‘Matthew, Mark, Luke, John,
Haud the horse till I loup on;
Haud it fast, and haud it sure,
Till I get over the misty muir.’
Boys in Scotland say this in the course of their rollicking sports.”
This singular charm, rather than prayer, is given in a mediæval magical treatise, “The Enchiridion of Pope Leo,” which was printed at Rome in 1660. It is there called “The White Paternoster,” and runs thus in French—
“Petit Patenôtre blanche que Dieu fit, que
Dieu dit, que Dieu mit en Paradis.
Au soir m’allant coucher, je trouves trois
Anges à mon lit couchés, un aux pieds,