In concluding this chapter further notice may be taken of the quite common practice in those days, of the fears of the country-side being traded upon by cunning old women supposed to possess, or pretending to possess, witch-power. In wholesome dread of the malign influence of the "uncannie e'en" these old women were propitiated by lavish presents of produce and provender, and so skillfully did many of them play their parts that they lived comfortably and bien at the expense of their neighbours, who were only too glad to send new milk, cheese, meal, and even to cast their peats and help with the rents to make "the e'en look kindly" and avert possible disaster, all of which is graphically alluded to and set forth in Allan Cunningham's "Pawky Auld Kimmer":--
"There's a pawky auld Kimmer wons low i' the glen; Nane kens how auld Kimmer maun fecht and maun fen; Kimmer gets maut, and Kimmer gets meal, And cantie lives Kimmer, richt couthie an' hale; Kimmer gets bread, and Kimmer gets cheese, An' Kimmer's uncannie e'en keep her at ease. 'I rede ye speak lowne, lest Kimmer should hear ye; Come sain ye, come cross ye, an' Gude be near ye!'"
"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." --_Exodus xxii., 18._
Little is heard of witchcraft in Scotland before the latter half of the 16th century, but in the year 1563, in the reign of Mary, Queen of Scotland, a strenuous Act directed against the practice of witchcraft became law, and was most rigorously enforced. As this has been described as the law under which all the subsequent witch trials took place its significant phraseology may in part be quoted:--
"The Estates enact that nae person take upon hand to use ony matter of witchcrafts, sorcery or necromancy, nor give themselves furth to have ony sic craft or knowledge thereof; also that nae person seek ony help, response, or consultation at ony sic users or abusers of witchcraft under the pain of death."
Curiously enough the passing of this and similar Acts was attended by results as unexpected as they were unforeseen. Belief in witchcraft became the passion of public credulity. Accusations, generally false and often even ludicrous in their solemn foolishness, were trumped up, and action followed, that hurried countless helpless human beings to the stake to die a cruel and shameful death. It was a time of terror, an epoch of superstitious sacrifice, extending and gathering force as the reign of Mary merged into the Regency, only finding pause at the removal of James VI. of Scotland to London, there to preside over the united destinies of these islands. As is well known, this monarch evinced a more than personal interest in matters pertaining to the "unseen world," and that, gathering up his ideas and conclusions, he embodied them in a singular treatise entitled _Daemonologie_.[11] Less creditable to his memory it is told that not only did he favour executions for this alleged crime, but actually took pleasure in witnessing the sacrifice of the condemned.