Formula of old used in Orkney to acquire witchcraft

Formula of old used in Orkney to acquire witchcraft. - Mr. Dennison wrote it down nearly 50 years ago from the recital of an old Orkney woman - grand-daughter of a noted witch. The Formula to be gone though to obtain witchcraft (or as Mr. Dennison says, in plain English, a formula for giving one’s self to the Devil) was as follows:

the person wishing to acquire the witch’s knowledge must go to the sea-shore at midnight, must, as he goes, turn three times against the course of the sun, must lie down flat on his back with his head to the south, and on ground between the lines of high and low water. He must grasp a stone in each hand, have a stone at the side of each foot, a stone at his head, a flat stone on his chest, and another over his heart; and must lie with arms and legs stretched out. He will then shut his eyes, and slowly repeat the following Incantation:

Oh, Mester King o’ a’ that’s ill,
Come fill me wi’ the warlock skill,
An’ I sall serve wi’ all me will.
Trow tak’ me gin I sinno!
Trow tak’ me gin I winno!
Trow tak’ me whin I cinno!
Come tak’ me noo, an’ take’ me a’,
Tak’ lights an’ liver, pluck an’ ga’,
Tak’ me, tak’ me, noo, I say,
Fae de how o’ de head tae de tip of de tae;
Tak’ a’ dat’s oot an’ in o’ me,
Tak’ hide an’ hair an’ a’ tae’ thee,
Tak’ hert an’ harns, flesh, bleud, an’ büns,
Tak’ a’ atween de seeven stüns
I de name o’ de muckle black Wallawa!

The person must lie quiet for a little time after repeating the Incantation. Then opening his eyes, he should turn on his left side, arise and fling the stones used in the operation into the sea. Each stone must be flung singly; and with the throwing of each a certain malediction was said. Mr. Dennison’s informat professed to have forgotten the terms of the malediction, but he rather suspected she considered the imprecations too shocking to repeat.

From Country folk-lore, by the Folklore Society (Great Britain), 1901 - p. 51-52

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