Toothache.
In prose and verse slightly varied, common in all parts of the county,—
“Christ passed by his brother’s door,
Saw Peter his brother lying on the floor;
What aileth thee, brother?—
Pain in thy teeth?
Thy teeth shall pain thee no more:
In the name of,” etc.
This is to be worn in a bag around the neck. Mr. T. Q. Couch gives this charm in prose. It begins thus: “Peter sat at the gate of the Temple, and Christ said unto him, What aileth thee?” etc. Another remedy against toothache is, always in the morning to begin dressing by putting the stocking on the left foot.—Through Rev. S. Rundle.
A knuckle-bone is often carried in the pocket as a cure and preventive of cramp. I once saw an old woman turn out her pocket; amongst its contents, as well as the knuckle-bone, was the tip of an ox-tongue kept for good luck.
Slippers on going to bed are, when taken off, for the same complaint often placed under the bed with the soles upwards, or on their heels against the post of the bed with their toes up. The following is from Mr. T. Q. Couch: “The cramp is keenless, Mary was sinless when she bore Jesus: let the cramp go away in the name of Jesus.” All the charms published by the above-named author in his History of Polperro were taken from a manuscript book, which belonged to a white witch.
When a foot has “gone to sleep” I have often seen people wet their forefingers in their mouths, stoop and draw the form of a cross on it. This is said to be an infallible remedy. Mr. Robert Hunt has a rather similar cure for hiccough: “Wet the forefinger of the right hand with spittle, and cross the front of the left shoe (or boot) three times, repeating the Lord’s Prayer backwards.” The most popular cure with children is a heaping spoonful of moist sugar. A sovereign remedy for hiccough and almost every complaint is a small piece of a stale Good Friday bun grated into a glass of cold water. This bun is hung up in the kitchen from one year to the other. Bread baked on this day never gets mouldy.