Helping you to an understanding of the Deil's Creel you have more verses by Burns if you care to turn to them: -

The Deil cam' fiddlin' through the town And danced awa' wi' the Exciseman,

And ilka wife cries - Auld Mahoun, I wish ye luck o' the prize man !

The name of the Deil was, and is, freely quoted in jest in Scotland, and a favourite quatrain is -

Some say the Deil's deid, the Deil's deid, the Deil's deid ! Some say the Deil's deid an' buried in Kirkcaldy. Some say he'll rise again, he'll rise again he'll rise again; Some say he'll rise again an' dance the "Hielan' laddie."

He rises frequently at the "Deil's Creel"! But what is a "creel"? It is the old familiar name for a basket. Scots speak of a peat creel, or a fish creel, and as peats or fish may be placed in a creel, higgledy-piggledy as we say, so to be " in a creel "means to be in a state of mental confusion or perplexity. You get a fine reference to the fish creel in Lady Nairne's beautiful song "Caller Herrin'" -

When the creel o' herrin' passes, Ladies clad in silks and laces Gather in their braw pelisses, Cast their heads and screw their faces. Wha'll buy my caller herrin' ? etc.

And if it be in the sense of confusion of mind you think of "creel," and that is probably how you will think of it at this green, there is a verse in Miller's "Wee Willie Winkie" that reads: -

Hey Willie Winkie, the wean's in a creel, Wamblin' aff a bodie's knee like a verra eel, Ruggin' at the cat's lug and ravelin' a' her thrums - Hey Willie Winkie - see there he comes.

Deil's Creel might quite reasonably be translated in the terms of the English phrase "the very Devil." As has been explained, it means "the Devil's basket," and you may be well advised to keep out of that, if you can. You have to play for all you are worth when you pit yourself against the Devil and his agents, and, if we may be pardoned for saying so, they appear to be very active at this juncture. The significance of the native expression "to have one's wits in a creel," meaning to labour under temporary contusion, will, no doubt, be fully appreciated by golfers who hesitate at the tee, tor he who hesitates - but you know the rest.