The Queer, the Quaint and the Quizzical Part 52

First day s.h.i.+ver and burn; Tremble and quake!

Second day s.h.i.+ver and learn; Tremble and die!

Third day never return."

_Ancient Practice of Medicine._

The blood of an innocent child, or of a virgin, was believed to cure the leprosy; that of an executed criminal, the falling sickness. The hearts of animals, because the seat of life, were held to be potent drugs. The Rosicrucian physicians treated a case of wounding by applying the salve to the weapon, instead of to the wound itself.

_Amethyst Amulets._

The ancients imagined that the amethyst possessed the property of preventing intoxication, and persons much addicted to drinking therefore wore it on their necks.

_Preservative against Toothache._

In some parts of England it is believed that carrying suspended round the neck a molar-tooth taken from some grave in the church-yard, is a preservative against toothache.

_Mixed Moons._

The dim form of the full moon seen with the new moon was considered an evil sign by the sailors of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries-

"I saw the new moon late yestreen, With the old moon in her arm, And if we go to sea, master, I fear we'll come to harm."

_The Blood of the Martyrs._

During the horrible persecutions of the primitive Christians at Rome, the blood of the martyrs was esteemed a talisman of especial power. A sponge saturated therewith was sometimes worn as a sacred relic.

Prudentius describes the spectators of the martyrdom of St. Vincent as dipping their clothes in his blood, that they might keep it as a sort of palladium for successive generations-

"Crowds haste the linen vest to stain, With gore distill'd from martyr's vein, And thus a holy safeguard place At home, to s.h.i.+eld a future race."

_The First Sale for the Day._

In London, in the street market-places, amongst the stall-keepers, it is considered unfortunate to refuse a "first bid" for an article. It brings bad luck on the day's selling, and it is better to get the first sale over, even at a loss. In all such places, much to the stall-keeper's exasperation, there are to be found mean folks who are known as hansel (first-sale) hunters, and who are early at market, on the alert to take advantage of the poor vendor's superst.i.tion. The latter is well aware of the paltry device to obtain goods at less than cost price; but though he may swear somewhat, he will rarely turn away the "first bid," and "chance" it for the day. When he has taken hansel money, he would as soon think of throwing it into the road as putting it into his pocket without first "spitting upon it."

_a.r.s.enic as an Amulet._

During the severe visitation of the plague in London, amulets composed of a.r.s.enic were very commonly worn in the region of the heart, upon the principle that one poison would drive out or prevent the entry of another. Large quant.i.ties of a.r.s.enic were imported into London for the purpose. Dr. Henry, in his "Preservatives against the Pestilence"

(1625), wrote against them as "dangerous and hurtful, if not pernicious to those who wear them." The wearing of a.r.s.enic in the way of an amulet, common in olden times, is said to have arisen chiefly from ignorance of Arabic, the word in the Arabian authors which is rendered _a.r.s.enic_ properly signifying _cinnamon_.

_Red Tape a Protection against the Plague._

Taylor, in his "Account of the Rebellion in Wexford," relates a curious story of the amuletive properties of _red tape_ as a protection against the plague: "Before the rebellion broke out in Wexford, all the red tape in the country was bought up, and more ordered from Dublin. It was generally bought in half-yards, and all the Roman Catholic children, boys and girls, wore it round their necks. This was so general and so remarkable as to occasion some inquiry, and the reason given was this: A priest had dreamed there would be a great plague among all the children of their church under fifteen years of age; that their brains would boil out at the back of their heads. He dreamed also that there was a charm to prevent it, which was to get some red tape, have it blessed and sprinkled with holy water, and tie it round the children's necks till the month of May, when the season of danger would be past. The Protestants suspected that it was intended as a mark to distinguish their own children, like the blood of the Paschal Lamb, when the Egyptian first-born were to be cut off."

_Owl's Claws._

The Russian Non-conformists (Raskolnics) are in the habit of carrying about with them, in rings and amulets, parings of an owl's claws, and of their own nails. Such relics are supposed by the peasantry in many parts of Russia to be of the greatest use to a man after his death, for by their means his soul will be able to clamber up the steep sides of the hill leading to heaven.

_Witch-ridden Horses._

In olden times it was believed that witches took from their stalls the horses, and rode them through the night. Aubrey, in his "Miscellanies,"

mentions the practice and publishes a remedy: "Hang in a string a flint with a hole in it by the manger; but, best of all, they say, hang about their necks, and a flint will do that hath not a hole in it. It is to prevent the nightmare, viz: the hag or witch from riding their horses, who will sometimes sweat all night." Herrick says-

"Hang up hooks and shears to scare Hence the hag that rides the mare, Till they be all over wet With the mire and the sweat; This observed, the manes shall be Of your horses all knot-free."

_A Smuggler's Talisman._

The following was found in a linen purse on the body of one Jackson, a murderer and smuggler, who died in Chichester Gaol, February, 1749-

"Ye three holy kings, Gaspar, Melchior, Balthasar, Pray for us now, and at the hour of death."

"These papers have touched the three heads of the holy kings of Cologne; they are to preserve travelers from accidents on the roads, falling sickness, fevers, _sudden death_." He was struck with such horror on being measured for his irons, that he expired soon afterward. His talisman failed him.

_Rubbing with a Gold Ring._

Pegge, in his "Curialia," alludes to the superst.i.tion that a wedding-ring of gold, rubbed on a stye upon the eyelid, was considered a sovereign remedy, but it required to be rubbed nine times. In Beaumont and Fletcher's "Mad Lovers," reference is made to the practice. In the West Indies the explanation of the merits of the gold wedding-ring used for this purpose is, that it is something which, once given, can never be taken back; and the Barbadians believe if you give anything away and take it back, you are sure of a stye, or "cat-boil," as they call it.

_Divination of the Bible and Key._

This was long popular, and is still practised. A case was tried before Mr. Ballantine, an English magistrate, as late as June 10th, 1832. "A person named Eleanor Blucher, a tall, muscular native of Prussia, was charged with an a.s.sault upon Mary White. They lived in the same court, and Mrs. White having lost several articles from her yard, suspected the defendant. She and her neighbors, after a consultation, agreed to have recourse to the key and Bible to discover the thief. They placed the street door-key on the fiftieth Psalm, closed the book, and fastened it very tightly with a garter. The Bible and key were then suspended to a nail; the prisoner's name was repeated three times by one of the women, while another recited the following words-

'If it turns to thee thou art the thief, And we all are free.'

The incantation over, the key turned, or the women thought it did; they unanimously agreed that Mrs. Blucher had stolen two pairs of inexpressibles belonging to Mrs. White's husband, and severely beat her."

_Visions of Destiny._

A singular mode of divination practised at the period of the harvest moon is thus described in an old chap-book: "When you go to bed, place under your pillow a prayer-book, opened at the part of the matrimonial service 'With this ring I thee wed;' place on it a key, a ring, a flower and a sprig of willow, a small heart-cake, a crust of bread and the following cards-the ten of clubs, nine of hearts, ace of spades and the ace of diamonds. Wrap all these in a thin handkerchief of gauze or muslin, and on getting into bed, cross your hands and say-

"Luna, every woman's friend, To me thy goodness condescend; Let me this night in visions see Emblems of my destiny."

_Selecting an Avocation._

A writer in "Notes and Queries" mentions a species of divination (sent him from Northamptons.h.i.+re) of the leading events in a man's life, or rather of future employment, drawn from the last chapter of the Book of Proverbs. This consists of thirty-one verses, each of which is supposed to have a mystical reference to each of the corresponding days of the month. Thus, a person born on the 14th will be prognosticated "to get their food from afar." This was so fully believed in by some, that a boy was actually apprenticed to a _linen_-draper, for no other reason than because he was born on the 24th of the month, the twenty-fourth verse of the chapter mentioning "fine linen."

_Spitting for Luck's Sake._