Charming.—There are few villages in this district which are not able to boast a professor of the healing art, in the person of an old woman who pretends to the power of curing diseases by "charming;" and at the present day, in spite of coroners' inquests and parish officers, a belief in the efficacy of these remedies appears to be undiminished. Two preliminaries are given, as necessary to be strictly observed, in order to ensure a perfect cure. First, that the person to be operated upon comes with a full and earnest belief that a cure will be effected; and, secondly, that the phrases "please" and "thank you" do not occur during the transaction. The established formula consists in the charmer's crossing the part affected, and whispering over it certain mysterious words—doubtless varied according to the disorder, but the import of which I have never been able to learn; for as there is a very prevalent notion that, if once disclosed, they would immediately lose their virtue, the possessors are generally proof against persuasion or bribery. In some cases it is customary for the charmer to "bless" or hallow cords, or leathern thongs, which are given to the invalids to be worn round the neck. An old woman living at a village near Brackley has acquired a more than ordinary renown for the cure of agues by this means. According to her own account, she received the secret from the dying lips of her mother; who, in her turn, is said to have received it from her's. As this old dame is upwards of ninety, and still refuses to part with her charm, the probability of it perishing with her, forms a constant theme of lamentation among her gossips. It must not be imagined that these ignorant people make a trade of their supposed art. On the contrary, it is believed that any offer of pecuniary remuneration would at once break the spell, and render the charm of no avail; and though it must be admitted that the influence and position naturally accruing to the possessor of such attributes, affords a sufficient motive for imposture, yet I think, for the most part, they may be said to be the dupes of their own credulity, and as fully convinced of their own infallibility as can be the most credulous of their admirers.
The following are a few of the more common traditionary charms (used without having recourse to the charmer) at present current among the rural population of this district.
Warts.—Take one of the large black snails, which are to be found during summer in every hedgerow, rub it over the wart, and then hang it on a thorn. This must be done nine nights successively, at the end of which times the wart will completely disappear. For as the snail, exposed to such cruel treatment, will gradually wither away, so it is believed the wart, being impregnated with its matter, will slowly do the same.
Wens.—After a criminal is dead, but still hanging, his hand must be rubbed thrice over the wen. (Vide Brand, vol iii. p. 153.) Many persons are still living who in their younger days have undergone the ceremony, always, they say, attended with complete success. On execution days at Northampton, numbers of sufferers used to congregate round the gallows, in order to receive the "dead-stroke," as it is termed. At the last execution which took place in that town, a very few only were operated upon, not so much in consequence of decrease of faith, as from the higher fee demanded by the hangman.
Epistaxis.—For stopping or preventing bleeding at the nose, a toad is killed by transfixing it with some sharp pointed instrument, after which it is inclosed in a little bag and suspended round the neck. The same charm is also occasionally used in cases of fever. The following passage From Sir K. Digby's Discourse on Sympathy (Lond. 1658) may enlighten us as to the principle:—
"In time of common contagion, they use to carry about them the powder of a toad, and sometimes a living toad or spider shut up in a box; or else they carry arsnick, or some other venemous substance, which draws unto it the contagious air, which otherwise would infect the party." p. 77.
Another for the Same.—If it be a man who suffers, he asks a female to buy him a lace, (if a female she asks a man), without either giving money, saying what it is wanted for, or returning thanks when received. The lace so obtained must be worn round the neck for the space of nine days; at the expiration of which, it is said, the patient will experience no return of the disorder.
Cramp.—We still retain such a high sense of the efficacy of the form of the cross, that in case of spasms, or that painful state of the feet in which they are said to "sleep," it is commonly used, under the impression that it mitigates, if not entirely allays, the pain. Warts are also charmed away by crossing them with elder sticks: and a very common charm for the cramp consists in the sufferer's always taking care, when he pulls off his shoes and stockings, to place them in such a position as to form a resemblance to the "holy sign."
Another and very common charm resorted to for the cure of this painful disorder, consists in the wearing about the person the patella of a sheep or lamb, here known as the "cramp-bone." This is worn as near the skin as possible, and at night is laid under the pillow. One instance of a human patella being thus used has come under my notice, but I believe this to be by no means common.
Toothache.—Few ailments have more charms for its cure than this. In point of efficacy none are reckoned better than a tooth taken from the mouth of a corpse, which is often enveloped in a little bag, and hung round the neck. A double nut is also sometimes worn in the pocket for the same purpose.