ey entered, bearing lights and
torches, and beheld, lying in their daughter's arms, a monster, fearsome
and dreadful beyond human belief. All the neighbours ran quickly to behold
the grisly sight, and amongst them a good priest, well acquainted with
pagan rites. When he had come anear, and had said some verses of the
Gospel of Saint John, the fiend vanished with a terrible noise, bearing
away the roof of the chamber, and leaving the bed in flames. In three
days' time the girl gave birth to a monstrous child, more hideous than
anything heretofore seen in Scotland, wherefore the nurses, to keep off
disgrace from the family, caused it to be burnt on a pile of wood. There
is another story of a youth living about fourteen miles from Aberdeen, who
was visited every night by a demon lady of wonderful loveliness, though he
bolted and locked his chamber-door; but by fasting and praying and
keeping his thoughts fixed on holy things he rid himself at last of the
unclean spirit.[131] He quotes from Boethius the whole story of
Macbeth,[132] and tells how "Duffus rex" languished and wasted under the
malefic arts of certain witches who made an image of the king in wax and,
by using various incantations, let the same melt slowly away before the
fire. The unhappy king came near to die, but, as soon as these nefarious
practices were discovered, the image was destroyed, whereupon the king was
restored to health.[133]

When Cardan received the first letter from Scotland the manuscript of the
_De Varietate_ must have been ready or nearly ready for the printer; but,
for some reason or other, he determined to postpone the publication of the
work until he should have finished with the Archbishop, and took his
manuscript with him when he set forth on his travels. In 1550 there came
another break in Cardan's life as Professor at Pavia, the reason being the
usual one of dearth of funds.[134] In 1551 he went back for a short time,
but the storms of war were rising on all sides, and the luckless city of
Pavia was in the very centre of the disturbance. The French once more
crossed the Alps, pillaging and devastating the country, their ostensible
mission being the vindication of the rights of Ottavio Farnese to the
Duchy of Parma. Ottavio had quarrelled with Pope Julius III., who called
upon the Emperor for assistance. War was declared, and Charles set to work
to annex Parma and Piacenza as well to the Milanese. Cardan withdrew to
Milan at the end of