The Sun.
London, England, 1833-11-08 00:00:00

DEATH OF A WARLOCK.

On the sth ult. were deposited in their las
abode in the church-yard of Kirkmichael,
Strathdown, the mortal remains of Gregor Mac-
gregor, alias Willox, whose name, if not his
person, has been long and extensively known in
the northern counties as "IV//lox the Warlock."
Gregor was the last of a line of ancestors, long,
the objects of awe and veneration, as the pos-
sessors of the• only means ever known of prying
into futurity, and of controlling and circumvent-
ing the works of both; natural and supernatural
agents ! This singular faculty consisted in the
use of two articles—the history of which cannot
fail to be interesting to the " curious reader."
One of these was a piece of yellow metal re-
sembling the bit of a horse's bridle, which in
the days of ycie was sported by a mischievous
water Kelpie, who haunted the banks of
Loch Ness and Loch Spynie, decked out in the
similitude and trappings of a fine riding horse,
for the purpose of entrapping weary travellers
and horse jockeys. The spirit was jockeyed in his
turn by a renowned Macgregor, who, with his
claymore, cut the bit out of the kelpie's jan.,
and afterwards succeeded by some good ma-
nagement in extracting from the kelpie an ac-
count of his virtues, under promise of returning
to him his bit, a promise which the wily captor
did not find it convenient to fulfil. The other
instrument consists of a piece of pellucid matter
resembling the nob or bottom of a crystal bottle,
which, according to Willox, once glittered in the
firmament as a brilliant star, but which, having
in the course of time fallen into the sea, became
the prize of a fair mermaid who happened to
take a fancy to a brave Macgregor, who ex-
torted from his aquatic sweetheart the precious
gem. The bit was pierced by several holes, on
looking through which the hereditary proprietor,
by a faculty peculiar to himself, was enabled
to view the various species of supernatural
agents, whose acts and machinations were
clearly exposed to his observation ; and
on dipping the mermaid's stone into a ves-
sel filled with water, he was enabled to see
reflected on the vessel the image of some hag
engaged in her infernal work, while the water,
deriving virtue from the stone, was a perfect
cure and protection to the objects of her malevo-
lence I Strange as it may appear to the enlight-
ened reader, these credentials transmitted from
father to son, obtained for many ages implicit
faith amongst the peasantry of Scotland from
Perth to John O'Groats, and the stone and
bridle were daily consulted by unfortunate pil-
grims—so that the stone might be truly called
the philosopher's stone, as it converted water
into gold, by a process, perhaps more circuitous,
but equally certain, as the object of the chymist's
fruitless research. Of late years, however,
owing to the rapidly progressing intelligence of
the Highlanders, Willox began to experience the
truth of the proverb—" that a prophet has no
honour in his own country."—Still he clung to
his " black art," and the arch speciousness with
which he puffed forth the history and virtues of
his oracles, and the facetious fund of traditional
lore which was blended with his descriptions,
brought him many visiters. In his dealings,
the magician sometimes " raised spirits which
he could not lay." Having, it is said, once
waited on a gallant Nobleman bound for a cam-
paign, to give him a charm against the French-
men's bullets, the offer was accepted, but the
nobleman insisted that the'efficieney of the spell
should be instantly put to the test by an expe-
riment on the Warlock's own person, a fiery
ordeal which he could not reasonably decline,
but from which it is said, he fled with any thing
but honour. Viewing poor Willox apart from
his profession of a necromancer, to which, how-
ever, he adhered to his dying day, despite the
praiseworthy exertions of his pastors and friends,
there was nothing very reprehensible in his
character or conduct.—lnverness Courier.