I
find it mentioned in the articles of distay against Ailsie Gourlay--for
it is some comfort to know that the old hag was tried, condemned, and
burned on the top of North Berwick Law, by sentence of a commission
from the privy council--I find, I say, it was charged against her, among
other offences, that she had, by the aid and delusions of Satan, shown
to a young person of quality, in a mirror glass, a gentleman then
abroad, to whom the said young person was betrothed, and who appeared in
the vision to be in the act of bestowing his hand upon another lady. But
this and some other parts of the record appear to have been studiously
left imperfect in names and dates, probably out of regard to the honour
of the families concerned. If Dame Gourlay was able actually to play
off such a piece of jugglery, it is clear she must have had better
assistance to practise the deception than her own skill or funds could
supply. Meanwhile, this mysterious visionary traffic had its usual
effect in unsettling Miss Ashton's mind. Her temper became unequal,
her health decayed daily, her manners grew moping, melancholy,
and uncertain.
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