Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 8, 1897.djvu/242

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Ghost Lights of the West Highlands.

a light on the spot on which the lighthouse now stands. Special notice was taken of it, and some elucidation looked for. The erection of the lighthouse is held to have cleared up the mystery."

That the activities of Satan as an angel of light are not confined within the experiences of married men and would- be Benedicks the following will show, and that on professional authority: "At one time the beadle in the church at K——— had sorted the seats in prospect of the communion service on the following Sabbath. After he left, and somewhat late at night, he saw a light in the church, and on going down he heard voices inside, as if the seats were being moved about. He thought it might be the minister dissatisfied with what he had done, and that he was altering the arrangement. When, however, he went down to the manse, the minister was in the house. On telling what he had seen and heard, the minister said: "Oh, never mind, leave things alone; it is only the Evil One trying to put against us."

That the interpretations of the significance of such lights may be influenced by personal feeling we must be prepared to admit, whether the following is a case in point or not:

From Conispie, Islay. "A man went to visit a neighbour one Sabbath night, and on his way home he saw straight before him two lights about three feet apart. Though he changed his course to avoid them, they still kept in the way before him. On reaching home he told his wife, who said: 'No wonder, going to claver about worldly affairs on Sabbath night.'" The authority for this adds: "He took good care not to go and visit his neighbour again on Sabbath night."

"A man engaged at one of the ports at which the steamer I ——— called dreamed once or twice that he saw part of the steamer on fire. He told the other workmen his dream, and seemed to be of the opinion that there was some significance in it. Next time the steamer called, a row arose on board, among the passengers, and some of them had to be tied. The man who had dreamed of the fire, said to his fellows,