urs the following passage:--

"A marvel high and strange is seen full many a time--
When to the murdered body nigh the man that did the crime,
Afresh the wounds will bleed. The marvel now was found--
That Hagan felled the champion with treason to the ground."

Several centuries after this, we find it mentioned in another ballad,
entitled "Young Huntin":--

"O white were his wounds washen,
As white as a linen clout,
But when Lady Maisry she cam' near,
His wounds they gushed out."

The reason for this marvel was ascribed by the Rev. Mr. Wodrow, to the
wonderful providence of God, who had said, "thou shalt not suffer a
murderer to live," and had, in order that the command might be justly
carried out, provided the means whereby murderers might be readily
detected. This superstition certainly survived within this century, and
I have heard many instances adduced to prove the truth of bleeding
taking place on the introduction of the murderer.

Another curious form of belief was prevalent among some persons, that
the body of a suicide would not decay until the time arrived when, in
the ordinary course of nature, he would have died. This was founded upon
another belief, that there is a day of death appointed for every man,
which no one can pass; but as man is possessed of a free will, he may,
by his own wicked determination, shorten the union of his soul and body,
but that there his power ends: he cannot in reality kill either soul or
body, for were he to possess this power, he would possess the power to
alter the decrees of God, which is a power impossible for man to
possess. This was a mad, not deep, sort of metaphysics; but there was
sufficient method in its madness to cause it to gain the suffrages of a
large number of people. It was affirmed that those who had examined into
the matter had found that the bodies of suicides were mysteriously
preserved from decomposition until the day arrived on which they would
naturally--that is, according to God's decree--have died. About the year
1834, I was taking a walk along the banks of the canal north of Glasgow,
and sat down beside a group of well-dressed men, who were conversing on
general topics, and amongst other things touched on the matter of
suicides--proximity to the canal probably suggested the subject. One of
the group pointed out a quiet spot where he affirmed that _Bob Dragon_,
an old Glasgow celebrity, had been buried. Bob, he said,