“À Nicholas Guille.”
I will conclude by giving an instance of “Folk Medicine” which was sent me the other day by one of the most prominent of our local physicians.
“As you are interested in Guernsey Folk-Lore I send you the following:—
A patient of mine at St. Pierre-du-Bois suffered from an affection of the brain which has led to total loss of sight. It was supposed by the wise people around her that she was suffering from “Mal Volant,” so a black fowl was waved three times round her head on three successive days, to the accompaniment of a prayer (? incantation). On the ninth day the fowl ought to have died and the woman recovered.—As this did not happen they concluded that their diagnosis was wrong!
E. Laurie Robinson
Melrose, Guernsey, December 11th, 1902.”
[368] In reading this proof Mr. de Garis notes that in his young days he had sometimes heard of a “Lettre d’Or” but had never seen the contents.
