Page:Exploits of wise Willie and witty Eppie, the ale-wife, of Buckhaven (2).pdf/24

 24                 that his crime; for which he was banished to                  the Isle of May, at the mouth of the Frith of                  Forth, to carry coals to the Light-House. The Bucky lads and lassies, when they go to                 gather bait, tell strong stories about ghosts, witches, Willie wi' the wisp, and the Kelpy, fairies mankens, and bogles of all sorts. They think the ghosts, go all night, like auld horses, for fear of being seen, and be made to carry scate fish, and dulce. They think Witches are the worst kind of devils, and make use of cats to ride upon, or kill kebbers and besom-shafes; and that they sail over the sea in cockle shells, and bewitches lads and lasses, and disables bride- grooms. They think Willie and the Wisp is a                 fiery Devil, and leads people aff their road to                  drown then in the sea. They think Kelpy is a                 fly devil, and roars before a loss at sea. And they believe that the Fairies leſt new-born bairns from their mothers, and that none of them are safe to lie with their mothers for a night or two after they are born, unless the mother get a pair of                 men's breeches under their head, which sets the Fairies adrift. But if they neglect to do this, they say the Fairies will carry of the child, and leave an old stock of wood with the mother.