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however, that few of this sort of people were anciently stigmatized with the character of mischievous witches, but that they all along occupied a kind of middle station between witches and other people, approaching to that of a fortune-teller. If the modern witches of Tiviotdale be not solely confined to this class of people, there are, as far as I have been able to learn, exceedingly few exceptions. There may, indeed, be some old women, who, by the eccentricity of their habits, draw upon themselves the reputation of being witches; but this character, I should suppose, is ascribed to them only by such people as are unacquainted with their manner of life. It often happens, indeed, that those who are publicly reputed uncannie are the best and most decent old women of the community, who, from the infirmities incidental to old age, are unable to stir much abroad, and industriously employ their time within doors in the usual occupations of domestic life, and, while thus engaged, their character is all the while suffering, by their being supposed secretly to practise the black art. This, if seldom the case in our own days, was, I make no hesitation to say, the case every day an hundred years ago. The gypsey fortune-tellers, on the other hand, retaining their usual and universally suspicious character, pass to and fro, without remaining so long in one place as to submit it to the exa. mination of any one; so that, with them, the reputation of having a "black connection" may accumulate, but never decrease; and hence they are now almost the only source from which the country is supplied with persons upon whom the voice of the public confers a character any way assimilating to that of a witch of former times.

In order to render what I proposed to give you, in illustration of this, amusing to your readers, and at the same time subservient to my purpose, I have selected as my heroine the farfamed Euphemia Stevenson, alius Black Eppy, alias Eppy the Witch, alias Eppy Sooty. The latter is the name by which this vulpinary veteran of the black art was universally known throughout the upper districts of Tiviotdale. In the history of this old virago there is something very remarkable, and which cannot have jus

VOL. VII.

tice done to it within the limits to which I am confined. Her prolonged life, for she was upwards of ninety years of age when it forsook her, was one continued scene of adventure. We never, therefore, hear a story concerning her which is not filled with ghosts and bogles, witches and warlocks, predictions and prophecies; in short, with all those fine things by which the tales of witchery are characterized. Among the commonality, the truth of her unearthly connection and intercourse was never questioned; hence she was believed to be a witch,

as sure as there ever was a witch;" and, that she possessed powers derived from this source superior to other people, was equally undisputed.

Eppy's personal accomplishments were sufficiently suited to her profession, for every female charm was exquisitely caricatured in her person. The accomplishments of her mind were also most harmoniously in unison with those of her person; in place of delicacy, rudeness, to its consummation, was manifested in her deportment; in place of the charming timorousness so characteristic of her sex, she possessed a masculine boldness. But, without attempting minutely to describe her beauty, it may, in general, be mentioned, that the structure which she inherited from Nature was abundantly well calculated for the purposes of her profession; for even her "whiskin' beard," hanging in graceful tresses from a long pointed chin, which, as if intended to protect three tremendous tusks that projected out of her mouth, crooked up in a semicircular curve, till it almost embraced a nose of nearly equal dimensions, and equally as symmetrical in its conformation; or the harmonious tones of her ventriloquial voice were enough to strike those who looked on her visage, or who listened to her prophecies, with a conviction of her proficiency and profundity in her art. This was, in fact, the case. She was looked upon by the common people as a sort of oracle, and, for this reason, was regarded with awe. She was conscious of the value of her personal attractions in the way of her trade, and, accordingly, did not fail to avail herself of the advantages which they afforded her of aggrandizing her renown. But, that she might add more

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lustre to her comely fabric, she went about covered with a gorgeous mantle, black as soot, (whence, probably, she derived her title,) and of a most aromatic perfume; for, be it known, it had adorned her tender shoulders for upwards of half a century, and she had her head ornamented with a hood of vast dimensions, so that her whole appearance bore a nearer resemblance to a huge black Russian bear than to that of a human being. This attire, coupled with the singularity of her natural figure, obtained her universal celebrity in the way of her profession. She was also eminent for an insatiable greediness to obtain money and articles of food, for which she never offered the least return, save, perhaps, a promise, such as that the cows of those who had given her any thing should not fail to produce them a sufficiency of milk, or their hens plenty of eggs; but if, on the contrary, her requests were denied, she immediately hinted at her supernatural powers, declaring that she would make them pay for their niggardliness in a way not at all to their liking. By the honest country people it was reckoned lucky to give her lodgings in a stable or byre during the night, or to give her a breakfast of brose in the morning, thinking that by such means they would obtain her favour, which was deemed a most desirable object. Being generally known, and as generally dreaded, she usually travelled alone, "in the strength of her own greatness," though she had many underlings, who assembled at certain times and at certain places, to present her with the fruits of their perambula

tions.

From the many stories which tell of Eppy's adventures and exploits, she seems to have been most conspicuous in the art of fortune-telling, particularly when it related to the love affairs of those whose fortunes she was spacing-and I believe that the encouragement which was afforded to the lover, by being told of his ultimate success with the object of his wishes, has been, in more instances than one, the means of bringing the love affair to a speedy conclusion in the bonds of Hymen. I know many instances of the influence which favourable predictions have had over those who were credulous enough to believe in their subsequent fulfilment ;

but it is needless to swell the present article by giving any of them.

By being well acquainted with those places which she frequented in the way of her trade, and by consulting her cronies and underlings, she had it in her power to make herself mistress of all that was made the subject of common kitchen talk about the

affaires de cœur" amongst her best customers, the common people, so that, when a couple of young gawkies came to get their fortunes told, she could avail herself of her previous information, by disposing of the fortunes of each of them in such a manner as she knew would suit their particular circumstances. Her extensive knowledge of all that passed between the lads and lasses also enabled her sometimes to surprise her customers very agreeably, by telling them who were their sweethearts; and this circumstance alone has, without doubt, been the cause of confirming hesitating believers in the faith of her being able to see into the labyrinths of futurity.

With regard to her exploits in witchcraft, I am not acquainted with any of a particular description, such as I have heard being blended less with the miraculous than those achieved by her predecessors in the art; and it seems that the country people were content with the belief of her having possessed a certain knowledge in the black art, without imputing to her any great deeds of witchcraft, though by common consent she had the power of performing them, for it was deemed the height of imprudence to attempt to make the milk curdle, or the churn to produce butter, in her presence, as it was supposed, that if, even by accident, she set her foot within the door where these operations were going on, the milk would instantly be bewitched, and, instead of good butter and butter-milk, the honest gudewife would take from the churn, stuff no better than dish-water. To prevent inconvenience from thus being obliged to postpone these necessary operations, it was customary to meet her at the door, and present her with a quantity of oatmeal or a few halfpence, with which she was generally satisfied. The following anecdote will illustrate her female fortitude :-Having been seized with a mortification in her foot, it became

so troublesome, that she expressed a desire to have it amputated. She accordingly desired her sister to sharpen a table-knife which she pointed to, and with it to take off the foot. In compliance with her request, the sister, who probably was "tarred with the same stick," having drawn the knife once or twice across a coarse freestone, commenced the operation, and soon severed the troublesome foot from her leg. She survived this delicate operation only a few days.

There are still many old bunters going about the country pretending to be skilled in fortune-telling and divination, but there is none, of whom I have heard, of so widely extended fame as this justly celebrated Eppy Sooty.

It is curious to think how people who, in other respects, were of sound judgment, should have become so much the dupes of superstition and prejudice, as to regard deformity and knavery as the certain indications of supernatural gifts, and to imagine, that decrepitude and a load of years, with those weaknesses of intellect incidental to those states, were the infallible manifestations of knowledge in the occult sciences.

Those who considered themselves acute in distinguishing witches from those not possessed of their powers, pretended that there were certain manifestations in the form of their cranium, by which they could be detected; and that the colour of their eyes was of a peculiar hue, which they assumed immediately after the person was initiated into the order of witchcraft. These phrenologists allege that their watchings, and the fatigues which they underwent in their nightly perambulations, gave their eyes a certain wan and ghastly appearance, easily to be distinguished from that pallid hue which the eyes acquire under sickness, or when the body has been exerted in lawful employments; and that the frequent contortions of their bodies, when throwing themselves into different attitudes, and transmogrifying themselves into different shapes, imposed upon their natural appearance that ugly and auld-wife-like mien in

This is a fact well deserving the investigation of the disciples of Gall and Spurzheim. An organ of witchcraft would be worth all the rest put together.

which they are usually described. Two or three credible and intelligent old men might easily, by their received credibility, impose upon a whole

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country side," by propagating the principles of such sagacious systems of physiognomy, among those who, by common consent, had been taught to reverence whatever was delivered as their venerable opinion. It is obvious, that, through such a channel as this, these notions, and the relative superstitions, have been handed down from remote antiquity to our own day; and even though they have descended into an age teeming with philosophic speculation and literature, the peasantry who inhabit the more rural situations of Tiviotdale, venerating the opinions of their sires, more than the newfangled speculations of their descendants, are still unwilling to relinquish them.

An acquaintance of mine told me a story somewhat illustrative of this, which I shall here relate as briefly as possible. Like Eppy Sooty, Samuel

prided in hearing it said that he was too familiar with unearthly beings. As may be inferred from this, he was by profession a diviner, though he never practised the art of fortune-telling. His chief employment, and that on which he principally depended for his livelihood, was, for a pecuniary gratification, informing people who had lost any of their property, where they would find it again, or in whose possession it was. That Samuel might give his oracular answer with more certainty, he always required a certain time before he returned it to those who applied for his assistance, and when it was not in his power to divine such cases as were brought before him, he shifted off his applicants with evasive and indeterminate answers, for which he had a peculiar knack. At one time Mr

-, under whom Samuel was a cottar, and who was credulous enough to believe in every indication and manifestation that were pointed out to him in evidence of Samuel's being possessed of more than ordinary powers, discovered that he had lost some of his fowls, and that every night his poultry became less numerous. muel was applied to, and got his reward beforehand, which his master's wrath, on account of the depredations, made pretty considerable. Samuel

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required two days to consult his familiar; at the end of which time he informed his employers, that at twelve o'clock at midnight, they would find the fowls" under the muckle thornbush i' the stackyard." One of the servants was to be at the thorn-bush, exactly ten minutes before the hour appointed, but neither sooner nor latter. He accordingly went as Samuel had directed. As the clock struck twelve the bush began to shake, and in a moment, the fowls, falling from branch to branch, came tumbling down upon poor David's head, who, thinking himself embraced by the Devil, had scarcely strength remaining to run and publish the miracle to the inmates of the house, who were little less surprised at the relation than David was at the adventure, for he swore the devil was in the bush, and that not such a thing as a fowl was to be seen; he felt his prodigious wings flap in his face, and saw his long horns, and his cloven feet; what he saw, in short, amounted to a complete description of Old Nick! Though the fowls were found next day, scattered under the bush, David could scarcely convince himself of his mistake. This trick of Samuel's, however, proved fatal to his long established fame. The cord by which the fowls had been suspended over a branch of the thorn-tree, and which reached to an adjoining stack of corn, from which, by frequent tugs, he made them and the bush to shake as before described, was broken at the wrong place, and a considerable part of it found attached to the thorn, so that his master soon suspected the stratagem; but without revealing to his more credulous servants, who never once doubted of the whole affair's being a miracle, what his opinion of the matter was, he resolved to have the like experiment tried again. The result was, that poor Samuel was found at his post behind the stack, tugging at the cord with perfect composure and gravity. When he saw that he was likely to be discovered, he poured forth a long string of frightful imprecations, declaring that he was the devil in Samuel's shape, and conjured those who surrounded him not to touch him, otherwise he would in a moment consume them, with a "flauchter o' brunstane." The mas

ter being less "bogle-rad" than his servants, (who, believing in all that Samuel said, promptly refused to meddle with him,) seized the wizard, and chastised him off hand with a sound thrashing, and a refreshing bath in the ducks' mire. It was not, however, till a day or two after, that his pretended witchcraft was discovered to be, what it had all along been, ingenious knavery. Some circumstances had transpired which excited suspicions that all his divinations were accomplished by similar tricks; and, accordingly, searching his house, nearly all the goods and chattels which had been lost in the neighbourhood for the preceding ten years, save such as had been discovered to the owners for certain rewards, were found safely deposited in Samuel's secret coffers. Thus he and his agents first stole the goods, and then, for a sum of money, restored them by supernatural means, to those from whom they had pilfered them.

It is curious to remark the changes that are made upon a simple story, such as this, almost every time it is related, for the devout faith which is reposed, by the rustic harrator, in its authenticity, generally leads him a step farther than even his information warrants him to go, and in this manner, the story passing from one mouth to another usually in the course of no great number of relations, assumes quite a different character from that in which it was first told, every narrator embellishing it with whatever his own ideas, tinged with so much superstitious prejudice suggest, and carefully withholding every thing which may tend to excite doubts as to the reality of supernatural agency having been employed. It is in this manner that the greater number of those extravagant stories about wizards and witches, which had their origin in former ages, have arisen from no less simple circumstances than those of the last related story, though they have been magnified, by oral tradition, into the frightful shapes in which they are now presented to us.

Thus, having given you as much about the ancient and modern witches of Tiviotdale as I conceive will partially illustrate the relative superstitions, I shall bid adieu to the subject, reserving to my next communication

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MR EDITOR, THERE is a certain country gentle man spoken of in the Spectator, if my recollection serve me justly, who raises money by inveterate slumbers, and who gives out in a steady advertisement that he "intends to sleep next at the Cock and Bottle;" inviting all curious people, at so much per head, to come and see him in his trance. I am so far like this worthy somnulent, that I now advise your readers I purpose sleeping this month in the columns of your Magazine, and request a generous public at 2s. per head to read my dreams. I confess that since I encountered Boswell in a vision, I have taken but profitless naps, and have rarely manufactured an interesting sentence, or wandered into a page of speculation. In vain have I tried to drug myself into a literary slumber, or to go to sleep with music in my ears for the sake of poetical visions. Laudanum would not turn a periodopiates could not catch a single metaphor,-the dying falls of music fell dead on my benumbed and senseless senses, and there seemed no sleep in me. I have, however, Mr Editor, at length had a sleep, with a valuable kernel of a dream in it; and as I know how much you prize the marvels of my pillow, I have carefully written down the "full, true, and particular account," and sent it you on the instant, so that, like its Newgate namesake, it may be printed, purchased, and read, almost before it has been conceived or uttered. It is curious on a black Monday to find about the obscure streets of the west end of the town, that a moody moral has been wrenched out of a malefactor's mouth, and his untimely end and mournful confessions recorded long before he has had his irons knocked

off. The freedom of the press is proverbial, and wood-cuts of suspended mortality are ready, to any number, at the shortest notice. There dangles a set of indistinct bodies on broken ropes, in all the rude grandeur of bad engraving, bad ink, and bad paper. But I am straying from my subject; or, to speak in fitting language, walking in my sleep.

Perhaps it may not be amiss to tell you, Mr Editor, the cause of the poetical turn my dreaming mind has taken, as it certainly involves in it a few interesting particulars of certain public men, which may amuse many of your readers.

I am in the habit of seeking the society of literary people, and of noting their peculiarities of thought, manner, and person, with all the strength of observation I can command. I love to see one of the modern poets, celebrated in the Reviews and Ladies' schools for tender verses, fairly imprisoned in a circle of learned female critics, and beset by the sounds of many tongues, and exposed to the ogles of poetical old eyes, which roll before him as disrelishingly as peas grey with age, and dimmed with the lateness of the season.' While Mrs

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asks him with a whisper whe ther he has read Don Juan, and whether, with all its wickedness, it is not

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a_lovely poem;"-he, in a worse condition than the ladye Eve, has a second gentle toad pouring its flattery and its slimy criticism in at his other ear:-being the while in a mental sleep between each, and lost in indistinct dreams of poetry, old gentlewomen, and tea.

I have been tolerably fortunate in encountering most of our popular authors, at seasons like to this; not that I have ever seen them together in a body, like a complete set of Mrs Barbauld's novelists, or Chalmers's English poets; but I have at one time met the worthy banker, who versified the pleasures of memory, at one house, and sat down with Childe Harold to a vegetable dinner at another. I have heard, and thrilled while I hear the round and rolling periods come from the mouth of the celebrated metaphysician' and poet of the age, as from an ocean cavern,grand-deep-eternal; or as from the sea itself. "He, of the pet lamb," has been before my eyes more than

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