The Mysteries of All Nations Part 30

Here are older charms in metre:

"With blessynges of Saynt Germayne I will me so determyne, That neyther for nor vermyne Shall do my chyckens harme.

For your gese seke Saynt Legearde, And for your duckes Saynt Leonarde, There is no better charme.

Take me a napkin folte With the byas of a bolte, For the healing of a colte No better thynge can be; For lampes and for bottes Take me Saynt Thomas Lattes, On my life I warrande ye."

In the _Hesperides_ we also find the following spell:

"Holy water come and bring: Cast in salt for seasoning: Set the brush for sprinkling.

Sacred spittle bring ye hither: Meale and it now mix together, And a little oyle to either.

Give the tapers here their light; Ring the saints' bell to affright Far from hence the evil sprits.

And good Saynt Francis' gyrdle, With the hamlet of a hyrdle, Are wholesome for the pyppe.

Besides these charms afore I have feates many more That kepe still in store, Whom I now over hyppe."

The same writer quaintly says:

"A charm or an allay for love, If so be a toad be laid In a sheep-skin newly flaid, And that ty'd to man, 'twill sever Him and his affections ever."

Butler, in his _Hudibras_, describes the supposed power of a cunning man thus:

"Not far from hence doth dwell A cunning man hight Sidrophel, That deals in destiny's dark counsels, And sage opinion of the moon sells; To whom all people, far and near, On deep importances repair; When bra.s.s and pewter hap to stray, And linen slinks out of the way; When geese and pullen are seduced, And sows of sucking pigs are chows'd; When cattle feel indisposition, And need the opinion of physician; When murrain reigns in hogs or sheep And chickens languish of the pip; When yeast and outward means do fail, And have no power to work on ale; When b.u.t.ter does refuse to come, And love proves cross and humoursome; To him with questions and with urine They for discovery flock, or curing."

In the seventeenth century, dairymaids, when churning, used a charm, said over the churn in the following lines:

"Come, b.u.t.ter, come, Come, b.u.t.ter, come; Peter stands at the gate, Waiting for a b.u.t.tered cake, Come, b.u.t.ter, come."

This having been said three times, the b.u.t.ter came straightway; and very good b.u.t.ter it was, on the good saint being invoked.

A holy Pope of the good old times sent the following lines to an exalted Emperor:

"Balme, Virgine-wax, and holy water, An Agnus Dei make, A gift than which none can be greater, I send thee for to take.

From fountain clear the same hath issue In secret sanctified; 'Gainst lightning it hath soverain virtue, And thunder-cracks beside.

Each hainous sin it wears and wasteth, Even as holy precious blood; And women while their travel lasteth It saves, it is so good.

It doth bestow great gifts and graces On such as well deserve; And borne about in noisome places, From peril doth preserve.

The force of fire, whose heat destroyeth, It breaks and bringeth down; And he or she that this enjoyeth No water shall them drown."

CHAPTER XLVI.

Ear-rings buried by Jacob--Solomon's Belief in Spells--Reginald Scot's Recipe for preserving Cattle--What Mr. Pennant says on Charms--Parts of the Chameleon as Charms--A Condemned Sorcerer's Charm--Virtue of Trees and Plants--Deities'

Crowns--Virtue of May Dew--Images Powerful Charms--How the Romans regarded their Images--The Egyptians'

Confidence in Amulets and Charms--Evil Eye--Effects of an Evil Eye, how counteracted--Charms for Horses and Children--Sixpence-piece an Excellent Charm--Mothers and Children protected from Fairies--Cold Iron--Holy Things used as Charms--Filings of St. Peter's Keys--l.u.s.tral Water--Curing Sick Children by weighing them--Uses of Snow--Transferring Diseases from one Body to another--Keys of a Consecrated Building--Effect of standing on one Foot--Virtue of Consecrated Bread--Virtue rewarded--p.r.i.c.king the Image of a King--Various Methods of securing Love--Indian Charms--Cure for Corns--Simple Plan for getting rid of a Troublesome Person--Curing the Hooping-cough.

There are people in existence, of opinion that the ear-rings which Jacob buried under the oak of Sechem were charms, and that Solomon had recourse to spells after his strange wives led him away from the true faith.

Reginald Scot gives a recipe for a charm to preserve cattle from witchcraft. Here it is: "At Easter you must take certain drops that lie uppermost of the holy paschal candle; and upon some Sunday morning, light and hold it so as it may drop upon and between the horns and ears of the beast, and burn the beast a little between the horns on the ears with the same wax, and that which is left thereof stick it cross-wise about the stable or stall, or upon the threshold, or over the door, where the cattle go in and out; and for all that year your cattle shall never be touched."

Mr. Pennant says: "The farmers of Scotland preserve their cattle against witchcraft by placing boughs of mountain-ash and honey-suckle in their cow-houses on the 2nd May. They hope to preserve the milk of their cows and of their wives by tying red threads about them." The ancients had several superst.i.tious customs touching the chameleon,--as that its tongue, torn out when the animal was alive, would a.s.sist the possessor to gain his law-suits; burning its head and neck with oak-wood, or roasting its liver on a red tile, would bring thunder and rain; that its right eye, torn out before the animal was slain, and steeped in goat's milk, removed disease of the eye; that its tongue, worn as a charm by a married woman, eased her pains; that its right jaw dispelled fear; and that its tail prevented streams overflowing their banks. A famous sorcerer, when under sentence of death, gave directions how to prepare a potent charm. It consisted of a new earthen pot--not bought nor bargained for--with sheep's blood, wool, hair of several beasts, and certain herbs therein. The pot and its contents were to be placed in a secret part in the neighbourhood where its effects were intended to be felt, which might be either the poisoning or tormenting of enemies. The charm could not be taken away but by the person who secreted it or by a superior power.

Particular trees and plants possess peculiar virtues in consequence of crowns for deities having been made from them. Thus we find Jupiter's crown was composed of flowers, generally of laurel; Juno's of the vine; Bacchus' of the vine, with grapes, and branches of ivy, flowers, and berries; those of Castor, Pollux, and the river G.o.ds, of bulrushes; that of Apollo, sometimes of laurel, and sometimes rushes; that of Saturn, new figs; that of Hercules, poplar; that of Pan, pine or alder; that of Lucina, dictamnus; that of the Horae, the fruits proper to each season; that of the Graces, olive branches; that of Venus, roses; that of Ceres, ears of corn; and that of the Lares, myrtle or rosemary. Rue was detested by witches and evil spirits.

There was a heathen ceremony, called Dendrophoria, which consisted of the carrying of one or more pine trees through a city, at times of sacrifice in honour of certain deities. The pine or pines were afterwards planted, and the branches thereof were supposed to possess virtues not to be found in non-sacred things.

There was a spirit drawn from May dew, which had striking virtues attributed to it. Images were considered the most powerful of all charms. They were held in great reverence by the Romans and other nations. The n.o.ble Romans preserved the images of their ancestors with great care, and had them carried in procession at their funerals and triumphs. They placed them in the vestibules of their houses, there to remain, even though the houses happened to be sold, it being considered impious to displace them. It was not, however, allowed for every one who had the images of their ancestors, to have them carried at funerals. The privilege was conferred on those only who had honourably discharged themselves in their various offices in life.

Persons who failed in this respect, forfeited all right to bring their images before the public; and the images of persons who had committed serious crimes were broken in pieces.

The Egyptians had great confidence in the power of amulets and charms to prevent and deliver from mischief. There was a cla.s.s of persons who gained their livelihood by writing billets, to secure the wearers from the power of enchantment and all kinds of accidents. Their most intrinsically valuable relic was the veil sent to the Sultan to cover the Kaaba of Mecca. It was cut in pieces, and distributed over the whole empire. Parts of it were worn by the faithful, as one of the means of grace, and an a.s.surance of divine protection; and these charms were sometimes buried in the grave along with the individuals who had prized them when in life.

The belief of the baneful effect of the evil eye, and of envious commendations, was prevalent in the East. Virgil's shepherd attributed to the malicious glance of an enemy the diseased appearance of his flock. Pliny relates that the Thessalian sorcerers destroyed whole harvests by speaking well of the crops. In Egypt, everything which could possibly attract attention or excite jealousy was protected by some counteracting influence. The eye of the malicious observer was rendered harmless by a sacred sentence, written in conspicuous characters, and placed in a particular way that the wicked eye might see it. The horse, it was believed, carried his rider in safety if a charm of blue beads dangled from the animal's neck. But the anxious mother did not consider her darling child safe, though it had a charm about its person, unless she frequently spat in its face.

When a mother had reason to suppose an evil eye had been cast on her little helpless babe, her duty was to borrow a sixpence from a neighbour, put it into a basin of water, and then wash the child with the water so charmed. By these means the spell was removed. To pa.s.s a child over a table was unlucky. Great apprehensions were formerly entertained of the malignant influence and interference of fairies with mothers in child-bed and children unbaptized. A Bible under the pillow protected the mother, or a bottle of holy water at the bed-foot did equally well; and the sacrament of baptism rendered the infant secure from fairies and witches. If one meet or see anything unlucky, all he has to do to avert evil is to touch cold iron. To prevent evil in time of a thunder-storm, let a candle be kept burning until the warring elements have ceased raging. And surely it has not been left for us to tell the good Catholics, that, to extinguish a fire or stop an inundation, their forefathers threw a consecrated wafer into the midst of the flames or overflowing river. Every little Catholic maid, who can count her beads, knows that if she cannot secure the affections of the young man on whom she has set her affections, she should unsparingly besmear him with the holy oil of her Church. We are a.s.sured that, before Protestantism weakened the hands of priests and rent the Church asunder, consecrated oil was regarded as an infallible charm and love-philter.

It was the custom at one time for the Popes to send a golden key to faithful priests, wherein was enclosed a small quant.i.ty of the filings of St. Peter's keys, kept sacred at Rome. These charms were worn in the bosom, to protect the happy possessor from disease, misfortune, and evil spirits.

The ancients had their l.u.s.tral water for sprinkling and purifying the people. From them the Romanists borrowed the holy water used in their churches. The ancients called _Dies l.u.s.tricus_, or l.u.s.tral Day, that whereon the l.u.s.trations were performed for a child, and its name given, which was the ninth day from the birth of a boy, and the eighth from that of a girl. l.u.s.tral water possessed something like magical virtue. On the great day of ceremony the nurses and domestics handed the child backwards and forwards around a fire on the altars of the G.o.ds; after this the infant was sprinkled with the precious water, mixed with saliva and dust. There were public l.u.s.trations for purifying cities, fields, and people defiled by crime or impurity. A custom prevailed in the East, of curing sick children by weighing them at the tomb of a saint. The counterpoising or balancing medium consisted of money to be given to the Church.

It was generally supposed that the first snow which fell in the year had particular virtues. Bartholin wrote a treatise on the uses of snow, wherein he endeavoured to show that early gathered snow preserved from the plague, cured fevers, toothache, and sore eyes. In Denmark the people kept snow water, obtained in March, as a medicine.

Transplantation in natural magic was a method resorted to for curing diseases by transferring them from one body to another. The transplantation was effected either by the use of a medium or by simple contact. If a gouty person desire to get rid of his troubles, he is recommended to bore a hole in an oak, and deposit the parings of his nails therein; and if one has whitlow in his finger, the pain might be transferred to the domestic cat by rubbing the sore finger with the ears of the animal.

The keys of a consecrated building, shaken over the heads of dogs, horses, and cattle, when they are ill, effect a cure; and a faithful worshipper finds relief from acute suffering by standing on one foot and holding a wax taper in his hand, during particular portions of the ma.s.s. It is common in some places to lay upon the altar, during ma.s.s, the nails of a shoe taken from a horse which has become lame, to restore the animal to soundness. Pieces of consecrated bread carried home and preserved is a preventative against the bite of a mad dog.

The shepherd who first gives his offering will be rewarded by his ewes bringing forth the finest lambs in the neighbourhood; and the horses and cattle that are watered immediately after the owners or keepers return from ma.s.s, will be saved from illness.

In 1589 the people placed on the altars of many of their churches in Paris, wax effigies of King Henry III., and p.r.i.c.ked them with pins and needles during ma.s.s, in the hope of obtaining a speedy termination to his existence.

The wearing of a ribbon which has been worn by a lady, or a lock of her hair, near the heart, is supposed to be capable of securing her affections. But if everything else fail, the proper application of dead men's bones, holy relics, and magic spells will soften the hard heart.

It is related by the Indians of Vixnu, that a ribbon tied round the neck or arm, with the name "Laximi" (who for many years was worshipped under the form of a cow, and sometimes of a horse) written thereon or attached thereto, is a certain cure for all diseases; and is likewise a preventative against accidents. Corns are cured by one stealing a small piece of beef and burying it in the ground. As the flesh rots, the corns disappear. Whenever either an enemy or friend becomes troublesome, and it is considered necessary to get rid of him, the desire can be accomplished by securing a garment belonging to him and burying it in the earth. Just as sure as the burying of the beef destroys corns, as certain will the concealment of the garment in the earth send the obnoxious person to his long home. Fond mothers endeavoured to cure hooping-cough by pa.s.sing their afflicted children three times before breakfast under a blackberry bush the branches of which grew into the ground; other parents went out into the highways in search of a man riding on a piebald horse, to ask him what would restore to health their children affected with this painful cough.

Whatever he recommended, was adopted as a remedy.

CHAPTER XLVII.

Horse Shoes used as Charms--Spitting on Money to secure Luck--Fortunate Persons to deal with--Methods of securing Cattle against Accidents--Effect of Herbs--Professor Playfair on Superst.i.tion--The Lee Penny--How to prevent Toothache--Divers Charms--A Seer's Prescription--Lating the Witches--Grose on Sorcerers, Magicians, and Witches--Man carried away by an Evil Spirit--Irish Shamrock--Praying to Swords--Irish Superst.i.tion--Smugglers and Brigands addicted to Superst.i.tion--Charm found on a Smuggler--Superst.i.tion in the East--Arab Charms--Ladies' Arts.