uld she lie but in the bonnie green
kirkyard of Kier, among douce and sponsible fowk. So I'll vow that the
wine of a witch's cup is as fell liquor as ever did a kindly turn to a
poor man's heart; and be they fiends, or be they witches, if they have
red wine asteer, I'll risk a drouket sark for ae glorious tout on't."

"'Silence, ye sinners,' said the minister's son of a neighbouring parish,
who united in his own person his father's lack of devotion with his
mother's love of liquor. 'Whist!--speak as if ye had the fear of
something holy before ye. Let the vessels run their own way to
destruction: who can stay the eastern wind, and the current of the Solway
sea? I can find ye Scripture warrant for that; so let them try their
strength on Blawhooly rocks, and their might on the broad quicksand.
There's a surf running there would knock the ribs together of a galley
built by the imps of the pit, and commanded by the Prince of Darkness.
Bonnily and bravely they sail away there, but before the blast blows by
they'll be wrecked; and red wine and strong brandy will be as rife as
dyke-water, and we'll drink the health of bonnie Bell Blackness out of
her left-foot slipper.'

"The speech of the young profligate was applauded by several of his
companions, and away they flew to the bay of Blawhooly, from whence they
never returned. The two vessels were observed all at once to stop in the
bosom of the bay, on the spot where their hulls now appear; the mirth and
the minstrelsy waxed louder than ever, and the forms of maidens, with
instruments of music and wine-cups in their hands, thronged the decks. A
boat was lowered; and the same shadowy pilot who conducted the ships made
it start towards the shore with the rapidity of lightning, and its head
knocked against the bank where the four young men stood who longed for
the unblest drink. They leaped in with a laugh, and with a laugh were
they welcomed on deck; wine-cups were given to each, and as they raised
them to their lips the vessels melted away beneath their feet, and one
loud shriek, mingled with laughter still louder, was heard over land and
water for many miles. Nothing more was heard or seen till the morning,
when the crowd who came to the beach saw with fear and wonder the two
Haunted Ships, such as they now seem, masts and tackle gone; nor mark,
nor sign, by which their name, country, or destination could be known,
was left remaining. Such is the tradition of the marine