ntly obtained one from the form
they loved to assume; for example, the familiars of the witches in
"Macbeth"--Paddock (toad), Graymalkin (cat), and Harpier (harpy,
possibly). Is it surprising that, with resources of this nature at his
command, such an adept in the art of necromancy as Owen Glendower
should hold Harry Percy, much to his disgust, at the least nine hours

"In reckoning up the several devils' names
That were his lackeys"?

Of the twenty devils mentioned by Shakspere, four only belong to the
class of greater devils. Hecate, the principal patroness of witchcraft,
is referred to frequently, and appears once upon the scene.[1] The two
others are Amaimon and Barbazon, both of whom are mentioned twice.
Amaimon was a very important personage, being no other than one of the
four kings. Ziminar was King of the North, and is referred to in "Henry
VI. Part I.;"[2] Gorson of the South; Goap of the West; and Amaimon of
the East. He is mentioned in "Henry IV. Part I.,"[3] and "Merry
Wives."[4] Barbazon also occurs in the same passage in the latter play,
and again in "Henry V."[5]--a fact that does to a slight extent help to
bear out the otherwise ascertained chronological sequence of these
plays. The remainder of the devils belong to the second class. Nine of
these occur in "King Lear," and will be referred to again when the
subject of possession is touched upon.[6]

[Footnote 1: It is perhaps worthy of remark that in every case except
the allusion in the probably spurious Henry VI., "I speak not to that
railing Hecate," (I Hen. VI. III. ii. 64), the name is "Hecat," a
di-syllable.]

[Footnote 2: V. iii. 6.]

[Footnote 3: II. iv. 370.]

[Footnote 4: II. ii. 311.]

[Footnote 5: II. i. 57. Scot, p. 393.]

[Footnote 6: sec. 65.]

39. (ii.) It would appear that each of the greater devils, on the rare
occasion upon which he made his appearance upon earth, assumed a form
peculiar to himself; the lesser devils, on the other hand, had an
ordinary type, common to the whole species, with a capacity for almost
infinite variation and transmutation which they used, as will be seen,
to the extreme perplexity and annoyance of mortals. As an illustration
of the form in which a greater devil might appear, this is what Scot
says of the questionable Balam, above mentioned: "Balam cometh with
three heads, the first of a bull, the second of a man, and the third of
a ram. He hath a serpent's taile, and flaming eies; riding