Ane Interlude Of The Laying Of A Gaist.

ex. Bannatyne MSS, 1568-1575                  Trans. Scalylizard 1999

Listen, lordis, I sall you tell,             Listen, Lords, and I shall tell

Off ane very grit marvell,                You of a great marvel

Off Lord Fergussis gaist,                 Of the fairy of the Fergusons

How meikle Sir Andro it chest,       How it chased meek Sir Andrew

Unto Beittokis bour,                        Into the forest of Bettokis

The silly sawle to succour :              And to set his soul at ease

And he hes writtin unto me             He has written to me

Auld storeis for to se                      About the old folklore, so

Gif it appinis him to meit,              Should he happen to meet the                                                                             Sprite

How he sall conjure the spreit.        He could banish it from himself

And I haif red mony quars,            For I have read many books

Bath the Donet, and Dominus que pars,      Studied both superstition and liturgy

Ryme maid, and als redene            I am a poet and can also read

Baith Inglis and Latene :                Both in English and Latin

And ane story haif I to reid,          And I had just the remedy

Passes Bonitatem in the creid.       To protect him and his family

To conjure the litill gaist he mon haif     To summon the faerie he must have

Of tod’s tails ten thraif,                 Ten foxes tails

And kast the grit holy water          And sprinkle the ground with holy water

With pater noster, pitter patter       While praying and crossing himself

And ye man sit in a compas,         And he must sit inside a circle

And cry, Harbert tuthless,             And invoke his ancestors

Drag thow, and ye’s draw,             The circle must be carefully drawn

And sit thair quhill cok craw.        And he must remain there until morning

The compas mon hallowit be         The circle will then be purified

With aspergis me Domine :           By prayers to Our Lord

The haly writ schawis als              The Bible’s hero reveals all

Thair man be hung about your hals     Whose image you hang about your neck

Pricket in ane woll poik                Break open a woollen pouch

Of neis powder ane grit loik.        Of snuff, and pour it all out

Thir thingis mon ye beir               And you must have the following things

Brynt in ane doggis eir,                To burn in a dog’s ear :

Ane pluck, ane pindill, and ane palme cors,      A feather, a necklace, and a palm heart

Thre tuskis of ane awld hors,        Three teeth from an old horse

And of ane yallow wob the warp,      And a piece of saffron cloth

The boddome of ane auld herp,    The footpiece of a harp

The heid of ane cuttit reill,            The head of a

The band of an awld quheill,

The taill of ane yeild sow,             The tail of a piglet’s mother

And ane bait of blew wow,           And a bit of blue wool

Ane botene, and ane brechame,    A button and a horse-yoke

And ane quhorle made of lame,    And a metal spindle-whirl

To luke out at the litill boir,          Peer out of the circle

And cry, Crystis cross, you befoir :     Cry out "Christ’s Cross" and soon

And quhen you see the litill gaist,      You will see the faerie

Cumand to you in all haist,             Immediately command it

Cry loud, Cryste eleisone,               Aloud : Kyrie Eleison

And speir what law it levis on ?     And ask it whose laws it obeys

And gif it sayis on Godis ley,          If it says that it obeys God

Than to the litill gaist ye say,          Then say to the faerie

With braid benedicite :                  With a brave and steady voice :

"Litill gaist, I conjure the,              "Faerie, I command you

With lierie and larie,                      With laying and with lore

Bayth fra God, and Sanct Marie     Both of God and Mother Mary

First with ane fischis mouth,          I compel you with a fish’s jaw

And syne with ane sowis towth,     And also with a sow’s tooth

With ten pertane tais,                      And with these ten crab’s claws

And nyne knokis of windil strais,   And with nine knots in this cord

With thre heids of curle doddy."      And three sheaves of "Curly Doud"

And bid the gaist turn in a boddy.    Then command the faerie to incorporate

Then efter this conjuratioun,           After this ceremony

The litill gaist will fall in soun,        The faerie will be docile

And thair efter down ly,                 And will lie down

Cryand mercy peteously ;               And beg for mercy

Then with your left heil sane,         Then make a cross with your left heel

And it will nevir cum againe,         And the faerie will never come again

As meikle as a mige amaist.           As meek as a mosquito in a storm

He had a litill we leg,                     The fairie had one little leg

And it was cant as any cleg,          And it was as bent as a gad-fly’s

It wes wynd in ane wynden schet,     It was bound in a winding sheet

Baith the handis and the feit :         Bound hand and foot

Suppose this gaist was litill,           But though the faerie was small

Yit it stal Godis quhitell ;               Even it obeys God’s laws

It stal frae peteous Abrahame,        It stole from poor Abraham

Ane quhorle and ane quhim quhame ;     With a whirl and a whim-wham

It stal frae ye carle of ye mone         It stole from your purse and

Ane payr of awld yin schone ;         In a pair of your one-soled shoes

It rane to Pencatelane,                    It ran to Pancras Lane

And wirreit ane awld chaplane.      And harrassed an old preacher

This litill gaist did na mair ill         Afterwards, the faerie did nothing worse

But clok lyk a corn mill ;              Than click and clack like a mill

And it wald play and hop,             And it would skip and play

About the heid ane stre strop ;      And wear a crown of straw

And it wald sing, and it wald dance      And it would sing and dance

Oure fute, and Orliance.              Doing the Overfoot and the Orleans

Quha conjurit the litill gaist say ye ?     Who caught the faerie in the end, you ask?

Nane but the litill Spenzie fle,      None other than the Spanish Fly

That with hir wit and her ingyne,     Who, with plans and spells

Gart the gaist leif agane ;             Bound the faerie to stay

And sune mareit the gaist the fle,     And soon the fly married the faerie

And croun’d him King of Kandelie ;      And crowned him him King of Kandely

And they gat theme betwene       And they took their place in the court

Orpheus King and Elpha Quene.     Of King Orpheus and the Elphin Queen

To reid quha will this gentill geist,      You believe what you will about this faerie

Ye hard it not at Cockilby’s feist.      But you didn’t hear it from me