named Sarah Bradshaw, of Mears Ashby, who was accused by some of her neighbours of being a witch, in order to prove her innocence, submitted to the ignominy of being dipped, when she immediately sunk to the bottom of the pond, which was deemed to be an incontestable proof that she was no witch."

CHARMING.

There are few villages in Northamptonshire, the Southern district especially, which are not able to boast a professor of the healing art, in the person of an old woman, who pretends to the power of curing diseases by charming; and at the present day, in spite of coroner's inquests and parish officers, the belief in the efficacy of these remedies appears to be undiminished. Two preliminaries are given as necessary to be observed in order to ensure a perfect cure. First, that the person to be operated upon comes with an earnest belief that a cure will be effected; and secondly, that the phrases

66

please" and "thank you" do not occur during the transaction. The established formula consists in the charmer's crossing the part affected, and whispering over it certain mysterious words-doubtless varied according to the disorder, but the import of which it is difficult to discover, there being a very prevalent notion that if once disclosed they would lose their virtue. In some cases it is customary for the charmer to "bless" or hallow cords or leathern thongs, which are given to the invalid to be worn round the neck. An old woman, living at a village near Brackley, has acquired more than ordinary renown for the cure of agues by this

means. According to her own account, she received the secret from the dying lips of her mother; who, in her turn, is said to have received it from hers. As the old dame is upwards of ninety, and still refuses to part with her charm, the probability of its perishing with her forms a constant theme of lamentation among her gossips. It must not be supposed that these ignorant people make a trade of their supposed art: on the contrary, it is believed that any offer of pecuniary remuneration would break the spell, and render the charm of no avail. Though it must be admitted that the influence and position naturally accruing to the possessor of such attributes affords a sufficient motive for imposture, we think, for the most part, that they may be said to be the dupes of their own credulity, and as fully convinced of their own powers as can be the most credulous of their admirers. A collection of traditionary charms current among the rural population of this county will be found in Notes and Queries, vol. ii. pp. 36, 37.

The lucky-bone, as its name indicates, is worn about the person to produce good-luck; and is also reckoned an excellent protection against witchcraft. It is a bone taken from the head of a sheep, and its form, which is that of the T cross, may have, perhaps, originated the peculiar sanctity in which it is held. This form of the sacred symbol is frequently found on Druidical monuments. Vide Report of the Royal Cornwall Institution, 1846; Ecclesiologist, No. 28, February 1848.

West.-In order to be rid of the painful tumor on the eyelid, provincially known as the west, or sty, it is

customary for the sufferer, on the first night of the new moon, to procure the tail of a black cat, and after pulling from it one hair, rub the tip nine times over the pustule. As this has a very cabalistic look, and is, moreover, frequently attended with sundry severe scratches, a gold ring is found to be a much more harmless substitute, and is now more commonly used. This superstition is alluded to by Beaumont and Fletcher, Mad Lovers, v. 4.

I have a sty here, Chilax.

CHI. I have no gold to cure it, not a penny."

Thorn. The following word-charm is used to prevent a thorn from festering :

"Our Saviour was of a virgin born,

His head was crowned with a crown of thorn;

It never canker'd nor fester'd at all;

And I hope in Christ Jesus this never shaull (shall).

This will remind the reader of the one given by Pepys, vol. ii. p. 415.

SUPERSTITIONS RELATING TO ANIMALS.*

Mice.-A sudden influx of mice into a house hitherto free from their ravages, denotes approaching mortality among its inhabitants. A mouse running over a person is considered to be an infallible sign of death; as is also

* Reprinted, with additions, from Notes and Queries, vol. ii. p. 37, and 164-5.

the squeaking of one behind the bed of an invalid, or the apparition of a white mouse running across the room. To meet with a shrew-mouse in going a journey is reckoned ominous of evil. The country people have an idea that the harvest-mouse is unable to cross a

path which has been trod by man. Whenever they attempt, they are immediately, as my informant expressed it, "struck dead." This, they say, accounts for the numbers which, on a summer's evening, may be found lying dead on the verge of the field foot-paths, without any external wound or apparent cause for their demise. Poultry. The crowing of a hen bodes evil; and is frequently followed by the death of some member of the family. When, therefore, Dame Partlet thus experiments upon the voice of her mate, she pays her head as the price of her temerity, a complete severance of the offending member being supposed to be the only way of averting the threatened calamity. No house, it is said, can thrive whose hens are addicted to this kind of amusement. Hence the old proverb, often quoted in Northamptonshire—

"A whistling woman, and a crowing hen,

Is neither fit for God nor men."

According to Pluquet, the Normans have a similar belief, and a saying singularly like the English one

"Une poule qui chante le coq, et une fille qui siffle, portent malheur dans la maison."

Before the death of a farmer his poultry frequently go to roost at noon-day, instead of at the usual time. When the cock struts up to the door, and sounds his clarion

on the threshold, the housewife is warned that she may soon expect a stranger. In what is technically termed "setting a hen," care is taken that the nest be composed of an odd number of eggs. If even, the chickens would not prosper: each egg is marked with a small black cross, ostensibly for the purpose of distinguishing them from the others, but also supposed to be instrumental in preserving them from the attack of the weasel and other farm-yard marauders. The last egg the hen lays is carefully preserved, its possession being supposed to operate as a charm upon the welldoing of the poultry. In some cases, though less frequently, the one laid on Good Friday was kept for the same reason. When an infant is first taken out to see its friends, it is customary for them to give it an egg; this, if preserved, is held to be a source of good fortune to the future man. (Vide Brand, ii. p. 48.)

Toads. For stopping or preventing bleeding at the nose, a toad is killed by transfixing it with some sharppointed instrument; after which it is enclosed in a little bag, and suspended round the neck. The same charm is also occasionally used in cases of fever. The following passage from Sir K. Digby's Discourse on Sympathy (Lond. 1658), may enlighten us as to the principle :

"In time of common contagion, they use to carry about them the powder of a toad, and sometimes a living toad or spider, shut up in a box; or else they carry arsenick, or some other venomous substance, which draws into it the contagious air, which otherwise would infect the party." p. 77.