CHARMS, Etc.

Many are the charms against ill-wishing worn by the ignorant. I will quote some mentioned by Mr. Bottrell: “A strip of parchment inscribed with the following words forming a four-sided acrostic:—

SATOR
AREPO
TENET
OPERA
ROTAS

“At the time of an old lady’s decease, a little while ago, on her breast was found a small silk bag containing several charms, among others a piece of parchment, about three inches square, having written on one side of it ‘Nalgah’ (in capital letters); under this is a pen-and-ink drawing something like a bird with two pairs of wings, a pair extended and another folded beneath them. The creature appears to be hovering and at the same time brooding on a large egg, sustained by one of its legs, whilst it holds a smaller egg at the extremity of its other leg, which is outstretched and long. Its head, round and small, is unlike that of a bird. From the rudeness of the sketch and its faded state it is difficult to trace all the outlines. Under this singular figure is the word ‘Tetragrammaton’ (in capitals); on the reverse in large letters—

“A pellar of great repute in the neighbourhood tells me that this is inscribed with two charms, that Nalgah is the figure only. The Abracadabra is also supplied, the letters arranged in the usual way. Another potent spell is the rude draft of the planetary signs for the Sun, Jupiter, and Venus, followed by a cross, pentagram, and a figure formed by a perpendicular line and a divergent one at each side of it united at the bottom. Under them is written, ‘Whosoever beareth these tokens will be fortunate, and need fear no evil.’ The charms are folded in a paper on which is usually written, ‘By the help of the Lord these will do thee good,’ and inclosed in a little bag to be worn on the breast.”

People in good health visited these pellars every spring to get their charms renewed, and bed-ridden people who kept theirs under their “pillow-beres” were then visited by the pellar for the same purpose. “Of amulets mention must be made of certain small crystal balls called ‘kinning stones,’ held in high esteem for cure of ailments of the eye. I examined one of these ‘kinning stones’ recently, which had been lent to a person with a bad eye, who on recovering from his ailment had returned it to the owner. It proved to be a translucent, blueish-white globular crystal, about one-and-a-quarter inch in diameter; in texture, horny rather than vitreous; apparently not made of glass, but perhaps of rock crystal; pierced by a hole containing a boot lace for suspension; having striæ running through the substance of the crystal perpendicular to the hole. It had been for many generations in possession of the family of the owner, who valued it very highly, ‘but was willing to lend it to anyone to do good.’ This kind of amulet is worn around the neck, the bad eye being struck with the crystal every morning. There are other ‘kinning stones’ within reach, but examples are not common; their virtues are familiar to the people, and instances are to be met with among the country folk, whose recovery from a ‘kinning’ in the eye (‘kennel,’ West Cornwall) is attributed solely to the use of these charms.”—Notes on the Neighbourhood of Brown Willy (North Cornwall), Rev. A. H. Malan, M.A.

In every small Cornish village in olden times (and the race is not yet extinct) lived a charmer or “white witch.” Their powers were not quite as great as those of a pellar, but they were thoroughly believed in, and consulted on every occasion for every complaint. They were not only able to cure diseases, but they could, when offended, “overlook” and ill-wish the offender, bringing ill-luck on him, and also on his family and farm-stock. The seventh son of the seventh son, or seventh daughter of the seventh daughter, were born with this gift of charming, and made the most noted pellars; but anyone might become a witch who touched a Logan rock nine times at midnight. These Logan rocks are mentioned elsewhere as being in Cornwall their favourite resorts, and to them they went, it is said, riding on ragwort stems, instead of the traditional broomsticks.

Or, he might, says another authority, use the following charm: “Go to the chancel of a church to sacrament, hide away the bread from the hands of the priest, at midnight carry it around the church from south to north, crossing east three times. The third time a big toad, open-mouthed, will be met, put the bread in it; as soon as swallowed he will breathe three times upon the man, and from that time he will become a witch. Known by five black spots diagonally placed under the tongue.” There is also a strange glare in the eye of a person who can “overlook,” and the eyelids are always red.

Witches could in this country change themselves into toads, as well as hares. Mr. Robert Hunt relates the story of one who met her death in that form, and Mr. T. Q. Couch tells the tale of a sailor who was a “witch,” who received several injuries whilst in the shape of that animal. When a very small child, having a “kennel” (an ulcer) on my eye, I was unknown to my parents taken by an old servant to a Penzance “charmer,” who then made a great deal of money by her profession. All I can remember about it is, that she breathed on it, made some curious passes with her hands and muttered some incantation.

About twelve years ago, a woman who lived in the “west country” (Land’s End district) as well as being a “white witch was a famous knitster,” and we amongst others frequently gave her work. When she brought it back she was treated by our maids, who lived in great fear of her “ill-wishing” them, to the best our kitchen could afford; and many were the marvellous stories she told me of her power to staunch blood, etc., when doctors failed. It was not necessary for her to see the person; she could cure them sitting by her fireside if they were miles away. Witches are also consulted about the recovery of stolen property, which, by casting their spells over the thief, it is still supposed they can compel him to return.

A part of Launceston Castle is locally known as Witch’s Tower, from the tradition that one was burnt at its foot; no grass grows on the spot. Another is said to have met with the same fate on a flat stone close to St. Austell market-house.

“Charms are still in use by the simple-minded for thrush, warts, and various complaints; also for the cure of cattle, when some evil disposed person has ‘turned a figure upon (i.e. bewitched) them;’ and white witches—those who avert the evil eye—have not yet ceased out of the land.”—Notes on the Neighbourhood of Brown Willy (North Cornwall), Rev. A. H. Malan, M.A.

I will give some of their charms culled from various sources, and remedies for diseases still used in Cornwall:—Take three burning sticks from the hearth of the “overlooker,” make the patient cross over them three times and then extinguish with water. Place nine bramble-leaves in a basin of “Holy Well’s water, pass each leaf over and from the diseased part, repeating three times to each leaf. Three virgins came from the east, one brought fire, the others brought frost. Out fire! In frost! In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” Or take a stick of burning furze from the hearth, pass over and above the diseased part, repeating the above nine times. If you can succeed by any means in drawing blood from the “ill-wisher” you are certain to break and remove the spell. Stick pins into an apple or potatoe, carry it in your pocket, and as it shrivels the “ill-wisher” will feel an ache from every pin, but this I fancy does not do the person “overlooked” any good. Another authority says, “Stick pins into a bullock’s heart, when the ‘ill-wisher’ will feel a stab for every one put in, and in self-defence take off the curse.”

A friend writes, “An old man called Uncle Will Jelbart, who had been with the Duke of Kent in America, and also a very long time in the Peninsular, about forty years ago lived in West Cornwall; he had a small pension, and in addition made a good income by charming warts, wildfire (erysipelas), cataracts, etc. He used to spit three times and breathe three times on the part affected, muttering, ‘In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost I bid thee begone.’ For cataract he pricked the small white ‘dew-snail’ (slug), found about four a.m., with a hawthorn spine, and let a drop fall into the eye; and in the case of skin diseases occasionally supplemented the charm with an ointment made of the juice extracted from house-leeks and ‘raw-cream;’ he sometimes changed the words and repeated those which with slight variations are known all over Cornwall—‘Three virgins,’ etc.

“The crowfoot locally known as the ‘kenning herb’ is in some districts used in incantations for curing ‘kennings’ or ‘kennels’ (ulcers in the eye).

‘Three ladies (or virgins) come from the east:

One with fire and two with frost;

Out with thee, fire, and in with thee, frost:

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.’

“This is often said nine times over a scald. In prose it begins thus: ‘As I passed over the river Jordan, I met with Christ. He said, What aileth thee? Oh Lord, my flesh doth burn. The Lord said unto me, Two angels,’ ” etc.

A lady once told me that about forty years ago she was taken to a “charmer,” who stood in a Cornish market-place on fixed days, to have her warts cured. The remedies for this childish complaint are very numerous. I once had my forehead rubbed with a piece of stolen beef, which was then buried in a garden, to send them away, the idea being that as the beef decayed the warts would fall off or dwindle gradually. There are two or three other ways of getting rid of them of a similar kind. Touch each wart with a new pin, enclose them in a bottle, either bury them in a newly-made grave of the opposite sex, or at four cross-roads; as the pins rust, the warts will disappear. Or, touch them with a knot made in a piece of string (there should be as many knots as there are warts), bury it; when the rope decays so will the warts. The two next are selfish remedies. Touch each wart with a pebble, put the stones in a bag, throw them away, and the finder will get them and they will leave you. Or, in coming out of church, wish them on some part of another person’s body (or on a tree); they will go from you and appear on him, or on the spot named. One method employed by professional “charmers” is to take two pieces of charred stick from a fire, form them into a cross and place them on the warts, and repeat one of the formulæ above quoted. Yet another is to wash the hands in the moon’s rays focussed in a dry metal basin, saying,

“I wash my hands in this thy dish,

Oh man in the moon, do grant my wish,

And come and take away this.”

The moon too is invoked for the curing of corns. “Corns down here! No corns up there!” is repeated nine times. The fore-finger pointing first to the ground and then to the sky.

When pricked by a thorn, use one of the following charms:—

“Christ was of a virgin born:

And he was pricked by a thorn,

And it did never ‘bell’ (fester),

And I trust in Jesus this never will.”

Or,

“Christ was crowned with thorns,

The thorns did bleed but did not rot,

No more shall thy—(mentioning the part affected):

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.”

In prose: “When Christ was upon the middle earth the Jews pricked him, his blood sprung up into heaven, his flesh never rotted nor ‘fustered,’ no more I hope will not thine. In the name,” etc.—From Mr. T. Q. Couch, who gives two others very similar.