Often was the horn slipped slyly into the hole, and in
return it never failed to be flung at the head of some one, but most
commonly at the person who placed it there. They were used to call this
pastime, in the provincial dialect, "laking wi' t' Boggart;" that is,
playing with the Boggart. An old tailor, whom I but faintly remember,
used to say that the horn was often "pitched" at his head, and at the
head of his apprentice, whilst seated here on the kitchen table, when
they went their rounds to work, as is customary with country tailors. At
length the goblin, not contented with flinging the horn, returned to his
night persecutions. Heavy steps, as of a person in wooden clogs, were at
first heard clattering down-stairs in the dead hour of darkness; then
the pewter and earthern dishes appeared to be dashed on the
kitchen-floor; though in the morning all remained uninjured on their
respective shelves. The children generally were marked out as objects of
dislike by their unearthly tormentor. The curtains of their beds would
be violently pulled to and fro,--then a heavy weight, as of a human
being, would press them nearly to suffocation, from which it was
impossible to escape.
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