Jesus was born in Bethlehem,
Baptized in the river Jordan;
The water was wild and wood,
But he was just and good;
God spake, and the water stood,
And so shall now thy blood.
Charms were formerly always used when wounds were attempted to be cured. So in the old ballad of Tommy Potts:
Tom Potts was but a serving-man,
But yet he was a doctor good;
He bound his handkerchief on the wound,
And with some words he staunched the blood.
Bed-charm.—The following is one of the most common rural charms that are in vogue. Boys are taught to repeat it instead of a prayer:
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
Bless the bed that I lay on;
Four corners to my bed,
Four angels round my head,
One at head and one at feet,
And two to keep my soul asleep!
There are many variations of it. Ady, in his Candle in the Dark, 1656, p. 58, gives the first two lines as having been used by an old woman in the time of Queen Mary.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
Bless the bed that I lie on!
All the four corners round about,
When I get in, when I get out!
The two following distiches were obtained from Lancashire, but I cannot profess to explain them, unless indeed they were written by the Puritans to ridicule the above:
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
Hold the horse that I leap on!
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
Take a stick and lay upon!
Burn.—The following charm, repeated three times, was used by an old woman in Sussex, within the last forty years: