and be they fiends,
or be they witches, if they have red wine asteer, I'll risk a drouket
sark for ae glorious tout on't.'--'Silence, ye sinners,' said the
minister's son of a neighboring parish, who united in his own person
his father's lack of devotion with his mother's love of liquor.
'Whisht!--speak as if ye had the fear of something holy before
ye. Let the vessels run their own way to destruction: who can stay
the eastern wind, and the current of the Solway sea? I can find
ye Scripture warrant for that: so let them try their strength on
Blawhooly rocks, and their might on the broad quicksand. There's a
surf running there would knock the ribs together of a galley built
by the imps of the pit, and commanded by the Prince of Darkness.
Bonnilie and bravely they sail away there; but before the blast
blows by they'll be wrecked: and red wine and strong brandy will
be as rife as dyke-water, and we'll drink the health of bonnie
Bell Blackness out of her left-foot slipper.'

"The speech of the young profligate was applauded by several of
his companions, and away they flew to the bay of Blawhooly, from
whence they never returned. The two vessels were observed all at
once to stop in the bosom of the bay on the spot where their hulls
now appear: the mirth and the minstrelsy waxed louder than ever;
and the forms of maidens, with instruments of music, and wine-cups
in their hands, thronged the decks. A boat was lowered; and the
same shadowy pilot who conducted the ships made it start toward
the shore with the rapidity of lightning, and its head knocked
against the bank where the four young men stood, who longed for
the unblest drink. They leaped in with a laugh, and with a laugh
were they welcomed on deck; wine-cups were given to each, and as
they raised them to their lips the vessels melted away beneath
their feet; and one loud shriek, mingled with laughter still louder,
was heard over land and water for many miles. Nothing more was heard
or seen till the morning, when the crowd who came to the beach saw
with fear and wonder the two Haunted Ships, such as they now seem,
masts and tackle gone; nor mark, nor sign, by which their name,
country, or destination could be known, was left remaining. Such is
the tradition of the mariners; and its truth has been attested by
many families whose sons and whose fathers have been drowned in
the haunted bay of Blawhooly."

"And trow ye," said the old woman, who, attracted from her hut by