Excerpt from Popular Traditions of Lancashire, Vol. 3 of 3 The house itself is one of those ancient, gabled, black and white edifices, now fast disappearing under the giant march of improvement, which tramples down alike the palace and the cottage, the peasant's hut and the patrician's dwelling. Many windows, of little lozenge-shaped panes, set in lead, might be seen here In all the various stages Of renovation and decay - some stuffed with clouts, party-coloured and various - others, where the work of devastation had been more complete, wholly darkened by brick-bats, coble-stones, and many other ingenious substitutes and expedients to keep out the weather. But our tale bath a particular bearing to other and more terrific days the Olden time, so fruitful in marvels and extravagances - the very poetry of the black art; when Satan communed visibly and audibly with the children of men - thanks to invokers of relics and tellers of beads - and was so familiar and reasonable withal as to argue and per' suade men touching the propriety of submitting themselves to him, as rational and intelligent creatures; and even silly enough, at times, to suffer himself to be outwitted by the greater sagacity and address of his intended Victims. For proof, we cite the following veracious narrative, which bears within it every internal mark of truth, and matter for grave and serious reflection. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.