The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-11-12

clasped across the brook. A ceremony
of this description took place
between Burns and Highland Mary
When the parties had mutually
betrothed themselves, they proceeded dill
gently to revive their acquaintance with the
Church Catechism for every clergyman in
sisted that candidates for matrmony should
be able to repeat the Greed, the Command
ments, and the Lords Prayer. A marriage
was stopped by the Kirk session of Glasgow
IN 1912, until the bridegroom should inform
himself of these religious fundamentals. Lat
terly the Church has permitted persons TO
enter into the nuptial bonds without any in
quiry as to their scriptural knowledge. Be
tween the first Sunday of the proclamation of
banns and the day of marriage forty days
were allowed TO eapse. The reason of the
delay has not been explained. On the even
ing before the wedding, the bride was at
tended by her maidens, who proceeded to
wash her feet. Much diversion was a con-
comitant of the ceremonial; It ended with
festivities.
Concerning Gretna Green marriages and
Paisley. the tobacconist, Of whose assistance
SO many runaway lovers availed themselves
during half century, Mr.. Rogers tells
nothing that is not known to everybody, save
that Paisley's fee for marrying poor couple
was "a noggin, that is, two gills of brandy
With respect TO Ruglen marriages and the
customary Obseryances of births, he re-
marks:--
In the burgh Of Rutherglen, Lanarllshire,
until within the last twenty years, persons
were married. without proclamation OF banns,
by a peculiar arrangement on the part of the
authorities. a friend Of The parties was sent
TO the Procurator Fiscal, to lodge information
that they had been married without legal
banns. The Fiscal summoned the delinquents
before the Sheriff, who, on their admitting
h. e
The Fiscal took the penalty and handed to the
parties a printed form, duly filled up, which,
by discharging the fine, certified the mar
riage. Ruglct or Rutherglen marriages have
passed into proverb. a birth was attended
with much concern to the wives OF the neigh
borhood. They fastened to make personal
inquiry concerning the mothers health, and
to embrace the young stranger. Every new
born child was. irrespective of the season Of
the year, plunged into n vessel of cold
water. Before touching the infant the female
visitors crossed themselves with a burning
brand. When the heir Of an e5tate was born,
he was exhibited to the tcnantry. The neglect
Of such proceeding would have led to I'M
favorable rumors concerning the young
stranger There is a tradition in Fifeshire
that one of the infant ings was exhibited to
the public on payment prOportiOned to the
rank of each spectator, and that the humber
monarch on the presentation of n small coin,
equal to the English halpenny, and which
consequently was styled a bawbee."
About witches and their perseutors, of whom
the tercest and most fanatcal were the
clergy, who denounced most loudly the super
stitions of the Catholicb Church. Mr.. Rogers
says much that is alike entertaining and Just:
''On receiving her vow of perpetual fealty,
the Devil handed the witch piece of money,
,N,,f ho-,
ture of this mark was subject Of discussion
among those who prosecuted chronological
inquiries. Sir George Mackenzie, the Lord
Advocate, has described the mark as a discol-
ored spot, caused by nip or pinch, and re-
sembling a farmers buist, or mark on his
flock of sheep Mr.. John Bell, minister of
Gladsmuir, writing in 1905, remarks, The
witches mark is sometimes like blew spot,
OF little tet, or red spots like fea-biting;
sometimes. also, the flesh is sunk in and hol-
low, and this is put in secret places, as
among the hair of the head and eye
brows, within lips, under the armpits,
etc. In his Secret Commonwealth
Mr.. John Kirk, minister of Aberfoyle,
describes the mark 'as a small mole, horny
and brown-colored, through which mark
whom large brass pin was thrust till it was
bowed (bent) the witches, both men and
women, neither felt a pain nor did it bleed
For the discovery of the witch-mark, which
was the first process towards conviction, the
authorities had recourse to the pricker,' or
witch-inder.' Men who prosecuted this vo-
cation were to be found in every district, and
their occupation, cruel and revolving as it
was, did not exclude them from respectable
rank, and even civic honors were awarded
them. Among the members of the frater-
nifty were John Kincaid and George Cathie,
two noted 'prickers. The latter resided near
Glasgow: he was considered by the Church
courts of the west an expert at his profession,
and he continued to retain their confidence,
even after he had condemned as witches twelve
parishioners of Crawford Douglas, who were
! proved on their trial to have been charged by
! a lunatic John Kincaid resided in his villa
at Tranent, East Lothian his hands were con-
stantly full of work. He was constituted
Common pricker' to the Court Of Justiciary,
and his circuit Of employment among ecclesi-
astical and commission courts extended from
the county of Aberdeen to the English border.
! His fees Of service increased as the reputation
of his skill made progress. From the Kirk
session of Stow, Midlothian, he received
six pounds Scots for the brodding of Marga-
ret Denham in IGi9' but the Town Council
of Forfar paid him much more literally
for similar services in 1861, besides voting
him n burgess ticket! So proficient was
Kincaid in his nefariOus art that he never
failed to discover the Devils mark;
hence all he pricled were sure to
perish at the stake. He ventured at length
to prosecute his vocation on his own account,
by seizing those he personally suspected, and
subj jecting them to his tortuTes; but this dis
play Of zeal was checked, the Justiciary Court
subjecting him TO imprisonment After ex-
| periencing nine weeks detention in the Edin-