Lancashire Folk-lore Part 11

CURE FOR HYDROCEPHALUS IN CATTLE.

Dr. Whitaker mentions what he designates as "one practical superst.i.tion"

in the district about Pendle, and peculiar to that neighbourhood. "The hydrocephalus (he says) is a disease incident to adolescent animals, and is supposed by the shepherds and herdsmen to be contagious; but in order to arrest the progress of the disease, whenever a young beast had died of this complaint, it was usual, and it has, I believe, been practised by farmers yet alive, to cut off the head and convey it for interment into the nearest part of the adjoining county. Stiperden, a desert plain upon the border of Yorks.h.i.+re, was the place of skulls." Whitaker thinks the practice may have originated in some confused and fanciful a.n.a.logy to the case of Azazel (Numbers xvi. 22), an a.n.a.logy between the removal of sin and disease--that as the transgressions of the people were laid upon the head of the scape-goat, the diseases of the herd should be laid upon the head of the deceased animal.[60]

CATTLE DISORDERS.--THE SHREW TREE IN CARNFORTH.

On an elevation in the towns.h.i.+p of Carnforth, in the parish of Warton, called Moothaw [? Moot Hall], the ancient Saxon courts were held. Near this place stood the "Shrew Tree" mentioned by Lucas, which, according to rustic superst.i.tion, received so much virtue from plugging up a number of living shrews, or field-mice, in a cavity prepared for their reception in the tree, that a twig cut from it, when freely applied to the backs of disordered cattle, would cure them of their maladies.[61]

CHARMS FOR AGUE.

"Casting out the ague" was but another name for "casting out the devil,"

for it was his possession of the sufferer that caused the body to s.h.i.+ver and shake. One man, of somewhat better education than his neighbours, acquired a reputation for thus removing the ague by exorcism, and was much resorted to for many years for relief.

STINGING OF NETTLES.

This was at once removed by the saying aloud of some charm in doggerel verse.

JAUNDICE.

Persons in the Fylde district suffering from this disorder were some years ago cured at the rate of a s.h.i.+lling per head, by a person living at the Fold, who, by some charm or incantation, performed on the urine of the afflicted person, suspended in a bottle over the smoke of his fire, was believed to effect most wonderful cures.

TO PROCURE SLEEP BY CHANGING THE DIRECTION OF THE BED.

There are two superst.i.tions respecting restlessness. One is that it is caused by the bed standing north and south, and that it will be cured if the bedstead be so moved as to stand east and west. The other goes further, and says that to effect a perfect remedy, not only must the bedstead range east and west, but that the head must be towards the east. One informant stated that this was because the earth revolved from west to east, or in an easterly course.

FOOTNOTES:

[50] Revelation xiii. 18.

[51] This is not a literal quotation. The verse runs thus in the ordinary version: "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall say to this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you."

[52] This is noticed by the Rev. W. Thornber in his _History of Blackpool_, p. 99; also in the _Oxford Essays_, 1858, p. 127; and the late Rev. James Dugan, M.A., T.C.D., informed the writer that the Irish midwives in Ulster use a very similar formula when visiting their patients. They first mark each corner of the house, on the outside, with a cross, and previously to entering repeat the following words:--

"There are four corners to her bed, Four angels at her head: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, G.o.d bless the bed that she lies on.

New Moon, new Moon, G.o.d bless me, G.o.d bless this house and family."

[53] See Carr's _Craven Glossary_, vol. i. p. 137.--"Look, sir," said Mr. Carr's informant, "at that pear-tree, it wor some years back, sir, a maast flouris.h.i.+n' tree. Ivvry mornin, as soon as he first oppans the door, that he may not cast his ee on onny yan pa.s.sin' by, he fixes his een o' that pear-tree, and ye plainly see how it's deed away."

[54] Mr. Robert Rawlinson in _Notes and Queries_, vol. iv. p. 55.

[55] See Hone's _Table Book_, vol. i. p. 674.

[56] Carr's _Glossary_, vol. ii. p. 264.

[57] Wm. Dobson, in _Notes and Queries_, 2nd series, vol. iv. p. 287.

[58] T. T. W., ibid., vol. ii. p. 68.

[59] H., ibid.

[60] _History of Whalley._

[61] Baines's _Lancas.h.i.+re_.

THE DEVIL, DEMONS, &c.

THE DEVIL.

The power of the devil, his personal appearance, and the possibility of bartering the soul for temporary gain, must still be numbered among the articles of our popular faith. Repeating the Lord's Prayer backwards is said to be the most effectual plan for "raising the devil;" but when the terms of the bargain are not satisfactory, his exit can only be secured by making the sign of the cross and calling on the name of Christ. In the neighbourhood of Blackburn a story prevails that two threshers once succeeded in raising him through the barn floor; but on their becoming alarmed at their success, he was summarily dismissed by means of a vigorous thras.h.i.+ng on the head with the flails. His partiality for playing at cards has long been proverbial, both in Lancas.h.i.+re and elsewhere. A near relative of the writer firmly believed that the devil had once visited their company when they had prolonged their play into Sunday. How he joined them they never rightly knew, but (as in the Danish legend respecting a similar visit) his presence was first suspected in consequence of his extraordinary "run of good luck;"

and a casual detection of his _cloven foot_ completed the dispersion of the players. It is not always, however, that he obtains the advantage; for he has more than once been outwitted by a crafty woman or a cunning priest. In the Lancas.h.i.+re tradition we find the poor tailor of Chatburn stipulating for _three_ wishes, and, on the advice of his wife, consulting the "holy father of Salley" in his extremity. When the fatal day arrived, he freed himself from the bond by expressing as his last wish, that his tormentor "were riding back to his quarters on a dun horse, never to plague him more." The devil, it is said, gave a yell which was heard to Colne, on finding that he had lost his man. Mr. Roby in his _Traditions_, and the author of the _Pictorial History of Lancas.h.i.+re_, give humorous engravings of this noted ride; and the sign of "The Dule upo' Dun," over the door of the wayside inn, attests the popular belief in the local tradition. From these and many other instances it is evident that we have derived many of these superst.i.tions from the Saxon and Danish settlers in Northumbria. The essential parts of each are identical, and as regards these particular bargains, it may be added as a curious circ.u.mstance, that in no case is the bond held to be binding unless it be signed with the blood of the person contracting.[62]

Offering fowls to evil spirits appears to have been an ancient and wide-spread practice. It was common to sacrifice a c.o.c.k to the devil.

Burns, in his "Address to the Deil," says--"Some c.o.c.k or cat your rage must stop." Music and dancing are also a.s.sociated in our popular superst.i.tions with witches, evil spirits, and the devil. The devils, it is said, love music, but dread bells, and have a very delicate sense of smells. In the _True and Faithful Relation of what pa.s.sed between Dr.

Dee and some Spirits_, we learn that the devil appeared to the doctor "as an angel in a white robe, holding a b.l.o.o.d.y cross in his right hand, the same hand being also b.l.o.o.d.y," and in this guise he prayed, and "anabaptistically bewailed the wickedness of the world."[63]

RAISING THE DEVIL.

The boys at the Burnley Grammar-school are said to have succeeded on one occasion in raising the devil. They repeated the Lord's Prayer backwards, and performed some incantations by which, as it is said, Satan was induced to make his appearance through a stone flag on the floor of the school-house. After he had got his head and shoulders well out, the boys became alarmed, and began to hammer him down with the poker and tongs. With much ado they drove him back; but the _black mark_ he had left on the flag was shown in proof of his appearance until the school-house was repaired, a few years ago, when the floor was boarded over, and the flagstone disappeared.

THE DEVIL & THE SCHOOLMASTER AT c.o.c.kERHAM.

It is said that the arch Spirit of Evil once took up his abode in c.o.c.kerham, and so scared and disturbed the inhabitants of that quiet place, that at length in public meeting, to consider how to free themselves from this fiendish persecution, they appointed the schoolmaster, as the wisest and cleverest man in the place, to do his best to drive the devil away. Using the prescribed incantation at midnight, the pedagogue succeeded in raising Satan; but when he saw his large horns and tail, saucer eyes, and long claws, he became almost speechless. According to the recognised procedure in such cases, the devil granted him the privilege of setting three tasks, which if he (Satan) accomplished, the schoolmaster became his prey; if he failed, it would compel the flight of the demon from c.o.c.kerham. The first task, to count the number of dewdrops on certain hedges, was soon accomplished; and so was the second, to count the number of stalks in a field of grain. The third task was then proposed in the following words, according to a doggerel version of the tradition:--

"Now make me, dear sir, a rope of yon sand, Which will bear was.h.i.+ng in c.o.c.ker, and not lose a strand."

Speedily the rope was twisted of fine sand, but it would not stand was.h.i.+ng; so the devil was foiled, and at one stride he stepped over the bridge over Broadfleet, at Pilling Moss. The metrical version of the legend is scarcely worth printing.

OLD NICK.

According to Scandinavian mythology, the supreme G.o.d Odin a.s.sumes the name of Nick, Neck, Nikkar, Nikur, or Hnikar, when he acts as the evil or destructive principle. In the character of Nikur, or Hnikudur, a Protean water-sprite, he inhabits the lakes and rivers of Scandinavia, where he raises sudden storms and tempests, and leads mankind into destruction. Nick, or Nickar, being an object of dread to the Scandinavians, propitiatory wors.h.i.+p was offered to him; and hence it has been imagined that the Scandinavian spirit of the waters became, in the middle ages, St. Nicholas, the patron of sailors, who invoke his aid in storms and tempests. This supposition (which has a degree of probability almost amounting to certainty) receives countenance from the great devotion still felt by the Gothic nations towards St. Nicholas, to whom many churches on the sea-sh.o.r.e are dedicated. The church of St.

Nicholas, in this situation at Liverpool, was consecrated in 1361; and, says Mr. Baines,[64] "in the vicinity there formerly stood a statue of St. Nicholas; and when the faith in the intercession of saints was more operative than at present, the mariners were wont to present a peace-offering for a prosperous voyage on their going out to sea, and a wave-offering on their return; but the saint, having lost his votaries, has long since disappeared." The Danish Vikings called the Scandinavian sea-G.o.d _Hold Nickar_, which in time degenerated into the ludicrous expression, "Old Nick."[65]

Another writer on this subject says:--We derive the familiar epithet of "_Old Nick_" from the Norwegian Nok, the Norse Nikr, or the Swedish Neck; and no further proof of their ident.i.ty is required than a comparison between the attributes possessed in common by all these supernatural beings. The _Nok_ is said to require a human sacrifice once a year, and some one is therefore annually missing in the vicinity of the pond or river where this sprite has taken up its abode. The males are said to be very partial to young maidens, whom they seize and drag under the water; whilst those of the opposite s.e.x are quite as attractive and dangerous to the young fishermen who frequent the rivers.

The German _Nixes_ possess the same attributes. Both s.e.xes have large green teeth; and the male wears a green hat, which is frequently mistaken by his victims for a tuft of beautiful vegetation. He is said to kill without mercy whenever he drags a person down; and a fountain of blood, which shoots up from the surface of the water, announces the completion of the deed. A perfect identification of this with our own popular belief is now easy. Nothing is more common at present than for children who reside in the country to be cautioned against venturing too near the water's brink, lest "_Green Teeth_" or "_b.l.o.o.d.y Bones_" should pull them in. "_Old Nick_" is said to lurk under the shady willows which overhang the deep water; and the bubbles of gas which may be observed escaping from the bottoms of quiet pools are attributed to the movements of the water-sprites which lurk beneath.