next tied four
joints of dead men's fingers to the four feet of the cat; and then the
animal was conveyed to Leith pier and thrown into the water. Cats were
also thrown into the sea at other places on the Firth of Forth. By
these means a dreadful storm was raised, which wrecked many
ships--amongst them the ferry-boat sailing between Leith and Kinghorn,
with all on board. The fiendish crew, disappointed at the safety of
the queen, determined to endeavour to drown the king. More cats were
cast into the sea during his Majesty's voyage to Denmark; but all
infernal arts proved ineffectual, as the king had a charmed life.
Prior to their Majesties' return, another convention was held, at
which Satan himself was present. He promised to raise a mist when the
royal ships were coming home, which would cause them to land in
England. According to Dr. Fian, the devil threw something like a
foot-ball into the sea. This caused a dense fog to rise; yet, in spite
of all their plans, James and his queen arrived safe in Leith.

Not long afterwards, more plots were entered into with the view of
doing harm to the king. On Lammas-eve a grand convention was held at
the Fairyhills, Newhaven, at which were present thirty of the
principal witches and sorcerers in the country. The devil, the
presiding genius, expressed a fear that their designs would be
frustrated unless unusual measures were resorted to. He promised to
give them an image of wax; and directed them to hang up and roast a
toad, and then to lay the drippings of the toad mixed with wine, an
adder's skin, and a certain part of the forehead of a newly-foaled
foal, in the way where the king was to pass, or to hang the
preparation in a position where it might drop on his body. These plans
again miscarried; for the king escaped the dangers of them all.

At Hallow-eve of the year 1590 there was a meeting of witches and
sorcerers, including those already named, in the church of North
Berwick. According to all accounts, three hundred women and a few men
were present. They danced across the churchyard; and when they reached
the church door the women first paid their homage, turning six times
round widderschinnes, and, following them, the men performed the same
ceremony nine times. The devil, it was seriously asserted, took his
place in the pulpit, around which old-like men, holding black candles
in their hands, stood. Satan appeared as a black man, with a beard
like that of a goat and a nos