Then let all who are present say the Lord’s Prayer nine times.
[202] This charm must have been long current in Guernsey, for the invocation with which it commences is a strictly Presbyterian form, being the sentence with which the services of the Reformed French Church invariably began.
The mention of “Paters” and “Aves,” and the invocation of St. Eloy in the second charm, points clearly to a Romish origin, and render it very doubtful whether the charm could ever have been resorted to in Guernsey within the last two or three hundred years. St. Nicodemus might still be recognised, but St. Eloy has long been entirely forgotten, and probably not one in a thousand of our peasantry has the slightest idea of what is meant by the words “Pater” and “Ave.”
Another Form.
“Horse (name the colour), belonging to (name the owner), if thou hast the vives, or the red gripes, or any other of thirty-six maladies, in case thou be suffering from them: May God cure thee and the blessed Saint Eloy! In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen!”
Then say five “Paters” and five “Aves” on your knees.
To Remove a Fish Bone from the Throat.
Say:—“Blaise, martyr for Jesus Christ, command thee to come up or go down.”