[51] The Devil in Britain and America, chap. xxiv.
[52] C. K. Sharpe, op. cit.
[53] A man in the Orkneys was ruined by nine knots tied in a blue thread (Dalyell’s Darker Superstitions of Scotland).
[54] The Rev. Dr. Tisdall, who has given such a full account of the trial, was Vicar of Belfast. For his attitude towards the Presbyterians, see Witherow’s Memorials of Presbyterianism in Ireland, pp. 118, 159. Yet his narrative of the trial is not biassed, for all his statements can be borne out by other evidence.
[55] James Macartney became second puisne Justice of the King’s Bench in 1701, puisne Justice of Common Pleas (vice A. Upton) in 1714, and retired in 1726. Anthony Upton became puisne Justice of Common Pleas, was succeeded as above, and committed suicide in 1718. Both were natives of co. Antrim.
[56] In the shorter version of the poem this line runs—
“He cured the kye for Nanny Barton,”
which makes better sense. Huie Mertin was evidently a rival of Mary Butters.
[57] South-running water possessed great healing qualities. See Dalyell, Darker Superstitions of Scotland, and C. K. Sharpe, op. cit., p. 94.
[58] When a child the writer often heard that if a man were led astray at night by Jacky-the-Lantern (or John Barleycorn, or any other potent sprite!), the best way to get home safely was to turn one’s coat inside out and wear it in that condition.