Lancashire Folk-lore Part 9

2. "+ quo + signasque + payns [or pagns ? pagus] + sut gosikl + tetragrammaton +

3. "inverma + amo + ? [apparently an abbreviation for _Theos_, G.o.d] + dominus + deus + hora + [here a hole in the paper has destroyed a word]

+ fiat + fiat + fiat +

4. "ut dicitur decimo septimo capitulo Sancti Matthaei a vigesimo carmine

5. "fide demoveatis montes, fiat secundum fidem, si sit, vel fuerit

6. "ut cunque fascinum vel daemon habitat vel perturbat hanc

7. "personam, vel hunc loc.u.m, vel hanc bestiam, adjuro te, abre

8. "Sine perturbatione, molestia, vel tumultu minime, nomine

9. "Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sanctu. Amen. Pater noster qui es

10. "in clis, sanctificetur nomen tuum, veniat regnum tuum, fiat voluntas

11. "tuo, sicut in clo etiam in terra, panem nostrum quotidianum da

12. "n.o.bis in diem, et remitte n.o.bis peccata nostra, etenim ipsi

13. "remittimus omnibus qui n.o.bis debent; et ne nos inducas in tentat-

14. "-ionem, sed libera nos a malo. Fiat."

It will be seen that the first three lines of this charm are a sort of gibberish, with an admixture of Greek and Latin words, const.i.tuting in itself a charm, supposed to be efficacious in expelling or restraining evil spirits. With the fourth line, then, we begin our translation.

"As it is said in the seventeenth chapter of St. Matthew, at the twentieth verse, 'By faith ye may remove mountains: be it according to [my] faith,'[51] if there is, or ever shall be, witchcraft [or enchantment] or evil spirit, that haunts or troubles this person, or this place, or this beast [or these cattle], I adjure thee to depart, without disturbance, molestation, or trouble in the least, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." [Then follows the Lord's Prayer in Latin, ending with the word "Fiat" (be it done), instead of Amen.] These words are endorsed or written outside the paper in two lines:--

"Agla + On [or En] Tetragrammaton."

In a charm cited in the _Heptameron, or Mercurial Elements_ of Peter de Abano, these are called "the three secret names." The first two are names given to the Deity by the Jewish cabalists. The third (which is also the last word in the second line of the charm) is one also frequently in use amongst Talmudists and Jewish writers, meaning literally "four-lettered," as descriptive of the sacred and unp.r.o.nounceable name ("Jehovah," written in Hebrew by four letters). The word is here endorsed, as if to authenticate the whole charm, and to show that it is the production of an artist who understood his business; for "tetragrammaton," and "fiat," are words of such potency, that a charm without them would be of no efficacy whatever. The Rev. Richard Garnett adds to his account of this charm (in May, 1825):--"I should think that the doc.u.ment is of no great antiquity, probably not more than thirty or forty years old. It was doubtless manufactured by some country 'wise man,' a regular dealer in such articles. There are, I believe, several persons within twenty miles of Blackburn, who still carry on a trade of this sort."

[In the _Heptameron_, already quoted, is "The Conjuration of the Lord's Day," which runs thus:--"I conjure and confirm upon you, ye strong and holy angels of G.o.d ... [here follow various names of angels, including those 'who rule in the fourth heaven'], and by the name of his star, which is _Sol_, and by his sign, and by the immense name of the living G.o.d, and by all the names aforesaid--I conjure thee, Michael, O! great angel, who art chief ruler of the Lord's Day," &c.].

Amongst other charms against evil may be named that of our ancestors, who, when eating eggs, were careful to break the sh.e.l.ls, lest the witches should use them to their disadvantage. We do the same for a similar reason; it is accounted unlucky to leave them whole. They avoided cutting their nails on a Friday, because bad luck would follow; but we have improved upon their practice, and lay down the whole theory as follows:--

"Cut your nails on a Monday, cut them for news; Cut them on Tuesday, a new pair of shoes; Cut them on Wednesday, cut them for health; Cut them on Thursday, cut them for wealth; Cut them on Friday, cut them for woe; Cut them on Sat.u.r.day, a journey you'll go; Cut them on Sunday, you cut them for evil, For all the next week you'll be ruled by the Devil."

Most grandmothers will exclaim, "G.o.d bless you!" when they hear a child sneeze, and they sum up the philosophy of the subject with the following lines, which used to delight the writer in days of his childhood:--

"Sneeze on a Monday, you sneeze for danger; Sneeze on a Tuesday, you kiss a stranger; Sneeze on a Wednesday, you sneeze for a letter; Sneeze on a Thursday, for something better; Sneeze on a Friday, you sneeze for sorrow; Sneeze on a Sat.u.r.day, your sweetheart to-morrow; Sneeze on a Sunday, your safety seek, The Devil will have you the whole of the week."

These lines may be taken either as charms or spells to produce the effect predicted; or as omens or warnings of the results to follow. In most parts of Lancashire it is customary for children to repeat the following invocation every evening on retiring to bed, after saying the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed:--

"Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Bless the bed that I lie on; There are four corners to my bed, And four angels overspread, Two at the feet, two at the head.

If any ill thing me betide, Beneath your wings my body hide.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Bless the bed that I lie on. Amen."[52]

The influence of the "_evil eye_" is felt as strongly in this county as in any other part of the world, and various means are resorted to in order to prevent its effects. "Drawing blood above the mouth" of the person suspected is the favourite antidote in the neighbourhood of Burnley; and in the district of Craven, a few miles within the borders of Yorkshire, a person who was well disposed towards his neighbours is believed to have slain a pear-tree which grew opposite his house by directing towards it "the first morning glances" of his evil eye.[53]

Spitting three times in the person's face; turning a live coal on the fire; and exclaiming, "The Lord be with us," are other means of averting its influence.

In Lancashire our boys spit over their fingers in order to screw up their courage to the fighting point, or to give them luck in the battle.

Sometimes they do this as a sort of a.s.severation, to attest their innocence of some petty crime laid to their charge. Travellers and recruits still spit upon a stone and then throw it away, in order to insure a prosperous journey. Hucksters, market-people, &c., always spit upon the first money they receive in the morning, in order to insure ready sale and "good luck" during the day. "Hansell (they say) is always lucky when well wet."

The ancients performed certain rites and ceremonies at the changes of the moon; and hence that luminary has added some curious items to the popular creed. _Old Mother Bunch's Garland_ is an authority on these matters, and amongst many other things it teaches expectant females who desire to pry into futurity, to cross their hands on the appearance of the new moon, and exclaim--

"All hail! new Moon; all hail to thee!

I pray thee, good Moon, declare to me This night who my true love shall be."

We have noticed, in the introductory chapter, various other minor charms and spells to avert evil, or "bad luck," and to secure "good luck" or fortune for a coming period, usually a year.

THE CROW CHARM AND THE LADY-BIRD CHARM.

The following charms are repeated by children throughout Lancashire and Yorkshire:--

_Crow Charm._

"Crow, crow, get out of my sight, Or else I'll eat thy liver and lights."

_Lady-Bird Charm._

"Lady-bird, lady-bird, eigh [hie] thy way home, Thy house is on fire, thy children all roam; Except little Nan, who sits in her pan, Weaving gold laces as fast as she can."

I remember as a child sitting out of doors on an evening of a warm summer or autumn day, and repeating the crow charm to flights of rooks, as they winged home to their rookery. The charm was chanted so long as a crow remained in sight, their final disappearing being to my mind strong proof of the efficacy of the charm. The lady-bird charm is repeated to the insect (the _Coccinella septempunctata_ of Linnaeus), the common Seven-spotted Lady-bird, to be found in every field and garden during summer. The lady-bird is placed upon the child's open hand, and the charm is repeated until the insect takes to flight. The warmth and moisture of the hand no doubt facilitate this, although the child fully believes in the moving power of the charm. The lady-bird is also known as _lady-cow_, _cow-lady_, and is sometimes addressed as "_Cusha-cow-lady_."[54]

One of the present editors has often joined in the lady-bird charm, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, where it ran--

"Cusha-coo-lady, fly away home, Thy house is a-fire and all thy bairns gone," &c.

PIMPERNEL.

According to a MS. on Magic, preserved in Chetham's Library, Manchester, "the herb pimpernel is good to prevent witchcraft, as Mother b.u.mby doth affirm;" and the following lines must be used when it is gathered:--

"Herb pimpernel I have thee found Growing upon Christ Jesus' ground; The same gift the Lord Jesus gave unto thee, When He shed his blood upon the tree.

Arise up, pimpernel, and go with me, And G.o.d bless me, And all that shall wear thee. Amen."

Say this fifteen days together, twice a day; morning early fasting, and in the evening full.--(_MS. Ibid._)