He was put to bed and means used for his recovery, but when he came out of the fit he was raving mad and talked of such frightful things that his family were quite terrified.

He continued till next day in the same state, but at length his senses returned and he desired to see the minister alone.
"After a long conversation with him he called all his family round his bed, and required from each of his children and his wife a solemn promise that they would none of them ever pass over a particular spot in the moor between Longformacus and Greenlaw, known by the name of 'The Foul Fords' (it is the ford over a little water-course just east of Castle Shields).

He assigned no reason to them for this demand, but the promise was given and he spoke no more, and died that evening.
"About ten years after his death, his eldest son Henry Keane had to go to Greenlaw on business, and in the afternoon he prepared to return home.

The last person who saw him as he was leaving the town was the blacksmith of Spottiswood, John Michie.

He tried to persuade Michie to accompany him home, which he refused to do as it would take him several miles out of his way.