"Lest I forget what has been told to me, I commit to paper charms and other devices for the cure of men and beastes. My forbears used these charms for more years than I can tell, and those who use them must have faith in them that they will work their work, or they labour in vain. And I pray God that I commit no sin in handing down what I have been taught, but that it may be counted merit in me to preserve what has been found out with much labour, and hath spared man and beast great and grievous sufferings in the flesh, and saved much money, when it could ill be spent, as, God wot, is the case on farms in this country.
"'Mortal are we and subject to diseases,
We all must die even when and how God pleases!
Into the world but one way we do come,
A thousand ways from hence we are sent home.'"
Some of the receipts would offend moderns, but all were seemingly set down in good faith; and the Bookworm copied many, with permission.
"A tooth from a dead man's mouth carried in the pocket is an infallible charm against toothache."
"The eighth psalm read three times a day, three days running, cures the thrush."
"To keep away evil spirits from cattle, nail four horse-shoes in the form of a cross against the door."
"A church key applied to a wound stops bleeding."
"Bore a hole in a nutmeg and tie round your neck, and nibble nine mornings fasting, and boils will disappear in spring and autumn."
"Breathe over a newly made grave, and cure a cough."