[4] Each sorcerer was supposed to have his familiar spirit, that accompanied him; but Soulis was said to keep his locked in a chest.
[5] These are the recorded practices which sorcerers resorted to, when they wished to have a glimpse of invisible spirits.
[6] In the account of the trial of Elizabeth Bathgate, wife of Alexander Pae, maltman in Eyemouth, one of the accusations in the indictment against her was, that she had "ane horse-schoe in ane darnet and secriet pairt of your dur, keepit by you thairopoun, as ane devilish meanis and instructions from the devill." But the superstitions of the Borders, which it is necessary to illustrate in these Tales, as exemplifying the character of our forefathers, are more particularly dwelt upon, and their absurdity unmasked, in the Tales entitled, "Betty Bathgate, the Witch of Eyemouth;" "Peggy Stoddart, the Witch of Edlingham;" and "The Laidley Worm of Spindlestone Heugh."
[7] Red-cap is a name given to spirits supposed to haunt castles.
[8] In the proceedings regarding Sir George Maxwell, it is gravely set forth, that the voice of evil spirits is "rough and goustie;" and, to crown all, Lilly, in his "Life and Times," informs us, that they speak Erse; and, adds he, "when they do so, it's like Irishmen, much in the throat!"
[9] If legitimacy could have been proved on the part of the grandmother of Lord Soulis, he certainly was a nearer heir to the crown than either Bruce or Baliol.
[10] When cattle died suddenly, it was believed to be by an arrow-shot—that is, shot or struck down by the invisible dart of a sorcerer.
[11] It is probable that the legend of the "coming wood," referred to in the traditions respecting Lord Soulis, is the same as that from which Shakspere takes Macbeth's charm—
"Till Birnam Wood shall come to Dunsinane."
The circumstances are similar.