Publications of the Clan Lindsay Society - Electric Scotland

THE UOUSE OF DUNROl). 39
In Aulclkiik * the witches rydu thick,
And in Duniod thay dwell :
The grait^st loon aniang tluiiin a'
Is auld Duniod hiiasell.
One of these Inverkip witches, Mario Tiamont, in
1662 made confession ''that fyve years since Kattrein
Scot, in Mudiestean, within tlie panochin of Innerkii),
learned her to take kyes milk, hiding her gue out in
mistie mornings, and take with her a harrie tedder
and draw it over the mouth of a mug, flaying, 'In
God's name, God send us milk, God send it, and
meikle of it.' By this meanes shee and the said
Kattrein got much of their neighbour's milk, and made
butter and cheise thereof" f
"Auld Dunrod" was believed to en(^;in;e in the
same nefarious practice ; but, as became a master in
the art, his method was more subtle and more eflective.
Auld Dunrod was a goustic J carle,
As ever ye niicht see ;
And gin he was na a warlock wicht, §
There was nane in the hail countrie.
Auld Dunrod stack in a pin
(A bourtree pin ||) in the wa'.
And when he wanted his neighbours milk,
He just gied the pin a thraw. H
After the disjunction of the parish of Greenock from Inverkip, the
village of Inverkip, as the seat of the original parochial church, was
familiarly known as Auldkirk.
t Law's Mcmurialls : Prefat. Notice hy C. Kirkpatrick Sharpe,
p. LXX.
I Ghostly.
§ If he was not a potent wizard.
Elder tree pin.
II
H Gave the pin a twist.