his "stubborn wilfulness," ordered him once more to the
torture. His finger nails were riven out with pincers, and long needles
thrust up to the eye into the quick; but he did not wince. He was then
consigned again to the _boots_, in which, to quote a pamphlet published at
the time,[30] he continued "so long, and abode so many blows in them, that
his legs were crushed and beaten together as small as might be, and the
bones and flesh so bruised, that the blood and marrow spouted forth in
great abundance, whereby they were made unserviceable for ever."

[30] _News from Scotland, declaring the Damnable Life of Dr.
Fian_.

The astonishing similarity of the confessions of all the persons
implicated in these proceedings has often been remarked. It would appear
that they actually endeavoured to cause the king's death by their spells
and sorceries. Fian, who was acquainted with all the usual tricks of his
profession, deceived them with pretended apparitions, so that many of them
were really convinced that they had seen the devil. The sum of their
confessions was to the following effect:

Satan, who was, of course, a great foe of the reformed religion, was
alarmed that King James should marry a Protestant princess. To avert the
consequences to the realms of evil, he had determined to put an end to the
king and his bride by raising a storm on their voyage home. Satan, first
of all, sent a thick mist over the waters, in the hope that the king's
vessel might be stranded on the coast amid the darkness. This failing, Dr.
Fian, who, from his superior scholarship, was advanced to the dignity of
the devil's secretary, was commanded to summon all the witches to meet
their master, each one sailing on a sieve on the high seas.

On All Hallowmas Eve, they assembled to the number of upwards of two
hundred, including Gellie Duncan, Agnes Sampson, Euphemia Macalzean, one
Barbara Napier, and several warlocks; and each embarking in a riddle or
sieve, they sailed "over the ocean very substantially." After cruising
about for some time, they met with the fiend, bearing in his claws a cat,
which had been previously drawn nine times through the fire. This he
delivered to one of the warlocks, telling him to cast it into the sea and
cry "Hola!" This was done with all solemnity, and immediately the ocean
became convulsed, the waters hissed loudly, and the waves rose mountains
high,

"Twisting their arms to the dun-coloured heaven."