Thre tuskis of ane awld hors,
  And of ane yallow wob the warp,
  The boddome of ane awld herp,
  The held of ane cuttit reill,
  The band of an awld quheill,
  The taill of ane yeild sow,
  And ane bait of blew wow,
  Ane botene, and ane brechame,
  And ane quhorle made of lame,
  To luke out at the litill boir,
  And cry, Crystis crosse, you befoir: 
  And quhen ye see the litill gaist,
  Cumand to you in all haist,
  Cry loud, Cryste eleisone,
  And speir quhat law it levis on? 
  And gif it sayis on Godis ley,
  Than to the litill gaist ye say,
  With braid benedicite;
  —­“Litill gaist, I conjure the,
  With lierie and larie,
  Bayth fra God, and Sanct Marie,
  First with ane fischis mouth,
  And syne with ane sowlis towth,
  With ten pertane tais,
  And nyne knokis of windil strais,
  With thre heidis of curle doddy.”—­
  And bid the gaist turn in a boddy. 
  Then efter this conjuratioun,
  The litill gaist will fall in soun,
  And thair efter down ly,
  Cryand mercy petously;
  Than with your left heil sane,
  And it will nevir cum agane,
  As meikle as a mige amaist.[70]

  He had a litill we leg,
  And it wes cant as any cleg,
  It wes wynd in ane wynden schet,
  Baythe the handis and the feit: 
  Suppose this gaist wes litill
  Yit it stal Godis quhitell;
  It stal fra peteous Abrahame,
  Ane quhorle and ane quhim quhame;
  It stal fra ye carle of ye mone
  Ane payr of awld yin schone;
  It rane to Pencatelane,
  And wirreit ane awld chaplane;
  This litill gaist did na mair ill
  Bot clok lyk a corn mill;
  And it wald play and hop,
  About the heid ane stre strop;
  And it wald sing and it wald dance,
  Oure fute, and Orliance. 
  Quha conjurit the litill gaist say ye? 
  Nane bot the litill Spenzie fle,
  That with hir wit and her ingyne,
  Gart the gaist leif agane;
  And sune mareit the gaist the fle,
  And croun’d him King of Kandelie;
  And they gat them betwene,
  Orpheus king, and Elpha quene.[71]
  To reid quha will this gentill geist,
  Ye hard it not at Cockilby’s feist.[72]

[Footnote 70:  Apparently some lines are here omitted.]

[Footnote 71:  This seems to allude to the old romance of Orfeo and Heurodis, from which the reader will find some extracts, Vol.  II.  The wife of Orpheus is here called Elpha, probably from her having been extracted by the elves, or fairies.]

[Footnote 72:  Alluding to a strange unintelligible poem in the Bannatyne MSS., called Cockelby’s sow.]

APPENDIX, No.  VI.

SUPPLEMENTAL STANZAS TO COLLINS’S ODE ON
THE SUPERSTITIONS OF THE HIGHLANDS.

BY

WILLIAM ERSKINE, ESQ. 
ADVOCATE.

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