A HALLOWEEN TALE

Sir Walter Scott wrote:

On Hallowmas Eve, ere ye boune to rest,

Ever beware that your couch be blest;

Sign it with cross and sain it with bread,

Sing the Ave and the Creed.

For on Hallowmas Eve, the Night Hag shall ride

And all her nine-fold sweeping on by Her side,

Whether the wind sing lowly or loud,

Stealing through moonshine or swathed in cloud.

He that dare sit in St. Swithin's Chair,

When the Night Hag wings the troubled air,

Questions three, when he speaks the spell,

He must ask and She must tell.