ldren
upon earth until he were got rid of; that the devil upon these
occasions always liked to have a little music, and that Gellie Duncan
used to play a reel before him on a trump or Jew's harp, to which all
the witches danced.

James was highly flattered at the idea that the devil should have said
that he was the greatest enemy he ever had. He sent for Gellie Duncan
to the palace, and made her play before him the same reel which she had
played at the witches' dance in the kirk.

Dr. Fian, or rather Cunningham, a petty schoolmaster at Tranent, was
put to the torture among the rest. He was a man who had led an infamous
life, was a compounder of and dealer in poisons, and a pretender to
magic. Though not guilty of the preposterous crimes laid to his charge,
there is no doubt that he was a sorcerer in will, though not in deed,
and that he deserved all the misery he endured. When put on the rack,
he would confess nothing, and held out so long unmoved, that the severe
torture of the boots was resolved upon. He endured this till exhausted
nature could bear no longer, when Insensibility kindly stepped in to
his aid. When it was seen that he was utterly powerless, and that his
tongue cleaved to the roof of his mouth, he was released. Restoratives
were administered; and during the first faint gleam of returning
consciousness, he was prevailed upon to sign, ere he well knew what he
was about, a full confession, in strict accordance with those of Gellie
Duncan and Agnes Sampson. He was then remanded to his prison, from
which, after two days, he managed, somehow or other, to escape. He was
soon recaptured, and brought before the Court of Justiciary, James
himself being present. Fian now denied all the circumstances of the
written confession which he had signed; whereupon the King, enraged at
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 still he did not wince. He was then
consigned again to the boots, in which, to quote a pamphlet published
at the time, [News from Scotland, declaring the damnable life of Dr.
Fian.] 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."

The astonishing similarity