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

 O but, ſays the other lad, the Temple-bar he means by, is at London. Yea, yea, lad, an ye be com'd frae London ye're little worth. London, ſaid he, is but at home to the place he comes from: A dear man, quoth ſhe, and whar in a' the world comes he frae! All the way frae Italy, where the Pope o' Rome dwells, ſays he: A ſweet be we' us, quoth ſhe, for the fouks there awa' is a witches and warlocks diels, brownies, and fairies. Well a 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 and lifts two 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, running three times round about, and threw it over the houſe, muttering ſome words, which I knew not myſelf, and concluding with theſe words, "Thou Monſieur 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; then the earneſtly pleaded with me to go and lift up my cantrips, which I did, upon her promiſing never to deny a hungry traveller meat nor drink, whether they had money to pay for't or not; and never to ſerve the poor with the old proverb, 'Go home to your own pariſh,' but give them leſs or more, as ye' ſee them in need. This ſhe faithfully promiſed to do while ſhe lived, and