to the Devil; no, the mountain should come to Mahomet; the Evil One
+should have the trouble of coming to him.
+
+His determination was loudly applauded by the assembled villagers,
+each of whom congratulated himself upon an escape from the dangerous,
+if noble, task of ridding the place of an intolerable nuisance.
+
+There was no time to be lost, and a night or two afterwards, no sooner
+had the clock struck twelve, than the schoolmaster, who held a branch
+of ash and a bunch of vervain in his hand, chalked the conventional
+circle{15} upon the floor of his dwelling, stepped within it, and in
+a trembling voice began to repeat the Lord's Prayer backwards. When he
+had muttered about half of the spell thunder began to roar in the
+distance; rain splashed on the roof, and ran in streams from the
+eaves; a gust of wind moaned round the house, rattling the loose
+leaded panes, shaking the doors, and scattering the embers upon the
+hearth. At the same time the solitary light, which had begun to burn a
+pale and ghastly blue, was suddenly extinguished, as though by an
+invisible hand; but the terrified schoolmaster was not long left in
+darkness, for a vivid flash of lightning illuminated the little
+chamber, and almost blinded the would-be necromancer, who tried to
+gabble a prayer in the orthodox manner, but his tongue refused to
+perform its office, and clave to the roof of his mouth.
+
+At that moment, could he have made his escape, he would willingly have
+given to the first comer all the glory he had panted to achieve; but
+even had he dared to leave the magic circle, there was not time to do
+so, for almost immediately there was a second blast of wind, before
+which the trees bent like blades of grass, a second flash lighted up
+the room, a terrible crash of thunder shook the house to its
+foundations, and, as a number of evil birds, uttering doleful cries,
+dashed themselves through the window, the door burst open, and the
+schoolmaster felt that he was no longer alone.
+
+An instantaneous silence, dreadful by reason of the contrast,
+followed, and the moon peeped out between the driving clouds and threw
+its light into the chamber. The birds perched themselves upon the
+window sill and ceased to cry, and with fiery-looking eyes peered into
+the room, and suddenly the trembling amateur saw the face of the dark
+gentleman whose presence only a few minutes before he had so eagerly
+desired.
+
+Overpowered by the sight, his knees refused to bear him up, what
+little hair had not been removed from his head by the stupidity of the
+rising generation stood on end, and with a miserable groan he sank
+upon his hands and knees, but, fortunately for himself, within the
+magic ring, round which the Evil One was running rapidly. How long
+this gratuitous gymnastic entertainment continued he knew not, for he
+was not in a state of mind to judge of the duration of time, but it
+seemed an age to the unwilling observer, who, afraid of having the
+Devil behind him, and yielding to a mysterious mesmeric influence,
+endeavoured, by crawling round backward, to keep the enemy's face in
+front. At length, however, the saltatory fiend asked in a shrill and
+unpleasant voice,
+
+'Rash fool, what wantest thou with me? Couldst thou not wait until in
+the ultimate and proper course of things we had met?'
+
+Terrified beyond measure not only at the nature of the pertinent
+question, but also by the insinuation and the piercing and horrible
+tone in which it was spoken, the tenant of the circle knew not what
+reply to make, and merely stammered and stuttered--
+
+'Good Old Nick,{16} go away for ever, and'--
+
+'Take thee with me,' interrupted the Satanic one quickly. 'Even so;
+such is my intent.'
+
+Upon this the poor wretch cried aloud in terror, and again the Evil
+One began to hop round and round and round the ring, evidently in the
+hope of catching a part of the body of the occupant projecting over
+the chalk mark.
+
+'Is there no escape,' plaintively asked the victim in his extremity,
+'is there no escape?'
+
+Upon this Old Nick suddenly stopped his gambols and quietly said,
+
+'Three chances of escape shalt thou have,{17} but if thou failest,
+then there is no appeal. Set me three tasks, and if I cannot perform
+any one of them, then art thou free.'
+
+There was a glimmer of hope in this, and the shivering necromancer
+brightened up a little, actually rising from his ignoble position and
+once more standing erect, as he gleefully said,
+
+'I agree.'
+
+'Ah, ah,' said the Evil One _sotto voce_.
+
+'Count the raindrops on the hedgerows from here to Ellel,' cried the
+schoolmaster.
+
+'Thirteen,' immediately answered Satan, 'the wind I raised when I came
+shook all the others off.'
+
+'One chance gone,' said the wizard, whose knees again began to
+manifest signs of weakness.
+
+There was a short pause, the schoolmaster evidently taking time to
+consider, for, after all, life, even in a place like Cockerham, was
+sweet in comparison with what might be expected in the society of the
+odoriferous one whose mirth was so decidedly ill-timed and unmusical.
+The silence was not of long continuance, however, for the Evil One
+began to fear that a detestably early cock might crow, and thereby
+rescue the trembling one from his clutches. In his impatience,
+therefore, he knocked upon the floor with his cloven hoof and whistled
+loudly, after the manner followed now-a-days by dirty little patrons
+of the drama, perched high in the gallery of a twopenny theatre, and
+again danced rapidly round the ring in what the tenant deemed
+unnecessary proximity to the chalk mark.
+
+'Count the ears of corn in old Tithepig's field,' suddenly cried the
+schoolmaster.
+
+'Three millions and twenty-six,' at once answered Satan.
+
+'I have no way of checking it,' moaned the pedagogue.
+
+'Ah, ah,' bellowed the fiend, who now, instead of hopping round the
+ring, capered in high glee about the chamber.
+
+'Ho, ho!' laughed the schoolmaster, 'I have it! Here it is! Ho, ho!
+Twist a rope of sand{18} and wash it in the river Cocker without
+losing a grain.'
+
+The Evil One stepped out of the house, to the great relief of its
+occupier, who at once felt that the atmosphere was purer; but in a few
+minutes he returned with the required rope of sand.
+
+'Come along,' said he, 'and see it washed.' And he swung it over his
+shoulder, and stepped into the lane.
+
+In the excitement of the moment the wizard had almost involuntarily
+stepped out of the magic circle, when suddenly he bethought himself of
+the danger, and drily said--
+
+'Thank you; I'll wait here. By the light of the moon I can see you
+wash it.'
+
+The baffled fiend, without more ado, stepped across to the rippling
+streamlet, and dipped the rope into the water, but when he drew it out
+he gave utterance to a shout of rage and disappointment, for half of
+it had been washed away.
+
+'Hurrah!' shouted the schoolmaster. 'Cockerham against the world!' And
+as in his joy he jumped out of the ring, the Evil One, instead of
+seizing him, in one stride crossed Pilling Moss and Broadfleet, and
+vanished, and from that night to the present day Cockerham has been
+quite free from Satanic visits.{19}
+
+
+
+
+THE SILVER TOKEN.
+
+
+Believe i' Fairies? 'Ay, that I do, though I never clapped mi een on
+'em,' said old Nancy to a group of gaping listeners seated by the
+farm-house kitchen fire.
+
+'That's quare,' remarked a sceptical young woman in the ingle nook.
+
+Old Nancy gave her a scornful glance, and then went on:--
+
+'I never see'd a fairy as I know on, but I used to sarve one on 'em
+wi' milk. Yo' mon stare; but th' way on it wir this. I wir at mi wark
+i' th' dairy one day, abaat th' edge o' dark, when o ov a suddent a
+loile jug clapt itsel daan afooar mi on th' stooan. Yo' may be sure I
+wir fair capt, for wheear it come fray, or heaw it geet theear, I
+couldn't mek aat. I stoopt mi daan to pike howd on it, and it met a'
+bin silver, it wir that breet and bonnie; but it wir as leet as a
+feather, an' I couldn't tell what it wir med on. I wir baan to set it
+o' th' stooan again, when I seed at a new sixpenny bit hed bin put
+theer wi' it, so it struck mi as milk wir wantit. Accordingly I fillt
+th' jug and seet it daan again, an' welly as soon as I'd clapt it
+wheear I fun' it, it up an' whipt eaut o' seet. Well I thowt it
+meeterly quare, bud I'd heeard mi feyther say, monny an' monny a
+toime, as thuse as geet fairy brass gin 'em should tell nubry, so I
+kept it to mysen, though I'd hard wark, yo' may be sure. Every neet
+th' jug an' th' sixpenny bit clapt theirsens o' th' stooan as reglar
+as milkin' toime, an' I fillt th' jug and piked up th' brass. At last,
+ha'ever, I thowt happen no lumber could come on it if I towd nobbut
+one, so when Roger theear and me settlet a beein wed I towd him what
+sooart ov a nest-egg I'd getten so quarely. Mi feyther wir reet,
+ha'ever, for th' next neet nayther jug nor th' sixpenny bit showed
+thersels, an' fray that day to this I've sin no mooar on 'em, an' it's
+ower forty year sin I piked up th' last brass.{3}
+
+
+
+
+THE HEADLESS WOMAN.
+
+(BEAWT HEEOD.)
+
+
+It was near upon twelve when Gabriel Fisher bade good night to the
+assembled roysterers who were singing and shouting in the kitchen of
+the White Bull, at Longridge, and, turning his back to the cosy
+hearth, upon which a huge log was burning, emerged into the moonlit
+road. With his dog Trotty close at his heels, he struck out manfully
+towards Tootal Height and Thornley, for he had a long and lonely walk
+before him. It was a clear and frosty night, but occasionally a light
+cloud sailed across the heavens, and obscured the moon. Rapidly
+passing between the two rows of cottages which constituted the little
+straggling village, his footsteps ringing upon the frozen ground,
+Gabriel made for the fells, and, as he hurried along, he hummed to
+himself a line of the last song he had heard, and now and again burst
+into a fit of laughter as he remembered a humorous story told by 'Owd
+Shuffler.' When he reached the highest point of the road whence he
+could see the beautiful Chipping valley, a soft breeze was whispering
+among the fir-trees, with that faint rustle suggestive of the gentle
+fall of waves upon a beach. Here and there a little white farm-house
+or labourer's cottage was gleaming in the moonlight, but the inmates
+had been asleep for hours. There was an air of loneliness and mystery
+over everything; and though Gabriel would have scorned to admit that
+he was afraid of anything living or dead, before he had passed out of
+the shadow of the weird-looking melodious branches he found himself
+wishing for other company than that of his dog. He suddenly
+remembered, too, with no access of pleasurable feelings, that on the
+previous day he had seen a solitary magpie, and all sorts of stories
+of 'Banister Dolls' and 'Jinny Greenteeths,' with which his youthful
+soul had been carefully harrowed, came across his mind. He tried to
+laugh at these recollections, but the attempt was by no means a
+successful one, and he gave expression to a hearty wish that Kemple
+End were not quite so far off.
+
+Just then a sharp shrill cry fell upon his ear, and then another and
+another. 'Th' Gabriel Ratchets,'{33} he shouted, 'what's abaat to
+happen?' The cries were not repeated, however, and he went on, but
+when he reached the peak of the fell, and gazed before him into the
+deep shade of a plantation, he could not repress a slight shudder, for
+he fancied that he saw something moving at a distance. He paused for a
+moment or two to assure himself, and then went on again slowly, his
+heart throbbing violently as he lessened the space between the moving
+object and himself. The dog, as though equally influenced by similar
+feelings, crept behind him in a suspicious and terrified manner.
+
+'It's nobbut a woman,' said he, somewhat re-assured; 'it's a woman
+sewerly. Mebbee someburry's badly, an' hoo's gooin' for help. Come on,
+Trotty, mon.'
+
+So saying, he quickened his pace, the dog hanging behind, until he
+approached almost close to the figure, when, with a wild howl, away
+Trotty fled down the hillside. As Gabriel drew still closer, he saw
+that the object wore a long light cloak and hood, and a large
+coal-scuttle bonnet; and surprised to find that the sound of his
+footsteps did not cause her to turn to see who was following, he
+called out:
+
+'It's a bonny neet, Missis; bud yo're aat rayther late, arn't yo'?'
+
+'It is very fine,' answered the woman, in a voice which Gabriel
+thought was the sweetest he had ever heard, but without turning
+towards him as she spoke.
+
+'Summat wrong at your fowk's, happen?' he asked, anxious to prolong
+the talk. There was no reply to this, though, and Gabriel knew not
+what to think, for the silent dame, although she declined to reply,
+continued to keep pace with him, and to walk at his side. Was it some
+one who had no business to be out at that hour, and who did not wish
+to be recognised, he wondered? But if so, thought he, why did she
+continue to march in a line with him? The voice, certainly, was that
+of one of a different rank to his own; but, on the other hand, he
+reflected, if she were one of the gentle folks, why the cottager's
+cloak and bonnet, and the huge market basket? These conjectures
+crossed his brain in rapid succession; and influenced by the last
+one--that as to his companion's clothing--he determined again to
+address her.
+
+'Yo' met a left yir tung at whoam, Missis,' said he, 'sin' yo' connot
+answer a civil mon.'
+
+This taunt, however, like the direct query, failed to provoke an
+answer, although the startled Gabriel could have sworn that a
+smothered laugh came from beneath the white cloth which covered the
+contents of the basket 'Let me carry yer baskit,' said he; 'it's heavy
+for yo'.'
+
+Without a word, the woman held it out to him; but, as Gabriel grasped
+the handle, a voice, which sounded as though the mouth of the speaker
+were close to his hand, slowly said:
+
+'You're very kind, I'm sure;' and then there came from the same
+quarter a silvery peal of laughter.
+
+'What i' th' warld can it be?' said Gabriel, as without more ado he
+let the basket fall to the ground. He did not remain in ignorance very
+long, however, for, as the white cloth slipped off, a human head, with
+fixed eyes, rolled out 'Th' yedless boggart!' cried he, as the figure
+turned to pick up the head, and revealed to him an empty bonnet, and
+away he fled down the hill, fear lending him speed. He had not run
+far, however, before he heard a clatter of feet on the hard road
+behind him; but Gabriel was one of the fleetest lads about the fells,
+and the sight he had just seen was calculated to bring out all his
+powers; so the sound did not grow louder, but just as he turned into
+the old Chaighley Road, the head, thrown by the boggart, came whizzing
+past in unpleasant proximity to his own, and went rolling along in
+front of him. For a second or two Gabriel hesitated what to do, the
+headless woman behind and the equally terrible head in front; but it
+did not take long to decide, and he went forward with renewed vigour,
+thinking to pass the dreadful thing rapidly rolling along in advance
+of him. No sooner was he near to it, however, than, with an impish
+laugh, which rang in his ears for days afterwards, the ghastly object
+diverged from its course and rolled in his way. With a sudden and
+instinctive bound, he leaped over it; and as he did so the head jumped
+from the ground and snapped at his feet, the teeth striking together
+with a dreadfully suggestive clash. Gabriel was too quick for it,
+however, but for some distance he heard with horrible distinctness the
+clattering of the woman's feet and the banging of the head upon the
+road behind him.
+
+Gradually the sounds grew fainter as he speeded along, and at length,
+after he had crossed a little stream of water which trickled across
+the lane from a fern-covered spring in the fell side, the sounds
+ceased altogether. The runner, however, did not pause to take breath
+until he had reached his home and had crept beneath the blankets, the
+trembling Trotty, whom he found crouched in terror at the door of the
+cottage, skulking upstairs at his heels and taking refuge under the
+bed.
+
+'I olus said as tha'd be seein' a feeorin wi' thi stoppin' aat o'
+neets,' remarked his spouse after he had narrated his adventure; 'bud
+if it nobbut meks tha fain o' thi own haath-stooan I'se be some glad
+on it, for it's moor nor a woman wi' a heead on her shoothers hes bin
+able to do.'{20}
+
+
+
+
+THE RESCUE OF MOONBEAM.
+
+
+From one corner of Ribbleton Moor, the scene of Cromwell's victory
+over Langdale, there is as lovely a view as ever painter dreamed of.
+Far below the spectator the Ribble sweeps almost in a circle beneath
+the scars which, by the action of years of this washing, have been
+scooped out so as to form a large precipice, under which the waters
+flow, marking out in their course the great 'horse-shoe meadow,' with
+its fringe of shining sand. The peaceful valley through which the
+river, reflecting in its moving bosom the overhanging many-tinted
+woods and cliffs, meanders on its way to the sea, is bounded afar-off
+by noble hills, the whale-like Pendle towering in majestic grandeur
+above the rest. From the moor a rough and stony lane winds down the
+wooded hillside, past a beautiful old half-timbered house down to the
+dusty highway and the bridge over the Belisamia of the Romans. The
+beautiful river, with its tremulous earth and sky pictures, the
+meadows and corn-fields whence come now and again the laugh and song
+of the red-faced mowers and reapers, the clearly-defined roads and
+white farm-houses, the spires of distant hillside churches, and the
+rich green of the waving woods, make up an enchanting picture. When
+night comes, however, and the lovely stars peep out, and the crescent
+moon casts her glamour over the dreaming earth, and half-hidden in a
+dimly transparent veil of shimmering mist the Ribble glides as gently
+as though it had paused to listen to its own melody, a still deeper
+loveliness falls upon the dreaming landscape, over which the very
+genius of beauty seems to hover silently with outspread wings.
+
+At such a time, when moon and stars threw a faint and mysterious light
+over the sleeping woods, and not a sound, save the cry of a restless
+bird, broke the silence, a young countryman made his way rapidly
+across the horse-shoe meadow to the bend of the stream under Red
+Scar.
+
+It was not to admire the beautiful scenery, however, that Reuben
+Oswaldwistle was crossing the dew-besprinkled field, over which faint
+odours of hay were wafted by a gentle breeze. The sturdy young fellow
+was too practical to yield entirely to such an influence, and although
+he was by no means unlearned in the traditions and stories of the
+neighbourhood, long familiarity had taught him to look upon the
+landscape with the eye of a farmer. He was simply about to practise
+the gentle art in the hope of beguiling a few stray 'snigs' for dinner
+on the following day. Still the scene in all its glamour of moonlight
+and peace was not powerless even upon his rude nature; so, after
+setting his lines, he took out a little black pipe, filled it from a
+capacious moleskin pouch, and after lighting the fragrant weed, gave
+way to a train of disconnected fancies--past, present, and future
+mingling strangely in his reverie.
+
+What with the rustling of the leaves overhead, the musical rippling of
+the river as it danced over the stones on its way to the sea, and the
+soothing effect of the tobacco, Reuben was beginning to doze, when
+suddenly he fancied he heard the sound of a light footstep in the
+grass behind him. Turning round somewhat drowsily, he beheld a little
+figure of about a span high, clad in green, and wearing a dainty red
+cap, struggling along under the load of a flat-topped mushroom much
+larger than itself. After having more than once fallen with its load,
+the dwarf cried out in a sweet, faint voice, 'Dewdrop, Dewdrop!' and
+no sooner had the sound died into silence than another little fellow,
+who evidently answered to the pretty name, came tripping from the
+shadow of a hawthorn.
+
+'What's the matter, Moonbeam?' said the new-comer, cheerily.
+
+'This table is too much for me,' answered the labourer whom Reuben had
+seen first, 'and if the king's dinner is not ready to a minute he will
+have me stung. Help me with this load, there's a good sort.'
+
+Without any more ado Dewdrop came forward and the tiny pair put their
+shoulders beneath the load and marched off. They did not bear it very
+far, however, for the astonished Reuben simply stretched himself at
+full length on the grass and again was quite close to them.
+
+The two dots stopped when they came to a hole, into which they at once
+stuck the stem of the mushroom. Moonbeam then took from his pocket a
+butterfly's wing, which served him as a handkerchief, and wiping his
+forehead as he spoke, he said:--
+
+'I'm about tired of this. Every night the table is stolen, Dewdrop,
+and I've to find a new one for each dinner, and no thanks for it
+either. What has come of late over the king I am at a loss to imagine,
+for he has done nothing but have me stung. I shall emigrate if this
+continues, that's all.'
+
+'So would I,' answered the other little fellow, 'if Blue-eyes would go
+also, but I can't leave her.'
+
+After a hearty peal of laughter, during which he had held his shaking
+sides, Moonbeam shouted--
+
+'Why, my dear innocent, if you went she would be after you in a trice.
+I remember that when I was as guileless as you I fell in love with
+Ravenhair, the daughter of old Pigear. She treated me just as
+Blue-eyes uses you, but when, in a fit of jealous rage, I began to pay
+delicate attentions to Jasmine, the tables soon were turned, and one
+evening, as I was dozing in a flower cup, I heard some one call me,
+and peeping out of my chamber, I saw the once scornful Ravenhair
+weeping at the foot of the stalk. No sooner did she catch a glimpse of
+the tip of my nightcap than in piteous tones, that went straight to my
+heart, she cried out, "Dearest Moony, let me come up and"--. But,
+hush! wasn't that the dinner gong?'
+
+The pair listened intently as over the grass came the solemn hum of a
+bee.
+
+'I'm in for it,' said the fairy whose tale had been so suddenly
+interrupted; 'there's the first bell, and I haven't got even the table
+set.'
+
+The pair darted off, and tripping away into the shade of the hawthorn,
+they were for a moment or two lost to the sight of the wondering
+Reuben, but they soon returned, each bearing a dish and cover made of
+a little pearl shell. These they placed upon the mushroom, and away
+they scudded, again to return in a minute with another load. In an
+incredibly short space of time the table was set out with a goodly
+array of tiny dishes and plates.
+
+Once more the hum of the bee was heard booming over the grass, and
+from the shadow of the tree there emerged a dainty being whose attire
+glittered in the moonlight, and whose step was like that of a proud
+monarch. He was clad in a many-hued coat made of wings of dragon
+flies, a green vest cut from a downy mouse-ear leaf, and with buttons
+of buttercup buds; little knee-breeches of fine-spun silk dyed in the
+juice of a whinberry, stockings of cobweb, and shoes of shining beetle
+case; his shirt, which was as white as falling snow, had been cut from
+convolvulus flowers ere they had opened to the light; and his hat, a
+gem of a thing fit only for a fairy, was of red poppy, with a waving
+white feather, and a band of fur from a caterpillar. He led by the
+hand another personage, equally daintily dressed, but of a higher
+order of loveliness, with a pale oval face, and dreamy-looking eyes,
+gleaming like the sea when the moon and stars are bending over its
+bosom, and the wind is whispering its sad secrets. Her hair was
+golden, and rippled almost to her exquisite feet, and over it she wore
+a blue cornflower wreath, with diamond dewdrops here and there amid
+the leaves. Her dress was of damask rose leaves looped up with
+myosotis.
+
+The grass hardly bent beneath her, so daintily did she trip along,
+just touching the tips of the fingers of the hand the king extended
+to her. Following this royal pair came a group of gaily-clad
+attendants, and a band discoursing sweet sounds, the deep bass of bees
+harmonising happily with the barytone of a beetle and the crescendo
+chirp of a cricket.
+
+With a loud flourish from the musicians all took their places at the
+festive mushroom, and the banquet began. The dishes were sufficiently
+various to tempt even an anchorite to excess, for all the delicacies
+of the season were there. Ladybird soup, baked stickleback, roasted
+leg of nightingale, boiled shoulder of frog with cranberry sauce, wild
+strawberry tarts, and numerous kinds of fruits and juices, made up a
+dainty repast, of which king, queen, and courtiers partook heartily.
+The band, the members of which were perched in the swinging flowers of
+a foxglove close by, played lustily during the feast.
+
+'For once,' said the king, 'for once--and let the circumstance be
+remembered when the annals of our reign are written--a day hath passed
+without anything having annoyed our royal self, without anything
+unpleasant having happened in our royal presence, and without
+anything having disagreed with our royal stomach.'
+
+No sooner had these words passed the royal lips, however, than the
+queen gave a faint shriek, and cried out--
+
+'My love, there is not a drop of my chickweed wine on the table.'
+
+A dark cloud passed over the monarch's face as he angrily shouted--
+
+'Methinks we were congratulating our royal self somewhat too early in
+the day. Bring hither the rascally Moonbeam and bid the executioners
+attend for orders.'
+
+One of the courtiers, with an alacrity marvellously resembling that of
+beings of a larger growth, rushed out, and speedily returned with the
+unfortunate dependant, who at once flung himself on the ground before
+the angry king and begged to be forgiven. What result might have
+followed these prayers is uncertain, for, unfortunately, the
+suppliant's tears fell upon one of the monarch's shoes and dimmed its
+lustre.
+
+'Bring hither the executioners and their instruments,' roared the
+infuriated king, and almost immediately a couple of sturdy little
+fellows appeared leading by a chain two large wasps.
+
+'Do your disreputable work!' shouted the monarch.
+
+The executioners seized Moonbeam, fastened him to a stake, and pressed
+a wasp against him. The insect instantly stung him, and the miserable
+little fellow howled with pain.
+
+'Take him away,' cried the queen; 'we don't want _whine_ of that
+kind.'
+
+'What a wretched pun!' involuntarily said Moonbeam, as they were
+dragging him from the royal presence.
+
+'Bring the villain back,' roared the King; 'bring him back, and sting
+him until he is less critical.'
+
+'If tha hez him stung ageeon,' interrupted the indignant Reuben, who
+in his excitement had gradually crept nearer to the royal table, 'I'll
+knock thi proud little heeod off, chuz who tha art.'
+
+Neither the king or the executioners, however, took the slightest
+notice of the warning, so, as the latter were once more forcing the
+unhappy Moonbeam against the other wasp, down came a huge fist upon
+the royal head.
+
+'Theer,' said the fisherman, exultingly, 'I towd tha, didn't I, bud
+tha wouldn't tek wernin'. Tha 'rt on 't' penitent form bi this time, I
+daat.'
+
+Lifting up his hand, however, what was the surprise of the wondering
+Reuben to find only a little crushed grass under it. King, Queen,
+courtiers, Moonbeam, executioners, and wasps, all had vanished, and
+even the band, whose humming and droning he had heard so distinctly
+during the whole banquet, no longer broke the silence.
+
+'Well,' said the fisherman, 'that's a capper, in o mi born days. I see
+'em as plain as a pikestaff. Th' last day connot be far off, I'm
+sewer. Bud I'll hev th' tabble, at onny rate, beawt axin.' And, so
+saying, he took possession of the huge mushroom, and after hurriedly
+gathering up his lines, he wended his way across the meadow to his
+little cottage by the high road, and arrived there, he narrated to his
+drowsy wife the story of the banquet.
+
+'Drat th' fairies, an' thee, too, wi' thi gawmless tales,' said his
+sceptical helpmate, 'I wondered what hed getten tha. Tha's bin asleep
+for hours i' th' meadow istid a lookin' after th' fish. Tha never seed
+a fairy i' thi life. Tha'rt nod hauve sharp enough, clivver as tha
+art i' owt as is awkurt.' There was a short pause after this sally,
+and then the sly Reuben drily answered--
+
+'Yoy, I 've sin a fairy monny an' monny a time. Olus when I used to
+come a cooartin' to thi moather's. Bud tha 'r nod mich like a fairy
+neaw, tha 'st autert terbly. Tha 'rt too thrivin' lookin'.'
+
+'Be off wi' thi fawseness,' said the pleased woman; 'tha 'd ollus a
+desayvin tung i' thi heead;' and then after a drowsy pause as she was
+dosing to sleep; 'but for o that I'll mek a soop o' good catsup out
+o' thi fairy tabble.'
+
+
+
+
+THE WHITE DOBBIE.
+
+
+Many years ago, long before the lovely Furness district was invaded by
+the genius of steam, the villagers along the coast from Bardsea to
+Rampside were haunted by a wandering being whose errand, the purpose
+of which could never be learned, used to bring him at night along the
+lonely roads and past the straggling cottages. This pilgrim was a
+wearied, emaciated-looking man, on whose worn and wan face the sorrows
+of life had left deep traces, and in whose feverish, hungry-looking
+eyes, mystery and terror seemed to lurk. Nobody knew the order of his
+coming or going, for he neither addressed anyone, nor replied if
+spoken to, but disregarded alike the 'good neet' of the tramp who knew
+him not, and the startled cry of the belated villager who came
+suddenly upon him at a turn of the road. Never stopping even for a
+minute to gaze through the panes whence streamed the ruddy glow of the
+wood fires, and to envy the dwellers in the cosy cottages, he kept on
+his way, as though his mission was one of life and death, and,
+therefore, would not brook delay.
+
+On wild wintry nights, however, when the salt wind whirled the foam
+across the bay, and dashed the blinding snow into heaps upon the
+window-sills and against the cottage doors, and darkness and storm
+spread their sombre wings over the coast, then was it certain that the
+mysterious being would be seen, for observation had taught the
+villagers and the dwellers in solitary houses along the lonely roads
+between the fishing hamlets that in storm and darkness the weird
+voyager was most likely to appear.
+
+At such times, when the sound of footsteps, muffled by the snow, was
+heard between the soughs and moans of the wailing wind, the women
+cried, 'Heaven save us; 'tis th' White Dobbie,' as, convulsively
+clutching their little ones closer to their broad bosoms, they crept
+nearer to the blazing log upon the hearth, and gazed furtively and
+nervously at the little diamond-paned window, past which the restless
+wanderer was making his way, his companion running along a little way
+in advance, for not of the mysterious man alone were the honest people
+afraid. In front of him there invariably ran a ghastly-looking,
+scraggy white hare,{21} with bloodshot eyes. No sooner however did
+anyone look at this spectral animal than it fled to the wanderer, and
+jumping into his capacious pocket, was lost to sight.
+
+Verily of an unearthly stock was this white hare, for upon its
+approach and long before it neared a village, the chained dogs, by
+some strange instinct conscious of its coming, trembled in terror, and
+frantically endeavoured to snap their bonds; unfastened ones fled no
+man knew whither; and if one happened to be trotting alongside its
+belated master as he trudged homeward and chanced to meet the ghastly
+Dobbie with its blood-red eyes, with a scream of pain almost human in
+its keen intensity, away home scampered the terrified animal, madly
+dashing over hedge and ditch as though bewitched and fiend-chased.
+
+For many years the lonely wanderer had traversed the roads, and for
+many years had the hare trotted in front of him; lads who were cradled
+upon their mother's knee when first they heard the awe-inspiring
+footfalls had grown up into hearty wide-chested men, and men who were
+ruddy fishers when the pilgrim first startled the dwellers in Furness
+had long passed away into the silent land; but none of them ever had
+known the wayfarer to utter a syllable. At length, however, the time
+came when the solemn silence was to be broken.
+
+One night when the breeze, tired of whispering its weird messages to
+the bare branches, and chasing the withered leaves along the lanes,
+had begun to moan a hushed prelude to the music of a storm, through
+the mist that had crept over the bay, and which obscured even the
+white-crested wavelets at the foot of the hill on which stood the
+sacred old church, there came at measured intervals the melancholy
+monotone of the Bardsea passing bell{9} for the dead.
+
+Dismally upon the ears of the dwellers in the straggling hamlet fell
+the announcement of the presence of death, and even the woman who had
+for years been bell-ringer and sexton, felt a thrill of fear as she
+stood in the tower but dimly lighted by a candle in a horn lantern,
+and high above her head the message of warning rang out; for, although
+accustomed to the task, it was not often that her services were
+required at night. Now and again she gazed slowly round the chamber,
+upon the mouldering walls of which fantastic shadows danced, and she
+muttered broken fragments of prayers in a loud and terrified voice,
+for as the door had been closed in order that the feeble light in the
+lantern might not be extinguished by the gusts of wind, isolated as
+she was from the little world upon the hillside, she felt in an
+unwonted manner the utter loneliness of the place and its dread
+surroundings.
+
+Suddenly she uttered a shrill shriek, for she heard a hissing whisper
+at her ear and felt an icy breath upon her cheek. She dared not turn
+round, for she saw that the door opening upon the churchyard remained
+closed as before, and that occasionally passing within the range of
+her fixed stare, a white hare with blood-red eyes gambolled round the
+belfry.
+
+'T' Dobbie!' sighed she, as the dim light began to flicker and the
+hare suddenly vanished.
+
+As she stood almost paralysed, again came the terrible whisper, and
+this time she heard the question--
+
+'Who for this time?'
+
+The horrified woman was unable to answer, and yet powerless to resist
+the strange fascination which forced her to follow the direction of
+the sound; and when the question was put a second time, in an agony of
+fear she gazed into the wild eyes of the being at her elbow, her
+parched tongue cleaving to her open mouth. From the pocket of the
+dread visitor the ghastly animal gazed at the ringer, who mechanically
+jerked the bell-rope, and the poor woman was fast losing her senses,
+when suddenly the door was burst open, and a couple of villagers, who
+had been alarmed by the irregular ringing, entered the tower. They at
+once started back as they saw the strange group--the wanderer with
+sad, inquiring look, and pallid face, the phantom hare with its
+firelit eyes, and the old ringer standing as though in a trance. No
+sooner, however, did one of the intruders gaze at the animal than it
+slipped out of sight down into the pocket of its companion and keeper,
+and the wanderer himself hastily glided between the astonished men,
+and out into the darkness of the graveyard.
+
+On many other gloomy nights afterwards the ringer was accosted in the
+same manner, but although the unnatural being and the spectral hare
+continued for some winters to pass from village to village and from
+graveyard to graveyard, a thick cloud of mystery always hung over and
+about them, and no one ever knew what terrible sin the never-resting
+man had been doomed to expiate by so lonely and lasting a pilgrimage.
+
+Whence he came and whither he went remained unknown; but long as he
+continued to patrol the coast the hollow sound of his hasty footsteps
+never lost its terror to the cottagers; and even after years had
+passed over without the usual visits, allusions to the weird pilgrim
+and his dread companion failed not to cause a shudder, for it was
+believed that the hare was the spirit of a basely-murdered friend, and
+that the restless voyager was the miserable assassin doomed to a
+wearisome, lifelong wandering.{22}
+
+
+
+
+THE LITTLE MAN'S GIFT.
+
+
+Many are the wells in Lancashire that once were supposed to be the
+homes of good or evil spirits--of demons or of beneficent
+fairies--and, despite the injunctions of the Church against the
+customs of praying at and waking wells, down to a comparatively recent
+period they were resorted to by pilgrims of all grades who were in
+search of health. One such spring near Blackpool, known as the
+Fairies' Well, had its daily crowds of the ailing and the sorrowful,
+for its water was credited with virtues as wonderful as they were
+manifold, and from far and near people brought vessels to be filled
+with the miraculous fluid.
+
+One day at noon, a poor woman who had journeyed many a weary mile in
+order to obtain a supply of the water with which to bathe the eyes of
+her child, whose sight was fast failing, and upon whom all the usual
+remedies had been tried without success, on rising from her knees at
+the well side, was surprised to find standing near her a handsome
+little man clad in green, who certainly was not in sight when she bent
+to fill her bottle. As she stood gazing at the dainty object, the
+visitor, without having previously asked her any questions, handed to
+her a beautiful box filled with ointment, and directed her to apply
+the salve to the eyes of her child, whose sight it would restore.
+Surprised beyond measure at the little man's knowledge of her family
+affairs, the woman mechanically accepted the gift, but when, after
+carefully placing the box in her pocket, she turned to thank the
+giver, he was no longer to be seen; and satisfied that she had had an
+interview with one of the beings after whom the well was named, she
+started on her journey to her distant home.
+
+The strangeness of the present, given as she trusted it was by a fairy
+who was conversant with the painful circumstances under which she had
+made her pilgrimage, caused her to hope that the ointment would prove
+efficacious in removing the disorder under which her child was
+labouring; but this vague feeling, based as it was upon the mysterious
+nature of the gift, was accompanied by a perfectly natural fear that,
+after all, the giver might have been one of those mischievous beings
+whose delight it was to wreak harm and wrong upon humanity.
+
+When she reached home and told the strange story to her wondering
+husband, the nervous pair decided that the ointment should not be used
+unless a further mark of fairy interest in the child's welfare were
+vouchsafed to them; but when a few days had passed, and the child
+continued to grow worse, the anxious mother, in the absence of her
+husband, determined to test the salve upon one of her own eyes. She
+did so, and after a few minutes of dreadful suspense, finding that
+evil results did not follow, and saying to herself that surely the
+fairy could not be desirous of harming her child, she anointed the
+little girl's eyes. She refrained, however, from making her helpmate
+acquainted with what she had done, until in the course of a few days
+the child's eyesight was so nearly restored that it was no longer
+necessary or possible to keep the matter from him. Great were the
+rejoicings of the worthy pair over their little one's recovery; but
+there was not for a very long time any opportunity afforded them of
+expressing their gratitude.
+
+Some years had passed,--and, as the girl had never had a relapse, the
+strange gift was almost forgotten,--when one day, in the market-place
+at Preston, the woman, who was haggling about the price of a load of
+potatoes, saw before her the identical little fellow in green attire
+from whom, long before, she had received the box of wonder-working
+ointment. Although he was busily engaged in a pursuit in which,
+perhaps, few gentlemen would care to be interrupted, that of stealing
+corn from an open sack, the thoughtless woman, regardless of
+etiquette, and yielding to the sudden impulse which prompted her to
+thank him, stepped forward, and, grasping the fairy's hand, gave
+utterance to her gratitude.
+
+To her surprise, however, the little fellow seemed very angry with
+her, and, instead of acknowledging her thanks, hastily asked if she
+could see him with both eyes, and if she had used the ointment
+intended for her child. The frightened woman at once said that she
+saw him with only one eye, and was entering into a long account of the
+circumstances under which, with maternal instinct, she had tested the
+value of the gift, when, without more ado, the irritated fairy struck
+her a violent blow and vanished, and from that time forward the poor
+woman, instead of being able to see better than her neighbours, was
+blind of one eye. The daughter, however, often saw the fairies, but,
+profiting by her mother's painful experience, she was wise enough to
+refrain from speaking to them either when they gathered by moonlight
+beneath the trees or in broad daylight broke the Eighth Commandment,
+utterly unconscious that they were observed by a mortal to whom had
+been given the wondrous gift of fairy vision.{23}
+
+
+
+
+SATAN'S SUPPER.{24}
+
+
+                                      I.
+
+  Ye Evil One         The 'Old Lad' sat upon his throne,
+  giveth unto           Beneath a blasted oak,
+  them a stayve.      And fiddled to the mandrake's groan,
+                        The marsh-frog's lonely croak;
+
+
+                                     II.
+
+  Ye corpses          Whilst winds they hissed, and shrieked, and moaned
+  dashe their           About the branches bare,
+  wigges.             And all around the corpses groaned,
+                        And shook their mould'ring hair;
+
+
+                                    III.
+
+  Ye hagges           As witches gathered one by one,
+  crowde to ye          And knelt at Satan's feet,
+  _levee_.            With faces some all worn and wan,
+                        And some with features sweet,
+
+
+                                     IV.
+
+  Ye power            The earth did ope and imps upsprang
+  of                    Of every shape and shade,
+  Musicke.            Who 'gan to dance as th' welkin rang
+                        With tunes the 'Old Lad' played;
+
+
+                                      V.
+
+  Ye poetrie          At which the witches clapped their hands,
+  of                    And laughed and screamed in glee;
+  motion.             Or jumped about in whirling bands,
+                        And hopped in revelry,
+
+
+                                     VI.
+
+  Ye delicacies       Till Satan ceased, when all did rest,
+  of ye                 And swarmed unto the meat:
+  season,             The flesh of infants from the breast,
+                        The toes from dead men's feet,
+
+
+                                    VII.
+
+  Ye ditto,           With sand for salt, and brimstone cates,
+                        With blood for old wine red;
+                      On glittering dish and golden plates
+                        The dainty food was spread.
+
+
+                                   VIII.
+
+  Ye                  From heavy cups, with jewels rough,
+  coolinge              The witches quenched their thirst;
+  drinkes.            Yet not before the ruddie stuff
+                        Had been by Satan cursed.
+
+
+                                     IX.
+
+  Ye barde            But one lank fiend of skin and bone,
+  telleth of            With hungry-looking eyne,
+  an outcaste         Gazed at the food with dreary moans,
+  impe.                 And many a mournful whine;
+
+
+                                      X.
+
+  Of hys              For Satan would not let him feed
+  unparalleled          Upon the toothsome cheer,
+  wickednesse;        (He had not done all day a deed
+                        To cause a human tear);
+
+
+                                     XI.
+
+  Of hys              And so he hopped from side to side,
+  gamboles              To beg a bit of 'toke,'
+  and praieres,       And, vagrant-like, his plea denied,
+                        He prayed that they might choke
+
+
+                                    XII.
+
+  And of              Themselves with morsels rich and fat
+  hys                   Or die upon the floor,
+  revylyngs of        Like paupers (grieving much thereat
+  goode menne.          The guardians of the poor).
+
+
+                                   XIII.
+
+  Ye earlie byrde     A cock then flapped his wings and crew,
+  prepareth for ye       Announcing coming light;
+  'Diet of            When, seizing on a jar of stew,
+  Wormes.'              The snubbed imp took his flight.
+
+
+                                    XIV.
+
+  _Les Adieux._       And at the solemn sound of doom
+                        The witches flew away,
+                      While Satan slunk off through the gloom,
+                        Afraid of break of day;
+
+
+                                     XV.
+
+  Ye fruitlesse       And in the darkness drear he cried--
+  remorse of            His voice a trifle gruff,
+  Beelzebubbe.        'Those omelettes were nicely fried;
+                        I have not had enough!'
+
+
+                                    XVI.
+
+  Ye resulte          A blight fell on the trembling flowers
+  of ye meetynge        And on the quivering trees--
+  uponne ye           No buds there drink the passing showers,
+                        Or leaves wave in the breeze;
+
+
+                                   XVII.
+
+  Agryculture         For Satan's presence withered all
+  of ye                 The daisies and the grass,
+  dystricte.          And all things over which like pall
+                        His sulphurous tail did pass.
+
+
+
+
+THE EARTHENWARE GOOSE.
+
+
+Once upon a time, which somewhat vague reference in this instance
+means long before it was considered a compliment by the fair dames of
+Lancashire to be termed witches, there lived in the Fylde country
+village of Singleton a toothless, hooknosed old woman, whose ill
+fortune it was to be credited with the friendship of the Evil One.
+Perhaps had the ancient dame been somewhat better looking she might
+have borne a better character. In those distant days to be poor was
+considered decidedly discreditable, but to be ugly also was to add
+insult to injury. The old woman knew only too well that she was poor
+and that she was plain, for the urchins and hobbledehoys of the
+locality lost no opportunity of reminding her of the facts, whenever,
+on frugal mind intent, she emerged from her rude cottage to expend a
+few pence upon articles of food.
+
+Ugliness and poverty, however, Mag Shelton persisted in considering
+misfortunes and not crimes, and when anybody to whom she was an
+eyesore, with gallantry peculiar to the time and place let us hope,
+wished that she would die and rid the village of her objectionable
+presence, the old woman took no notice of the polite expression. To
+die by particular desire was not in Mag's line. What harm could a
+toothless old woman do, that the world, by which term the half-dazed
+creature meant the village in which she had spent her life, should
+evince so much anxiety to be rid of her?--argued Mag. True, if
+toothless, she had her tongue; but without a visiting circle, and with
+no benefactors to belie, that valuable weapon in the service of spite
+might just as well have been in the mouth of an uneducated heathen.
+Harmless, however, as the old dame thought herself, the villagers held
+a different opinion, and the children, afraid of disturbing the witch,
+invariably removed their wooden-soled clogs before they ran past the
+hut in which Mag lived,{25} while the older folk, if they did not
+literally take the coverings from their feet as they passed the
+lonely dwelling, crept by on tiptoe, and glanced furtively at the
+unsuspecting inhabitant of the cottage, who, by the aid of the fitful
+firelight, might be seen dozing near the dying embers, and now and
+again stroking a suspiciously bright-eyed cat, nestled snugly upon her
+knee.
+
+The old woman's solitary way of life favoured the growth of
+superstitions regarding her, for the Singletonians were not without
+their share of that comforting vanity which impresses the provincial
+mind with a sense of the high importance of its society, parish, and
+creed; and they could not imagine anyone preferring to keep away from
+them and to sit alone, without at once believing, as a necessary
+consequence, that the unappreciative ones must have dealings with
+Satan.
+
+It soon was found convenient to attribute anything and everything of
+an unpleasant nature to the denizen of the lonely cottage, 'th' Owd
+Witch,' as she was termed. Was a cow or a child ailing? Mag had done
+it! Had the housewife omitted to mark with the sign of the cross the
+baking of dough left in the mug on the hearth, and the bread had
+turned out 'heavy,' Mag Shelton had taken advantage of the overworked
+woman's negligence! Was there but a poor field of wheat? 'Twas the
+fault of old Mag, swore the farmer. In short, whatever went wrong
+throughout the entire country-side was judged to be clearly traceable
+to the spite and malevolence of the toothless old woman and her
+suspicious-looking cat.
+
+This state of things might, however, have continued without any
+interruption, until Nature had interposed and released Mag from her
+attendance upon such a world, had it not begun to be noticed that
+almost every farmer in the neighbourhood was complaining of the
+mysterious disappearance of milk, not only from the dairies, but also
+from the udders of the cows grazing in the pastures. A bucolic genius
+immediately proclaimed that in this case, too, the culprit must be
+Mag, for had not she her familiars to feed, and what could be more
+agreeable to the palate of a parched fiend or perspiring imp, than a
+beaker of milk fresh from the cow and redolent of meadow-flowers? With
+such a gaping family to satisfy, what regard could the old lady retain
+for the Eighth Commandment?
+
+This logic was deemed unanswerable, and a number of the farmers
+determined to conceal themselves one night about the witch's cottage,
+in the hope of something confirmatory turning up. It was late when
+they took their places, and they barely had settled themselves
+comfortably behind the hedgerow before a noise was heard, and the old
+woman emerged from the house,--the cat, and, of all things else in the
+world, a stately goose solemnly paddling behind her.
+
+The men in ambush remained silent until Mag and her attendants had
+passed out of sight and hearing, when one of them said, 'Keep still,
+chaps, till hoo comes back. Hoo's gone a milkin', I daat.' The
+watchers therefore kept perfectly quiet, and in a little while their
+patience was rewarded; for the old woman reappeared, walking slowly
+and unattended by her former companions. As she paused to unfasten the
+cottage door, the men pounced out of their hiding-place, seized her
+roughly, and at once tore off her cloak. To the surprise of the rude
+assailants, however, no sign of milkjugs could be observed; and, as
+they stood aghast, Mag cried, in a shrill and angry voice, 'Will ye
+never learn to respect grey hair, ye knaves?' 'We'll respect tha'
+into th' pit yon, mi lady,' immediately responded one of the roughest
+of the men. 'What hes ta done with th' milk to-neet?'
+
+In vain were the old woman's protestations,--that, driven from the
+roads and lanes in the daytime by the children and the hobbledehoys
+who persecuted her, she had of late taken her exercise by night; the
+judicial mind was made up, and rude hands were outstretched to drag
+her to the horsepond, when, fortunately for Mag, the appearance of the
+goose, waddling in a hurried and agitated manner, created a timely
+diversion in her favour.
+
+'I thowt it quare,' said one of the would-be executioners--'varra
+quare, that th' goose worn't somewheer abaat, for hoo an' it's as
+thick as Darby an' Jooan.'
+
+As though conscious that all was not well with its mistress, the
+ungainly and excited bird, stretching its neck towards the bystanders,
+and hissing loudly, placed itself by the old woman's side.
+
+'We want no hissin' heear,' said the leader of the band, as he lifted
+a heavy stick and struck the sibilant fowl a sharp rap on its head.
+
+No sooner had the sound of the blow fallen upon the ears of the
+assembled rustics than the goose vanished, not a solitary feather
+being left behind, and in its place there stood a large broken
+pitcher, from which milk, warm from the cow, was streaming. Here was
+proof to satisfy even the most credulous, and, as a consequence, in a
+moment the old woman was floundering in the pond, from which she
+barely escaped with her life. A few days afterwards, however, upon the
+interposition of the Vicar, she was permitted to leave the
+inhospitable village, and away she tramped in search of 'fresh woods
+and pastures new,' her cat and the revivified goose bearing her
+company.{26}
+
+She had left the inhospitable place, when the landlord of the Blue Pig
+discovered that the jug in which the witch-watchers had conveyed their
+'allowance' to the place of ambush had not been returned. It was not
+again seen in its entirety, and the sarcastic host often vowed that it
+was here and there in the village in the shape of cherished fragments
+of the broken one into which the watchers declared that they had seen
+Mag's goose transformed.
+
+
+
+
+THE PHANTOM OF THE FELL.
+
+
+On a beautiful night late in summer a solitary man, who was returning
+from some wedding festivities, was rapidly crossing Fair Snape. The
+moon was at the full, and threw her glamour upon the lovely fell, as a
+breeze sighed among the tall ferns which waved gently to and fro under
+the sweet invisible influence, and the only sounds which fell upon the
+wayfarer's ear were the almost inaudible rustling of the bracken, and
+the occasional faint bark of a distant watch-dog. Giles Roper,
+however, was not thinking of the beauty of the night, or of the
+scenery, but, naturally enough, was congratulating himself upon being
+ever so much nearer to the stocking of that farm without which he
+could not hope for the hand of the miller's rosy daughter. Thoughts of
+a chubby, good-hearted little woman like Liza were calculated to
+drive out all other and less pleasant ones; but Giles was rapidly
+approaching a part of the hillside said to be haunted. Many tales had
+he heard by the winter's fire of the doings of the nameless
+appearance, the narrators speaking in hushed voices, and the hearers
+instinctively drawing closer together on the old settle; and these
+narratives crowded into his recollection as he left the cheerful
+moonlight and stepped into the shade of the little clough. Before he
+had got very far down he was prepared to see or hear anything; but,
+making allowance for the fear which somehow or other had taken
+possession of him, he knew that there was something more than fancy in
+a melancholy wail which broke upon his ears as he reached a bend in
+the ravine. There was nothing however in the sad note of lamentation
+calculated to terrify, save the consciousness that such sweet music
+could not be that of a mortal. Instinctively Giles looked in the
+direction whence the sound had come, and in the dim light he saw the
+figure of a woman with a pallid face of singular and unearthly beauty,
+her hair falling behind her like a sheet of gold, and her eyes
+emitting a strange lustre, which, however, was not sufficiently
+intense to conceal their beautiful azure hue. The bewildered spectator
+gazed in rapt worship, for though his limbs still trembled he no
+longer felt any fear, but rather a wild delirious longing to speak to,
+and to be addressed by, the beautiful being before him. He was
+sufficiently near to the appearance to be able to distinguish the
+features clearly, and when he saw a movement of the lips his heart
+throbbed violently under the expectation that he was about to receive
+a mysterious commission. He was, however, doomed to be disappointed,
+for the only sound emitted by the phantom was another low melodious
+cry, even more pathetic and mournful than that by which his attention
+had first been attracted to the lovely object. At the same time Giles
+saw that the figure was more distant than before, and that it was
+slowly gliding away, but beckoning to him, as though anxious that he
+should follow. The young man, spell-bound and fascinated by the
+enchanting eyes, which were beautiful enough to turn the head of one
+wiser than the raw country lad upon whom they were fixed, followed
+eagerly, but at the end of the clough, where the moonlight was
+brilliant, the figure vanished, leaving Giles, not with that feeling
+of relief said to follow the disappearance of a mysterious visitant,
+but, on the contrary, anxious to behold the vision again. He therefore
+turned and retraced his steps to the undulating summit of the fell,
+where the wind was sighing over the many-flowered heather, but there
+was nothing to be seen of the blue-eyed phantom, and only for the
+faint wash of the rustling ferns all would have been silent.
+
+Unwilling to leave the spot, although he was conscious that the task
+was a fruitless one, he continued to wander from one point to another,
+and it was not until daybreak that he finally gave up the search and
+descended the fell. Not caring to allude to his adventure and vain
+search upon the pike, Giles accounted for his lateness by asserting
+that he had remained until midnight at the distant farmhouse where the
+rejoicings had taken place, and had afterwards lost his way on the
+fells. With this excuse, however, his relatives were quite content,
+one sarcastic farm-servant drily remarking that after wedding
+festivities it was wonderful he had been able to find his way home at
+all.
+
+The extraordinary thoughtfulness which Giles evinced during the day
+was of too marked a nature to remain unobserved; but the old father
+attributed it merely to that natural dislike to settled labour which
+generally follows boisterous relaxation, and the mother thought it was
+due to a desire to be off again to see the chubby daughter of the
+miller. The old dame, therefore, was not surprised when her son
+announced his intention to leave home for a few hours, and she
+congratulated herself on her foresight and discernment, finishing her
+soliloquy by saying--'Well, hoo's a bonny wench as he's after; an',
+what's mooar, hoo's as good as hoo's pratty.'
+
+It was not, however, to the far-off dwelling of the miller that Giles
+was making his way.
+
+On the contrary, he was leisurely pacing in quite an opposite
+direction, his back turned to the old mill, and his eyes fixed upon
+the distant fells, which he did not care to reach until the gloaming
+had given way to moonlight. Not that he was afraid of being seen, the
+road he trod was too lonely for that; but he thought it was unlikely
+his watchings would be rewarded before the night had properly set in.
+If the beautiful object was a spirit--and what else could it have
+been?--it would come at its own time, and who ever heard of spirits
+appearing before midnight? The young fellow, therefore, waited until
+the moon rose and bathed the hills in her golden flood, when he at
+once began to climb the fell, making his way up the ravine in which on
+the previous night he had heard the mysterious voice.
+
+It was some time from midnight, and he stopped to rest, taking his
+seat upon a moss-covered stone. Here he waited patiently; but he had
+begun to fear that his visit was to be a fruitless one, when once more
+he heard the peculiar mournful wail, and rapidly turning round, he saw
+that he was not alone. Again the weird eyes, in all their unearthly
+beauty, were fixed upon him, and the long white arms were extended as
+though to beckon him to draw nigh.
+
+Instinctively Giles rose in obedience to the pleading attitude of the
+fair vision; but as he approached the phantom it grew less and less
+distinct, and at length vanished. As on the previous night, the young
+fellow wandered about in the hope of again seeing the lovely being,
+and once more he was obliged to return to the farm unsuccessful.
+
+Possessed by a maddening and irresistible desire to gaze upon the
+wondrous face which had bewitched him, the approach of nightfall
+invariably found Giles on his way to the fell, and it can easily be
+imagined to what unpleasantness in his family circle this course of
+conduct gave rise. On the one hand the parents gave the rein to all
+sorts of vague suspicions as to the cause of the night rambles; and
+the lad's disinclination to give any explanations did not help the old
+people to think more kindly of him. The father of the girl whom he had
+asked in marriage also did not fail to expostulate with him, in the
+idea that he had fallen into evil ways, and that his pilgrimages were
+to a distant town; while the girl herself, loving him as she did with
+all the vigour of her simple and earnest nature, and uninfluenced by
+any foolish feeling of false shame, came to his parents' house in the
+hope of obtaining a promise of better things.
+
+Her pleadings and her womanly threats, however, were unavailing, the
+whilom lover in a shamefaced manner refusing to make any promise of
+different behaviour. The interview was a painful one; for the girl,
+feeling certain that her father's interpretation was correct, used all
+her powers to induce Giles to abandon his evil courses; but at length,
+finding that her prayers were ineffectual, she bitterly reproached him
+with his want of honesty.
+
+'It's no evil as I'm after, lass! Don't think that on mi,' said the
+young man, in an appealing tone; but the girl was not to be convinced
+by mere assertion.
+
+'It's no good as teks tha away o'er t' pike neet after neet,' said
+she, with a sudden access of grief, 'it'ull come by tha in some way or
+another, Giles.' And in tears she turned away from him.
+
+'Whisht, lass, whisht! If tha nobbut knew, O tha'd pity i'stid o'
+blaming mi.'
+
+The girl heeded not these words, but kept on her way. When she got to
+a turn in the road, however, she looked back mournfully, as though in
+doubt whether to return and cast herself upon his breast, and bid him
+trust in her; but pride overcame her, and she resisted the impulse.
+
+That night, as two of the miller's men were poaching, they were
+startled by the unexpected sound of a human voice, and hastily hiding
+themselves beneath the tall ferns, they saw Giles emerge from the
+clough and run towards the place where they were concealed. He seemed
+to be half mad with excitement, and as he ran he was crying aloud some
+words they could not catch. When he drew nearer, however, they were
+able to hear more distinctly, and to their surprise they found that he
+was appealing to an invisible being to appear to him.
+
+For some time they remained in their place of concealment, Giles
+hovering about the spot; but when the young fellow ran to a distance,
+they emerged from their hiding-place and rapidly made their way to the
+mill. For obvious reasons, however, they agreed to keep silence as to
+what they had seen and heard.
+
+The day after this episode Giles was in a fever and delirious, raving
+continually about the bonny face and 'breet een' of the being he had
+seen in the ravine. His afflicted parents found in the wild utterances
+sad confirmation of their worst fears, and, half broken-hearted, they
+hovered sorrowfully about his bed. For weeks he battled with the
+disorder, and at nightfall frequently endeavoured to leave the house,
+and vainly struggled with the friends who prevented him, to whom he
+frantically cried that she of the blue eyes was calling him.
+
+A cloud fell over the hitherto happy household. Night and day the old
+people watched over their sick lad, each of them feeling that the task
+would have been a comparatively easy one had not the patient's
+delirious ravings revealed to them so terrible a background to the
+round of their primitive and innocent daily life. Not that they loved
+their child any less because of the revelations he had unconsciously
+made to them, but they brooded and fretted over his supposed
+wickedness, and bowed their heads in grief and shame as they
+unwillingly heard his impassioned cries.
+
+By-and-by the story of these ravings got noised about, and the
+miller's daughter, who hitherto had been suffering bravely, broke down
+altogether when she knew that she was an object of pity to the
+gossips. It fortunately happened, however, that the miller's men who
+had seen Giles at the pike got into conversation with their master
+about the matter, and it struck one of them that the woman about whom
+Giles was supposed to be raving, and of whom tales of all sorts were
+being circulated, was a feeorin of some kind that the young fellow had
+seen on the lonely fell. No sooner was this idea arrived at than off
+they started to see the distressed parents, the miller's daughter
+hastening with them. They found no difficulty in gaining credence for
+their narrative, and with a burst of thankfulness the old people felt
+that the gulf which had yawned between them and their eldest born was
+for ever closed; while, as for the girl, her transports of joy were
+almost painful in their intensity. So great a weight was lifted from
+all hearts that the illness of the patient was for the time almost
+forgotten. Giles, however, still remained in a very critical
+condition, but he soon had an additional nurse, who, despite the
+watchings and the toil of which she relieved the old people, was
+rapidly becoming more and more like the ruddy-faced damsel to whom the
+young fellow had plighted his troth, for she could listen to and
+disregard the ravings of her lover and look forward to the time when
+happiness should again smile upon them.
+
+A few weeks passed. The violence of the disorder abated, and the
+patient recovered so far as to be able to bear removal to a large
+chair by the kitchen fire. As he sat quietly dreaming the short autumn
+days away, without any allusions to the beauty about whom he had so
+constantly raved during his delirium, the old people and the miller's
+daughter began to congratulate themselves that the dream-madness had
+passed away with the worst phase of the illness. The girl, however,
+although she did not utter any complaint, suffered deeply from the
+coolness with which Giles treated her. Not that he was ungrateful,
+for, on the contrary, it was impossible to do anything for him,
+however slight the service might be, without a thankful
+acknowledgment; but there was a visible constraint in his manner which
+could not escape the keen sight of love. Fearing to distress him by
+any remonstrances, the patient girl refrained from referring to the
+past or showing that she was observant of any change in his behaviour
+towards her, but she brooded over her grief when she was alone. The
+young fellow knew that the poor girl was suffering, but for the life
+of him he could not assume that which he did not feel. Much as he had
+loved her before the night of his adventure on the pike, from the
+moment when he had first seen the face of the mysterious being his
+affection for her had faded away, consumed by the intense longing
+which filled his soul night and day whenever he thought of the eyes
+illumined by a fire that was not human, and of the features and hair
+so exquisitely beautiful in the faint moonlight. Calm and quiet as he
+looked, seated propped with cushions in the old chair by the fire, he
+was inwardly fretting against the weakness that kept him from the
+fells, and his longing soul came into his eyes as he gazed through the
+little diamond-paned window, and saw the pike, in all the beauty of
+many-tinted autumn, kissed by the setting sun as the blushing day sank
+into the swarthy arms of night.
+
+Slowly winter came, bringing snow and storm, and as though influenced
+by a feeling that even Nature had interposed her barriers between him
+and the lovely being, one afternoon, as the mists crept slowly over
+the white landscape, and hid in their shimmering folds the distant
+fells where he had first seen the sweet face so seldom absent from
+his feverish dreams, he could not resist the desire which seized him
+to visit once more the haunted ravine. The various members of the
+little household were away from the house engaged in their labours
+about the farm, and taking advantage of this, Giles fled from the
+dwelling, and made his way through the dim light to the hills. It was
+not long, however, before his absence was discovered, but some time
+elapsed before the men-folk could be gathered, and the shades of night
+had fallen before the anxious pursuers reached the foot of the pike.
+
+The thick mist had enveloped everything, and as the lanterns, choked
+as they were by the damp, threw but a fitful light, it was with the
+utmost difficulty that the men found the footmarks of the wanderer in
+the snow up the fell side. The searchers were led by the father of
+Giles, who spoke not, but glanced at the track as though in dread of
+discovering that which he had come to find. Suddenly the old man gave
+a startled cry, for he had followed the marks to the edge of a little
+cliff, over which he had almost fallen in his eagerness. It was
+forthwith determined to follow the ravine to its commencement, and
+although nothing was said by any of the party, each man felt certain
+that the missing young fellow would be found at the bottom. It did not
+take long to reach the entrance, and with careful steps the old man
+led the way over the boulders. He had not gone far before the light
+from his lantern fell upon the upturned face of his son, whose body
+lay across the course of a little frozen stream. The features were set
+in the sleep of death, for Giles had fallen from the level above, the
+creeping mists having obscured the gorge where he first saw the lovely
+phantom, in search of which he had met an untimely end.
+
+
+
+
+ALLHALLOW'S NIGHT.
+
+
+To many a beautiful landscape the majestic Pendle adds a nameless
+charm, and the traveller who gazes upon it from any of the points
+whence a view of the whalelike mass is to be obtained, would hardly
+dream that the moss and fern-covered hill, smiling through the dim
+haze, once was the headquarters of witchcraft and devilry. Readers of
+the quaint and sad trials of the witchmania period, and of Harrison
+Ainsworth's celebrated novel based thereon, will, however, remember
+what dread scenes were said to have transpired in the dim light of its
+cloughs and upon its wild sides, when Chattox, Mouldheels, and the
+other poor wretches whose 'devilish practices and hellish means,' as
+they were termed in the old indictments, made the neighbourhood of the
+mountain so unsafe a locality.
+
+In a lonely little house some distance from the foot of Pendle, there
+dwelt a farmer and his family, together with a labourer whom he
+employed. Entirely illiterate, and living in a wild and weird
+district, with but few houses nearer than a mile away, the household
+believed firmly in all the dreadful boggart, witch, and feeorin
+stories current in the district. For a long time, however, the farmer
+had not any personal experience of the power of either witch or
+boggart; but at length his turn came. After a tempestuous night, when
+the windows and doors rattled in their frames, and the wind, dashing
+the big rain drops against the little diamond-shaped panes, moaned and
+shrieked round the lonely dwelling, three of the beasts were found
+dead in the shippon. A few days afterwards two of the children
+sickened, and when 'th' edge o' dark' was creeping up the hill-side
+one of them died. As though this trouble was not enough, the crops
+were blighted. With reluctance the farmer saw in these things proof
+that he had in some unknown manner incurred the displeasure of the
+invisible powers, and that the horse-shoe over his door, the branches
+of ash over the entrance to the shippon, and the hag stones hung up
+at the head of his own and of the children's bed, had lost their power
+of protection.
+
+The family council, at which the unprotected condition of the house
+was discussed, was of the saddest kind, for even the rough labourer
+missed the prattle of the little one whose untimely end had cast a
+shadow over the dwelling, and he thoroughly sympathised with his
+master in his losses; while, as for the farmer and his wife, dread of
+what the future might have in store for them mingled with their
+sorrow, and added to the heaviness of their hearts.
+
+'Isaac, yo' may as weel tek' th' wiggin{27} an' th' horse shoes
+deawn, for onny use they seem to be on. We'en nowt to keep th' feorin'
+off fra' us, an' I deawt we'es come off bud badly till November,' said
+the farmer, as he knocked the ashes from his pipe.
+
+'An' why nobbut till November, Ralph,' asked the wife in a terrified
+voice, as she gazed anxiously towards the little window through which
+Pendle could be dimly seen looming against the evening sky.
+
+'Because on O'Hallow neet, mi lass, I meean to leet th' witches{28}
+on Pendle.'
+
+'Heaven save us!' cried the woman. 'Tha'll be lost as sewer as th'
+whorld.'
+
+There was a short silence, and then old Isaac spoke--
+
+'If th' mestur goes, Isik guz too. Wis be company, at onny rate.'
+
+The farmer gratefully accepted this offer of fellowship, and the
+appeals of his wife, who implored him to abandon the notion, were of
+no avail. Others had lighted the witches, and thereby secured a
+twelvemonth's immunity from harm, and why should not he go and do
+likewise? Ruin was staring him in the face if things did not improve,
+thought he, and his determination to 'leet' his unseen enemies grew
+stronger and stronger.
+
+At length the last day of October came, bringing with it huge clouds
+and a misty rain, which quite obscured the weird hill; but at
+nightfall the wind rose, the rain ceased, the stars began to appear,
+and the huge outline of Pendle became visible.
+
+When the day's work was over, the farmer and Isaac sat in the kitchen,
+waiting for the hour at which they were to start for the haunted
+mountain, and the dread and lonesome building where the witches from
+all parts gathered in mysterious and infernal conclave. Neither of the
+men looked forward to the excursion with pleasurable feelings, for, as
+the emotion caused by the losses had somewhat subsided, terror of the
+beings who were supposed to assemble in the Malkin Tower resumed its
+sway; but soon after the old clock had chimed ten they rose from the
+settle and began their preparations for the lighting. Each man grasped
+a branch of mountain ash, to which several sprigs of bay were tied as
+a double protection against thunder and lightning, and any stray
+fiends that might happen to be lurking about, and each carried in the
+other hand an unlighted candle.
+
+As they passed from the house the tearful goodwife cried a blessing
+upon them, and a massive old bulldog crept from a corner of the yard
+and took its place at their heels.
+
+The three stepped along bravely, and before long they had crossed the
+brook and reached the foot of Pendle. Rapidly making their way to a
+well-known ravine they paused to light the candles. This operation,
+performed by means of a flint and steel and a box of tinder, occupied
+some time; and while they were so engaged clouds obscured the moon, a
+few heavy drops of rain fell, the wind ceased to whisper, and an
+ominous silence reigned, and the dog, as though terrified, crept
+closer to its master and uttered a low whine.
+
+'We's hev' a storm, I daat, Isik,' said the farmer.
+
+'Ise think mysen weel off an' win nowt else bud a storm,' drily
+replied the old man, as, lighted candle in hand, he began to climb the
+hill-side, his master and the dog following closely behind.
+
+When they had almost reached the top of the ravine a flash of
+lightning suddenly pierced the darkness, and a peal of thunder seemed
+to shake the earth beneath them; while a weird and unearthly shriek of
+laughter rang in their ears as a black figure flew slowly past them,
+almost brushing against their faces in its flight. The dog immediately
+turned and fled, howling terribly as it ran down the hill-side; but
+the men went on, each one carefully shading his light with the hand in
+which the branch of ash was grasped. The road gradually became
+rougher, and occasionally Isaac stumbled over a stone, and almost
+fell, the farmer frantically shouting to him to be careful of his
+candle, but without any serious mishap the pair managed to get within
+sight of the tower.
+
+Evidently some infernal revelry was going on, for light streamed from
+the window-openings, and above the crash of the thunder came shrieks
+of discordant laughter. Every now and again a dark figure floated over
+their heads and whirled in at one of the windows, and the noise became
+louder, by the addition of another shrill voice.
+
+'It mon be drawin' nee midneet,' said the farmer. 'If we con but pass
+th' hour wis be reet for a twelvemonth. Let's mek for whoam neaw.'
+
+Both men readily turned their backs to the building, but no sooner had
+they done so than a Satanic face, with gleaming eyes, was visible for
+a moment, and instantaneously both lights were extinguished.
+
+'God bless us!' immediately cried both men.
+
+Almost before the words had left their lips the tower was plunged in
+total darkness, the shrieks of unholy laughter were suddenly stilled,
+and sounds were heard as of the rapid flight of the hags and their
+familiars, for the ejaculations had broken up the gathering.
+
+Terrified beyond measure at the extinction of their lights, but still
+clinging tenaciously to the branches, which apparently had proved so
+ineffectual to preserve them against the power of the witches, the men
+hurried away. They had not proceeded far in the direction in which
+they supposed the farm lay, when, with a cry, the farmer, who was a
+little in advance of his aged companion, fell and vanished. He had
+slipped down the cleft, on the brink of which Isaac stood, tremblingly
+endeavouring to pierce the darkness below.
+
+Not a sound came up to tell the old man that his master had escaped
+with his life; and, as no response came to his shouts, at length he
+turned away, feeling sure that he was masterless, and hoping to be
+able to reach the farm, and obtain assistance. After wandering about
+for some time, however, half-blinded by the lightning, and terrified
+beyond measure at the result of their mutual boldness, Isaac crept
+under a large stone, to wait for the dawn. Influenced by the cold and
+by fatigue, the old man fell asleep; but no sooner had the first faint
+rays of coming day kissed the hill-summit, than he was aroused by the
+old bulldog licking his face, and as he gazed around in sleepy
+astonishment some men appeared. The farmer's wife, terrified by the
+arrival of the howling dog, and the non-arrival of the 'leeters,' had
+made her way to a distant farm-house and alarmed the inmates, and a
+party of sturdy fellows had started off to find the missing men.
+Isaac's story was soon told; and when the searchers reached the gorge
+the farmer was found nursing a broken leg.
+
+Great were the rejoicings of the goodwife when the cavalcade reached
+the farm, for, bad as matters were, she had expected even a worse
+ending; and afterwards, when unwonted prosperity had blessed the
+household, she used to say, drily, 'Yo' met ha' kept th' candles in to
+leet yo' whoam, for it mon ha' bin after midneet when _he_ blew 'em
+aat,' a joke which invariably caused the farmer and old Isaac to smile
+grimly.
+
+
+
+
+THE CHRISTMAS-EVE VIGIL.
+
+
+Many years have passed since the living of Walton-le-Dale was held by
+a gentleman of singularly-reserved and studious habits, who, from noon
+till night, pored over dusty black-letter folios. Although he was by
+no means forgetful of the few duties which pertained to his sacred
+office, and never failed to attend to the wants of those of his
+parishioners who were in trouble and had need of kind words of
+sympathy and advice, or even of assistance of a more substantial
+nature, the length of time he devoted to his mysterious-looking
+volumes, and a habit he had of talking to himself, as, late at night,
+with head bent down, he passed along the village street, and vanished
+into the darkness of a lonely lane, gave rise to cruel rumours that he
+was a professor of the black art; and it was even whispered that his
+night walks were pilgrimages to unholy scenes of Satanic revelry.
+These suspicions deepened almost into certainty when the old people
+who had charge of his house informed the gossips that the contents of
+a large package, since the arrival of which the women in the village
+had been unable to sleep for curiosity, were strange-looking bottles,
+of a weird shape, with awful signs and figures upon them; and that,
+during the evening, after the carrier had brought them, noises were
+heard in the clergyman's room, and the house was filled with
+sulphurous smoke. Passing from one gossip to another, the story did
+not fail to receive additions as usual, until when it reached the last
+house in the straggling village the narrator told how the student had
+raised the Evil One, who, after filling the house with brimstone,
+vanished in a ball of fire, not, however, without first having
+imprinted the mark of his claws upon the study table.
+
+Had the unconscious clergyman lived more in the everyday world around
+him, and less in that of black-letter books, he would not have failed
+to perceive the averted looks with which his parishioners acknowledged
+his greetings, or, what would have pained him even more deeply, the
+frightened manner in which the children either fled at his approach,
+if they were playing in the lanes, or crept close to their parents
+when he entered the dwellings of the cottagers. Ignorant alike of the
+absurd rumours, and unobservant of the change which had come over his
+flock, or at least acting as though unaware of them, the clergyman
+continued to perform the duties of his sacred office, and to fly from
+them to his beloved volumes and experiments, growing more and more
+reserved in his habits, and visibly paling under his close
+application.
+
+After matters had gone on in this way for some time, the villagers
+were surprised to see a friendship spring up and ripen between their
+pastor and an old resident in the village, of almost equally strange
+habits. There was, however, in reality but little to wonder at in
+this, for the similarity between the pursuits and tastes of the two
+students was sufficiently great to bridge over the gulf of
+widely-different social positions.
+
+Abraham, or 'Owd Abrum,' as he was generally named, was a herb doctor,
+whose knowledge of out-of-the-way plants which possessed mysterious
+medicinal virtues, and of still more wonderful charms and spells, was
+the theme of conversation by every farmhouse fireside for miles round.
+At that day, and in that locality, the possession of a few books
+sufficed to make a man a wonder to his neighbours; and Abraham had a
+little shelf full of volumes upon his favourite subjects of botany and
+astrology.
+
+The old man lived by himself in a little cottage, some distance along
+a lane leading from the village across the meadows; and, despite the
+absence of female supervision, the place always was as clean and
+bright as a new pin. Had he needed any assistance in his household
+duties, Abraham would not have asked in vain for it, for he was feared
+as well as respected. If he was able to charm away evil and sickness,
+could he not also bring sickness and evil? So reasoned the simple
+villagers; and those who were not, even unconsciously, influenced by
+the guileless everyday life of the old man, were impressed by the idea
+that he had the power to cast trouble upon them if they failed to
+maintain an outward show of reverence.
+
+However early the villagers might be astir, as they passed along the
+lanes on their way to their labour in the fields, they were certain to
+find 'Owd Abrum' searching by the hedgerows or in the plantations for
+herbs, to be gathered with the dew upon them; and at night the belated
+cottager, returning from a distant farm, was equally certain of
+finding Abraham gazing at the heavens, 'finding things aat abaat
+fowk,' as the superstitious country people said and believed.
+
+Addicted to such nocturnal studies, it was not likely that the old
+herb doctor and the pale student would remain unknown to each other.
+The acquaintance however, owing to the reserved habits of both, began
+in a somewhat singular manner. Returning from a long and late walk
+about midnight, the minister was still some distance from his abode,
+when he heard a clear voice say: 'Now is the time, if I can find any:
+Jupiter is angular, the moon's applied to him, and his aspect is
+good.'
+
+The night was somewhat cloudy--the stars being visible only at
+intervals--and it was not until the clergyman had advanced a little
+way that he was able to perceive the person who had spoken. He saw
+that it was the old herbalist, and immediately accosted him. An
+animated conversation followed, Abraham expatiating on the virtues of
+the plants he had been gathering under the dominion of their
+respective planets, and astonishing the pale student by the extent of
+his information. In his turn, the old man was delighted to find in the
+clergyman a fellow-enthusiast in the forbidden ways of science; and as
+the student was no less charmed to discover in the 'yarb doctor' a
+scholar who could sympathise with him and understand his yearnings
+after the invisible, late as was the hour, the pair adjourned to
+Abraham's cottage. The visitor did not emerge until the labourers were
+going to their toil, the time having been spent in conversation upon
+the powers exercised by the planets upon plants and men, the old man
+growing eloquent as to the wonderful virtue of the Bay Tree, which, he
+said, could resist all the evil Saturn could do to the human body, and
+in the neighbourhood of which neither wizard nor devil, thunder or
+lightning, could hurt man; of Moonwort, with the leaves of which locks
+might be opened, and the shoes be removed from horses' feet; of
+Celandine, with which, if a young swallow loseth an eye, the parent
+birds will renew it; of Hound's Tongue, a leaf of which laid under the
+foot will save the bearer from the attacks of dogs; of Bugloss, the
+leaf of which maketh man poison-proof; of Sweet Basil, from which
+(quoting Miraldus) venomous beasts spring--the man who smelleth it
+having a scorpion bred in his brain; and of a score of other herbs
+under the dominion of the Moon and Cancer, and of the cures wrought by
+them through antipathy to Saturn.
+
+From that time the pair became intimate friends, the clergyman
+yielding, with all the ardour of youth, to the attraction which drew
+him towards the learned old man; and Abraham gradually growing to love
+the pale-faced student, whose thirst after knowledge was as intense as
+his own. Seldom a day passed on which one of them might not have been
+observed on his way to the abode of the other; and often at night the
+pair walked together, their earnest voices disturbing the slumbering
+echoes, as at unholy hours they passed up the hill, and through the
+old churchyard, with its moss-covered stones and its rank vegetation.
+
+Upon one of these occasions they had talked about supernatural
+appearances; and as they were coming through the somewhat neglected
+God's Acre, the clergyman said he had read, in an old volume, that to
+anyone who dared, after the performance of certain ghastly ceremonies,
+wait in the church porch on Christmas-eve, the features of those who
+were to die during the following year would be revealed, and that he
+intended upon the night before the coming festival to try the spell.
+The old man at once expressed a wish to take part in the trial, and
+before the two parted it was agreed that both should go through the
+preliminary charms, and keep the vigil.
+
+In due time the winter came, with its sweet anodyne of snow, and as
+Christmas approached everything was got in readiness.
+
+Soon after sunset on Christmas-eve the old herb doctor wended his way
+to the dwelling of his friend, taking with him St. John's Wort,
+Mountain Ash, Bay leaves, and Holly. The enthusiasts passed the
+evening in conversation upon the mysterious qualities of graveyard
+plants; but shortly after the clock struck eleven they arose, and
+began to prepare for the vigil, by taking precautions against the
+inclemency of the weather, for the night was very cold, large flakes
+of snow falling silently and thickly upon the frozen ground.
+
+When both were ready the old man stepped to the door to see that the
+road was clear, for, in order to go through the form of incantation, a
+small fire was requisite; and as they were about to convey it in a
+can, they were anxious that the strange proceeding should not be
+noticed by the villagers. Late as it was, however, lights shone here
+and there in the windows, and even from the doorways, for, although it
+was near midnight, many of the cottage doors were wide open, it being
+believed that if, on Christmas-eve, the way was thus left clear, and a
+member of the family read the Gospel according to St. Luke, the saint
+himself would pass through the house.
+
+As the two men, after carefully closing the door behind them, stepped
+into the road, a distant singer trolled forth a seasonable old hymn.
+This was the only noise, however, the village street being deserted.
+They reached the churchyard without having been observed, and at once
+made their way round the sacred building, so as not to be exposed to
+the view of any chance reveller returning to his home. It was well
+that they did so, for they had hardly deposited the can of burning
+charcoal upon a tombstone ere sounds of footsteps, somewhat muffled by
+the snow, were heard, and several men passed through the wicket. They
+were, however, only the ringers, on their way to the belfry, and in a
+few minutes they had entered the building, and all was still again for
+a few moments, when, upon the ears of the somewhat nervous men there
+fell the voices of choristers singing under the window of a
+neighbouring house the old Lancashire carol--
+
+    'As I sat anonder yon green tree,
+    Yon green tree, yon green tree--
+
+    As I sat anonder yon green tree
+    A Christmas day in the morning.'{29}
+
+The words could be heard distinctly, and almost unconsciously the two
+men stood to listen; but directly the voices ceased the student asked
+if they had not better begin, as the time was passing rapidly.
+
+'Ay,' replied Abraham, 'we han it to do, an' we'd better ger it ower.'
+
+Without any more words they entered the porch, and at once made a
+circle around them with leaves of Vervain, Bay, and Holly. The old man
+gave to his companion a branch of Wiggintree,{27} and firmly held
+another little bough, as with his disengaged hand he scattered a
+powder upon the embers. A faint odour floated around them, as they
+chanted a singular Latin prayer; and no sooner was the last word
+uttered than a strain of sweet sad music, too inexpressibly soft and
+mournful to be of earth, was heard. Every moment it seemed to be dying
+away in a delicious cadence, but again and again was the weird melody
+taken up by the invisible singers, as the listeners sank to their
+knees spell-bound. An icy breath of wind hissed round the porch,
+however, and called the entranced men to their senses, and suddenly
+the student grasped the arm of his aged companion, and cried, in a
+terrified voice--
+
+'Abraham, the spell works. Behold!'
+
+The old man gazed in the direction pointed out, and, to his
+inexpressible horror, saw a procession wending its way towards the
+porch. It consisted of a stream of figures wrapped up in
+grave-clothes, gleaming white in the dim light. With solemn and
+noiseless steps the ghastly objects approached the circle in which
+stood the venturesome men, and, as they drew nearer, the faces of the
+first two could be seen distinctly, for the blazing powder cast a
+lurid glow upon them, and made them even more ghastly.
+
+Both spectators had almost unconsciously recognised the features of
+several of the villagers, when they were aroused from their lethargy
+of terror by the appearance of one face, which seemed to linger longer
+than its predecessors had done. Abraham at once saw that the likeness
+was that of the man by his side, and the clergyman sank to the ground
+in a swoon.
+
+For some time the old man was too much affected by the lingering face
+to think of restoring the unconscious man at his feet; but at length
+the clashing of the bells over his head, as they rang forth a
+Christmas greeting, called him to himself, and he bent over the
+prostrate form of his friend. The minister soon recovered, but as he
+was too weak to walk, the old man ran to the belfry to beg the ringers
+to come to his assistance. When these men came round to the porch the
+fire was still burning, the flickering flames of various colours
+casting dancing shadows upon the walls.
+
+'Abraham,' said one of the ringers, 'there's bin some wizzard wark
+goin' on here, an' yo' sin what yo'n getten by it.'
+
+'Han yo' bin awsin to raise th' devul, an' Kesmus-eve an' o'?' asked
+another, in a low and terrified voice.
+
+With a satirical smile, Abraham answered the last speaker: 'It dusn't
+need o' this mak' o' things to raise th' devul, lad. He's nare so far
+fra' thuse as wants him.'
+
+Bearing the clergyman in their arms, the men walked through the
+village, but they did not separate without having, in return for the
+confidence Abraham reposed in them by confiding to them the secret of
+the vigil, promised strict secrecy as to what they had witnessed.
+
+Abraham's companion soon recovered from the shock, but not before the
+story of the night-watch had gone the round of the village. Many were
+the appeals made to the old herbalist to reveal his strangely-acquired
+knowledge, but Abraham remained sternly obdurate, remarking to each of
+his questioners--
+
+'Yo'll know soon enough, mebbi.'
+
+The clergyman, however, was in a more awkward position, and his
+parishioners soon made him aware how unwise he had been in giving way
+to the desire to pry into futurity; for, when any of them were ill and
+he expressed a kindly wish for their recovery, it was by no means
+unusual for the sick person to reply--
+
+'Yo could tell me heaw it will end iv yo' loiked.'
+
+This oftentimes being followed by a petition from the assembled
+relatives--
+
+'Will yo tell us if he wir one o' th' processioners?'
+
+Ultimately Abraham's companion went away, in the hope of returning
+when the memory of the watch should have become less keen, but, before
+a few months had passed away, news came of his death, after a violent
+attack of fever caught during a visit to a wretched hovel in the
+fishing village where he was staying. By the next December, all the
+people whose features the old herbalist had recognised during the
+procession had been carried to the churchyard; but, although several
+men offered to accompany Abraham to the porch on the forthcoming
+Christmas-eve, he dared not again go through the spells and undergo
+the terrors of a church-porch vigil.{30}
+
+
+
+
+THE CRIER OF CLAIFE.
+
+
+Upon a wild winter night, some centuries ago, the old man who plied
+the ferry-boat on Windermere, and who lived in a lonely cottage on the
+Lancashire side of the Lake, was awakened from his sleep by an
+exceedingly shrill and terrible shriek, which seemed to come from the
+opposite shore. The wind was whistling and moaning round the house,
+and for a little while the ferryman and his family fancied that the
+cry by which they had been disturbed was nothing more than one of the
+mournful voices of the storm; but soon again came another shriek, even
+more awe-inspiring than the former one, and this was followed by
+smothered shouts and groans of a most unearthly nature.
+
+Against the wishes of his terrified relatives, who clung to him, and
+besought him to remain indoors, the old fellow bravely determined to
+cross the water, and heeding not the prayers of his wife and daughter,
+he unfastened his boat, and rowed away. The two women, clasped in each
+other's arms, trembling with fear, stood at the little door, and
+endeavoured to make out the form of their protector; but the darkness
+was too deep for them to see anything upon the lake. At intervals,
+however, the terrible cry rang out through the gloom, and shrieks and
+moans were heard loud above the mysterious noises of the night.
+
+In a state of dreadful suspense and terror the women stood for some
+time, but at length they saw the boat suddenly emerge from the
+darkness, and shoot into the little cove. To their great surprise,
+however, the ferryman, who could be seen sitting alone, made no effort
+to land, and make his way to the cottage; so, fearing that something
+dreadful had happened to him, and, impelled by love, they rushed to
+the side of the lake. They found the old man speechless, his face as
+white and blanched as the snow upon the Nab, and his whole body
+trembling under the influence of terror, and they immediately led him
+to the cottage, but though appealed to, to say what terrible object
+he had seen, he made no other response than an occasional subdued
+moan. For several days he remained in that state, deaf to their
+piteous entreaties, and staring at them with wild-looking eyes; but at
+length the end came, and, during the gloaming of a beautiful day, he
+died, without having revealed to those around him what he had seen
+when, in answer to the midnight cry, he had rowed the ferry-boat
+across the storm-ruffled lake.
+
+After the funeral had taken place the women left the house, its
+associations being too painful to permit of their stay, and went to
+live at Hawkshead, whence two sturdy men, with their respective
+families, removed to the ferry. The day following that of the arrival
+of the new-comers was rough and wild, and, soon after darkness had
+hidden everything in its sable folds, across the lake came the fearful
+cry, followed by a faint shout for a boat, and screams and moans. The
+men, hardy as they were, and often as they had laughed at the story
+told by the widow of the dead man, no sooner heard the first shriek
+ring through the cottage than they were smitten with terror.
+Profiting, however, by the experience of their predecessor, and
+influenced by fear, they did not make any attempt to cross the lake,
+and the cries continued until some time after midnight.
+
+Afterwards, whenever the day closed gloomily, and ushered in a stormy
+night, and the wind lashed the water of the lake into fury, the
+terrible noises were heard with startling distinctness, until at
+length the dwellers in the cottage became so accustomed to the noises
+as not to be disturbed by them, or, if disturbed, to fall asleep again
+after an ejaculation of 't' crier!' Pedlars and others who had to
+cross the lake, however, were not so hardened, and after a time the
+ferry-boat was almost disused, for the superstitious people did not
+dare to cross the haunted water, save in the broad daylight of summer.
+
+It therefore struck the two individuals who were most concerned in the
+maintenance of the ferry that if they intended to live they must do
+something to rid the place of its bad name, and of the unseen being
+who had driven away all their patrons. In their extremity they asked
+each other who should help them, if not the holy monks, who had come
+over the sea to the abbey in the Valley of Deadly Night Shade; and one
+of the ferrymen at once set out for Furness. No sooner had he set eyes
+upon the stately pile erected by the Savignian and his companions than
+his heart felt lighter, for he had a simple faith in the marvellous
+power of the white-robed men, whose voices were seldom if ever heard,
+save when lifted in worship during one of their seven daily services.
+
+Knocking at the massive door, he was received by a ruddy-looking
+servitor, who ushered him into the presence of the abbot. The ferryman
+soon told his story, and begged that a monk might return with him to
+lay the troubled spirit, and after hearing the particulars of the
+visitation, the abbot granted the request, making a proviso, however,
+that the abbey coffers should not be forgotten when the lake was freed
+from the fiend.
+
+No sooner had the visitor finished the meal set before him by the
+hospitable monks than, in company with one of the holy men, he set out
+homeward. As, by a rule of his order, the monk was not permitted to
+converse, the journey was not an enlivening one, and the ferryman was
+heartily glad when they reached his cottage.
+
+The first night passed without any alarm, the monk and his hosts
+spending the dreary hours in watching and waiting. The following day,
+however, was as stormy as the worst enemy of the ferry could have
+wished, and, when night fell, all the dwellers in the cottage, as well
+as the silent monk, gathered together again to wait for the cries, but
+some hours passed without any other sounds having been heard than
+those caused by the restless wind, as it swept over the lake and among
+the trees. The Cistercian was beginning to imagine himself the victim
+of an irreverent practical joke, and that the stories of the spectral
+crier which had reached the distant abbey long before the ferryman's
+visit were a pack of falsehoods, when about midnight, he suddenly
+jumped from the chair upon which he was dozing by the wood fire,
+hastily made the sign of the cross, and hurriedly commended himself to
+the protection of his patron saint, for sharp and clear came the dread
+cry, followed rapidly by a number of shrieks and groans and a
+smothered appeal for a boat.
+
+In an instant one of the men, with courage doubtless inspired by the
+presence of the holy man, shouldered the oars and opened the door, and
+the monk at once stepped into the open air and hurried to the lake,
+the men following at a respectful distance. The white-robed father was
+the first to get into the boat, and the ferrymen hoped that he
+intended to go alone, but he called upon them to propel the boat to
+the middle of the lake, and much as they disliked the task, as it was
+on their behalf that the monk was about to combat the evil spirit,
+they could not well refuse to accompany him.
+
+When they were about half-way across the lake the wind suddenly
+lulled, and once more they heard the awful scream, and this time it
+sounded as though the crier was quite close to them. The occupants of
+the boat were terribly frightened, and one of them, after suddenly
+shrieking 'he's here,' fainted, and lay still at the bottom of the
+boat, while the monk and the other man stared straight before them, as
+though petrified.
+
+There was a fourth person present, a grim and ghastly figure, with the
+trappings of this life still dangling about its withered and shrunken
+limbs, and a gaping wound in its pallid throat. For a few minutes
+there was a dead silence, but at last it was broken by the monk, who
+rapidly muttered a prayer for protection against evil spirits, and
+then took a bottle from a pocket of his robe, and sprinkled a few
+drops of holy water upon himself and the ferryman, who remained in the
+same statuesque attitude, and upon the unconscious occupant of the
+bottom of the boat. After this ceremony, he opened a little book, and,
+in a sonorous voice, intoned the form for the exorcism of a wandering
+soul, concluding with _Vade ad Gehennam!_ when to the infinite relief
+of the ferryman, and probably of the monk also, the ghastly figure
+forthwith vanished.
+
+The Cistercian asked to be immediately taken to the shore, and when he
+neared the house, the little book was again brought into requisition,
+and the spirit's visits, should it ever again put in an appearance,
+limited to an old and disused quarry, a distance from the
+cottage.{31}
+
+From that time to this, the wild, lonely place has indeed been
+desolate and deserted, the boldest people of the district not having
+sufficient courage to venture near it at nightfall, and the more timid
+ones shunning the locality even at noonday. These folks aver that
+even yet, despite the prayers and exorcisms of the white-robed
+Cistercian from Furness, whenever a storm descends upon the lake, the
+Crier escapes from his temporary prison house, and revisits the scene
+of his first and second appearance to men, and that on such nights,
+loud above the echoed rumble of the thunder, and the lonely sough of
+the wind, the benighted wayfarer still hears the wild shrieks and the
+muffled cry for a boat.
+
+
+
+
+THE DEMON OF THE OAK.
+
+
+Once a fortress and a mansion, but now, unfortunately, little more
+than a noble ruin, Hoghton Tower stands on one of the most commanding
+sites in Lancashire. From the fine old entrance-gate a beautiful
+expanse of highly-cultivated land slopes down and stretches away to
+the distant sea, glimmering like a strip of molten silver; and on
+either hand there are beautiful woods, in the old times 'so full of
+tymber that a man passing through could scarce have seen the sun shine
+in the middle of the day.' At the foot of these wooded heights a
+little river ripples through a wild ravine, and meanders through the
+rich meadows to the proud Ribble. From the building itself, however,
+the glory has departed. Over the noble gateway, with its embattled
+towers, and in one of the fast-decaying wainscots, the old family
+arms, with the motto, _Mal Gre le Tort_, still remain; but these
+things, and a few mouldering portraits, are all that are left there to
+tell of the stately women who, from the time of Elizabeth down to
+comparatively modern days, pensively watched the setting sun gild the
+waters of the far-off Irish Sea, and dreamed of lovers away in the
+wars--trifling things to be the only unwritten records of the noble
+men who buckled on their weapons, and climbed into the turrets to gaze
+over the road along which would come the expected besieging parties.
+Gone are the gallants and their ladies, the roystering Cavalier and
+the patient but none the less brave Puritan, for, as Isaac Ambrose has
+recorded, during the troublous times of the Restoration, the place,
+with its grand banqueting chamber, its fine old staircases, and quaint
+little windows, was 'a colledge for religion.' The old Tower resounds
+no more with the gay song of the one or the solemn hymn of the other,
+
+     'Men may come, and men may go,'
+
+and an old tradition outlives them all.
+
+To this once charming mansion there came, long ago, a young man,
+named Edgar Astley. His sable garments told that he mourned the loss
+of a relative or friend; and he had not been long at the Tower before
+it began to be whispered in the servants'-hall that 'the trappings and
+the suits of woe' were worn in memory of a girl who had been false to
+him, and who had died soon after her marriage to his rival. This story
+in itself was sufficient to throw a halo of romance around the young
+visitor; but when it was rumoured that domestics, who had been
+returning to the Tower late at night, had seen strange-coloured lights
+burning in Edgar's room, and that, even at daybreak, the early risers
+had seen the lights still unextinguished, and the shadow of the
+watcher pass across the curtains, an element of fear mingled with the
+feelings with which he was regarded.
+
+There was much in the visitor calculated to deepen the impressions by
+which the superstitious domestics were influenced, for, surrounded by
+an atmosphere of gloom, out of which he seemed to start when any of
+them addressed him, and appearing studiously to shun all the society
+which it was possible for him to avoid, he spent most of his time
+alone, seated beneath the spreading branches of the giant oak tree at
+the end of the garden, reading black-letter volumes, and plunged in
+meditation. Not that he was in any way rude to his hosts; on the
+contrary, he was almost chivalrous in his attention to the younger
+members of the family and to the ladies of the house, who, in their
+turn, regarded him with affectionate pity, and did their utmost to
+wean him from his lonely pursuits. Yet, although he would willingly
+accompany them through the woods, or to the distant town, the approach
+of the gloaming invariably found him in his usual place beneath the
+shadow of the gnarled old boughs, either poring over his favourite
+books, or, with eyes fixed upon vacancy, lost in a reverie.
+
+Time would, the kind people thought, bring balm to his wounds, and in
+the meanwhile they were glad to have their grief-stricken friend with
+them; and fully appreciating their sympathy, Edgar came and went about
+the place and grounds just as the whim of the moment took him. This
+absence of curiosity on the part of the members of the family was,
+however, amply compensated for by the open wonder with which many of
+the domestics regarded the young stranger; and before he had been many
+months in the house his nightly vigils were the theme of many a
+serious conversation in the kitchen, where, in front of a cosy fire,
+the gossips gathered to compare notes.
+
+Unable to repress their vulgar curiosity, or to gratify it in any more
+honourable or less dangerous manner, it was determined that one of the
+domestics should, at the hour of twelve, creep to the door of the
+visitor's chamber, and endeavour to discover what was the nature of
+those pursuits which rendered lights necessary during the whole of the
+night. The selection was soon made, and after a little demur the
+chosen one agreed to perform the unpleasant task.
+
+At midnight, therefore, the trembling ambassador made his way to the
+distant door, and after a little hesitation, natural enough under the
+circumstances, he stooped, and gazed through a hole in the dried oak
+whence a knot had fallen. Edgar Astley was seated at a little table,
+an old black-looking book with huge clasps open before him. With one
+hand he shaded his eyes from the light which fell upon his face from
+the flames of many colours dancing in a tall brazen cup. Suddenly,
+however, he turned from his book, and put a few pinches of a
+bright-looking powder to the burning matter in the stand. A searching
+and sickly odour immediately filled the room, and the quivering flames
+blazed upwards with increased life and vigour as the student turned
+once more to the ponderous tome, and, after hastily glancing down its
+pages, muttered: 'Strange that I cannot yet work the spell. All things
+named here have I sought for and found, even blood of bat, dead man's
+hand, venom of viper, root of gallows mandrake, and flesh of
+unbaptized and strangled babe. Am I, then, not to succeed until I try
+the charm of charms at the risk of life itself? And yet,' said he,
+unconscious of the presence of the terrified listener, 'what should I
+fear? So far have I gone uninjured, and now will I proceed to the
+triumphant or the bitter end. Once I would have given the future
+happiness of my soul to have called her by my name, and now what is
+this paltry life to me that I should hesitate to risk it in this
+quest, and perhaps win one glimpse of her face?'
+
+There was a moment of silence as the student bent his head over the
+book, but though no other person was visible, the listener, to his
+horror, quickly heard a sharp hissing voice ask, 'And wouldst thou not
+even yet give thy soul in exchange for speech with thy once
+betrothed?' The student hastily stood erect, and rapidly cried: 'Let
+me not be deceived! Whatever thou art, if thou canst bring her to me
+my soul shall be thine now and for ever!'
+
+There was a dead hush for a minute or two, during which the lout at
+the door heard the beating of his own heart, and then the invisible
+being again spoke: 'Be it so. Thou hast but one spell left untried.
+When that has been done thou shalt have thy reward. Beneath the oak at
+midnight she shall be brought to thee. Darest thou first behold me?'
+
+'I have no fear,' calmly replied the student, but such was not the
+state of the petrified listener, for no sooner had the lights
+commenced to burn a weird blue than he sank fainting against the door.
+
+When he came to consciousness he was within the awful room, the
+student having dragged him in when he fell.
+
+'What art thou, wherefore dost thou watch me at this hour, and what
+hast thou seen?' sternly demanded Edgar, addressing the terrified
+boor, and in few and trembling words the unhappy domestic briefly
+answered the queries; but the student did not permit him to leave the
+chamber, through the little window of which the dawn was streaming,
+before he had sworn that not a word as to anything he had seen or
+heard should pass his lips. The solemnity of the vow was deepened by
+the mysterious and awful threats with which it was accompanied, and
+the servant, therefore, loudly protested to his fellows that he had
+not seen or heard anything, but that, overcome by his patient
+watching, he had fallen asleep at the door; and many were the
+congratulations which followed when it was imagined what the
+consequences would have been had he been discovered in his strange
+resting-place.
+
+The day following that of the adventure passed over without anything
+remarkable beyond the absence of Edgar from his usual seat under the
+shade of the giant oak, but the night set in stormily, dark clouds
+scudded before the wind, which swept up from the distant sea, and
+moaned around the old tower, whirling the fallen leaves in fantastic
+dances about the garden and the green, and shaking in its rage even
+the iron boughs of the oak. The household had retired early, and at
+eleven o'clock only Edgar and another were awake. In the student's
+chamber the little lamp was burning and the book lay open as usual,
+and Edgar pored over the pages, but at times he glanced impatiently at
+the quaint clock. At length, with a sigh of relief, he said, sternly
+and sadly, 'The time draws nigh, and once more we shall meet!' He then
+gathered together a few articles from different corners of the room
+and stepped out upon the broad landing, passed down the noble old
+staircase, and out from the hall. Here he was met by a cold blast of
+wind, which shrieked round him, as though rejoicing over its prey; and
+as Edgar was battling with it, a man emerged from a recess and joined
+him.
+
+The night was quite dark, not a star or a rift in the sky visible, and
+the two men could hardly pick their way along the well-known path.
+They reached the oak tree, however, and Edgar placed the materials at
+its foot, and at once, with a short wand, drew a large circle around
+the domestic and himself. This done, he placed a little cauldron on
+the grass, and filled it with a red powder, which, although the wind
+was roaring through the branches above, immediately blazed up with a
+steady flame.
+
+The old mastiffs chained under the gateway began to howl dismally;
+but, regardless of the omen,{32} Edgar struck the ground three times
+with his hazel stick, and cried in a loud voice: 'Spirit of my love, I
+conjure thee obey my words, and verily and truly come to me this
+night!'
+
+Hardly had he spoken when a shadowy figure of a beautiful child
+appeared, as though floating around the magic ring. The servant sank
+upon his knees, but the student regarded it not, and it vanished, and
+the terrified listener again heard Edgar's voice as he uttered another
+conjuration. No sooner had he begun this than terrible claps of
+thunder were heard, lightning flashed round the tree, flocks of birds
+flew across the garden and dashed themselves against the window of the
+student's chamber, where a light still flickered; and, loud above the
+noises of the storm, cocks could be heard shrilly crowing, and owls
+uttering their mournful cries. In the midst of this hubbub the
+necromancer calmly went on with his incantation, concluding with the
+dread words: 'Spirit of my love, I conjure thee to fulfil my will
+without deceit or tarrying, and without power over my soul or body
+earthly or ghostly! If thou comest not, then let the shadow and the
+darkness of death be upon thee for ever and ever!'
+
+As the last word left his lips the storm abated its violence, and
+comparative silence followed. Suddenly the little flame in the
+cauldron flared up some yards in height, and sweet voices chanting
+melodiously could be heard. 'Art thou prepared to behold the dead?'
+asked an invisible being.
+
+'I am!' undauntedly answered Edgar.
+
+An appearance as of a thick mist gathered opposite him, and slowly, in
+the midst of it, the outlines of a beautiful human face, with mournful
+eyes, in which earthly love still lingered, could be discerned.
+
+Clad in the garments of the grave, the betrothed of Edgar Astley
+appeared before him.
+
+For some time the young man gazed upon her as though entranced, but at
+length he slowly extended his arms as though to embrace the beautiful
+phantom. The domestic fell upon his face like one stricken by death,
+the spectre vanished, and again the pealing thunder broke forth.
+
+'Thou art for ever mine,' cried a hissing voice; but as the words
+broke upon the ears of the two men, the door of the mansion was flung
+open, and the old baronet and a number of the servants, who had been
+disturbed by the violence of the storm, the howling of the dogs, and
+the shrill cries of the birds, rushed forth.
+
+'Come not near me if ye would save yourselves,' cried the necromancer.
+
+'We would save thee,' shouted the old man, still advancing. '_In
+nomine Patris_,' said he, solemnly, as he neared the magic circle; and
+no sooner had the words left his lips than sudden stillness fell upon
+the scene; the lightning no longer flashed round the oak; and, as the
+flame in the cauldron sank down, the moon broke through a cloud, and
+threw her soft light over the old garden.
+
+Edgar was leaning against the oak tree, his eyes fixed in the
+direction where the image of his betrothed had appeared; and when they
+led him away, it was as one leads a trusting child, for the light of
+reason had left him. The unfortunate domestic, being less sensitive,
+retained his faculties; but he ever afterwards bore upon his wrist, as
+if deeply burned into the flesh, the marks of a broad thumb and
+fingers. This strange appearance he was wont to explain to stray
+visitors, by saying that when, terrified almost out of his wits, he
+fell to the ground, his hand was outside the magic circle, and
+'summat' seized him; which lucid explanation was generally followed up
+by an old and privileged servitor, who remarked, 'Tha'll t'hev mooar
+marks nor thuse on tha' next toime as _He_ grabs tha', mi lad.'
+
+
+
+
+THE BLACK COCK.
+
+
+'Ay,' said Old 'Lijah, 'I mind one time when they said th' Owd Lad
+hissel appear't i' broad dayleet, an' wir seen bi hunderts o' fowk,
+owd an' yung.'
+
+There was a dead silence for a little while as the listeners gathered
+nearer the blazing fire, two or three of them getting a little further
+away from the door, against which the wind was dashing the snow, and
+then 'Lijah resumed: 'When I wir a lad, me an' mi mestur wer ast to a
+berryin. Ther wer a deeol o' drink stirrin, th' coffee pot, wi th'
+lemon peel hangin aat, gooin abaat fray one side to th' tother fast
+enough, and at last o' wer ready, but just as they wer baan to lift
+th' coffin a clap o' thunder shuke th' varra glasses o' th' table.
+
+'Th' chaps as hed howd stopped a bit an' lukt raand, but th' deead
+chap's feythur shouted, "Come on, lads, or wist be late, an' th'
+paason waynt berry;" so they piked off, but no sooner hed they
+getten' i' th' street nor a lad i' th' craad cried out, "Heigh, chaps,
+luk at th' black cock {34} on th' top o' th' coffin," an' sure enough
+theer it wor. One o' th' beerers said directly as they'd enough to
+carry wi'out ony passingers, an' up wi' his fist an' knockt it off,
+but it wer on ageean in a minit, an one bi' one they o' hed a slap at
+it, but every time it wer knockt off back it flew to it' place at th'
+deead mon's feet, so at last th' owd mon give th' word of command, an'
+off they startit wi' th' looad. Th' craad geet bigger afooar they
+reached th' owd country church wheer he hed to be berried, an' th'
+fowk geet a throwin stooans at th' black bird, an' hittin it wi'
+sticks an' shaatin at it, but it stuck theer like a fixter.
+
+'After a while we reached th' graveyart, an' th' paason come deawn th'
+road fray th' church door to meet th' coffin, an' he wer just baan to
+start th' service when he see th' bird an' stopped.
+
+'"What han yo' got theere?" he says, lukin varra vext, for he thowt
+some marlock wer gooin on. "What han yo' theere, men?"
+
+'Th' owd feythur stepped forrut an' towd him what hed happent, an' as
+nooan on 'em could freetun it off it peeark naythur wi' sticks or
+stooans or sweearin.
+
+'"It's a strange tale," said th' vicar, "but we moant hev no brids
+here! Yo' fowk keep eaut o' th' graveyart nobbut thuse as is invitet
+to th' funeral! I'll settle him for yo!" an' so sayin he grabbed howd
+o' th' cock, an' walked o'er th' graves wi' it to a place wheer th'
+bruk run under th' hedges, an' then he bent deawn o' th' floor an'
+dipped th' bird i'th' watter, an' held it theer for abaat a quarter ov
+an hour.
+
+'No sooner had he getten up, heawever, nor th' brid flew up eaut o'
+th' watter quite unhort, an' hopped o'er th' grass to th' coffin an'
+peearkt ageean as if nowt hed happent.
+
+'Th' vicar lukt varra consarnt for a while, an' skrat his yed as he
+staret at th' fowk.
+
+'Theer's summat not reet abaat that brid,' he said, 'but that's no
+rayson why we shouldn't bury th' deead!' an' he pottert off toart th'
+grave, an' th' beerers carriet th' coffin to th' side, an' th' sarvice
+wer gone through, wi' th' bird harkenin every word like a Christian.
+
+'Th' chaps then startit o' lowerin th' coffin into th' grave, an' th'
+brid still stuck o' th' peeark, an' it wer nobbut when th' hole wer
+filled, as it came above graand ageean, an' theer it set on th' maand.
+
+'A craad o' fowk waited abaat an' hung on th' graveyart wo' till th'
+edge o' dark, an' then they piket off whoam, for they begun to think
+as mebbi it were th' Owd Lad hissel, but a twothree on us stopped till
+it wer neet afooar we went after 'em, th' cock sittin theear just th'
+same as it hed done i' th' dayleet.
+
+'It were usual i' thuse days to watch th' graves for a few neets, for
+ther wer a deeal o' resurrectionin' gooin on i'o' directions, th'
+body-snatchers hevin mooar orders than they could attend to; but
+though th' deead chap's feythur offert brass an' plenty o' drink an'
+meyt to anybody as ud keep a look aat, not one dar do it, an' th'
+deead mon wer laft to tek care o' hissel, or for th' brid to mind him.
+
+'Soon after dayleet th' next mornin I went wi' a twothree moor young
+chaps to see heaw th' place lukt, an' th' grave hedn't bin brokken
+into, but th' brid had flown, and fray that day to this I could never
+find aat ayther wheer it coom fray or went to, but I heeart as th'
+vicar said it met be th' Owd Lad claimin' his own.'
+
+
+
+
+THE INVISIBLE BURDEN.
+
+
+At the junction of the four cross roads, gleaming white in the hot
+sunshine and hawthorn-bounded, and marked by the parallel ruts made by
+the broad wheels of the country carts, the old public house of the
+_Wyresdale Arms_ was scarcely ever without a number of timber wagons
+or hay carts about its open door, the horses quietly munching from the
+nose-bags and patiently waiting until their owners or drivers should
+emerge from the sanded kitchen.
+
+Nathan Peel's hostelry was the half-way house for all the farmers and
+cart-drivers in the district, and generally quiet enough at night
+time, but from its capacious kitchen roars of laughter rang out many a
+summer afternoon, as the carters and yeomen told their droll stories.
+
+On one of these occasions, when the sun was blazing outside, and
+shimmering upon the sands and the distant sea, and through the open
+window the perfume of the may-blossom stole gently, a quaint looking
+old fellow, whose face had been bronzed by three-score summers and
+winters, happened to mention an occurrence as having taken place about
+the time of 'th' quare weddin',' and a chorus of voices at once called
+upon him for the story.
+
+'It's quite forty year sin,' he said thoughtfully, 'an' I wir quite a
+young chap then, an' ready for any marlock. I could dance too wi' hear
+an' thear one, an' no weddin' wir reet wi'aat axin' me. This one I'm
+baan to tell abaat heawivir wir Mester Singleton's owdest son o' th'
+Dyke Farm, an' as he wir weddin' th' prattiest lass i' o' th' country
+side, varra nigh everybody wir theear, 'specially as Mester Singleton
+hed given it aat ther'd be a welcome for onnybody. A string o' nearly
+twenty conveyances, milk carts, an' shandrys, an' gigs, went to th'
+church wi' fowk o' seein' 'em wed; but comin' back, young Adam started
+off wi' his young wife as if he wir mad, an' isted o' gooin' th' owd
+road across th' Stone Brig, an' through th' Holme meadow he pelted
+off through th' Ingleton Road an' th' Owd Horse Lane. Th' mare seemed
+to know what th' young chap wir up to, an' to enter into th' spirit
+o't' thing an' off hoo went like th' woint, th' string o' shandrys an'
+milk carts an' gigs peltin' on at after abaat a mile behint, an' th'
+fowk laughin' an' shaatin' at th' fun. Th' gate into th' Owd Horse
+Lane wir wide open, so th' fowk wir disappointed as expected to gain a
+minnit or two wi' Adam hevin' to get daan theer to oppen it, an' into
+th' lane th' mare dashed, an' on hoo went as if th' shandry an' Adam
+an' his wife wir nowt behint her. Abaat midway i'th' lane heawever th'
+road dipped a bit, an' th' watter fra a spring i'th' bank ran o'er it,
+an' just afoor th' shandry reyched it th 'mare stopped o' of a sudden,
+an' Adam flew aat o'er th' horse's back an' pitched into th' hedge
+like leetnin'. Th' wife shaated as if he wir kilt, but he'd no bones
+brokken, an' when we geet up to him he crept aat o'th' prickles wi' a
+shame-faced look as if he'd bin catcht thievin'. Ther wir some rare
+jokin' as he climbed up to th' side of his wife an' lasht the mare for
+another start, but it wir no use, th' mare couldn't stir th'
+conveyance. Adam lasht away at her, but stir it hoo couldn't, an' at
+last eight or ten on us set to an' turned th' wheels for twenty or
+thirty yards an' it wir th' same as if it wir a timber-wagon, it wir
+that heavy. It wir th' same wi' every one o'th' conveyances, not one
+could be got o'er th' watter only wi' eight or ten on us toilin' an'
+slavin' at th' wheels, no matter heaw th' horse strained an' pulled.
+Nobody could make aat what it wir, an' th' Vicar came an' look't abaat
+but could find nowt. He said, heawever, th' Owd Lad had some hand in
+it, an' he warned th' fowk not to use th' road when they could help
+it. Many an' many a time heawivir, I see carts stuck theear bi' th'
+day together, for some chaps wouldn't be persuaded not to go through
+th' lane, for it wir a short cut, an' other chaps went i' nowt but
+darin' when they'd hed a sup o' drink. It went on for some years like
+that, an' fowk came fray far an' near to see it. I'd gettin' wed mysen
+and hed a farm on the Holme, but I used to go raand to it bi'th' owd
+road across the Brig, but one day, a breet hot day, I'd mi little lad
+i'th cart an' he bothert mi to go through th' lane, he wantit to see
+th' Owd Lad he said, an' as he started o' cryin' abaat it, I went.
+Well, the cart stuck i'th' owd place bi th' runnin' watter, an' th'
+little lad wir deleeted. I geet daan an' took howd o'th' wheel, for I
+knew it wir no use usin' the whip, an' th' horse wir sweatin' as if it
+wir rare an' 'freetont, when little Will shaated aat o' ov a sudden
+'Feythar, I con see him!' 'See what?' I sang aat, an' broad dayleet as
+it wir, mi knees wir quakin'. 'A little chap i'th' cart,' he said, 'a
+fat little chap wi' a red neet cap on.' 'Wheer is he?' I shaated, for
+I couldn't see owt. 'Theer on th' cart tail,' he said, an' then he
+shaated 'Why, he's gone,' an' no sooner hed he spokken than th' horse
+started off wi' th' cart as if it hed nowt behint it.
+
+Thir never wir a cart stuck theer at after that, an' th' Vicar said it
+wir because little Will hed persayved th' Feeorin, an' as Will hed th'
+gift o' seein' feeorin an' sich like because he wir born at midneet.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX.
+
+_COMPARATIVE NOTES._
+
+
+1.
+
+Belief in the appearance of the Skriker, Trash, or Padfoot, as the
+apparition is named in Lancashire, or Padfooit, as it is designated in
+Yorkshire, is still very prevalent in certain parts of the two
+counties. This boggart is invariably looked upon as the forerunner of
+death, and it is supposed that only the relatives of persons about to
+die, or the unfortunate doomed persons themselves, ever see the
+apparition.
+
+Of quite a distinct class to that of the 'Skrikin' Woman,' an
+appearance which, at a but recent period, obtained for a lane at
+Warrington the reputation of being haunted, the Padfoot seems to be
+peculiar to Lancashire and Yorkshire, unless, indeed, the Welsh
+Gwyllgi or Dog of Darkness, and the Shock of the Norfolk seaboard, are
+of the same family. In Norfolk, the spectre, as it does in Lancashire,
+portends death, but I have been unable to find any Welsh story of the
+apparition with a more tragic ending than fright and illness.
+
+As the Trash generally takes the form of a large shaggy dog or small
+bear, can the superstition be an offshoot from that old Aryan belief
+which gave so important an office to the dog as a messenger from the
+world of the dead, and an attendant upon the dying, or has the grim
+idea come down to us from the ancient times, when, as the Rev. S.
+Baring Gould says, 'It was the custom to bury a dog or a boar alive
+under the corner-stone of a church, that its ghost might haunt the
+neighbourhood, and drive off any who would profane it--_i.e._ witches
+or warlocks'?
+
+
+2.
+
+In most of these stories of compacts with the Evil One it is singular
+how little is received in exchange for the soul. In a few instances
+poverty bargains for untold wealth, or ugliness and age for youth and
+loveliness, but generally it is for the bare means of prolonging or
+supporting life that the daring and despairing one enters into the
+everlasting agreement. In fact, as a French authoress has said, it is
+'for a mouthful of bread to nourish their debilitated stomachs, and
+the bundle of sticks which warms again their benumbed limbs.' In
+Sussex it would appear, from what a country-lad told the Rev. S.
+Baring Gould, that half-a-crown is the price Satan pays for a soul,--a
+letter addressed to the Evil One, and containing an offer of the soul,
+bringing a response in that practical form, if placed under the pillow
+at night.
+
+In Normandy it is considered sufficient to make the compact binding
+for the acceptance to be simply a verbal one; but in Lancashire the
+formal parchment deed, with its signatures in blood, is indispensable.
+
+
+3.
+
+Old Isaac, it would seem, was not disappointed when he came to make
+use of his handful of money, and probably, therefore, he had spent it
+before he told the story, for in all instances where the fairies are
+recorded as rewarding mortals with money, any revelation as to its
+source is invariably followed by the gift being turned to bits of
+paper or leaves.
+
+
+4.
+
+Although there appears to have been some little confusion in the mind
+of the old farmer as to the rank in the world of faerie held by his
+little benefactor, he seems to have designated him correctly, for
+although the general idea of Puck is that of a mere mischief-loving
+and mischief-working sprite, such as is painted by Drayton, Shakspere
+credits Puck not only with wanton playfulness, but also with industry,
+for in the second act of the 'Midsummer Night's Dream,' the fairy,
+addressing the sprite, says:
+
+    'Those that hobgoblin call you, and sweet Puck,
+    _You do their work_.'
+
+Shakspere and Ben Jonson, however, agree in making Oberon King of the
+Fairies--a king, too, with a stately presence, and far above showing
+an interest in a farmer's fields. Under any circumstances one is not
+prepared to find Puck of royal estate, and doubtless the labouring
+spirit of our story was simply one of those goblins who, according to
+the author of the _Anatomy of Melancholy_, would 'grind corn for a
+mess of milk, cut wood, or do any manner of nursery work'--a Robin
+Goodfellow merely, the 'lubber fiend' of Milton, the Bwbach or
+household fairy of Wales. Lancashire had many such. Stories of beings
+rejoicing in the name of Hobthrust or Throbthrush, but in all other
+respects closely resembling the fairy king of the foregoing tradition,
+still are told by the farm-house fires in Furness, in South-East
+Lancashire, and in the Fylde country. Rewarded night after night with
+a supply of oatmeal porridge--strange relic, probably, of the old
+libations to the gods--they toiled at the churn till daybreak. A
+Furness legend chronicles how a farmer, whose house was the favourite
+resting-place of one of these visitors, one evening, when threatening
+clouds were gathering, wished that he had the harvest carted. Next
+morning the work was found done, but a horse was found dead in the
+stable, Hob having been unsparing. As the day was a beautiful one, the
+farmer did not appreciate the housing as he ought to have done, and
+testily wished that Hob was in the mill-dam. A few hours afterwards,
+not Hob, but the grain was found there.
+
+'Crawshaws in Berwickshire,' says the author of the _Popular Rhymes of
+Berwickshire_, 'was once the abode of an industrious Brownie, who both
+saved the corn and thrashed it for several seasons. At length, after
+one harvest, some person thoughtlessly remarked that the corn was not
+well mowed or piled up in the barn. The sprite took offence at this,
+and the next night threw the whole of the corn over the Raven Crag, a
+precipice about two miles off, muttering--
+
+    "It's no weel mowed! It's no weel mowed!
+    Then it's ne'er be mowed by me again.
+    I'll scatter it o'er the Raven stone,
+    And they'll hae some wark ere it's mowed again."'
+
+The North Lancashire Hobthrusts, however, do not seem to have been
+made to disappear by man's ingratitude, but, like the Irish Cluricaun
+and the Scotch Brownie, were to be driven away by kindness. In one
+instance, a tailor, for whom a Hobthrust had done some work,
+gratefully made him a coat and hood for winter wear, and in the night
+the workman was heard bidding farewell to his old quarters--
+
+    'Throb-thrush has got a new coat and new hood,
+    And he'll never do no more good.'
+
+Readers of the Brothers Grimm and lovers of George Cruikshank will not
+need to be reminded how the grateful shoemaker deprived himself of the
+assistance of the elves. In the German story, however, as in Breton
+ones, although the elves depart, prosperity continues to bless the
+labours of the people whose practical gratitude has driven the little
+beings away.
+
+The Hob which, according to Harrison Ainsworth, haunted the Gorge of
+Cliviger, does not appear to have been at all domesticated, the
+novelist, in the only allusion he makes to it, characterising it as 'a
+frightful hirsute demon, yclept Hobthrust.' In the Fylde country,
+however, the lubber fiends seem to have been as industrious as was
+that of our legend. Tradition tells of one at Rayscar which not only
+housed the grain but also got the horses ready for the journey to the
+distant market. At Hackensall Hall one took the Celtic form of a great
+horse, and required only a pie in reward for its toil.
+
+The Hobs of the neighbouring county of Yorkshire are credited with
+greater powers than those required for the rapid performance of
+household duties. One of these beings is still said to haunt a cave in
+the vicinity of the old-world hamlet of Runswick. To this place
+anxious and superstitious mothers brought their ailing little ones,
+and as they stood at the mouth of the cavity, cried, 'Hob, my bairn's
+gettent kinkcough (whooping-cough?), takkt off, takkt off!' In the
+same district there is a haunted tumulus called 'Obtrash Roque,'
+rendered by Walcott 'the Heap of Hob-o'-the-Hurst.' Of the bogle
+denizen of this mound a story similar to that told by Mr. Crofton
+Croker, in Roby's _Traditions (Clegg Hall Boggart)_, is current in the
+district. A farmer who was bothered by the spirit, determined to
+remove to a quieter locality, and as the carts were leaving with the
+goods and implements a neighbour cried out, 'It's flittin yo' are,'
+when the Hob at once replied, from a churn, 'Ay, we're flitting;' upon
+which the farmer thought he might as well remain where he was. Similar
+flitting stories, however, are told of the Scandinavian _Nis_, the
+Irish _Cluricaun_, the Welsh _Bwbach_, and the Polish _Ickrzycki_.
+
+
+5.
+
+Why the expression of a wish like this should have offended Puck is
+not very evident. There is in Sweden a lubber fiend named the _Tomte_,
+and of this being the peasantry believe that only by unrewarded toil
+can it work out its salvation. Can the Lancashire King of the Fairies
+have been one of the same order, and have considered the utterance of
+a good wish as a reward, or even as a sarcastic allusion to his 'lost
+condition'?
+
+The belief is by no means uncommon that the fairies are the angels who
+were neutral during the Satanic rebellion. In Brittany, however
+(_Chants Populaires de la Bretagne_, par Th. Hersart de la
+Villemarque), they are the Princesses who, in the days of the
+Apostles, would not embrace Christianity.
+
+The traditions of most countries agree, however, in attributing to
+the fairies extreme sensitiveness on the subject of their condition.
+Mr. Campbell has recorded that when the elves, who had grown weary of
+crossing the Dornoch Frith in cockle-shells, were engaged in building
+a bridge of gold across its mouth, a passer-by lifted his hands and
+blessed the tiny workmen, who immediately vanished, the bridge sinking
+with them beneath the waves, and its place being at once taken by
+quicksands. Almost every district haunted by 'greenies' or 'hill folk'
+has its story of a piteous appeal on the subject of their future state
+made by visible or invisible fairies. In a Highland story it is an old
+man reading the Bible who is accosted, the inquirer screaming and
+plunging into the sea upon being answered that the sacred pages did
+not contain any allusion to the salvation of any but the sons of Adam.
+My friend, Mr. Kennedy, in his valuable _Legendary Fictions of the
+Irish Celts_, gives a charming traditionary story of a priest who was
+benighted and lost upon a moor, and who was similarly accosted, and
+implored to declare that at the last day the lot of the fairies would
+not be with Satan. After the appeal had been somewhat ambiguously
+answered, 'a weak light was shed around where he stood, and he
+distinguished the path and an opening in the fence.'
+
+In Cornwall they are supposed to be the spirits of the people who
+inhabited the country long before the birth of Christ, and who,
+although not good enough to partake of the joys of Heaven, yet are too
+good for Hell. In Wales there is a somewhat similar belief, but it is
+said that their probation will end at the day of judgment, when they
+will be admitted to Paradise. It is commonly believed by the Cornish
+peasants that they are gradually growing smaller, and that at length
+they will change into ants. Few people in Cornwall, therefore, are
+sufficiently venturesome to destroy a colony of those insects.
+
+
+6.
+
+Many are the old sacred piles in Lancashire with the building of which
+it is believed that goblins had something to do. The parish church of
+Rochdale, the old church of Samlesbury, that of St. Oswald's at
+Winwick, near Warrington, and the parish church of Burnley, may be
+instanced as a few of those which are popularly supposed to have been
+interfered with by superhuman labourers. At Rochdale the unexpected
+workpeople took the form of 'strange-looking men;' in other cases, as
+in those of Winwick and Burnley, pigs removed the materials, it being
+traditional that their cry of 'we-week' gave its name to the former
+place; while at Newchurch, in Rossendale, although the interloping
+builders were invisible, a little old woman with a bottle was not only
+seen, but was fraternised with by the thirsty watchers who had been
+appointed to guard the foundations. Similar stories of changed site
+are told of numerous churches throughout Britain. The legend of
+Gadshill church, near Ventnor, like that of Hinderwell, Yorkshire,
+attributes the removal of the foundations to supernatural means, the
+stones having hopped after each other from their original place at the
+foot of the hill to that in which they were afterwards found, the
+shins of the watchers having been 'barked' in the most unceremonious
+manner by certain little blocks of somewhat erratic tendencies. It is,
+however, by no means improbable that at Gadshill, as at Rochdale, the
+fact of the building having been erected in a position so difficult of
+access, and so trying to aged and infirm parishioners, may have caused
+a testy and irreverent, and perhaps asthmatic, worshipper to invent
+the Satanic theory. In one case, that of Bredon, in Leicestershire,
+the objectors appear to have taken the form of doves. Loth as one may
+be to think harm of such sweet messengers, Mr. Kennedy, after telling
+the story of the building of the cathedral of Ardfert, in Kerry, by
+St. Brendain, and the trouble caused by a large crow, which took the
+measuring line in its bill and flew across the valley with it, adds,
+'The bird was a fairy in disguise. If the messenger had been _from
+another quarter_, he would have made his appearance under snowy
+plumes.'[B]
+
+[B] The foundations of the priory church of Christchurch, Hampshire,
+were, tradition says, removed by unseen hands, down from the lonely
+St. Catherine's Hill to the present site in the valley. The beams and
+rafters, too short on the hill, were too long in the vale. In the
+valley, too, an extra workman, Christ, always came on the pay-night.
+
+
+7.
+
+This work of art was one of the gargoyles of the old building, and was
+purchased by Mr. Ffarington, the father of the present lady of the
+manor, when the church was rebuilt. It bore the name of 'the Cat
+Stone.'
+
+Another version of this tradition, of but limited circulation, and
+little known even in the immediate locality, credits an angel with the
+removal of the foundations and with the utterance of the following
+anything but angelic strain:--
+
+    Here I have placed thee,
+      And here shalt thou stand;
+    And thou shalt be called
+      The church of Leyland!
+
+
+8.
+
+This legend appears to have had a Teutonic origin. Mr. Kelly, in his
+chapter on the 'Wild Hunt,' quotes a somewhat similar story from a
+German source: 'The wild huntsman's hounds can talk like men. A
+peasant caught one of them, a little one, and hid it in his pack. Up
+came the wild huntsman and missed it. "Where are you, Waldmann?" he
+cried. "In Heineguggeli's sack," was the answer.'
+
+
+9.
+
+'The passing bell,' says Harland, 'according to Grose, was anciently
+rung for two purposes, one to bespeak the prayers of all good
+Christians for a soul just departing, the other to drive away the evil
+spirits who stood at the bed's foot ready to seize their prey, or at
+least to molest and terrify the soul on its passage.'
+
+Mr. Sikes says that in Wales, before the Reformation, 'there was kept
+in all Welsh churches, a handbell which was taken by the Sexton to the
+house where a funeral was to be held, and rung at the head of the
+procession,' and that 'the custom survived long after the Reformation
+in many places, as at Caerleon, the little Monmouthshire village,
+which was a bustling Roman city when London was a hamlet. The bell,
+called the _bangu_, was still preserved in the parish of Llanfair
+Duffryn Clwyd half a dozen years ago.'
+
+The bell might now with greater propriety be called the _passed_ bell,
+as it is tolled only after a death, the ringing concluding with a
+number of distinct knells to announce the years and sex of the
+deceased, which the authority alluded to above considers 'a vestige of
+an ancient Roman Catholic injunction.' Until a comparatively recent
+period it was customary at Walton-le-Dale, Lancashire, to inter
+Protestants in the afternoon, a bell being tolled at intervals prior
+to the funeral; Catholics, however, were buried in the evening, a full
+peal being rung upon the bells immediately before the procession
+started.
+
+Mr. Thornber, writing in 1844, says that at the beginning of this
+century, at Poulton, the more respectable portion of the inhabitants
+were buried by candle-light, and that it was considered a sacred duty
+to expose a lighted candle in the windows of every house as the corpse
+was carried through the streets. He speaks of the custom as a mark of
+respect to the dead, but possibly there was something more than this
+in it. In Ireland even to-day it is usual to leave lighted candles in
+the room where a corpse is laid out.
+
+This belief in the power of bells over not only demons and evil
+spirits of every kind, but also over the elves and 'good people,'
+appears to have been held in all countries ever inhabited by fairies
+and hill folk. The Danish trolls are said to have been driven out of
+the country by the hanging of bells in the churches, the noise
+reminding them forcibly of the time when Thor used to fling his hammer
+after them. It is recorded in a bit of local doggrel from the pen of a
+dead and forgotten rhymester, that the fairies remained at
+Saddleworth, on the confines of Lancashire and Yorkshire, until
+
+                'The steeple rose,
+    And bells began to play;'
+
+when the Queen wandered away to the wild district
+
+    'Where Todmore's kingdom lay;'
+
+and the less important plebeians of fairy land 'dispersed, went.' Mr.
+Henderson says that 'at Horbury, near Wakefield, and at Dewsbury, on
+Christmas Eve, is rung the "devil's knell," a hundred strokes, then a
+pause, then three strokes, three strokes, and three strokes again.'
+
+In Iceland it is believed that at daybreak or upon the ringing of a
+bell the trolls flee.
+
+
+10.
+
+Fairy funerals, according to tradition, have been seen in other
+counties beside Lancashire, for an old Welsh writer alludes to such
+sights as having been witnessed in his day. Mr. Wirt Sikes, in his
+_British Goblins_, a recent and most valuable contribution to the folk
+lore and mythology of South Wales, says that the bell of Blaenporth,
+Cardiganshire, was noted for tolling thrice at midnight, unrung by
+human hands, to foretell death, and that when the 'Tolaeth before the
+burying,' the sound of an unseen funeral-procession passing by, is
+heard, the voices sing the 'Old Hundredth,' and the tramping of feet
+and the sobbing and groaning of mourners can be heard. In Normandy,
+says P. Le Fillastre, _Annuaire de la Manche_, 1832, the large white
+coffins, _les bieres_, which the belated voyager sees along the roads,
+or placed on the churchyard fences, are unaccompanied by either
+bearers or mourners, and the cemetery bell is silent.
+
+Readers of Professor Hunt's volumes of Cornish Drolls and Romances
+will remember the beautiful legend of the fisherman who, gazing by
+night through the window of a lonely church, saw a procession passing
+along the aisle, and witnessed the interment, near the sacramental
+table, of the fairy queen. The only point of resemblance, however,
+between the Southern and Northern traditions is to be found in the
+solemn tolling of the church-bell. The Cornish story is unique in one
+respect, inasmuch as, although we have plenty of legends in which the
+fairies evince a desire to peer into their future state, and even some
+in which their deaths are alluded to, it is extremely rare to find one
+in which the burial of a fairy is narrated; and this fact would seem
+to point to a defect in the 'Finn theory,' so plausibly advocated by
+Mr. Campbell; for, surely, if once upon a time 'the fairies were a
+real people, like the Lapps,' tradition would not be so silent, as it
+almost universally is, with reference to the outward and visible signs
+of their mortality.[C]
+
+[C] Only since these notes were in type have I seen the excellent
+paper from the pen of Mr. Grant Allen (_Cornhill Magazine_, March
+1881), on the Genesis of the Myth of the Fairies. See also the same
+charming writer's _Vignettes from Nature_, p. 206, and papers by B.
+Melle and F. A. Allen, in _Science Gossip_ for 1866, 'The Track of the
+Pigmies.'
+
+
+11.
+
+My friend, Mr. W. E. A. Axon, in his interesting _Black Knight of
+Ashton_, tells a story of a 'Race with the Devil,' the hero of which
+was one of a party of _pace-eggers_, who, waking up after a doze by a
+farm-house fire, beside which the party had been permitted to sleep on
+a wild night, and, feeling cold, had put on his Beelzebub dress, to
+the terror of another member of the company, who awoke afterwards, and
+seeing, as he supposed, the Devil seated airing himself by the fire,
+fled into the darkness and the storm, his equally terrified companions
+following him, and the no-less-frightened Beelzebub bringing up the
+rear.
+
+The Mid and South Lancashire stories, as will at once be seen, do not
+resemble each other in any way, however; and I refer to Mr. Axon's
+legend for the sake of directing my readers' attention to a valuable
+note appended to it, in which Mr. Axon points out that there is a
+similar old Hindoo story of such a chase, which was translated from
+the Sanscrit into Chinese not later than the year 800.
+
+It seems hardly probable that the Lancashire pace-egging story, so
+exquisitely narrated by my friend, could have had an Aryan origin, yet
+the resemblance is a striking and remarkable one.
+
+
+12.
+
+Many are the traditions of submerged bells told along the Lancashire
+coast. 'Here,' says the Rev. W. Thornber in the scarce _History of
+Blackpool_ (1844), 'or out at sea opposite this spot, once stood the
+cemetery of Kilgrimol, mentioned in the above-quoted chapter of the
+Priory of Lytham. Of this fact, tradition is not silent, and the
+rustic who dwells in the neighbourhood relates tales of fearful
+sights, and how many a benighted wanderer has been terrified with the
+sounds of bells pealing dismal chimes.' In Wales, too, the
+superstition is a common one. It is by no means improbable that there
+may be more in these faint whispers than would at first appear, and
+that underneath these dim traditions of churches swallowed by the sea
+there may rest a faint stratum of the old Scandinavian superstition
+that sweet singing and beautiful music could be heard by any who stood
+to listen on an Elf hill; for, although the idea of submerged cities
+may be found floating in the lore of all Celtic peoples, and in some
+places the submersion is a matter even of history,[D] in others, as at
+Kilgrimol, it is doubtful whether the sounds come from the sea or the
+earth. It is, therefore, more than likely that the traditions of
+submersion have received the addition of pealing bells from natural
+causes. There is an Indian superstition which in another way
+illustrates this theory. Manitobah Lake, in the Red River region,
+derives its name from a small island, upon which is heard, whenever
+the gales blow from the north, a sound resembling the pealing of
+distant church-bells, and which is caused by the waves beating on the
+shore at the foot of the cliffs and the rubbing of the fallen
+fragments against each other. This island the Ojibeways suppose to be
+the home of Manitobah, 'the speaking god,' and upon it they dare not
+land.
+
+[D] _Vide_ Lyell's _Principles of Geology_, Chapter on _Encroachments
+of the Sea_, for many instances of submerged villages and churches
+along the English coast.
+
+There is in Normandy a singular tradition of a submerged bell, dating
+back to the time of the English occupation, along with others of
+buried and hidden treasure. It is said that, as the English soldiers
+were abandoning the country, they destroyed the abbey of Corneville,
+and were taking away with them the principal bell, when the barge
+capsized. As they were trying to recover the prize, the French came
+upon them, and they were obliged to hurry away, leaving the bell
+behind. Since that time, whenever the bells of the churches in the
+district ring out their joyous peals upon solemn festival days, the
+submerged bell also can be heard joining in the carillon. (_Essai sur
+l'arrondissement de Pont-Audemer_.)
+
+A story somewhat similar to this is told of a bell from St. David's,
+Pembrokeshire, carried off by Cromwellian troops whose vessel
+afterwards was wrecked in Ramsay Sound, from the moving waters of
+which the pealing can be heard when a storm is rising.
+
+
+13.
+
+For the sake of those who are not 'native and to the manner born,'
+Roger's story is not given in his vernacular, a mixture of the
+Mid-Lancashire and the Furness dialects, trying even to those who are
+acquainted with the expressive Doric of other parts of the County
+Palatine.
+
+
+14.
+
+Mr. Henderson, in his _Notes on the Folk Lore of the Northern Counties
+of England and the Borders_, states that Mr. Wilkie maintains that the
+_Digitalis purpurea_ was in high favour with the witches, who used to
+decorate their fingers with its largest bells; hence called Witches'
+Thimbles. Mr. Hartley Coleridge has more pleasing associations with
+this gay wild-flower. He writes of 'the fays
+
+    That sweetly nestle in the foxglove bells;'
+
+and adds in a note, 'popular fancy has generally conceived a
+connection between the foxglove and the good people.' In Ireland,
+where it is called _lusmore_, or the great herb, and also Fairy Cup,
+the bending of its stalks is believed to denote the unseen presence of
+supernatural beings. The Shefro, or gregarious fairy, is represented
+as wearing the corona of the foxglove on his head, and no unbecoming
+head-dress either. In Wales, that the elves wear gloves of the bells
+of _Digitalis_ is a common fancy.
+
+
+15.
+
+This conventional circle seems to be universally common to such
+stories of summoning the Evil One. Even in China, as Mr. Dennys has
+stated, the ring is drawn round the summoner, and the incantation
+uttered, as in our own stories.
+
+
+16.
+
+In Lancashire, Old Nick (afterwards St. Nicholas, the patron saint of
+sailors) is considered the patron saint of the wind, just as in the
+Scandinavian mythology it is Odin, also termed Nick and Hold Neckar,
+who raises storms.
+
+In Normandy, near Aigle, there is a superstition respecting a Mother
+_Nique_, doubtless, says Vaugeois, of Scandinavian origin.
+
+
+17.
+
+Instances of generous treatment of opponents on the part of the Evil
+One are by no means rare. Readers of Mr. Roby will remember that Satan
+gave a loophole of escape to Michael Waddington, the hero of 'Th' Dule
+upo' Dun' legend, by granting him an extra wish, although the poor
+wretch's time was up.
+
+
+18.
+
+The Cockerham schoolmaster appears to have lacked originality, for in
+the Scottish legend of 'Michael Scott' it is recorded that when the
+fairies crowded round his dwelling crying for work, he bade them twine
+ropes of sand to reach the moon, and tradition has it that traces of
+their unsuccessful attempts may yet be found. A more recent instance
+is told in a sketch of Dr. Linkbarrow, a Westmoreland wizard, who
+lived about a hundred years ago, quoted from the _Kendal Mercury_ by
+Mr. Sullivan, in his _Cumberland and Westmoreland, Ancient and
+Modern_. The Doctor, who was disturbed at church by a terrible storm,
+hurried home, and on the way met the devil, who asked for work. He
+immediately set him to make 'thumb symes' of river sand. Imitating the
+Israelites, perhaps not unconsciously--for Satan's knowledge of
+Scripture is proverbial--the Evil One asked for straw, which was
+refused him. On his arrival at home, the Doctor found his servant
+prying into his black-letter book, which imprudence had caused the
+storm and Satan's pilgrimage.
+
+Several similar stories, illustrating the danger of tampering with
+books of magic, are told in Normandy. In one of them it is recorded
+that the servant of a village cure, moved by curiosity, read a page or
+two of one of his master's volumes, when suddenly Satan appeared. The
+domestic fled, but the Evil One captured him, and was making away with
+him when the cure arrived and simply read a few other words from the
+book, upon which Satan dropped his prey. In another one Satan keeps
+his victim three years, but at length is obliged to let him go.
+
+In the last story of this kind, however, which has come under my
+notice--a French one by the way--the incautious student has scarcely
+read a line of the open book when Satan appears and strangles him. The
+sorcerer, quietly returning home, sees devils perched on the house,
+and, surprised, beckons them to approach. One does so, and tells him
+the story, and he thereupon rushes to his study and finds the student
+stretched dead upon the floor. Afraid of being accused of murder, he
+orders the devil who had assassinated the scholar to pass into the
+body of his victim. The demon obeys, and goes to promenade in the
+street at the point most frequented by the students, but suddenly,
+upon another order, he quits the body, and the corpse falls in the
+midst of the terrified promenaders.
+
+In Cornwall, instead of the devil, it is the ghost of Tregeagle, the
+wizard, that is doomed to make trusses of sand in Genvor Cove, and to
+bear them to the top of Escol's Cliff. Having once succeeded in
+carrying a truss, after having first brought water from a neighbouring
+stream and frozen the sand, he is now condemned to make the trusses
+without water.
+
+
+19.
+
+Another version of this story, which is still told in the lonely
+farm-houses of the district, gives the scholars the credit of having
+raised the devil during the absence of their master. Similar tasks
+were given to the infernal visitor by a sharp-witted lad, who feared
+lest his should be the soul the Evil One threatened to take back with
+him; and not many years ago a flag, said to have been broken by the
+outwitted Satan in his passage across the floor, used to be
+triumphantly exhibited to any daring and irreverent sceptic who
+expressed doubts as to the truthfulness of the narrative.
+
+At Burnley Grammar School a black mark on a stone was at one time
+exhibited in proof of a state visit of the same kind, and a similar
+ignominious flight.
+
+The Grammar School of Middleton, near Manchester, also can boast of
+the patronage of the Evil One; and Samuel Bamford has recorded that in
+his youth a hole in the school flags was shown as an impression of the
+Satanic hoof. The Middleton legend credits the lads with the
+unenviable honour of having called up the fiend and afterwards
+innocently wishing him to withdraw, which he sternly declined to do
+without having received his usual fee of a soul. As at Cockerham, he
+was requested to make a rope of sand; and he was rapidly completing
+the task, when, to the joy of the urchins, the schoolmaster came upon
+the scene, and quickly exorcised the visitor, who, in his disgusted
+and disordered flight, broke down nearly half of the building.
+
+
+20.
+
+Stories of headless beings may be found in the lore of most countries
+of Europe, and are of the same class as those of the men, women and
+horses 'beawt yeds,' common to the hilly districts of both North and
+South Lancashire. As a general rule, in South Lancashire, the head is
+not seen at all, whereas in the northern part of the county the
+spectre almost invariably carries it under the left arm, as is done by
+the wandering beings in similar Danish stories. A Scotch legend,
+alluded to by Sir Walter Scott, credits the ghost of a Duchess of
+Queensberry with an innovation, as the spectre is said to wheel its
+head in a barrow through the galleries of Drumlanrick Castle. In
+Glamorganshire there is a tradition of a headless woman, who appears
+every sixty years, and many are the terrible stories told of her
+dreadful visitations.
+
+Although tales of headless horses are not rare in Lancashire, there
+does not appear to be any tradition of hearses, or other conveyances
+drawn by them, similar to the Northumberland legend of the midnight
+cavalcade along the subterraneous passage between Tarset and Dalby
+Castles, or to the stories told by the Irish peasants.
+
+It is more than probable that many of the legends and stories of
+headless beings of both sexes had their origin in the old Saxon belief
+that if a person who was guilty of a crime for which he deserved to
+lose his head, died without having paid the penalty, he was condemned
+after death to travel over the earth with his head under his arm.
+
+
+21.
+
+Not very long ago it was commonly believed at Warrington, on the
+authority of many persons who declared they had seen the apparition,
+that a spectral white rabbit haunted Bank Quay, its appearance
+invariably foretelling the early death of a relative of the person
+whose misfortune it was to behold the animal.
+
+'In Cornwall,' says Mr. Hunt, 'it is a very popular fancy that when a
+maiden who has loved not wisely but too well, dies forsaken and
+broken-hearted, she comes back in the shape of a white hare to haunt
+her deceiver. The phantom follows the false one everywhere, mostly
+invisible to all else. It sometimes saves him from danger, but
+invariably the white hare causes the death of the betrayer in the
+end.'
+
+
+22.
+
+Can this tradition be an offshoot of the legend of Ahasuerus, the
+Wandering Jew, the man who, standing at his door, refused the cup of
+water for which the Saviour, bowed down beneath the burden of the
+cross, begged, but who bade the Lord walk quicker, and was answered,
+'I go, but thou shalt thirst and tarry till I come'? In one shape or
+another most European countries have the weird myth of this restless
+being. In none of the stories, however, have I found any reference to
+an animal accompanying the wanderer.
+
+
+23.
+
+The belief in the efficacy of fairy ointment appears to have been
+somewhat generally held in England. A Northumberland tradition tells
+of a midwife who was fetched to attend a lady, and who received a box
+of ointment with which to anoint the infant. By accident the woman
+touched one of her eyes with the mixture, and at once saw that she was
+in a fairy palace. She had the good sense, however, to conceal her
+astonishment, and reached her home in safety. Some time afterwards she
+saw the lady stealing bits of butter in the market-place, and
+thoughtlessly accosted her, when, after an inquiry similar to that of
+the Lancashire legend, the fairy breathed upon the offending eye and
+destroyed the sight. Other versions still current in Northumberland
+make the thief a fairy stealing corn. Similar stories are told in
+Devonshire and in both the Lowlands and Highlands of Scotland. In
+Scotland, however, the fairy spits into the woman's eye. The Irish
+fairy (Co. Wexford), a vindictive being, uses a switch.
+
+In Cornwall a fairy bantling has to be put out to nurse, and has to be
+washed regularly in water and carried to its room by its invisible
+relatives. The nurse receives the marvellous sight after some of the
+liquid has splashed upon her eyes, and the usual result follows. She
+sees a thief in the market-place--that of St. Ives; and after he has
+muttered--
+
+    'Water for elf, not water for self!
+    You've lost your eye, your child, and yourself!'
+
+she becomes blind. In another Cornish legend a green ointment, made
+with four-leaved clover, gathered at a certain time of the moon,
+confers the wondrous gift. In Lancashire the four-leaved clover does
+not require any preparation; the mere possession of it being supposed
+to render fairies visible.
+
+The Scandinavian belief appears to have been that, although the hill
+folk could bestow the gift of this sight upon whom they chose, all
+children born on Sunday possessed the faculty. This superstition seems
+to survive in a slightly altered form in the Lancashire one that
+children born during twilight can see spirits and foretell deaths,
+the latter faculty, probably, having been substituted for the
+prophetic power of the chosen of the elves in the Northern mythology.
+
+It is more than probable that these ointment stories came from the
+East. Who does not remember the charming history of the blind man,
+Baba Abdalla, whose sight was destroyed by a little miraculous
+ointment, and afterwards as wonderfully restored by a box on the ear?
+
+
+24.
+
+An old farm-labourer pointed out to me a place where the Evil One used
+to meet the witches, and gambol with them until cock-crow. It was at
+the junction of four cross-roads, between Stonyhurst and Ribchester;
+and as I stood there at 'th' edge o' dark,' when the wind was
+whispering through the fir woods on either hand, with that mysterious
+sound so like the gentle wash of waves upon a sandy shore, the spot
+seemed indeed a suitable one for such gatherings.
+
+My informant, however, although very circumstantial in his account of
+what had transpired at the nocturnal assemblies, scouted the idea of
+anything of the sort taking place in these times, and remarked drily:
+'Ther's too mich leet neaw-a-days, Mesthur, fur eawt o' that mak'. Wi'
+should hev' th' caanty police after um afooar they'd time to torn
+raand!'
+
+
+25.
+
+Until recently, there was an ancient British tumulus by the side of
+the highway from Darwen to Bolton, where the road passes through the
+domains of White Hall and Low Hill. This spot, long before the urns of
+bones were disinterred, was looked upon by the country people as being
+haunted by various boggarts, and Mr. Charles Hardwick says that
+children were in the habit of taking off their clogs and shoes, and
+walking past the heap barefooted when compelled to traverse the road
+after nightfall.[E]
+
+[E] _Vide_ Footnote [C]
+
+
+26.
+
+Mag did not wander far, for her grave is shown in the churchyard at
+Woodplumpton, in which village her memory still is green. But few
+people venture to rest themselves upon the huge stone which marks the
+spot where her spirit was laid.
+
+A strangely jumbled tradition tells how a priest managed to 'catch'
+her and 'lay her spirit.' In Cornwall and other counties a clergyman
+of the Establishment was considered qualified to 'lay' a ghost; but in
+Lancashire it was believed that only a Roman Catholic priest had the
+wondrous power. In Wales the magical number three is brought in, for
+three clergymen are necessary to exorcise a spirit. In Normandy, as a
+matter of course, only the priests have the power.
+
+
+27.
+
+Witchen or quicken, old English names of the rowan or mountain ash.
+Mr. Kelly (_Indo-European Tradition and Folklore_) accounts for the
+reputation of the 'wiggin' by connecting it with the Indian Palasa,
+the tree that, according to the Vedas, sprang from the feather which,
+together with a claw, fell from the falcon bringing the heavenly
+_soma_ to earth. The same writer also compares it with the Mimosa, and
+quotes a singular passage from Bishop Heber, to the effect that the
+natives of Upper India are in the habit of wearing sprigs of it in
+their turbans, and of suspending pieces of it over their beds, as
+security against wizards, spells, the Evil Eye, etc. Naturally enough
+the Bishop expresses his surprise at finding the superstitions, which
+in England and Scotland attach to the rowan, applied in India to a
+tree of similar form, and he asks, 'From what common centre are these
+common notions derived?' The Mimosa is popularly supposed to have
+sprung from the claw alluded to above.
+
+On account of its reputed power against the 'feorin,' a rowan tree was
+almost invariably planted near the moorland or mountain side
+farm-house.
+
+    'Rowan, ash, and red thread
+    Keep the devils from their speed,'
+
+says the old distich.
+
+In some parts of Scotland ash sap still is given to infants as a
+preservative against fairies.
+
+
+28.
+
+It was firmly believed in Lancashire, says Mr. Harland, that a great
+gathering of witches assembled on this night at their general
+rendezvous in the Forest of Pendle--a ruined and desolate farm-house
+called the _Malkin Tower_ (Malkin being the name of a familiar demon
+in Middleton's old play of _The Witch_, derived from _maca_, an equal,
+a companion). This superstition led to another, that of _lighting_,
+_lating_, or _leeting_ the witches (from _leoht_, A.-S., light). It
+was believed that if a lighted candle were carried about the fells or
+hills from eleven to twelve o'clock at night, and it burned all the
+time steadily, it had so far triumphed over the evil power of the
+witches, who, as they passed to the Malkin Tower, would employ their
+utmost efforts to extinguish the light, that the person whom it
+represented might safely defy their malice during the season; but if
+by any accident the light went out, it was an omen of evil to the
+luckless wight for whom the experiment was made. It was also deemed
+inauspicious to cross the threshold of that person until after the
+return from leeting, and not then unless the candle had preserved its
+light. Mr. Milner describes the ceremony as having been recently
+performed.
+
+
+29.
+
+Mr. Sullivan quotes this quaint old carol at length in his _Cumberland
+and Westmoreland, Ancient and Modern_; and adds, 'This song is still
+sung at Penrith, having replaced one called "Joseph and Mary," in the
+early part of the century. Yet its antiquity is undoubted, and it has
+probably come here from Lancashire, where it is well known.'
+
+As, however, it is by no means so widely known as Mr. Sullivan
+supposes, we may be pardoned if we reproduce it here. The second and
+remaining verses are as follows:--
+
+    'I met three ships come sailing by,
+    Come sailing by, etc.
+
+    Who do you think was in one of them?
+    In one of them? etc.
+
+    The Virgin Mary and her Son,
+    And her Son, etc.
+
+    She combed His hair with an ivory comb,
+    An ivory comb, etc.
+
+    She washed His face in a silver bowl,
+    A silver bowl, etc.
+
+    She sent Him up to heaven to school,
+    To heaven to school, etc.
+
+    All the angels began to sing,
+    Began to sing, etc.
+
+    The bells of heaven began to ring,
+    Began to ring, etc.'
+
+
+30.
+
+Mr. Samuel Bamford says that Middleton Parish Church was the scene of
+a procession similar to that described in the above legend, the
+observer being an avaricious old sexton who was anxious to know what
+fees he should receive in the following year. This worthy, on All
+Souls' night, stationed himself in the sacred building, and counted
+the spirits he saw enter and walk about, until he observed a double of
+himself. Of course, soon afterwards there was a vacancy for a
+gravedigger at Middleton, the sight having been too much for 'Old
+Johnny.'
+
+A similar superstition reigns in various parts of England and in
+Wales, where, at Christmas-time, says Mr. Croker, quoting from a Welsh
+authority, the relatives of the deceased listen at the church door in
+the dark, 'when they sometimes fancy they hear the names called over
+in church of those who are destined shortly to join their lost
+relatives in the tomb.'
+
+In Cornwall, strange to say, it is a young unmarried woman who,
+standing in the church porch at midnight on Midsummer's-eve, sees the
+strange gathering. 'This is so serious an affair,' says Professor
+Hunt, 'that it is not, I believe, often tried. I have, however, heard
+of young women who have made the experiment. But every one of the
+stories relate that they have seen shadows of themselves coming last
+in the procession; that pining away from that day forward, ere
+Midsummer has again come round they have been laid to rest in the
+village graveyard.'
+
+Mr. Sikes says that it is a Hallow-Een custom in some parts of Wales
+to listen at the church door in the dark to hear shouted by a ghostly
+voice in the edifice the names of those who are shortly to be buried
+in the adjoining churchyard. In other parts, he says, 'the window
+serves the same purpose,' and, he adds, 'there are said to be still
+extant outside some village churches steps which were constructed in
+order to enable the superstitious peasantry to climb to the window to
+listen.' These steps in several places seemed to me to be merely old
+mounting blocks, but they may have been made use of for the less
+practical purpose in question.
+
+
+31.
+
+It is asserted that at the present day dogs cannot be induced to go
+near this quarry, and that even closely hunted animals will permit
+themselves to be captured rather than enter its recesses.
+
+
+32.
+
+Few superstitions have a wider circle of believers in Lancashire than
+that which attributes to dogs the power of foretelling death and
+disaster. There are few people, however well educated, who would be
+able to resist a foreboding of coming woe if they heard the howling of
+a strange dog under the window of a sick person's room; and, absurd as
+the dread so inspired may seem to the sceptic, there is more ground
+for it than can easily be explained away. It has frequently been urged
+that the animals are attracted by the lighted window, and that their
+howlings are nothing more than unpleasant appeals for admittance; and
+that often, by reason of the awe with which tradition has surrounded
+the noises, they terrify the invalid, and produce the end they are
+supposed to foretell. This plausible theory, however, does not account
+in any way for the similar visitations made in the daytime, when there
+is no artificial light to attract; or for the singular facts, that
+generally the dog is a stranger to the locality--that it does not
+loiter about, but makes its way direct to the particular house--that
+it will wait until a gate is opened, so that it may get near to the
+window--that it cannot be driven away before its mission has been
+performed--and that, in all cases, the howling is alike, invariably
+terminating in three peculiar yelping barks, which are no sooner
+uttered than the animal runs off, and is no more seen in the
+neighbourhood.
+
+In Normandy the noise is considered an infallible presage of death.
+
+Mr. Kelly says that this superstition obtains credence in France and
+Germany; and that in Westphalia, a dog howling along a road is
+considered a sure sign that a funeral soon will pass that way. In the
+Scandinavian mythology, Hel, Goddess of Death, is visible only to
+dogs.
+
+The superstition has, at any rate, antiquity to recommend it, and it
+seems evident from Exodus xi. 5-7, that even in the days of the
+captivity of the Children of Israel in Egypt, the omen was firmly
+believed in.
+
+I was seated one summer evening in the drawing-room of a house in one
+of the large London squares. The conversation was of the ordinary
+after-dinner nature, but enlivened by the remarks of more than one
+gifted guest. It was, however, suddenly interrupted in a very
+startling manner by the howling of a dog, which had placed itself in
+the roadway facing the house, regardless alike of the wheels of the
+numerous passing carriages and cabs, and of the whips of the drivers.
+The lady of the house, a north-country woman, said at once, as she
+rose from her seat at the open window, 'That means death. I shall hear
+of some sad trouble.' The dog would not be driven away by the angry
+coachmen and cabmen, but finished the howling with three peculiar
+yelps, and then trotted off rapidly; and there was much jesting during
+the rest of the evening about the strange occurrence. A few days
+afterwards, however, I was informed that on the evening of the
+dinner-party the brother of the hostess had died in North Lancashire.
+
+
+33.
+
+'Th' Gabriel Ratchets' strike terror into the heart of many a moorland
+dweller in Lancashire and Yorkshire still, presaging, as they are
+believed to do, death or sorrow to every one who is so unfortunate as
+to hear them. In the popular idea they are a pack of dogs yelping
+through the air. Our old literature has many references to the
+superstition. In more recent days, Wordsworth has introduced it in one
+of his sonnets:--
+
+                  'And oftentimes will start--
+    For overhead are sweeping GABRIEL'S HOUNDS.'
+
+Mr. Philip Gilbert Hamerton, in a poem dated 1849, in his _Isles of
+Loch Awe and other Poems_, which he has kindly given me permission to
+quote here, says of them,--
+
+    'Faintly sounds the airy note,
+    And the deepest bay from the staghound's throat,
+    Like the yelp of a cur, on the air doth float,
+    And hardly heard is the wild halloo.'
+
+and--
+
+    'They fly on the blast of the forest
+    That whistles round the withered tree,
+    But where they go we may not go,
+    Nor see them as they fly.'
+
+Mr. Hamerton, however, goes beyond the Lancashire peasant, at any rate
+so far as I have been able to ascertain, for I never met any one in
+the hill country or on the moorlands of the North who fancied that the
+throng included anything but _Ratchets_, _i.e._ dogs, for the poet
+goes on to sing--
+
+      'Hark! 'tis the goblin of the wood
+      Rushing down the dark hill-side,
+    With steeds that neigh and hounds that bay.'
+
+Mr. Henderson has recorded that, about Leeds, the flight is supposed
+to be that of 'the souls of unbaptized children doomed to flit
+restlessly above their parents' abode.' In Germany, certainly the Wild
+Hunt or Furious Host is accompanied by unbaptized children, and it has
+been recorded that a woman, about the year 1800, died of grief upon
+learning that the Furious Host had passed over the village where her
+still-born child had died just before. Mr. Kelly (_Indo-European
+Tradition_) very ably and poetically resolves all the various
+superstitions of this Wild Hunt into figurative descriptions of
+natural phenomena, but Mr. Yarrell, the distinguished naturalist,
+reduces the cries of the Gabriel Hounds into the whistling of the Bean
+Goose, _Anser Segetum_, as the flocks are flying southward in the
+night, migrating from Scandinavia.
+
+In Wales 'The Whistlers,' the cry of the golden-plover, is considered
+an omen of death, but it seems to be a quite distinct superstition
+from that of the _Cwn Annwn_, or Dogs of Hell, which latter is a Wild
+Hunt.
+
+I have heard the weird cry of the Gabriel Ratchets at night in several
+of the northern countries, and in the loneliness and gloom of early
+winter in the heart of the hills, or upon a wild bleak moorland, it
+was difficult to overcome a sudden feeling of dread when the yelps
+rang forth, even with Mr. Yarrell's scientific explanation fresh in my
+mind.
+
+To sketch the ramifications of the superstition of the Wild Hunt,
+however, would require a volume, so numerous and various are they.
+
+
+34.
+
+In the old witch-mania records it is not unusual to find a cock
+sacrificed to the Evil One, and Satan's dislike of cock-crow has
+become proverbial. Brand has pointed out that the Christian poet
+Prudentius (fourth century) mentions that antipathy as a tradition of
+common belief. In an old German story Satan builds a house for a
+peasant who agrees to pay his soul for the work. A condition is made,
+however, that this house must be completed before cock-crow, and the
+wily peasant, just before the last tile is put on the roof, imitates
+the bird of morn, upon which all the cocks in the locality crow, and
+Satan, baffled, flees.
+
+The Evil One's appearance in the form of a cat, a goat, a pig, an old
+woman, a black dog, a stylish gentleman, and the conventional shape,
+with hoof and horns, have been testified to, and Calmet (_Traite sur
+les apparitions des Esprits et sur les Vampires_, 1751) alludes to his
+taking the shape of a raven, but I have not met with any record of his
+appearance as a cock. In this case, however, that was insisted upon,
+although it was suggested that it might have been some other fowl.
+
+
+EDINBURGH: T. AND A. CONSTABLE,
+
+PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN, AND TO THE UNIVERSITY.
+
+
+                       ADVERTISEMENTS
+
+
+THE ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY OF
+
+The Fairy Tales of all Nations.
+
+
+     'The Boys and Girls of to-day owe a deep debt of gratitude to
+     Messrs. Sonnenschein & Co. for the treat here prepared for
+     them.'--_School Board Chronicle._
+
+     'The idea is a good one, and in addition to the intrinsic
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+     Students of comparative Folk-lore.'--_British Quarterly
+     Review._
+
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+
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+
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+     this book to fail with a child audience.'--_Journal of
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+
+     =Scandinavia: Gustafsson's Tea-time Tales for Young Little Folks
+     and Young Old Folks.= 4_s._ 6_d._
+
+     'Gustafsson will doubtless succeed in continually increasing
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+
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+     of GALLAND and of LANE.= Edited by W. F. KIRBY. 4_s._ 6_d._
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+
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+
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+     from the People,= by T. CROFTON CROKER. 5_s._
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+     Collected by JAMES BOWKER. 4_s._ 6_d._
+
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+     Folk, by STEPHENS and CAVALLIUS. 4_s._ 6_d._
+
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+
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+    =Popular Books of the Middle Ages.--Tales of Enchantment
+    from all Lands.=
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+
+Archaic and inconsistent spelling, dialect, and punctuation retained.
+
+Advertisements were moved from the front of the book to the end.
+
+Numbers in braces {} refer to sections of the appendix.
+
+Letters in brackets [] refer to footnotes at the end of the paragraph.
+
+
+
+
+
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