The following was supposed to stop the flux:—
“In the blood of Adam death was taken,
In the blood of Christ it was all to slaken,
And by the same blood I do thee charge
That thou do run no longer at large”.
Singular virtues were supposed to be attached to a “dead man’s hand”. In a Roman Catholic chapel in Ashton-in-Mackerfield, there is preserved with great care in a white silk bag, a hand, which is still held in veneration, and wonderful cures are said to have been wrought by this ghastly relic.
The hand is said to have been that of one Father Edmund Arrowsmith, who was executed at Lancaster in 1628, for apparently no greater offence than that of being true to his faith. After his execution one of his friends cut off his right hand, which was preserved for many years at Bryn Hall, in Lancashire, and afterwards removed to Ashton.
This “Holy hand” was formerly held in great esteem in Lancashire, and pilgrims came from all parts of the country to receive its touch, which was reputed to cure various diseases. It was believed to remove tumours when rubbed over the part, and restore health to the paralysed.
There is a curious superstition still prevalent in some parts of Lancashire, that when cat’s hair gets into the stomach it causes sickness, which may be cured by eating a piece of egg-shell once a day.
Consumption was believed by the ignorant to be produced by drinking water which had been boiled too long. The cure was to dig a hole in the earth, lie in it face downwards, and breathe into the soil. This extraordinary remedy was also largely used for coughs, asthma, and those suffering from hysteria.
A curious charm is still practised in Devonshire as a cure for the complaint called a white swelling or white leg. Bandages are used to tie round the afflicted limb, over which the following charm is repeated nine times, and each time followed by the Lord’s Prayer:—
“As Christ was walking, He saw the Virgin Mary sitting on a cold marble stone. He said unto her, ‘If it is a white ill thing, or a red ill thing, or a black ill thing, or a sticking, crackling, pricking, stabbing, bone ill thing, or a sore ill thing, or a swelling ill thing, or a rotten ill thing, or a cold creeping ill thing, or a smarting ill thing, let it fall from thee to the earth in My name, and the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.’”
This comprehensive charm would seem to cover a multitude of ills indeed.