or steel; hence cords could not bind him, and steel
could not slay him. But when at last he was delivered over to his
enemies, it was found necessary to adopt the ingenious and effective
expedient of rolling him up in a sheet of lead, and boiling him to
death, and so:

On a circle of stones they placed the pot,
On a circle of stones but barely nine;
They heated it red and fiery hot
And the burnished brass did glimmer and shine.
They rolled him up in a sheet of lead--
A sheet of lead for a funeral pall;
They plunged him into the cauldron red
And melted him, body, lead, bones and all.

This was the terrible end of the body of Lord Soulis, but his spirit
is supposed to still linger on the scene. And once every seven years
he keeps tryst with Red Cap on the scene of his former devilries.

And still when seven years are o'er
Is heard the jarring sound
When hollow opes the charmed door
Of chamber underground.

A tradition well-known in Yorkshire relates how on the Eagle's Crag,
otherwise nicknamed the "Witches' Horseblock," the Lady of Bernshaw
Tower made that strange compact with the devil, whereby she not only
became mistress of the country around, but the dreaded queen of the
Lancashire witches. It seems that this Lady Sybil was possessed of
almost unrivalled beauty, and scarcely a day passed without some fresh
admirer seeking her hand--an additional attraction being her great
wealth. Her intellectual attainments, too, were commonly said to be
far beyond those of her sex, and oftentimes she would visit the
Eagle's Crag in order to study nature and admire the varied aspects of
the surrounding country.

[Illustration: LADY SYBIL AT THE EAGLES' CRAG.]

It was on these occasions that Lady Sybil often felt a strong desire
to possess supernatural powers; and, in an unwary moment, it is said
that she was induced to sell her soul to the devil, in order that she
might be able to take a part in the nightly revelries of the then
famous Lancashire witches. It is added that the bond was duly attested
with her blood, and that in consequence of this compact her utmost
wishes were at all times granted. Hapton Tower was, at this time,
occupied by a junior branch of the Towneley family, and, although Lord
William had long been a suitor for the hand of Lady Sybil, his
proposals were constantly rejected. In his despair, he determined to
consult a famous Lancashire witch--one