haur they had come
frae. They gaed thegither i' the middle o' the nicht, an' it was
thocht next mornin' 'at the ghost had spirited them awa.

"Ye couldna conceive hoo low-spirited we all were after the masons had
gien up hope o' findin' a nat'ral cause for the soond. At ord'nar
times there's no ony mair lichtsome place than a farm after the men hae
come in to their supper, but at the Bog we sat dour an' sullen; an'
there wasna a mason or a farm-servant 'at would gang by 'imsel as far
as the end o' the hoose whaur the peats was keepit. The mistress maun
hae saved some siller that spring through the Egyptians (gypsies)
keepin' awa, for the farm had got sic an ill name, 'at nae tinkler
would come near 't at nicht. The tailorman an' his laddie 'at should
hae bidden wi' us to sew things for the men, walkit off fair skeered
one mornin', an' settled doon at the farm o' Craigiebuckle fower mile
awa, whaur our lads had to gae to them. Ay, I mind the tailor's
sendin' the laddie for the money owin' him; he hadna the speerit to
venture again within soond o' the cradle 'imsel. The men on the farm
though, couldna blame 'im for that. They were juist as flichtered
themsels, an' mony a time I saw them hittin' the dogs for whinin' at
the soond. The wy the dogs took on was fearsome in itsel, for they
seemed to ken, aye when nicht cam on, 'at the rockin' would sune begin,
an' if they werena chained they cam runnin' to the hoose. I hae heard
the hale glen fu, as ye micht say, wi' the whinin' o' dogs, for the
dogs on the other farms took up the cry, an' in a glen ye can hear
soonds terrible far awa at nicht.

"As lang as we sat i' the kitchen, listenin' to what the mester had to
say aboot the ghosts in his young days, the cradle would be still, but
we were nae suner awa speeritless to our beds than it began, an'
sometimes it lasted till mornin'. We lookit upon the mester almost wi'
awe, sittin' there sae helpless in his chair, an' no fleid to be left
alane. He had lang white hair, an' a saft bonny face 'at would hae
made 'im respeckit by onybody, an' aye when we speired if he wasna
fleid to be left alane, he said, 'Them 'at has a clear conscience has
naething to fear frae ghosts.'

"There was some 'at said the curse would never leave the farm till the
house was razed to the ground, an' it's the truth I'm tellin' ye when I
say there was talk among the men aboot settin 't on fire. The mester
was richt stern when he heard o' that