Page:Notes on the folk-lore of the northern counties of England and the borders.djvu/233

Rh dark, and squat among the whins on a bank at Oenthorpe, about a mile from her dwelling, for what purpose or in what form the narrator sayeth not. This being her custom, the young men of the neighbourhood took up the practice of collecting the five or six hounds kept in that part of the parish, with any other dogs they could get hold of, to hunt, as they said, “Auld Nan Hardwick.” When they found her, as they usually did, a loud clatter was heard along the “causey,” or ancient horse-road leading to Oenthorpe in the direction of the witch’s residence, all the dogs following in full cry.

One evening, a little before the usual hour of the hunt, a young man, who was generally foremost in the sport, happened to be on the “causey” in question, and to see Nan Hardwick on the way to her place of evening resort. “She was all black that night,” said the narrator (one William Agur, a parishioner of Danby), “for ye ken she wur not alla’s the same to look at;” and the young man (T. P. by name) determined that she should not pass him on the “causey.” So he drew himself up, set