Welsh Folk-Lore Part 30

The charmer spat first on the rash and rubbed it with his finger over the affected parts, and then breathed nine times on it.

Jane Davies, an aged woman, a native of Llanrhaiadr-yn-Mochnant, with whom I had many long conversations on several occasions, told the narrator that she had cut a cat's ear to get blood, wherewith to rub the patient's breast who was suffering from the s.h.i.+ngles, to stop its progress, until the sufferer could be visited by the charmer, and she said that the cat's blood always stopped it spreading.

There were several charms for many of the ailments to which man is subject, which were thought to possess equal curative virtues.

_Toothache charms_.

By repeating the following doggerel lines the worst case of toothache could be cured--

Peter sat on a marble stone, Jesus came to him all alone.

What's up, Peter? The toothache, my lord; Rise up Peter, and be cured of this pain, And all those _who carry these few lines_ for my sake.

This charm appeared in the _Wrexham Advertiser_ as one that was used in _Coedpoeth_ and _Bwlch Gwyn_. But the words appear in "_Y Gwyliedydd_"

for May, 1826, page 151. The Welsh heading to the charm informs us that it was obtained from an Irish priest in County Cork, Ireland. The words are:--

Fel yr oedd Pedr yn eistedd ar faen Mynor, Crist a ddaeth atto, ac efe yn unig.

Pedr, beth a ddarfu i ti? Y Ddanodd, fy Arglwydd Dduw.

Cyfod, Pedr, a rhydd fyddi; A bydd pob dyn a dynes iach oddiwrth y ddanodd Y rhai a gredant i'r geiriau hyn, Yr wyf fi yn gwneuthur yn enw Duw.

The first two lines of the English and Welsh are the same but the third and succeeding lines in Welsh are as follows:--

Peter, what is the matter?

The toothache, my Lord G.o.d.

Rise Peter, and thou shalt be cured; And every man and woman who believes these words Shall be cured of the toothache, Which I perform in the name of G.o.d.

Another version of this charm was given me by Mrs. Reynolds, Pembroke House, Oswestry--

As Jesus walked through the gates of Jerusalem, He saw Peter weeping. Jesus said unto him, why weepest thou?

I have got the toothache. Jesus touched his tooth, And Jesus said, have faith and believe, Thy tooth shall ache no more.

I return you humble and hearty thanks For the blessing which you have bestowed on me.

A young man told me that his brother once suffered greatly from toothache, and a woman gave him a charm like the above, written on paper.

He rubbed the charm along the tooth, and he kept it in his pocket until it crumbled away, and as long as he preserved it he never was troubled with the toothache.

_Rosemary Charm for Toothache_.

"Llosg ei bren (Rhosmari) hyd oni bo yn lo du, ac yna dyro ef mewn cadach lliain cry, ac ira dy ddanedd ag ef; ac fo ladd y pryfed, ac a'u ceidw rhag pob clefyd."--_Y Brython_, p. 339.

"Burn a Rosemary bough until it becomes black, and then place it in a strong linen cloth, and anoint thy teeth with it, and it will kill the worm, and preserve thee from every kind of fever."

It was thought at one time that toothache was caused by a worm in the tooth, as intimated above.

_Whooping Cough Charm_.

Children suffering from whooping cough were taken to a seventh son, or lacking a seventh son of sons only, to a fifth son of sons only, who made a cake, and gave it to the sufferers to be eaten by them, and they would recover. The visit was to be thrice repeated. Bread and b.u.t.ter were sometimes subst.i.tuted for the cake.

The writer has been told of instances of the success of this charm.

Another charm was--buy a penny roll, wrap it in calico, bury it in the garden, take it up next day. The sufferer from whooping-cough is then to eat the roll until it is consumed.

_Charm for Fits_.

A ring made out of the offertory money was a cure for fits. About the year 1882 the wife of a respectable farmer in the parish of Efenechtyd called at the rectory and asked the rector's wife if she would procure a s.h.i.+lling for her from the offering made at Holy Communion, out of which she was going to have a ring made to cure her fits. This coin was to be given unsolicited and received without thanks.

The Rev. J. D. Edwards, late vicar of Rhosymedre, informed the writer that his paris.h.i.+oners often obtained silver coins from the offertory for the purpose now named. So as to comply with the conditions, the sufferers went to Mrs. Edwards some time during the week before "Sacrament Sunday," and asked her to request Mr. Edwards to give him or her a s.h.i.+lling out of the offertory, and on the following Monday the afflicted person would be at the Vicarage, and the Vicar, having already been instructed by Mrs. Edwards, gave the s.h.i.+lling without uttering a word, and it was received in the same manner.

Another charm for fits was to procure a human being's skull, grind it into powder, and take it as medicine.

_Charm for c.o.c.ks about to fight_.

The charm consisted of a verse taken from the Bible, written on a slip of paper, wrapped round the bird's leg, as the steel spurs were being placed on him. The verse so employed was, Eph. vi., 16:--"Taking the s.h.i.+eld of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."

William Jones, Pentre Llyffrith, Llanfyllin, was a celebrated c.o.c.k charmer. There was also a well-known charmer who lived at Llandegla, Denbighs.h.i.+re, who refused a charm to a certain man. When asked why he had not complied with his request, he said--"He will not need charms for his birds, for he will be a dead man before the main comes off." This became true, for the man died, as foretold.

_Charm for Asthma_.

Place the Bible for three successive nights under the bolster of the sufferer, and it will cure him.

_Charms for Warts_.

1. Drop a pin into a holy well and your warts will disappear, but should anyone take the pin out of the well, the warts you have lost will grow on his fingers.

2. Rub the warts with the inside of a bean pod, and then throw the pod away.

3. Take wheat on the stalk, rub the warts with the wheat's beard or bristles at the end of the ear, take these to four crosses or roads that cross each other, bury the straw, and the warts will decay with the decay of the straw.

4. Rub the warts with elderberry leaves plucked by night, and then burn them, and the warts will disappear.