Page:History of John Cheap, the Chapman (7).pdf/8

8 Temple-bar! a town just about twa three miles and a bittock frae this; a thief ane was to swear you there, an' it wasna auld Willy Miller the cobbler, the ill thief, a nither minister nor magistrate ever was in it a'. O but, says the other lad, the Temple-bar he means by is at London. Yea, yea, lad, an' ye be com'd frae Lunun ye're little worth. London, said he, is but at home to the place he comes from. A dear man, quoth she, and whare in a' the warl' comes he frae? all the way from Italy, where the Pope of Rome dwells, says he. A sweet be wi' us, quoth she, for the fouks there awa' is a' witches and warlocks, deils, brownies and fairies. Weel I wat, that is true, said I, and that thou shalt know, thou hard hearted wretch, who would have people to starve, or provoke them to steal. With that I rose, lifts twa or three long straws, and casting knots on them, into the byre I went, and throws a knotted straw on every cow's stake, saying, thy days shall not be long. The wife followed wringing her hands, earnestly praying for herself and all that was hers. I then came out at the door, and lifted a stone, and threw it over the house, muttering some words, which I knew not myself, and concluded with these words, 'Thou monster Diable, brother to Beelzebub god of Ekron, take this wife's kirn, butter and milk, sap and substance, without and within, so that she may die in misery, as she would have others to live.

The wife hearing the aforesaid sentence, clapt her hands, and called out another old woman as foolish as herself, who came crying after us to come back; back we went, where she made us eat heartily of butter and cheese; and earnestly pleaded with me to go and lift my cantrips, which