Chapter II: The God (2)

_Agnes Sampson_, tried January 27, 1591. The first part of the dittay
is entirely occupied with her conferences with the devil and her
healing the sick by his advice. 40. Item, fylit and convict, of the
delyuerie of ane letter, quhilk John Fiene, clerk, maid in George
Mutis bak[e] hous in the Pannis, accumpaneit with the gudwyff of the
hous, Gelie Duncan [and eight others], quha convenit thair for rasing
of storme, to stay the Quene's hame cuming to Scotland; eftir
consultatioun, quhether Gelie Duncan or Bessie Thomsoun wes meitest to
send the letter with; and concludit to send the said Gelie, quhilk
letter wes send to Marioun Lenchop in Leyth. The effect quhairoff is
this: Marioun Lenchop, ye sall warne the rest of the sisteris, to
raise the wind this day, att eleavin houris, to stay the Quenis cuming
in Scotland. Lyke as they that wer convenit at the Pannis sould do
their part be-eist; and to meit thame that wer in the Pannis; and att
thair meting, thay sould mak the storme vniversall thro the see. [Then
follows the method of doing this by casting in a cat.]

[From _Newes from Scotland_.] The said Agnis Tompson (Sampson)
confessed, that the Divell, being then at North Barrick Kirke
attending their comming, in the habit or likenesse of a man ... and
having made his ungodly exhortations, wherein he did greatly inveigh
against the King of Scotland, he received their oathes for their good
and true service towards him, and departed; which done, they returned
to sea, and so home again. At which time, the witches demaunded of the
Divell, 'why he did beare such hatred to the Kinge?' who aunswered,
'By reason the King is the greatest enemie hee hath in the world.' All
which their confessions and depositions are still extant upon record.

_Barbara Napier_, tried May 8, 1591. Released. Assisors tried June 7,
and acquitted. The said Barbara was accusit, that scho gaif hir
presens, in the maist develisch and tressonabill Conventioune, haldin
be hir and hir complices in the Divellis name, vpoune Lambmes-ewin
last, att the New-heavin callit Aitchesounes-heavin, betuix
Musselburcht and Prestonpannis, sin his Majestie come furth of
Denmark; quhair war assemblit nyne principallis, to witt, Agnes
Sampsoune, Jonett Straittoun, Ewfame McCalyeane, hir selff, Johne
Fiene, Robert Griersoun, George Moitis wyffe in Prestoune, Margrett
Thomsoune, and Donald Robesoune; quhilk is nyne persounes, the Devill,
quha wes with thame in liknes of ane blak man, thocht maist meit to do
the turne for the quhilk thay wer convenit; and thairfore, he sett
thame nyne nerrest to him selff, in ane cumpany; and thay, togidder
with the wyffe of Saltoune myle and the rest of the inferiouris, to
the nowmer of threttie persounes, standand skairse the lenth of ane
buird frae the foirsaid nyne persounes in ane vthir cumpany;[148]
Agnes Sampsoune proponit the distructioune of his hienes persoune,
saying to the Dewill, 'We haif ane turne ado, and we would fain be att
itt gif we could, and thairfore help ws to itt'. The Dewill ansuerit,
he sould do quhat he could, bott it wald be lang to, because it wald
be thoirterit [thwarted], and he promeist to hir and thame ane pictour
of walx, and ordenit hir and thame to hing, roist, and drop ane taid,
and to lay the droppis of the taid [mixed with other supposedly
virulent poisons], in his hienes way, quhair his Maiestie wald gang
inowre or outowre, or in ony passage quhair itt mycht drop vpoun his
hienes heid or body, for his hienes distructioune, that ane vther
mycht haif rewlit in his Maiesties place, and the ward [government]
mycht haif gane to the Dewill. Att the quhilk conventioune, his hienes
name wes pronunceit in Latine; and Agnes Sampsoune wes appointit to
mak the pictour and to gif it to the Devill to be inchantit, quhilk
scho maid in deid, and gaif itt to him; and he promiseit to giff it to
the said Barbara and to Effie McCalyan, att the nixt meting to be
roistit. Margarett Thomsoun was appointit to dropp the taid. There wes
ane appointit to seik sum of his hienes linning claithes, to do the
turne with.

_Agnes Sampson_, continued. Anny Sampsoun affirmed that sche, in
company with nyn vthers witches, being convenit in the nycht besyd
Prestounpannes, the deuell ther maister being present standing in the
midis of thame; ther a body of wax, schaipen and maid be the said Anny
Sampsoun, wrappit within a lynnyng claith, was fyrst delyuerit to the
deuell; quhilk efter he had pronuncit his verde, delyuerit the said
pictour to Anny Sampsoun, and sche to hir nyxt marrow, and sa euery
ane round about, saying, 'This is King James the sext, ordonit to be
consumed at the instance of a noble man Francis Erle Bodowell!'
Efterwart again, at ther meting be nycht at the kirk of Northberick,
wher the deuell, cled in a blak gown with a blak hat vpon his head,
preachit vnto a gret nomber of them out of the pulpit, having lyk
leicht candles rond about him. The effect of his language was till
knaw, what skaith they had done, whow many they had won to ther
oppinion sen their last meting, what succes the melting of the pictour
had tane, and sic vain toyes. And because ane auld sely pure plowman,
callit Grey Meill, chancit to say that 'nathing ailit the King yet,
God be thankit' the deuell gaif him a gret blaw. Then dyuers amang
them enterit in a raisonyng, maruelling that all ther deuellerie culd
do na harm to the King, as it did till others dyuers. The deuell
answerit, 'Il est vn home de Dieu'.[149]

_Euphemia McCalyan_, tried June 9, 1591, executed (burnt alive) June
25, 1591. Evidence was first given as to her practising witchcraft and
consorting with well-known witches. Item, indyttit and accusit, of the
conventicle had att North Berwick Kirk, tuentie dayes before
Michelmas, 1590; and thair inquyring for the Kings pictour, gewin by
Annie Sampsoun to the Dewill, to be inchantit, for the tressonabill
distructioun of the King. Item, indyttit and accusit, for being att
ane Conventioun haldin at the New Heaven callit the Fayrie-hoillis,
att Lambmes last wes, to the effect immediatlie aboue writtin. Item,
Indytit and accusit, for an Conventioun halden by yow and utheris
notorious Wichis, youre associattis, att the Brwme-hoillis, quhair yow
and thay tuik the sea, Robert Griersoun being your admerell and
Maister-manne. [Then comes the recital of the magical means used to
raise a tempest], quhairby the Quene wes putt back be storme. Item,
Indytit, for consulting with the said Annie Sampsoun, Robert
Griersoun, and diuers vtheris Wichis, for the tressonabill staying of
the Quene's hame-cuming, be storme and wind; and rasing of storme, to
that effect; or ellis to haif drownit hir Majestie and hir cumpany, be
coniuring of cattis and casting of thame in the sea, at Leith, at the
bak of Robert Griersounis hous.

_Barbara Napier_, continued. And siclyke, the said Barbara was
accusit, that sche gaif hir bodelie presens vpoun Alhallowewin last
was, 1590 yeiris, to the frequent conuentioune haldin att the Kirk of
North-Berwick, quhair sche dancit endlang the Kirk-yaird, and Gelie
Duncan playit on ane trump, Johnne Fiene missellit [muffled] led the
ring; Agnes Sampsoun and hir dochteris and all the rest following the
said Barbara, to the nowmer of sevin scoir of persounes.... And the
Devill start vp in the pulpett, lyke ane mekill blak man, haifand ane
blak buik in his hand, callit on ewerie ane of thame, desyring thame
all to be guid serwandis to him, and he sould be ane guid maister to
thame. Robert Griersoun and Johne Fian stuid on his left hand; and the
said Robert ffand grit fault with the Dewill, and cryit out, that all
quhilkis wer besyd mycht heir, becaus his hienes pictour was nocht
gewin thame, as wes promesit; the said Effie McCalyan remembrand and
bid[d]and the said Robert Griersoun to speir for the pictour, meaning
his Maiesties pictour, quhilk sould have been roistit. Robert
Griersoun said thir wordis, 'Quhair is the thing ye promiseit?'
meaning the pictour of walx, dewysit for roisting and vndoing his
hienes persoune, quhilk Agnes Sampsoune gaif to him; and Robert cryit
to 'haif the turne done'; yit his hienes name was nocht nameit, quhill
thay that wer wemen nameit him; craifand in playne termes his hienes
pictour. Bot he ansuerit, 'It sould be gottin the nixt meitting; and
he wald hald the nixt assemblie for that caus the soner: It was nocht
reddie at that tyme.' Robert Griersoune ansuerit, 'Ye promiseit twyis
and begylit ws.' And four honest-like wemene wer very ernist and
instant to haif itt. And the said Barbara and Effie McCalyane gatt
than ane promeis of the Dewill, that his hienes pictour sould be
gottin to thame twa, and that rycht sone: And this mater of his hienes
pictour was the caus of that assemblie.

This ends the evidence of the witches; the point to be proved now is the identity of the man whom they believed in and obeyed as God incarnate.

In all cases of murder or attempted murder it is necessary to find the person who would benefit, for murder is differentiated from manslaughter by the fact that it is deliberately planned and that it is done for a motive. In the case of the witches of North Berwick, the man who instigated the meetings, and to whom consequently suspicion points, was Francis Stewart Earl of Bothwell. His position as regards both the King and the witches must therefore be investigated.

Francis, afterwards Earl of Bothwell, was the eldest son of John Stewart and Jane Hepburn, sister of that Earl of Bothwell whom Mary Queen of Scots married. Francis succeeded his maternal uncle in title and estates. His father, Lord John Stewart, was an illegitimate son of James V. The Pope, however, legitimized all the natural children of James V; and Mary, after her accession, granted letters of legitimation[150] to her two half-brothers, John Stewart, and James, afterwards the Regent Moray. John was slightly the elder of the two, and had he been legitimate would have been the heir to the exclusion of Mary. The Regent Moray left only daughters, whereas John Stewart had several sons, of whom Francis was the eldest. Francis might therefore claim to be the next heir male to the throne of Scotland, and possibly of England, had James VI died without children. James's own opinion of the matter is shown in his speech to his Parliament in 1592, when he denounced Bothwell as an aspirant to the throne, although he was 'but a bastard, and could claim no title to the crown'. Bothwell, however, was himself no bastard, though his father was. But the significance of the witches' attempt, as well as the identity of the chief personage at their meeting, is given in Barbara Napier's evidence as to the reason for the attempted murder of the King, 'that another might have ruled in his Majesty's place, and the government might have gone to the Devil'. By changing the title 'the Devil' by which he was known to the witches, to the title 'Earl of Bothwell' by which he was known outside the community, the man and the motive are manifest. This hypothesis is borne out by the contemporary accounts.

The trial of the witches created a great stir, and Bothwell's name was freely coupled with the witches'. He denied all complicity; this was only natural, as confession would have meant an acknowledgement of high treason. But his followers might have betrayed him. The two leaders, Agnes Sampson and John Fian, were tortured. Sampson admitted that the wax image was made at the instance of Francis, Earl of Bothwell; an admission sufficiently damning, but beyond that she would say nothing. The real danger to Bothwell lay in Fian. Under torture he made admissions and signed a confession in the presence of the King. He was then

'by the maister of the prison committed to ward, and appointed to a
chamber by himselfe; where, foresaking his wicked wayes, acknowledging
his most ungodly lyfe, shewing that he had too much folowed the
allurements and enticements of Sathan, and fondly practised his
conclusions, by conjuring, witchcraft, inchantment, sorcerie, and such
like, hee renounced the Devill and all his wicked workes, vowed to
lead the lyfe of a Christian, and seemed newly converted to God. The
morrow after, upon conference had with him, he granted that the Devill
had appeared unto him in the night before, appareled all in blacke,
with a white wande in his hande; and that the Devill demaunded of him,
"If hee woulde continue his faithfull service, according to his first
oath and promise made to that effect": Whome (as hee then saide) he
utterly renounced to his face, and said unto him in this manner,
"Avoide! Sathan, avoide! for I have listned too much unto thee, and by
the same thou hast undone me; in respect whereof I utterly forsake
thee". To whome the Devill answered, that "once ere thou die thou
shalt bee mine". And with that (as he sayd) the Devill brake the white
wand, and immediately vanished foorth of his sight. Thus, all the
daie, this Doctor Fian continued verie solitarie, and seemed to have a
care of his owne soule, and would call uppon God, showing himselfe
penitent for his wicked life; neverthelesse, the same night, hee found
such meanes that he stole the key of the prison doore and chamber in
which he was, which in the night hee opened and fled awaie to the
Saltpans, where hee was alwayes resident, and first apprehended. Of
whose sodaine departure, when the Kings Majestie had intelligence, hee
presently commanded diligent inquirie to bee made for his
apprehension; and for the better effecting thereof hee sent publike
proclamations into all partes of his lande to the same effect. By
means of whose hot and harde pursuite he was agayn taken, and brought
to prison; and then, being called before the Kings Highnes, hee was
reexamined, as well touching his departure, as also touching all that
had before happened. But this Doctor, notwithstanding that his owne
confession appeareth, remaining in recorde under his owne hande
writting, and the same thereunto fixed in the presence of the Kings
Majestie and sundrie of his Councell, yet did hee utterly denie the
same. Whereupon the Kings Majestie, perceiving his stubborne
wilfulnesse, conceived and imagined, that in the time of his absence,
hee had entered into newe conference and league with the Devill his
maister'. [Fian was then subjected to the most horrible tortures that
could be devised.] 'And notwithstanding all these grievous paines and
cruel torments, hee would not confess anie thinges; so deeply had the
Devill entered into his heart, that hee utterly denied all that which
he before avouched; and would saie nothing thereunto, but this, that
what hee had done and sayde before, was onely done and sayde, for fear
of paynes which he had endured'.[151]

He continued steadfast and was executed at the Castle Hill.

The character of Fian is perfectly consistent. Under torture he signed a confession, which confession might have implicated Bothwell. That night Bothwell himself, or one of his emissaries, obtained access to the prisoner and arranged for his escape. The wretched Fian was faced with death either way; if he retracted his confession, he would die as a criminal by the hands of the law; if he held to it, he would die as a traitor by the hands of his comrades. There was no alternative. All that day he 'continued verie solitarie', calling upon God, but by night he had made his choice and fled. He apparently escaped without difficulty. The story of his stealing the keys of his own cell and of the prison door is absurd; the escape was obviously effected by connivance just as later on Bothwell's own escape was effected. Fian went back to his own home, where, according to James's surmise, he had an interview with the Devil (i.e. Bothwell), and there he tamely waited till the officers of the law came and recaptured him. This tameness is not in keeping with the rest of his character. A man with sufficient courage and resource to get out of a strongly guarded prison would have made good his escape; an easy enough matter in those turbulent times. Fian then must have been retaken because he wished to be retaken. For fear of torture and in hope of pardon he signed the first confession, implicating Bothwell,[152] yet later he endured agonies of torture with the certainty of death rather than acknowledge one word which might lead to the discovery that James was bent upon. James's surmise was perhaps more than a mere guess; it was prompted by his knowledge of the facts. Fian had had an interview with his Master, whom he believed to be God Incarnate, and like many a Christian martyr he atoned for the first betrayal by steadfast courage through cruel torment even to death.

Reading the accounts in the light of this supposition, it is seen that every one, including James, suspected Bothwell. Even if they did not acknowledge his divinity, they feared the magical powers which, as Chief of the Witches, he was supposed to wield. It is impossible to study the details of this period without realizing the extraordinary fear which James had of his cousin; it was fear with an underlying horror, totally different from his feeling towards his other turbulent subjects. When Bothwell, seeking pardon, was introduced into Holyrood Palace by Lady Athol in the early morning of July 24, 1593, he entered the King's chamber. James, always undignified, was caught in the middle of his morning toilet; he tried to run into the Queen's room, but the way was barred by Bothwell's friends and the door was locked. 'The king, seeing no other refuge, asked what they meant. Came they to seek his life? let them take it--they would not get his soul.'[153] This remark, made in the urgency and excitement of the moment, is highly significant. Had Bothwell been, like many of James's other enemies, merely an assassin, James would not have spoken of his soul. But Bothwell as the Devil of the witches had the right to demand the yielding of the soul, and James was aware of the fact.

The birth of James's children removed Bothwell's hopes of succession; the power of the witch organization, of which he was the Chief, was broken by the death of its leaders. He had made a strong bid for power, he failed, fled the country, and finally died in poverty at Naples. There George Sandys the traveller heard of him: 'Here a certaine _Calabrian_ hearing that I was an _English_ man, came to me, and would needs perswade me that I had insight in magicke: for that Earle _Bothel_ was my countryman, who liues at _Naples_, and is in those parts famous for suspected negromancie.'[154]

The Devil being actually a human being, the letter of introduction to him, given by a man-witch to a would-be proselyte, becomes quite credible. It is worth quoting verbatim:

'Monseigneur, d'autant qu'il me faut retirer de la Religion des
Chrestiens, afin que ie multiplie vostre party, duquel estant, il est
raisonnable que ie vous glorifie et assemble tant de gens que ie
pourray, ie vous enuoye ce porteur pour estre du nombre: c'est
pourquoy ie vous prie de l'aider en ses amours.'

Satan's reply to the novice shows a distinctly human trace of temper:

'Vous autres Chrestiens vous estes perfides et obstinez: Quand vous
auez quelque violent desir, vous vous departez de vostre maistre, et
auez recours a moy: mais quand vostre desir est accompli, vous me
tournez le dos comme a vn ennemi, et vous en retournez a vostre Dieu,
lequel estant benin et clement, vous pardonne et recoit volontiers.
Mais fay moy vne promesse escrite et signee de ta main, par laquelle
tu renonces volontairement ton Christ et ton Baptesme, et me promets
que tu adhereras et seras auec moy iusqu'au iour du iugement; et apres
iceluy tu te delecteras encore auec moy de souffrir les peines
eternelles, et i'accompliray ton desir.'[155]

4. _As an Animal_

In many religions the disguising of the principal personage--whether god or priest--as an animal is well known. The custom is very ancient--such disguised human beings are found even among the palaeolithic drawings in France; and on a slate palette belonging to the late pre-dynastic period of Egypt there is a representation of a man disguised as a jackal and playing on a pipe.[156] The ritual disguise as an animal is condemned, with great particularity, as devilish, in the _Liber Poenitentialis_ of Theodore of the seventh century (see _supra_, p. 21), showing that it continued in force after the conversion of England to an outward appearance of Christianity. From the analogy of other religions in which the custom occurs, it would appear that it is a ritual for the promotion of fertility; the animal represented being either the sacred animal of the tribe or the creature most used for food.

The suggestion that the Devil was a man, wearing either an animal's skin or a mask in the form of an animal's head as a ritual disguise, accounts as nothing else can for the witches' evidence as to his appearance and his changes of form. A confusion, however, exists from the fact that the witches, and therefore the recorders, usually spoke of the familiars as the Devil; but in almost every case the disguised man can, on examination of the evidence, be distinguished from the animal familiar.

The animal forms in which the Devil most commonly appeared were bull, cat, dog, goat, horse, and sheep. A few curious facts come to light on tabulating these forms; i.e. the Devil appears as a goat or a sheep in France only; he is never found in any country as a hare, though this was the traditional form for a witch to assume; nor is he found as a toad, though this was a common form for the familiar; the fox and the ass also are unknown forms; and in Western Europe the pig is an animal almost entirely absent from all the rites and ceremonies as well as from the disguises of the Devil.

The witches never admitted in so many words that the Devil was a man disguised, but their evidence points strongly to the fact. In some cases the whole body was disguised, in others a mask was worn, usually over the face. The wearing of the mask is indicated partly by descriptions of its appearance, and partly by the description of the Devil's voice. The Lorraine witches in 1589 said that the Devils 'koennen nimmermehr die Menschliche Stimme so aussdruecklich nachreden, dass man nicht leicht daran mercke, dass es eine gemachte falsche Stimme sey. Nicolaea Ganatia, und fast alle andere sagen, dass sie eine Stimme von sich geben, gleich denen, so den Kopff in ein Fass oder zerbrochenen Hafen stecken und daraus reden. Auch geben sie etwann eine kleine leise Stimme von sich.'[157] The North Berwick Devil in 1590 was purposely disguised out of all recognition: 'The Devil start up in the pulpit, like a mickle black man, with a black beard sticking out like a goat's beard; and a high ribbed nose, falling down sharp like the beak of a hawk; with a long rumpill' [tail].[158] This was Barbara Napier's account; Agnes Sampson describes the same personage, 'The deuell caused all the company to com and kiss his ers, quhilk they said was cauld like yce; his body was hard lyk yrn, as they thocht that handled him; his faice was terrible, his noise lyk the bek of an egle, gret bournyng eyn: his handis and legis wer herry, with clawis vpon his handis and feit lyk the griffon, and spak with a how voice.'[159] Boguet states that 'on demanda a George Gandillon, si lors qu'il fut sollicite par Sata de se bailler a luy, Satan parloit distinctement. Il respondit que non, & qu'a peine pouuoit il comprendre ce qu'il disoit.'[160] The evidence of the witches in the Basses-Pyrenees makes it clear that a disguise was worn, and that a mask was placed on the back either of the head or of the person; this also explains part of Agnes Sampson's evidence given above. The effect of the mask at the back of the head was to make the man appear two-faced, 'comme le dieu Janus'. In the other case 'le diable estoit en forme de bouc, ayant vne queue, & au-dessoubs vn visage d'homme noir ... & n'a parole par ce visage de derriere.--Vne grande queuee au derriere, & vne forme de visage au dessoubs: duquel visage il ne profere aucune parole, ains luy sert pour donner a baiser a ceux qui bon luy semble.--Marie d'Aspilecute dit qu'elle le baisa a ce visage de derriere au dessoubs d'vne grande queue; qu'elle l'y a baise par trois fois, & qu'il auoit ce visage faict comme le museau d'vn bouc.--Bertrand de Handuch, aagee de dix ans, confessa que le cul du grad maistre auoit vn visage derriere, & c'estoit le visage de derriere qu'on baisoit, & non le cul.'[161] The Devil of the Basses-Pyrenees evidently wore a mask over the face, for he had 'la voix effroyable & sans ton, quand il parle on diroit que cest vn mullet qui se met a braire, il a la voix casse, la parole malarticulee, & peu intelligible, parcequ'il a tousiours la voix triste & enroueee'. On occasions also 'il quitoit la forme de Bouc, & prenoit celle d'homme'.[162] In 1614 at Orleans Silvain Nevillon said 'qu'il vit a la cheminee vn homme noir duquel on ne voyoit pas la teste. Vit aussi vn grand homme noir a l'opposite de celuy de la cheminee, & que ledit ho[~m]e noir parloit comme si la voix fut sortie d'vn poinson. Dit: Que le Diable dit le Sermo au Sabbat, mais qu'on n'entend ce qu'il dit, parce qu'il parle co[~m]e en grodant.'[163] The devil who appeared to Joan Wallis, the Huntingdonshire witch, in 1649, was in the shape of a man dressed in black, but he 'was not as her husband, which speaks to her like a man, but he as he had been some distance from her when he was with her'.[164] Thomazine Ratcliffe, a Suffolk witch, said that the Devil 'spoke with a hollow, shrill voyce'.[165] According to Mary Green (1665) the Somerset Devil, who was a little man, 'put his hand to his Hat, saying, How do ye? speaking low but big'.[166] In the same year Abre Grinset, another Suffolk witch, confessed that she met the Devil, who was in the form of 'a Pretty handsom Young Man, and spake to her with a hollow Solemn Voice'.[167] John Stuart at Paisley (1678) said the Devil came to him as a black man, 'and that the black man's Apparel was black; and that the black man's Voice was hough and goustie'.[168]

The coldness of the devil's entire person, which is vouched for by several witches, suggests that the ritual disguise was not merely a mask over the face, but included a covering, possibly of leather or some other hard and cold substance, over the whole body and even the hands. Such a disguise was apparently not always worn, for in the great majority of cases there is no record of the Devil's temperature except in the sexual rites, and even then the witch could not always say whether the touch of the Devil was warm or not. In 1565 the Belgian witch, Digna Robert, said the devil 'etait froid dans tous ses membres'.[169] In 1590, at North Berwick, 'he caused all the company to com and kiss his ers, quhilk they said was cauld lyk yce; his body was hard lyk yrn, as they thocht that handled him'.[170] In 1598 Pierre Burgot, whose statement is quoted by several authors, 'a confesse, que le Diable luy donna a baiser sa main senestre, qui estoit noire, comme morte, & toute froide'.[171] In 1609, in the Basses-Pyrenees, Isaac de Queyran, aged 25, said that he and others 'le baiserent a vne fesse qui estoit blanche & rouge, & auoit la forme d'vne grande cuisse d'vn homme, & estoit velue'.[172] This shows the ritual disguise of the person and suggests the use of an animal's hide with the hair still attached. In 1645 the Essex witch Rebecca West said 'he kissed her, but was as cold as clay'.[173] At Salisbury in 1653, when the witch Anne Bodenham persuaded Anne Styles to join the community, 'then appeared two Spirits in the likenesse of great Boyes, with long shagged black hair, and stood by her looking over her shoulder, and the Witch took the Maids forefinger of her right hand, and pricked it with a pin, and squeezed out the blood and put it into a Pen, and put the Pen in the Maids hand, and held her hand to write in a great book, and one of the Spirits laid his hand or Claw upon the Witches whilest the Maid wrote; and the Spirits hand did feel cold to the Maid as it touched her hand, when the witches hand and hers were together writing'.[174] At Forfar in 1661 three of the witches agreed as to the coldness of the Devil; 'Elspet Alexander confesses that the divill kissed hir selfe that night and that it was ane cold kisse; Katheren Porter confesseth that the divill tooke hir by the hand, that his hand was cold; Isobell Smith confessed that he kissed hir and his mouth and breath were cold.'[175] In 1662 the Crook of Devon witches were also in accord. Isabel Rutherford 'confesst that ye was at ane meeting at Turfhills, where Sathan took you by the hand and said "welcome, Isabel", and said that his hand was cold.--Margaret Litster confessed that Sathan took you be the hand and stayed the space of half an hour, Sathan having grey clothes and his hand cold.--Janet Paton confessed that Sathan asked you gif ye would be his servant, whilk ye did, and Sathan took you be the hand, and ye said that his hand was cold.' On the other hand Agnes Murie 'knew not whether his body was hot or cold'.[176] According to Isobel Gowdie at Auldearne in 1662, 'he was a meikle blak roch man, werie cold';[177] at Torryburn, Lilias Adie found his skin was cold;[178] and the Crighton witches in 1678 said, 'he was cold, and his breath was like a damp air'.[179] In 1697 little Thomas Lindsay declared that 'Jean Fulton his Grand-mother awaked him one Night out of his Bed, and caused him take a Black Grimm Gentleman (as she called him) by the Hand; which he felt to be cold'.[180]

The evidence as to the forms assumed by the Devil is tabulated here under each animal, each section being arranged in chronological order.

1. _Bull._--In 1593 at Angers 'Michel des Rousseaux, age de 50 ans, dict que ledict homme noir appelle Iupin se transforma aussitost en Bouc ... et apres leur auoir baille des boueetes de poudre, il se trasforma en Bouuard'.[181] At Aberdeen in 1597 Marion Grant confessed that 'the Devill apperit to the, sumtyme in the scheap of a beist, and sumtyme in the scheap of a man'. Jonet Lucas of the same Coven said that the Devil was with them, 'beand in likenes of ane beist'. Agnes Wobster, also of the same Coven, acknowledged that 'thaireftir Satan apperit to the in the likenes of a calff, and spak to the in manner forsaid, and baid the be a gude servand to him'.[182] In 1608 Gabriel Pelle confessed that he went with a friend to the Sabbath, where 'le Diable estoit en vache noire, & que cette vache noire luy fit renoncer Dieu'.[183] De Lancre says that at Tournelle the Devil appeared 'parfois comme vn grand B[oe]uf d'airain couche a terre, comme vn B[oe]uf naturel qui se repose'.[184] At Lille in 1661 the witches 'adored a beast with which they committed infamous things'.[185] According to Isobel Gowdie in 1662, the Devil of Auldearne changed his form, or disguise, continually, 'somtym he vold be lyk a stirk, a bull, a deir, a rae, or a dowg'.[186] [In the above, I have taken the word 'beast' in its usual meaning as an animal of the cattle tribe, but it is quite possible that the Lille beast, _beste_ in the original, may have been a goat and not a bull. This seems likely from the fact that the sacrifice was by fire as in the other places where the Devil used the goat-disguise.]

2. _Cat._--The earliest example of the cat-disguise is in the trial of the Guernsey witches in 1563, when Martin Tulouff confessed:

'[*q] il y a viron ung quartier d'an passez [*q] il soy trouva
auvec[*q]s la Vieillesse aultrem[~e]t dit Collenette Gascoing, en la
rue de la fosse au Coully, la ou l y avoet chinq ou vi chatz, d'ou il
y en avoet ung qui estoet noir, qui menoit la dance, et danssoient et
luy dyst lad^te Collenette, [*q] il besait led^t Chat et d^t [*q] il
estoet sur ses pieds plat, et que ladite Collenette le besa [*p] de
derriere, et luy [*p] la crysse, et [*q] fracoize Lenouff sa mere y
estoet et Collette Salmon fae de Collas du port, laqlle alloet devat
et s'agenouillerent to^s devat le Chat et l'adorer[~e]t en luy baillat
le^r foy, et luy dist ladite Vieillesse [*q] ledit Chat estoet le
diable.'[187]

Francoise Secretain, in 1598, saw the Devil 'tantost en forme de chat'. Rolande de Vernois said, 'Le Diable se presenta pour lors au Sabbat en forme d'vn groz chat noir.'[188] In 1652 another French witch confessed that 'il entra dans sa chambre en forme d'ung chat et se changea en la posture d'un home vestu de rouge', who took her to the Sabbath.[189] Both the Devonshire witches, Mary Trembles and Susanna Edwards, in 1682, stated that they saw him as a lion, by which they possibly meant a large cat.[190] In this connexion it is worth noting that in Lapland as late as 1767 the devil appeared 'in the likeness of a cat, handling them from their feet to their mouth, and counting their teeth'.[191]

3. _Dog._--At Chelmsford in 1556 Joan Waterhouse 'dydde as she had seene her mother doe, callynge Sathan, whiche came to her (as she sayd) in the lykenes of a great dogge'.[192] In 1616 Barthelemy Minguet of Brecy was tried for witchcraft. 'Enquis, comme il a aduis quand le Sabbat se doit tenir. Respond, que c'est le Diable qui luy vient dire estant en forme de chien noir, faict comme vn barbet, parle a luy en ceste forme. Enquis, en quelle forme se met le Diable estant au Sabbat. Respond, qu'il ne l'a iamais veu autrement qu'en forme de barbet noir. Enquis, quelles ceremonies ils obseruent estant au Sabbat. Respond, que le Diable estant en forme de barbet noir (comme dessus est dit) se met tout droit sur les pattes de derriere, les preche'.[193] etc. In Guernsey in 1617 Isabel Becquet went to Rocquaine Castle, 'the usual place where the Devil kept his Sabbath; no sooner had she arrived there than the Devil came to her in the form of a dog, with two great horns sticking up: and with one of his paws (which seemed to her like hands) took her by the hand: and calling her by her name told her that she was welcome: then immediately the Devil made her kneel down: while he himself stood up on his hind legs; he then made her express detestation of the Eternal in these words: _I renounce God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost_; and then caused her to worship and invoke himself.'[194] Barton's wife, about 1655, stated that 'one Night going to a dancing upon Pentland-hills, he went before us in the likeness of a rough tanny-Dog, playing on a pair of Pipes, and his tail played ey wig wag wig wag'.[195] In 1658 an Alloa witch named Jonet Blak declared that he appeared to her first as 'a dog with a sowis head'.[196] In 1661 Jonet Watson of Dalkeith said that 'the Deivill apeired vnto her, in the liknes of ane prettie boy, in grein clothes, and went away from her in the liknes of ane blak doug'.[197] According to Marie Lamont of Innerkip in 1662, 'the devill in the likeness of a brown dog' helped to raise a storm.[198] Margaret Hamilton, widow of James Pullwart of Borrowstowness in 1679, was accused that she met 'the devil in the likeness of a man, but he removed from you in the likeness of an black dog'.[199] The Highland witches in the eighteenth century saw the devil as a dog; he was 'a large black ugly tyke', to whom the witches made obeisance; the dog acknowledged the homage 'by bowing, grinning, and clapping his paws'.[200] In the case of the dog-disguise, there is again a similarity with Lapp beliefs and customs, the appearance of the Devil as a dog being not uncommon in Lapland.[201]

4. _Goat._--An interesting point as regards this form of disguise is that it does not occur in Great Britain, nor have I found it so far in Belgium. It prevailed chiefly in France, from which all my examples are taken. At Poictiers in 1574 'trois Sorciers & vne Sorciere declarent qu'ils estoyent trois fois l'an, a l'assemblee generale, ou plusieurs Sorciers se trouuoyent pres d'vne croix d'vn carrefour, qui seruoit d'enseigne. Et la se trouuoit vn grand bouc noir, qui parloit comme vne personne aux assistans, & dansoyent a l'entour du bouc.'[202] At Avignon in 1581 'when hee comes to be adored, he appeareth not in a humane forme, but as the Witches themselues haue deposed, as soone as they are agreed of the time that he is to mount vpon the altar (which is some rock or great stone in the fields) there to bee worshipped by them, hee instantly turneth himselfe into the forme of a great black Goate, although in all other occasions hee vseth to appeare in the shape of a man.[203] In Lorraine in 1589 the Devil 'sich in einen zottelichten Bock verwandelt hat, und viel staerker reucht und uebeler stinckt als immer ein Bock im Anfang des Fruehlings thun mag'.[204] In Puy de Dome in 1594 Jane Bosdeau's lover took her to a meeting, and 'there appeared a great Black Goat with a Candle between his Horns'.[205] In 1598 'Satan apres auoir prins la figure d'vn Bouc, se consume en feu'.[206] In the Basses-Pyrenees in 1609:

'le Diable estoit en forme de bouc, ayant vne queue, & au-dessoubs vn
visage d'homme noir, & n'a parole par ce visage de derriere.--Marie
d'Aguerre dit qu'il y a vne grande cruche au milieu du Sabbat, d'ou
sort le Diable en forme de bouc.--D'autres disent qu'il est comme vn
grand bouc, ayant deux cornes devant & deux en derriere; que celles de
devant se rebrassent en haut comme la perruque d'vne femme. Mais le
commun est qu'il a seulement trois cornes, & qu'il a quelque espece de
lumiere en celle du milieu. On luy voit aussi quelque espece de bonet
ou chapeau au dessus de ces cornes. On a obserue de tout temps que
lorsqu'il veut receuoir quelcun a faire pacte auec luy, il se presente
tousiours en homme, pour ne l'effaroucher ou effraier: car faire pacte
auec vn Bouc ouuertement, tiendroit plus de la beste que de la
creature raisonnable. Mais le pacte faict, lors qu'il veut receuoir
quelqu'vn a l'adoration, communem[~e]t il se represente en Bouc.'[207]

Silvain Nevillon confessed at Orleans in 1614 'qu'il a veu le Diable en plusieurs facons, tantost comme vn bouc, ayant vn visage deuant & vn autre derriere'.[208]

5. _Horse._--I give here only the references to the Devil when actually disguised as a horse, but there are a very great number of cases where he appeared riding on a horse. These cases are so numerous as to suggest that the horse was part of the ritual, especially as the riding Devil usually occurs in places where an animal disguise was not used, e.g. in 1598, in Aberdeen, where Andro Man 'confessis that Crystsunday rydis all the tyme that he is in thair cumpanie'.[209] The actual disguise as a horse is not common. Elizabeth Stile of Windsor in 1579 'confesseth, her self often tymes to haue gon to Father Rosimond house where she found hym sittyng in a Wood, not farre from thence, vnder the bodie of a Tree, sometymes in the shape of an Ape, and otherwhiles like an Horse'.[210] Helen Guthrie in 1661 stated that when the Forfar witches were trying to sink a ship, 'the divell wes there present with them all, in the shape of ane great horse. They returned all in the same liknes as of befor, except that the divell wes in the shape of a man.'[211] Mary Lacey of Salem in 1692 said that he appeared in the shape of a horse. 'I was in bed and the devil came to me and bid me obey him.'[212]

6. _Sheep._--The sheep-disguise, which is perhaps a form of the goat, is usually found in France only. In 1453 'Guillaume Edeline, docteur en theologie, prieur de S. Germain en Laye, et auparavant Augustin, et religieux de certaines aultres ordres ... confessa, de sa bonne et franche voulonte, avoir fait hommage audit ennemy en l'espece et semblance d'ung mouton'.[213] Iaquema Paget and Antoine Gandillon in 1598 said that 'il prenoit la figure d'vn mouton noir, portant des cornes'.[214] In 1614 at Orleans Silvain Nevillon was induced to reveal all he knew; 'dit qu'il a veu le Diable en plusieurs facons, tantost comme vn bouc, ores comme vn gros mouton'.[215]

The rarer animal disguises are the deer and the bear. Of these the deer is found at Aberdeen in 1597, Andro Man 'confessis and affermis, thow saw Christsonday cum owt of the snaw in liknes of a staig';[216] at Auldearne in 1662, 'somtym he vold be lyk a stirk, a bull, a deir, a rae, or a dowg';[217] at Hartford, Connecticut, 1662, Rebecca Greensmith said that 'the devil first appeared to her in the form of a deer or fawn'.[218] The bear is still rarer, as I have found it only twice--once in Lorraine, and once in Lancashire. In 1589 'es haben die Geister auch etwann Lust sich in Gestalt eines Baeren zu erzeigen'.[219] In 1613 Anne Chattox declared that the Devil 'came vpon this Examinate in the night time: and at diuerse and sundry times in the likenesse of a Beare, gaping as though he would haue wearied [worried] this Examinate. And the last time of all shee, this Examinate, saw him, was vpon Thursday last yeare but one, next before Midsummer day, in the euening, like a Beare, and this Examinate would not then speake vnto him, for the which the said Deuill pulled this Examinate downe.'[220]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 27: Danaeus, E 1, ch. iv.]

[Footnote 28: Gaule, p. 62.]

[Footnote 29: Cannaert, p. 45.]

[Footnote 30: _Spalding Club Miscellany_, i, pp. 171, 172.]

[Footnote 31: De Lancre, _Tableau_, pp. 398, 399.]

[Footnote 32: Id., _L'Incredulite_, p. 801.]

[Footnote 33: Baines, i, p. 607 note. For the name Mamillion see Layamon's _Brut_, p. 155, Everyman Library.]

[Footnote 34: Bourignon, _Vie_, p. 222.--Hale, p. 37.]

[Footnote 35: Pitcairn, iii, pp. 605, 607, 613.]

[Footnote 36: Hale, p. 58.]

[Footnote 37: _Surtees Soc._, xl, pp. 191, 193.]

[Footnote 38: Fountainhall, i. 15.]

[Footnote 39: Howell, vi, 660.--J. Hutchinson, ii, p. 31.]

[Footnote 40: _Alse Gooderidge_, pp. 9, 10.]

[Footnote 41: Boguet, p. 54.]

[Footnote 42: _Wonderfull Discouerie of Elizabeth Sawyer_, C 4, rev.]

[Footnote 43: _County Folklore_, iii, Orkney, pp. 103, 107-8.]

[Footnote 44: Stearne, pp. 28, 38]

[Footnote 45: _Highland Papers_, iii, pp. 16, 17.]

[Footnote 46: It is possible that the shoe was cleft like the modern 'hygienic' shoe. Such a shoe is described in the ballad of the _Cobler of Canterbury_, date 1608, as part of a woman's costume:

'Her sleeves blue, her traine behind,
With silver hookes was tucked, I find;
Her shoes broad, and forked before.'
]

[Footnote 47: Danaeus, ch. iv.]

[Footnote 48: De Lancre, _Tableau_, p. 69.]

[Footnote 49: Cooper, _Pleasant Treatise_, p. 2.]

[Footnote 50: Burns Begg, p. 217.]

[Footnote 51: _Examination of John Walsh._]

[Footnote 52: Potts, D 3, B 2.]

[Footnote 53: Baines, i, p. 607 note.]

[Footnote 54: Hale, p. 46.]

[Footnote 55: Howell, iv, 833, 836, 840, 854-5.]

[Footnote 56: Stearne, p. 13.--Davenport, p. 13.]

[Footnote 57: Stearne, pp. 22, 29, 30.]

[Footnote 58: Glanvil, pt. ii, pp. 136, 137, 147, 149, 156, 161-5.]

[Footnote 59: Hale, p. 58.]

[Footnote 60: Petto, p. 18.]

[Footnote 61: Denham Tracts, ii, p. 301.]

[Footnote 62: Howell, viii, 1035.]

[Footnote 63: _Elinor Shaw and Mary Phillips_, p. 6.]

[Footnote 64: Pitcairn, i, pt. ii, pp. 51-6.]

[Footnote 65: Id., i, pt. ii, p. 162.]

[Footnote 66: Id., i, pt. ii, pp. 245-6, 239. Spelling modernized.]

[Footnote 67: Melville, pp. 395-6.]

[Footnote 68: Pitcairn, i, pt. ii, p. 210.]

[Footnote 69: _Spalding Club Miscellany_, i, pp. 124, 127, 164, 172.]

[Footnote 70: Pitcairn, ii, p. 537.]

[Footnote 71: _County Folklore_, iii, p. 103. Orkney.]

[Footnote 72: From the record of the trial in the Justiciary Court, Edinburgh.]

[Footnote 73: _Spottiswode Miscellany_, ii, p. 65.]

[Footnote 74: Pitcairn, iii, p. 599.]

[Footnote 75: Sinclair, p. 122.]

[Footnote 76: Id., p. 47.]

[Footnote 77: Arnot, p. 358.]

[Footnote 78: _Scottish Antiquary_, ix, pp. 50, 51.]

[Footnote 79: Kinloch, pp. 114, 128, 132.]

[Footnote 80: Pitcairn, iii, p. 601.]

[Footnote 81: From the records in the Justiciary Court, Edinburgh.]

[Footnote 82: Pitcairn, iii, p. 603.]

[Footnote 83: Burns Begg, pp. 221-39.]

[Footnote 84: Sharpe, pp. 131, 134.]

[Footnote 85: _Hogers_, a coarse stocking without the foot.]

[Footnote 86: Glanvil, pt. ii, pp. 291-5, 297.]

[Footnote 87: _Scots Magazine_, 1814, p. 200.]

[Footnote 88: _Narrative of the Sufferings of a Young Girle_, pp. xxxix-xli--_Sadd. Debell._, pp. 38-40.]

[Footnote 89: _A true and full Relation of the Witches of Pittenweem_, p. 10.--Sinclair, p. lxxxix.]

[Footnote 90: Sharpe, p. 191.]

[Footnote 91: _Camden Society_, Lady Alice Kyteler, p. 3.]

[Footnote 92: _Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris_, p. 687.]

[Footnote 93: De Lancre, _Tableau_, p. 123.]

[Footnote 94: Bodin, p. 226.]

[Footnote 95: Boguet, pp. 8, 96.]

[Footnote 96: De Lancre, _Tableau_, p. 130.]

[Footnote 97: Id., _L'Incredulite_, pp. 799, 800. The second Devil is called Tramesabot on p. 802.]

[Footnote 98: Van Elven, _La Tradition_, v (1891), p. 215. Neither the witches' names nor the place are given.]

[Footnote 99: Cannaert, pp. 44, 53-4, 60.]

[Footnote 100: Fountainhall, i, p. 14.]

[Footnote 101: Horneck, pt. ii, p. 316.]

[Footnote 102: Taylor, pp. 81, 118.]

[Footnote 103: Green, pp. 9, 14.]

[Footnote 104: Howell, vi, 660, 664; J. Hutchinson, ii, pp. 31, 37.]

[Footnote 105: Pitcairn, i, pt. ii, p. 51.]

[Footnote 106: Melville, p. 395.]

[Footnote 107: Pitcairn, i, pt. ii, p. 246. Spelling modernized.]

[Footnote 108: _Spalding Club Misc._, i, p. 127.]

[Footnote 109: De Lancre, _Tableau_, p. 68.]

[Footnote 110: _Scottish Antiquary_, ix, pp. 50, 51.]

[Footnote 111: Pitcairn, iii, p. 601.]

[Footnote 112: Burns Begg, pp. 221, 223, 234, 235, 239.]

[Footnote 113: Taylor, p. 81.]

[Footnote 114: Cannaert, p. 60.]

[Footnote 115: Glanvil, pt. ii, p. 164.]

[Footnote 116: Chambers, iii, p. 298.]

[Footnote 117: Glanvil, pt. ii, p. 316.]

[Footnote 118: Sinclair, p. lxxxix.]

[Footnote 119: Pitcairn, i, pt. ii, p. 56.]

[Footnote 120: Id., i, pt. ii, p. 163.]

[Footnote 121: _Spalding Club Misc._, pp. 119-21.]

[Footnote 122: Id., i, p. 171.]

[Footnote 123: Pitcairn, ii, p. 478.]

[Footnote 124: De Lancre, _L'Incredulite_, p. 36.]

[Footnote 125: Id., _Tableau_, p. 401.]

[Footnote 126: Potts, B 4.]

[Footnote 127: _Wonderful Discovery of Margaret and Phillip Flower_, p. 117.]

[Footnote 128: Sinclair, p. 160.]

[Footnote 129: Kinloch, p. 144.]

[Footnote 130: Law, p. 27 note.]

[Footnote 131: Cotton Mather, p. 159.]

[Footnote 132: _Rehearsall both straung and true_, par. 24.]

[Footnote 133: _Calendar of State Papers._ Domestic, 1584, p. 220.]

[Footnote 134: Stearne, p. 45.]

[Footnote 135: Gerish, _The Divel's Delusions_, p. 11.]

[Footnote 136: Pitcairn, i, pt. ii, pp. 161-4.]

[Footnote 137: Id., ii, pp. 26-7.]

[Footnote 138: Hibbert, p. 578.]

[Footnote 139: Sinclair, p. 48.]

[Footnote 140: From the record in the Justiciary Office, Edinburgh.]

[Footnote 141: Chambers, iii, p. 299.]

[Footnote 142: Ravaisson, 1679, pp. 334-6.]

[Footnote 143: Mather, pp. 120, 125; J. Hutchinson, _History_, ii, pp. 37 seq.]

[Footnote 144: Boguet, p. 125.]

[Footnote 145: _Lawes against Witches and Conivration_, p. 7.]

[Footnote 146: Wilson, ii, p. 158.]

[Footnote 147: The trials are published by Pitcairn, i, pt. ii.]

[Footnote 148: There were present on this occasion thirty-nine persons, or three Covens. See chap. vii on the Organization.]

[Footnote 149: _Bannatyne Club_, Melville, _Memoirs_, p. 395. The sycophantic Melville adds; 'And certanly he is a man of God, and dois na wrang wittingly, bot is inclynit to all godlynes, justice and virtu; therfore God hes preserued him in the midis of many dangers.']

[Footnote 150: _Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot._, No. 565, Feb. 7, 1550/1.]

[Footnote 151: _Newes from Scotland._ Quoted in Pitcairn, i, pt. ii, pp. 213-23.]

[Footnote 152: It is perhaps significant that the confession of John Fian, and the trials of both Barbara Napier and of Bothwell himself for witchcraft, have disappeared from the Justiciary Records.]

[Footnote 153: Burton, v, p. 283.]

[Footnote 154: Sandys, p. 250.]

[Footnote 155: De Lancre, _Tableau_, pp. 176, 177.]

[Footnote 156: Quibell, pl. xxviii. The palette itself is now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.]

[Footnote 157: Remigius, pt. i, p. 38.]

[Footnote 158: Pitcairn, i, pt. ii, p. 246. Spelling modernized.]

[Footnote 159: Melville, p. 395.]

[Footnote 160: Boguet, p. 56.]

[Footnote 161: De Lancre, _Tableau_, pp. 68, 73, 126.]

[Footnote 162: De Lancre, _Tableau_, pp. 225, 398.]

[Footnote 163: Id., _L'Incredulite_, pp. 799-801.]

[Footnote 164: Stearne, p. 13.]

[Footnote 165: Id., p. 22.]

[Footnote 166: Glanvil, pt. ii, p. 164.]

[Footnote 167: Petto, p. 18.]

[Footnote 168: Glanvil, pt. ii, pp. 294-5.]

[Footnote 169: Cannaert, p. 54.]

[Footnote 170: Melville, _Memoirs_, p. 395.]

[Footnote 171: Boguet, pp. 53-4.]

[Footnote 172: De Lancre, _Tableau_, p. 148.]

[Footnote 173: Howell, iv, 842.]

[Footnote 174: More, pp. 196-7.]

[Footnote 175: Kinloch, pp. 115, 129, 132.]

[Footnote 176: Burns Begg, pp. 219, 221, 228, 230.]

[Footnote 177: Pitcairn, iii, p. 603.]

[Footnote 178: Chambers, iii, 298.]

[Footnote 179: Fountainhall, i, p. 14.]

[Footnote 180: _Narrative of the Sufferings of a Young Girle_, p. xli; _Sadd. Debell._, p. 40.]

[Footnote 181: De Lancre, _L'Incredulite_, p. 769.]

[Footnote 182: _Spalding Club Misc._, i, p. 129.]

[Footnote 183: De Lancre, _L'Incredulite_, p. 794.]

[Footnote 184: Id., _Tableau_, p. 68.]

[Footnote 185: Bourignon, _Parole_, p. 87; Hale, p. 26.]

[Footnote 186: Pitcairn, iii, p. 613.]

[Footnote 187: From a trial in the Guernsey Greffe.]

[Footnote 188: Boguet, pp. 8, 70, 411.]

[Footnote 189: _La Tradition_, v (1891), p. 215.]

[Footnote 190: Howell, viii, 1034, 1036.]

[Footnote 191: Pinkerton, i, p. 473.]

[Footnote 192: _Witches of Chelmsford_, p. 34; Philobiblon Soc., viii.]

[Footnote 193: De Lancre, _L'Incredulite_, p. 805.]

[Footnote 194: Goldsmid, p. 12.]

[Footnote 195: Sinclair, p. 163.]

[Footnote 196: _Scottish Antiquary_, ix, 51.]

[Footnote 197: Pitcairn, iii, p. 601.]

[Footnote 198: Sharpe, p. 132.]

[Footnote 199: _Scots Magazine_, 1814, p. 201. Spelling modernized.]

[Footnote 200: Stewart, p. 175. The whole account is marred by the would-be comic style adopted by the author.]

[Footnote 201: Pinkerton, i, p. 473.]

[Footnote 202: Bodin, p. 187.]

[Footnote 203: Michaelis, _Discourse_, p. 148.]

[Footnote 204: Remigius, pt. i, p. 90.]

[Footnote 205: F. Hutchinson, _Historical Essay_, p. 42.]

[Footnote 206: Boguet, p. 141.]

[Footnote 207: De Lancre, _Tableau_, pp. 67, 68, 69, 126.]

[Footnote 208: Id., _L'Incredulite_, p. 800.]

[Footnote 209: _Spalding Club Misc._, i, p. 125. Cp. Elworthy on the Hobby-horse as the Devil, _Horns of Honour_, p. 140.]

[Footnote 210: _Rehearsall both Straung and True_, par. 24.]

[Footnote 211: Kinloch, pp. 122-3.]

[Footnote 212: Howell, vi, 663-4; J. Hutchinson, ii, pp. 36-7.]

[Footnote 213: Chartier, iii, 44-5.]

[Footnote 214: Boguet, p. 70.]

[Footnote 215: De Lancre, _L'Incredulite_, p. 800.]

[Footnote 216: _Spalding Club Misc._, i, p. 121.]

[Footnote 217: Pitcairn, iii, p. 613.]

[Footnote 218: Taylor, p. 98.]

[Footnote 219: Remigius, p. 98.]

[Footnote 220: Potts, E 3.]