Page:Ancient and modern history of Buck-haven in Fifeshire.pdf/23

Rh be carted; and witches are the warst kind of devils, and mak use of cats to ride upon, or kill-kebbers, and besoms, and sail over the seas in cockle-shells, and witch lads and lasses, and disable bridegroom. As for Willy and the Wisp, he is a fiery devil, and leads people off their road in order to drown them, for he sparks sometimes at your feet, and then turns before us with his candle, as if he were twa or three miles before us, many a good boat has Spunkie drown'd; the boats coming to land in the night-time, they observe a light off the land, and set in upon it and drown.

The Kelpy is a sly devil, he roars before a loss at sea, and frightens both young and old upon the shore. Fairies are terrible troublesome, they gang dancing round foukslums, and rin through the houses they haunt, and play odd tricks, and lift new born bairns from their mothers, and none of them is safe to lie with their mothers, a night or two after they are born, unless the mother gets a pair of men's breeches under her head for the first three nights; when the Fairies are frighted, they will leave an old stock with the woman, and whip away the child. One tried to burn an old stock that the Fairies left in the cradle; but when the fire was put on, the old stock jumped on upon a cat and up the lum. Maukens are most terrible, and have bad luck, none will go to see that day they see a Mauken, or if a wretched body put in a Mauken's fit in their creels, they need not lift them that day, as it will be bad luck, either broken backs, or legs, or arms, or hear bad accounts of the boats at sea.

They are terrified for all sorts of boggles both by land and by sea.