Lancashire Folk-lore Part 10

THE MOUNTAIN ASH, OR WICKEN OR WIGGEN TREE.

The anti-witching properties of this tree are held in very high esteem in the northern counties of England. No witch will come near it; and it is believed that its smallest twig crossing the path of a witch, will effectually stop her career. To prevent the churn being bewitched, so that the b.u.t.ter will not come, the churn-staff must be made of the wiggen-tree. So cattle must be protected from witchery by sprigs of wiggen over or in the s.h.i.+ppons. All honest people wis.h.i.+ng to have sound sleep must keep the witches from their beds by having a branch of wiggen at their bed-heads.[55]

The charms against the malevolence of witches and of evil beings were very numerous. A horse-shoe nailed to the door protected the family domicile; a _hag_-stone, penetrated with a hole, and attached to the key of the stable, preserved the horse within from being ridden by the witch; and when hung up at the bed-head, was a safeguard to the master himself. A hot heater, put into the churn, kept witches and evil beings from spoiling the cream or r.e.t.a.r.ding the b.u.t.ter. The baking of dough was protected by a cross, and so was the kneading-trough barred against fiendly visitation. Another cla.s.s of charms was of those used by and amongst the witches themselves.

In the "Confession of James Device, prisoner at Lancaster," charged with being a witch and practicing witchcraft, before "William Sands, James Anderton, and Thomas Cowell, Esqrs.," we have the following "charm" to get "_drink_ within one hour after saying the said prayer:"--

"Upon Good Friday I will fast while I may, Untill I heare them knell Our Lord's own bell.

Lord in his messe With his twelve Apostles good;-- What hath he in his hand?

Ligh in leath wand: What hath he in his other hand?

Heaven's doore keys.

Steck, Steck h.e.l.l door, Let Chrizun child Goe to its mother mild.

What is yonder that casts a light so farrandly?

Mine own dear Sonne that's naild to the tree.

He is naild sore by the head and hand; And Holy harne Panne.

Well is that man That Friday spell can, His child to learne:-- A cross of Blue and another of Red, As Good Lord was to the Roode.

Gabriel laid him down to sleep Upon the ground of Holy weepe:-- Good Lord came walking by, Sleepest thou, wakest thou, Gabriel?

No, Lord, I am sted with stick and stake, That I can neither sleepe nor wake.

Rise up, Gabriel, and go with me, The stick nor the stake shall never deere thee.

Sweet Jesus. Our Lord. Amen."

But James Device's charm was not the only one brought to light in this memorable trial;--the witches themselves were liable to be bewitched by others of superior power, nor were their domestic preparations altogether free from the malevolent effects of an envious pract.i.tioner.

In these cases _counter charms_ were of frequent necessity, and none of these seem to be of greater efficacy than the following one from the "Examination of Anne Whittle, _alias_ Chattox [a celebrated Lancas.h.i.+re witch], before Roger Nowell, Esq., of Read, April 2nd, 1612." "A charm to help _drink_ that is forespoken or bewitched."

"Three biters hast thou bitten.

The Heart, ill Eye, ill Tongue.

Three bitter shall be thy Boote, Father, Sonne, and Holy Ghost:--a G.o.d's name.

Five Paternosters, five Avies and a Creede, In wors.h.i.+p of five woundes of our Lorde."

The Scotch appear to have held similar notions on these subjects with ourselves, for in Sinclair's "_Satan's Invisible World Discovered_" we find the following charm, "To preserve the house and those in it from danger at night:"--

"Who sains the house the night?

They that sains it ilk a night, Saint Bryde and her brate; Saint Colme and his hat; Saint Michael and his spear; Keep this house from the weir-- From running thiefe-- And burning thiefe-- And from and ill Rea:-- That be the gate can gae:-- And from an ill wight:-- That be the gate can light.

Nine reeds about the house; Keep it all the night.

What is that what I see, So red, so bright, beyond the sea?

'Tis he was pierced through the hands, Through the feet, through the throat, Through the tongue, Through the liver and the lung.

Well is them that well may Fast on Good Friday."

CHARMS TO CURE SICKNESS, WOUNDS, CATTLE DISTEMPER, ETC.

Many are the charms and spells which operate against disease or sickness in two ways--they either ward it off, if it threaten; or if too late for that, they dispel its virulence, and effect a marvellous cure. No medical man, we are told, will rub ointment on a wound with the forefinger of his right hand, because it is popularly accounted venomous. A dead man's hand is said to have the power of curing wens and other excrescences of the neck. Three spiders, worn about the neck, will prevent the ague. A string with _nine_ knots tied upon it, placed about the neck of a child, is reported to be an infallible remedy for the whooping-cough. The same effect also follows from pa.s.sing the child _nine_ times round the neck of a she-a.s.s, according to the popular creed of the county. Formerly silver rings, made from the hinges of coffins, were worn as charms for the cure of fits, or for the prevention of cramp, or even of rheumatism. The superst.i.tion continues, though the metal is of necessity changed, few coffins having now hinges of silver.

The stranger in Lancas.h.i.+re can be nowhere, in town or country, amongst any considerable number of the humbler cla.s.ses, without seeing on the fingers of women chiefly, but occasionally of men, what are called galvanized rings, made of two hoops, one of zinc, the other of copper, soldered together. Many wear a belt to charm away rheumatism; brimstone carried about the person is regarded as a sure remedy against cramp; so also is placing the shoes under the bed, the toes peeping outwards.

These are the modern charms or cure-alls against disease. Fried mice are yet given to children in some parts of Lancas.h.i.+re, to cure non-retention of urine during sleep.

CHARMS FOR THE TOOTHACHE.

"The following," says the Rev. W. Thornber, of Blackpool, "is a foolish charm, yet much accredited amongst us [in the Fylde] for the toothache:"--

"Peter sat weeping on a marble stone.

Jesus came near and said, 'What aileth thee, O Peter?'

He answer'd and said, 'My Lord and my G.o.d!'

He that can say this, and believeth it for my sake, Never more shall have the toothache."

Our "wise men" still sell the following charm for the cure of continued toothache, but it must be worn inside the vest or stays, and over the left breast:--

"a.s.s Sant Petter sat at the geats of Jerusalm our Blessed Lord and Sevour Jesus Crist Pased by and Sead, What Eleth thee hee sead Lord my Teeth ecketh hee sead arise and folow mee and thy Teeth shall never Eake Eney moor. Fiat + Fiat + Fiat."[56]

VERVAIN, FOR WOUNDS, ETC.

A magical MS. in Chetham's Library, Manchester, of the time of Queen Elizabeth, supplies the following metrical prayer, to be said in gathering this herb:--

"All-hele, thou holy herb, Vervin, Growing on the ground; In the Mount of Calvary There wast thou found; Thou helpest many a grief, And stanchest many a wound.

In the name of sweet Jesus I take thee from the ground.

O Lord, effect the same That I do now go about."

The following lines, according to the same authority, were to be said when pulling it:--

"In the name of G.o.d, on Mount Olivet First I thee found; In the name of Jesus I pull thee from the ground."

CHARMS TO STOP BLEEDING.

In an ancient 8vo. MS. volume, described by Dr. Whitaker, in his _History of Whalley_, ent.i.tled _Liber Loci Benedicti de Whalley_, commencing with the translation of the convent from Stanlaw (in 1296) and ending about the year 1346, are the following monkish charms (in Latin) for stopping haemorrhage:--

"_For staunching bleeding from the Nostrils, or from Wounds, an approved remedy._--O G.o.d, be Thou merciful to this Thy servant N., nor allow to flow from his body more than one drop of blood. So may it please the Son of G.o.d. So his mother Mary. In the name of the Father, stop, O blood! In the name of the Son, stop, O blood! In the name of the Holy Ghost, stop, O blood! In the name of the Holy Trinity.

"_To staunch Bleeding._--A soldier of old thrust a lance into the side of the Saviour: immediately there flowed thence blood and water,--the blood of Redemption, and the water of Baptism. In the name of the Father + may the blood cease. In the name of the Son + may the blood remain. In the name of the Holy Ghost + may no more blood flow from the mouth, the vein, or the nose."

To particular persons was attached the virtue of stopping bleeding by a word; and a woman of Marton, near Blackpool, whose maiden name was Bamber, was so celebrated for her success, that she was sought for to stop haemorrhage throughout a district of twenty miles around.

TOUCHING FOR THE KING'S EVIL.

The records of the Corporation of Preston contain two votes of money, to enable persons to go from Preston to be touched for the evil. Both are in the reign of James II. In 1682, the bailiffs were ordered to "pay unto James Harrison, bricklayer, 10_s._ towards the carrying of his son to London, in order to the procuring of his Majesty's touch." And in 1687, when James was at Chester, the council pa.s.sed a vote that "the bailiffs pay unto the persons undermentioned each of them 5_s._ towards their charge in going to Chester to get his Majesty's touch: Anne, daughter of Abel Mope, ---- daughter of Richard Letmore."[57]

CURES FOR WARTS.

Steal a piece of meat from a butcher's stall or his basket, and, after having well rubbed the parts affected with the stolen morsel, bury it under a gateway at four lane ends, or, in case of emergency, in any secluded place. All this must be done so secretly as to escape detection; and as the portion of meat decays, the warts will disappear.

This practice is very prevalent in Lancas.h.i.+re, and two of my female acquaintances having tried the remedy, stoutly maintain its efficacy.[58]

The following superst.i.tion prevails in the neighbourhood of Manchester: Take a piece of twine, making upon it as many knots as there are warts to be removed; touch each wart with the corresponding knot; then bury the twine in a moist place, saying at the same time, "There is none to redeem it besides thee." As the process of decay goes on [in the twine]

the warts gradually disappear.[59]

A snail hung upon a thorn is another favourite spell against warts; as the snail wastes away, so do the warts. Again, take a bag of stones, equal in number with the warts to be destroyed, and throw them over the left shoulder; the warts soon quit the thrower. But whoever chances to pick up one or more of these stones, takes with them as many of the warts, which are thus transferred from the loser to the finder of the stones.