WITCHES AND WARLOCKS IN ULSTER.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2146, 10 April 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

WITCHES AND WARLOCKS IN ULSTER.

Ix the first half o.f the eevepteepth century there vm a clergymdd ot- the Irish Established Churah cailedUDr, GJol viile>- who lir«d' i»t 43algdrm," near Ballymena, and who had Several valuable pieces of perfermenfc 'iri the Diocese' of Connor. This gentleman wfcs supposed by his contenipoEaeiea^la^ossesg enor» mous wealtT7^~which~waB inferred froiti jthejfaefr that he.w*sla.bft to .purffßOlLQpl; only the Galgorm estate on which he lived und which afterwards, bso&me the -proj perty" of Lord Monnteasliel, but also the, much' larger estatet in Coaiity Down which are now owned by- the London? derry 1 family. Where Dr. Colvflle; 4 1 country clergyman, gbt t^e rttprifey" to buy all these' estate's his flbjgftbbul* could not irnagjne., To splve "the-,* difficulty] .scandal .ac/jouuted/oif jbhe ,pa,rwn^ grsas riches in> a, way, which.; if trqe, „-*«• not creditable tq therevcreud.geutieniftn. 1 It wai said, In,fact, that he» had »olil -'hiiw self to the Devil, and that it wai> frith; the money 1 which he got for Ms oVrn body and soixl that he paid for the land he had bought. Scandal even ' went further stOl., It told the terms on which! ,Dr. Co^ville had .made,., his, bargau^^Ull the Evjl one- Those terms were Devil >vaa at ono« to gives the Doc^o? itb«i full of his hat of gold,, and! that the* Doctor in return was,' at' *i distant bns specified day, to ehr« himself to th« Devil. Accordingly (as the legend 1 goe« oiv to say) the Devil, without loss 0? time came to fulfill his part of the contract, add Dr. CoMHe met him to' receive, the wages of iniquity. The -meeting look pliioe at a limekiln ; aud whea.^he Doctyc presented hia hat foif th.c Pelv4V.to.ifiU (is with gold, be held ib AVer the 'uadulh^ of tl)a luln-pot. The reason of j his doind so was soon apparent. The Doctor had made 4 slit in the "croWh of his hat/ so hi to *l\o\y the^old when poured into' it td run through. The consequence was tba^ before "the hat wheh held over the JuJn-i pat could, be filled with gold* ' ib , wa4 necessary that the/kila- pot itself should fjrstbe filled with th« , valuable me.t*L This waa actually done. Hat and kilnpot were both fiilled Tfitb gold, and aa accordinc to the agreement between the Devil and Dr. Colviite, 1 the latter gentleman was entitled to take away with 'him, all this untojd treasure 1 , it was", np Tcondtec that he was well able' to pay for alt £ne| estates that he bought.' So far; the Doctor was' certainly tod many for the Devil. But there are twq sides to every bargain. ,Tbe time cttme when the Doctor ,-according- to agreement} Was to pay dearly for' all the gold and afll the land* which he had, got. "When the* day arrived on. which he had undertaken, to giee, hinoself up to the Devil*, that; personage did not fail to elaiin. the man whom he had bonght with ao greib^a price. Ho found the Doctor sitting in his own house, and reading his Btbte -by, the light of a candle. The 1 Devil- told him to"ntsT"'aTi^~come"^vilirTrim. The Doctor begged that he might not be token away until, tbe candle, by whiob he was reading waf burnedjiovt. .To this the Devil assented ; whereupon 3>r Colvllle blew out the candle, and, putting ifc^between the leaves of the Bible, locked it up in the cheat where he kept bit gold.

The candle being thus deposited in a place of safety, we may be sure that it was not burned out so long as the Doctor lived ; aud it was said that he even made sure of its not being burned out after his death, for he ordered that when he du»d the caudle should be I ' put into his coftin and buried along with bin?. In this way the candle never was liurned out, ana the Devil never got Dr. Colville. Clever fellow was this parson pf Galgorm. l^esides his enormous wealth, supposed to have been got in the way above dcs- j cribed, there was another circumstance j wjirich led Dr, CoTville's neighbours to think that he had dealings \VitH the £1^ il One'/ There lived witli ' him for some time at ("Jalgorm a person, a'ppareutjy a ,'genileman, who conducted himself in a very mysterious manner This gentleman apppired nowhere, but in' the moat Tetired places of the nelg'at)durJrood, und he never' a£oko to gLpyone' but' to Dr. , Colville. Hence it Was concluded thfit he was an emissary, of Satan, ( who"h4cl 'been sent J^ t lift '-niastbr' to'kef/p" watch, 'bvcr'Dr. Colvilte until' th<\ ttW slioujfl, come \vHen*he*waVto gYve himself ''ii'jf \o the Devil. ' Sonic jieo'pie aid indee'A" •impose that tfie mysterious jecntlenian, wljo was 'a 'Scbtch'man, had" committed 1 'same' 'crime ia'jiWj native. co'uhVyr Which had leelt fefagVih'tfeiand/anvl 'Ifiafe 'iinder these tfircumsifaricea he^^d, ,'ftecT for shelter to~ r 'ljis countryman, ' Dr. (^vJiiy/^-ho^Tap wai a'Scatch'manj which wo'dfd atfeount for 'the prfVacy which' the g'eritieman'matntaiued during his stay in Gatgorm,' without/supposing that he was ari a^erit of the ehcniy of mankind." '' • ,In addition, to the' foregoiu'g case' of alleged trafficking with' the 'Devil, Dr. Colville'w'as thought by' many pf his con-, temporaries to be himself a wizard, or w'ar|ock (as the character is called in Scottand and m'the r Norfch ''of Inland), andJntK'a'V^a'pacity to have known and practised the, arts of sorcery. This fact Waskaicttd have co'm6 but through one of his servants' to^'wliom^ "he had t'altghV' those' ! diabolical "arts! This 'servant, 'a female, liavini* left his employment, and gone to, reiide with a fanifly 'ill Scotland, r 'was there Charged with some theft' which had been fjomroitted fa tfi'e 'liou'sie, \yheire she was living, Dhe servant .denied the, : cha'rge| and added that if sn'e/wefe allowed VlittTe time + she would 'soqh fiufl' out the real culprit. .This' 'slie 'expected to do by rfieans of. the," arts' of sorcery, which she had learned 'from Dr. Cdlvifle in'trelaud. Accordingly, taking in her hand'a BibTe.'a riddle, aiicl nine feathers which she had pulled 'out of the tail of a black cock, she 1 ' went down into the lowest cellar in the house. There' slie proceeded to draW a dir'cle around' bet, and t6 turn the riddre od end twice from south to 1 north. 'The 1 !! she read one pai- ' sage of Scripture forward, and another ■passage of Scripture backward, whereupon an' apparition 1 ' rose ,out of 'the ground, and asked her \vhat she wilnted. In replyshe' put to him 6ttU \vliich he answered ; and tKeti casting sit him three. 6f her feathers, 'she Sesii'ed, hiih 'to go back to^ the place from whitih 'hje hod'eoffld. ; v This p'rbceis 'lihe 'wbiMh tb'peated three 4ever^f times. .'after, which;, hitvirig got frbrn t&e"App>ritiort the 1 infoi}- ' motion ;tßat'; tRat ' slie . wan ted, ' she J |went "dp ■ states,' and told Het* 'mistress 'jiqt* only ths' 'name of tli'e-thlef ,ISuta!«o, 1 Suta!«o wTie'rethe rrifssiti] t 'arthJles'wbUld be'fouhd;'all'<vl/icfi tUrifed 'Outtobe 1 trde. 1 ' Witji all Itfri&ti stories in circiilaiibh 'kbout Ttf! <JolVilfe' it is' nj)^ wonder that for jnhfay years 'tl^e, memory - of thafc^ebtlematfwasnoti^'aTi Wour of a sw'eef" smeU')' 'iff t^e rieighttourbbod • ' whdre'lie had' re : Btded - imrtVh6Y&''pjer'hapfe the'fore'going l^genrls res.p'ecti^g' him''are not yet" entirely forgotten. '' " ' l%e next'peaspq 'to Avhgfn^we sh»H refep, , in connection , with wjtclicraft of Sorcery, was, Jjk.e Dr. CoW^e, a clergy r ma,u, : but, upline ,X)r n Oojviile^ h.e vraf jeyer Bjipposed to be, a pariicfpajl^r, io o^il practices, He , was, only a sufferer jfrom them. About .the, yoac^ 16/2 Mr XimesShaw, tho Presbyterian < min|sfie|of Cammpney, lost his wife juf (fEildbirth; It was generally, thought, by the ,people pfc tli^ neighbourhood >,.f|hjijL. Mrs .Qhaw'fc was caused by s,orcery practised upoq her by some .wishes parish"Be;thj» as it might, there W W no doubt Uq tho opiniouuof, these peoplej that afteb her death hep husband' s j house was troubled. for a considerable, #m« j)y,some evil ipirit ,\vhich cast •tonos down th ; chim«ey,-and appeared, to several of tins - servants,- oup 4>f wjipra jt a,lso [engaged a ! an, fqcompHce Jn 4 \t& proceedings, Ajt j^r lyjng siqk i^- bed. He was, therefore, unaj>!^! to ,g^;to ,-thp , ijext mqntlUy! meeting v of his brothven i^i ' u the piinUtry to 1 -eon«ftfo.them i a*¥|j& these singular, . occurrences, , as, ,hj» certainly .would, have doge jf he; had., .bgen able. ' SowevoK .h£ ften t- hw , . myv tvpt, w.h,O/ wnl ■ supppsed to be implicated in fhese trafls,a,ctjonf> witj^i a request that his. brethren ' WjOuld. examine ,him ppi -flic «ul)jfct, and ' deal, tjvith bin^aji^hgyjhoiigjit b.Mt. Th^ boy was accordiugly questioned on thf aubJ3?t, aqd -Jh>vin&'. confessed that ,he ha^ conve^sc4:^nd sppfejyed, wi^h Mti spirit which Jrftubje^ his mMtw'l hongorf^nd, even, assisted ,lt-,in AU dia;bolioal operatioußi, InB!jw^i commanded for the fuiureto po deaUng*' of «pj (kind Mi^ tMt PVU spirit. iXhe boj promUed obedienoe^aud \ya| dismissedL Put Jhe, affair made' a, great cpminotipw.in .^th'e parish, JQ & te »P tM.ilhe .bretbrfu ( 'not only Ordered the Cora mjunjon, (.wj»ie^ was.tbqn appr,oachjpg) to be delayed- id .jGarnnipp.ey, " until tne coufusipni .should f^ll a little," but appointed two of tb*ir • nu(nber to hold a #pecial«fas,t in the con r [ grj§gation K of C^rnfnpnpy '.' iu^conpiQer"ation," (a* tl«y«tatedV ti>e. itroubl* >. whipjyk,had ( opjnpm)on,i]i^ c ini»i^t«fi^ h<9^ by,ft»pirii:that appeared, t^ fpnie pf th^ 1 Janijily, aqd the di6tenipei: of the'mJAisjter's owq .boity m with^oth^er, confusion* that had followed thjs, movement ip the patislw" 'Hie tntu^stejs agpaioted. to this duty wero Messrs. j j^enoedy. ,of Xeu~}plepatiri>ck, I'a^tou.oj liaUyolarek *ybo reported to.^h.e nejc^ .mating, that they had kept the fwjt.ai C*rnraDpex,,biif; with,, what result ,js u p.flt atated. Mr .iShaw, the L »ilnister of , Carpjnoney,. died jkbou,fc twfO montlia aftsr tlie*t^aceurr<»D<jes. ■.. Still more tragiQ&l-wa* autrtber «we of 'alleged, witclnwaft .which openrred^io the . towa of Antrim, in the year 1696. Of this case ad account was 1 given in a pamphlet entitled " The Bewitching of a Cbdd in. Ireland, on May 0, 1698, a littU gi^l x>t nineteen (nine?) years of afc^,.. in* fvrior to none jn .the -place for beauty ? education; and hirthj jnnooently iputititt<> her mouth. a leaf «f torrel, which ahe hadgofc froma pritchi to <whom ahe had given -bread and bee's at tbeJ hall ,doQr r SheJiati xearoely swslibu^ediit!htf4eal> until i«hebß^an>to;be tortured ia^heT.bowbla, to ieenible all over,, and. ev6n-' tol be coi\t volsed, and finally to jwooo. away a* ide*d. The doctor* used remertiep, bat to ho. purpose. The 'child continue'd'in i >tnost terrible paroxysm;^ whereupon, they J nent for» intniaber, 'who had «oar«el« )ai4 -his band On heci irhcn «be was torWd'by the demon into the jnottdceadfula^iapei; She begin -fiist to roll herself about, theil to vomit liewa Anngj nm&SGI pins, hairi feathers, ""bettoms of thread, pieces of gtas^^indow 1 nails,- nails drawn dutt)f ac«rioVcoabh Wheels. «n iron kuife.ti^ont '»tp&n lori^, fish'sheels. A^d when fch'« wVetch or Witch 'who had t this eartte neaf. the plkce, 'thoogh the distance -of "two liUijdred yards- from the house where the- child was, she -was ip Woiwe'toVm&ifr, insomrwh that no life was expected f6r Wie child tilt the witch- \ra« remored to some eJestfcer distance. This wlfcHh' «*as apprehended, conde.uned, strangled, *nd buTnt before being str&nglod. She was dciired to ur^o the

incantations, but said she could not do so, by reasou that others had done thing against her likewise ; but tfie, wretch con fessed the same with many more The , child was, about the middle of September, carried to a gentleman's hous.e, wheio there were many other things done tli.it would have been scarcely creditable, but that several ministers and the gentleman at whose house they happened have attes , ted the aame. Such is the account of this melancholy j case which la given in pnntu'l pamphlet, a$ quoted by L'rofessoi Sinclair. Local tiaditiou gives anothei account, which differs somewhat from the foregoing. According to this tra.lition Cwhich existed ia the town of Antrim not many years ago, and may stdl be hrigpring there), the supposed witch of .whom we {fitvc been spoakfnq, was <i poor old woman,, who was driven mad |>y the cruel and b.irbaious treatment which she received from many of, her neigh .bours.j ou thq,gr.ound of h,er being a witoh ,^0 escape ,titys treatment ,ahe sought refuge uj, », cave, which was in, a, fitild a»ttai;necj ( ,to, the 'old, ,(not- the i present) meeting- house in Antrim. To thus den -»fep< W? ? v 4^t^y tra^l ;,and., ,tha fact r W^J'YWa B F"fil? a ifl*& b^°S thought »j, con firm jitipn. ,o| -vfliat ,was alleged against' tier, es^ejjially with reppect to, the jchirjj -^hpve rpfer^ed,to, she,, was therefore *<stabbe<j[ toMeath, and her .body, cut fyi. pieces, .wtyich were, ,then scattered overdue", places wln-re ,she was supposed to have exorcised her evil influence. The acooupt of this .affair would lqad as to think tha£ tne unfortunate woman,, before being put to , death,, was tried, and condemned by. some legal authority, But, according, to the traditionary, account, if there was any Jaw at all in , the cmse it was the Jaw which was admin • tered and executed by, Judge Lynch. We may add that, fpr some years after the death, as abovs descnb'ed^of this pobr woman, her ghost, in the form of a goat, 'was flUpposoii'toThVun't the .Mssioh-liouie of the old Bieefipg.housg which she had met her cruel, fate. For many yeais it was known as MacGregor's GhoaVwlio was sejeton of the meeting-house, when 'those things -took' place, and, who, ( prb-, bably, hadbeen concerned in 'the woman's murder. The"fast case of alleged witchcraft to which' we shall refer is o ; ne which \\o are almost afraid to mention, as it couits alarriiirig^ly oear to our own limes and neighbourhood. lii' the >ear 18GG (as recorded in thff Lafue Reporter of M.irch 31st in the Hatoe yea\r) two fannlTes re-itliiig at Upper Baf^dwfen, near Larne, suffered a series of aoa'6yandes trom having stones hUrlerl into -their' houses both by nigljt and by daj. Their neighbours came in great numbers to, try mpathise with them in their afHrction, and on one occasion, after a Volley of'stones had been pomed into the house through, the window, a yonn£ nSan who was "pi esent ' fired |a musket in the direction of the mysterioda assailants. The repjy_ was a loud peal of satoniSsl«gS?«^loliowed by a volley of *topos and turf. L , On another occagtoti of pota^^s, wliichjwas in an inner appartment or t>ne of the houses, wa(s, seen to be in commotion, and shortly "afterwards its contents were hurled into ■ thei.ltitcheni whero the inmates of the iihouse, with some of their neighbouvi, were! a«tembl«d, ■ The expUaation given by some people of '^this i .mysterious - affair was as mysterioiu a^ the affair itself. It was •aid that i many years before the oecnrrences^hich wfe bftve now related too)cplace, the farmer who then ocenpied the premises in which they happened -was greatly annoyed by imschevious tricks which were played upon 1 him by a company of fairies who had taken a fancy for holding their rendezvous in his house. consequence Was that' this man had to leave the -house, which fora long ttme stood » roofless' ruin.' After the lapse of manjr year-s, and When the story about the dilapidated fabric having been ■haunted had probably been forgotten, the people who then 'occupied the adjoining lands unfortunately took some of the stones of the old dewted mansion to repair their own dwellings. At this the fairies, or "good people," were mtjtch incensed, and fchfcy veutud fclioii* diaptea sure upon the offenders in the Way which we have described. Whether or not thfs explanatldft^lf-ABy^RUlo^Se'given of thie .^ariaus^ s^Kiep-abeut witches - and <wariochs- which" Jkfe^ fecorfifed" in' books,' olr handed dowrf«y-ttud4tion, and of which" we have prod ueed>-«— few specimens, we :mf\nt, leavfc -onr readwa to determinie •afevedllyr for tttomselves.-^ Banbradgle ■Alraaoalv •<•-.■ ; • |