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Title: The Mysteries of All Nations - Rise and Progress of Superstition, Laws Against and Trials - of Witches, Ancient and Modern Delusions Together With - Strange Customs, Fables, and Tales
Author: Grant, James
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Mysteries of All Nations - Rise and Progress of Superstition, Laws Against and Trials - of Witches, Ancient and Modern Delusions Together With - Strange Customs, Fables, and Tales" ***
THE MYSTERIES OF ALL NATIONS:
RISE AND PROGRESS OF SUPERSTITION,
LAWS AGAINST AND TRIALS OF WITCHES,
ANCIENT AND MODERN DELUSIONS,
TOGETHER WITH
Strange Customs, Fables, and Tales
RELATING TO
MYTHOLOGY--DAYS AND WEEKS--MIRACLES--POETS AND SUPERSTITION--MONARCHS,
PRIESTS, AND PHILOSOPHERS--DRUIDS--DEMONOLOGY--MAGIC AND
ASTROLOGY--DIVINATION--SIGNS, OMENS, AND WARNINGS--AMULETS
AND CHARMS--TRIALS BY ORDEAL--CURSES AND EVIL WISHES--DREAMS
AND VISIONS--SUPERSTITION IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
BY JAMES GRANT.
LEITH: REID & SON, 35 SHORE.
EDINBURGH: W. PATERSON. LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO.
[THE RIGHT OF TRANSLATION IS RESERVED.]
REID AND SON, PRINTERS, LEITH.
PREFACE.
In whatever light this work may be regarded by archæologists and
general readers, the writer submits it to the public, chiefly as the
result of antiquarian research, and actual observation during a period
of nearly forty years. The writer does not attempt to define what
superstition is, either in its broadest or most literal sense; but, as
he desires the expression to be understood, it may be considered to
imply a fear of the Evil One and his emissaries, a trust in benign
spirits and saints, a faith in occult science, and a belief that a
conjunction of certain planets or other inanimate bodies is capable of
producing supernatural effects, either beneficial or prejudicial to
man. Superstition, generally so called, has run through a course of
ages from sire to son, leaving it still deeply rooted in the minds of
many of the present generation.
Not a few seeming repetitions in this work are not such in reality,
but are instances brought forward to mark the resemblance between the
opinions prevalent in past and present times, and to illustrate the
similarity of perverted views in various parts of the world.
The examples of superstition herein given are taken from an almost
unlimited number, yet the writer confesses to have omitted many
interesting particulars. In proof of this it may be stated, that while
the last sheet of these pages was being revised, an esteemed friend
wrote, saying: "I can quite corroborate what you say of Ireland; for
lately, on my way from Macroom to Glengariff, at a weird mountain
pass, the coach stopped to enable us to visit the hermitage of St.
Finbar. There, beside a lonely lake, I saw a number of devotees,
afflicted with various ailments, expecting to be healed through the
good offices of the departed saint."
In spite of a determination to omit unimportant matter and to be
concise, this volume has swelled out far beyond what was originally
intended. The more the subject of superstition is studied, the more
interesting it becomes. One judges of a nation's strength by its
victories, of its industry by its products, of its wealth by its mines
and cultivated fields, of its domestic condition by its diet and
dress, of its moral condition by its laws, of its religion and
intelligence by its literature; but before obtaining full knowledge of
a people's convictions, it is necessary to search into their
superstitions. In these are discovered the secrets of man's inner
life, and by these also have been forged strong fetters, which have
kept his soul in thraldom for ages.
If the author has succeeded in pointing out, that, notwithstanding the
progress of science and the advancement of civilisation and
Christianity, some of the darker shadows that have disfigured past
ages are still floating over a portion of our social horizon, he feels
his labour will not have been altogether in vain. Like many of the
ghosts alluded to in the following pages, that of superstition needs
only the continued light of day to shine upon it, in order to make it
vanish for ever.
_January 1880._
CONTENTS.
* * * * *
THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF SUPERSTITION.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Rise and Progress of Superstition--The Serpent--Cain's Departure
from the true Worship--Worship of the Sun, Moon, and Stars--Strange
Story of Abraham--The Gods of Antiquity--Ether, Air, Land, and
Water filled with living Souls--Guardian Angel--Cause of the
Flood--Magic--How the Jews deceived the Devil--A Witch not
permitted to live--Diviners, Enchanters, Consulters with familiar
Spirits, and Necromancers proved a Snare to Nations--Charms worn by
the Jews--Singular Customs and Belief--Prognostication--Allegorical
Emblems--Marriage Customs--Ceremonies at Death and Burials--Divination
among all Nations--Observers of Times--Opinion concerning the
Celestial Bodies--Power of Witches--Wizards--Necromancers' Power
to call up the Dead 1
CHAPTER II.
Men endowed with Prophetic Spirits--The Jews forbidden to consult
the Oracles of the Heathen--Schools of Prophets--Influence of
Music--The Prophetic Mantle--Way Revelations were made--Bath
Kol--Urim and Thummim--False Prophets Strangled or Stoned--Diabolical
Art--Moloch--Seething a Kid in its Mother's Milk--The Smooth
Stones mentioned by Isaiah--Sheep-head and Sheep-head Broth--Casting
Sins into the Sea--Fasting among the Pharisees--Dust of Heathen
Countries--The number 10--Angels that had the Care of Men--Predictions
by Hebrew Women--Punishment in the Grave 10
CHAPTER III.
Egypt steeped in Superstition--Power of Magicians--Obtaining
Visions--Demons--Departed Heroes--Gods and Demi-gods--Altars or
Living Stones--Sacred Animals--Isis searching for Osiris--Leeks and
Onions--Priests, Physicians, and Interpreters of Oracles--Sacrificing
Human Victims--Wax Figures--Magic--Teaching of the Egyptian
Priests--Transmigration 14
CHAPTER IV.
Babylon--The Chaldeans--Downfall of Babylon predicted--Worship of
the Medes and Persians--Sacred Fire--The Gaures--Births and Deaths
in Early Times--A Narrow Bridge--An Immense Tree--Creation of
Prophets--A Stone to which Abraham tied his Camel--Adam and Eve's
Trysting Place--Black Art--Ways of discovering whether a supposed
Criminal was Guilty or Innocent--Looking into Futurity--Canaanites,
Syrians, and Arabians--Strange Fables--Abraham breaking Heathen
Idols--Altars--Religion of the Carthagenians and Tyrians--Supremacy
of the Gods 20
CHAPTER V.
Greek Religion and Superstition--Jupiter regarded as the
President of the Law and Protector of Cities--Dreams and
Charms--Sacred Stones--Omens of Evil--Sacrificing the Hair--Flight
of Birds--Compassing the Altar to the Right--Love secured by
Magic--Marriage Ceremonies--Way of protecting a Child from Evil
Spirits--Divers Magical Ceremonies--Laws as to Dead Bodies--Fingers
and Toes of Dead Men worn as Charms--Preparing a Body for
Burial--Swine and Swine's Flesh--Drinking Toasts--Prophets consulted
before Armies marched to Battle--Certain Words avoided--Sneezing--Evil
Omens--Throwing a Person overboard to save a Ship 26
CHAPTER VI.
Roman Delusions and Customs--Tokens of Futurity--Drawing of Lots--Events
foretold by reading the first passage that turned up on opening a
Book--Lucky and Unlucky Stars--Fortune-tellers--Dreams--Omens
drawn from the Appearance of parts of Animals offered in
Sacrifice--Sibylline Books, Charms, and Incantations--Spirits
observers of Men's Actions--Unlucky Days--Dress of a Bride--Anointing
Door-posts and crossing the Threshold--Fire and Water--Bridal Feast
and Nuptial Songs--Funeral Rites--Souls of Unburied Persons--Customs
at a Deathbed, and Funeral Observances--Hobgoblins--Purifying
with Water and Fire--Appeasing the Manes--Dead Bodies used for
Magical purposes 34
CHAPTER VII.
Ethiopian Superstition--Heathen Indian Gods--Superstitious
Observances at Marriages--Disposal of Dead Bodies--Different
Degrees of Glory after Death--Reverence for the Cow--Detecting
Criminals--Addressing Oracles--Astronomy--Eclipse of the
Moon--Magic--John Gondalez 39
CHAPTER VIII.
Wizard and Man-tiger--Man-lion--Sacrificing Children--Offerings
to the Ganges--A Rajah offering himself as a Sacrifice--Various
Superstitious Ceremonies--King's Wives and Retainers going with
the Dead Monarch into another World--An eternal Succession of
Worlds--Apes supposed to have Human Souls--Worshipping Demons--Drinking
Blood--Prognosticating from the Cries of Beasts--Witchcraft and
Magic--Singular Opinions and Customs--Foretelling Future Events
at the New Moon--Discovering a False Swearer--Offerings to the
Sea and Winds--Superstition in China--Superstition in Japan 48
* * * * *
HEATHEN GODS AND GODDESSES.
CHAPTER IX.
Classification of Gods and Goddesses--Primeval Parent
Chaos--Creation--Influence of Ether--Celestial Fire--Birth and
Banishment of Cupid--Fate--Eternal Decrees--Throne of Jove--Fortune
and Happiness--Misfortune and Misery--Rewards and Punishments--First
Man and Woman--Pan the Emblem of all Things--Power of Heathen
Gods--Descriptions of Juno--Venus the Goddess of Love and
Beauty--Rustics turned into Frogs--Vulcan--Æolus--Momus the
Jester--The Carping God 59
CHAPTER X.
Satyrs described--Diana's Retirement--Pallas, the Goddess of
Shepherds--The vile Flora--Pomona deceived--Nymphs--River Gods
and Goddesses--Sirens--Witch Circe--Infernal Deities--Passage
to Tartarus--Palace of Pluto--Judges of Hell--Goddesses of
Destiny--Furies--Night, Death, and Sleep--Tartarian Regions--Delights
of the Elysian Fields--Festivals of Heathens--Sacrifices to
Deities--Things sacred to Gods 65
CHAPTER XI.
Achilles--Taking of Troy--Acrisius's Daughter--Danae and her
son Perseus--Ardea changed into a Bird--Pluto's Invisible
Helmet--Minerva's Buckler--Mercury's Wings--Medusa deprived of
Life--Sea Monster--A Gorgon's Head--Stheno and Euryale--Minerva's
Revenge--Serpents and Pegasus produced by Medusa's Blood--Tales by the
Daughters of Minyas--Punishment by Bacchus--The Search of Cadmus for
his sister Europa--Halcyon's Sorrow--Transmigration--Exploits of
Hercules--Love Potion--Hymen--Jason's Adventures--Power and Cruelty of
Medea--How a Favourable Wind was procured--Manner in which Orion came
into Existence--False Swearer punished--Palladium--Deeds of
Paris--Golden Apple--Marriage of Peleus and Thetis--Impiety of
Pentheus--Rhea and her Sons--Scylla turned into a Sea Monster 71
* * * * *
MYTHOLOGY OF GERMANY, GREAT BRITAIN, SCANDINAVIA, ETC.
CHAPTER XII.
Mythology of Germany, Great Britain, and Scandinavia--The world
Niflheim--The world Muspelheim--How Ymir was created--The cow
Aedhumla--Ymir's Offspring--Odin, the chief God--Valhalla--Queen
Frigga--How the Seas, Waters, Mountains, and Heavens were
made--Chariots and Horses in Heaven--Night and Day--Evil-disposed
Maidens--Creation of New Beings--Bridge between Midgard and
Asgard--Sacred Fountain--Roots of the ash Yggdrasil--Baldur's Dreams
and sad End--Loki, the Evil Spirit--Hel and her Brothers--Worship
of Scandinavian Gods--Norsemen and their Ancient Gods and
Goddesses--The Volsung Tale--Odin, Loki, and Hænir's Wanderings--The
Sword Gram--Sigurd's Exploits--What the Worshippers of Odin
believed--Frodi's Maidens and Quern--Gods of the Laplanders--Sale
of Winds--Lucky and Unlucky Days--Other Superstitions 85
* * * * *
NAMES OF DAYS, WHENCE DERIVED.
CHAPTER XIII.
The Calendar--Names of Days, whence derived--The Power of
Jupiter--Influence of Zeus--The God Indra--Origin of the term
"Hours"--Hours under Planetary Control--Coronation of a Persian
King--Evils transferred to the Turks and Kafirs--The Moon's
Controlling Power--Time reckoned by Moons--A Strange Story--Heathen
Gods--Thor's Palace--Thor's Power--Frigga's Abilities--Description of
Seater or Crodo 99
* * * * *
NAMES OF MONTHS, WHENCE DERIVED.
CHAPTER XIV.
Names of Months, whence derived--January--First of January,
how kept--New Year Gifts--February--Sacrifices for purging
Souls--Second of February--Virtue of Candles--Shrove Tuesday--Eating
Pancakes--Partaking of Brose--Choosing a Valentine--March--April
dedicated to Venus--First of May--May Poles and May Fires--Dispute between
Men and Gods--Superstitious Customs in Scotland--Superstitious Ceremonies
in England--June Marriages--July--August--September--October--Hallow-e'en
Ceremonies--December--Christmas Trees and Gifts--The Misletoe--Privileges
in Leap Year--Yule Log--Christmas Festivities 110
* * * * *
MIRACLES PERFORMED BY HOLY PERSONS, AND THE INFLUENCE OF SACRED
RELICS.
CHAPTER XV.
St. Peter, and Simon the Magician--Clement's Miracles and Death--St.
Agnes--A Miraculous Circumstance--St. Blase's Power--St. Agatha's Holy
Life--St. Patrick's Missionary Labours, and Expulsion of Reptiles from
Ireland--St. Germanus stilling the Raging of the Sea--St. David and
the Welsh Leeks--Stirrup Cup and Origin of "Pledging"--Elfrida's
Treachery and Remorse--St. Benedict's Power--St. Dunstan cured by an
Angel--The Æolian Harp--St. Columba's Prophecy concerning Iona--Sacred
Ducks of Ireland--St. Paul binding a Dragon--Saints and Frogs--Friars
and Jesuits--Father Mark proof against Fire--Virtue of Holy Water--St.
Noel's Imprecation--St. Boniface--Pope Silvester assisted by
Satan--Necromancing Popes--St. Januarius's Blood--St. Anthony's
Conflicts with the Devil--St. Anthony's Hog and Bees--A Tradition
concerning Melrose--St. Cuthbert--A Princess swallowed up by the
Earth--Monk Waldevus's inexhaustible Stores--Holy Relics--Rusticus
and his Hog 130
* * * * *
POETS AND SUPERSTITION.
CHAPTER XVI.
Prophetic Verse--The Bardi--Bards maintained by Noblemen--Queen
Elizabeth and the Bards--Effects of Prophetic Sayings and of
Pipe Music--Messages to another World--Voices of Deceased Friends
heard in the Gale--Human Forms in the Clouds--Evenings in the
Highlands--Michael Scott--Constant Work for Evil Spirits--Stemming the
Tweed--How the Eildon Hills were formed--Ropes of Sand--Scott and his
Magic Books buried at Melrose--Ossianic Poems--Stories by Bards 150
CHAPTER XVII.
Shakspeare--An Outline of his Composition--"The Tempest"--Miranda
beseeching Prospero to allay the Wild Waters--Ariel's Readiness
to serve his Master--The Witch Sycorax--Caliban's Evil Wish--Neptune
chased--"Midsummer Night's Dream"--Exploits of a Fairy--Doings of
Puck--Titania and her Attendants--Ghosts and
Spirits--Song--"Macbeth"--Weird Sisters--Macbeth's Doom--Witches'
Caldron--Macbeth admonished by Spirits--"Antony and
Cleopatra"--Dreadful Apparition--King's Death avenged 161
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Poet Gay--The "Spell"--Hobnelia--Lubberkin--Spells resorted
to--Valentine Day--Ladybird sent on a Message of Love--Virtue of
United Garters--Gipsies' Warnings--Knives sever Love--Story of
Boccaccio--Apparition of a Deceased Lover--Poems by Burns--"Address
to the Deil"--"Tam o' Shanter" 173
CHAPTER XIX.
Sir Walter Scott--His Belief in Superstition--How his Tales of Fiction
are composed--A Town-Clerk frightened by an Apparition--A Ghost that
did not understand Erse, but could communicate in Latin--Lovel and
Edie Ochiltree--Discovery of Hidden Treasure--"Rob Roy"--Fairies'
Caverns--Supposed Apparition in the Trossachs--Elfin People at the
Firth of Forth--A Minister taken away by Fairies--Dame Glendinning's
Tale--Lines from "Marmion"--A Fairy Knight--Mysterious Steed 187
CHAPTER XX.
Lord Byron taught Superstition--Byron and the Maid in Green--Bridge of
Balgonie--Byron's Fear to ride over it--His Belief in Unlucky Days and
Presentiments--Socrates's Demon--Monk Lewis's Monitor--Napoleon's
Warnings--A Sorrowful Tale--Byron's Fortune told by a Sibyl--Hebrew
Camyo--Abracadabra--Loch-na-Garr--Oscar of Alva--Byron's last
Instructions 197
CHAPTER XXI.
Tale by Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd--Aikwood Castle--The
Witch Henbane--Imps demanding Work--Michael Scott--Curious
Sport--Dreadful Threat--Rats transformed into the form of
Men--Inventor of Gunpowder--Summoning Evil Spirits--Latin the
Language best understood by Satin and his Emissaries--Holy Signs
and Charms--Effects of a Friar's Blessing--Magic Lantern--Michael
Scott's Subscribed Conditions--Imps' Song--Dreadful Storm--Warlocks'
Hymn--Eildon Hill 210
CHAPTER XXII.
Allan Ramsay--"The Gentle Shepherd"--Bauldy the Clown--Mause the
reputed Witch--Praying Backwards--Sad Misfortunes--Supposed Power
of the Devil to raise the Wind and send Rain and Thunder--Sir
William disturbed--Symon's Announcement--Promise to gain a
Lassie's Heart--Witches' Tricks--Longfellow's "Golden Legend"--"Song
of Hiawatha" 218
* * * * *
MONARCHS, PRIESTS, PHILOSOPHERS, AND SUPERSTITION.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Superstition--Commencement of Monarchy in Scotland--King Fergus I.
crowned on the Fatal Stone of Destiny--Signs, Assistance of Spirits,
Magicians, and Fortune-tellers--Natholocus sends a Friend to consult
a Cunning Woman--Her Prediction--Constantine and Maxentius--A
Heavenly Cross--A Famous Standard--Queen Guanora's Grave--Fear of St.
Martin--The Church's Belief in Departed Saints--Relics venerated--King
bewitched by Witches of Forres--Evil Signs--Sea Monster in the
Don--Kenneth III. killed by an Infernal Machine--Virtue of
Precious Stones--Weird Sisters--Consulting a Pythoness--Predictions
by Druids--Domitian's Death foretold by Astrologers--Simon Magus--A
Platonic Philosopher--The Emperor Julian instructed in Magic 234
CHAPTER XXIV.
Louis XI. and the Astrologer--A King's Enchanted Cap--David I. and
the Mysterious Stag--Merlin the Magician--Prophecies concerning
Queen Elizabeth and Mary--Dragon Caverns--Predictions of Evil--Changing
a King's Love--The Holy Maid of Kent--Nobles put to Death for keeping
company with Sorcerers--James I. of England and the Witches--Tranent
Witches and Warlocks--Wise Wife of Keith--Two Hundred Witches
sailing in Sieves--Raising Storms--Witch and Warlock Convention at
Newhaven--Meeting of Witches at North Berwick--Witches tortured in
Holyrood--The Devil's Mark--Bothwell's Fortune told--Witches and their
Associates burned 242
CHAPTER XXV.
Cromwell in league with the Devil--Cromwell consulting
Astrologers--Memorable Days in the Life of Cromwell--Duke of
Hamilton warned of his Fate--Peden's Predictions--Traditions
concerning Peden--John Brown the Martyr--Linlithgow Loch
Swans--Hereford Children--Great Comet--Conjunction of Saturn
and Jupiter at Eventful Periods--Solomon's Power 254
* * * * *
THE DRUIDS.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Druids laid claim to Supernatural Power--Representations of the Sun
and Moon--Belief of Druids--Beltane Feasts--Arkite and Sabian
Superstition--Dancing to the Song of the Cuckoo--Initiation into
the Druidical Mysteries--The Goodmane's Land and the Guidman's
Fauld--Offerings to Demi-gods--Propitiating Beasts of Prey--Sacred
Cairns--Trees dedicated to Demons--Law forbidding Worship of the Sun,
Moon, Fire, Rivers, Wells, Stones, or Forest Trees--Extracts from
Kirk-Session Records--Land dedicated to Satan--Midsummer and Hallow
Fires forbidden--Yule-day--Order of the General Assembly as to
Druidical Customs--Old Customs ordered to be discontinued 262
CHAPTER XXVII.
Dr. Stuart on the Druids--Their Deities, etc.--Gauls descendants
of Dis--Funeral Rites--Slaves and Clients burned--What Pliny
says--Tallies used in making known the Will of Heaven--Walking
through the Fire--Wonder-working Eggs--Easter Eggs represent
Druidical Eggs--Origin of Druids--Wise Men of the East were
probably Druids--Island of Iona--Druidical Cairns--Stones of
Judgment--Misletoe regarded as a Charm--Rings worn as Preventatives
against Witchcraft--Stonehenge--Merlin the Magician--Stones brought
from Africa by Giants--Graves of British Lords 267
* * * * *
DEMONOLOGY.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
First Ideas of Demonology--Rabbinical Tradition--Adam's Marriage--The
Wicked Lilith--Egyptian Tradition--Arabian Worship of Genii--Christians'
Opinions of Demons--Forms assumed by Evil Spirits--Demoniacal King--Duty
of Inferior Demons--Task of Benign Spirits--Schools of Magic--Circassian
Opinions--Belief of Indians--Situation of Hell--Men's Actions
recorded--Rewards and Punishments--How to frighten Demons--Treatment
of the Sick--Attendant Angels--Worship of Gods--Foretelling Future
Events--Small-pox propagated by an Evil Genius--Souls of Deceased
Persons--Effect of Charms 273
CHAPTER XXIX.
Heathen Devotion in Ceylon--Superstitious Customs among the Schismatic
Greeks--Negro Belief in Fetishes--Charms--Magic taught by the
Priests--Dead Persons metamorphosed into Serpents--How the Gaures
disposed of their Dead--Souls Blessed or Damned--Orders of Genii in
Madagascar--Belief of the Caribbees--Brazilian Superstition--Peruvian
Tradition--American Indians--Demons in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth
Centuries--Satan in France--Manes, Anima, and Umbra among the Greeks
and Romans 279
CHAPTER XXX.
Visible Ghosts--Superstition on the Baltic Shores--A German
Legend--Demons in the West of Europe--Love, how plighted in
Orkney--The Monster Ymir--Origin of Fairies--The Duergar or
Dwarfs--Brownies in Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland--Nine
Classes of Evil Spirits--Vampires--Man's Double or Fetch--Churchyard
Ghosts--Souls of Suicides--Burial of Suicides and Murderers at Cross
Roads--Luther on Evil Spirits and Witches 284
CHAPTER XXXI.
Belief and Teaching of the Roman Catholic Church--Swedenborg's
Intercourse with Spirits--Marcus Brutus and his Evil Genius--Cassius
and Julius Cæsar's Ghost at Philippi--Plutarch on Spectres--Socrates
on the same subject--Archbishop Bruno and the Spectre--A Haunted
House--Spectre at Sea--Ghost of a Murdered Man in New South Wales 291
CHAPTER XXXII.
Spiritualism Past and Present--Magic taught in Leipsic--Spirit of
Marshal Saxe--How Spirits were Invoked--Voices of Spirits--Mysterious
Death of a Magician--Unearthly Huntsman--Prediction and its
Fulfilment--An Estate lost at the Gaming Table--A Baron Shot--A
Marriage prevented by an Apparition--Consulting a Witch--Raising the
Spirit of a Murdered Man--A Murderer's Fate 297
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Antonio the Rich--Dreadful Announcement from a Volcano's Mouth--Three
Ghosts--Mozart apprehensive of Death--Mozart writing a Requiem for
himself--Messenger from another World--Mozart's Death--Ghost of a
Lady--A Haunted House--Iron Cage--Youth starved to Death--Frightful
Dreams and Dreadful Sights--Dog frightened by a Spirit--Disturbed
House--Duchess of Mazarin--Madame de Beauclair--Compact between the
Living and the Dead--A Lady's Death foretold by a Spirit 304
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Sir George Villiers' Ghost--Duke of Buckingham Murdered--Lord
Lyttelton and others profaning Christmas--A Troubled Mind--Apparition
of a Suicide--Neglected Warning--Ominous Hour--Lord Lyttelton found
Dead at the dreaded time--Death of an old Roman King--Alarming
Prodigies--Tales from the _Eddas_--A Scandinavian Warrior's Ghost--An
Icelandic Lady's Ghost--Fear of approaching Calamities--Association of
Ghosts--Apparitions of Drowned Men--Christians not disturbed by
Spectres--A Band of Demons--Priest exorcising Evil Spirits 312
CHAPTER XXXV.
A Mysterious Hunter--Man and Horse supposed to be
Devils--Flagellation--Tales of the Scotch Highlands--Croaking
Raven--Death of a suspected Witch--Resort of Witches and Evil
Spirits--Spirits hastening to a Church--Black Man with Eyes like
Fire--Horse breathing Smoke and Flame 318
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Churchmen subjected to the Onslaught of Demons--St. Maurus rebuking
Evil Spirits--St. Romualdus' Conflict with Satan--St. Frances--St.
Gregory--Monk in Purgatory--Institution of the Thirty Masses for the
Dead--An Excommunicated Gentleman--St. Benedict and the Blackbird's
Song--A Monk restored to Life--St. Benedict's Sister ascending to
Heaven--St. Francis' Dominion over Living Creatures and the
Elements--St. Catherine's Power--St. Stanislaus' Miracles--A Dead Man
giving Evidence--The Dead refusing a Renewal of Life--St. Philip
Nerius and Evil Spirits--Spirits ministering to St. Erasmus--St.
Norbert--Story relating to Henry I.--St. Margaret's Triumph--St.
Ignatius--St. Stephen--Satan's Hatred of St. Dominick--St. Donatus
endowing a Corpse with Speech--St. Cyriacus, St. Largus, and St.
Smaragdus, the Martyrs--St. Clare--St. Bernard's Power--St. Cæsarius'
Wonder-working Crook--St. Giles and the Hind--St. Euphemia's Guardian
Angels--St. Francis' Spirit--St. Bridget--St. Denis' Spirit--St.
Teresa and the Angels--St. Hilarian--St. Martin--St. Catherine's Body
carried by Angels to Mount Sinai--St. Francis Xaverius' Belief in
Virtue of Bells--St. Nicholas--St. Ambrose--St. Lucy raising her Mother
from the Dead--St. Anastasia sustained by Bread from Heaven--St.
Thomas enduring Martyrdom in Life and after Death--Penance of
Henry II.--Barbarous Conduct of Henry VIII.--A Hungarian Legend 323
* * * * *
MAGIC AND ASTROLOGY.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Magic a Study among the Learned--Plato and Pythagoras travelled to
learn the Art, and taught it--Speakers made Eloquent by Magical
Art--Virtue of Gems--How Jewels should be set--When they are to be
Graven--Cures effected by Hippocrates--Democritus on Magic--Many
Charms--Evil Spirits--Magicians sacrificing to the Planets--Magician's
Power to produce Monstrous Creatures--Egyptian Magicians--Magical
Circles--Throwing Old Shoes--Figures on Shoes--A Hangman's
Soul--Directions for raising Ghosts and Spirits 339
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Josephus' Account of Astrology--Antediluvians acquainted with
Astrology--Astrology after the Flood--Magicians in various
Nations--Compact and Confederation with Spirits--Feats of
Magicians--A French Priest in compact with the Devil--Married
to Venus--Turning Leather into Gold--A Novice in Magic destroyed
by a Spirit--Principles of Magic--Lilly the Astrologer--Lilly
consulted by Royalists--Astrological Predictions 349
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Judicial Astrology--Reading the Heavens--Lucky and Unlucky
Days--Highland Superstitions--Climacterics--Astrologer and Charles
IX.--Influence of the Moon--Official Air-gazers--Sacrificing to
Planets--Dryden's Faith in Astrology--Dryden calculating the
Nativity of his Children 356
* * * * *
DIVINATION AND ORACLES.
CHAPTER XL.
Divination--Heathen Gods giving Signs--Sortes Prœnestinæ--St.
Augustine's View of Divination--Sortes Sanctorum--Divination in the Greek
and Latin Churches--Declarations of the Divine Will--How St. Consortia
became a Nun--Hieroglyphic Texts--Divination among the Jews--Plutarch
on Oracles--Malthus' Belief in Oracles--A Missionary's Opinion--Sibylline
Oracles--Alectoromantia--Belomancy--Cleromancy--Napoleon's Belief
in Cleromancy 362
* * * * *
SIGNS, OMENS, AND WARNINGS.
CHAPTER XLI.
Crying in Youth--Image of Opis--Man born to Trouble--Bacon's Belief in
Presages--Dugdale's Foresight--Sir Thomas More's Power to judge of
Passing Events--Erasmus at the Tomb of Becket--Sir Walter Raleigh's
Predictions--What Tacitus foresaw--Solon's Predictions--Cicero's
Predictions--Knox's Predictions--Queen Mary and Darnley--Death of
Thomas Maitland and of Kirkaldy of Grange predicted--Regent Murray
warned against going to Linlithgow--The Human Body a medium for
discovering Future Events--Death Warnings--Appearance of Spirits 372
CHAPTER XLII.
Ornithomancy--Mohammed's Pigeons--Cock-crowing--Sacred Geese--Phenomenon
at Rome--Divination by means of a Sieve--Capnomancy--Catoptromancy--
Dactyliomancy--Cledonism--Onomancy--Names--Romans toasting their
Mistresses--How Success in War was ascertained--Loss of Ships'
Colours--Regimental Standards--Consecrated Banners--Battle of the
Standard--A Highland Superstition 380
CHAPTER XLIII.
Caution of our Ancestors--Magpies--Flight of Birds--Swarming of
Bees--Howling of Dogs--Lowing of Cattle--Crowing of Cocks--Stockings
wrong side out--Sign of a Letter coming--Sneezing of a Cat--Various
Signs and Omens--How to prevent Ill Luck--Reputed Witches--Print of a
Caldron, what it denoted--Unlucky to pass over a Balance--When not to
pare your Nails--Touching a Dead Body--Funeral Processions--Storks--How
to Sit--Marriages--A Prophetic Rhyme--Wedding Ring--Throwing Slippers,
Besoms, Salt, and Rice after Newly-married Persons--Charms for Bridegrooms
and Brides--Mothers and Children--Rules to be observed at Baptisms--How
to treat Young Children 387
CHAPTER XLIV.
Sweeping Floors--New Year and Christmas--"First-Foots"--Weather
Prognostications--How to secure Favourable Gales--Superstitious
Customs--Corpse of one guilty of _Felo-de-se_--Finding of Persons
who die unseen--Superstitious Belief of Russian Seamen--Ancient
Customs of Scotland--Friday an Unlucky Day for commencing an Important
Undertaking--Friday as a Marriage Day--Anecdote of a Ship called
"Friday"--Loss of the Ship "Amazon"--Sunday a Favourable Day for
commencing a Voyage--Lawyers and Clergymen, how looked upon by Sailors
at Sea--Rats deserting a Ship--Whistling to raise the Wind--Legend of
Vanderdecken or the Flying Dutchman--A Grandfather's Axe--Other Signs
and Warnings 393
* * * * *
AMULETS AND CHARMS.
CHAPTER XLV.
Amulets and Charms among the Chaldeans, Jews, and Persians--Amulets
among the Greeks and Romans--Ecclesiastics forbidden to wear
Amulets and Phylacteries--Pericles' Amulet--Lord Bacon's Opinion
of Charms--Effect of Music--Yawning and Laughing, Fear and
Shame--Diseases cured by Charms--Philosophers' Opinions of
Amulets--Mr. E. Chambers on Amulets--Poets on Enchantments--A
Dairymaid's Charm--A Charm sent by a Pope to an Emperor 401
CHAPTER XLVI.
Ear-rings buried by Jacob--Solomon's Belief in Spells--Reginald
Scot's Recipe for preserving Cattle--What Mr. Pennant says on
Charms--Images Powerful Charms--The Egyptians' Confidence in Amulets
and Charms--Evil Eye--Cold Iron--Holy Things used as Charms--Filing
of St. Peter's Keys--Lustral Water--Uses of Snow--Keys of a Consecrated
Building--Virtue of Consecrated Bread--Various Methods of securing
Love--Indian Charms--Cure for Corns--Simple Plan for getting rid of a
Troublesome Person--Curing the Hooping-cough, etc. 409
CHAPTER XLVII.
Horse Shoes used as Charms--Spitting on Money to secure Luck--Fortunate
Persons to deal with--Professor Playfair on Superstition--The
Lee Penny--Divers Charms--A Seer's Prescription--Grose on Sorcerers,
Magicians, and Witches--Irish Shamrock--Praying to Swords--Irish
Superstition--Smugglers and Brigands addicted to
Superstition--Superstition in the East--Arab Charms--Ladies'
Arts 415
CHAPTER XLVIII.
Earl of Derby's Death--A Queen Enchanted--Image of a young
King--Belgrave on Charms--Childebert's Device for detecting
Witches--Witch Burned--Witch Ointment--Men-Wolves--Church Authorities'
Instructions to Inquisitors--Killing by a Look or Wish--The King of
Sweden and his Witches--Witches' Help in War--Witches causing a
Plague--Cattle Poisoned--Various Charms--An Angel's Charm to Pope
Leo--Physicians' Faith in Charms--Inescation--Insemination--Egyptian
Laws--Curing the King's Evil 421
CHAPTER XLIX.
Precious Stones regarded as Objects of Virtue--Extravagance in
Jewellery accounted for--Abraham's Precious Stones--Altars called
Living Stones--Rod of Moses--Sacred Rings and Belts--The Month of
one's Nativity has connection with one or other of the Precious
Stones--Kings of England hallowing Rings--Ring preserved in
Westminster Abbey--Iona Relics--The Green Stone of Arran--A Crystal
kept as a Charm--A Conjuring Beryl--Prophetic Stones--The Coronation
Stone or Stone of Destiny 429
* * * * *
TRIALS BY ORDEAL.
CHAPTER L.
Trials by Ordeal resorted to in Ancient and Modern Times--Ordeal by
means of Hot Iron--Plunging the Arm into Boiling Water or Oil--Walking
Blindfold in Dangerous Places--Weighing a Witch--Extending the Arms
before a Cross--Swallowing Consecrated Bread--Ordeal among the
Hindoos--Touching a Dead Body--An Inquest, how conducted long
ago--Dead Henry's Wounds--Sir George M'Kenzie's Opinion of Trial
by Ordeal--Sir K. Digby on Trial by Ordeal 438
CHAPTER LI.
A Popular Story--Theatberge, wife of Lothaire--Forbes's Memoirs--Trial
by Wager of Battle--When Trial by Wager of Battle ceased--Trial by
Jury--Court of King's Bench deciding the Legality of Trial by
Battle--Sir Walter Scott's Illustrations of Superstition and Trial
by Battle in Olden Times 445
* * * * *
CURSES AND EVIL WISHES.
CHAPTER LII.
Curses, Excommunication, and Anathemas--Diræ, the Executioners of
Vengeance--Interment of Excommunicated Persons--Excommunication among
the Hebrews--Last Degree of Excommunication sometimes followed by
Banishment or Death--Form of Excommunication used by Ezra and
Nehemiah--The Greek Church annually excommunicates Roman
Catholics--The Druids resorted to Excommunication--Bishops
excommunicating Rats, Mice, Caterpillars, and other Insects and
Vermin--The Pope's Claim--Napoleon I. excommunicated--Victor Emmanuel
excommunicated--The Inquisition and its terrible Doings--The Pope's
Fearful Curse--Mr. Donald Cargill excommunicating the King and
Nobles--Indulgences, Pardons, and Penance 453
CHAPTER LIII.
St. Adelbert's Curse--Complexion of Blackamoors attributed to a Curse
of Noah--False Accusation, and its Results--Ancestors of the Whelphs
and Guelphs of Germany--An Interesting Legend--A Gipsy's Curse--A Cruel
Father and Husband--Morrar-na-Shean--Restoration of Three Daughters--A
Grateful Father--Ancestors of the Sinclairs of Caithness, and of the
noble family of Keith--The Curse of Moy--A Cruel Chieftain of Clan
Chattan--Swearing by the Hand of a Bride--Grant of Glenmorriston
waiting his Doom--Death of a Father and Lover--Maledictions and
Prediction--Lady leaping from a Lofty Tower--The Monroes of
Foulis--End of a Relentless Tyrant 462
* * * * *
DREAMS AND VISIONS OF THE NIGHT.
CHAPTER LIV.
The Gift or Art of interpreting Dreams--Official Interpreters of
Dreams--Sleep, how portrayed--Goddess of Dreams--Greeks soliciting the
Inspiration of Dreams--Xenophon on Sleep--Prophetic Power of the
Dying--Æsculapius's Discoveries in Dreams--Code of Menu--The
Soma-drink--Josephus as a Seer--Dreadful Proposal by Josephus--His
Fortunate Escape--An Eastern Conjuror--Reading a Sealed Letter--A
Sultan warned of his Death in a Dream--Alexander's Death foretold in a
Dream--Records of Dreams in Westminster Abbey--Lord Falkland's
Dream--Rev. John Brown's Opinions--Early Christian Faith in Visions
and Dreams--Death of a Friend foretold--The Devil's Sonata--Marriage
of Queen Mary--Fatality of the Stuart Family--Death of Henry IV. of
France 469
CHAPTER LV.
Dreaming Dictionaries--Dreaming of an Anchor--Sick
Persons--Raiment--Fruit--Funerals--Dreams sometimes to be read
contrariwise--Dreaming of Darkness--Jewellery--Losing and finding
Property--Fowls and Eggs--Flying--Bagpipes, Dancing, and
Banquets--Dreaming of Animals, Cakes, Corn, and Milk--Dreaming of
Carrying and of being Carried--Angels, Spirits, and Children--Clergymen
and Churches--A Broken Watch or Clock--Clouds--Falling--Flowers and
Fruit--Sailors' Dreams--Running Streams and Still Water--Ploughed
Ground and Green Fields--Presents--Glass, Hair, Fire, Cold, Tooth,
Kisses, and Knives--Leaping, Climbing, and Writing--Linen--The Sun,
Moon, and Stars, Rainbow, Snow, Thunder, and Lightning 475
* * * * *
LAWS AGAINST AND TRIALS OF WITCHES.
CHAPTER LVI.
Witchcraft treated with Severity--Cutting out the Tongue--Laws of
Æthelstane--Witchcraft in England--Royal Writers--Sir Edward Cole's
Opinion--Statute of Elizabeth against Sorcerers--Law of Mary Queen of
Scotland against Witches--Law against Witches abolished--Sir George
Mackenzie on Witchcraft--Extracts from Forbes's _Institute of the Law
of Scotland_--Sir Matthew Hale a Believer in Witchcraft--Trial of Rose
Cullender and Ann Duny--Punishment of Witches, by whom first
countenanced--Pope John's Bull--Bishop Jewell--Lord Bacon and the Law
against Witches--Fearful Slaughter of supposed Witches--_Malleus
Maleficarum_, or Hammer for Witches--The last Persons executed in
Scotland and England for Witchcraft--First German Printers condemned
to be burned as Sorcerers--Reginald Scot on the Fables of
Witchcraft--Mr. E. Chambers's Views of Witchcraft 482
CHAPTER LVII.
Witch-finders--Disasters ascribed to Witches--Witches' Familiars--John
Kinnaird--Patrick Watson and his Wife pricked--The Devil's
Sabbaths--Grandeur at Satan's Feasts--When Feasts ended--Transformation--A
Witch-finder sent from Scotland to Newcastle--Complaints against
Witches--Deception discovered--Trying Witches in Northumberland--Escape
of a Witch-finder from Justice--Zeal of the Clergy in Scotland in
condemning Witches--Witch burned within the Sea-mark--Extracts
from Kirk-session Records of Perth relative to Witchcraft--Witches
at Kirkcaldy--A Clerical Witch-finder 493
CHAPTER LVIII.
Hiring a Witch to detect a Witch--Clerical Witch-finders--Agnew,
the Sturdy Beggar--A Distressed Family--Minister's Remonstrance
and Advice--Fresh Afflictions--Prayer and Fasting--Spirits
Speaking--Minister's Reply--Application to the Synod for
Advice--Solemn Humiliation ordained by the Synod--Beggar suspected
and hanged for Blasphemy--Bargarran Witches--An Esquire's
Daughter bewitched--Physicians puzzled--Ministers' Visits
to Bargarran--Presbytery ordering Days of Humiliation--Recourse
to the Law--Catherine Campbell imprisoned--Girl's continued
Affliction--Representation to His Majesty's Privy Council--Commission
appointed to inquire into the case--Trial of Witches--Condemnation
and Execution 500
CHAPTER LIX.
Victims of Superstition--Lady Glammis--Her Trial for causing the
Death of her Husband and attempting to poison the King--Found
Guilty, and Burned--Lady Fowlis an intended Victim--Image of
the young Lady of Balnagowan--Elf Arrows--Consulting Egyptians--Hector
Munro's connection with Witches--Charge against Sir John Colquhoun
and Thomas Carlips for consulting Necromancers--Love Philters and
Enchanted Tokens--Bewitching Sir George Maxwell--Witch-marks
discovered before the Sheriff of Renfrewshire--Commission appointed
by the Privy Council to try Witches--Witches Burned--Intercourse
with Fairies--Another Witch Story 511
CHAPTER LX.
Edinburgh and Leith Witches--Black Catalogue--James VI. and the
Witches--Complaint to the Scottish Privy Council of Barbarous
Conduct--Relics of Superstition--Witch-finders in Edinburgh and
Leith--Royal Commission to Magistrates and Ministers to search
for and put Witches to Death--Wife of a Judge in Edinburgh meeting
a Witch's Fate--Repeal of the Laws against Witchcraft--Opposition
to Acts being Repealed--Judge of the Supreme Courts against a
Change of the Law--James Reid--Potter-row Witch--Alexander Hamilton,
the Warlock--The Devil and Hamilton burning a Provost's Mill--Bewitched
Man--A habit-and-repute Witch--Young Laird of Duddingston--Major
Weir and his Magical Staff--A Magical Distaff--Agnes Williamson,
a Haddingtonshire Witch--Elizabeth Bathgate of Eyemouth--Isabella
Young of Eastbarns burned at the Castlehill 519
CHAPTER LXI.
The Demon of Jedburgh--An Apparition--Witch shot in the form
of a Cat--Auldearne Witch--Sabbath Meetings with Satan--Farmer
Breadley--Disinterring Unbaptised Children--Singularly-constructed
Plough and Team--Attempt to shoot a Minister--Borrowstounness
Witches--A Pittenweem Witch--An Unearthly Horse--Merciful View
of a Witch's Case--A Perthshire Witch--Water of Ruthven Well--A
Changeling 524
CHAPTER LXII.
Witchcraft in Aberdeen--Dean of Guild rewarded for his Diligence in
burning Witches--Expense of burning Witches--The Marquis of Huntly's
Desire to punish Witches--Action of the Presbytery anent Witches--Man
under the Protection of the Fairy Queen--Strathdown Witches--Riding on
Brooms--Crossing the Spey in Riddles--Disappearance of Witches--Madge
M'Donald of Tomintoul--Witches' Pool--A Mountain Tale--Girl
controlling the Elements--Witch Burned--Caithness Witches--One of the
Evil Sisterhood--Investigation by the Sheriff--Margaret
Nin-Gilbert--Helen Andrew--Shetland Witches--An Orkney Lady--Mary
Lamont of Innerkip 529
CHAPTER LXIII.
Neither Police nor Medical Men much required in Olden
Times--Instrument of Torture--Torture declared Illegal--Berkly
Witch--Attempt on the Life of Edward II.--Master John of
Nottingham--Escape of Coventry Necromancers from Justice--Rutland
Family bewitched--A Pendle Witch--Strange Narrative--Essex
Witches--Witches of Northamptonshire--Bullet-proof Witch--Drawing
Blood above the Temples--Anne Bodenham foretelling how a Law Plea
would be decided--Strange Proceedings--Discovering Concealed
Poison--Performing Spirits--Ride to London through the Air--Impenitent
Witch 538
CHAPTER LXIV.
Paying Blackmail to Witches--Demon of Tedworth--A Persecuted Family
prayed for--Unaccountable Sounds and Sights--Drummer found guilty of
Sorcery--Raising Storms--A Wizard in Cromwell's Army--Aldermen's
Children bewitched--Man kissed to Death--Witch unable to say the
Lord's Prayer--A Taunton Witch--Bewitched Cattle--Mode of discovering
a Witch--Selling a Soul to the Devil--Witch Executed--A Song of the
Seventeenth Century 547
CHAPTER LXV.
Elizabeth Style's Confession--Signing a Covenant with Blood--Alice
Duke, Anne Bishop, and Mary Penny--Somerset Witches--Running backwards
round a Church--Compact with Satan--Accusation against Sarah
Morduck--A Judge's Opinion of Witchcraft--Supposed Sufferer from
Witchcraft prayed for in the Church, and a Subscription raised for
him--Falsely accusing a Woman of Witchcraft--Witch and Stolen
Plate--Charm for Sore Eyes--Flames issuing from a Bewitched Person's
Mouth--Tormenting a Witch--Jane Wenham's Witchcrafts and Trial--The
last Persons who suffered in England for Witchcraft--List of Persons
who suffered as Witches 552
CHAPTER LXVI.
Scotchmen and Englishmen in America--Superstition in the Back
Settlements--Witchcraft in New England--Rev. Cotton Mather's View
of Witchcraft--Judges and Witnesses overawed by Witches--Bewitched
Persons prayed for--Trial of Susan Martin--Absurd Evidence--Witchcraft
in Sweden--Commission of Inquiry--Day of Humiliation appointed
on account of Witchcraft--Threescore and Ten Witches in a
Village--Children engaged in Witchery put to Death--The Devil bound
with an Iron Chain--An Angel's Warning Voice--Witch assaulting
Ministers--Witches' Imps--Butter of Witches--Witches Punished--Horse
Burned 558
CHAPTER LXVII.
Superstition in France--Pope John XXII. celebrated in the History
of Sorcery and Magic--A Bishop skinned alive and torn by Horses
for Witchcraft--King Philippe and Superstition--Extracting Teeth
without Pain--Berne Witch--Sorcerers in Navarre--Demoniacal
Operations--Witches meeting their Deserts--Maria Renata's
Witchcrafts--Nuns possessed of Devils--Jeanne D'Arc--Credulity of
France and England--Fairies of Domremi--Charmed Tree--Sparkling
Spring--Jeanne's Heavenly Mission--Maid at the head of Troops--Her
Achievements--Siege of Orleans--Great Victories--Dauphin
Crowned--Heroine Betrayed--Charmed Sword--Jeanne's Surrender--King's
Ingratitude--Great Rejoicing at the Maid's Downfall--Attempt to
Escape--Trial and Condemnation--Maid Burned--A White Dove rising from
her Ashes 564
* * * * *
SUPERSTITION IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
CHAPTER LXVIII.
Generality of Superstition--The Church and Superstition--St.
Mourie--Various Modes of Superstition--Charms--Lucky and Unlucky
Times--Sailors' and Fishermen's Delusions--Weddings, Funerals,
and Baptisms--Spae-wives--May Dew--Holy-days--Kirk-session
Records--Fort-William Fisherman--Dipping in Fountains--Lochmanur--Holy
Well of Kilvullen--Well of Craiguck--Superstition in the
Highlands--Warlock Willox--Superstition in Dundee 572
CHAPTER LXIX.
Ghost at Sea--Ghosts in Edinburgh--Fear of Ghosts in
Glasgow--Fortune-telling--Choice of Lovers, how decided--Irish
Story--How a Ghost settled a Land Question--Prophecy respecting
the Argyll Family--Yetholm Gipsies--Curses--Superstition among
Fishermen--Superstition among Seamen--Providing for the Dead--A
Warning--Blood Stains--Hallow-e'en at Balmoral--Faith in Dreams,
etc. 583
CHAPTER LXX.
Lizzie M'Gill, the Fifeshire Spae-wife--Predicting a Storm--Servants
alarmed--Prediction fulfilled--Adam Donald, an Aberdeenshire
Prophet--His Predictions and Cures--His Marriage--The Wise Woman of
Kincardineshire--The Recruiting Sergeant--High-spirited Lady--Charmed
Ring and its Effects--Elopement and Marriage--An Enraged Father--Life
in America--Strong-minded Women 597
CHAPTER LXXI.
Superstition at Chelmsford--Woman Bewitched--Old Zadkiel--Incantation
in Somerset--Turning the Bible and Key--Woman assuming the form of a
Hare--Ruling the Stars--Superstition in London--How to preserve Children
from Disease--Dreams fulfilled--Virtue of Holly and Ivy--Legend
concerning the Tichborne Family--Romantic Divorce Case 608
CHAPTER LXXII.
Spiritualism--Spiritualism not a new Delusion--Phantoms at
a _Seance_--Juggling of a Medium--Unsuccessful Effort at a
Vulgar Deception--Spiritualists Exposed--A Medium's Deception
discovered--Foolish Exhibitions--Russian Peasants and their House
Spirits--Spirits' Care over Persons and Property--Death, Pestilence,
War, and other Evils foretold by Spirits--A Suggestion 622
CHAPTER LXXIII.
Superstition in Roman Catholic Countries--Miracle-working
Images, etc.--Image paying Homage to the Virgin Mary--Madonnas
at Trastevere--Miraculous Cures--Superstitious Ceremony at
Dieppe--Blessing the Neva--Superstitious Belief of Napoleon's
Mother--Trust in Amulets--Zulu Superstition--Witchcraft forbidden
by Great Britain--Eating Fetish--Superstition among the
Ashantees--Endeavour to prevent the Advance of the British
Army--Shah of Persia's Talismans--Indian Princes consulting
Fortune-tellers--Procuring Rain in India--Mysterious Lights on
the River St. Lawrence--The Queen of Hearts--Superstition in
America--Superstitious Artists--Hogarth's last Picture, "The
End of all Things" 629
THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF SUPERSTITION.
CHAPTER I.
Rise and Progress of Superstition--The Serpent--Cain's
Departure from the true Worship--Worship of the Sun,
Moon, and Stars--Strange Story of Abraham--The Gods of
Antiquity--Ether, Air, Land, and Water filled with
living Souls--Guardian Angel--Cause of the
Flood--Magic--How the Jews deceived the Devil--A Witch
not permitted to live--Diviners, Enchanters,
Consulters with familiar Spirits and Necromancers
proved a Snare to Nations--Charms worn by the
Jews--Singular Customs and
Belief--Prognostication--Allegorical Emblems--Marriage
Customs--Divers Ceremonies at Death and
Burials--Divination among all Nations--Observers of
Times--Opinion concerning the Celestial Bodies--Power
of Witches--Wizards--Necromancers' Power to call up
the Dead.
Superstition has prevailed in every generation and country in the
world. There are people who think that even Adam and Eve were tainted
with this hateful delusion, and that their offspring of the second
generation entertained opinions opposed to true religion. That man,
soon after the Creation, became acquainted with and yielded to the
doctrine of devils, scarcely admits of doubt. Those who conversed with
our first parents must have learned from them the circumstances
connected with the temptation, fall, and expulsion from the Garden of
Eden. It is not unreasonable, then, to suppose that the serpent was
looked upon at an early period as something more than an ordinary
earthly reptile. One can imagine Adam and Eve, when wandering in
perplexity and fear, after their first great sin, starting at the
sight of a serpent,--not being certain whether they beheld a reptile
of flesh merely, or looked upon their old enemy that had betrayed them
in their days of innocency. If they looked with suspicion on the
serpent, it is natural to suppose that their children would learn to
view this creeping animal as a creature endowed with supernatural
powers, by which it could bring about evil, and perhaps good.
Cain, there is reason to conclude, departed from the true worship of
the Most High before his offering was refused, and ere he dipped his
hands in his brother's blood. In Genesis iv. 26 there is an
implication that man had forsaken the right and holy religion prior to
the days of Seth. There is an opinion that men soon began to worship
the sun, moon, and stars, and that subsequently they paid homage to
objects which contributed to their preservation and to things that
might do them injury. The wandering Jew, Benjamin, one of the greatest
travellers in the East, gives an interesting account of solar worship
in early times. The posterity of Cush, he tells us, were addicted to
the contemplation of the stars, and worshipped the sun as a god. Their
towns were filled with altars dedicated to this orb. At early morn the
people rose, and ran out of the cities to await the rising sun, to
which on every altar there was a consecrated image, not in the
likeness of a man, but after the fashion of the solar orb, formed by
magic art. These artificial orbs, as soon as the sun rose, took fire,
and resounded with a great noise, to the joy of the deluded devotees.
Many Jewish doctors have condescended upon the precise time when man
began to commit idolatry, and they name Enos as the first
star-worshipper. Arabian divines tell a story of Abraham being brought
up in a dark cave, and at his first coming forth he was so much struck
with the appearance of the sun, moon, and stars, that he worshipped
them; and there are people who imagine that in the Book of Job they
discover evidence of the heavenly host being adored in the time of the
old patriarch of Uz.
Some suppose that all the gods of antiquity were Egyptian kings,
others that they were Thessalian princes, others that they were Jewish
patriarchs; while not a few are of opinion that they were kings of the
several countries where they were worshipped. It has been supposed
that Saturn represented Adam; Rhea, Eve; Jupiter, Cain; Prometheus,
Abel; Apollo, Lamech; Mercury, Jabal; Bacchus, Noah; and Phaeton,
Elias. Others imagine that Saturn came in place of Noah; Pluto, of
Sem; Neptune, of Japheth; Bacchus, of Nimrod; and Apollo, of Phut. A
third class of thinkers maintain that all the heathen gods centre in
Moses, and the goddesses in Zipporah his wife, or in Miriam his
sister. A fourth class hold that Saturn was Abraham; Rhea, Sarah;
Ceres, Keturah; Pallas, Hagar; Jupiter, Isaac; Juno, Rebecca; Pluto,
Ishmael; Typhon, Jacob; and Venus, Rachel. Such are examples of
imaginary resemblances between real and fictitious persons or gods
that never had any existence except in the minds of fanatical
romancers and a deluded people, whose faith was kept alive by
deception and artifice.
It was an early belief that ether, air, land, and water were full of
living spirits; and people believed, soon after man was created, that
the souls of just men, subsequent to death, had part of the universe
committed to them. This opinion being once established, assistance was
sought from the spirits of departed men and women, and efforts were
made in various ways to secure their favour. In course of time altars
were set up, temples consecrated, and sometimes victims offered to
obtain favour from spirits and false gods. Some rabbis affirmed that
the angel Raziel was Adam's master, and taught him the Cabbala; and
that Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Elias, etc. had each
his guardian angel, who directed his thoughts and actions. Jewish
doctors assign to magic great antiquity; they assert that it was known
to those who lived before the Flood. There is a tradition that one of
the causes of the Flood was the intercourse men had with demons.
Though it has been stated by ancient historians that Abraham was given
to magic, and that he taught it to his children, Josephus (obviously
overlooking what had been written prior to his time, and forgetting
what Moses had seen performed by the Egyptian priests before Pharaoh)
thinks Solomon was the first who practised this art. The Jewish
historian gives credit to the "wisest man" for inventing and
transmitting to posterity certain incantations for the cure of
diseases, and for the expulsion of evil spirits from the bodies of
those possessed with such demons. According to Josephus, the expulsion
was brought about by the use of a certain root sealed up in a wrapper,
and held under the afflicted person's nose while the name of Solomon
and words prescribed by him were pronounced. The learned historian
does not seem to doubt the wonderful power of Solomon, but rather
advances statements corroborative of what he had heard, for he asserts
that he himself was an eye-witness to a like cure effected, by equally
mysterious means, on a person named Eleazar in presence of the Emperor
Vespasian. Descendants of Abraham believed that their great ancestor
wore round his neck a precious stone, the sight of which cured every
kind of disease.
Suppose we set aside these assertions as fables, we cannot deny that
the Jews were at an early period addicted to magical arts. This
propensity, there can be no doubt, whenever first manifested, was
increased through the Hebrews' intercourse with the inhabitants of
Egypt, Syria, and Chaldea.
Jews, who professed to work wonders by enchantments, gave directions
how to select and combine passages and proper names of Scripture that
would render supernatural beings visible, and bring about many
surprising results. The sacred word Jehovah, they said, when read with
points, multiplied by or added to a given number of letters, and
composed into certain words, produced miraculous effects. By that
sacred name and strange arrangements, their prophets, they thought,
performed miracles. The devil was supposed to have the power of
accusing mortal man at the great day of propitiation, so the Jews
endeavoured to appease him with presents. They believed that on that
day only he had the power to bring a charge against them, and
therefore, to deceive him, they had recourse to a singular stratagem.
In reading the accustomed portion of the law, they left out the
beginning and the end,--an omission which was expected to cause Satan
to overlook the important time. Those versed in magic could tell that
the five Hebrew letters of which the devil's name was composed
constituted the number 364, during which number of days he could not
accuse them; and in some way or other unknown to us, in addition to
the plan of mutilating the law, they kept his mouth shut year after
year.
We find from the Holy Scriptures, that a witch was not permitted to
live,--that there should not be found among the Hebrews any that used
divination, an enchanter, a charmer, a consulter with familiar
spirits, nor a necromancer, because the abominations of these
mischievous people proved a snare to the nations that were driven out
before the Israelites. Various opinions have been expressed regarding
the witch of Endor. Parties are not agreed as to whether she did or
did not bring up Samuel before Saul; but into their disputes it is
unnecessary for us to enter. All that we mean to draw from the
narrative is, that if the King of Israel had recourse to a witch in
his hour of perplexity, superstition must have been general in the
nation.
Religiously disposed Jews wore upon their arms and foreheads two
pieces of parchment containing the ten commandments. These charms, or
emblems of sanctity, or whatever they were called, were not allowed to
be worn by women or by men when they went to a funeral or approached a
dead body.
The Jews confessed their sins to their rabbis, and the penance or
punishment was commensurate with their guilt. It was not uncommon for
Jewish devotees to lash themselves, but the number of stripes did not
at any time exceed thirty-nine. During the flagellation the penitent
lay on the ground with his head to the north and his feet to the
south, and it would have been considered profane to look to the east
or west while the chastisement was being inflicted. A Jew would as
soon have eaten swine's flesh as look to the east or west while he was
in a bath. Offenders were sometimes cursed in addition to their other
punishments; hence, it is presumed, the more modern recourse to curses
or denunciations. A doomed or cursed individual was consigned to the
power of evil angels, and prayers were offered up that he might be
tormented in life with every disease, and afterwards cast into eternal
darkness.
At the commencement of the Jewish Sabbath, half an hour before sunset
on Friday, every Jew was bound to have his lamp lighted, though he
should beg the oil. The women were required to light the lamps in
memory of Eve, who by her disobedience extinguished the light of the
world. Every Hebrew was obliged to pare his nails on Friday, beginning
with the little finger of the left hand, and then going to the middle
finger, after which he returned to the fourth finger, and then to the
thumb and fore finger. In cutting the nails of the fingers of the
right hand, he began with the middle finger, then proceeded to the
thumb, and after that took the fore finger, the middle and fourth
fingers, in the order stated. The parings were either buried or
burned. The Hebrews believed that the sounding of a consecrated horn
drove away the devil.
A curious custom prevailed among them in early times. The father of a
family took a white cock, and each of his wives selected a hen, but
such of them as were expectant mothers took both a cock and a hen.
With these fowls they struck their heads twice, and at every blow the
head of the family said, "Let this cock stand in my room; he shall
die, but I shall live." Having said this, the neck of the fowl was
drawn and its throat cut; and either the dead fowl, or its value in
money, was given to the poor. In the evening previous to the feast of
expiation, a man wishing to pry into futurity carried a lighted candle
to the synagogue, and from particular appearances of the flame he
prognosticated whether good was to follow him and his, or whether he
and his family were to be overtaken by evil.
At their great feasts of tents or tabernacles (observed in memory of
their living in tents in the wilderness) the Israelites went from
their tents to the synagogue every day during the feast, bearing in
their right hands branches of palms, myrtle, and willows, and in their
left hands branches of citron. When they reached the synagogue, they
turned the branches first to the east, then to the south, next to the
west, and lastly to the north. These ceremonies were allegorical: the
palm was an emblem of hypocrisy, the myrtle pointed to good works, the
willow represented the wicked, and the citron the righteous. At
marriages, while the young persons present held torches in their hands
and sang the marriage song, the bride walked three times round the
bridegroom, and he in turn walked thrice round her. In some
countries--Germany and Holland, for instance--the guests threw
handfuls of corn at the young wedded pair, telling them to "increase
and multiply." The newly married people drank a little wine, and then
emptied the cup on the floor. At the wedding repast a roasted hen and
an egg were presented to the bride, who, after partaking of them,
distributed the remainder to the guests. The hen had reference to the
fruitfulness of the bride, and her delivery in childbirth.
The thumbs of a dead Jew were tied down close to the palms of his
hands, to preserve the deceased from the devil's clutches. While the
body was being washed, an egg was put into a glass of wine, and the
deceased's head anointed with the mixture. Those who were not
reconciled to the departed, before his death, kissed his great toe and
asked pardon, lest he should accuse them at the great tribunal before
the Most High. When the body was carried away for interment, a person,
who remained behind, threw a brick after it, as a sign that all sorrow
was past. The nearest friends or relations walked seven times round
the grave, after each of them had driven a nail into the coffin. Hence
the saying in our own time, when one signifies his willingness to do a
friend a favour or kindness, "I will drive a nail into your coffin."
When the body was put into the grave, every person present threw a
handful of earth in after it.
On important occasions the Hebrews, like Pagans, consulted diviners,
who had recourse to various ways of divination. In the days of Joseph
there was divination by cups, one particular manner of proceeding
being to observe how their wine sparkled when poured out. Casting or
drawing of lots was a favourite method of divination, not only among
the Jews, but among all nations. Mention is made of divination by
means of household gods or images in human shape, prepared by
astrologers under particular constellations, and made capable of the
heavenly influences. The rabbis, in making some of these images,
killed a man who was a first-born son, wrung off his head, seasoned it
with salt, spices, etc., and then put a gold plate, bearing the name
of an unclean spirit, under the head, which was fixed to a wall, and
had candles burning beside it. The images were consulted as oracles
concerning things accomplished but unknown, and regarding events in
the future.
Among the Jews there were observers of times who laid great stress on
certain seasons and critical moments, which they supposed depended on
particular positions of the heavenly bodies. A learned rabbi expressed
the opinion that the celestial bodies rewarded persons who put
confidence in them, and that consequently men acted wisely to
reverence the stars and implore their assistance. Guesses at
futurities were made from the falling of a crumb of bread out of one's
mouth or a staff from a man's hand, from a person sneezing, or the
breaking of a shoe-latchet.
The Hebrew witches were supposed to possess the power of doing
mischief to man and beast by their occult science, and of changing the
form of things. Witches used their wicked skill to allure maidens.
Through magical operations, a Jew endeavoured long ago to procure the
love of a Christian woman, but she was preserved from the power of his
craft by sealing herself with the sign of the cross. It was an ancient
way of enchantment, to bring, by the power of magic, various kinds of
beasts together into one place, which were designated as the "great
congregation" and the "little congregation." The great congregation
consisted of many of the larger animals, and the lesser was made up of
numerous smaller creatures, such as serpents, scorpions, and the like.
Wizards were famous fortune tellers; they pretended to be the
interpreters of all the most important occurrences of the world.
According to the Hebrew laws, the deceivers, and those who consulted
them, were liable to be stoned. Necromancers obtained a footing among
the Jews. Such wicked people were accustomed to fast, go to
burying-places, and there lie down, fall asleep, and pretend that the
dead appeared to them in dreams or otherwise, and told them what was
desired. They also pretended to call up the dead by means of certain
fumes and particular words. In cases where the spirits of dead men
were obstinate and refused to appear or answer when summoned in the
more simple form, recourse was had to the burning of portions of black
cats, or the still more cruel method of cutting up young boys and
virgins.
CHAPTER II.
Men endowed with Prophetic Spirits--The Jews forbidden
to consult the Oracles of the Heathen--Succession and
Schools of Prophets--Burial of Prophets--Influence of
Music--The Prophetic Mantle--Way through which
Revelations were made--Bath Kol--Urim and
Thummim--False Prophets Strangled or Stoned--How False
Prophets were discovered--Recourse to Diabolical
Art--Moloch--Seething a Kid in its Mother's Milk--The
Smooth Stones mentioned by Isaiah--Oil and Candles
supposed to possess peculiar Virtues--The Saint
entombed near the Barbary shore--Sheep-head and
Sheep-head Broth--Casting Sins into the Sea--Custom of
Fasting among the Pharisees--Dust of Heathen
Countries--The number 10--Angels that had the care of
Men--Souls of Dead Persons whispered with a feeble
Voice--Hebrew Women who predicted when one would
die--Punishment in the Grave by the Devil.
Every person who has read the Old Testament, knows that the Hebrews
had among them extraordinary men really endowed with prophetic
spirits. The Jews were forbidden to consult the oracles of the heathen
nations round about them, but they were permitted to consult their own
true prophets concerning that which was concealed from ordinary
persons. There was a constant succession of prophets, and there were
schools where young persons aspiring to the office of a seer were
instructed. Over each of these institutions a venerable prophet
presided. At first the scholars were not inspired, but received
prophecies from the mouth of their master or president. At Jerusalem
there was one of these schools within the second wall of the city. So
great respect was paid to the prophetic character, that none were
suffered to be buried in Jerusalem but kings, descendants of David,
and prophets. Though old prophets could not inspire their young
students, they improved their natural faculties, and taught them how
to subdue irregular emotions that hindered inspiration. That the minds
of the prophets might be the better disposed to receive the proper
impulses, instrumental music was used in their devotions; and it is
reported that at certain of their musical meetings the young men
became so elated, that they manifested poetical genius as well as a
prophetic spirit. When a young prophet gave unequivocal evidence of
being inspired, he was installed into office by having the prophetic
mantle (made of lamb's skin) thrown over his shoulders. Subsequent to
inauguration, a prophet wore hair-cloth next his skin, and had a
leather girdle round his loins.
The general way through which revelations were made to them was in
dreams and visions, or by immediate inspiration. Their dreams were
sometimes, indeed generally, sent for instruction or admonition; and
in the prophetic dreams a clear and distinct impression was left
through a real or imaginary communication with an apparition. At times
the prophets had overpowering visions when awake, during which mighty
revelations were made to them. When prophetic revelations ceased, the
Jews had recourse to Bath Kol, that is, the Daughter of Voice, or the
Daughter of a Voice, because it succeeded, they say, the Oracular
Voice delivered from the Mercy Seat when Urim and Thummim was
consulted.
The prophetic spirit being so common among the Hebrews, it became
necessary to adopt a method to prevent false prophets from deceiving
the people. To deter men from pretending they possessed a prophetic
spirit, a severe punishment for every such pretence was
appointed,--strangling or stoning to death. The manner of trying a
false prophet was this: the judgments threatened by a prophet, and the
good things predicted by him, were observed. If the judgments declared
were not fulfilled, it was not regarded as conclusive evidence against
him, because it might be that the punishments were for some wise
reason averted; but if the promised good did not come to pass, the
predictor was condemned as a deceiver and false prophet. If the words
of a prophet were fulfilled in one or more particulars, but not in
all, he was not deemed worthy of credence. When once one was
condemned as a false prophet, no interest was powerful enough to save
him from death.
The trial of prophets prescribed by the Mosaic law was intended to
prevent impostors pretending to be prophets, and to save the people
from being enticed by wicked deceivers into idolatry. In the time of
Moses there were many who had recourse to diabolical arts. The
oblation of children to Moloch being frequently mentioned, together
with other diabolical and divinatory arts, reasons appear for
supposing there was something magical in such superstitious rites, and
that thereby people consulted demons about things future or secret.
Moloch was the principal idol of the Ammonites, but other nations took
the same idol for their chief god; for it appears from Pagan records,
that the different nations were so very accommodating with their gods
that they lent them to one another. Moloch seems to have been the same
as Baal, both names signifying dominion, or more particularly the sun,
the prince of the heavenly bodies.
There can be no doubt but the passage in the Old Testament, "Thou
shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk," was a warning to the
Hebrews not to follow the example of the heathen in connection with
the payment by the latter of their first fruits. Dr. Cudworth, writing
on this subject, says that he learned from the comments of an ancient
Karaite upon the Pentateuch, that a superstitious rite prevailed among
the ancient idolators, of seething a kid in his mother's milk when
they had gathered in all their first fruits, and sprinkling the trees
and fields with the broth, after a magical manner, to make them more
fruitful in the following year. Spencer also observes that the Zabii
used this kind of magical broth to sprinkle their trees and gardens,
in hope of obtaining a plentiful crop.
The smooth stones mentioned by Isaiah, to which meat offerings were
offered and drink offerings poured out, were anointed stones in the
streets, on which passengers poured on them oil from phials; but what
advantages were to result from the custom we are not fully informed.
Oil and candles were believed by the ancients to possess peculiar
virtues. Oil was often burned in honour of the dead; and the
Algerines, when on the water, tied bundles of wax candles together,
and, with a pot of oil, threw them overboard as a present to the
saint, entombed near the Barbary shore, whom they regarded as their
protector. We believe few who partake of sheep-head or sheep-head
broth know that it is, or was, a custom with the Jews to serve up
sheep-head on New Year's Day at their chief entertainment, as a
mystical representation of the ram offered in sacrifice instead of
Isaac. When a family or company sat down to this repast, each person
took a piece of bread, and, dipping it in honey, said, "May this year
be sweet and fruitful." The Jews, to cast their sins into the depth of
the sea, sometimes went after dinner to the brink of a pond, if not
near the sea, and threw into the water a live fish, in the hope that
it would carry away all their iniquities, never more to be found.
It was customary among the Pharisees not only to fast twice a week (on
Monday and Thursday), but at periods of perplexity to fast thirteen
days consecutively. Sometimes, on account of such small trifles as
dreams, they would abstain from food; but severe drought, pestilence,
famine, war, and inundations were sure to make them fast until nature
was nearly exhausted. The Hebrews held certain views and followed
particular customs with respect to the dust of heathen countries. Dust
that came from Gentile lands was reckoned so defiling, that the Jewish
rulers would not permit vegetables to be brought from heathen
countries into the land of Israel, lest the detested particles should
be brought along with them. The number 10 was much noticed and used by
the Jews. The blessing of the bridegroom, which consisted of seven
blessings, was of no avail unless delivered in the presence of ten
persons. Angels, which were believed to have the care of men, were
supposed to ride unseen, on white horses, beside the objects of their
attention.
Among the Jews there was a popular notion that the spirits of dead
persons whispered in a feeble and peculiar way out of the dust; and it
was a common belief that the soul had no rest unless the body was
interred. There were women among the Hebrews who predicted how long
one would live, and pretended to know when he was to die. One of a
Jew's solemn prayers on the day of expiation was that he might be
delivered from the punishment of the devil in his grave,--a punishment
supposed to be inflicted by causing the soul to return to the body,
breaking the deceased's bones, and tormenting both soul and body for a
season. A similar form of prayer was used by the Mohammedans.
CHAPTER III.
Egypt steeped in Superstition--Power of Magicians--Way
of obtaining Visions--Demons--Deification of Departed
Heroes--Gods and Demi-gods--Altars or Living
Stones--Sacred Animals--Isis searching for
Osiris--Leeks and Onions--Priests were Physicians and
Interpreters of Oracles--Sacrificing Human
Victims--Wax Figures--Magic--Teaching of the Egyptian
Priests--Transmigration--Character of Men judged of
after Death.
Egypt was a country steeped in superstition. The people believed in
sorcery, magic, and enchantments; and there is the fullest evidence in
the sacred pages that the Egyptian magicians were able to perform
dexterous feats that were truly surprising. Astronomy was studied with
a view to success in astrology, as the latter was a science much
esteemed, and very lucrative. Public or state astrologers were
consulted in cases of emergencies. None dared to practise astrology,
magic, sorcery, or any of the various modes of divination unless
authorised by a master in the art, before whom he had "spread the
carpet" for prayer. To procure sublime visions, seers shut themselves
up for a long time, without food or water, in a dark place, and prayed
aloud until they fainted. While in a swoon, strange visions appeared
to them, and revelations made which sometimes filled the nation with
gladness, and at other times spread mourning over the country. In
advanced ages, as well as in early times, men believed there were a
multitude of subordinate spirits, as ministers, to execute the behests
of the supreme sovereign. To these spirits were committed the
superintendence of all the different parts of nature, and their bodies
were imagined to be composed of that particular element in which they
resided. Altars were built in the midst of groves, where the spirits
were supposed to assemble. Gratitude and admiration tended to the
deification of departed heroes and other eminent persons. This
probably gave rise to the belief of national and tutelar gods, as well
as the practice of worshipping gods through the medium of statues cut
into human form. At one time demi-gods gradually rose in the scale of
divinities until they occupied the places of the heavenly bodies.
Thus, following ancient hyperbole, a king, for his beneficence, was
called the sun, and a queen, for her beauty, was styled the moon. As
this adulation advanced into an established worship, the compliment
was reversed by calling planets or luminaries after heroes. And to
render the subject more reconcilable to reason, the Eastern priests
taught that the early founders of states and inventors of arts were
divine intelligences, clothed with human bodies. When celestial
divinities disappeared or were obscured from observation, men had
recourse to symbols of a temporary nature that produced fire. Altars
of stone were built and consecrated in the name of the divinity whom
it was intended to represent. Such altars were called animated or
living stones, from a belief that a portion of divine spirit resided
in them, and the prayers and praises offered up before them were
thought to be as acceptable as if addressed to the gods themselves.
That those altars or stones might be as near as possible to the
objects of worship represented, they were generally placed on the tops
of mountains, or, in flat countries like Egypt, on high structures,
the works of men's hands. Many have attributed the building of the
pyramids to the worship of gods; but whether that was the purpose to
which those majestic structures, that have puzzled learned men, were
devoted, we shall not venture to say. This, however, is certain that,
throughout the East, altars, statues, and pillars were erected for
superstitious purposes upon mountains and other high places.
Herodotus informs us that the ancient Egyptians were the first people
who gave names to their gods. Of Osiris, Isis, and the many other gods
and sacred animals that were worshipped in Egypt, we shall say little
at this part of our subject. The bull, it is well known, was one of
the most sacred animals. The priests affirmed that Apis was of divine
origin, the cow that produced him having been impregnated with holy
fire. Dogs, the Egyptians said, deserved homage because they guided
Isis when she searched for the body of Osiris. She, it may be
remembered, sought for the precious remains with true pertinacity till
she found them. To accomplish her purpose, she found it necessary to
transform herself into a swallow, to dry up the river Phœdrus, and
to kill with her glances the eldest son of a king. Her tears were
supposed to cause the inundation of the Nile. At times she had the
head of a cow, which identified her with the cow of whom the sun was
born. The hawk was deified because one of these birds brought to the
priests of Thebes a book, tied round with a scarlet thread, containing
the rites and ceremonies to be observed in the worship of the gods.
The wolf was adored because Osiris arose in the shape of that animal
from the infernal regions, and assisted Isis and her son Horus to
battle against Typhon. The cat was revered as an emblem of the moon,
for its various spots, fruitfulness, and activity in the night. The
goat (which, by the by, is said to be absent from the earth and
present with Satan a part of every twenty-four hours of the day, and
can never be seen from sunrise to sunrise without being lost sight of
for a longer or shorter time) was honoured as the representation of
manhood in full vigour, and was worshipped, from gratitude to the
gods, for multiplying the people of the country. The crocodile was
also advanced to the dignity of a god. If one killed any of the sacred
animals designedly, he was put to death,--if involuntarily, his
punishment was referred to the priests; but if a man killed a hawk, a
cat, or an ibis, whether designedly or not, he died without mercy.
During a severe famine, when the Egyptians became cannibals, not one
of them was known to have tasted the sacred animals.
All revered animals were kept at great expense, and when they died
costly funerals took place. When the Apis died at Memphis, in the
reign of Ptolemy the son of Lagus, his funeral cost not less than
£13,000 sterling. When a cat died, the family it belonged to expressed
great grief, and prayed and fasted several days. In cases of fire,
more care was taken to preserve the feline animals than the most
valuable property in the house. Dead cats, which were almost
invariably embalmed, were sometimes carried from remote parts to be
interred in the city of Bubastis, and hawks and moles were buried with
great solemnity at Butos, even though they should have died in foreign
countries. Juvenal mentions that leeks and onions were objects of
worship, and others say that the lotus was also sacred in various
parts of the East. The priests were both physicians and interpreters
of oracles; they carefully observed the phenomena of nature, and
registered every uncommon occurrence. From such observations, they
calculated the results of other events of similar nature. Hence arose
the practice of divination, and afterwards that of dispensing oracles.
Oracles were erected in every part of Egypt. Even the sacred animals
had their several oracles. The Apis was consulted by observing into
which of his chambers he entered. By a certain principle understood,
the omen was regarded as foretelling good or evil.
The barbarous custom of sacrificing human victims was long in force in
Egypt, and prevailed down to the reign of Amasis, by whom it was
abolished. Not to give too severe a shock to the superstitious
feelings of the people, wax figures, representing human beings, were
permitted to be substituted for the living mortals. These customs
were, no doubt, what sorcerers and witches imitated at their midnight
feasts in after ages, and which led old women to imagine that, by
making wax images of those whom they intended to injure, and sticking
sharp instruments into them at one time, and at another time exposing
them to a scorching heat before a fire, they would wreak their
vengeance upon the individuals whom the figures represented. We have
it from more than one learned writer, that the cruel and gloomy
worship of Egypt arose from a belief that Typhon was labouring
incessantly to counteract the happiness of mankind. He was considered
to be greedy and voracious, and that it was necessary to glut his
altars with blood in order to appease his anger.
Magic was a science in which the Egyptians excelled. Its attainment
was esteemed the highest exertion of human intellect. Some imagined
that the invention of magic exceeded human invention, and they
pretended that the angel who fell in love with the antediluvian women
taught it, and that the principles thereof were preserved by Ham after
the Deluge, and that he communicated them to his son Mizraim; but
others ascribed the invention to Hermes. Without either admitting or
denying these assertions, we can have no hesitation in stating that
much of our superstition may be traced back to Egyptian religion and
customs, and that the singular belief of the Egyptians was general,
and long anterior to the time Jacob and his sons went down to that
country.
The Egyptian priests, taking advantage of the people's credulity,
taught that the sun, moon, and whole host of heaven were endowed with
intelligence, and exerted an influence over the destinies of men; and
they (the priests) pretended to work miracles, and obtain oracles and
omens. They also laid claim to the power of interpreting dreams.
The Egyptians believed that the souls of men went into other bodies at
death,--such as had been virtuous going into exalted bodies, but the
vicious passing into mean reptiles and other contemptible creatures.
After remaining in a state of punishment for a certain number of
years, they were supposed to pass into more exalted beings. Praise was
not bestowed indiscriminately upon every person who died, however
exalted his position. Characters were given by judges, after inquiry
into the life and conduct of the deceased. The judges sat on the
opposite side of a lake; and while they crossed the lake, he who sat
at the helm was called Charon, which gave rise to the fable among the
Greeks, that Charon conducted the souls of deceased persons into the
infernal regions.
CHAPTER IV.
Babylon--The Chaldeans were Priests, Philosophers,
Astronomers, Astrologers, and Soothsayers--Downfall of
Babylon predicted--Worship of the Medes and
Persians--Devils confined in an Egg--Sacred Fire--The
Gaures--Births and Deaths in Early Times--A narrow
Bridge--An immense Tree--Creation of Prophets--A Stone
to which Abraham tied his Camel--Adam and Eve's
Trysting Place--Black Art--Ways of discovering whether
a supposed Criminal was Guilty or Innocent--Looking
into Futurity--Canaanites, Syrians, and
Arabians--Strange Fables--Abraham breaking Heathen
Idols--Worship of the Egyptian Thorn--Altars--Religion
of the Carthagenians and Tyrians--Supremacy of the
Gods.
The great city of Babylon owed its origin to the ambition of the proud
people who built the tower of Babel. In course of time Babylon rose to
great grandeur, but superstition became so prevalent that it proved a
snare to the inhabitants. Like the heathen around, they worshipped
fire and images. The Babylonians pretended to great skill in
astrology, soothsaying, and magic. The Chaldeans, so called in a
strict sense, were a society of pretenders to learning, priests,
philosophers, astrologers, and soothsayers, who, it is said, dwelt in
a region by themselves, and the rest of the people were called
Babylonians. While Babylon was in its glory, prophets predicted that
dreadful judgments would befall it. And so it happened. On the very
night the destruction came, the king, alarmed by the mysterious
handwriting on the wall, consulted his magicians; and Daniel, who had
been made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and
soothsayers, made known the sad end of Belshazzar and his kingdom.
The Medes and Persians worshipped the sun, fire, water, the earth, the
winds, and deities without number. Human sacrifices, as in other
idolatrous countries, were offered by them, and they burned their
children in fiery furnaces appropriated to their idols. At first the
gods they worshipped were Arimanius, the god of evil, and Oromasdes,
the giver of all good. Plutarch says that Oromasdes created several
inferior gods or genii, and that Arimanius created many devils. The
former also created twenty-four devils, and enclosed them in an egg;
but the latter broke the egg, and by that means let out the demons,
and created a mixture of good and evil. The religion of the Persians
underwent a variety of revolutions. Temples were built for the worship
of fire, prior to which Magian priests kept the sacred fire burning on
mountain tops under considerable difficulties. They fed it with wood
stripped of the bark; they were prohibited from blowing the fire with
their breath or with bellows, lest it should be polluted. Had one done
either, he would have been punished with death. The Jews had the real
fire from heaven, and the Magi pretended to have received theirs from
the upper regions likewise.
The Gaures held that the earth was inhabited at first by two persons.
They had a tradition that Eve brought twins into the world every day,
and that for one thousand years death had no power over her seed. They
believed that a select company of angels were appointed guardians of
mankind, but that, notwithstanding this, evil increased: men grew
wicked and perverse in their ways, and therefore the deluge was sent
to sweep them away. The Gaures had their guardian angels for every
month and day throughout the year, and to them they devoted their
prayers. New Year's Day was a high day with them, and they had a great
many lucky and unlucky days.
The Persians hold that at the last judgment every man must pass along
a bridge no wider than a razor's edge; that the unbelievers and the
wicked will certainly in their passage fall into hell, there to be for
ever and ever tormented; but that the faithful shall be so guided and
supported that they shall pass the bridge swifter than a bird can fly
through the air, and enter into paradise, and seat themselves on the
banks of the river of delight, which, they say, is shaded by a tree
of such immense size, that if a man were to ride forty thousand years,
he would not pass the extent of one of its leaves. In Persia it was a
common belief that there were many prophets living between the days of
Adam and Mohammed, who were created before the world was made. Their
prophets, according to history, were possessed of the power of working
miracles; and charms and amulets were common in the country.
Pilgrims who went to Mecca invariably kissed a black stone, regarding
which there is a curious legend: Abraham, we are informed, tied his
camel to this stone when he went to sacrifice Ishmael, for the
Mohammedans represent Hagar as Abraham's lawful wife, and Ishmael his
heir. There is another tradition, that when Abraham was about to build
the Kaaba, held in great veneration, the stones marched thither of
themselves ready hewn and polished, and that the black stone, being
left out when the building was completed, demanded of Abraham why it
had not been used in the sacred structure. The prophet told the stone
not to be disappointed, for he would cause it to be more honoured than
any stone in the building, by commanding all the faithful to kiss it
as they went in procession. The faithful people were wont to meet at
the place which they supposed was Adam and Eve's trysting place after
the expulsion, for it is related in one of their legends that the
first man and woman wandered about the world, separately, hundreds of
years after the Fall.
The Persians were extremely addicted to the study and practice of the
black art and all magical incantations, supposing that by such
mysterious operations they could influence the elements and all the
products of nature. When any one was suspected to have died an
unnatural death, the surviving relatives consulted spirits, with the
view of discovering the cause of it. Sometimes the relatives alleged
that a spell had been cast on the spirits consulted, which prevented
their giving answers to interrogatories. In that case, magicians were
employed to remove the fascination. A suspected murderer was submitted
to a severe ordeal:--A particular liquid was poured upon the arm or
thigh of the unfortunate person; but before the fluid was used it was
boiled, while the supposed criminal's name was repeatedly mentioned.
The moment the liquid began to boil, they commenced to address their
imaginary spirits in the following terms: "Is the party on whom I pour
this water guilty or not? If he is, may it scald him and shrivel up
his skin." If the application of the boiling liquid did not injure the
suspected person he was declared innocent, but if it burned him he was
pronounced guilty. People anxious to know the result of approaching
warlike engagements put a vessel full of water, mixed with particular
ingredients, over a fire. As soon as the water commenced to boil they
performed magical incantations, which, as they imagined, irresistibly
attracted the titular genius of their enemies, and obliged the spirit
or god to plunge himself into it. In this painful situation they
confined him for a considerable time. When he had endured sufficient
penance to humble him, he was questioned relative to the success of
the war. The information sought was delivered, as the people thought,
through the appearance of the scum on the water. By turning a red-hot
pot upside down, attended with magical incantations, they imagined the
courage of their soldiers exposed to its heat could be raised.
Canaanites, Syrians, and Arabians were all superstitious, and given to
idolatry. These people had various idols, regarding which there are
strange fables. An idol worshipped by the Philistines and Syrians,
called Derceto, has an interesting history. Near Askelon there was a
deep lake, abounding with fish. Not far from the lake stood the temple
of this famous goddess, the mother of Semiramis, who had the face of a
woman, and the rest of her body resembling part of a fish, for which
the Syrians assigned the following reason:--Venus having conceived a
hatred against Derceto, caused her to fall in love with a young
Syrian, whom she subsequently murdered, and then threw herself into
the lake, where she was transformed into the shape of a fish with a
woman's face; for which reason the Syrians did not eat any fish, but
worshipped them as gods. There is a legend of Abraham, before he left
Ur of the Chaldeans, which exhibits the contempt he had of idols. It
is said he took an opportunity of breaking in pieces all the idols he
could reach, except Baal, and that he suspended about the neck of this
idol the axe with which he had performed the destruction. The people
coming to see what had been done, supposed that Baal was the author of
the mischief. Some say that Abraham accomplished the exploit in his
father's shop during his absence, and that Terah, returning home,
inquired how the work of destruction had taken place. Abraham told him
that the idols had quarrelled about an offering of flour that an old
woman had brought them, and that Baal had proved the strongest, and
broke all the rest to pieces.
The Arabians, Ishmael's offspring, were equally guilty of idolatry. So
far did they carry this sin, that they actually worshipped idols under
the shape of Egyptian thorns. In early times the thorns were adored in
the open fields, but subsequently altars and temples were erected for
their worship. The Arabians worshipped Assaf under the shape of a
calf; and they had a goddess named Beltha, supposed to be the Venus of
the Greeks. The Sabeans were the principal worshippers of this
goddess; and such was their devotion to her, that they regularly
presented to her a portion of their plunder.
The religion of the Carthaginians and Tyrians was horrid and
barbarous. Nothing of moment was undertaken without consulting the
gods, which was done in various ridiculous ways. Hercules was the god
in whom the people placed most confidence. He was invoked before they
went on any important expedition; and when their armies were
victorious, sacrifices were offered to him. One of the chief deities
that they worshipped was Urania, or the moon, to whom they appealed
when overtaken by calamities, such as drought, excessive rain,
destructive hail, thunder, and dangerous storms. Urania was the queen
of heaven mentioned in the Scriptures, to whom even the Jewish women
offered cakes, etc. Carthaginians, in worshipping Saturn, offered up
human sacrifices to him. Even princes and other great men were wont,
in times of distress, to sacrifice their most beloved children to this
deity. People who had not any children of their own, purchased infants
that they might offer them as victims to this idol, with the view of
inducing him to fulfil their desires. Diodorus relates that when
Agathocles was going to besiege Carthage, the people imputed all their
misfortunes to the anger of Saturn, because, that instead of offering
up to him children nobly born, he had been fraudulently put off with
the offspring of slaves and foreigners. To atone for past
shortcomings, two hundred children of the best families in Carthage
were sacrificed, and further, to obtain the god's favour, three
hundred adult citizens immolated themselves.
Nimrod, the great-grandson of Noah, was an idolator, as were also his
descendants. Nineveh was the seat of his empire. As the sun and moon
became early objects of worship among the Assyrians, so in later days
they adored the fire as their substitute,--a form of worship that was
common among the ancients in many lands. The Assyrians published
abroad that the gods of other nations could not stand before their
fire-gods. A competition took place. A vast number of idols were
brought from foreign nations, but as they were composed of wood, the
god Ur (or fire) consumed them. After many contests, an Egyptian
priest discovered a plan of destroying the reputation of this idol,
which had become the terror of alien people. He caused the hollow
figure of an image to be made of perforated earth, with the holes
stuffed with wax, and the large internal cavity filled with water. He
then challenged the god Ur to oppose his god Canopus,--a challenge
which was accepted by the Chaldean priests. No sooner did the heat
that was expected to devour the Egyptian idol begin to take effect,
than, the wax being melted, the water gushed out and extinguished the
fire. Before the Assyrian empire was joined to that of Babylon,
Nisroch was the god worshipped in Nineveh, and it was in the temple of
this idol that the great Sennacherib was murdered. This idol was in
the shape of a bird--a dove or an eagle--made, if we can believe the
Jewish rabbis, from a plank of Noah's ark. The people repented at the
preaching of Jonah, but it was not long before they relapsed into
their former idolatry and general wickedness.
CHAPTER V.
Greek Religion and Superstition--Whence the Greeks
derived their Religion--Jupiter regarded as the
President of the Law and Protector of
Cities--Entertainment of Strangers--Dreams and
Charms--Sacred Stones--Omens of Evil--Sacrificing the
Hair--Flight of Birds--Compassing the Altar to the
Right--Methods of discovering whether a Person was in
Love--Love secured by Magic--Marriage Ceremonies--Most
lucky time for Marriage--Way of protecting a Child
from Evil Spirits--Divers magical Ceremonies--Strange
Laws as to Dead Bodies--Fingers and Toes of Dead Men
worn as Charms to frighten away Ghosts--Preparing a
Body for Burial--Superstitious Customs--Swine and
Swine's Flesh--Drinking Toasts--How Strangers were
expected to behave in a Strange Land--Prophets
consulted before Armies marched to Battle--Certain
words avoided--Sneezing--Evil Omens--Throwing a Person
overboard to save a Ship.
Herodotus was of opinion that the Greeks derived their religion and
superstition from the Egyptians; Plutarch arrived at another
conclusion; while many maintained that Orpheus brought the mysteries
of religion into Greece. Whoever is right, this we know, that the
Greeks became so prone to worship ancient deities, and so anxious to
do homage to all the divinities, that they erected altars to unknown
gods, for fear they would fail in their duty to any power that could
assist them in time of need. Above all gods, Jupiter was held in the
highest esteem. He was regarded as the president of law and justice,
as the protector of cities, as governor and director of their
councils, and as chief of their societies. To him they ascribed
thunder, and supposed it was he who delivered them from the Persians,
and who assisted them to buy and sell to advantage. They erected
altars to him in the courts of their houses and before their gates.
Regarding him as the god of strangers, they received and entertained
visitors with great ceremony. As a sign of fidelity, the right hand of
fellowship was given to a stranger, to whom salt was presented, in
token that his person would be safe under the entertainer's roof. A
stranger's bottle was kept, and when a visitor arrived at the door the
head of the family and he joined feet together on the threshold. A cup
of wine was drunk to an unknown person before his name was asked. To
return respect to those in the house, the stranger did reverence to
the genius of the place, and saluted the ground with a kiss. When one
sojourned in a strange land, he was expected to conform to the
recognised customs thereof; and on taking his departure he not only
bade farewell to those with whom he had become acquainted, but took
leave of their deities. When an important agreement was entered into,
Jupiter was sacrificed to, and called to witness the covenant.
The Greeks purified themselves after frightful dreams; they wore
charmed rings to protect themselves from witchcraft; they were
accustomed to spit three times on seeing a madman; and they spat every
time the devil's name was mentioned in their hearing. Stones were
cast at every cat and weasel met by one when commencing a journey,
and the meeting of a bitch with whelps was carefully avoided. The
crowing of hens and the whistling of maidens were listened to with as
great fear as the hissing of a serpent.
If a rat or a mouse ate a hole in one's clothes, evil, it was thought,
was about to befall the luckless owner. The people had days of good
luck and of bad omen. They cut their hair, and sacrificed it to
rivers. They marked the flight of birds, particularly that of the owl.
On seeing this night bird flying overhead at the battle of Salamis,
the soldiers considered it a good sign, took courage, and won the
fight. When one was going round an altar, he took care to keep his
right hand towards it. People anointed sacred stones in token of
thankfulness, as Jacob poured oil on the stone he took for a pillow at
Bethel.
To know if one was in love, special notice was taken of his garland at
a feast, and from its appearance the wearer's feelings were supposed
to be known, though it might be thought there was no necessity for
such observation; for, according to an old proverb, "Love and the
cough can never be concealed."
If one could not secure a lady's affections in the usual way of
courting, he endeavoured to get something of hers into his possession
in order to bewitch her. Having received a glove, a ring, or any other
article, he operated on it in a magical way, and thus obtained his
desire. If a lady's girdle was properly tied into a true-lover's knot,
she could not resist loving him who performed the charming trick.
Another way of softening a woman's heart was by throwing a bitten
apple into her lap. If she received it and ate the fruit, her
affections were won. All the tokens and charms did not come from the
gentleman's side, for it was not unusual for a lady, when she wanted
to control a lover's affections, to send him charmed garlands, roses,
or bitten apples.
On the wedding day, a bride, on coming to the house of her husband,
found the doors hung with garlands made of herbs, flowers, and plants
consecrated to certain gods and goddesses, which possessed peculiar
virtues suitable for the occasion. Cakes were bestowed on the bride on
her marriage day; and there was a custom among the Greeks and Romans
of combing her hair with a spear which had belonged to a man that lost
his life in a fight, or with a weapon that had been used in killing a
man. If this was done, she was sure to have brave sons. As the bride
rose to leave her father's house, she was carried over the threshold;
and as she entered her husband's house, a practice similar to that
observed among other nations was followed,--throwing figs and other
fruit at her head, as an omen of fruitfulness. It was also the custom
for a servant, on first coming into his new home, to have palm
branches and various ornaments placed on his head, to secure
prosperity. As the bride was led into her chamber, there was a sieve
carried along with her, and a pestle hung at the door, implying that
afterwards she was to assist in the household duties. When the bride
and bridegroom were together in the house, they ate an apple between
them, to signify the pleasantness and harmony they were to enjoy in
after life. Recourse was had to augury, the day before the wedding, to
ascertain whether the married life was to be prosperous. Before the
bride retired for the night, she was bathed with water drawn from nine
different springs. The time of the year the Grecians deemed most lucky
for marriage was the first month of winter. This was contrary to the
views of the Persians, who considered spring the proper season for
entering into the matrimonial state. The Greeks thought it better to
get married in the first or second quarter of the moon rather than
when it was waning. General rules were at times departed from, for
occasionally astrologers were consulted as to the most auspicious day
and hour for the happy lovers being united.
Through magical influence, a husband could have been made to hate his
wife; but, to regain his affections, a spider caught in early morn was
confined in a box, protected by charms, prepared for its reception.
When a child came into the world, three men kept watch all night to
keep away evil spirits. One of those on guard was armed with an axe,
another with a pestle, and the third with a broom. Each protector kept
his implement swinging through the air, to prevent the approach of the
dreaded beings. As soon as a child was born it was washed in water or
wine, and wrapped in a cloth worn by the mother when she was a virgin.
In the cloth were wrought the image of the Gorgon and the snakes of
that monster's head, together with the likenesses of two dragons. When
the child was five days old, it was carried about the hearth to
introduce it to the Penates. Arrangements were then made for naming
the child. A feast was prepared, at which there were doves, thrushes,
coleworts, and toasted cheese, besides many other things. The feast
was kept up for seven days. The mother, in gratitude for her child,
sacrificed to Diana, and the father returned thanks to the nymphs for
giving him a fruitful wife.
If the little stranger died in infancy, it had only a cold funeral
without fire, or any burial service or mourning. Sons, as soon as they
were three years old, were registered in the tribe. A feast was then
prepared, called "the shearing feast," because at that time the
youngster's hair was cut, and consecrated to one of their gods.
The Athenians had a law, that if any one happened to discover a dead
body, whether of a friend or a stranger, he should cast earth on it
three times; and the Romans had a similar law. If a Greek omitted this
duty, he was bound to make satisfaction by sacrificing a sow-pig. But
some went farther, and insisted that whoever saw a dead body and did
not cast dust upon it, was both a law-breaker and an accursed person.
The people feared that the gods underground were angry if the dead
were left uncovered with their kindred dust. No greater imprecation
could have been cast at an enemy than that he might not be covered
with the earth. Hence it was that the ancients stood in great fear of
death on the ocean, for there their bodies could not be interred. When
one went to sea, it was not uncommon for him to tie a reward to his
body, that in case he should be drowned and his body found, the finder
would see it buried, and so become entitled to the treasure. Next to
the happiness of being assured that the body would be buried, was that
of being interred in one's own country, and not among strangers. When
a man died far from home, frequent solemn invocations were made for
his soul, which, it was thought, could hear and understand what was
said by friends even in distant lands. At the burial of one that was
slain in battle, his comrades marched three times round the burning
pile or grave, shaking their arms, and throwing swords, bridles,
belts, and other articles into the fire or grave after the body. When
a soldier fell fighting in the field, and his body could not be found,
he was honoured with the carriage of an empty bier, and funeral
ceremonies as if his remains were present.
If a man killed himself, the hand with which the deed was committed
was cut off, and buried in another place to that in which the other
part of the body was interred. If one man killed another in a
righteous cause, the slayer washed his hands and held up the weapon
that had been used towards the sun, with the blood on it, to show that
he feared not though the heavens as well as the earth knew what he had
done. The ancients were of opinion that if one were slain by a
relative, the blood could never be thoroughly wiped off the blade that
had cut down the individual. And for fear the Furies would avenge the
death of one killed by a relation, amulets and spells were provided to
prevent untoward events. The most powerful charms were supposed to be
parts of the slain individual. Therefore the fingers, toes, and other
extreme parts of the body were cut off and worn under the arm-pits, to
prevent the murdered person's ghost taking revenge for the unlawful
deed. In preparing a body for burial, the Greeks took a piece of money
and put it into the mouth, to give to the ferryman Charon. With the
money a small quantity of pudding or cheese was put in for Cerberus,
to propitiate him. As a corpse was being carried out to be interred,
the deceased was commended to the protection of the infernal gods. To
burn a body was considered more honourable than to lay it in the cold
grave, for the Greeks thought that the divine and purer part of man
was carried by fire to the abode of the gods above. This belief
induced fanatical persons, when tired of life below, to burn
themselves, that they might all the sooner take their flight to the
regions of bliss. If a high wind sprang up when a body was being
consumed by flames, it was regarded as a favourable omen. On the body
being consumed, the fire was extinguished with red wine.
After a funeral, the people fumigated the house with brimstone, and
cleansed themselves by passing over a fire. They then kept a feast, or
rather feasts, at which they sacrificed to Mercury, that he might
carry the soul of the deceased to the realms of happiness. At the same
time the ghosts of relations were sacrificed to. Those who petitioned
the gods had garlands about their necks, or green boughs in their
hands. The branches were either laurel or olive, because the former
signified triumph, and the latter peace and goodwill.
Swine and swine's flesh were held in high esteem by the Greeks and
Romans, for various reasons--one of which was that Jupiter was nursed
by a sow. It was the custom to drink healths or toasts, and the last
one before going to bed was to Mercury, that he might give sound sleep
and pleasant dreams. Great men would, on a high occasion, drink to a
favourite, and hand him the cup to keep. When a person drank to the
health of one he loved, he partook of part of the liquor, and poured
the remainder of the wine on the ground. Drinking cups in remote times
were made from bulls' horns. The Greeks consecrated their horses to
the sun, and before engaging in war they consulted their prophets and
diviners. In particular, they paid great attention to the utterances
of Egyptian priestesses kept by them. Then, similar to the manner of
the Jews, Persians, and others, the Greeks consecrated to the gods, in
the event of obtaining victory, portions of goods secured from the
vanquished; and even relations were offered in sacrifice to the gods
supposed to have given triumph to the victorious armies. A Greek
general did not think it lucky to march his forces before full moon,
or until the seventh day of the month. Sacrifices were offered to the
water when an army came to a river,--a custom observed by other
nations.
Certain words were never pronounced by the Greeks. For instance, they
carefully withheld their lips from uttering "prison;" and if they
happened to hear what they thought an unlucky speech, they replied,
"Let it return to thine own head." So far did they carry their
superstition, that if one heard an unfavourable expression when he was
about to drink, he would throw the liquor on the floor and call for
another cup. Sneezing was so superstitiously regarded, that it came to
be counted among the number of gods. It was deemed inauspicious if a
host sent his guests away from a feast without giving each of them a
piece of cake, or such like, to take home. The cracking of a table and
the spilling of wine or salt were regarded as evil omens. When a Greek
ship was in danger in a storm, one of the crew or a passenger was
chosen by lot, and thrown overboard, like Jonah, to appease the spirit
that ruled the winds and the waves.
CHAPTER VI.
Roman Delusions and Customs--Augury--Election to the
Magistracy; Omens relative thereto--Tokens of
Futurity--Dire Misfortunes followed the Contempt of
Augurs--Drawing of Lots--Events foretold by reading
the first passage that turned up on opening a
Book--Lucky and Unlucky Stars--Fortune
Tellers--Dreams--Omens drawn from Appearance of parts
of Animals offered in Sacrifice--Sibylline Books,
Charms, and Incantations--Spirits going about to
observe Men's Actions--Unlucky Days--Dress of a
Bride--Marriage Ceremonies--Anointing Door-posts with
the Fat of Swine or of Wolves, and crossing the
Threshold--Fire and Water--Bridal Feast and Nuptial
Songs--Funeral Rites--Souls of Unburied Persons--The
Expiring Breath--Customs at a Deathbed; the Cypress
exhibited at Houses in which were Dead Bodies and
Funeral Observances--Hobgoblins and Lares--Purifying
with Water and Fire--Ghosts partial to Beans,
etc.--Offerings made to appease the Manes--Persons
reported to be Dead--Dead Bodies used for Magical
purposes.
The old Roman delusions and customs were as extraordinary as those of
any nation with which history has made us acquainted. The augurs
pretended to foretell future events from the flight of birds and the
chirping and feeding of fowls, and also from other appearances.
"Augurium" and "auspicium" were generally used promiscuously.
Auspicium was properly the foretelling of future events from the
inspection of birds; augurium from any omen or prodigy whatever. The
augurs are supposed to have derived tokens of futurity chiefly from
five sources--appearances in the heavens (such as thunder or
lightning), from the singing or flight of birds, from the feeding of
fowls, from the movements of quadrupeds, and from uncommon accidents.
The birds which chiefly gave omens by sound were ravens, crows, owls,
and cocks,--and those by flight, eagles and vultures. Contempt of the
augurs, and neglect of their intimations, were said to be followed by
dire misfortunes. Omens coming from the left were generally supposed
by the Romans to be lucky. Thunder on the left was regarded as a good
sign, and so was the cawing of a crow on the same side; but it was
considered more fortunate to hear the croaking of a raven on the right
than on the left. The Romans, as the Greeks had done before them, took
omens from quadrupeds crossing their path or appearing in unaccustomed
places. The augurs taught the people how to draw conclusions from
sneezing, spilling salt, and other accidents, called dira.
Drawing of lots was frequently resorted to by the Romans wishing to
pry into futurity. The lots were dice, or articles resembling those
instruments of chance. They were thrown into an urn filled with water,
or cast as dice in the ordinary way. If there was any difficulty in
ascertaining the import of the dice throwing, the priests were
employed to interpret. Future events were frequently inquired into by
an inquisitive person cutting the branch of a tree into small pieces,
and distinguishing them by certain marks, and then scattering them at
random on a white cloth. The searcher after knowledge having prayed to
the gods, took up the slips three times, and interpreted according to
the marks. Future events were often inquired into by reading the first
line or passage which happened to turn up on opening a book, or by
observing the stars. It was supposed to be lucky to be born under a
certain star, and unlucky to come into the world under another.
Astrologers were consulted regarding one's natal hour. Fortune-tellers
and books of fate were consulted on the most trivial occasions; and
persons aspiring to the magistracy, after saying their prayers in the
open air, had recourse to augury with the view of ascertaining whether
the gods favoured their cause.
Great attention was paid by the Romans to dreams, and persons of
disordered minds were supposed to possess the faculty of presaging
future events. Omens of futurity were also drawn from the appearance
of the entrails of animals offered in sacrifice to the gods. The flame
and smoke from the altar were noticed, and so were the circumstances
attending the driving, felling, and bleeding of the victim. Sibylline
books were inspected by appointment of the senate at perilous times,
as they were supposed to contain the fate of the Roman Empire. There
was something mysterious about the origin of the sibylline books. It
is reported that a woman called Amalthæa, from a foreign country, came
to Tarquin the Proud to sell nine sibylline books. Upon Tarquin
refusing to give her the price asked, she went away and burned three
of them. Returning soon after, she sought the same price for the
remaining six. Still the price was refused, and she went away and
burned other three books. She again came to the king, and demanded the
same price for the three unconsumed volumes as she had asked for the
nine. Tarquin, who first regarded the woman as a senseless old
creature, became surprised at her strange behaviour, and inquired at
the augurs what he should do. They advised him to give the woman the
price she demanded. The woman delivered the books, and, after desiring
that they should be carefully kept, disappeared, and was never seen
again.
The use of charms and incantations originated in the worship of the
heathen gods. As people in this country believe that spirits, good and
bad, go about at night, so did the Romans suppose that their gods went
up and down the earth during the night to observe the actions of men.
The priests and others, when engaged in acts of piety or important
business, took care, when turning, to move to the right. Every Roman
avoided repeating words of bad omen. Certain days were reckoned
unfortunate for the celebration of marriages. The month of May was
thought an unlucky time for marriages being solemnized. The most
fortunate time for weddings taking place was in the middle of June.
The dress of a bride on her marriage day was a long white robe and her
face was covered with a veil, in token of her modesty; her hair was
divided with the point of a spear into six locks, and she was crowned
with flowers. No marriage was celebrated before recourse to auspices.
The nuptial ceremony was performed in the bride's father's house, or
in the residence of the nearest relation. In the evening the bride was
conducted to her husband's house, taken thither apparently by force
from the arms of her mother or other relative, in memory of the
violence used to the Sabine women. Three boys, whose parents were
alive, attended her; two of them supported her by the arms, while the
third walked before, bearing a flambeau of pine or thorn.
Maid-servants followed with a distaff and wool, intimating that she
was to spin as matrons formerly did. Many relations and friends
attended the nuptial procession. The young men repeated jests and made
sport as she passed along. The bride bound the door-posts of her new
home with woollen fillets, and anointed them with the fat of swine or
wolves, to prevent enchantments. She was lifted over the threshold, or
lightly leaped over it, as it was thought ominous to put her foot upon
it, because the threshold was sacred to Vesta, the goddess of virgins.
Both she and her husband touched fire and water, as all things were
supposed to be produced from these two elements. With the water their
feet were bathed. The husband gave a feast, and musicians attended and
sang the nuptial song. After supper the bride was conducted to her
bed-chamber by matrons who had been only once married, and laid on her
couch, which was covered with flowers; songs were then sung by young
women before the chamber door till midnight. Next day another
entertainment was given by the husband, when presents were sent to the
bride by her friends and relations; and she began her family duties by
performing sacred rites.
Great attention was paid to funeral ceremonies. Many people believed
that the souls of the unburied were not admitted into the abodes of
the dead before they had wandered about the Styx at least a hundred
years. If one happened to discover an unburied body and did not throw
earth on it, he was compelled to expiate his crime by sacrificing a
hog to Ceres. When persons were at the point of death, their nearest
relation present endeavoured to catch the expiring breath with their
mouth, as they believed the soul or living principle went out by the
mouth. The nearest relation among the Romans closed the eyes and mouth
of the deceased, after putting money into the mouth for the ferryman
who was to take the soul of the dead over the lake it had to cross. A
branch of cypress placed at the door where the deceased lay, indicated
that there was a dead body within. People were invited to public
funerals by a herald. Magistrates and priests were supposed to be
violated by seeing a corpse, and therefore the dead were generally
buried at night with torch-light. At funeral processions pipers and
other musicians attended, and women sang the funeral song or the
praises of the deceased to the sound of the flute. By the law of the
twelve tables, the number of flute players was restricted to ten. Next
followed actors and buffoons, who danced and sang, while one of them
imitated the deceased's words and actions when alive. Before the
corpse there were carried the images of the deceased and of his
ancestors. The ancients buried their dead at their own houses, whence
arose the fear of hobgoblins, and a belief in lares, supposed to be
the souls of the deceased.
When the body was laid in the tomb, the people present were sprinkled
three times with pure water by the priest, and when the friends
returned home they were again sprinkled. Beans, lettuces, bread, eggs,
etc. were laid in the tombs, in the belief that the ghosts would come
and eat them. Offerings were made to appease the manes. If a person,
falsely reported to have been dead, returned home, he did not enter
his house by the door, but went into it through the roof. Dead bodies
were often violated for magical purposes, by stripping them of
valuable articles, or cutting off fingers, toes, or arms. Wax images
of deceased persons were made, and, after a variety of ridiculous
ceremonies, burned on piles, from the tops of which eagles were let
loose to convey to heaven the souls set free from the body.
CHAPTER VII.
Ethiopian Superstition--Sacred Bread--Customs of
Ethiopian Monks--Heathen Indian Gods--Paraxacti and
her three Sons--Thirty thousand millions of Gods--Fate
of a Child written on its Forehead--Transmigration of
Souls--Seven Seas--Mountain of Gold--Adder of
monstrous size with a Hundred Heads--Vixnu--Dispute
between Bruma, Vixnu, and Rutrem--Curse pronounced
against the Thistle--Iranien the
Giant--Transformation--Morning Star--Vixnu's different
Forms--A King's Head kicked into the lowest
Abyss--Prediction by Soothsayers--A Tyrant's
Intentions frustrated--Vixnu's Guilt and Punishment;
his Marriages and supposed future
Appearance--Rutrem--A Son with Seven Heads--The Seven
Stars as Nurses--Parvardi's Loss of her Husband and
Birth of a Son--Rutrem's Revenge and its
Consequences--The Indians' Offering to the Sun--The
Ganges--The Giant Piamejuran--Superstitious
Observances at Marriages--Disposal of Dead
Bodies--Different degrees of Glory after
Death--Reverence for the Cow--Ways of detecting
Criminals--Addressing Oracles--Astronomy--Eclipse of
the Moon--Magic--John Gondalez.
In Ethiopia, superstition was general over the entire empire. The
Ethiopians used a sacred bread, called the corban. While this bread
was being made, the baker was obliged to repeat seven psalms. Upon
every loaf there were twelve impressions of the cross, and each cross
was within a square. Ethiopian monks slept on a mat spread on the
ground, and before lying down they stretched out their hands one
hundred and fifty times in the form of a cross. Baptism was understood
by the people of this empire to be a solemn ceremony that washed away
all impurities; but the rite was observed by nearly all the ancient
nations, in memory of the Deluge.
In an account of the empire of the Great Mogul, we find no end of
superstitious observances. Each heathen Indian tribe had a separate
god. Some tribes even worshipped boiled rice; after the same manner
the Egyptians paid homage to leeks. Indian writers say that, in the
beginning, a woman, whose name was Paraxacti (brought into existence
by the great Creator), had three sons,--the first named Bruma, who
came into life with five heads. He was endowed with the power of
creating all inferior beings. The name of the second was Vixnu,
appointed lord of providence and preserver of all things formed by
Bruma. The third was named Rutrem, whose function or inclination was
to destroy all things his other two brothers had made and preserved.
Rutrem, like his brother Bruma, had five heads. Bruma assumed the form
of a stag; and, to punish him for a serious crime he committed when in
that shape, his brothers and thirty thousand millions of gods punished
him by cutting off one of his heads.
According to the notions of Indian heathens, Bruma writes upon the
forehead of every child an account of all that shall happen to him in
the world. It is reported of Vixnu that he metamorphosed himself at
pleasure. He first took the form and nature of a fish, and the second
form assumed was that of a tortoise. The Indians believed there were
seven seas in the world,--one of milk, of so delicious a nature that
the gods ate butter made of it. One day, when the gods wanted to feast
on the butter according to custom, they brought to the shore of the
milk sea a high mountain of gold, which supported fourteen worlds that
composed the universe. The uppermost part of the mountain served for a
resting place, and over it was brought an adder of monstrous size,
having a hundred heads. The gods made use of this adder as a rope, in
order to get at the butter more easily; but while they were attempting
to procure the butter, the giants, who had a continual hatred against
the gods, drew the adder on the other side with so much violence that
it shook the whole universe, and sunk it so low, that Vixnu, in his
tortoise form, placed himself under it and supported it. Meanwhile the
hundred-headed adder, being unable any longer to endure the pain the
gods and giants inflicted on him, vomited poison upon the giants,
which killed many of them on the spot. Vixnu afterwards assumed the
form of a beautiful woman, and such of the giants as remained alive
fell in love with the fair being. In this guise, he amused the giants
till the gods had eaten all the butter.
In his third incarnation, Vixnu changed himself into the form of a
hog, in consequence of the following circumstance:--One day a contest
arose between the three gods, Bruma, Vixnu, and Rutrem, regarding the
extent of their power. Rutrem undertook to go and hide himself, and at
the same time promised to submit himself to him who should first
discover his head and feet; but if they could not find these parts,
then the baffled gods were to acknowledge him their superior. Bruma
and Vixnu having agreed to this proposal, Rutrem vanished, and hid his
head and feet in places a great distance from each other, where he
imagined they could not be found. Bruma, in the likeness of a swan,
commenced to search for the head, but, finding he could not obtain any
trace of it, he resolved to return home. Just, however, as he was
going to give up the search, he met the thistle flower, which came and
saluted him, and showed the place where Rutrem had hid his head.
Rutrem, exasperated, cursed the flower, and forbade it ever to enter
his presence. For this reason, his followers prevented thistles being
brought into their temples in any part of the East Indies.
For the purpose of finding the feet, Vixnu transformed himself into a
hog, and went from place to place digging into the earth, but without
success. For cogent reasons, Vixnu next assumed the form of a man and
lion at the same time. Rutrem, it appears, conceived a strong
friendship for one Iranien, a mighty giant, and granted him the
privilege that no one should kill him either by day or by night.
Instead of the giant proving grateful, he became proud and
overbearing, and even insisted on being worshipped as a god. To punish
the giant, Vixnu suddenly appeared before him in the form of a cloud,
and then, taking the monster shape of a being half-man half-lion,
resolved to take vengeance on the ungrateful wretch. In the evening,
when Iranien was standing at the threshold of his door, Vixnu sprang
at him, tore him to pieces, and drank his blood. But the blood
affected Vixnu so much that he became stupid. Vixnu's fifth
transformation was into a dwarf. At that time a cruel king's subjects
appealed to Vixnu to relieve them of their oppressor, and, to carry
out the people's desire, he, in the form of a dwarf, went to the city
where the tyrant kept court. The dwarf begged from the king a grant of
three feet of ground whereon to build himself a house. The tyrant was
about to comply with the request, when the morning star, which
attended the king in the character of secretary of state, suspected
there was treason in the case. It was common, when requests were
granted, for the king to take water into his mouth and pour some of it
into the hand of the suppliant, and therefore the secretary, by the
assistance of magic, slipped imperceptibly down the prince's throat,
in order to prevent the water being thrown out. The magic had not the
desired effect; for the king, finding something in his throat, forced
a sharp instrument into it, which put out one of the secretary's eyes,
and the water gushed out, ratifying the agreement. Vixnu changed
himself into a monster so large that the whole earth was not
sufficient to afford room for his feet. He then said to the king, "You
have given me three feet of earth, and yet the whole world can
scarcely contain one of my feet: where am I to place the other?" The
tyrant, seeing deserved wrath awaiting him, laid his head down before
Vixnu, who with one kick tossed it into the lowest abyss of hell. The
wretched king, finding himself condemned to such a place of torment,
begged pardon and mercy of Vixnu, but all the favour he received was
one day's respite every year, to enable him to take part at a
particular ceremony, to be observed in commemoration of his own
downfall and punishment.
Vixnu's sixth form was that of a white man. He subdued many tyrants,
and washed his hands in their blood. In this form he destroyed many
giants, and compelled all the apes in the country to attend him. The
last form Vixnu assumed was that of a black man, in which likeness his
cunning and success were not less marked than when he was disguised in
several of his former shapes. Here is another story told of
him:--There was a great tyrant named Campsen, a violent persecutor of
good men, who had a sister called Exudi. It happened that the
soothsayers, of whom there were many in the country, having consulted
the stars, told the king that Exudi would have eight children, and
that the youngest of them would kill him. This enraged the monarch so
much that he destroyed seven of her children as soon as they were
born. Notwithstanding the natural affliction of the princess, she
became pregnant for the eighth time, but, wonderful to relate, of no
less a personage than the god Vixnu, who, unknown to her, succeeded in
finding a place in her womb. Fearing the child would be conveyed
beyond his reach as soon as it was born, the king placed spies
everywhere to prevent the young prince's escape. The supposed father
of the child succeeded in carrying him away, and placing him under the
care of shepherds far up the mountains. Every effort was made by the
baffled monarch to discover the young prince, and at last he found
him. Desiring to be the executioner himself, he went and laid hold of
the child to murder him. Just as the hand was raised to inflict the
fatal blow, the prince vanished, and in his room appeared a little
girl, whom the tyrant also attempted to kill; but she too, after
mocking the king, disappeared uninjured. Vixnu grew from boyhood to
manhood, when he raised an army against Campsen, whom he defeated and
slew with his own hands, fulfilling the prediction of the soothsayers.
Vixnu married two wives, but, neither of them pleasing him, he
divorced them and espoused sixteen thousand shepherdesses. The people
imagined that he would appear some time or another in the form of a
horse, but thought that until that metamorphosis took place he would
wallow in a sea of milk, with his head supported by a beautiful snake.
We are informed that Rutrem, the third son of Paraxacti, was much
respected by the people, though, judging from the accounts transmitted
to us, the wonder is that he was not detested. He married Parvardi,
daughter of a king, whose dominion was in the mountains, with whom he
lived a thousand years; but his two brothers, Bruma and Vixnu, having
disapproved of the match, gathered together the thirty thousand
millions of gods, and went in search of him. Accordingly he was found
and dragged away from his wife, which caused him to wander up and down
the earth in search of forbidden pleasures. One day the earth gave him
a son with seven heads; but as a nurse could not be got to bring up
the child, the seven stars undertook the task. Parvardi, disconsolate
at the loss of her husband, went in search of him, but could not
discover his place of abode. In her lonely state, she begged the gods
would give her a son,--a request that was complied with, for a
man-child dropped out of the sweat of her forehead. In the meantime
Rutrem returned to his house, and, finding the child, became
exceedingly enraged. His anger, however, turned into love on being
informed of the miraculous manner in which he was born. The king of
the mountains made a feast, to which the gods were invited, but
Rutrem, his son-in-law, was not asked. This want of respect provoked
him so much that he went to the banquet, and, laying hold of one of
the gods, tore off a handful of hair from his head. From the hair a
giant of enormous size started up, whose head reached to the
firmament, and struck the sun with so great violence that all its
teeth were knocked out. For this reason, the Indians refused to offer
anything to the sun but what could be eaten without teeth. Not
satisfied with knocking out the teeth of the sun, he bruised the moon
so severely that the marks remain to the present day. He then killed
several of the guests, among whom was his step-son, created from the
sweat of his mother's forehead. Vinayaguien (that was the youth's
name) lost his head, and had it replaced with that of an elephant. In
the disfigured state into which he was turned, his father dispatched
him in search of a wife as beautiful as his mother,--a task that
proved endless, because there could not be found a woman equal in
beauty to his maternal parent.
Rutrem married the River Ganges, which was represented under the form
of a blooming woman. At that time there was a giant named Piamejuran,
who had for several years undergone a severe penance for having
offended Rutrem, but, becoming sensible of his offence, desired to be
absolved. The favour was granted him, with the privilege of reducing
to ashes everything he laid his hands upon. The power with which he
was endowed proved his death. One day he went to the Ganges to bathe,
and, lifting his hand to his forehead, it reduced him to dust.
At their marriages, the Indians were very superstitious, and paid
great regard to omens. The consent of the parents being obtained, and
a fortunate day appointed, the parties met with the relations, when
the bridegroom threw three handfuls of rice on the head of the bride,
and she cast an equal quantity at him. Part of the marriage ceremony
consisted of the fathers of both bridegroom and bride putting a piece
of money and a small quantity of water into the bride's hand. This
being done, the bridegroom hung a ribbon, with a coin attached to it,
round her neck.
As soon as a man died, his beard was shaved, his body washed, lime put
into his mouth, and women rubbed his face with rice. When the body was
burned, the deceased's ashes were thrown into the Ganges, for the
water of that river was supposed to have a virtuous and holy influence
on whatever it touched. The Brahmins believed that there were five
different degrees of glory after death. Bruma, with his wife
Sarassuadi, was in the fourth state attended by a large swan, on which
he rode abroad, this god being supposed to be exceedingly fond of
travelling. None but the most innocent were exalted to the fifth seat
of glory.
Cows' dung was spread over the floors of Indian temples; and such was
the people's reverence for the cow, that when sacrificing they poured
milk on their altars. Their priests pretended that their gods had
oracles, by which they could foretell future events. When several
persons were suspected of stealing anything, and the guilty one could
not be discovered by ordinary means, the priests wrote the names of
the suspected persons on different pieces of paper, and laid them down
before the altar, and invoked their oracle, after which they locked
the doors, so that no person could get in. When they returned and
found any paper removed, the person whose name was on it was declared
to be the criminal. On the priests addressing their oracles, they
became so excited that they remained for hours seemingly in great
agony. After recovering, they explained to the people the sayings of
the oracles. The Indians had tables of astronomy which they
consulted. When the moon was eclipsed, they believed she was fighting
with a black devil.
The Indians supposed that by means of magic a man could change himself
into the form of a lion or any other animal he chose. We have heard of
one John Gondalez, who changed himself into the shape of a lion, and
in that form was shot by a Spaniard. The day on which Gondalez was
fired at he was reported to be sick. A clergyman was called in to take
his confession. The pious man, in giving an account of what he saw and
heard, said, "I saw Gondalez's face and nose all bruised, and asked
him how he had received the injuries. He told me that he had fallen
from a tree and nearly killed himself. After this he accused the
Spaniard of shooting at him. The affair was inquired into by a Spanish
justice of the peace. My evidence was taken, and I told what Gondalez
had said to me regarding his fall. The Spaniard swore that he had shot
at a lion in a thick wood, where an Indian was not likely to be."
Gondalez was examined as to how he was not seen by the Spaniard when
he went to look for the lion; to which he replied that he ran away
lest the Spaniard should kill him. As Gondalez's dealings with the
devil were well known to all in the neighbourhood, it was held that he
had received his injuries when roaming as a four-footed beast; and
therefore the justice discharged the Spaniard.
CHAPTER VIII.
John Gomez the Wizard and Man-tiger--Lopez the
Man-lion--Vermilion Marks rendered the Devil
powerless--Sacrificing Children--Offerings to the
Ganges--A Rajah offering himself as a
Sacrifice--Preventatives against Disease--Various
Superstitious Ceremonies--Sacrificing to the Gods of
the Four Winds--How the Devil was kept away--King's
Wives and Retainers going with the Dead Monarch into
the other World--An eternal Succession of Worlds--Apes
supposed to have Human Souls--Worshipping
Demons--Drinking Blood--Prognosticating from the Cries
of Beasts--Witchcraft and Magic--Singular Opinions and
Customs--Watching Graves, and providing for the
Dead--Foretelling Future Events at the New
Moon--Method of discovering a False Swearer--Offerings
to the Sea and Winds--Superstition in China--Chinese
Genealogy and Worship--Opinion of their Gods and
Goddesses--Sacrifices--Beggars--Magical Arts--False
Worship--Comfort of the Dead provided
for--Superstition in
Japan--Fortune-telling--Idols--Gods and
Goddesses--Five Hundred Children hatched from
Eggs--Human Souls supposed to reside in Inferior
Animals--Beasts held in great esteem--Statues of
Witches and Magicians placed in Temples in
Japan--Charms sold by Priests--Value of
Charms--Fortunate and Unfortunate Days--A Fairy in the
likeness of a Fox--A valuable Charm.
The gentleman (a clergyman) who told the story of John Gondalez, gives
another tale equally interesting. John Gomez, the chief of an Indian
town, was nearly eighty years of age, and reputed to be possessed of
more than ordinary shrewdness. His advice was preferred to that of all
other chiefs. He seemed to be a very godly Indian, and very seldom
missed morning and evening prayers in the church. "He was suddenly
taken ill," proceeds the clergyman; "and one of his friends, fearing
that he might die without making confession, called me up at midnight,
desiring me to go presently to John Gomez to help him to die. I
therefore visited Gomez, who lay with his face muffled. He confessed,
wept, and showed a willingness to die. I comforted him, after which I
returned home to refresh myself. Scarcely had I crossed the threshold
of my house than I was called on to visit the sick man a second time,
and give him extreme unction. As I anointed him on his nose, lips,
hands, eyes, and feet, I perceived he was swollen black and blue. I
went home again, and after I had rested a little, an Indian called to
buy candles to offer up for the soul of John Gomez, who, he told me,
had departed. I went to the church, and found the grave being prepared
for the deceased. Two Spaniards, to whom I spoke, told me of a great
stir being made in the town concerning the death of Gomez. Amused at
the information received, I desired a full and particular account of
the whole circumstances. They told me that Gomez was the chief wizard
of the town--that he was often changed into a tiger, and in that form
walked about the mountains. Wondering at this statement, I went
straight to the prison, where, I was told, I might obtain information
on the subject. At the stronghold the officers communicated to me the
whole matter. There were witnesses, they said, who saw a lion and a
tiger fighting, and presently lost sight of them, but saw in their
places Gomez and a man named Lopez. Gomez returned home much bruised,
and on his deathbed declared to his friends that Lopez had killed him.
Lopez was therefore taken into custody, and put in irons. The crown
officers investigated the case with great care, and found that the
body of Gomez was all bruised and torn in various places. Lopez, upon
this, was taken to Guatemala, and there hanged, the evidence against
him, in the estimation of the judges and people, being conclusive that
he had fatally injured Gomez while the former was in the shape of a
tiger, and the latter in the likeness of a lion."
The inhabitants of Bisnagar, Deccan, and elsewhere believed that the
moment a priest marked any one on the forehead with vermilion, the
devil had no power over the person thus distinguished. At Samorin
there was a statue to which children were sacrificed. It was of brass,
and, when heated by a furnace underneath it, the children were thrown
into its mouth and consumed. Flowers were scattered upon the altars
during the sacrifices, and herbs, steeped in the blood of a cock,
perfumed the idol. The cock's throat was cut with a silver knife
dipped in the blood of a hen. At the conclusion of the barbarous
ceremony, the priest walked backwards from the altar to the middle of
the chapel, where he threw a handful of corn over his head.
The Ganges, as is well known, was, and still is, worshipped by a large
number of people. Vast numbers of pilgrims continually visit this
great river. Formerly, if not now, they bathed in it in a peculiar
fashion, holding short straws in their hands while they were
performing their ablutions. Gold and silver were often thrown into the
stream, in testimony of admiration.
At Quailacara a remarkable ceremony took place once every twelve
years. On the morning of the important day, the rajah, who was both
high priest and sovereign, offered himself a sacrifice to the gods. He
first delivered an oration, and then with a sharp instrument cut off
his nose, lips, and ears, and concluded the tragical event by cutting
his throat. Similar ceremonies were performed in the same district by
scores of deluded devotees, who bent their steps to the most
celebrated temples, where they cut off their flesh, piece by piece,
and then stabbed themselves to death. Their bodies were burned, and
the ashes sold by the priests at high sums, as preservatives against
disease. When the people came to bathe in the Ganges in the month of
May, they erected piles of cows' dung, on which were placed baskets of
rice, roots, and every description of vegetables. These were
surrounded with wood besmeared with butter, and set on fire. From the
appearance of the smoke and flame, those present pretended to discover
whether the harvest was to be abundant or otherwise. At seed-time the
priests took branches from trees, and walked in procession with them,
going three times round the temples. A hole was then dug in the
ground, and water from the Ganges poured into it. In this hole cows'
dung and the branches were put and set on fire, and from the
appearance of the flames the arch-priest was enabled to foretell what
was to happen during the year. When a person was dying, he was carried
to a river and dipped into it, that his soul and body might be
purified. Happy was the individual who could be conveyed to the
Ganges, because its waters were supposed to be possessed of virtues
that did not exist in other rivers. Sometimes the hands of the dying
person were tied to a cow's tail, and the invalid dragged through the
water. If the cow emitted urine upon the person, it was considered a
most salutary purification. If the fluid fell plentifully upon the
expiring man, his friends testified their joy by loud acclamation,
believing he was about to be numbered among the blessed. But when the
cow did not supply the purifying liquid, the relatives showed their
grief, for they thought their dying friend was going to a place of
punishment.
At Assam and elsewhere, when a person was sick, sacrifices were
offered to the god of the four winds. If the patient died, servants
were kept beating on instruments of copper to keep away evil spirits,
supposed to be hovering round the corpse. There was a belief that if
an evil spirit passed over a dead body, the soul would return to the
inanimate remains. At a funeral procession, men surrounded the coffin
with drawn scimitars, to drive the devil away and help to confine him
to his home of darkness. At a king's death, all his wives, ministers
of state, and retainers surrounded the grave, and poisoned themselves,
in order to accompany him into the other world. Horses, camels,
elephants, and hounds were also interred along with his majesty, to be
useful to him in the world of bliss.
In Pegu, the people believed in an eternal succession of worlds, and
imagined that, as soon as one would be burned, another would spring
out of its ashes. They thought that people devoured by crocodiles went
to a place of perpetual happiness. The people believed that asses had
human souls, and, reversing the theory of Darwin that human beings
were the offspring of inferior animals, thought they were formerly
men; but, to punish them for crimes they had been guilty of, the gods
transformed them into their present shape. White elephants were much
esteemed by the people. As the devil was worshipped, altars were
erected in honour of him, and sacrifices were daily offered to appease
his wrath and obtain his favour. Devout persons refused to taste food,
before throwing part of it behind them for the dogs or devils to eat;
for they imagined that every dog was possessed with evil spirits, if
the animal was not Satan himself. It sometimes happened that a man
left his house, swept clean and genteelly furnished, for the devil to
take possession of it for a whole month.
On entering into a solemn agreement, the natives of Siam drank each
other's blood. They attentively listened to the groans and cries of
wild beasts, and prognosticated from them, and believed in witchcraft.
They imagined, as spiritualists of the present time do, that answers
were received from deceased friends or relations. Natives of the
Philippine Islands had a notion that they could know, from seeing the
first objects that presented themselves to them in the morning,
whether they would be successful or unsuccessful in their undertakings
during the day. If one of them happened to tread upon an insect when
setting out on a journey, he would proceed no further. The islanders
of the Moluccas watched the graves of their deceased relations seven
nights, for fear the devil would steal the body away, and during that
time the bed of the deceased was made as if he were alive. Further,
victuals were prepared for him, lest he should return to earth and
require nourishment. Many of the people wore bracelets, and on the
appearance of the new moon a hen's neck was cut, and the bracelets
dipped into the blood. From the appearance of the ornaments after
being taken out, future events were brought to light. When the people
of Ceylon were called upon to make oath, they wrapped their right
hands in a cloth the previous night, and when they appeared in court,
a caldron, containing a mixture of cows' dung and water, kept boiling
over a strong fire, was in readiness for the deponents, subsequent to
removing the bandages, to immerse their hands therein. This being
done, their hands were again wrapped up until next day, when the
fingers were rubbed with a linen cloth. He whose skin peeled off
first, was declared to have spoken falsehoods; and he not only lost
his cause, but was compelled to pay a penalty to the king. At the
Maldive Islands, offerings were made to the sea when a voyage was
about to be undertaken. Sacrifices were also offered to the winds,
which was done by setting fire to a new boat, and consuming it to
ashes. But if one was too poor to offer a boat, he threw into the
ocean several cocks and hens; for it was the opinion that there was in
the water a god that ate such things as were offered in sacrifice. One
was warned not to spit against the wind when at sea. The ships and
other vessels belonging to the people of these islands were
consecrated to the gods of the sea and the winds.
Superstition in China was, and still is, both general and absurd in
the extreme. The Chinese profess to have an uninterrupted genealogy of
their kings for a period of twenty-four thousand years; but,
notwithstanding their pretensions to antiquity, learned men suppose
that these people are descendants of the Egyptians. On this difficult
question, however, we do not propose to enter, and therefore proceed
to notice a few of their ridiculous customs and notions. They have
been idolaters for ages, and pay divine honours to numerous
gods--particularly to Fo, who was deified and worshipped for more than
a thousand years before the Christian era. The Chinese say that Fo was
a king's son. As soon as the infant god was born, he could speak and
walk. When young, he had four philosophers to instruct him, and at the
age of thirty he began to work miracles. Report has it that he was
born eight thousand times, and that his soul had passed through the
bodies of many different animals. The doctrine of transmigration of
souls was part of the people's creed, and this doctrine is still
believed in by the people generally. Cang-y was the god of the lower
heavens, and had power over life and death. He had three spirits
constantly attending him, the first of whom sent rain to refresh and
nourish the earth; the second was the god of the sea, to whom all
their navigators made vows before going away with ships, and performed
them on their return home; and the third presided over births and war.
The great Chinese reformer, Confucius, was born four hundred and fifty
years before Christianity was preached. As soon as he was born, two
dragomans came to guard him against harm, and the stars bowed
themselves before him. He married a wife, but, finding that she
hindered him in his pursuit of knowledge, he put her away. He lived to
the age of seventy years, when he died of a broken heart at beholding
the evils around him. The highest honours were paid to him after
death.
Hogs were offered in sacrifice to the gods. Wine was poured on the
animals' ears, and if they shook their heads at this operation they
were deemed proper objects to be offered, but if they remained
motionless they were rejected.
On the 14th August of every year sacrifices were offered by the people
to their ancestors, and all who assisted them at the solemn ceremonies
were assured that they would receive particular favours from their
dead relatives. Vast numbers of beggars constantly went about the
country. If those mendicants were refused alms, they told the people
that their souls would pass into the bodies of rats, mice, snakes,
toads, and such other creatures as they knew the Chinese abhorred.
Those mendicants told fortunes, and, if report speaks true, could
raise the wind by striking the earth with a hammer of magical virtue.
A ship captain, on going to sea, might have a fair wind and a
prosperous voyage for a moderate sum. Divination was practised by
means of household gods, of which there were many in the empire.
Conjurers and fortune-tellers were by law forbidden to frequent the
houses of civil or military officers under the pretence of prophesying
impending national calamities or successes, but the prohibition was
not understood to prevent them telling fortunes and casting nativities
by the stars in the usual manner. Whenever signs of calamity were
observed in the heavens by the officers of the astronomical board, and
they failed to give faithful notice thereof; they were punished with
one hundred and twenty blows and two years' banishment. In later times
a law was passed against sorcerers and magicians, prohibiting them,
under pain of death, from employing spells and incantations,
calculated to agitate and influence the minds of the people. Killing
by magic was by statute placed among the most serious classes of
offences. Magicians who raised evil spirits by means of magical books
and dire imprecations, or who burned incense in honour of the images
of their worship when they assembled by night to instruct their
followers, were strangled.
It was enacted by the Chinese laws, that if any members of a private
family performed the ceremony of the adoration of heaven and of the
north star, and lighted the lamps of the sky and of that star, they
were guilty of profanation, and liable to be punished with eighty
blows. When a dead body was laid in the coffin, the mouth of the
deceased was filled with corn, rice, silver, and gold; and scissors,
tied up in purses, were put into the coffin, that the departed person
might cut his nails as often as he pleased.
There was a sect in Japan called Jammabugi, who studied magic chiefly
among the rocks and mountains. They procured a subsistence by
pretending to tell fortunes. They possessed an almost incredible
number of idols, one of which was Abbuto, noted for curing inveterate
diseases, and for procuring a favourable wind at sea. To secure a
quick passage, sailors and passengers were wont to throw money into
the ocean as an offering to this idol.
The Japanese had gods for almost everything. A most ridiculous account
is given of their goddess of riches. When a mortal, she had no
children by her husband, which caused her to supplicate the gods to
give her offspring. Her prayers were heard, and she produced five
hundred eggs. Being afraid that if the eggs were hatched they would
bring forth monsters, she packed them up in a box bearing a particular
mark, and threw them into a river. An old fisherman found the box,
and, seeing it full of eggs, carried it home to his wife. Not having a
sufficient number of hens to hatch so many eggs, she put them into an
oven, and, to the surprise of the aged couple, every egg produced a
child. The two old people succeeded in bringing up the strange progeny
to manhood, for they were all sons. They became robbers and beggars by
turn; and it happened, one day during their rambles, that they came to
their mother's house. From inquiries she made, it became clear that
the young ruffians were her own children. She kept them, and reared
them up to be virtuous and useful. She was afterwards taken up from
the earth to be among the gods, where she remains, attended by her
five hundred sons.
Apes and monkeys, as well as other creatures, were worshipped in
Japan. So great faith did the people of that country put in the
transmigration of souls, that they had hospitals for the reception of
animals in whose bodies souls were supposed to reside. In a wood near
Jeddo there were many sacred animals, daily fed by priests. These
animals, the priests said, were animated by the souls of the most
noble and illustrious heroes that ever lived. The people had such a
profound veneration for stags, that they were to be seen in every
street as numerous as the dogs in our country. If one killed a stag,
not only was he condemned to die, but the houses where the deed was
committed were razed to the ground. Dogs were held in great esteem.
The inhabitants of every street were obliged to support a fixed number
of them, they being quartered on the people like so many soldiers.
When a dog died, it was buried among human remains. A man who killed a
canine creature was punished with death. Fish were looked upon as
sacred. Near the capital was a river that was so plentifully stocked
with fish, that they thrust one another ashore, yet not one of them
was injured. The people believed that if they touched one of the finny
tribe, they would be smitten with leprosy, and it was considered an
unpardonable sin to eat any of them. A belief prevailed, that fish
possessed the souls of naval officers. Statues of witches, magicians,
and devils find places in the Japan temples.
Charms were sold by the priests, which were represented to possess the
virtue of curing diseases and driving away the devil. Money was
sometimes borrowed on security of charms, not to be repaid in this
world. A note was given, authorizing payment of the money in the land
of spirits; and when the holder of the document died, his relations
put it into his hand, believing that the debt would be duly paid to
the deceased. The Japanese thought certain days were more fortunate
than others. A table of their fortunate and unfortunate days was hung
up in the passage of every house, for the guidance of the family when
they went out. This table of days was prepared by a celebrated
astrologer of universal knowledge in all mysteries, whether relating
to the stars, dreams, or omens. Like other men of note in the East, he
was born in a miraculous manner. His father was a prince, and his
mother a fox. It appears that the lady fox being pursued by huntsmen,
ran to and obtained protection from his highness. The creature
discovered herself to be a fairy, and, throwing off her false
appearance, became a beautiful princess. The prince being enamoured
with her charms, married her, and had by her the celebrated astrologer
spoken of. When he grew up he invented a set of mysterious terms,
which he comprised within the compass of one verse, as a charm or
protection for such persons as were compelled to work on unlucky days;
and every one who repeated the verse reverently on the morning of an
unlucky day, was preserved from all the evils that would have
otherwise befallen him.
THE GODS AND GODDESSES OF HEATHEN NATIONS.
CHAPTER IX.
The Classification of Gods and Goddesses--Primeval
Parent Chaos--Creation--Influence of Ether--The Human
Race in danger of Perishing--Celestial Fire--Birth of
Cupid--Banishment of Cupid from the Blest
Abodes--Cupid's Armour--Fate--Eternal Decrees--Throne
of Jove--Fortune and Happiness--Misfortune and
Misery--Twofold Nature--Rewards and Punishments--First
Man and Woman--Pan the Emblem of all Things--Power of
Heathen Gods--Descriptions of Juno--Venus the Goddess
of Love and Beauty--Rustics turned into
Frogs--Vulcan--Æolus--Momus the Jester--The Carping
God's Fault-finding--Improper Position of the Bull's
Horns--Minerva as a House--Window in Man's Breast.
We do not intend to notice at great length the ancient opinions and
writings concerning the deities which heathen nations thought presided
over the world and the heavens, and influenced the affairs of the
spheres above and below; but as much of comparatively modern
superstition has been traced to mythology, generally so called, we
cannot pass without observation the history of the gods, nor avoid
giving such extracts therefrom as bear particularly on our subject,
"The Collected Mysteries of all Nations."
The gods and goddesses of heathen nations were classified as
follows:--1st, the celestial gods and goddesses; 2nd, the terrestrial
deities; 3rd, the marine and river gods and goddesses; 4th, the
infernal gods; 5th, the subordinate and miscellaneous deities; 6th,
the ascriptious gods, demigods, and heroes; and 7th, the modal
deities. Ancient writers speak thus:
"When the primeval parent Chaos, hoary with unnumbered ages, was first
moved by the breath of Erebus, she brought forth her enormous
first-born Hyle, and at the same portentous birth the amiable almighty
Eros, chief of the immortals. They had no sooner come to light than
they produced the terrible Titans."
Again we are informed that--"Ere the universe appeared; ere the sun
mounted on high, or the moon gave her pale light; ere the vales were
stretched out below, or the mountains reared their towering heads; ere
the winds began to blow, or the rivers to flow, or plants or trees had
sprung from the earth; while the heavens lay hid in the mighty mass,
and the stars were unknown, the various parts of which the wondrous
creation consists lay jumbled without form in the Abyss of Being."
There, it is said, they had lain for ever and ever if the breath of
the terrible Erebus, the spirit that dwelt in eternal darkness, had
not gone forth and put the mass into vital agitation.
From another source we learn that, first of all, Chaos existed; next
in order the broad Earth; and then Love appeared, the most beautiful
of all things. Of Chaos sprang Erebus and dusty Night, and of Erebus
and Night came Ether and smiling Day.
The Earth conceived by the influence of Ether, and brought forth man
and every description of animal. The human race was in danger of
perishing from the face of earth. Naked, needy, and ignorant, they
passed their dreary days, living in caves and lurking in woods like
wild beasts. They were alike destitute of laws and arts. Their food
consisted of herbs. Often were they compelled to fly before the
mountain tigers and bears of the forest, while they were nearly frozen
to death. Thus they lived in wretchedness until Prometheus came to
their relief. He called Pallas, the goddess of wisdom, to his aid. By
her assistance he mounted to heaven, where he secretly held the reed
he carried in his hand to the wheel of the sun's chariot. In this way
he obtained the celestial fire, and conveyed it to Earth, where he
presented it to man. Prometheus did not stop here: he instructed man
in arts and industry of almost every description.
There is an interesting account of Cupid. The goddess of beauty, we
are informed, brought forth a delicate infant, whom she gave to the
Graces to nurse. Unhappily, the child neither throve in person, nor
put forth feathers to cover the wings which he had. Under this
affliction, Cupid's mother and nurses had recourse to the most ancient
and infallible Themis, who gave this answer: That love came, for the
most part, single into the world, but that the child would not thrive
until his mother brought forth another son. Then the one would thrive
in virtue of the other; but if the one died, the other could not long
survive. Venus brought forth another son, Anteros. He no sooner came
into being, than his elder brother Cupid grew, and his wings were soon
fledged. So strong did the little urchin become, that he flew to
heaven. There he associated with the Muses, became intimate with
Mercury, kept company with Hymen, and grew in favour with every one
except the implacable Momus. Unfortunately, Cupid became insolent and
vain, behaving with arrogance to the superior powers. He made enmity
reign where peace and concord should have been found. Feuds raged
among the gods and goddesses on his account. To rid themselves of a
pest, the rulers of heaven called an assembly of the gods, to consider
how peace could be restored. Cupid was accused of being a public
incendiary, a disturber of good order; and the fomenter of discord
being found guilty, he was banished from the blest abodes; ordered to
be a retainer of Ceres and Bacchus on earth; and doomed to have his
wings stripped of their feathers, that he might not again infest the
confines of heaven.
Cupid is now armed with two bows, one of which he bends with the aid
of the Graces, to secure a happy smiling lot, and he with the other,
blind-folded, lets fly his arrows, to the confusion and misery of many
in life. Like his mother, he is constantly in want. He is eager,
ravenous, and wandering about bare-footed, without home or habitation,
sleeping before doors or by the wayside, under the open sky. But at
the same time he is ever forming designs upon all that is beautiful,
is forward, cunning, and fond of new tricks.
Fate mysteriously clings round this earth, the heavens, and the
creatures in the regions above and below. When Jupiter heard of the
death of his son Sarpedon, in great grief he called on Mercury to go
instantly to the Fates, and bring from them the strong box in which
the eternal decrees are laid up. Mercury went to the Fatal Sisters,
and delivered his message. The Sisters smiled, and told him that the
other end of the golden chain which secured the box with the
unalterable decrees was so fixed to the throne of Jove, that were it
to be unfastened, the master's seat itself might be shaken.
Jupiter holds in his hands the unerring balance of fate. Close to his
throne stand the two inexhaustible urns--the one filled with good
fortune and happiness, the other with misfortune and misery. Out of
these is mixed a dose of life to every mortal man; and as the draught
is, so are one's days embittered with disasters, or made pleasant with
serenity, ease, and prosperity. To every star is allotted a mind, and
all things have their fixed irrevocable laws. The human nature is
twofold; and man, who lives well on earth, returns after death to the
habitations of his congenial star, and there leads a blessed life;
but, failing in his duties, he is doomed to live a thousand years in
a degraded state. Sometimes a human soul is destined to animate a
wild beast, never to be relieved until it reattain the purest of its
first and best existence.
The Goths and Vandals entertained the opinion that the first man and
woman were made of an ash-tree. Odin, it is said, gave them breath,
Hener endowed them with reason, and Lodur injected blood into their
veins, and provided them with beautiful faces.
Pan has been represented as the emblem of all things, and among the
learned of early times he passed for the first and oldest of the
divinities. His person is composed of various and opposite parts--a
man and a goat. According to the most ancient Egyptians and Greeks, he
had neither father nor mother, but sprang of Demogorgon at the same
instant with the Fatal Sisters, the Parcæ.
The power of the heathen gods and goddesses is reported as truly
wonderful. Apollo turned Daphne, whom he loved, into a laurel, and his
boy Hyacinth into a violet. Mars was the son of Jupiter and Juno, or,
according to Ovid, of Juno alone, who conceived him at the smell of a
flower shown her by the goddess Flora.
Juno is esteemed the goddess of kingdoms and riches. She is
represented as a majestic beautiful woman, riding in a golden chariot
drawn by peacocks, waving a sceptre in her hand, and wearing a crown
set about with roses and lilies, and encircled with fair Iris, or the
rainbow. She is also supposed to preside over matrimony and births,
and is the guardian angel of woman.
Venus is the goddess of love and beauty; she sprang from the foam of
the sea. As soon as she was born she was cast upon the island of
Cyprus, where she was educated, and afterwards being carried to
heaven, was married to Vulcan. Her image is fair and beautiful; she is
clothed with purple, glittering with diamonds. There are two Cupids on
her side, while around her are the Graces. Her chariot is of ivory,
drawn by swans, doves, or swallows.
Whilst Latona was wandering through the fields of Lycia, she desired
to drink from a spring at the bottom of a valley, but the country
rustics drove her away. In spite of her entreaties, they refused to
allow her to slake her thirst, whereupon, in wrath, she, cursing them,
said, "May ye always live in this water!" Immediately they were turned
into frogs, and leaped into the streams and pools, where they
continued to exist.
Vulcan, notwithstanding his noble descent, is obliged to follow the
trade of a blacksmith. On account of his deformity, he was cast down
from heaven into the isle of Lemnos. His leg was broken by the fall.
He erected a forge, where he makes thunderbolts for his father Jupiter
and armour for the other gods. His servants are called Cyclops,
because they have but one eye. Though Vulcan is unpleasant in the
sight of others, Venus thinks him the most beautiful of all the
divinities.
Æolus keeps the winds under his power in a cave in the Æolian Islands,
where he dwells. He can raise storms and hurricanes, and restrain
their rage at pleasure.
Momus is a jester, mocker, or mimic. His life is spent in idleness,
merely observing the sayings and doings of the gods, and then
censuring and deriding them. For instance, when Neptune was made a
bull, Minerva a house, and Vulcan a man, Momus was appointed to judge
as to whom the greatest skill was manifested in creation. The carping
god disapproved of all. He found fault with the bull for not having
his horns before his eyes in his forehead, that he might be enabled to
push the surer. He condemned the house, because it was fixed and could
not be carried away in case it was placed in a bad neighbourhood. But
the god, he said, who made man, was most imprudent because he did not
make a window in the human breast, that the thoughts might be seen.
CHAPTER X.
Satyrs described--Diana's Retirement--Pallas, the
Goddess of Shepherds and Pasture--The vile
Flora--Pomona deceived--Celestial Nymphs--Terrestrial
Nymphs--River Gods and Goddesses--Sirens--Witch
Circe--Infernal Deities--Passage to Tartarus--Palace
of Pluto--Judges of Hell--Goddesses of
Destiny--Furies--Night, Death, and Sleep: by whom
presided over--Names of Monsters condemned in the
place of Punishment--Tartarian Regions--Delights of
the Elysian Fields--Food and Drink of Pagan
Gods--Festivals of Heathens--Colour of
Gods--Sacrifices to Deities--Things sacred to Gods.
Satyrs are partly of human likeness and partly of bestial shape. They
have heads of human form, with horns and brutish ears; they have
crooked hands, rough hairy bodies, goats' legs and feet and tails. The
chief of these monsters is the god Pan, the inventor of the musical
pipe.
Diana, out of love to Chastity, avoids consort with men, retires into
the woods, and there diverts herself with hunting, whence she is
reckoned the goddess of the woods and the chase. Pallas is esteemed
the goddess of shepherds and pasture, and is the reputed inventress of
corn, and is thought by some to be Ceres or Vesta. Flora is the
goddess of flowers. By a vile trade, she accumulated a vast amount of
money, and made the people of Rome her heirs, who, in return, placed
her among the divinities.
Ferona and Pomona are two goddesses of trees and fruits. The latter
was advised by the god Vertumnus to enter the matrimonial state in the
guise of a hagged old woman; but without success, till he appeared to
her as a fair young man, and then she felt the power of love, and
yielded to his wishes. The Nymphs are a company of neat charming
virgins, living near the gardens of Pomona. They are of three
classes:--1st the Celestial Nymphs, called Genii, who guide the
spheres and dispense the influences of the stars to things on earth.
2nd, the Terrestrial Nymphs, as Dryades, who preside over the woods
and live in the oaks; and Hamadryades, who are born and die with the
oaks; the Oreades, who preside over the mountains; the Napææ, who
preside over the groves and valleys; the Limnatides, who look after
the meadows and fields. 3rd, Marine Nymphs.
As the chief of the marine and river gods and goddesses, Neptune
stands at the head. He is represented with black hair and blue eyes,
arrayed in a mantle of azure, holding a trident in his right hand, and
embracing his queen with his left arm. He stands upright in his
chariot, drawn by sea horses, and is attended by nymphs. Proteus is
the son of Neptune, but some say he is the offspring of Oceanus and
Tethys. His business is to tend the sea-calves. He can turn himself
into any shape. Triton, the son and trumpeter of Neptune, is a man to
the middle and a dolphin below; he has two fore feet, like those of
horses, and is provided with two tails. Oceanus is the son of Cœlum
and Vesta, husband to Tethys, god of the sea, and father of the rivers
and springs. Nereus, also the son of Oceanus and Tethys, is father of
fifty daughters, called Nereides or Sea Nymphs. Palæmon and his mother
Ino, together with the fisherman Glaucus, are reckoned among the sea
deities. The Sirens resemble mermaids, having the faces of women, but
bodies of flying fish. They are reported to be excellent songsters,
that play on the Sicilian coasts, and tempt passengers on shore, where
they sing them asleep and kill them. Scylla and Charybdis are two
other sea monsters. Scylla is the daughter of Phorcys, and beloved by
Glaucus, whom therefore the witch Circe by her enchantments turned
into a rock, with dogs around her. Charybdis is a very ravenous woman,
who stole Hercules's oxen, for which crime Jupiter struck her dead
with a thunder-bolt, and then turned her into a gulf or whirlpool in
the Sicilian Sea. The Sea Nymphs are the Nereides already referred to.
The Naides or Naiades preside over fountains and springs; the
Potameides preside over rivers, and Limniades over lakes.
In noticing the Infernal Deities, we shall describe the dismal
regions, where wicked spirits dwell, and over which they are reported
to preside. The name commonly given to these regions is Hades or
Tartarus, understood to signify hell. The passage leading thereto is a
wide dark cave, through which one has to pass by a steep rocky descent
till he arrives at a gloomy grove and an unnavigable lake called
Avernus, from which such poisonous vapours rise as to kill birds
flying over it. Yet over this lake the souls of the dead must pass. To
assist them, an old decrepit, long-bearded fellow, the oft-heard of
Charon, attends with a ferry-boat to carry them to the other side, at
a fare not less than a halfpenny.
After this there are four rivers to be passed over--Acheron, whose
waters are very bitter; the Styx, a lake rather than a river, and so
sacred to the gods, that if any of them swore by it and broke his
oath, he was deprived of his godhead, and was prohibited from drinking
nectar for a hundred years; the river Cocytus, which flows out of Styx
with a lamentable groaning, resembling the painful sounds and
exclamations of the damned; the river Phlegethon, so called because it
swells with waves of fire and streams of flames.
The souls having passed these rivers, are conducted to the palace of
Pluto, king of the infernal regions, where the gate is guarded by
Cerberus, a dog with three heads, whose body is covered with snakes in
place of hair. This dog is the porter of hell.
Pluto initiated funeral obsequies for the dead: he sits on a throne
covered with darkness, holding a key in his hand, and crowned with
ebony. Beside him is his queen Proserpina, whom he stole from Ceres.
Minos, Æacus, and Rhadamanthus are judges in hell. The first two are
sons of Jupiter by Europa, and the last is his son by Ægina. These
are believed to judge the souls of the dead.
The Fates are named Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, and are the
goddesses of destiny. They order and manage the fatal thread of life.
Clotho draws the thread, Lachesis turns the wheel, and Atropos cuts
the string asunder when spun to a due length.
The Furies, called sometimes Eumenides, Diræ, and Manes, are the
daughters of Nox and Acheron: their names are Alecto, Tisiphone, and
Megæra, and are known by the common name of Erinnys. They have faces
like women, their looks are full of terror, they hold lighted torches
in their hands, and snakes and serpents cling to their necks and
shoulders. Their office is to punish the crimes of wicked men, and to
torment and frighten them by following them with ghastly looks and
burning material.
Erebus and Nox preside over darkness and the night; Mors over death;
and Somnus is the god of sleep, who, by his servant Morpheus, sends
dreams to men while asleep.
Besides others, there are in the infernal regions the following
monsters:--The Centaurs, whose upper parts are human, but whose bodies
and legs are those of a horse. They were begotten of a cloud by Ixion.
Gorgon is a monster with three heads. The Harpies, born of Oceanus and
Terra, have the faces of virgins, and the bodies of birds with claws.
Their names are Ocypete, Aello, and Celeno. The Gorgons are Medusa,
Stheno, and Euryale, daughters of Phorcys and Cete. They have heads
covered with snakes instead of hair, which so terrifies beholders that
they immediately turn into stones. The Lamiæ and Empusæ have each only
one eye and one tooth. They have faces, necks, and breasts like women,
but their bodies are covered with scales, and they have the tails of
serpents. The Chimœra is a monster that vomits fire, and has the
head and breast of a lion, the belly of a goat, and the tail of a
dragon. The Sphinx, begotten of Typhon and Echidna, has the head and
face of a virgin, the wings of a bird, and the body of a dog. A riddle
she put forth being explained by Œdipus, so enraged her that she
threw herself from a rock and was killed.
The most famous of the condemned in the place of punishment are the
Giants; they are great in stature, and have horrible feet, like
dragons. They make war against the celestial gods, but never prevail,
and are struck down to hell by Jupiter's thunder-bolts and the arms of
the gods. The principal offenders are Typhon, Ægæon, Alœus, and
Tityus; and, to prevent them rising again, the Island of Sicily is
fixed on Typhon, and Mount Ætna on Ægæon, and Tityus is doomed to have
a vulture always gnawing his liver, which grows afresh every month.
Phlegias fired Apollo's temple at Delphi, for which he was sentenced
to have a great stone hung over his head, ready every moment to fall
and crush him to pieces. Ixion, for an assault on Juno, was struck
down to hell, and tied to a wheel, which kept continually turning.
Sisyphus is a notorious robber, condemned to roll a stone up to the
top of a hill, which is made to roll down again immediately; and as he
has to begin and roll it up again as soon as it comes down, his labour
is perpetual. The Danaides are fifty virgins (sisters), who all but
one, by the command of their father Danaus, slew their husbands on
their wedding night. For this they were condemned to draw water out of
a deep well, to fill a tub whose bottom was full of holes like a
sieve. Tantalus invited the gods to a feast, and, to improve their
divinity, he killed, boiled, and served up Pelops on the table before
them to eat. They refused to partake of this horrid dish, and
condemned Tantalus to stand in water which he could not drink, and to
have meat placed before him which he could not taste, though suffering
the pangs of hunger and thirst--a punishment he was to endure for
ever.
In the Tartarian regions there is a place supposed to abound with all
kinds of pleasures and delights, called Elysium, because thither the
souls of good men are conveyed after being freed from the body. This
is the heathen paradise, consisting of pleasant plains, the most
verdant fields, the shadiest groves, and the finest and most temperate
air that can be found. After the souls of the pious have spent many
ages in these Elysian fields, they drink the water of the river Lethe,
which makes them forget all things past; and then they return to the
world and pass into new bodies.
The Pagan deities have ambrosia for their food, and nectar for their
drink, both of which have the property of giving immortality to those
who partake of them.
The festivals of the heathens were many, as almost every deity was
allowed sacred honours. In sacrificing, the animals offered to the
celestial deities were white, and those to the infernal gods were
black. To Jupiter a white ox was sacrificed; to Neptune, Mars, and
Apollo a bull, ram, and boar; to Ceres, milk, honey, and a sow-pig
were offered; to Æsculapius, goats and poultry; to the Lares, a cock;
to the Sun, a horse; to Juno, a she-lamb; to Venus, a dove; to Diana,
a crow; to Pan and Minerva, she-goats; and to the Fauns, kids.
The fir and vine were sacred to Bacchus, the cypress to Pluto, the
cedar to the Furies, the ash to Mars, the oak to Jove, the laurel to
Apollo, the myrtle to Venus, the olive to Minerva, the poplar to
Hercules, the pine to Cybele, and the rose to Venus.
CHAPTER XI.
Achilles's Mother--Prediction concerning the taking of
Troy--Bravery, Armour, Love, and Death of
Achilles--Acrisius's Daughter--Danae and her son
Perseus--Ardea changed into a Bird--Pluto's Invisible
Helmet--Minerva's Buckler--Mercury's Wings--Medusa
deprived of Life--Sea Monster--A Gorgon's Head and its
Virtues--Stheno and Euryale not subject to Old Age or
Death--Minerva's Revenge against Medusa--Serpents in
Africa and Pegasus produced by Medusa's Blood--Tales
by the Daughters of Minyas--Punishment by Bacchus--The
Search of Cadmus for his sister Europa--Halcyon's
Sorrow--Transmigration--Strength and Exploits of
Hercules--Love Potion--Hymen--Jason's
Adventures--Power and Cruelty of Medea--How a
Favourable Wind was procured--Manner in which Orion
came into Existence--False Swearer
punished--Palladium--The Life and Deeds of
Paris--Golden Apple--Marriage of Peleus and
Thetis--Impiety of Pentheus--Rhea and her Sons--Scylla
turned into a Sea Monster.
Achilles's mother being endowed with a prophetic spirit, knew that her
son would lose his life at Troy. She dipped him in the river Styx, by
which he was rendered invulnerable, except in the heel, by which he
was held during the operation. The seer Calchas announced that,
without Achilles, Troy could not be taken. His mother, to keep him
from danger, concealed him among King Lycomedes's daughters, disguised
as a girl; but being discovered by Ulysses, he joined his countrymen,
and sailed for the Trojan coast. After giving many proofs of his
bravery and military prowess, he quarrelled with Agamemnon,
commander-in-chief of the Grecian army, and in disgust withdrew from
the contest. During the absence of Achilles, the Trojans were
victorious; but his friend Patroclus, clad in his armour, having
rashly encountered Hector, fell by the hand of that hero. Achilles, to
revenge his death, resolved instantly to take the field. For this
purpose, Vulcan, at the request of Thetis, made her son a complete
suit of armour and weapons. With these celestial arms, many of the
Trojans were put to death. Achilles, falling in love with Polyxena, a
daughter of the Trojan king, whilst soliciting her hand in the temple
of Minerva, was wounded by her brother Paris in the heel, which caused
his death.
Acrisius, the son of Abas, king of Argos and Ocalea, being informed by
an oracle that he would be put to death by his daughter Danae's son,
confined her in a tower, to prevent her having children; but without
effect, for Jupiter, in a golden shower, entered the chamber of Danae,
and she became the mother of Perseus. She and her infant son were
then, by order of Acrisius, exposed to the sea in a slender bark,
which the wind drifted to Seriphus, where both were taken ashore by
some fishermen and carried to Polydectes, the king of the island. The
king conceived a violent attachment to the mother, but sought the
destruction of the son. Danae and her son left Seriphus and went to
Larissa. Danae built Ardea; and on its being burned, the inhabitants
said it was changed into a bird. Perseus, by the aid of Pluto's
invisible helmet, Minerva's buckler, and Mercury's wings (the
Talaria), and short dagger made of diamonds (called Herpe), deprived
Medusa, one of the Gorgons, of life, and carried off her head in
triumph. He killed the sea monster to which Andromeda was exposed, and
then married her. A memorable battle ensued at their nuptials.
Phineus, the uncle of Andromeda, who passionately loved her, entered
with a band of armed men, and attempted to carry her off by violence.
But Perseus made a brave resistance; and at last, finding himself on
the point of being overpowered, presented the Gorgon's head, which
instantly turned all his enemies to stone in the posture in which they
were then standing. Immediately after this he returned to Seriphus, in
time to protect his mother from the insult of Polydectes, to whom
Perseus showed the Gorgon's head, which converted him into stone also.
Medusa, it will be remembered, was the only one of the three Gorgons
who was mortal. Her sisters, Stheno and Euryale, were neither subject
to old age nor death. She greatly surpassed the other two in elegance
of figure and comeliness of face; but in nothing was her superiority
more remarkable than in the beauty of her locks. Minerva, provoked
either because her temple had been profaned, or because her personal
charms had been slighted by Medusa, who had preferred her own beauty
to that of the goddess, turned her fine hair, of which she boasted
greatly, into serpents, and gave to her eyes the power of converting
to stone all at whom she looked. The blood which fell from Medusa's
head when Perseus carried it over Africa in his flight, was supposed
to produce the numerous serpents which infest that country, and also
the winged horse Pegasus.
But to return to Acrisius. Let us see whether the prediction of the
Oracle, that foretold he would be put to death by his daughter's son,
was fulfilled. The fame of his grandson, after his remarkable
adventures, having reached the ears of Acrisius, he went to Larissa to
see him, at the time Teutamis was celebrating funereal games in honour
of his father. To this city Perseus had repaired with the view of
distinguishing himself among the combatants. Here he accidentally
killed, with a quoit, an old man, who was found to be his grandfather
Acrisius, and thus verified the oracular prediction.
Alcithoe and her sisters denied the divinity of Bacchus, and refused
to join in his worship. Whilst the Theban women were employed
celebrating the orgies of that god, the daughters of Minyas (for that
was their father's name) continued at their looms. To enliven their
hours of labour, one of them proposed that each in her turn should
relate some amusing tale, to which, the other sisters agreeing, she
with whom the idea originated was requested to begin. After hesitating
for some time which of her numerous collections would be most
agreeable--whether Babylonian Dercetis changed to a fish or her
daughter to a dove, or Naias, who by magic transformed young men to
fishes, or the tree the berries of which were formerly white, but
turned to purple by being stained with blood--she preferred the last
in consequence of its being little known. She then narrates the simple
but beautiful and affecting fable of Pyramus and Thisbe. Leuconoe
next, after mentioning the exposure of Mars and Venus, relates the
history of Leucothoe, with whom Apollo fell in love, and afterwards
turned into a rod of frankincense. To this she adds the fiction of
Clytie, whom the same god changed into a sunflower. Alcithoe being
then requested by her sisters to tell a story--despising as too common
the fables of Daphnis, a shepherd on Mount Ida, who, for violating his
marriage promise, was transformed to stone; of Scython, who changed
his sex; of Celemis, a nurse of Jupiter, converted to adamant; and of
the nymph Similax, and her lover Crocus, turned into flowers--prefers
the history of the fountain Salmacis, who conceived a violent
attachment for Hermaphroditus, the son of Mercury and Venus. These
sisters, having discontinued their narrating, remained still obstinate
in their contempt of Bacchus, who, in revenge, changed their
implements into vines and ivy, and themselves into bats.
Cadmus, a son of Agenor, king of Phœnicia, and Telephassa or
Agriope, was ordered by his father to go in search of his sister
Europa, whom Jupiter had carried away, and not to return unless he
found her. His search being unsuccessful, he is said to have consulted
the oracle of Apollo, by which he was commanded to build a city where
he saw a heifer standing on the grass, and call the country Bœotia.
Having found the heifer, he sent his men to a fountain for water,
which was at no great distance, that he might offer a sacrifice in
gratitude to the god. But the spring being sacred to Mars, a dragon
guarded it, which devoured all his men. By the art of Minerva, he
overcame the dragon, and sowed its teeth, which grew up armed men,
who, on his throwing a stone amongst them, began to fight, and all
were killed except five, who assisted him in building Thebes. Hence
Pentheus, in addressing the Thebans, calls them Anguigenæ, serpent or
snake-descended. The ferocity of the petty tribes who inhabit that
part of Greece, and Cadmus's plan of subduing the natives by artfully
exciting them to fight against each other until the strength and
resources of the contending parties were quite exhausted,
satisfactorily explain the tale of the dragon, the armed men that
sprang from his teeth, and the stone which he threw among them. He
afterwards married Harmonia or Harmonie, the daughter of Mars and
Venus, by whom he had one son and four daughters. In advanced life,
oppressed with sorrow at the fate of his daughter Ino and her two
sons, he fled from Thebes to Illyricum, where he was changed into a
dragon.
Halcyone's husband, Ceyx, a king of Trachinia, was drowned while
attempting to cross to Claros to consult the Oracle. Disconsolate in
consequence of his departure, she incessantly implored the gods for
his safe return. Juno, moved by her constant prayers for her husband
after his death, and compassionating the violence of her sorrow,
entreated Somnus to send Morpheus, who, assuming the form and voice of
Ceyx, appeared in a dream, and informed her of his fate. Frantic with
grief, she ran to the beach, and, according to her dream, found the
body of Ceyx floating lifeless to the shore. The queen of Trachinia
was changed into a bird, in her attempt to reach by a bound the body
of her husband, which she no sooner touched than it underwent the same
transformation. Their mutual attachments remaining, they continue to
live together as birds, distinguished by the same tenderness and
affection which had marked their conjugal state when in the human
form.
Hercules was possessed of the greatest physical strength. He had a
great enemy in Hera, who, knowing that the child who should be born
that day was fated to rule over all the descendants of Perseus,
contrived to delay the birth of Hercules and hasten that of
Eurystheus. Eurystheus thus, by decree of fate, became chief of the
Perseidæ. While yet in the cradle, Hercules showed his divine origin
by strangling two serpents sent by Hera to destroy him. In course of
time Eurystheus summoned Hercules to appear before him, and ordered
him to perform the labours which, by priority of birth, he was
empowered to impose on him. Hercules, unwilling to obey, went to
Delphi to consult the Oracle, and was informed that he must perform
ten labours imposed on him by Eurystheus, after which he should attain
to immortality. The first labour imposed on him was to destroy the
lion that haunted the forests of Nemea and Cleonæ, and could not be
wounded by the arrows of a mortal. Hercules boldly attacked the lion
and strangled him. The second was to destroy the Learnæan hydra, which
he accomplished with the aid of Iolaus; but because he obtained
assistance in his work, Eurystheus refused to reckon it. Hercules's
third labour was to catch the hind of Diana, famous for its swiftness,
its golden horns, and brazen feet. The fourth was to bring alive to
Eurystheus a wild boar, which ravaged the neighbourhood of Erymanthus.
The fifth was to cleanse the stables of Augeas, king of Elis, where
three thousand oxen had been confined for many years; which task he
accomplished in one day, by turning the rivers Alpheus and Peneus
through the stables. For certain reasons this exploit was not counted.
His sixth was to destroy the carnivorous birds, with brazen wings,
beaks, and claws, which ravaged the country near the lake Stymphalis,
in Arcadia. The seventh was to bring alive to Peloponnesus a bull,
remarkable for its beauty and strength, which Poseidon had given to
Minos, king of Crete, in order that he might sacrifice it; which
Minos refusing to do, Poseidon made the bull mad, and it laid waste
the island. Hercules brought the bull on his shoulders to Eurystheus,
who set it at liberty. The eighth labour was to obtain the mares of
Diomedes, king of the Bistones, in Thrace, which fed upon human flesh.
The ninth was to bring the girdle of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons.
The tenth was to kill the monster Geryon, and bring his herds to
Argos. These were all the labours originally imposed on Hercules; but
as Eurystheus acknowledged only eight of them, Hercules was commanded
to perform two more. The eleventh labour was to obtain the golden
apples from the garden of the Hesperides. Atlas, who knew where to
find the apples, brought them to Hercules, who meantime supported the
vault of heaven. The last labour was to bring from the infernal
regions the three-headed dog Cerberus. When Hercules brought the dog
to Eurystheus, the latter, pale with fright, ordered him to be set at
liberty, whereupon Cerberus immediately sank into the earth.
Hercules's servitude was now ended, but his great performances were
not. He fought with the centaurs and giants. When his period of
slavery had ended, he married Dejanira; with her he went to Trachinia.
At the river Evenus he encountered the centaur Nessus. Nessus, under
pretence of carrying Dejanira over, attempted to offer her violence,
which caused Hercules to slay him with a poisoned arrow. Nessus,
before expiring, instructed Dejanira how to prepare a love potion for
Hercules. He erected an altar to Zeus Kenæos. In order to celebrate
the rite with due solemnity, he sent Lichas to Trachis for a white
garment. Dejanira, being jealous, anointed the robe with the philter
she had received from Nessus. Hercules put it on, and immediately the
poison penetrated his bones. Maddened by the pain, he seized Lichas by
the feet and flung him into the sea. He tore off the dress, but it
stuck to his flesh, which was thus torn from his bones. Dejanira,
being informed of what had taken place, destroyed herself. Hercules
repaired to Mount Œta, where he erected a funeral pile, and,
ascending it, commanded that it should be set on fire. The pile was
suddenly surrounded by a dark cloud, in which, amid thunder and
lightning, he was carried up to heaven.
Hymen, the god of marriage, attended the celebration of marriage, and
the ancients believed the parties would be miserable during the
remainder of their lives unless he attended.
Jason was a famous hero of antiquity. No sooner had he finished his
education under the centaur Chiron, than he went boldly to Pelias, who
had banished him, and mounted the throne, and demanded the kingdom.
Pelias, for various reasons, durst not appeal to arms, but, to
accomplish the warlike youth's ruin, advised him to undertake an
expedition against Æetes, king of Colchis, who had murdered their
relation Phryxus, and, on his return, promised to resign to him the
crown. To this proposal Jason agreed, and undertook the voyage to
obtain the golden fleece, so celebrated in history under the name of
the Argonautic Expedition. After a series of wonderful adventures he
arrived at Colchis; and by the assistance of Medea, the king's
daughter, whom he promised to marry, he fulfilled the hard terms on
which he was to accomplish the object of his voyage. By her aid and
directions, he was enabled to tame the bulls with horns and feet of
brass, which breathed nothing but fire, and to plough with them a
certain field; to kill a huge serpent, from whose teeth sprang up
armed men; to destroy a dreadful dragon, which watched continually at
the foot of the tree on which the golden fleece was suspended; and
then to carry off the prize in the presence of all the Colchians, who
were equally confounded at his intrepidity and success. He returned to
Thessaly in great triumph, but his future life was rendered miserable
by his infidelity, and the barbarous mode of revenge adopted by
Medea, whom he married according to promise and carried to Greece.
After many years' happiness, it may be remembered, he most
iniquitously divorced her. But she severely revenged his ingratitude
by causing the death of his favourite Glauce, and the ruin of her
family. Not satisfied with these acts of cruelty, she put two of
Jason's sons to death before his eyes, and then fled through the air
in a chariot drawn by winged dragons. Having visited Corinth, she
settled at Athens. Other barbarous actions again forced her to have
recourse to her chariot. She returned to Colchis, where a
reconciliation took place between her and Jason.
When the princes of Greece had, in fulfilment of their oaths, taken up
arms to revenge the criminal conduct of Paris, Agamemnon, on account
of his military talents, and being the brother of Menelaus, was
appointed commander-in-chief of the combined forces. After the army
had assembled in the port of Aulis, Diana, provoked at his having
killed one of her favourite stags, prevented by contrary winds their
sailing for Troy. On consulting the Oracle, the Greeks were informed
that Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon, must be sacrificed to appease
the enraged goddess, otherwise they must remain in harbour. Struck
with horror at this awful response, Agamemnon sternly refused to give
up his daughter, and ordered the princes to return home with their
troops. But the winning eloquence of Ulysses and the urgent
remonstrances of the other chiefs at last prevailed, and paternal
affection yielded to military fame. Ulysses was then sent to Mycenæ,
to carry the beautiful Iphigenia to bleed on the altar of Diana. The
innocent victim's blood procured a favourable wind to the Grecian
fleet.
Orion sprang from Jupiter and Mercury. These gods promised to Hyricus,
a Bœotian peasant, who had entertained them hospitably, whatever he
would ask. Having no child, his wife being dead, and he being bound
by promise not to marry again, requested a son. The gods then put
water into the hide of a bull, which Hyricus had offered to them in
sacrifice on discovering their divinity, and ordered him to bury it in
the earth for nine months. At the end of that time, taking it out, he
found a lively boy.
Palici, twin brothers, were sons of Jupiter and Thalia or Ætna, a
daughter of Vulcan, who during her pregnancy prayed to be saved from
the fury of Juno, by being concealed in the bowels of the earth. Her
request was granted, and Tellus at the proper time brought to light
the two boys. They were worshipped with great solemnity by the
Sicilians. Their temple stood near the lakes or springs, strongly
impregnated with sulphur, to which those who wished to put an end to
quarrels by oath used to repair. False swearers were punished there in
a miraculous manner, whilst the innocent escaped without injury. Some
suppose that the perjured persons were destroyed by secret fire, while
others think they were drowned.
Palladium was a statue of the goddess Pallas or Minerva, said to have
fallen from heaven, near the tent of the king of Troy, when he was
building the Citadel. An ancient oracle declared that, so long as the
Palladium remained within the walls, Troy could not be taken. On that
account it was kept with great care. The Greeks, aware of this
prediction, sent Diomedes and Ulysses to carry it away during the
night--a feat which they accomplished.
Paris was a son of Priam, king of Troy. His father ordered him to be
put to death at his birth, in consequence of his mother having dreamt
that she was delivered of a firebrand which reduced the city to ashes,
and the augurs interpreting the dream to portend that the child would
occasion the destruction of Troy. The persons appointed to despatch
the child, contented themselves with exposing him on Mount Ida, where
he was brought up by the shepherds. On account of his extraordinary
strength and courage in defending the flocks from ravenous beasts and
repelling the attacks of robbers, he was called Alexander. There he
passed the early part of his life, and, whilst engaged tending his
flock, gave judgment in the appeal of the three goddesses, Venus,
Juno, and Minerva, who contended for the golden apple. Each
endeavoured to bribe him: Juno promised him a kingdom, Minerva
military glory, and Venus the most beautiful woman in the world for
his wife. Upon the mind of the noble shepherd the promise made by
Venus produced the deepest impression, and he adjudged the golden
apple to her. The decision of Paris, which gave great offence to the
other two goddesses, provoked their wrath against the empire and
nation, and caused the Trojan War, and all the evils and calamities to
which that memorable struggle gave rise. His father subsequently
received him at court, and treated him as his son. After spending some
time in his native city among the Trojan princes, Paris set out for
the court of Menelaus, king of Sparta, with a view to carry off his
wife Helena, the most beautiful woman in the world, as the reward of
the judgment which he had pronounced in favour of Venus. The young
Trojan met with a most welcome reception at the Spartan court; but he
abused the laws of hospitality by prevailing on the queen to elope
with him. Though demanded back by all the princes who had sworn to
protect her, and threatened with the vengeance of the combined forces
of Greece, he persisted in refusing their request. His father, on
account of Ajax carrying off his sister Hesione, encouraged him in his
obstinacy and guilt. In consequence of this outrage, the Greeks
immediately commenced hostilities, which ended in the total
destruction of the city and kingdom of Troy.
To bring out more fully the story of the apple adjudged by Paris to
Venus, it is necessary to notice what happened at the marriage of
Peleus and Thetis. At the celebration of the nuptials, all the gods
and goddesses were present except the goddess of discord, who,
exasperated at not being invited, threw into the assembly a golden
apple with the inscription, "Detur Pulchriori." At first all the
female deities asserted their right to the apple; but subsequently it
was claimed by Juno, Minerva, and Venus only. These three agreed to
refer the matter to Jupiter. But the sovereign of Olympus, knowing
that it could not justly be given to Juno, and dreading the effects of
her anger were it awarded to either of the other goddesses, advised
them to plead their cause before Paris. The decision of Paris, and the
serious results thereof; are already known.
Pentheus foolishly refused to acknowledge the divinity of Bacchus. To
complete his impiety, the Theban king sent his servants to bring the
god in chains before him. Assuming the appearance of one of his
attendants, Bacchus allowed himself to be taken prisoner, and to be
carried into the presence of the king, to whom, under the character of
Acœtes, he related the transformation of the Tuscan sailors.
Despising the narrative, Pentheus ordered him to be put to death.
Loaded with fetters, the attendants of that prince shut him up in
prison, from which he miraculously escaped. Pentheus then went out to
see the Bacchanals, and to learn their mysteries; but, approaching too
near, he was torn in pieces.
Quirinus, son of Rhea Sylvia, sometimes called Ilia, a vestal virgin,
the daughter of Numitor, king of Alba Longa, was the twin brother of
Remus. This princess, to extenuate her guilt, and to give divinity to
her sons, declared that Mars, the god of war, was their father.
Amulius, who had dispossessed his brother Numitor, killed the sons of
the latter, and made Rhea a vestal, and, to secure the crown to
himself and his descendants, ordered his niece to be burnt alive, and
her infants thrown into the Tiber. The river at that time being
swollen above its banks, the persons appointed to dispose of the
children could not reach the main current. The cradle in which the
twins were exposed floated to a place of safety on dry ground; and the
infants were suckled by a wolf until found by Faustulus, the king's
shepherd, who carried them to his house, where they were brought up as
his own children. Their youthful years were spent in feeding cattle.
After they were grown up, Remus being taken prisoner by the servants
of Amulius, Faustulus, anxious to preserve the captive, disclosed to
Romulus the truth respecting their birth. He, with the assistance of a
few daring and resolute young men, killed Amulius, delivered his
brother, and restored their grandfather to the throne.
After this event, the two brothers formed a design of building a city
on the mountains where they had spent the early part of their life.
From its being unknown which of them was the elder, they had recourse
to augury to decide which of them should have the honour of founding
and governing the new city. To Remus six ravens appeared, and to
Romulus twelve. The former claimed the sovereignty from the priority
of his omen, and the latter from the greater number of the birds. Each
being saluted king by his own party, a battle ensued, in which Remus
was killed. Others say that he was killed by Romulus, because he had,
in contempt, leapt over the wall the latter was building when founding
the city of Rome. The measures which Romulus adopted to increase the
number of his subjects, the plans he formed for the regulations of the
city, and the laws he enacted, discovered a surprising degree of
political knowledge. His military talents were still more remarkable.
He conquered every nation which declared war against him. The Sabines
and Romans having for a considerable time fought with great ferocity,
and victory inclining to neither side, they coalesced, and Tatius, the
king, was appointed joint sovereign of Rome with Romulus. After the
death of Tatius, Romulus found himself sole master of the city. His
prosperity rendered him insolent and tyrannical. When reviewing his
army, the senators, taking advantage of a storm that suddenly arose,
tore him in pieces, and reported that he had been translated to
heaven. The Romans, believing the story, deemed Romulus worthy of
divine honours, and accordingly ranked him among their gods under the
name of Quirinus.
Scylla, a daughter of Phorcys, was turned by Circe into a sea-monster
of a most hideous form, either from jealousy, because she was a
greater favourite with Glaucus, or at the request of that deity.
According to some, she retained her original form and beauty down to
the waist; but others say she had six heads and as many throats, and
instead of hands had two claws. Her middle was compassed by dogs,
which never ceased barking. The lower part of her body terminated in a
large fish with a forked tail.
There was another Scylla, the daughter of Nisus, king of Megara, who
conceived a violent passion for Minos when he was besieging her
father's capital. To ensure the fall of the city, she cut off from her
father's head, whilst he slept, a hair of purple colour, on which his
good fortune depended, and presented it to her lover. Possessed of
this charm, Minos soon carried the place, but he punished the perfidy
of Scylla: she was thrown into the sea, and changed, according to one
account, into a fish, and, if we can believe another narrative, her
form became that of a bird.
MYTHOLOGY OF GERMANY, GREAT BRITAIN, SCANDINAVIA, ETC.
CHAPTER XII.
Mythology of Germany, Great Britain, and
Scandinavia--Scandinavian Gods, Giants, and Elves--The
world Niflheim--The world Muspelheim--How Ymir was
created--The cow Aedhumla--Ymir's Offspring--Odin, the
chief God--Odin's Seat and Ravens--Valhalla--Queen
Frigga--How the Seas, Waters, Mountains, and Heavens
were made--Chariots and Horses in Heaven--Night and
Day--What a Wolf is to do--Three beautiful but
evil-disposed Maidens--Creation of New Beings--Bridge
between Midgard and Asgard--Sacred Fountain--Roots of
the ash Yggdrasil--Baldur's Dreams and sad End--Loki,
the Evil Spirit--Hel and her Brothers--Ignorance of
Giants, and Cunning of Dwarfs--Worship of Scandinavian
Gods--Norsemen and their Ancient Gods and
Goddesses--The Volsung Tale--Odin, Loki, and Hænir's
Wanderings--The Sword Gram--Sigurd's Exploits--What
the Worshippers of Odin believed--Frodi's Maidens and
Quern--Thor, and Subordinate Gods of the
Laplanders--Belief and Worship of the
Laplanders--Drums as Implements of Superstition--Sale
of Winds--Power of Demons--Lucky and Unlucky
Days--Other Superstitions.
The mythology of Germany, Great Britain, Scandinavia, and the other
northern nations is as extraordinary as that of Greece and Rome. Every
race and nation under the heavens were at one time steeped in
superstition to such an extent as to make people, living in
enlightened ages, wonder that creatures endowed with reasoning powers
should ever have given themselves over to such vile delusions as some
of our forefathers seem to have done. The adventures of the
Scandinavian gods, giants, and elves were not behind those of the gods
and supernatural beings in the south and east. In the beginning of
time, we are informed, a world existed in the north called Niflheim,
in the centre of which was a well from which sprang twelve rivers. In
the south was another world, Muspelheim--a light, warm, radiant world,
the boundary of which was guarded by Surt with a flaming sword. From
Niflheim flowed cold streams called Elivaager, which, hardening into
ice, formed one icy layer upon the other, within the abyss of abysses
that faced the north. From the south there streamed forth the
sparkling heat of Muspelheim; and as the heat and cold met, the
melting ice-drops became possessed of life, and produced, through the
power of him who had sent forth heat, Ymir, the sire of the frost
giants. Ymir obtained his nourishment from four milky streams that
escaped from the udders of the cow Aedhumla--a creature formed from
the melting frost. From Ymir there came forth offspring while he
slept, viz. a man and woman, who emerged from under his left arm, and
sons from his feet. Thus was produced the race of the frost giants.
Meantime, as the cow Aedhumla licked the frost-covered stones, there
came forth the first day a man's hair, a head the second day, and a
man, complete in all his parts, the third day. This man, Buri, had a
son named Bor, who married Beltsa, one of the giant race, by whom he
had three sons, Odin, Vili, and Ve.
Odin became the chief god, and ruled heaven and earth, and was
omniscient. As ruler of heaven, his seat was Valaskjalf, from whence
he sent two black ravens, daily, to gather tidings of all that was
being done throughout the world. As god of war, he held his court in
Valhalla, whither brave warriors went after death to revel in the
tumultuous joys in which they took pleasure when on earth. Odin had
different names and characters, as many of the gods had. By drinking
from Mimir's fountain, he became the wisest of gods and men. He was
the greatest of sorcerers, and imparted a knowledge of his wondrous
art to his favourites. Frigga was his queen, and the mother of Baldur,
the Scandinavian Apollo; but he had other wives and favourites, and a
numerous progeny of sons and daughters. All over Scandinavian lands,
but particularly in Denmark, the people imagine that they hear his
voice in the storm.
The other two brothers were less famous, but they were gods, and
assisted Odin to slay Ymir, and carry his body into the middle of
Ginnungagap, and formed from it the earth and heavens. Of his blood
the brothers made all the seas and waters, taking the gore that flowed
from his body to form the impassable ocean which is supposed to
encircle the earth. Of his bones they made the mountains, using the
broken splinters and his teeth for the stones and pebbles. From his
skull they made the heavens, at each of the four corners of which was
stationed a dwarf, of whom we shall hear more by-and-bye. Of Ymir's
brains clouds were formed, of his hair plants and herbs, and of his
eyebrows a wall of defence was made against the giants round Midgard,
the central garden or place of abode of the sons of men. The work of
the celebrated brothers was not ended by these achievements; for they
took the sparks that were cast out of the world Muspelheim, and,
throwing them over the face of the heavens, produced the sun, moon,
stars, and fiery meteors, and so arranged them in their places and
courses, that days, months, and years followed. Allfader placed
chariots and horses in heaven, where Night rode round the earth with
her horse Hrimfaxi, from whose bit fell the rime-drops that every
morning bedewed the earth. After her course followed her son Day, with
his horse Skinfaxi, from whose shining mane light beamed. Mani
directed the course of the moon, and Sol drove the chariot of the sun.
They were followed by a wolf, which was of the giant race, and that
will in the end of time swallow, or assist to swallow, up the moon,
darken the sun's brightness, let loose the boisterous winds, and drink
the blood of every dying man.
Three beautiful but evil-disposed maidens arrived at Asgard from the
giants' world, Jotunheim, by whom confusion and ill-will were spread
over the world. Then the gods determined to create new beings to
people the universe. They gave human bodies and understanding to
dwarfs, who had been generated within the dead body of Ymir, and who
took up their abodes in the bowels of the earth, in rocks, in stones,
and in trees and flowers. Then Odin, with two companions, went forth
on an excursion to the earth, and created a man and woman; and from
this pair, whose abode was at Midgard, the human race sprang. A bridge
of various colours, known to men as the rainbow, connected Midgard
with Asgard, and over this the gods rode daily to a sacred fountain.
This fountain lay at one of the three roots of the ash Yggdrasil,
whose branches spread over the whole earth and reached above the
heavens. Under one of these roots was the abode of Hel, the goddess of
the dead, under another that of the frost giants, and under the third
was the dwelling of human beings.
Baldur dreamt evil dreams of threatened danger to his life. He related
them to the gods, who endeavoured to protect him from injury. Frigga
made fire, water, iron, and all metals, stones, earth, plants, beasts,
birds, serpents, poison, and all diseases, swear that they would not
hurt Baldur. Loki was displeased at this. He changed himself into the
form of an old woman, and, inquiring the cause of Baldur's
invulnerability, was told by Frigga that all things, animate and
inanimate, had sworn not to harm him, with the exception of one little
shrub, the misletoe. Loki, rejoicing at the information he had
received, procured this little shrub, and hastened with it to an
assembly of the gods, where he placed it in the hands of the blind
Hoder, the god of war, who cast it at Baldur, and pierced him to the
heart. Hermoder, the son of Odin, offered to proceed to Hel to release
Baldur; and Hel, on hearing the request made, consented to let him go,
on condition that all things would weep for Baldur. All men, all
living beings, and all things wept except the witch Thock, who refused
to mourn for the departed god. Baldur was therefore compelled to
remain in Hel, where he will be to the end of the world.
Loki was beautiful, and possessed of great knowledge and cunning. He
often brought the gods into trouble, from which, however, through his
craft he extricated them. Hence he was regarded as the Evil Spirit.
Sometimes he was called Asa-Loki, to distinguish him from
Utgarda-Loki, a king of the giants, whose kingdom lay at the uttermost
limits of the earth.
Hel, who dwelt under one of the three roots of the sacred ash
Yggdrasil, was the daughter of the wicked Loki. Hel, together with her
brother, the wolf Fenrir, and the serpent Jormundgand, was brought up
in the giants' home of Jotunheim, where she remained until, at the
request of the gods, Allfader sent for her and her brothers to destroy
them, as it was known that by their origin they would prove the
instruments of calamity. After casting the serpent that surrounded all
lands into the deep ocean, he hurled Hel into Niflheim, and gave her
authority over nine worlds, in which she was to assign places to all
who died of sickness and old age. Her abode was surrounded by a high
enclosure and massive gates. She was of fierce aspect, was inexorable,
and would set no one at liberty who had once entered her domain. Her
dish was hunger, her knife starvation, her servants slow-moving, her
bed sickness, and her curtains wide-spread misery.
With Ymir perished all the giants except Bergelmir. It was a popular
belief that, through the power of giants, mountains and islands were
raised, and that, by these monsters, mountains and rocks were hurled
from their original sites. Notwithstanding the huge bulk and the
number of heads and arms that many of the giants had, they were
supposed to be ignorant monsters, unable to cope with ordinary human
beings.
The Dwarfs, of whom an account is given in the _Eddas_, were cunning
and crafty elves, and skilled in magic. Some gave them a place between
men and giants. It was believed that the dwarfs appeared under the
forms of elves, brownies, and fairies. They used charms, and possessed
all the skill of witches. It was in their power to raise storms, kill
people by their diabolical art, fly away with children, and even with
grown-up persons, through the air, or imprison them in caverns within
the earth. They assisted men to discover the precious metals, of which
they (the dwarfs) were very fond. Occasionally they were seen through
an aperture of a hill, in their underground retreat, in palaces with
jasper columns, surrounded with vast treasures of gold and silver.
The Scandinavian gods were worshipped in spacious temples, or on stone
heaps or altars. These sacred places were always near a consecrated
grove or tree and a sacred fountain. Human sacrifices were not
uncommon at times of public calamities, such as war, disease, or
famine. Three great festivals were held every year, the first of which
was celebrated at the new year, in the Yule-month. On these occasions
offerings were made to Odin for success in war, and to Freyr for a
peaceful year. The chief victim was a hog, which was sacrificed to the
latter god, on account of swine having first instructed man to plough
the soil. Feasting and games occupied the whole month, therefore it
was called the Merry Month. Yule continues to be observed in several
places at the present time, and points to the custom of sun worship
and the adoration of the early gods of the north. The frumenty eaten
on Christmas eve or morning in England, and the sowans in Scotland,
seem to be imitations of the offerings paid to Hulda or Berchta, to
whom the people looked for new stores of grain. The second festival
was in mid-winter, and the third in spring, when Odin was chiefly
invoked for prosperity and victory.
The mythology of the Scandinavians and our ancestors was in many
respects similar. It was from the principal gods of the northern
nations that the names of the days of our week were taken, as will
appear under the observations we shall make on the Calendar. But in
addition to the chief gods there were inferior deities, who were
supposed to have been translated to heaven for their great deeds, and
whose greatest happiness consisted in drinking ale out of the skulls
of their enemies in the hall of Wodin. The Norsemen delight to recount
the exploits of their ancient gods and goddesses and celebrated
mythical persons. The Volsung Tale is often referred to with pleasure.
Volsung, a descendant of Odin, was taken from his mother's womb by a
surgical operation, after six years' bearing. In his hall grew an oak,
whose branches spread out in every direction. In that hall, when
Volsung's daughter was to be given away to Siggeir, king of Gothland,
in came an old guest with one eye. In his hand he held a sword, which
at one stroke he drove up to the hilt in the oak. "Let him," said he,
"of this company who can pull it out, bear it, and none shall say he
bore a better blade." Having said this, he disappeared, and was seen
no more. Many tried to possess himself of the sword, but none could
draw it from the oak, till Sigmund, the bravest of Volsung's sons,
laid his hand upon its hilt. At his touch, it freed itself from the
mighty oak; and the sword turned out to be the celebrated blade Gram,
of which every Norseman has heard. Sigmund was armed with this weapon
when he went out to battle against his brother-in-law, who quarrelled
with him about this very sword; for every one who knew its virtues was
anxious to become its possessor. All perished in the fight except
Sigmund, who was saved by his sister Signy. Sigmund, after taking
vengeance against his brother-in-law, took possession of the kingdom,
which was his by inheritance. When Sigmund was stricken in years, he
went out to fight against the sons of King Hunding. Just as he was
about to prove victorious, a one-eyed warrior, of more than mortal
might, rushed at him with spear in hand. At the outstretched spear
Sigmund struck with his hitherto trusty blade, when it snapped in two.
In the one-eyed warrior's features he discovered the giver of the
sword, who was no less famous a personage than Odin. Sigmund then knew
that his good fortune had departed from him, and he sank down on the
battle-field and died.
There is a legend of Odin, Loki, and Hænir in one of their many
wanderings coming to a river side, where they saw an otter with a
salmon in its mouth. Loki killed the otter with a stone. Then the Æsir
passed on, and came at night to Reidmar's house to seek shelter. They
showed the otter and salmon to him, on which he cried to his sons to
seize and bind them, for they had slain their brother, Otter. To make
compensation for what they had done, they agreed to pay any sum
Reidmar might name. Otter was flayed, and Reidmar commanded the Æsir
to fill the skin with gold, and cover it without that not a hair could
be seen. Odin sent Loki down to the dwellings of the black elves to
obtain the precious metal. The cunning god caught Andvari, the dwarf,
and compelled him to surrender all the gold he had accumulated. The
dwarf begged and prayed that he might be permitted to retain one ring,
for it was the source of all his wealth, as ring after ring dropped
from it. Loki was inexorable; not a penny-worth would he leave with
the dwarf. Seeing he could not retain the ring, the dwarf laid a
curse on it, and said it would prove a bane to every one into whose
possession it might pass. Reidmar having all the gold except the ring
laid at his feet, filled the skin with the yellow ore, and set it up
on end. Odin poured gold over it until it was covered up. Reidmar
carefully looked at the skin, and declared that he saw a grey hair,
and desired them to cover it also. Odin reluctantly drew out the ring,
which he would fain have kept for himself, and laid it over the grey
hair. Before the Æsir departed, Loki repeated the curse which Andvari
had laid upon the ring. The curse began to take effect. Regin, one of
Reidmar's sons, asked for a share of the gold, but his father refused
to give him any. This undutiful son and his brother Fafnir conspired
against their sire, slew him, and took possession of the gold. Fafnir
being the stronger brother, determined to keep the whole treasure to
himself; and not only that, but he threatened that unless Regin went
off he would share his father's fate. Regin fled for his life, and his
brother assumed the form of a dragon, in which shape he lay on the
Glistening Heath, coiled round his store of gold and precious things.
Sigurd requested Regin, who was the best of smiths, to forge him a
sword. Two were made, but both broke at the first stroke. The broken
pieces of Gram were then obtained, and out of them Regin forged a
blade that clave the anvil in the smithy, and cut a lock of wool borne
down to it by a stream. Armed with Gram, and mounted on Gran, his
steed, which Odin had instructed him to choose, Sigurd rode to the
Glistening Heath, dug a pit in the dragon's path, and slew him as he
passed over him on his way to drink at the river. Sigurd roasted the
heart of Fafnir; and while it was being cooked, he tried it with one
of his fingers to see if it were soft. The hot roast burned his
finger, which caused him to put it to his mouth. He tasted the
dragon's blood, and instantly he understood the songs of birds.
Sigurd slew Regin, ate the heart, rode on Gran to Fafnir's lair, took
the spoil, and escaped with it.
On and on he rode, till on a lone fell he saw a flame; and when he
reached it, it blazed all around a house. No horse but Gran could pass
through that flame, and no man but Sigurd could guide him in his fiery
path. Brynhildr, Atli's sister, who in consequence of giving victory
on the wrong side had the thorn of sleep thrust into her cloak by
Odin, lay in the house in a deep sleep. She was under a curse to
slumber there until a man bold enough to ride through the fire came to
liberate her, and win her for his bride. Dashing onward to where the
fair maiden lay, his first touch wakened her from the long sleep to
which the cruel god had consigned her. They swore with a mighty oath
to love each other, and she taught him runes and wisdom.
Sigurd's mission was not yet accomplished; so on he rode to King
Giuki's hall, king of Frankland, whose queen was Grimhildr, who had
two sons named Gunnar and Hogni, and a step-son called Guttorm, and
whose daughter was the lovely Gudrun. Sigurd, greatly attached to his
lovely bride at the lone fell, purposed going back for her; but
Grimhildr, who was skilled in the black arts, longed for the brave
Volsung for her own daughter, and therefore prepared for him the
philter of forgetfulness. He quaffed it off, forgot Brynhildr,
fraternised with Gunnar and Hogni, and married Gudrun. Giuki now
wanted a wife for Gunnar, and the brothers with their bosom friend set
out to woo. They chose Brynhildr, whom they found still sitting on the
fell, waiting for Sigurd to come back. She had made it known, that
whoever could pass that flame should have her for his wife; so, when
Gunnar and Hogni reached the spot, the former rode at the flame, but
his horse swerved from the fierce fire; then, by Grimhildr's magic
arts, Sigurd and Gunnar changed shapes and arms, and Sigurd mounted
Gran, and the noble steed carried him through the flame. Thus
Brynhildr was wooed and compelled to yield. That evening they were
united in wedlock; but when they retired to rest Sigurd unsheathed
Gram, and laid it between them. Next morning, when he arose, he took
the ring which Andvari had laid under a curse, and which was among
Fafnir's treasures, and gave it to Brynhildr as a gift, and she gave
him another ring in return. Then Sigurd returned to his companions in
his own shape; and Gunnar went and claimed Brynhildr as his bride, and
carried her home. No sooner was Gunnar wedded than the power of the
philter ceased to operate: he remembered all that had passed, and the
oath he had sworn to the fair Brynhildr. When she discovered that she
had been deceived, she engaged Gunnar to revenge her wrong. By charms
and prayers the two brothers set on Guttorm, their half-brother, to
take vengeance, and the hero was pierced through with a sword while he
lay in Gudrun's white arms. Though Sigurd turned and writhed in agony,
he had strength left to hurl Gram after the treacherous Guttorm as he
fled. The keen blade cut him asunder, and his head rolled out of the
room. Brynhildr's love returned; and when Sigurd, who expired of his
wound, was laid upon the pile, her heart broke. She in song predicted
woes that were to come, made them lay her side by side with Sigurd,
with Gram between them, and so went to Valhalla with her old lover.
Andvari's curse was thus fulfilled.
The worshippers of Odin believed that at certain times the gracious
powers showed themselves in bodily shape, passing through the land,
and bringing blessings with them. On other occasions the gods were
supposed to ride through the air on clouds and storms, and speaking in
awful voice as the tempest howled and the sea raged. They were also
supposed to be present in battle, fighting for votaries, and defeating
the wicked. The goddesses assisted women in times of peril; they
taught the maids to spin, and punished them if the wool remained long
on the spindles. It was supposed that Odin had a band of followers who
accompanied him in the whirlwind. The wanderings of the gods are
mentioned in the _Odyssey_, and the sanctity of the rites of
hospitality, and the dread of turning a wanderer from the door,
originated lest the stranger should be a disguised being of exalted
character. Goddesses as well as gods were supposed to wander up and
down among men, telling them what was to happen. Freyja, the goddess
of love and plenty, who presided over marriages, was one of these, and
the three moons, Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld, who determined the fate of
gods and men, were also among the number.
We are informed that in Frodi's house were two maidens of the old
giant race, whom he had bought as slaves, and he made them grind his
quern Grotti, out of which peace and gold were produced. He kept them
at the mill, not giving them any longer rest than the time the
cuckoo's note lasted. That quern turned out anything that the grinder
chose, though formerly it had ground nothing but peace and gold. The
maidens ground and ground without ceasing. As Frodi was deaf to their
cries for rest, they caused the quern to grind fire and war. While the
quern went on making these evils, Mysing, the sea rover, came at night
and slew Frodi and all his men, and carried away the hand-mill,
maidens and all. When at sea, the rover caused the maidens to grind
salt; and they performed their task until they ground as much as has
kept the sea salt ever since that time.
Thor was the chief god of the Laplanders. They had also subordinate
deities, one of which was Storjunkarr, their household god. Wirchu
Archa was a female deity worshipped by them. She was the goddess of
old women. These deities were represented under the figure of
unsculptured stones. Spirits, angels, and devils were worshipped by
those people. Souls of departed relations were also prayed to by the
more superstitious of the people. Magic was a famous art among them.
When sacrificing to Thor, they smeared the head of his image with the
victim's blood; and when they made an offering to Storjunkarr, a
thread was run through the right ear of the victim. When it was a
reindeer that was sacrificed, the horns, head, and other parts were
carried to a mountain devoted to Storjunkarr, and deposited there, the
animal's tail being tied to one of the horns, and a red thread to the
other.
The Laplanders used to sacrifice reindeers to the sun. In this
ceremony a white thread was put through the victim's right ear. In
sacrificing to the sun, willows were used, but in their other
sacrifices birch trees were employed. Many of their superstitions were
similar to those of the Greeks, Romans, and Tartars.
So much were the Laplanders given to superstition, that they
worshipped the first object that presented itself in the morning.
Every house and family had a deity. They had magical drums, which were
consulted in a particular manner on important occasions; and when they
engaged in battle, these drums were carried to the scene of action. In
consequence of their supposed virtue, writers have said that drums
were originally implements of superstition in our armies rather than
instruments of music. Brass and copper rings, together with a hammer,
were appended to a drum. A woman was not allowed to touch a sacred
drum, nor was she permitted to go over the same road that it was
carried, within three days of its removal.
Laplanders and Norwegians sold favourable winds to sailors and
travellers. A rope with three knots was given to the buyer, who, when
he wanted a gentle breeze, untied one of the knots; when he wished a
fresh strong wind, he undid another; and when he desired storms and
tempests, he unfastened the third. The first two descriptions of wind
were generally obtained for good purposes, but the third through
wicked motives. By the unloosing of the third knot, many a shipwreck
was caused to bring about the death of a hated individual, and for the
purpose of securing wreck cast ashore by the sea. Magicians could, the
moment they were born, control the winds that blew. In this way one
magician had power over the east wind, another of the south, a third
of the west, and a fourth of the north. Magical shafts, which went
through the air unseen, were thrown at enemies, and distempers were
caused by charms. Gans or demons were enticed by secret art to perform
acts of malice and deeds of revenge.
The Laplanders had their lucky and unlucky days. They thought it was
unlucky to meet a woman when they were going out to hunt. When a
Laplander died, the house was deserted by the family, because it was
supposed the soul of the deceased remained near the inanimate body.
When they buried their dead, they, like the ancient Danes, Saxons, and
others, deposited a hatchet, warlike implements, a steel, flint, and
tinder-box with each body, under the impression that they would be
useful to the deceased in another world. Their witches--and they had
many--who were born in winter, were supposed to be able to make that
season cold, or comparatively mild, as they pleased.
NAMES OF DAYS, WHENCE DERIVED.
CHAPTER XIII.
The Calendar--Names of Days, whence derived--Worship
of Plants--Nature-Worship--The Power of
Jupiter--Influence of Zeus--The god Indra--Origin of
the term "Hours"--Hours under Planetary
Control--Coronation of a Persian King--Evils
transferred to the Turks and Kafirs--The Moon's
Controlling Power--Time reckoned by Moons--A strange
Story--Discovery of Maize, Beans, and Tobacco--Sayings
of an Old Writer--Heathen Gods--Thor's Palace--Thor's
Power--Frigga's Abilities--Description of Seater or
Crodo.
The Fates have apparently decreed that the Pagan religion and
superstitions shall be kept in perpetual remembrance. If one examine
heraldry, he will find traces of heathen mythology and superstition;
if he look at the most famous of Great Britain's public buildings, he
will see emblems of the ridiculous; if he glance at the Calendar, he
will ascertain that months and days have been named after, or
mentioned in connection with, mythological beings or objects of
profane adoration; and if he read the pages of the greatest authors,
he will discover much that has assisted to keep alive the embers of
superstition. Passing over heraldry and ancient edifices, let us
inquire whence the names of months and days are derived, and how
certain seasons are observed.
The Saxons called the day Dœg; whence the term. It is thought they
obtained it from the Roman Dies, a Diis, the names of the Roman days
having been taken from the planets, which were called Dii, or gods.
In noticing the first day of the week, we need scarcely give the
reason for its being denominated "Sabbath," as every Jew and Christian
knows the reason why one day of the week is so called; but we shall,
in carrying out the line of our narrative, take leave to make a few
remarks as to the cause of that day being known as "Sunday." The
Romans called it Dies Solis, because it was dedicated to the worship
of the sun; and the Saxons gave it the name Sunnan-dœg, or
Sun's-day, for a similar heathenish cause. Whether the Saxons received
their mythology from the Romans, or whether they had idols of their
own, is a matter of doubt. The Romans worshipped the planets by the
names of some of their favourite deities; and there is a resemblance
in the Latin characteristics to certain of those of the Saxons, though
they are in most instances different in their appellations. The names
of the days of the week have no doubt been continued from the Saxons,
whatever the origin may have been.
The luminous body which gives title to our first day of the week was
regarded by the ancient heathen with superstitious reverence, as it
was considered to be the superintending and governing power presiding
over nature.
The adoration, therefore, that was paid to the sun was the most
prevalent of all the errors of superstition. That this should have
been the case among people ignorant of the existence of the great
omnipotent Being, is not surprising; for how much more glorious were
the shining lights in the heavens, but more particularly the sun, than
the many objects worshipped by Pagans in our own and other lands!
Nature-worship was the foundation of all polytheistic religions; and
that the principal heathen deities were originally personifications of
the great luminary that gives light and heat to the earth, or of
certain influences thereof, admits of little doubt. The solar
character of numerous deities is clearly discernible. Jupiter had
power over the phenomena of the skies. The future was known to him;
the destinies of human beings were in his hands. Strange appearances
in the heavens, or wonderful events happening on the earth, were the
signs by which he made his pleasure or displeasure known. On special
occasions sacrifices were offered to Jupiter, and his favour implored.
Zeus's influence was like that of the sun; he had the rule of the
heavens and air, he directed the lightning, and guided the stars in
their courses, and controlled the seasons. Prophecy belonged to him,
and it was from this god Phœbus received oracular gifts. Indra was
a god of similar attributes; he was the great ruler of the firmament,
and the upholder of the heaven and earth, and the god who created the
dawn. He presided over the east, and was the god that sent rain and
wielded the thunder-bolts. Many sacrifices were offered to him, and
homage was also paid in numerous ways. Baal was originally the god of
the sun, and ruler of nature. Some suppose that Baal was the same god
as Moloch, to whom human sacrifices were offered, and whose worship
also consisted principally of purifications, mutilations, perpetual
virginity, and ordeals by fire. Bullocks, and even children, were
sacrificed to Baal.
The origin of the term "hour" has been supposed by some authors to be
derived from Hora, a surname given to the sun, the parent of time, and
called by the Egyptians Horus. Hours are occasionally distinguished by
the epithet of "planetary," from a supposition of the ancients that
the Sun, Venus, Mercury, the Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars
alternately presided over them. The first hour of the first day of the
week was under the control of the Sun, the second under that of Venus,
the third of Mercury, the fourth of the Moon, the fifth of Saturn, the
sixth of Jupiter, and the seventh of Mars. After such rotation, the
sun governed the eighth hour, Venus the ninth, and so on through the
whole twenty-four hours.
The sun, moon, and stars have been considered by the people of nearly
every nation on the face of the earth to affect the destiny of mortals
here below. A story of the proceedings at the coronation of a Persian
king is not without interest. The important ceremony of crowning could
not be performed before the lord of the astrologers--an officer of
great importance--declared the lucky moments that a happy
constellation pointed out the time for placing the crown on the
monarch's head. It was recorded that about ten o'clock at night the
chief of the astrologers and his companions, having been long
observing the position of the stars and conjunction of the planets,
returned to give notice to the prince and company that the fortunate
time for the coronation would be within twenty minutes. When the
twenty minutes were nearly expired, everything being in readiness, the
grand astrologer winked, and immediately the prince was made king.
For two years everything went well; but then the king's health began
to decline. Sometimes he lay whole weeks together, languishing in his
harem. In consequence of his majesty having indulged too freely in
stimulants, the court physician applied his secret arts to counteract
the effect of the baneful liquids, but without any good result; and
the astrologers began to whisper that the monarch would not recover.
They could not, they reported, find in his horoscope that he had more
than six years to live after the date of his coronation; and they
predicted that two of the years he had to survive would be spent in
perpetual misery. The queen-mother quarrelled with the physician,
asking him how it came to pass that her son was sick, and accused him
of treason or ignorance. The man of healing art defended his own
conduct, and blamed the stars or astrologers. He said that if the king
lay in a languishing condition and could not recover, it was because
the astrologers had failed to observe the happy hour, or the aspect of
a fortunate constellation at the time of the coronation. This view of
the case was taken by many at court, and even by some of the
astrologers themselves. One of those wise men made it plain to those
whom he addressed, that the moment fixed for the coronation was
inauspicious; and afterwards, by arguments, satisfied the queen-mother
and chief courtiers that the king's ill-health proceeded from his
coronation, which had been solemnized under unfortunate aspects. The
king, his wives, and others believed the physician, and therefore it
was in vain the unlucky astrologer maintained the correctness of his
calculations.
The question now arose, What was to be done to rectify the mistake
which had been committed? And at length it was resolved that the king
should change his name, and that a second coronation should take
place. Long deliberations took place before the second coronation was
fixed. The astrologers at length agreed that the happy hour would be
about the time of the year that the sun was under the influence of a
certain planet, which, according to account, was to be on Tuesday the
twentieth of March, about nine in the morning. The new ceremony had
the desired effect, for the king became well again.
No sooner had the king improved in health than another danger
threatened the nation. A great and remarkable comet appeared, which
filled the people's minds with terror. All the Persian astrologers
declared that the alarming sign signified wars, murders, seditions,
conflagrations, dangerous diseases, overturning of kingdoms and
states, and all kinds of calamities; but, by means unknown to us, they
transferred all these evils on the Turks, Kafirs, and Christians, and
so Persia escaped danger.
_Monday_ was dedicated by the Saxons to the adoration of the moon,
whence it was called Mon-day, Moon-day, and Monan-dœg. The Romans,
as well as the Saxons, consecrated this day to the moon. They (the
Romans) called it _Dies Lunæ, feria secunda_; and anciently, on the
first day of every lunar month, festivals were held in commemoration
of the benefits bestowed during the former moon, and in gratitude for
the return of that luminary. The worship that was paid to the moon as
a deity, originated from causes similar to that assigned to the sun.
In Europe all avowed sincere adoration of these orbs has ceased, but
traces of sun and moon worship having been once common still remain.
In several parts of England it is customary to bless the new moon,
while in Scotland people not only do the same, but in mock adoration
they bow to it at the same time.
Many superstitious beliefs remain as to the influence of the moon. It
is unlucky for one to have his hands empty when he first sees the new
moon, and it is regarded as a good sign if one has silver in his hand
the first time he sees it. It has, or is supposed to have, a great
effect on the weather and sea. One often hears it said in times of
stormy weather, "We will not have a change before the new moon." It
influences the affections of lovers to a very great extent. If a swain
is halting between two opinions, viz. whether he will propose to such
a lady, let him invite her to take a walk with him by moonlight, and
the chances are ten to one, that if they go out together, they will be
married. If one doubts this, he is advised to try it, and he will see
how warm the affections will become. If one is going to enter into an
important undertaking, he will be wise to do so when the moon is
filling. People who are married in one of the first two quarters of
the moon, are more happy than those who enter into the matrimonial
state when it is on the wane; and, taking a sudden bound from the
sublime to things that are common, we are compelled to say that not a
few consider the effects of the moon so great, that they would not
kill their pigs but when it was on the increase. Then every one has
heard of the effects the moon has on the human mind; whence the term
"lunacy." There are many tribes and nations that reckon time by moons,
and not by years, as we now do. This reminds us of a story which shows
the credulity of the savages of North America, and how they calculated
time. It is this:--
A Swedish minister was preaching a sermon one day to the savages, and
when he had finished, an Indian orator stood up to thank him for his
discourse, which had reference to our first parents eating the
forbidden fruit. "What you have told us," said the orator, "is very
good. It is indeed bad to eat apples; it is better to make them all
into cider. We are much obliged by your kindness in coming so far to
tell us those things which you have heard from your mothers. In
return, I will tell you some of those we have heard from ours. In the
beginning, our fathers had only the flesh of animals to subsist on;
and if they were unsuccessful in the hunt, they could get nothing to
eat. Two of our young hunters having killed a deer, made a fire in the
wood, to broil part of the flesh. When they were about to satisfy
their hunger, they beheld a beautiful woman descend from the clouds,
and seat herself near the young men. They said to each other, 'It is a
spirit that has smelt our broiled venison, and perhaps wishes to eat
of it: let us offer some to her.' They presented her with the tongue.
She was pleased with the taste of it, and said, 'Your kindness shall
be rewarded. Come,' said she, 'to this place after thirteen moons, and
you will find something that will be of great benefit in nourishing
you and your children to the latest generation.'
"The hunters, deeply impressed with what the fair one had said,
watched with something like impatience the appearance and
disappearance of moon after moon, till the thirteenth moon had come
and gone, and then they repaired to the spot where they were to
receive their reward. To their surprise, they found plants they did
not know, but which have been constantly cultivated ever since, to the
great advantage of man. Where the woman's right hand had rested, they
found maize; where her left hand had touched the ground, they
discovered beans; and where she had sat, tobacco grew luxuriantly."
We are accustomed to speak of the sun as "he," and of the moon as
"she," but in many other countries the former is considered to be
feminine, and the latter masculine. In Hindoo mythology the moon is a
male deity, and is represented as the son of the patriarch Atri, who
procreated him from his eyes; but by others it is said the moon arose
from the milk sea when it was churned by the gods to procure the
beverage of immortality. An old writer says that the sun supplies the
moon, when reduced by the draughts of the gods to a single ray; and in
the same proportion as the moon is exhausted by the celestials, it is
replenished by the sun, for the gods drink the nectar accumulated in
the moon during half the month; and from this being their food, they
are immortal. When the remaining portion of the moon consists but of a
fifteenth part, the Manes (infernal spirits, or inferior deities)
approach it in the afternoon, and drink the remaining portion of
nectar. And probably in this statement are to be found grounds for the
superstitious belief that the time when the moon is increasing is more
fortunate than when it is waning.
_Tuesday_ was so called from Tiwes-dœg, which signifies the day of
Tiw, or Tiu, a name for the old Saxon war god Tyr. Other names were
given to it by the Romans and Germans. It was called by the Romans
_Dies Martis, feria tertia_, from its having been dedicated to Mars.
Wormius, Marshall, and Sommes endeavour to prove that the day took its
name from Thisa or Desa, the goddess of justice, the wife of Thor.
Taking the views of any of the authors who have written on the
subject, it is plain that the day was named in honour of some
mythological deity. Tyr did not belong entirely to the Northern
mythology, but was known to the Germans as Ziu or Zio, and to
Anglo-Saxons as Tiv.
Tyr, it will be remembered, was single-handed. When the gods prevailed
on the wolf Fenrir to allow himself to be bound with the bandage
Gleipner, Tyr put his right hand into the wolf's mouth, as a pledge
that he would be loosened. The gods refused to liberate the wolf,
which in revenge bit off Tyr's hand. He and his enemy, the monster dog
Garmr, met their death in the twilight battle of the gods.
The Roman divinity, Mars, was a war god, and seems to have been
originally an agricultural deity. To him propitiatory offerings were
presented, as the guardian of fields and flocks; but as the shepherds
who founded the city of Rome were of a warlike disposition, it is
easily understood how Mars became the god of war.
_Wednesday_ signifies Wodin's-day or Odin's-day. Wodin or Odin, as is
well known, was a great Northern god. He was believed to be the god of
war, who gave victory, and revived courage in the conflict. He was
also worshipped as the god of arts and artists; and to him magnificent
temples were built, and sacrifices offered. He adopted as his children
all those who were slain with swords in their hands; hence the
hardihood and brilliant examples of courage displayed by Northern
warriors. He had two black ravens, that flew forth daily to obtain
tidings of all that was being done throughout the world. His greatest
treasure consisted of his eight-footed steed Sleipner, his spear
Gungner, and his ring Draupner, by which he performed many strange
acts. Frigga was his queen, but he had other wives and favourites, and
a numerous family of sons and daughters. By drinking at Mimir's sacred
fountain, he became the wisest of gods and men. He is reputed to have
possessed every power of witchcraft, prophecy, and transformation; and
in the shape of a lion or other beast of prey, he, we are told,
destroyed whole armies.
_Thursday_ (Thors-dœg) was dedicated to the adoration of Thor, the
bravest of the sons of Odin. Thor was the god of thunder; he had a
magnificent palace, which had five hundred and forty pillars, where he
received and made happy the warriors who had fallen in battle. By the
rolling of his chariot, thunder was produced. He had a smasher or
mauler, made by cunning dwarfs, which, after being thrown at an enemy,
had the property of returning to him. It was believed by the Pagans
that he possessed marvellous power and might, and that all people in
the world were subject to him. In the air he governed the winds and
clouds; and when displeased, he caused thunder, lightning, and
tempest, with excessive rain, hail, and bad weather. When pleased with
his worshippers, he gave them favourable weather, and caused corn and
fruit to grow abundantly, and kept away disease from man and beast.
The Laplanders represented Thor by the stump of a tree, rudely carved
to represent a man; and they supplied him with flint and steel, that
he might strike fire when he wanted it. Moreover, they placed a hammer
near him, which they supposed he would use with force against evil
spirits, for they thought he had sovereign authority over all the
mischievous and malevolent spirits that inhabited the air, mountains,
and lakes. High festivals were held in honour of this deity, as
noticed elsewhere, to supplicate for a propitious year, and at these
festivals every excess of extravagant and dissolute pleasure was not
only permitted, but was considered requisite.
_Friday_ derived its name from Frigga, the wife of Odin. She, as well
as her husband, possessed wonderful abilities, and, like Juno, was
held in the highest esteem and veneration for her power of procuring
easy access into the world, and bestowing every felicity connected
with the softer endearments of life. Frigga was thought to be the
mother of all the Pagan divinities of the Northern nations begotten by
Odin.
The Romans dedicated this day to Venus; whence its name, _Dies
Veneris, feria sexta_. That goddess having possessed many of the
attributes for which Frigga was celebrated, many authors have supposed
them originally to have meant the same divinity.
_Saturday_ has its name from Seater or Crodo, worshipped by the old
Saxons. He was lean, had long hair and a long beard. In his left hand
he held up a wheel, and in his right he carried a pail of water,
wherein were flowers and fruits. He stood on the sharp fins of the
perch, to signify that the Saxons, for serving him, should pass,
without harm, in dangerous and difficult places.
The seventh day of the week was dedicated by the Romans to Saturn, and
called, in honour of him, _Dies Saturni, feria septima_. Seater or
Crodo, and the Roman Saturn, have been considered by many to be the
same deity.
NAMES OF MONTHS, WHENCE DERIVED.
CHAPTER XIV.
Names of Months, whence derived--January--First of
January, how kept--Heathens and Christians--New Year
Gifts--February--Sacrifices for purging Souls--Second
of February, how kept--Virtue of Candles--Shrove
Tuesday--Eating Pancakes--Partaking of Brose--Choosing
a Valentine--March--Prognostications observed in this
Month--April dedicated to Venus--First of May--Roman
Floral Games--Queen of the May--May Poles and May
Fires--Dispute between Men and Gods--Superstitious
Customs in Scotland--Superstitious Ceremonies in
England--June regarded as the most favourable Month
for Fruitful
Marriages--July--August--September--October--Hallow-e'en
Ceremonies--November--All Hallows--Souls in
Purgatory--St. Leonard--St.
Britius--December--Christmas Trees and Gifts--The
Misletoe--Privileges in Leap Year--Yule Log--Christmas
Festivities.
January, it is generally admitted, derived that appellation from the
Latin _Januarius_, in honour of Janus, one of the heathen divinities.
Janus was supposed to preside over the gates of heaven. The Saxons
originally called this month Wolf-monat, and afterwards it was called
Aefter-Yule--After-Christmas. The first of January having been
observed by the heathens as a day of great rejoicing, and offering up
profane and superstitious sacrifices to Janus, the early Christians
observed it as a fast to avoid the appearance of doing honour to a
heathen deity. The Grecians, at the commencement of every year, held
festive meetings to celebrate the completion of the sun's annual
course. From that people the Romans borrowed the custom of observing
the first of January; and from the Romans our forefathers received it.
In giving New Year gifts, we follow the example of the ancients; and
to receive such tokens of goodwill, was then, as now, considered
propitious.
The name of February is taken from _Februa_, _Februta_, or
_Februalis_, names of Juno, who presided over the purification of
women; or, according to other authors, from _Februis expiatoriis_,
sacrifices for purging souls, there having been a feast on the second
day of this month, when sacrifices were offered to Pluto for the souls
of the dead. This day was kept by certain Christians as a solemn
festival, in memory of the humiliation of the Virgin Mary, who
submitted to the injunction of the law under which she lived. They
offered up thanksgiving on this day, and paraded about with flambeaux
and candles--proceedings which some thought were too close imitations
of the Pagan customs of _brenning_--in honour of Juno. There is in
this instance a resemblance to the Pagan superstition; and from the
burning of candles on the day we are referring to, they were, and are
yet, lighted on occasions of danger, to avert evil. Persons in this
country have been known to light candles, as a charm against thunder
and lightning; and lighted candles, when once charmed (which it is
supposed can be done), are considered by the ignorant at home and
abroad, to possess virtue sufficiently powerful to frighten away evil
spirits. Such candles are sometimes placed in the hands of persons
while in the agonies of death, to protect them from the evil one.
Shrove Tuesday, or Fasten's Eve, is a day observed in many lands. In
olden times, after the people had made confession at this season, they
were permitted to indulge in festive amusements, although not allowed
to partake of any repast beyond the usual substitutes for flesh; and
hence arose the custom of eating pancakes and fritters, and partaking
of brose, in Scotland, at this time. The brose was then made of
oatmeal and butter, with a ring in it. The bicker of brose being set
in the middle of a table, the unmarried members of the family, and
invited friends who had not entered the matrimonial state, seated
themselves around and partook of the repast. They took spoonful about
till the ring was found, and then it was put into a second dish of
brose, and again into a third, and he or she who found the ring twice
left the table, assured of being married before another Fasten's Eve.
At a later hour of the evening, pancakes, sometimes called "sauty
bannocks," were made, and through their magical virtues future
husbands and wives were discovered. A large cake or bannock was
prepared, in which a ring or other small article was put, and the
young person whose lot it was to secure the piece of cake or bannock
with the concealed article was looked upon as being as lucky as the
individual who picked the ring twice out of the brose. While all this
was going on, unbounded mirth prevailed, and before the company broke
up, dreaming cakes or bannocks were prepared, that every one might
take one and place it under his or her pillow. To make the cakes of
any avail, the baker had to remain mute when preparing them, and the
receivers had, immediately after obtaining them, to slip off quietly
to bed, when, if all the preliminaries had been duly observed, the
sleeper's future companion in life appeared in a vision or dream of
the night.
The practice of choosing a valentine on the 14th of February is well
known. The first person of the opposite sex who was seen by an
unmarried person on the morning of that day, was regarded as the
valentine for the year. Another way of finding out a valentine was to
cast into a receptacle small billets, with (if the consulters were
young women) bachelors' names on them, and then to draw them out
lottery-wise. The bachelor whose name appeared on a billet thus
extracted at random, became the valentine of the spinster to whose lot
it fell. In this way a bevy of young ladies ascertained, in a few
minutes, secrets they were most anxious should be disclosed. When the
gentlemen were anxious to discover their valentines, they proceeded in
the same way, taking care, however, that the ladies for whom they had
the greatest affection should be named on the billets. A lady's
valentine was her knight for the year, and not unfrequently he became
her husband. The amusements of Valentine's Day were very popular among
all classes in the fifteenth century. It was customary at one time for
both sexes to give each other presents, but the ladies, through
modesty, or some other cause best known to themselves, have ceased to
bestow gifts in their valentines. Many attempts have been made to
abolish the heathen custom of young men drawing the names of young
women, and _vice versa_, on this day, but without success.
March was called after Mars, the god of war; but the Anglo-Saxons knew
it as _Hraed-monat_, signifying rugged month, and _Hlyd-monat_,
meaning stormy month. Those who indulged in prognostications,
carefully observed the state of the weather in this month. Dry weather
at this time portended a plentiful season, while a rainy month
indicated scarcity of food.
The fourth month of the year, it is generally believed, derived its
name, April, in allusion to the buds then beginning to open; but the
old Anglo-Saxons called it _Eoster-monat_, in honour, some think, of
the goddess Easter. The Romans dedicated April to Venus, and
frequently called it _Mensis Veneris_ as well as _Aprilis_. The old
and general custom of sending people useless errands on the first of
April is so well known that we do not require to say anything more
about it, than that it is thought to have originated in the acts of
sending Christ backward and forward to various tribunals to secure His
condemnation.
On the first day of May the Romans offered sacrifices to Maia, the
mother of Mercury. Apollo was the tutelar deity of this month. This
day is observed with mirth, in imitation of the old Roman celebration
of the days when the goddess Flora was worshipped. The Roman floral
games began on the 28th April, and continued a few days. At one time
these celebrations were conducted with obscenity, but by degrees the
amusements became more moral. It was customary during the middle ages
for rich and poor to go out on May-day, with music and other signs of
joy and merriment, to gather flowers, and sip the dew before sunrise.
The people then decorated their houses with the flowers, conspicuous
amongst which was the hawthorn blossom. The most beautiful maid of the
district was chosen "Queen of the May," and crowned with flowers. So
general was the custom of observing May-day in the reign of Henry
VIII. that the Corporation of London went out a-Maying, and so did the
king and queen. In England, France, Germany, and elsewhere, every
village had its May-pole, till the May games were suppressed, or
rather discouraged, on the ground that they were remnants of heathen
superstition.
The Celts kindled their May-fires with much superstitious ceremony, a
custom which had its origin in the worship of Baal. The principal
festival of this worship was held in the beginning of May, but there
were similar ceremonies in November. On these occasions all the fires
in the district were extinguished, under the pain of death. Needfire
was then obtained by friction, and all the fires were rekindled from
what was regarded as the sacred flame. At times of public calamities
and distress, the practice of kindling needfire was resorted to. It
was supposed to counteract sorcery, and stay disease among cattle.
These superstitious operations remind one of the story of Prometheus.
The myth runs thus:--"During the reign of Zeus, men and gods, once
upon a time, were disputing with one another. With the view of
outwitting Zeus, Prometheus cut up a bull and divided it into two
parts, hiding the meat and the intestines in the skin, and putting an
inferior piece on the top, while he heaped the bones together and
covered them with fat. Zeus was asked to choose either of the lots,
and, suspecting that an attempt was made to deceive him, he selected
the good portion; but, enraged at the stratagem, he took his revenge
on the mortals by withholding from them the fire necessary for the
cooking of meat. Prometheus by his cunning art obtained fire in a
hollow staff, and brought it to them; and he took from man the gift of
foreseeing future events, but gave him the better gifts of hope and of
fire." Down to a recent date, people in the north of Scotland cut a
trench in the ground; they then kindled a fire and dressed a repast of
milk and eggs, something like a custard. This being done, they kneaded
a cake of oatmeal, and toasted it before the fire. The custard was
then eaten, and the cake was broken into pieces and thrown into a bag,
not, however, before one of the pieces was burned black. Every one of
the company in turn was blindfolded, and drew out a piece of the cake;
and he who drew out the burned piece was dedicated to Baal, in order
to render the year fruitful. The person supposed to be devoted was
then compelled to leap three times over the fire, as symbolical of the
sacrifices offered to this god in former ages.
In England there were Ram Feasts. At one of these a ram was roasted in
its skin, and after it was cooked a great scramble took place for
pieces thereof, it having been thought good fortune would attend those
who secured a portion. Men and women partook of the feast.
The name of June was given in reverence to Juno, and was called
_Sear-monat_ by the Anglo-Saxons. Mercury was regarded by the Romans
as the deity who presided over this month. June is considered in the
present age as the most favourable period of the year for marriages.
July was originally called _Quintilis_, or fifth month, in honour of
Julius Cæsar; but the Anglo-Saxons came to know this month as
_Maed-monat_, or mead month, in consequence of it being the usual
season of the year for securing honey and making mead.
St. Swithin's Day (15th July) is observed in commemoration of this wet
or rainy saint. He was of Saxon descent, and distinguished for his
piety and learning. St. Swithin was buried in the churchyard of
Winchester, and the consecrated spot where his remains rest has been,
we are told, the scene of frequent miracles. In consequence of the
virtues flowing from his body, it was resolved to convey his remains
to the choir of the cathedral, but, on the day appointed for the
removal of his sacred dust, violent rain commenced, which continued
without ceasing for forty days. From this circumstance, it was
inferred that the intended removal of his remains was displeasing to
St. Swithin, and the intention was for a time abandoned. Subsequently
his body was transferred to another resting place, without the
elements or the saint manifesting any displeasure. It is unnecessary
to do more than recall to memory the wide-spread opinion, that if it
rain on St. Swithin's Day, forty days wet weather will follow. Absurd
as this superstition may appear, it has been believed in from the time
of his death, in 862.
St. Margaret, whose festival falls to be held on the 20th July, was
the daughter of an idolatrous priest at Antioch. She became a convert
to the Christian religion, from which she was sought to be seduced by
Olybius, a ruler in the East who sought her hand in marriage. She
refused to forsake the true religion, or to become his wife; and her
refusal was fatal to her. The cruel monster put her to the most
dreadful torments he could invent, and afterwards ordered her to be
beheaded, about the year 275. St. Margaret has been worshipped by the
Eastern and Western Churches, from her supposed power to assist
females in childbirth. It is related that Satan, in the form of a
dragon, swallowed her alive, but that she escaped unhurt from the
monster. Her girdle was long preserved in the abbey of St. Germain, in
Paris; and females were, it was generally believed, undoubtedly
relieved in their hour of suffering by the application of the sacred
relic.
August, formerly called _Sextilis_, was named August in honour of the
Emperor Augustus. And September still retains its original Roman
name--that of the seventh month, though now really the ninth month--in
consequence of the change made by commencing the year in January
instead of March; but the Anglo-Saxons knew it by the name of
_Gerst-monat_, or barley month, because their barley crop was usually
gathered in in this month.
October, known by the Saxons as _Wyn-monat_, or wine month, has long
been regarded with peculiar interest, owing to the many superstitious
customs observed in it. In Rome, a horse, called October, was
sacrificed to Mars in this month; and the Greeks and Romans held many
Bacchanalian festivals in it, at which the people had recourse to
magic and divination. In the days of our ancestors the Hallow-e'en
ceremonies were more generally followed than they are by the present
generation, but still in various places, particularly in the north of
Scotland, people observe them with mirth, mixed with superstitious
fear of fairies, ghosts, and other supernatural beings, supposed to be
then at large, performing good and evil deeds. At this season,
however, the most diabolical fiends are supposed to be chained in
their abodes of darkness, or at all events prevented from venting
their full wrath against the human race. The worst thing that Satan,
assisted by all his emissaries, can do on Hallow-e'en, is to allot to
one an ill-looking, decrepit, or sour partner in life, or send him or
her a great swarm of children; or perhaps do what is worse--prevent
any offspring being given to loving married couples. Unmarried men and
women are accustomed to meet at the house of a friend, to spend this
evening in searching into futurity. Various are the charms and modes
of divination they have recourse to. The first spell they try is
pulling kail-stocks in the dark with their eyes closed. There must be
no attempt to pick what is thought the best stocks, but each person
should pull up the first plant that comes to hand. After every one has
obtained a root, the company returns to the house to examine the
stocks. A long straight plant denotes that the holder thereof is to
get a fine-looking husband or wife, as the case may be; whereas one
who has unfortunately pulled a crooked, ill-shaped stock, may expect
that his or her conjugal companion will be deformed and uncouth. In
proportion to the quantity of earth adhering to the root, so will the
riches of the possessor be; and according to the sweet or sour taste
of the stem's centre, so will the temper or disposition of the
expected partner be. The ceremony of pulling and tasting being over,
the stocks are deposited above the door, and careful notice is taken
of the strangers who come in when they are there. Favourites are
invited in, but those whose presence is not desired are prevented, if
possible, from crossing the threshold.
Those in pursuit of pleasure and fortune next proceed to the
stack-yard, and pull each a stalk of oats, and, by counting the grains
upon the stem, the puller will ascertain the number of little branches
that will shoot forth from the family tree. It is peculiarly fortunate
if the top grain be found on the stalk.
If a young man or single woman go to the barn three times to winnow
corn, an apparition resembling the future spouse will appear before
the chaff is separated from the third sieveful of grain. The like
result may be expected if one go unperceived to the peat-stack and sow
a handful of hempseed, or travel three times round it. Another way of
revealing one's husband or wife, is this:--Go to a ford through which
a funeral has passed, dip the sleeve of the shirt or chemise, and the
wearer, on returning home and going to bed, after hanging the garment
before the bedroom fire, will see the apparition of his or her object
of affection turn the sleeve to dry the other side. To find the name
of one's future spouse, one has nothing more to do than to go on
Hallow-e'en to a barn or kiln, throw into it a clew of blue thread,
which the person begins to wind up into another clew, having of course
kept hold of one end of the thread. Before the winding operation is
completed, some one will take hold of the thread, and on the question
being asked, "Who holds?" an answer will be returned, in which will
appear the name of him or her the fates have destined to be the
inquirer's partner in life.
These modes described of lifting the veil that conceals the future are
easy, and the objects aimed at pleasant; but even Hallow-e'en has both
its lights and shadows; and one has something more to do than to
inquire into the affairs of affection and domestic bliss. From
curiosity or some other cause, a person may wish to know whether he or
any of his neighbours will be taken away by the cold hand of death
before another year. If he has such a wish, let him repair to a public
highway which branches off in three directions, and take his seat (a
three-legged stool is thought the best) in the centre of the road, a
little before twelve at night. Simultaneously with the nearest clock
striking that hour, he will hear proclaimed the names of those who are
to die in the parish before the next Hallow-e'en. The curious
individual should not omit to take with him a good many articles of
wearing apparel. If he hear pronounced the name of any one whose life
he does not desire to prolong, he will do well to retain his property;
but if the name of one dear to him is sounded, he may rescue the
person from early doom by casting away one of the articles. The life
of esteemed friends is precious in one's sight, but his own life is
generally dearer, and therefore the listener should take care not to
cast away every rag he has, lest his own name should be called after
he has parted with his last garment.
Another way of discovering one's future partner:--Let a person take up
a position before a mirror, eat an apple before it while combing his
or her hair, and now and again holding out the apple, as if offering
it to some one supposed to be standing on the right side. Before the
hair is properly arranged and the apple eaten, the person whose
presence is desired will appear in the attitude of accepting the
apple.
By the burning of nuts, it may be discovered whether lovers are to
prove true or false to each other. One nut is taken to represent the
gentleman, and another is named after the lady. Both nuts are laid in
the fire: if they consume quietly together, then it is learned that
fortune has appointed the lady and gentleman to spend their lives in
happy union; but if one of the nuts start away, or should they both
fly off in different directions, the individuals appealing to the
fates are to understand that they will never be united in wedlock.
November--gloomy November--was known as _Blot-monat_ (blood month) by
the Saxons, as it was the time when large numbers of sheep and cattle
were killed for sacrifices and for provisions.
The first day of November--All Saints or All Hallows--is a day of
general commemoration of all saints and martyrs in honour of whom no
particular days have been expressly assigned. The origin of this
festival is supposed to have been in 607, when Phocus, the emperor,
wresting the Pantheon from the heathens, gave the splendid edifice to
the Christians. Boniface IV. consecrated it to the Virgin Mary and all
the saints of both sexes. The Pagan dedication of it was to Cybele and
all the gods.
The second day of November is an important day in the eye of the
Church of Rome. On this day there are particular services in that
Church relative to the souls supposed to be in purgatory. Odilon,
abbot of Cluny, enjoined, in the ninth century, the ceremony of
praying for the dead. The practice became common after this, and the
next century a general festival was established, having for its object
the release of suffering souls. Persons dressed in black went round
the towns, ringing bells on the streets, every Sunday evening during
the month of November, calling upon the inhabitants to remember the
deceased suffering the expiatory flames of purgatory, and to join in
prayer for the repose of their souls. The practice is still continued
in some places, but an edict for its abolition was passed in the reign
of Elizabeth. Praying for the dead, and offering sacrifices at their
tombs, were early resorted to. Ovid ascribes the origin of the
ceremonies to Æneas; and Virgil favours this idea in his fifth book.
Certain saints declared that they heard the howlings of devils, as
they complained of the souls of men being taken away from them,
through the alms and prayers of holy people.
The Romans held a festival which lasted eleven days, during which
period they imagined that ghosts were not only relieved from
punishment, but were suffered to wander round their tombs. In the
Roman Catholic Church mass is performed for the repose of departed
souls; but it is requisite that those who desire to aid their deceased
friends should give substantial proof of sincerity. In the _Clavis
Calendaria_ we read, "When the Duke of Assuna was supplicated for
charity by a mendicant friar, he said, 'Put a pistole in this plate,
my lord, and you shall release that soul from purgatory, for which you
design it.' The duke complying, was assured his charity had been
effective. 'Say you so, holy man?' replied his grace; 'then I shall
take back my money for a future occasion, as you cannot, nor would
you, I am confident, if you were capable, again condemn the poor soul
to its former endurance.'"
Frederick the Great of Prussia, desirous of recovering the revenues of
one of his forests from a monastery, demanded of the prior by what
title it was held. To this question he received the prompt reply,
that the income had been given in consideration of the holy
brotherhood daily saying mass for the repose of the soul of one of his
Majesty's ancestors. "How much longer," said Frederick, "will that
holy work continue requisite?" "Sire," said the prior, whose
experience far surpassed that of the friar who had addressed the duke,
"it is not possible for me to speak of the precise time; but when it
shall have been effected, I shall instantly despatch a courier to
inform your Majesty."
The 6th November is sacred to St. Leonard. He was the friend of
captives and all others in distress. If monkish legends can be
credited, the mere mention of his name by one bound in fetters was
sufficient to break the chains wherewith he was secured, and cause the
prison doors to open, seemingly of their own accord, that the captive
might go free. St. Leonard died in the year 500.
On festive and holy days at this period of the year, people strewed
the graves of their relatives and the churchyards with evergreens.
Martinmas, now regarded in Scotland as the winter term-day, is
observed by Roman Catholics in honour of St. Martin, born in Pannonia
in or about the year 316, who is reported to have performed many
miracles. Formerly, St. Martin's Day was one of great festivity.
Sports were entered into at the market cross and village green, and
kept up till a late hour, when, by the ringing of a bell, the people
were warned to retire to their homes. It has been supposed that the
Martinmas feeing markets, for the engagement of agricultural and other
servants, originated at these sports. At those merry gatherings there
was invariably a large concourse of people, either taking part in or
witnessing the games; consequently the opportunity was taken advantage
of by masters requiring servants, and by servants seeking employment.
The 13th of November is St. Britius's Day. He was a pupil of St.
Martin, who prophesied that his youthful scholar would be subjected to
many severe afflictions, but that he would be appointed a bishop some
day. The latter part of the prediction was fulfilled in 399, by the
election of St. Britius to the see of Jaurs, on the death of his
master. The other part of St. Martin's prophecy also came to pass.
Grievous slanders were circulated concerning St. Britius; and among
other offences he was accused of being the father of a child by his
laundress. The people, enraged at the incontinence of their bishop,
threatened to put him to death; and they would have carried their
threat into execution, but for most extraordinary evidence coming from
the lips of a child only one month old. Holy St. Britius adjured the
infant, on the thirtieth day of its existence on earth, to tell who
was its father. Whether the infant revealed the name of its paternal
parent, we are not informed; but this we are told, that it clearly and
audibly testified that it had not sprung from the bishop's loins. This
miracle did not satisfy certain wicked people--they attributed the
strange occurrence to sorcery; and to give another test of his
innocence, St. Britius had recourse to the fiery ordeal. He, to show
that he was free from guilt, carried burning coals on his head to the
shrine of St. Martin, without the cap he wore being burned or a hair
of his head singed. This second miracle was also attributed to his
intimacy with Satan, and he was expelled from the city for seven
years. At the end of that time he was restored to his dignities, which
he enjoyed until his death, in the year 444.
St. Britius was among the first who submitted to a fiery ordeal, but
others had been subjected to this mode of trial before him. The first
appeal of this nature, we are informed, was that of Simplicius, a
bishop of distinction, in the fourth century. Having been married
before attaining his high ecclesiastical position, he was charged with
continuing to partake of matrimonial indulgences. To prove his
innocence, the bishop's wife not only held burning coals in her lap
without injury, but applied the coals to her breast without receiving
hurt. He, too, submitted to various forms of fiery ordeal, and came
out scatheless; and as their innocence was in this way manifested,
they were acquitted.
From the strange custom of ordeal by water originated the practice of
ducking witches, but to the witch either sinking or swimming proved
alike fatal. If she sank she was permitted to drown, and if she swam
it was regarded as a proof of guilt, and was therefore forced below
the water and drowned. Sometimes the ordeal was by hot water. The bare
legs and arms were immersed in boiling liquid, and if they sustained
no injury the accused was considered innocent.
Edmund, the king and martyr, to whose memory the 20th of November is
sacred, was the last titular of the East Angles. When the Danes first
landed in his district, in England, they defeated him, and when he
fell into their hands they scourged him, bound him to a tree, pierced
him with many arrows, and afterwards beheaded him. Before being
captured, Edmund offered to surrender himself to the Danes, provided
they would spare his subjects, and permit them to enjoy the privileges
of Christians; but the invaders refused to listen to the proposition,
hence the Church has regarded him as a martyr. His head was thrown
into a thicket, and lay there for twelve months, at the end of which
time the Christians found it in a perfect state, guarded by a wolf,
which held the precious caput between its paws. Probably it never
would have been seen, but for the departed saint being heard uttering
the words, "Here, here, here!" Fifty years after the head was
discovered, the body was found near the same spot. The remains of
Edmund were buried in a remote place in the year 903, but in 1010 they
were exhumed and translated to London. In 1012 this human dust was
removed to the place whence it was taken.
The Danish invasion and murder of Edmund are ascribed to Bearn, a
dissolute English nobleman. The story runs that Lodebrock, king of
Denmark, having been alone in a boat, was driven by a tempest from the
Danish coast to the Yare, in Suffolk. The inhabitants brought him to
Edmund, who treated him with so much mildness and consideration, that
his affections were alienated from his own country. Among other
pastimes, the Dane was in the habit of hawking with Bearn, the king's
huntsman, who at length murdered him. A favourite hound belonging to
Lodebrock never quitted the body of its murdered master, except when
compelled by hunger. This being noticed, and Bearn being found guilty
of the murder, he was sentenced to be put in Lodebrock's boat, without
food or instrument of navigation, and committed to the mercies of the
sea. By a strange providence, he was carried to the very place in
Denmark from which Lodebrock had been driven. The Danes, who knew the
boat, and who had heard of the murder, examined Bearn on the rack as
to his guilt. To avoid the just punishment of his crime, he affirmed
that Edmund was the author of the horrid deed. On hearing the false
declaration, wrung from Bearn by torture, Hinguar and Hubba, sons of
Lodebrock, to avenge their father's death, sailed for East Anglia,
where they killed Edmund.
St. Cecilia's Day is the 22d of November. She was a native of Rome,
and suffered martyrdom in consequence of her embracing the Christian
religion. Her story is a remarkable one. It is related that she made a
vow of chastity, but that nevertheless her parents compelled her to
marry a young nobleman named Valerianus, a heathen. On the evening of
their wedding day, Cecilia told her husband that he must not enter her
chamber, as she was nightly visited by an angel, who would destroy him
were he found in it. Surprised at the statement, but not alarmed, he
sought an interview with the spirit, but she told him that could not
be unless he first became a Christian. He consented to change his
religion, and he and his brother Tibertius were baptized. Shortly
afterwards the husband found his wife at prayers in her closet with an
angel, like a beautiful youth, clothed with brightness, by her side.
The angel informed Valerianus that he and his brother would soon be
beheaded, and that Cecilia would be thrown into a cauldron of boiling
water, and scalded to death. All the predictions were fulfilled.
Cecilia's martyrdom took place about the year 230, though some
authorities suppose it happened earlier.
The 30th November is the anniversary of St. Andrew, the patron saint
of Scotland. There is a wonderful legend regarding St. Andrew's Cross.
The cross, we are informed, appeared in heaven to Achaius, king of
Scots, and Hungus, king of the Picts, to encourage them to engage in
battle with Athelstane, king of England. Achaius and Hungus led on
their forces, and were victorious. In acknowledgment of this wonderful
manifestation, they vowed to bear St. Andrew's Cross for ever on their
ensigns and banners.
November was considered a good month for invalids being bled or
physicked, but every day was not considered equally lucky for applying
the lance or swallowing the draught. Almanacs were therefore sold,
with directions how to avoid the inauspicious times.
December, it is generally believed, was consecrated to Saturn; others,
however, think it was sacred to Vesta. In ancient times the Saxons
called it _Midwinter-monat_ and _Yule-monat_. This last-mentioned name
points to the far-back period and high festivals held this month by
the Northern nations in honour of the sun. The evergreens with which
houses are decked, and Christmas trees with their gifts, are relics of
the symbols by which our heathen ancestors exhibited their belief in
the power of the sun to deck the earth anew with green, and to laden
the trees with rich fruit. The misletoe, exhibited at Christmas and
the New Year in almost every house, is looked upon as a semi-sacred
thing, that possesses charms and confers privileges on people
possessed of it, or who may come under the support from which it is
suspended. In olden times the ancient Britons believed their gods were
in the oaks. When the misletoe berries were ripe, the Druids invited
the people to a great feast, and the oldest Druid, dressed in white,
climbed up the trees where the misletoe grew, and with a golden sickle
cut it down, while the other Druids sang and prayed. We have various
accounts of the misletoe, and of the strange superstitious proceedings
in gathering it. The misletoe is supposed to be the golden bough which
Æneas made use of, to introduce himself to the Elysian regions. It is
often worn about the neck of children, to prevent convulsions and pain
when getting their teeth.
New Year's gifts and Christmas boxes were given by friends to friends
in ancient times. Both the Greeks and Romans gave presents and
entertainments during their annual superstitious meetings. Masses and
prayers were offered for the safety of persons and ships, but more
particularly for vessels that went on long voyages. A box, devoted to
each ship, was kept by the priest, into which money might be dropped,
in order to give efficacy to the supplications of the Church; and
these boxes being opened at Christmas in each year, acquired the name
of Christmas boxes. In course of time all presents given at this
season of the year were familiarly called boxes. Poor people begged
box money to enable them to supply the priest's box, that they might
have the benefit of his prayers.
The old salutation of "a merry Christmas," like that of wishing "a
happy New Year," adverted to the hospitality of the rich, whose
spacious halls, crowded with tenants and neighbours, were scenes of
boundless hospitality. Boar's-head is sometimes served on Christmas
Day, to give expression of the abhorrence of Judaism. Plum-puddings
are emblematical of the offerings of the wise men; and mince-pies,
with their pieces of paste over them in the form of a hay rack,
commemorate the manger in which the Saviour was first laid. Dancing
and gambols have been among the Christmas amusements for a long series
of years.
The wassail bowl was the vessel out of which our Saxon ancestors took
such copious draughts, that legislative measures were adopted with the
view of enforcing temperance. Wassail not only refers to a certain
liquid preparation, but it is a term applied to drinking songs, which
in the cider-producing counties were sung on the eve of the Epiphany,
when libations were poured out to the apple-trees for a fruitful
season--a custom evidently followed in example of the heathen
sacrifices to Pomona, the goddess of fruit-trees and orchards.
Dunstan, to check the vicious habit of excessive indulgence in
intoxicating liquors, introduced the custom of marking or pegging
drinking-cups at certain places, to restrain the draught to a limited
quantity. But the contrivance, instead of being attended with good
effects, led to greater excess; for those who formerly strove to avoid
intoxication, were now, they thought, obliged to drink to the "pegs,"
it being understood that it was imperative to drain the vessel to the
pin.
From the use of peg or pin-cups or tankards, may be traced phrases yet
repeated. When a person is in a cheerful mood, he is said to be in a
merry pin. Speaking of bringing a man "down a peg," refers to a
regulation which deprived a troublesome fellow of his turn of
drinking. When a person is dull, he is described as being "a peg too
low." "Getting on peg by peg," means that a man is gradually emptying
his cup.
Anciently, confectionery was presented to the Fathers of Rome, made
up in the forms of crosses, infants, etc., to which has been ascribed
the origin of bakers presenting their customers with cakes, or, as
they are sometimes called, "Yule dough." It is supposed that the New
Year's ode composed by the Poet Laureate was originally regarded as a
Yule song or Wassail song. For such verses Christmas carols were
substituted, as being more appropriate for the season of the year,
observed with joy in honour of Christ's birth in Bethlehem.
MIRACLES PERFORMED BY SAINTS AND OTHER HOLY PERSONS, AND THE INFLUENCE
OF SACRED RELICS.
CHAPTER XV.
Introductory--St. Peter and Simon the
Magician--Clement's Miracles and Death--St. Agnes the
Innocent--A Miraculous Circumstance--St. Blase's Power
over Men and Beasts--St. Agatha's Holy Life, Tortures,
and Wonder-working Veil--St. Patrick's Missionary
Labours, and Expulsion of Reptiles from Ireland--St.
Germanus stilling the Raging of the Sea--St. David and
the Welsh Leeks--The Stirrup Cup, and Origin of
"Pledging"--Elfrida's Treachery and Remorse--St.
Benedict's Power over the Elements--St. Dunstan cured
by an Angel; his Encounter with Satan--The Æolian
Harp--St. Columba's Prophecy concerning Iona--The
Dream of Columba's Mother--Tragic Events--Prayer
answered--Sacred Ducks of Ireland--St. Paul binding a
Dragon--Saints and Frogs--Friars and Jesuits--Father
Mark proof against Fire--Virtue of Holy Water--St.
Noel's Imprecation--Men-wolves--Stories about
Bees--Strange Story about the Host--Blood-stained
Jews--Miracles--St. Boniface--Pope Silvester assisted
by Satan--Necromancing Popes--St. Januarius's
Blood--St. Anthony's Conflicts with the Devil--St.
Anthony's Hog and Bees--A Tradition concerning
Melrose--St. Cuthbert--Waves of Blood--Strange
Narrative--A Princess swallowed up by the Earth--Monk
Waldevus's inexhaustible Stores--Holy Relics--Rusticus
and his Hog.
In laying down rules for our own guidance in carrying on this work, we
resolved to make few allusions to the miracles and mysteries related
in the Old Testament. We also determined to avoid reference to
Christian rites, ceremonies, and performances, either in early or
later times, when that could be accomplished without materially
affecting the subject of superstition generally so called; but as an
important link would be left out were we to refrain from giving a few
examples of miracles wrought, or said to have been wrought, by holy
persons connected with Christian churches, we are under the necessity
(considering those persons have had numerous base imitators) of
departing to a certain extent from our original plans, and of devoting
this chapter to the "Miracles performed by Saints and other Holy
Persons" since the dawn of Christianity.
_St. Peter_, whom the Roman Catholics place at the head of the list of
bishops of Rome, did undoubtedly perform miracles; but tradition tells
us of so many strange circumstances concerning him, that at least a
few of the relations must be regarded as nothing better than romance.
We are informed that he went to Rome to oppose Simon, the celebrated
magician; that at their first interview, at which Nero was present,
the magician flew up into the air, but that the devil, who assisted
him up, let him fall from a great height to the ground, by which his
legs were broken. This tradition was long believed; and a reddish
stone, supposed to be blood-stained, was pointed out as the stone on
which Simon received his injuries.
We read that _Clement_, the third bishop of Rome, was banished by
Trajan beyond the Euxine Sea; that there he caused a fountain to
spring up miraculously for the benefit of Christians; and that he
converted the whole country to the true faith. These acts provoked the
Emperor so much that he ordered him to be thrown into the sea, with an
anchor fastened to his neck. On the anniversary of his death, the sea
ebbed to the place where he had been drowned, though three miles from
the shore; that on its retiring there appeared a most magnificent
temple of the finest marble, and in the temple a monument containing
the saint's body; that the sea continued thus to retire every year on
the same day, and did not return for a week, that worshippers might,
without apprehension of danger, perform their devotions in honour of
the holy martyr. In connection with these ceremonies, a most wonderful
circumstance occurred, even more strange than what has been related of
the temple. One year a mother left her young infant in the temple, and
on her return next year she found her child not only alive, but in
perfect health. Gregory of Tours and many others gave credit to this
story.
_St. Agnes_ was so great a favourite that her festivals were
celebrated with more than ordinary pomp. She was descended from a
Roman family of rank and opulence, and endowed by nature with great
personal beauty. She was beheaded at the early age of thirteen, in the
year 306. By the sentence of her judge, she was ordered to be treated
in a most shameful manner, but through a providential interposition
she was saved from the ignominy her persecutors intended for her.
After that event the Roman women worshipped her. The parents of St.
Agnes were blessed with a vision while praying at her tomb, in which
she appeared to them in white raiment, with a lamb standing by her
side, being the universally acknowledged emblem of innocence. On the
fast held on St. Agnes's Day, two of the whitest lambs that could be
procured were presented at her altar, and afterwards carefully reared
until they were shorn. Their wool was then hallowed, and converted
into white cloth for holy garments. Rural virgins were said to
practise singular rites, in keeping St. Agnes's Fast, for the purpose
of discovering their future husbands.
In the time of Liberius, a Roman of wealth and rank, named John,
having no children, resolved to make a gift of his whole substance to
the Holy Virgin. With the consent of his wife, the entire estate was
therefore conveyed to Mary, whom they thenceforth jointly entreated in
their prayers to let them know by some token in what manner she chose
to dispose of it. Their prayers were heard. On the night of the 4th
August, when the heat was great at Rome, there was a miraculous fall
of snow, which covered part of the Esquiline Mount. The same night
John and his wife were advised in their dreams to build a church on
the ground which they should find covered with snow. Next morning they
went to acquaint Pope Liberius with what had happened. Strange to say,
the Pope had had a similar dream. A grand procession of the whole
clergy, in which the Pope walked himself, attended by crowds of
people, went to the above-mentioned mount, and having discovered the
snow-covered spot, the Pope laid the foundation of a magnificent
church there, long known as Saint Mary in the Snow.
_St. Blase_, who suffered martyrdom by decapitation in the year 289,
after having been cruelly whipped and scourged, wrought numerous
miracles of an extraordinary nature. Shortly before his decease, he
prayed that whosoever sought his help in consequence of disease in the
throat, or any sickness, he might have the assistance desired. After
this, all who implored the aid of the saint were heard and healed. In
his lifetime he saved from death a devout widow's son, who, without
his assistance, would have been choked by a fish bone. Even the wild
beasts of the field were under the saint's control. A wolf that had
carried away a poor person's pig, was forced by the holy man to bring
back another animal of equal value. In honour of St. Blase, candles
were offered to him, which, through the very act of devotion, were
rendered holy, and became serviceable for all pious uses.
_St. Agatha_ performed many miracles. Quintianus, the governor of
Catania, smitten with her beauty and extraordinary accomplishments,
endeavoured to gain her affections, but was unsuccessful. Consequently
his love turned into inveterate hatred, which ended in the fair Agatha
being scourged and cast into a loathsome prison. The Pagan ruler
commanded her to sacrifice to heathen deities, but she adhered to her
Christian principles in spite of his wrath, which found vent in
burning her with hot irons and cutting off her breasts. To manifest
the displeasure of heaven, the walls of her prison were thrown down by
some unseen power, and two of the governor's servants were deprived of
life in a mysterious manner when torturing her. Her enemy had intended
other and more fearful cruelties, but, in answer to her earnest
prayers, death stepped in and relieved her from every trouble. In
Catania a church was built and dedicated to St. Agatha, and her sacred
veil, which she had often used to conceal her lovely features from the
lustful Quintianus, was placed in it, to protect that city from the
eruptions of Mount Ætna, and the earthquakes so frequent in Sicily.
This valuable relic was long preserved by those who believed in its
efficacy. It not only had power over the mountain and internal fires,
but it conveyed virtue to everything it touched, similar to that which
itself possessed. There were few Catanians who did not obtain, through
this veil, sovereign protections from evil.
_St. Patrick_, the apostle and father of the Hibernian Church, and
patron or tutelar saint of Ireland, was a Briton by birth, having been
born at Kilpatrick, near Dumbarton, in the year 377. When about
sixteen years of age he was taken prisoner and conveyed to Ireland,
where he was sold as a slave. Escaping from his master, he returned to
the place of his nativity. When in exile, he saw the evils arising
from Paganism, and resolved to do what he could to convert the Irish
Pagans to Christianity. In due time he entered into his missionary
labours with indefatigable zeal, and proved to be the blessed means of
converting the benighted Irish to the true faith. The miracles
attributed to him are numerous, the most noted of which is the
expulsion of reptiles from the Irish soil. It was he who made the
shamrock--the Irish national emblem--so famous.
_St. Germanus_, bishop of Auxerre, and _St. Lupus_, bishop of Troyes,
were sent to Britain by Celestine, the forty-second bishop of Rome, in
the year 429, to preach Christianity. The two missionaries, on their
way, passed through Paris; thence they pursued their journey to the
sea-side, and embarked. On the ocean a storm was raised by the devil,
when Germanus, who was asleep, awoke just as the vessel was on the
point of sinking, and having rebuked the sea and poured a few drops of
oil into it, the raging of the waves ceased. Germanus, after safely
landing in Britain, restored to sight a blind girl by the application
of certain relics he possessed.
_St. David_ was a learned, elegant, and zealous saint, reported to
have performed miracles. The Welsh regarded him as their tutelar
saint, and annually held festivals in his honour. In answer to the
saint's prayers in the year 640, the Britons, under King Cadwallader,
gained a complete victory over the Saxons. From a garden near the
battle-field, he caused leeks to be pulled and stuck in the caps of
the British warriors, to enable them to distinguish each other,
whereas the opposing parties, through want of a distinguishing badge,
mistook friends for foes, and cut one another to pieces. From this
circumstance sprang the custom of the Welsh wearing leeks in their
hats on St. David's Day. Tradition says that the birth of this saint
was predicted thirty years before the event took place; that a spirit
constantly attended him, to minister to his wants; that the waters of
Bath received their excellent qualities from his benediction; that he
healed the sick; and that he even restored the dead to life.
_Edward_, the martyr, was crowned King of the West Saxons, when a
youth, by Archbishop Dunstan, who had espoused his cause in opposition
to the wishes of Elfrida, his step-mother, who desired to secure the
throne for her own son Ethelred. Four years after his accession,
Edward was hunting one day in Dorsetshire, near Elfrida's castle, and
took the opportunity of paying her a visit, unattended by any of his
retinue. After what was thought an agreeable interview, he mounted his
horse to ride away, and when in the act of drinking the stirrup-cup, a
servant, instigated by Elfrida, stabbed him behind. The youthful
prince, finding himself wounded, put spurs to his steed, but, becoming
faint from loss of blood, fell from the saddle and was killed. The
foul deed struck the nation with so much dread, that subsequently
every man secured the protection of a staunch friend before he would
venture in public to drain the wassail-bowl. Hence arose the
expression of "pledging," when partaking of the cheerful glass.
Elfrida, seized with remorse, strove to atone for her guilt, but could
not get rid of the heavy load that constantly weighed her down. At
length she gave way to despair, her conscience causing her to imagine
that a monstrous fiend was always on the watch to drag her down to the
place of everlasting torment. When alone, in the still hours of the
night, she imagined she felt the infernal being's grasp, and, to
protect herself, she had recourse to charms.
_St. Benedict_ possessed the power of performing miracles. Not only
could he control the actions of man in a way that showed his
supernatural ability, but he also set the elements at defiance. In the
year 529, Benedict, with a few devotees selected from the many pious
men around him, went to Monte Casino, where idolatry prevailed, and
broke the images in Apollo's temple; they then founded a monastery
there, and instituted the order after the saint's name. The manner of
this Christian's death is not mentioned, but it is supposed to have
been easy and natural. When the Goths invaded Italy, they attempted to
burn him in his cell. Fiercely did the flames rage around him, but
they could not burn so much as a hair of his head. This preservation
still more enraged the heathen, who threw him into a close hot oven,
and kept him there till next day. To their surprise, when the oven
was opened, they found the saint safe--neither his body being scorched
nor his clothes singed.
_St. Dunstan_ was thought by the ignorant people to be in league with
infernal spirits. When a boy, disease brought him to the point of
death, but he was restored to health by medicine brought to him by a
spirit riding in a storm. Feeling himself well again, Dunstan repaired
to the church to return grateful thanks. Satan met him on the way,
surrounded him with numerous fierce-looking black dogs, and
endeavoured to defeat his pious intention. Nothing daunted, the holy
saint pursued his way, and, by the assistance of an angel that came to
his help, he defeated the devil and his black dogs. Dunstan found the
church door shut; and to save time, lest Satan should overtake them
before entering the sacred edifice, the angel carried him through the
roof to the proper place of devotion. At another time, while St.
Dunstan was working at his forge, the devil attempted to lead him into
evil paths. The evil spirit appeared, not in a hideous form, but as a
beautiful young lady, all smiles and endearments. Though the hook was
skilfully concealed, the deception did not succeed: the saint knew the
arch-fiend, and suddenly taking a pair of red-hot tongs from the fire,
seized the fiend's nose with them, whereby the nasal organ was
disfigured for ever. The Æolian harp is thought to have been invented
by St. Dunstan, and he is said to have been able to play upon that
instrument without touching a string thereof. At one time, in
consequence of the high esteem in which harps were held, every person
of rank was supposed to possess one of these instruments, and to be
able to perform on it. Slaves were prohibited from performing on this
sacred instrument. Creditors were prevented by law from seizing for
debt a gentleman's harp, though everything else he possessed might be
sold to discharge his obligations.
_St. Columba_ was the apostle of the Highlands and Western Islands of
Scotland, and founder of the famous cathedral of Iona, long regarded
as the mother church of the Picts. Concerning this building he wrote
the prophetic lines, which have been in part verified:
"O sacred dome of my beloved abode!
Whose walls now echo to the praise of God;
The time shall come when lauding monks shall cease,
And howling herds here occupy their place;
But better ages shall hereafter come,
And praise re-echo in this sacred dome."
Striking miracles were ascribed to him; his prophecies almost
invariably came to pass, and he had marvellous visions. Columba's
mother dreamed, one night before his birth, that a person of
superhuman mien and figure presented her with a veil of the most
beautiful texture; that in a short time the giver resumed possession
of his gift, and, raising it up, it flew through the heavens.
Gradually the veil extended itself on all sides, till it spread over
mountains and plains. Grieved at the loss of such a valuable article,
she expressed her sorrow; but he who had given and taken away,
comforted her with the assurance that it was an emblem of the child
soon to be born, who, he assured her, would prove a blessing to the
nation. One day, while the saint was a youth, a young girl, pursued by
a barbarian, came running to him for protection; but before he could
lift his slender arm to save her, the monster pierced her through with
a spear. One who witnessed the tragic deed exclaimed, "Ah! how long
will this atrocious crime remain unpunished?" To this question Columba
replied, "The soul of the murderer may yet be in hell as soon as that
of the murdered is in heaven." Scarcely had he uttered these words,
than the unhappy criminal fell a lifeless corpse. At another time the
saint observed a man falling from a considerable height, and beseeched
an angel to uphold him. The good man's prayer was heard: a heavenly
messenger, with a speed swifter than that of lightning, came to the
rescue, and the man escaped unhurt.
In olden times there were sixteen ducks that usually swam about a
certain lake in Ireland; but when any injury was done to the church or
clergy they flew away, and did not return until satisfaction was given
and reparation made for the wrong perpetrated. During the absence of
the ducks, the water of the lake, naturally clear, became corrupt and
smelt so badly that man and beast refused to taste it. If any person
injured one of those birds, condign punishment was sure to overtake
him. A kite having caught one of them, flew to a tree with it, but
immediately all the ravenous bird's members became so powerless that
it could not devour its prey. At another time a fox caught a second
bird of the flock, but he had better, we are told, have let it alone,
for next day the greedy animal was found dead near the lake, with the
innocent duck sticking in its throat.
_St. Paul_, bishop of Leon, was entreated by the inhabitants of a
seaport in Ireland to deliver them from a dragon that had killed many
people. The pious bishop assured them of help, provided they repented
and renounced their superstitions. They promised to do all he required
of them. An altar was prepared, whereon he said mass. Then he went out
and, with a loud voice, commanded the dragon to come before him.
Immediately it appeared with open mouth and rolling eyes, and cast
itself at the saint's feet. St. Paul cast a stole round its neck, and,
fixing his staff in the ground, bound the dangerous creature so that
it could not hurt any one after that time.
A holy saint, being disturbed one day by the croaking of a number of
frogs in a pool near the church, went and smote the waters with his
staff. Presently the frogs ceased their noise, and never croaked
again.
Once upon a time a rivalship existed between the Austin friars and the
Jesuits. The father-general of the Austin friars was dining with the
Jesuits, and, on the table-cloth being removed, he entered into a
formal discourse touching the superiority of the monastic order, and
charged the Jesuits with assuming the title of "Fratres," while they
held not the three vows which other monks were obliged to consider
sacred. The general was very eloquent and authoritative. On the
contrary, the superior of the Jesuits being unlearned, though shrewd
in many respects, preferred to see a miracle performed, to prove the
superiority of his order, rather than enter into a controversy. He
therefore proposed that one of his friars and an Austin friar should
show which of them would most readily obey his superior. The Austin
friar consented. The Jesuit then, turning to the holy friar Mark, who
was waiting on them, said, "Brother Mark, our companions are cold; I
command you, in virtue of the obedience you have sworn to me, to bring
instantly, in your hands, some burning coals from the kitchen fire,
that our friends may warm themselves over your hands." Father Mark
obeyed, and, to the astonishment of the Austin friars, brought on his
palms a supply of red burning coals, that whoever thought proper might
warm himself. The father-general, with the rest of his brethren, stood
amazed. He looked wistfully at one of his monks, as if he wished to
command him to perform a similar exploit; but the Austin monk, who
understood what was meant, said, "Reverend father, forbear; do not
command me. I am ready to fetch fire in a chafing dish, but not in my
bare hands." The triumph of the Jesuits was complete: the miracle was
noised about to their advantage. But the Austin friars could never
account for the miracle, nor could they imitate it.
A priest in Ireland, travelling in Ulster, was forced to pass a night
in a forest. He, and a boy who accompanied him, lighted a fire under
the branches of a tree. Scarcely had they seated themselves than a
wolf came near, and spoke as follows:--"Fear nothing; I am of a race
of men-wolves, from which every seven years, by force of an
imprecation made by St. Noel, two from among us, a male and a female,
are constrained to lay aside the outward shape of reasonable
creatures, and live in the form of wolves for seven years. At the end
of that period other two men-wolves are sent out, and the former two
return, if they survive the dangers of wolf-life. Not far from this
place, my wife, who is the female wolf, lies very unwell, and I
beseech you to go and comfort her." So the priest, ever ready to
perform a good act, went to see the sick wolf. She was in the hollow
of a tree, suffering great pain. He administered comfort to the
invalid, but possessed not the power of changing her into her natural
shape. The male wolf conducted the priest back to the fire, remained
on watch all night to keep the other wolves away, and in the morning
directed the priest how to go.
A French peasant, whose bees were dying of disease, was advised to go
to the communion, carry off the host, and blow it into one of his
hives. He did as recommended, but the result proved different to what
he expected. Some time afterwards he discovered that his bees were
dead. On examining the hive, he was amazed to find that the host put
among the honey-combs was turned into a beautiful infant--cold,
however, in the arms of death. Intending to bury the child's body in
the church, he was proceeding thither, when, on the way to the sacred
edifice, the infant vanished. This unhallowed use of the host brought
a curse on the neighbourhood. The people were so chastised by divers
calamities, that the country was depopulated, and became like a
wilderness.
Another peasant, having communicated on Easter Day, received the host
into his mouth; but instead of using it according to sacred rules, he
laid it among his bees, thinking that by doing so he would bring all
the bees in the neighbourhood, with their honey, to his hives. So far
did his project succeed; but the bees brought no fruit which the
wicked peasant could desire. They hummed melodious music, and built a
small wax church at the time the wicked wretch thought they should be
collecting honey for him. One day, walking near the hive into which he
had put the host, the bees came out, and stung him nearly to death.
Remorse seized him, and in bitter anguish he went to the priest to
confess his fault. As the case was an extraordinary one, the priest
consulted the bishop, who advised that the parishioners, headed by the
priest, should go in procession to the hives. On the people's arrival,
the bees testified their joy by their melodious humming. In the hive
into which the host had been put an altar of wax was found, and a
sacred relic lying thereon.
In 1399 a woman and her daughter engaged to procure consecrated hosts
for a band of wicked Jews, who intended to use them for unhallowed
purposes. The woman went to a church and stole three hosts when the
friars were at dinner. Having received the hosts, the Jews assembled
in a cellar, threw them contemptuously on a table, and stabbed them
with a dagger. Blood spurted out from the dagger holes, and covered
the faces of the impious men. The marks could not be washed away, so
that they, Cain-like, bore unmistakeable signs of guilt to the day of
their death. Blood also ran on the cellar floor, and could not by any
means be removed. The Jews being terrified, sent two men to bury the
hosts in a field. As the men passed a pious youth, named Paul, who had
charge of two oxen, the hosts flew up in the air, and became like
beautiful butterflies. At the sight of these, the oxen kneeled down on
the ground. Paul, on becoming acquainted with what had happened,
hastened to a magistrate to give information against the wicked
people. Instead of being believed, he was cast into prison as a base
fellow. In answer to his prayers, the prison gates opened of
themselves; so he went out, and again presented himself before the
judge. This time Paul's word was taken. The case was reported to the
bishop, who ordered the hosts to be collected for preservation.
Proceedings were taken against the Jews: they were burned, and their
goods confiscated. By order of the king, a church was built at the
place where the hosts appeared to Paul as butterflies. Many miracles
were afterwards wrought there. From that time to the year 1604 no
fewer than 382 were performed, the most notable ones being the raising
of thirty-six persons from the dead.
_St. Boniface_, the apostle of Germany, slept one night in a tent
pitched in an open plain. In the still dark hours a bright light
suddenly appeared, in which he saw St. Michael, who spoke words of
encouragement to him. After devotional services in the forenoon, he
ordered his steward to prepare dinner, but the servant told him he had
nothing in that barren place to set on the table. "What!" replied the
apostle, "has he that fed his people forty years in the wilderness
nothing to give his servant and his attendants?" Having said this, he
ordered the cloth to be spread on the table, and immediately a large
bird came flying with a fish, sufficient to feed the whole company for
a day.
Another good story is told of St. Boniface. When he was a child, he
observed a fox running away with a hen belonging to his mother. He
hastened to the church, and prayed that the hens and chickens, which
his mother fed in her back-yard to maintain herself and little family,
might be preserved. To his astonishment, on returning home, the fox
appeared before him with the hen, unhurt, in its mouth. Crouching like
a spaniel, the beast of prey laid the fowl at the child's feet, and
fell down dead.
Pope Silvester II. is reported to have reached the Papal chair by
Satan's assistance. In his youth Silvester was a monk, but he deserted
the monastery, and became a follower of the devil. He went to Spain in
search of magical instruction. Being introduced to a Saracen
philosopher skilful in magic, he became his disciple. But his stay
with the learned man was short; for seeing a valuable book of
necromancy belonging to his instructor, he stole it. Fleeing to a
place of safety, he studied the black art very closely. His
intercourse with Satan was frequent. Through the devil's assistance,
he became an archbishop, and subsequently a pope, upon condition that,
after his death, he would become the absolute property of the black
fiend. During his popedom he kept a brazen head, which he regularly
consulted concerning diabolical subjects. Desirous to know how long he
would reign, Silvester betook himself to the devil for information. In
answer to a question, the wicked spirit informed him that if he stayed
away from Jerusalem he would live to an old age. A few years after
this information, Silvester imprudently went to the Holy City, where
he was suddenly seized with fever. Before his senses left him he
repented, and confessed his familiarity with Satan. He desired that,
after death, his hands and tongue might be cut off, because with them
he had served the devil; that his mutilated body should be put into a
cart, with horses having no driver, and that wherever they halted,
after being started, his body should be buried there. All being done
as requested by the dying pope, the horses stopped when they came to
the church of Lateran, and there he was interred. Whatever became of
his soul, it is plain the devil did not let his body alone. Shortly
before the death of many popes who succeeded him, his bones were heard
to rattle, and his tomb was seen to sweat. By these signs people knew
when the dissolution of a pope was nigh. This narration may seem
strange to the present generation, but to people living in olden
times it was not considered very extraordinary. Report says that
eighteen popes, who succeeded one another, were necromancers.
Benedictus IX. was, through his wickedness and sorcery, called
Maledictus. He was killed, we are told, by the Devil in a wood. After
his death, a hermit met his body, in the form of a bear, with a mitre
on his head. The hermit, so the story goes, asked him how it happened
that he was metamorphosed. "Because," said he, "in my popedom I lived
without law, and now I wander like a beast."
_St. Januarius_, the patron saint of Naples, suffered martyrdom about
the end of the third century. When he was beheaded, a pious lady
secured a small quantity of his blood, which, report says, has been
preserved in a bottle ever since, without losing a grain of its
weight. The blood is usually congealed, but when brought near the
saint's carefully preserved head, it is miraculously liquified. The
experiment is, or at least was, made twice a year by the Neapolitans.
When there is an eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the saint's head is, or
was, carried in procession, in order to render the outbreak harmless.
_St. Anthony_ had serious conflicts with the Devil in bodily shape,
when victory was generally declared in favour of the good man. The
saint performed miracles, and was famed for curing the disease called
after his name. In youth he was a swine-herd, and afterwards became
the patron saint of swine-herds. To do him honour, the Romanists were
wont to keep a hog at the public expense, which was venerated, and
designated St. Anthony's hog. A picture or an image of the saint, hung
up in a house, kept away the plague from the dwelling. As the relics
of this saint were capable of curing St. Anthony's fire, so were those
of St. Lucia useful in removing toothache, and those of St. Apollonia
were infallible remedies in cases of hydrophobia.
The history of Melrose is made up in great part of romance and
superstitious traditions. Melrose, Malerose, or Mull-ross, signifying
a bare promontory, derived its name from a young princess, who was
obliged to fly from her home on an island of the Greek Archipelago, in
consequence of her too close intimacy with a lover to whom she was
sincerely attached. In her country a breach of the seventh commandment
by a young female was visited by death. As soon as her guilt became
known, she, to save her life, fled in search of an asylum, where she
might have time and opportunity to atone for her guilt. Certain good
priests whom she consulted, directed her to sail northwards to an
island called Hibernia; and, moreover, the priests offered to
accompany her wherever she went, for the good of her soul. They
accordingly set sail, and landed at a port on the north-east coast of
Scotland. She and her companions went inland, and settled down at
Melrose, on the banks of the Tweed, where she erected an abbey. St.
Cuthbert was an abbot at Melrose before he removed to Lindisfarne, now
called Holy Island, where he was appointed bishop of St. Peter's
Church at the latter place. He died at Holy Island in the year 687,
and was buried in a stone coffin there. Eleven years after the
interment he was taken out of the grave, when it was found that the
body was free from corruption.
Three years afterwards, Abbot Edred stealthily removed the body,
carrying it from town to town for seven years. Many of the inhabitants
of Holy Island, on learning that the saint's body was taken away, left
their property, and went south after it. In consequence of the
persecution then raging in England, the body, it was resolved, should
be conveyed to Ireland for its greater security. The bishop, abbot,
and others engaged in transporting the body, went on board a ship with
their sacred treasure, intending to cross the Channel. A storm was
encountered, three waves were turned into blood, and the ship was
driven ashore, and cast on its side. A volume, containing the
Evangelists' writings, in letters of gold and having its boards set
with precious stones, fell from the vessel into the sea, which caused
the saint to appear in a vision to one of the monks, and commanded him
to search the shore for the book. He searched and found it, and, to
his surprise, it appeared more beautiful than before, seeming to have
been polished with a heavenly hand. On attempting to remove the body
again, it became heavy and difficult to carry, which greatly perplexed
those bearing the burden; but their difficulty was of short duration,
for they perceived a bridle on a tree, and a red horse running toward
them, which, on its approach, offered to carry St. Cuthbert's body.
Accepting the proffered service, the body was put on the mysterious
animal's back, which carried it to Crake Minster. Thence it was
conveyed to Chester, where it remained a hundred and ten years. At the
termination of that time it was removed to Ripon, to be laid beside
the body of St. Wilfrid; but it was not destined to remain there more
than a few months. As war, which had devastated the country, had
ceased, St. Cuthbert's body was lifted with the intention of bringing
it back to Chester; but the bearers halting with it at Wardenlaw,
could not remove it again, as it seemed to be fastened to the ground.
This caused the monks to pray for three days, and instructions were
asked as to how the body was to be disposed of. Their prayers were
heard: it was revealed to Eadmer, one of the monks, that the body
should be taken to Durham, as its last resting-place. The
extraordinary heaviness of the remains was no longer felt; it was
removed thither, and deposited in the abbey in the year 997, where it
lies to the present day.
Another story of St. Cuthbert is related. He lived on the borders of
the Pictish territory, where many people went to him for instructions.
At this time the king's daughter was injured by a young man, whom the
princess spoke of as "the solitary young man who dwelleth hard by."
Greatly incensed, the king went to St. Cuthbert, thinking that he was
the guilty person, and accused him of committing the crime. For
unknown reasons, the princess stated, and persisted in saying, that
the holy man was the offender. Knowing his innocence, the saint prayed
that the work of iniquity should be laid open, and that by some token
it would be made known that the accusation was false. A sign was soon
given; for scarcely had the supplication been made than the earth on
which the princess stood suddenly opened with a hissing noise, and
swallowed her up. The king, struck with terror, and in great distress
at the loss of his daughter, implored the saint to restore the
princess. This petition the holy father granted, clogging it, however,
with the condition, that thenceforward no woman should resort to him.
From that time a woman was never seen approaching his place of
seclusion; and more than that, the restriction was extended to all the
Pictish churches dedicated to him.
In connection with the history of Melrose, there is a tale of a monk
named Waldevus, who increased the corn in the granaries belonging to
the monastery in the villages of Eildon and Gattonside, out of which
were fed, in a time of scarcity, four thousand poor people for three
months, without any diminution of the first quantity, until the fruits
of harvest were gathered, and then the store began to diminish
according to the quantities withdrawn from it. Waldevus's tomb was
opened twelve years after his death, which took place about the middle
of the twelfth century, when his body was found entire, and his
garments undecayed. In the year 1240 Waldevus's place of sepulchre was
again opened, but his remains were then decayed. Those who were
present carried away some of the small bones, leaving the rest of the
ashes to repose in peace. William, son of the Earl of Dunbar, was one
of the company present: he secured one of the saint's teeth, which
turned out to be a valuable prize, for by it many wonderful miracles
were performed.
Waldevus and his corn reminds us of Rusticus and his hog. Two
Christian pilgrims, we are informed, were travelling in Poland, when
they were hospitably entertained by Rusticus, then a Pagan peasant,
afterwards converted, and promoted to sovereignty. They arrived at his
residence when he was preparing to give an entertainment on the
occasion of the birth of a son. A hog was killed for the feast, to
which the wearied travellers were invited; and rumour has it, that
they did ample justice to the good things, particularly to the hog's
flesh, set before them. To show their gratitude, they resolved to work
a miracle for the everlasting benefit of their host and his family.
Half of the hog remained uneaten, and over it they prayed earnestly
that it might never be consumed, but become a constant source of
supply to the family. Their prayers were heard; and the swine's flesh
remained undiminished in weight, however freely slices were carved
from it for hungry mortals. Such was the effect produced on Rusticus's
mind by this miracle, that he forsook heathenism and became a
Christian.
HOW THE POETS HAVE FANNED THE FLAME OF SUPERSTITION.
CHAPTER XVI.
Prophetic Verse--Druids called Bardi--The Bardi as
Instructors--Virtue of Serpents' Eggs--Bards
maintained by Noblemen--Queen Elizabeth and the
Bards--Effects of Prophetic Sayings, and of Pipe
Music--Message, how conveyed to another World--Voices
of Deceased Friends heard in the Gale--Human Forms in
the Clouds--Evenings in the Highlands--Michael
Scott--Constant Work for Evil Spirits--Stemming the
Tweed--How the Eildon Hills were formed--Place of
Torment--Ropes of Sand--Scott and his Magic Books
buried at Melrose--Ossianic Poems--Stories by Bards.
Poets have done much to fan the flame of superstition. They have
indulged in prophetic verse, and handed down to posterity the strange
belief of our ancestors. Certain Druids, called Bardi, were well known
to be versed in astrology. They are supposed to have been the same, in
particular respects, among the Britons as the Sophi among the Greeks,
or the Magi among the Persians. Having been chosen from the best
families in the land, the Bardi were held in the highest esteem by the
common people; and the children of the chiefs were instructed by them.
Their practical verses were never written, but given to their pupils
_viva voce_, that they might assist in conveying them orally to the
people. The Bardi dealt in particular charms, such as serpents' eggs,
gathered in a particular way, and under certain phases of the moon.
These eggs were imagined to be effectual for the gaining of law-suits,
and for the securing of the good graces of princes. The Vates (another
class of Druids), if not the Bardi, sought for omens among the
entrails of victims offered in sacrifice.
The Bards, at various periods, possessed uncommon privileges, but
these were from time to time diminished or increased, according to the
caprice of those under whose government they lived. Almost every
nobleman of distinction maintained bards in his family, and treated
them with great consideration. Queen Elizabeth, however, acted
differently: she ordered bards and minstrels to be hanged as traitors,
as she believed they instigated rebellion by their songs. Bards
followed clans to the field, where they eulogized the chiefs, and sang
in extravagant verse the deeds of the favourite warriors. Before a
battle, they went from tribe to tribe, or from clan to clan, exhorting
and encouraging by prophetic sayings, in which success to friends was
foretold and the doom of enemies pronounced. In the tumult of fight,
when the bards' voices could not be heard, they were succeeded by
pipers, who with inspiring warlike strains kept alive the enthusiasm
the composers of verse had kindled. After the contest was sounded, the
bards were employed to honour the memory of the brave that had fallen
in battle, to celebrate the deeds of those who survived, and to excite
to future acts of heroism. The piper was called upon, in turn, to
sound mournful lamentations for the slain. In poetical language, the
people were told that the dead sympathized with the living left behind
to maintain the honour of their clans or country. Messages were given
to dying friends, that they might be delivered to the spirits of
relatives in another world. Highlanders imagined they heard, in the
passing gale, the voices of departed relatives, and in their solitude
they beheld the forms of their fathers in the bright clouds. In cases
of emergency, the spirit of the mountains gave friendly warnings,
which enabled cautioned ones to avoid dangers, that otherwise could
neither be foreseen nor prevented.
Traditional poetry is highly esteemed by the mountaineers. It is a
favourite pastime with the Highlanders, when seated round the evening
fire, to relate and listen to tales of witches, fairies, etc., and to
sing the soul-stirring songs of their native bards. Formerly, those
who could recount the deeds of Fingalian times were special
favourites. To such persons every door was open, and every table free.
Nothing but ignorance could lead inhabitants of towns to suppose that
Highlanders spend their winter months in gloomy solitude. Except where
poverty or sickness prevails, the winter evenings among the mountains
have something bewitching about them. The day's toil being over,
neighbours come in, and parents and children, masters and servants,
friends and relations, hold social intercourse in the same apartment,
where there blazes a hearty fire of peats and bog-fir. None of the
young women remain idle; for while the joke and merry laugh go round,
one knits, a second sews, a third spins, and a fourth handles a
distaff. Once the happy conversation has commenced, the wind may blow,
the tempest roar, without disturbing the friendly group. There may be
now less highly-gifted bards in the Highlands, romance and chivalry
may have yielded to other ideas and pursuits, but still much of the
same characteristic spirit remains: the love of ancient tradition and
song exists, and the superstitions of bygone ages are unforgotten.
Those who do not venerate their poets, and have respect to the early
history of their country, are a dull, besotted people.
Not unfrequently were poets and other men of genius regarded as
wizards or magicians. As an instance, we refer to the history of
Michael Scott, the celebrated philosopher and poet, who lived in the
thirteenth century. He was a native of Fife, and in early life became
versant in occult science. After studying in Scotland, he went to
Oxford and Paris, where he attained wonderful proficiency in
philology, mathematics, natural philosophy, and theology. He visited
other foreign countries--in particular, Norway, Germany, and Spain.
His fame spread over the whole of Europe. His knowledge of natural
magic procured for him the appellations of enchanter, magician,
wizard. His works recommended him to the favourable notice of
Frederick II. of Germany, by whom he was appointed his royal
astrologer. To Scott, it is reported, the heavens were as a great
book, wherein was written not only the history of nations, but of
individuals also. In the vaulted heavens, he declared, man might read
his own fortune. He predicted when, where, and how the Emperor
Frederick's death would take place. Scott returned to Scotland, when
he had the honour of knighthood conferred on him. He performed almost
innumerable miracles; and so thoroughly was he believed to be in
league with the Devil, that he was tried for sorcery, but through his
influence in high quarters, or his subtle arts, he escaped the fangs
of the law. Tradition says that upon a certain occasion, being
embarrassed by evil spirits, he undertook to find the wicked ones
constant employment. Not a few strange feats were gone through, which
Scott thought were impossible for Satan himself to perform.
Nevertheless, they were done. One day, the spirits demanded more work;
and the wizard ordered that a dam-head should be built across the
Tweed at Kelso, to prevent the flow of the river. Next morning the
work was found completed. More work was demanded; and this time Scott
requested that the Eildon Hill, which had only one cone, should be
divided into three parts. Away went the infernal spirits in great glee
to perform the task assigned them. On the sun rising the following
day, the hill had three cones, as are to be seen at the present time.
Back came the wicked beings to intimate that the task was
accomplished. This Sir Michael well knew meant a determination to have
more work, or to claim him in accordance with an agreement between
him and Satan. Scott remembered he had sold himself to his Satanic
Majesty, but did not forget that he was entitled to a respite so long
as he could procure diabolical work for Satan's favourite imps.
"What," Scott asked himself; "is next to be done? Am I to order the
world to be turned upside down, and perhaps perish in the ruins? or am
I to demand the evil spirits, which torment me night and day, to bring
down the sun, moon, and stars, and leave the universe in perpetual
darkness? No," replied he, mentally; "to do so, would be to make
myself more of a fiend than they that take pleasure in gathering
together into the place of torment those who have persistently
disobeyed the dictates of reason. Shall I then at once surrender
myself to the merciless tyrants, and thereby free the world from an
instrument of unrighteousness? Ah!" exclaimed Scott, "life is sweet,
and death bitter; let me prolong my days to the utmost limits allowed
to man." Exhausted, Sir Michael leaned back on the seat whereon he
sat. Long watching, deep study, and vexatious encounters with the evil
ones so exhausted him that he fell into a disturbed sleep. In his
dreams he beheld the place of torment with all its horrors. The fiery
lake looked more dismal than anything he had heard described, or what
he could have imagined. Within were many known faces; every one
endeavoured to excel the other in his endeavour to make the place what
it was intended to be--a place of torment. No one repented of his
wicked deeds or expected mercy. The gates of the unholy place were
thrown open, and in went the chief spirit that had so often communed
with Scott. Like a furnace door, the gate was closed after him. What
took place may be imagined. Again the red-hot gate turned on its
hinges, and out came Satan, with a thousand of his swiftest
messengers, to bring home Sir Michael, against whom a charge was
pending of breach of bargain. Horror-stricken, the sleeper started to
his feet, and to his great relief found none but his old familiar
spirits before him. "Work, more work," said the spirits. "Yes, work,
endless work," shouted Scott. "Go," said he, "and make the sea-sand
into ropes." With a gloomy countenance the fiends departed, never to
return to molest the enchanter. For aught that is known, says the
legend, the spirits may still be endeavouring to perform the
impossible task of making ropes out of sea-sand. All parties are not
agreed as to how Sir Michael Scott died, nor where he was interred,
but the general belief as to where his remains rest is, that he was
buried, together with his magic books, at Melrose Abbey.
Assuming that the poems asserted to be those of Ossian are authentic,
we see there was in his time a general belief that ghosts and spirits
floated through the air, that the dead revisited the earth, that the
destiny of man was under the control of supernatural beings, and that
the astonishing power of witches was real, and not imaginary. This is
abundantly proved (always assuming the authenticity of the Ossianic
poems) by the work before us, from which we take the following
quotations:--
"Fingal advanced his steps wide through the bosom of
night, to where the trees of Loda shook amid squally
winds.... I beheld the dark moon descending behind thy
resounding woods. On thy top dwells the misty Loda,
the house of the spirits of men. I saw a deer at
Crona's stream; a mossy bank he seemed through the
gloom, but soon he bounded away. A meteor played round
his branching horns; the awful faces of other times
looked from the clouds of Crona. These are the signs
of Fingal's death. The king of shields is fallen, and
Caracul prevails. 'Rise, Comala, from thy rock;
daughter of Sarno, rise in tears. The youth of thy
love is low; his ghost is on our hills.'...
"Autumn is dark on the mountains; grey mists rest on
the hills. The whirlwind is heard on the heath. Dark
rolls the river through the narrow plain. A tree
stands alone on the hill, and marks the slumbering
Connal. The leaves whirl round with the wind, and
strew the grave of the dead. At times are seen here
the ghosts of the departed, when the musing hunter
alone stalks over the heath....
"The deer of the mountain avoids the place, for he
beholds a dim ghost standing there. The mighty lie, O
Malvina! in the narrow plain of the rock.
"Often did I turn my ship, but the winds of the east
prevailed. Nor Clutha ever since I have seen, nor
Moina of the dark-brown hair. She fell in Balclutha,
for I have seen her ghost. I knew her as she came
through the dusky night, along the murmur of Lora: she
was like the new moon, seen through the gathered mist,
when the sky pours down its flaky snow, and the world
is silent and dark. 'Raise, ye bards,' said the mighty
Fingal, 'the praise of unhappy Moina. Call her ghost,
with your songs, to our hills, that she may rest with
the fair of Morven, the sunbeams of other days, the
delight of heroes of old.'...
"The night passed away in song; morning returned in
joy. The mountains showed their grey heads; the blue
face of ocean smiled. The white wave is seen tumbling
round the distant rock; a mist rose slowly from the
lake. It came in the figure of an aged man along the
silent plain. Its large limbs did not move in steps,
for a ghost supported it in mid air. It came towards
Selma's hall, and dissolved in a shower of blood.
"The king alone beheld the sight; he foresaw the death
of the people....
"'My spirit, Connal, is on my hills: my corse on the
sands of Erin. Thou shalt never talk with Crugal, nor
find his lone steps in the heath. I am light as the
blast of Cromla. I move like the shadow of mist!
Connal, son of Colgar, I see a cloud of death: it
hovers dark over the plains of Lena. The sons of green
Erin must fall. Remove from the field of ghosts.' Like
the darkened moon, he retired in the midst of the
whistling blast. 'Stay,' said the mighty Connal,
'stay, my dark-red friend. Lay by that beam of heaven,
son of the windy Cromla! What cave is thy lonely
house? What green-headed hill the place of thy repose?
Shall we not hear thee in the storm? in the noise of
the mountain stream? when the feeble sons of the wind
come forth, and, scarcely seen, pass over the
desert.'...
"'Sons of Cona!' Fingal cried aloud, 'stop the hand of
death. Mighty was he that is low; much is he mourned
in Sora! The stranger will come towards his hill, and
wonder why it is so silent. The king is fallen, O
stranger! The joy of his house is ceased. Listen to
the sound of his woods. Perhaps the ghost is murmuring
there! But he is far distant, on Morven, beneath the
sword of foreign foe.'
"Lorma sat in Aldo's hall. She sat at the light of a
flaming oak. The night came down, but he did not
return. The soul of Lorma is sad. 'What detained thee,
hunter of Cona? thou didst promise to return. Has the
deer been distant far? Do the dark winds sigh round
thee on the heath? I am in the land of strangers; who
is my friend but Aldo? Come from the sounding hills, O
my best beloved.'
"Her eyes are turned towards the gate. She listens to
the rustling blast. She thinks it is Aldo's tread. Joy
rises in her face! But storm returns again, like a
thin cloud on the moon.... His thin ghost appeared on a
rock, like a watery beam of feeble light, when the
moon rushes sudden from between two clouds, and the
midnight shower is on the field. She followed the
empty form over the heath. She knew that her hero
fell. I heard her approaching cries on the wind, like
the mournful voice of the breeze, when it sighs on the
grass of the cave!
"She came. She found her hero! Her voice was heard no
more. Silent she rolled her eyes. She was pale, and
wildly sad! Few her days on Cona. She sank into the
tomb. Fingal commanded his bards; they sang over the
death of Lorma. The daughters of Morven mourned her
for one day in the year, when the dark winds of autumn
returned."
In Ossianic times there were prophets and prophetesses, who were
consulted by the chiefs of armies and by the common people on
important occasions. Even a thousand years after the time of Ossian,
the bards uttered their prophetic sayings. We have the story of five
bards passing an October night in the house of a chief, who, like his
guests, was a poet, entertaining their hearers with poetic
descriptions of the night. The first bard delivered himself thus:
"Night is dull and dark. The clouds rest on the hills.
No star with green trembling beam; no moon looks from
the sky. I hear the blast in the wood, but I hear it
distant far. The stream of the valley murmurs, but its
murmur is sullen and sad. From the tree, at the grave
of the dead, the long-howling owl is heard. I see a
dim form on the plain! It is a ghost! it fades, it
flies. Some funeral shall pass this way: the meteor
marks the path. The distant dog is howling from the
hut of the hill. The stag lies on the mountain moss:
the hind is at his side. She hears the wind in his
branchy horns. She starts, but lies again. The roe is
in the cleft of the rock; the heath-cock's head is
beneath his wing. No beast nor bird is abroad, but the
owl and the howling fox. She on a leafless tree; he in
a cloud on the hill. Dark, panting, trembling, sad,
the traveller has lost his way. Through shrubs,
through thorns he goes, along the gurgling mill. He
fears the rock and the fen. He fears the ghost of
night. The old tree groans to the blast; the falling
branch resounds. The wind drives the weathered burs,
clung together, along the grass. It is the light tread
of a ghost! He trembles amidst the night. Dark,
dusky, howling night, cloudy, windy, and full of
ghosts! The dead are abroad! My friends, receive me
from the night."
The second bard says:
"The wind is up. The shower descends. The spirit of
the mountain shrieks. Woods fall from high. Windows
flap. The growing river roars. The traveller attempts
the ford. Hark! that shriek! He dies! The storm drives
the horse from the hill, the goat, the lowing cow.
They tremble as drives the shower, beside the
mouldering bank. The hunter starts from sleep, in his
lonely hut; he wakes, the fire decayed. His wet dogs
smoke around him. He fills the chinks with heath. Loud
roar two mountain streams, which meet beside his
booth. Sad on the side of the hill the wandering
shepherd sits. The tree resounds beside him. The
stream roars down the rock. He waits for the rising
moon to guide him to his home. Ghosts ride on the
storm to-night. Sweet is their voice between the
squalls of wind. Their songs are of other worlds. The
rain is past. The dry wind blows. Streams roar and
windows flap. Cold drops fall from the roof. I see the
starry sky. But the shower gathers again. The west is
gloomy and dark. Night is stormy and dismal. Receive
me, my friends, from night."
The third bard sings:
"The wind still sounds between the hills, and whistles
through the grass of the rock. The firs fall from
their place. The turfy hut is torn. The clouds
divided, fly over the sky, and show the burning stars.
The meteor, token of death, flies sparkling through
the gloom. It rests on the hill. I see the withered
form, the dark-browed rock, the fallen oak. Who is
that in his shroud beneath the tree by the stream? The
waves dark tumble on the lake, and lash its rocky
sides. A maid sits sad beside the rock, and eyes the
rolling stream. Her lover promised to come. She saw
his boat, when yet it was light, on the lake. Is this
his broken boat on the shore? Are these his groans on
the wind? Hark! the hail rattles around. The flaky
snow descends. The tops of the hills are white. The
stormy wind abates. Various is the night, and cold.
Receive me, my friends, from night."
The fourth bard takes up the theme thus:
"Night is calm and fair; blue, starry, settled is
night. The winds, with the clouds, are gone. They sink
behind the hill. The moon is up on the mountain. Trees
glister; streams shine on the rock. Bright rolls the
settled lake; bright the stream of the vale. I see the
trees overturned; the shocks of corn on the plain.
The wakeful hind rebuilds the shocks, and whistles on
the distant field. Calm, settled, fair is night! Who
comes from the place of the dead? That form with the
robe of snow; white arms with dark-brown hair! It is
the daughter of the chief of the people--she that
lately fell! Come, let us view thee, O maid! thou that
hast been the delight of heroes! The blast drives the
phantom away; white, without form, it ascends the
hill. The breeze drives the blue mist slowly over the
narrow vale. It rises on the hill, and joins its head
to heaven. Night is settled, calm, blue, starry,
bright with the moon. Receive me not, my friends, for
lovely is the night."
The fifth bard chants:
"Night is calm, but dreary. The moon is in a cloud in
the west. Slow moves that pale beam along the shaded
hill. The distant wave is heard. The torrent murmurs
on the rock. The cock is heard from the booth. More
than half the night is past. The housewife, groping in
the gloom, rekindles the settled fire. The hunter
thinks the day approaches, and calls his bounding
dogs. He ascends the hill, and whistles on his way. A
blast removes the clouds. He sees the starry plough of
the north. Much of the night is to pass. He nods by
the mossy rock. Hark! the whirlwind is in the woods! A
low murmur in the vale! It is the mighty army of the
dead returning from the air. The moon rests behind the
hill. The beam is still on the lofty rock. Long are
the shadows of the trees. Now it is dark all over.
Night is dreary, silent, and dark. Receive me, my
friends, from the night."
The chief replies:
"Let clouds rest on the hills, spirits fly, and
travellers fear. Let the winds of the woods arise, the
sounding storms descend. Roar streams, and windows
flap, and green-winged meteors fly! Let the pale moon,
from behind the hills, enclose her head in clouds!
Night is alike to me, blue, stormy, or gloomy the sky.
Night flies before the beam when it is poured on the
hill. The young day returns from his clouds, but we
return no more.... Raise the song, and strike the
harp; send round the shells of joy. Suspend a hundred
tapers on high. Maids and youths, begin to dance. Let
some grey bard be near me to tell the deeds of other
times, of kings renowned in our land, of chiefs we
behold no more. Thus let the night pass until morning
shall appear on our hills. Then let the bow be at
hand, the dogs, the youths of the chase. We shall
ascend the hill with day, and awake the deer."
From the foregoing, we obtain a glimpse of the superstitions and
customs of remote ages. Greek mythology is confessedly the creation
of poets; and to the bards of our own country we are indebted for some
of our strangest fictions. Fletcher of Saltoun must have been fully
aware of the poetic influence; for he expressed himself as willing to
let any one who pleased make the laws, if he were permitted to compose
the national ballads.
CHAPTER XVII.
Shakspeare--An Outline of his Composition--"The
Tempest"--Ship at Sea in a Storm--Miranda beseeching
Prospero to allay the Wild Waters--Ariel's Readiness
to serve his Master--The Witch Sycorax--Ariel kept in
a Cloven Pine twelve years--Caliban's Evil
Wish--Mischief by Ariel--Neptune chased--Charmed
Circle--Miracles--"Midsummer Night's Dream"--Exploits
of a Fairy--Doings of Puck--Charmed Flower--Titania
and her Attendants--Ghosts and
Spirits--Song--"Macbeth"--Weird Sisters--Hecate and
the Witches--Magic Arts--Macbeth's Doom--Witches'
Caldron--Macbeth admonished by Spirits--Eight Kings
and Banquo's Spirit--Noblemen warned by a
Spirit--"Antony and Cleopatra"--Dreadful
Apparition--King's Death avenged.
Shakspeare, the immortal English poet, born in the year 1564, has
assisted in no small degree to spread the knowledge of superstition.
So opportunely do his works come to support our statements, that we
are induced to give, in prose and verse, an outline of certain
portions of his compositions touching the many mysterious subjects on
which he wrote.
In the _Tempest_ there is a ship at sea in a storm, with thunder and
lightning. On board are the master, boatswain, mariners, Alonso,
Sebastian, Antonio, Ferdinand, Gonzalo, and others. The ship is
thought to be in danger; but Gonzalo tells his companions to take
comfort, for he thought the boatswain had no drowning mark upon him,
his complexion being perfectly gallows-like. "If," said Gonzalo, "he
be not born to be hanged, our case is miserable." The mariners thought
all was lost, and went to prayers.
Miranda beseeched Prospero, whom she addressed as father, to allay the
wild waters in their roar, and not suffer a brave vessel that had
noble creatures in her to sink. Prospero laid aside his magic garment;
and while Miranda slept, Ariel declared his readiness, at the request
of Prospero, to swim, to dive into the fire, to ride on the curled
clouds. In answer to Prospero's inquiry whether the spirit had
directed the tempest according to instructions, Ariel answered that he
had boarded the ship, joined Jove's lightnings, and made Neptune's
bold waves tremble. Ariel, who thought his services were most valuable
to his master, craved his liberty; for Ariel was a bound servant of
Prospero for a specified time. Prospero reminded the spirit that he
had freed him from torment; and asked if he remembered the witch
Sycorax, famed for her sorceries, and who had, by the aid of her most
potent ministers, put him (Ariel) into a cloven pine, within whose
rift he remained imprisoned for twelve years, tormented so greatly
that his groans made the wolves howl, and penetrated the breast of
every bear. Sycorax could not, proceeded Prospero, undo what she had
done; it was his art alone that made the pine gape and set him free.
Then he threatened the spirit that if he again murmured, he would send
an oak, and peg him in its knotty trunk till he had howled away twelve
winters. The spirit asked pardon, and declared his readiness to obey
Prospero's commands. Prospero promised that if he did so, he would
discharge him in two days. "Go," said Prospero, "make thyself like to
the nymph o' the sea; be subject to no sight but mine; invisible to
every eye-ball else. Go take this shape, and hither come in't: hence
with diligence." Miranda having been awakened, was invited by Prospero
to visit his slave Caliban, son of Sycorax, then dead. Ariel here came
before his master, who was pleased with his appearance.
On Prospero calling to Caliban, "Thou poisonous slave, got by the
Devil himself," to come forth, Caliban appeared and said, "As wicked
dew as e'er my mother brush'd with raven's feather from unwholesome
fen, drop on you both!" For this, replied Prospero, thou shalt be
tortured this night.
Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, Adrian, and Francisco escaped to
an island, which to them seemed to be a desert. Caliban found them;
and a conspiracy was entered into to kill Prospero and secure the
person of Miranda. Solemn and strange music was heard, and several
strange shapes appeared at a banquet. Thunder rolled, and lightning
flashed: Ariel, in the form of a harpy, clapped his wings upon the
table, and the banquet vanished. Prospero gave Ferdinand a rich
compensation to make amends for past austere punishments; and that
compensation was nothing less than the hand of Miranda. He recommended
them to be prudent before their nuptials, and told them that if they
disregarded his injunctions in this respect, they would have hate and
discord between them. Ariel, by an unseen power, induced Caliban and
others whom Prospero desired to have in his cell, to repair thither;
but before reaching it they were hunted by divers spirits in the shape
of hounds, that chased them to the lime groves, where they were
secured as prisoners.
Prospero, addressing the elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes, and
groves, those that on the sands with printless foot chased the ebbing
Neptune, the demi-puppets that by moonshine made the sour-green
ringlets which ewes would not bite, those whose pastime was to make
midnight mushrooms, reminded them that he had, among other mighty
deeds, by their aid, rifted. Jove's stout oak, plucked up the pine and
cedar, and roused sleepers in the grave. But this rough magic, he
informed them, he would abjure, after working his airy charms. This
being done, he would break his staff, bury it deep in the earth, and
drown his book. Ariel re-entered, and after him Alonso, Gonzalo,
Sebastian, Antonio, Adrian, and Francisco, and stood charmed within a
circle which Prospero had made.
Gonzalo exclaimed, "All torment, trouble, wonder, and amazement
inhabit here! Some heavenly power guide us out of this fearful
country!" Prospero made himself known to the king as the wronged Duke
of Milan. Pardon was sought, and the dukedom resigned. Alonso craved,
that if he were Prospero, he should give them particulars of his
preservation, and how he met them there, having, but three hours
before, been wrecked upon the shore, where he had lost his dear son
Ferdinand. A door was opened, and Ferdinand and Miranda were
discovered playing at chess. Sebastian declared this to be a most high
miracle. Ariel, who had been instructed by Prospero to go to the ship
and bring the master and boatswain to him, entered with these
worthies. In answer to the question, "What is the news?" the boatswain
answered, "The best news is, that we have safely found our king and
company; the next, our ship--which, but three glasses since, we gave
out split--is tight and yare, and bravely rigged, as when we first put
out to sea." The boatswain, in answer to another query how they came
thither? replied, if he were awake, he would strive to tell. He
remembered hearing strange noises--roaring, shrieking, howling,
jingling chains, and more diversity of sounds, all horrible; and when
they were wakened (for they had been asleep), they found themselves at
liberty. Prospero, pointing out Caliban, told his friends, "This
mis-shapen knave's mother was a witch; and one so strong that she
could control the moon, make flows and ebbs." Prospero invited the
king and his train to take rest in his cell, where he would tell the
story of his life, and in the morning bring them to their ship and
give them auspicious gales; then, addressing Ariel, he concluded,
"Chick, that is thy charge; to the elements, be free, and fare thee
well!"
In the _Midsummer Night's Dream_ Shakspeare brings forward a fairy at
a wood near Athens. The fairy, in answer to Puck's question whither it
wandered, replied that it went over hill, over dale, through bush,
through brier, over park, over pale, through flood, through fire. It
wandered everywhere, swifter than the moon's sphere; it served the
fairy queen to dew her orbs upon the green. Puck told the fairy that
the king would keep revels there that night, and advised that the
queen should not come within his sight; for Oberon was fell and wroth,
because she, as her attendant, had a lovely boy, a sweet changeling,
and that jealous Oberon would have the child to be a knight of his
train to trace the forests.
The fairy asked Puck if he was not the knavish spirit that frightened
the maidens of the villagery, that skimmed milk, and sometimes
laboured in the green, and bootless made the housewife churn, and
sometimes made the drink to bear no barm, and whether Puck did not
mislead night wanderers, and then laugh at their harm, and do the work
of hobgoblins? Puck acknowledged that the fairy spoke aright; said he
was the merry wanderer of the night, playing pranks, and making people
laugh. A smart angry discussion took place between Oberon and Titania
as to which of them was to have the little changeling boy. They parted
in rage, Oberon threatening to torment Titania. Oberon summoned Puck
to attend him, and bring the herb he once showed him, the juice of
which, laid on sleeping eyelids, made man or woman dote upon the next
creature seen. Having this herb's juice, Oberon would watch Titania
when she was asleep, and drop the liquor into her eyes, that when she
wakened she might pursue the first object she cast eyes on with the
soul of love, whether it should be lion, bear, wolf, or bull, or
meddling monkey, or busy ape. The delusion accomplished, he would give
her another herb to remove the charm, but not before she gave up the
boy.
Puck found the charmed flower; and while Oberon was to streak
Titania's eyes with some of the juice thereof, Puck was to anoint the
eyes of the disdainful youth with another quantity of it, that he
might be compelled to adore a sweet Athenian lady in love with him.
Puck was then dismissed with instructions to meet Oberon before the
first cock-crow. Titania, in another part of the wood, distributed her
attendants, some to kill cankers in the musk-rose buds, some to war
with bats for their leathern wings to make small elves' coats, and
some to keep back the clamorous owl that nightly hooted at the quaint
spirits. Having given her instructions, she fell asleep. This was
Oberon's opportunity--and one he did not neglect. He squeezed the
flower on Titania's eyelids, and disappeared.
Titania wakened with eyes fixed on Bottom, who, by Puck's art, had an
ass's head. Nevertheless, she thought him wise and beautiful. She
instructed her attendant fairies to be kind and courteous to the
gentleman, and to feed him with apricots, dewberries, purple grapes,
green figs, and mulberries. Then they were to steal the honey-bags
from bumble bees for his service, and to crop their waxen thighs, and
light them at the fiery glow-worm's eyes, to show her love to bed; and
further, to pluck the wings from butterflies, to fan the moonbeams
from his sleeping eyes. By Puck's mistake, the love juice was laid in
absence of the fair Athenian lady, and so the object desired was not
obtained. In consequence of this, much confusion and misunderstanding
followed. To prevent a fight, Oberon, whom Puck addressed as "king of
shadows," ordered the night to be overcast with drooping fog, that the
rivals might be led astray. Other instructions were given, which Puck
suggested should be done quickly, as in the distance shone Aurora's
harbinger, at whose approach ghosts, wandering here and there, trooped
home to churchyards. Damned spirits, he said, that had burial in
cross-ways and floods, had already gone to their wormy beds, lest day
should look on their shame. Oberon began to pity Titania, and,
touching her eyes with an herb, her love for the loathsome visage she
had admired for ever vanished.
The _Midsummer Night's Dream_ concludes with the following song, if we
except Puck's address:
"Now, until the break of day,
Through this house each fairy stray,
To the best bride-bed will we,
Which by us shall blessed be;
And the issue, there create,
Ever shall be fortunate.
So shall all the couples three
Ever true and loving be:
And the blots of nature's hand
Shall not in their issue stand;
Never mole, hare-lip, nor scar,
Nor mark prodigious such as are
Despised in nativity,
Shall upon their children be,--
With this field-dew consecrate,
Every fairy take his gait;
And each several chamber bless,
Through this palace with sweet peace:
E'er shall it in safety rest,
And the owner of it blest.
Trip away,
Make no stay;
Meet me all by break of day."
In gleaning from _Macbeth_, we shall pass over the weird sisters'
predictions as lightly as possible, without breaking the connecting
links, though we are greatly tempted to incorporate a considerable
part of this play into our collection of tales and traditions, seeing
that, in our opinion, none of Shakspeare's works bring out more
graphically the superstition of past ages than the poet's _Macbeth_.
The play is represented as beginning in an open place, where, in a
thunder-storm, three witches appeared and disappeared without doing
any important deed of darkness. They met again on a heath, in another
thunder-storm. One of them told the other hags that she had been away
killing swine. Another told tales of a sailor's wife who had gone to
Aleppo, and threatened to sail thither in a sieve. Macbeth and Banquo
discovered the witches and saluted them. Through the women's subtlety,
the fiend entered Macbeth's heart, and induced him to form the bloody
plans of removing all obstacles in the way of his obtaining the crown,
and handing it down to his descendants. First one victim, and then
another, fell under his treachery. He was sorely troubled: the ghost
of Banquo haunted him.
Hecate joined the witches on the heath, and upbraided them for trading
and trafficking with Macbeth without consulting her, the mistress of
their charms. Away the witches were sent, with instructions to meet at
the pit of Acheron in the morning. There Macbeth was to know his
destiny. Vessels and spells the hags were to provide, while Hecate was
to catch a vaporous drop that hung on the corner of the moon, before
it touched the ground. That drop, distilled by magic sleights, would
raise such sprites, that by the strength of their illusion would draw
Macbeth to confusion. Such, Hecate declared, would be his doom for
spurning fate, scorning death, and bearing his hopes above wisdom,
grace, and fear.
The three witches met in a dark cave, and, while the thunder rolled
without, they boiled a cauldron of hellish soup, the ingredients of
which may be gathered from the following lines:--
1 _Witch_. "Thrice the brindled cat hath mew'd.
2 _Witch_. Thrice; and once the hedge-pig whined.
3 _Witch_. Harper cries: 'Tis time, 'tis time.
1 _Witch_. Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison'd entrails throw.--
Toad, that under coldest stone,
Days and nights has thirty-one
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot.
_All._ Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and, cauldron, bubble.
2 _Witch_. Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
_All._ Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and, cauldron, bubble.
3 _Witch_. Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf;
Witches' mummy; maw and gulf
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark;
Root of hemlock, digg'd i' the dark;
Liver of blaspheming Jew;
Gall of goat; and slips of yew,
Silver'd in the moon's eclipse;
Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips;
Finger of birth-strangled babe,
Ditch delivered by a drab,--
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For the ingredients of our cauldron.
_All._ Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire, burn; and, cauldron, bubble.
2 _Witch_. Cool it with a baboon's blood;
Then the charm is firm and good.
_Hecate._ O, well done! I commend your pains;
And every one shall share i' the gains.
And now about the cauldron sing,
Like elves and fairies in a ring,
Enchanting all that you put in.
SONG.
'Black spirits and white,
Red spirits and grey;
Mingle, mingle, mingle,
You that mingle may.'
2 _Witch_. By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes:--
Open, locks, whoever knocks."
Macbeth appeared and demanded what the midnight hags were about. The
reply was, "A deed without a name." He entreated them, by that which
they professed, to answer him. One of the witches asked whether he
would rather have his answer from their mouths or from their masters'.
On Macbeth desiring to see the masters, witch No. 1 directed that the
blood of a sow that had eaten her nine farrow, and grease that had
been sweaten from the murderer's gibbet, should be thrown into the
flame. Accompanied by a clap of thunder, an armed head rose, and
admonished Macbeth to beware of Macduff. Another demon, more potent,
in the shape of a bloody child, rose and bade Macbeth be courageous;
to laugh to scorn the power of man, for none born of woman could harm
him. A second child, after the first had descended into the bowels of
the earth, told the king that he would not be vanquished till great
Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill should come against him. The
monarch was admonished to ask no more, but he disregarded the warning.
"Why sinks that cauldron? and what noise is this?" he asked. Eight
kings, and Banquo following, appeared to Macbeth's vision. The whole
vision, if such it could be called, surprised him greatly; but no part
of it so much as the spirit of Banquo, whom he had cruelly put to
death with the intention of frustrating destiny, as revealed to him by
the weird sisters, when he first met them on the heath. Seeing the
king dejected, the witches, to cheer him, danced and sang for a time,
and then suddenly disappeared.
Before Macbeth had time to recover from his reverie, a messenger
arrived to inform him that Macduff, whom he dreaded, had fled to
England. So greatly was he exasperated by the tidings, that he
declared his intention of seizing Macduff's castle, giving to the
sword his wife, babes, and all his other relations of whatever degree.
This threat he partly carried into execution.
The day of vengeance was near. Macbeth, mad with fear and ambition,
strove to avert the evil brooding over him, but he could not succeed.
The fiat had gone forth: he was king, as the weird sisters had
foretold he would be, but all his bloody deeds, and the scheming of
his queen, unscrupulous like himself, could not change the decree.
Birnam wood seemed to come to Dunsinane, and Banquo's seed came in due
time to inherit the throne the fates had reserved for them.
In _King Henry the Sixth_ more light is thrown on the doings of evil
spirits. On a deep dark night, the time when owls cried, dogs howled,
spirits walked, and ghosts broke up their graves, a spirit rose, in
compliance with certain ceremonies for making demons appear.
Bolingbroke inquired of the evil one what would become of the king?
The reply was, "The duke yet lives that Henry shall depose. But him
outlive, and die a violent death." In answer to the question, "What
fate awaits the Duke of Suffolk?" came the reply, "By water shall he
die." The Duke of Somerset was advised by the spirit to shun castles.
Having thus delivered itself, the evil spirit descended to the burning
lake. Farther on in the piece we are told of a witch that was
condemned to be burned at Smithfield.
Passing from _Henry the Sixth_, we come to _Antony and Cleopatra_, and
proceed to glean a few sentences bearing on superstition.
Charmian, addressing Alexas in a flattering manner, asked where was
the soothsayer he praised so much. The soothsayer, who was immediately
forthcoming, told those who listened to him that he knew "things" from
nature's book of secrecy. A banquet was prepared, at which Charmian
asked the soothsayer to give him good luck. "I make not, but foresee,"
was the response. Charmian, Alexas, and their companions seek to hear
their fortunes told, but the soothsayer did not choose to reveal
anything important at that time.
We shall take leave of Shakspeare by noticing, in a few sentences, the
ghost of Hamlet's father.
Bernardo, Marcellus, and Horatio were met at a late hour to talk over
a dreadful apparition that had disturbed the two former on the
previous night, when they were startled by the same apparition--a
ghost making its appearance. They observed it resembled the king who
was dead. Horatio charged it to speak, but it stalked away without
deigning a reply. It reappeared, but suddenly vanished on hearing the
cock crow. How long elapsed we are not informed; but on a certain
night, just after the clock had struck twelve, Hamlet, Horatio, and
Marcellus were engaged in earnest conversation when they were alarmed.
The first entreats the ghost to say wherefore it visited them. It
beckoned to Hamlet to follow it; and he did so, despite those who were
with him, and saw the spirit as well as he did. The ghost's tongue was
unloosed, and thus it spake: "Lend thy serious hearing to what I shall
unfold: My hour is almost come, when I must render up myself to
sulphurous and tormenting flames. I am thy father's spirit; and, for
the day, confined to fast in fires, till the foul crimes, done in my
days of nature, are burnt and purged away. Were I not forbidden to
tell the secrets of my prison-house, I could a tale unfold that would
harrow up thy soul; freeze thy young blood; make thy eyes start; and
make thy locks part like quills upon the fretful porcupine: but this
eternal blazon must not be. If ever thou didst love thy father,
revenge his foul and most unnatural murder." "Murder!" exclaimed
Hamlet. "Murder," said the ghost, "most foul, as in the best it is."
"Reveal it," gasped Hamlet, "that I may with swift wings sweep to my
revenge." "Thou shouldst be duller than the fat weed that rots itself
on Lethe's wharf, wert thou not to stir in this," ejaculated the
spirit. The ghost continued: "It has been given out, that, when
sleeping in mine orchard, a serpent stung me to death; but know thou
that the serpent that did sting thy father now wears his crown....
Sleeping within my orchard, as my custom was in the afternoon, on my
secure hour thy uncle stole with cursed juice of hebenon in a vial,
and did pour the leprous distilment into mine ears, that curdled my
blood. Thus was I, by a brother's hand, despatched from crown and
queen; cut off in the blossoms of my sin, unprepared, disappointed,
and, without extreme unction, sent to my account with all my
imperfections on my head. O, horrible! most horrible! Let not the
royal bed be a couch for luxury and damned incest. Farewell; the
glow-worm shows the morning to be near, and begins to pale his
ineffectual fire: Adieu! Remember me." The king's death was avenged.
The treacherous queen, and he who murdered the monarch, drank a
poisoned cup, and thus received measure for measure.
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Poet Gay--The "Spell"--Hobnelia--Lubberkin going
to Town--A Maiden fine--Spells resorted to--Marking
the Ground, and turning three times round--Hempseed as
a Charm--Valentine Day--A Snail used in
Divination--Burning Nuts--Pea-cods as a
Spell--Ladybird sent on a Message of Love--Pippin
Parings--Virtue of United Garters--Love
Powder--Gipsies' Warnings--Knives sever Love--Story of
Boccaccio--Apparition of a Deceased Lover--Poems by
Burns--"Address to the Deil"--"Tam o' Shanter."
John Gay, the old English poet, writes in his _Spell_:
"Hobnelia, seated in a dreary vale,
In pensive mood rehearsed her piteous tale;
Her piteous tale the winds in sighs bemoan,
And pining Echo answers groan for groan.
I rue the day, a rueful day I trow,
The woeful day, a day indeed of woe!
When Lubberkin to town his cattle drove,
A maiden fine bedight he kept in love;
The maiden fine bedight his love retains,
And for the village he forsakes the plains.
Return, my Lubberkin, these ditties hear,
Spells will I try, and spells shall ease my care.
With my sharp heel I three times mark the ground,
And turn me thrice around, around, around.
When first the year I heard the cuckoo sing,
And call with welcome note the budding spring,
I straightway set a-running with such haste,
Deb'rah that won the smock scarce ran so fast;
Till, spent for lack of breath, quite weary grown,
Upon a rising bank I sat adown,
Then doff'd my shoe, and, by my troth, I swear,
Therein I spy'd this yellow frizzled hair,
As like to Lubberkin's in curle and hue,
As if upon his comely pate it grew.
With my sharp heel I three times mark the ground,
And turn me thrice around, around, around.
At eve last summer no sleep I sought,
But to the field a bag of hempseed brought,
I scattered round the seed on every side,
And three times in a trembling accent cry'd:
This hempseed with my virgin hand I sow,
Who shall my true love be, the crop shall mow.
I straight look'd back, and if my eyes speak true,
With his keen scythe behind me came the youth.
With my sharp heel I three times mark the ground,
And turn me thrice around, around, around.
Last Valentine, the day when birds of kind
Their paramours with mutual chirping find,
I early rose, just at the break of day,
Before the sun had chas'd the stars away;
Afield I went, amid the morning dew,
To milk my kine (for so should housewives do).
The first I spy'd, and the first swain we see,
In spite of fortune shall our true love be;
See, Lubberkin, each bird his partner take,
And canst thou then thy sweetheart dear forsake?
With my sharp heel I three times mark the ground,
And turn me thrice around, around, around.
Last May-day fair I searched to find a snail
That might my secret lover's name reveal;
Upon a gooseberry bush a snail I found,
For always snails nearest sweetest fruit abound.
I seiz'd the vermin, home I quickly sped,
And on the hearth the milk-white embers spread.
Slow crawl'd the snail, and, if I right can spell,
In the soft ashes mark'd a curious L:
O may this wonderous omen luck prove!
For L is found in Lubberkin and love.
With my sharp heel I three times mark the ground,
And turn me thrice around, around, around.
Two hazel nuts I threw into the flame,
And to each nut I gave a sweetheart's name,
This with the loudest bounce me sore amaz'd,
That in a flame of brightest colour blaz'd.
As blaz'd the nut, so may thy passion grow,
For 'twas thy nut that did so brightly glow.
With my sharp heel I three times mark the ground,
And turn me thrice around, around, around.
As pea-cods once I pluck'd, I chanc'd to see
One that was closely fill'd with three times three,
Which, when I crop't, I safely home convey'd,
And o'er the door the spell in secret laid,
My wheel I turn'd, and sung a ballad new,
While from the spindle I the fleeces drew;
The latch mov'd up, when who should first come in,
But in his proper person--Lubberkin.
I broke my yarn, surpris'd the sight to see,
Sure sign that he would break his word with me.
Eftsoons I joined it with my wonted slight,
So may his love again with mine unite.
With my sharp heel I three times mark the ground,
And turn me thrice around, around, around.
This lady-fly I take from off the grass,
Whose spotted back might scarlet red surpass.
Fly, lady-bird, north, south, or east, or west,
Fly where the man is found that I love best.
He leaves my hand; see, to the west he's flown,
To call my true love from the faithless town.
With my sharp heel I three times mark the ground,
And turn me thrice around, around, around.
I pare my pippin round and round again,
My shepherd's name to flourish on the plain,
I fling th' unbroken paring o'er my head,
Upon the grass a perfect L I read;
Yet on my heart a fairer L is seen
Than what the paring marks upon the green.
With my sharp heel I three times mark the ground,
And turn me thrice around, around, around.
This pippin shall another trial make,
See from the core two kernels brown I take;
This on my cheek for Lubberkin is worn,
And Boobyclod on t' other side is borne.
But Boobyclod soon drops upon the ground,
A certain token that his love's unsound,
While Lubberkin sticks firmly to the last;
O were his lips to mine but joined so fast!
With my sharp heel I three times mark the ground,
And turn me thrice around, around, around.
As Lubberkin once slept beneath a tree,
I twitch'd his dangling garter from his knee;
He wist not when the hempen string I drew.
Now mine I quickly doff of inkle blue;
Together fast I tye the garters twain,
And while I knit the knot, repeat the strain:
Three times a true-love's knot I tye secure,
Firm be the knot, firm may his love endure.
With my sharp heel I three times mark the ground,
And turn me thrice around, around, around.
As I was wont, I trudged last market day
To town with new-laid eggs preserved in hay.
I made my market long before 'twas night,
My purse grew heavy, and my basket light.
Straight to the 'pothecary's shop I went,
And in love powder all my money spent;
Behap what will, next Sunday, after prayers,
When to the ale-house Lubberkin repairs,
The golden charm into his mug I'll throw,
And soon the swain with fervent love shall glow.
With my sharp heel I three times mark the ground,
And turn me thrice around, around, around.
But hold: our Lightfoot barks and cocks his ears,
O'er yonder stile see Lubberkin appears.
He comes, he comes, Hobnelia's not bewray'd,
Nor shall she, crown'd with willow, die a maid.
He vows, he swears he'll give me a green gown;
O dear! I fall adown, adown, adown."
Gay also writes:
"Last Friday's eve, when, as the sun was set,
I, near yon stile, three sallow gipsies met,
Upon my hand they cast a poring look,
Bid me beware, and thrice their heads they shook;
They said that many crosses I must prove,
Some in my worldly gain, but most in love.
Next morn I missed three hens and our old cock,
And off the hedge two pinners and a smock.
I bore these losses with a Christian mind,
And no mishap could feel while thou wert kind;
But since, alas! I grew my Colin's scorn,
I've known no pleasure, night, or noon, or morn.
Help me, ye gipsies, bring him home again,
And to a constant lass give back her swain.
Have I not sat with thee full many a night,
When dying embers were our only light,
When every creature did in slumber lie,
Besides our cat, my Colin Clout, and I?
No troublous thoughts the cat or Colin move,
While I alone am kept awake by love.
Remember, Colin, when at last year's wake
I bought the costly present for thy sake:
Could thou spell o'er the posy on thy knife,
And with another change thy state of life?
If thou forget'st, I wot I can repeat,
My memory can tell the verse so sweet:
'As this is grav'd upon this knife of thine,
So is thy image on this heart of mine.'
But woe is me! such presents luckless prove,
For knives, they tell me, always sever love."
In the story of _Isabella_, by Boccaccio, there are touching incidents
of the apparition of a deceased lover appearing to his mistress. The
tale is thus rendered by Keats:
"It was a vision. In the drowsy gloom,
The dull of midnight, at her couch's foot
Lorenzo stood and wept: the forest tomb
Had marr'd his glossy hair, which once could shoot
Lustre into the sun, and put cold doom
Upon his lips, and taken the soft lute
From his lorn voice, and passt his loomed ears
Had made a miry channel for his tears.
Strange sound it was, when the pale shadow spoke;
For there was striving in its piteous tongue,
To speak as when on earth it was awake,
And Isabella on its music hung:
Languor there was in it, and tremulous shake,
As in a palsied Druid's harp unstrung;
And through it moaned a ghostly under-song,
Like hoarse night gusts sepulchral biers among.
Its eyes, though wild, were still all dewy bright
With love, and kept all phantom fear aloof
From the poor girl by magic of their bright,
The while it did unthread the horrid woof
Of the late darkened time--the murd'rous spite
Of pride and avarice--the dark pine roof
In the forest--and the sodden turfed dell,
When, without any word, from stabs it fell.
Saying moreover, 'Isabel, my sweet!
Red whortle-berries droop above my head,
And a large flint-stone weighs upon my feet,
Around me beeches and high chesnuts shed
Their leaves and prickly nuts; a sheep-fold bleat
Comes from beyond the river to my bed:
Go shed one tear upon my heather-bloom,
And it shall comfort me within the tomb.
'I am a shadow now, alas! alas!
Upon the skirts of human nature dwelling
Alone: I chaunt alone the holy mass,
While little sounds of life around me knelling,
And glossy bees at noon do fieldward pass,
And many a chapel bell the hour is telling,
Paining me through: these sounds grow strange to me,
And thou art distant in humanity.'"
Let us now see what Burns, the never-to-be-forgotten Scottish poet,
says in his _Address to the Deil_ and _Tam o' Shanter_. In his own
felicitous way he brings out the belief the ancient inhabitants had of
visible devils, water-kelpies, spunkies, witches, charms, spells, and
many other forms of superstition.
ADDRESS TO THE DEIL.
"O thou! whatever title suit thee,
Auld Hornie, Satan, Nick, or Clootie,
Wha in yon cavern grim an' sootie,
Closed under hatches,
Spairges about the brunstane cootie,
To scaud poor wretches.
Hear me, auld Hangie, for a wee,
An' let poor damned bodies be;
I'm sure sma' pleasure it can gie,
E'en to a deil,
To skelp and scaud poor dogs like me,
An' hear us squeel?
Great is thy pow'r, and great thy fame;
Far kend and noted is thy name:
An' tho' yon lowin' heugh's thy hame,
Thou travels far;
An' faith! thou's neither lag nor lame,
Nor blate nor scaur.
Whyles ranging like a roarin' lion
For prey, a' holes and corners tryin';
Whyles on the strong-winged tempest flyin',
Tirling the kirks;
Whyles, in the human bosom pryin',
Unseen thou lurks.
I've heard my reverend grannie say,
In lanely glens you like to stray;
Or where auld ruined castles grey
Nod to the moon,
Ye fright the nightly wand'rer's way,
Wi' eldritch croon.
When twilight did my grannie summon
To say her prayers, douce honest woman!
Aft yont the dyke she's heard you bummin'
Wi' eerie drone;
Or, rustlin', thro' the boortrees comin',
Wi' heavy groan.
Ae dreary, windy, winter night,
The stars shot down wi' sklentin' light,
Wi' you, mysel', I got a fright,
Ayont the lough;
Ye, like a rash-bush stood in sight,
Wi' waving sough.
The cudgel in my nieve did shake,
Each bristled hair stood like a stake,
When wi' an eldritch stour, quaick--quaick--
Amang the springs,
Awa ye squatter'd like a drake,
On whistling wings.
Let warlocks grim, and wither'd hags,
Tell how wi' you on ragweed nags,
They skim the muirs, and dizzy crags,
Wi' wicked speed;
And in kirk-yards renew their leagues
Owre howkit dead.
Thence countra wives, wi' toil an' pain,
May plunge an' plunge the kirn in vain;
For oh! the yellow treasure's ta'en
By witching skill;
An' dawtet, twal-pint Hawkie's gaen
As yell's the bill.
Then mystic knots mak great abuse,
On young guidman, fond, keen, and crouse,
When the best wark-lume i' the house,
By cantrip wit,
Is instant made no worth a louse,
Just at the bit.
When thaws dissolve the snawy hoord,
An' float the jinglin' icy-boord,
Then water-kelpies haunt the foord,
By your direction,
An' 'nighted trav'llers are allured
To their destruction.
An' aft your moss-traversing spunkies
Decoy the wight that late and drunk is;
The bleezin', curst, mischievous monkeys
Delude his eyes,
Till in some miry slough he sunk is,
Ne'er mair to rise.
When masons' mystic word an' grip
In storms an' tempests raise you up,
Some cock or cat your rage maun stop,
Or, strange to tell,
The youngest brother ye wad whip
Aff straught to hell!
Lang syne, in Eden's bonnie yaird,
When youthfu' lovers first were pair'd,
An' a' the soul of love they shared,
The raptured hour,
Sweet on the fragrant flowery swaird
In shady bower!
Then you, ye auld, sneck-drawing dog!
Ye came to Paradise _incog._,
An' played on man a cursèd brogue,
(Black be your fa'!)
An' gied the infant world a shog,
'Maist ruined a'.
D'ye mind that day, when in a bizz,
Wi' reekit duds and reestit gizz,
Ye did present your smoutie phiz
'Mang better folk,
An' sklented on the man of Uz
Your spitefu' joke?
An' how ye gat him in your thrall,
An' brak him out o' house an' hall,
While scabs and blotches did him gall
Wi' bitter claw,
An' lowsed his ill-tongued wicked scaw,
Was warst ava?
But a' your doings to rehearse,
Your wily snares an' fechtin' fierce,
Sin' that day Michael did you pierce,
Down to this time,
Wad ding a Lallan tongue, or Erse,
In prose or rhyme.
An' now, auld Cloots, I ken ye're thinkin'
A certain Bardie's rantin', drinkin',
Some luckless hour will send him linkin'
To your black pit;
But faith, he'll turn a corner, jinkin',
And cheat you yet.
But, fare ye weel, auld Nickie-ben!
O wad ye tak a thought and men'!
Ye aiblins might--I dinna ken--
Still hae a stake--
I'm wae to think upon yon den,
Even for your sake!"
TAM O' SHANTER.
"When chapman billies leave the street,
And drouthy neebors, neebors meet,
As market days are wearing late,
An' folk begin to tak the gate;
While we sit bousing at the nappy,
An' gettin' fou an' unco happy,
We think na on the lang Scots miles,
The mosses, waters, slaps, an' styles,
That lie between us and our hame,
Where sits our sulky sullen dame,
Gathering her brows like gathering storm,
Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.
This truth fand honest Tam o' Shanter,
As he frae Ayr ae night did canter;
(Auld Ayr, wham ne'er a toun surpasses,
For honest men and bonny lasses.)
O Tam! hadst thou but been sae wise,
As ta'en thy ain wife Kate's advice!
She tauld thee weel thou was a skellum,
A blethering, blustering, drunken blellum;
That frae November till October
Ae market-day thou was na sober;
That ilka melder, wi' the miller,
Thou sat as lang as thou had siller;
That ev'ry naig was ca'd a shoe on,
The smith and thee gat roaring fou on;
That at the L--d's house, even on Sunday,
Thou drank wi' Kirkton Jean till Monday.
She prophesy'd that, late or soon,
Thou would be found deep drown'd in Doon;
Or catch'd wi' warlocks in the mirk,
By Alloway's auld haunted kirk.
Ah, gentle dames! it gars me greet,
To think how mony counsels sweet,
How mony lengthen'd sage advices,
The husband frae the wife despises!
But to our tale: Ae market night
Tam had got planted unco right;
Fast by an ingle, bleezing finely,
Wi' reaming swats, that drank divinely:
And at his elbow, Souter Johnny,
His ancient, trusty, drouthy crony;
Tam lo'ed him like a vera brither;
They had been fou for weeks thegither.
The night drave on wi' sangs an' clatter;
And aye the ale was growing better:
The landlady and Tam grew gracious,
Wi' favours, secret, sweet, and precious;
The souter tauld his queerest stories;
The landlord's laugh was ready chorus:
The storm without might rair and rustle,
Tam did na mind the storm a whistle.
Care, mad to see a man sae happy,
E'en drown'd himself amang the nappy;
As bees flee hame wi' lades o' treasure,
The minutes wing'd their way wi' pleasure:
Kings may be blest, but Tam was glorious,
O'er a' the ills o' life victorious!
But pleasures are like poppies spread--
You seize the flow'r, its bloom is shed!
Or like the snow-fall in the river,
A moment white--then melts for ever;
Or like the borealis race,
That flit ere you can point their place;
Or like the rainbow's lovely form,
Evanishing amid the storm.--
Nae man can tether time nor tide:
The hour approaches Tam maun ride--
That hour, o' night's black arch the key-stane,
That dreary hour he mounts his beast in,
And sic a night he taks the road in,
As ne'er poor sinner was abroad in.
The wind blew as 'twad blawn its last;
The rattlin' showers rose on the blast:
The speedy gleams the darkness swallow'd;
Loud, deep, and lang the thunder bellow'd;
That night a child might understand
The deil had business on his hand.
Weel mounted on his grey mare, Meg--
A better never lifted leg--
Tam skelpit on through dub and mire,
Despising wind, and rain, and fire;
Whiles holding fast his guid blue bonnet;
Whiles crooning o'er some auld Scots sonnet;
Whiles glow'ring round wi' prudent cares,
Lest bogles catch him unawares;
Kirk-Alloway was drawing nigh,
Whare ghaists and houlets nightly cry.
By this time he was 'cross the foord,
Whare in the snaw the chapman smoor'd;
And past the birks and meikle stane,
Whare drucken Charlie brak's neck bane;
And thro' the whins, and by the cairn,
Whare hunters fand the murder'd bairn;
And near the thorn, aboon the well,
Whare Mungo's mither hang'd hersel.--
Before him Doon pours all his floods!
The doubling storm roars thro' the woods;
The lightnings flash from pole to pole;
Near and more near the thunders roll;
When glimmering thro' the groaning trees,
Kirk-Alloway seem'd in a bleeze;
Thro' ilka bore the beams were glancing,
And loud resounded mirth and dancing.
Inspiring bold John Barleycorn!
What dangers thou canst make us scorn!
Wi' tippenny we fear nae evil;
Wi' usquebae we'll face the devil.--
The swats sae ream'd in Tammie's noddle,
Fair play, he cared na deils a boddle.
But Maggie stood right sair astonish'd,
Till, by the heel and hand admonish'd,
She ventured forward on the light;
And, wow! Tam saw an unco sight!
Warlocks and witches in a dance;
Nae cotillon brent new frae France,
But hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys, and reels
Put life and mettle in their heels.
A winnock-bunker in the east,
There sat auld Nick in shape o' beast;
A towzie tyke, black, grim, and large,
To gie them music was his charge:
He screw'd his pipes and gart them skirl
Till roof and rafters a' did dirl.
Coffins stood round like open presses,
That shaw'd the dead in their last dresses;
And by some devilish cantrip sleight,
Each in its cauld hand held a light,
By which heroic Tam was able
To note upon the haly table,
A murderer's banes in gibbet airns;
Twa span-lang, wee unchristen'd bairns,
A thief, new cutted frae a rape,
Wi' his last gasp his gab did gape:
Five tomahawks, wi' blude red-rusted;
Five scimitars, wi' murder crusted;
A garter which a babe had strangled;
A knife a father's throat had mangled,
Whom his ain son o' life bereft,
The grey hairs yet stack to the heft
Wi' mair o' horrible and awfu'
Which ev'n to name wad be unlawfu'.
As Tammie glowr'd, amaz'd and curious,
The mirth and fun grew fast and furious:
The piper loud and louder blew,
The dancers quick and quicker flew;
They reel'd, they set, they cross'd, they cleekit
Till ilka carlin swat and reekit,
And coost her duddies to the wark
And linket at it in her sark!
Now Tam, O Tam! had they been queens
A' plump an' strapping, in their teens;
Their sarks, instead o' creeshie flannen,
Been snaw-white seventeen hunder linen!
Thir breeks o' mine, my only pair,
That ance were plush o' guid blue hair,
I wad hae gi'en them aff my hurdies,
For ae blink o' the bonnie burdies!
But wither'd beldames auld and droll,
Rigwoodie hags wad spean a foal,
Louping and flinging on a crummock,
I wonder didna turn thy stomach.
But Tam kenn'd what was what fu' brawlie,
There was a winsome wench and walie,
That night enlisted in the core,
(Lang after kenn'd on Carrick shore!
For monie a beast to dead she shot,
And perish'd monie a bonnie boat,
And shook baith meikle corn and bear,
And kept the country side in fear).
Her cutty sark o' Paisley harn,
That while a lassie she had worn,
In longitude though sorely scanty,
It was her best, and she was vauntie:
Ah! little kenn'd thy reverend grannie,
That sark she coft for her wee Nannie,
Wi' twa pund Scots ('twas a' her riches),
Wad ever graced a dance o' witches!
But here my muse her wing man cour:
Sic flights are far beyond her power:
To sing how Nannie lap and flang,
(A souple jade she was an' strang),
An' how Tam stood like ane bewitch'd,
An' thought his very een enrich'd:
Even Satan glowr'd and fidg'd fu' fain,
And hotch'd and blew wi' might and main:
Till first ae caper, syne anither,
Tam tint his reason a' thegither,
And roars out, 'Weel done, Cutty sark!'
And in an instant all was dark;
And scarcely had he Maggie rallied,
When out the hellish legion sallied.
As bees bizz out wi' angry fyke,
When plundering herds assail their byke;
As open pussie's mortal foes,
When, pop! she starts before their nose;
As eager runs the market crowd,
When 'Catch the thief!' resounds aloud,--
So Maggie runs, the witches follow,
Wi' monie an eldritch screetch and hollow.
Ah, Tam! Ah, Tam! thou'll get thy fairin'!
In hell they'll roast thee like a herrin'!
In vain thy Kate awaits thy comin'!
Kate soon will be a waefu' woman!
Now do thy speedy utmost, Meg,
And win the key-stane o' the brig;
There at them thou thy tail may toss,
A running stream they darena cross.
But ere the key-stane she could make,
The fient a tail she had to shake!
For Nannie, far before the rest,
Hard upon noble Maggie press'd,
And flew at Tam wi' furious ettle;
But little wist she Maggie's mettle--
Ae spring brought aff her master hale,
But left behind her ain grey tail:
The carlin caught her by the rump,
An' left poor Maggie scarce a stump.
Now, wha this tale o' truth shall read,
Ilk man and mother's son take heed:
Whene'er to drink you are inclined,
Or cutty sarks run in your mind,
Think ye may buy the joys o'er dear,
Remember Tam o' Shanter's mare."
CHAPTER XIX.
Sir Walter Scott, the "Great Unknown"--His belief in
Superstition--How his Tales of Fiction are composed--A
Town-Clerk frightened by an Apparition--A Ghost that
did not understand Erse, but could communicate in
Latin--Lovel and Edie Ochiltree--Discovery of Hidden
Treasure by Occult Science--"Rob Roy"--Fairies'
Caverns--Supposed Apparition in the Trossachs--Elfin
People at the Firth of Forth--A Minister taken away by
Fairies--Dame Glendinning's Tale--Lines from
"Marmion"--A Fairy Knight--Mysterious Steed.
Sir Walter Scott, the "Great Unknown," was sensibly affected by his
country's tales of witches, fairies, and ghosts. Whether the fear he
entertained proceeded from early impressions, or whether an awe
imperceptibly crept over him, through his frequent communings with old
people (when he was in more advanced life) who had no doubt of the
existence of witches and spirits, good and bad, visiting the earth,
and performing acts of benevolence or malevolence, according to the
inclination or caprice of the uncanny or unearthly agent, we cannot
say; but of one thing there can be no doubt, that even in years of
maturity he believed there were spirits that appeared to men, and
assisted them to perform actions they could not have done without
superhuman aid, and that by such beings future events were made known.
Were it not for the dash of superstition he threw here and there into
his tales, they would be comparatively of a commonplace description.
Like other writers of fiction, or authors whose writings rest on a
slender foundation of truth, Sir Walter Scott often brings forward a
witch, wizard, gipsy, fairy, ghost, and other spirits. A haunted
castle, a fortune-teller, and a good or evil genius are as
indispensable in a good story as a cruel parent, a rich uncle, and a
disappointed lover. None knew better than the great Scottish novelist
how to work on his readers' feelings; and hence his success.
Sir Walter tells, in the _Antiquary_, a story of Rab Tull, the
town-clerk, being in an old house searching for important documents,
but who was obliged to go to bed without finding them. The bodie had
got such a custom of tippling and tippling with his drunken cronies,
that he could not sleep without his punch, and as usual he took his
glass that evening. In the middle watches of night he had a fearful
wakening--he was never himself after it--and was stricken with the
dead palsy that very day four years. He thought he heard the bed
curtains move, and out he looked. Before him appeared an old gentleman
in a queer-fashioned dress. Rab, greatly frightened, asked the
apparition (for it was a spirit that stood before him) what it
wanted. The spirit answered in an unknown tongue. Rab replied in Erse,
but the spirit did not seem to understand this language. In his
strait, the clerk bethought him of two or three words of Latin he used
in making out the town's deeds; and no sooner had he tried the strange
object before him with these, than out came such a blatter of Latin,
that Rab Tull--who with all his pretensions was no great scholar--was
overwhelmed. It then made a sign to Rab to follow it. He followed
up-stairs and down-stairs to a tower in a corner of the house. There
the ghost pointed out a cabinet, and suddenly disappeared. In a drawer
of that repository the missing deed was found.
Lovel, after shooting M'Intyre in a duel, fled from justice, under the
guidance of old Edie Ochiltree. Exhausted by excitement and a long
walk through a thicket, they reached a cave with narrow entrance,
concealed by the boughs of an oak. Passing through the aperture, not
much larger than a fox-hole, they reached the interior. Lovel was led
to a narrow turnpike stair leading to a church above. In the evening
they reached a spot which commanded a full view of the chancel in
every direction. Ere long, Lovel was startled by the sound of human
voices. Two persons, with a dark lantern, entered the chancel. After
conversing together some time in whispers, Lovel recognised the voice
of Dousterswivel, pronouncing in a smothered tone, "Indeed, mine goot
sir, dere cannot be one finer hour nor season for dis great
purpose.... I will show you all de secrets dat art can show--ay, de
secret of de great Pymander." The other individual turned out to be
Sir Arthur Wardour, and their business evidently had reference to the
discovery of hidden treasure, by means of consulting the heavenly
bodies or some friendly spirit. Before Sir Arthur and Dousterswivel
left the ruins of St. Ruth, they found a casket containing gold and
silver coins. These two worthies, along with Mr. Oldenbuck, set out,
on another occasion to search for treasure at the ruins of St. Ruth.
Arrived at the scene of operations, the Antiquary addressed the adept
Dousterswivel: "Pray, Mr. Dousterswivel, shall we dig from east to
west, or from west to east? or will you assist us with your triangular
vial of May-dew, or with your divining-rod of witch-hazel?" This was
said tauntingly, yet nevertheless they proceeded to dig, in the hope
of finding treasure; and sure enough, a chest containing ingots of
silver to the value of a thousand pounds was discovered. Dousterswivel
claimed the credit of bringing about the discovery. Mr. Oldenbuck
refused to give him any credit, telling him that he came without
weapons, and did not use charms, lamen-sigel, talisman, spell-crystal,
pentacle, magic-mirror, nor geomantic figure. "Where," asked the
Antiquary, "be your periapts, and your abracadabras, man? your
May-fern, your vervain--
"Your toad, your crow, your dragon, and your panther,
Your sun, your moon, your firmament, your adrop,
Your Lato, Azoch, Zernich, Chibrit, Heautarit,
With all your broths, your menstrues, your materials,
Would burst a man to name?"
Dousterswivel, like all others who resort to enchantments, believing
in the existence of hobgoblins and divination, was not certain but his
own art had really contributed to the success of his party. Chagrined
at the treatment of Mr. Oldenbuck, and separated for a time from Sir
Arthur, he was glad to enter into conversation with Edie Ochiltree,
who witnessed the finding of the treasure with a keen eye to future
operations. Edie had surreptitiously obtained possession of the
treasure box-lid, and on it he and the conjurer were able to decipher,
"Search number one." The old beggar, who knew many of the traditions
of the country, told Dousterswivel that the remains of Malcolm the
Misticot were, along with a large amount of gold and silver, buried
somewhere at St. Ruth. Moreover, he recited the old prophecy:
"If Malcolm the Misticot's grave were fun',
The lands of Knockwinnock are lost and won."
They resolved to return to the ruins of St. Ruth at midnight to make
another search, not on account of Sir Arthur or Mr. Oldenbuck, but for
themselves. Neither gold nor silver were found; but those engaged in
the search got a fright, one supposing he saw evil spirits rising from
the earth's bowels, and the other that he was chased by a ghost on
horseback. A series of interesting incidents connected with adventure,
love, and crime follow. Dousterswivel was discovered to be an
impostor; certain persons engaged in a dark plot were cut off by
death, but the virtuous were rewarded.
Sir Walter Scott, in _Rob Roy_, makes mention of an eminence or mound
near the upland hills, whence the Forth springs, supposed by the
people in the neighbourhood to contain within its unseen caverns the
palaces of fairies; and in his Notes to _Rob Roy_ it is stated that
the lakes and precipices, amidst which the river Forth has its birth,
are still, according to popular tradition, haunted by elfin people. In
one note the reader is informed that the Rev. Robert Kirk, who died at
Aberfoyle in the year 1688, was supposed to have been taken away by
fairies. Mr. Kirk was walking near his manse on a _Dun Shie_, or fairy
mound, when he sank down apparently in a faint, and seemingly died.
The body was supposed to be buried, but shortly afterwards he appeared
in living form to a friend, to whom he told that he was not dead, but
in fairyland, whither he was carried at the time he fell down in a
swoon. The reverend captive gave directions how he might be rescued by
him; but the person who was appointed to perform the prescribed
ceremony failed to proceed as directed, and Mr. Kirk, who had been
twice seen after his supposed death, never appeared again.
* * * * *
As we are writing of Rob Roy's country, and of an incident connected
with the fate of a minister there, we suddenly break the thread of our
narrative, to introduce the particulars of a most extraordinary
circumstance connected with another clergyman in that quarter.
A few years ago, about 1870, a most respectable gentleman belonging to
Edinburgh, devoid of superstitious fear, told the writer: "In the
autumn I was enjoying the retirement and grandeur of the Trossachs and
surrounding district. The lake, the hill, the dale, and, above all,
the people, interested me. Often was I in the humble cot, and,
although a sojourner, I became acquainted with families in the more
exalted positions in society. Among others, I gained the friendship of
a venerable clergyman, whose charity and piety were known far and
near.
"While I had my residence in the Trossachs Hotel, the clergyman, I was
told, one day was dangerously ill. Next morning, before starting with
a few friends up Loch Katrine, I sent to inquire after the invalid's
health. The answer returned conveyed the impression that he was fast
sinking. We proceeded up the lake, and came back by the last boat for
the day. We took outside seats on the coach, and while turning a
corner of the road, about half-way between the lake and the hotel, I
and several other passengers (including the captain of the Loch
Katrine steamer and the driver) observed a gentleman passing us, whom
we all declared was the clergyman. Trusting our sight, we thought it
most extraordinary that a man, considered to be dying in the morning,
should be seen in the evening on the highway, far from home.
"The steamboat being unusually late of arriving at her destination,
the sun had gone down, and the shades of night were closing over us
before half our journey by coach could be accomplished, still it was
not so dark when the figure of the pious minister appeared but that
one might not only see the figure of a man, but observe his every
feature. The sight struck all, who recognised in the traveller the
invalid minister with amazement, and some with fear. On the coach
arriving at the hotel, a messenger was despatched to inquire after the
reverend gentleman's health. The answer received disclosed the
startling intelligence that the clergyman had expired shortly before
the time we saw his figure walking with slow step and sad countenance
towards Loch Katrine."
* * * * *
But we now return to Sir Walter Scott's works. Those who have read the
_Monastery_ (and who have not?) may recollect of Dame Glendinning
telling Tibb what she had seen on a Hallowe'en in her youth--which was
as follows:--
"Aweel, aweel, I had mair joes than ane, but I favoured nane o' them;
and sae, at Hallowe'en, Father Nicolas the cellarer--he was cellarer
before his father, Father Clement, that now is--was cracking his nuts
and drinking his brown beer with us, and as blithe as might be, and
they would have me try a cantrip to ken wha suld wed me; and the monk
said there was nae ill in it, and if there was, he would assoil me for
it. And awa' I went into the barn to winnow my three weights o'
naething--sair, sair, my mind misgave me for fear of wrang-doing and
wrang-suffering, baith; but I had aye a bauld spirit. I had not
winnowed the last weight clear out, and the moon was shining bright
upon the floor, when in stalked the presence of my dear Simon
Glendinning, that is now happy. I never saw him plainer in my life
than I did that moment; he held up an arrow as he passed me, and I
swarf'd awa' wi' fright. Muckle wark there was to bring me to mysel'
again, and sair they tried to make me believe it was a trick o' Father
Nicolas and Simon between them, and that the arrow was to signify
Cupid's shaft, as the Father called it; and mony a time Simon wad
threep it to me after I was married--gude man, he liked not it suld be
said that he was seen out o' the body!--But mark the end o' it, Tibb:
we were married, and the grey-goose wing was the death o' him, after
a'!"
The following lines appear in _Marmion_ in reference to a combat with
a goblin knight:--
"Soon as the midnight bell did ring,
Alone, and armed, forth rode the King
To that old camp's deserted round:
Sir Knight, you well might mark the mound,
Left hand the town,--the Pictish race
The trench, long since, in blood did trace;
The moor around is brown and bare,
The space within is green and fair.
The spot our village children know,
For there the earliest wild flowers grow;
But woe betide the wandering wight,
That treads its circle in the night!
The breadth across, a bowshot clear,
Gives ample space for full career;
Opposed to the four points of heaven,
By four deep gaps is entrance given.
The southernmost our monarch passed,
Halted, and blew a gallant blast;
And on the north, within the ring,
Appeared the form of England's king,
Who then a thousand leagues afar,
In Palestine waged holy war:
Yet arms like England's did he wield,
Alike the leopards in the shield,
Alike his Syrian courser's frame,
The rider's length of limb the same:
Long afterwards did Scotland know
Fell Edward was her deadliest foe.
The vision made our monarch start,
But soon he manned his noble heart,
And in the first career they ran,
The Elfin Knight fell horse and man;
Yet did a splinter of his lance
Through Alexander's visor glance,
And razed the skin--a puny wound.
The king, light leaping to the ground,
With naked blade his phantom foe
Compelled the future war to show.
Of Largs he saw the glorious plain,
Where still gigantic bones remain,
Memorial of the Danish war;
Himself he saw amid the field,
On high his brandished war-axe wield,
And strike proud Haco from his car,
While all around the shadowy kings,
Denmark's grim ravens cowered their wings.
'Tis said that, in that awful night,
Remoter visions met his sight,
Foreshowing future conquests far,
When our sons' sons wage northern war;
A royal city, tower and spire,
Reddened the midnight sky with fire;
And shouting crews her navy bore,
Triumphant, to the victor shore.
Such signs may learned clerks explain,
They pass the wit of simple swain.
The joyful king turned home again,
Headed his host and quelled the Dane;
But yearly, when returned the night
Of his strange combat with the sprite,
His wound must bleed and smart;
Lord Gifford then would gibing say,
'Bold as ye were, my liege, ye pay
The penance of your start.'
Long since, beneath Dunfermline's nave,
King Alexander fills his grave,
Our Lady give him rest!
Yet still the nightly spear and shield
The elfin warrior doth wield,
Upon the brown hill's breast;
And many a knight hath proved his chance
In the charmed ring to break a lance,
But have all foully sped;
Save two, as legends tell, and they
Were Wallace wight, and Gilbert Hay.--
Gentles, my tale is said."
One of Sir Walter Scott's poetic effusions has reference to a popular
story concerning a fairy knight:--
"Osbert, a bold and powerful baron, visited a noble family in the
vicinity of Wandlebury, in the bishopric of Ely. Among other stories
related in the social circle of his friends (who, according to custom,
amused each other by repeating ancient tales and traditions), he was
informed, that if any knight, unattended, entered an adjacent plain by
moonlight, and challenged an adversary to appear, he would be
immediately encountered by a spirit in the form of a knight. Osbert
resolved to make the experiment, and set out, attended by a single
squire, whom he ordered to remain without the limits of the plain,
which was surrounded by an ancient entrenchment. On repeating the
challenge, he was instantly assailed by an adversary, whom he quickly
unhorsed, and seized the reins of his steed. During this operation,
his ghostly opponent sprang up, and darting his spear like a javelin
at Osbert, wounded him in the thigh. Osbert returned in triumph with
the horse, which he committed to the care of his servants. The horse
was of a sable colour, as well as his whole accoutrements, and
apparently of great beauty and vigour. He remained with his keepers
till cock-crowing, when, with eyes flashing fire, he reared, spurned
the ground, and vanished. On disarming himself, Osbert perceived that
he was wounded, and that one of his steel boots was full of blood.
Gervase adds, that as long as he lived, the scar of his wound opened
afresh on the anniversary of the eve on which he encountered the
spirit."
CHAPTER XX.
Lord Byron taught Superstition by his Nurse and
others--Byron and the Maid in Green--The Maid's
Keepsake or Charm--Bridge of Balgonie--Byron's fear to
ride over it--His belief in Unlucky Days and
Presentiments--Socrates's Demon--Monk Lewis's
Monitor--Napoleon's Warnings--A Sorrowful Tale--A
Strange Story--Qualities of Mind descending from Sire
to Son--Byron's Fortune told by a Sybil--Hebrew
Camyo--Abracadabra--Loch-na-Garr--Oscar of
Alva--Byron's last Instructions.
Lord Byron, who was taught superstition by his nurse, became
acquainted with the peculiar belief of the Highlanders while, in early
life, he dwelt within sight of "dark Loch-na-Garr." When wandering
about Pannanich, the shepherds told him many strange legends, and the
old dames often enticed him into their huts to amuse him with fairy
tales and witch stories. It was thought by the old crones that the
wonderful boy had communings with more uncanny neighbours than these
simple-minded people, who no more doubted the existence of witches and
fairies than they doubted that the Dee flowed from the mountains to
the sea. If report spoke true, he was often heard in conversation with
intelligent beings, though to ordinary human eyes no other form but
that of his own was seen. After his fame was wide-spread, an old
woman, who lived in a little straw-thatched cottage by the roadside
near Balmoral, declared that she expected that he would enlighten the
world, for she had often seen him with those who could instruct him
and tell him of past and future events. One of those persons, she
said, was a little maid dressed in green, whose beautiful face,
flowing hair, and agile figure were faultless. Frequently was she seen
climbing steep precipices on which human foot was never known to rest,
and bring him flowers, and even the eagles' nests were not beyond her
reach. While the young and middle-aged would wonder who she was, the
aged shook their heads. Whoever the fair little maid was, one thing in
connection with her was exceedingly strange. Either Byron did not know
her relations and home, or, for reasons he kept to himself, he chose
to conceal them. Her merry laugh, clear as the sound of a silver bell,
or her sweet voice in song, was generally what indicated her approach.
At one time she would emerge from a thicket, and rise at another, like
a spectre from behind a rock. Her disappearance was equally
mysterious. At their last parting she gave him a keepsake or charm,
which he long wore, suspended by a ribbon, round his neck, and it was
not till he threw it aside that he became unfortunate and unhappy. We
cannot vouch for the truth of this story; but if Byron did not hold
intercourse with unearthly beings, he has, by his writings and speech,
left room for simple-minded people who have read his works and
history, to suppose that he did. His belief in presentiment was very
strong, as also visionary warnings of imminent danger or impending
calamities.
A school-fellow of Byron had a small pony, and one day they went to
the Don to bathe. When they came to the bridge of Balgownie, the young
poet remembered the old prophecy:
"Brig o' Balgownie! wight is thy wa',
Wi' a wife's ae son, an' a mare's ae foal,
Down shalt thou fa'."
He immediately stopped his companion, who was then riding, and asked
him if he recollected the prophecy, saying, that as they were both
only sons, and as the pony might be "a mare's ae foal," he would
rather ride over first, because he had only a mother to lament him
should the bridge fall, whereas he, his companion, had both a father
and mother to grieve for him if he perished. Byron, however, was not
the only one who put faith in such prophecies. Leslie says, "Persons
have been known to dismount when they came to the brig o' Balgownie,
and send their horses over before them."
Byron had a belief in unlucky days. He once refused to be introduced
to a lady because the day was Friday; and on this day of the week he
would not visit his friends. "Something," he said, "whispered to me at
my wedding that I was signing my death warrant. I am a great believer
in presentiments. Socrates's demon was no fiction; Monk Lewis had his
monitor, and Napoleon many warnings. At the last moment I would have
retreated if I could have done so."
The poet had a high opinion of Monk Lewis. Here are two stories told
by Byron:
"Whilst Lewis was residing at Mannheim, every night at the same hour,
he heard, or thought he heard, in his room, when he was lying in bed,
a crackling noise like that produced by parchment or thick paper. This
circumstance caused inquiry, when it was told him that the sounds were
attributable to the following cause:--The house in which he lived had
belonged to a widow who had an only son. In order to prevent him
marrying a poor but amiable girl to whom he was attached, he was sent
to sea. Years passed, and the mother heard no tidings of him nor of
the ship in which he had sailed. It was supposed the vessel had been
wrecked, and that all on board had perished. The reproaches of the
girl, the upbraidings of her own conscience, and the loss of her
child, crazed the old lady's mind. Her only pursuit was to turn over
the gazettes for news. Hope at length left her: she did not live long,
and continued her old occupation after death."
The other story runs thus:
"Two Florentine lovers, who had been attached to each other almost
from childhood, made a vow of eternal fidelity. Mina was the name of
the lady; her husband's I forget, but it is not material. They
parted. He had been some time absent with his regiment, when, as his
disconsolate lady was sitting alone in her chamber, she distinctly
heard the well-known sound of his footsteps, and, starting up, beheld
not her husband, but his spectre, with a deep ghastly wound across his
forehead. She swooned with horror. When she recovered, the ghost told
her that in future his visits should be announced by a passing bell,
and the words distinctly whispered, 'Mina, I am here!' Their
interviews became frequent, till the woman fancied herself as much in
love with the ghost as she had been with the man. But it was soon to
prove otherwise. One fatal night she went to a ball. She danced, and,
what was worse, her partner was a young Florentine, so much the
counterpart of her lover, that she became estranged from the ghost.
Whilst the young gallant conducted her in the waltz, and her ear drank
in the music of his voice and words, a passing bell tolled. She had
been accustomed to the sound till it hardly excited her attention,
and, now lost in the attractions of her fascinating partner, she
heard, but regarded it not. A second peal!--she listened not to its
warnings. A third time the bell, with its deep and iron tongue,
startled the assembled company, and silenced the music. Mina turned
her eyes from her partner, and saw, reflected in the mirror, a form, a
shadow, a spectre: it was her husband. He was standing between her and
the young Florentine, and whispered, in a solemn and melancholy tone,
the accustomed accents, 'Mina, I am here!' She instantly fell down
dead. The two ghosts walked out of the room arm in arm."
Byron believed that the quality of mind descended from sire to son,
and contended that any passion might be worn out of a family by
skilful culture. To his uncle, who was very superstitious, and fed
crickets, he ascribed his superstition; to another of his ancestors,
who died laughing, he ascribed his buoyant spirits. Two of his
relations had such an affection for each other, that they both died at
the same time. "There seems," he said, "to have been a flaw in my
escutcheon there, or that that loving couple have monopolised all the
connubial bliss of the family."
Byron's superstition was so great that it led him to have his fortune
told by a sybil. It was prophesied that his twenty-seventh and
thirty-seventh years would prove unlucky to him. Some people have
thought that the prophecy was fulfilled: he was married in his
twenty-seventh, and died in his thirty-seventh year.
He was convinced that the principal charms of the Scotch resembled
those of other nations. He was not ignorant of the supposed virtue of
the mountain ash as an antidote against witchcraft. Everything
pertaining to superstition was interesting to him. He had stored up in
his memory many curious anecdotes. On being told of a particular race
of men skilled in Cabala, who by a single gaze of their "evil eye"
could level an enemy to the earth and occasion instantaneous death,
and of parents who had handsome children hanging cameos round their
necks to protect them from the evil consequences of a wicked eye, his
Lordship said, "I remember reading somewhere that Serenus Samonicus,
preceptor to a young Gordian, recommended the Abracadabra or
Abrasadabra as a charm or amulet in curing agues, and preventing other
diseases."
A Hebrew Camyo, supposed to have been handed down from father to son
since the building of the first temple, has a similar effect. Lucky is
the circumcised Jew who has, in the time of need, the good fortune to
have the Hebrew charm applied to his leprously-inclined body; and
thrice fortunate is he, whoever he may be, that has it constantly at
his command, and can claim it as his family relic.
The word Abracadabra or Abrasadabra must be written on parchment, or
other suitable substance, in the manner below, omitting in every new
line the last letter of the former line, so that the whole may form a
kind of inverted cone:
A b r a c a d a b r a
A b r a c a d a b r
A b r a c a d a b
A b r a c a d a
A b r a c a d
A b r a c a
A b r a c
A b r a
A b r
A b
A
Byron looked as if he had added greatly to his stock of knowledge when
he learned that, which way soever the letters of the charms might be
taken, beginning from the lower point and ascending from the left to
the right, they make the same word.
To every one who has read _Loch-na-Garr_, it must be evident that
Byron believed, or wished it to appear that he believed, like the
Highlanders, that the voices of the dead were heard in the storm, that
the souls of departed heroes rode on the wind, and that the dark
clouds encircled the forms of chieftain sires that added lustre to
their country's glory. But the poet shall speak for himself:--
"Away, ye gay landscapes, ye gardens of roses!
In you let the minions of luxury rove;
Restore me the rocks where the snow-flake reposes,
Though still they are sacred to freedom and love:
Yet, Caledonia, beloved are thy mountains,
Round their white summits though elements war;
Though cataracts foam 'stead of smooth-flowing fountains,
I sigh for the valley of dark Loch-na-Garr.
Ah! there my young footsteps in infancy wander'd;
My cap was the bonnet, my cloak was the plaid:
On chieftains long perish'd my memory ponder'd,
As daily I strode through the pine-cover'd glade;
I sought not my home till the day's dying glory
Gave place to the rays of the bright polar star;
For fancy was cheer'd by traditional story,
Disclosed by the natives of dark Loch-na-Garr.
'Shades of the dead! have I not heard your voices
Rise on the night-rolling breath of the gale?'
Surely the soul of the hero rejoices,
And rides on the wind, o'er his own Highland vale.
Round Loch-na-Garr, while the stormy mist gathers,
Winter presides in his cold icy car:
Clouds there encircle the forms of my fathers;
They dwell in the tempests of dark Loch-na-Garr.
'Ill-starr'd, though brave, did no visions foreboding
Tell you that fate had forsaken your cause?'
Ah! were you destined to die at Culloden,
Victory crown'd not your fall with applause:
Still were you happy in death's earthy slumber,
You rest with your clans in the caves of Braemar;
The pibroch resounds to the piper's loud number,
Your deeds on the echoes of dark Loch-na-Garr.
Years have roll'd on, Loch-na-Garr, since I left you,
Years must elapse ere I tread you again:
Nature of verdure and flowers has bereft you,
Yet still are you dearer than Albion's plain.
England! thy beauties are tame and domestic
To one who has roved o'er the mountains afar:
O for the crags that are wild and majestic!
The steep frowning glories of dark Loch-na-Garr!"
In _Oscar of Alva_ will also be found something of popular
superstition. Passing over a part of the tale, Byron says:--
"From high Southannon's distant tower
Arrived a young and noble dame;
With Kenneth's lands to form her dower,
Glenalvon's blue-eyed daughter came.
And Oscar claimed the beauteous bride,
And Angus on his Oscar smiled;
It soothed the father's feudal pride
Thus to obtain Glenalvon's child.
Hark to the pibroch's pleasing note!
Hark to the swelling nuptial song!
In joyous strains the voices float,
And still the choral peal prolong.
* * * * *
But where is Oscar? Sure 'tis late:
Is this a bridegroom's ardent flame?
While thronging guests and ladies wait
Nor Oscar nor his brother came.
At length young Allan join'd the bride;
'Why comes not Oscar?' Angus said:
'Is he not here?' the youth replied;
'With me he roved not o'er the glade.'
* * * * *
'O search, ye chiefs! O search around!
Allan, with these through Alva fly;
Till Oscar, till my son is found,
Haste, haste, nor dare attempt reply.'
Three days, three sleepless nights, the chief
For Oscar searched each mountain cave
Then hope is lost: in boundless grief
His locks in grey torn ringlets wave.
* * * * *
Days rolled along: the orb of light
Again had run his destined race;
No Oscar bless'd his father's sight,
And sorrow left a fainter trace.
For youthful Allan still remain'd,
And now his father's only joy:
And Mora's heart was quickly gain'd,
For beauty crown'd the fair-hair'd boy.
She thought that Oscar low was laid,
And Allan's face was wondrous fair:
If Oscar lived, some other maid
Had claim'd his faithless bosom's care.
And Angus said, if one year more
In fruitless hope was pass'd away,
His fondest scruples should be o'er,
And he would name their nuptial day.
Slow roll'd the moons, but blest at last
Arrived the dearly destined morn;
The year of anxious trembling past,
What smiles the lovers' cheeks adorn!
Hark to the pibroch's pleasing note!
Hark to the swelling nuptial song!
In joyous strains the voices float,
And still the choral peal prolong.
Again the clan, in festive crowd,
Throng through the gate of Alva's hall;
The sounds of mirth re-echo loud,
And all their former joy recall.
But who is he whose darken'd brow
Glooms in the midst of general mirth?
Before his eyes' far fiercer glow
The blue flames curdle o'er the hearth.
Dark is the robe which wraps his form,
And tall his plume of gory red;
His voice is like the rising storm,
But light and trackless is his tread.
'Tis noon of night, the pledge goes round,
The bridegroom's health is deeply quaff'd;
With shouts the vaulted roofs resound,
And all combine to hail the draught.
Sudden the stranger chief arose,
And all the clamorous crowd are hush'd;
And Angus' cheek with wonder glows,
And Mora's tender bosom blush'd.
'Old man!' he cried, 'this pledge is done;
Thou saw'st was duly drunk by me:
It hail'd the nuptials of thy son:
Now will I claim, a pledge from thee.
While all around is mirth and joy,
To bless thy Allan's happy lot,
Say, had'st thou ne'er another boy?
Say, why should Oscar be forgot?'
'Alas!' the hapless sire replied,
The big tear starting as he spoke;
When Oscar left my hall, or died,
This aged heart was almost broke.
'Thrice has the earth revolved her course
Since Oscar's form has bless'd my sight;
And Allan is my last resource,
Since martial Oscar's death or flight.'
''Tis well,' replied the stranger stern,
And fiercely flashed his rolling eye;
'Thy Oscar's fate I fain would learn:
Perhaps the hero did not die.
'Perchance if those whom most he loved
Would call, thy Oscar might return;
Perchance the chief has only roved;
For him thy beltane yet may burn.
'Fill high the bowl the table round,
We will not claim the pledge by stealth;
With wine let every cup be crown'd:
Pledge me departed Oscar's health.'
'With all my soul,' old Angus said,
And fill'd his goblet to the brim;
'Here's to my boy! alive or dead,
I ne'er shall find a son like him.'
'Bravely, old man, this health hath sped;
But why does Allan trembling stand?
Come, drink remembrance of the dead,
And raise thy cup with firmer hand.'
The crimson glow of Allan's face
Was turn'd at once to ghastly hue;
The drops of death each other chase
Adown in agonizing dew.
Thrice did he raise the goblet high,
And thrice his lips refused to taste;
For thrice he caught the stranger's eye
On his with deadly fury placed.
'And is it thus a brother hails
A brother's fond remembrance here;
If thus affection's strength prevails,
What might we not expect from fear?'
Roused by the sneer, he raised the bowl,
'Would Oscar now could share our mirth!'
Internal fear appall'd his soul;
He said, and dash'd the cup to earth.
'Tis he! I hear my murderer's voice!'
Loud shrieks a darkly gleaming form;
'A murderer's voice!' the roof replies,
And deeply swells the bursting storm.
The tapers wink, the chieftains shrink,
The stranger's gone--amidst the crew
A form was seen in tartan green,
And tall the shade terrific grew.
His waist was bound with a broad belt round,
His plume of sable stream'd on high;
But his breast was bare, with the red wounds there
And fixed was the glare of his glassy eye.
And thrice he smiled, with his eye so wild,
On Angus bending low the knee:
And thrice he frown'd on a chief on the ground,
Whom shivering crowds with horror see.
The bolts loud roll from pole to pole,
The thunders through the welkin ring;
And the gleaming form, through the mist of the storm,
Was borne on high by the whirlwind's wing.
Cold was the feast, the revel ceased,
Who lies upon the stony floor?
Oblivion press'd old Angus' breast,
At length his life-pulse throbs once more.
Away! away! let the leech assay
To pour the light on Allan's eyes:
His sand is done--his race is run;
O! never more shall Allan rise:
But Oscar's breast is cold as clay,
His locks are lifted by the gale:
And Allan's barbed arrow lay
With him in dark Glentanar's vale.
And whence the dreadful stranger came,
Or who, no mortal wight can tell;
But no one doubts the form of flame,
For Alva's sons knew Oscar well.
Ambition nerved young Allan's hand,
Exulting demons wing'd his dart;
While Envy waved her burning brand,
And pour'd her venom round his heart.
Swift is the shaft from Allan's bow;
Whose streaming life-blood stains his side?
Dark Oscar's sable crest is low,
The dart has drunk his vital tide.
And Mora's eye could Allan move,
She bade his wounded pride rebel;
Alas! that eyes which beam'd with love
Should urge the soul to deeds of hell.
Lo! seest thou not a lonely tomb
Which rises o'er a warrior dead?
It glimmers through the twilight gloom:
O! that is Allan's nuptial bed.
Far, distant far, the noble grave
Which held his clan's great ashes stood;
And o'er his corse no banners wave,
For they were stain'd with kindred blood.
What minstrel grey, what hoary bard,
Shall Allan's deeds on harp-strings raise?
The song is glory's chief reward,
But who can strike a murderer's praise?
Unstrung, untouch'd the harp must stand,
No minstrel dare the theme awake;
Guilt would benumb his palsied hand,
His harp in shuddering chords would break.
No lyre of fame, no hallow'd verse,
Shall sound his glories high in air:
A dying father's bitter curse,
A brother's death-groan echoes there."
The incidents immediately preceding Byron's death show that, to his
last moments, he entertained what is generally regarded as
superstitious sentiments. He thought it possible for him to waken from
the sleep of death, and torment those he desired to punish. Perceiving
that he was seriously ill, he called his faithful attendant Fletcher,
and gave him several directions. The servant expressed a hope that he
(his master) would live many years. To this Byron replied, "No, it is
now nearly over;" and then added, "I must tell you all, without losing
a single moment. Now pay attention--You will be provided for--Oh, my
poor dear child, my dear Ada!--could I but see her--give her my
blessing--and my dear sister Augusta and her children--you will go to
Lady Byron, and say--tell her everything." Here his Lordship seemed to
be greatly affected; his voice failed him so much that it was
difficult to understand what he said. After remaining silent for a
short time, he raised his voice and said, "Fletcher: now if you do not
execute every order which I have given you, I will torment you
hereafter, if possible." These were nearly the last words he spoke,
having very soon afterwards fallen into an easy sleep, from which he
never awoke.
CHAPTER XXI.
Tale by Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd--Aikwood
Castle--Black Pages in Livery--The Witch Henbane--Imps
demanding Work--Michael Scott--Curious Sport--Dreadful
Threat--Rats transformed into the form of
Men--Inventor of Gunpowder--Witches'
Operations--Summoning Evil Spirits to torture a
Man--Latin the Language best understood by Satan and
his Emissaries--Holy Signs and Charms--Two
Captives--Effects of a Friar's Blessing--Magic
Lantern--Man blown into the Air--Michael Scott's
Sealed and Subscribed Conditions--Imps' Song--Spirits
in the forms of Crows--Dreadful Storm--Warlocks'
Hymn--Eildon Hill.
Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, whose memory will long be remembered in
Scotland, particularly in the Border counties, introduces, in his
_Three Perils of Man_, a party of travellers approaching Aikwood
Castle, about nine miles from Melrose. The edifice scarcely seemed to
be the abode of man. "Is that now to be my residence, Yardbire?" said
the beautiful Delany. "Will you go away, and leave Elias and me in
that frightsome and desolate-looking mansion?" "Thou art in good
hands," said the friar. "But thou art perhaps going into a place of
danger, and evil things may await thee. Here, take thou this, and keep
it in thy bosom; and, by the blessing of the Holy Virgin, it will
shield thee from all malevolent spirits, all enchantments, and all
dangers of the wicked one." As he said this, he put into her hand a
small gilded copy of the four Evangelists, which she kissed and put
into her bosom. All the rest of the company saw the small volume, and
took it for a book of the black art. Close to the castle gate there
appeared three pages in black livery, although a moment before there
was no living creature there. They seemed to have risen out of the
ground. All at once the horses and mules on which the travellers rode
became restive; at this, the elves set up a shout, and skipped about
with the swiftness of lightning. Hearing the noise, the great master
asked his only attendant, Gourlay, "What is the meaning of the
uproar?" "It is only Prim, Prig, and Pricker making sport," replied
the servant.
As soon as the mighty master knew of the friar and his companions
being in the castle, he ordered them to be treated as spies. The old
witch Henbane, who acted as housekeeper, and the three pages, were
called into the presence of the wizard, to receive instructions from
him. First the imps threatened Gourlay, and then rushed on Michael
himself, as if they would tear him to pieces, and cried out with one
voice:
"Work, master, work; work we need;
Work for the living, or for the dead:
Since we are called, work we will have,
For the master, or for the slave.
Work, master, work. What work now?"
Michael Scott (no doubt the reader has by this time discovered that he
was the master of the castle), to keep the restless beings at work,
told them to give Gourlay three varieties of punishment, but no more.
They soon began their wicked pranks, first changing the seneschal from
one grotesque form to another. Quickly transforming him into a dog,
they chased him up and down and round about with a pan at its tail.
Next they made him assume the shape of a hare, while to all appearance
they became collie dogs. An exciting chase followed over hill and
dale, but the poor hare succeeded in eluding its pursuers, and
returned to the master, who, by one touch of his divining rod, changed
Gourlay into his own natural shape. As soon as the poor ill-used
servant recovered speech, he threatened to cut his throat, that he
might be freed from his severe bondage. Michael dared him to do such a
thing, as he had him wholly in his power, dead or alive. "Were you to
take away your life by a ghastly wound," said the wizard, "I would
even make one of these fiendish spirits enter into your body,
reanimate it, and cause you to go about with your gaping wound,
unclosed and unpurified, as when death entered thereat." "Cursed be
the day that I saw you, and ten times cursed the confession I made,
that has thus subjected me to your tyranny!" exclaimed Gourlay.
Michael again asked what living creatures were in the castle. The
servant replied, "I again repeat it, that there is no mortal thing in
the castle but the old witch, and perhaps two or three hundred rats."
"Call out those rats," said Michael; "marshal them up in the court,
and receive the visitors according to their demerits." At the same
time the master gave the servant a small piece of parchment, with red
characters traced on it, and told him to put it above the lock-hole of
the door. "It shall serve as a summons, and Prig, Prim, and Pricker
shall marshal your forces," continued the wizard. The citation was
effective: the running and screaming of rats were heard in every
corner of the castle, and forthwith a whole column of armed men
marched into the court, led by the three pages, and headed by the
seneschal in grey mantle and cap. In walked the strangers, and passed
between two ranks of men, or rather rats, the appearance of which
raised a suspicion that they were spirits or elves.
The friar, it should be noticed, was the great philosopher and chemist
who invented gunpowder, and made many other wonderful discoveries, for
which he was in danger of being burnt as a wizard and necromancer.
The friar, followed by his companions, found entrance to a room, where
they expected to meet the great enchanter Michael, but instead of him
they beheld an old woman, so busily engaged with something on the
fire, that she scarcely deigned to notice their entrance. She had a
wooden tube, with which she blew up the fire, and then spoke through
it, saying:
"Sotter, sotter, my wee pan,
To the spirit gin ye can;
When the scum turns blue,
And the blood bells through,
There's something aneath that will change the man."
The crone continued her orgies, one time blowing her fire, again
stirring the liquid in the caldron, and then making it run from the
end of a stick that she might note its gelidity. All her operations
were being gone through to call up certain familiar spirits whose
presence she desired.
In another apartment sat Michael Scott. He wore a turban of crimson
velvet, ornamented with mystic figures in gold, and on the front of it
was a dazzling star. His eyes were bright and piercing, resembling
those of a serpent. He was stout-made, and had a strong bushy beard,
turning grey. On beholding Charlie Scott (he alone entered the
wizard's _sanctum sanctorum_), the wizard stamped three times on the
floor, and in a moment Prim, Prig, and Pricker stood beside him.
"Work, master, work--what work now?" demanded they. "Take that burly
housebreaker, bind him, and put him to the test," were the
instructions they received. When the elves were about to seize
Charlie, he drew his sword, and thrust out right and left, but his
blade did nothing more than whistle through vacancy. In an instant he
was thrown down and bound with cords. The master and his familiars
then had a conversation in Latin (the language best understood by
Satan and his emissaries) concerning the prisoner's baptism. They
stripped him, and were about to begin a painful operation, when
Charlie, bound though he was, succeeded in crossing himself and
pronouncing a sacred name. That instant the pages started back
trembling, and their weapons fell from their hands. Another of the
company was thrown down and bound by the imps; but when they attempted
to seize the friar, they could not so much as touch his frock. The
fair Delany stood trembling behind the pious father; and on the fiends
feeling their want of power over him, they rushed at the young virgin.
But the moment they touched her garments, they retired in dismay. The
friar, remembering that the maid had the blessed Gospel concealed in
her bosom, concluded that in that precious book she found protection.
As to his own personal safety he had no fear, as he possessed a charm,
proof against Satan himself. "He drew his cross from below his
frock--that cross which had been consecrated at the shrine of Saint
Peter, bathed in holy water, and blessed with many blessings from the
mouths of ancient martyrs--had done wondrous miracles in the hands of
saints of former days--and lifting that reverently on high, he
pronounced the words from holy writ, against which no demon or false
spirit's power could prevail. In one moment the three imps fled
yelling from the apartment." At the same time the countenance of the
enchanter fell, and his whole body quaked. The friar then unloosed
those that were bound.
"Great and magnificent Master of Arts," said the friar, addressing
Michael Scott, "we are come to thee from the man that ruleth over the
borders of the land, and leadeth forth his troops to battle. He
sendeth unto thee greeting, and beseecheth to know of thee what shall
befall unto his people and to his house in the latter days. It is thy
counsel alone that he asketh, for thou art renowned for wisdom and
foresight to the farthest corners of the earth. The two nations are
engaged in a great and bloody contest, and high are the stakes for
which they play. The man who sent us entreateth of thee to disclose
unto thy servants who shall finally prevail, and whether it behoveth
him to join himself to the captain of his people. He hath moreover
sent unto thee, by our hand, these two beautiful captives, the one to
be thine handmaiden, and the other to be thy servant, and run at thy
bidding."
The wizard, highly flattered, listened with patience to the friar, and
answered that the request made would take many days to consider, as he
had to deal with those who were more capricious than the changing
seasons, and more perverse than opposing winds and tides. Reluctantly
the friar and his friends were prevailed on to remain at the goblin
castle, and how it fared with them we shall soon see.
Gourlay was summoned into the presence of Scott, who instructed him to
provide an entertainment for the strangers. In due time the steward
appeared with his rod of office in his hand, and with great ceremony
marshalled his guests upstairs to an apartment, where there was a
table covered with rich viands in great abundance. A few graceless
fellows in the company began to eat and drink before a blessing was
asked, and seemingly fared well. But with the holy friar it was
different. In conformity with a good old custom, he lifted up his
hands, closed his eyes, and, leaning forward, repeated his oft-said
stereotyped phrases. In his respectful attitude, he came in close
contact with what appeared to be a beautiful smoking sirloin of beef.
So near was he to it that he actually breathed upon it, and was nearly
overcome by its savoury flavour. Never had blessing a more baneful
effect on meat: when the friar opened his eyes the beef was
gone--there was nothing left but an insignificant thing resembling the
joint of a frog's leg, or that of a rat.
A contention arose between Michael Scott and the friar as to which of
them could perform the most wonderful feats; and when the former
discovered that he was in conversation with no less a personage than
the Primate of Douay, author of the book of arts, he was much pleased.
By means of a curious lantern, he made it appear that the mountain
Cape-Law was rent and divided into three parts. This was only an
optical delusion, but he in reality blew poor Gourlay into the air by
an explosion of gunpowder, the composition and power of which were
unknown to the wizard, or to any one except the friar. The master
could not bear the idea of being outdone by any one. He strode the
floor in gloomy indignation. "Look," he shouted, "at that mountain on
the east. It is known to you all--the great hill of Eildon. You know
and see that it is one round, smooth, and unbroken cone." He then gave
three knocks with his heel on the floor, and called the names of his
three pages, Prig, Prim, and Pricker. As at other times, these
infernal spirits were before him, exclaiming, "Work, master, work;
what work now?" "Look at that mountain yclept the hill of Eildon. Go
and twist me it into three." The imps looked with Satanic glare. "The
hill is granite," said one. "And five arrows' flight high," said
another. "And seventy round the base," said the first. "All the power
of earth and hell to boot are unmeet to the task," added the third. In
an imperious manner, the master declared the thing must be done. "I
know my conditions; they are sealed and subscribed, and I am not to be
disobeyed," continued he. The three pages began singing:
"Pick and spade
To our aid!
Flaught and flail,
Fire and hail:
Winds arise, and tempests brattle,
And, if you will, the thunders rattle.
Come away,
Elfin grey,
Much to do ere break of day!
Come with spade, and sieve, and shovel;
Come with roar, and rout, and revel;
Come with crow, and come with crane,
Strength of steed, and weight of wain.
Crash of rock, and roar of river,
And, if you will, with thunders shiver!
Come away,
Elfin grey;
Much to do ere break of day."
As they sang the last line, they sped away, in the forms of three
crows, toward Eildon Hill.
That night was a dreadful one. A storm burst forth in all its fury,
sweeping over hill and dale. The woods roared and crashed before the
blast, and a driving rain dashed with such violence on the earth, that
it seemed as if a thousand cataracts poured from the western heaven to
mix with the tempest below. Now and again eldritch shrieks, as of some
one perishing, were heard, and then the voices of angry spirits,
yelling through the tempest, reached the ear. One of the inmates of
the castle was reminded, by the raging storm, of the warlocks' hymn:
"Pother, pother,
My master and brother,
Who may endure thee,
Thus failing in fury?
King of the tempest that travels the plain
King of the snow, and the hail, and the rain,
Lend to thy lever yet seven times seven,
Blow up the blue flame for bolt and for levin,
The red forge of hell with the bellows of heaven!
With hoop and with hammer!
With yell and with yammer,
Hold them in play
Till the dawn of day!
Pother, pother!
My sovereign and brother.
O strain to thy lever,
This world to sever
In two or in three--
What joy it would be!
What toiling and mailing, and mighty commotions!
What rending of hills, and what roaring of oceans!
Ay, that is thy voice, I know it full well;
And that is thy whistle's majestic swell;
But why wilt thou ride thy furious race
Along the bounds of vacant space,
While there is tongue of flesh to scream,
And life to start, and blood to stream?
Yet pother, pother!
My sovereign and brother
And men shall see, ere the rising sun,
What deeds thy mighty arm hath done."
Michael Scott and his guests kept watch together during the eventful
night; and when the friar and Charlie stepped out to the battlements
in the morning, they beheld the great mountain of Eildon, which before
then had but one cone, piled up in three hills, as described by us in
chapter XVI.
CHAPTER XXII.
Allan Ramsay--"The Gentle Shepherd"--Bauldy the
Clown--Mause the reputed Witch--A Witch's
Crantraips--Praying Backwards--Sad Misfortunes
attributed to Mause--Supposed Power of the Devil to
raise the Wind and send Rain and Thunder--Mause's
Reflections--Sir William disturbed--Symon's
Announcement--Promise to gain a Lassie's Heart--Doings
of the supposed Witch--Witches' Tricks--Longfellow's
"Golden Legend"--"Song of Hiawatha."
Allan Ramsay, who wrote in the first half of the eighteenth century,
does not appear to have believed in witches or evil spirits. He,
however, like other poets, found it convenient to introduce
superstition into his poetical effusions. This will be seen from the
following extracts from his _Gentle Shepherd_.
BAULDY.
"What's this?--I canna bear't!--'tis worse than hell,
To be sae burnt with love, yet daurna tell!
O Peggy! sweeter than the dawning day;
Sweeter than gowany glens or new-mawn hay;
Blyther than lambs that frisk out o'er the knows;
Straighter than aught that in the forest grows;
Her een the clearest blob of dew outshines;
The lily in her breast its beauty tines;
Her legs, her arms, her cheeks, her mouth, her een,
Will be my dead, that will be shortly seen!
For Pate looes her--waes me!--and she looes Pate
And I with Neps, by some unlucky fate,
Made a daft vow. O, but ane be a beast,
That makes rash aiths till he's afore the priest!
I darna speak my mind, else a' the three,
But doubt, wad prove ilk ane my enemy.
'Tis sair to thole;--I'll try some witchcraft art,
To break with ane, and win the other's heart.
Here Mausy lives, a witch that for sma' price
Can cast her cantraips, and gie me advice.
She can o'ercast the night, and cloud the moon,
And make the deils obedient to her crune;
At midnight hours, o'er the kirk-yard she raves,
And howks unchristen'd weans out of their graves;
Boils up their livers in a warlock's pow;
Rins withershins about the hemlock low;
And seven times does her prayers backwards pray,
Till Plotcock comes with lumps of Lapland clay,
Mixt with the venom of black taids and snakes:
Of this unsonsy pictures aft she makes
Of ony ane she hates,--and gars expire
With slow and racking pains afore a fire,
Stuck fu' of pins; the devilish pictures melt;
The pain by fowk they represent is felt.
And yonder's Mause: Ay, ay, she kens fu' weel,
When ane like me comes rinning to the deil!
She and her cat sit beeking in her yard:
To speak my errand, faith, amaist I'm fear'd!
But I maun do't, tho' I should never thrive:
They gallop fast that deils and lasses drive.
* * * * *
How does auld honest lucky of the glen?
Ye look baith hale end fair at threescore-ten.
MAUSE.
E'en twining out a thread with little din,
And beeking my cauld limbs afore the sun.
What brings my bairn this gate sae air at morn?
Is there nae muck to lead? to thresh nae corn?
BAULDY.
Enough of baith: but something that requires
Your helping hand employs now all my cares.
MAUSE.
My helping hand! alake, what can I do,
That underneith baith eild and poortith bow?
BAULDY.
Ay, but you're wise, and wiser far than we;
Or maist part of the parish tells a lie.
MAUSE.
Of what kind wisdom think ye I'm possest,
That lifts my character aboon the rest?
BAULDY.
The word that gangs, how ye're sae wise and fell,
Ye'll maybe tak it ill gif I should tell.
MAUSE.
What folk say of me, Bauldy, let me hear;
Keep naething up, ye naething have to fear.
BAULDY.
Well, since ye bid me, I shall tell ye a'
That ilk ane talks about you, but a flaw.
When last the wind made Glaud a roofless barn;
When last the burn bore down my mither's yarn;
When Brawny, elf-shot, never mair came hame;
When Tibby kirn'd, and there nae butter came;
When Bessy Freetock's chuffy-cheeked wean
To a fairy turn'd, and cou'dna stand its lane;
When Wattie wander'd ae night thro' the shaw
And tint himsell amaist amang the snaw;
When Mungo's mare stood still and swat wi' fright,
When he brought east the howdy under night;
When Bawsy shot to dead upon the green;
And Sara tint a snood was nae mair seen;--
You, lucky, gat the wyte of a' fell out;
And ilka ane here dreads ye round about,--
And say they may that mint to do ye skaith:
For me to wrang ye I'll be very laith;
But when I neist make groats, I'll strive to please
You with a firlot of them mixt with pease.
MAUSE.
I thank ye, lad!--Now tell me your demand;
And, if I can, I'll lend my helping hand.
BAULDY.
Then, I like Peggy; Neps is fond of me;
Peggy likes Pate; and Patie's bauld and slee,
And looes sweet Meg; but Neps I downa see.
Could ye turn Patie's love to Neps, and then
Peggy's to me, I'd be the happiest man.
MAUSE.
I'll try my airt to gar the bowls row right;
Sae gang your ways and come again at night;
'Gainst that time I'll some simple things prepare,
Worth all your pease and groats, tak ye nae care.
BAULDY.
Well, Mause, I'll come, gif I the road can find;
But if ye raise the deil, he'll raise the wind;
Syne rain and thunder, maybe, when 'tis late
Will make the night sae mirk, I'll tine the gate.
We're a' to rant in Symie's at a feast,--
O! will ye come, like badrans, for a jest?
And there you can our different haviours spy;
There's nane shall ken o't there but you and I.
MAUSE.
'Tis like I may: But let na on what's past
'Tween you and me, else fear a kittle cast.
BAULDY.
If I aught of your secrets e'er advance,
May ye ride on me ilka night to France!
MAUSE.
This fool imagines--as do many sic--
That I'm a witch in compact with Auld Nick,
Because by education I was taught
To speak and act aboon their common thought:
Their gross mistake shall quickly now appear;
Soon shall they ken what brought, what keeps me here.
Now since the royal Charles, and right's restor'd,
A shepherdess is daughter to a lord.
The bonny foundling that's brought up by Glaud,
Wha has an uncle's care on her bestow'd,--
Her infant life I sav'd, when a false friend
Bow'd to the usurper, and her death design'd,
To establish him and his in all these plains
That by right heritage to her pertains.
She's now in her sweet bloom, has blood and charms
Of too much value for a shepherd's arms.
None know't but me!--And if the morn were come,
I'll tell them tales will gar them a' sing dumb.
* * * * *
SIR WILLIAM.
How goes the night? does day-light yet appear
Symon, you're very timeously asteer.
SYMON.
I'm sorry, sir, that we've disturb'd your rest;
But some strange thing has Bauldy's spirit opprest,
He's seen some witch, or wrestled with a ghaist.
BAULDY.
O! ay; dear sir, in troth, 'tis very true;
And I am come to make my plaint to you.
SIR WILLIAM.
I lang to hear 't.
BAULDY.
Ah! sir, the witch ca'd Mause,
That wins aboon the mill amang the haws,
First promis'd that she'd help me with her art,
To gain a bonny thrawart lassie's heart.
As she had trysted, I met wi'er this night;
But may nae friend of mine get sic a fright!
For the curst hag, instead of doing me good--
The very thought o't's like to freeze my blood!
Rais'd up a ghaist, or deil, I kenna whilk,
Like a dead corse in sheet as white as milk;
Black hands it had, and face as wan as death.
Upon me fast the witch and it fell baith,
And gat me down, while I, like a great fool,
Was labour'd as I wont to be at school.
My heart out of its hool was like to loup;
I pithless grew with fear, and had nae hope;
Till, with an elritch laugh, they vanished quite.
Syne I half dead with anger, fear, and spite,
Crap up and fled straight frae them, sir, to you,
Hoping your help to gie the deil his due.
I'm sure my heart will ne'er gie o'er to dunt,
Till in a fat tar-barrel Mause be burnt!
* * * * *
SIR WILLIAM.
Troth, Symon, Bauldy's more afraid than hurt;
The witch and ghaist have made themselves good sport.
What silly notions crowd the clouded mind,
That is through want of education blind!
SYMON.
But does your honour think there's nae sic thing
As witches raising deils up through a ring?
Syne playing tricks--a thousand I could tell--
Cou'd ne'er be contriv'd on this side hell.
SIR WILLIAM.
Such as the devil's dancing in a moor,
Amongst a few old women craz'd and poor,
Who were rejoiced to see him frisk and lowp
O'er braes and bogs with candles in * * *
Appearing sometimes like a black-horn'd cow,
Aft-times like Bawty, Badrans, or a sow;
Then with his train through airy paths to glide,
While they on carts, or clowns, or broomstaffs ride;
Or in an egg-shell skim out o'er the main,
To drink their leader's health in France or Spain;
Then aft by night bumbaze hare-hearted fools,
By tumbling down their cupboards, chairs, and stools.
Whate'er's in spells, or if there witches be,
Such whimsies seem the most absurd to me."
To glean from Cowper, Wordsworth, Tennyson, and the many other poets
who have contributed to superstitious lore, would swell this portion
of our work (_The Poets and Superstition_) to an undue proportion; and
therefore we take leave of the poets, after giving extracts from
Longfellow, whose talented effusions are not only read and appreciated
in America and England, but over the whole world.
FROM "THE GOLDEN LEGEND."
LUCIFER.
"Hasten! hasten!
O ye spirits!
From its station drag the ponderous
Cross of iron, that to mock us
Is uplifted high in air!
VOICES.
O, we cannot!
For around it
All the saints and guardian angels
Throng in legions to protect it;
They defeat us everywhere!
THE BELLS.
Laudo Deum verum!
Plebem voco!
Congrego clerum!
LUCIFER.
Lower! lower!
Hover downward!
Seize the loud, vociferous bells, and
Clashing, clanging, to the pavement
Hurl them from their windy tower!
VOICES.
All thy thunders
Here are harmless!
For these bells have been anointed,
And baptised with holy water!
They defy our utmost power.
THE BELLS.
Defunctos ploro!
Pestem fugo!
Festa decoro!
LUCIFER.
Shake the casements!
Break the painted
Panes, that flame with gold and crimson;
Scatter them like leaves of autumn,
Swept away before the blast!
VOICES.
O, we cannot!
The archangel
Michael flames from every window,
With the sword of fire that drove us
Headlong out of heaven, aghast!
THE BELLS.
Funera plango!
Fulgura frango!
Sabbata pango!
LUCIFER.
Aim your lightnings
At the oaken,
Massive, iron-studded portals!
Sack the house of God, and scatter
Wide the ashes of the dead!
VOICES.
O, we cannot!
The apostles
And the martyrs, wrapped in mantles,
Stand as warders at the entrance,
Stand as sentinels o'erhead!
THE BELLS.
Excito lentos!
Dissipo ventos!
Paco cruentos!
LUCIFER.
Baffled! baffled!
Inefficient,
Craven spirits! leave this labour
Unto Time, the great destroyer!
Come away, ere night is gone!
VOICES.
Onward! onward!
With the night wind,
Over field and farm and forest,
Lonely homestead, darksome hamlet,
Blighting all we breathe upon!"
THE SONG OF HIAWATHA.
"Should you ask me whence these stories?
Whence these legends and traditions,
With the odours of the forest,
With the dew and damp of meadows,
With the curling smoke of wigwams,
With the rushing of great rivers,
With their frequent repetitions,
And their wild reverberations,
As of thunder in the mountains?
I should answer, I should tell you:
'From the forests and the prairies,
From the great lakes of the Northland,
From the land of the Ojibways,
From the land of the Dacotahs,
From the mountains, moors, and fenlands,
Where the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah,
Feeds among the reeds and rushes.
I repeat them as I heard them
From the lips of Nawadaha,
The musician, the sweet singer.'
* * * * *
Can it be the sun descending
O'er the level plain of water?
Or the red swan floating, flying,
Wounded by the magic arrow,
Staining all the waves with crimson,
With the crimson of its life-blood,
Filling all the air with splendour,
With the splendour of its plumage?
Yes, it is the sun descending,
Sinking down into the water;
All the sky is stained with purple,
All the water flushed with crimson!
No; it is the red swan floating,
Diving down beneath the water;
To the sky its wings are lifted,
With its blood the waves are reddened
Over it the star of evening
Melts and trembles through the purple
Hangs suspended in the twilight.
No; it is a bead of wampum
On the robes of the Great Spirit,
As he passes through the twilight,
Walks in silence through the heavens!
This with joy beheld Iagoo,
And he said in haste, 'Behold it!
See the sacred star of evening!
You shall hear a tale of wonder;
Hear the story of Osseo,
Son of the evening star Osseo.
'Once, in days no more remembered,
Ages nearer the beginning,
When the heavens were closer to us,
And the gods were more familiar,
In the Northland lived a hunter,
With ten young and comely daughters,
Tall and lithe as wands of willow;
Only Oweenee, the youngest,
She the wilful and the wayward,
She the silent, dreamy maiden,
Was the fairest of the sisters.
'All these women married warriors,
Married brave and haughty husbands;
Only Oweenee, the youngest,
Laughed and flouted all her lovers,
All her young and handsome suitors,
And then married old Osseo,
Old Osseo, poor and ugly,
Broken with age and weak with coughing,
Always coughing like a squirrel.
'Ah, but beautiful within him
Was the spirit of Osseo,
From the evening star descended,
Star of evening, star of woman,
Star of tenderness and passion!
All its fire was in his bosom,
All its beauty in his spirit,
All its mystery in his being,
All its splendour in his language!
'And her lovers, the rejected,
Handsome men with belts of wampum,
Handsome men with paint and feathers,
Pointed at her in derision,
Followed her with jest and laughter,
But she said, "I care not for you,
Care not for your belts of wampum,
Care not for your paint and feathers,
Care not for your jests and laughter:
I am happy with Osseo!"
'Once to some great feast invited,
Through the damp and dusk of evening
Walked together the ten sisters,
Walked together with their husbands;
Slowly followed old Osseo,
With fair Oweenee beside him;
All the others chatted gaily,
These two only walked in silence.
'At the western sky Osseo
Gazed intent, as if imploring,
Often stopped and gazed imploring
At the trembling star of evening,
At the tender star of woman;
And they heard him murmur softly,
"_Ah, showain nemeshin, Nosa!_
Pray, pity me, my father!"
'"Listen!" said the elder sister,
"He is praying to his father!
What a pity that the old man
Does not stumble in the pathway,
Does not break his neck by falling!"
And they laughed till all the forest
Rang with their unseemly laughter.
'On their pathway through the woodlands
Lay an oak by storms uprooted,
Lay the great trunk of an oak-tree
Buried half in leaves and mosses,
Mouldering, crumbling, huge and hollow.
And Osseo, when he saw it,
Gave a shout, a cry of anguish,
Leaped into its yawning cavern,
At one end went in an old man,
Wasted, wrinkled, old, and ugly;
From the other came a young man,
Tall and straight and strong and handsome.
'Thus Osseo was transfigured,
Thus restored to youth and beauty;
But, alas for good Osseo,
And for Oweenee, the faithful!
Strangely, too, was she transfigured.
Changed into a weak old woman,
With a staff she tottered onward,
Wasted, wrinkled, old, and ugly!
And the sisters and their husbands
Laughed until the echoing forest
Rang with their unseemly laughter.
'But Osseo turned not from her,
Walked with slower step beside her,
Took her hand, as brown and withered
As an oak-leaf is in winter,
Called her sweetheart, Nenemoosha,
Soothed her with soft words of kindness,
Till they reached the lodge of feasting,
Till they sat down in the wigwam,
Sacred to the star of evening,
To the tender star of woman.
'Wrapt in visions, lost in dreaming,
At the banquet sat Osseo;
All were merry, all were happy,
All were joyous but Osseo.
Neither food nor drink he tasted,
Neither did he speak nor listen,
But as one bewildered sat he,
Looking dreamily and sadly,
First at Oweenee, then upward
At the gleaming sky above them.
'Then a voice was heard, a whisper,
Coming from the starry distance,
Coming from the empty vastness,
Low and musical and tender;
And the voice said, "O Osseo!
O my son, my best beloved!
Broken are the spells that bound you,
All the charms of the magicians,
All the magic powers of evil;
Come to me; ascend, Osseo!
'"Taste the food that stands before you;
It is blessed and enchanted,
It has magic virtues in it,
It will change you to a spirit.
All your bowls and all your kettles
Shall be wood and clay no longer;
But the bowls be changed to wampum,
And the kettles shall be silver;
They shall shine like shells of scarlet,
Like the fire shall gleam and glimmer.
'"And the women shall no longer
Bear the dreary doom of labour,
But be changed to birds, and glisten
With the beauty of the starlight,
Painted with the dusky splendours
Of the skies and clouds of evening!"
'What Osseo heard as whispers,
What as words he comprehended,
Was but music to the others,
Music as of birds afar off,
Of the whippoorwill afar off,
Of the lonely Wawonaissa
Singing in the darksome forest.
'Then the lodge began to tremble,
Straight began to shake and tremble,
And they felt it rising, rising,
Slowly through the air ascending,
From the darkness of the tree-tops
Forth into the dewy starlight,
Till it passed the topmost branches;
And behold! the wooden dishes
All were changed to shells of scarlet!
And behold! the earthen kettles
All were changed to bowls of silver!
And the roof-poles of the wigwam
Were as glittering rods of silver,
And the roof of bark upon them
As the shining shards of beetles.
'Then Osseo gazed around him,
And he saw the nine fair sisters,
All the sisters and their husbands,
Changed to birds of various plumage.
Some were jays, and some were magpies,
Others thrushes, others blackbirds;
And they hopped and sang and twittered,
Perked and fluttered all their feathers,
Strutted in their various plumage,
And their tails like fans unfolded.
'Only Oweenee, the youngest,
Was not changed, but sat in silence,
Wasted, wrinkled, old, and ugly,
Looking sadly at the others;
Till Osseo, gazing upward,
Gave another cry of anguish,
Such a cry as he had uttered
By the oak-tree in the forest.
'Then returned her youth and beauty,
And her soiled and tattered garments
Were transformed to robes of ermine,
And her staff became a feather,
Yes, a shining silver feather!
'And again the wigwam trembled,
Swayed and rushed through airy currents,
Through transparent cloud and vapour,
And amid celestial splendours
On the evening star alighted,
As a snow-flake falls on snow-flake,
As a leaf drops on a river,
As the thistle-down on water.
'Forth with cheerful words of welcome
Came the father of Osseo,
He with radiant locks of silver,
He with eyes serene and tender.
And he said, "My son, Osseo,
Hang the cage of birds you bring there,
Hang the cage with rods of silver,
And the birds with glistening feathers,
At the doorway of my wigwam."
'At the door he hung the bird-cage,
And they entered in and gladly
Listened to Osseo's father,
Ruler of the star of evening,
As he said, "O my Osseo!
I have had compassion on you,
Given you back your youth and beauty,
Into birds of various plumage
Changed your sisters and their husbands;
Changed them thus because they mocked you
In the figure of the old man,
In that aspect sad and wrinkled,
Could not see your heart of passion,
Could not see your youth immortal;
Only Oweenee, the faithful,
Saw your naked heart and loved you.
'"In the lodge that glimmers yonder,
In the little star that twinkles
Through the vapours, on the left hand,
Lives the envious Evil Spirit,
The Wabeno, the magician,
Who transformed you to an old man.
Take heed lest his beams fall on you,
For the rays he darts around him
Are the power of his enchantment,
Are the arrows that he uses."
'Many years, in peace and quiet
On the peaceful star of evening
Dwelt Osseo with his father;
Many years in song and flutter,
At the doorway of the wigwam,
Hung the cage with rods of silver,
And fair Oweenee, the faithful,
Bore a son unto Osseo,
With the beauty of his mother,
With the courage of his father.
'And the boy grew up and prospered,
And Osseo, to delight him,
Made him little bows and arrows,
Opened the great cage of silver,
And let loose his aunts and uncles,
All those birds with glossy feathers,
For his little son to shoot at.
'Round and round they wheeled and darted,
Filled the evening star with music,
With their songs of joy and freedom;
Filled the evening star with splendour,
With the fluttering of their plumage;
Till the boy, the little hunter,
Bent his bow and shot an arrow,
Shot a swift and fatal arrow,
And a bird, with shining feathers,
At his feet fell wounded sorely.
'But, O wondrous transformation!
'Twas no bird he saw before him,
'Twas a beautiful young woman,
With the arrow in her bosom!
'When her blood fell on the planet,
On the sacred star of evening,
Broken was the spell of magic,
Powerless was the strange enchantment,
And the youth, the fearless bowman,
Suddenly felt himself descending,
Held by unseen hands, but sinking
Downward through the empty spaces,
Downward through the clouds and vapours,
Till he rested on an island,
On an island, green and grassy,
Yonder in the big sea-water.
'After him he saw descending
All the birds with shining feathers,
Fluttering, falling, wafted downward,
Like the painted leaves of autumn;
And the lodge with poles of silver,
With its roof like wings of beetles,
Like the shining shards of beetles,
By the winds of heaven uplifted,
Slowly sank upon the island,
Bringing back the good Osseo,
Bringing Oweenee, the faithful.
'Then the birds, again transfigured,
Resumed the shape of mortals,
Took their shape, but not their stature;
They remained as little people,
Like the pigmies, the Puk-Wudjies;
And on pleasant nights of summer,
When the evening star was shining,
Hand in hand they danced together
On the island's craggy headlands,
On the sand-beach low and level.
'Still their glittering lodge is seen there,
On the tranquil summer evenings,
And upon the shore the fisher
Sometimes hears their happy voices,
Sees them dancing in the starlight!'"
MONARCHS, PRIESTS, PHILOSOPHERS, AND SUPERSTITION.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Generality of Superstition--Commencement of Monarchy
in Scotland--King Fergus I. crowned on the Fatal Stone
of Destiny--Signs, Assistance of Spirits, Magicians,
and Fortune-tellers--Natholocus sends a Friend to
consult a Cunning Woman--Her Prediction
verified--Constantine and Maxentius--A Heavenly
Cross--A Famous Standard--Queen Guanora's Grave--Fear
of St Martin--The Church's Belief in the Intercession
of Departed Saints--Relics venerated--King bewitched
by Witches of Forres--Evil Signs during Elthus
Alipes's Reign--Sea Monster in the Don--Kenneth III.
killed by an Infernal Machine--Virtue of Precious
Stones--Weird Sisters--Consulting a
Pythoness--Predictions by Druids--Domitian's Death
foretold by Astrologers--Simon Magus--A Platonic
Philosopher charged with Sorcery--The Emperor Julian
instructed in Magic.
In speaking of superstition, it may be truly said, "As with the
people, so with the priest; as with the subjects, so with the
monarch." In the humble cot the peasant is deluded and overawed by
superstition; in the church the priest lays claim to supernatural
power; and crowned heads have played a not unimportant part among the
believers in and performers of the occult science, which has so long
held the souls of men in bondage. We have it on record that a monarch
has been made to tremble by the sayings of an old woman, supposed to
be in league with the prince of darkness. A king and his army have
been kept from battle by the movements of a harmless quadruped, or by
the flight of a bird, unaware that before sunset it would be the
eagle's portion. Other sovereigns have supported their tyranny over a
down-trodden people by an arrogant pretension to an authority derived
in a mysterious manner from another world.
Ancient historians date the commencement of monarchy in Scotland from
Fergus I., who was crowned according to the superstitious custom of
the age in which he reigned. He was seated on the fatal stone of
destiny, to be afterwards described. Both before and after the
introduction of Christianity into Scotland, not a freebooting
excursion was undertaken before seeking a sign; not a friend was to be
gained without asking the assistance of a generous spirit or fairy;
and not an enemy to be overcome till the magicians and fortune-tellers
secured the aid of unearthly creatures, either good or bad. When
Natholocus's cruelty and oppression excited an insurrection, he had
recourse to cunning people, supposed to be in league with Satan. He
sent one of his particular friends to a distant island to an old
woman, said to be skilled in necromancy, to inquire whether any of his
courtiers were seeking his destruction. The sorceress, having
consulted her familiar spirits, answered that Natholocus would die a
violent death by the hand of one of his most intimate friends. On
being pressed to disclose by whose hand the blow would be struck, she
replied, "By thine own." The messenger reproached the woman, and told
her that he entertained the greatest friendship for his master. He was
afraid to tell Natholocus what the fortune-teller had said, and
therefore entertained him with such false predictions as he knew would
inspire confidence. For what reason we are not informed, but this is
certain that the servant's friendship turned into hatred, and before
long he verified the witch's prophecy.
Constantine, the son of Constantius Chlorus, being proclaimed his
father's successor, caused Maxentius to declare war against
Constantine. The latter, although a heathen, implored the true Deity
to assist him. His prayers were heard. As he was marching with his
army, about mid-day, he, and all who were with him, beheld in the
heavens a bright cross of light, with an inscription over it, "By
this, conquer." Constantine was greatly surprised at the vision, and
the troops were equally astonished. On the following night a holy
being appeared to him, and ordered him to make a representation of
what he had seen in the sky, and use it for an ensign in battle. Next
morning he called workers of fine material, and instructed them to
make a standard according to tracings he prepared. It was made,
adorned with gold and sparkling precious stones; and we scarcely
require to say that Constantine was victorious when he fought under
such a famous standard.
Queen Guanora, widow of Arthur, was, after the king's fall, about the
middle of the sixth century, taken prisoner, and kept as such during
the remainder of her life at Dunbar. She was buried at Meigle; and, if
tradition can be trusted, every female walking over her grave is
doomed to perpetual sterility. Speaking of the grave reminds us of a
son of Clotaire, who was desirous of executing vengeance against his
enemy Bason. He was prevented from doing so by the latter fleeing to
St Martin's Church for sanctuary. The prince, fearing that an invasion
of the church would displease the saint, wrote a letter, and placed it
on the glorified individual's tomb, requesting to be informed if he
would be guilty of an outrage against religion were he to drag Bason
from the church. For reasons best known to the saint, he did not
return an answer. This mode of obtaining information may now be
considered ridiculous; but it was not considered so, even in the
Church, in the eighth century. After due inquiry and consideration,
the second Council of Nice, in the year 787, declared that the Church
had always believed it lawful and useful to invoke the intercession
of departed saints, and to venerate their relics.
Duff, the son of Malcolm, having established Culen, son of Indulph,
Prince of Cumberland, set out for the Hebrides, where great predatory
disorders prevailed. He summoned the thanes of the isles to appear
before him, and swore that if any of them should oppress the poorer
inhabitants, he would visit the actors with condign punishment. His
threats not being enough to deter the depredators, active measures
were taken to punish the offenders. Meantime the king fell into a
languid sickness, which baffled the skill of his physicians. A rumour
was circulated that he was suffering under the incantations of certain
far-famed witches at Forres. The report reaching the king's ears, he
caused certain confidential servants to investigate the case secretly.
Donevald, master of the fort at Forres, having learned that the _bonne
amie_ of a soldier there was the daughter of a witch, apprehended the
damsel, and learned from her the whole secret concerning a diabolical
plot to torture his Majesty. Means were taken to secure the wretches
concerned when engaged in their devilish art. So carefully were the
faithful servants' plans laid, that they could tell what part each
traitorous one performed. While one of them turned, upon a wooden spit
before the fire, a wax image of the king, fashioned as was supposed by
Satan, another of them sang her charms, and poured a liquid slowly
upon the image. According to the interpretation of these wicked women,
the vocal charm kept his Majesty awake; that while the effigy was
exposed to the fire and moistened with the liquor, he would sweat and
consume away; and that when the image dissolved away, the king would
cease to exist. The women declared they had been hired by the nobles
of Murray--who were highly displeased at their king for oppressing
them and compelling them to betake themselves to labour unsuitable to
their rank--to perform the cruel acts. The implements of enchantment
were destroyed, the witches burned, and the king recovered. This was
but a mere respite to his Majesty: the friends upon whom he relied
turned their hands against him, and before long his mangled body lay
buried in the bed of the river Findhorn.
Elthus Alipes, or Swiftfoot, being a worthless prince, was confined in
prison to the day of his death. Historians record many evil signs seen
during his short reign--two years. An ominous comet, and shoals of
monstrous fishes resembling human beings, swimming with half their
bodies above the water, and having black skin covering their heads and
necks, were among the portentous appearances. Spalding, in his history
of the troubles of Scotland in his own time, describes a sea monster
seen in the river Don in the month of June 1635. It had, says the
historian, a head like a great mastiff dog, hands, arms, and breast
like a man, short legs and a tail. Spalding concluded that the
appearance of such a monster did not come as a sign of good to
Aberdeen.
Kenneth III. became a victim to revenge, an inordinate taste for
magnificence, and superstition. Kenneth, it appears, for reasons well
pleasing to the Church, visited the shrine of St. Palladius at Fordun;
and on returning home he fell into a snare laid for him. Around the
castle of Fettercairn were grounds well stocked with beasts of chase,
and there the king intended to indulge in the manly exercise of
hunting. The owner of that place, Lady Fenella, a relative of
Constantine and Grime, having a long deep-rooted hatred against
Kenneth, conceived the design of bringing him to an untimely end. With
this object in view, she built a grand tower, containing an infernal
machine for throwing javelins or sharp-pointed lances at any one who
should handle a golden apple, set with precious stones, held in the
hand of a bronze statue of Kenneth that stood in the centre of a room.
She invited him to become her guest--an invitation he accepted. After
dinner, the perfidious woman conducted him into the tower, professedly
to see and admire the exquisite furnishings with which it was
decorated. In his fondness for grandeur, he lingered to admire the
elegant figures and flowers; the rich tapestry, interwoven with gold;
and the statue with its golden apple. Just at the moment the king's
eyes rested on the statue, Fenella stepped forward and said, "Sire,
this is a statue of your Majesty; I have given it the most adorned
place in my castle, that all may perceive in what veneration I hold
you. The apple you behold is intended as a present to you, beloved
monarch--unworthy indeed of your acceptance, yet an expression of the
good-will of the donor. The inserted gems are an emerald, a hyacinth,
a sapphire, a topaz, a ruby, an azure, emitting an antidote against
pestilence and deadly poison." Having thus excited the king's
curiosity, she abruptly left the apartment, seemingly with the
intention of bringing some other strange article for his inspection.
Meantime Kenneth, left alone and charmed with the apple, commenced
handling it. In an instant the secret machinery, being set in motion,
discharged a shower of deadly darts against the king, who fell
mortally wounded on the floor. The traitorous Fenella, rejoicing at
her bloody cruelty, mounted a swift steed and fled far away before her
act of treachery became known. Had she remained in Scotland, a cruel
death would have been her doom, but she escaped to Ireland, and was
lost sight of.
Fenella is reported as pointing out to the king pretended special
virtues, to be found in the gems that ornamented the golden apple. And
no doubt the credulous monarch believed what she said, because we have
it on record, that not only in the tenth century, but long before and
after it, both pagans and professing Christians believed that precious
stones possessed greater virtues than even that which she ascribed to
the settings of her golden apple.
The story of Macbeth and the three witches, noticed in chapter XVII.,
does not require to be repeated. Greater men than Macbeth were wont to
consult fortune-tellers. A Druid told Alexander Severus that he would
be unhappy. Vopiscus relates that the prince, having consulted the
Gaulish Druids whether the empire should remain in his family,
received the answer, that no name would be more glorious in the empire
than that of the descendants of Claudius.
Titus Flavius Domitian, who commanded himself to be called by the
names by which the Most High is known, and who passed the greatest
part of his time in catching flies and killing them with a bodkin,
became suspicious of his best friends, and his fears were increased by
the predictions of astrologers. He was so frightened, that, to prevent
sudden surprise, he caused a wall of shining stones to be built round
the terrace where he usually walked, that he might perceive, as in a
looking-glass, whether any one was approaching him. His precautions
were unavailing: he perished by the hand of an assassin, as was
foretold.
It is reported that St. John was thrown into a cauldron of boiling
oil, by order of the Emperor Domitian, but that he came out unhurt. He
was then at Rome, and from thence he was banished to the Isle of
Patmos.
Lucius Apuleius, a Platonic philosopher of the second century, having
married a lady of fortune against the wish of her relatives, they
pretended that he had made use of sorcery to gain her heart and money.
He was dragged before Claudius Maximus, on the charge of being a
magician. In his defence he said, "Do you wonder that a woman should
marry again after living thirteen years a widow? It is much more
wonderful that she did not marry sooner. You think that magic must
have been employed to induce a widow of her age to marry a young man;
on the contrary, this very circumstance shows how little occasion
there was for magic." He continued: "She was neither handsome nor
young, nor such as could in any way tempt him to have recourse to
enchantments." He also took notice of many inconveniences which
attended the marrying of widows, and spoke highly of the advantages of
a maid over a widow. "A handsome virgin," said he, "let her be ever so
poor, is abundantly portioned; she brings to her husband a heart quite
new, together with the flowers and first fruits of her beauty. It was
with great reason," he argued, "that husbands set so great value upon
virginity; all the other goods which a woman brought her husband were
of such a nature that he might return them if he had a mind, but the
flowers of virginity could not be given back; they remained in the
possession of the first husband." Through his eloquence he escaped
punishment, and the odium of being branded a sorcerer.
Maximus, the celebrated cynic philosopher and magician of Ephesus,
instructed the Emperor Julian in magic. Certain historians say it was
through his teaching that the apostacy of Julian originated. When the
emperor went in search of conquests, the magician promised him
success, and even predicted that his triumphs would be more numerous
and brilliant than those of Alexander. After the death of Julian,
Maximus was nearly sacrificed by the soldiers, but his friends
succeeded in saving his life. He retired to Constantinople.
Subsequently he was accused of magical practices before the Emperor,
and beheaded at Ephesus in the year 366.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Louis XI. and the Astrologer--A King's Enchanted
Cap--David I. and the Mysterious Stag--Merlin the
Magician--Prophecies concerning Queen Elizabeth and
Mary--Merlin's Mother--His mysterious Birth--Dragon
Caverns--Predictions of Evil--Strange Sights and
Sounds in the Air--Changing a King's Love--The Holy
Maid of Kent--Nobles put to Death for keeping company
with Sorcerers--James I. of England and the
Witches--His Queen in Danger--Marriage of the King and
Queen--Tranent Witches and Warlocks--Wise Wife of
Keith--Engagements to serve the Devil--Satan's Respect
of Persons--Two Hundred Witches sailing in
Sieves--Mischief at Sea--Raising Storms at Sea--Witch
and Warlock Convention at Newhaven--Meeting of Witches
at North Berwick--Dead Men's Joints used for Magical
Purposes--Witches tortured in Holyrood--The Devil's
Mark--Strange Confessions--Bothwell's Fortune
told--Witches and their Associates burned.
An astrologer told Louis XI. that a lady to whom he was fondly
attached would die in a few days, and the prediction was fulfilled.
The king caused the astrologer to be brought before him in an upper
chamber, and commanded the royal servants to throw the prophet out of
the window on a certain signal being given. As soon as the astrologer
was dragged before the king, the latter said, "You who pretend to be a
foreteller of events, and know so exactly the fate of others, tell me
instantly when and in what way your end will come." "Sire," replied
the astrologer, knowing he had much to fear, but without displaying
alarm, "I shall die just three days before your Majesty." On hearing
this the king's countenance changed from rage to concern, if not
alarm; and instead of giving the signal of death, he dismissed the
astrologer in peace, heaped honours on him, and took special care to
prolong his life.
King Erricus of Sweden publicly confessed that he was a magician. He
had an enchanted cap, which he pretended enabled him to control
spirits, and to turn the wind into any direction he pleased. So firmly
did his subjects believe in his supernatural powers, that when a storm
arose they would exclaim, "Ah! the king has got on his magic cap."
David I. founded the abbey of Holyrood. By tradition we are informed
that, in the year 1128, he, while out hunting in the royal forest near
Edwinsburg, was miraculously delivered from a stag at bay by the
interposition of an arm, wreathed in smoke, brandishing a cross of the
most dazzling brilliancy. At the sight of it the stag fled. The cross
remained as a celestial relic in the royal hand. In consideration of
this deliverance, strengthened by a vision, the foundations of
Holyrood were laid. The same tradition further tells us that the
miraculous cross was enshrined in silver, and placed on the high
altar, where it remained until the fatal battle of Durham, when David
II. was captured with his cross and crown.
Merlin was a noted magician and astrologer, who prophesied many things
that came to pass in England hundreds of years after his death.
Prophesying of the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and Mary, he says:
"Then shall the masculine sceptre cease to sway,
And to a spinster the whole land obey;
Who to the Papal monarchy shall restore
All that the Phœnix had fetched thrice before.
Then shall come in the faggot and the stake,
And they of convert bodies bonfires make;
Match shall this lioness with Cæsar's son,
From the Pontific sea a pool shall run,
That wide shall spread its waters, and to a flood
In time shall grow, made red with martyrs' blood.
Men shall her short unprosp'rous reign deplore,
By loss at sea, and damage to the shore;
Whose heart being dissected, you in it
May in large characters find Calice writ."
Those acquainted with the history of Queen Mary's time, can have no
difficulty in discovering the circumstances to which the several
prophetic sayings refer; nor can they fail to be satisfied that the
following lines apply to Queen Elizabeth, and the state of England at
the time she swayed the sceptre:
"From th' other ashes shall a Phœnix rise,
Whose birth is thus predicted by the wise;
Her chief predominant star is Mercury,
Jove shall with Venus in conjunction be.
And Sol, with them, shine in his best aspect;
With Ariadne's crown, Astrea deckt,
Shall then descend upon this terrene stage:
(Not seen before since the first golden age).
Against whom all the Latian bulls shall roar,
But at Jove's awful summons shall give o'er.
Through many forges shall this metal glide,
Like gold by fire re-pured, and seven times try'd,
Her bright and glorious sunbeams shall expel
The vain clouds of the candle, book, and bell.
Domestic plots, and stratagems abroad,
French machines, and the Italianated god,
The Spanish engine, Portuguized Jew,
The Jesuitic mine, and politic crew
Of home-bred vipers: let their menaces come
By private pistol, or by hostile drum;
Though all these dogs chase her with open cry,
Live shall she, lov'd and fear'd, then sainted die."
Merlin's early history was as strange as his prophecies were singular.
For reasons best known to herself, his mother refused to reveal his
father's name. She was daughter of King Demetrius, who reigned about
two hundred years after Christianity was introduced into England. King
Vortigern was obliged to fly into Wales from the fury of Hengist, and,
fearing that he would be pursued thither, commenced building a
stronghold on the Welsh soil. Though the ground appeared to be firm,
it turned out that every stone laid sank suddenly into the ground.
With the intention of discovering the cause of this mystery, the king
sent for his wizards and bards. After consultation, the wise men
informed him that his castle could never be built until the stones
were cemented with the blood of a male child begotten without a
father. The king, believing what he was told, sent his servants to
search for such a child. On their way the messengers arrived at
Marlborough, where they observed two boys fighting. One of these was
young Merlin, whom they heard taunted by his youthful antagonist of
being an imp that never had a father. This was enough: Merlin and his
mother were seized and carried before the king.
In answer to the king's inquiries, the mother, not knowing the danger
to which she was exposing little Merlin, told him that her boy never
had a father. Her tale was believed; but Vortigern had compassion on
the youth, who was fair and comely, and not only spared his life, but
took him into his house. When Merlin learned all the particulars
regarding the mysterious disappearance of the foundation stones, and
the charm proposed by the wizards and bards, he told the king that his
wise men were alike destitute of learning and natural penetration.
"Know," said he, "that under the ground where your Majesty intends to
build your castle is a deep lake, which has swallowed up all your
building materials, and that under the water there are two stone
caverns which contain two dragons. Dig deep into the earth, and you
will discover that what I have said is true," concluded Merlin. The
king commanded that a search, such as the youth had recommended,
should be commenced under his (Merlin's) directions. Means were taken
to drain the lake, which was discovered without difficulty, and, true
enough, two horrible dragons were found. On the caverns being opened,
the monsters, one red and the other white, rushed at each other. A
terrible conflict took place between them, ending in the red dragon's
death.
Merlin, in reply to the king's inquiries as to what all this
portended, informed his Majesty that evil days were drawing near--that
the time was not far distant when the Britons would be compelled to
fly before the Saxons, and seek refuge among the caves and mountains
of the earth, and that many of them would perish, for the red dragon
signified the Britons, and the white monster the Saxons. But he
assured the king that the Saxons would not always triumph, as a boar
would come from the forest and devour the white dragon. Merlin
predicted for Vortigern disappointments, defeats, and at last a
miserable death, all of which came to pass.
It is reported of Merlin, that after King Vortigern was driven from
power, he sought to amuse him in his solitude by bringing strange
sights before his eyes, and causing pleasant sounds to salute his
ears. The king supposed he heard melodious music in the air, and
imagined that shepherds and shepherdesses, in rustic costume, danced
before him. At times eagles and falcons were seen pursuing their prey;
and whatever bird the king wished for his dinner, fell down dead, as
if shot by a fowler. Hares and hounds were also made to appear in the
clouds, for the king's amusement. On his castle-tower he could stand
and watch a stag hunt with all the vividness of an ordinary chase.
Merlin professed to have the power of transforming a man into a beast,
and of making a man or woman look like a wild animal.
In the year 1474 the Duchess of Bedford was charged with having, by
the aid of an image of lead made like a maid, turned the love of King
Edward IV. from Dame Elianor Butteler, daughter of the Earl of
Shrewsbury, to whom he was affianced, and transferred the royal
affections to her own daughter.
The Holy Maid of Kent, a nun of great sanctity, having, according to
common belief in the time of Henry VIII., the gift of prophecy, and
the power of working miracles, pronounced the doom of speedy death
against that monarch for his marriage with Anne Boleyn. She was
attainted in Parliament, and, along with several accomplices,
executed. So extraordinary were her miracles, and her predictions so
striking, that even Sir Thomas More believed in her.
In the year 1521 the Duke of Buckingham was put to death in
consequence of certain actions he was guilty of in conjunction with a
magician; and in 1541 Lord Hungerford was beheaded for inquiring at
fortune-tellers how long Henry VIII. would be king. In 1562 the Earl
and Countess of Lennox were found guilty of treason, and of holding
intercourse with sorcerers.
The story of King James VI. of Scotland and I. of England, and the
witches who attempted to drown him and his queen at sea, enables us to
judge of the credulity of the age in which this Solomon lived. The
king having resolved to marry, sought the hand of Princess Anne of
Denmark. In the month of July 1589 the Earl Marischal was despatched
to Copenhagen with a suitable retinue to conclude the match. He found
the Court of Denmark ready to listen to his proposals, and the lady so
willing to comply, that little time was lost in arranging the match.
Hasty preparations were made, and the marriage was solemnised by
proxy. A fleet of twelve sail was fitted out to convey the young queen
to Scotland. Through unforeseen circumstances, the queen's departure
was long after the time originally intended. At last the fleet sailed;
and it encountered such a fearful storm, that the ships were driven
back to the coast of Norway. Owing to the lateness of the season, and
the disabled state of the vessels, it was resolved that the queen
should not again expose herself to the dangers of an angry sea that
season.
When news reached the king of his queen's unfortunate misadventure, he
resolved to proceed on a voyage of discovery in search of her. On the
22nd of October he embarked at Leith, taking with him his chancellor,
chaplain, and a few courtiers. After a stormy passage of five days the
king landed at Upsal, where the queen was waiting. On the 23rd of
November the king and princess were married in a more solemn manner
than they had been some time previously by proxy, and they went to
Copenhagen to spend the winter. In Denmark the king spoke learnedly to
the great men of the state, whom he convinced of his superior
knowledge: he disputed on predestination and other favourite topics.
After six months delay, he departed for his kingdom, and on May-day
1590, he, his youthful bride, and splendid train arrived in Leith.
The coronation ceremony, performed with great solemnity, was gone
through on the 17th of May at Holyrood House. After three sermons, the
queen's shoulders and part of her breast were uncovered, and the holy
oil poured thereon, subsequent to which the crown was put on her head.
On the Tuesday following the queen made her public entrance into
Edinburgh, where she was received with extraordinary marks of
rejoicing. At the city gate a municipal orator greeted her Majesty
with an address in Latin, and then from a gilded globe, resting over
the gate, a little fellow, representing an angel, descended and
delivered to the queen the keys of the city.
James was convinced that the storms which kept him and his queen so
long from meeting were the results of diabolical agencies. After his
return to Scotland, suspicion fell on a dangerous gang of witches and
warlocks at Tranent, and the king resolved to inquire into the whole
case, with the laudable design of getting rid of such wicked subjects
should he find them guilty. A man named David Seytoun, who held the
appointment of deputy bailiff of Tranent, had a young female servant
named Geillis Duncan, celebrated among the town's people for her skill
in curing diseases. Seytoun, becoming suspicious that she was in
league with Satan, questioned her closely without receiving
satisfactory answers. Not to be defeated, he first put her to the
torture, which he thought he had a right to do in virtue of his
office, and then searched her person for devil's marks. One of those
sure tokens of witchcraft being found on her throat, she was committed
to prison. There she made a full confession, in which many persons
were implicated. She admitted that the cures effected by her were
brought about by means of witchcraft.
Of those said to have been associated with this woman in her guilty
deeds, the most noted were Dr. John Fian, sometimes called John
Cunningham, and three women, named Agnes Sampsoun, Euphame
Mackalzeane, and Barbara Napier. Fian was a schoolmaster at Tranent, a
small town on the south side of the Firth of Forth, and about nine
miles east of Edinburgh. He admitted that he was an agent of the evil
one. One night, he said, the devil appeared to him, and induced him to
become his servant, under the promise that he would never want if he
served him faithfully and well. The offer being tempting, the
unscrupulous doctor became an instrument of evil. That there might be
no mistake about the bargain, the devil put his mark on Fian's person.
From that time the doctor was a sorcerer: he was often carried away in
the night to visit distant places of the world, and was present at,
and took part in, all the nightly meetings of witches held in the
Lothians. He rose so high in the devil's favour, that he was appointed
registrar and secretary of the conventions. One night Fian was carried
through the air to North Berwick, where he found a number of witches
and sorcerers assembled listening to Satan preaching to them from a
pulpit. He implored them to give up all slavish fears of him; promised
them great rewards so long as they were his servants, and assured
them, that so long as they had hairs on their bodies they would
receive no injury. He exhorted them to do all the evil they could,
and to eat and drink and be merry. One night when Fian was riding home
along a dreary road, in danger of losing his way, Satan came to his
assistance, and put four candles on the horse's ears, which enabled
the traveller and his servant to see as well as if it were day.
The three women mentioned occupied good places in society. Agnes
Sampsoun was known as the wise wife of Keith; she, too, had knowledge
of the healing art. In her confession she said that, after her
husband's death, the devil appeared to her and offered her great
riches if she would abandon all that was good, and serve him, the
lover of evil. At times Satan appeared as a man, but more frequently
like a black dog. On one occasion, when she was attending Lady
Edmestoune, who was unwell, the devil came to her at night in the
shape of a dog, and informed her that the lady would die. He then
inquired where the lady's daughters were, for he wanted to have one of
them. The witch, however, protested against such an outrage as the
carrying away of a dying lady's daughter, and the dog went away
howling into a well in the garden. At a later hour that night, when
the young ladies were walking in the orchard, the evil one, disguised
as before, rushed at them, seized one of them, and attempted to drag
her into the well. Agnes, seeing this, laid hold of the lady, and sent
the dog away howling. On another occasion Agnes and other witches
wanted assistance from Satan at the bridge of Faulstruther, and, to
secure this, they threw a cord into the river while some magical words
were being repeated. Presently the devil seized the end of the cord
that was in the water, and they drew him to land. After an assurance
from them that they had been good servants to him, he gave them a
charm by which they could perform wonderful works.
Euphame Mackalzeane was the daughter of Lord Cliftounhall. It would
appear that when this lady bore her first child, she consulted Agnes
Sampsoun as to how she could best get rid of her pains, which she
dreaded much. Agnes, willing to relieve the amiable lady of every pang
nature was prone to, transferred the pains to a dog. Time passed on,
and another child was about to be brought into the world by Euphame
Mackalzeane. Agnes was again called in, and the pains were conveyed to
a cat.
Barbara Napier was of a respectable family also, but nearly all the
other associates in their guilt were in poverty. Satan, like human
beings on earth, made more of the rich than of the poor; for while he
assigned exalted places to Dr. Fian and the ladies of birth, he
appointed a poor peasant, called Grey Meal, to be doorkeeper at the
witches' meetings.
More than one of the witches said that on Hallow-eve upwards of two
hundred witches went to sea in riddles or sieves, and that,
notwithstanding their perforated vessels, they were quite dry and
comfortable, faring on the best food, and drinking the richest wines.
At another time, Dr. Fian, Agnes Sampsoun, one Robert Griersoun, and
others, left Prestonpans in a boat, proceeded to a ship at sea, went
on board and made merry on good wine, after which they sank the vessel
with all her crew. Dr. Fian stated, on being put to the torture, that
Satan had told him and others, before the event, that he would make a
hole in the queen's ship on the way from Denmark, and force her to
return to her own country. Having intelligence that the queen was at
sea, they held a meeting at Broomhills, where it was resolved they
should go out to the ocean and raise a storm, to endanger her
Majesty's life. They took steps accordingly, and threw a dog into the
water, whereby the wind became boisterous, the sea rose, and the ships
were damaged. Other diabolical means were resorted to, to endanger
the queen's fleet. A meeting of witches was held at Prestonpans, when
the following ceremonies were gone through:--First, one of the witches
held a finger on the one side of the chimney crook, and another witch
put one of her fingers on the other side; then they put a cat three
times through or under the links of the crook; they next tied four
joints of dead men's fingers to the four feet of the cat; and then the
animal was conveyed to Leith pier and thrown into the water. Cats were
also thrown into the sea at other places on the Firth of Forth. By
these means a dreadful storm was raised, which wrecked many
ships--amongst them the ferry-boat sailing between Leith and Kinghorn,
with all on board. The fiendish crew, disappointed at the safety of
the queen, determined to endeavour to drown the king. More cats were
cast into the sea during his Majesty's voyage to Denmark; but all
infernal arts proved ineffectual, as the king had a charmed life.
Prior to their Majesties' return, another convention was held, at
which Satan himself was present. He promised to raise a mist when the
royal ships were coming home, which would cause them to land in
England. According to Dr. Fian, the devil threw something like a
foot-ball into the sea. This caused a dense fog to rise; yet, in spite
of all their plans, James and his queen arrived safe in Leith.
Not long afterwards, more plots were entered into with the view of
doing harm to the king. On Lammas-eve a grand convention was held at
the Fairyhills, Newhaven, at which were present thirty of the
principal witches and sorcerers in the country. The devil, the
presiding genius, expressed a fear that their designs would be
frustrated unless unusual measures were resorted to. He promised to
give them an image of wax; and directed them to hang up and roast a
toad, and then to lay the drippings of the toad mixed with wine, an
adder's skin, and a certain part of the forehead of a newly-foaled
foal, in the way where the king was to pass, or to hang the
preparation in a position where it might drop on his body. These plans
again miscarried; for the king escaped the dangers of them all.
At Hallow-eve of the year 1590 there was a meeting of witches and
sorcerers, including those already named, in the church of North
Berwick. According to all accounts, three hundred women and a few men
were present. They danced across the churchyard; and when they reached
the church door the women first paid their homage, turning six times
round widderschinnes, and, following them, the men performed the same
ceremony nine times. The devil, it was seriously asserted, took his
place in the pulpit, around which old-like men, holding black candles
in their hands, stood. Satan appeared as a black man, with a beard
like that of a goat and a nose resembling a hawk's beak, and having on
a black gown, and a black skull-cap on his head, and he read from a
black book the names of those summoned to the meeting. The names,
however, were not the real or proper names of the persons, but
nicknames, by which they were known in the gang. The devil exhorted
his hearers to pursue a course of evil, and assured them that the more
mischief they did to mankind, the better he would be pleased with
them. After their master's address, loud revelling was indulged in.
Graves were opened, and the joints of two dead men taken out for
magical purposes.
When information reached the king's ears of the doings of this wicked
crew, he resolved to inquire into the case himself. Dr. Fian and a
good many witches were tortured in Holyrood House, in presence of
James, who took great delight in listening to their forced false
confessions. Agnes Sampsoun was stripped naked, that the devil's mark
might be discovered; but as it could not at first be seen, her body
was shaved, that what was looked for might not pass unnoticed. Of
course it was found, and the unfortunate woman confessed her guilt.
She said that Bothwell had consulted her as to the length of time the
king was to live. She had a spirit that regularly attended her in the
form of a dog, and it told her that in consequence of his Majesty's
piety and wisdom he was proof against incantations. The notorious
sorcerer Richard Graham confessed that the Earl of Bothwell had asked
him for supernatural assistance to hasten the king's death. He said
Bothwell had informed him that it had been predicted by a necromancer
in Italy that he (Bothwell) would become rich and powerful; that he
would slay two men; and would be accused before the king for two
capital crimes, but would be forgiven for the one, but not for the
other. Bothwell was satisfied that up to the time he consulted Graham
the prophecy was fulfilled; and now, he said, the time was come for
either him or the king being despatched. Barbara Napier, a witch
against whom James had a bitter feeling, was acquitted, on her trial,
by the jury, very much to the king's annoyance. Dr. Fian, Agnes
Sampsoun, Euphame Mackalzeane, and many of their associates in
supposed guilt, after mock trials, were burned.
CHAPTER XXV.
Cromwell in league with the Devil--Cromwell
consulting Astrologers--Memorable Days in the Life of
Cromwell--Singular Narrative--Duke of Hamilton warned
of his Fate--Peden's Predictions--Traditions
concerning Peden--John Brown the Martyr--Linlithgow
Loch Swans--Hereford Children--Great
Comet--Conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter at Eventful
Periods--Solomon's Power over Evil Spirits and over
the Beasts of the Field.
Fabulous relations are given in connection with the career of
Cromwell. We are told he was in league with the devil, to whom he
sold himself for a brief period of power among a people whom he
ruled with a rod of iron, and trampled their rulers under his feet.
That Cromwell used to consult astrologers, there can be little doubt.
He was accustomed to obtain advice from Lilly, the wizard, before
entering into any important engagement. In particular, he sought
the assistance of Lilly before he entered Parliament, and when he
besieged Dunkirk. The 3rd of September was a memorable day in the
life of Cromwell, for on a 3rd of September he fought his two most
famous battles, and on a 3rd of September he yielded up the
ghost--circumstances that gave colour to the reports circulated
concerning the help and protection he received from Satan. Colonel
Lindsay was responsible for the extraordinary stories spread abroad
affecting the character of the dictator. From the colonel's statement,
it appears that on the morning of the 3rd September 1651, the day on
which the battle of Worcester was fought and the forces of Charles II.
were routed, Cromwell and Lindsay entered a dark wood near the
battlefield. Lindsay, unaware of the object Cromwell had in view in
being in such a gloomy place, and thinking he perceived something
strange in the appearance of his leader, was seized with horror and
trembling, which prevented him going farther. Cromwell proceeded a
short distance alone. He was met by an old man with a roll of
parchment in his hand, which he gave to Cromwell, who perused it
carefully. An altercation took place between Cromwell and the old man
or devil, during which Lindsay heard Cromwell say, "This is but for
seven years; I was to get twenty-one." The being to whom he spoke,
replied that only seven years could be given. Cromwell, modifying his
demands, craved fourteen years, but the old man was inexorable. "Seven
years, and no more," he sternly replied. And the document, whatever
was its real meaning or tendency, was signed by the two parties, with
the "seven years" undeleted. As soon as the signatures were adhibited,
Cromwell hastily returned to Lindsay, standing in amazement, and said
with great emotion, "Now the battle is ours!" Cromwell and Lindsay
were soon at their posts in the field, the former resolute and
hopeful, the latter dismayed and irresolute. To retain his proper
place in the field was Lindsay's intention; but after the first charge
his courage forsook him, and he fled as fast as his charger could
carry him, although no man pursued. The king's troops were beaten,
leaving Cromwell master of the position. Prior to the result of the
day's engagement being communicated by mortal man to Lindsay, he made
known to a clergyman what had taken place in the morning, finishing
his statement in these words: "I am sure the king's forces are beaten,
and I am certain Cromwell will die this day seven years, for he has
sold himself to the devil, who will not fail to claim him then."
Ever after this memorable day, Cromwell regarded the 3rd of September
auspicious to him, as well he might; for in addition to the events at
Worcester, it was on the same day of that month, in 1650, that he
gained the battle of Dunbar. Years rolled on, in the course of which
Cromwell encountered numerous dangers, and escaped conspiracies and
plots, provoked by serious crimes, yet he survived to breathe his last
on downy pillows, on the anniversary of his great triumphs at Dunbar
and Worcester. Neither the clang of swords nor the roar of guns
disturbed his last moments, but a dreadful commotion raged all around.
Nature seemed to have lashed itself into a rage: a high wind, such as
had never been heard before by the oldest inhabitants, unroofed houses
on land, and caused wrecks at sea. In the midst of the tempest were
heard shrieks, not of men, but of spirits revelling in the gale, as it
carried destruction and death over the country. Notwithstanding
Cromwell's body being embalmed and put into a leaden coffin, the
stench therefrom became so insufferable, that the remains had to be
immediately consigned to the grave, and afterwards the funeral
ceremonies were performed over an empty coffin,--so at least says
Echard, on whose authority we give the foregoing particulars
concerning the Lord Protector. Though Cromwell's dust was interred in
Westminster, it was not permitted to rest there. In January 1661, on
the anniversary of the death of Charles I., his decayed body was
disinterred and conveyed to Tyburn, where it was hanged on a gallows,
then cut down, and the trunk cast into a pit, while the head was set
up on a pole at Westminster Hall.
The Duke of Hamilton, who was executed in the year 1649, was warned of
his fate by a witch. She said the king would be put to death, and that
he would be his successor. This prediction being delivered somewhat
ambiguously, Hamilton misunderstood its meaning. His impression was
that he was to obtain the crown (which led him to act treacherously
towards his Majesty), whereas the beldam meant that he would succeed
the king on the scaffold.
Peden, one of the celebrated Covenanters, who was persecuted for
righteousness' sake, foretold many of the woes that Scotland would
pass through before the Church could have peace. The good old man died
a natural death in his bed, and his bones were decently interred by
the Boswells of Auchinleck in their family vault, under the deep
shadows of wide spreading plane-trees. This honour coming to the ears
of the soldiers in the garrison of Sorn, forty days after the
interment, they cruelly rifled the tomb of its dead. There is a
tradition in the district to the present day, that when the soldiers
burst open the coffin and tore off the shroud, there came a sudden
blast like a whirlwind, though the day had previously been without a
breath of stirring air, which caught up the shroud, and twisted it
round a large projecting branch of one of the plane-trees. From that
day the branch withered away, and remained, for ages like a black
shrivelled arm uplifted to heaven, as a protest against the
sacrilegious crime. This is only one of the many wondrous tales
concerning Peden, who was known far and wide as "The Prophet." Peden's
remains were carried to the hill above Cumnock, where the common
gallows stood, and there, in spite of the remonstrances of the
Boswells and the Countess of Dumfries, suspended on the gibbet. When
cut down, the body was interred, like that of a felon, at the foot of
the gallows-tree. At that time the churchyard of Cumnock was in the
town, but the old residenters, generation after generation, on seeing
their end approaching, desired to be buried beside the old prophet.
Thus the gallows-hill of Cumnock became the ordinary burying-ground of
the town. Two old thorn bushes mark the spot where the prophet's ashes
rest, in the midst of the remains of those he loved while in the land
that groaned under the despotic sway of relentless tyrants.
Though Peden died, as we have stated, a natural death, he suffered
great persecution in his life on account of his religion. His
persecutors, who often pursued him as a beast of prey, at last seized
him, confined him a prisoner in Edinburgh Castle, immured him in a
dungeon on the Bass Rock, and sentenced him, along with sixty others,
to banishment in America, then a penal settlement. Chained together,
Peden and his companions were marched to Leith, and conveyed on board
a ship for London, from thence to be taken to Virginia. Seeing his
companions in bonds dejected, Peden shouted out to them, in presence
and hearing of their guard, "Fear not, brethren, the ship is not yet
built that will take us either to Virginia or any foreign plantation."
Uneasiness was felt on board the ship, in consequence of a report
being spread among the prisoners that thumbkins and other instruments
of torture were to be used to them as implements of punishment. Peden
assured his fellow-passengers that their fears were groundless, for,
said he, neither thumbkins nor bodkins would hurt them. A tedious
voyage of a fortnight brought them to London. When they were about to
be put on board the vessel that was to carry them to Virginia, the
captain of the foreign ship, discovering the character of those
intended to be banished, declared that no authority in the world would
compel him to go to sea with them. As another ship could not be
procured, the prisoners were set at liberty, as Peden predicted.
Fortunately for the discharged persons, they were befriended by Lord
Shaftesbury, an ancestor of the present Lord Shaftesbury, who, along
with other friends, provided for their immediate wants.
One morning, while Peden was at his devotions, a young girl fourteen
years old began to mock him. The good man, turning an eye of pity on
her, said, "Poor thing, thou laughest and mockest, but a sudden and
surprising judgment on thee will soon stay the laughter of many." This
was when he was in confinement on the Bass Rock. Shortly afterwards a
swift gust of wind swept her into the sea, where she was lost.
Alexander (this was his Christian name) Peden said to a brother and
sister during his last illness, "You will all be displeased at the
place where I shall be buried at last. I could have wished to lie in
the grave of my beloved Richard Cameron; but I shall not be allowed to
rest where you lay me, though my bones shall at last be glorified."
Peden foretold the early and violent death of the martyr John Brown.
Addressing Mrs. Brown one day, he said, "Isabel, you have got a good
man to be your husband, but you will not enjoy him long; prize his
company, and keep linen beside you for his winding sheet, for you will
need it when you are not looking for it, and it will be a bloody one."
Brown had a presentiment, too, that his end would be a tragical one.
The end did come early. Claverhouse, who had been searching for him as
well as for several other Covenanters, suddenly surprised him one
morning, and ordered the dragoons to bring him in front of his
(Brown's) house, where stood his weeping wife and helpless children.
"Go to your prayers," shouted Claverhouse, "for immediately you shall
die." Mrs. Brown exclaimed, "This is the day I have expected;" and
Brown, while addressing a few farewell words to his beloved spouse,
said calmly, "Isabel, this is what I told you of before we were
married." Mrs. Brown was dragged from the side of her husband, who
stood resigned to his fate. "Fire!" cried Claverhouse, and instantly
the martyr fell, pierced through by half a dozen bullets.
According to Wodrow, the Scottish historian, the swans which were on
Linlithgow Loch when the English obtained the mastery in Scotland,
disappeared. On the king's return, the swans came back. Their flight
was considered to foreshadow evil to the royal family, and their
reappearance was regarded as a happy omen.
So great was the consternation caused about the middle of the
seventeenth century by prodigious apparitions, that lamentations were
heard in every dwelling. Women who were with child brought forth
prematurely. At Hereford the town-clerk's wife bore three children at
a birth, who, we are told, had all teeth, and spoke immediately after
they were born. One said, "The day is appointed that no man can shun;"
another asked, "Who will be sufficient to bury the dead?" and a third
predicted that "there will not be enough of corn to feed the hungry."
Each having thus expressed himself, expired.
In the year 1680 a great comet appeared, striking every beholder with
awe. The terror partly arose from the fact that Kepler, the
astronomer, had calculated that the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter
in Leo, which happens only once in eight hundred years, and which took
place at the time of the appearance of this comet, would have an evil
influence on the Romish Church. The consternation was increased by
mathematicians declaring that the comet was six times longer than
that which portended the death of Pope Alexander VII. These
conjunctions were believed to have been always attended with important
circumstances on earth. Tycho Brahé reckoned them thus:--The first, he
said, was under Enoch; the second under Noah; the third under Moses;
the fourth under Solomon; the fifth under a greater than Solomon; the
sixth under Charlemagne, when the Romans were subdued; and the seventh
conjunction was at the time first mentioned. Those who have made
themselves acquainted with the cruel persecutions in the year 1680 and
subsequent years, will not refuse to admit that, whether Kepler did or
did not know beforehand through astronomical calculations what dire
calamities were to take place on account of truth, his words prepared
many for coming danger, and emboldened them to struggle on until
Protestantism triumphed over Papacy.
In the _Day of Rest_ for September 1877 we find the following
statement relative to Solomon:--"Eastern traditions inform us that
Solomon possessed the secret power of expelling demons; that he
composed spells by which diseases were removed; and that he left
behind him exorcisms by which devils were driven away, never to
return. In wild exaggerated stories in the Talmud, Solomon is credited
with having dominion over the wild beasts, and over the birds of
heaven, and over the creeping beasts of earth, and over all devils and
spirits of darkness. He understood the languages of them all, and they
understood him. On one occasion, proceeds the legend, when the wise
king's heart was influenced with wine, he commanded that all the wild
beasts, birds, and creeping things of earth, and also the devils and
spirits of darkness, should be gathered together, that they might
dance before him. And what is most wonderful, if the Rabbis lie not,
every one that was summoned appeared before Solomon, and took part in
the great dance."
THE DRUIDS.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Druids laid claim to Supernatural Power--Functions
exercised by Druids--Representations of the Sun and
Moon--Belief of Druids--Beltane Feasts--Arkite and
Sabian Superstition--Dancing to the Song of the
Cuckoo--Holy Liquor--Initiation into the Druidical
Mysteries--The Goodmane's Land and the Guidman's
Fauld--Places frequented by Fairies--Good Manes gave
Plentiful Crops--Offerings to Demi-gods--Propitiating
Beasts of Prey--Sacred Cairns--Trees dedicated to
Demons--Law forbidding Worship of the Sun, Moon, Fire,
Rivers, Wells, Stones, or Forest Trees--Extracts from
Kirk-Session Records--Land dedicated to
Satan--Midsummer and Hallow Fires forbidden--Yule-day,
how kept--Order of the General Assembly as to
Druidical Customs at the Fires at Beltane, Midsummer,
Hallow-e'en, and Yule--Old Customs ordered to be
discontinued.
In our introduction to _The Poets and Superstition_ we noticed briefly
particular classes of Druids--the Bardi and Vates. We now proceed to
give fuller details of the Druids, a class of people who played a not
unimportant part among the nations in olden times. There were male and
female Druids; the latter generally called Druides. Both the men and
women laid claim to supernatural power and knowledge.
The Druids were expert at legerdemain, and, by their astonishing
exploits, sustained among an ignorant people a reputation of being
magicians. They devoted much time to the study of astrology, observing
closely the heavenly bodies, through which they pretended they could
predict events kept secret from ordinary mortals. The Druids exercised
the functions of magistrates, priests, teachers, and physicians. As
judges, their authority was unlimited; they desired the people to
believe that not only had they the power of imposing punishment in
this world, but that they might sentence offenders to torment in the
world beyond the grave.
The Arch-Druid wore a gold chain round his neck, from which was
suspended a gold plate, having engraved thereon, "The gods require
sacrifice," and on the front of the Druid's cap was a golden
representation of the sun, and a silver representation of a half moon.
They believed in one supreme being; supposed that the soul was
immortal; and thought the spirit of man began to exist in the meanest
insect, and that it proceeded through the lower orders of existence,
rising at every new birth until it reached the human body. When the
soul animated the human form, a knowledge of good and evil dawned upon
the being, who then became responsible for the thoughts and actions of
life. If one chose evil instead of good, the soul, it was asserted,
went after death into an inferior grade of animal life, low in
proportion to the sinfulness of that existence. Those who chose the
better part became at last so exalted that evil had no power over
them, and they were happy for ever and ever. It was also believed that
the beatified soul retained the love of its country and relations, and
that the spirits of the good sometimes returned to earth, and became
prophets among mankind, that they might assist in teaching divine
things, and oppose the evil one.
The Druids were worshippers of Bel, Beal, Bealan, from whence come the
Beltane or Bealteine feasts, of which they observed four of
considerable importance every year, viz. those of May-eve,
Midsummer-eve, and of the eve of the 1st of November, and of the eve
of the 10th of March. With Druidical religious rites were blended
Arkite and Sabian superstition. Dancing round the May-pole, old
authors say, took its rise from the Druidical custom of dancing on the
green to the song of the cuckoo. Taliesin, the Druidical bard,
informs us that those who joined in the mystical movements went
according to the course of the sun, as they attached much importance
to the ceremony of going three times round their sacred circle from
the east to west. At the celebration of sacred mysteries there was a
caldron for the preparation of a decoction from plants held in high
esteem. This liquor being holy, possessed rare virtues, one of which
was the power of inspiring those who partook thereof, or to whom it
was applied. The caldron was kept boiling a year and a day. During
this time, at certain hours and under particular planets, plants
possessed of peculiar properties were collected and added to the
caldron's contents.
Not only did the sacred liquor, properly applied, enable one to see
into futurity, but it was supposed to confer immortality on those who
bathed in it. Further, by its application, the dead might have been
brought to life again. All the sacred utensils and the company
assembled at mystical feasts were purified with the decoction.
Initiation into the Druidical mysteries was something dreadful. None
but those of strong nerve could successfully pass through the ordeal,
all of which took place at night. Every one admitted into the
fraternity bound himself by a solemn oath, like a freemason, not to
commit to writing or divulge the secrets revealed to him.
In various parts of the country there were "the goodmane's land and
the guidman's fauld," to cultivate which it was supposed would be
followed by dire calamities. These places were, according to popular
opinion, frequented by fairies and other supernatural beings. Music
was often heard, and dancing seen, at such places. There, too, people
are reported to have been enticed into subterranean abodes, and
retained for years. Places dedicated to gods and demi-gods lay
uncultivated, though the surrounding ground bore good crops. For these
acts of self-denial in permitting ground to remain waste which might
have been producing good fruit, "the good neighbours" sent untold-of
blessings. To secure prosperity, goodmanes attached themselves to
deserving persons and families, making their crops plentiful, causing
their cows to have calves, and giving milk in abundance. We have an
account of how offerings were presented to those demi-gods at stated
occasions. The people made a circle on the ground, in which they
kindled a fire, and then cooked a mess, consisting of milk, butter,
eggs, and meal, for the beings whose favour they desired to secure for
the first time, or whose continued good service was wished. Cakes were
baked and offered to the manes in this manner: piece after piece was
broken off the cake or bannock and thrown over the left shoulder,
while the desire was expressed aloud, that those to whom the offering
was made would preserve the cattle, horses, and other animals and
substance from the power of evil spirits. In the same way, or after a
fashion somewhat similar, beasts of prey were propitiated.
Then there were sacred cairns, consisting of stones thrown together by
passers by, every one adding his stone. If any one removed these
cairns, or part thereof, superstitious people predicted evil to the
spoiler. The late Rev. James Rust, in his _Druidism Exhumed_, mentions
that circles stood on the spot where one of the extensive
manufactories at Grandholm, near Aberdeen, has been built. The people,
shocked at the removal of the Druidical works, predicted retributive
justice to those who disturbed the sacred relics. For a long time
every misadventure to the company, or to individuals connected
therewith, was attributed to the sacrilegious action.
Trees were sometimes dedicated to demons. The people worshipped such
trees, holding them in the highest esteem that any earthly thing could
be regarded. It was a capital offence to cut off a branch or shoot
from one of them. King Cnut passed a law forbidding the worship of
the sun, moon, fire, rivers, wells, stones, or forest trees of any
kind.
Mr. Rust gives the following extracts from the Kirk Session records of
the parish of Slains, which bear upon Druidical superstitions:--
"18th November 1649.--The sd day the Minister and
Elderis being conveinit in Sessione ... the Minister
askit at ye Elderis for delationes, and desyrit them
to try if yer was aney hallowe fyres set on be aney of
the parochiners upon a hallarse evine. The sd day the
Minister requirit of the Elderis if they knew aney
peices of land within the paroche that was calit the
goodmane's land or fauld, or dedicated to Satane, or
lattine by unlabourit. They sed yer was ane peice land
in Brogane calit Garlet or guidman's fauld, within
Andrew Robes tak that was not labourit this manie
yeires, for quhat respect they knew not. The Minister
desyrit them to try qrfr it lay unlabourit."
"25th November 1649.--... Intimat that yr be no
Midsumer, no hallow fyres, under the paine of the
haveris of them to be condinglie punishit."
"Sessione the 30th December 1649.--The sd day the
Minister and Elderis being conveinit in Sessione ...
compeirit Thomas Patersone, and confessit that yr was
a peice land in his rowme calit the goodmane's fauld,
quhilk was this long time unlabourit. He is ordainit
to labour it, and promist to do so efter Whitsonday,
qn it was for faching. The sd day the Minister did
inquyr of the Elderis that knew of aney that
superstitiouslie keipit Yoolday. They did all report
that it was not keipit, that they did not yoke yr
pleuches, but yokt their work-horses."
In the same year (1649) the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
appointed a commission of their own number to report to the next
General Assembly as to the Druidical customs observed at the fires at
Beltane, Midsummer, Hallow-e'en, and Yule. All the old customs were
ordered to be discontinued, and the people warned against kindling
fires for superstitious purposes.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Dr. Stuart On the Druids--Their Deities--Augury--Human
Victims--Nature of the Gods--Gauls descendants of
Dis--Funeral Rites--Slaves and Clients burned--What
Pliny says--Tallies used in making known the Will of
Heaven--Walking through the Fire--Barbarous mode of
discovering Future Events--Wonder-working
Eggs--Colours of Eggs, and by whom worn--Virtue of
Globule of Ink--Easter Eggs represent Druidical
Eggs--Origin of the Druids dated from the Dispersal of
Babel--Arch-Druid of the Mountains--Wise Men of the
East were probably Druids--Island of Iona--Druidical
Cairns--Stones of Judgment--Mr. Rust's
Opinion--Misletoe regarded as a Charm--Rings worn as
Preventatives against Witchcraft--Legend concerning
Stonehenge--A Famous General--Merlin the
Magician--Stones brought from Africa by Giants--Graves
of British Lords.
Dr. Stuart, writing of the Druids, says their chief deity was Mercury,
of whom they have many images. They also worship Apollo and Mars, and
Jupiter and Minerva. They held a meeting at a certain time of the year
in a consecrated spot. They used rites of augury from the slaughter of
human victims. According to Strabo, three classes of persons were much
venerated among the Gauls--the Bards, Druids, and Soothsayers.
Cæsar, from whom Dr. Stuart largely borrows, tells us that the whole
of the Gallic nation was exceedingly superstitious. People of
distinction who laboured under the more fatal diseases, and those who
engaged in battles and other dangerous undertakings, either immolated
human beings, or vowed that they would immolate themselves. They
employed the Druids as their ministers at those sacrifices. It was
thought the divine nature of the immortal gods could not be
propitiated but by human life being substituted for human life. There
were, Cæsar continues, effigies of immense magnitude, interwoven with
osiers, filled with living men. Then these former being ignited, the
latter perished in the flames. The people thought that the sacrifices
of guilty human victims, apprehended in the act of theft, robbery, or
any other crime, were more agreeable to the immortal gods than those
of innocent persons; but when the supply of culprits failed,
non-guilty victims were sacrificed. All the Gauls boasted that they
were descended from Dis as their father--a tradition communicated to
them by the Druids. Funeral rites, considering the culture of the
Gauls, were magnificent and sumptuous. Everything dear to the
deceased, when alive, was carried into the fire. Even the animals did
not escape; and, to manifest high esteem for a person of note, his
slaves and clients who were beloved by him, were cremated together
after the obsequies demanded by justice had been performed.
Pliny writes that the Druids exhibited the herb vervain in the
exercise of their rites. They had tallies, consisting of sprigs lopped
from a fruit-bearing tree, marked in a particular manner, thrown into
a garment or covered with a veil, and drawn out by chance, through
which means, it was supposed, the will of heaven was made known.
From various sources of information we know that the Druids had
recourse to sortilege by fire. It was customary for a nobleman to take
the entrails of a sacrificed animal in his hands, to walk barefooted
three times through the embers of an expiring fire, and then carry
them to a Druid performing at the altar. If the nobleman escaped
unhurt, it was reckoned a good omen, but if injured, it was deemed
unlucky to the country and himself. When a victim was put to death by
the sword, the Druids who investigated the deed, pretended to discover
future events by the manner in which he fell, the flavouring of the
reeking blood, and the quivering of the body in the agonies of death.
The wonder-working eggs possessed by the Druids were insignia of a
sacred character, set in gold, and worn suspended from the neck.
The Rev. John B. Pratt, in his work on the Druids, says: "These eggs
were wholly artificial. Some of them were blue, some white, a third
sort green, and a fourth regularly variegated with all these colours.
They are said to have been worn by different orders--the white by the
Druids; the blue by the presiding bards; the green by the Vains; and
those with the three colours blended were pendants of the disciples.
That the secret of manufacturing these amulets was totally unknown in
Britain, except to the Druids, is thought most probable; and the
secret of discovering things by looking into a globule of ink, which,
it is asserted by some, the Egyptian jugglers still possess, may be a
remnant of the ancient sortilege by means of the Druid's egg."
Probably the coloured eggs children play with at Easter were anciently
intended to represent the Druidical eggs.
Mr. Pratt concludes, that if it be true that the Druids came from the
East, and that the traces of their existence there run back, as some
suppose, into the remotest antiquity, "it is not altogether
preposterous," he continues, "to suppose that their origin is to be
dated from the dispersion at Babel.... Balaam, the Eastern magician,
was probably the Arch-Druid of the mountainous country in which he
lived. The offerings he made were at the high places of Baal, and for
the purpose of enchantments, although he was not ignorant of the Most
High.... The magi, or wise men of the East, probably were Druids, who,
from their knowledge of astronomy, at once detected the star which
indicated the fulfilment of Balaam's prophecy."
The earliest name borne by the island of Iona, so far as known in
modern times, was Innis-nan Druidneach, or Isle of the Druids. The
Druids retained their power not only in Iona until the year 563 or
564, but also on the mainland and in the islands. Mullingar is
supposed to have been the last place in Ireland where the Druids had
a residence. In the beginning of the last century a number of gold
coins, found on the hill Karn Bre, near Truro, were thought to be
Druidical coins. Some of them, Mr. Davies thinks, were impressed with
rude hieroglyphics, symbolical of Ceridiven. Objects of different
kinds are combined in one compound figure. To an arc or half moon is
added the head of a bird, probably symbolical of the mother of the
mystical egg. On other coins found there, magical ceremonies are
represented, and on others the mystical sow appears sketched out.
In Druidical times there were rocking stones, or stones of judgment.
They were large, some of them weighing fifty tons, and having sharp
edges, on which they stood nicely balanced. A rocking stone of
judgment, says Mr. Rust, "had been intended to test difficult
questions, which could not be proved, disproved, or solved in the
ordinary way, or for want of evidence, or which required the divine
interposition of some particular deity, likely a bloodthirsty one; for
as they had different deities, different temples, and different
altars, they had also different judgment stones attached to them, and
different ordeals through which the tried individuals, whether
devotees, criminals, or captives, had to pass. These judgment stones
had been anciently very common." According to the number of times a
stone oscillated or refused to oscillate, the Druids determined to
convict or acquit the suspected person.
Of the misletoe, and the esteem in which it was held by the Druids, we
have written in page 127. This parasitical plant was regarded as a
charm of no ordinary virtue. But the misletoe was only one of many
articles they had possessing occult virtue.
Glass rings, manufactured by Druidical priests, were worn by the
ancient Britons, as preventatives against witchcraft and the
machinations of evil spirits.
A ridiculous legend is told concerning Stonehenge, the supposed
Druidical temple near Salisbury. Aurelianus Ambrosius, a famous
general of the ancient Britons, of Roman extraction, was, at the
request of the Britons, sent over with ten thousand men to assist them
against the Saxons, whom Vortigern had invited into Britain. Ambrosius
had such successes against the Saxons that the Britons chose him for
their king, and compelled Vortigern to give up to him all the western
parts of the kingdom divided by the Roman highway, called Watling
Street. Ultimately Ambrosius became sole monarch of Britain. Geoffrey
says that this monarch built Stonehenge. Ambrosius, we are told,
coming to a monastery where lay buried three hundred British lords who
had been massacred by Hengist, resolved to perpetuate the memory of
this action by raising a monument over their remains.
By the advice of Tremounus, Archbishop of Caerleon, Ambrosius
consulted Merlin, the celebrated magician, as to how he should
proceed. Merlin recommended him to send to Ireland for certain great
stones, called _chorea gigantum_, the giant's dance, placed in a
circle on a hill called Killaci, which had been brought there by
giants from the farthest borders of Africa. A strong force was, in
accordance with this advice, sent to Ireland, but the king of that
country derided the folly of the Britons in undertaking such a
ridiculous expedition, and opposed them in battle. The Irish king was
vanquished, and, by the direction and assistance of Merlin, who had
accompanied the expedition, the wonderful stones were conveyed to
Salisbury, and, by order of Ambrosius, placed over the graves of the
British lords. These gravestones are what are now called Stonehenge.
Such stories, as may be expected, are discredited by historians, but
our best antiquaries disagree as to the origin of these monuments of
antiquity.
Gale, Dickenson, and others say the Druids borrowed their philosophy
and religion from the Jews and Eastern heathen nations. Our older
antiquarians believe that cromlechs are Druidical altars, in
imitation of older heathen altars--a theory supported by reference to
the stones called Petroma, near the temple of Eleusinian Damater in
Arcadia: The Philistines pointed to the Deluge in their hieroglyphics
of the serpent and mundane egg, the history which the serpent is
supposed to designate being that of Noah, and the egg being reckoned
an emblem of the ark, from the circumstance of it containing the
rudiments of future life. The serpent is not unfrequently represented
when reference is made to the betrayal of Eve.
People making acknowledgment to the gods for continual benefits,
surrendered part of their increase for the service of the altar.
Egyptian offerings consisted of fruits and herbs, while shepherds
offered firstlings of their flocks. For this cause the Egyptians
disliked shepherds almost with the cruel hatred Cain bore his brother
Abel.
As the oak and misletoe were sacred to the Druids, so were they to the
Israelites in their days of declension. And in Greece we find the
famous oracle of Jupiter at the oaks of Dodona. To the ancient
inhabitants of Italy the misletoe was a sacred emblem; and the golden
branches of Virgil were none other than those of the misletoe.
As the Druids studied the heavenly bodies as a book (so says Origen),
the heathen learned through the discovery of a new star the birth of a
great person. From Virgil, it appears, it was commonly imagined the
gods sent stars to point the way to their favourites in perplexity.
The Jews entertained similar opinions.
According to Suckford, the ancients believed that heroes and other
great men were transferred at death to some bright planet. In
consequence of such belief, eminent persons were deified. Julius Cæsar
was canonised, because it was thought he was translated to a new star,
discovered at the hour of his death.
DEMONOLOGY.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
First Ideas of Demonology--Rabbinical
Tradition--Adam's Marriage--The Wicked
Lilith--Demons--Egyptian Tradition--Arabian Worship of
Genii--Christians' Opinions of Demons--Forms assumed
by Evil Spirits--Demoniacal King--Duty of Inferior
Demons--Task of Benign Spirits--Schools of Magic--What
was taught in them--Circassian Opinions--Belief of
Indians--Situation of Hell--Men's Actions
recorded--Rewards and Punishments--How to frighten
Demons--Treatment of the Sick--Condemning Spirits to
Everlasting Punishment--Attendant Angels--Worship of
Gods--Foretelling Future Events--Small-pox propagated
by an Evil Genius--Souls of Deceased Persons--Dread of
Evil Spirits--Effect of Charms.
To the Chaldeans we are indebted for the first ideas of demonology.
From Chaldea the notions of demonology spread to Persia, Egypt, and
Greece; but, as stated in another part of these pages, a belief in
spirits or genii and of witchcraft prevailed at an early period of
man's existence. There is an ancient Rabbinical tradition, no doubt
very absurd, but illustrative of early notions of superstition, that
Adam was first married to a sorceress named Lilith, or the mother of
devils. She refused submission to Adam, and disregarded commandments
conveyed to her by angels. She persisted in her disobedience; and
having one day, in a more than ordinary state of impiety, invoked the
name of Jehovah, according to the rules of the Cabala, she ascended
into the air and disappeared. Lilith was feared by divers nations.
When children died of diseases not properly understood, their deaths
were attributed to Lilith, who was supposed to carry out her wicked
purposes as an aërial spectre. Newly married pairs were accustomed to
inscribe the names of angels on the inside partitions of their houses,
and the names of Adam and Eve and the words "Begone, Lilith," on the
outside walls. The name Lilith was given to women suspected of holding
intercourse with demons. The legends of Lilith were transmitted from
people to people until they came down to the Jews, who believed them.
This people were wont to inscribe on their bed-posts the words, "Et
zelo Chuizlilith," that the sleepers might be delivered by Lilith from
dreams.
Demon was a term applied by the Greeks and Romans to certain genii or
spirits who made themselves visible to men, with the intention of
doing them either good or harm. The Jews and early Christians ascribed
a malignant nature to demons, the former endeavouring to trace their
origin to intercourse between man and supernatural beings, and the
latter maintaining that they were the souls of departed human beings,
permitted to visit the earth to assist those they favoured, and punish
persons against whom they or their favourites had a grudge. Certain
spirits were supposed to be celestial, others watery, some airy, and
not a few of them fiery. Tertullian said: "Spirits flew through the
air faster than any winged fowl. Unless commissioned to act, they
remained passive, neither doing good nor evil; but the evil spirits
went and came at the devil's command, and both classes of spirits were
at man's service if he only knew how to summon them into his
presence."
The ancient Egyptians had a tradition, that at a far past period men
rebelled against the gods, and drove them away. Upon this taking
place, the gods fled into Egypt, where they concealed themselves under
the form of different animals; and this was the first reason assigned
for the worship of inferior creatures. A leading principle in the
religion of the ancient Arabians was their belief in fairies or genii.
They thought that these genii attended people through life; that
every man had two of these waiting on him, the one good and the other
evil; that all evil actions were committed at the instigation of the
evil spirit in the absence of the good genii, who sometimes went with
messages to the celestial regions. The Arabians further believed these
genii were continually at war with each other, which, the people
considered, accounted for the contending passions in their minds.
Their principal genius was Hafedhah, to whom the people, on setting
out on a plundering expedition, prayed he would send them a strong
genius to assist them.
In the middle ages conjuration was regularly practised in Europe, and
devils were supposed to appear under decided forms. A devil would
appear either as an angel of light, or as a monster in hideous shape.
An anonymous writer, discussing the subject, says: "A devil would
appear either like an angel seated in a fiery chariot, or riding on an
infernal dragon, and carrying in his right hand a viper, or assuming a
lion's head, a goose's feet, and a hare's tail, or putting on a
raven's head, and mounted on a strong wolf. Other forms made use of by
demons were those of fierce warriors, or old men riding upon
crocodiles, with hooks in hand. A human figure would arise, having the
wings of a griffin; or sporting three heads, one of them being like
that of a toad, the other resembling that of a cat; or defended with
huge teeth and horns, and adorned with a sword; or displaying a dog's
teeth, and a large raven's head; or mounted upon a pale horse, and
exhibiting a serpent's tail; or gloriously crowned, and riding upon a
dromedary; or presenting the face of a lion; or bestriding a bear, and
grasping a viper. There were also such shapes as those of archers or
bowmen. A demoniacal king would ride on a pale horse, assume a
leopard's face and griffin's wings; or put on three heads, one of a
bull, another of a man, and a third of a ram, with a serpent's tail
and the feet of a goose; and in this appearance sit on a dragon, and
bear in his hand a lance and flag; or, instead of being thus employed,
goad the flanks of a furious bear, and carry on his fist a hawk. Other
forms were those of a goodly knight; or of one who bore lance, ensign,
and even sceptre; or of a soldier, either riding on a black horse, and
surrounded with a flame of fire; or wearing on his head a duke's
crown, and mounted on a crocodile; or assuming a lion's face, and,
with fiery eyes, spurring on a gigantic charger, or, with the same
frightful aspect, appearing in all the pomp of family distinction, on
a pale horse; or clad from head to foot in crimson raiment, wearing on
his bold front a crown, and sallying forth on a red steed."
To inferior demons was assigned the duty of carrying away condemned
souls, and superior benign spirits had the pleasing task of conveying
from earth the souls of the blessed.
Toledo, Seville, and Salamanca were great schools of magic. The
teachers taught that all knowledge might be obtained by the assistance
of fallen angels. These teachers were skilled in the abstract
sciences, in alchemy, in the various languages of mankind, and of the
lower animals, divinity, magic, and prophecy. They professed to
possess the power of controlling the winds and waters, and of
influencing the stars. They also pretended to be able to cause
earthquakes, spread diseases or cure them, release souls out of
purgatory, to influence the passions of the mind, procure the
reconciliation of friends or foes, engender discord, and induce mania
and melancholy.
The Circassians sprinkled holy water over their friends' graves, and
the priests tolled bells near them to keep evil spirits from the
bodies. Affectionate relations visited the burying grounds from time
to time, to repeat prayers for the repose of the dead, who, they
thought, continued to be acquainted with the affairs of the world.
When an Indian became ill, the Brahmin prayed over him; for it was
believed that two spirits, one good and the other bad, attended the
dying at the hour of death. If the expiring person lived a commendable
life, he was conveyed in a flying chariot to a place of happiness; but
if he was wicked, the evil spirit carried him before a dread tribunal,
to be judged according to his works. Deceased was then sent back to
wander on the earth ten days, in the shape of a magpie. For this
reason the people always fed a magpie for ten days after the death of
a relation, imagining that the bird might possess their friend's soul.
Indians believed in former times, whatever they may do now, that hell
was situated at a great distance below the world, and that there was a
president in it called Yhamadar. Under him, a secretary named
Xitragupten wrote down a man's good and bad actions, and presented his
record to the president the instant the deceased's soul came before
him. This infernal president was reported to have been very equitable,
distributing rewards and punishments according to justice. Some souls
were supposed to be sent back to inhabit inferior bodies in this
world, while others were tormented in the most cruel manner in the
infernal regions. If a dying person laid hold of a cow by the tail,
and a Brahmin poured water over his hand, and put a sum of money into
it (the hand), the soul would be protected from the power of demons.
In Pegu, copper vessels or bells were used to frighten demons that
wanted to disturb the repose of the dead. There the priests pretended
to know what was most agreeable and acceptable to evil spirits, and
professed to be able to appease their anger. A grand entertainment was
sometimes made for the devil, at which the friends of a sick man
danced to the sound of vocal and instrumental music. These heathens
believed devils had bodies as well as souls, and that, although
immortal, they had the same passions as men. They believed, also, that
the devils or demons had power to foretell future events, and that all
dreams happened in consequence of their promptings. They therefore
consulted such devils nearly after the manner the witches of Great
Britain were accustomed to do.
When a person in Cochin-China was at the point of death, his male
relations surrounded his bed, brandishing their sabres and other
warlike weapons, to drive away the demons, which they supposed were
hovering around him to seize his soul the instant it was liberated
from the body. When a prince died, the priests held a consultation, in
order to discover what demon it was that caused the sad event; and
when they made the discovery, which they invariably did, they in a
solemn manner condemned the evil spirit to everlasting punishment. The
inhabitants of the Molucca Islands were under the impression, like
other heathens and Christians too, that two angels attended on every
person on earth, the one seeking his good, and the other his eternal
hurt. The good angel prompted the individual to holy actions, while
the malignant one was constantly instigating him to shun the right
path. The people worshipped the air under the name of Lanitho, which
was subject to another being or spirit named Lanthila, but they had
many gods they consulted on all occasions of importance. If it was
considered necessary to consult a Nito or god, the people assembled
under cloud of night, with tapers burning, and, after pronouncing
mysterious words, called on their god to appear. As soon as the
prescribed forms were gone through, Nito entered with one of the
people, who, while under the demoniacal influence, foretold future
events. A few families in that island claimed to have the power of
witchcraft vested in them from generation to generation.
Being often afflicted with small-pox, the people conjectured the
disease was propagated by an evil genius; and, to frighten the demon
from their homes, images were placed on the house-tops. If one
accidentally met a funeral or saw a corpse on the road, he returned
home in haste. If the unlucky person was a woman carrying a child in
her arms, her consternation was great, for it was imagined the soul of
the deceased hovered in the air near the corpse, and endeavoured to
injure the living, particularly young children. To protect their
children from demons, parents tied charmed beads round the infants'
necks. Indeed the people lived in constant dread of evil spirits; and,
to frustrate their evil intentions, they, in addition to the
preventatives already mentioned, always kept consecrated articles
under their pillows.
CHAPTER XXIX.
Heathen Devotion in Ceylon--Superstitious Customs
among the Schismatic Greeks--Negro Belief in Fetishes
or Genii--Charms and Sacred Rings and Belts--Magic
taught by the Priests--Dead Persons metamorphosed into
Serpents--How the Gaures disposed of their Dead--Modes
of discovering whether Souls were Blessed or
Damned--Orders of Genii in Madagascar--Devil
Worship--Belief of the Caribbees--Brazilian
Superstition--Peruvian Tradition--Devil Worship among
the American Indians--Demons in the Sixteenth and
Seventeenth Centuries--Satan in France--Manes, Anima,
and Umbra among the Greeks and Romans.
In Ceylon, when the heathens' prayers were not answered, they repaired
to the most gloomy parts of their sacred groves, and offered up red
cocks to the devil, where they supposed he and his imps and attendants
delighted to dwell. And when any of the people were sick, they devoted
a red cock to one of their genii. The priest, in offering the cock,
made it known that the fowl was given only on condition that the
invalid would be cured. It was believed that all the sacrifices
offered to these genii were carried by them to heaven, to be presented
to Buddha. To discover whether a patient's sickness was caused by a
good or evil spirit, a bow of the first little stick that could be
found was prepared, and on the bow-string the operator hung a small
chisel, and holding the bow by the two extremities, named all the gods
and devils he thought of. As soon as the name of the good or evil
spirit that caused the disease was pronounced, the bow turned round.
By means of bows the natives of Ceylon were also enabled to foretell
future events.
Among the schismatic Greeks, an infant, previous to its baptism, was
crossed by the priest, who commanded the devil to come out of the
child, for it was believed an unclean spirit resided in it before
baptism. After baptism, the priest hung a cross of gold, silver, or
tin about the child's neck, which, in accordance with usual custom,
was worn till death. If at death one was found without his cross, his
body was cast into the ground without sacred ceremonies.
The negroes had fetishes or genii similar to the Manitous of the North
Americans, and the ancient Fauns or Sylvans of the Romans. To these
fetishes the negroes paid great respect. Particular kinds of birds,
fishes, and trees were looked upon as fetishes; and certain of them
were accounted the guardians of hills, mountains, and streams. Negroes
supposed that if one broke off a branch from a sacred tree, he would
immediately cause the destruction of their crops. They had stones
resembling the Roman terminal-stones. Fetishes were consulted by the
people as oracles; and when they appeared in living form to return
answers, it was generally as black dogs. Large fetishes were kept for
the protection of houses; and the people carried small ones about
them, sometimes suspended from their necks, and sometimes concealed
under their arm-pits, for their protection. Negro women hung charms
round their infants' necks, to protect them from harm. Children four
years of age had sacred rings round their legs and arms, to protect
them from evil spirits. This was not all: mothers went the length of
making their children wear bandages adorned with fetishes, to
strengthen the little ones and keep away demons. Thursday was set
apart for the worship of fetishes. The priests studied magic, and
instructed the people in the art thereof. It was a belief among the
negroes, that at death they were metamorphosed into serpents, and for
that reason they would not kill or injure one of these reptiles.
Because the Gaures thought decomposed bodies polluted the earth, they
did not bury their dead. They had round towers as receptacles for
their departed friends, whose bodies were let down to their final
resting-place through an aperture in the roof. During the first three
days after the body had been laid in the tower, it was thought to be
in danger of being carried away by the devil. It therefore became
necessary for the friends to keep watch, in order to prevent Satan
having an opportunity to torment the soul as it winged its way to the
celestial regions. On or before the fourth day the soul was in a place
of torment or happiness. On this, the fourth day, the priests
prognosticated the future state of the deceased. The discovery was
made in this way: the dead body was laid on its back, with the eyes
turned towards heaven, and the vultures being permitted to come and
feast on the deceased, it was considered a certain sign that the soul
had gone to bliss if the right eye was taken out first, but it was an
equally sure omen that it had gone to a place of punishment if the
left eye was the first devoured. Another mode of ascertaining the
state of happiness or misery of a soul was by the movements of a dog
near a corpse. If the animal went close to it, then were the relatives
convinced the soul was in a state of bliss, but if the dog could not
be tempted to go near the body, they despaired of their friend
escaping everlasting torment.
The islanders of Madagascar entertained the opinion that there were
divers orders of genii or spirits; that some of them directed the
motions of the stars and planets, and that others had power over the
air, the meteors, the sea, and men. Besides these genii there was
another order of spirits, male and female, who married and had
offspring. They made known future events to man, and performed
superhuman actions, such as are done by Scotch fairies. The natives of
Madagascar also believed in the existence of phantoms and ghosts. To
protect themselves, their friends, and property from the power of
Satan, they, at stated times, with javelins in hand, danced, to the
beat of drum, to drive away evil spirits.
The Floridans worshipped the devil in various ways. In the Caribbee
Islands the inhabitants had a great variety of omens and
superstitions. They thought bats were supernatural creatures, whose
duty it was to watch over mortal man during night. These people
consulted relics of deceased friends as to things past and future. The
Boias, the native medico-priests, had each his particular genii, whom
he pretended to summon to his assistance by humming certain words and
burning tobacco. These genii were conjured in the night time, at a
place without fire or light. The Boias were reported to have possessed
the power of killing enemies by means of charms. The Caribbees
ascribed diseases to Maboia; and whenever they were desirous of
knowing the result of any illness with which they were afflicted, they
presented an offering to Maboia, and sent for a Boia in the night,
who, on his arrival, ordered the fires to be extinguished. In presence
of the patient, he smoked a quantity of tobacco, rubbed another
portion of the weed into powder, and blew it up in the air. From
certain appearances the priest discovered the cause of the disease,
and ascertained what would be the result thereof. If the patient was
to die, the priest gave his assurance that the spirits would receive
the dying individual into their blessed abode.
The Brazilians had domestic gods, which they consulted; and their
priests were fortune-tellers and interpreters of dreams. After a
friend died, the relations carried provisions to the grave every day
for a short time, under the impression that the nourishment brought
would prevent the deceased's spirit from dying.
The Peruvians had a tradition that a man of extraordinary form and
character, whose name was Choun, came from the north into their
country; that he levelled mountains, filled up valleys, and opened
passages for himself through places inaccessible to ordinary man. It
is related that this being having been offended by the inhabitants of
the plains, changed part of the ground which was fruitful into a sandy
desert, forbade the rain to fall, and dried up the plants.
Subsequently he had compassion on the erring people, and opened the
springs, so that the rivers once more flowed. Choun was worshipped
till the appearance of a more mighty god called Pachacamac, who, on
his coming, metamorphosed into wild beasts the former inhabitants that
had done homage to Choun. The people had superstitious opinions
concerning comets and rainbows. They drew predictions from dreams,
from signs on earth, and from appearances in the heavens.
In olden times there was a system of devil worship among the American
Indians; and almost everywhere, in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, demons made themselves seen and felt in nearly every part
of the earth. In France, Satan had his witches, imps, and other
inferior demons, who carried out his wicked purposes. At Lyons the
devil appeared in the shape of a little woman, and, by cunning
stratagem, led many persons into serious crimes. In the year 1612 the
evil one, in the appearance of a beautiful woman, allured some Paris
gentlemen into paths of sin. As a good deal of scandal was the result,
the justices and physicians of the city commenced an inquiry, which
ended in it being discovered that the apparently beautiful lady was
the evil spirit of a woman that had been hanged shortly before. Great
excitement prevailed at St Steven's Church, Mascon, through the devil
opening graves, raising the dead, and destroying the vintage.
The Greeks and Romans affirmed that, after the dissolution of the
body, every man possessed three different kinds of ghosts or spirits,
distinguished by the names of Manes, Anima, and Umbra. The Manes, it
was supposed, descended into the infernal regions, the Anima ascended
to the skies, and Umbra hovered about the tomb, seemingly unwilling to
depart from the body.
CHAPTER XXX.
Belief in the Existence of Visible
Ghosts--Superstition among the People dwelling on the
Baltic Shores--A German Legend--Demons in the West of
Europe--Love, how plighted in Orkney--The Monster
Ymor--Origin of Fairies--The Duergar or Dwarfs--More
about Fairies--Brownies in Ireland and the Highlands
of Scotland--Nine Classes of Evil
Spirits--Vampires--Man's Double or Fetch--Churchyard
Ghosts--Souls of Suicides--Burial of Suicides and
Murderers at Cross Roads--Luther on Evil Spirits and
Witches.
A belief in the existence of visible ghosts on earth was general
before and after the middle ages. An old divine of our own country
says:--"I look upon it as a special piece of providence, that there
are, ever and anon, such fresh examples of apparitions and witchcraft
as may rub up and awaken their" [the people's] "benumbed and lethargic
minds into a suspicion at least, if not assurance, that there are
other intelligent beings besides those clothed in heavy earth or clay.
In this, I say, methinks the divine providence does plainly interest
the powers of the dark kingdom, permitting wicked men and women, and
vagrant spirits of that kingdom, to make leagues or covenants one with
another, and to make the confession of witches against their own
lives, and the miraculous feats they play, palpable evidence that
there are bad spirits" as well as good.
An author, who wrote on second sight, last century, under the name of
Theophilus Insulanus, considered all persons were irreligious who
entertained a doubt of the reality of apparitions of departed souls.
Another author thought ghosts were mere aërial beings without
substance that could pass through walls and other solid bodies at
pleasure. Ghosts commonly appeared in the same dress as the persons
whose spirits they represented were accustomed to wear when alive,
though the ghosts were sometimes clothed in white. The appearance of
spirits was generally accompanied by an unaccountable light. Dogs and
horses possess the faculty of seeing ghosts.
People living on the Baltic shores have a deity named Putseet, whom
they encourage to remain with them, by placing in their barns, every
night, tables with bread, butter, cheese, and ale thereon. If the
provisions are taken away, good fortune is expected; if left
untouched, bad luck is looked for. This spirit assists in thrashing,
churning, grinding, and sweeping the house at midnight.
The Northern nations regard spirits of this description as the souls
of men who gave themselves up, during life, to illicit pleasures, and
therefore were doomed, as a punishment, to wander about the earth for
a limited time, to assist mankind.
There is a legend in Germany of an extraordinary nature. Travellers
were shown a pair of brass gates, one of which had a crack, caused by
the following circumstance:--When a supreme monarch had given orders
for the building of a church, the devil came one day and asked what he
intended it for, to which the Emperor answered, "For a gaming-house,"
and Satan went away seemingly well pleased. A few days afterwards the
fiend returned, and seeing altars erected, asked what they were for.
The Emperor answered, "For gaming-tables," which encouraged the devil
to lend his assistance in the completion of the sacred building. Next
time Satan made his appearance he brought a pair of large brass gates
for the edifice, but happening to see a crucifix, he flung them down
with such force that one of the gates was damaged. For many years the
gates were objects of curiosity.
In the west of Europe, where superstition prevailed, there were many
formidable demons, whose history originated in Celtic, Teutonic, and
Eastern fables. In Orkney, even during the last century, lovers met
within the sacred circle of stones dedicated to Scandinavian deities,
to plight their love. Through a hole in one of the pillars the hands
of contracting parties were joined, and the vow made was called the
promise of Odin. To violate this vow, rendered the false one infamous
in all time coming.
In the body of the giant Ymir several maggots had been generated,
which, by order of the gods, partook of both human shape and reason.
These little beings, to which reference is also made in pages 88 and
90, possessed the most delicate figures, and always dwelt in
subterranean caverns or clefts in the rocks. They were remarkable for
their riches, activity, and malevolence, and were probably the modern
fairies of the north and west, who are usually described as beings of
small stature, and gaily dressed. These creatures, the offspring of
worms, possessed the power of making themselves visible and invisible.
They multiplied their species, and lived in a style of grandeur that
could not be surpassed by the greatest monarch on earth. They were
good friends to certain members of the human family, but bitter
enemies to others of Adam's posterity. With their elf arrows they
could kill or wound man and beast. They carried off children and
domestic animals, generally leaving vile creatures resembling the
children or animals carried away, so as to prevent the felony being
discovered.
Opinions originally entertained in this country relative to the dwarfs
have undergone considerable modifications, from the same attributes
being assigned to them as to the Persian peris. Fairies were supposed
to have brought many blessings to England, sending people pleasant
dreams, giving money to them in a mysterious manner, and causing the
nation to prosper. In remote times a brownie was attached to the home
of every considerable family in Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland.
Like men, some brownies were tall, and some of small stature. They
were industrious and faithful, if well treated in the way the Samogitæ
did the Putseet. When a brownie once united himself to a family, he
seldom deserted it, but continued to serve generation after
generation. Burton speaks of nine classes of evil spirits:--First, the
false gods of the Gentiles, adored as idols, who gave oracles at
Delphos and elsewhere, whose prince was Beelzebub; second, the liars
and equivocators, as Apollo, Pythias, and the like; third, the
inventors of mischief, as Theutus, in Plato; fourth, malicious,
revengeful devils, whose prince was Asmodeus; fifth, coseners, such as
belong to magicians and witches, their prince being Satan; sixth,
aërial spirits, that corrupted the air, and caused plagues, thunder,
fires, and other calamities; seventh, a destroyer, causing wars,
tumults, and combustions; eighth, an accusing or calumniating devil,
that drove people to despair; and the ninth, tempters in divers
shapes, having mammon for their prince. Burton goes further. He
asserts that "no place is void, but all full of spirits, devils, or
other inhabitants; not so much as a hairbreadth is empty in heaven,
earth, or waters above or under the earth. The earth is not so full of
flies in summer as it is at all times of invisible devils."
Psellus founded a system of demonology, which had for its basis the
natural history and habitation of demons. His first class consisted of
fiery devils, that wandered in the regions near the moon, but were
prevented from entering that luminary. They displayed their power in
blazing stars, in counterfeit suns, moons, and meteoric lights, and
prevented foul weather. These demons, we are informed, occasionally
resided in the furnaces of Hecla, Etna, or Vesuvius. His second class
was made up of aërial devils, that inhabited the atmosphere, caused
tempests, thunder, and lightning, rended asunder trees, burned down
steeples and houses, struck men and beasts, showered stones, wool, and
frogs from the skies; counterfeited in the clouds the battles of
armies, raised whirlwinds, fires, and corrupted the air so as to
spread disease. The third class was terrestrial devils, such as lares,
genii, fauns, satyrs, wood-nymphs, foliots, robin-goodfellows, or
trulli. The fourth class was aqueous devils, as the various
descriptions of water nymphs. The fifth class consisted of
subterranean devils, known by the name of Getuli or Cobals. They
preserved treasure in the earth, and prevented it being suddenly
revealed; they were also the cause of horrible earthquakes. Psellus's
sixth class of devils was named lucifugi. They delighted in darkness,
entered into the bowels of men, and tormented those whom they
possessed with frenzy and the falling sickness. An opinion prevailed
that devils possessed corporeal frames, capable of sensation; that
they could feel and be felt; that they could injure and be hurt; that
they were nourished with peculiar food; that they did not hurt cattle
from malevolence, but through a desire to obtain natural temperate
heat and moisture from the animals they killed; that they disliked the
sun's rays; and that they attained a great age.
Of all the kinds of demons we have heard of, the most loathsome are
the vampires. Horst speaks of a vampire as a "dead body which
continues to live in the grave, which it leaves, however, by night for
the purpose of sucking the blood of the living, whereby it is
nourished and preserved in good condition, instead of becoming
decomposed like other dead bodies." Fischer, who believed there were
vampires, informs us that the bite of a vampire left no mark upon the
person, but that the bite speedily proved fatal, unless counteracted
by the injured person eating some of the earth from the vampire's
grave, and smearing himself with his blood. These precautions had only
a temporary effect, if at all successful; for the bitten victim,
sooner or later, became a vampire himself--died and was buried, but
continued to follow the examples of old vampires in nourishing
themselves, infecting others, and propagating vampirism.
Down to the middle of the last century there was a belief in vampirism
in the east of Europe. This form of superstition created much anxiety
in the public mind, none knowing when he might be bitten by one of
those hated demons, and be thereby transformed into a vampire. Men of
science bore testimony in favour of vampirism with seeming
truthfulness and ability, worthy of a better subject.
In England every man was supposed to have his "double" or "fetch." The
appearance of a fetch created great uneasiness in the mind of the
person witnessing the apparition. It was taken as foreboding death or
serious calamity to the being represented.
There were also churchyard ghosts in England, whose duty it was to
watch bodies over which church rites had not been performed after
violent death. In Scotland and England there were peculiar
superstitious views concerning the souls of suicides. Authoritative
decrees prohibited graveyard gates being opened to permit the bodies
of such persons being carried through them for interment. If relations
persisted in depositing the remains of a friend who had committed
suicide, it was necessary for them to take the dead body over the
graveyard wall after sunset. But in most cases the bodies of suicides
and murderers were buried at a "cross road," with a stake driven
through the corpse, to prevent its ghost rising to frighten or harm
innocent people.
The precaution of driving a stake through the body did not always
prove effectual, if countless tales related of ghosts being seen in
the vicinity of such unhallowed burying-grounds be true. Surprise need
not be expressed at such superstition prevailing in a country where
faith in witchcraft still lingers, and in which, at no very remote
time, the statutes against witches were in full force. The State and
the Church believed in the existence of demons and witches.
Luther's opinions on the subject of the agency and operations of evil
spirits may be inferred from his _Colloquia_. "Many devils," he says,
"are in woods, in waters, in wildernesses, and in dark poolly places,
ready to hurt and prejudice people; some are in the thick black
clouds, which cause hail, lightnings, and thunderings, and which
poison the air, the pastures, and grounds."
In a conversation on witchcraft, Luther said he had no compassion on
witches: he would burn every one of them. He reminded the people,
that, according to the old law, the priests threw the first stones at
such malefactors. Luther said his mother had undergone infinite
annoyance from one of her neighbours who was a witch. This witch could
throw a charm upon a child, which would make it cry itself to death. A
pastor having punished the witch for some of her wicked tricks, she
cast a spell on him by means of some earth he had walked upon. The
good man fell sick of a malady, which no remedy could remove, and
shortly thereafter died. Luther was satisfied the devil, through his
prophets, could, and did, foretell future events; that he (the devil)
was so skilled that he could cause death even by the leaf of a tree;
that he had more boxes and pots full of poison, wherewith he destroyed
men, than all the apothecaries in the world had of healing medicine.
The devil, Luther thought, was so crafty that he could deceive our
senses. He caused one to think he saw something he saw not, and to
hear thunder or a trumpet he heard not. Men, he argued, were possessed
by the devil, corporeally and spiritually. Those whom he possessed
corporeally were mad people.
CHAPTER XXXI.
Belief and Teaching of the Roman Catholic
Church--Instructions to Ecclesiastics in reference to
Demons--Swedenborg's Intercourse with Spirits--Marcus
Brutus and his Evil Genius--Cassius and Julius Cæsar's
Ghost at Philippi--Phantom Soldiers and
Horses--Plutarch on Spectres--Socrates on the same
subject--Archbishop Bruno and the Spectre--A Haunted
House--A Child's Ghost--Spectre at Sea--Ghost of a
Murdered Man in New South Wales--A Haunted House--A
Spectre at Sea.
The belief and teaching of the Roman Catholic Church lead to a
conviction that there are many evil spirits who act on men immediately
by forming in the imagination representations and phantasies of an
evil nature. The subjects of Satan, on whom his tyranny is chiefly
exercised, are those who wilfully come under the empire of the prince
of darkness, such as magicians, sorcerers, and persons who have
renounced their baptism.
In a summary of instructions for the guidance of ecclesiastics,
entitled _De Instructione Sacerdotum_, which appeared about the middle
of the seventeenth century, we find in substance the following:--
"Magic is produced by the power of demons. In reality
there is no power existing in the magician, for the
effects are produced by the devil at the command of
the magician. In the first place, demons produce
effects by transferring bodies with great rapidity
from one place to another. For they have power over
all inferior things, natural and artificial, in this
respect; and, moreover, they are endowed with
wonderful agility, which enables them to pass in an
instant from one place to another, however remote.
Secondly, demons produce effects by the occult
application of natural causes, and by accelerating
their actions, for their knowledge is incredible. They
understand the nature and properties of everything in
the mineral, vegetable, and animal worlds, and they
know where everything is. Hence they sometimes produce
trees, fruits, and animals in an incredibly short
space of time. They often effect cures by the occult
use of medicines, or by entering the body and
expelling evil humours. Thirdly, they perform
prodigies by acting on the senses. The compacts
between the demons and magicians are based upon
engagements mutually entered into. The magician
promises to obey the demon, and the demon, on his
part, promises to work for him and at his bidding. The
compact is sometimes entered into with great
solemnity, with the demon seated on a throne,
surrounded by a host of evil spirits, as attendants
and witnesses."
Swedenborg entertained the conviction that the world of spirits held
communion with certain favoured persons in this life; and up to the
period of his death, in the year 1772, he pretended to have
intercourse with spirits of celestial origin and those of deceased
men. Swedenborg frequently narrated the wonders of other worlds, and
particularly those of the infernal regions.
There are endless accounts of spirits appearing to men on earth. Here
are a few of them:--Marcus Brutus, one of the murderers of Julius
Cæsar, being one night in his tent, saw a monstrous figure coming in
about the third hour of night. Brutus immediately cried out, "What art
thou, a man or a god? and why art thou come hither?" The spectre
answered, "I am thy evil genius; thou shalt see me at Philippi."
Brutus, with feigned calmness, answered, "I will meet thee there."
Disordered, however, in body, and disturbed in mind, Brutus related
the affair to Cassius, who, being of the sect of Epicurus, told Brutus
that what he supposed he saw was nothing more than mere fancy; that
there were no such things as genii or other spirits which could appear
to man; that even if they should appear, they could not assume a human
shape or voice, and had no power over men. Though Brutus was somewhat
encouraged by what Cassius said, he could not entirely overcome his
uneasiness. In the midst of the battle of Philippi, Brutus thought he
saw Julius Cæsar, whom he had assassinated, riding to him at full
speed, which so terrified him that he fell upon his own sword. Cassius
also fell there under the hand of his freedman Pindarus.
Pausanius writes that, four hundred years after the battle of
Marathon, there were heard, in the place where it was fought, the
neighing of horses, and the shouts of soldiers animating one another
to the fight. Plutarch also speaks of spectres seen and dreadful
howlings heard in the public baths, where several citizens of
Chœronea, his native town, had been murdered. He says that the
inhabitants had been obliged to shut up these baths, but that,
notwithstanding this precaution, great noises continued to be heard,
and dreadful spectres were frequently seen by the neighbours. Plutarch
frequently makes mention of spectres and apparitions; particularly he
says, that, in the famous battle above alluded to, several soldiers
saw the apparition of Theseus fighting for the Greeks and against the
Persians.
It is recorded in Socrates, that after the defeat of the Athenian army
under the prætor Laches, as he was flying in company with the Athenian
general, and came to a place where several roads met, he refused to go
the same road that the others took, and the reason being asked him, he
answered that his genius, or familiar spirit, who frequently attended
him, dissuaded him from it; and the event justified the precaution,
for all those who went a different way from him were killed or made
prisoners by the enemy's cavalry.
When Bruno, Archbishop of Wirtzburgh, a short time before his sudden
death, was sailing with Henry III., he descried a terrific spectre
standing upon a rock which overhung the foaming waters, by whom he was
thus hailed; "Ho! bishop, I am thy evil genius. Go whither thou
choosest, thou art and shalt be mine. I am not now sent for thee, but
soon thou shalt see me again."
A house at Athens was haunted by a spirit which roamed through the
apartments at night, seemingly dragging a heavy chain after it.
Athenodorus, the philosopher, hired the house, with the intention of
discovering the cause of so much alarm to the inmates. One night,
while pursuing his studies, he was startled by hearing what seemed to
be the rattling of chains. On looking up he beheld a spectre enter his
apartment and make a sign to him to follow. The philosopher rose and
followed the ghost, which went into the courtyard and disappeared. The
philosopher marked the spot where the spectre vanished, and on the
following day caused a search to be made. The result was that the
skeleton of a man in chains was discovered. The bones were publicly
burned, and the ghost never again appeared.
A lady, while going along a dreary path one evening to see a sick
child, was frightened by a strange sight before her. The mysterious
object represented her friend's child dead, and wrapt in its winding
sheet, floating up in the air heavenwards. It is almost needless to
say that just about that time the sick child died.
Many years ago, when a ship of war was one night off the African
coast, the officer on watch became deeply affected in a manner he
could not explain, and became partially insensible, and could not
rouse himself before a cold hand touched him. He then beheld a white
figure walking away. It turned round, and in the face he beheld the
features of a brother in England. The spectre, after remaining a few
seconds, vanished. On arriving in Great Britain, the officer
discovered that his brother died on the very night he saw the
apparition.
A ghost story was related for the first time about twenty years ago,
of the ghost of a murdered man appearing in the colony of New South
Wales. A farmer named Fisher, in the prime of life and unmarried,
suddenly disappeared, leaving £4000 worth of property behind him. A
neighbour called Smith reported that Fisher had gone to England, and
that he was authorized to act for him in all business matters during
his absence. The statement was received as a fact; but a strange
circumstance changed public opinion. An old man named Ben Weir, who
had a small farm near that of Fisher, was returning home one night
from Sydney, when he beheld farmer Fisher with a severe wound on the
forehead, and blood flowing from it. When Weir got within a few paces
of the figure, it disappeared. He could not rightly comprehend the
meaning of all this, and did not mention what he had seen, lest his
neighbours would say he had been drunk. A few nights afterwards he had
occasion to pass the spot where Fisher had appeared, and there again
the farmer stood before him as before. Weir could not now remain
silent. He went to a justice of the peace and told his tale. At first
the justice would not credit his informant, but subsequently he
instructed an inquiry to be made. Marks of blood were discovered at
the spot where the ghost appeared, and in a pond, a little distance
off, Fisher's dead body was found. Smith was consequently arrested,
and tried before the late Sir Francis Forbes. His guilt was
established, and he was sentenced to death. Before his execution he
confessed that he alone had murdered Fisher at the very spot where
Weir saw the murdered man's ghost.
An account is given of a house that was haunted at Bow last century. A
young girl declared one morning that a cold hand had been laid on her
about midnight. This proved to be the hand of death. She sickened, and
before many suns went down she lay in her winding sheet. Then followed
a series of strange annoyances, which gave rise to the report that the
house was haunted. So dreadfully were the inmates frightened, that
though the house contained many apartments upstairs and downstairs,
they took refuge in a small room on the ground floor. Night and day
strange noises were heard, and furniture and other articles were flung
about by unseen hands. A gentleman, a friend of the family, hearing of
what was going on, engaged to solve the mystery. Entering an apartment
upstairs, he observed the furniture moving about the floor, although
no living being could be seen. Stones and bricks were thrown through
the window; a staff danced round the room; dishes were thrown at his
head. He examined every hole and corner, but could not discover any
person or thing by which the articles were made to move. Fearing the
presence of evil spirits, he hastened out, closing the door after him.
It was instantly opened, and chairs, stools, candlesticks, and dishes
were hurled after him. The worst had not come. While all the family
were standing in amazement, a small boiler with hot water moved from
one side of the grate to the other, the poker and tongs stood up and
exchanged places, the pots and pans clattered loudly, and a small
table was lifted into the air. A witch residing in the neighbourhood
being suspected of causing the mischief, a noted wizard undertook to
solve the mystery. He ordered the dancing staff to be burned. When it
was blazing up, a suspected witch entered in great agony. She asked
for a drink of water to quench her burning thirst. Those cognisant of
the facts concluded that the perpetrator of the mischief was
discovered. She was apprehended, tried, and acquitted for want of
sufficient evidence. As she left the court she was heard to mutter, "I
shall be revenged." She kept her word. The following night, the
annoyance, which had ceased during her incarceration, recommenced with
double fury. The inmates of the house, who had previously escaped
without bodily injury, were struck by invisible persons, who, as often
as they dealt their blows, shouted, "Take that;" while at the same
time the furniture was knocked against the walls and broken to pieces.
The inmates fled for their lives, and the house was shut up for many
years, none daring to occupy the haunted house.
A young man at sea was alarmed, one night, to see an apparition of his
mother standing before him. She delivered a message concerning family
business. So frightened was he that he could not reply or put any
questions to the spirit, although he earnestly desired to speak. After
delivering the message, the apparition slowly retired, went over the
ship's bulwarks, dropped gently into the sea, and floated away. The
last glimpse he had of the unearthly figure was on the crest of a wave
near the vessel's stern. On his return home he learned that his mother
had died at the time he had seen her ghost. What was more strange, she
left a message for him similar to that which the apparition delivered.
On his next voyage the young man told his companions that on the
previous night he had seen his mother floating in the water like a
mermaid, and that she had made a sign for him to come to her. Next
night a storm arose; the ship was in great danger, the decks were
swept, and the young man was washed away. His last words were,
"Mother, I come."
CHAPTER XXXII.
Spiritualism Past and Present--Coffee-house
Keeper--Magic taught in Leipsic--Intercourse with and
Control over Spirits--Spirit of Marshal Saxe called
up--How Spirits were Invoked--Voices of Good and Evil
Spirits--A Terrified Company--Mysterious Death of a
Magician--Unearthly Huntsman--Prediction and its
Fulfilment--An Estate lost at the Gaming Table--A
Baron Shot--A Marriage prevented by an
Apparition--Strange Sights and
Sounds--Murder--Consulting a Witch--Raising the Spirit
of a Murdered Man--A Murderer's Fate.
Writers generally supposed to be well informed have said that
spiritualism is a system of professed communication with the unseen
world, which originated in America about the year 1848. Others have
endeavoured to trace the origin of spiritualism to the writings of
Swedenborg. Both parties are in error. Long before Swedenborg's time,
and anterior to Columbus discovering America, spiritualism in various
forms was believed in in Scotland, England, Ireland, all over Europe,
and elsewhere. Reginald Scot, in the year 1584, wrote against
witchcraft and demonology; but so general was the belief in
spiritualism, and so abhorrent were the opinions of Scot, that his
book was ordered to be burned by the common hangman. Let those who
claim for America the discovery of spiritualism, real or feigned, read
1 Samuel xxviii., and they will perceive how much they have been
deceived. We may return to spiritualism as looked upon in the present
time; meanwhile we shall continue our own course, proving, step by
step, the former belief in spiritualism, or what we prefer to call
demonology.
A coffee-house keeper in Leipsic, named Schrepfer, studied and taught
magic as an art. He boasted of his intercourse with and control over
spirits, whose presence, he alleged, could be commanded at any time.
Owing to a degrading insult offered him, he left Leipsic, none knew
whither, but after a lapse of time he appeared at Dresden, where his
magical skill attracted many followers. His reputation reached Prince
Charles of Saxony, who had been instrumental in causing the magician
to depart from Leipsic; he visited Schrepfer, apologised for what he
had done, and requested him to give manifestations of his supernatural
art. He accepted the apologies, and exhibited many difficult
operations in the science of magic. The prince requested Schrepfer,
who had the power of calling before him the ghost of any one, however
long dead, to bring up the ghost of Marshal Saxe, Charles's uncle, in
the hope that information would be obtained regarding a vast amount of
hidden treasure the deceased was supposed to have concealed from his
relatives. This was a few years after the Chevalier de Saxe died, yet
the magician readily agreed to comply with the request. The place
chosen for commanding the spirit to appear was Prince Charles's palace
in Dresden. On the appointed night, the prince and a large company of
friends assembled in the apartment named for the purpose. Everything
being in readiness, the door and windows were secured, that none
possessed of mere human strength could effect an entrance. Schrepfer
retired into a corner of the room, knelt down, and, with many
mysterious ceremonies, invoked the spirits to come to his aid. A
considerable time elapsed before they obeyed. While waiting he was
under great agitation, being wet with sweat, and bordering on
convulsions. At length a loud noise was heard at the windows, followed
by other noises of a peculiar description, not easily described. The
second sounds Schrepfer announced as the voices of good spirits come
to help him. A short time afterwards frightful yelling was heard,
which came, he declared, from malignant spirits, whose presence, he
affirmed, was also essential. By this time the prince and his friends
were filled with horror, wishing that the scene was over; but their
courage had to stand more severe tests. Schrepfer continuing his
invocations, the door suddenly opened with violence, and something
resembling a black globe rolled into the room. It was surrounded with
smoke or cloud, in the midst of which appeared to be a human face like
the countenance of the Chevalier de Saxe. In a loud and angry voice
the form inquired why it was disturbed. Great consternation prevailed
among the spectators at such a sight. Charles did not venture to say a
word concerning the concealed treasure, neither did his uncle's ghost.
Kneeling down, the terrified prince besought the magician to dismiss
the apparition, a request easier asked than could be complied with.
Nearly an hour elapsed before Schrepfer, by his invocations, succeeded
in dismissing the spirit. Just at the moment all thought that it had
vanished, the closed door was again burst open, and the hideous form
presented itself again to view. General terror prevailed, every one
thinking he was about to be snatched away to the place of everlasting
torment. None but the magician remained firm. He continued reiterating
exorcisms until the apparition finally disappeared. The spectators
dispersed, filled with amazement, and satisfied of Schrepfer's
supernatural powers. Schrepfer's fame became great: gentlemen resorted
to his night meeting to be initiated in his mysteries. For this
purpose they accompanied him into a grove near Leipsic; and one night,
when he was about to exhibit something more wonderful than his
followers had ever seen, his earthly career suddenly terminated. While
his disciples waited in great expectation, he retired to a quiet spot
to make the requisite invocations. In a few minutes the report of a
pistol resounded through the forest; his admirers rushed to the spot,
and found him shot through the heart. A few thought he had shot
himself; the more superstitious ones however, came to the conclusion
that the deed was done by the devil. Whether the unfortunate magician
terminated his existence by his own hand remains doubtful, but one
thing the most of old people believed--that, having sold himself to
the evil spirit, his time was come to go down to the dark abode; and
such being the case, it mattered little by what instrument the deed
was perpetrated. The demon sent to call Schrepfer hence might have
fired the shot, or caused the magician to be his own executioner; yea,
the foul fiend could have caused an elf shot or the glance of an evil
eye to effect the fatal catastrophe.
Ludovicus Adolisius, lord of Immola, sent one of his secretaries on
important business to Ferrara. On the way the secretary met one on
horseback, dressed like a huntsman, with a hawk upon his fist, who
addressed him by name, and desired him to request his master to meet
him (the huntsman) at the place they then were, at the same hour next
day, when he would discover things of no mean importance, which
concerned his master and his estate. In the apparent huntsman the
secretary discovered the apparition of his master's father. The
secretary returned and delivered the important message to his lord.
His lordship being afraid that evil was intended, sent one of his
subordinates to meet the apparition. At the time and place appointed,
the spirit appeared in the likeness it had done the previous day. It
lamented the son's absence, on account of the strange revelations that
would have been made had he come himself. "Return to your master,"
said the apparition, "and tell him that in twenty-two years, one
month, and one day, he will lose the governorship of the city." Like a
small cloud the spirit vanished. At the very time predicted, Philip,
Duke of Milan, besieged the city, and the water being frozen, he was
enabled to pass the moat, and having scaled the walls, surprised the
city, and took Ludovicus prisoner.
An Italian of mean birth, named Carlo Stella, ingratiated himself into
the good favour of Baron Cattaneo, a nobleman, who unfortunately was
over fond of wine and the gaming-table. The former induced the latter
to play for no less a stake than the baron's whole estates. The
unlucky nobleman lost, and in the moment of excitement made over all
his property to the wicked Stella. Next day the baron, remembering
what had taken place, went to Stella, and expressed the hope that the
conveyance he had given the previous day would be returned. Stella
told him that he could not give up the document, for he had destroyed
it, looking on the whole proceeding as a farce. A few days afterwards
the baron was found shot through the brain, and then Stella produced
the document which he pretended had been destroyed. In virtue of the
conveyance, the holder of it came into possession of a large sum of
money and many acres of land, together with two noble castles,
pleasantly situated. Being thus raised into an elevated position, he
sought in marriage a lady of rank. He was accepted, and an early day
was fixed for the nuptial ceremony. Bride and bridegroom, priest, and
rejoicing friends were assembled at the appointed time in the church,
and the service was about to begin, when a man stained with blood
entered the sacred building. He looked Stella sternly in the face, and
then retired. Every one was horror-stricken, but none appeared so much
affected as the bridegroom. He fainted, and had to be carried out
without the marriage taking place. Next day he seemed better, and
arrangements were entered into for having the pair (we cannot say
happy pair) united in wedlock in the evening. As formerly, all were
assembled, and the priest was about to begin the ceremony, when the
lights went out, leaving the company standing in consternation. A dark
cloud, which had obscured the moon, passed away, and then her pale
rays partially lighted up the edifice. At this instant the bloody
figure appeared, walked forward to Stella, whispered in his ear, and
then vanished. So disconcerted were all parties that the marriage was
again delayed, and ultimately it was resolved, on the part of the lady
and her father, that the engagement should be broken off. Stella
became troubled, sleep forsook him, horrid sounds reached his ears in
the night, and the bloody apparition that had frightened him in the
church frequently appeared to his sight. The cause of the strange
sights and sounds was known to himself; those around were ignorant
whence they proceeded. All may be explained in a few words. Stella had
murdered the baron, and the bloody figure was his ghost. Disappointed
and humbled, Stella resolved to consult a noted witch, of whom he had
heard much. Arriving at her cottage, he handed her a purse of gold,
and promised her a greater reward if she would send to the lower world
the spirit that disturbed him. The old hag complied, received the
money, counted it, spat on it, put it into a weasel-skin purse, and
then into her pocket. With much ceremony she put a powder into the
fire, which caused a blue flame to arise. In its midst the living form
of the murdered baron appeared. The witch tried to reduce the spirit
to her power, but the task proved a difficult one, for more than once
it was nigh breaking through the circle she had formed. At last her
magic charms prevailed, and the spirit descended into the bowels of
the earth, exclaiming, "Murderer, we shall soon meet again." Stella's
mind was greatly disturbed; he drank deep to drown his care, but peace
was far from him. In company he was the gayest of the gay, but when
alone in the still hours of night he would groan and start in his
sleep, as if endeavouring to escape from some one. Already he seemed
to be enduring the torments of internal fire. Drink, drink, more
drink, he would call for, and then, mounting his horse, would ride ten
or twelve miles without knowing whither he was going. One day he rode
farther than usual, all the time his horse going at full speed, while
now and again he looked behind him as if pursued. Several people, who
witnessed Stella's mad career, feared that evil would happen him
before he went much farther. Their fears were not groundless, for
before him, where the road took a sharp turn, was a bridge that
spanned a deep flowing river; and unless the animal was carefully
guided, there was danger of him plunging into the water instead of
taking the bridge. Nearer and nearer he approached the dangerous spot,
swifter and swifter the horse went, urged on by the spurs that pierced
its sides. Excited and more excited the rider became. Both man and
beast appeared to be doomed; and so it proved. Over the fence they
went, and in a few minutes Stella's body was carried over a fall into
a deep boiling pool, out of which it could never be recovered.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Antonio the Rich--Soul sold to the Devil--Dreadful
Announcement from a Volcano's Mouth--Three Ghosts--A
Thrilling Story--Human Remains found behind a
Stove--Mozart apprehensive of Death--A Strange
Visitor--Mozart writing a Requiem for himself--The
Stranger's Return--Messenger from another
World--Mozart's Death--Ghost of a Lady--The White
Lady--A Haunted House--Terrified Servants--Iron
Cage--Youth starved to Death--Frightful Dreams and
Dreadful Sights--Dog frightened by a Spirit--Ghost
sinking into the Earth--Deserting a Disturbed
House--Duchess of Mazarin--Madam de Beauclair--Compact
between the Living and the Dead--A Lady's Death
foretold by a Spirit--The Prediction fulfilled.
In the reign of Henry VIII., Mr. Gresham, a London merchant, coming
home from Palermo (wherein resided one Antonio, generally called the
Rich, who at one time had two kingdoms mortgaged to him), heard a
strange voice that filled him with alarm. Antonio had accumulated a
vast amount of riches, in ways not altogether in accordance with the
eighth commandment. His money was given in loan at shamefully high
rates of interest, and both principal and interest were often
recovered by oppression. In fact, gold seemed to be his god: for it he
appeared to live; for it, his poor neighbours asserted, he had sold
his soul to the devil. Mr. Gresham being detained at Strombuli by
contrary winds, he, with eight sailors, ascended a burning mountain
there. Approaching the crater as near is they could with safety, they
heard a hideous noise proceeding from the volcano's mouth, and a voice
crying aloud "Dispatch, dispatch, haste, the rich Antonio is coming!"
Terrified, the company hastened down the mountain, which, before they
reached the level country, vomited out fire. At Palermo Mr. Gresham
inquired for Antonio, and was informed that he died at the very time
the voice proclaimed from the scorching flames, "Antonio is coming."
Mr. Gresham, on his return to England, reported the strange
circumstances to the king, who had the facts confirmed by the
mariners' oaths. So deeply was Mr. Gresham impressed with what he had
heard, that he abandoned commerce, distributed nearly all his riches
among his friends and the poor, and spent the remainder of his days in
pious works.
A learned professor of moral philosophy in Königsberg, when a young
man, was presented by William I. of Prussia with a small benefice in
the interior of the country, at a considerable distance from
Königsberg. On taking possession of the parsonage, he slept in the
bedroom which had been occupied by his predecessor, then dead. While
lying awake in bed one morning, the curtains of his bed being drawn
aside, he beheld the figure of a man dressed in a loose gown, standing
at a reading desk, whereon lay a large book, the leaves of which he
appeared to turn over. On each side of the figure stood a little boy,
on whom he now and again looked earnestly. His countenance, pale and
disconsolate, indicated distress of mind. At length the figure closed
the book, and taking the children, one in each hand, he walked slowly
with them across the room, and disappeared behind an iron stove at the
farthest end of the apartment. The young parson was deeply affected by
the sight, but thought it prudent to divulge nothing at the time
concerning the apparitions. In nearly all Lutheran churches of the
Prussian dominion, it was customary to procure and hang up in some
part of the church the portraits of the pastors who had held the
living. On looking, soon after seeing the three figures, at the
portraits suspended in one of the aisles, he was astonished to
discover in the last-placed picture an exact likeness of the man he
had beheld in his bed-chamber. The sexton, with whom he entered into
conversation, told him that he remembered several incumbents. "The
last one," said he, "we considered as one of the most learned and
amiable men who had ever resided among us. His character and
benevolence endeared him to all his parishioners; but he was carried
off in the midst of his days by a lingering illness, the cause of
which has given rise to many unpleasant reports. It is, however,
commonly believed that he died of a broken heart." The new incumbent's
curiosity being excited, he pressed the sexton to disclose what more
he knew of the subject. "Nothing respecting it," answered he, "is
absolutely known, but scandal has propagated a story of his having
formed a criminal connection with a young woman in the neighbourhood,
by whom, it is asserted, he had two sons. As confirmation of the
report, I know that there were two children who were seen at the
parsonage--boys of about four or five years of age; but they suddenly
disappeared, some time before the decease of their supposed father,
although to what place they were sent, or what became of them, all are
ignorant. It is equally certain that the surmises and unfavourable
opinions formed respecting them reached his ears, and precipitated the
disorder of which he died." This information recalled to the new
pastor's mind, and seemed to give proof, of the existence of all that
he had seen. Soon after, when winter approached, it became necessary
to light fires in various apartments in the parsonage. Some difficulty
was experienced in heating the room in which the figures of the man
and two boys had appeared, as the stove not only smoked, but emitted
an offensive smell. Having procured the assistance of a tradesman to
make an inspection, he discovered in the inside, at the farthest
extremity, the bones of two small human bodies, corresponding exactly
in size, as well as in other respects, with the description of the two
boys who had been seen at the parsonage.
Mozart, the celebrated composer, was extremely apprehensive of death,
and at all times he laboured under profound melancholy. The
circumstances attending the composition of his last piece were
remarkable. One day, when his spirits were unusually depressed, a
stranger, of a tall dignified appearance, was introduced. His manners
were grave and impressive. He told Mozart that he came to request he
would compose a solemn mass, as the requiem for the soul of a friend
recently lost, and whose memory he was desirous of commemorating by
this solemn service. Mozart undertook the task, and engaged to have it
completed in a month. The stranger immediately paid a hundred ducats
for the piece, and departed. This visit, somehow, had a serious effect
on the mind of Mozart. He brooded over it for some time, then,
suddenly calling for writing materials, began to compose with
extraordinary ardour. Severe application to his studies brought on
fainting fits, and failing health compelled him to suspend his work.
"I am writing this requiem for myself," said he abruptly; "it will
serve for my funeral service." This impression never left him. At the
expiration of the month the mysterious stranger appeared, and demanded
the requiem. "I have found it impossible," said Mozart, "to keep my
word; the work has interested me more than I had expected, besides I
have extended it beyond my first design. I shall require another month
to finish it." The stranger made no objection, but, observing that for
this additional trouble it was but just to increase the price, laid
down fifty ducats more, and promised to return at the time appointed.
Astonished at the stranger's proceeding, Mozart ordered a servant to
follow the singular person, to find out who he was. The servant,
however, lost sight of him, and returned unable to communicate the
desired information. Mozart, persuaded that the stranger was a
messenger from the other world sent to warn him that his end was fast
approaching, applied himself with fresh zeal to the requiem, and, in
spite of the exhausted state of his body and mind, completed it before
the expiration of the month. On the day named the stranger returned,
but Mozart was no more.
The ghost of a lady who died in the fifteenth century from the effects
of her husband's cruel treatment, long after her decease haunted the
castles of the allied families of Brandenburg, Baden, and Darmstadt,
and other places far distant. The ghost was generally called "the
White Lady," in consequence of it appearing in white dress and in the
veil, through the folds of which a faint light glimmered. She glided
hither and thither along the corridors and apartments of castles and
palaces. Her appearance gave certain indication that a member of the
family at whose residence she showed herself was about to expire. At
another part of the country a white lady invariably looked in at the
window of a house where a person was dying; and, at a third place, a
woman hovered in the air over the abode of one taking leave of earth.
At the commencement of the first French Revolution, Lady Pennyman and
her daughters retired to Lisle, where they hired a large house at a
small rent. During their residence in this abode, the lady received
from her husband, Sir John Pennyman, a draft for a large sum, which
she carried to a banker in the town, and requested to have it cashed.
She received a considerable portion of the money in silver, and, as
she had several calls to make, she requested the banker to send the
money in a parcel to her house. The parcel was committed to the care
of a porter; and on the lady inquiring whether he understood from her
directions the place to which he was to proceed, the man replied that
he was perfectly aware of the place described--that it was called the
"Haunted House." She paid little attention to his remarks at the time,
but a few weeks afterwards his words were recalled to her recollection
in a manner that surprised her. The housekeeper came to Lady Pennyman,
and said that two of the servants, who had accompanied her ladyship
from England, had that morning given warning, and expressed a
determination to quit her ladyship's service, on account of being
terrified, night after night, by mysterious voices in their
apartments. This caused her ladyship, who was a woman of strong nerve
and an unbeliever in all that related to ghosts and haunted houses, to
sleep in a room evacuated by one of the servants, hoping that, by so
doing, her domestics would change their minds and remain. She was
greatly surprised to see in the room a large iron cage, and much
astonished to hear the legend respecting it. It was related that a
late proprietor of the house, a young man of great property, had in
his minority been confined in that apartment by an uncle, his
guardian, until the privations and divers acts of cruelties he was
exposed to ended fatally. Often had the youth been kept for days in
the iron cage without food. The unfeeling relative inherited the
nephew's wealth, but, like all ill-gotten gear, it did not bring
happiness. Frightful dreams and dreadful sights compelled the uncle to
leave the mansion, where he had murdered by inches a comely, docile
young man, once the comfort of a fond mother and loving father. For a
few nights nothing of an alarming nature occurred; she began to hope
that confidence would be restored in her household, and that she would
be enabled to return in peace to her own proper sleeping apartment.
Her expectations were not fulfilled. One night she was awakened by the
sound of footsteps in the haunted chamber, generally known as the
"cage chamber," while her son, a young man, who had just returned from
sea, was annoyed by loud knocking at his bedroom door, and strange
figures appearing before him. A friend, hearing of the noises and
apparitions, resolved to sleep in the "cage room," that he might
ascertain, if possible, who or what it was that disturbed the family.
Locking himself and a faithful dog into the "cage chamber," he retired
to rest, confident that he was secure against every intruder, whether
material or airy. His assurance was of short duration. He had not lain
long before his dog leaped into the bed, howling and terrified. The
chamber door slowly opened, and a pale, thin, sickly youth came in,
walked to the iron cage in the centre of the room, leaned against the
iron bars, and, after remaining a short time, retired by the way he
entered. The gentleman rose quickly to follow the ghost. On reaching
the door, it was fastened on the inside, as he had left it before
going to bed. His courage, however, did not fail him, and he continued
to watch the retiring figure. The youth descended the stair-case with
slow measured steps to the ground floor, when the form sank into the
earth. Every one was now convinced that the house was haunted: a panic
ensued, which ended in Lady Pennyman and her family abruptly leaving
the disturbed habitation.
It is well known that the celebrated Duchess of Mazarin was a
favourite of King Charles II., and Madame de Beauclair was a lady
admired and beloved by his brother and successor, James II. Between
these ladies there was an uncommon friendship. The two beauties were
allotted handsome apartments in Stable Yard, St. James's, but, for
obvious reasons, they had little conversation with the outer world. It
was agreed between the ladies, that she who should be first taken away
by death, would return, if possible, and give the survivor an account
of what was doing in the other world. This promise was often repeated;
and the duchess happening to fall sick, and her life despaired of,
Madame de Beauclair reminded her of their agreement. Her Grace replied
she might depend upon her performing what she had promised. These last
words passed between them not more than an hour before the lady's
death. Years passed on, yet not a voice or sign came from the dead.
Madame de Beauclair concluded that there was no such thing as
existence after death. Probably her mind would have remained
unchanged, had not the Duchess of Mazarin at last appeared to her.
One evening Madame de Beauclair was sitting alone, when she happened
to turn her eyes to a corner of the apartment, and lo! before her
stood the form of the departed duchess. The figure moved through the
room, approached near the lady, and, looking with great sweetness,
said, "Beauclair, between the hours of twelve and one this night you
will be with me." Having said this, the spirit vanished. So convinced
was Madame de Beauclair, though in excellent health and spirits, that
her dissolution was at hand, that she sent for her friends, to whom
she gave tokens of friendship, and summoned a clergyman to administer
spiritual consolation. All who visited the lady endeavoured to
dissuade her from giving way to thoughts which there seemed not the
least probability of being verified. "Talk not to me," she said to
those who imagined she was labouring under a singular delusion, "with
the view of making me believe that my eyes and ears have deceived me:
my time is short, and I would not have the small space allowed me to
be with you wasted in vain delusion. I know I have seen the Duchess of
Mazarin, and am convinced that her words will come true." Twelve
o'clock was about to strike, yet, to all appearance, Madame de
Beauclair continued in good health. Another attempt, to no purpose,
was made to remove all apprehension of early dissolution. The only
response that came was, "I am already sick at heart." Her countenance
suddenly changed, and before half an hour expired she had entered the
world of spirits.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Sir George Villiers' Ghost warning his Son of
Danger--Warnings Neglected--Duke of Buckingham
Murdered--Apparitions do not lie--Lord Lyttelton and
others profaning Christmas--A Troubled
Mind--Apparition of a Suicide--Neglected
Warning--Deception of Friends--Accusing a Ghost of
Falsehood--Approach of the Ominous Hour--Alarm--Lord
Lyttelton found Dead at the dreaded time--Death of an
old Roman King--Alarming Prodigies--Tales from the
_Eddas_--A Scandinavian Warrior's Ghost--An Icelandic
Lady's Ghost--Spectral Appearance--Mysterious Death of
a Herdsman--Fear of approaching Calamities--Man beaten
to Death by a Ghost--Association of Ghosts--Demon in
the shape of a Seal--Apparitions of Drowned
Men--Christians not disturbed by Spectres--A Band of
Demons thirty strong--Priest exorcising Evil
Spirits--Spirits frightened away.
An officer in the king's service at Windsor Castle, in the beginning
of the seventeenth century, when a boy, was taken much notice of by
Sir George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham's father. The officer,
after he had reached manhood, was lying in bed one night, awake and in
good health, when he perceived a venerable form draw near his bed. The
apparition (for so it turned out to be) asked him if he knew who he
was. The frightened gentleman told the apparition that the figure of
the deceased Sir George Villiers stood before him. The apparition
replied that he was right, and that he (the gentleman) must go and
acquaint Sir George's son, that unless he ingratiated himself into the
good opinion of the people, he would soon be cut off. Next morning the
gentleman began to think his senses had deceived him, and therefore he
did not deliver the message. Next night the apparition appeared in a
terrible aspect, and told him that, unless he complied with his
commands, he could not expect peace of mind. A promise to obey was
promptly made. Again the gentleman tried to persuade himself that he
had been dreaming, and a second time broke his word. A third night the
spectre appeared, reproaching him with breach of promise, and, after
again requesting him to deliver the message to the duke, uttered
threats of fearful punishment in case of non-compliance. Delay seemed
dangerous, so the gentleman hastened to London, where the Court then
was, and entrusted Sir Ralph Freeman, who was married to a lady nearly
allied to the duke, with the message. Sir Ralph communicated with the
duke, who, however, could not receive the messenger, but sent him word
that next day he was going to hunt with the king, and that he would
meet him at Lambeth Bridge at five o'clock in the morning, where, if
the gentleman attended, he would speak to him. Sir Ralph, being
satisfied of the importance of having the message correctly delivered,
accompanied the gentleman to the appointed place of meeting. The
messenger and the duke spoke privately for nearly an hour. Neither Sir
Ralph nor his servants could hear what was said, but they observed
that several times the duke laboured under great emotion. The duke
rode off to meet the king, and the gentleman and Sir Ralph returned
together. The man told Sir Ralph that when he mentioned certain facts
to the duke, he swore that he could not have come to the knowledge of
them except through the devil, for the particulars he disclosed, as a
token of him being sent by his deceased father, were profound secrets.
The duke returned from the hunting-field before the morning was past,
and retired with his mother to her private apartments for two or three
hours. On coming out his countenance was troubled. He received other
warnings, which were disregarded. The result may be anticipated. His
Grace was stabbed on the 23d August 1628 by John Felton, a
discontented lieutenant, at Portsmouth. When the news of the duke's
murder was brought to his mother, she received it with grief, but
without surprise. She had long foreseen what would happen.
"Apparitions," she said, "did not lie."
Lord Lyttelton, in the winter of 1778, left the metropolis with a
party of loose and dissipated companions to profane the Christmas by
riotous debaucheries, at his country house, near Epsom. They had not
long abandoned themselves to their desperate orgies, before a sudden
gloom came over the party by their host becoming extraordinarily
depressed in spirits and dejected of countenance. All his vivacity
departed, and he fled from his guests. Urged to make known the cause
of his uneasiness, he revealed the secret. He told them, that the
previous night, after retiring to bed, and his light extinguished, he
heard a noise resembling the fluttering of a bird at his window.
Looking to the window, he saw the figure of an unhappy female whom he
had betrayed, and who in consequence had committed suicide, standing
in the window recess. The form approached the foot of his bed, and,
pointing her finger to a dial which stood on the mantel-piece,
announced that if he did not take warning and repent, his life and
sins would be concluded at the same hour of the third day after the
visitation. By a preternatural light in the chamber he observed
distinctly everything around him. While the warning spirit was
speaking, he saw the time was twelve o'clock. Darkness came, and the
apparition disappeared. Lord Lyttelton's companions laughed at his
superstitious fears, and endeavoured to convince him that he must have
mistaken a dream for a real spiritual visitation. He felt somewhat
relieved by what they said, but was not altogether convinced or
reassured. The fatal night approached, and, with the connivance of
Lord Lyttelton's attendants, the guests put all the clocks in the
house an hour and a half too fast. They kept his lordship as lively as
possible, but when ten o'clock struck he was silent and depressed;
eleven struck, the depression deepened; twelve struck: "Thank God; I
am safe!" exclaimed the nobleman: "the ghost was a liar, after
all!--some wine--what a fool I was to be cast down by such a
circumstance! But," continued he, "it is time for bed; we shall be up
early, and out with the hounds to-morrow. By my faith, it is half-past
twelve; so good night." He went to his chamber, ignorant that the
ominous hour was not yet past. His guests, notwithstanding their
avowed unbelief, remained together in fearful dread. They heard the
valet descending from his master's room; it was just twelve o'clock.
Lord Lyttelton's bell rang violently; the company ran to his
apartment, and found the unhappy nobleman lying in bed lifeless, with
his countenance terribly convulsed.
Shortly before the death of an old Roman king, several prodigies of an
alarming nature appeared. When he first became sick there arose a
violent tempest of wind, which blew down the cross from one of the
churches. After this followed a terrible earthquake, which shook the
whole city. Moreover an old eagle, a domestic of the royal palace,
that had lived there many years, took wing the day before the king's
sickness began, and flew away no one knew whither; then the bells of
the imperial chapel rang thrice of their own accord in the space of
twelve hours. Strange apparitions were seen at midnight, some of them
hovering in the air, and others of them lurking about the palace
court. In particular, a funeral procession, consisting of unearthly
beings, was observed one night going along the principal thoroughfare
from the palace to the place of sepulchre, where the royal remains
were soon afterwards laid.
From the _Eddas_ we learn that when these singular works were written
or compiled, a belief must have prevailed of the existence of ghosts,
spirits, and demons in various forms. We therefore propose giving a
few examples of ghost stories from the _Eddas_:--After the death of
Helge (a Scandinavian warrior), a maid witnessed, in the evening, his
ghost, with a numerous train, riding into the cairn where Helge's
remains were deposited. The brave damsel inquired whether it was an
illusion she saw, to which the ghost replied that it was not. When the
maid told Sigrum, Helge's widow, what she had seen, the faithful
mourning wife hastened to the cairn, and, on searching it, sure enough
there was the shade of her dead husband. It addressed her thus: "Thou,
Sigrum, art the cause of Helge lying here, slain by the dew of sorrow.
Thou weepest burning tears, maid of the sun-glowing south; but we will
drink the precious mead together, though we have lost gladness and
lands. Now are the brides closed in the cairns, and the princely
maidens laid beside us." Sigrum made a couch in the cairn, and invited
the spirit to rest there from all trouble, saying, "Son of the
Ylfinga, I will sleep in thy arms as formerly, when my hero lived." To
this the ghost replied, "No longer will I say thou art unfaithful,
since thou consentest to sleep in the embrace of the dead. And yet
thou livest, offspring of kings. Let the pale steed tramp the steeps
of the air. In the west must we be, by the bridge Vindhjalen, ere the
cock in Walhalla wakes the sons of victory."
Far back in the history of time, the ghost of a lady that died in
Iceland, whose deathbed commands were disregarded, returned to punish
the living for disregarding her injunctions. The lady's corpse was
conveyed to a distant place of sepulchre. As the interment could not
take place the first day, the bearers, with their dead burden, reposed
in a house over night. At midnight an apparition of the lady glided
through the kitchen, and, on the night when the conductors of the
funeral returned home, a spectral appearance, resembling a half moon,
moved round the mansion in a direction opposite to that of the sun,
and continued its revolution until the domestics retired to rest.
This apparition appeared every night for a week, and was pronounced by
certain wise sages as a presage of pestilence and death. A herdsman at
the mansion was, shortly after the lady's death, persecuted by demons,
and one morning he was found dead in bed. One Thorer, who himself had
predicted that the apparitions were come to give warning of
approaching calamities, was the next victim. One evening he was set
upon by the shepherd's ghost, and so fearfully beaten that he died in
consequence thereof. Evils continued to multiply: Thorer and the
herdman's ghost associated themselves together in persecuting the
inhabitants, several of whom fell victims to their rage. At times
unseen agents upset tables and chairs, flung kitchen utensils about in
all directions, and on other occasions a demon in the shape of a seal
rose from the earth, to the dismay of a whole household. Thorodd, the
master of the family, in crossing a river in a boat, was, along with
two of his servants, drowned. Apparitions of the drowned men walked
about Thorodd's old residence, but the appearances did not much
disturb the people, who were Christians, as they believed that the
spectres of such persons as had been favourably received by the
goddess Rana were accustomed to show themselves after death. So fast
did the demons increase in number that they became a great band of
thirty, the exact number of people supposed to have had a period put
to their existence by demons. Many fled from the neighbourhood,
fearing that, if they remained, they would ere long be dead men, and
their spirits infernal demons. Possibly their fears would have been
realized, had not a pious priest exorcised the evil spirits. By a
plentiful application of holy water and celebration of a solemn mass,
they were frightened away, to return no more.
CHAPTER XXXV.
A Mysterious Hunter--Man and Horse supposed to be
Devils--Extraordinary Talents of the suspected
Hunter--Signs of Uneasiness--Terrible Shrieks--Groans
of Despair--Tortured Spirits--Severe
Flagellation--Disappearance of the Flagellant--Tales
of the Scotch Highlands--Witches in the shape of Hares
worried by Dogs--Croaking Raven--Death of a suspected
Witch--Resort of Witches and Evil Spirits--Spirits
hastening to a Church--Dogs in Pursuit--Black Man with
Eyes like Fire--Horse breathing Smoke and
Flame--Witch's Ghost and Demons sinking into the
Earth.
A strange tale of a mysterious hunter is given in the _Letters_ of
Lord Lyttelton, the truth of which, it is said, was attested by
gentlemen whose veracity was beyond question. We give an abridged
version of the tale:--
In the early part of --------'s life he attended a hunting club at
their sports, when a stranger of genteel appearance, and well mounted,
joined the chase, and was observed to ride with a degree of courage
and address that called forth the utmost astonishment of every one
present. The beast he rode was of amazing power; nothing stopped them;
the hounds could never escape them; and the huntsman, who was left far
behind, swore that the man and his horse were _devils from hell_. When
the sport was over, the company invited this extraordinary person to
dinner: he accepted the invitation, and astonished the company as much
by the powers of his conversation, and by his elegance of manners, as
by his equestrian prowess. He was an orator, a poet, a painter, a
musician, a lawyer, and a divine; in short, he was everything, and the
magic of his discourse kept the drowsy sportsman awake long after his
usual hour. At length, however, wearied nature could be charmed no
more, and the company began to steal away by degrees to their repose.
On his observing the society diminish, he discovered manifest signs of
uneasiness; he therefore gave new force to his spirits, and new charms
to his conversation, in order to detain the remaining few some time
longer. This had some little effect; but the period could not be long
delayed when he was to be conducted to his chamber. The remains of the
company retired also; but they had scarce closed their eyes, when the
house was alarmed by the most terrible shrieks that were ever heard;
several persons were awakened by the noise; but, its continuance being
short, they concluded it to proceed from a dog which might be
accidentally confined in some part of the house; they very soon,
therefore, composed themselves to sleep, but were again soon awakened
by shrieks and cries of still greater terror than the former. Alarmed
at what they heard, several of them rang their bells, and when the
servants came, they declared that the horrid sounds proceeded from the
stranger's chamber. Some of the gentlemen immediately arose to inquire
into this extraordinary disturbance; and while they were dressing
themselves for that purpose, deeper groans of despair, and shriller
shrieks of agony, again astonished and terrified them. After knocking
some time at the stranger's chamber door, he answered them as one
awakened from sleep, declared he had heard no noise, and, rather in an
angry tone, desired he might not be again disturbed. Upon this, they
returned to their chambers, and had scarce began to communicate their
sentiments to each other, when their conversation was interrupted by a
renewal of yells, screams, and shrieks, which, from the horror of
them, seemed to issue from the throats of damned and tortured spirits.
The gentlemen listened attentively, and traced the sounds to the
stranger's room, the door of which they instantly burst open, and
found him upon his knees in bed, in the act of scourging himself with
the most unrelenting severity, his body streaming with blood. On
their seizing his hands to stop the strokes, he begged them, in the
most ringing tone of voice, as an act of mercy, that they would
retire, assuring them that the cause of their disturbance was over,
and that in the morning he would acquaint them with the reasons of the
terrible cries they had heard, and the melancholy sight they saw.
After a repetition of his entreaties, they retired; and in the morning
two of them went to his chamber, but he was not there, and, on
examining the bed, they found it to be one gore of blood. Upon further
inquiry, the groom said that, as soon as it was light, the gentleman
came to the stable, booted and spurred, and desired his horse might be
immediately saddled, and appeared to be extremely impatient till it
was done, when he vaulted into his saddle, and rode out of the yard at
full speed. Servants were immediately sent into every part of the
surrounding country, but not a single trace of him could be found;
such a person had not been seen by any one, nor has he since been
heard of.
Tales are related in the Scotch Highlands of witches being mortally
worried by dogs while they (the witches) appeared in the likeness of a
hare. They are so similar in all essential particulars, that one is
inclined to think that they are different versions of the same story.
Here, at all events, is one version:--A hunter, one early morning,
observed an old woman prowling about a glen in a suspicious manner.
Wishing to know what she was about, he watched her movements, and
succeeded in getting so near her that he was able to recognise her
features. She was a near neighbour of his own, held in good repute by
all in the district. Observing him approaching, the old woman walked
away quickly, to avoid him recognising her; but, as the hunter was
likely to overtake her, she transformed herself into the likeness of a
hare, and darted away at great speed. The hunter's dog gave chase,
and, after a long run, seized her. At that instant a shriek arose
that made the hills echo and re-echo. Hurrying forward to call off his
dogs, the hunter came within a few paces of the spot where the
struggle was going on, when a raven rose from the ground and flew
away, croaking angrily. A pool of blood marked the place, and his two
dogs lay dead. On returning home, he learned that the old woman whom
he had seen transformed into a hare lay dangerously ill in her house.
At night she died. The same night another neighbour of the woman was
returning home, whistling to keep up his courage, for he had to pass
the old parish church and burying-ground, and walk through a wood, the
favourite resort of witches and evil spirits. As the deep shadows of
the forest were beginning to conceal the moon from view, he was
startled by the appearance of a woman running in the direction of the
church. She asked if she could reach it by twelve o'clock. He answered
that he thought she could if she ran fast. His impression was that the
voice, face, and figure were those of the woman the hunter had
surprised in the morning. A little farther on he met two hounds
coursing along at great speed. In a few minutes he met a black man
riding on a black horse. The horseman inquired whether the traveller
had seen a woman, and two dogs pursuing her. On replying in the
affirmative, the horseman asked a second question, whether he thought
the dogs would overtake her before she went the length of the old
church? With a faltering voice he said it was likely they would. The
frightened traveller, more dead than alive, observed that the black
man had eyes like balls of fire, and that his horse breathed smoke and
flame. As swift as his feet could carry him, the pedestrian hastened
homeward, trusting that the terrors of the night were past, yet
fearing and trembling exceedingly. Having to pass the old woman's
house, and seeing a light, he went in, and then learned that she was
dead. He had no doubt that the human-like figure he saw running on
foot towards the church was the spirit of the departed witch, and that
the pursuers were demons. After condoling with the bereaved relations,
he took his departure from an abode cursed with the presence of a
witch's remains. Scarcely had he crossed the threshold before he
observed the black horseman riding swiftly towards the house, with the
woman lying across the saddle-bow, and the two dogs following close
behind. In an instant, man, woman, horse, and dogs sank into the
ground.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Leading Churchmen subjected to the Onslaught of
Demons--Warfare with the Devil in corporeal
shape--Triumph of Churchmen--St. Maurus rebuking a
Troop of Evil Spirits--St. Romualdus' Five Years'
Conflict with Satan--The Faculty of St. Frances--St.
Gregory's Detection of the Devil entering a Man--A
Greedy Monk denied Christian Burial--Monk in
Purgatory--Institution of the Thirty Masses for the
Dead--An Excommunicated Gentleman of Rome hiring Pagan
Witches and Sorcerers--What befell them--St. Benedict
and the Blackbird's Song--A Monk restored to Life--St.
Benedict's Sister ascending to Heaven like a White
Dove--St. Francis' Dominion over Living Creatures and
the Elements--St. Catherine's Power over Evil
Spirits--St. Stanislaus' Miracles--A Dead Man giving
Evidence in a Court of Justice--The Dead refusing a
Renewal of Life--St. Philip Nerius and Evil
Spirits--Spirits ministering to St. Erasmus--St.
Norbert closing the Mouths of Evil Spirits--Story
relating to Henry I.--St. Margaret's Triumph--St.
Ignatius' Command over Devils--St. Stephen curing
Persons possessed of Devils--Satan's Hatred of St.
Dominick--St. Donatus endowing a Corpse with
Speech--St. Cyriacus, St. Largus, and St. Smaragdus,
the Martyrs--St. Clare--St. Bernard's Power--St.
Cæsarius' Wonder-working Crook--St. Giles and the
Hind--St. Euphemia's Guardian Angels--St. Francis'
Spirit in Chariot of Fire--Devils blowing the Fire of
Discord--St. Bridget's Intercourse with Angels--St.
Denis' Spirit--St. Teresa and the Angels--St. Hilarian
a Match for Satan and his Sorcerers--Her Miracles--St.
Martin's Wonderful Power--St. Catherine's Body carried
by Angels to Mount Sinai--St. Francis Xaverius' Belief
in Virtue of Bells--St. Nicholas' Piety and
Powers--St. Ambrose's Power over Necromancers and
Spirits--St. Lucy raising her Mother from the
Dead--St. Anastasia sustained by Bread from
Heaven--St. Thomas enduring Martyrdom in Life and
after Death--Penance of Henry II.--Barbarous Conduct
of Henry VIII.--A Hungarian Legend.
If reliance can be placed on tradition and the writings of
biographers, good men (particularly those of them who took a leading
part in the ancient Church) were subjected to dreadful onslaughts by
Satan. Not only had they to contend with invisible spirits of
darkness, but they were compelled to carry on a continual warfare
with the devil, in corporeal shape, seeking to seduce them from their
faith. None were more frequently or fiercely assailed than the
canonised saints of the old Catholic Church. To their praise, however,
be it remembered, that almost invariably the Churchmen, sooner or
later, triumphed. Having good consciences, and being protected by
wonder-working relics, the saints defied the enemy of mankind. Those
seeking lengthened information on the subject should consult _The
Lives of the Saints, and the Calendars_, published by learned men, who
believed what they wrote, and spoke that which they thought to be
true. The subjoined sketches, read in connection with chapter XV.,
bear out what is affirmed.
St. Maurus had an encounter with Satan and a whole squadron of his
monsters in bodily shape. At Maurus' rebuke the troop vanished, but
not before they made the monastery shake, and brought the affrighted
monks to their knees.
St. Romualdus may be said to have had a five years' conflict with
Satan in visible forms. St. Frances had the faculty of seeing evil
spirits when people beside her perceived nothing but natural forms.
St. Gregory witnessed the devil entering into a man who indulged in
and loved lies. A monk who determined to throw off his habit and
forsake the monastery, was set upon by the devil in the form of a
black dog. Other monks who broke their vows shared no better. Because
a monk had been guilty of hoarding up a large sum of money, contrary
to the rules of his order, he was denied Christian burial, and his
body was cast upon a dunghill. After mass was said for the miser
thirty days, the deceased monk appeared to a brother of his order and
told him that he had been in purgatory till that day. From this
blessed liberation St. Gregory instituted the custom of saying thirty
masses for the dead. A gentleman in Rome, who was excommunicated by
St. Gregory for unlawfully putting away his wife, hired certain pagan
witches and sorcerers to torment the holy Pope. They caused the devil
to enter into the Pope's horse, that it might cast the rider and crush
him to death. The holy father, becoming aware of the plot, cast out
the devil, and struck the witches and sorcerers with blindness. St.
Gregory was entreated to restore the witches and sorcerers to sight,
but he refused to do so, lest they should be tempted to return to
their wicked art, and read books of magic and necromancy.
St. Benedict had his encounters with the tempter. One day the devil
transformed himself into a little blackbird, which fluttered about
him, and sang so sweetly that he was nearly drawn away from his
devotions and led into sin. By a higher power than his own he overcame
the enemy. He stripped himself of his clothes, and, casting himself on
a thicket of briars and thorns, mangled his body so severely that
blood ran from him in streams. The devil on one occasion endeavoured
to hinder the building of a monastery, and at another time he cast a
stone at a young monk and killed him. St. Benedict, in his goodness,
put the devil to flight, and restored the monk to life. This saint,
while watching over the spiritual welfare of the monks with whom he
was associated, observed the devil riding on a mule to the monastery,
and entering into an aged monk possessed of a covetous heart. Penance
and a trust in holy relics drove the evil spirit away, and brought the
monk to a proper frame of mind. When a pious sister of St. Benedict
died, he saw her spirit in the likeness of a white dove ascending to
heaven.
St. Francis, a devout servant of great sanctity, had dominion over all
creatures. Fire, air, water, and earth were also subject to him. He
drove away wicked spirits; he gave sight to the blind, speech to the
dumb, health to those in decay, and life to the dead. The elements
could not affect him. He walked upon fire, held his hands in a
burning hot oven without sustaining injury; and he and a companion
passed over the sea upon his cloak spread on the waves.
St. Catherine resisted the devil in various guises. On one memorable
occasion she witnessed two thieves being conveyed to the place of
execution, and tortured, in a cart. Instead of lamenting their sins,
they behaved like demons. Though no one else beheld anything unearthly
near the culprits, St. Catherine saw a multitude of devils provoking
them to blaspheme and curse. Having compassion on the unhappy men, she
went into the cart beside them, drove the evil spirits away, and
brought the condemned men to repentance before expiating their crimes.
St. Stanislaus performed miracles, and, as for evil spirits, he made
them fly as chaff before the wind. He cured sickness, and even gave
life to the dead. One instance of his supernatural power is worthy of
remembrance. Stanislaus bought a piece of ground from a man named
Peter, but received no receipt for the price paid. Peter died, and
then his heirs, to please the king, who desired to do Stanislaus an
injury, sought to have the land restored to them. An order of court
was about to be issued for the restoration of the land to Peter's
heirs, when the saint craved three days to bring forward proof of the
money having been paid. Accordingly an adjournment took place.
Meantime Stanislaus fasted, prayed, and watched. At the termination of
the time appointed, the saint, having offered up the holy sacrifice of
mass, went to Peter's grave and caused it to be opened; then, touching
the body with his crosier, the dead man came to life, followed the
saint to the court, testified, to the astonishment of all, that the
land had been lawfully bought, and duly paid for. After this no one
could dispute the ownership of the land, which, we ought not to omit
saying, had been bought for the Church. St. Stanislaus offered Peter a
renewal of life for many years, but he who had been dead chose to
return to the grave rather than to live longer a life of trouble. He
told the saint he was in purgatory, and that he had yet something more
to suffer for his sins, but still he would prefer undergoing his
deserved punishment, that at last he might be free. St. Stanislaus
accompanied Peter to the grave. Peter laid himself down in the dust,
and the ground was closed over him, in the presence of a multitude of
people.
St. Philip Nerius encountered three infernal spirits while in the
proper discharge of his Christian duties; and the ghosts of deceased
persons were visible to him. After the saint's death he appeared to
his favourite followers, environed with a glorious light. Spirits
ministered to St. Erasmus, at one time breaking the fetters wherewith
he was bound, and at another speaking comforting words to him when he
was sad at heart. St. Norbert had the power of controlling devils, and
casting them out of possessed persons. Evil spirits went about in his
time revealing all the sins of professing Christians, until St.
Norbert closed their mouths in reference to such shortcomings as had
been confessed to a priest. After the saint's death, he appeared to
divers persons who knew him in life.
The following story is told of Henry I.:--At the time he was dying, a
hermit saw the devil, in human shape, running in the direction where
the emperor lay. "Whither passest thou?" demanded the hermit. "I am
going," said the fiend, "to be present at his Majesty's death." "Come
again," said the hermit, "and tell me how far thou hast succeeded."
Within a short time Satan returned, howling and crying out, "Woe, woe
to us, we are cozened, and have lost our labour; all our slight and
power have come to nought; the angels have confounded us and driven us
away. As the works and merits of the soul were examined and weighed in
the balance, in presence of us and the angels, and our scale began to
sink down with the weight of his sins, there stepped in a burned man
with a golden cup and put it into the other scale, which caused it to
descend with great force. Seeing this, the angels cried out 'Victory,'
and conveyed away the soul with them, leaving us nothing but shame,
ignominy, and confusion." The renowned martyr St. Lawrence turned out
to be the burned man the devil saw with the cup.
St. Margaret at one time had a severe encounter with a serpent that
appeared with death in his looks. She triumphed then as well as at
other times. The enemy wounded her sorely and often, but she was
cured, and ever afterwards had peace.
St. Ignatius had a strange command over the devils, who abhorred and
persecuted him as their great enemy. Both at Paris and Rome the devils
appeared to him in ugly shapes. Before he prevailed they nearly choked
him, and scourged him so sorely that he did not recover for some time.
In St. Ignatius' life-time the arch-fiend seems to have had
considerable power. At one time he possessed a child, a woman, and a
soldier, and raised tempests and furious storms. How far the mischief
would have been continued no one can tell, had not this saint
withstood him to the face. It fell upon a time that the holy fathers,
in a certain Loretto college, were greatly disturbed night and day by
devils making a hideous noise, and appearing like black-a-moors, cats,
bears, and other beasts. Recourse was had by saying holy mass,
prayers, sprinkling holy water, using exorcisms, and applying relics
of saints, without effect. Father Ignatius' assistance was ultimately
solicited; and he, without much difficulty, drove away the tormentors
as if they had been as many mice.
St. Stephen exercised great control over Satan. The saint cured no
fewer than threescore and thirteen persons possessed of devils.
Satan had a deadly hatred against St. Dominick, and often endeavoured
to destroy his soul and body. St. Donatus was another mark at which
the devil shot his fiercest arrows; but a man who raised the dead, as
this saint did, did not stand in fear of an evil spirit. St. Donatus
raised to life a woman that died suddenly without informing her
husband where she had concealed a sum of money belonging to him. From
the mouth of the grave the resuscitated woman told where the treasure
lay. A dishonest creditor was proved to be a false swearer and cheat
by a corpse endowed with speech by St. Donatus.
St. Cyriacus, St. Largus, and St. Smaragdus drove evil spirits not
only out of afflicted persons, but out of the country. Cyriacus, in
particular, was so famous for his power over evil spirits, that
princes in distant lands solicited his assistance to banish the demons
to their own peculiar place of torment.
The holy virgin, St. Clare, though a feeble woman, fought and
prevailed over the devil that came to her in the form of a black man.
St. Bernard cured persons possessed of devils, and he performed
miracles with a crook of St. Cæsarius. The former used his staff as a
miracle-working instrument.
St. Giles was miraculously preserved by a hind sustaining him with her
milk in a cave; and such was the saint's care over the helpless
animal, that on two occasions he drew a line on the ground over which
a pack of hounds chasing the hind could not pass, although there was
nothing visible to restrain them.
St. Euphemia had her guardian angels that protected her from the
violence of her enemies, who sought to burn her in an oven full of
pitch, brimstone, and tow. She came out of the oven unhurt, but two
men who laid hands on her were consumed by the flames. Wild beasts
refused to devour her in their dens, and iron lost its force on her.
St. Euphemia's time came however, and she met her fate as a martyr
with Christian fortitude.
St. Francis' spirit appeared in a chariot of fire, sweeping through
the air. Over a city distracted by factions and civil broils, he saw
the devils very jocund, blowing the fire of discord. With a loud voice
he commanded the spirits to depart; they obeyed him, and the city was
restored to peace and concord.
St. Bridget possessed the faculty of witnessing angels, and enjoyed
the privilege of having them for her companions; nevertheless, she had
to sustain many conflicts with the devil. One time she saw Satan in a
dreadful shape, with a hundred hands and as many feet. Terrified, she
fled from the horrid monster and took shelter near a holy relic, where
she was safe. In a sad hour of affliction the spirit of St. Denis
appeared to her, and told her he would be her protector ever
afterwards. She certainly, if report be true, turned out to be a saint
endowed with extraordinary power, which enabled her to give sight to
the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb, and health to the
sick; and, moreover, we are informed that she raised ten dead persons
to life. On account of these miracles, and for her most holy life,
Pope Boniface IX. canonised her, and put her in the number of the
saints.
St. Gregory of Tours recounts numerous miracles wrought by St. Denis
in life, and after his death. St. Teresa had glorious visions; and
after, in her walks and seclusions, had the company of angels with
beautiful countenances and corporeal shapes. In particular, one angel
of the order of the Seraphim attended her in times of danger with a
flaming sword, to drive back her enemies. Among St. Teresa's other
powers was one of no mean importance--the power of delivering souls
out of purgatory. Her faith in holy water was great, for by its force
she swept away devils as by a mighty river.
St. Hilarian was a match for Satan and his sorcerers. A young man,
desperately in love with a lady of rare beauty and chastity, who
rejected his advances, applied to certain sorcerers, ministers of the
temple of Esculapius. By means of their evil devices the damsel began
to love her admirer extravagantly; indeed, so much so, that her
emotions savoured more of madness than of true affection. Her parents
laid her at St. Hilarian's feet, and he immediately drove out a devil
that had taken possession of the maiden, both bodily and mentally. At
one time St. Hilarian did what at first seemed invaluable service to
the neighbourhood in which he lived. The people besought him to send
rain, as their crops were withering away, and their cattle dying of
thirst. He sent what they desired, but the rain bred serpents and
venomous creatures, which destroyed the fruits of the earth and
injured the inhabitants. Like St. Patrick, he drove away the reptiles,
and healed the people who had been wounded by them. St. Hilarian also
consumed, as with fire, a dragon of enormous size which swallowed
oxen, devoured men, and laid waste the country far and near.
St. Martin, like many other saints, possessed the wonderful power of
bringing the dead to life. It was said he had dominion over devils and
men, over the heavens and the elements, over diseases, and over all
birds and beasts of the field.
So holy was St. Catherine, that, when she died, angels carried her
body to Mount Sinai and buried it there, that her persecutors might
not discover where she was laid. From her place of sepulture a sweet
smell long continued to pervade the neighbourhood.
Although it would appear that all saints had many gifts and graces,
certain of them possessed peculiar talents denied to others. St.
Francis Xaverius, for instance, held the elements in his power. He was
almost constantly at war with the devil and the flesh. To frighten
away the one he kept ringing a bell by night, and to subdue the other
he wore a hair shirt, lived on spare diet, and slept on hard boards or
lay on the cold ground.
St. Nicholas was so uncommonly good a Catholic, that, even when an
infant at the breast, he would not suck his mother's breast but once
on the Wednesdays and Fridays. He, too, controlled the winds and
waves, and sent the evil spirit away howling through the tempest.
St. Ambrose, of ever blessed memory, controlled sorcerers and
necromancers, and made even the evil spirits obedient to him. On the
day of the saint's death the devils flew away, crying that they were
tormented by St. Ambrose.
St. Lucy raised her mother from the dead, and conquered demons.
St. Anastasia had power over Satan, and was for two months sustained
by bread from heaven. And what shall we say of St. Thomas and many of
the other saints who triumphed so gloriously in their day? St. Thomas,
Archbishop of Canterbury, we are told, endured martyrdom twice--once
in life, and again after death. To subdue the flesh, he scourged
himself until the blood ran down his body. He kept long night vigils,
and wore a hair shirt. In a vision he was told that he would
illustrate the Church with his blood--a prediction that was fulfilled.
It being proved that Henry II. was implicated in the foul deed, he had
to do penance in public and private before being absolved. Many years
afterwards, Henry VIII. commanded the dead saint to be summoned before
him, and having condemned him as a traitor, directed his name to be
erased from the catalogue of saints; forbade, under pain of death, his
day to be celebrated, or his name to be mentioned as a saint; and
ordered that his name should be blotted out of every book and calendar
in which it appeared. The revengeful king also commanded that the
saint's relics should be burned, and the ashes thereof scattered to
the winds.
With the following old tale in verse we close our collected
information on Demonology--a tale founded upon one of the most
extraordinary events recorded in the annals of the human mind. Not a
century and a half ago all the circumstances which form the romance,
with the addition of many others nearly as ridiculous, were not only
firmly believed by the peasants of a few Sclavonian villages, among
whom they were supposed to have happened, but were received as truths,
and seriously commented upon by learned divines and physicians of the
surrounding provinces. A superstition somewhat similar appears to have
prevailed in Bohemia and Silesia previous to the days of Dr. Henry
More, who details several of the stories to which it gave rise, in his
_Philosophical Works_:--
"I left the chaulkie Cliftes of olde Englònde,
And paced thro' many a Countrie faire to see,
Thorowe the Reaulme of Greece and Holie-Londe,
Untill I journeied into sadde Hongrìe.
I sawe olde Cecrops' Towne, and famous Rome;
But Davyd's holie place I liked beste:
I sawe dire Sightes before I found my Home,
But much the direst at the Towne of Peste.
It was a goodlie Citie, fayre to see;
By its prowde Walles and towering Mosques it gave
A delicate Aspèct to the Countrèe,
With its Bridg of Boates acrosse the Danow's Wave.
Yet manie thinges with Woe I did surveie;
The Stretes were overgrowne with spiery grasse;
And, though it was upon a Sabbath-daie,
No Belles did ringe to calle the Folke to Masse.
The Churchyardes all with Barrs were closed fast,
Like to a sinfulle and accursed place;
It shewd as though the Judgment-daie were past,
And the Dedde exiled from the Seate of Grace.
At last I met an old sadde Man, and asked
Where a tired Traveller maye finde repose.
The Old Man shook his Hed, and wold have passed;
But I caught him by his Arme and held his Clothes.
'Straunger,' said he, 'in Marie's name departe!'
(Soe saying, wold agen have passed me by);
His hollow Voyce sank depe into my Harte:
Yet I wold not let him goe, but asked Why?
'It now is Morne,' quoth he, 'the Sun shines brighte,
And the Springe is blithe, save in the Walles of Peste;
But, were it Winter wylde, and a stormie Nighte,
Not here, O Straunger, sholdst thou seeke to reste;
'Though Rayne in Torrents powred and cold Winds blew,
And thou with travelling tired and with Hunger pale.'
'Though the Sun,' sed I, 'shine brighte and the Daie be new,
I will not goe, till I have herd thy Tale.'
This woefull Wight then took me by the Hande;
(His, like a Skeletonne's; was bonie and cold).
He seemed as though he scarse cold goe nor stande,
Like one o'er whom full fourscore years had rold.
We came together to the Market-Crosse,
And the Wight all woe-begon spake not a Word.
No living thinge along our Waie did passe,
(Though dolours Grones in evrie House I herd).
Save one poore Dogge that walked athwart a Court,
Fearfullie howling with most pyteous Wayle.
The sadde Man whistled in a dismall sort,
And the poore thinge slunk away, and hid his Tayle.
I felt my verie Bloud creepe in my vaynes;
My Bones were icie-cold; my Hayr on ende.
I wishd myself agen uponn the Playnes,
Yet cold not but that sadde old Man attende.
The sadde old Man sate down upon a Stone,
And I sate on another by his Side;
He heaved mournfullie a pyteous Grone,
And then, to ease my doubts, himself applied.
'Straunger!' quoth he, 'Behold my Visage welle,
And graspe this bonie Hand so thinne agenn!
How manie Winters thinkest thou I telle?'
I answered doubtinglie: 'Three-Score and Tenn.'
'Straunger! not fourty yeares agoe I lay
A puling Infant in my Nurse's arms:
Not fourty daies agoe two Daughters gay
Did blesse my Vision with their dawning Charms.
'Yet now I am an olde and worn-out Man,
And evrie droppe of Bloud hath left my Vaynes;
Als' my fayr Daughters twaine lie cold and wan
And bloudless, bound in Deathe's eternal Chaynes.
'Straunger! This Towne, so pleasant to our sightes,
With goodlie Towers and running Streames so faire,
Whilom for tender Maydes and doughtie Knightes
From all Hungaria's Londe the Prize did beare.
'But now, the verie fewe that here remayne
Are sobbing out their Breath in sorie Guise;
All that might flie, have fled this mournfull playne
But onlie I, who wishe to close mine eyes.
'Seaven Weekes are gon since owr Townesfolke beganne
To wax both pale and sadd, yet none knewe why:
The ruddiest Visage yellowe seemed and wanne,
Our stoutest Youthes for very cold did cry.
'Some Doctours sed the Lakes did Agewes breede,
But Springe returning wold the same disperse;
Whyles others, contrarie to Nature's creede,
Averred the Heate itself wold make us worse.
'And though we leugh at these, like Doaters fonde,
Or Menn that love in Paradox to deale;
Yett, as the Sunn grew warme, throughout the Londe,
All Menn the more did wintrìe shiverings feele.
'One miserable Wight did pyne and wane,
And on the seaventh Daie gave upp the Ghoste;
His Corse was oped by a Chirurgeon of fame
Who found that evrie dropp of bloud was loste.
'Nathless, our People though they pined and pined,
Yet never did our appetites decaye;
Whole Oxen scarse suffised when we dined,
And we cold drinke whole hogsheds of Tokaye.
'Soone Hundereds evrie daye gave up the Ghoste,
(Els' we a Famine in our Lande had bredde).
And, to repayr the Bloud that we had loste,
Our Beastes we killd and ate, but never bledde.
'Thus, by the Eve, our Colour freshe arose,
And we did look agen more briske and gay.
All Nighte deepe Slumbers did our Eye lidds close,
But worse and worse we wax by Breake of Daie.
'There was a taylour, Vulvius by name,
Who long had dwelt at Peste in honest pryde;
A Godlie Man he was esteemed by Fame,
And since some twelvemonths of a Feaver dyde.
'Now when at last this straunge Disease had growne
To suche a Highte as neer was heard afore,
Among the reste in our unhappie Towne
My youngest Daughter was afflicted sore.
'One Nighte it happed, as she was slepyng laied,
Her wayting Girle at Midnight left her roome
To fetch some possett, brothe, or gellie, made
To quelle the plague that did her life consume.
'When, as she softly shut the Doore, she heard
An heavie Thinge come lumbering upp the Stayres,
Whereon the buried Tailour soone appeard
And She (poor Mayd) full loud 'gan saye her Prayres.
'Shrowded he was, as when his Corse was laied
Under the Earthe, and buriall Service redde;
Nor yet was he a Ghoste, for his Footsteppes made
A Noyse more hevie than a Tunne of Ledde.
'She sawe him ope my Daughter's chamber-Doore,
And had no Spirit to persewe nor flie,
And Vulvius agen, in half an houre,
Lumbered downe Stayres yett much more hevilie.
'This Storie herd, I cold not chuse, but smild
To think the seelie Mayd such Feares cold shake,
Yet the next Nighte, to prove such Phan'sies wild,
I kept myself untille Midnighte awake;
'Whenn as the Midnight-Houre was past, I heard
An hevie thinge come lumbering upp the Stayre;
The Tailour Vulvius to my Sights appeard--
I could not follow to my Daughter fayre.
'Next Day, untoe a Convent nighe I hied,
And found a reverend Father at his prayer;
I told him of the Wonderres I had spied,
And begged his ghostlie Counsel I may share.
'Together to Sainct Stevenn's Churche we went,
And he a Prayer on evrie Gravestone made,
Till at the Tailour Vulvius' Monument
We stopped--we broughte a Mattocke and a Spade;
'We digged the Earthe wherein the Tailour lay;
Tille at the Tailour's Coffin we arrived,
Nor there, I weene, much Labour found that Day,
For evrie Nayle was drawen and the Hinges rived.
'This Sighte was straunge--but straunger yet remaynd,
When from the Corse the cered Clothes we tore;
The Veynes seemed full of Bloud, the Lipps distained,
All dripping with my Daughter's new-suck'd gore.
'When through own Towne this Sighte we had proclaimed,
A dismall Horrour chilled our Townsmen's hartes;
The Vampyre (So our Priest the Tailour nam'd)
Their Midnight-sleeps disturbed with feaverish startes.
The Churchyardes straight were ransacked all throughout
With Pick-ax, Shovell, Mattocke, and with Spade;
But evrie Corse that we did digge thereout,
Did shewe like living Menn in Coffins laied.
'It was the Corses that our Churchyardes filled,
That did at Midnight lumberr up our Stayres;
They suck'd our Bloud, the gorie Banquet swilled,
And harrowed everie Soule with hydeous Feares.
'And nowe the Priestes burnd Incense in the Quire,
And scattered Ave-Maries o'er the Graves,
And purified the Church with lustrall Fire,
And cast all thinges prophane to Danowe's Waves.
'And they barr'd with Boltes of Iron the Churchyard-pale
To keepe them out; but all this wold not doe;
For when a Dead-Man has learn'd to draw a naile,
He can also burst an iron Bolte in two.'
The sadde old Man was silent--I arose,
And felt great Grief and Horrour in my Breste.
I rode nine Leagues before I sought repose,
And never agen drew nigh the Walles of Peste."
MAGIC AND ASTROLOGY.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Magic a Study among the Learned--Plato and Pythagoras
travelled to learn the Art, and taught it--How to
subdue a Furious Bull--How to make a tough Fowl
tender--Eagles' Feathers--Power of a Small
Fish--Speakers made Eloquent by Magical Art--Virtue of
Gems--How Jewels should be set--When they are to be
Graven--Various Magical Operations--Cures effected by
Hippocrates--Democritus on Magic--Many Charms--Evil
Spirits--Magicians sacrificing to the Planets--Vessels
and other articles used for Magical purposes--Success
in Magic--Magician's Power to produce Monstrous
Creatures--Egyptian Magicians--Horses' and Asses'
Heads--Magical Circles--Throwing Old Shoes--Figures on
Shoes--A Hangman's Soul--Directions for raising Ghosts
and Spirits.
Magic was, in ancient times, a favourite study among the learned.
Plato, Pythagoras, and other men of note, travelled over many
countries to learn this art. After studying for a long time, they
publicly communicated the knowledge of magic to students from every
quarter of the globe. The knowledge acquired by magicians, if real,
was wonderful. One discovered that, by tying a bull to a fig tree, the
animal, though of a furious nature, instantly became subdued. The same
authority states that, by hanging an old tough fowl on the same
description of tree, it would become tender. Another professor of
magic taught that the feathers of an eagle, mixed with those of other
birds, would consume them, and that a small fish called Remora could
stop the progress of a ship at sea. Magicians supplied precious stones
to public speakers, the possession of which made them eloquent, and
brought them into favour with princes. A certain gem carried in a
husband's pocket made him love his wife, and enabled him to overcome
his enemies. Coral was a preventative against witchcraft, hence the
fashion of ladies and children wearing necklaces and bracelets of this
material. Hyacinth brought down rain, obscured the sun, and preserved
from lightning. One stone resisted drunkenness, so that the bearer
could be able to drink freely without becoming intoxicated. A
chalcedony made the wearer lucky at law, increased the vigour of one's
body, and prevented illusions of the devil. Those acquainted with
magical art concluded that all stones possessed virtues, infused into
them by the influence of planets. Alexander, Hermes, Zoroaster, and
several other ancients, entertained this opinion. Magicians were the
first to set stones in rings--an invention which, if not beneficial to
man and woman, has helped to adorn their persons.
Gems used for magical purposes required to be set in such metals as
had affinity with the planets whereby they (the gems) were influenced.
The image of Saturn should be made in lead; of Sol, in gold; of Luna,
in silver; of Jupiter, in tin; of Mars, in iron; of Venus, in copper;
of Mercury, in quicksilver. A proper time should be observed for the
graving of magical figures. If love is to be procured, the graving
must be done under proper and friendly aspects, as in the hour of
Venus. Such signs as ascend in the day must be taken in the day. If
they increase in the night, then the work must be done in the night.
Wise men tell us that an olive planted by a virgin will thrive, but if
by an unchaste woman it will wither. If a serpent be found in a hole,
it may be safely pulled out by the left hand, but to attempt to do so
with the right would be dangerous.
Learned writers on magic say that if one take a new knife, and cut a
lemon with it while the operator is expressing words of hatred or
dislike against a person he or she may wish evil to, the object of
hatred will feel uneasy, and become unwell. If a live pigeon be cut
through the heart while an evil wisher is venting curses against a
friend or neighbour, the individual against whom the evil wishes are
made will suffer in body and mind. A man will be put in great fear if
his image, prepared according to the arts of magic, be suspended by a
single hair or thread, however far distant he may be from the scene of
operation. If a person suffering from toothache or asthma catch a live
frog before sunrise, and spit into its mouth, immediate relief will be
the result. If the plague or any epidemic disease threaten a village
or town, the disorder will be stayed by a live toad being suspended
for three or four days in a chimney. The dried body of a dead toad,
worn in the breast, prevents the possessor of the charm from being
injured by any infectious disease. Hippocrates had great honours
conferred on him on account of the cures he effected by the
application of certain parts of reptiles to disordered persons. The
heart of a toad, suspended by a blue ribbon round the neck, will cure
the king's evil. Rape seed, sown with cursing and imprecation, grows
better, we are told, than when the seed is blessed. If one wear a
girdle of civet-cat skin in battle, he will escape unhurt. Those
skilled in such secrets say they can be easily explained. In their
arguments they point to the antipathy of certain natural things,
animate and inanimate, to other things in nature. The wing of a bat
and the heart of a lapwing repel evil spirits and wicked passions; the
bustard flies off when a horse comes in sight, and the hart bounds
away at the sight of a ram or viper; a lion trembles at the crowing of
a cock. If one swallow the heart of a lapwing, mole, or weasel, taken
from the animal when alive, it will improve his understanding, and
enable him to prophesy.
Democritus says that if one cut the tongue out of a live frog, and lay
it on a woman's breast opposite her heart, she will be compelled to
answer every question put to her. Dogs will never attack a person that
has a weasel's tail in his pocket or breast, provided the appendage
has been severed from the little animal when it was alive. If one has
a chameleon's tongue, cut out before the creature's death, he may defy
all the sharpers in the world. If the blood of a civet-cat be
sprinkled on the doors and windows of a house, witches and sorcerers
will be prevented from entering it or molesting the inmates thereof.
If an enemy desire to render any one hateful to friends and
neighbours, it may be done by the touch of an ointment composed of the
ashes of a calcined ankle-bone of a man, oil extracted from the left
foot of the same body, and the blood of a weasel. Civet-cat gut tied
round a man's left arm, makes all the ladies look on him with favour;
and civet-cat skin worn as a cap, protects the wearer against the art
of witches. If a stone that has been in a mad dog's mouth be put into
ale handed round at a feast, discord will take place. If a bone taken
from a toad's left side be secretly put into any part of a woman's
dress, it will kindle her love into a burning flame; but if the
corresponding bone of the toad's right side be used, the most ardent
love of the woman will be cooled. If the snaffle of a bridle be made
of a sword that has killed a man, the rider may with ease control a
horse, however wild the animal may be; and if a sword that has been
used in beheading a person be dipped in wine, it will impart a
medicinal virtue to the liquor.
Pliny is accountable for a few of the foregoing and many other similar
stories, all of which were believed at one time.
Fires kindled with human fat or oil frightens away evil spirits. On
the other hand, vapours exhaled from certain suffumigations induce
spirits to appear. The lungs of an ass, when burned, drive evil
spirits away. Magicians say that if gold or silver be hid when the
moon is in conjunction with the sun, and the place be perfumed with
saffron, henbane, and black poppy, the treasure will never be
feloniously carried away, for spirits will constantly watch over it.
The blood of doves, lapwings, and bats possesses peculiar
virtues--attracting spirits to places where they may be required to
appear, and exciting love passions.
Magicians, when sacrificing to the planets with the view of securing
their diabolical ends, throw into the flames such things as raise a
pleasant perfume when they wish to perform good actions; but when they
desire to bring about wicked results, they raise disagreeable smells.
When soliciting the aid of the sun, it was customary to take the brain
of an eagle or the blood of a white cock; when appealing to the moon,
the blood of a goose was supposed to be good; when sacrificing to
Saturn, the brain of a cat and the blood of a bat were indispensable;
when soliciting Jupiter's assistance, the blood of a swallow or stork
and the brains of a hart were recommended; when sacrificing to Mars,
the blood of a man or of a black cat was thought best; and when
Mercury was sacrificed to, the brain of a fox or of a weasel and the
blood of a magpie were burned on the altar.
All instruments, vessels, and other things used for magical purposes
were recommended to be new; and when a magical missive was to be
written, the parchment was prepared from the skin of a black kitten,
the pen was a feather plucked from a live crow or raven, and the ink
consisted of human blood, or a preparation of calcined cuttle-fish
bones, nutgalls, and rain water, prepared in the day and hour of
Saturn.
In order to secure success in the magical art, it was necessary for
the operator to have his whole soul in his work, otherwise his labour
was in vain. Ancient philosophers have informed us that when the human
mind is intent upon magical work, it is joined with the mind and
intelligence of the stars, and hence the wonderful result of secret
art.
Magicians pretended to possess the power of producing monstrous
creatures, even devils. They could, if their statements can be relied
upon, create a cockatrice by artificially hatching an egg in a
preparation of arsenic and the poison of serpents. The ashes of a
burned duck, treated in a magical manner, produced a huge toad.
Numerous writers conclude that there are two species of toads--the one
produced by ordinary generation, and the other by devilish science.
Plutarch and more modern writers say that frogs descend from the
clouds in rain. Egyptian magicians produced proof of mice, frogs, and
serpents growing out of earth and flowers. It was said that Damnatus
Hispanus could make them in any number he pleased.
By certain charms, magicians could place a horse or an ass's head upon
a man's shoulders, and change the head of an inferior animal into that
of a human pate.
Magicians attached great importance to their circles. One of the
fraternity, when about to proceed with his secret art, clothed himself
with a black robe reaching to the knee, and under that a white garment
of fine linen. He then took his position in the centre of the place
where he intended to perform his conjurations, and, throwing his old
shoes about ten yards from the circle, put on consecrated sandals with
curious figures on each. (Here we may observe that not a few
antiquarians are of opinion that from these practices arose the custom
of persons throwing old shoes after newly-wedded pairs and others for
luck, and of shoemakers making fanciful outlines on shoes by means of
pegging and stitching.) With a magical wand of hazel the magician
stretched forth his arm to the four winds, turning himself round to
every wind, and beseeching his "master" to consecrate the circle. All
these ceremonies being performed, he claimed the consecrated ground as
a defence from all malignant spirits, that they might not have power
over his soul or body.
The most suitable time for making circles was during bright
moonlight, or when storms of wind or thunder were raging, because then
the infernal spirits were nearer the earth than at other times, and
could more easily hear the invocations of those who sought their
assistance. Magical circles were recommended to be formed at dark
lonely places--either in woods or deserts, or in places where three
ways met, or among ruins of castles, abbeys, or monasteries, or on the
sea-shore. But if the conjuration was to raise the ghost of one
deceased, the fittest places for the purpose were spots where persons
had been slain, woods in which suicides had been committed,
churchyards, and burying-vaults. If any one doubts the correctness of
what is here stated, perhaps he will change his mind after reading the
following story:--
"A certain hangman, passing the image of our Lady, saluted her, and
commended himself to her protection. Afterwards, while he prayed
before her, he was called away to hang an offender, but his enemies
slew him by the way. And lo! a certain priest, who walked nightly
about every church in the city, rose that night to go to our Lady's
church. In the churchyard he saw the ghosts of many dead men. On
demanding what was the matter, he was told that the hangman was slain,
and that the devil demanded his soul, but which our Lady said was
hers, and that the judges were at hand to hear the cause. The priest
having made up his mind to be at the trial, hid himself behind a tree.
When the judges had taken their seats, the hangman was brought forward
pinioned, and proof adduced that his soul belonged to the devil. On
the other side it was pleaded by our Lady, that at the hour of death
the hangman commended his soul to her. The judges gave sentence that
the hangman's soul should return to his body until he made sufficient
satisfaction. The priest was called from his hiding-place and sent to
the Pope with a rose of rare beauty, and instructions to crave the
prayers of his Holiness for the poor man." Although we are not made
acquainted with the result of the application to the Pope, there can
be little doubt but that, through our Lady and his Holiness, Satan
lost his eagerly desired victim.
Directions are given by the learned how to raise ghosts and evil
spirits. To raise the ghost of one who had hanged himself, the
exorcist was to provide himself with a straight hazel wand, and bind
the head of an owl with a bunch of St. John's-wort to the end thereof.
This done, he was to repair to a place where a miserable wretch had
strangled himself, and at twelve o'clock at night, while the body
remained suspended, begin his conjurations. First, he was directed to
stretch forth his wand towards the four corners of the world, saying,
"I conjure and exorcise thee, thou distressed spirit, to present
thyself here and reveal unto me the cause of thy calamity--why thou
didst offer violence to thine own life, where thou art now in being,
and where thou wilt hereafter be?" Then, gently striking the body nine
times with the wand, he was to demand the spirit of the deceased to
reveal unto him what secrets he wished made known, whether these
referred to the past or future. The conjuration being thrice repeated,
we are assured the spirit would rise and answer the exorcist's
questions. Directions were next given for laying the spirit, and that
might be done by burying the body naked with lime, salt, and sulphur.
If the ghost which the exorcist consulted was of one who died a common
death, and received the usual burial, it was essential to dig the body
out of the grave at twelve o'clock at night; and while the exorcist
held a torch in his left hand, he was to smite the corpse three times
with his consecrated rod, held in the right hand, and demand answers
to his questions. When the ceremonies were gone through in a regular
way, the interrogatories were truly answered. A caution was offered to
the practiser of this art. The magician of no great experience was
told that if the constellation and position of the stars at his
nativity were not favourable, it would be dangerous for him to
encounter a ghost for fear of being slain, as the ghosts of men could
easily destroy magicians not protected by the stars.
Magicians were instructed how to raise the spirits Paymon, Bathin, and
Barma, and secure their assistance. These spirits, though of various
ranks and orders, were of one power, ability, and nature, and the mode
of raising them is the same. The magician who desired to consult with
these spirits had to appoint a night in the waxing of the moon, when
the planet Mercury reigned, at eleven o'clock at night. But for four
days before the appointed night he was required to shave his beard
every morning, change his linen, and put on a consecrated girdle made
of a black cat's skin. When all was prepared for the summoning of the
spirits, the magician was instructed to enter a dark parlour or
cellar, to light seven candles, and draw a circle with his own blood.
When the candles were lighted, it was essential for the magician to
protect himself with two drawn swords, and consecrate the circle, so
that all evil spirits might be expelled. Everything being ready, the
conjuration commenced in these words: "I conjure and exorcise you, the
three gentle and noble spirits of the power of the north, by the great
and dreadful name of your king, and by the silence of the night, and
by the holy rites of magic, and by the number of the infernal legions,
I adjure and advocate you that without delay ye present yourselves
here before the northern quarter of the circle, all of you, or any one
of you, and answer my demands." This, we are informed, had to be
repeated three times, and then the three spirits appeared, or one of
them by lot, if the others were engaged elsewhere. Before their
appearance, they sent in advance three swift hounds in pursuit of a
hare, which ran round the circle for seven and a half minutes. After
this chase more hounds came in, and after all a little ugly
Ethiopian, who snatched the hare from the hounds. Next was heard a
hunter's horn, and a herald on horseback came galloping swiftly with
three hunters behind him upon black horses. After riding round the
circle seven times, they stood at the northern quarter. The magician
then demanded the demons to be faithful and obedient, which they
readily agreed to be. Valuable information was obtained from the
spirits, who gave the magician the powerful girdle of victory, which,
on being tied about him, enabled him to conquer armies, and all men,
however powerful. The spirits also were compelled to bring, at the
magician's bidding, the richest treasure earth could afford, and to
reveal the positions of hidden gold and silver mines.
The spirits could bestow the gift of invisibility, and the
foreknowledge of the change of the weather; they could teach the
exorcist how to raise storms and tempests, and how to calm them again;
they could bring news in an instant of the result of any battle or
other important event, wherever it took place. They could also teach
the language of birds, and how to fly unseen through the air.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Josephus' Account of Astrology--Antediluvians
acquainted with Astrology--Astrology after the
Flood--Magicians in various Nations--The Spirit
Bokim--Compact and Confederation with Spirits--Long
Life and Magical Power--Feats of Magicians--A French
Priest in compact with the Devil--Married to
Venus--Turning Leather into Gold--A Novice in Magic
destroyed by a Spirit--Principles of
Magic--Implements, Materials, and Doings of
Magicians--Piercing Sight--Lilly the Astrologer--Lilly
consulted by Royalists--Astrological Predictions
concerning Fires, Plagues, Famine, War, and the
Fortunes of Great Persons.
Josephus says that the antediluvians were well acquainted with
astrology, and inscribed the principles thereof on pillars to preserve
them to posterity from the Flood; for it was by this art, he believes,
that they were enabled to foresee the coming Deluge. Subsequent to the
Flood, the Assyrians were the first people who turned their attention
to astrology. The Chaldeans, Egyptians, and Arabians soon became
acquainted with the art, and by perseverance brought it to perfection
and high estimation. In several nations none but those skilled in
astrology were admitted to the administration of sacred rites or to
the management of state affairs.
In China, by the sacrifice of blood and the repetitions of several
superstitious invocations to the sun and moon, devils were brought up
from their place of abode, if not repose. In Tartary the magicians
offered to the ocean, the mountains, and the stars, divers sorts of
incense, by which means the spirits were compelled to appear. In the
East and West Indies the power of magic was equally powerful. Greek
and Roman magicians invocated spirits by prayers to the moon, and
sacrifices of milk, honey, and blood. In our own country, incantation
and conjuration, as already observed, were by no means uncommon.
When Chiancungi and his sister Napala first attempted to call up
spirits, they began with the spirit Bokim, in the twentieth degree.
They commenced their operations in a vault hung round with black
cloth. Having drawn their circle of the order of thrones and the seven
planets, and stamped their magical characters in the centre thereof,
they proceeded to the ceremonies of conjuration without anything
appearing. This caused them to become so desperate that they left the
circle and betook themselves to the most detestable branch of
magic--compact, or confederacy; through which they obtained from Bokim
155 years of life, and almost unlimited magical power, on the
condition that in return their bodies and souls should at last be
given to him. They performed strange miracles in every country. By the
assistance of these magicians, the Tartars destroyed above one hundred
ships belonging to the Chinese. Many a loss did they bring upon those
against whom they had a private grudge, or against whom they were
hired. Kingdoms were ruined, children slain, fruits withered, corn
blasted, silk destroyed, navigation impeded, and adult lives
sacrificed. Chiancungi had numerous public contests with magicians of
several countries in magical science, in which art he was said to
excel them all.
Lewis Gawfridi, a French priest, was another famous magician, who had
compact with the devil of a closer relationship than common men of his
craft could pretend to have. He served Satan for fourteen years in
performing detestable works--sacrificing children, worshipping the
devil in various shapes, and tempting people to become magicians, and
to take part in disgraceful nocturnal conventions.
A wonderful relation is given in support of the belief of magicians
having power over spirits. The story is this:--A newly-married man
was amusing himself with his companions, when, in case he should lose
his wedding ring, he put it on the finger of a statue of Venus.
Returning to take his ring, he found the finger so bent that the
ornament intended for his bride could not be removed. At night the
image of Venus appeared to him and said, "Thou hast espoused me, and
shalt not enjoy the society of any other woman." Again returning to
the statue in the morning he found the finger straight, and discovered
that the ring was gone. So greatly was he troubled, that he consulted
a magician, who put him on a plan of obtaining his ring and releasing
him of his engagement with Venus. The magician wrote a letter to a
principal spirit in the dominion to which Venus belonged, and, giving
it to the unhappy young man, instructed him to watch at a certain time
and place, when he would see a troop of spirits pass by him, one of
which, he said, would be seated on a chariot; and he it was for whom
the letter was written. The young man, on acting as directed, espied
the spirits, and gave the letter to the one for which it was intended.
As soon as the fiend read its contents he burst into a rage,
exclaiming, "How long shall we be subject to this accursed magician?"
With hesitation, he called on a most beautiful woman near the chariot,
and commanded her to return the ring to its owner, an order she
reluctantly obeyed.
Henry Cornelius Agrippa, who was born at Cologne in 1486, was an
astrologer and magician. When travelling, he paid his hotel bills with
pieces of horn, which appeared as gold to those to whom they were
presented. A foolish fellow entered Agrippa's study, and raised the
devil therein during the magician's absence. The novice, being unable
to subdue the fiend, lost his life. On Agrippa coming home, he found
several spirits dancing on the house-top. He ordered them to enter the
dead body, which they did, and then he cast it into a pit. Though
Agrippa seldom left his study or conversed with any one, he was well
acquainted with everything going on at home and abroad. People were of
opinion that a black dog he kept was an evil spirit, which duly
informed him of what was taking place far and near.
Every magical charm had its first principles according to certain
laws; and the garments worn by magicians were manufactured and
stitched at stated hours. The time was generally in the hour of Luna
or of Saturn, in the moon's increase. Their needles were made of
hedgehog's prickles, or bones of animals, as iron or steel possessed
virtues not always favourable to magic. Their ointments were of man's
fat, blood, hog's grease, oil, etc. Their characters were ancient
Hebrew, and their speech in the learned languages; their fires were
kindled with sweet wood and oil or resin; and their candles, of the
fat of men and children. Their vessels were earthenware; their
candlesticks had three feet, of dead men's bones. Their capes were
like pyramids, with lappets or ears on each side, and lined with fur.
Their gowns were, for ordinary purposes, long, reaching to the ground,
and lined with fox-skin. Their girdles were three inches broad, having
cabalistical names, signs, and circles inscribed thereon.
Some magicians had such piercing sight that they could discover
everything, however carefully concealed, and look into futurity with a
certainty of making known what was to come to pass. Lilly the
astrologer was a great authority in England. He was consulted by the
Royalists, (with the king's privity) as to whether the king would
escape from Hampton Court, and whether he would or should sign the
propositions of Parliament. For giving his opinion on these and a few
other subjects, the astrologer received £20. In Lilly's _Astrological
Predictions_ in 1648 occurs the following passage:--
"In the year 1656, the aphelium of Mars, who is the general
signification of England, will be in Virgo, which is assuredly the
ascendant of the English monarchy, but Aries of the kingdom. When this
apsis, therefore, of Mars shall appear in Virgo, who shall expect less
than a strange catastrophe of human affairs in the commonwealth,
monarchy, and kingdom of England? There will then, either in or about
these times, or near that year, appear in this kingdom so strange a
revolution of fate, so grand a catastrophe and great mutation unto
this monarchy and government, as never yet appeared; of which, as the
time now stands, I have no liberty or encouragement to deliver my
opinion--only, it will be ominous to London, unto her merchants at
sea, to her traffic on land, to her poor, to her rich, to all sorts of
people inhabiting in her or her liberties, by reason of consuming
fires and devastating plagues."
Accomplished events, even those which happened in his own time, and
information obtained from the writings of ancient astrologers, enabled
Lilly to predict important results. We find in a work _On the Probable
Effects of the Great Conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter_, that "the
mean or second greatest conjunction that happened in 1603"--Lilly was
born in 1602--"was in the eighth degree of Sagittarius, the opposite
sign of the ascendant of London. They were nearly conjoined the
greater part of the year in which Queen Elizabeth died; and there was
a severe plague in London, whereof died, in 1603 and 1604, more than
68,000 persons; and the year after, or in 1605, the Gunpowder Plot was
nearly being carried into execution.
"The next conjunction happened in the seventh degree of Leo, in 1623.
Within two years after, King James I. died; and there was also a
severe plague in London, which carried off 35,417 persons, in 1625;
and, what was observable, in 1639 there was a great eclipse of the
sun, in ten degrees of Gemini, in opposition to the place of the first
conjunction, in 1603; and exactly when Mars arrived to ten degrees of
Pisces, or in quartile to both places, the Long Parliament began; and
near the same time the Scots and English disagreed; and when Charles
I. applied to the citizens of London, they refused to lend him money
to be employed against them. It is also remarkable that Leo, the sign
where the conjunction happened, was the ascendant in King Charles's
nativity; and how unfortunate he was afterwards till his death, is
pretty well known.
"The next took place in 1643, in the sign of Pisces, which found the
king and his subjects in open arms, and was followed by dreadful civil
wars in England, that terminated in beheading the king."
Whether Lilly did really foresee what he pretended had been revealed
to him, we shall not here affirm or deny, but, there can be no doubt,
many strange circumstances following his predictions went far to
support his claim to the prophetic mantle. Further quotations from the
same work will supply additional matter for reflection:--
"The fourth conjunction in this trigon took place in 1663, in
Sagittarius, again opposite to the ascendant of London. The year after
followed a war with the Dutch, and in 1665 they took our valuable
Hamburgh fleet; and in that year also was the great plague in London,
that carried away 68,586 people. This was followed by the dreadful
fire of London, in 1666, that destroyed 13,200 houses, and consumed
nearly 400 streets.
"The next happened in Leo, in 1682, and was repeated in 1683, when
Lord William Russell was beheaded; and, two years after, Charles II.
died.
"The next was in seven degrees of Aries, the ascendant of England, in
1702. That year King William died, and war commenced with France. In
short, whoever takes his ephemeris in one hand and history in the
other, will have no difficulty in convincing himself of the efficacy
of such configurations; and though, by changing the signs, they may
vary the effects and also the places most subject to their influence,
yet it will appear that the observations of different authors (wherein
they all agree that England is most passive to the fiery trigon) are
founded on truth.
"The conjunction under consideration happened in the earthy
triplicity, to which Ptolemy refers to Europe in general; however, the
places most particularly under the sign Virgo are France, and more
especially Paris; and some authors say Lyons, and the principal port
of the Turkish dominions. Indeed it is curious to observe that the
Turks have got possession of nearly all the places said by Ptolemy to
be under this sign, wherein the conjunction happened, and I have no
doubt will most sensibly feel the effects of it; neither will Russia
and some parts of Germany and Switzerland escape its influence.
"As the signs of Sagittarius and Pisces are also afflicted, and
Jupiter so oppressed by the conjunction, Spain and Portugal will
likewise be sensible of their effects; neither do I like the
mischievous position of Mars in Taurus, the ascendant of Ireland,
particularly as he is upon the mid-heaven, and so near the mundane
quartile of Saturn and Mars.
"Most authors agree that evil configurations in Virgo are generally
attended with bloodshed, and that configurations in earthly signs have
more signification of feuds, dissatisfaction, and secret contrivances
among the common people, than they have of wars and differences
between kings and rulers, who are more properly denoted by princely or
fiery signs."
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Judicial Astrology--Reading the Heavens--Lucky and
Unlucky Days discovered--Kings' and Queens' Unlucky
Days--Highland Superstitions--Climacterics--Priests
foretelling Children's Future Destiny--Astrologer and
Charles IX.--Influence of the Moon--Official
Air-gazers--Sacrificing to Planets--Children born
under different Phases of the Moon--Dryden's Faith in
Astrology--Dryden calculating the Nativity of his
Children--Predictions concerning his Son fulfilled.
Judicial astrology, it is supposed, was invented in Chaldæa, and
thence transmitted to the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, but there are
persons who think it commenced with the Arabs.
Astrologers, in reading the heavens, had recourse to a semicircle
which they called Position, by which they represented the six great
circles passing through the intersection of the meridian and horizon,
and dividing the equator into twelve equal parts. The spaces included
between these circles were styled the Twelve Houses, which referred to
the twelve triangles marked in their theme, placing six of these
houses above and six underneath the horizon. The first of the houses
under the horizon towards the east they named the Horoscope, or House
of Life; the second, the House of Wealth; the third, the House of
Brothers; the fourth, the House of Parents; and so on to the twelfth
house, each having reference to a particular subject. All matters
relating to issue, diseases, wedlock, death, religion, honour,
friendship, and woe could be foretold by astrologers.
In the time of the civil wars the royalists and the rebels had their
astrologers as well as their soldiers; and the predictions of the
former had great influence over the latter. By means of astrology,
lucky and unlucky days were discovered. Thursday was the unlucky day
of Henry VIII. He, his son Edward VI., Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth,
and many other illustrious persons, died on a Thursday, as had been
foretold; and we have already pointed out that the 3d of September was
a memorable day in the life of Cromwell.
The Highlanders of Scotland entertained many superstitions in regard
to the moon as well as in reference to the sun. A Highlander would not
willingly commence any serious undertaking in the waning of the
moon--such as marrying, flitting, or going on a far journey. When the
roth, rath, or circle of the moon was full, then was the lucky time
for beginning serious or important matters.
Astrologers have employed all the rules of their art to show that the
years of man's age, called climacterics, are dangerous, even
threatening death. The first climacteric is in the seventh year of
life, the rest are multiples of the first--as 21, 49, 56, 63, and 84,
which two last are called the grand climacterics. Marc Ficinus
accounts for the foundation of this opinion. He says there is a year
assigned for each planet to rule over the body of a man, each in his
turn; and that Saturn, being the most malignant planet of all, every
seventh year (which falls to its lot) becomes very dangerous,
especially those of 63 and 84, when the person is advanced in years.
There were those who pretended that the climacteric years were fatal
to political bodies as well as to individuals. Pythagoras based his
calculations very much on numbers. He thought considerable importance
should be attached to the number 7.
In France the new-born child was often presented naked to the
astrologer, who read the first lineaments in its forehead, and the
transverse lines in its hands, and from these he wrote down its future
destiny. Catherine de Medicis brought Henry IV., then a child, to old
Nostradamus, to ascertain the youth's destiny. An astrologer having
assured Charles IX. that he would live as many days as he would turn
on his heels in one hour, his Majesty, putting faith in the
prediction, performed the exercise of revolving, as directed, every
morning during the prescribed period of an hour.
The Egyptian astronomers held that the moon influenced all sudden
matters of importance, but others not less learned affirmed that
portentous events were regulated by wandering stars. Seneca speaks of
a custom which prevailed, of appointing official air-gazers to give
notice of an approaching storm, similar to the practice at the present
day, of having persons at meteorological stations throughout the
country to forecast the state of the weather. When they observed a
cloud which indicated a hail-shower, they warned the people in order
that they might protect their crops. The peasants, to propitiate the
planets, offered in sacrifice fat cocks and white lambs; and the poor,
who had neither fowls nor four-footed beasts to offer, cut their
thumbs, in the full expectation that this insignificant libation of a
few drops of human blood would secure the favour of the heavenly
bodies, and avert the threatened calamity.
A child born on the first day of the new moon is likely to live long
and happy, if it survives infancy. The child born on the second day
of the moon shall grow strong, and be noted for wisdom. This day is
fortunate in many respects. If one wishes to inquire into secrets,
let him begin before the clock strikes the midnight hour. The infant
born on the third day will never want an influential friend to lend
him a helping hand in time of need. The fourth day is not quite so
lucky, and the infant who comes into the world will require to be
honest and diligent, to support an honourable position in life. The
child born on the fifth day of the moon will turn out to be fickle
and capricious. It is a good day, however, for beginning any new
undertaking--particularly for laying the foundation of a building.
Promises made on the sixth day will be long of being fulfilled. On
this day people ought to take good heed to their ways, for on it they
are very liable to err. The parents of children born at this time had
better nurse the little ones tenderly, for nothing but scrupulous
attention will sustain them through the dangers of youth. Dreams of
the seventh day of the moon must not be revealed. Long life is
promised to the child born this day; and if a person be stricken with
sickness on it, a speedy cure will be effected. Tricksters and all
sorts of dishonest people will be disappointed on the eighth, ninth,
and tenth days of the moon; and children born on any of these days
will be blessed with long life and health, if they escape certain
contingencies known to the wise. The child born on the eleventh day
will go far from home, and may expect to die in a foreign country,
unless he make a fortune and return home, or have an estate left him.
The child born on the twelfth day of the moon will be wise and
long-lived; but the infant born on the following day will be of slow
understanding--in fact, will be a stupid creature, unless the
disadvantage can be overcome by hard study. Children born on the
fourteenth will excel in everything they may apply their minds to, or
which they may take in hand. Every girl who comes into the world on
the fifteenth will be beautiful, and have many admirers. Those born on
the sixteenth day may expect to have many enemies; and those who are
born on the seventeenth day are not likely to become rich by their own
industry, but they may look for money from rich friends. The man-child
born on the eighteenth day of the moon is likely to rise to honour and
distinction, after encountering much opposition in his upward career.
He or she born on the nineteenth day will require to pray for grace to
subdue the natural disposition. The individual born that day will be
churlish, perverse, and combative; and the infant who first draws the
breath of life on the following day will be covetous and parsimonious.
The infant born on the twenty-first day of the moon may possess a
strong constitution, but it is not certain that the mind will be
vigorous. If the child of the twenty-second day survive infancy, long
life will be awarded it, though much grief will be met with in life's
rough path. Fair promises, with certain drawbacks, are made to
children of the twenty-third day; and infants of the twenty-fourth day
will be good-tempered, perhaps sottish. One who has been born on the
twenty-fifth day of the moon had better walk carefully, lest adversity
and danger overtake him. The young lady who has been born on the
twenty-sixth day will, in all probability, be courted and married by a
rich gentleman, who will ardently love her. Those born on the
twenty-seventh day must not expect to become famous; and children born
on the twenty-eighth day are more likely to be pious than rich. The
twenty-ninth day of the moon does not promise prosperity to the
children born on it; if they rise in the world, it will be in spite of
great opposition, even from those near, if not dear, to them.
Dryden put faith in judicial astrology, and used to calculate the
nativity of his children. On the birth of his son Charles, he caused
the exact minute of his coming into the world to be noted. He
calculated the child's nativity, and observed with grief that he was
born in an evil hour; for Jupiter, Venus, and the sun were all under
the earth, and the lord of his ascendant afflicted with a hateful
square of Mars and Saturn. Dryden told his friends that if the child
lived to the eighth year, he would narrowly escape a violent death on
his very birthday; but if he should then overleap danger, he would in
his twenty-third year be under the same influence; and if he should
escape the second time, the thirty-third or thirty-fourth year would
prove fatal. The boy's eighth birthday was looked forward to with
great anxiety by his parents. On the dreaded day, Dryden, with the
view of keeping him indoors and away from danger, gave him a double
exercise in Latin. Charles was complying with his father's command,
when a stag pursued by hounds was seen making towards the house. The
noise reached the servants' ears, and they rushed out to see the
chase. A manservant seized Charles by the hand, and took him out with
him. Just as they reached the gate, the stag, being at bay, made a
bold rush and leaped over the court wall, which, being old and low,
the dogs followed, threw down a part thereof, and the unfortunate boy
was buried in the ruins. He was much bruised, so that he was six weeks
in a dangerous state. In the twenty-third year of the son's age he was
at Rome, where he fell from an old tower belonging to the Vatican,
which so greatly injured his head that he never fully recovered the
accident. In his thirty-fourth year he was bathing in the Thames with
another gentleman, when he was seized with cramp while in the water,
and drowned before assistance could reach him. Thus the father's
astrological calculations proved correct.
DIVINATION AND ORACLES.
CHAPTER XL.
Divination--Heathen Gods giving Signs--Sortes
Prœnestinæ--St. Augustine's View of
Divination--Sortes Sanctorum--Divination in the Greek
and Latin Churches--Ceremonies at the Consecration of
Bishops, etc.--Declarations of the Divine Will--How
St. Consortia became a Nun--Responses--Hieroglyphic
Texts--Oracles--Sorcery and Divination among the
Jews--Training of Rabbins--Bath-Kool--Death of a
Friend foretold--Recovery from Sickness made
known--Plutarch on Oracles--Malthus's Belief in
Oracles--A Missionary's Opinion--Sibylline
Oracles--Various Modes of
Divination--Alectoromantia--Belomancy--Divination by
means of Rods--Cleromancy--Napoleon's Belief in
Cleromancy--Questions and Answers.
Divination is an art of foretelling future events by supernatural
means. The word is generally understood to denote fortune-telling or
sorcery, performed in divers ways--such as by the inspection of
planets, stars, clouds; consulting spirits, witches, magicians;
watching the flight of birds, inspecting the entrails of beasts and
human victims, and examining the lines of the hand. But it is not
necessary to extend the list here, as the various methods of
divination will be enumerated and explained as we proceed. It was a
maxim with the heathen nations of antiquity, that, if there were gods,
they cared for men; and if they had any regard for the human family,
they would give signs of their will. The Sortes Prœnestinæ were
famous among the Greeks; and this superstition passed into Christian
nations.
St. Augustine did not disapprove of divination being resorted to,
provided it was not used for worldly purposes. Gilbert of Nogent says
that in his time (about the beginning of the twelfth century) it was
customary, at the consecration of bishops, to consult the Sortes
Sanctorum, to ascertain the success, fate, and other particulars of
their episcopate. Many divines held that the lot was conducted by
Providence. Though several popes about the eighth century disapproved
of divination, and classed it among Pagan superstitions, traces of
this mode of searching into futurity were found in after ages in the
Greek and Latin Churches.
Upon the consecration of a bishop, after laying the Bible upon his
head, the book was opened, and the first verse that the eye fell on
was supposed to throw light on the bishop's future career. A bishop of
Rochester, at his consecration by Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury,
had a happy presage in these words: "Bring hither the best robe, and
put it on him." But the answer of the Scriptures at the consecration
of St. Lietbert, Bishop of Cambray, was still more propitious: "This
is my beloved son." The death of Albert, Bishop of Liege, was reported
to have been made known to him by these words, which the archbishop
who consecrated him found on opening the New Testament: "And the king
sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought; and he went
and beheaded him in prison." The Primate, greatly moved, embraced the
new bishop, and said: "My son, having given yourself up to the sacred
office, carry yourself righteously and devoutly, and prepare yourself
for the trial of martyrdom." The bishop was afterwards murdered by the
treacherous connivance of Henry VI.
De Garlande, Bishop of Orleans, became so odious to his clergy that
they sent a complaint against him to Pope Alexander III., concluding:
"Let your apostolical hands put on strength to strip naked the
iniquity of this man, that the curse prognosticated on the day of his
consecration may overtake him; for, the gospel being opened according
to custom, the first words that appeared were: 'And the young man,
leaving his linen cloth, fled from them naked.'"
William of Malmesbury relates that Hugh de Montaigne, Bishop of
Auxerre, was obliged to go to Rome to answer several charges brought
against him by some of his chapter, touching his morals; but his
friends urged as undoubted testimony of his chastity the prognostic on
the day of his consecration: "Hail Mary, full of grace."
Piously-inclined people not unfrequently went to church with the
intention of receiving a declaration of the divine will, by hearing
words of Scripture read or sung at the moment of the person's
entrance. St. Anthony, when irresolute about his retirement, went to a
church, where on entering he heard the words: "Go, sell all thou hast,
and give it to the poor, then come and follow me." These expressions
terminated his wavering: he withdrew to his solitude, leaving wealth
and friends behind, and took up his abode in an old ruin on the top of
a hill, where he spent many years of rigorous seclusion. He became the
mighty oracle of the valley of the Nile.
It is reported that Clovis, the first Christian king of France,
marching against Alaric, king of the Visigoths, sent nobles with
presents to be offered at the tomb of St. Martin, and with
instructions to endeavour to bring him a favourable augury, while he
himself prayed for supernatural help. His messengers had no sooner
entered the sacred place than they heard the priest chanting: "Thou
hast girded me with strength for war; thou hast subdued under me those
that rose up against me." Encouraged by this favourable prognostic,
Clovis girded on his armour, engaged in battle, and gained a complete
victory.
Peter de Blois, who lived in the twelfth century, says in a letter to
Reginald, whose election to the see of Bath had long been strenuously
opposed, that he believed he would soon be established in his diocese,
for he (De Blois) had dreamed two nights successively of being at
Reginald's consecration; and also, that being anxious to know the
certain meaning of his dreams by lots and the psalter, his dreams were
confirmed by the words turning up to him: "Moses and Aaron among the
priests."
St. Consortia, in her youth, was passionately courted by a young man
of a very powerful family, though he knew she had formed the design of
taking the veil. Knowing that a refusal would expose her parents to
many inconveniences, if not to positive danger, she desired a week to
determine whether she would become his wife. At the expiration of that
time her lover came to know her answer. "I can neither accept you nor
refuse the offer," said she; "but if you agree to it, let us go to the
church and lay the holy gospel on the altar, and say a joint prayer,
then we will open the book, to be informed of the divine will." He did
as suggested, and the first words that met the eyes of both were:
"Whosoever loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me."
This was enough: the lovers acquiesced in the decree, and she became a
nun.
Responses were given in the heathen temples through certain objects,
such as the tinkling of the caldrons at Dodona, the rustling of the
sacred laurel, the murmuring of streams, or by the action of sacred
animals. In the Egyptian hieroglyphic texts the gods speak in an
oracular manner, and their consultation by the Pharaohs is mentioned.
Oracles were used by the Hebrews. Their oracles were by word of mouth,
dreams, visions, and prophetical sayings. They were also in use
throughout Babylonia and Chaldæa; but the Grecian oracles possessed
the highest reputation for truthfulness, the most renowned of which
was the Delphic oracle. The precedence of consulting this oracle was
determined by lots; and sacrifices were offered by the inquirers, who
went, with laurel crowns on their heads, and delivered their
questions carefully sealed. There was a secondary class of oracles or
prophetic persons in Greece. One was situated at Oropus, in Attica,
being the shrine of a deified magician. Those who consulted it fasted
a whole day, abstained from wine, sacrificed a ram to Amphiaraus, and
slept on the skin in the temple, where futurity was opened up to them
through dreams. The oracle of Trophonius, which owed its origin to a
deified seer, was given in a cave into which the votary entered,
bathed, and anointed himself, while holding a honeyed cake. He
obtained the desired knowledge by what he saw and heard. Written
oracles existed of the prophecies of celebrated seers, and were
preserved in the acropolis of Athens. Among the Arabs divination was,
and is, greatly practised, and also among the Celtic people. Oracular
answers were usually couched in dark ambiguous terms; and it was
thought that at times the information was given by demons.
Lightfoot proved that the Jews, after their return from Babylon,
gradually abandoned themselves to sorcery and divination. The Talmud
abounds with directions for the due observance of superstitious rites.
Many Jews were highly esteemed, after the destruction of their holy
city, for their pretended skill in magic. Rabbins were trained in the
school of Zoroaster; they interpreted dreams, cured the sick, healed
wounds, and detected thefts, through their intercourse with superior
beings.
Bath-Kool, daughter of the voice, was the name given by the Jews to an
oracle in the second temple, which, according to report, was destined
to supply the defect of the Urim and Thummim, the mysterious oracles
of former and greater days. Of Bath-Kool many stories are related.
When two Rabbins went to consult this oracle concerning the fate of
another Rabbin, they passed before a school, in which they heard a boy
reading: "And Samuel died." On inquiry they subsequently found that
their friend was no longer a dweller among men. Two other Rabbins
went to visit Acha in his sickness, and as they proceeded on their way
they agreed to hear what Bath-Kool would pronounce on the fate of
their brother. Immediately on their going to the sacred place
appointed for inquirers, they heard a voice saying: "The candle is
going out; let not the light be extinguished in Israel." By these
words they were assured that the sickness was not unto death. Acha
recovered.
Plutarch wrote a treatise on the ceasing of oracles; and Van Dale, a
Dutch physician, published a volume to prove that they did not cease
at the dawn of Christianity, as had been supposed by early Christians.
Malthus laboured to prove that there were real oracles, such as could
not be reasonably attributed to any artifices of priests or
priestesses; but he thought several of the oracles became silent
before the Church and the prayers of saints. A pious missionary in
India gave it as his opinion that the devil gave oracles there, but
that he became meek wherever the gospel was preached. This religious
man was not singular in his opinion, for most of the Fathers of the
Church believed it was the devil that gave oracles. Pagan priests went
to sleep in their temples, that they might receive responses in their
dreams, and that they might with greater certainty play the prophet.
The sibylline oracles were held in so great veneration among the
ancients, that nothing of importance was undertaken without consulting
them.
That divination was used and believed in by the Hebrews, is proved by
the Scripture injunctions against divinations. The Jews were told not
to have among them any that used divination, or any observers of
times, or enchanters, or witches, or charmers, or consulters with
familiar spirits, or wizards, or necromancers, or star-gazers, or
miracle-mongers, or seekers of oracles.
One species of divination was performed by laying an agate stone on a
red-hot hatchet. This is known as Axinomancy. The agate was called
sacred, as it was regarded as a preservative against the poison of
reptiles. Pliny has written a whole chapter on the virtues of agates.
There was an art among the Greeks known as Alectoromantia, by which
future events were made known by means of a cock's movements. A circle
was made on the ground, and divided into twenty-four equal parts, in
each of which spaces was written one of the letters of the alphabet,
and upon each of these letters was laid a grain of wheat. This done,
the fowl was turned loose, and watched to ascertain the order in which
the grains were picked up. The letters corresponding to those grains
were formed into words, and supplied an answer to important questions.
Belomancy was a kind of divination by arrows, practised among various
nations in the East, but chiefly among the Arabians. It was performed
in different ways. One was to mark a parcel of arrows, and put eleven
or more of them into a case. These were drawn out, and according to
their marks future events were judged. Another way was to have but
three arrows, upon one of which was written an injunction to do a
certain thing; upon another a warning against doing it; and upon the
third there was no writing. These were put into a quiver, out of which
one of the arrows was drawn at random. If it happened to be the one
with the injunction, the thing regarding which there was a
consultation was done; if it chanced to be the arrow with the warning,
the matter was let alone; but if the arrow without an inscription, a
second drawing took place. Kings going out to war frequently consulted
with arrows and images, and according to the drawing or flight of an
arrow was it determined which city or town should be first besieged.
The king of Babylon resorted to Belomancy before assaulting
Jerusalem. When he came to a place where two roads met, one led to the
city of Rabbath, and the other to Jerusalem. There he wrote the names
of the two cities upon several arrows which were mixed together
promiscuously in a quiver, and a boy who was unacquainted with the
matter drew out one, and the name Jerusalem being on it, the king
determined to lead his army towards that city.
Divination by means of rods prevailed among the Magi, Chaldæans, and
Scythians, whence it passed to the Sclavonians, and thence to the
Germans. The women among the Alani gathered straight rods or wands,
and used them in their superstition. In Sheppard's _Epigrams_ we find:
"Some sorcerers do boast they have a rod,
Gathered with vows and sacrifice,
And borne about will strangely nod
To hidden treasure where it lies;
Mankind is sure that rod divine,
For to the wealthiest ever they incline."
The notion still prevails in England and elsewhere, that water and
precious treasure could be discovered, though far below the surface of
the earth, by carefully and skilfully handling the divining rod. Men
of scientific knowledge have been believers in the occult power
ascribed to the divining rod, while others, who have considered the
subject, regard the supposed power of this rod as a delusion, and
ascribe the whole phenomenon to the effect of a strong impression on
the mind of the operator.
Cleromancy was performed by the throwing of dice. At Brura, a city of
Achaia, there was a temple and a celebrated oracle of Hercules, where
such as consulted the oracle threw four dice, the points whereof being
observed by the priest, he was supposed to draw an answer from them.
The great Napoleon was a firm believer in various modes of
superstition, particularly in Cleromancy. A curious book on divination
was found in Bonaparte's cabinet of curiosities at Leipsic, during the
confusion that ensued there after the defeat of the French army. It
was looked upon by him as a sacred work, and he was accustomed to
consult it prior to his most hazardous undertakings. The book, which
was upwards of five hundred years old, was written in German. It
contained a table called the Oraculum, at the top of which was a
column of dots or points similar to those on dice, but arranged in
somewhat different order. The way of proceeding to inquire what was
about to happen, was by asking questions, and the answer, whether good
or bad, was according to the number and position of the dots opposite
to the interrogatives. There was also a table containing the letters
of the alphabet from A to Q, disposed of in a particular manner, the
exact position of which had to be observed in prying into futurity.
But as it is not our province to instruct any one in occult science,
we shall not further explain the method of procuring answers to the
questions propounded.
Information on almost every subject might be asked, if not obtained.
Among the list of questions we find:--"Shall I obtain my wish? Shall I
have success in my undertaking? Shall I gain or lose my cause? Shall I
have to live in foreign parts? Shall I have to travel? Will the
stranger return from abroad? Shall I recover my stolen property? Does
the person love and regard me? Will the marriage be prosperous? Will
my wife have a son or a daughter? Will the patient recover from his
illness? Will the prisoner be released? Shall I be lucky or unlucky
to-day? What does my dream signify?"
Among many answers and advices there are:--"What you wish for, you
will shortly obtain. Be very cautious what you do this day, lest
trouble befall you. If you marry this person, you will have enemies
unlooked for. The patient should be prepared to leave this world. She
will have a son, learned and wise. You had better decline this love,
for it will neither be constant nor true. Your travels are in vain;
you had better stay at home. You must not expect to regain that which
you have lost. You will obtain a great fortune in another country. You
may have many impediments in the accomplishment of your pursuits.
Beware! an enemy is endeavouring to bring you into strife and
misfortune. This day is unlucky, therefore alter your intentions. Your
fortune will soon be changed into misfortune."
There were unlucky days, on which one was advised not to consult the
Oraculum: for instance, January 1, 2, 4, 6, 11, 12, and 20 were looked
on as particularly unpropitious. The 1st, 17th, and 18th February were
lucky, and so were the 14th and 16th March. Besides those mentioned,
there were unfortunate days in all the months of the year. If a person
wished to avoid meeting with severe disappointment, he was not to
inquire twice in one day regarding the same subject.
SIGNS, OMENS, AND WARNINGS.
CHAPTER XLI.
Crying in Youth--Image of Opis--New-born Babes--Man
born to Trouble--How Man's Time is spent--Bacon's
Belief in Presages--Dugdale's Foresight--Sir Thomas
More's Power to judge of Passing Events--Erasmus at
the Tomb of Becket--Sir Walter Raleigh's
Predictions--What Tacitus foresaw--Solon's
Predictions--Cicero's Predictions--Philosophers'
Observance of Signs and Omens--Knox's
Predictions--Queen Mary and Darnley--Death of Thomas
Maitland and of Kirkaldy of Grange predicted--Regent
Murray warned against going to Linlithgow--Belief in
Physiognomy--Natural Phenomena--The Human Body a
medium for discovering Future
Events--Phrenology--Hairy People--The Finger
Nails--Unaccountable Sounds--Death
Warnings--Appearance of Spirits.
If the Romans were right in considering that crying in youth portended
ill-fortune in old age, there can be little doubt it has been decreed
that man's existence shall be more embittered with disappointments
than sweetened with unalloyed pleasures; for it is nearly as common
for children to cry as it is for them to come into the world. Parents
may pray to their favourite gods for wise, happy children; expectant
mothers may wear suspended from their girdles the image of Opis, in
the fond expectation that their offspring shall find a smooth passage
through life; and nurses may bring new-born babes into contact with
sacred things before defiled hands have touched their tender
skins,--yet the sad experience of every man and woman is, that
misfortunes overtake them sooner or later. True, some people are more
fortunate than others, but none are exempted from grief and pain.
Have we not the best authority for saying that "man is born to
trouble, as the sparks fly upwards." This being so, every member of
the human family must submit to his destiny, strive against it how he
may.
Since the time the old serpent beguiled Eve, to the present day, the
half of man's time has been spent in bringing about prosperity and
averting evil. He watches the signs of the times; he seeks for tokens
and omens, as these, he supposes, are often sent for his guidance.
That warnings were given to our fathers and mothers of old in
mysterious ways, they fully believed; and if sent to them, there is no
good reason for supposing, say our aged relations, that they should
not be sent to us. Lord Bacon believed in presages; and so did other
learned men of his time. Dugdale anticipated the approaching scenes in
1641, when many ancient monuments were destroyed. So convinced was he
of their early destruction, that he hurried on his itinerant labours
of taking sketches and engraving inscriptions, to preserve their
history and appearance for future times. Sir Thomas More was enabled
to judge from passing events of what was to happen in after years.
Erasmus, when looking at the tomb of Becket at Canterbury, wished that
the jewels with which it was loaded had been given to the poor; "for,"
said he, "those who have heaped up all this mass of treasure will one
day be plundered, and fall a prey to rapacious tyrants in power." His
prediction was literally fulfilled twenty years after it was uttered.
Sir Walter Raleigh regarded omens, and from these predicted truly.
Tacitus foresaw the calamities which long desolated Europe on the fall
of the Roman empire, and wrote concerning the future events five
hundred years before they happened. Solon predicted many of the
miseries that overtook the Athenians. Aristotle collected remarkable
information concerning predictions. Cicero always judged of the
affairs of the republic by prediction; and he not only told what was
to happen in his own time, but he also foretold important things that
came to pass long after his death. Philosophers, however, did not
pretend to have the second sight, or to possess any superhuman powers;
but the art of prediction, if art it could be called, was acquired,
they confessed, by carefully observing signs and omens.
Few put more confidence in signs and omens than Knox, the great
reformer, did; and he himself foresaw several events, and the fate of
certain persons. When condemned to a galley in Rochelle, he predicted
that within two or three years he would preach the gospel at St.
Giles's, in Edinburgh, which, improbable though it was at the time,
happened as he had foretold. Of Queen Mary and Darnley he said, that
in justice she would be made an instrument of retribution, and that he
(the king) would be overthrown. Knox predicted the death of Thomas
Maitland, and of Kirkaldy of Grange; and he solemnly warned the Regent
Murray against going to Linlithgow, where he was assassinated. The
common people imagined that Knox was not only a preacher, but a
prophet. A Spanish friar foretold the death of Henry IV. of France.
The king's friends made known to him that his life was in danger, but
he disregarded the prediction, and, before a year went round, the
friar's words were verified.
None of the persons we have named laid claim to the prophetic gift.
Their predictions rested chiefly or solely on the observation of what
was passing around them. The augury to which they trusted was more
physical than divine. Some believed in physiognomy, others relied on
the appearance of the political horizon, and so on. The foolhardy
mariner sees the barometer falling, and perceives the blackened
heavens, yet he goes to sea with his frail craft: the storm overtakes
him, and he, his crew, and ship are lost in the mighty deep. The
prudent sailor takes warning: he observes the black clouds gathering
over his head, and hears the distant thunder; he stays in port until
the disturbed elements cease their raging, and he lives to go to sea
again and again. If the weather be propitious, we may expect a
plentiful harvest; if a horse is given to stumbling, he is likely to
come down some day; if the lakes are frozen, skaters may be expected
to be drowned; and if men and women will bathe, we may calculate with
certainty that some of them will go beyond their depths and perish in
the water. Then again, if a man be diligent in business, we may expect
him to become rich; but if he be slothful, he has nothing to look for
but poverty. If an individual persist in a course of crime, he will,
to an almost absolute certainty, be punished. All this is easily
understood by the dullest-headed person, but it is not every one who
can comprehend the more secret science that enables the initiated in
deep subjects to gain knowledge from such trifles as air-bubbles or
spiders' webs.
Everything connected with the human body is a medium through which
future events may be foretold. A pale complexion has its
signification, and so has a ruddy face. The hands and veins are
special objects of observation, and so are the nails of one's fingers.
From the colour, shape, and marks on nails, there are, or at least
were, people who could read a person's fortune from infancy to old
age.
Phrenology is a favourite science among ourselves; and so was it with
the ancients, who, however, understood the science in a somewhat
different light to what people of the present time do, and therefore
we shall give an outline of their observations and deductions. The
ancients supposed that a moderately large head denoted a
well-conditioned person, studious, and possessed of a good memory and
understanding. Those with large heads were supposed to be dull and
stupid, gluttonous, rough in their manners, frequently melancholy,
and predisposed to madness.
One with a head too large for the body, and having a thick neck and
extended veins, was generally strong and of a martial spirit. When the
head was long and of conical shape, the person was generally impudent
and rash; and, if sprightly in early life, was supposed to lose spirit
and vivacity before reaching the age of thirty years. A
well-proportioned head, but slightly compressed at the sides, denoted
a person of good apprehension, proceeding from the spirits domiciled
there. A spherical head denoted inconstancy, forgetfulness, and want
of discretion. A small head was looked on as an evil sign. The person
having such a head was supposed to be vicious and ill-conditioned in
many respects, in consequence of the spirits being confined in a
narrow compass, and unable to exercise their functions. A person with
a spherical head seldom lived beyond middle age. A long oblique head
denoted lust and intemperance, and a flat cranium caused one to have a
similar disposition.
A large head and broad brow indicated slowness, but laboriousness. A
little forehead denoted obstinacy, wickedness, and weakness of
intellect, yet conceited and given to mischief. According to
Aristotle, a square forehead denoted magnanimity and courage. A person
with a forehead without wrinkles showed that he was honest, but at the
same time contentious, fond of law, and void of devotion. A forehead
pointed at the temples, signified shallow capacity, vanity, and want
of courage.
Those with hanging eyebrows were thought to be fraudulent, bold, and
unmerciful. A person with a depressed forehead was put down as
servile, cowardly, and fearful. Of the lines of the forehead, those
which were straight or bent towards the nose foretold good fortune. If
they were very crooked or approaching the form of a semicircle, they
foreboded evil. Simple and straight lines were the signs of
simplicity, honesty, and truth. Many lines signified changes in life,
and the fewness of lines spoke of evenness and simplicity. When the
lines increased or decreased, they gave warning of approaching changes
in person and fortune. If the lines on the forehead near the hair of
the head were broad, long, and not winding, they denoted eventful
changes in the person's life; for it was believed that the first line
next the hair referred to Saturn, that below it to Jupiter, and the
next below it to Mars. If the third line mentioned was longer than the
others, and not broken or discontinued, and having a cross upon it,
the person was looked upon as one courageous and ambitious, and who
would be fortunate in war; but if the line was broken or discontinued,
or had a semicircular form, dangers and misfortunes were supposed to
be threatened. If there were no more than three lines that bended at
the extremities, the person was marked to be a prattler; and if the
individual was a woman, she was put down as a scold or abusive person.
Hairy people were among those on whom fortune smiled; whereas
smooth-faced, beardless men were numbered among the despicable and
despised ones.
Fortune-telling by means of the finger nails was not uncommon. The
ancient practice was to rub the nails with oil and soot or wax, and to
hold up the nails, thus prepared, against the sun; and upon the
transparent horny substance were supposed to appear figures or
characters, which gave the answer required. In more recent times,
people have been found predicting by means of nails of the hand, and
telling the disposition of persons with certain descriptions of nails.
However absurd it may appear, we shall give examples of this
superstition:--A person with broad nails is of gentle nature, timid,
and bashful. Those whose nails grow into the flesh at the points or
sides are given to luxury. A white mark on the nail bespeaks
misfortune. Persons with very pale nails are subject to much
infirmity of the flesh, and persecution by neighbours and friends.
People with narrow nails are ambitious and quarrelsome. Lovers of
knowledge and liberal sentiment have round nails. Indolent people have
generally fleshy nails. Small nails indicate littleness of mind,
obstinacy, and conceit. Melancholy persons are distinguished by their
pale or lead-coloured nails; and choleric martial men, delighting in
war, have red and spotted nails.
Particular marks on the person were looked on as having reference to
one's destiny. A mole on the chin told that the person thus adorned
would be prosperous and esteemed. A mole on the right breast denoted
sudden accidents and reverse of fortune; one on the left breast was a
sign of success and of an amorous disposition. The mole on the right
breast foretold that the issue would be girls; that on the left
indicated that the children would be boys. A mole under the left
breast of a man was a sign of him having an unsettled mind, fond of
rambling, and light in his conduct. A similar mark under a lady's left
breast showed her to be sincere in love. A mole on the right knee gave
tokens of the person so marked being destined to trouble and
misfortunes. A mole on the left knee portended a good spouse, with
great riches, to the happy individual so marked. A mole on either foot
foreboded sudden illness, or unexpected misfortune, and one on any
part of the shoulders indicated imperceptible decline and gradual
decay in health and fortune. There were many other ways of divining
the fate and dispositions of man, such as by the hand, foot, hair,
mouth, ears, tongue, eyes, chin, walk, conversation, and complexion;
but as it would be unprofitable to treat all these separately, we pass
them without further notice in this chapter.
Mysterious knockings and unaccountable noises were indicative of the
death of a relative. Warnings of this description were common and
believed in. Educated people, as well as the ignorant, were victims of
this kind of superstition. In the beginning of the last century a
highly respectable gentleman in England was one night surprised by a
sudden knock at the street door, so loud that he thought an attempt
was being made to break it open. Springing from bed, he seized a brace
of pistols, and was hastening to the door, when a second knock, louder
than the first, was heard. A third knock followed just as he was
withdrawing the bolt, but on looking out not a single person was to be
seen, though it was clear moonlight, and nothing to prevent him seeing
a long way off. Next post brought a letter informing him that a near
relation in London had died just at the time the knocking alarmed him
and his family, for they too heard the startling sounds. The disturbed
persons firmly believed that, in one way or another, the knockings had
reference to their friend's death.
A few years afterwards, the same gentleman, sitting one night at
twelve o'clock with a sick brother, heard a noise, as of the driving
of nails into a coffin, in the workshop of an undertaker, who was a
neighbour. The gentleman thought it was very unkind of the undertaker,
an intimate acquaintance of the sick person, to disturb him. As soon
as the noise of nail-driving ceased, other and more disagreeable
sounds reached his ears. The street door was opened, and, as he
thought, two or three men went upstairs with a coffin. He naturally
suspected that all this was a forerunner of his brother's death; and
so it turned out to be. The invalid died next day at noon. Those who
live in our time may think that the gentleman was insane, and that
what he heard resulted from him having a diseased brain. If he was
labouring under delusions, others must have been deranged too; for it
was not uncommon in those days for an undertaker and his family to be
advised of an early order to make a coffin by the sound of planes and
hammers at work in the workshop. Gravediggers were not without their
early notices of funerals. Sometimes the church bell would toll at
midnight, the graveyard gate would be thrown open by unseen hands, and
a living form be seen to enter alone; or it might be that the whole
funeral cortege which would appear in the flesh a few days later,
could be observed in spirit in the dreary hours of night. If the
deceased person had lived a good and holy life, his spectre appeared
in a pleasant, comely form; but if his career was a wicked one, he
passed in a hideous shape, probably attended by infernal spirits.
CHAPTER XLII.
Ornithomancy--Mohammed's Pigeons--A Gigantic
Fowl--Cock-crowing--Sacred Geese saving a
City--Phenomenon at Rome before Cæsar's Death--Young
Swallows--Virtue of a Goose's Tongue--Crows'
Hearts--Divination by means of a Sieve--Detection
of Crime--Capnomancy--Catoptromancy--Dactyliomancy--
Cledonism--Onomancy--Names--Romans toasting their
Mistresses--How Success in War was ascertained--Loss of
Ships' Colours--Importance attached to Regimental
Standards--Consecrated Banners--Flag of the
Prophet--Battle of the Standard--A Highland
Superstition.
Ornithomancy was a popular way of searching into futurity. Mohammed
had holy pigeons, which came to his ears and conversed with him about
things that were to happen. And the Prophet, it will be recollected,
gave an account of a multitude of angels that appeared to him in all
kinds of shapes, some of which were in the form of birds. One of the
angel birds resembled a white cock, so prodigiously large that its
height extended from the first to the second heavens--a distance of
five hundred years' journey, according to the rate we usually travel
on earth. Many Mohammedans will have it that the sacred bird was even
larger than what we have stated. They assert that the fowl's head
reached to the seventh heavens; and in describing him, they say his
wings were decked with carbuncles and pearls, and that he extended his
pinions from the east to the west to a distance proportionate to his
height. This winged creature was represented as the chief angel of the
cocks, and was said to crow so loud every morning that every living
creature, except men and fairies, heard it. Following the example of
this great bird, the smaller cocks, before sunrise, herald that bright
luminary as he speeds to the west.
When the Gauls under Brennus had scaled the Capitol without arousing
even the sentinels or the watch-dogs, the sacred geese, kept in the
court of the temple in honour of Juno, heard the approach of the enemy
and commenced cackling. The patrician, Manlius, struck with the noise,
roused his fellow-soldiers--the Gauls were discovered, attacked, and
driven back. Thenceforth Roman geese were fattened, but not eaten. A
golden image of a goose was made to commemorate their vigilance, and
upon a certain day in every year one was placed in a litter, and
carried in state about the city, while a dog was impaled upon a stake,
to denote the national contempt for that animal. A singular
circumstance happened at Rome about twenty-four hours before Cæsar's
death. A little bird was observed to direct its flight towards the
senate-house, consecrated by Pompey, whilst a flock of other birds was
seen to follow in close pursuit, apparently to destroy the little
bird, or to deprive it of a sprig of laurel it carried through the
air. The bird was overtaken, and torn to pieces by its pursuers.
We are told that if one take young swallows and put them in a pot to
cook them, he will, on taking off the lid, find two of the swallows
kissing each other, and two turning one from the other. If the kissing
birds be dissolved in oil of roses, they will prove effectual, when
applied according to custom, in securing the affections of the most
blooming young lady in the parish; but in making use of the birds
found back to back, for creating sympathetic feelings, they require to
be pounded into an ointment, and applied to the eyelids of him or her
whose affections are sought. If the tongue of a goose be cut out when
the fowl is alive, and laid on the breast of a man or woman when
asleep, he or she will confess every sin of life. When a man carried
the heart of a male crow, and his wife the heart of a female crow,
they lived in peace and happiness. It was customary with the good
housewives of England, on placing eggs in a nest for incubation, to
swing a lighted candle over them, as a charm to prevent hawks, crows,
and other birds of prey, flying away with the young birds hatched from
the eggs.
Divination by means of a sieve was often resorted to. The sieve was
suspended after the operator had repeated a particular form of words,
and, by certain manipulations, information was obtained concerning
thefts, etc. The names of suspected parties were repeated while the
implement was made to turn round; and on the guilty person being
named, the sieve, instead of turning swiftly and steadily, began to
oscillate and shake. This was a very ancient practice, in which great
faith was put. Theocritus mentions a woman who was very skilful in her
art. At times the sieve was suspended by a thread, or fixed at the
point of a pair of scissors, giving it room to turn, and naming, as
before, the suspected persons. Coscinomancy was practised in England
at no distant date.
Divination by means of smoke (Capnomancy) was in use among the
ancients in their sacrifices. It was a good sign when the smoke rose
light and straight. If, on the contrary, the smoke ascended dark and
dense, evil was foretold.
Catoptromancy was a species of divination performed by the aid of a
mirror. This method of divination was common among the Achaians. The
mode of procedure was, when one was sick and in danger of death, to
let down a mirror into a fountain before the temple of Ceres, and,
from the appearance of the glass, to judge what was to be the
result--whether the sickness was to be removed, or death to take
place. If a ghastly, disfigured face was seen, it was regarded as a
certain evidence of death; but if the patient's face appeared fresh,
healthy, and comely, it was a sign of recovery.
Dactyliomancy was divination performed by means of a ring. The ring
was suspended by a thread above a round table, on the edge of which
letters of the alphabet were marked. The ring, in shaking or vibrating
over the table, stopped over certain of the letters, which, on being
connected, supplied the answer asked. But the operation was preceded
and accompanied by several superstitious ceremonies. In the first
place, the ring had to be consecrated; the person from whose hand it
was suspended required to be clothed in linen garments; his head had
to be shaven all round; and he required to hold vervain in his hand.
Cledonism denoted divination drawn from words only occasionally
uttered. Cicero observes that the Pythagoreans made observations not
only of the words of gods, but those of men also. Accordingly the
people thought it was unlucky to pronounce at meal-time such words as
conveyed peril, evil consequences, sickness, death, estrangement of
friends, or the displeasure of their deities. In another sense
Cledonism seems to be divination drawn from the movements of birds,
such as those noticed in another part of our work.
Onomancy, Onomamancy, or Onomatomancy, was the art of divining the
good or bad fortune of man from the letters of his name. This mode of
divination was popular among the ancients. The Pythagoreans taught
that the mind, actions, and successes of mankind were according to
their fate, genius, and name. Plato, who recommended parents to give
their children happy names, was inclined to think they were right, and
adduced grounds for maintaining his opinion. Some of the Bible
worthies are referred to in support of Onomancy; and a certain profane
writer calls attention to tippling Meroe, supposing she would drink
her wine without water. Hippolitus was torn to pieces by his own
coach-horses, as his name imported; Agamemnon signified that he should
linger long before Troy; Priam, that he should be redeemed out of
bondage in his childhood. The greatest empires and states have been
founded and destroyed by men of the same name. Cyrus, the son of
Cambyses, established the Persian monarchy; and Cyrus, the son of
Darius, ruined it; Darius, son of Hystaspes, restored it; and again,
Darius, son of Asamis, overthrew it. Philip, son of Amyntas, greatly
enlarged the kingdom of Macedonia; and Philip, son of Antigonus, lost
it. Augustus was the first emperor of Rome; Augustulus, the last.
Constantine founded the empire of Constantinople, and Constantine lost
it. Some names are unfortunate to princes: Caius, among the Romans;
John and Henry of France, and John of England and Scotland. One of the
principal rules of this kind of divination among the Pythagoreans was,
that an even number of vowels in a name signified an imperfection in
the left side of a man, and an odd number in the right side. Another
rule was, that the persons were the most happy in whose names the
numeral letters added together, made the greatest sum; for which
reason, it was alleged, Achilles vanquished Hector, the numeral
letters in the former name amounting to a greater number than in the
latter. From a like idea, the young Romans toasted their mistresses at
their meetings as often as their names contained letters. Theodotus,
king of the Goths, being anxious to ascertain the success of his wars
against the Romans, consulted a Jew, who ordered him to shut up a
number of swine in styes, and to give some of them Roman and others
Gothic names, and there to keep them until a certain day. The Jews'
instructions were complied with; and, on inspecting the styes at the
appointed time, it was discovered that the animals which had received
the Gothic names were dead, and those to which the Roman names had
been assigned were alive. From these circumstances, the fortune-teller
truly predicted the defeat of the Goths.
There was an old superstition among seamen, which is supposed to
linger among them still,--we mean the evil that was feared would
follow the total loss or tearing of a ship's colours. Sailors would
have been less grieved at all their sails being split, their spars
carried away, and their masts gone by the board, than at being
deprived of their colours. The loss or tearing of a flag was a sign of
misfortune, both to the vessel and the crew.
Soldiers, particularly those in Highland and Irish regiments, were
equally credulous. Vast importance was attached to the preservation of
their standards, and hence in some instances the great bravery that
has been displayed in preventing the enemy carrying away a standard. A
brave Highlander, or courageous Irish soldier, would rather die than
surrender the flag of his company. Not only did the loss of regimental
colours bring disgrace for the time on those whose duty it was to
defend them, but it portended future defeats and demoralisation.
Consecrated banners were common in times when almost every man was a
soldier. "_Go, conquer by this_" was the motto inscribed on ensigns of
several nations. In the devices of standards were found the eagle, the
wolf, the horse, the boar, the lion, and often a figure of Victory or
Mars. The "Flag of the Prophet" was the sacred banner of the
Mohammedans. It was composed of the turban of the Koreish, captured by
Mohammed. A black flag was afterwards substituted in its place,
consisting of a curtain that used to hang in front of the door of
Ayeshah's (one of the Prophet's wives) tent. The Mohammedans regarded
this flag as a most sacred relic. Subsequent to passing through
several hands, it was brought to Europe by Amurath III. It was kept in
a costly casket, and deposited in a chapel, guarded by emirs. The
banner used to be unfolded when war broke out, and carefully laid
aside, as stated, when peace was restored.
In the history of the "Battle of the Standard," which took place on
Cutton Moor, near Northallerton, between the English and Scots, at
which the Scots lost 10,000 men, the success of the English was
reported to have been due to their having consecrated banners with
them. The battle derived its name from the circumstance of a
flag-staff being attached to a waggon in the army's centre, bearing at
its top the consecrated host, and the banners of St. John of Beverley,
St. Peter of York, and St. Wilfred of Ripon.
A superstition long lingered in the Scottish Highlands, that it was
unlucky for a clansman to learn any handicraft engaged in by
Lowlanders. If a Highland youth left his native mountains and engaged
in mercantile or mechanical pursuits, his friends thought he turned
effeminate. For warfare he became unsuited, either as a leader or
follower. The prowess of his ancestors forsook him, he became
incapable of handling the bow or spear skilfully, and, what was worse,
he carried ill luck with himself and to his companions wherever he
went. Powerful clans have been beaten in the open field by opposing
clansmen of inferior numbers, solely through the circumstance of the
former having in their ranks men who had imprudently, in an evil hour,
apprenticed themselves to the vulgar callings of life. To be a soldier
was honourable, to be a tiller of the ground was not a disgrace, to be
a cattle reiver was not a crime, but for a clansman to condescend to
earn his bread by ordinary industry in a workshop, could not fail to
bring discredit and misfortune on himself and kindred, however remote
the relationship might be. To this superstition the nation is
indebted for the many stalwart Highlanders who have fought England's
battles, and won them too, at home and abroad. Ask the decrepit old
woman, leaning on her staff, far up yonder glen, the cause of the
expiring zeal among the mountain youths to study the art of war, and
she will tell you in effect what we have said; and will add, that
through the intimacy that has long existed between Highlanders and
Lowlanders, and the frequent evictions that have brought a scandal on
our nation, her country no longer remains a recruiting ground for
armies.
CHAPTER XLIII.
Caution of our Ancestors--A Magpie crossing one's
Path--What four Magpies betokened--The Poet and the
Magpies--More about Magpies--Flight of Birds--Swarming
of Bees--Howling of Dogs--Lowing of Cattle--Crowing of
Cocks--Dogs' Power of Sight--Stockings wrong side
out--Evil effect of Suspended Eggs--Burning Fish
Bones--Sign of a Letter coming--Sneezing of a
Cat--Various Signs--The sight of a Fox foreboding
Evil--Owls and Ravens--Various Signs and Omens--How to
prevent Ill Luck--Reputed Witches crossing the
Path--Highland Superstition--Print of a Caldron, what
it denoted--Unlucky to pass over a Balance--How to see
in the Dark--When not to pare your Nails--Touching a
Dead Body--Funeral Processions--Storks and Storks'
Hearts--How to Sit--Marriages--A Prophetic
Rhyme--Favourable and Unfavourable Times for
Marriages--Unfortunate to lose or break a Wedding
Ring--Rules to be observed in taking possession of a
House--Throwing Slippers, Besoms, Salt, and Rice after
Newly-married Persons--Charms for Bridegrooms and
Brides--Mothers and Children--More about
Marriages--Rules to be observed at Baptisms--How to
treat Young Children.
Mark the caution of our ancestors: If a magpie crossed one's path when
setting out on a journey, his mission, whatever it happened to be, was
certain to prove unsuccessful, unless the traveller immediately
crossed himself--a ceremony he invariably performed--and thus the
unfavourable influence of the hateful bird ceased. In the south of
England, people supposed that if a person saw four magpies at one
time, he would soon lose by death a dear friend. But an old English
poet, writing of magpies, says:
"One is a sign of sorrow; two are a sign of mirth;
Three are a sign of a wedding; and four a sign of birth."
The chattering of one of these birds in the morning bespeaks the
arrival of a stranger before evening. It is thought unlucky to kill a
magpie or a swallow. The congregating of magpies on a house-top
precedes an important event, in which the inmates are interested. If a
bird fly through a window, it is a sign that one of the inmates will
soon die. If a pigeon, which does not belong to any one of the family,
come into a house, it forebodes death to the occupant of the domicile.
The alighting of a swarm of bees on a dead tree or on the withered
bough of a living tree, signifies that the owner of the tree will soon
pass through death's portal. The howling of dogs, the lowing of
cattle, and the crowing of cocks at night, foretell the death of some
person in the neighbourhood. Dogs are supposed by not a few people to
see death as it enters a dwelling; and hence, in their opinion, the
cause of that quadruped's frequent dismal howling.
When one, by mistake, puts on his stockings in the morning wrong side
out, he secures good luck for that day at least. Birds' eggs hung up
in a house, prevent good luck entering that dwelling. He who wishes to
thrive should abstain from burning fish bones. A spark in the candle
gives notice that a letter is coming. If the cat sneeze or cough,
nothing is more certain than that one person, at least, in the house
will soon have a cold. When one's ears tingle, lies are being told
about him. When his cheeks burn, he is assured people are talking
about him. If the right eye itches, good luck is expected; and when
the left eye waters, misfortune is looked for. When the nose itches,
vexation--probably the death of friends--is expected. The meeting of a
fox, or the seeing of one crossing the path, presages the attempt of
an impostor to commit a fraud at the expense of the traveller. Owls or
ravens appearing on important occasions, portend unlucky events. If a
weasel be met in the morning, it is necessary to turn three times on
the heel and throw three stones, to prevent ill luck. It is more lucky
to meet a man than a woman as a first-foot. Every person is advised to
avoid meeting a cat, when going on an important mission. It is also
unlucky to meet a pig; and it is thought prudent to return home when a
hare or a reputed witch crosses the path ere the morning dew
disappears before the sun. A man leading or riding on a mare with
foal, is cautioned against allowing the animal to go in the track of a
wolf; because, if she place a hoof on the spot where that ravenous
beast's foot has been, she will cast her foal.
Time was, in Great Britain as in the East, when almost every one,
whether walking, riding, or sailing in a boat, went with the sun, when
setting out on a journey, or proceeding to sea. The Highlanders of
Scotland invariably went _deiseal_, or to the right, at every meeting
of importance. They went to the right, around the grave, with the
corpse--to the right three times around the consecrated well before
drinking. The company at a marriage went three times round the house
before crossing the threshold. Companies, on taking their seats at
table, were expected to turn to the right. Even at the present day,
the loving-cup and decanters are handed to the right around the social
board. When one lets salt fall on the floor or table, he should not
omit to cast a small quantity of the condiment over his left shoulder.
Beware of passing the salt at table unless it be asked for, and of
placing your fork and knife cross-ways.
When one sneezed, he did not evoke Jupiter to save him, the same as
the people of some other countries did, but he, or some of his
friends present, said _Deiseal_. When an infant was born, the midwife
encircled it three times right about with a burning candle. These
customs were no doubt commenced by the Highlanders in honour of the
sun, which they once worshipped; but in later times people did as
their forefathers and foremothers had done, through a superstitious
belief, thinking that by so doing they would prevent evil
consequences, and secure good fortune.
It is unlucky to leave the print of a caldron in the ashes after
taking the utensil off the fire. If people are wise, they will not
pass over a balance, or take up fire with a sword. To enable a person
to see in the dark, he is recommended to anoint his eyes with a salve
prepared from the right eye of a hedgehog, boiled in oil, and
preserved in a brazen vessel. A blackamoor is an unlucky first-foot.
If the chickens do not come out readily to feed in the morning, the
owner may make up his or her mind to meet with disappointments before
night.
It was formerly, if not now, unlucky to pare your nails on Sunday or
Friday. To prevent one dreaming about a dead person he has seen, it is
necessary to touch the body. To secure money being always in one's
pocket, he is advised to keep a bent sixpence, or a coin with a hole
in it, in his purse; to take it out and spit on it at every new moon;
and to return it to the pocket while wishing himself good luck.
It is unlucky to look at a funeral through a door or a window. Should
one wish to gaze on the melancholy procession, he ought to take his
position in the open air. The family will be fortunate on the roof of
whose house a stork builds its nest; and if any one take the heart of
a stork, and tie it up in the skin of a hawk or of a vulture, no enemy
can conquer him so long as he carries the charm attached to his right
arm. To sit with one's hands closed is bad, but to sit cross-legged
secures good fortune. At a card-table, people occasionally sit in the
latter position, with the view of bringing lucky deals.
A bride should not be married in a white satin dress. That a
newly-married couple may have no obstacles in the way of prosperity,
every one meeting them going to church to be united, or returning home
after the hymeneal knot is tied, should retrace his steps with them a
short distance. No small importance is attached to the old rhyme:
"Blessed is the bride that the sun shines on;
Blessed is the corpse that the rain rains on."
Marriages at the festival of St. Joseph are carefully avoided as
unfortunate. All fast-days and vigils should also be avoided as
marriage-days, they being considered inauspicious. The first day of
May continues in many lands to be held in great esteem, and the 12th
of that month is a high day among the witches. At that time they may
be seen dancing on the surface of lakes, brushing the dew off the
grass, milking cows in their folds, and flying through the air, or
escaping from pursuers in the shape of hares.
If a married woman lose her wedding ring, she has reason to fear the
estrangement of her husband's affections. If she break it, she thinks
there is danger of the matrimonial tie being soon severed by death. If
a newly-married couple go into a clean-swept house, they expect to be
poor all their days; but if the house be but indifferently cleaned,
and the precaution taken to throw salt and a small quantity of coals
in at the door before any furniture or household goods are carried
across the threshold, good luck is expected. As a warning, however, to
persons who might wish to injure their neighbours, we think it right
to say that, down to the time we write, it is considered that any one
removing from a dwelling with clean-swept floors, has reason to expect
grief and trouble in his new abode. Every one knows that slippers,
besoms, salt, and rice should be thrown after a newly-wedded pair; and
that a cake must be broken over a bride's head when she first enters
the house of her husband; but it is not so well known that a
bridegroom should have silver--say sixpences--and salt in his shoes,
when he first approaches the marriage bed, and that the bride should
avoid putting her bare feet on the floor when preparing to retire for
the night with her future companion in life. If these precautions be
neglected, there is danger of the wedded pair being deprived of little
prattlers around their fire in the early days of their wedded life,
and of having sons or daughters to comfort them in declining years. A
mother should not enter a neighbour's house after having an infant
before she is "kirked"; nor should she carry her child even to her
nearest and dearest friend's abode before the little one has been
baptized.
It is unlucky for a bridegroom to have for his "best-man" one who is
not his blood relation. It is unlucky for a "best-man" to have on a
black coat at a marriage; it is an omen of evil to the bride and
bridegroom. If a bride slip her foot or her horse stumble when
proceeding to church to be married, it is regarded as an evil sign;
and if the bridegroom come down when on his way to meet his betrothed,
before the hymeneal knot is tied, misfortunes are expected. If he has
to cross a stream, and his bonnet or hat fall into the water, his
death is not far distant. A bride's glove should not be taken off
before the bridegroom's is removed, preparatory to their joining hands
in wedlock before the clergyman. If any part of a dinner-set or
tea-set be broken at a marriage or baptismal feast, it is a sign that
misfortunes are coming.
If two children--a boy and a girl--are baptized in church on the same
day, and the latter be sprinkled before the former, the girl's
relations have reason to fear that in ripe years she will have a
beard. If a mother or nurse do not give bread and cheese to the first
person she meets when going to church with a child to be baptized, it
is questionable whether the infant's career through life shall prove
prosperous. The "first-foot," on receiving his bread and cheese, is
expected to return a short distance with the child, to show his good
will.
If a person, who is a stranger, leave a house wherein there is an
unbaptized child, particularly if it be a girl, without eating or
drinking, the infant's beauty is in danger of being taken away. It is
unlucky to let a child see its face in a mirror before it is a year
old. When an infant is suspended by the dress with its head downwards
for a few seconds after being washed in the morning, it prevents an
evil eye from affecting the little one that day.
CHAPTER XLIV.
Floors should not be swept at Night--Fires at New Year
and Christmas--Presents at New Year and
Christmas--Lucky and Unlucky "First-Foots"--Looking
through a Ladder--Sneezing--Air Bubbles on Tea--Tea
Stalks--Stepping out with the Left Foot--Left Shoe to
be put on first--Weather Prognostications--How to
secure Favourable Gales--Superstitious Customs at time
of Death--Corpse of one guilty of _Felo-de-se_, how to
be Buried--Finding of Persons who die
unseen--Superstitious Belief of Russian
Seamen--Ancient Customs of Scotland--Friday an Unlucky
Day for commencing an Important Undertaking--Friday as
a Marriage Day--Anecdote of a Ship called
"Friday"--Loss of the Ship "Amazon"--Sunday a
Favourable Day for commencing a Voyage--Lawyers and
Clergymen, how looked upon by Sailors at Sea--It is
Lucky to have Women and Children at Sea--Dogs and Cats
at Sea--Rats deserting a Ship--Whistling to raise the
Wind--Deceased Sailors' Clothes--Old Boats not to be
Broken up--Reluctance to go to Sea in a Boat from
which a Person has been Drowned--Sharks following a
Ship--Unfavourable Sign to see a Hatch turned upside
down--A Four-footed Beast not to be named at
Sea--Legend of Vanderdecken or the Flying Dutchman--A
Grandfather's Axe--Other Signs and Warnings.
If a housewife wish everything to prosper with her and her family, she
will not permit the floors of her house to be swept at night. The
sweeping not only prevents good fortune, but it disturbs the spirits
of the dead, supposed to be constantly walking about in thousands. If
the kitchen fire burn down on New Year's morning or Christmas eve, it
is thought, some person belonging to the house will die before these
seasons come round again. Old women, who wish to have a peep into
futurity, are accustomed to cover over with ashes the smouldering
embers of their fires on the last night of the year. If a death is to
happen in the house before twelve months expire, the foot marks of the
doomed individual will be imprinted in the ashes; but if no such event
is to happen, the ashes will remain with a smooth surface, and the
embers kindled below. It is thought lucky to receive a present on New
Year's day or Christmas; but it is unlucky to borrow or lend on these
days. The destiny of the members of a family is greatly affected for a
whole year, if not for life, by the "first-foot" on New Year's and
Christmas mornings. An unlucky "first-foot" brings misfortune with him
or her, but a lucky "first-foot" introduces prosperity.
If one look through a ladder, he should spit three times to prevent
evil consequences; and it is unlucky to hand anything through a
ladder. Sneezing to the left hand is unlucky, but prosperous when to
the right. Plutarch relates that, by the sneezing of a soldier towards
his right hand, the soothsayer predicted the victory of the Greeks and
the complete overthrow of the Persians in battle. Candles and lights
burn dim when spirits are present. The stalk of the tea plant floating
on the surface of a cup of tea, foretells the coming of a stranger. If
the stalk be short, look for a female visitor; but if long, then a man
may be expected. Air bubbles on tea denote kisses and money. It is
thought lucky to step out with the left foot first; and no one who has
attended to the recommendation of his grandmother, thinks of putting
his right shoe on first in the morning. These precautions--stepping
out with the left foot first, and putting the left shoe on before the
right--keep one from stumbling.
With reference to prognosticating the state of the weather, our
fathers, we may premise, carefully observed the winds, the clouds, the
sky, and the seasons. If the wind blew from the west on New Year's
night, it was considered lucky, and supposed to foretell a season of
abundance.
In the north of Scotland, the people wished to see the first three
days of winter dark and cloudy. A northern bard says:
"The south wind, heat and plenty,
The west wind, fish and milk,
The north wind, cold and stormy,
The east wind, fruit on trees."
People in Scotland also prognosticated the weather of the coming
season, according to whether Candlemas was clear or foul. Every one
can repeat the old rhyme, and some put faith in it:
"If Candlemas is fair and clear,
Ther'll be twa winters in the year."
When this day passed without a shower of rain or a fall of snow,
people imagined there would be severe weather before spring was past;
and they expected heavy snow storms before the following Christmas. A
showery and tempestuous Candlemas, on the other hand, raised the
people's spirits, for by such omens they were to expect a favourable
summer and an abundant harvest.
Though they may be well known to most readers, we subjoin a few
poetical proverbs on the weather:
"The evening red, and the morning grey,
Are certain signs of a fair day."
"If red the sun begins his race,
Expect that rain will fall apace."
"In the waning of the moon,
A cloudy morn--fair afternoon."
"If woolly fleeces spread the heavenly way,
No rain, be sure, disturbs the summer's day."
"When clouds appear like rocks and towers,
The earth's refreshed by frequent showers."
From rainbows, shepherds and sailors predicted the state of the
weather.
"A rainbow in the morning is the shepherd's warning;
A rainbow at night is the sailor's delight."
When peacocks cry, be sure rain will early fall; and when the night
owl screeches from the ruined tower, look for a storm; so also, if the
cat is seen washing its face with its fore paws, expect a gale. When
ocean birds flock on shore, a tempest is brewing on the sea.
Seamen and fishermen's wives can secure a favourable gale for their
husbands by going to a chapel after mass, and blowing the dust on the
door in the direction the vessels have gone.
When a person is dying, no one in the house, of whatever age, should
be permitted to sleep. When one expires, the clock should be
immediately stopped, and the dial plate covered with a towel, and
mirrors and pictures should be concealed, or their faces turned to the
wall. All the cats belonging to the house ought to be caught and
confined till after the funeral. That a necessity prevails for putting
the feline animals out of the way, will be understood by the existing
generation, when they understand that if a cat cross a corpse, and
afterwards pass over a living person in a recumbent posture, that
individual will be deprived of sight. When a dead body is dressed and
laid out, the relatives would do well to put a Bible below the head,
and one plate with salt, and another plate with a piece of green turf,
on the breast. The corpse of every one guilty of _felo-de-se_ should
be buried either in a remote spot not customarily used as a place of
burial, or near to a cross road; but if the relatives of any such
unhappy person insist on having the remains interred in the ordinary
place of sepulchre, they are expected to carry the corpse over the
burying-ground wall, and inter it after sunset. It is believed that if
a person die unseen, they who first discover the body will meet his
death in a similar manner. This superstitious belief often prevents
seamen and fishermen picking up and taking ashore dead bodies
discovered at sea. Seamen have not yet risen above these superstitious
delusions. A few years ago a Russian ship was lying in Leith Docks,
when one of the crew fell overboard and was drowned. As long as there
was a chance of rescuing the man, his companions did everything they
could to save him; but as soon as they discovered that their comrade
was dead, they rushed into the forecastle of their vessel, and refused
to search for the body, believing that they who first beheld the
corpse after being brought to the surface, would, sooner or later,
meet a watery grave.
No person who understands the ancient customs of Scotland will think
of commencing to make a new garment at the end of the year, if it
cannot be finished before the new year comes in; nor will any one
commence to make an article of clothing on Saturday, unless it can be
ready for wearing on the Sunday. Friday is also an unlucky day for
commencing any important undertaking. Some people refuse to be bled or
physicked on a Friday. In certain parts of the country, Friday is the
usual day for young men and women being united in wedlock, but at
other places it is supposed bad luck would cleave to them during the
whole of their lives if they were married on that day. It is believed
by old crones that children born on Friday are doomed to misfortune.
Friday night's dreams are sure to come true. It is well known, seamen
dislike going to sea on Friday. Mr. Fenimore Cooper relates a very
extraordinary anecdote in reference to Friday. He says:
"A wealthy merchant of Connecticut devised a notable scheme to give a
fatal blow to the superstition of Friday being an unlucky day. He
caused the keel of a very large ship to be laid on a Friday; he named
her the 'Friday'; he launched her on a Friday; he gave the command of
her to a captain whose name was Friday; and she commenced her first
voyage on a Friday, bound for China with a costly cargo; and in all
respects she was one of the noblest and best-appointed ships that ever
left the port. The result was, neither ship nor crew was ever heard of
afterwards. Thus his well-meant plan," adds Mr. Cooper, "so far from
showing the folly of superstition, only confirmed seamen in their
absurd belief."
Another instance may be given of a splendid ship sailing on a Friday
being lost, as was supposed by the superstitious, through the
imprudence of sending her to sea on the sixth day of the week. We
refer to the West India steamer "Amazon," whose sad fate is a matter
of history. Other examples might be given of ships beginning their
voyages on Friday being lost; and, to the present time, sailors will
tell you that more misfortunes happen to vessels leaving port on
Friday than to ships departing on any other day of the week. Sailors
consider Sunday a favourable day for commencing a voyage. They are
averse to proceed to sea if a lawyer or clergyman is on board. They
think the presence of one of these gentlemen raises a tempest that
puts their craft in peril. This superstition is probably founded on
the biblical story of Jonah in his flight to Tarshish, when such a
mighty tempest was raised as to endanger the lives of those who manned
the vessel that conveyed him from Joppa. Sailors are of opinion that
it is lucky to have women or children on board a ship. Time was when
they objected to sail with a native of Finland as one of the crew,
thinking that the Finns were leagued with Satan, and that if they were
offended, they took their revenge by raising adverse winds and causing
accidents to happen. Old sailors objected to have dogs on board, but
cats were held sacred; and if all tales be true, Puss often secured
favourable winds, and prevented shipwreck. When rats are seen
deserting a ship ready for sea, it is regarded as an evil omen. In
calm weather, sailors whistle to raise the wind; but in a gale they
neither whistle themselves, nor permit others to do so. It is unlucky
to wear the clothes of a fellow-sailor who dies at sea before the
termination of the voyage. It is thought unlucky to break up an old
boat--a fact which accounts for so many useless boats being seen at
fishing villages. If a man be drowned in or from a boat, sailors and
fishermen are reluctant to put to sea again with her. It is an evil
sign to see sharks following a ship. Inadvertently turning a hatch
upside down, is considered an unfavourable sign. A four-footed beast
should not be named at sea. A child's caul hung in the cabin, prevents
the ship from sinking. A legend of Vanderdecken, the Flying Dutchman,
is believed by seamen. It runs thus:--
Three hundred years ago a large Dutch Indiaman, commanded by Mynheer
Vanderdecken, attempted to round the Cape of Good Hope against a head
wind. His vessel was frequently driven back, but he doggedly
persevered, in spite of many signs and warnings of failure, and
declared that he would double the Cape, though he sailed till the day
of judgment. For this impious saying, and disregard of signs and
warnings, the ship and wicked captain, with his crew, were doomed to
sail continually in the latitude of the Cape, without doubling it.
Sailors have asserted that, in the midnight gale, the ship may be
seen, with her antique build and rig, and the figure of Vanderdecken,
on the poop, giving orders to his ghostly crew, contending with the
wind and waves, which they can never overcome.
One day in the Middle Ages, as a troop of Condottieri crossed the
Roman country, a young peasant, named Attendole, stood under an oak to
admire them. Some of the soldiers invited him to join their company.
The peasant was inclined to follow them, but being undecided he said,
"I will throw the axe I hold in my hand against this oak, and if it
enter far enough into the bark to remain fixed, I will be a soldier."
So saying, he threw the axe with so much violence that it entered the
tree deep and stuck fast. From that moment all hesitation was over:
tearing himself from his friends, he joined the troop. Because it was
with all his force he decided what his vocation was to be, his
comrades called him Sforza. He fought in more than one hundred
battles, and, after having served in Rome and at Milan, he at an
advanced age perished while endeavouring to save one of his own pages
from drowning. He left a son, who, like his father, gained renown. He
rose so high in Italy as to be considered a suitable match for Bianca
Visconti, the heiress of Milan. Their son Galeazza, Duke of Milan,
used to look on the fair city and say, "See what I owe to my
grandfather's axe!"
Warnings of approaching death are given in various ways. There are
ancient families to whom the ghosts of their ancestors appear before
the death of the chiefs or heads of the families. In one instance we
have heard that the ghost of an old murdered lady keeps wandering
through the castle halls shortly before any of the family dies; and in
another instance it is said that a mysterious light blazes from the
lofty battlements before the noble proprietor is laid low in death.
The falling of his portrait or statue is a sure presage of a great
man's death. Archbishop Laud, going into his study (which no one could
enter without him being present, as he invariably locked the door and
kept the key), found his portrait one day lying on its face on the
floor. He was extremely perplexed, for to him it was as his death
knell, and he commenced setting his house in order. The sad summons
was not long of coming, and death took him for its own.
AMULETS AND CHARMS.
CHAPTER XLV.
Amulets and Charms among the Chaldæans, Jews, and
Persians--Amulets among the Greeks and
Romans--Ecclesiastics forbidden to wear Amulets and
Phylacteries--Amulets and Charms very
numerous--Pericles' Amulet--Lord Bacon's Opinion of
Charms--Cramp Rings and Eel Skins--Moss off a Dead
Man's Skull--How to remove Warts--Cure for St. Vitus'
Dance--Effect of Music--Kittens and Pigeons used as
Cures--Yawning and Laughing, Fear and Shame--Diseases
cured by Charms--Surprise a Cure for Hooping-cough--A
Mad Dog's Bite--Touch of a Torpedo--Philosophers'
Opinions of Amulets--Bane and Antidote--Mr. E.
Chambers on Amulets--Poets on Enchantments--A
Dairymaid's Charm--A Charm sent by a Pope to an
Emperor.
Amulets and charms were in great variety among the Chaldæans, Jews,
and Persians. They were also held in estimation among the Greeks and
Romans, chiefly on account of their supposed virtue in exciting or
conquering the passion of love. The Council of Laodicea forbade
ecclesiastics to wear amulets and phylacteries, on pain of
degradation. St. Jerome was likewise opposed to their use.
Nevertheless, although amulets and charms are not held in the same
repute they once were, their efficacy is not supposed to be entirely
gone. Among early Christians amulets and charms were acknowledged to
possess peculiar virtues beneficial to man. Amulets and charms were,
and are, so numerous that it would be a herculean task to give an
account of one half of them. Where the inhabitants were destitute of
medical resources, amulets and charms were employed for the
alleviation of bodily suffering. Pericles wore an amulet about his
neck, as such charms were supposed to be capable of preserving the
wearers from misfortune and disease. Lord Bacon was of opinion that if
a man wore a planet seal, it might aid him in obtaining the affection
of his sweetheart, give him protection at sea and in battle, and make
him more courageous. Cramp rings and eel skins were worn round the
limbs, to prevent sickness; and people were sometimes cured by laying
sticks across each other in front of their beds at night. Moreover,
the sticks thus placed prevented demons approaching the couch of rest.
The moss off a dead man's skull, says the great Mr. Boyle, is an
effectual remedy against bleeding at the nose. We are told by Lord
Verulam, that when he was at Paris he had above one hundred warts on
his hands, and that they were removed by the English ambassador's lady
rubbing them with a piece of bacon, afterwards nailed to a post. In
five weeks the bacon, being exposed to the sun, melted away, and the
warts disappeared.
St. Vitus' dance was cured by the sufferer visiting the tomb of the
saint, near Ulm, every May. The bites of certain reptiles are rendered
harmless by music. Dr. Sydenham orders, in cases of iliac passion, a
live kitten to be laid on the abdomen. Pigeons, split alive and
applied to the soles of the feet, are efficacious in fevers and
convulsions. Quincey says that yawning and laughing are infectious,
and so are fear and shame; and from these, by a system of reasoning
peculiarly his own, he endeavours to prove that amulets may be
sufficient to counteract, if not to entirely hinder, infection.
Throughout the Mohammedan dominions the people were convinced that
charms were indispensable to their well-being. By charms they cured
every kind of disease, provided predestination had not determined that
the sick man's days were at an end. Surprise, it is urged, removes the
hooping-cough; looking from a precipice, or seeing a wheel turn
swiftly, causes giddiness. "Why then," asks a wise man, "may not
amulets or charms, by their secret influence, produce the effects
ascribed to them? Who can comprehend by what impenetrable means the
bite of a mad dog produces hydrophobia? Why does the touch of a
torpedo induce numbness? When these causes and effects are explained,"
he concludes, "so may the virtue of amulets be accounted for." Ancient
philosophers laid it down, as a proof of ignorance, the condemnation
of a science not easily understood. In this way the advocates of
amulets and charms have been enabled to silence people who have had
the hardihood to throw odium on their superstitions. Believers in
amulets and charms remind us that it is a well-ascertained fact in
nature, that for every bane there is an antidote. Wherever the
stinging nettle grows, the slimy stem of the dock is near; whenever
the wasp stings, honey gathered by the industrious bee may be had,
without going far, to put on the injured part; when the cold is most
intense without, the fire burns brightest within; and if there be evil
spirits seeking man's hurt, there are good angels hovering round him
for his protection.
Mr. E. Chambers, who published his _Cyclopædia, or A Universal
Dictionary of Arts and Sciences_, in 1728, says that an amulet
(_amuletum_) is a kind of medicament hung about the neck or other part
of the body to prevent or remove diseases. Amulets, he proceeds, are
frequently nothing else than spells or charms, consisting of quaint
words and characters, supposed to have the virtue of warding off ill.
And Mr. Chambers informs his readers, under the word "charm," that a
charm is a magic power or spell, by which, with the assistance of the
devil, sorcerers and witches are supposed to do wondrous things, far
surpassing the power of nature.
Ancient poets, who were of a superstitious turn of mind, attached no
small importance to amulets and charms. One of them says:
"Enchantments pluck out of the sky,
The moon though she be plac'd on high;
Dame Circe with her charms so fine,
Ulysses' mates did turn to swine:
The snake with charms is burst in twain,
In meadows where she doth remain.
* * * * *
These herbs did Meris give to me,
And poysons pluckt at Pontos,
For there they grow and multiply,
And do not so amongst us.
With these she made herself become
A wolf, and hid her in the wood;
She fetched up souls out of the tombe,
Removing corn from where it stood."
The following is an old translation from Virgil:
"From thence a virgin priest is come
From out Massyla land,
Sometimes the temple there she kept,
And from her heavenly hand
The dragon meat did take: she kept
Also the fruit divine,
With herbs and liquors sweet that still
To sleep did men incline.
The minds of men (she saith) from love
With charms she can unbind,
In whom she list: but others can
She cast to cases unkind.
The running streams do stand, and from
Their course the stars do wreath,
And souls she conjure can: then shalt
See sister underneath
The ground with roring gape and trees,
And mountains turn upright."
Ovid is made to say:
"The river I can make retire
Into the fountains whence they flow,
(Where at the banks themselves admire)
I can make standing waters go;
With charms I drive both sea and cloud,
I can make it calm and blow aloud,
The viper's jaws, the rocky stone,
With words and charms I break in twain;
The force of earth congeal'd in one,
I move, and shake both woods and plain;
I make the souls of men arise,
And pull the moon out of the skies.
* * * * *
And thrice she spake the words that caus'd
Sweet sleep and quiet rest;
She staid the raging of the sea,
And mighty floods supprest."
Other poets, writing of charms, say:
"With charms the corn is spoiled so
As that it vades the barren grass;
With charms the springs are dried low,
That none can see where water was.
The grapes from vines, the mast from oaks,
And beats down fruit with charming strokes.
* * * * *
She plucks each star out of his throne,
And turneth back the raging waves;
With charms she makes the earth to cone,
And raises souls out of their graves:
She burns men's bones as with fire,
And pulleth down the lights from heaven,
And makes it snow at her desire,
Even in the midst of summer season.
* * * * *
The course of nature ceasèd quite,
The air obeyèd not his law,
The day delayed by length of night,
Which made both day and night to yaw;
And all was through that charming gear,
Which caus'd the world to quake for fear.
* * * * *
They talked with tongues of birds,
Consulting with the salt sea coasts,
They burst the snake with witching words,
Soliciting the spiritual ghosts;
They turn the night into the day,
And also drive the light away:
And what is 't that cannot be made
By them that do apply this trade."
Sir Thomas Brown mentions that a chalked tile at each corner of a
field and one in the centre thereof were rural charms that prevented
weeds growing; and the three following charms are given in Herrick's
_Hesperides_:
"This I'le tell ye by the way,
Maidens when ye leavens lay,
Cross your dough, and your dispatch
Will be better for your batch.
In the morning when ye rise,
Wash your hands and cleanse your eyes,
Next be sure to have a care
To disperse the water farre,
For as farre as that doth light,
So farre keeps the evil spright.
If ye fear to be affrighted,
When ye are (by chance) benighted;
In your pocket for a trust
Carry nothing but a crust;
For that holy piece of bread
Charms the danger and the dread."
Here are older charms in metre:
"With blessynges of Saynt Germayne
I will me so determyne,
That neyther for nor vermyne
Shall do my chyckens harme.
For your gese seke Saynt Legearde,
And for your duckes Saynt Leonarde,
There is no better charme.
Take me a napkin folte
With the byas of a bolte,
For the healing of a colte
No better thynge can be;
For lampes and for bottes
Take me Saynt Thomas Lattes,
On my life I warrande ye."
In the _Hesperides_ we also find the following spell:
"Holy water come and bring:
Cast in salt for seasoning:
Set the brush for sprinkling.
Sacred spittle bring ye hither:
Meale and it now mix together,
And a little oyle to either.
Give the tapers here their light;
Ring the saints' bell to affright
Far from hence the evil sprits.
And good Saynt Francis' gyrdle,
With the hamlet of a hyrdle,
Are wholesome for the pyppe.
Besides these charms afore
I have feates many more
That kepe still in store,
Whom I now over hyppe."
The same writer quaintly says:
"A charm or an allay for love,
If so be a toad be laid
In a sheep-skin newly flaid,
And that ty'd to man, 'twill sever
Him and his affections ever."
Butler, in his _Hudibras_, describes the supposed power of a cunning
man thus:
"Not far from hence doth dwell
A cunning man hight Sidrophel,
That deals in destiny's dark counsels,
And sage opinion of the moon sells;
To whom all people, far and near,
On deep importances repair;
When brass and pewter hap to stray,
And linen slinks out of the way;
When geese and pullen are seduced,
And sows of sucking pigs are chows'd;
When cattle feel indisposition,
And need the opinion of physician;
When murrain reigns in hogs or sheep
And chickens languish of the pip;
When yeast and outward means do fail,
And have no power to work on ale;
When butter does refuse to come,
And love proves cross and humoursome;
To him with questions and with urine
They for discovery flock, or curing."
In the seventeenth century, dairymaids, when churning, used a charm,
said over the churn in the following lines:
"Come, butter, come,
Come, butter, come;
Peter stands at the gate,
Waiting for a buttered cake,
Come, butter, come."
This having been said three times, the butter came straightway; and
very good butter it was, on the good saint being invoked.
A holy Pope of the good old times sent the following lines to an
exalted Emperor:
"Balme, Virgine-wax, and holy water,
An Agnus Dei make,
A gift than which none can be greater,
I send thee for to take.
From fountain clear the same hath issue
In secret sanctified;
'Gainst lightning it hath soverain virtue,
And thunder-cracks beside.
Each hainous sin it wears and wasteth,
Even as holy precious blood;
And women while their travel lasteth
It saves, it is so good.
It doth bestow great gifts and graces
On such as well deserve;
And borne about in noisome places,
From peril doth preserve.
The force of fire, whose heat destroyeth,
It breaks and bringeth down;
And he or she that this enjoyeth
No water shall them drown."
CHAPTER XLVI.
Ear-rings buried by Jacob--Solomon's Belief in
Spells--Reginald Scot's Recipe for preserving
Cattle--What Mr. Pennant says on Charms--Parts of the
Chameleon as Charms--A Condemned Sorcerer's
Charm--Virtue of Trees and Plants--Deities'
Crowns--Virtue of May Dew--Images Powerful Charms--How
the Romans regarded their Images--The Egyptians'
Confidence in Amulets and Charms--Evil Eye--Effects of
an Evil Eye, how counteracted--Charms for Horses and
Children--Sixpence-piece an Excellent Charm--Mothers
and Children protected from Fairies--Cold Iron--Holy
Things used as Charms--Filings of St. Peter's
Keys--Lustral Water--Curing Sick Children by weighing
them--Uses of Snow--Transferring Diseases from one
Body to another--Keys of a Consecrated
Building--Effect of standing on one Foot--Virtue of
Consecrated Bread--Virtue rewarded--Pricking the Image
of a King--Various Methods of securing Love--Indian
Charms--Cure for Corns--Simple Plan for getting rid of
a Troublesome Person--Curing the Hooping-cough.
There are people in existence, of opinion that the ear-rings which
Jacob buried under the oak of Sechem were charms, and that Solomon had
recourse to spells after his strange wives led him away from the true
faith.
Reginald Scot gives a recipe for a charm to preserve cattle from
witchcraft. Here it is: "At Easter you must take certain drops that
lie uppermost of the holy paschal candle; and upon some Sunday
morning, light and hold it so as it may drop upon and between the
horns and ears of the beast, and burn the beast a little between the
horns on the ears with the same wax, and that which is left thereof
stick it cross-wise about the stable or stall, or upon the threshold,
or over the door, where the cattle go in and out; and for all that
year your cattle shall never be touched."
Mr. Pennant says: "The farmers of Scotland preserve their cattle
against witchcraft by placing boughs of mountain-ash and honey-suckle
in their cow-houses on the 2nd May. They hope to preserve the milk of
their cows and of their wives by tying red threads about them." The
ancients had several superstitious customs touching the chameleon,--as
that its tongue, torn out when the animal was alive, would assist the
possessor to gain his law-suits; burning its head and neck with
oak-wood, or roasting its liver on a red tile, would bring thunder and
rain; that its right eye, torn out before the animal was slain, and
steeped in goat's milk, removed disease of the eye; that its tongue,
worn as a charm by a married woman, eased her pains; that its right
jaw dispelled fear; and that its tail prevented streams overflowing
their banks. A famous sorcerer, when under sentence of death, gave
directions how to prepare a potent charm. It consisted of a new
earthen pot--not bought nor bargained for--with sheep's blood, wool,
hair of several beasts, and certain herbs therein. The pot and its
contents were to be placed in a secret part in the neighbourhood where
its effects were intended to be felt, which might be either the
poisoning or tormenting of enemies. The charm could not be taken away
but by the person who secreted it or by a superior power.
Particular trees and plants possess peculiar virtues in consequence of
crowns for deities having been made from them. Thus we find Jupiter's
crown was composed of flowers, generally of laurel; Juno's of the
vine; Bacchus' of the vine, with grapes, and branches of ivy, flowers,
and berries; those of Castor, Pollux, and the river gods, of
bulrushes; that of Apollo, sometimes of laurel, and sometimes rushes;
that of Saturn, new figs; that of Hercules, poplar; that of Pan, pine
or alder; that of Lucina, dictamnus; that of the Horæ, the fruits
proper to each season; that of the Graces, olive branches; that of
Venus, roses; that of Ceres, ears of corn; and that of the Lares,
myrtle or rosemary. Rue was detested by witches and evil spirits.
There was a heathen ceremony, called Dendrophoria, which consisted of
the carrying of one or more pine trees through a city, at times of
sacrifice in honour of certain deities. The pine or pines were
afterwards planted, and the branches thereof were supposed to possess
virtues not to be found in non-sacred things.
There was a spirit drawn from May dew, which had striking virtues
attributed to it. Images were considered the most powerful of all
charms. They were held in great reverence by the Romans and other
nations. The noble Romans preserved the images of their ancestors with
great care, and had them carried in procession at their funerals and
triumphs. They placed them in the vestibules of their houses, there to
remain, even though the houses happened to be sold, it being
considered impious to displace them. It was not, however, allowed for
every one who had the images of their ancestors, to have them carried
at funerals. The privilege was conferred on those only who had
honourably discharged themselves in their various offices in life.
Persons who failed in this respect, forfeited all right to bring their
images before the public; and the images of persons who had committed
serious crimes were broken in pieces.
The Egyptians had great confidence in the power of amulets and charms
to prevent and deliver from mischief. There was a class of persons who
gained their livelihood by writing billets, to secure the wearers from
the power of enchantment and all kinds of accidents. Their most
intrinsically valuable relic was the veil sent to the Sultan to cover
the Kaaba of Mecca. It was cut in pieces, and distributed over the
whole empire. Parts of it were worn by the faithful, as one of the
means of grace, and an assurance of divine protection; and these
charms were sometimes buried in the grave along with the individuals
who had prized them when in life.
The belief of the baneful effect of the evil eye, and of envious
commendations, was prevalent in the East. Virgil's shepherd attributed
to the malicious glance of an enemy the diseased appearance of his
flock. Pliny relates that the Thessalian sorcerers destroyed whole
harvests by speaking well of the crops. In Egypt, everything which
could possibly attract attention or excite jealousy was protected by
some counteracting influence. The eye of the malicious observer was
rendered harmless by a sacred sentence, written in conspicuous
characters, and placed in a particular way that the wicked eye might
see it. The horse, it was believed, carried his rider in safety if a
charm of blue beads dangled from the animal's neck. But the anxious
mother did not consider her darling child safe, though it had a charm
about its person, unless she frequently spat in its face.
When a mother had reason to suppose an evil eye had been cast on her
little helpless babe, her duty was to borrow a sixpence from a
neighbour, put it into a basin of water, and then wash the child with
the water so charmed. By these means the spell was removed. To pass a
child over a table was unlucky. Great apprehensions were formerly
entertained of the malignant influence and interference of fairies
with mothers in child-bed and children unbaptized. A Bible under the
pillow protected the mother, or a bottle of holy water at the bed-foot
did equally well; and the sacrament of baptism rendered the infant
secure from fairies and witches. If one meet or see anything unlucky,
all he has to do to avert evil is to touch cold iron. To prevent evil
in time of a thunder-storm, let a candle be kept burning until the
warring elements have ceased raging. And surely it has not been left
for us to tell the good Catholics, that, to extinguish a fire or stop
an inundation, their forefathers threw a consecrated wafer into the
midst of the flames or overflowing river. Every little Catholic maid,
who can count her beads, knows that if she cannot secure the
affections of the young man on whom she has set her affections, she
should unsparingly besmear him with the holy oil of her Church. We are
assured that, before Protestantism weakened the hands of priests and
rent the Church asunder, consecrated oil was regarded as an infallible
charm and love-philter.
It was the custom at one time for the Popes to send a golden key to
faithful priests, wherein was enclosed a small quantity of the filings
of St. Peter's keys, kept sacred at Rome. These charms were worn in
the bosom, to protect the happy possessor from disease, misfortune,
and evil spirits.
The ancients had their lustral water for sprinkling and purifying the
people. From them the Romanists borrowed the holy water used in their
churches. The ancients called _Dies Lustricus_, or Lustral Day, that
whereon the lustrations were performed for a child, and its name
given, which was the ninth day from the birth of a boy, and the eighth
from that of a girl. Lustral water possessed something like magical
virtue. On the great day of ceremony the nurses and domestics handed
the child backwards and forwards around a fire on the altars of the
gods; after this the infant was sprinkled with the precious water,
mixed with saliva and dust. There were public lustrations for
purifying cities, fields, and people defiled by crime or impurity. A
custom prevailed in the East, of curing sick children by weighing them
at the tomb of a saint. The counterpoising or balancing medium
consisted of money to be given to the Church.
It was generally supposed that the first snow which fell in the year
had particular virtues. Bartholin wrote a treatise on the uses of
snow, wherein he endeavoured to show that early gathered snow
preserved from the plague, cured fevers, toothache, and sore eyes. In
Denmark the people kept snow water, obtained in March, as a medicine.
Transplantation in natural magic was a method resorted to for curing
diseases by transferring them from one body to another. The
transplantation was effected either by the use of a medium or by
simple contact. If a gouty person desire to get rid of his troubles,
he is recommended to bore a hole in an oak, and deposit the parings of
his nails therein; and if one has whitlow in his finger, the pain
might be transferred to the domestic cat by rubbing the sore finger
with the ears of the animal.
The keys of a consecrated building, shaken over the heads of dogs,
horses, and cattle, when they are ill, effect a cure; and a faithful
worshipper finds relief from acute suffering by standing on one foot
and holding a wax taper in his hand, during particular portions of the
mass. It is common in some places to lay upon the altar, during mass,
the nails of a shoe taken from a horse which has become lame, to
restore the animal to soundness. Pieces of consecrated bread carried
home and preserved is a preventative against the bite of a mad dog.
The shepherd who first gives his offering will be rewarded by his ewes
bringing forth the finest lambs in the neighbourhood; and the horses
and cattle that are watered immediately after the owners or keepers
return from mass, will be saved from illness.
In 1589 the people placed on the altars of many of their churches in
Paris, wax effigies of King Henry III., and pricked them with pins and
needles during mass, in the hope of obtaining a speedy termination to
his existence.
The wearing of a ribbon which has been worn by a lady, or a lock of
her hair, near the heart, is supposed to be capable of securing her
affections. But if everything else fail, the proper application of
dead men's bones, holy relics, and magic spells will soften the hard
heart.
It is related by the Indians of Vixnu, that a ribbon tied round the
neck or arm, with the name "Laximi" (who for many years was worshipped
under the form of a cow, and sometimes of a horse) written thereon or
attached thereto, is a certain cure for all diseases; and is likewise
a preventative against accidents. Corns are cured by one stealing a
small piece of beef and burying it in the ground. As the flesh rots,
the corns disappear. Whenever either an enemy or friend becomes
troublesome, and it is considered necessary to get rid of him, the
desire can be accomplished by securing a garment belonging to him and
burying it in the earth. Just as sure as the burying of the beef
destroys corns, as certain will the concealment of the garment in the
earth send the obnoxious person to his long home. Fond mothers
endeavoured to cure hooping-cough by passing their afflicted children
three times before breakfast under a blackberry bush the branches of
which grew into the ground; other parents went out into the highways
in search of a man riding on a piebald horse, to ask him what would
restore to health their children affected with this painful cough.
Whatever he recommended, was adopted as a remedy.
CHAPTER XLVII.
Horse Shoes used as Charms--Spitting on Money to
secure Luck--Fortunate Persons to deal with--Methods
of securing Cattle against Accidents--Effect of
Herbs--Professor Playfair on Superstition--The Lee
Penny--How to prevent Toothache--Divers Charms--A
Seer's Prescription--Lating the Witches--Grose on
Sorcerers, Magicians, and Witches--Man carried away by
an Evil Spirit--Irish Shamrock--Praying to
Swords--Irish Superstition--Smugglers and Brigands
addicted to Superstition--Charm found on a
Smuggler--Superstition in the East--Arab
Charms--Ladies' Arts.
Horse shoes have long been regarded as most valuable charms. Such
shoes, nailed on the back of doors, keep out witches and evil spirits.
Horse shoes are also safe-guards on board of ships and boats. To
secure good luck in a market, the vendor is in the habit of rubbing or
spitting on the first money obtained for goods sold. The good or bad
luck of cattle-salesmen and petty merchants, superstitious people
think, depends very much on the first purchaser. In the early part of
the day a reduced price is sometimes accepted from a person reputed to
be lucky, while business will not be entered into under any conditions
with uncanny people.
In Suffolk an abortive calf is buried under the path along which the
cows go to the fields, to prevent them being accidentally injured. One
description of herb given to a horse prevents the horse-shoer pricking
the animal's feet; and another, put into a man's shoes, enables him to
travel more than forty miles a day without becoming wearied. Moon-wort
is a powerful charm that loosens locks, fetters, and shoes from
horses' feet. In olden times it was a stratagem in warfare to lead the
enemy's horsemen upon a heath where moon-wort grew plentiful, for, in
passing over it, the horses were sure to lose their shoes. In
Aristotle's time, rue hung about the neck as an amulet prevented
witchcraft. Rue was called an herb of grace, because the Romanists
used it on Sundays in their exorcisms.
Professor Playfair, in a letter to Mr. Brand, dated from St. Andrews,
in 1804, says: "In private breweries a live coal was thrown into the
vat, to prevent the interference of the fairies. A cow's milk no fairy
could take away, if a burning coal was conducted across her back and
under the belly immediately after she calved. Witches and evil spirits
were prevented from entering a dwelling-house if the lower end of the
crook or iron chain by which the pots were suspended over the kitchen
fire was raised up a few links before the inmates retired to bed. It
was a common opinion in Scotland and England, that a woman may, by
means of charms, convey her neighbour's cow's milk to her own dairy.
When a cow's milk was charmed away, a small quantity of rennet was
taken from all suspected persons and put into an egg-shell full of
milk, and when that obtained from the charmer mingled with it, it
presently curdled. Some women used the root of groundsel as a
protection against the produce of their dairy being charmed, by
putting it among their milk and cream."
The Lee Penny, the property of a Scotch gentleman, was a charm known
far and wide. Many were the cures effected by it, _i.e._ if tradition
speaks true. This charm, when applied externally to man or beast,
proved better than all known healing medicine, and, when water in
which it had been dipped was given to man or beast to drink, it
produced an effectual cure. Nails driven into an oak tree prevented
toothache. A halter that had been used in suspending a criminal, when
tied round the head, prevented headache. A dead man's hand dissipated
tumours of the glands, by stroking the affected part nine times with
it; but the hand of a man who had been hanged was the most
efficacious. Chips cut from a gallows, when carried in a bag suspended
from the neck, cured the ague. A stone with a hole in it, tied to the
key of a stable door, deterred witches stealing the horses and riding
them over the country at night. If a man or woman were afflicted with
fits, he or she might be cured by partaking of broth in which a human
skull had been boiled. This last-mentioned cure was not uncommon in
the beginning of the present century.
A young girl, about sixteen years of age, being seized with fits, a
seer was consulted, and he prescribed brose made from oatmeal and the
"broo of a dead man's skull." That a cranium might be obtained, a
grave was violated, and a body mutilated. The brose was prepared
according to directions, and given to the afflicted girl. As might be
expected, the matter created no small excitement in Perthshire, in
which county the superstitious acts were perpetrated; but though the
whole affair was looked on with disapproval by the better educated
classes, and proceedings were taken by the authorities against the
guilty parties, the death knell of superstition was not rung; for in
that county a belief in witches, spirits, and charms still exists.
At one time a custom prevailed in Lancashire, called "lating the
witches." It was observed on the eve preceding the 1st November, when
witches were supposed to be busier than usual. The ceremony of lating
was gone through in this way:--The poorer neighbours called at the
houses of the more opulent, and at the door demanded lighted candles
to carry in procession. We say demanded them at the door, because it
would have been unlucky for those receiving the candles to cross a
threshold then, and it would have been equally unlucky for any one of
them to enter a house that night from which his or her candle was
received, if the light was extinguished before the lating was
concluded. Candles were given out according to the number of inmates
of a house--one for every person--but it was optional for one to carry
his own candle, or to find a substitute who would sally out for him to
frighten the witches. The custom originated in the belief that if a
lighted candle were carried about from eleven to twelve o'clock at
night without being extinguished, the person it represented would be
proof against witches during the year, but if the candle went out it
foreboded evil.
Grose, in describing the difference between a sorcerer, magician, and
witch, speaks highly of the power of charms and invocations. "A
witch," he tells us, "derives all her power from a compact with the
devil, while a sorcerer commands him and the infernal spirits by his
skill in charms and invocations, and also soothes and entices them by
fumigations; for the devils," he continues, "are observed to have
delicate nostrils, abominating and flying from some kinds of stinks.
Witness the flight of the evil spirits into the remote parts of Egypt,
driven by the smell of fishes' liver burned by Tobit. The devil and
spirits," he tells us, "are, on the other hand, peculiarly fond of
certain perfumes."
Lilly writes that one Evans, having raised a spirit, at the request of
Lord Bothwell and Sir K. Digby, and forgotten a suffumigation, the
spirit, enraged, snatched him out from his circle, and carried him
from his house in the Minories into a field near Battersea.
The shamrock is held sacred by the Irish. It became a custom among
Irish soldiers, when going to battle, to conceal about their persons
bunches of shamrock, to say certain prayers to their swords, to make
crosses upon the earth, and thrust the points of their weapons into
the ground, under the impression that by so doing they would secure
success in the field. The shamrock was highly esteemed by lovers. An
exchange of this plant frequently took place between betrothed persons
in the same way as engagement rings are exchanged in our time. In
Ireland many people continue to put faith in incantations and spells.
Women's hair is thought to be a precious amulet; hence the custom of
wearing hair bracelets, guards, and other such like ornaments.
Smugglers and brigands are much addicted to superstition. On the
apprehension of one Jackson, a smuggler, who died in Chichester, there
was found in his possession a linen purse containing the following
charm:
"Ye three holy kings,
Gaspar, Melchior, Balthasar,
Pray for us now and at the hour of death."
The charm had actually touched the heads of three kings at Cologne,
and was thought by the smuggler to be an effectual protection against
accidents, headaches, falling sickness, witchcraft, and various kinds
of mischief. Jackson died suddenly, but this did not prove the charm
to be worthless, as he lost it before his end came.
Various nations in the East entertained superstitious opinions
concerning serpents and reptiles. They attributed numberless powers of
good and evil to these reptiles. A belief prevailed, that if one
killed a snake, the whole race to which it belonged would persecute
the cruel individual. When any one was bitten by a serpent, a
sovereign remedy was found in a particular stone. Such valuable stones
were rare, and consequently they were greatly prized, even, more so
than gold.
Arabs believed that the smoke of burnt hair taken from a Christian's
head would cure a patient, whatever the disease was under which he
laboured. They also wore enchanted rings, and carried herbs to
strengthen their arms in the day of battle.
A young lady thought she could discover the social position and
character of her future husband, by pulling a large flower and taking
off the leaves and petals one by one, while she repeated,
"Rich man, poor man, farmer, ploughman, thief."
The one who happened to be named at plucking the last leaf or petal
was, she supposed, to be her husband. Another way: pluck an even ash
leaf, and keep it in the hand, saying,
"The even ash leaf in my hand,
The first I meet shall be my man;"
then put the leaf into the glove, and say,
"The even ash leaf in my glove,
The first I meet shall be my love;"
and then put it into the bosom, and repeat,
"The even ash leaf in my bosom,
The first I meet shall be my husband."
Immediately after this the future husband will make his appearance.
Another method: After nightfall the sighing maiden may walk through
the garden with a rake in her left hand, and throw hemp seed over her
right shoulder while she keeps repeating,
"Hemp seed I set, hemp seed I sow,
The man that is my true love come after me and mow."
Sure enough, we are assured, the future husband will appear beside the
fair sower with a scythe, ready to cut down the crop when it grows.
We are further assured that a lady would succeed quite as well, were
she, on going to bed, to place her shoes so as to form the letter T,
and say,
"Hoping this night my true love to see,
I place my shoes in the form of a T;"
or were she, on retiring for the night, to write the alphabet on small
pieces of paper, and put them into a basin of water, with the letters
downwards,--in the former case she would in her dreams perceive her
future husband, and in the latter she might expect to find, in the
morning, the first letter of his name turned upwards, and all the
other letters downwards, as she had left them.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
Earl of Derby's Death--A Queen Enchanted--Image of a
young King made for Wicked Purposes--Belgrave on
Charms--Childebert's Device for detecting Witches--A
Pot of Ointment--Witch Burned--Witch
Ointment--Men-Wolves--Component Parts of Witch
Ointment--Church Authorities' Instructions to
Inquisitors--Killing by a Look or Wish--The King of
Sweden and his Witches--Witches' Help in War--Witches
causing a Plague--Cattle Poisoned--Various Charms--How
to make Hair grow Long and Yellow--Holy Vestments--An
Angel's Charm to Pope Leo--Physicians' Faith in
Charms--Illusions--Inescation--Insemination--Method of
discovering if one is Bewitched--Egyptian Laws--Curing
the King's Evil.
Andrews, in his continuation of Henry's _History of Great Britain_,
speaking of Ferdinand, Earl of Derby, says his death was attributed to
witchcraft. No doubt the disease appeared to be peculiar. After his
death a wax image with hair, in colour like that of the earl, was
found in his chamber, which confirmed the suspicions entertained as to
the cause of his demise. Another alleged atrocious crime was that of
the wife of Marshal D'Ancre. She was beheaded for witchcraft, in so
far as she had enchanted the queen, and made an image of the young
king in virgin wax, and melted away one of its legs that he might
become a cripple. Old Belgrave, in his _Astrological Practice of
Physic_, observes: "Under adverse planets, and by Satan's subtlety,
witches injured man and beast by making images or models of them, and
pricking the likenesses with thorns, pins, or needles."
Childebert's device for detecting witches who dealt in charms, was to
torture them by putting sharp instruments betwixt every nail of their
fingers and toes. Judges, before whom witches were tried, were
cautioned not to allow them to come near their persons nor the seat of
judgment. That they might be all the more secure from witchcraft,
judges kept suspended from their necks conjured salt, palm, holy
herbs, and wax hallowed by the Church. To compel witches to confess
their guilt, officers of justice were wont to write the seven words
spoken on the cross, and cause these, with relics of saints, to be
hung round the culprits' necks. When these charms were thus applied,
it was impossible for witches to refrain from confessing their guilt,
if at the same time they were sufficiently racked and tortured.
An incredible story is told of a gentlewoman in Lyons, who possessed a
pot of ointment of such rare virtue, that the application of it to
one's body proved sufficient to transport the individual, in an
instant, through the air to distant towns and countries. The lady
being one evening in a room with her lover, anointing herself with
part of the ointment, and repeating words in an under tone, was in the
twinkling of an eye carried away through the air. Her companion,
though astonished and somewhat alarmed, did as he had observed his
fair friend do, and _presto_ he was conveyed away many miles to an
assembly of witches. Afraid at what he beheld, he uttered a holy
ejaculation. In an instant the assembly vanished, leaving him alone.
He returned on foot to Lyons, and brought an accusation of witchcraft
against his lover. The charge being proven, the woman, with her
ointment, was consigned to the flames.
Witches and warlocks, learned in the art of transubstantiation, could
by means of witch ointment turn themselves into wolves. Peter Burget
and Michael Worden, having by means of such ointment turned themselves
into wolves, killed and ate a large number of people. One night, when
the men-wolves were out on one of their murderous expeditions, an
archer shot one of them with a charmed arrow. Tracing the wounded
creature to Peter's residence, the pursuers found the luckless man in
bed in his natural shape, with the arrow deep in his thigh. Another
man-wolf was punished by having his feet amputated, and in a moment he
became a man without hands or feet.
Mountain parsley, wolves-bane, leaves of the poplar, and soot were
frequently used in the preparation of witch ointment; and so were
yellow water-cresses, the blood of a mouse, night-shade, oil, etc. A
witch, rubbed all over with a preparation of these, could skim through
the air in a moonlight night, singing, dancing, and otherwise making
merry with her companions.
So generally did the belief in witchcraft, incantations, and charms
prevail in the time of Pope Innocent VIII. and of Pope Julius II.,
that the Church authorities sent to the inquisitors the following
official notice and instructions:--"It has come to our ears that many
lewd persons of both kinds, as well male as female, using the company
of the devils _Incubus_ and _Succubus_, with incantations, charms,
conjurations, etc., to destroy the births of women with child, the
young of all cattle, the corn of the field, the grapes of the vines,
the fruit of the trees; also men, women, and cattle of all kinds, and
beasts of the field; and with their said enchantments, etc., do
utterly extinguish and spoil all vineyards, orchards, meadows,
pastures, grass, green corn, and ripe corn: yea, men and women
themselves are by their imprecations so afflicted with external and
internal pains and diseases that the births of children are but few:
Our pleasure therefore is, that all impediments that may hinder the
inquisitors' office be utterly removed from among the people, lest
this blot of heresy proceed to poison and defile them that may yet be
innocent: And therefore we ordain, by virtue of the apostolical
authority, that our inquisitors may execute the office of inquisition
by all tortures and afflictions, in all places, and upon all persons,
what and wheresoever, as well in every place and diocese as upon any
person; and that as freely as though they were named, expressed, or
cited in this our commission."
Witches have confessed their power to kill a neighbour by a word, a
wish, or a look.
In the wars between the kings of Denmark and Sweden, in 1563, the
Danes wrote that the King of Sweden carried about with him in camp
four old witches, who with their charms so affected the Danes that
they were thereby unable to annoy their enemies. One of the witches,
on being taken prisoner, confessed her guilt.
The West Indians, Muscovites, and Huns sought the help of witches in
time of war.
A band of witches in Italy, in 1536, renewed a plague, then almost
ceased, by besmearing with an ointment and a powder the posts and
doors of men's houses. One of the wicked old hags having been
apprehended and examined, confessed the fact. The like villany was
perpetrated elsewhere about the same time. Weeping and lamentation
were heard in every dwelling for fathers stricken down by death; but,
strange to say, the women escaped injury. Cattle were killed through
wolves' dung being hidden in stalls and among the pasture where they
fed. The stench caused the animals to refrain from eating, and made
them run about as if they were mad.
Witches highly prized, and frequently used in their nefarious art, the
hair growing on the end of a wolf's tail, the brain of a cat, the head
of a lizard, the bone of a green frog from which the flesh had been
eaten by ants. One bone of a frog engendered love, while another bone
caused hatred.
Garments of the dead, candles that had burned before a stiffened
corpse, and needles wherewith dead bodies had been sewn in sheets,
were precious in the eyes of cunning persons.
Witches and magicians had power, by means of charms, to put into the
minds and consciences of men such thoughts as they pleased; and,
moreover, they could induce people to disclose their heart secrets.
Maids hung up a quantity of their hair before the image of St. Urbane,
trusting that by so doing their hair would grow long and yellow.
A holy vest was at times given by the Pope to a faithful son of Mother
Church, to protect him from violence of every description. The manner
of making a charmed waistcoat is thus explained:--On Christmas night,
flax thread was spun by a virgin girl, and afterwards woven by her.
After the garment was sewn by the same little hands which had spun the
thread and woven the cloth, two figures in needlework were wrought on
it to resemble Beelzebub and the Cross. One of these vestments gave
the wearer courage in the hour of danger: witches were unable to harm
him, bullets could not hit him, the sword's edge was turned aside, and
the pointed spear levelled against him proved harmless.
Leo, Pope of Rome, reported that an angel delivered to him the
following holy writing--a charm of inestimable value, as we shall
presently learn:--"+ Jesus, + Christus, + Messias, + Soter, +
Emmanuel, + Sabbath, + Adonii, + Unigenitus, + Majestas, + Paracletus,
+ Salvator Noster, + Agiros Iskiros, + Agios, + Adonatos, + Gasper, +
Melchior, + Mattheus, + Marcus, + Lucas, + Johannes." The angel, so
said Leo, directed him to take it to King Charles when he went to the
battle of Roncesvalles. Moreover, the holy messenger said that
whatever man or woman carried a copy of this writing, and every day
said three paternosters, three aves, and one creed, would not be
overcome by enemies, either bodily or ghostly; nor would the person
thus protected be robbed, or slain by thieves, pestilence, thunder, or
lightning; neither would he be hurt by fire or water.
By the writings of various authors, we gather that both the physician
and priest placed a high value on amulets, charms, and incantations.
Argerius Ferrarius, a celebrated physician, expressed the opinion that
physic might benefit a patient to a certain degree, but that, to
complete a cure, the application of amulets, charms, and characters
was desirable. He cited many cases that came under his own observation
and that of other physicians. Galen expressed the opinion that charms
prevented bones sticking in people's throats.
Physicians skilled in magic applied three seeds of three-leaved grass
to tertian ague, and four to a quartian. Of Homerical medicines,
Argerius Ferrarius writes there are four sorts, whereof amulets,
characters, and charms are three; but he commends and prefers the
fourth, which, he says, consists in illusions or stratagems. He tells
how Philodotus put a cap of lead upon one's head who imagined he was
headless, whereby the person was freed from his delusion. Another
cured a woman, under the impression that a serpent continually gnawed
her entrails, by giving her a vomit, and making her believe that she
vomited a little serpent.
A man who imagined that he was always burning in a fire, had his
illusion dispelled by seeing fire taken out from beneath his bed.
Great stress is put on the alleged fact that hiccough is cured by
sudden fear or startling news, and that agues and many other diseases
may be removed by excitement.
Inescation is a curious method practised for the cure of certain
diseases. The cure may be effected by impregnating a proper medium or
vehicle with some of the mumia or vital spirit of the patient, and
giving it to an inferior animal to swallow. It is pretended that the
animal unites and assimilates the mumia with itself, and imbibes its
vicious qualities, and by that means restores health to the person to
whom the mumia belonged.
Insemination is a cure, in certain respects, not unlike to that of
inescation. It is performed by mixing the medium, impregnated with the
mumia taken from the patient, with earth wherein has been sown the
seed of a plant appropriate to the disease; but care must be taken to
sprinkle it from time to time with water wherein the part affected had
been washed. The disease, we are told, becomes less virulent as the
plant grows.
By pouring molten lead into water held above a sick man, it could be
discovered whether he was bewitched. If his illness arose from wicked
and cruel tormentors, his image appeared in the lead; but if the
disease resulted from natural causes, no distinct impression remained
on the lead.
Montaigne says that it was an Egyptian law that the physician should
for the first three days take charge of his patient at the patient's
own peril, but afterwards at his own. He mentions that, in his time,
physicians gave their pills in odd numbers, appointed remarkable days
in the year for taking medicine, and gathered their simples at certain
hours.
The mode of curing the King's Evil, or scrofula, by royal touch, has
been so often referred to by various writers that we might well pass
it without notice, were it not that our object is to bring together in
these pages the many varied particulars of ancient superstition.
Consequently we shall briefly describe the ceremonies gone through
when sick persons were brought before the king. Let us premise, in the
first place, that all parties are neither agreed as to the time nor
the sovereign who first applied his royal hand to this method of
healing disease. The kings of England and France long pretended to
possess the power of curing scrofula by touching the sore. The right
or faculty, the French people say, existed originally in their
monarch; but the English nation would not admit this, and claimed the
power for their king. In support of England's claim, monkish writers
assert that the virtue was inherent in our kings as early as the days
of Edward the Confessor. Others will have it that King Robert first
exhibited the miraculous gift. Charles VIII. of France touched several
persons at Rome, and cured them. At whatever time the power first
manifested itself is of little importance; and through whatever royal
line it descended need not trouble those alive, seeing, we are
assured, the virtue perished with the last British sovereign of the
House of Stuart. But, to return to the manner of curing the king's
evil, we shall give, as an instance, the method pursued by Charles II.
of England, Scotland, and Ireland, when healing any of his subjects:--
On 14th May 1664 a notice was given that his sacred Majesty would
continue the healing of his people for the evil during the remainder
of that month, and then cease doing so until Michaelmas. His Majesty
sat in state in the banqueting house, and the chirurgeons led the sick
to the throne; there, the invalids kneeling, the monarch stroked their
bodies with his hands. The ceremony being concluded, a chaplain in
attendance said, "He put his hands upon them, and healed them." These
words were repeated as every one was touched. After all the diseased
persons were operated on, another chaplain, kneeling, delivered gold
angels, attached to white ribbons, to his Majesty, who suspended one
about the neck of every one to whom his healing virtue had gone forth.
Prayers being said for the sick, the ceremony concluded by his Majesty
washing his hands in a basin brought to him by the lord chamberlain
and comptroller of the household.
If a monarch could not be found to cure the king's evil, it might have
been effected by the touch of a seventh son, between whom and his
eldest brother no daughter had come to swell the family circle. And
the virtue of healing by laying on of hands existed in particular
noble families of untainted blood.
CHAPTER XLIX.
Precious Stones regarded as Objects of uncommon
Virtue--Extravagance in Jewellery accounted
for--Significance in relation to Gems--Abraham's
Precious Stones--Altars called Living Stones--The Urim
and Thummim--Rod of Moses--Charmed Rings--Sacred Rings
and Belts--Sacred Cairns, etc.--Destiny and Fate--The
Month of one's Nativity has connection with one or
other of the Precious Stones--Examples adduced--Kings
of England hallowing Rings--Ring preserved in
Westminster Abbey--Cramp Rings--Various Stones of
great Virtue--Iona Relics--The Green Stone of Arran--A
Crystal kept by ancient Priests as a Charm--A
Conjuring Beryl--Prophetic Stones--The Coronation
Stone or Stone of Destiny.
From an early period of history man has regarded precious stones as
objects of uncommon virtue. A belief in their excellence has prevailed
among Pagans, Jews, and Christians down to the present period.
Extravagance in jewellery originated not so much from a love of finery
as from a belief that jewels possessed efficacy or power peculiar to
themselves. When we consider that every gem is supposed to be an
amulet, we cannot be surprised at hearing of people in distant lands
wearing jewels on their fingers and toes, on their ankles and arms, in
their noses and ears, and even in their lips; nor can we be astonished
at seeing in modern times the weaker sex loaded with rings, bracelets,
pendants and other such articles, studded with precious stones.
As a language of flowers is known among botanists, so there is a
significance in relation to gems, understood by the credulous. Every
stone has its virtue, at least so we are told, as surely as every
light and shadow produces its own effects. Important events connected
with the lives of great men and memorable circumstances desired to be
kept in remembrance, help to lend importance to sparkling gems and
less ornamental stones. This will be better understood as we proceed.
Descendants of Abraham believed, as will be found under "Rise and
Progress of Superstition," that their great ancestor wore, suspended
from his neck, a precious stone the sight of which cured every
disease. An interesting legend is also given there concerning Abraham
and the stones marching, ready hewn, to find a place in the Kaaba he
was about to build; of the black stone left out, which afterwards
became so famous; and of the stone to which Abraham tied the beast he
rode on when going to sacrifice his son. In that part of our work it
will also be ascertained that altars were called living stones, from a
belief that a portion of divine spirit resided in them.
Josephus and others maintain that the precious stones of Aaron's
breast-plate were the Urim and Thummim, and that they discovered or
predicted the issue of events to those who consulted them; and the
Rabbins held that the rod of Moses consisted partly of sapphire. At
page 27 it will be seen that the Greeks wore charmed rings, and at
pages 7 and 58 we have stated that priests sold charms to credulous
persons. At page 280 we have noticed the custom of negro children
being provided with sacred rings and belts, to protect them from evil
spirits. Again, when treating of magic and astrology, we pointed out
that magicians supplied people with precious stones, supposed to be of
immense value as amulets.
From time immemorial an opinion has obtained that there are sacred
edifices, piles, cairns, and separate stones, which possess peculiar
virtue. Not a few instances of these have been adduced in preceding
pages; but a few more examples, we venture to say, will not be
considered void of interest, more particularly if they can be
connected with the destiny of man.
Every individual is supposed to be born under a particular destiny or
fate (as has been over and over again stated in these pages), which it
is impossible to avoid. The month of his nativity has a mysterious
connection with one or other of the precious stones. This was so well
understood by the ancients, that when one wished to make the object of
his affections an acceptable present, a ring was given, set with the
jewel by which the fate of the receiver was determined and described.
For instance, we are informed by an old author, that the ring of a
woman born in January should have a jacinth or garnet in it, for these
stones belong to that month, and express constancy and fidelity. A
list of the months and stones therewith connected, and their
respective significance, is as follows:--
JANUARY--Jacinth, or Garnet--Constancy and fidelity in
every engagement.
FEBRUARY--Amethyst--This month and stone preserve
mortals from strong passions, and ensure them peace of
mind.
MARCH--Bloodstone--Courage, and success in dangers and
hazardous enterprises.
APRIL--Sapphire or Diamond--Repentance and innocence.
MAY--Emerald--Success in love.
JUNE--Agate--Long life and health.
JULY--Cornelian or Ruby--The forgetfulness or the cure
of evils springing from friendship or love.
AUGUST--Sardonyx--Conjugal fidelity.
SEPTEMBER--Chrysolite--Preserves from or cures folly.
OCTOBER--Aquamarine or Opal--Misfortune and hope.
NOVEMBER--Topaz--Fidelity in friendship.
DECEMBER--Torquoise or Malachite--The most brilliant
success and happiness in every circumstance of life.
The torquoise has also the property of securing
friendly regards, as is verified by the old saying,
"He who possesses a torquoise will always be sure of
friends."
Anciently, the kings of England, on Good Friday, hallowed, with great
ceremony, certain rings the wearing of which was believed to prevent
the falling sickness. The custom originated from a ring, long
preserved in Westminster Abbey, which is reported to have been brought
to King Edward by persons from Jerusalem. The rings consecrated by the
sovereigns were called "cramp rings." Andrew Boorde, speaking of the
cramp, says, "The King's Majesty hath great help in this matter in
hallowing 'cramp rings' without money or petition."
Writing of Fladda Chuan, Martin writes: "There is a chapel in the
isle, dedicated to St. Columbus. It has an altar in the east end, and
therein a blue stone of a round form on it, which is always moist. It
is an ordinary custom, when any of the fishermen are detained in this
isle by contrary winds, to wash the blue stone with water, all round,
expecting thereby to procure a favourable wind. And so great is their
regard for this stone that people swear decisive oaths upon it."
Martin also says it was an ancient custom among the islanders to hang
a he-goat's skin to the boat's mast, in the hope of securing a
favourable wind.
There was a stone in Iona, over which, if a man stretched his arm
three times, he would never err in steering a vessel. In the island of
Bernera there was a stone in the form of a cross, near St. Mary's
Church, about five feet high, which the natives called the water
cross. The old inhabitants were in the practice of erecting it when
they wished rain, and of laying it flat on the ground when they
desired dry weather. Martin further mentions a green stone, about the
size of goose's egg, in the island of Arran, which possessed rare
virtue, and was consequently handed down to posterity for many ages.
By laying it on the side of a person troubled with pains in that part
of his body, the patient immediately recovered, unless doomed to die.
If the latter event were to happen, the stone removed of its own
accord from the side; but if the patient was to recover, it rested
where placed until the cure became complete. Disputed cases between
the islanders were settled by oath at this stone. It possessed another
virtue--causing powerful enemies to run away when it was thrown at
their front. The custody of this valuable relic long remained a
privilege of the Chattans.
In the Highlands of Scotland a large oval crystal--probably a
Cairngorm stone--was kept by the ancient priests by which to work
charms. Water poured upon it was given to the cattle, to preserve them
from disease. Such charms were common in Scotland, England, and
Ireland. Lilly describes a conjuring beryl or crystal. It was, he
tells us, as large as an orange, and set in silver with a cross at the
top, and round about it were engraved the names of the angels Raphael,
Gabriel, and Uriel. A delineation of another charm is engraved in the
frontispiece to Aubrey's _Miscellanies_. A mode of making inquiry by
charms is imputed to Dr. Dee, the celebrated mathematician. The stone
used by him came into the possession of Horace Walpole, and was long,
if not now, in the Strawberry Hill collection. Sorcerers or magicians,
says Grose, did not always employ their art to do mischief, but, on
the contrary, frequently exerted it to cure diseases inflicted by
witches, to discover thieves, recover stolen goods, to foretell future
events, and the state of absent friends. A favourite method of
consultation was this: The conjuror having repeated the necessary
adjuration, and applied the proper charms, with the litany or
invocation peculiar to the spirits or angels whose assistance was to
be asked, the seer looked into a crystal or beryl, wherein he saw, or
pretended he saw, the answers to his interrogatories, represented
either by types or figures. Sometimes the spirits or angels answered
audibly.
This part of our subject would be incomplete without reference to the
Coronation Stone, the history of which is as interesting as it is
curious. We have made mention of a stone or stones, under various
names--Jacob's Pillow, Lia-Fail, Stone of Destiny, Marble Chair,
Coronation Stone, etc. Writers on archæological subjects are not
agreed as to whether all these are or are not different names for one
and the same relic. On the whole, we are inclined to think that there
was but one coronation stone, but we leave that point to be definitely
settled by others. From the information before us, we assume there was
but one stone, and therefore proceed on this assumption, which is
supported by tradition.
The Stone of Destiny, we are told, formed Jacob's pillow on the plain
of Luz, and consequently was regarded as a sacred relic by the Jews.
It was carried to Egypt, thence to Spain, and from the latter country
it was conveyed by Simon Breck to Ireland, where it became known as
the "Lia-Fail" or "Stone of Destiny" of the Irish kings. Ireland is
often, from this stone, called by the priests Innis-phail. The ancient
Irish supposed that, in whatsoever country this stone remained, there
one of their blood would reign. They pretended to have authentic
memoirs of the stone for a period extending backwards more than two
thousand years. In the practical tales of Ossian we find:
"Though the sun glitters upon the heath, I will not
behold her golden rays; though the stag should start
by me, Ossian will chase him no more. Although Manus
should cross the ocean again to invade Albin, my sword
is not victorious in the slaughter, and my fame is not
celebrated by the bards. I am not invited to a feast.
My kiss is scorned by the virgin. My esteem is not
equal to a king's son; one day is like a year to me.
"It was the reverse in Innis-phail, also in Selma, the
mansions of my mighty father: Ossian was honoured
above the rest: behold the uncertainty of everything
under the sun."
After the enchanted stone--for it was regarded as such--had long been
kept at Tarah, it was sent to Fergus, the first actual king of Scots;
and it remained in Argyle (the original seat of the Scots in Britain)
until about the year 842. Three hundred and thirty years before the
Christian era, Fergus was crowned and seated on the famous chair.
Kenneth, the second son of Alpin, having enlarged his dominions by the
conquest of the Picts, transferred the stone to Scone. As the supreme
kings of Ireland and the kings of the Scots used to be inaugurated by
being seated on the ancient chair before it was carried to Scone, so
were the kings at Perth installed into regal office down to the time
that Edward I. carried to England the sacred relic, highly prized by
every Scotchman. As soon as the news of the loss spread, great concern
was manifested. The death of a beloved monarch, or the loss of many
battles, where brave sons and fathers had fallen, would have been as
nothing compared with the national loss sustained. In fact, many in
the highest circles conceived that the glory of the kingdom had
departed.
It appears from a document found among the records of England, that
King Edward treated the relic with great veneration. With the
intention of using it for the same purposes in England as it had been
used for in Scotland and Ireland, he proposed to make it a part of a
throne or royal seat, and ordered his goldsmith to prepare a copper
case for it. He changed his mind, and gave instructions for a wooden
chair being made, and the stone inserted in the seat. Such was the
estimation in which he held the stone, that he placed it in the most
sacred place in England--close to the altar and shrine of St. Edward.
There are reasons for concluding that Edward had intended to return
the stone to Scotland, and had made arrangements to that effect in a
treaty; but the citizens of London, who were anxious to retain the
stone in England, remonstrated against its being restored to the legal
owners, and the king complied with their wishes. This famous "Stone of
Destiny," long sacred in Ireland, and on which the kings of Scotland
were crowned for more than a thousand years, now forms part of the
coronation chair of the kings and queens of England.
When the supreme kings of Ireland were inaugurated, in the times of
heathenism, on the hill of Tarah, the stone, which was enclosed in a
wooden chair, was supposed to emit a sound under the rightful heir to
the throne, but to be mute under a man seeking power under false
pretences. On Aidanus being elected by universal acclamation, and
solemnly seated in the same chair, he was crowned by St. Columba, who
with his right hand placed the diadem on the king's head, while in his
left he held a trumpet or wooden tube, to announce to the assembled
throng the completion of the joyful event. This tube was long
preserved with great care at Dunkeld. Some suppose that the fatality
long assigned to the stone was fully believed in by Kenneth, by whose
orders the following couplet was carved on the chair:--
"Where'er this marble's placed, there, sure as fate,
Shall be the Scottish monarch's regal seat."
Wintoun tells us that Fergus, the son of Ere,
"Braucht this stane wytht-in Scotland
Fyrst quhen he came and wane that land,
And fyrst it set in Ikkolmkil,
And Skune thare-eftir it was braucht tyle;
And there it wes syne mony day,
Qhyll Edward gert have it away."
Without endorsing the opinion that Scotland and Ireland have lost
their wonted power, or suffered decline through the "Prophetic or
Fatal Stone" being carried away, it is an indisputable fact that in
neither of these countries is there, strictly speaking, a "monarch's
regal seat." The "Enchanted Stone"--the "palladium of Scottish
liberty"--is certainly, as the English well know, one of the most
ancient and valuable relics in Westminster Abbey.
TRIALS BY ORDEAL.
CHAPTER L.
Trials by Ordeal resorted to in Modern and Ancient
Times--Ordeal by means of Hot Iron--Plunging the Arm
into Boiling Water or Oil--Walking Blindfold in
Dangerous Places--Weighing a Witch--Extending the Arms
before a Cross--Swallowing Consecrated Bread--Ordeal
among the Hindoos--Touching a Dead Body--A Murdered
Traveller--An Inquest, how conducted long ago--Dead
Henry's Wounds--Sir George M'Kenzie's Opinion of Trial
by Ordeal--Killing a Brother by Sorcery--Touching a
Dead Body--Sir K. Digby on Trial by Ordeal.
Trial by ordeal were resorted to by many people and nations both in
ancient and modern times, with the view of establishing the
criminality or innocence of suspected persons. Among the ordeals may
be enumerated: holding in the hand a red-hot bar of iron, plunging the
arm into boiling water or oil, walking blindfold amidst burning
ploughshares, passing through fires, swallowing a morsel of
consecrated bread, swimming or sinking in water (or, as it was
occasionally termed, weighing a witch), stretching out the arms before
the cross until the sorest wearied competitor dropped his arms, and so
lost his cause, and therewith perhaps his life or his estate, or it
might be both.
* * * * *
A dispute occurred between the Bishop of Paris and the Abbot of St.
Denis about the patronage of a monastery; and Pepin, surnamed the
Short, not being able to decide such an intricate question, decreed
that the matter should be settled by ordeal. Each of the disputants
chose a man, and both the men appeared in a chapel, where they
extended their arms in the form of a cross. Numerous spectators were
present to witness the trial, and betted on the feat. The bishop's
representative dropped his arms first, and thereby ruined his
employer.
Warren Hastings has found, from Asiatic researches, that trial by
ordeal was common among the Hindoos. He says these trials are
conducted in nine ways: first, by the balance; secondly, by fire;
thirdly, by water; fourthly, by poison; fifthly, by the Cósha, or
water in which an idol has been washed; sixthly, by rice; seventhly,
by boiling oil; eighthly, by red-hot iron; ninthly, by images.
"I. Ordeal by the balance is thus performed:--The beam
having been previously adjusted, the cord fixed, and
both scales made perfectly even, the person accused
and a Pandit fast a whole day; then, after the accused
has been bathed in sacred water, the hóma, or
oblation, presented to fire, and the deities
worshipped, he is carefully weighed; and, when he is
taken out of the scale, the Pandits prostrate
themselves, and pronounce a certain mentra or
incantation, agreeably to the Sástras, and having
written the substance of the accusation on a piece of
paper, bind it on his head. Six minutes after, they
place him again in the scale, and, if he weigh more
than before, he is held guilty; if less, innocent; if
exactly the same, he must be weighed a third time;
when, as it is written in the Mitácsherá, there will
certainly be a difference in his weight. Should the
balance break down, it would be considered a proof of
guilt.
"II. For the fire ordeal, an excavation, nine hands
long, two spans broad, and one span deep, is made in
the ground, and filled with a fire of pippal wood:
into this the person accused must walk bare-footed,
and, if his foot be unhurt, they hold him blameless;
if burned, guilty.
"III. Water ordeal is performed by causing the person
accused to stand in a sufficient depth of water,
either flowing or stagnant, to reach his navel; but
care must be taken that no ravenous animal be in it,
and that it be not moved by much air: a Bráhman is
then directed to go into the water, holding a staff in
his hand, and a soldier shoots three arrows on dry
ground from a bow of cane; a man is next despatched to
bring the arrow which has been shot farthest, and,
after he has taken it up, another is ordered to run
from the edge of the water; at which instant the
person accused is told to grasp the foot or the staff
of the Bráhman, who stands near him in the water, and
immediately to dive into it. He must remain under
water till the two men who went to fetch the arrows
are returned; for, if he raise his head or body above
the surface before the arrows are brought back, his
guilt is considered as fully proved. In the villages
near Banáres, it is the practice for the person who is
to be tried by this kind of ordeal to stand in water
up to his navel, and then, holding the foot of a
Bráhman, to dive under it as long as a man can walk
fifty paces very gently; if before the man has walked
thus far the accused rise above the water, he is
condemned; if not, acquitted.
"IV. There are two sorts of trial by poison. First,
the Pandits having performed their hóma, and the
person accused his ablution, two retti's and a half,
or seven barley-corns, of vishanagá, a poisonous root,
or of sanc'hyá, that is, white arsenic, are mixed in
eight máshas, or sixty-four retti's of clarified
butter, which the accused must eat from the hand of a
Bráhman: if the poison produce no visible effect, he
is absolved; otherwise, condemned. Secondly, the
hooded snake, called nága, is thrown into a deep
earthen pot, into which is dropped a ring, a seal, or
a coin; this the person accused is ordered to take out
with his hand; and, if the serpent bite him, he is
pronounced guilty; if not, innocent.
"V. Trial by the cósha is as follows: the accused is
made to drink three draughts of the water in which the
images of the sun, of Dévi, and other deities have
been washed for that purpose; and if within fourteen
days he has any sickness or indisposition, his crime
is considered as proved.
"VI. When several persons are suspected of theft, some
dry rice is weighed with the sacred stone called
sálcrám; or certain slócas are read over it; after
which the suspected persons are severally ordered to
chew a quantity of it: as soon as they have chewed it,
they are to throw it on some leaves of the pippal, or,
if none be at hand, on some b'húrja patra, or bark of
a tree from Népál or Cashmír. The man from whose mouth
the rice comes dry or stained with blood, is holden
guilty; the rest are acquitted.
"VII. The ordeal by hot oil is very simple: when it is
heated sufficiently, the accused thrusts his hand into
it; and, if he be not burned, is held innocent.
"VIII. In the same manner they make an iron ball, or
the head of a lance, red-hot, and place it in the
hands of the person accused; who, if it burn him not,
is judged guiltless.
"IX. To perform the ordeal by dharmárch, which is the
name of the slóca appropriated to this mode of trial,
either an image named Dharma, or the Genius of
Justice, is made of silver, and another, called
Adharma, of clay or iron, both of which are thrown
into a large earthen jar; and the accused, having
thrust his hand into it, is acquitted if he bring out
the silver image, but condemned if he draw forth the
iron; or the figure of a deity is painted on white
cloth, and another on black, the first of which they
name dharma, and the second adharma: these are
severally rolled up in cow-dung, and thrown into a
large jar without having ever been shown to the
accused; who must put his hand into the jar, and is
acquitted or convicted as he draws out the figure on
white or black cloth."
Touching the body of a murdered person was one way, in Scotland,
England, and elsewhere, of discovering who the murderer was. The
practice, we are informed, originated in Denmark. Certain gentlemen in
that kingdom, being together in a house, one evening fell out among
themselves, and from words came to blows. Unfortunately the candles
went out during the fray, and before lights could be procured one of
the gentlemen was stabbed. The murderer was unknown. Christernus II.,
then king, to find out the murderer, caused all who were present at
the brawl to stand around the dead body, and commanded that one after
the other should lay his right hand on the dead man's breast, and
swear that he had not committed the foul deed. The gentlemen complied;
and no sign appeared to indicate the guilt of any of them, until the
king's pursuivant kissed the feet of the corpse, and laid his hand on
the breast. As soon as he did so, the blood gushed out in great
abundance from the wound and nostrils. Thus condemned, the pursuivant
confessed his guilt. By the king's sentence, the criminal was
beheaded. Hence arose the practice, which was long common in many
places, of finding out unknown murders. In most cases the murderer was
discovered by the corpse bleeding the instant the bloodstained hand
was placed on the cold inanimate clay, but at times the sign was given
by the dead man opening his eyes on the slayer approaching the corpse.
A traveller was found murdered on a highway in Denmark; and because
the slayer was unknown, the magistrates of the place caused one of the
hands of him that was slain to be cut off, and hung up by a string at
the top of a room in the town prison. About ten years after the crime
was committed, the murderer happened to enter the apartment; and as
soon as he did so, the dry withered hand began to drop blood on a
table below it. The gaoler, beholding this, detained the man and
called in the magistrates, who extracted from him a confession of his
guilt.
In Herefordshire, in the time of Charles I., Johan Norkett, wife of
Arthur Norkett, was found dead. At first it was thought she had
committed suicide, but afterwards circumstances transpired which led
to the belief that the unfortunate woman did not lay violent hands
upon herself. A jury was summoned, and, after deliberation, the
coroner directed that the body, which had been buried for a month,
should be exhumed, and four suspected persons brought to touch the
corpse. The persons being afterwards brought to trial at the assizes,
an old minister swore that, the body being taken out of the grave and
laid on the grass, the accused were required to touch it. On laying
their hands on the brow, which before was of a livid and carrion
colour, it began to have a dew or gentle sweat upon it, which
increased by degrees until the sweat ran down the face. The brow then
turned to a lifelike and flesh colour, and the dead woman opened one
of her eyes and shut it again, and this opening the eye was done three
times. She likewise thrust out the ring or marriage finger three
times, and the finger dropped blood on the grass. Another clergyman
corroborated the statement of the first witness. Sir Nicholas Hyde
threw doubt on the correctness of the evidence, but the jury found
three of the prisoners guilty of murder, and two of them were
executed; the third being a woman, escaped with her life.
The popular superstition that the wounds of a murdered person would
bleed afresh when touched by the murderer, is thus referred to by
Shakspeare:
"Dead Henry's wounds
Open their congealed mouths, and bleed afresh;"
And Dryden says:
"If the vile actors of the heinous deed
Near the dead body happily be brought,
Oft hath been proved the breathless corpse will bleed."
That murder might be discovered in the way referred to, was generally
believed in Scotland in the seventeenth century. Sir George Mackenzie,
when conducting the prosecution in the trial of Philip Stansfield,
said: "That divine power which makes the blood circulate during life,
has oft-times, in all nations, opened a passage to it after death upon
such occasions, but most in this case; for after the wounds had been
sewed up, and the body designedly shaken up and down, and, which is
most wonderful, after the body had been buried for several days, which
naturally occasions the blood to congeal, upon Philip touching it, the
blood darted and sprang out, to the great astonishment of the
chirurgeons themselves, who were desired to watch this event;
whereupon Philip, astonished more than they, threw down the body, and
became so faint that they were forced to give him a cordial."
In the middle of the seventeenth century, Christina Wilson was
accused, in one of the supreme courts of Scotland, of having killed
her brother by sorcery. On being suspected of the crime by the
minister and others, she was brought in to touch the corpse. At the
first sight of the dead body, she prayed that He who made the sun to
shine on their house would bring the murder to light, and immediately
thereafter she touched the corpse. It bled, though it did not do so
before when touched by others. Of course this was held sufficient
proof against the unfortunate woman, and she suffered according to her
supposed guilt.
In another case a man was condemned on similar evidence for the murder
of his father; but the prisoner insisted that the bleeding was owing
to an incision made on the body, and not to his presence. The defence
was disregarded; but this need not be a matter of surprise, when such
men as Sir K. Digby and Sir George Mackenzie took it for granted that
the corpse of a murdered person would bleed on being touched by the
murderer. He (Sir K. Digby) says in his _Religio Medica_: "And to this
cause, peradventure, may be ascribed the strange effect which is
frequently seen in England, when, at the approach of the murderer, the
slain body suddenly bleedeth afresh: for certainly the souls of them
that are treacherously murdered by surprise leave their bodies with
extreme unwillingness, and with vehement indignation against them that
forced them to so unprovided and abhorred a passage. The soul then, to
wreak its evil talent against the hated murderer, and to draw a just
and desired revenge upon his head, would do all it can to manifest the
author of the fact. To speak it cannot, for in itself it wanteth
organs of voice, and those it is parted from are now grown too heavy,
and are too benumbed for it to give motion unto; yet some change it
desireth to make in the body, which it hath so vehement inclination
to, and therefore it is the aptest for it to work upon. It must then
endeavour to cause a motion in the sublimest and most fluid parts (and
consequently the most moveable ones) of it. This can be nothing but
the blood, which, being violently moved, must needs gush out at those
places where it findeth issues."
The swallowing of a piece of barley bread, over which mass had been
performed, was not unfrequent in trials of ordeal. If the suspected
person swallowed the bread without injury, he was declared innocent;
but if the bread choked him in the attempt to swallow it, then was he
considered to be guilty. At times cheese was given with the bread; but
when that was done, it was essential to supply ewe-milk cheese made in
the month of May.
CHAPTER LI.
A Popular Story--Ordeal of Red-hot Iron--Ordeal by
Boiling Water--Theatberge, wife of Lothaire, accused
of Incest--Purgation by Cold Water--Forbes's
Memoirs--Ordeals by Boiling Oil--Trial by Wager of
Battle--When Trial by Wager of Battle ceased--Trial by
Jury--Combats in Germany--Bier placed near the
Combatants--Court of King's Bench deciding the
Legality of Trial by Battle--Sir Walter Scott's
Illustrations of Superstition and Trial by Battle in
Olden Times.
A popular story is told of Emma, mother of Edward the Confessor, being
accused of too great familiarity with the Bishop of Leicester. To
justify herself, she demanded the ordeal of red-hot iron. Her demand
was complied with, and she passed barefooted and blindfolded over nine
red-hot ploughshares without touching them. Her innocence was thereby
held to be proved.
Nobles and great persons who submitted to ordeal by water were purged
by boiling water, but the populace had to undergo the cold-water test.
Theatberge, wife of Lothaire of France, having been accused of incest,
certain bishops were consulted as to the manner of establishing her
guilt or innocence; and they concluded that recourse should be had to
proof by boiling water. She was ordered to plunge her hand into a
basin of boiling water, and take out a ring put therein. In place of
complying, she availed herself of a privilege the law allowed--to find
a substitute. He whom she chose produced the ring without injuring his
hand, in spite of the fire under the caldron being so intense that the
water boiled over.
In the trial or purgation by cold water, the accused, after prayers
and other ceremonies, was cast into deep water, swaddled or tied in
such a manner as to make it impossible for him or her to swim. If the
accused sank, he or she was held criminal, and allowed to drown. If
the person floated, it was regarded as a proof of innocence, and the
lucky one was drawn out of the water to be set free.
Mr. Forbes, in his _Oriental Memoirs_, says that, among the curious
circumstances connected with his administration of justice at
Dheeborg, he was sometimes obliged to determine causes by ordeal
trial. In one instance a man was accused of stealing a child wearing
many jewels. Circumstances were against him, on which he demanded
trial by ordeal. Mr. Forbes was at first averse to adopt such a
measure, but, at the request of the Hindoo arbitrators, who sat on the
carpet of justice, and especially at the request of the child's
parents, he consented. A vessel full of boiling oil was brought into
the durbar, and, after a short ceremony by the Brahmins, the accused
person, without showing any anxiety, plunged his hand to the bottom
and took out a small silver coin. He did not appear to have sustained
any hurt, or to suffer the least pain. The suspected person's
innocence being thus established in the eyes of the arbitrators and
parents, he was set free.
Another instance of trial by ordeal is mentioned by Mr. Forbes. The
coolies of a village in the northern part of Guzerat were accused of
having seized and imprisoned a Bohra, and, of extorting a bond from
him for 450 rupees. The chief, a Khemaria coolie, named Wagajee,
denied the charge, and, for proof of his innocence and that of his
people, offered to submit to trial by any kind of ordeal. The Bohra
agreed to this mode of proof, and it was determined that the coolie
should immerse his hand in a vessel of boiling oil. A large copper-pot
full of oil was put on a fire in the market place, and a pair of
blacksmith's bellows applied to blow the fire until the oil became
very hot. A rupee was then thrown into the pot. The accused, when
requested, came forward, stripped himself, said his prayers, and
protested his innocence. He resisted every attempt to dissuade him
from the trial. A crowd of people, impressed with the awfulness of
such an immediate appeal to the deity, prayed devoutly that, if he
were not guilty, he might pass through the test unhurt. Wagajee walked
up to the boiling oil, dipped his hand into it, and laid hold of the
rupee. He then held up his hand, that the spectators might satisfy
themselves of his veracity. His hand appeared as if it had been merely
put into cold oil. All parties were satisfied, and Wagajee was
dismissed with the present of a new turban.
Trial by ordeal was introduced into England by the Saxons. Under the
English laws, a prisoner might choose whether he would be tried by
ordeal or by jury. Trial by ordeal was abolished in this country in
the year 1218.
Trial by or wager of battle may be mentioned as a form of superstition
which remained as a legal way of deciding criminal cases down to the
time of George III.
In 1817 a young man, charged with murdering his sweetheart in England,
claimed the right to have his case decided by wager of battle: the
court admitted the claim, but he whose right it was to accept the
challenge refused to fight, and so the accused escaped punishment.
This led to the law, which allowed trial by battle, being repealed in
1819.
Before commencing the fight, the combatants were compelled to swear
that neither of them would resort to sorcery or witchcraft. If the
accused were slain, the judges regarded the fatal deed as proof of his
guilt. If overpowered, but not killed, he was adjudged guilty, and
sentenced to be immediately executed. Women, priests, infants, men
sixty years of age, or lame or blind, had it in their option to refuse
wager of battle, and were entitled to demand trial by jury.
An old author says: "If two neighbours dispute respecting the
boundaries of their possessions, let a piece of turf of the contested
land be dug up by the judge, and brought by him into the court, and
the two parties shall touch it with the points of their swords,
calling on the Most High to witness their claims. After this let them
combat, and let victory prove who is right and who is wrong."
Sir Walter Scott gives a good illustration of the superstition of
olden times, and of trial by battle, in _Ivanhoe_. We are told that
after Ivanhoe was wounded at the tournament, Rebecca, the Jewess, lost
no time in causing the patient to be removed to her father's dwelling,
and with her own hands bound up his wounds. The Jews, both male and
female, possessed and practised the medical science; and the monarchs
and powerful barons of the time, says the novelist, frequently, when
wounded or in sickness, committed themselves as patients to the charge
of an experienced person among the despised people. A general belief
prevailed among Christians that the Jewish rabbins were acquainted
with the occult sciences, and particularly with the cabalistical art.
The rabbins did not disavow such acquaintance with supernatural arts.
Rebecca's knowledge of the healing art had been acquired under an aged
Jewess, the daughter of a celebrated doctor. Miriam fell a sacrifice
to the fanaticism of the times, but her secrets had survived in her
apt pupil. The wounded knight, as might be expected, recovered under
the medical treatment of Rebecca. For this she was accused of working
cures by words, sigils, and other cabalistical mysteries.
"Nay, reverend and brave knight," answered Isaac, Rebecca's father, in
reply to Beaumanoir, who brought the charge against the Jewess, "but in
chief measure by a balsam of marvellous virtue;" and in reply to
another question, Isaac reluctantly told that Rebecca had obtained her
secret from Miriam, whom the Grand Master designated a witch and
enchantress, whose body had been burned at a stake, and her ashes
scattered to the four winds. "The laws of England," exclaimed
Beaumanoir, "permit and enjoin each judge to execute justice within
his own jurisdiction. The most petty baron may arrest, try, and
condemn a witch found within his own domain.... The witch shall be
taken out of the land, and the wickedness thereof shall be forgiven.
Prepare the castle-hall for the trial of the sorceress."
Poor Rebecca was brought before the Grand Master, charged with various
crimes. "We have," said the Master, "summoned to our presence a Jewish
woman, by name Rebecca, daughter of York--a woman infamous for
sortileges and for witcheries; whereby she hath maddened the blood,
and besotted the brain, not of a churl, but of a knight--not of a
secular knight, but of one devoted to the service of the holy
temple--not of a knight champion, but of a preceptor.... By means of
charms and of spells, Satan had obtained dominion over the knight,
perchance because he cast his eyes too lightly upon a damsel's
beauty."
Witnesses being invited by the Grand Master, forward came a once
bedridden man, whom the prisoner had restored to the perfect use of
his limbs by a miraculous balsam. Unwillingly he testified to Rebecca
curing him, giving him a pot of spicy smelling ointment, and supplying
him with money to pay his expenses to his father's house, whither he
wished to repair. Other witnesses deponed that Rebecca muttered to
herself in an unknown tongue, that the songs she sang were peculiarly
sweet, that her garments were of a strange mystic form, and that she
had rings with cabalistic devices. A soldier testified that he had
seen her cure a wounded man in a mysterious way. He said she made
certain signs upon the wound, and repeated words he understood not.
The result, he declared, was that the iron head of a cross-bow bolt
disengaged itself from the wound, the bleeding was staunched, the
wound closed, and the seemingly dying man was within a quarter of an
hour walking upon the ramparts. Another soldier deponed that he had
seen Rebecca perch herself upon a high turret, and there take the form
of a white swan, under which appearance she flitted three times round
the castle of Torquailstone. Again she settled on the turret, and once
more assumed her womanly form. The evidence was considered more than
enough to condemn the unhappy Jewess; and in a solemn tone the Grand
Master demanded what she had to say against sentence of condemnation
being pronounced against her. Rebecca knew the law; she maintained her
innocence, claimed the privilege of trial by combat, and offered to
appear by a champion.
Brian de Bois-Gilbert was appointed to do battle on behalf of himself
and the order of knights to which he belonged; and the day came when
the die would be cast that was to decide the fate of Rebecca. At the
castle of Templestowe everything was prepared by the prosecutor for
the combat, but for poor Rebecca no champion appeared. Near the lists
was a pile of faggots so arranged around a stake as to leave a space
for the accused to enter within the fatal circle, chained by fetters,
in order to be ready for the fiery punishment. At the hour appointed
for the champions to meet, the large bell of St. Michael tolled
mournfully, the drawbridge fell, the gates opened, and a knight,
bearing a great standard, sallied forth from the castle, preceded by
six trumpeters, and followed by the knights preceptors, the Grand
Master coming behind. Then came Brian de Bois-Gilbert, armed
_cap-à-pie_, accompanied by two godfathers and many squires and pages.
After these followed a guard of warders, with the trembling Jewess,
stripped of all her ornaments, lest there should be among them
amulets, which Satan was supposed to bestow upon his victims, to
deprive them of the power of confession, even when under torture.
While the Grand Master took his exalted seat, the unfortunate culprit
was conducted to the black chair, near the ready prepared pile.
Everything being arranged, a loud and long flourish of trumpets
announced that the proceedings of the court were to begin. Brian de
Bois-Gilbert stood ready for the combat, but a champion was still
wanting for the appellant. Lest Jew or Pagan should charge the court
with injustice, the Grand Master declared his readiness to wait till
the shadows were in the west, to see if a champion would appear for
the culprit. But the general belief prevailed that no one would stand
up for her; and the craven knights whispered to each other, when the
day was far gone, that the time had come for declaring the pledge of
Rebecca forfeited. At this instant, a knight, urging his horse
forward, appeared on the plain advancing towards the lists. A hundred
voices exclaimed, "A champion! a champion!" Yes, it was a champion,
the renowned Wilfred of Ivanhoe. "Rebecca," said he, riding up to the
black chair, "dost thou accept me for thy champion?" The answer was in
the affirmative. Little time was now lost; the champions confronted
each other. Trumpets sounded, and the knights charged in full career.
The wearied horse of Ivanhoe, and its no less exhausted rider, went
down, as all had expected, before the well-aimed lance and vigorous
steed of the Templar. This result all had foreseen; but although the
spear of Ivanhoe did but lightly touch the shield of Bois-Gilbert,
that combatant reeled in his saddle, lost his stirrups, and fell in
the lists. Ivanhoe, extricating himself from his fallen horse, was
soon on foot, hastening to mend his fortune by the sword; but his
antagonist rose not. Wilfred, placing his foot on his opponent's
breast, and the sword's point to his throat, commanded him to yield,
or die on the spot. Bois-Gilbert returned no answer. The fallen knight
was unhelmed. His eyes were closed--he was dead, supposed to have died
a victim to the violence of his own passions. When the first moments
of surprise were over, the Grand Master pronounced the maiden free and
guiltless.
The conclusion of this story is touching in the extreme. Soon after
this Ivanhoe and the Lady Ravena were married. On the second morning
after the nuptials, Rebecca waited on the Lady of Ivanhoe, and
presented her with a small silver casket containing jewels of great
value; and leaving a message to her champion, who never ceased to
remember her, she hastened away to other lands, to tend the sick, feed
the hungry, and relieve the distressed.
CURSES AND EVIL WISHES.
CHAPTER LII.
Curses, Excommunication, and Anathemas--Diræ, the
Executioners of Vengeance--Curses and Anathemas not
confined to the Vulgar--Excommunication generally
accompanied by Anathema--Excommunicated Persons lost
their Civil Rights--Heretics forfeited their
Lives--Interment of Excommunicated
Persons--Excommunication among the Hebrews--Different
Degrees of Excommunication--Solemn Curses pronounced
against Impenitent Persons--Stone laid on an Accursed
Person's Coffin--Last Degree of Excommunication
sometimes followed by Banishment or Death--Form of
Excommunication used by Ezra and Nehemiah when they
cursed the Samaritans--Death upon the Cross, Sawing
asunder, and other Punishments--Mode of Punishment
among the Romans, Greeks, and Persians--The Greek
Church annually excommunicated Roman Catholics--The
Druids resorted to Excommunication--Whole Families
excommunicated with Horrible Ceremonies and Dreadful
Imprecations--Bishops excommunicating Rats, Mice,
Caterpillars, and other Insects and Vermin--The Pope's
Claim--Napoleon I. excommunicated--Victor Emmanuel
excommunicated--Effects of Excommunication--The
Inquisition and its Terrible Doings--The Pope's
Fearful Curse--Mr. Donald Cargill excommunicating the
King and Nobles--Indulgences, Pardons, and Penance.
Curses, excommunication, and anathemas have often been followed by sad
consequences; but whether arising directly or indirectly from the
denunciations, we do not say. Ancient nations had their goddesses
Diræ, who were supposed to be the executioners of vengeance. They were
called Furies on earth, and Eumenides in hell. These goddesses were
invoked with prayers and charms. Curses and anathemas were not in
former ages confined to the vulgar classes of persons, such as in the
present time. Imprecations were hurled out by the priest and prophet,
by the educated and uneducated, by professed Christian laymen, by the
heathen, by the wandering gipsies, and the croaking crones.
Excommunication is generally accompanied by anathema, or
ecclesiastical curse, and punishment, whereby a heretic is not only
cut off from the society of the faithful, but is consigned to Satan,
that condign punishment may follow. Sixty penalties have been reckoned
as accruing upon excommunication. Major excommunication separates or
cuts off the delinquent from all communion and fellowship with
society--disables him from defending his civil rights. In more than
one kingdom, a person who is not absolved from his excommunication in
a year's time is deemed a heretic; and we know the punishment dealt
out to such persons. Even in our own country, before the time of
Charles II., a heretic forfeited his life, and generally expiated his
guilt at the stake.
By law, an excommunicated person was not allowed to be interred
according to the ordinary form and rites of burial, but the body was
flung into a pit, or covered with a heap of stones called _imblocare
corpus_. There was a time when the people believed that the bodies of
excommunicated persons not absolved did not rot, but remained entire
for ages, a horrible spectacle to posterity. This is attested by
Matthew Paris and other writers. The Greeks, till recently,
entertained the same opinion.
In the Hebrew republic the punishment of excommunication was devised
by courts of justice, and inflicted by public sentence upon the
offenders. There were three degrees of excommunication among the Jews:
the first was a casting out of the synagogue, and implied a separation
from all commerce and society, either with man or woman, for the
distance of four cubits; also from eating or drinking with any one;
from shaving, washing, or the like, according to the pleasure of the
judge and the seriousness of the offence. It was in force for thirty
days, unless there was repentance expressed and forgiven.
If the sinner remained impenitent longer than thirty days, he was
sentenced to more severe punishment, with the addition of a solemn
curse. This is supposed to be the same as delivering over to Satan.
The offence was published in the synagogue, and, at the time of the
publication of the curse, candles were lighted, and when it was
extended they were extinguished, as a sign that the excommunicate was
deprived of the light of heaven. His goods were confiscated; his male
children were not permitted to be circumcised. If he died without
repentance, a stone, according to judicial sentence, was cast upon his
coffin or bier, to show that he deserved to be stoned. He was not
mourned for with solemn lamentation, nor followed to the grave, nor
buried with common burial.
The last degree of excommunication was anathematising, which was
inflicted when the offender had often refused to comply with the
sentence of court, and was followed by corporal punishment, and often
with banishment or death. Drusius gives a form of excommunication
which, the Jews say, was used by Ezra and Nehemiah against the
Samaritans, in this manner:--The whole congregation was assembled in
the Temple, and there were brought three hundred priests, three
hundred boys, three hundred trumpets, and three hundred books of the
law, and the Levites, singing, cursed the Samaritans by all forms of
excommunication, particularly with the curse of the superior house of
judgment, and with the curse of the inferior house of judgment. At the
same time it was commanded that no Israelite should partake of a
Samaritan's food. Hence arose the saying in reference to the breaker
of this commandment: "He who eats a Samaritan's bread is as he who
eats swine's flesh." Moreover, it was decreed that the excommunicate
should have no part in the resurrection of the dead.
There were other punishments introduced among the Hebrews in later
times of their government, which were borrowed from other nations.
These were principally, death upon the cross, sawing asunder,
condemnation to fight with wild beasts, the wheel, drowning in the
sea, beating to death with cudgels, and boating. The first and third
punishments were properly Roman inflictions; the second was likewise
used by the Romans, but whether it was originally taken from them is
doubtful; the fourth and sixth were Grecian penalties; the fifth was,
in substance, in use among the Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, but in the
manner of drowning they differed, for the Hebrews tied a mill-stone
about the culprit's neck; the last punishment was derived from the
Persians, and is thus described:--The condemned person was laid upon
his back in a boat, with his hands tied to the sides thereof; another
boat was put over him, covering all his body except the head. In this
posture the unhappy person was fed with milk and honey till the worms
ate his very bowels, and thereby ended his days in extreme pain.
Every year the Greek Church, at Constantinople, pronounces
excommunication against the Roman Catholic Church. Heathens as well as
Christians resorted to excommunication. The Druids made use of
excommunication against rebels, and interdicted the communication of
their mysteries to such as refused to submit to their judgments.
In the Christian Church, excommunication has been practised in all
ages, and ecclesiastics have had continual recourse to it as one of
their spiritual weapons. Not only have they excommunicated
individuals, but whole families and provinces have come under their
law, with horrible ceremonies and dreadful imprecations. Even kings
have not escaped the Church's maledictions. Fevret, writing of
excommunications in the Romish Church, says that lighted torches were
at times thrown on the ground, with curses and anathemas, and then
trampled out while bells were rung. This is somewhat similar to part
of the ceremony of excommunication by bell, book, and candle, to be
afterwards more particularly described.
There are instances of bishops excommunicating caterpillars and other
insects; and Fevret gives instances of excommunications going out
against rats and mice. It sometimes happened that popes and churches
excommunicated one another, each cutting off the other from the
communication of the faithful, and delivering over the anathematised
person or church to the devil. In 850 the synod of Pavia resolved that
all who refused to submit to the discipline of the Church should be
anathematised, and cut off from every Christian hope and consolation.
For fifteen centuries the Pope has claimed the power of disposing of
men's souls as seems best to him. Whom he blesses, he says, are
blessed; and whom he curses, he would make us believe, are cursed. He
arrogates to himself the authority of holding the keys of heaven and
hell.
In 1809 the Pope excommunicated Napoleon I., and in 1860 his Holiness
excommunicated Victor Emmanuel, king of Italy--sentences which implied
spiritual condemnation, and deprivation of earthly power. The subjects
of an excommunicated king were freed from allegiance to their
sovereign. It is supposed the Pope's power extends so far that he may
pronounce excommunication against the dead, even to the debarring of
deceased persons from being cleansed from their sins in purgatory, and
the consigning of them to the place of eternal punishment.
Terror and amazement followed the footsteps of the inquisitionists.
They proceeded with the greatest secrecy and silence. When a heretic
was seized, the world abandoned him; his nearest friends durst not say
a word in his defence. The heretical criminals were generally arrested
in the stillness of night, examined, tortured, and, unless they
recanted, condemned and executed without seeing or knowing who were
their accusers. Usually the accused persons were tortured until they
condemned themselves; and although witnesses were sometimes examined,
the form of procedure was a mockery of justice.
As a convincing proof of how dreadful the Romish Church's anathemas
are, we give the Pope's fearful curse, taken from a form of
excommunication copied from the "Leger Book" of the church of
Rochester, long in the custody of the dean and chapter there:--
"By the authority of God Almighty, the Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, and of the holy canons, and of the
undefiled Virgin Mary, the mother and patroness of our
Saviour, and of all the celestial virtues, angels,
archangels, thrones, dominions, powers, cherubims and
seraphims, and of the holy patriarchs, prophets, and
of all the apostles and evangelists, and of the holy
innocents who in the sight of the Holy Lamb are found
worthy to sing the new song, of the holy martyrs and
holy confessors, and of the holy virgins, and of all
the saints, and together with all the holy and elect
of God: we excommunicate and anathematise him or them,
malefactor or malefactors, and from the threshold of
the holy church of God Almighty we sequester them,
that he or they may be tormented, disposed and
delivered over with Dathan and Abiram, with those who
say to the Lord God, Depart from us, we desire not Thy
ways. And as fire is quenched with water, so let the
light of him or them be put out for evermore, unless
it shall repent him or them, and they make
satisfaction. Amen. May the Father who created man,
curse him or them. May the Son, who suffered for us,
curse him or them. May the Holy Ghost, who was given
to us in baptism, curse him or them. May the holy
cross of Christ, for our salvation triumphing over his
enemies, ascend and curse him or them. May the eternal
and holy Virgin Mary, mother of God, curse him or
them. May St. Michael, the advocate of holy souls,
curse him or them. May all the angels and archangels,
principalities and powers, and all the heavenly host,
curse him or them. May the laudable number of
patriarchs and prophets curse him or them. May St.
John, the chief forerunner and baptist of Christ,
curse him or them. May St. Peter and St. Paul, and St.
Andrew, and all other Christ's apostles, together with
the rest of his disciples and evangelists, who by
their preaching converted the universal world, curse
him or them. May the holy and wonderful company of
martyrs and confessors, who by their holy works are
found pleasing to God Almighty, curse him or them. May
the holy choir of the holy virgins, who for the honour
of Christ have despised the things of this world,
curse him or them. May all the saints, who from the
beginning of the world to everlasting ages are found
to be the beloved of God, curse him or them. May the
heavens and the earth, and all the holy things
remaining thereon, curse him or them. May he or they
be cursed wherever he or they be, whether in their
house, or in their field, or in the highway, or in the
path, or in the wood, or in the water, or in the
church. May he or they be cursed in living, in dying,
in eating, in drinking, in being hungry, in being
thirsty, in fasting, in sleeping, in slumbering, in
waking, in walking, in standing, in sitting, in lying,
in working, in resting, in * * * * in * * * * and in
blood-letting. May he or they be cursed in all the
faculties of their body. May he or they be cursed
inwardly and outwardly. May he or they be cursed in
the hair of his or their head. May he or they be
cursed in his or their brain. May he or they be cursed
in the top of his or their head, in their temples, in
their foreheads, in their ears, in their eyebrows, in
their cheeks, in their jaw-bones, in their nostrils,
in their teeth or grinders, in their lips, in their
throat, in their shoulders, in their wrists, in their
arms, in their hands, in their fingers, in their
breast, in their heart, and in the interior parts to
the very stomach, in their veins, in their groin, in
their thighs, in their genitals, in the hips, in the
knees, in the legs, in the feet, in the joints, and in
the nails. May he or they be cursed in all their
joints, from the top of the head to the sole of the
foot. May there not be any soundness in him or them.
May the Son of the Living God, with all the glory of
His Majesty, curse him or them; and may heaven, with
all the powers which move therein, rise against him or
them, to damn him or them, unless he or they shall
repent, or that he or they shall make satisfaction.
Amen, Amen. So be it."
The superstition connected with excommunication was not confined to
the churches and nations already mentioned. It extended to the
Reformed Churches, and indeed this form of superstition lingers among
them still. A most enthusiastic Reformer (the Rev. Donald Cargill),
eminent in his day for piety and learning, who suffered martyrdom in
1681, scrupled not, a year before his death, to excommunicate at
Torwood, Stirlingshire, several of the most notable and violent
persecutors of the time--the King, the Dukes of York, Monmouth,
Lauderdale, and Rothes, Sir George Mackenzie, and Sir Thomas Dalzell.
If Mr. Cargill did not curse others whom he thought had done him and
the cause of truth wrong, he predicted that evil would befall them;
and what he foretold came to pass. He told James Irvine of Bonshaw,
who apprehended him shortly before his execution, that his persecutor
would not long escape a just judgment, not far from the place the
arrest was made. This prediction was verified; for soon after Irvine
had received 5000 merks as a reward for apprehending Mr. Cargill, he
was killed in a duel near Lanark. One John Nesbet mockingly said one
day to Mr. Cargill, "Will you not give us a word?" The reverend divine
looked on the man with concern, while he said, "Wicked, poor man, mock
not; ere you die you shall desire one word, but shall not have it."
Soon after, this man was struck dumb, and died in great terror. When
Rothes, one of those whom Mr. Cargill excommunicated, threatened him
with torture and a violent death, he said, "Forbear to threaten me;
for, die what death I may, your eyes shall not see it." This prophecy
also came to pass. Rothes died, as is well known, a few hours before
the condemned divine and his fellow-martyrs suffered the last penalty
of man's law--death temporal.
One can easily imagine the terror into which a weak-minded person
would be cast by having the Pope's dire curses pronounced against him,
were it not known that he who is authorised to fulminate the
ecclesiastical censure and bans, may, for a moderate pecuniary
consideration, or by a mortification of the flesh, or good works, have
the woes pronounced against him mitigated, if not entirely removed.
Indulgences have been purchasable since the early centuries for this
world, and for the remission of suffering in purgatory as well. Those
most acquainted with the holy places in Rome are best able to make
known the facilities with which indulgences are obtained. There is
scarcely a church or a station, a convent or a holy place, neither is
there hardly a service or a ceremony, which has not its own peculiar
indulgences. Indulgences for hundreds of years may be secured by the
exercises of a single day. The holy stairs, wherever they are
situated, said to have belonged to the palace of Pontius Pilate,
consisting of twenty-eight steps, possess peculiar virtue. Leo IV.
conceded nine years' indulgence for each step ascended by a devotee on
his bare knees. Thus, he who reaches the highest step secures an
indulgence of two hundred and fifty-two years, whether he remains
here, or finds himself in purgatory. Whoever kisses a cross at one end
of the Colosseum of Rome, acquires an indulgence of one year and forty
days; and there is a wooden cross in the centre of the arena, which
secures an indulgence of two hundred days to every one who kisses it.
Leo XII. conceded for ever an indulgence of forty years and one
thousand six hundred days, applicable also to the dead, for every time
a faithful believer visits, during Lent, the churches where there are
prescribed stations. He also conceded a plenary indulgence to all who
have made such visits three times in three distinct days. For the
information of all good Catholics, a carefully prepared index has been
drawn up, showing the churches and stations which should be visited,
together with the most effectual times of repairing thither. In
conclusion, we give the following examples, to illustrate the system
of procuring indulgences by pilgrimage to sacred places:--
Thus a visit "on January 1 to a station at S. Marie,
in Transtevere, secures an indulgence of 30 years and
1200 days."
"On Ash Wednesday, to S. Tabina, an indulgence of 15
years and 600 days.
"On the following Thursday, to S. Georgio, in Velabro,
an indulgence of 10 years and 400 days.
"On the fourth Sunday in Lent, to S. Croce, an
indulgence of 15 years and 600 days.
"On Palm Sunday, to S. Giovanni, in the Laterno, an
indulgence of 25 years and 1000 days.
"On holy Thursday, to S. Giovanni, a plenary
indulgence.
"On holy Friday, to S. Croce, an indulgence of 30
years and 1200 days.
"On Easter Sunday, to S. Marie Maggiore, a plenary
indulgence.
"On Easter Monday, to S. Pietro, in Vaticano, an
indulgence of 30 years and 1200 days.
"On Thursday, Ascension-day, to S. Pietro, a plenary
indulgence.
"On Wednesday, to Pietro Vaticano, an indulgence of 30
years and 1200 days."
CHAPTER LIII.
St. Adelbert's Curse a Charm against
Thieves--Complexion of Blackamoors attributed to a
Curse of Noah--False Accusation, and its
Results--Preservation of Children--A Joyful
Mother--Ancestors of the Whelphs and Guelphs of
Germany--An Interesting Legend--A Curse turned into a
Blessing--A Gipsy's Curse--A Cruel Father and
Husband--Morrar-na-Shean's Despair--Bitter
Grief--Restoration of Three Daughters--A Grateful
Father--Ancestors of the Sinclairs of Caithness, and
of the noble family of Keith--The Curse of Moy--A
Cruel Chieftain of Clan Chattan--A Lady's Dilemma--A
Father yielding up his Life--Swearing by the Hand of a
Bride--Grant of Glenmorriston waiting his Doom--Death
of a Father and Lover--An Imprisoned
Maiden--Maledictions and Prediction--Lady leaping from
a Lofty Tower into a Lake beneath--The Monroes of
Foulis--Foraying Expedition--An Unreasonable
Request--End of a Relentless Tyrant--Prediction
fulfilled.
St. Adelbert's curse was a charm against thieves. It was full of
cursing against dishonest persons, and prayers that they might have
their share with Dathan and Abiram, whom the earth swallowed up, and
have their part with Judas. Thieves were to be cursed in their houses,
fields, and everywhere; they were to be denied Christian burial; yea,
the very ground in which they rested was to be cursed. Their bodies,
in all their separate parts, and their children, were damned; and as
Lucifer was expelled out of heaven, and Adam and Eve driven from
Paradise, so they were sought to be expelled from the light of day.
The terrible curse was pronounced with bell, book, and candle; and
concluded with this fearful denunciation: "And as the candle, which is
thrown out of my hand here, is put out, so let their works and their
souls be quenched in the stench of hell-fire, except they restore that
which they have stolen; and let every one say, Amen."
Perhaps few are aware that the dark complexion of the blackamoors is
attributed to a curse of Noah; but as that statement has been
disputed, we shall pass it without further notice.
Irmentrude, a German countess, accused a noble lady of adultery
because she had three children at one birth, saying that she deserved
to be tied up in a sack and thrown into the sea. Next year the
countess herself was delivered of more sons at a birth than the lady
had brought forth. Touched with remorse for the hard saying she had
uttered against her neighbour, she concluded it was a just punishment
inflicted; but being anxious to conceal the most extraordinary result,
she sent a maid to drown all the children except one--a son--to heir
his father's estate. Fate so determined that her husband, the earl,
met the young woman as she was going to consign the young inoffensive
infants to a watery grave. On asking what was in her lap, she answered
that she was going to drown some whelps. The earl being a great
hunter, and consequently fond of dogs, demanded to see the whelps,
that he might judge whether they should be destroyed. To his
astonishment, he found children in place of young dogs, all living,
well-proportioned, and beautiful, but small. From the maid he learned
the whole truth; whereupon he enjoined her to silence, and caused the
infants to be carried to one of his tenants to be brought up. When
they became of age, they were sent for to his house, after being
dressed like their brother, who had been cared for by the mother. As
soon as the countess cast her eyes on her offspring she knew them,
and wept in a state between shame and joy. From those children
descended the family of the Whelphs or Guelphs, long renowned in
Germany.
An interesting legend is current in the north of Scotland, of a curse
being turned into a blessing. It is said that Lochmore Castle, in the
parish of Halkirk and county of Caithness, was built and inhabited by
a person called Morrar-na-Shean, which signifies, Lord of the Game or
Venison, because he was a great sportsman. He was very anxious to have
a son to inherit his estates, but his hopes in this respect were
blasted by the curse of a wandering gipsy. It appears that the gipsy
was one day near Lochmore Castle, with a pretty little dark-haired
swarthy-complexioned boy, her son, when she encountered
Morrar-na-Shean in a towering passion--a state of mind in which he was
often to be found. He ordered her and her "beggar bastard brat" to be
off, or he would shoot them. The woman, instead of running away with
her child or imploring mercy, knelt down and cursed him, and praying
at the same time that he might never have an heir to carry down his
name to posterity. However far the fortunes of Morrar-na-Shean's
family were affected by the gipsy's curses and prayers, it is
impossible to say; but this much is true, he never had a son. His lady
had a daughter, at which he was greatly disappointed; she had a second
daughter, at which he exhibited marked signs of displeasure; and in
course of time a third daughter was born to the churlish parent.
Disappointed and enraged at not having a son, he abused the mother and
daughters to such an extent that the unhappy lady, for the sake of
peace, and to save the lives of her children, sent them away
privately, to be brought up by friends. They grew up beautiful and
accomplished young ladies, while at the time their cruel father
thought they were dead. Morrar-na-Shean, after the lapse of years,
despaired of having any children to survive him, and therefore gave
himself up to grief. In bitterness of soul, he wished that he had now
even one of the little girls he spurned as if she were not his own
flesh and blood. His lady, finding his mind so much changed, embraced
a favourable opportunity of presenting him with his three daughters.
Immediately, on seeing them, he was overcome by tender affection,
evoked by the charms of three blooming girls he was privileged to call
daughters. He lived to be grateful that fortune had so willed it that
his estates would not be in the possession of one child, but would be
claimed by three children whom he dearly loved. The daughters were
soon disposed of in marriage--the eldest to a gentleman named
Sinclair, an ancestor of the well and favourably known Caithness-shire
family of that name; the second to a gentleman named Keith, whose
descendants have long borne an honourable name in Scotland; and the
third, to a nobleman, the scions of whose house have carved out for
themselves niches in the temple of fame.
"The curse of Moy" was a fearfully realised one. On the larger of two
small islands at Loch Moy (a beautiful lake, twelve miles from
Inverness), may be seen the ruins of an ancient castle. Centuries ago
a noble edifice stood where those decayed buildings are, occupied by a
cruel chieftain of Clan Chattan. He and his followers had an encounter
with another Highland chieftain and his retainers from Glenmorriston,
when the latter chief, his fair daughter Margaret, and her lover
Allan, the young heir of Alvie, were taken prisoners, and carried to
Castle Moy. While the captured chieftain and Allan were immured in the
dungeon, Margaret was conveyed to a feast in the hall, thence she was
transferred to an apartment in the tower, where the chief of Clan
Chattan (who, it should be remarked, was a rejected suitor of
Margaret) tried to induce her to become his bride. To all his
entreaties she turned a deaf ear, preferring to remain true to her
youthful Allan. She pleaded earnestly for her father and lover's
lives, and, after many entreaties and tears, succeeded so far as to
obtain a promise that only one of them would die. She was permitted to
make choice of the one she wished liberated, but was warned that by so
doing she sealed the doom of the other captive.
As might be expected, the lady sank fainting on the floor, where she
lay, more like one dead than alive, until rude attendants, desirous to
please their lord, raised her up and hurried her into the presence of
her father and lover, for whose sakes she would have willingly laid
down her life if it could have saved theirs. With sobbing and tears,
she made known the resolution of the hard-hearted revengeful monster,
into whose power destiny had placed them. While the broken-hearted
Margaret's eyes were now fixed on her lover's manly figure, and then
on the bowed form of her aged father, and before she could really
understand the full extent of responsibility that rested on her, she
was embraced by her father, who took her hand and that of Allan, and
joined them together, beseeching them to live and remember him when he
was no more. He then made Allan swear by the hand of his bride that he
would avenge his death, and so leave no stain on their honour or
names. Girding himself up like a man of courage, he sent this message
to the tyrant chief: "The Grant of Glenmorriston waits his doom."
Enraged at the turn of events, the chieftain, in violation of his
promise to the maiden, determined that Allan should not survive to
stand between him and the union of Margaret. Sad forebodings filled
her mind during the succeeding night. Silent and alone she sat until
break of day, when she was aroused by the shrill pibroch, heavy
footsteps, and the clank of arms. A silent prayer went up for the soul
of her parent, who, she rightly judged, was suffering the last pangs
of death. How it was she could not tell, but something whispered to
her that Allan too was passing into the land of spirits.
She had not long to wait, though the time seemed to her like an age,
before the chieftain of Moy appeared before her, and commanded her to
come forth to see the youth of her choice. More dead than alive, she
staggered into the open air, to behold the lifeless forms of both her
father and Allan. In derision, the monster asked what she thought now
of her beardless boy, and said, "That is the way I tame haughty
maids." Again she was conveyed to her lonely room in the castle tower
to spend the night in solitude, and again the daylight broke in
through the small window of her strongly-guarded prison. She heeded
not the sun, nor the singing of birds as they warbled their matin
songs--no, sorrow lay too heavy near her heart. None can ever tell the
grief she endured in the dark watches of the lonely night, or when
relief came; but come it did. Nature took its own way of causing the
unhappy lady to forget her sadness of heart--reason left its seat, and
the orphaned Margaret, instead of grieving over the past, was found
singing as sweetly as if she were a bride in a peaceful bower. Now and
again the shrill clear voice in song ceased, and then she talked (so
the attendants said) to the unseen spirits of those dear to her, whose
bodies were still suspended over the castle gate.
The fierce chieftain approached her again with overtures of love,
offering her his hand, titles, and estates. To avoid his unholy
embrace, she, without waiting to deign a reply, sprang past him with
an agility which appeared superhuman, and rushed to the ramparts, that
were skirted by the blue waters beneath; then, turning round to the
chief of Clan Chattan, she uttered dreadful maledictions against him,
ending with the prediction that he would die a bloody death, leaving
neither wife nor child behind. Having said this, she leaped from the
giddy height into the lake below, in whose waves she preferred to
take refuge rather than yield to the tyrant's solicitations. As far
as can be ascertained, the wicked Macintosh repented not of his deeds,
but continued to conduct himself in a tyrannical manner to all weaker
than himself. At last a day of reckoning came--the day when Lady
Margaret's curse was to alight upon the head of the murderer of her
father and lover. In the summer of 1378, a short time after these
deeds of darkness happened, the Monroes of Foulis were returning from
a foraying expedition, and asked permission from the chief of Clan
Chattan to pass through his country for half the booty they had with
them. Macintosh demanded the whole spoil; but, his unreasonable
request being refused, a sanguinary conflict ensued, in which the Clan
Chattan chief was slain. The victorious Monroes then hastened to the
castle of Moy, and put the whole of the inmates to the sword. Thus
perished a relentless tyrant, leaving no fond wife to mourn his fate,
nor any offspring to carry his name down to posterity. Thereby was
fulfilled the prediction of Lady Margaret, whose bones still rest at
the bottom of Loch Moy.
DREAMS AND VISIONS OF THE NIGHT.
CHAPTER LIV.
The Gift or Art of interpreting Dreams--Official
Interpreters of Dreams--Sleep, how portrayed--Goddess
of Dreams--Greeks soliciting the Inspiration of
Dreams--Xenophon on Sleep--Prophetic Power of the
Dying--Æsculapius's Discoveries in Dreams--Code of
Menu--The Soma-drink--Josephus as a Seer--Dreadful
Proposal by Josephus--His Fortunate Escape--An Eastern
Conjurer--Reading a Sealed Letter--A Sultan warned of
his Death in a Dream--Alexander's Death foretold in a
Dream--Records of Dreams in Westminster Abbey--Lord
Falkland's Dream--Rev. John Brown's Opinions--Early
Christian Faith in Visions and Dreams--Death of a
Friend foretold--The Devil's Sonata--Marriage of Queen
Mary--Fatality of the Stuart Family--Death of Henry
IV. of France.
The gift or art of interpreting dreams originated, at least so it is
said, among the Chaldeans and Egyptians. From them it spread to other
nations; and in course of time official or public interpreters of
dreams were appointed. The sacred pages supply instances of good and
bad men having glimpses of futurity through dreams; and profane
history makes us acquainted with innumerable cases of curious
revelations being made to men while they slept.
Among the ancients sleep was portrayed as a female with black unfolded
wings, having in her left hand a white child, the image of sleep, and
in her right hand a black child, the image of death. An author has
described sleep as the "rest of the spirits, dreaming their tremulous
motion;" another writer speaks of sleep as "the reality of another
existence;" while a third says, "all men, whilst awake, are in one
common world, but that each, when asleep, is in a world of his own."
It is of dreams, however, we are writing, and therefore cannot enter
into the deep philosophy of sleep.
The Romans worshipped Brizo, the goddess of dreams, and the Greeks
were accustomed, in cases of great emergency, to solicit the
inspiration of dreams, by performing religious rites, and lying on the
reeking skins of oxen or goats offered in sacrifice. Pliny and others
attached great importance to dreams. Xenophon remarks that in sleep
the souls of men appear to be more unfettered and divine than when the
eyes are not closed in slumber, and are enabled to look into futurity.
Another writer observes that in sleep the soul holds converse with the
Deity, and perceives future events. Socrates, Cicero, and Arian
express belief in the prophetic powers occasionally manifested by the
dying. Posidonius relates the story of a dying Rhodian predicting
which out of six persons would die first, second, etc.; and the
prophecy was verified. Hippocrates and Galen put faith in the
prophetic character of dreams. Origen tells us that Æsculapius
discovered means of cure through dreams, probably brought about by
artificial means.
In the code of Menu there are passages showing various modes of
producing the ecstatic states, such as through the influence of the
sun and moon, by sacrifice, music, liquids, and solid ingredients. The
Soma-drink was taken as a sacrament. In connection with human
sacrifices, this beverage was sometimes prepared with magical
ceremonies and incantations. It was supposed to be capable of
producing visions in sleep, when revelations were made of what was
passing in the inferior and superior worlds.
Josephus, like many other eminent men, possessed the faculty of
predicting future events. Josephus, having fought with great courage
against the Romans, refused to surrender to them until after the
capture of Jatapat, when he began to reflect on the dreams he had had.
In these, both the misfortunes of the Jews and the triumph of the
Romans were revealed. When the determination of Josephus to yield
became known, his companions in misfortune declared they would rather
die than surrender. So exasperated were they, that they proposed to
immolate him, and then destroy themselves. Their swords were drawn to
kill their leader, when he suggested that they should terminate their
lives by a reciprocal death--that the lot should determine
successively who should give and who should receive death, until all
were slain, and thus avoid the reproach of having laid violent hands
on themselves. This suggestion was agreed to. The lots were drawn, and
all perished except Josephus and one of his companions. Josephus
predicted the good fortune of Vespasian and Titus, and the short life
of their predecessors.
In an Eastern tale we are informed of a conjurer who had the
reputation of possessing the faculty of reading the contents of sealed
letters. Being called into the presence of his prince, he was asked
whether he would undertake to inform him of the contents of a despatch
he had received by a courier. "Yes," replied the conjuror, "to-morrow
morning." The despatch remained sealed in the prince's possession
until the following morning, when the conjuror gave the correct
contents of the despatch. In explanation, the cunning man said, on
going to bed, he excited in himself a strong desire to read the
letter, that he then fell asleep, and in a dream he became acquainted
with the whole document.
We are told of an old Sultan who was warned of his death in a dream.
He thought he saw the great prophet Mohammed snatching the Alcoran out
of his hand and taking his coat-of-arms from him by force, and
striking him down with so great violence that he could not rise. The
astrologers also foretold him that he would never see the feast of
Ramazan, because the star that presided at his birth was much obscured
in its conjunction with the planet that was then predominant. They
affirmed that he would die soon. His dream, and the astrologers'
predictions, were not long of being verified. The Sultan's death was
accompanied with great ignominy.
From Aristotle we learn that the death of Alexander was foretold in a
dream; and so was that of Cæsar. In Westminster Abbey are singular
records of the dreams of Edward the Confessor, and of instances of
faith in visions.
Lord Falkland's dream, the night before the battle of Newbury, in
which he was slain, in the year 1643, has often been referred to by
persons who believe in dreams. James Montgomery, the poet, has in
touching lines assisted to keep the dream from being forgotten.
In more modern times, good men, whom we might suppose to be free from
the trammels of superstition, have to some extent directed their
course in life according to the interpretation of their dreams. The
Rev. John Brown, author of the _Dictionary of the Holy Bible_, writing
of dreams, says: "It is like they often begin from some outward
sensation of the body, in which spirits, good and bad, have no
inconsiderable influence."
In visions and dreams the persecution of the early Christians was made
known to many believers. Other important events were also predicted,
and preceded by strange phenomena. But for dreams, not a few
celebrated men who played important parts in national affairs would
have been entrapped, and turned aside from their purposes.
A gentleman holding a good position in society was awakened by his
wife one night, who told him she had had a most unpleasant dream. She
thought that a friend, who was in the East India Company's service,
had been killed in a duel. She described the place where the duel was
fought, and where the dead body lay. Her husband endeavoured to quiet
her fears, and characterised the dream as an absurdity, produced by a
disturbed imagination. A few months after, the melancholy news reached
this country that the Indian friend had fought a duel, been killed on
the spot, and his body carried to a shed such as the lady had seen in
her dream.
Fastini, a celebrated musician, dreamed one night that he had made a
compact with the devil, who promised to be at his service on all
occasions. He imagined that he presented the devil with his violin, in
order to discover what kind of a musician he was. To Fastini's great
astonishment, Satan, as he thought, played a solo of singular beauty,
which he executed with such superior taste and precision, that it
surpassed all the music he had ever heard or conceived. Fastini awoke
greatly excited, and, taking his violin, composed a piece that
excelled all his other works. He called it the "Devil's Sonata."
Before the marriage of the young Queen of Scotland with the Dauphin of
France, many had strange dreams and visions. Prodigious signs were
also observed in her native country. A comet shone for three months;
rivers dried up in winter, and in summer swelled so high that cattle
were carried away, and villages suddenly destroyed. Whales of enormous
size were cast ashore in the Firth of Forth; hailstones as large as
pigeons' eggs fell in various parts, destroying the crops; and, still
more strange and alarming, a fiery dragon was seen flying low over the
earth, vomiting forth fire, which endangered houses and farmyards.
The dire fatality that attended the Royal Stuarts did not surprise
those who attended to warnings through dreams, signs, and omens. Few
royal families were more unhappy than the Stuarts. James I., after
having been eighteen years a prisoner in England, was, together with
his queen, assassinated by his subjects; James II. was, in the
twenty-ninth year of his age, killed while fighting against England;
James III. was imprisoned by his subjects, and afterwards killed in
battle by rebels; James IV. perished in a battle which was lost; Mary
Stuart was driven from her throne, became a fugitive in Scotland,
and, after languishing for years in prison, was condemned by English
judges and beheaded; James VI. of Scotland and I. of England, her son,
died at his palace at Theobalds, not without strong suspicion of being
poisoned; Charles I. was betrayed by his own subjects, and, in terms
of a sentence by English judges, lost his life on the scaffold; James
VII. of Scotland and II. of England was driven from his kingdoms, and,
to fill the cup of bitterness to the brim, the birth of his son, as
legitimate heir, was disputed. The misfortunes of Prince Charles are
too well known to require us to do anything more than refer to them.
In his attempt to regain the throne of his ancestors, he was driven to
such a strait that he was compelled, after many of his supporters had
been put to death, to escape for his life under the guidance of a
woman--Flora Macdonald, renowned in history.
A few days before the death of Henry IV. of France, his queen had two
strange dreams. She thought all the jewels in her crown were changed
into pearls--a dream that much disturbed her, as pearls were
understood to signify tears. On the following night she had another
dream which caused her greater uneasiness--that the king was stabbed
in one of his sides. The king, as well as the queen, had presentiments
that a sad calamity was about to happen them. On the day before his
Majesty was killed he was very uneasy, and said something sat heavy on
his heart. Before entering the coach in which he was assassinated, he
took a tender farewell of the queen, kissing her thrice, and pressing
her close to his breast. For a time he hesitated whether he would go
out or not; but all at once he resumed his wonted courage, forbade the
guards to follow him out of the Louvre, and drove away in an open
carriage. The fates were against his Majesty: the fiat had gone forth,
and that day the hand of a regicide plunged a knife into the
sovereign's body, exactly as the queen had seen in her midnight
vision.
CHAPTER LV.
Dreaming Dictionaries--Dreaming of an Anchor--Sick
Persons' Dreams--Coloured and Rich Raiment--Dreaming
of Fruit--Funerals, Hearses, Graves--Dreams sometimes
to be read contrariwise--Seeing Candles in the Visions
of Night, what they foretell--Darkness and
Gloom--Jewellery, Gold, and Silver--Losing and finding
Property--Dreaming of Fowls and
Eggs--Flying--Bagpipes, Dancing, and Banquets--Dogs,
Cocks, Cattle, Horses, and Sheep--Cakes, Corn, Milk,
and Cream--Dreams of Carrying and of being
Carried--Being hurt by Cats or by any description of
Vermin--Angels, Spirits, and Children--Clergymen and
Churches--A Broken Watch or Clock--Clouds--Falling
from a High Place--Flowers and Fruit--Sailors'
Dreams--Running Streams and Still
Water--Swimming--Ploughed Ground and Green
Fields--Presents--Glass--Dreaming of Hair--Fire, Cold,
a Tooth, Kisses, and Knives--Leaping, Climbing a Hill,
and Writing--Clean and Dirty Linen--The Sun, Moon, and
Stars, Rainbow, Snow, Thunder, and Lightning.
If dreaming dictionaries can be relied on, people may discover by
their thoughts in sleep when they are to be prosperous or unlucky;
when they are to have joy or sorrow; when they are to be successful in
love and war; and when they may expect friends to guard them against
enemies. To dream of an anchor is good; it gives hope of good fortune.
If a sick person dream of white clothing, he may look for protracted
indisposition, if not death; but black apparel denotes speedy
recovery. It is not good to dream of raiment of many colours. To dream
of being richly arrayed is good, but to see tattered clothing in the
visions of the night forebodes evil. It is good to dream of good ripe
fruit, but sour fruit signifies encounters with bitter enemies. Sweet
apples indicate faithfulness in a sweetheart, whereas unripe cherries
foretell vexation and disappointment to lovers. Good figs are signs of
prosperity. Gooseberries indicate to husband or wife many children.
Grapes foretell to the spinster a cheerful husband, and much
happiness in all her life. Dreaming of melons, mulberries, or nuts,
gives promise of riches, success in love, and harmony. It is also good
to dream of peaches, pears, raspberries, and strawberries; but if
oranges, plums, tamarinds, or walnuts are seen in the visions of
night, losses and crosses may be looked for.
To dream of a funeral denotes marriage, good fortune, and happiness.
If a maiden see a hearse in her sleep, she may expect a rich husband.
If a grave appear to one in his dreams, sickness and disappointment
may be expected, unless the dreamer imagines he is rising out of it.
In that case, success may be looked for. On the other hand, to dream
of being married is anything but favourable. Such a dream is
indicative of approaching disappointments, loss of property, and
death. The force of this seeming contradiction is to be explained by
the acknowledged fact that dreams are in many instances to be read
contrariwise. To dream of being burned is a sure sign of coming
danger. To see a candle extinguished foretells sickness; but the
appearance of a bright burning one betokens rejoicing. To the
unmarried, burning candles show speedy marriage. Dreams of darkness
foreshadow loss of property and friends; but if the dreamer in his
sleep emerge from the gloom into light, he may expect that he will
rise above his difficulties, and become richer and happier. To dream
that a friend is dead betokens hasty news, but not of an unpleasant
nature. It is fortunate to dream of jewellery. If a young lady see
herself decked with chains of gold and precious stones, she may be
certain a suitable husband will soon be hers. Precious stones give
promise of many children to the married. If pure gold be dreamed of,
success in business may be expected; but it is unlucky to dream of
silver. To dream of the latter metal denotes attacks by bitter enemies
and false friends. Small silver coins indicate poverty, and large ones
give warning of early misery. It is more lucky to dream of receiving
than of giving away money. If one dream of losing money, he will
undoubtedly meet with disappointment before he goes much further in
his journey of life. To dream of losing a purse has the same meaning
attached to it as the loss of money has; and the finding of a purse
may be read as the picking up of cash. To dream of having a ring on
one's finger is good; but to dream of losing a ring is unfavourable.
If a married woman lose her marriage ring, or dream that she has lost
it, she may expect her husband will die soon. If a betrothed maiden
lose or dream of losing her engagement ring, she may look for her
lover deserting her and marrying another.
Dreams of hens and chickens are warnings of coming dangers. If one see
in his or her dream an eagle soaring high, prosperity and honour are
near. To lovers this bird is one of good omen, foretelling rich and
good mates. To dream of geese is also favourable; but the person who
sees in a vision an owl, had better prepare for sickness and poverty,
and look for attacks from enemies. A young man who dreams of a peacock
may be sure of getting a beautiful wife; and a maid who fancies in her
sleep that this beautiful bird is coming towards her, may be certain
that the fates are to provide her with a rich good-looking husband. To
dream of swans denotes success to the business man, lovers to the
unmarried, and peace and plenty to the married. If swallows are dreamt
of, good news may be expected from afar, and prosperity looked for. To
dream of selling eggs for gold is good, but to dream of selling them
for silver betokens indifferent success in business, love, and war. To
dream of buying eggs indicates the gathering of great riches. If a
dreamer supposes that he is flying, he should prepare himself for a
long journey. This dream indicates to lovers a happy termination to
all their wishes, and to the married it denotes abundance and many
children.
To dream of bagpipes signifies contention and trouble. To dream of
dancing or of being at a ball or banquet, foretells preferment, joyful
news; and, in particular, such a dream foretells prosperity in love.
Barking dogs, crowing cocks, bellowing bulls, are unlucky to dream of;
but it indicates coming prosperity and happiness to dream of faithful
dogs, horses, cows, and fleecy sheep. But look out for loss of goods
if you see shorn sheep, and make up your mind to encounter danger if
you suppose in your sleep that you are falling off a horse.
Cakes signify joy and plenty, corn in great store, riches and
contentment, but grain in small quantities denotes scarcity. Milk or
cream thrown or spilt on one's garments is favourable. To dream of
selling milk denotes crosses in love; to dream of drinking milk
betokens joyful news; and to dream of milking kine shows success in
love to the faithful milk-maids. If a maid dream that she is engaged
in a dairy, she may be certain that her lover will turn out to be an
industrious, prudent husband. But if the farmer dream that he is
assisting in the dairy, he may look out for bad crops, and disease
among his cattle. If one dream he is being carried, he may expect to
require early help of some kind or other. If he dream of carrying
another, he may depend upon it, that before many days pass he will be
called upon to give the loan of money, sign a bill, or give away
property that will not be returned. If one dream of being hurt by a
cat, or by any description of vermin, he has good reason to fear he
will be overcome by enemies; but if he suppose in sleep that he drove
away or killed the creature, he will triumph over his foes. If a
squirrel be seen in a dream, the dreamer may rest satisfied some one
is endeavouring to injure his reputation; and to a lover it is a
warning of a busy and dangerous rival. To dream of angels speaking to
you is of good signification; and to think that you see them flying
above your head intimates joy. To dream of the devil or of evil
spirits, denotes danger from secret and open enemies. If a lover
dream of one of these evil beings, it indicates the existence of a
powerful rival.
If a poor person dream of children, he or she may expect to become
rich. If a childless spouse see in a dream children running round the
fireside, there is reason to fear the little prattlers will never be
there in reality. It is unlucky to dream that a girl has a beard, or
that a boy is grey-headed. It is unlucky to dream of a minister, but
it is not an evil sign for one to suppose he is worshipping in church.
If you dream that a watch or clock falls or is broken, be sure danger
is near.
Black clouds, seen in dreams, presage evil; white clouds denote
prosperity; clouds drifting high in air indicate that the dreamer is
going to travel, or that long absent friends are to return. To dream
of red clouds foretells contention and strife. To dream of fighting or
quarrelling should put one on his guard against the deceitfulness of
his own heart and the hatred of enemies. If the dreamer suppose
himself injured in a quarrel, he will be unable to escape humiliation
and shame. To dream of falling from a high place betokens loss of
substance and reputation. To dream of withered lilies, damaged
violets, and crosses, betokens evil. It is not good for sick people to
dream of withered roses; parsley foreshadows death to the sick. It is
lucky to dream you see yourself gathering flowers fresh in colour and
sweet in perfume. To dream of walking in a flower garden portends
elevation in fortune and success in love; and to dream of being in an
orchard where there is abundance of sweet and ripe fruit, gives true
promise of riches.
If a sailor dream of seeing a dolphin, he will be sure to lose his
lady-love; but if he dream that he is drowning, he may expect good
luck to attend him. It indicates success in love and business for one
to dream of catching fish. To dream of a rapid stream, is a certain
warning of coming opposition in every business and undertaking. If
one in sleep see a clear sheet of water, good fortune will certainly
follow. This dream promises good alike to lovers and men of business.
It indicates a smooth passage for one to dream of a calm bright sea;
but disappointments and trouble are foreshadowed when a stormy ocean
appears to the sleeper. Floating with the head under water foretells
great affliction, but swimming buoyantly in clean water shows that the
dreamer will rise above difficulties. If a person in business dream of
drinking water, loss of goods may be expected; and if a lover dream of
tasting water, whether from the sluggish river or from the clear
gushing stream, he or she may look for grief and loss of friends.
To dream of ploughed ground forebodes death of a near relative, and to
dream of green fields betokens happiness and prosperity. If a person
dream of receiving a present, you may be sure fortune is about to show
her favours in a peculiarly marked manner. To dream of glass is a sign
of danger and the inconstancy of friends. The lady who dreams of
combing her hair, has reason to believe her lover will prove true. If
one's hair appear long in the dreams of the night, friends full of
affection will cling round the dreamer; but if the hair be short and
seem to be falling off, it is unlucky. If one dream of seeing a house
on fire, he may be sure of receiving hasty news.
When one dreams of being cold or naked, he is threatened with sickness
and poverty. It is good to dream of seeing the portraits of friends.
One who dreams of losing a tooth, may look for death among his
friends. It is good to dream of giving or receiving kisses--it denotes
friendship, good health, and earthly prosperity. If one dream of
knives or any other description of sharp weapons, he may look for
strife. Difficulties await every one who dreams of leaping over a
fence or of climbing a hill. It is lucky to dream of writing or
receiving letters. Clean linen seen in sleep foretells gladness of
heart and faithfulness of friends; but dirty linen denotes
disappointment and distress. None could wish a better dream than that
in which is seen the clear sun, the rising moon, or the bright stars,
for each and all of these denote riches, joy, good news, and constant
friends; but it is ominous to dream of a clouded sun, a waning moon,
or a pale star.
The rainbow denotes early news of a pleasant nature: probably
requiring the dreamer to travel. If an unmarried man dream of snow, he
may depend upon it that he will before long lead a bride to the
hymeneal altar; and to a young woman it promises an honourable husband
and great riches. To the business man, snow seen in a dream foretells
success in his undertakings. It is good to dream of thunder and
lightning, in whatever state one is placed. He who dreams of these may
expect good news from afar, and increase of goods.
LAWS AGAINST AND TRIALS OF WITCHES.
CHAPTER LVI.
Witchcraft treated with great Severity--Cutting out
the Tongue--Laws of Æthelstane--Witchcraft in
England--Royal Writers--Sir Edward Cole's
Opinion--Statute of Elizabeth against Sorcerers--Law
of Mary Queen of Scotland against Witches--Law against
Witches abolished--Sir George Mackenzie on
Witchcraft--William Forbes on the same--Extracts from
Forbes's _Institute of the Law of Scotland_--Sir
Matthew Hale a Believer in Witchcraft--Trial of Rose
Cullender and Ann Duny--General Belief in the
Existence of Witches--Punishment of Witches, by whom
first countenanced--Pope John's Bull--Bishop
Jewell--Lord Bacon and the Law against
Witches--Fearful Slaughter of supposed
Witches--_Malleus Maleficarum_, or Hammer for
Witches--The last Persons executed in Scotland and
England for Witchcraft--First German Printers
condemned to be burned as Sorcerers--Reginald Scot on
the Fables of Witchcraft--Mr. E. Chambers's Views on
Witchcraft.
Witchcraft--the nature and theory of which will appear as we
proceed--was treated with great severity in early times. In 840 a law
was enacted in Scotland, making the punishment of witchcraft no less
than the cutting out of the tongue; and, by the laws of Æthelstane in
928, witchcraft in England was made a capital crime. Witches were
punished in the reign of Edward III.; and it suited the sanguinary
temperament of Henry VIII., as well as the pedantry of other royal
writers, to give written descriptions of this crime. Edicts were
promulgated against prophets, sorcerers, feeders of evil spirits,
charmers, and provokers of unlawful love. Sir Edward Cole thought it
would have been "a great defect in government to have suffered such
devilish abominations to pass with impunity."
By a statute of Elizabeth, passed in 1562, against sorcerers, it was
ordained that for a first offence the punishment was to be restricted
to standing in the pillory; for second and subsequent offences,
severer inflictions were to follow. Barrington estimates that in the
two hundred years during which the greatest severity against supposed
witches prevailed in England, thirty thousand judicial murders were
committed, under the guise of legal punishments for such imaginary
crimes.
A year later (1563) it was considered advisable by Queen Mary of
Scotland and her Parliament to pass an Act, having for its object the
punishment of persons guilty of any of the crimes under consideration.
The Act sets forth:--
"For-sa-meikle as the Queenis Majestie and the three
Estaites of this present parliament being informed of
the heavie and abominable superstition used be divers
of the lieges of this realm, be using of witchcraft,
sorcerie, and necromancie, and credence given thereto
in times by-gane, against the laws of God: And for
avoyding and away putting of all sik vaine
superstition in times to cum: It is statute and
ordained by the Queen's Majestie, and the three
Estaites foresaid, that na maner of person nor persons
of quhat-sum-ever estaite, degree, or condition they
be of, take upon hand in onie times hereafter to use
onie maner of witch-craftes, sorcerie, or necromancie,
nor give themselves furth to have onie sik craft or
knawledge thereof, their-throw abusand the people: Nor
that na persoun seik onie helpe, response, or
consultation at onie sik users or abusers foresaidis
of witch-craftes, sorceries, or necromancie, under the
paine of death, alsweill to be execute against the
user, abuser, as the seiker of the response or
consultation. And this to be put to execution be the
justice, schireffis, stewards, baillies, lords of
regalities, and royalties, their deputes, and uthers
or ordinar judges competent within this realme, with
all rigour, having power to execute the samin."
James VI. of Scotland and I. of England decreed that any one who
should use, practise, or exercise any invocation, or consult or
covenant with, entertain or employ, feed, or reward any evil or wicked
spirit, to or for any purpose, or take up any dead body, should, on
being convicted thereof, suffer death.
The laws against witchcraft remained in force, and were executed with
severity, for a long time. During the continuance of the Long
Parliament alone, three thousand unhappy persons were sacrificed
because of their supposed connection with witchcraft. But by the Act 9
George II. cap. 5 it is ordained that no prosecution, suit, or
proceeding shall be commenced or carried on against any person for
witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment, or conjuration, nor shall any one
charge another with any such offence, in any court whatever. But if
any person shall pretend to exercise or use any kind of witchcraft,
sorcery, enchantment, or conjuration, or undertake to tell fortunes;
or pretend, from his skill or knowledge in any occult or crafty
science, to discover where or in what manner any goods supposed to
have been stolen or lost may be found: every person so offending,
being convicted on indictment or information, shall suffer
imprisonment for a year, and once in every quarter of the said year,
in some market town of the county, upon the market day there, stand
openly in the pillory for one hour, and also (if the court by which
such judgment shall be given shall think fit) be obliged to give
sureties for his good behaviour, in such sum, and for such time, as
the said court shall judge proper, according to the circumstances of
the offence, and in such case shall be further imprisoned until such
sureties shall be given.
Sir George M'Kenzie, the distinguished Scotch lawyer, thought there
was such a craft as witchcraft; and so did William Forbes, a member of
the Faculty of Advocates, a professor of law in the University of
Glasgow, and author of several works of considerable merit. The
following extracts from Forbes's _Institute of the Law of Scotland_
prove to some extent what was the legal creed in Scotland last century
in regard to witches:--
"Witchcraft is that black art whereby strange and
wonderful things are wrought by a power derived from
the devil. It goes under several names, taken from
particular effects and ways of its operation: As
those of magic, because it is a knowledge of more
than is lawful to be known; divination, from a
revealing of things past, present, or to come;
enchantment, from a working by charms or ceremonious
rites; sorcery, from the casting of lots to bring
hidden things to light; necromancy, from the calling
up and consulting the devil, in form of some dead
person; fascination, from the hurting creatures by
envious looks, and eye-biting, or by words, etc. Those
who practise this art are, in like manner, termed
witches, magicians, diviners, enchanters, sorcerers,
necromancers, fascinaters. Which names, given for
different causes to the devil's disciples, are, for
the most part, promiscuously used to signify any
person who, by covenant with Satan, and his
assistance, doth work strange things, because of the
affinity of all their operations, which have the same
general foundation and tendency.
"An express covenant is entered into betwixt a witch
and the devil appearing in some visible shape, whereby
the former renounces his God and baptism, engaging to
serve the devil, and do all the mischief he can, as
occasion offers, and leaves soul and body to his
disposal after death. The devil, on his part, articles
with such proselytes concerning the shape he is to
appear to them in, and the services they are to expect
from him, upon the performance of certain charms or
ceremonious rites. To some he gives certain spirits or
imps to correspond with, and serve them as their
familiars, known by them by some odd names, to which
they answer when called. These imps are said to be
kept in pots or other vessels that stink detestably.
This league is made verbally if the party cannot
write; and such as can write sign a written covenant
with their blood. On the meaner proselytes the devil
fixes, in some secret part of their bodies, a mark, as
his seal to know his own by, which is like a flea-bite
or blue spot, and sometimes resembles a little teat;
and the part so stamped doth ever after remain
insensible, and doth not bleed, though never so much
nipped, or pricked, by thrusting a pin, awl, or bodkin
into it. But if the covenanter be one of the better
rank, the devil only draws blood of the party, or
touches him or her in some part of the body, without
any visible mark remaining.
"A tacit covenant with Satan is understood to be
entered into by those who knowingly use the
superstitious rites or ceremonies observed by witches,
or unlawful means to bring anything about which they
know to be ineffectual in themselves without the
devil's concurrence.
"Witches used to be distinguished into good and bad
witches. The bad witch, commonly called the black
witch, or binding witch, is one who, by a league with
the devil, is assisted by him to work mischief. The
good witch is he or she who useth diabolical means to
do good--as to heal persons, loose or undo
enchantments, and to discover who are bewitched, and
by whom. But this term of a good witch is very
improper, for all who have commerce with Satan are
certainly bad.
"Some works of witches are really what they seem to
be; others are mere diabolical juggling, or a delusion
of the eyes of spectators with some strange sleight of
Satan. (To which last I may refer their imaginary
passing through shut doors, and transforming
themselves and others into the shape of cats, dogs,
hares, and other creatures.) Some of their actions
respect themselves, and their behaviour towards their
infernal master; such as their coming to appointed
meetings called their Sabbaths, where they pay homage
to him, and are taught to act all manner of
wickedness, and give an account of their horrid past
proceedings. Witches are chiefly employed in plain
mischief, by hurting persons or their goods, or by
bringing some actual evil or calamity upon them. But
they sometimes work mischief under a pretence or
colour of doing good--as when they cure diseases,
loose enchantments, and discover other witches. All
their designs are brought about by charms, or
ceremonious rites instituted by the devil, which are
in themselves of no efficacy, and serve only as
signals and watchwords to admonish Satan, as it were,
when, where, and upon whom to do mischief, or perform
cures, according to his compact with the witches."
"Under necromancy," says Mr. Forbes, "are comprehended
chiromancy, predictions, and responses by the sieve
and the shear, and all other hellish arts of
divination. It hath been sustained to bring in a
woman guilty of witchcraft, that she threatened to
do some mischief to a person who immediately or not
long after suffered a grievous harm in his body or
goods, by sorcery or witchcraft, without any apparent
or natural cause, though the manner or enchantment
used to work such mischief was not particularly
expressed, and the threat was only general, and did
not specify the ill turn to be done, in respect the
means used by witches are best known to themselves.
Some relevant articles of witchcraft are founded upon
events having no necessary dependence on the means
used by the person accused: as that a man on whom
a woman had laid a grievous sickness by her sorcery
was relieved thereof by her taking him by the hand,
and the moving of her lips; or that a woman came
several times into a house when the doors and
windows were all fast locked and shut at night,
combed her hair the last night, and laid her hand
upon a nurse's breast, upon which a child then
sucking her died within half-an-hour--because
injuries done by witches are not occasioned by
any inherent virtue or efficacy in the means used
by them, but only by the devil's influence; and that
there is no natural cause for the mischief done, is
the reason of ascribing it to witchcraft. Where one
is indicted for being in league with the devil, and
exercising acts of witchcraft, it sufficeth to prove
that the indictee was in confederacy with that evil
spirit, and did such things; but in the trial of one
indicted for bewitching any person, two things are to
be proved, viz. that such a person is bewitched, and
that the indictee is the witch."
Mr. Forbes says that symptoms of witchcraft are: "When
learned and skilful physicians find the patient's
trouble doth not proceed from any bodily distemper or
natural causes; when he is exceedingly tormented at
the saying of prayers and graces, or reading of the
Bible; when in his fits he tells truly many things
past and future, which in an ordinary way he could not
know; and when things are done with respect to him by
some invisible hand working in a manner that cannot be
understood. Other proofs are such as when one cannot
shed tears, and cannot say the Lord's Prayer. And
other presumptions," he proceeds, "are inferred from
the drawing of blood of the suspected person, or the
putting of something under a threshold where he or she
goes in, or under a stool where the suspected person
sits, or causes him or her to come into a room where
those afflicted with witchcraft are, and touch them;
or trying if the suspected person will sink or swim
when put tied into the water; the burning of cakes
wherein are the afflicted persons' urine, or the
burning of clothes in which such persons lie."
The learned professor thought that witchcraft might be proved by
witnesses who have heard the accused person invoking the devil for
help, or seen the suspected party entertaining a familiar spirit and
feeding it in any form or likeness, conjuring to raise storms, showing
in a glass or show-stone the faces of absent persons. His opinion was
that it was competent to receive as evidence the dying testimonies of
penitent witches concerning others informed against by them, as proof
of witchcraft was difficult to obtain; and the more secret
acts--meeting of witches in the night-time to adore their infernal
master, and hatch their mischievous projects when other people are
asleep, or when they themselves are invisible--cannot be otherwise
proved than by such as are privy thereto.
Sir Matthew Hale, the astute lawyer and judge, was a believer in
witchcraft, and entertained views on this subject similar to those of
Mr. Forbes, as will appear from the following particulars of the trial
of Rose Cullender and Ann Duny in 1664. These women were accused
before Sir Matthew Hale of various acts of witchcraft--such as
tormenting children by means of devilish devices, upsetting carts,
killing horses, breeding vermin, etc., through diabolical means. At
the trial, evidence was given by Anne Durent, that William Durent, her
son (one of the children bewitched) had strange and sad fits, caused
by Duny giving the child suck. A wise man (Dr. Jacob) advised her to
hang up the child's blanket in the chimney corner all day, and at
night, when she went to put the child to bed, if she found anything in
the blanket, to throw the thing, whether apparently animate or
inanimate, into the fire. The blanket was hung up and shaken according
to instructions, when, behold, a large toad fell on the hearth-stone.
The creature was thrown into the fire, and exploded like a gun. Next
day a friend of Duny's told deponent that a certain old woman was
severely burned. On hearing this, deponent went to the old woman's
house, and found her grievously scorched. Duny (for it was she who was
in this sad condition) told the witness, that because of the evil she
did to her, she (Duny) would see much evil befall the Durent family.
Deponent further stated that her daughter, Elizabeth Durent, about ten
years of age, was afflicted like her other child, and in her fits
complained of Ann Duny tormenting her. Duny had (so said the witness)
predicted that the child named would not live long, and within three
days the child died. Deponent also testified that Duny had, while in a
rage, said that she (the witness) would yet be going with crutches--a
prophecy followed by deponent becoming so lame in both her legs, that
she could not walk without being supported by sticks. "And, indeed,"
said she, exhibiting a pair of crutches in the witness-box, "I could
not come into court without them."
After lengthened and curious evidence touching the charges against the
prisoners for bewitching the children, named in the indictment, Dr.
Brown, a gentleman of great learning, expressed his opinion that the
children were bewitched. He said that in Denmark there had been a
great discovery of witches, who used the very same way of afflicting
people, viz. by conveying pins and nails into them in a mysterious
way. His opinion was that the devil, in witchcraft, did work upon the
bodies of men and women, and afflict them with such distempers as
their bodies were most subject to.
John Sloan testified that, while bringing home three carts of hay, one
of the carts accidentally damaged the window of Rose Cullender's
house, and that she, in consequence of this mishap, uttered violent
threats against him. The other two carts passed her house safely
several times that day, but the cart which damaged the window was two
or three times overturned. Once, when taking the unlucky vehicle
through a gate, it stuck fast, though nothing could be seen that
prevented it from being drawn along easily. After great trouble, the
cart was brought home, but, there again, fresh difficulties had to be
encountered: the vehicle could not be taken to the place where it was
intended to be unloaded; and, what most frightened the witness and
those aiding him was, that every one who approached the cart to render
any assistance on that eventful day, came away with his nose bleeding.
Robert Sherringhame swore that Rose Cullender, taking offence at him,
threatened him and his horses with injury, and in a short time many of
his horses and cattle died. Following these misfortunes, he became
lame, and was so tormented with lice that he could not get them
removed until he burned two suits of clothes.
Richard Spencer testified that he had heard Ann Duny say that the
devil would not let her rest until she took her revenge upon Cornelius
Sandswell.
The judge told the jury that they were to inquire, first, whether the
several acts of witchcraft mentioned in the indictment had been
committed; and, secondly, if they had, it was for them to say whether
the prisoners were the guilty persons. The jurors, he said, could not
doubt that there were such creatures as witches; for history affirmed
it, and the wisdom of all nations had provided laws against such
persons. He prayed that the hearts of the jury might be directed in
the mighty thing they had in hand; for to condemn the innocent and let
the guilty go free were alike an abomination. The jury brought in a
verdict of guilty. The judge then passed sentence of death against the
culprits, and they were executed.
A general belief in the existence of witches prevailed in every
country, and stringent measures were adopted for their extirpation. If
the punishment of witchcraft was not at first countenanced by the
Church, the clergy subsequently, and for centuries, played a prominent
part in the detection and condemnation of the so-called witches. Pope
John stated in a bull of 1317 that several of his courtiers and his
physician had given themselves up to superstition, and that their
rings and mirrors contained evil spirits. Pope Innocent VIII. issued a
bull against witchcraft in 1484. Thousands of innocent persons were
burned, and others killed by the tests applied to them. Twenty-seven
articles were issued in France in the fourteenth century against
sorcery, the use of images, and the invocation of evil spirits. Many
Templars were burned in Paris for witchcraft in 1309.
Referring to witches and sorcerers, Bishop Jewell, when preaching
before his sovereign in 1598, said: "Witches and sorcerers, within the
last four years, are marvellously increased within your Grace's realm.
Your Grace's subjects pine away, even unto the death; their colour
fadeth--their flesh rotteth--their speech is benumbed--their senses
are bereft. I pray they may never practise further than upon your
Majesty's subjects." Mr. Glanvil, chaplain to Charles II., was of
opinion that "the disbeliever in witchcraft must believe the devil
gratis;" and Wesley said that "giving up witchcraft was, in fact,
giving up the Bible." The learned Lord Bacon, Lord Coke, and twelve
bishops had a voice in the legislation of the country when the act of
James I. of England against witchcraft became law.
Five hundred witches were burned at Geneva during three months of
1515. In the diocese of Como, one thousand were burned within one
year. Nine hundred were burned in Lorraine in a period of fifteen
years. Hundreds perished at Wurzburg in a few years; and upwards of
one hundred thousand were executed in Germany, for which country the
_malleus maleficarum_, or hammer for witches (drawn out by a clergyman
and two inquisitors appointed by Innocent VIII.), was principally
intended. In Poland and America, witches, or supposed witches, were
also put to death by fire and water. Persecutions against witches
raged with great fury in America in 1648-49. In New England, in 1692,
nine persons were hanged by the Puritans for witchcraft. Under
pressure, fifty persons there confessed themselves to be witches.
Italy, Spain, and Portugal had their victims too. At one period the
execution of witches exceeded those in England, though the number put
to death in the latter country was truly appalling. In 1646 two
hundred persons were tried and executed for witchcraft at the Sussex
and Essex assizes. The last persons put to death for witchcraft in
England were, some say, in 1664, while others assert the last victims
suffered in 1682. The latest instance of a witch being executed in
Scotland was in 1722, when the supposed offender was burned at Loth,
or Dornoch, Sutherlandshire, by order of the sheriff of that county.
In more recent times than several of the dates to which we have
referred, discoveries, which might have been easily understood, gave
rise to the supposition that the actors were in compact with the
devil. On the first occasion of the German printers carrying their
books to France, the ingenious inventors of printing were condemned to
be burned alive as sorcerers--a sentence that would have been executed
had those discoverers of a useful art not saved themselves by flight.
Reginald Scot, taking an enlightened view of superstition, says, "The
fables of witchcraft have taken so fast hold of and deep root in the
heart of man, that few endure the hand of correction without
attributing the chastisement to the influence of witches. Such
superstitious people," he says, "are persuaded that neither hail nor
snow, thunder nor lightning, rain nor tempestuous winds, come from the
higher powers, but are raised by the power of witches and conjurors.
If a clap of thunder or a gale of wind be heard, the timid people ring
bells, cry out to burn the witches, or else they burn consecrated
things, hoping thereby to drive the devil out of the air."
Mr. E. Chambers did not think the art of witchcraft was carried on by
or through intercourse with the devil or spirits (though he did not
dispute there were such beings), but by or through philosophical
means, altogether different from the operations supposed necessary to
enable witches and wizards to perform actions not easily comprehended
by the uninitiated.
CHAPTER LVII.
Witch-finders--Disasters ascribed to
Witches--Witch-marks--Witches Familiars--Preparing a
Witch for Judicial Examination--John Kinnaird--Patrick
Watson and his Wife pricked--Confession of Guilt--The
Devil's Sabbaths--Sumptuous Entertainments and
Grandeur at Satan's Feasts--Repulsive Acts there
also--Feasts ended at Cock-crowing--Transformation--A
Woman weighing only Four Ounces--A Witch-finder sent
from Scotland to Newcastle at the request of the
Authorities--Complaints against Witches
demanded--Deception discovered--Trying Witches in
Northumberland County--Escape of the Witch-finder from
Justice--Hopkins's Methods of detecting Witches--Zeal
of the Clergy in Scotland in condemning Witches--Witch
burned within the Sea-mark--Extracts from Kirk-session
Records of Perth relative to Witchcraft--Witches at
Kirkcaldy--A Clerical Witch-finder.
Every town and county had its witch-finder, whose duty it was to
detect and bring to trial all those tainted with witchcraft or
sorcery. Considering that almost every accident which happened was
attributed to sorcery, the duties of the witch-finder were most
important. According to his diligence so was the safety of persons and
property. Hail-storms, destructive floods, dangerous fires, disease
among cattle, and domestic afflictions were all ascribed to
witchcraft. A mole or wart discovered on any part of an old woman's
body was thought to be a witch-mark. If a suspected witch did not shed
tears, it was presumptive evidence of guilt; if she kept a black cat,
it was taken for a familiar; and all these circumstances together were
regarded as infallible signs of her evil nature. An expert
witch-finder knew all the wiles and arts of his profession. To prepare
the suspected witch for judicial examination, a particular diet was
sometimes given her, to counteract the unguents she had anointed
herself with, to make non-effective the preparations of belladonna,
aconite, parsley, and other ingredients she had swallowed, and to
render of no effect the charmed cocks' combs and rams' kidneys
partaken of by her.
John Kinnaird, a witch-finder, some hundreds of years past, brought
many witches to justice in his time. In 1649 he pricked Patrick
Watson, of West Fenton, and Minie Haliburton his wife, and found the
devil's mark on the husband's back, and the same evil one's impress on
the wife's neck. Though the operator thrust his sharp instrument deep
into the spots, no pain was felt, nor did blood flow. These results
proved that the accused husband and wife were in league with Satan;
and Minie, seeing it was useless to deny her guilt, admitted the
crime.
Under judicial examination, witches have confessed to having met the
devil at his Sabbaths, the meetings always taking place near a cross
road, upon a dreary moor, or beside a lake or stagnant pool, on
Wednesday and Friday nights. At the meetings children were presented,
so they said, to Satan. At these gatherings sorcerers were supplied
with exquisite meat and drink, served in vessels of gold and silver;
and at other times with cooked toads, unbaptised children, and the
flesh of malefactors cut down from gibbets. Toads, having the rank of
witches' familiars, appeared at the meetings, dressed in gay attire,
and wearing small silver bells round their necks, or attached to their
feet. At cock-crow Satan disappeared under the earth, and the witches
flew through the air to their respective homes. That witches could
transform themselves into hares, wolves, and other animals, nearly all
the accused women readily admitted.
In the year 1728 a witch-finder discovered that a stout tall woman,
suspected of sorcery, did not weigh more than four ounces. This was
enough to make out a case against her; and not only against her, but
against several confederates, and they were all burned in terms of
law.
On account of a petition presented by the inhabitants of Newcastle to
the authorities, in the year 1649, concerning the evil consequences
of witchcraft, the magistrates sent two of their officers to Scotland
to secure the services of a celebrated witch-finder, famous for
detecting witches by means of pricking them with sharp instruments.
The cunning man agreed to go with them to Newcastle to try such
suspected persons as might be brought to him, at the rate of twenty
shillings for every woman found guilty. When the officers brought the
witch-finder to town, the magistrates sent their bellman through the
streets to invite the inhabitants who had complaints to make against
witches to make them without delay, that they (the witches) might be
tried by the person appointed. Thirty women were brought to the town
hall, and had pins thrust into their flesh, and most of them were
found guilty. The witch-finder informed Lieutenant-Colonel Hobson that
he knew whether women were witches or no by their looks. On a
good-looking woman being brought to the finder, the gallant colonel
thought it was unnecessary to try her, but the canny Scotchman knew
better, and therefore submitted her to his infallible test. Having put
a pin into her side, he marked her down a witch of the devil. The
colonel, not satisfied that the woman was guilty, remonstrated, and
then the witch-finder confessed he was in error. The highly-favoured
damsel was therefore liberated; but as no champion appeared for the
poor old withered hags, they suffered the pains of law.
Having rid Newcastle of witches, the witch-finder was summoned to
Northumberland county to try women there for sixty shillings each. For
some fault or crime connected with the discharge of his official
duties, he was apprehended, and put under bond to appear at the
sessions to answer such charges as might be brought against him. He
escaped to Scotland, where he was made prisoner, indicted, and
condemned for villany, exercised on the north side of the Tweed, in
connection with witch-finding. He confessed that he had been
instrumental in bringing to an untimely end above two hundred and
twenty women in England and Scotland.
Matthew Hopkins, who regularly went on circuit in England to detect
witches for a long period subsequent to the year 1644, applied the
usual tests, such as finding witch-marks, thrusting sharp instruments
into the bodies of suspected persons, dragging them through deep water
while they were wrapped in sheets, with their great toes and thumbs
tied together, keeping his victims awake sometimes as long as
forty-eight hours to make them confess, ascertaining whether they
could repeat the Lord's Prayer, or shed tears.
The clergy of Scotland lent themselves to witch-finding with a zeal
truly marvellous. They, in General Assembly, passed five condemnatory
acts against witchcraft between the years 1640 and 1649. Kirk-sessions
throughout the land outvied each other in their efforts to bring
suspected witches to trial, and to counteract the dark deeds of Satan.
The Rev. John Scott, one of the Established Church ministers of Perth
from 1762 to 1806, author of the _History of the Earls of Gowrie_ and
other works, left several folio manuscript volumes of extracts from
the kirk-session records of Perth; and from these we make the
following abbreviated selections in support of what is here stated:--
"On 16th April 1582 the kirk-session (which for some
time was designated the 'Assembly') ordained their
box-master to give the witch in the Tolbooth eight
doits (eight twelfths of a penny sterling) in the
day."
"In November 1589 a day was assigned to certain honest
neighbours of Tirseppie to be present and to declare
whether it was true that Guddal, spouse to Richard
Watson, was a witch, as John Watson alleged, or what
evil likelihood they saw in her. Walter Watson, John
Watson, George Scott, and James Scott, on being
severally examined by the kirk-session, declared that
they never saw such things of her whereby they might
suspect her of witchcraft, but that she was an honest
poor woman, who wrought honestly for her living,
without whose help her husband, Richard Watson, would
have been dead, as he was an aged man. Therefore the
minister and elders ordained the act of slander to be
put in execution against John Watson, and Helen Watson
his daughter."
"In November 1597 the kirk-session ordained the
magistrates of Perth to travel with his Majesty to
obtain a commission to execute Janet Robertson,
sorceress, who had long been detained in ward."
"The kirk-session, on 30th May 1615, requested the
bailies to ward Marion Murdoch, complained upon for
witchcraft, ay and until she was tried thereanent."
"On the 4th day of May 1618, conform to citation,
Isabella Garry, servitrix, and Margaret Lamb,
daughter-in-law to George Thompson, appeared before
the session, and were asked if they had been at the
well in the bank of Huntingtower the previous Sabbath,
and if they drank thereof, and if they had left
anything at it. They answered that they had been at it
and drank thereof, and that each of them had left a
pin thereat. This was found to be a point of idolatry.
Their case was continued until some other young women,
who were with them, should be summoned to appear
before the church court." [Though it does not clearly
appear what object the young women had in view in
drinking the Huntingtower well water, and putting pins
therein, we presume they simply did what maidens of
the present time do, namely, go to a spring supposed
to possess peculiar charms (as the Ruthven or
Huntingtower well was believed to have), drink of its
water, and each throw a pin into the well, under the
conviction that every one would get the wish uppermost
in her heart fulfilled--generally the securing of a
husband before the year was ended.]
"On the 3rd August 1619, Alexander Peebles, a burgess
of Perth, appeared before the session, and took
exception to the doctrine delivered by Mr. John
Guthrie, minister, on the previous Sabbath afternoon;
and alleged that the minister had slandered him and
his house by accusing him of sorcery, and turning the
riddle. The minister and session certified in one
voice that the doctrine was general, and necessarily
followed on the text from which Mr. Guthrie was
preaching. Peebles would have been censured had not
Mr. Guthrie interceded for him. Mr. Guthrie, however,
brought upon himself further annoyance, in consequence
of accusing other members of his congregation of
witchcraft and sorcery. On the 13th of the next month
Mr. Guthrie complained to his session, of Thomas Young
uttering speeches against him and his ministry, and of
refusing to discharge the civil duty of saluting him
when they met on the causeway. The members of session
were highly offended that any member of the church
should have so far misregarded his pastor and provoked
him to ire, and therefore ordered him to be cited to
appear before them the following day. Conform to
citation, Thomas Young appeared, who being accused of
uttering speeches against and misbehaving himself
towards Mr. Guthrie, the delinquent boldly answered
that it was not the duty of the pastor to charge his
people with witchcraft, sorcery, and turning of the
riddle. Witnesses were examined against Thomas, who,
before the court rose, confessed his error, and said
he was extremely sorry for offending his minister in
word or deed. Mr. Guthrie then admonished Thomas, and
craved the magistrates (who were present) and the
session to inflict no punishment on the said Thomas,
but to pass over his offences--a request that was
granted."
"On 10th May 1626 Bessie Wright was accused before the
presbytery of Perth of witchcraft, curing sick folks,
and frequenting the town of Perth after having been
banished from the burgh, and forbidden to exercise her
healing art. The moderator and brethren ordained that
she should be prohibited from performing any cure,
under pain of incarceration. It was likewise ordained
that the minister of Perth should make intimation on
the following Sabbath, that because the said Bessie
was under suspicion of witchcraft in curing diseased
persons by unlawful means, none would resort to her
for advice, under pain of the kirk's censures."
"Conform to citation, Robert Thomson, maltman,
compeared before the kirk-session on 30th December
1634, for causing a bairn of his to be taken to the
mill of Balhousie and put into the flappers thereof,
when the mill was going, to be charmed, which, it was
alleged, was a lesson of Satan. He answered that he
knew not of the circumstance until the child was
brought home." [The offence being considered an odious
one, the session resolved to take the advice of the
presbytery how to proceed, but we are not informed how
the matter terminated.]
Lilias Adie, a Fife witch, obtained power from Satan to assist her and
her friends, and to ruin her enemies. Like many other witches, she
regularly attended the witch Sabbaths. How long she might have
remained alive to strike terror into the hearts of the Torryburn
people, none can tell, had not their worthy pastor, the Rev. Allan
Logan, come to the rescue. Mr. Logan, report says, knew as well as any
living man how to detect a witch. When "fencing" the sacramental
table, he would look around him with his keen piercing eye, and call
aloud, "You witch, begone from the holy communion table." The
searching look and commanding voice made more than one woman retire
from among the worthy communicants. Mr. Logan was well supported by a
zealous kirk-session. This being so, Lilias Adie had little chance of
escape. She and other suspected witches were submitted to a series of
examinations and tests, which ended in her being burned within the
sea-mark on the Fife coast.
From the ancient records of the kirk-session of Kirkcaldy, it seems
that numerous reputed witches were burned in that town in the
seventeenth century. In the year 1633 two witches were burned; the
cost of their execution, including the price of tar barrels, and tow
for tying the unfortunate beings at the stake, amounted to £2, 17s.
6d. Scots. One half of the sum was borne by the kirk-session, and the
other half by the town. In the year 1649 a woman was burned on the
estate of Burncastle, and the cost of watching her thirty days and of
supplying fuel amounted to £92, 14s. Scots, a goodly sum in those
days; but as £27, found in the possession of the reputed witch, was
taken to assist in defraying the expenses of her judicial murder, the
burden did not fall very heavy, after all, on the public.
CHAPTER LVIII.
Hiring a Witch to detect a Witch--Clerical
Witch-finders--Agnew, the sturdy Beggar--His
Diabolical Doings--Missiles thrown by Unseen
Hands--Working Instruments destroyed--A Distressed
Family--Minister's Remonstrance and Advice--Fresh
Afflictions--House set on Fire--Prayer and Fasting
resorted to--Meeting of Presbytery for Prayer on
account of the Evil Doings of Satan and his Wicked
Emissaries--Spirits Speaking--Minister's Reply--Fiend
not put to Silence by Prayer--Application to the Synod
for Advice--Solemn Humiliation ordained by the
Synod--Annoyance continued--Beggar suspected, and
hanged for Blasphemy--Bargarran Witches--An Esquire's
Daughter bewitched--Physicians puzzled--Great
Consternation in the Country--Parish Minister praying
for the Afflicted Child--Other Ministers' Visits to
Bargarran--Presbytery ordering Days of
Humiliation--Effect of Fasting and Prayer--Recourse to
the Law--Catherine Campbell imprisoned--Girl's
continued Affliction--Representation to His Majesty's
Privy Council--Commission appointed to inquire into
the case--Proceedings of the Commission--Trial of
Witches--Specious Pleading--Condemnation and
Execution.
In the middle of the seventeenth century the mania against witches and
warlocks became so prevalent, that almost every individual was
affected therewith. If a child was sick, if a family became
unfortunate, if cattle died, if boats were upset or ships lost, or if
accidents of any description, even to the breaking of a plough,
happened, the evils were attributed to witches or warlocks. If in any
such misfortune the assistance of a professional witch-finder could
not be secured, one witch was hired to detect the other witch, or more
probably the gang of witches, who had occasioned the mischief. Again,
in the event of the hired witch (it was seldom the professional
witch-finder, provided with his instruments of torture, failed) not
succeeding, the clergyman's assistance was sought; and if the witches
and devil proved too many or strong for him, the presbytery, synod,
and even the assembly, had to be appealed to. The following is a case
in point:--
In October 1654 Alexander Agnew, a sturdy beggar, threatened hurt to
Gilbert Campbell's household because he did not receive so good an
alms as he demanded. The vagabond, by diabolical means, brought about
a variety of annoyances and losses that came nigh to ruin the family.
Gilbert Campbell was often hindered in business, through his working
instruments being destroyed in a way he could not account for. In
November, matters became extremely dangerous. At that time the devil,
we are informed, came with new and extraordinary assaults, by throwing
stones in through the doors and windows and chimney-head of this
devil-besetted dwelling. Providentially no one was injured in person.
Next, chests and trunks were opened, and the contents thrown about in
all directions. Working implements were secretly carried away, and
concealed in holes or other places where they were not likely to be
found. Wearing apparel, blankets, sheets, curtains, and other soft
goods were cut in pieces. To so great a strait was the family reduced,
that the members thereof were compelled to leave their house. Nor was
this all: Campbell himself was forced to abandon his employment.
The minister, hearing that the house was shut up, remonstrated against
such a proceeding. He recommended that the devil should be withstood
to the face. Acting on the good clergyman's advice, all the members of
that afflicted household returned. Fresh disturbances broke out. The
house was set on fire, and would have been reduced to ashes had not
willing neighbours extinguished the flames. As the evil went on,
prayer and fasting were resorted to, apparently unmixed with faith,
for again the house was set on fire. The presbytery met at the house
for solemn devotion, but their prayers were as ineffectual as those of
the people who had conducted the religious services on previous
occasions. Indeed things became worse. Not only were petty acts of
mischief perpetrated, but strange voices were heard, without it being
known whence they proceeded. The minister, accompanied by gentlemen of
good position, went again to the house to pray with and for Mr.
Campbell and his family. After prayer, they all heard a voice speaking
out of the ground, asking if they desired to know anything of certain
witches who were named. Gilbert Campbell informed the company that one
of the witches mentioned was dead. The devil then answered, "It is
true she is dead, yet her spirit is living in this world." The
minister replied, "We are not to receive any information from thee,
Satan; thou art but seeking to seduce this family."
All the people went again to pray, still the devil was not put to
silence; the foul fiend demanded a spade to dig a grave, in which he
might rest in peace. Advised by the clergyman, Mr. Campbell answered,
"Not so much as a straw shall be given thee, though that would put
thee to rest." A loud noise was heard, and a naked hand and an arm
from the elbow were seen beating on the floor so terribly that the
house shook, during which the voice called several times, "I will send
my father among you." Night being now far spent, all the strangers
went home except the minister, who stayed with the family to protect
them. Notwithstanding his presence, and many prayers, the devil roared
frightfully, his voice sounding like that of a lion. The very food the
family partook of was bewitched: it did not supply them with
nourishment, nor satisfy their hunger, even for a moment.
Mr. Campbell resolved to apply to the synod for advice as to whether
he should remain in his house. When the subject came before that
reverend body, the fathers and brethren thought fit to ordain a solemn
humiliation to be observed through all the synodic bounds, with the
view of turning away the affliction that distressed the poor family.
Notwithstanding everything that could be done, the annoyance continued
for a whole year. It was never discovered who was the instigator of
the mischief, although strong suspicion rested on the sturdy beggar,
who, we may observe in conclusion, was hanged, some time afterwards,
for blasphemy.
Tales of the Bargarran witches are widely known in Scotland. In their
time they created no small stir and alarm among laymen, in the church,
and at the law courts. In the year 1696, Christina Shaw, eleven years
of age, daughter of John Shaw, Esquire, of Bargarran, Renfrewshire,
gave offence to a servant maid named Catherine Campbell, who wished
the girl's soul might soon be in the place of torment. It was feared
the offended damsel would seek revenge, and what followed convinced
those cognisant of the facts that their fears were well founded.
Soon after this the girl had severe fits and strange visions; and, in
a most unaccountable manner, she vomited or put out of her mouth
unclean hay, wild fowls' feathers, gravel stones, nut-galls,
candle-grease, egg-shells, and other substances, which she nor any
other person could tell whence they had come. For a long time she was
afflicted in a most mysterious manner. Her parents were distressed,
and her physicians perplexed. Change of air did her good, but as
soon as she returned to Bargarran her trouble recommenced. By-and-bye
it became evident her affliction did not proceed from ordinary
infirmity, but from the diabolical machinations of Satan and his
emissaries--certain well-known witches in the neighbourhood, one being
the offended Catherine Campbell. So convinced was the unfortunate
sufferer of her ills being caused by human beings acting in a
mysterious manner, that she frequently exclaimed that Catherine
Campbell and others, whom she named, were cutting her sides and other
parts of her body.
Great consternation prevailed in the country. The parish minister,
like a good pious pastor, prayed with and for the child. Clergymen
from adjoining parishes visited Bargarran, and witnessed Catherine
Shaw's sufferings. The presbytery appointed days of humiliation on
account of what left no doubt in the minds of divines that the girl
was bewitched. Fasting and prayer seemed to have an alleviating
tendency, yet they did not prevent the evil continuing in a mitigated
form. Recourse was therefore had to the law. Mr. Shaw, the girl's
father, applied to the sheriff-depute; and that officer, in what he
considered a proper discharge of his duty, imprisoned Catherine
Campbell.
This judicial proceeding had the effect of securing relief for the
afflicted girl for a time, but her enemies were not all confined nor
rendered harmless, for she declared she heard now and again
tormentors, whom she repeatedly named, whispering among themselves
that they were, by desire of the devil, to carry her away. And it was
supposed she would have been conveyed away from her friends, had not
the minister prayed for her at the time the witches were about to
carry their diabolical intentions into operation.
The lamentable case of the afflicted family being represented to his
Majesty's Privy Council, a commission was, worthily and piously it is
said, appointed to inquire into the case. By warrant of this
commission, certain suspected persons were apprehended. Alexander
Anderson, represented as an ignorant irreligious fellow; Elizabeth
Anderson, his daughter; and Jean Fulton, grandmother of the said
Elizabeth Anderson, were secured. Elizabeth Anderson, on being
severely interrogated, declared she had frequently seen the devil, in
the likeness of a little black man, in the company of her grandmother.
She also confessed that she herself had been at several meetings with
the devil and witches; and she declared her father and a Highlandman
in the neighbourhood, along with others, were active agents in
tormenting Christina Shaw.
A quorum of the commissioners met at Bargarran; and the persons
accused by Elizabeth Anderson to have been at the meetings with the
devil, and to have been active instruments of Christina Shaw's
trouble--viz. Alexander Anderson, Agnes Naismith, Margaret Fulton,
James Lindsay, John Lindsay, and Catherine Campbell--were (except John
Lindsay, not then in custody) confronted with the afflicted damsel
before Lord Blantyre and other commissioners, together with ministers
of the gospel and non-clerical gentlemen of note, and charged by her
as her tormentors; and they (the persons in custody) having severally
touched her, she was at each of their touches seized with grievous
fits.
About this time Thomas Lindsay, a boy twelve years of age, was
apprehended on presumption of complicity in witchcraft, he having
said, before credible witnesses, that the devil was his father, and
that if he pleased he could fly like a crow. Sometimes, he said, he
could cause a plough to stand, and the horses break the yoke, on his
pronouncing a few strange words and turning himself withershinns.
Though at first he denied his guilt, yet he afterwards confessed he
had a compact with the devil, and that he had been at several meetings
with Satan and witches. His brother James, he said, was also present.
James Lindsay was therefore apprehended, and identified by Christina
Shaw as one of her tormentors. He too confessed to be guilty of
Satanic acts.
Next day Margaret Lang, and her daughter Martha Semple, being accused
by Christina Shaw of having been also active in tormenting her, came
of their own accord to Bargarran House, and before they approached the
girl she said she was now bound up, and could not accuse Margaret Lang
to her face. Subsequently she named Lang and her daughter as two of
her tormentors.
The commissioners had several conferences, and in their presence many
suspected witches were shown to the girl at Bargarran. At these
conferences strange things transpired, all tending to prove a most
diabolical plot to punish the girl for her insult to Catherine
Campbell. This was not all: the inquiry brought to light various other
acts of witchcraft, mischief, and even murder, perpetrated by the
devil and those in league with him. In due course the suspected
persons were arraigned before the judges and jury; and able arguments,
according to the light of those times, were entered into. An outline
of the specious pleading of the advocate who conducted the prosecution
is given, as an example of the manner in which convictions against
suspected witches were obtained two hundred years ago.
"Good men of inquest," he said, "you having sitten
above twenty hours in overhearing the probation, we
shall not detain you with summing up in particular,
but shall only suggest some things, whereof it is fit
you take special notice. 1st, The nature of your own
power, and the management thereof. 2dly, The object of
this power which lies before you, wherein you are to
consider, in the first place, whether or not there has
been witchcraft in the malefices libelled? and, in the
next case, whether or not these panels are the
witches?
"As to your power, it is certain that you are both
judges and witnesses, by the opinion of our lawyers
and custom; therefore you are called out of the
neighbourhood, as presumed best to know the quality of
the panels, and the notoriety of their guilt or
innocence....
"We are not to press you with the ordinary severity of
threatening an assize of error, in case you should
absolve; but wholly leave you to the conduct of God
and your own conscience....
"As to the probation itself, you see that it is
divided in three parts, viz. the extraordinariness of
the malefices; the probability of the concurring
adminicles; and the clearness of the positive
probation.
"As to the first part, the malefices, or _corpora
delicti_, are proven by unexceptionable witnesses to
have fallen out in such an odd and extraordinary
manner, that it points out some other causes than the
ordinary course of nature to have produced these
effects.
"For clearing of this, particularly in relation to the
torments of Bargarran's daughter, you may consider not
only the extraordinary things that could not proceed
from a natural disease, which lie proven before you,
but also several other matters of fact, which is
notour, have been seen by some of yourselves, and lie
here in a journal of her sufferings; every article
whereof is attested by the subscriptions of persons of
entire credit, before the honourable commissioners
appointed by his Majesty's Privy Council, for making
inquiry thereanent.
"This girl's throwing out of hairs, pins, and coals of
greater heat than that of her body or blood; as also
so dry that they appeared not to have come out of her
stomach; nor had she any press of vomiting at the
time; that she declared the same to have been put into
her mouth by her tormentors--is deponed by Dr.
Brisbane, in his opinion, not to proceed from a
natural cause....
"She told that her tormentors were giving her a glass
of sack, an orange peel, etc., and accordingly she was
seen to move her lips, and to have an orange peel
betwixt her teeth, though there was no visible hand
that could have done it.
"She advertised beforehand that one of her tormentors
was to be at the door at a particular hour, and that
another of them was in the kitchen before any did tell
her thereof; which accordingly fell out....
"When her glove fell down from her, at a time when
several persons were about her, it was lifted again by
a hand invisible to them.
"She was not only transported through the hall and
down stairs without perceiving her feet to touch the
ground, but also was hurried in a flight up stairs;
and when a minister endeavoured to retain her, he
found a sensible weight, besides her own strength,
drawing her from him.
"She was most vehemently distorted upon attempting to
tell, or even write, the names of her tormentors....
"She foretold that her tormentors had concerted to
throw her into a fit (whereof they did premonish, of
design to fright her to renounce her baptism by the
terror) at a certain hour, and had left one of their
number to execute it; according whereunto there was a
woman with a red coat seen under a tree in the
orchard, and the torment was brought on at the time
appointed....
"She cried out at a time that her thigh was hurt; and
one of the company having searched her pocket, found a
knife, but unfolded; however, having folded up the
same, and put it in a second time, she cries of new;
and, upon the second search, it (though secured by the
spring) is found open, to the great wonder of
beholders; since they did watch that no visible thing
could have possibly opened it.
"She told of a charm under the bed; and accordingly it
was found in the shape of an egg, which melted away on
being put in the fire....
"The story anent her telling that the commissioners,
though at three miles distance, had granted a warrant
to the sheriff to apprehend one of her tormentors; her
telling so perfect an account of the sheriff and of
Mr. Guthrie, who was with him, while her eyes were
tied and fast; her being in excessive torments (as she
foretold) till that person was apprehended, and
immediately thereupon, though at many miles distance,
her telling that her tormentors were now taken,
betwixt twelve and one o'clock in the morning; and the
sheriff, when he returned, did declare the seizure to
have been made about that time--is so notour, and so
well attested, that we need only to put you in mind
thereof.
"Her falling into fits upon the sight or touch of her
tormentors, was no effect of imagination; for she was
fully hoodwinked with a cloak, so as she saw nobody
whatsoever; yet, upon the approach of her tormentor,
she immediately fell down as dead, whereas she
remained no ways startled upon the touch of any other:
which experiments were tried for ascertaining this
means of discovery.
"Finally, she is naturally sagacious and observant,
and discovered her integrity in face of court.... She
showed her firmness against the temptations of
becoming a witch; particularly against the last
assault of Satan; wherein he persuaded her at least to
go to their meetings, and she answered that she would
not follow such a base fallen creature; and he
rejoining that she would go to hell, however, for her
other sins; and she answering that he was a liar from
the beginning, and the blood of Jesus would cleanse
her from all iniquity: whereupon he disappeared, and
she perfectly recovered upon the Sabbath thereafter;
was a happy end put to this fearful tragedy of
witchcraft, and confirms to conviction the reality of
it.
"As to the murdering of the children, and the minister
libelled: you may observe several extraordinary things
appearing in them; particularly, the witnesses depone,
the minister to have been in excessive torments, and
of an unusual colour, to have been of sound judgment;
and yet he did tell of several women being about him,
and that he heard the noise of the door opening, when
none else did hear it. The children were well at
night, and found dead in the morning, with a little
blood on their noses, and blaes at the roots of their
ears; which were obvious symptoms of strangling....
"The second part of the probation consists of several
adminicles, proven by unsuspected witnesses, which
lead us to suspect those panels to be witches, as so
many lines drawn from a circumference to a centre, and
as an avenue to the positive probation thereafter
adduced; and these either strike at the whole panels
in general, or some of them in particular....
"You see that none of them doth shed tears; nor were
they ever discovered to do it since their
imprisonment, notwithstanding their frequent
howlings....
"In particular, you see how Katharine Campbell was
provoked by this girl's discovering her theft;
whereupon she has brought in the rest of her
confederates to act the mischiefs; how Campbell did
curse and imprecate in a terrible manner; how she
staid out of her bed at night, and was frequently
drowsy in the morning....
"Margaret Lang, that great impostor, has been a great
masterpiece of the devil: she has confessed unnatural
lust, which is known to some of your number; she sat
near the door where the charm of hair was found, which
the girl declared did keep up her tongue; and upon
burning thereof, it was loosed. The girl fell in fits
upon her approach; she has notable marks; particularly
one, which the confessants declared she lately
received; and, by inspection, it appears to be recent.
When she came from her private conversation (no doubt
with the devil) she raged as if she had been
possessed, and could not but declare that she expected
a violent death. She looked in the face of James
Millar's child, and asked her age, whereupon that
child sickened the same night, and named Margaret Lang
on her death-bed. It appears she was ready to show to
Janet Laird a sight of her mother, who had been three
years dead....
"Margaret Fulton was reputed a witch, has the mark of
it, and acknowledged, in presence of her husband, that
she made use of a charm, which appeared full of small
stones and blood; that her husband had brought her
back from the fairies....
"As to the Lindsays, they all have the mark, and were
all of a long time reputed to be witches. John
Lindsay, in Barlock, was accidentally discovered by
the girl's taking a fit upon his coming to the house.
John and James Lindsay were dilated by a confessing
witch in anno 1687, which confession is publicly read
before you, and there was money given to the
sheriff-depute for delaying of the pursuit. James
Lindsay appeared to William Semple suddenly, and flew
about like a fowl for an opportunity to strike him....
"It is true, some of these indications may be in one,
and others of them in another, either from nature or
accident, and yet that person not be a witch; but it
was never heard nor read that all these indications,
which are so many discoveries by providence, of a
crime that might otherwise remain in the dark, did
ever concur in one and the same individual person that
was innocent....
"As to the third part of the probation, we remit the
positive depositions of the confessants, and against
whom they do concur, wholly to your own perusal or
examination; only you would be pleased to notice, 1st,
Something which do very much sustain the credibility
of their testimonies, arising from their examination
in court. 2dly, We shall explain to you the import of
the word _Nota_, which is added to the interlocutor of
the judges admitting these last witnesses.
"First, Elizabeth Anderson is of sufficient age, being
seventeen; but so young and pointed, that her
deposition appears not affected by melancholy: she
accused her father to his face, when he was a-dying in
the prison, as now there are two of her aunts in the
panel, which certainly must proceed from the strength
of truth, since even Dives retained a natural
affection to his relations; she went on foot to the
meetings with her father, except only that the devil
transported them over the water Clyde; which was easy
to the prince of the air, who does far greater things
by his hurricanes....
"James Lindsay, it is true, is of less import; yet, by
his weeping when he came in, and was admonished of the
greatness of his guilt, it appears that he had a sense
of it.... He does not file the panels all at random,
but tells what occurred to his senses.
"Janet and Margaret Rodgers are instances of a
singular providence; for they did confess, the same
morning that the court did last sit, of their own
proper motive, their being neither ministers nor
judges beside them at the time....
"It is true, there are some few of the adminicles that
are proven only by one witness; but as to this you may
consider, 1st, That a witness deponing _de facto
proprio_, is in law more credited than any other
single witness. And this is the present case as to
some of the adminicles. 2dly, The antecedent
concomitant, and subsequent circumstances of fact, do
sustain the testimony and make the _semi-plenary_
probation to become full. But 3dly, The other
adminicles, undoubtedly proven by concurring
witnesses, are _per se_ sufficient; and therefore you
saw us, at the desire of the judges, forbear to call
the far greatest part of our witnesses....
"We shall therefore leave you with this conclusion,
that as you ought to beware of condemning the
innocent, and ought to incline to the safest side; so,
if these panels be proven legally guilty, then _quoad_
bygones, your eye ought not to spare them, nor ought
you to suffer a witch to live; and as to the future,
you in doing otherwise would be accessory to all the
blasphemies, apostasies, murders, tortures, and
seductions whereof these enemies of heaven and earth
shall thereafter be guilty, when they have got out. So
that the question seems simply to come to this,
Whether, upon your oath _de fideli_, you can swear
that the panels, notwithstanding of all that is proven
against them, are not guilty of witchcraft; in the
determination whereof, we pray God may direct you in
the right course."
The jury, after being enclosed nearly six hours, found the libel
proven.
It only remains to be stated that the accused suffered the extreme
penalty of the law, not for crimes committed, but on account of the
superstition and ferocity of the period.
CHAPTER LIX.
Victims of Superstition--History of Lady Glammis--Her
Trial for causing the Death of her Husband and
attempting to poison the King--Found Guilty, and
Burned--Lady Fowlis an intended Victim--Hector Munro
tried for Sorcery--Making an Image of the young Lady
of Balnagowan--Elf Arrows--Consulting Egyptians--Trial
and Acquittal of Lady Fowlis--Her Accomplices not so
Fortunate--Hector Munro's connection with
Witches--Charge against Sir John Colquhoun and Thomas
Carlips for consulting with Necromancers--Love
Philters and Enchanted Tokens--Eloping with a
Sister-in-law--Bewitching Sir George Maxwell--A Dumb
Girl detecting Witches--Witch-marks discovered before
the Sheriff of Renfrewshire--Strange
Confessions--Commission appointed by the Privy Council
to try Witches--Witches ordered to be Burned--Alison
Pearson's Intercourse with Fairies--Another Witch
Story.
After witchcraft became unpopular, persons of youth, beauty, and rank,
as well as people of old age, poverty, and deformity, often fell
victims to superstition. The history of Lady Glammis is a painful one,
exhibiting the gross darkness and ferocity of her time. Being
beautiful, and in good position, her hand was sought by noblemen whose
name and fame did, in some respects, honour to their country. As Lady
Glammis could have only one husband at a time, she was compelled to
reject proposals made to her by members of first-class families--a
necessity that was not looked at in its proper light; for her
refusals, both when she was a maid and widow, to enter into
matrimonial alliance with the heads of noble houses, raised formidable
enemies against her. Her influence at court was great; but this did
not save her from being accused of witchcraft. The fair popular lady
was tried in a criminal court for procuring the death of her husband
by intoxication, or unholy drugging; for a design to poison the king;
and for notorious witchcraft. She was found guilty, and burned.
Lady Fowlis was another intended noble victim. She and her step-son,
Hector Munro, were tried, in 1590, for witchcraft, incantation,
sorcery, and poisoning. The charges against the lady were the
diabolical acts of making two images of clay, the one representing the
young lady of Balnagowan, and the other personating Robert Munro (both
of whom, it was alleged, stood in her way of advancement in life),
which figures two notorious witches put up in a room, and shot at with
elf arrows. As these operations did not terminate the existence of the
intended victims, an attempt was made to poison them; but for a time
this also proved unsuccessful. At length the young lady of Balnagowan
tasted her sister-in-law's infernal potion, whereby she contracted an
incurable disease. Disappointed at the draught not immediately proving
fatal, Lady Fowlis sent far and wide for gipsies and witches, to
consult with them as to what was best to be done. More clay images
were made, and shot at with elf arrows. She was tried by a jury,
composed chiefly of the Fowlis dependants, who acquitted her.
Several of her witch accomplices were not so fortunate; they suffered
the extreme penalty of the law. It was proved on trial, that Hector
Munro had communed with three witches, in 1588, for the recovery of
his eldest brother, Robert, who was dangerously ill. The witches
"pollit the hair of Robert Munro, and plet the naillis of his fingers
and taes;" but the charms were ineffectual, and Robert died. Hector,
the panel, was unwell, and pronounced by women of skill to be
incurable unless the chief man of his blood, George Munro of Abisdale,
Lady Catherine's eldest son, should die for him. All things being
ready, George was sent for to see his sick friend. When he came, a
spell was applied, according to the directions of his foster-mother
and certain witches. A grave was made between two manors, and at night
the sick man was laid in the grave, where he rested until one of the
witches consulted the devil as to what should be done next. The
invalid was covered over with turf, while another witch, with a young
boy in her hand, ran the breadth of nine rigs, coming back to the
grave and asking who was her choice? The response came that Hector was
to live and George to die for him. The ceremony being gone through
three times, all the parties present, except the devil in bodily
shape, returned home. Hector, like his step-mother, escaped
punishment, though the evidence against him was lengthy and weighty.
In 1633 Sir John Colquhoun of Luss, and Thomas Carlips, a German
servant in his employment, were charged with consulting necromancers
and sorcerers, and with incest, contrary to the Act of Parliament 9
Queen Mary, and of an Act of James VI. Colquhoun was married to Lady
Lilias Grahame, the Earl of Montrose's eldest daughter. The Earl being
dead, Lady Colquhoun brought home Lady Catherine, her second sister (a
beautiful young woman), to reside with her and Sir John. Colquhoun,
fascinated with his sister-in-law's charms, made love to her, but,
meeting with no encouragement from the young lady, he consulted with
Carlips (a necromancer) and with several witches and sorcerers as to
the best way of making her return his affection. They gave her
philters and enchanted love tokens, including a jewel of gold set with
rubies and diamonds. The enchanted jewel proved effectual: Lady
Catherine's scruples were overcome, and she and Sir John eloped,
making their way to London, whither they were accompanied by Carlips.
Sir John and Carlips, though indicted, failed to answer the charge,
and they were therefore declared rebels, and "put to the horn."
A singular account is given of the bewitching of Sir George Maxwell,
who died in 1677. The story is founded on information supplied by his
son. It appears that Sir George Maxwell, being in Glasgow on the 14th
October 1676, was suddenly seized at night with a hot and fiery
disease. He hastened home, fearing the worst; and it was well he did
so, for he was long confined to bed of a painful disorder, that would
not yield to his skilful physician's treatment. It happened about this
time that a young dumb girl, a stranger, appeared in Polloktown. She
came occasionally to Sir George's house, soliciting assistance.
Observing the gentleman's state, she seemed much troubled, and, by
signs, signified to his daughters that a woman had pricked Sir
George's sides. The girl subsequently pointed out Janet Mathie as the
person who had done the mischief. As suggested by the girl, Mathie's
house was searched for a wax image, supposed to have been used as an
instrument to torture the unfortunate gentleman. True enough, a wax
image was found, with two pins stuck in it. Mathie was therefore
apprehended, and committed to prison. In presence of the Sheriff of
Renfrewshire, she was searched for insensible marks by competent
inspectors, who found many devil's marks.
Sir George recovered slightly, but on the 4th January he became so
poorly that his friends despaired of his life. Meantime, again acting
on the dumb girl's suggestion, the house in which John Stewart (Janet
Mathie's eldest son) resided was searched, and a clay image, having
three pins stuck in it, lay in the bed where he slept. Stewart, and
one of his little sisters, aged fourteen years, were instantly
arrested. Being pressed to tell the truth, the girl apprehended told
that the image had been made by her brother, Bessie Weir, Margery
Craig, and Margaret Jackson, in presence of a black man, whom she
understood to be the devil. Sir George, curiously enough, recovered
after the second discovery of an image, the same as he had done at the
finding of the former figure. John Stewart remained obstinate until
his body was searched for insensible marks. These being discovered in
great numbers, so confounded the man that he admitted his compact
with Satan. In a judicial declaration he confessed his accomplices
were his sister and the other women named. On further examination the
girl admitted that she, as well as her mother and brother, had a
paction with Satan.
Lord Ross and the Earl of Dundonald granted a warrant for the
apprehension of Bessie Weir, Margaret Jackson, and Margery Craig.
Margaret Jackson, who had reached the age of eighty years, like her
accomplices, had many devil's marks on her person. She confessed being
accessory to the making of images, with the intention of depriving Sir
George Maxwell of life.
On the 17th January a third image was found under Janet Mathie's
prison bed in Paisley, concerning which the dumb girl had given
information; but it appeared to be the picture of a woman. The
supposition seemed to be that it represented a lady belonging to the
Pollok family; for against the whole household Mathie had taken an
inveterate grudge.
The Lords of His Majesty's Privy Council, being informed of what had
been done, granted a commission to Sir Patrick Gauston of Gauston,
James Brisbane of Bishopton, Sir John Shaw, younger, of Greenock, John
Anderson, younger, of Dovehill, and John Preston, advocate, with Lord
George Ross as assessor, to try the persons in custody. The Commission
held its first court in Paisley on 27th January 1677. Annabil Stewart,
the girl of fourteen years, when brought before the court for the
crime of witchcraft, stated that, in the previous harvest, the devil,
like a black man, came to her mother's house and requested the
declarant to give herself up to him, under pretence that if she did so
she would never want. Enticed by her mother and Bessie Weir, she put
her hand to the crown of her head, and the other to the sole of her
foot, and swore that she yielded herself up to his Satanic majesty.
She declared that she had a spirit that attended her, known to herself
and the other witches by the name of Enippa. Declared further, that
all the other witches had wicked spirits that assisted them in their
evil deeds. She told who were present when the several images were
made. One of the figures was put on a spit, and turned before the
fire. As it went round, each and all of them kept repeating Sir George
Maxwell, Sir George Maxwell. One night, she said, she saw her brother
John Stewart with a black man with cloven feet.
In a second declaration John Stewart confessed that he, Bessie Weir,
Margaret Jackson, and Margery Craig had a meeting with the devil on
the night of 3rd January, when he, at the request of Satan, renounced
his baptism. He was induced, he said, to do this, by the devil
promising that he should not want any pleasure, or fail to see revenge
on those who did him wrong. That evening, effigies of clay were made
for taking away the life of Sir George Maxwell. John observed, when
the devil was moulding the image, that his hands were bluish, and that
there were handcuffs on his wrists.
Margaret Jackson, in her confession, admitted she was present at the
making of an effigy and of a picture formed in Janet Mathie's house,
and that they were made as instruments for taking away Sir George
Maxwell's life. Admitted further, that, forty years before her
apprehension, she had given herself from the crown of the head to the
sole of the feet to the devil. These declarations were subscribed by
Robert Park, notary-public.
All the accused persons, except Annabil, were found guilty, and
ordered, together with effigies they had prepared for Sir George's
destruction, to be burned. Annabil seriously admonished her mother to
confess before she suffered; but nothing, we are informed, would move
the obdurate and hardened old witch--so she perished, denying her
guilt.
In the case of Alison Pearson, who suffered for witchcraft in
Scotland in 1586, several strange revelations were made. She had had a
stroke of paralysis, which so affected her that at times she suffered
severely. She was a reputed witch, averred to have done serious
mischief to her neighbours. For this reason, she was indicted for
holding communication with demons. She admitted having intercourse
with the Queen of Elfland and the good neighbours. When she fell into
a trance, which happened often, she saw her cousin, William Sympsoune,
of Stirling (who had been conveyed away to the hills by the fairies),
from whom she received a salve that could cure every disease; and from
this ointment the Archbishop of St. Andrews confessed he derived
benefit. In an indictment framed against her, it was set forth that
she, being in Grangemuir, lay down sick, and that there came a man to
her, clad in green, who said, if she would be faithful to him, he
would do her much good; but she, being afraid, cried out, and he went
away; that he appeared to her another time, accompanied by many men
and women, making merry with good cheer and music; that she was
carried away by them; and that, when she revealed anything, one of the
folk chastised her so unmercifully as to leave ugly marks and take
away the power from one of her sides. In her declaration she stated
she saw the good neighbours (fairies) making their salves, with pans
and fires, from herbs gathered under certain planets, and on
particular days before the sun rose. Among other revelations, she
stated that her cousin, William Sympsoune, appeared to her in the
shape of a fairy, and bade her sign herself with the cross, to prevent
her being carried to Elfland; for it was dangerous to go there, as
one-tenth of the witches were annually conveyed thence to the place of
everlasting torment.
Another witch story. One night a gentleman in the west, riding home,
was suddenly stopped by an unseen hand seizing his horse's bridle
rein. Having a sword, he first struck at one side of his horse's
head, and then at the other. The animal, now unrestrained, galloped
home, when, on putting the horse into the stable, the gentleman found
a hand cut off at the wrist, hanging to the bridle reins. Suspecting
he had been waylaid by Janet Wood (a reputed witch in the
neighbourhood), he called on her next day, and found her in bed. She
complained of being ill. After conversing with her for a short time,
he rose to take his leave, and held out his hand to shake hands with
her. She offered him her left hand; but he refused to take it, saying
it was unfriendly to use the left hand for such a friendly purpose.
After a good deal of hesitation, she admitted that she had lost her
right hand in an encounter she had the previous night when out on
witch business. The gentleman produced the hand, and, on it being
compared with her stump, it fitted exactly. The question then came to
be, how the stroke took effect, for no ordinary sword could have
injured the witch; and it turned out that it had been charmed by the
owner's grandmother, a sensible old woman.
CHAPTER LX.
Edinburgh and Leith Witches--Black Catalogue--Witches
Burned and Drowned--James VI. and the
Witches--Complaint to the Scottish Privy Council of
Barbarous Conduct--Relics of Superstition--Images
found at Arthur Seat--Witch-finders in Edinburgh and
Leith--Royal Commission to Magistrates and Ministers
to search for and put Witches to Death--Wife of a
Judge in Edinburgh meeting a Witch's Fate--Repeal of
the Laws against Witchcraft--Opposition to Acts being
Repealed--Judge of the Supreme Courts of Scotland
against a Change of the Law--Witches in Edinburgh and
Leith in the Sixteenth Century--James Reid--Agnes
Finnie, the Potter-row Witch--Alexander Hamilton, the
Warlock--The Devil and Hamilton burning a Provost's
Mill--Janet Barker curing a Bewitched Man--Margaret
Hutchison, a habit-and-repute Witch--Young Laird of
Duddingston--Major Weir and his Magical Staff--A
Magical Distaff--Agnes Williamson, a Haddingtonshire
Witch--Elizabeth Bathgate of Eyemouth--Isabella Young
of Eastbarns burned at the Castlehill.
Against Edinburgh and Leith stands a black catalogue of judicial
murders of supposed witches and warlocks. At the Cross, Gallow Lee,
between Edinburgh and Leith, and on the sands of the latter town,
unknown numbers of unhappy creatures, male and female, were executed
in a most barbarous manner, for the imaginary crime of witchcraft.
Nearly all the victims were first tortured to make them confess, and
afterwards some of them were worried, and then burned; others were
hanged at the Cross, Gallow Lee; and not a few supposed witches were
fastened to a stake on South Leith sands, and allowed to remain there
until the tide terminated their miseries.
Of James VI., and the witches who persecuted him, we have treated in
chapter XXIV.; but it may be further mentioned that in his time an
unprecedented number of reputed witches were put to death in
Edinburgh. His brutish judges displayed unwonted activity in bringing
men and women to an untimely end, because they knew their zeal brought
them into royal favour. A time, however, came when the nation could no
longer suffer the barbarities of bygone periods to be continued.
Accordingly, in 1608 a complaint was made to the Scottish Privy
Council against persons in power for so torturing the hapless women
that they died amid smoke and flame, blaspheming the Most High, and
uttering imprecations against their fellow-creatures.
In the Antiquarian Museum of Edinburgh are a few relics of
superstitious times. They consist of small figures, representing human
beings, which were found in the crevice of a rock at Arthur Seat, and
are, no doubt, figures formed for magical purposes. In the Museum are
also to be seen implements of torture, to be more particularly noticed
in chapter LXIII. Edinburgh and Leith, like every large town, had
professional witch-finders. Royal commissions were issued to
magistrates and ministers of the Church, giving them power to search
for, torture, and put to death, either by fire or water, every one
guilty of witchcraft. Rich and poor were suspected. Even nobles were
accused of witchcraft; and the wife of a senator of the College of
Justice, in Edinburgh, did not escape a witch's fate. As indicative of
the belief in witchcraft in high quarters about the middle of last
century, we find that, when the Bill for the repeal of the Act against
witches was introduced into Parliament, in 1735, it was opposed by
persons from whom better sense might have been expected. Notably among
them is named a judge of our Supreme Law Court in Scotland. Let us
look back, however, to years antecedent to 1735, and see how it fared
with witches in Edinburgh and elsewhere.
Near the latter end of the sixteenth century, Janet Stewart, belonging
to Edinburgh, Christian Levingstone, Bessie Aitken, residing in Leith,
and Christina Sadler of Blackhouse, were noted witches, who did much
mischief to persons and property.
James Reid was instructed by the devil how to heal infirm people by
the application of silk-laces, south-running water, and grease. He
cured Sarah Borthwick by giving her south-running water from the
Schriff-breyis well, and casting salt and wheat about her.
Agnes Finnie, an indweller in the Potter-row, Edinburgh, was indicted
before a judge and a jury, on twenty articles of indictment, charging
her with witchcraft and sorcery. The libel set forth that she had been
guilty of laying on and taking off grievous sickness and diseases from
people. Under one count it was set forth that Finnie having had a
difference in June preceding with Christina Dickson, the accused, in
great wrath, uttered these words, "The devil ride about the town with
you and yours," and that shortly thereafter the said Christina's
daughter, in her return from Dalkeith to Edinburgh, fell and broke her
leg, which was caused, if the libel was truly drawn up, by the
devilish threats and sorceries of the said Agnes Finnie. By way of
aggravation of her crimes, it was stated she had confessed, at her
first examination before the South-west Kirk-session of Edinburgh,
that she had been commonly called a rank witch. She was convicted of
nearly all the charges brought against her, and suffered accordingly.
Alexander Hamilton, a warlock, was indicted for sorcery. He was
enticed away by the devil (so the complainant made it appear), in the
likeness of a black man, to Kingstoun Hills, East Lothian. In
consideration of the poor man renouncing his baptism, and promising to
obey his Satanic master, that grim contractor, on his part, engaged
that the accused should never want. The panel thereafter often called
Satan up by means of beating the ground three times with a fir-stick;
and he answered to the summons, sometimes like a corbie, and sometimes
like a cat or dog. By the devil's assistance, Hamilton injured those
who hurt him. In particular, he burned Provost Cockburn's mill, full
of corn, by pulling out three stalks of corn from the Provost's
stacks, and burning them at Gairnetoune Hill. From the indictment it
would appear the devil instructed him how to prepare an ointment from
the oil of spikenard and heart's grease, to cure diseases. A lady of
rank having offended him, he and two witches, in Salton Wood, raised
the devil, who appearing, gave him the "bottom of blue due," and bade
him lay it at the lady's door, and that the panel, having disposed of
the "bottom of blue due," as directed, the lady and her eldest
daughter died soon thereafter. All the charges being solemnly admitted
by the criminal, he was worried at a stake and burned.
Janet Barker, a servant, confessed to the magistrates and ministers of
Edinburgh that she had cured a young man who had been bewitched, by
giving him a waistcoat she had received from the devil; and by placing
under a door a black card which she had also obtained from Satan.
Margaret Hutchison was found guilty, in 1661, of being
habit-and-repute a witch--a supposed fact spoken to by the young laird
of Duddingston; and of putting a disease on her servant maid, and
thereafter removing it to a cat, soon after found dead near the
servant's bed.
Major Weir, who ended this life, or rather whose existence was ended,
in Edinburgh in the year 1670, was an enchanter who performed many
unaccountable actions in his day. According to the statement of his
sister, his whole magical power proceeded from a staff he possessed.
The major's sister had at the same time a distaff which often spun
yarn for her without any one handling it. At night she left the
distaff empty, and in the morning it was full.
In the year 1662 Agnes Williamson, residing at Samuelston,
Haddingtonshire, was indicted for witchcraft. She was charged, _inter
alia_, with taking the strength out of her neighbour's meal by her
enchantments; with raising a whirlwind, and thereby throwing her
neighbour Carfrae into the water, where he saw her and other witches
swimming about; with telling a neighbour that Carfrae would lose five
hundred merks, and, by her sorcery, setting fire to his malt kiln;
with renouncing her baptism, and taking the new name of "Nannie
Luckfoot." The jury brought in a verdict of guilty as to her being
habit-and-repute a witch, but they acquitted her of all the other
charges.
In the beginning of the seventeenth century Elizabeth Bathgate, spouse
of Alexander Pae, maltman in Eyemouth, was prosecuted at the instance
of the Lord Advocate for sorcery. The charges exhibited against her
were eighteen in number, from which the following are selected:--
"Causing the death of George Sprot's child by giving
it an enchanted egg. Throwing the said George Sprot
into extreme poverty by her sorcery. Making a horse
sweat to death through the same means, and killing an
ox by dancing on the rigging of the byre in which the
animal stood. Using conjurations and running
withershinns in the mill of Eyemouth. Standing
bare-legged in her 'sark-vallie-coat,' at twelve
o'clock at night, conferring with the devil, who was
dressed in green clothes. Receiving a horse shoe from
the devil, and laying it in a secret part of the door,
that all her business in-doors might prosper. Casting
away and sinking George Huldie's ship with several
persons therein."
After a long trial, she was acquitted.
In the year 1629 Isabella Young, spouse of George Smith, portioner,
Eastbarns, was indicted for witchcraft and sorcery. There were many
acts of witchcraft and sorcery libelled against her, extending over a
period of many years. The Lords of Justiciary, before whom the trial
took place, found her guilty, and sentenced her to be worried at a
stake, and thereafter burned to ashes on the Castle Hill.
CHAPTER LXI.
The Demon of Jedburgh--Recruiting Sergeant--Captain
Douglas--An Apparition--Witch Shot in the form of a
Cat--Isobel Gowdie, an Auldearne Witch--Sabbath
Meetings with Satan--Poor Farmer
Breadley--Disinterring Unbaptised Children--Strange
Mixture--Singularly-constructed Plough--An equally
singular Team--Attempt to shoot a Minister--Bessie
Hay's Attempt to slay Harie Forbes--The
Borrowstounness Witches--Their Trial and Sentence--A
Pittenweem Witch--An Unearthly Horse--Merciful View of
a Witch's Case--A Perthshire Witch--Water of Ruthven
Well--A Changeling.
"The demon of Jedburgh" caused considerable annoyance in 1752. In that
year Captain Archibald Douglas was on recruiting service in the town
of Jedburgh. He had a sergeant under him, who asked permission to
change his quarters, on account of the house in which he resided being
haunted by a spirit of frightful form. The captain laughed at the
inferior officer, and ordered him to stay in the lodgings appointed
him.
At their next meeting the sergeant declared he had again seen an
apparition, which threatened his life. Moved by a dream and the
sergeant's statements, Captain Douglas resolved to inquire into the
matters that so disturbed the non-commissioned officer. The latter
told his superior that during the night a frightful spectre stood by
his bed-side, that it changed into the shape of a black cat, jumped
out at the window, and flew over the church steeple. Moreover, the
sergeant informed the captain that he had learned the landlady was a
witch, and the landlord possessed the faculty of second sight.
At night Captain Douglas accompanied the sergeant, and lay down beside
him, leaving his sword and firearms near them. At midnight the captain
was wakened by a noise, and, on looking up, observed a large black cat
flying through the window. Presently the captain fired his pistol at
the creature, and shot away one of its ears. Next morning the
commissioned officer stepped into the kitchen to see what was going on
there, when in came the landlady, and swooned away in a pool of blood.
On removing her head-dress, he discovered a pistol-shot wound on one
side of her face, and observed that one of her ears was gone. The
officer swore he would bring her before the magistrates to have her
tried as a witch. She and her husband entreated him to refrain from
giving information to the authorities, and he, like a generous man,
promised to keep silence, on the condition that they would abandon
their wicked ways.
Isobel Gowdie, one of the Auldearne witches, was baptised by the
devil, with whom she had many "Sabbath meetings." She and other
witches appropriated Farmer Breadley's corn to themselves, and left
him nothing but weeds. To secure the grain, they at one time
disinterred an unbaptised infant, which, together with parings of
their nails, ears of corn, and colewort leaves, they chopped and mixed
together. At another time, to accomplish a similar object, a plough,
having a colter and sock of rams' horns, was prepared, and a yoke of
toads, instead of oxen, with dog-grass traces, made to draw it twice
round the farmer's fields. The agricultural implement was held by the
devil, and John Young, a warlock, goaded the team, while a band of
witches followed, beseeching the ploughman to do his work effectually.
An attempt was made by the gang of witches to which Isobel Gowdie
belonged, to shoot Harie Forbes, the minister of Auldearne, with elf
arrows, shaped by the devil, and sharpened by his imps.
Notwithstanding all this, the arrows missed the mark. Charms and
incantations were next resorted to with the view of depriving the
parish of a good useful parson, who had been instrumental, both in and
out of the pulpit, in making Satan tremble. The flesh and gall of a
toad, a hare's liver, barley grains, nail parings, mashed in water,
were put into a bag. Bessie Hay, a celebrated witch, being intimate
with Mr. Forbes, went into his room to slay him with the compound, but
the good man was proof against infernal acts, and so escaped injury.
Certain witches--Annaple Thomson, Margaret Pringle, Margaret
Hamiltown, relict of James Pollwart, William Craw, Bessie Wicker, and
Margaret Hamilton, relict of Thomas Mitchell, sadly tormented
Borrowstounness and other parts of Linlithgowshire, in the seventeenth
century. Having entered into a paction with Satan, they did divers
acts of wickedness, for which they were tried before Commissioners of
Justiciary, specially appointed for the purpose by the Lords of His
Majesty's Council. The indictment charged that:
"Ye, and ilk ane of you, are indytted and accused,
that where, notwithstanding, be the law of God,
particularly sett down in the 20 chapter of Leviticus,
and eighteen chap. of Dewtronomie, and be the lawes
and actes of parliament of this kingdome, and constant
practiq thereof; particularlie be 73 act, 9
parliament, Q. Marie, the cryme of witchcraft is
declared to be ane horreid, abominable, and capitall
cryme, punishable with the paines of death and
confiscatiown of moveables; never the less it is of
veritie, that you have committed, and ar gwyltie of
the said cryme of witchcraft, in swa far ye have
entered in pactiown with the devill, the enemie of
your salvatiown, and have renownced your baptizme, and
have given your selffes, both soulles and bodies, to
the devill, and have bein severall meetings with the
devill, and wyth swndrie witches in diverse places:
and particularlie, ye the said Annaple Thomsone had a
metting with the devill the tyme of your weidowhood,
before yow was married to your last husband, in your
cwming betwixt Linlithgow and Borrowstownes, where the
devill, in the lykness of ane black man, told yow that
yow wis ane poore puddled bodie, and had ane evill
lyiff, and difficultie to win throw the world; and
promesed, iff ye wald followe him, and go alongst with
him, yow should never want, but have ane better lyiff:
and, abowt fyve wekes therefter, the devill appeired
to yow when yow wis goeing to the coal-hill abowt
sevin o'clock in the morning. Having renewed his
former tentatiown, yow did condeschend thereto, and
declared yowrselff content to follow him, and becwm
his servant: and ye, and each persone of yow, wis at
several mettings with the devill in the linkes of
Borrowstownes, and in the howss of yow Bessie Vickar,
and ye did eatt and drink with the devill, and with
ane another, and with witches in hir howss in the
night tyme; and the devill and the said Wm. Craw
browght the ale which ye drank, extending to abowt
sevin gallons, from the howss of Elizabeth Hamilton;
and yow the said Annaple had ane other metting abowt
fyve wekes ago, when yow wis goeing to the coal-hill
of Grange, and he invitted yow to go alongest, and
drink with him in the Grange pannes. And yow the said
Margaret Pringil have bein ane witch thir many yeeres
bygane; hath renownced yowr baptizme, and becwm the
devill's servant, and promised to follow him; and he
tuik you by the right hand, whereby it was, for eight
days, grevowslie pained; but having it twitched of new
againe, it imediatelie becam haill. And yow the said
Margaret Hamiltown has bein the devill's servant these
eight or nyne yeeres bygane; and he appered and
conversed with yow at the toun-well at Borrowstownes,
and several tymes in yowr awin howss, and drank
several choppens of ale with yow; and the devill gave
yow ane fyve merk piece of gold, whilk a lyttill efter
becam ane sklaitt stane. And yow the said Margaret
Hamiltown, relict of James Pullwart, has bein ane
witch, and the devill's servant thertie yeeres since,
hath renwncid yowr baptizme, as said is. And ye, and
ilk ane of yow, wis at ane metting with the devill and
wther witches at the croce of Murestaine, above
Kinneil, upon the threttin of October last, where yow
all danced, and the devill acted the pyiper, and where
yow endeavored to have destroyed Andrew Mitchell, sone
to John Mitchell, elder in Dean of Kinneil."
Then followed the order and warrant for burning the witches named in
the indictment, couched and signed as follows:--
"Forsameikle as Annabil Thomson widdow in
Borrowstownes, Margaret Prinkle relict of John
Campbell ther, Margaret Hamiltown relict of James
Pollwart ther, William Craw indweller ther, Bessie
Wicker relict of James Pennie ther, and Margaret
Hamiltown relict of Thomas Mitchell ther, prisoners in
the tolbuith of Borrowstownes, are found guiltie be
ane assyse, of the abominable cryme of witchcraft
committed be them in manner mentioned in their
dittayes, and are decerned and adjudged be us under
subscryvers (commissioners of justiciary speciallie
appoynted to this effect) to be taken to the west end
of Borrowstownes, the ordinar place of execution ther,
upon Tuesday the twentie-third day of December
current, betwixt two and four o'cloack in the
efternoon, and there be wirried at a steack till they
be dead, and thereafter to have their bodies burnt to
ashes. These therefoir require and command the baylie
principal off the regalitie of Borrowstownes, and his
deputts, to see the said sentence and doom put to dew
execution in all poynts, as yes will be answerable.
Given under our hands at Borrowstownes the nynteenth
day of December 1679 years,
"W. DUNDAS.
"RICH. ELPHENSTONE.
"WA. SANDILANDS.
"J. CORNWALL.
"J. HAMILTON."
Beatrix Laing, a Pittenweem witch, became a most resentful woman.
Because a young lad refused to give her a few nails, she, by means of
putting burning coals and water into a wooden vessel, cast a grievous
sickness on the young man, which made him swell prodigiously. For this
she was cast into prison, pricked, and kept without sleep for five
nights and days, to make her confess her dealings in charms and
witchcraft generally. After considerable delay, a confession of guilt
was extracted from the woman. Among other things, she told of a big
black horse that had come to her with five packs of wool. Beatrix gave
the animal to her husband, but the good man soon desired to get rid of
the beast. It did not look like any other horse he had ever seen;
neither whip nor stick would drive it away. Under the peculiar
circumstances, the poor man consulted his wife as to what was best to
be done. Long deliberation was uncalled for. "Go," said Beatrix, "cast
his bridle on his neck, and you will get rid of him." The docile and
alarmed husband did as instructed; and lo, the black horse flew off
with a great noise. Repeated attempts were made by the magistrates of
Pittenweem to induce the Privy Council to bring Beatrix to trial. The
Earl of Balcarres and Lord Anstruther, members of the Council, looked
on her as a dreamer, and obtained her discharge after five months
incarceration. This act of clemency filled the Pittenweem people with
rage: they drove her from home and habitation. Hungry and cold, she
wandered about for many days, till death ended her sufferings.
A Perthshire witch cured little children by various charms. A cake
made of meal obtained from nine several women was an infallible
medicine, when eaten by a little sufferer; and a decoction of certain
herbs, infused in water from the well of Ruthven, carried by one going
to and returning from the spring, silently and alone, was an
invaluable preparation. A neighbour, named John Gow, had a changeling
left in his house in place of a beautiful infant, belonging to him,
stolen by the fairies. The sickly-looking creature proved a source of
great annoyance to him and his spouse, but, thanks to a witch, it was
got rid of: a dose of her medicine administered to the disguised fairy
proved sufficient to despatch it to fairyland, or to some other
unknown place.
CHAPTER LXII.
Witchcraft in Aberdeen--Dean of Guild rewarded for his
Diligence in burning Witches--Trial of Thomas Leyis
for Witchcraft--Found Guilty--Expense of burning
Thomas Leyis--Expense of burning Janet Wischert and
Isobel Cocker--The Marquis of Huntly's Desire to
punish Witches--Action of the Presbytery anent
Witches--Helen Fraser--Man under the Protection of the
Fairy Queen--Janet Wischert causing a Man to melt away
like a Candle--Ruining a Man and his Wife--Margaret
Clark's Power--Strathdown Witches--Merry
Wives--Transforming Besoms into the Likeness of
Women--Riding on Brooms--Crossing the Spey in
Riddles--Disappearance of Witches--Madge M'Donald of
Tomintoul--Witches' Pool--A Mountain Tale--Girl
controlling the Elements--Witch Burned--Caithness
Witches--Margaret Olson, one of the Evil
Sisterhood--Investigation by the Sheriff--Margaret
Nin-Gilbert--Helen Andrew--Shetland Witches--An Orkney
Lady--Mary Lamont of Innerkip.
Judging from the number of persons burned for alleged supernatural
acts in Aberdeen--sometimes as many as twenty-three in a year--that
city must have been a hotbed of witches. To hunt down witches there,
and to bring them to the stake, met with general approval. Men in
public office, noble lords, ecclesiastics, and the common people
joined in the hunt, with results truly appalling. Under date 21st
September 1597, the provost, bailies, and council showed their
appreciation of the diligence of William Dunn in the discharge of his
duties as dean of guild; and "besides, of his extraordinary pains in
the burning of a great number of witches, and four pirates, and
bigging of the port on the brig of Dee."
They "theirfor, in recompens of his extraordinarie
panis, and in satisfaction theirof (not to induce any
preparative to deanes of guild to crave a recompence
heirafter), but to incurage ithers to travel also
diligentlie in the discharge of thair office, grantit
and assignit to him the sum of £47, 3s. 4d. owin be
him of the rest of his account of the unlawis of the
persons convict for slaying of black fische, and
dischargit him theirof be their presentis for ever."
Thomas Leyis, a stabler in Aberdeen, fell a victim to the over-zeal of
his fellow-citizens at this time, the chief of whom was, no doubt, the
indefatigable dean of guild. Leyis appeared before the Court of
Justiciary held in the tolbooth of Aberdeen, to answer to the
undermentioned charges:--
"Imprimis, upon Hallowein last bypast, at twelff
houris at even or thairby, thow, the said Thomas
Leyis, accompaneit with umquhil Janett Wischert,
Isobel Coker, Isobel Monteithe, Kathren Mitchell,
relict of umquhil Charles Dun, litster, sorceraris and
witches, with ane gryt number of ither witches, cam to
the mercat and fish cross of Aberdene, under the
conduct and gyding of the dewill, present with you all
in company, playing before you on his kynd of
instruments. Ye all dansit about baythe the said
crosse and the meill mercate ane lang space of tym; in
the quhilk dewill's dans thow, the said Thomas, was
foremost and led the ring, and dang the said Kathren
Mitchell, because she spoilt your dans, and ran nocht
sa fast about as the rest. Testifeit be the said
Kathren Mitchell, quha was present with thee at the
tym foresaid, dansin with the dewill.
"Secundus, the said Thomas Leyis is accusit as a
common notorious witche, in using of witchcraft and
sorcerie these dyvers years bygane.
"The haill assis, in ane voce for the maist pairt
(except thrie), convicts and fyllis Thomas Leyis in
the first poynt, that he was the ringleader of the
dans on Hallowein last night about the croce, and in
either speciall poynts, and as a notorious witche be
oppen voce and common fame." [Thomas was burned.]
The following figures show the expenses incurred in burning the said
unfortunate man:
"Item, for peattis, tar barrellis, fir, and coallis, to
burn the said Thomas, and to Jon Justice for
his fie in executing him £2 13 4"
EXPENSES OF BURNING JANET WISCHERT AND ISOBEL COCKER IN ABERDEEN:
"Item, for twenty loads of peattis to burn them £2 0 0
Item, for ane boll of coillis 1 4 0
Item, for four tar barrellis 1 6 8
Item, for fir and win barrellis 0 16 8
Item, for a staik, and dressing of it 0 16 0
Item, for four fadomes of towis 4 0 0
Item, for careing the peattis, coallis, and barrellis
to the hill 0 13 4
Item, to Jon Justice for their execution 0 13 4"
Another instance of the Aberdonian zeal for the punishment of witches
appears on 6th January 1603. A minute of the presbytery says:
"The quhilk day, anent the desyre of the Marques of
Huntlie desyring the presbyterie to tak tryell of the
witches, and consultares with them, and to send to his
Lordship the delatioun, with the names of sic as were
maist meitt to pass upon the assyse and tryell of
them. The presbyterie, for obedience heirto, ordanit
every minister within their precinct to tak ane
subtill and privie inquisition therein--viz. ilk
minister, with tua of his elderis that fearis God and
are maist zealous of his glorie, at ilk particular
kirk respective, tak the aithes of the inhabitants
within their charge, quhat they know of witches and
consultaris with them, and wreitt their depositions,
and return the same to the presbyterie, with the names
of sic as are metest to be assyssours to them, that
the same may be sent to the Marques with all hastie
expedition, conform to the desyre of his Lordship's
lettre, and his Lordship may charge them."
Helen Fraser, an Aberdeen witch, caused Robert Merchant, a married
man, to fall in love with Isobel Bruce, a widow--an unholy affection
that continued to the day Fraser was burned.
Andrew Man, an old Aberdonian, considered himself under the
protection of the fairy queen, who imparted to him a knowledge of all
things, and gave him the gift of healing every disease except one--the
"stand deid"--the nature of which is unknown to us. By putting a
patient nine times through a hank of unwashed yarn, and a cat as often
through it in the opposite direction, he cast the disease on the cat,
and thereby cured the invalid.
Janet Wischert, the expense of whose execution has been given, was a
prominent witch in the north. She caused a man to melt away like a
burning candle; she ruined a husband and his wife, by causing them to
put nine grains of wheat in the corners of their house; she raised a
wind, by putting a piece of live coal at two doors, whereby she was
enabled to winnow some corn for herself, when none of her neighbours
could winnow for want of wind.
Margaret Clark had the power of transferring pains from one person to
another. She gave a valuable charm to a widow in search of a second
husband. It was to be worn round her neck until she saw the man she
loved best. When she met him she was to rub her face with the
enchanted ornament, which would prove sufficient to induce the loved
one to return the affection. Of the success of this scheme there is
not sufficient proof; but there can be no doubt that, by means of
charms, she (Clark) made a cruel husband leave off beating his wife.
Clark was accustomed to attend a convention of twenty thousand
witches, presided over by Satan, at Athole.
Strathdown, a wild romantic place in the north Highlands of Scotland,
has long been celebrated for its witches, warlocks, ghosts, and
fairies. An excellent story is told of two witches in that strath, who
performed extraordinary feats through Satanic power.
An honest hard-working farmer there was constantly in great poverty.
His cattle died, his sheep were worried, his ploughs broken, and his
carts often overturned. Everything he did proved unprofitable. His
cows' milk was bewitched; the cream would not turn into butter, the
hens laid few eggs, and the chickens never throve. These misfortunes
happened because he and his wife disregarded the traditions of their
native country. How could they and theirs thrive? There was not an old
horse-shoe nailed to one of their doors; no rowan tree lay above
either door or window lintel; and the cattle were permitted to feed on
the hill-side, without red thread tied round their tails. In short,
the married couple lived as if no witches nor evil beings were among
the glens and mountains, and as if they did not require to evoke the
aid of the wise men and women in their parish.
The farmer had two neighbours, by no means noted for industry; still
they throve. Their wives were comely happy creatures, beloved by close
companions and friends. On one occasion, when the unfortunate farmer's
wife was complaining to the other two farmers' wives, they told her
that if she would take their advice she would become prosperous like
them. She consented to follow their counsel. The first thing the
witches did (for, as the sequel will show, they were witches deeply
learned in Satan's wicked ways) was to impose on the novice a vow of
secrecy; then to direct her, when going to bed, to take with her the
besom, and, when her husband was asleep, to rise and come to them,
leaving the besom beside him, and it would assume her appearance, so
that he could not miss her.
The poor man's wife, having done as directed, hurried out to join her
companions, whom she found ready to start on a journey. They had
torches to light them on their way, brooms to ride on through the air,
and riddles to ferry them over the rapid running Spey; for they had a
meeting that night, on the north side of this river, with kindred
spirits and the ruler of darkness. Every one of the three women
bestrode a broom, and away they went over mountain and glen. A few
minutes brought them to the Spey, where they alighted in safety. The
experienced witches at once launched their riddles to cross the water;
but the third woman hesitated to trust herself in the open
agricultural implement. Impatient at delay, her companions urged her
to follow them. Never did lover seem more anxious to meet lover than
those two witches were to join the beings on the other side, engaged
in mirth and revelry. At the foot of a mountain near by (on the top of
which the ancient inhabitants of the north used to worship the sun and
fire) orgies were being carried on, while the top seemed to be in
flames. Sweet music saluted the ear, and a savoury smell arose from a
huge table, on which were spread a thousand dishes. A tall man with
swarthy complexion, as if he had come from a warm clime, stood to
welcome all comers; and truly there were many hastening to the revel.
Women flew as swiftly as if they were crows, and crossed the river as
readily in their riddles as if they were mermaids. The novice became
greatly alarmed, and crossed herself repeatedly. Just as the wicked
witches reached the middle of the stream, she exclaimed, "Holy Mother,
confound them!" The words had scarcely escaped from her lips, before
the lights were extinguished and horrid yells of despair sounded far
and near.
Left alone in such a fearful place, the poor woman began to think what
she could do. Remembering her distance from home, she felt at first
inclined to bestride a broom and fly back; but second thoughts brought
to mind the fate of her two unfortunate companions, whom she believed
were drowned. Resolved to walk, or rather run, back to her abode
before morning dawn, she went forward over moorland wilds, staying
not, nor even looking behind, until she entered her own house and
barred the door. Husband and besom occupied the bed as on the previous
night. Removing the latter, she quietly took its place, but not to
sleep; for her nervous system had received a severe shock--indeed so
much so, that for more than a week she did not rise.
Meantime the two lost women were missed; and the inhabitants far and
near turned out to search for them. Every effort to discover them,
dead or alive, proved unsuccessful.
When ordinary efforts to find the women failed, the disconsolate
husbands sought the advice of Madge Macdonald, the wise woman of
Tomintoul. This important person told the husbands there was a person
not far away who could tell about the women's disappearance, and that
if she did not speak out, she (Madge Macdonald) would see what could
be done. Madge commenced muttering to herself, "East, west, south,
north; east, west, south, north." This she said several times, and
then followed a long pause. A new idea seemed to strike her; and she
abruptly asked the farmers if either or both missed any of their
besoms or riddles. They had not; but, search being made, sure enough,
each husband missed a besom and a riddle. "So I thought," said Madge
at their next interview; and then added, "Look for your wives in the
Spey." No time was lost in following the woman's advice. A search was
made from the source of the Spey to the ocean, without any trace of
the bodies being obtained; but, most extraordinary, the riddles were
found near the "Witches' Pool," a deep part of the river, known by
this name to the present day.
A startling mountain tale is given of a girl who could control the
elements by means of magical power. The story runs thus:--A little
girl, walking with her father on his land, heard him complain of
drought and want of rain. "Why, father," said the child, "I can make
it rain or hail when and where I list." He asked from whom she had
obtained such power. She replied, from her mother, who had forbidden
her to divulge the secret. In violation, however, of a solemn promise,
she said her mother had committed her to a master that did everything
she desired. "Why, then," said her father, "make it rain, but only on
one field." So she went to a stream, threw up water in her master's
name, and presently it rained. Proceeding further, she made it hail on
another field, when no hail fell elsewhere. Hereupon the father
accused his wife of witchcraft, caused her to be burned, and of new
had his child christened.
Witchcraft continued in all its phases in the first quarter of the
eighteenth century. In the year 1718 the Caithness witches were
particularly active. Margaret Olson, one of the evil sisterhood,
tormented William Montgomerie, a mason at Scrabster, and his family.
She became displeased at him in consequence of his coming into
possession of a property from which she had been expelled. To work out
her evil design, she and certain associates transformed themselves
into the form of cats. One night there appeared in Montgomerie's house
no fewer than eight cats, not mewing nor caterwauling, but speaking
with human voices. As this kind of annoyance could not be endured, the
mason boldly attacked them with a sword, and so seriously cut one of
the feline crew that it appeared to be dead. Mangled, and seemingly
lifeless, the carcass was cast into the open air. Next morning it
could not be seen. A few nights afterwards the cats or fiends appeared
again in full force, less one, and attacked a servant-man as he lay in
bed. Montgomerie rushed to the rescue, thrust a dirk through the body
of one of the intruders, beat it on the head with an axe, and threw
the dead-like cat out before the door, as he had done with its former
companion. Next day it could not be found. Rumour, with its thousand
tongues, spread the report that Margaret Nin-Gilbert, a confederate of
Olson, was one of the cats which had been seemingly killed. Proof was
adduced that one of Margaret's neighbours saw her at her own door drop
one of her legs, black and putrefied. The Sheriff-depute of
Caithness-shire ordered her to be apprehended, and, when judicially
interrogated, she confessed being the devil's servant. She also
admitted it was she who, in the similitude of a cat, had been thrust
through with a dirk and smashed by William Montgomerie. She did not
attempt to deny that the neighbour who saw her leg falling off spoke
the truth. She delated four women of evil repute, two of whom were
Margaret Olson and Helen Andrew, the latter being the witch cut with a
sword when appearing like a cat to Montgomerie. Poor Helen's injuries
proved fatal; for she died, when thrown out, like a lifeless
quadruped; and Nin-Gilbert soon followed her companion in sin to the
grave, her broken gangrened leg having brought about her demise.
Several years afterwards (1722), as seen in page 491, or, as Sheriff
Barclay says, in 1727, the law was for the last time put into
execution against a reputed witch in Great Britain, viz. in the county
of Sutherland, a northern shire of Scotland.
Dunrossness had a witch in the middle of the seventeenth century that
plagued the Shetlanders. A boat's crew having given her offence, she
determined to procure their untimely end. To accomplish her diabolical
purpose, she put a wooden cap into a tub of water, and then began to
sing (presumably to the devil), in order that a storm might be raised,
and the fishermen at sea drowned. As she sang, the water in the tub
became greatly troubled, and ultimately it was so exceedingly agitated
that the cap turned upside down. As the cap toppled over she
exclaimed, "The turn's done." A few hours afterwards, word reached
Dunrossness that the fishermen against whom she entertained the grudge
were drowned.
In the beginning of the seventeenth century a cunning woman in
Shetland succeeded, through diabolical art, in transferring a sore
disease, which afflicted her husband, to the body of a neighbour.
An old Orkney lady removed diseases by pulling mill-foil in a
particular way, repeating a few Latin words--sometimes benedictions,
but more frequently maledictions--and performing certain mysterious
operations at the marches of two estates.
Mary Lamont, eighteen years of age, residing at Innerkip in the year
1662, had power, like the girl mentioned in page 535, to control the
elements. She could raise storms, and, if a tempest was desired in the
Clyde or at sea, she only required to throw small charmed stones into
the flowing tide. Then there were plenty of ships lost and men
drowned. She and her diabolical companions not unfrequently made their
power felt at Campbeltown, now famous for its whisky, and at the Mull
of Kintyre, where many a sailor has perished on its dangerous shore,
amidst the raging of the sea and roaring of the storm.
CHAPTER LXIII.
Neither Police nor Medical Men much required in Olden
Times--Instruments of Torture--Torture declared
Illegal--Case of John Felton--Berkly Witch--Attempt on
the Life of Edward II.--Master John of
Nottingham--Escape of Coventry Necromancers from
Justice--Ursley Kempe _alias_ Gray--Annis Herd's
Imps--Paying Blackmail to Witches--The Rutland Family
bewitched--Witchcraft of a Mother and her two
Daughters--A Pendle Witch--Strange Narrative--Essex
Witches--Witches of Northamptonshire--Bullet-proof
Witch--Drawing Blood above the Temples--Anne Bodenham
foretelling how a Law-plea would be decided--Strange
Proceedings--Discovering Concealed Poison--Performing
Spirits--Ride to London through the Air--Anne Bodenham
dying Impenitent.
Our forefathers did not so much require a detective police force nor
medical men as we do. If thefts were committed, or persons became
sick, cunning men or uncanny women were sent for. As rule, the
offences or diseases were traced to witches or other missionaries of
Satan. A suspected person received neither justice nor mercy at the
hands of judges and juries. Instruments of torture were applied to
wring out false self-accusations against the unhappy individual under
trial. Thumbkins, or thumb-screws, were tightened on the hands; boots
with wedges were put on the feet; and the flesh was torn with red-hot
pincers. These and other instruments were used to make persons speak;
and again, when one spoke too much, or said what became unpleasant, a
gag secured silence. In addition to the torture inflicted by such
articles as we have enumerated, suspected criminals were not
unfrequently put in the stocks and jugs, whipped at a "cart tail,"
made to stand bare-headed and bare-footed before the public, or
exposed in sackcloth at a church door or the market cross, to be gazed
at, laughed at, and sometimes to be pelted by onlookers, rendered
cruel and superstitious by their rulers and spiritual advisers.
All things have an end. Examinations by torture were declared illegal
in this country in 1628, yet, notwithstanding such a declaration,
examinations under torment were resorted to in 1640. As an instance of
the danger of torturing a criminal, not to speak of its inhumanity, we
notice the case of John Felton, accused of assaulting the Duke of
Buckingham in the year last above mentioned. On the Bishop of London
proposing to put Felton on the rack with the view of obtaining from
him the names of his associates, the criminal replied, "If it must be
so, I know not whom I may accuse in the extremity of pain--Bishop
Laud, or perhaps any lord at this board." But we return to our proper
subject.
An appalling story of an English witch comes down to us from the ninth
century. The Berkly witch was rich and gay, living, to all appearance,
a life of pleasure; but, having sold herself to the devil, a sad day
of reckoning came at last. Before her death she called on the monks
and nuns of a monastery, to whom she confessed that she had entered
into a compact with Satan, who would, after her death, snatch away
body and soul, unless prevented by means she explained. According to
directions, her body was sewed into a stag's skin, and placed in a
stone coffin, strongly secured with an iron chain. If the holy men and
women, she said, could prevent the devil for three days from getting
her, he could not after that time injure either her body or spirit.
Faithfully did the monks and nuns watch over the witch's dead body,
protected as far as iron, stone, and lead could do. On the first two
nights minor demons kept up a loud howling. On the third night the
monastery swarmed with more powerful demons, one of whom proved so
strong and terrible that he shook the sacred edifice to its
foundation. In spite of all the precautions taken, the big fiend burst
into the church, went straight to the witch's coffin, and commanded
her to follow him. With faltering tongue the dead woman said she could
not stir, as she was chained down. A slight twist of his hand broke
the chain into two pieces. Slowly the corpse rose; and the devil
dragged his prey to the door, where stood a horse breathing fire. Away
went horse, devil, and witch down to the infernal abode.
King Edward II. of England and two of his favourites had an attempt
made on their lives by persons who sought the assistance of Master
John of Nottingham, a famous necromancer. John agreed, for a money
consideration, to assist them. He made wax images, representing his
Majesty and the other gentlemen intended for death. The necromancer,
his assistant, and twenty-seven Coventry men were tried for the foul
offence, but escaped punishment, the evidence against them proving
insufficient to warrant a conviction.
Ursley Kempe _alias_ Gray, an English witch, killed many of her near
neighbours. If her own statement could be relied on, she possessed
four imps. Two of them had power to kill, but the other two could do
no more than punish men and beasts with lameness. Other witches in the
neighbourhood where Ursley lived controlled imps that wrought mischief
on all sides, until they became a terror to the country.
Annis Herd had six little spirits like blackbirds, and six resembling
cows, though not larger than rats.
About the beginning of the seventeenth century a grievous affliction
befell the Earl and Countess of Rutland's family. Their eldest son
died; their second son was seized with severe sickness; and their
daughter, Lady Catherine, suffered from a severe malady. Witchcraft
lay at the root of the whole matter. Johan Flower, a widow, and her
two daughters, Philip and Margaret, were the suspected witches. They
were brought before a magistrate. Philip stated that the evils
referred to had been brought on the Earl's family by her mother and
sister, because the latter, a servant at the castle, had been
dismissed. Margaret, by desire of her mother, stole the eldest son's
right-hand glove and carried it home. The mother, who had an imp or
evil spirit like a cat, rubbed the glove on the cat's back, ordering
it to go and kill Lord Henry (the eldest son); and it set off to
perform the devilish work assigned it. That the deed might be the more
quickly performed, Johan put the glove into boiling water, pricked it
with pins, and buried it. Lord Henry died.
A glove of Lord Francis (the second son) was operated on in a similar
manner; but, his life not being desired, he sickened only. Lady
Catherine's malady was caused by a process similar to that which
killed one of her brothers and brought her other brother nigh death's
door. Philip admitted she had an imp like a white rat, which made
Thomas Simpson love her. Margaret had two spirits, to whom she had
sold herself, soul and body. Johan's spirits told her she would
neither be burned nor hanged--a prediction verified; for she died
from some unknown cause on the way to prison. The two daughters
suffered the extreme penalty of the law.
Edmund Robinson, a boy about eleven years of age, living at Pendle in
1632, told his friends remarkable stories about witches. One day two
greyhounds with golden collars came to him, and, because they would
not chase a hare that happened to pass, he tied the dogs to a bush,
and began to beat them. While the work of castigation proceeded, one
of the hounds became like the wife of a man named Dickenson, living in
the neighbourhood, and the other hound turned into the shape of a
little boy. The woman beseeched Robinson not to tell she was a witch.
Little Edmund imprudently said he would not keep the secret, whereupon
she transformed the boy that had appeared as a greyhound into a white
horse. Dickenson's wife took Edmund, and mounted the horse with him.
Before they had ridden more than a quarter of a mile they came to a
new house, where threescore persons were assembled at a splendid
entertainment. Ample supplies came down by six visitors pulling as
many ropes. By this operation smoking-hot joints, lumps of butter, and
milk in abundance fell into basins placed under the ropes. Little
Edmund ran away, but before he reached his father's house a boy with
cloven feet attacked him most unmercifully, cutting his face and ears.
What the result would have been none can tell, had not two horsemen
come forward and rescued Edmund from the evil spirit. The case being
reported to Charles I., he instructed one of his bishops to make
special inquiry into the matter. The bishop did not credit the boy's
statement, so the king ordered the liberation of several women
identified by the boy as having been concerned in the witch
proceedings at the new house.
At one time a band of Essex witches, numbering not less than thirteen,
killed people, cattle, and horses, caused sickness, destroyed milk,
beer, and batches of bread by their wicked arts, and sent their imps
to burn dwelling houses, barns, and corn.
The witches of Northamptonshire were famous in their day and
generation. Agnes Brown and Johan Vaughan were grievously implicated.
They, out of revenge against Mrs. Belcher for insulting Johan, Agnes
Brown's daughter, griped and gnawed the lady's body, and put her mouth
awry. Mrs. Belcher's brother, Alexander, went to the witches' house to
draw their blood, and thereby counteract their enchantments. He
repeatedly struck at them, but some unseen power warded off the blows.
He returned home without performing the task he undertook, and without
doing his sister any good. Naturally enough, Agnes Brown and Johan
were offended at the attempted outrage; and they, by their witchcraft,
laid the young man on a bed of sickness. The witches were apprehended
and lodged in Northampton gaol. Hither did Mrs. Belcher and her
brother proceed, to draw blood of the witches. They succeeded in
performing the operation, which we presume was done by cutting them
above the mouth; for if the blood is not spilled "above the breath" in
a case of this kind, the sanguinary deed is of no avail. The afflicted
man and woman found relief for a short space of time. Scarcely,
however, had they left the prison than their pains returned with
double torment. That was not all. As they drove along in a coach, a
man and woman, riding on a black horse, suddenly appeared. The sight
was taken as an omen of mischief; and so it happened; for the horses
of Mrs. Belcher and her brother fell down dead on the road.
Once upon a time, when the Earl of Essex and his army were marching
through Newbury, they saw a woman crossing a river on a narrow plank,
and otherwise conducting herself, so as to make them conclude she was
a witch. The soldiers caught her, and, by desire of their captain,
two of them shot at her. With loud laughter and derision, she caught
the bullets in her hands and threw them back. One daring fellow went
close to the woman and discharged his carbine at her breast, but the
bullet rebounded without taking effect. Another soldier tried to cut
her down with his sword, but his arm lost its power. All efforts to
kill her proved abortive, until blood was drawn from above the witch's
temples, and then she fell by a pistol shot under her ear.
Anne Bodenham, an English witch, told fortunes, kept imps, and held
intercourse with the devil. She could raise storms, and kill and cure
at pleasure. There was a law-plea between Richard Goddard and Mr.
Mason, his son-in-law. Anne Styles went to inquire at Anne Bodenham
how the law-suit would be decided. Bodenham made a circle on the floor
with her staff, and then placed a book, a green glass, and a pan of
coals, within the circle. Suddenly a high wind rose, which made the
house shake; and five puny devils resembling ragged boys entered the
circle, followed by Bodenham's dog and cat. Boys, dog, and cat danced
round the pan of coals. After deep thought, the woman took up her book
and read part of it, then she threw white seeds to the spirits, which
they picked up. Dancing commenced again, and again the woman Bodenham
read her book. At last she went out at the back door, followed by her
sprites; and the wind, which kept blowing a furious blast all the
time, ceased. Alone the witch returned, and told the messenger how the
law-suit would terminate.
At another time Anne Styles went, by order of Mrs. Goddard, to learn
from Bodenham where a quantity of poison, concealed by the lady's two
step-daughters, could be found. The witch went through all the
ceremonies formerly performed, and the sprites acted their parts. One
of the boys, however, on this occasion turned into a snake, and
afterwards into a dog. Herbs that caused a noisome smell were burned,
the book was again consulted, and a glass produced, in which Styles
saw Mrs. Goddard's bed-chamber, and the poison concealed below a
pillow. To punish the young ladies for their diabolical intention,
Anne Bodenham sent Mrs. Goddard powdered leaves and the parings of her
finger nails, to operate injuriously on their stomachs and brains. The
witch offered to carry Anne Styles through the air to London--an offer
that was not accepted. Bodenham often changed herself into the form of
a black cat of enormous size. The witch had a tame toad that she
constantly kept in a small bag, suspended from her neck. She could say
the Creed backwards as well as forwards. She was condemned to death,
and died impenitent, refusing to listen to psalm-singing or prayers.
Glasgow, like other towns, did not lack witches and warlocks, nor did
it permit its burning faggots to be extinguished. The fury against
such members of society may be judged of when it is known that
repentance stools, pillars, and jugs were made, and whips prepared for
ordinary church offenders--when it is known that scolding women were
stuck up in jugs and branks in the most public places of Glasgow--when
it is known that holy men and women were burned alive there for
adhering to the principles of the Reformation--when it is known that
men and women were imprisoned and whipped every day during the
kirk-session's pleasure, for offences now considered venial--when it
is known that, for a breach of the seventh commandment, some were
carted through the streets, whipped, and thereafter banished from the
town; that others, for a violation of the said commandment, were fined
and ordained to stand at the cross with "fast bands of iron about
their craigs, and papers on their foreheads, bareheaded, and without
cloaks or plaids;" and that others again, for similar offences, were
carted through the town, and lowered by means of a pulley from the
Glasgow Bridge and ducked in the Clyde.
In 1649 the session requested all who knew any acts of witchcraft or
sorcery against witches and warlocks in Glasgow to intimate the same
to the ministers and magistrates, that the offenders might be
proceeded against with rigour. As a proof that "the work goes bonnily
on" (as Mr. David Dickson, professor of divinity, said on seeing Sir
Walter Rollock, Sir Philip Nisbet, and Ogilvie of Inverquharty led to
execution in 1645), we mention that, so frequent were the prosecutions
against witches and warlocks in Glasgow, that the magistrates, in
1698, considered it expedient to bargain with the jailor for the keep
of witches and warlocks imprisoned in the tolbooth by order of the
Lords Commissioners of Justiciary.
Paisley would appear to have been a western centre for witches. In
fact, if tradition and written history can be relied on, Renfrew, with
Paisley for its capital, suffered more from witchcraft than almost any
other county in Scotland. Mr. D. Semple informs us that, so recently
as 1697, six poor creatures were convicted of this crime before the
regality of Paisley, and were "worrit" and burned to death on the
Gallows Green. So audacious were those in league with Satan, that they
assailed men in high position as well as those in low degree. John
P---- and others were indicted in 1692 for slandering, calumniating,
reproaching, and taking away the good name of John Adams, late bailie
of Paisley, and others; and for drinking the devil's health. Being
found guilty, they were ordered "to go to the stair-foot of Bailie
Adams, and confess they scandalised; and if not, to be taken to the
mercatt cross of Paisley, with a paper on their breast, bearing these
words in great letters: 'We stand here for scandalising,' etc. They
all obeyed but Janet Fife, on whom the sentence was executed." Mr.
Hector, sheriff-clerk of Renfrewshire, from whose work on the peculiar
trials of his county we are quoting, remarks, "If this wholesome
treatment was more carried out, we would have fewer long tongues."
CHAPTER LXIV.
Paying Blackmail to Witches--Breach of Contract with a
Witch--Demon of Tedworth--Mysterious Drum--A
Persecuted Family prayed for--Unaccountable Sounds and
Sights--Satan's Audible Responses--Drummer found
guilty of Sorcery--Raising Storms--A Wizard in
Cromwell's Army--Florence Newton--Aldermen's Children
bewitched to Death--Man kissed to Death in Youghal
Prison--Witch unable to say the Lord's Prayer--Julian
Cox, an old Taunton Witch--Woman in shape of a
Hare--Bewitched Cattle--Mode of discovering a
Witch--Selling a Soul to the Devil--Witch Executed--A
Song of the Seventeenth Century.
In the seventeenth century it was not uncommon for people in England
to secure themselves against witchcraft after the manner Lowland
Scotchmen protected themselves from Highland robbers--by paying
"blackmail." In 1612 John Davice, a Lancashire man, agreed to give a
dangerous witch, residing near him, a quantity of meal annually, on
condition that she would not bewitch him or his. She adhered to her
part of the contract, but Davice, like a foolish fellow, ceased to
implement his part of it. The covenant being broken, he was no longer
safe, and she bewitched him to death.
Many have heard of the Demon of Tedworth, in the county of Wilts, in
the year 1661. Mr. John Mompesson, of Tedworth, hearing a drum beaten
one day, inquired what it meant. The bailiff told him that the people
had for some days been troubled with an idle drummer, who demanded
money from them. On learning this, Mr. Mompesson sent for the man,
and, on his coming, commanded him to lay aside his drum. At the same
time the gentleman directed the constable to carry the disturber of
the peace before a magistrate, in order to have him punished. The
fellow begged earnestly to have his drum, but it was not thought
advisable to let him have it; therefore it was kept in Mr. Mompesson's
house.
About a month after the drummer's apprehension, Mr. Mompesson's family
were sadly annoyed by violent knocking and drumming--at times
apparently in the house, and at other times seemingly on the
house-top. This disturbance continued for weeks without much change,
but then the annoyance became unbearable. An offensive smell pervaded
the house; boards danced through rooms and passages by day; and at
night, drumming was heard for hours together in the apartment where
the drum lay.
To administer comfort, if not to afford protection, to the family, the
minister and divers pious neighbours came to the house to pray. The
clergyman knelt down at a bed-side, but soon rose again, to avoid
being injured by shoes and other missiles thrown at him. Singing was
sometimes heard, blue lights were seen, doors closed and opened with a
bang ten times in as many minutes, although no one could be seen near
them. During the time of a more than ordinary alarm, when many people
were present, a gentleman said, "Satan, if the drummer set thee to
work, give three knocks, and no more." Three knocks immediately
followed. For further trial, the gentleman said, "If the drummer has
instructed thee, Satan, to molest this innocent family, give five
knocks, and no more, to-night." Five knocks were given in response,
which were the last knockings heard before next day.
One morning Mr. Mompesson, seeing a quantity of wood in a corner of
the house, discharged a pistol at the sticks, as he thought a person
lay concealed under them. On their being removed, no one could be
seen, but a pool of blood met the eye. For a whole year the family
suffered by the wicked arts of the vagabond drummer. For his malicious
doings he was tried at the Salisbury assizes. On the evidence of the
parish minister, and of other intelligent witnesses, he was found
guilty of sorcery, and condemned to transportation. It is reported
that, on the voyage to the penal settlements, he alarmed the sailors
and endangered the ship, by raising storms which almost engulphed the
vessel. The drummer told a few confidential companions that he had
served in Cromwell's army with another soldier, a well-known wizard,
who instructed him in the magical art.
Florence Newton was committed to Youghal prison the same year (1661)
for witchcraft. The mayor of Youghal, in giving evidence against her,
said there were three aldermen, whose children had been bewitched to
death by the accused kissing the little ones. The indictment also
contain a charge against her for bewitching David Jones to death, by
kissing his hand through the prison grating. It appears that Jones and
Francis Besely were watching Newton one night in the prison, to see if
she had any familiars resorting to her. David Jones told the prisoner
that he had heard she could not say the Lord's Prayer, to which she
replied that she could. They found, however, that she could not repeat
it. David tried to instruct her; but, all he could do, she would not
utter the words, "Forgive us our trespasses." Seemingly grateful for
his assistance, she asked him to come near her, that she might kiss
his hand. He stretched out his hand, and she kissed it through a
window protected with iron bars. Subsequently Jones told deponent that
ever since the old hag kissed his hand he felt ill. At times he
imagined she was pulling his arm. The court found Newton guilty of
witchcraft, and she fell a victim to the popular superstition of her
time.
Julian Cox, aged seventy years, was indicted at Taunton summer assizes
in the year 1663, before Judge Archer, for witchcraft practised upon a
young maid. The evidence against her was divided into two heads:
first, to prove her habit and repute a witch; secondly, to prove her
guilty of the witchcraft mentioned in the indictment.
The first witness, a huntsman, swore that, while out with a pack of
hounds to hunt a hare, not far from Julian Cox's house, he started
one. The dogs chased the creature very close, so that it was fain to
take shelter in a bush. He ran to protect the hare from being torn;
and great was his surprise to find that, in place of a quadruped,
there lay Julian Cox, panting for want of breath.
A farmer said she had caused his cattle to run mad. Some of the
animals killed themselves by striking their heads against trees; and
that nearly every one of his herd died, either through their own
violence, or by a disease evidently brought on by witchcraft. To
discover the witch, he cut off the bewitched animals' ears and burned
them, an infallible process for bringing the offender to light. While
those animal organs were consuming in the fire, Julian Cox came raging
into the house, asserting she was being abused without cause. He once
saw her flying through a window of her house in her own proper
likeness.
In her declaration before a justice of the peace, Cox admitted that
the devil often tempted her to be a witch. One evening there came
riding on broom-sticks three persons--a witch, a wizard who had been
hanged years before, and a black man. The last-mentioned tempted her
to give him her soul; but, though he offered great rewards, she did
not yield--no, not for a moment.
Judge Archer told the jury he had heard a witch could not repeat that
petition in the Lord's Prayer, "Lead us not into temptation;" and
having this opportunity, he would try whether any reliance could be
placed in the report. He then asked the prisoner whether she could say
the Lord's Prayer. She declared she could, and went over it readily
enough, except the part thereof just quoted. Several chances were
given her to complete the prayer, but she could not finish it without
mistakes. The jury found her guilty of witchcraft, and she was
executed a few days afterwards without confessing her sins.
As an example of how the people's minds were filled with superstition,
even in their merry moments, we give the following popular English
song of the seventeenth century, as sung by Robin Goodfellow to the
fairies:
"Round about, little ones, quicke and nimble;
In and out, wheele about, run, hope, and amble;
Joyne your hands louingly; well done, muisition:
Mirth keepeth one in health like a physicion.
Elues, vrchins, goblins all, and little fairyes
That doe filch, blacke, and pinch maydes of the dairyes,
Make a ring in this grasse with your quick measures:
Tom shall play and I'le sing for all your pleasures.
Pinch and Patch, Gill and Grim,
Gae you together;
For you change your shapes
Like to the weather:
Sib and Tib, Licks and Lull,
You all have trickes too:
Little Tom Thumb that pipes,
Shall goe betwixt you;
Tom, tickle up thy pipes
Till they be weary;
I will laugh ho, ho, hoh,
And make me merry.
Make a ring on this grasse
With your quicke measures:
Tom shall play and I will sing
For all your pleasures.
The moone shines faire and bright,
And the owle hollows:
Mortals now take their rests
Upon their pillows:
The bats around likewise,
And the night rauen,
Which doth use for to call
Men to death's hauen.
Now the mice peep abroad,
And the cats take them;
Now doe young wenches sleepe,
Till their dreams wake them.
Make a ring on the grasse
With your quicke measures:
Tom shall play, I will sing,
For all your pleasures."
CHAPTER LXV.
Elizabeth Style's Confession--Signing a Covenant with
Blood--Alice Duke, Anne Bishop, and Mary
Penny--Somerset Witches--Witch Oil--Power to injure
Men and Cattle--Elizabeth Style sentenced to
Death--Running backwards round a Church--Compact with
Satan--More Mischief--Richard Hathaway's Accusation
against Sarah Morduck--Women hunted in the Streets by
a Mob--A Judge's Opinion of Witchcraft--Supposed
Sufferer from Witchcraft prayed for in the Church, and
a Subscription raised for him--Richard Hathaway
convicted of falsely accusing a Woman of
Witchcraft--Witch and Stolen Plate--Man
Bewitched--Charm for Sore Eyes--Young Woman
Bewitched--Flames issuing from a Bewitched Person's
Mouth--Tormenting a Witch--Jane Wenham's Witchcrafts
and Trial--The last Persons who suffered in England
for Witchcraft--Long List of Persons who suffered as
Witches.
Elizabeth Style, of Stoke Trister, Somersetshire, was accused, in the
year 1664, by divers persons of witchcraft. She confessed before
Robert Hunt, Esquire, a justice of the peace for the county, that the
devil, ten years before that time, had appeared to her as a handsome
young man, offered her money, said she would live gay, and have all
the pleasures of the world for twelve years, if she would with her
blood sign a document, binding herself to obey his laws, and give her
soul over to him. She agreed to do as requested; whereupon he pricked
the fourth finger of her right hand, and with a few drops of blood
that issued from the wound she signed the engagement.
When she desired to do harm, Satan gave her power according to their
agreement. About a month before her examination she desired him to
torment Elizabeth Hall by thrusting thorns into her flesh--a request
he promised to comply with. She declared that, not long before her
apprehension, she, Alice Duke, Anne Bishop, and Mary Penny met the
devil at night, in a common near Trister Gate. Their meeting
terminated with dancing and feasting.
Similar meetings subsequently took place. Before Style and her
companion witches started to midnight meetings, they anointed their
foreheads with an oil given them by a spirit. They were then carried
swiftly through the air. Sometimes they were present at the meetings
in body, but more frequently in spirit only. The devil gave them power
to injure men and cattle, either by a touch or curse. Style gave the
names of many men and women in the neighbourhood who attended the
meetings. The meetings being ended, the devil suddenly vanished or
burnt himself in flames, and the people went home, singing "Merry we
meet, merry we meet, and merry we part."
The poor miserable woman was tried before a jury of her countrymen,
and found guilty of witchcraft. Sentence of death was passed on her,
but she escaped punishment by the hands of an ordinary executioner,
for before the day fixed for her execution she died in prison.
Alice Duke, a confederate of Elizabeth Style, being brought before Mr.
Hunt for examination on a charge of witchcraft, stated that she and
Anne Bishop went to the churchyard at night, and stepped backward
round the church three times. In their first round they met a man in
black clothes, who returned with them. In the second round they met a
big black toad, which leapt into deponent's apron. As they went round
the third time they met a rat, that vanished into air. Like many more
witches entering into a compact with Satan, she could have her wishes
and revenge. If she cursed any person or thing with "a pox," evil
happened the object of her hatred.
Witches were found in every part of Somerset in the seventeenth
century. Hundreds of them were brought to trial; but as their reported
doings, confessions, and punishments were in all essential particulars
the same as those of Elizabeth Style and Alice Duke, they are
unimportant here.
Richard Hathaway appeared before Lord Chief Justice Holt at the
Guildford assizes in 1701, to support a charge of witchcraft against
Sarah Morduck. Hathaway frequently vomited pins in great numbers,
pieces of tin, nails, and small stones. He foamed at the mouth, and
barked like a dog; sometimes he felt a burning sensation, and not
unfrequently lay as if dead. Being convinced that Sarah Morduck caused
his troubles, he scratched her "above the breath," to draw blood from
her. Subsequent to this operation he recovered, and remained well for
six weeks. All his afflictions returned, and the suspected witch was
scratched a second time. To escape her tormentors at Southwark, she
went to London; but, her fame preceding or following her, she was
hunted in the streets by an infuriated mob. Hathaway pursued the
unhappy woman to the great metropolis, and took her before Sir Thomas
Lane, a judge who regarded witchcraft in a different light to that
which the Lord Chief Justice did. Sir Thomas ordered her to be
stripped, to ascertain whether she had any witch-marks; and Hathaway,
still suffering, scratched her for the third time. Sarah Morduck was
committed to prison as a dangerous witch. Her supposed victim,
Hathaway, became an object of prayer in the churches, and
subscriptions were raised to defray his charges at the assizes. In
July Sarah Morduck was brought, as already stated, before Lord Chief
Justice Holt, but escaped with her life, for no other reason than that
the judge did not believe in witchcraft. Hathaway's conduct being
inquired into, he was brought to trial, when it was ascertained that
his sayings about being bewitched were false. He was therefore
sentenced, by the same judge that had liberated Sarah Morduck, to
imprisonment for a year, and to stand in the pillory three times as a
cheat and liar.
Sending a witch to catch a witch or thief occasionally had its
beneficial results. On the communion service having been stolen from a
church, a wise man instructed the church-wardens how to discover the
thief. They did as directed, and, true enough, the thief hastened to
give himself up to justice; and, what proved better, he restored the
stolen plate. One man having a child sorely afflicted with boils,
consulted a wizard. By direction of the cunning man, a portion of the
child's hair was cut off and thrown into the fire. This had the effect
of compelling a witch to hasten to the house and confess that she had
in reality brought trouble on the child. The father scratched the
witch "above the breath," and the sufferer recovered.
Jane Stretton, a young woman twenty years of age, was bewitched in
1669, and consequently suffered much by flax, hair, thread, and pins
gathering in her throat. Still more strange, red-hot flames issued
from her mouth. A wise man's wife was suspected of bringing about the
calamity. Various means were resorted to with the view of establishing
her guilt. Sympathising neighbours were consulted, and one of them
suggested a method that proved effectual. Foam was collected from
Jane's mouth and chin, and thrown into the fire, as a charm to injure
her tormentor. We are assured the expedient succeeded admirably. While
the foam hissed in the flames, the witch, compelled by the operation,
came into the house to confess that she alone had caused the young
woman's distemper.
One of the last persons generally supposed to have been condemned to
death in England for witchcraft was Jane Wenham, residing in Walkerne,
a village in Hertford. For years her neighbours suspected her to be a
witch. In 1712 she was tried before one of the legal tribunals, and
condemned on evidence of a singular nature. It appears that she went
to Matthew Gibson, a servant to John Chapman, and asked for a
pennyworth of straw. He refused to give her any, and she went away
muttering threats against him. Soon thereafter Gibson became like an
insane man, and ran three miles along the highway, asking every one he
met for a pennyworth of straw. Then he gathered all the straws he
could find by the roadside and put them into his shirt, which he used
as a sack. Gibson's master met Jane, and called her a witch. Offended
at such an imputation, she brought Mr. Chapman before Sir Herbert
Chauncey, a magistrate, on the charge of defaming her character. The
magistrate recommended the pursuer and defender to submit the case to
the Rev. Mr. Gardiner, that the dispute might be settled quietly. To
the parson they accordingly went; and he awarded Jane one shilling of
damages. The decision did not please Jane; and out of revenge, it was
subsequently alleged, she bewitched the minister's servant-maid, Anne
Thorne. As soon as the suspected witch had left the parsonage, the
maid felt a giddiness in her head, which impelled her to run away
through fields and over fences, notwithstanding her having a very sore
knee. On her way she met a little old woman, who asked her where she
was going. To this inquiry Anne replied, "I am going to Cromer for
sticks." The little woman said it seemed unnecessary to go so far, and
pointed out an oak-tree close at hand where she could get them. The
little woman vanished like a spirit, and Anne returned home, in a
partial state of nudity, with a quantity of sticks wrapped in her gown
and apron. Mrs. Gardiner, who, like the minister, her husband,
believed in witchcraft, on hearing the girl's tale, said she would
burn the witch; and, suiting the action to the words, threw the sticks
into the fire. The charm had the desired effect; for immediately Jane
Wenham came in, and made a false statement touching the cause of her
call. That did not, however, deceive the people at the parsonage, who
were convinced the burning of the sticks had made her come, whether
she would or not. She was apprehended on suspicion, and put to the
test. The minister asked her to repeat the Lord's Prayer, but she
could not say it. This being regarded as presumptive evidence of
guilt, Wenham's persecutors brought her to trial. Three clergymen and
thirteen other witnesses gave evidence in the case. Proof was adduced
that she had by witchcraft killed cattle, taken the power from men's
bodies, destroyed people's substance, turned divers persons into a
state of insanity, and by her curses and evil eye had killed a child.
Witnesses also swore that she had on various occasions assumed the
form of a cat. The jury found Wenham guilty, and the judge condemned
her to death, but, like a humane Christian, he applied and obtained a
pardon for the culprit.
We now come to the last victims who suffered in England for the
alleged crime of witchcraft. One Mrs. Hicks, and her little daughter
nine years of age, were executed on the scaffold at Huntingdon in
1716, for the suppositious offences of raising storms and selling
their souls to the devil.
With the judicial murder of this unfortunate mother and her innocent
daughter we close a long list of tragedies which disgraced England for
hundreds of years--which exhibits the ignorance and violence of past
ages. Dr. Sprenger estimates that nine million persons have been
burned or otherwise put to death as witches during the Christian
epoch. For such a dreadful waste of life Catholics and Protestants
were equally guilty. Any one who raised his voice on behalf of the
proscribed class, ran the risk of himself being accused of sorcery, or
at least of heresy. At last, in 1563, J. Weier, a physician in
Germany, spoke boldly against the belief in witchcraft. Twenty years
later, Reginald Scot, as already stated, wrote and spoke, not against
witches, but against the absurdity of believing that such persons
existed.
Happily, no longer can hysterical girls and malicious individuals give
false evidence in a court of law touching the feigned crime of
witchcraft; no longer can the witch-finder exert his skill; no longer
can judges and jury condemn to the flames or scaffold suspected
witches and wizards; and no longer can an ignorant people listen to
the despairing cries--cries which neither evoked pity nor secured
mercy--of victims of superstition expiring amidst blazing faggots. But
yet superstition lingers amongst us, as we shall show under the head
"Superstition in the Nineteenth Century."
CHAPTER LXVI.
Scotchmen and Englishmen in America--Superstition in
the Back Settlements--Witchcraft in New England--Rev.
Cotton Mather's View of Witchcraft--Judges and
Witnesses overawed by Witches--Men and Beasts
bewitched--Bewitched Persons prayed for--Preternatural
Diseases beyond Physicians' Skill--Trial of Susan
Martin--Absurd Evidence--Belief in the Existence of
Witchcraft--Witchcraft in Sweden--Commission of
Inquiry appointed--The Devil's Tyranny--Deluded
Children--Day of Humiliation appointed on account of
Witchcraft--Threescore and Ten Witches in a
Village--Children engaged in Witchery put to
Death--How Witches were conveyed from place to
place--Girl healed by the Devil--The Devil bound with
an Iron Chain--An Angel's Warning Voice--Angel keeping
Children from Wickedness--Witches on a Minister's
Head--Witch assaulting another Minister--Witches'
Imps--Butter of Witches--The Devil described--How
Witches are punished--Horse burned on account of being
supposed to be an Agent of Satan.
When Scotchmen and Englishmen went out first to inhabit America, they
did not forget the superstitions of their native land. A belief in
charms, incantations, and all kinds of witchcraft prevailed among the
earlier settlers of the United States and Canada. From sire to son,
and from mother to daughter, a belief in mysterious agencies has come
down to the existing inhabitants of the transatlantic States. It may
be that the inhabitants of large cities in the West have forgotten the
traditions of their ancestors respecting things supernatural, but
every observant American traveller knows that the burning embers of
superstition have not expired in the back settlements of that vast
country. Trials of persons accused of witchcraft were not unfrequent
in New England in the seventeenth century. The Rev. Cotton Mather has
written an account of proceedings connected with such cases, but want
of space prevents us following him at great length. He says:
"We have now, with horror, seen the discovery of a
great witchcraft. An army of devils has broken in upon
this place, which is the centre, and, after a sort,
the first-born of our English settlements; and the
houses of the good people there are filled with the
doleful shrieks of their children and servants
tormented by invisible hands, with tortures altogether
preternatural. After the mischiefs there endeavoured,
and since in part conquered, the terrible plague of
evil angels hath made its progress into some other
places, where other persons have in like manner been
diabolically handled.
"These, our poor afflicted neighbours, quickly, after
they become infected and infested with these demons,
arrive to a capacity of discerning those which they
conceive the shapes of their troubles; and
notwithstanding the great and just suspicion that the
demons might impose the shape of innocent persons in
their spectral exhibitions of the sufferers, (which
may perhaps prove no small part of the witch-plot in
the issue), yet many of the persons thus represented
being examined, several of them have been convicted of
a very damnable witchcraft: yea, more than one, twenty
have confessed that they have signed unto a book which
the devil showed them, and engaged in his hellish
design, of bewitching and ruining our lands.
"We know not, at least I know not, how far the
delusions of Satan may be interwoven into some
circumstances of the confessions; but one would think
all the rules of understanding human affairs are at an
end, if after so many most voluntary, harmonious
confessions, made by intelligent persons of all ages,
in sundry towns, at several times, we must not believe
the main strokes wherein those confessions agree;
especially when we have a thousand preternatural
things every day before our eyes, wherein the
confessors do acknowledge their concernment, and give
demonstration of their being so concerned. If the
devils now can strike the minds of men with any
poisons of so fine a composition and operation that
scores of innocent people shall unite in the
confessions of a crime which we see actually
committed, it is a thing prodigious, beyond the
wonders of the former ages, and it threatens not less
than a sort of dissolution upon the world.
"Now, by these confessions 'tis agreed that the devil
has made a dreadful knot of witches in the country,
and by the help of witches has dreadfully increased
the knot; that these witches have driven a trade of
commissioning their confederate spirits to do all
sorts of mischiefs to their neighbours. Whereupon
there have ensued such mischievous consequences upon
the bodies and estates of the neighbourhood as could
not otherwise be accounted for."
Human beings were not always the only victims of superstition in olden
times, for we have information of dumb animals suffering on account of
it being thought they were active agents of Satan. The Inquisition in
Portugal in 1601, in its sanguinary infatuation, condemned to the
flames, for being possessed of the devil, a horse belonging to an
Englishman, who had taught it to perform uncommonly clever tricks. And
the poor animal was publicly burned at Lisbon. Instances are also on
record of swine being burned, under the suspicion that they, too, were
helpers of the devil.
Through sorcery, Mr. Mather thought witnesses were occasionally
prevented from giving evidence in courts of justice against witches,
and even judges were sometimes so overawed by the culprits' looks that
they could not discharge their duties with firmness. A witch could, by
a cast of her evil eye, strike people to the ground, and by the same
visual organ kill cattle. Men and beasts were also bewitched into
madness. To such an extent, we are told, were people tormented by
witches in New England, that the Church appointed days of prayer on
behalf of afflicted persons. And so peculiar were diseases, that the
physicians declared their patients' troubles were preternatural. That
being so, a little ingenuity, strengthened with spite, enabled the
afflicted or the afflicted's friends to trace the disorder to the
malevolence of a certain witch or witches.
In the trial of Susan Martin, in 1692, among other absurdities of
circumstantial evidence relied on, was that her skirts were not
draggled when out on a wet day, while the clothes of other women
travelling with her were bespattered and clotted with mud.
Writers of no mean order, including clergymen, believed in the
existence of witches, ghosts, and goblins, and boldly defended the
proceedings in New England against the victims put to death for their
alleged diabolical deeds through the agency of Satan.
Witchcraft spread alarm over Sweden in the seventeenth century. The
news of particular acts of witchcraft coming to the king's ear, his
Majesty appointed commissioners to inquire into the matter. From a
public register of 1669 and 1670, we ascertain that the commission,
consisting of clergymen and laymen, were instructed to visit Mobra and
inquire into frightful proceedings there. The commissioners met at the
parson's house to hear complaints. Both the minister and people of
fashion complained, with tears in their eyes, of the miserable
condition they were in, from the calamity of witchcraft. They gave the
commissioners strange instances of the devil's tyranny among
them--how, by the help of witches, he had drawn hundreds of children
to him; how he had been seen going in visible shape through the
country; how he had wrought upon the poorer people, by presenting them
with meat and drink. The inhabitants begged earnestly, yet in the most
respectful manner,
"The Lords Commissioners to root out this hellish
crew, that rest and quietness might be regained; and
the rather, because the children who used to be
carried away in the district of Elfdale, since some
witches had been burnt there, remained unmolested."
An elaborate report of the peculiar proceedings says:--
"That day," _i.e._ the 13th of August, "the last
humiliation-day instituted by authority for removing
of this judgment, the commissioners went to church,
where there appeared a considerable assembly.... Two
sermons were preached, in which the miserable case of
those people, that suffered themselves to be deluded
by the devil, was laid open....
"Public worship being over, all the people of the town
were called together to the parson's house; nearly
three thousand of them attended.
"Next day the commissioners met again, consulting how
they might withstand this dangerous flood. After long
deliberation, they resolved to execute such as the
matter of fact could be proved upon. Examination being
made, there were discovered no less than threescore
and ten witches in the village. Three and twenty of
whom, freely confessing their crimes, were condemned
to die. The rest pleading not guilty, were sent to
Fabluna, where most of them were afterwards executed.
"Fifteen children, who likewise confessed they were
engaged in the witchery, died as the rest; six and
thirty youths, between nine and sixteen years of age,
who had been less guilty, were forced to run the
gauntlet; twenty more, who had no great inclination,
yet had been seduced to those hellish enterprises,
because they were very young, were condemned to be
lashed with rods upon their hands for three Sundays
together at the church door; and the aforesaid six and
thirty were also doomed to be lashed this way once a
week for a whole year together. The number of the
seduced children was about three hundred.
"Several of the witches were asked how they were able
to carry so many children with them; and they
answered, that they came into the chamber where the
children lay, laid hold of them, and asked them
whether they would go to a feast with them? to which
some answered yes, others no; yet they were all forced
to go. They only gave the children a shirt, a coat,
and a doublet, which was either red or blue, and so
they did set them upon a beast of the devil's
providing, and then they rid away.
"The children confessed the same thing; and some
added, that because they had very fine clothes put
upon them, they were very willing to go.
"A little girl of Elfdale confessed that, on naming
the name of Jesus as she was carried away, she fell
suddenly upon the ground, and got a great hole in her
side, which the devil presently healed up again, and
away he carried her; and to this day the girl
confessed she had exceeding great pain in her side.
"The children said they had seen sometimes a very
great devil like a dragon, with fire round about him,
and bound with an iron chain....
"Some of the children talked much of a white angel,
which used to forbid them to do what the devil bade
them do, and told them that those doings would not
last long: what had been done was permitted because
of the wickedness of the people, and the carrying away
of the children should be made manifest. And they
added, that this white angel would place himself
sometimes at the door betwixt the witches and the
children; and when they came to Blockula, their
meeting-place, he pulled the children back, but the
witches went in.
"The minister of Elfdale declared that one night the
witches were, to his thinking, upon the crown of his
head, and that from thence he had a long continued
pain of the head.
"One of the witches confessed that the devil had sent
her to torment the minister, and that she was ordered
to use a nail and strike it into his head, but it
would not enter very deep and hence came the headache.
"The minister said also that one night he felt a pain
as if he were torn with an instrument, and when he
wakened he heard somebody scratching and scraping at
the window, but could see nobody. And one of the
witches confessed that she was the person that did it,
being sent by the devil.
"The minister of Mobra declared also that one night
one of the witches came into his house, and did so
violently take him by the throat that he thought he
should have been choked; and waking, he saw the person
that did it, but could not know her; and that for some
weeks he was not able to speak, or perform divine
service.
"They confessed also that the devil gave them a beast
about the bigness and shape of a young cat, which they
called a carrier; and that he gave them a bird too, as
big as a raven, but white. And these two creatures
they could send anywhere; and wherever they came, they
took away all sorts of victuals they could
get--butter, cheese, milk, bacon, and all sorts of
seeds, whatever they found, and carried it to the
witch. What the bird brought, they kept for
themselves; but what the carrier brought, they
reserved for the devil....
"They added, likewise, that these carriers filled
themselves so full sometimes that they were forced to
spue by the way, which spueing was found in gardens
where colworts grew, and not far from the houses of
witches. It was of a yellow colour like gold, and was
called butter of witches.
"The Lords Commissioners were very earnest, and took
great pains to persuade the witches to show some of
their tricks, but to no purpose; for they unanimously
said that, since they had confessed, they found that
all their witchcraft was gone, and that the devil
appeared to them very terrible, with claws on his
hands and feet, and with horns on his head, and a long
tail behind, and showed them a pit burning with a hand
put out; but the devil did thrust the person down
again with an iron fork, and suggested to the witches,
that if they continued in their confession, he would
deal with them in the same manner."
CHAPTER LXVII.
Superstition in France--Pope John XXII. celebrated in
the History of Sorcery and Magic--A Bishop skinned
alive and torn by Horses for Witchcraft--King Philippe
and Superstition--Springs poisoned by Lepers and
Jews--Extracting Teeth without Pain--A Dentist
strangled by a Demon--Berne Witch--Charmed
Ointment--Sorcerers in Navarre--Demoniacal
Operations--Voice in the Air--Witch Flying--Witches
meeting their Deserts--Maria Renata's
Witchcrafts--Nuns possessed of Devils--Promise of Life
by Satan--End of Renata--Jeanne D'Arc--Credulity of
France and England--Fairies of Domremi--Charmed
Tree--Sparkling Spring--Mandrakes--Jacques D'Arc and
his Wife--Jeanne D'Arc in Childhood--Converse with
Spirits and Angels--France under Tyranny--Jeanne's
Heavenly Mission communicated to the Dauphin--Maid at
the head of Troops--Her Achievements--Siege of
Orleans--Great Victories--Dauphin Crowned--Jeanne's
Desire to retire into Private Life--Opposition to her
Retirement--The Maid's Feats of Valour--Heroine
Betrayed--Charmed Sword--Jeanne's Surrender--King's
Ingratitude--Great Rejoicing at the Maid's
Downfall--Attempt to Escape--Trial and
Condemnation--Maid Burned--A white Dove rising from
her Ashes--Imitators--Unreliable Reports.
France, like her neighbouring nations, entertained strong opinions in
regard to superstition; and so did the high dignitaries of Rome. Pope
John XXII. is celebrated in the history of sorcery and magic. He
believed that sorcery had been resorted to to procure his untimely
death, soon after his accession to the Papacy, by the Bishop of
Chahors, the Pope's native place. The bishop being brought before the
College of Cardinals, was, after deposition from his holy office,
delivered to the secular powers in Avignon to receive punishment. A
cruel fate awaited him; the unfortunate bishop being first skinned
alive, next torn by horses, and then burned. Pope John continued to
persecute persons suspected of sorcery, and many an unhappy creature
suffered at his suggestion.
In the spring of 1321 King Philippe summoned the States-General to
meet at Poictiers, and proceeded in person to Poitou to hold his court
there. Soon after the assembly of the Estates, information was given
to the king that the lepers, of whom there were many in the place, had
entered into a conspiracy to poison and bewitch the springs throughout
Aquitaine, in order to kill the Christians, or reduce them to the same
state of loathsome disease as they themselves suffered. Some who were
arrested admitted, under torture, the accusation. The king became so
greatly alarmed that he fled from Poitou, after giving orders to
arrest and imprison all the lepers in France. Multitudes of them were
condemned and burned; still the king thirsted for more blood. Jews
were also accused of aiding to poison and bewitch the wells. At Chinon
upwards of one hundred Jews suffered the extreme penalty of the law
for such groundless crimes. After a show of trial, and trumped-up
charges equally false, many more Jews and lepers were put to death in
Paris.
Dentists will be surprised to learn that in bygone days none but those
acquainted with occult science were supposed capable of extracting
teeth without pain. In the seventeenth century an astrologer in
France, who sold talismans and extracted teeth without pain, was
strangled in bed by a demon.
A woman, executed at Berne, stated she belonged to a sect who had
sworn eternal subjection to the devil, and that she knew how to
prepare a decoction which, when swallowed by any one, would convert
the novice into a witch equal in knowledge and power to the older
members of her fraternity.
Here is a case exhibiting the power of charmed ointment. In the year
1527 a band of one hundred and fifty sorcerers, says Llorente, greatly
disturbed Navarre. The sect held "Sabbath" orgies, where demons were
adored, and transformations of witches and wizards took place, after
anointing themselves with a compound made from the grease of
reptiles. One witch, on condition of receiving a pardon, agreed to
show the demoniacal operations gone through at the "Sabbath" meetings.
Provided with a box of witch ointment, she ascended a high tower,
accompanied by a commissioner of the royal council. In the sight of a
vast concourse of people, she applied the ointment to various parts of
her person. Having done this, she exclaimed in a loud voice, "Are you
there?" From the air a voice answered, "Yes, I am here." The woman
then descended the tower to its centre, crawling down the outside of
the wall on her hands and feet. Suddenly she flew away, and vanished
out of sight beyond the horizon. Her one hundred and forty-nine
companions were brought to trial, and met their deserts.
Maria Renata, sub-prioress of a convent at Unterzell, proved to be a
witch. She tormented the nuns at night, and, to assist her in the
black art, she kept a considerable number of cats. General alarm
prevailed; five of the nuns became possessed of devils. Renata avowed
to her confessor that she was a witch, that she had often been carried
bodily to witch Sabbaths, and presented to the prince of darkness. Her
name appeared in a black book, and she consented to be the devil's
property. In return, she received the promise of life for seventy
years. After trial by the civil judges, they condemned Renata to the
flames; but at the appointed time of execution, by way of showing a
little mercy, her head was struck off before the flames kindled around
her body. This tragedy took place in the year 1749--strange to say, in
the seventy-first year of Renata's age.
We next give a more extraordinary story illustrative of superstitious
sentiments in France, viz. the world-wide one of Jeanne D'Arc
(sometimes called Johan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans), who fell a
victim to the credulity prevalent in that country and in England. The
small village of Domremi is a retired spot, where popular
superstitions have been almost religiously preserved. Fairies were
believed to frequent the neighbourhood of Domremi. Near to it stood a
large ancient beech-tree, known as the charmed tree of Bourlemont,
supposed to be a favourite haunt of elves. Beneath the spreading
boughs gushed a sparkling fountain, of which people drank to preserve
them from fevers. Witches went thither at night to dance with the
fairies. Young men and maidens also resorted to the spot, to dance
round the tree and fountain. Garlands were made there, and presented
as offerings to our lady of Domremi. The priests of the village said
mass once a year over the fountain, to strengthen its healing
qualities. Under a hazel-tree, not far from the charmed tree, grew
mandrakes, one of which never failed to add wealth and domestic
happiness to any person who possessed it.
In the village lived a labouring man, named Jacques D'Arc, who, with
his wife, the villagers looked upon with respect. They had several
children, boys and girls. The youngest daughter, named Jeanne, was
born in the year 1410. At childhood she assumed a reserved and pensive
disposition, and often sought solitude within the village church.
Having but a limited education, the superstitions of her time were
implicitly believed in by her. In addition to dancing round the
charmed tree and fountain with other young maidens, she often went
there alone. She grew up to be an attractive young woman, of peculiar
mind. Subject to fits or trances, she became prostrated by them; and
she had, according to her own account, converse with angels and the
spirits of dead saints.
At an early period of life Jeanne D'Arc received the impression that
providence intended her to achieve great feats in behalf of her
country. More than once she exclaimed, "Nobody but me can recover the
kingdom of France!" At this time, it should be observed, France
groaned under the tyranny of contending factions; and so low had the
Dauphin sunk, that not a single place remained in his power except
Orleans; and even it the English closely besieged. After various
unsuccessful attempts, the Maid obtained permission to communicate her
heavenly mission to the Dauphin. Assuming male attire and warlike
equipments, including a white banner, she placed herself at the head
of the French troops, who, through her example, became inspired with
new enthusiasm. On the 29th April 1429 she threw herself, with
supplies of provisions, into Orleans. Soon after arriving there she
attacked Fort St. Loup, which she carried, while wielding a sword that
had lain more than a century in a knight's tomb behind the altar of
St. Catherine at Fierbois. In an assault on the English, Jeanne
received a severe wound on the neck, from which a large quantity of
blood flowed; but she said it was not blood, but glory, that streamed
out. The siege of Orleans being raised on 8th May, Jeanne D'Arc
carried the news to the Dauphin, and entreated him to come and be
crowned at Rheims, then in possession of the English. The siege of
Gergeau was next undertaken. Jeanne boldly went into the ditch,
standard in hand, at a part most vigorously defended. The soldiers
followed, and soon the town fell by the courageous woman's hands. She
next took possession of Auxerre, Troyes, and Chalons, thus opening for
the Dauphin the road to Rheims. Thither he proceeded, and on 17th July
was crowned. Jeanne D'Arc (or the Maid of Orleans, as she is now
called) assisted at the ceremony. The Maid having accomplished, so
far, the object of her mission, wished to return home; but, seeing her
presence inspired great confidence in the army, the king, and others
of influence, opposed her departure. She therefore stuck to her post
of military leader. She accompanied the king to Crepi, Senlis, and
Paris. In the siege of Compeigne, in the year 1430, Jeanne made a
sally, at the head of a hundred men, over the bridge, and twice
repulsed the besiegers. The king's troops were surrounded, yet, after
performing feats of valour, the Maid disengaged her company, who
re-entered the town. The heroine remained in the rear to facilitate
the retreat, and, when she wished to enter the town, the gates were
shut. She again charged her pursuers, but finding herself unsupported
she exclaimed, "I am betrayed!" It turned out as supposed: the
shutting of the gates while Jeanne remained exposed to danger did not
take place through accident. Jealousy and treachery were at work: her
pretended friends had conspired to bring her bright career to a speedy
end. Many brave soldiers fell under the Maid's charmed sword; but as
one sword and a single hand could not mow down a whole army, she
surrendered to Lionel Vasture of Vendôme, who gave her up to John of
Luxembourg. The latter nobleman basely sold Jeanne to her enemies--the
English--for ten thousand livres; and, what appeared most cruel, the
king did not attempt to redeem the heroine, to whom he and his kingdom
owed much.
The ingratitude of Charles VII. has remained a blot on his memory.
Even those who refuse to admit that Jeanne D'Arc possessed
supernatural powers, regard his conduct with abhorrence. On Jeanne
being made prisoner, the English rejoiced exceedingly. The Duke of
Bedford thought it proper to disgrace her, in order to reanimate the
courage of his countrymen. In Paris, the authorities, to evince their
joy at her downfall, ordered salvoes of artillery to be fired. A _te
deum_ was sung in the church of Nôtre Dame; and preachers returned
thanks to the Most High, for his mercy in bringing to an end the
influence of such a wicked sorceress.
Jeanne, in an effort to escape from a high tower (her place of
confinement), cast herself from its summit to the ground, yet, strange
to say, sustained little injury. To guard against another attempt to
gain liberty, iron chains were put round her legs and body. A court of
French bishops met to try the Maid. The charge embraced seventy
articles of impeachment. Questions were asked concerning politics; her
belief in and intercourse with fairies; her favourite spiritual
visitants, St. Catherine and St. Margaret; the devices of her banner;
and the sacred sword.
A formula of sentence, after fifteen separate examinations, was read,
declaring her guilty of apostacy, sorcery, etc., and setting forth
that, lest the culprit should corrupt others, she should be cast out
of the church, and delivered to the temporal authorities, praying them
to deal mildly and humanely with her, and to rest satisfied with the
death of her body. Burning the body only, the ecclesiastics considered
mild treatment. Had they delivered their victim to Satan, loaded with
the fearful curses contained in the greater excommunication, who can
tell when her guilt would be expiated? As the secular powers were
merely instruments of the ecclesiastical authorities, sentence of
death by burning against the Maid of Orleans soon became an
accomplished fact. Fastened to a stake, without much delay, the flames
consumed her fair form, at the age of nineteen years. To the very last
she believed in the reality of her visions, and intercourse with the
spirits of departed saints. Her dying agonies were witnessed by a
pitying crowd, who separated to proclaim abroad, that at the moment
her breath went out a pure white dove rose from the pile and soared up
to heaven.
Subsequent to this heroine's death several women emerged from
obscurity, and feigned to be inspired in the same way as Jeanne D'Arc
had been. Two young maids residing near Paris pretended that her
mantle had fallen on them. The clergy interfered. The young women were
apprehended, tried, and declared guilty of holding communication with
evil spirits. One of them recanted, and thereby saved her life; the
other remained firm, and perished at the stake.
After the real or unreal execution of Jeanne D'Arc, the report became
current that she was alive, and playing a conspicuous part in society
at a considerable distance from the scene of her triumphs and
degradation. Some would have it that she escaped punishment through
the interference of her admirers; but the general belief remained,
that she really suffered in terms of her sentence. Another report
represents the Maid's persecutors as being overtaken by more than
ordinary misfortunes in their estate, in addition to suffering the
torments of accusing consciences.
SUPERSTITION IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
CHAPTER LXVIII.
Generality of Superstition--The Church and
Superstition--St. Mourie--People forbidden to resort
to the island Innis Maree--Various Modes of
Superstition--Charms--Lucky and Unlucky Times--A
Tinker's Curse and a Gipsy's Warning--Sailors' and
Fishermen's Delusions--Spitting on one's
Loof--Weddings, Funerals, and Baptisms--Spae Wives--May
Dew--Holy-days--Kirk-session Records--Fort-William
Fisherman--Dipping in Fountains--Lochmanur--Holy Well
of Kilvullen--Well of Craiguck--Superstition in the
Highlands--Warlock Willox--Superstition in Dundee.
Notwithstanding the progress of religion, science, and education
generally so called, superstition prevails in this and other countries
to an extent scarcely credible, and certainly not creditable to the
leaders of public opinion. In every town and country, in every village
and hamlet, yea, in every domestic circle, a belief in the
supernatural has a place. Although the time has gone by for the
burning of witches, and though the human mind is less disturbed by the
thoughts of ghosts and Satan in corporeal shape than in past
centuries, nevertheless man has not been able to rise altogether above
the notion that there are such mortal creatures as witches and
warlocks, and such immortal visible visitants to our sublunary world
as spirits and the devil. Not only is there a general belief in the
existence of ghosts, but we have people asserting that they possess
the faculty of making spirits of the dead answer them at pleasure.
Learned men (men in high position) have written lengthy arguments in
favour of the spiritual theory.
Signs and omens are observed, faith in miracles have not died out,
charms are not considered valueless, curses and evil wishes make a
large proportion of our population tremble, dreams are believed in.
Indeed nearly all, if not all, the various aspects and phases of
superstition of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries
are, to a certain extent, believed in in the nineteenth century. We
make no mere random statement, but are stating facts falling under our
own notice and that of reliable witnesses.
Fear of the supernatural is confirmed by the dread one has of passing
a graveyard at night. Among the English, Scotch, and Irish people the
tales of their forefathers are remembered. Who has forgotten his
nursery tales? Who does not remember the stories of aged friends as
they sat round the winter fire? We have somewhere read of our nursery
tales under eight heads. First, of a hero waging successful war with
monsters; (2nd), of a neglected individual mysteriously raised into
position, like "Cinderella;" (3rd), of one thrown into a magic trance,
like the "Sleeping Beauty;" or (4th) of a person overpowered by a
monster, as in the case of "Little Red Riding Hood." "Blue Beard,"
says the writer from whom we have just quoted, is a specimen of a
group of tales, in which (5th) the hero or heroine is forbidden to do
something, but disobeys. "Beauty and the Beast" and "The White Cat"
are examples of a large group in which (6th) a brilliant being is
transformed, by means of a spell, into the form of a lower animal. A
number of stories, such as "Fortunatus and his Companions," turn upon
(7th) the possession of magic implements or spells. The concluding
group consists (8th) of moral tales. But these eight groups are far
too few to supply examples of either ancient or modern superstition.
Hahn endeavoured to group the folk-tales of Europe under forty heads,
and Baring Gould has followed his example. In every corner of
Christendom some form of kelpie, sprite, troll, gnome, imp, or demon
has a place in the mind of the people, much the same as in Pagan
times.
Those who have turned their attention to archæology are in a position
to corroborate what is here advanced. No doubt, modern superstition,
in its various forms, is the result of ancient delusion in regard to
religion and moral rectitude. To overlook or neglect the prescribed
formula in regard to blessing and cursing, was certain to bring its
own punishment. Superstition is believed in by persons accounted
neither irreligious nor desperately profane. Church dignitaries, once
foremost in the persecution of reputed witches, found it necessary to
change their front. Everything bordering on witchcraft, devil worship,
or such like, met with ecclesiastical censure. Let the inhabitants of
Applecross say why they and their forefathers sacrificed to St.
Mourie, their patron saint, at certain seasons; and let the Synod of
Glenelg and the Presbytery of Lochcarron say why they considered it
necessary to forbid the people resorting to the island Innis Maree on
25th August. And let those reverend bodies say whether certain stones
are not consulted as to future events--whether oblations are not left
on hills--and whether a species of adoration is not paid to wells.
Why is the mountain ash, or rowan tree, seen growing in almost every
garden, when not another tree adorns the landscape or shelters the
family dwelling? Why are the caudal appendages of the cottar's cow and
calf adorned with red thread? and wherefore are horse-shoes nailed to
stable-doors, ships' masts, and buried under thresholds? What parish
or district has not its haunted house and "white lady?" In what
quarter do not the young fear to pass ruined castles after sundown?
And have we not everywhere a confessed belief in lucky and unlucky
times and circumstances, and admitted presentiments of evil?
The tinker's curse and the gipsy's warning are prophetically regarded.
In the north of Scotland there is a class of lay preachers, or
catechists, known as the "Men," who lay claim to prophetic talent;
yea, there are among them enthusiasts, who pretend they possess keys
equal in efficacy to those of St. Peter. At the seaside, among the
sailors and fishermen, strong indications of superstition are
observable. Buyers and sellers, especially cattle dealers and
hucksters, daily evince their adherence to the credulity of their
progenitors, by spitting on the first money received by them in the
morning, and preferring to deal first with persons reputed to have
good luck. Athletes (particularly boxers and wrestlers) spit into
their loofs before commencing a combat, thinking that by so doing they
are more likely to prevail.
At wedding-parties, baptisms, and funerals we have seen numerous forms
of superstition displayed. First, the bride's dress must consist of
certain fabrics, while the flowers with which her person is adorned
must not include hated sprigs, repellers of love, or such as attract
evil spirits. All know the custom, if not the value, of throwing
slippers, rice, etc. after a newly-wedded pair; and the ceremony of
breaking a cake over a bride's head as she first enters her husband's
house is not forgotten. Who has not eaten the "child's cheese," and
been forbidden to depart from the infantile home before drinking the
young one's health, on every occasion the nursery was entered before
the christening. Maidens dream, as often as they have the chance, on
"children's cheese" and brides' cakes, in order to obtain glimpses in
their slumbers of future love and matrimony.
Tea in abundance has been infused to supply the necessary material for
the spae-wife to read her cups. Coins and jewellery, deposited with the
fortune-teller to enable him or her to discover the fortune of the
owners, have too often failed to be restored to the lawful owners.
Servant-girls can tell how often they and their employers have been
plundered by fortune-tellers in the guise of beggars and pedlars.
May-dew has not lost its virtue; the carrying of fire round houses,
fields, and boats are still supposed to drive away witches and evil
spirits; and diseases are supposed to be capable of cure by means of
charms.
Superstitious families are less terrified at thunder and lightning
than at the ticking of the death-watch (_anobium tesselatum_), whose
noise is supposed to prognosticate an early death in the household.
With little less fear are the crowing of cocks, the lowing of cattle,
and the howling of dogs at night listened to. The passing of a
sharp-edged or pointed instrument from one lover to another is
continued to be looked upon with anything but favour, as such
articles, even pins, divide affection. If an angler step over his
fishing-rod, he will have indifferent piscatory sport. It is a good
sign for swallows to build their nests at one's windows; but if a
person destroy a swallow's nest, or kill any of those birds of
passage, he should prepare for misfortunes. Unusually dark-coloured
magpies flying about a house, betokens grief to the inmates. When the
palm of one's hand itches, money may be looked for; when the sole of
the foot itches, prepare for a long journey.
Of particular festive and holy-days we have more than once taken
notice, and pointed out how they were observed. Well, we have
Christmas, Hallow-e'en, Good Friday, observed with something
resembling the fashion of olden times. The evergreens, kail-stocks,
pan-cakes, and buns have the same significations as they had in
generations past. To break a Good Friday bun between two persons, is
accepted as a pledge of friendship. Many superstitious persons keep a
Good Friday bun throughout the year, to secure good fortune, prevent
fires, and keep disease away.
At a recent meeting of the British Archæological Association, Mr. H.
Syer Cuming, F.S.A., said it was only a few years since he saw a woman
drink a little grated cross-bun in water, to cure a sore throat, and
that, at the time he was speaking, twenty stale cross-buns, strung on
a cord, were suspended as a festoon above the door of an apartment at
Brixton Hill, to scare away evil spirits. Fortunately, those who adopt
such precautions do so now without fear of punishment. No doubt the
Church of Rome interdicts her adherents from eating flesh on Fridays
and other prescribed times, but the laws are changed since the
seventeenth century. An extract from the kirk-session records of
Dunfermline for 1640-89 will show the ecclesiastical law of that
period:--
"21 December 1641.--That day John Smart, flesher,
being convict for selling a carkeis of beefe, and
hav^g pott on a rost at hes fire y^e last fasting day,
is ordainit to pay 8 mks., qhlk. he payit. And William
Anderson in knockes for bring^g a hamelading of y^e
s^d carkeis of beefe y^e fast day, is ordainit to pay
30s., q^r of he payit 24s."
Of the magical properties of May dew little is now known, compared
with the knowledge of former times. Our grandmothers firmly believed
that three applications of it at the beginning of May preserved the
complexion in brilliant bloom for a year; consequently they were up
and out long before sunrise, to wash their faces in the charmed
moisture. There is still much value in the recipe, which is, however,
applicable to all the dewy-morning months. It was not only on the
brightness of the cheek that May dew was believed to have a marvellous
effect, but many physical ailments were amenable to its virtues. It is
related that the people about Launceston say that a child weak in the
back may be cured by being drawn through the wet grass thrice on the
mornings of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of May. Swellings in the neck are
similarly cured; but the dew in such cases should, if the patient is
a man, be sought on the grave of the last young woman buried, and if a
woman, on that of the last young man interred.
These May-day practices are not confined to England. The medicinal and
cosmetic properties of spring rain and May dew appear to have been at
one time universally credited. In fact, water, in whatever shape--dew,
rain, river--when associated with spring, was invested with a sort of
divine enchantment in the popular mind. The heavy dew which brightened
and refreshed the young and tender green of all growing things was
holy and hallowing. Running water shared in the same veneration.
In some parts of Russia, at the present day, the girls go into the
water up to the girdle on May-day, or, if the streams be still frozen,
they dance about a hole broken in the ice, and sing a welcome to the
"beautiful spring." The sick are carried down to the banks of a river
and sprinkled with water, which has received a healing power from the
new season. Cattle are driven afield at early dawn through the May
dew, and the young people roll about in it where it lies thickest.
Not many years ago a fisherman near Fort William purchased a set of
nets, to enable him to prosecute the herring fishing. He toiled all
night without catching any fish. Dispirited, he returned home in the
morning to his anxious wife, who was expecting to receive a heavy
haul. On learning her husband had been so unfortunate while their
neighbours had been successful, she suspected the nets were bewitched,
and therefore procured consecrated water wherewith to sprinkle them.
The experiment proved successful beyond expectation: every morning the
fisherman went to sea he returned with so many fish that his
circumstances were considerably improved.
Holy water is kept, in certain localities in the north, for sprinkling
on the sea to still the waves in case of a storm. Holy oil, we are
assured, is equally efficacious. We have seen a lady turning her chair
three times round, to secure luck at cards.
Dipping in a fountain or lake in Scotland for the purpose of healing
diseases, is a matter of frequent occurrence. In the beginning of
August (old style), between midnight and early morning, may be seen
the impotent, the halt, and the lunatic immersing themselves, or being
immersed by their friends, in Lochmanur, Sutherlandshire, in the full
expectation that benefit to mind and body will be secured by the
operation. One who has witnessed the strange scenes within the last
ten years, _i.e._ since 1870, gives the following graphic account of
the superstitious actions he beheld:--
"The hour was between midnight and one o'clock in the
morning, and the scene was absurd beyond belief,
though not without a touch of weird interest, imparted
by the darkness of the night and the superstitious
faith of the people. The lame, the old, and young were
waiting for an immersion in Lochmanur or Lochmonaire.
About fifty persons were present near one spot, and
other parts of the loch were similarly occupied. About
twelve stripped and walked into the loch, performing
their ablutions three times. Those who were not able
to act for themselves were assisted, some of them
being led willingly and others by force, for there
were cases of each kind. One young woman, strictly
guarded, was an object of great pity. She raved in a
distressing manner, repeating religious phrases, some
of which were very earnest and pathetic. She prayed
her guardians not to immerse her, saying that it was
not a communion occasion, and asking if they could
call this righteousness or faithfulness. No male, so
far as I could see, denuded himself for a plunge.
These gatherings take place twice a year, and are
known far and near to such as put belief in the spell.
But the climax of absurdity is in paying the loch in
sterling coin."
Another writer says he has seen even more than fifty dipping in this
loch in one night. A third eye-witness never saw more than two or
three of a night venturing into the loch; but many more, he adds, were
present to see and be seen. And there are persons who have declared
they derived benefit from bathing in it. The late Rev. D. Mackenzie,
minister at Farr, who often denounces from the pulpit the
superstitious practice of dipping in the loch, says, in his
description of it in the _New Statistical Account of Scotland_:
"Numbers from Sutherland, Caithness, Ross-shire, and even from
Inverness and Orkney, come to this far-famed loch."
The holy well of Kilvullen, on the Irish coast, is as good as
Lochmanur. Every year, in the month of August, there are high
festivals held there. The water has a wonderful repute for healing
qualities. It has worked miraculous cures ever since the great saint
of Kilvullen flourished in the parish. The inhabitants have vague
though reverential notions of the date of St. Kilvullen's existence.
That he was of foreign extraction would appear to be proven, some way
or other, through a boulder lying on the beach, on which, it is
stated, the blessed Kilvullen travelled here direct from Rome, with a
commission from the Pope to convert the Irish. To wriggle under a
cavity in this stone and come out on the other side, is an infallible
remedy for lumbago.
There is a mountain not far distant from Kilvullen with a gap in it,
supposed to have been made by a single bite of the devil. There is
scarcely an eminence in Ireland out of which the demon has not
devoured a bit. Travellers are shown the devil's bites, the devil's
gaps, and the devil's punch-bowls, over nearly every part of the
country.
Dr. Arthur Mitchell, while lecturing on Scottish superstition, said:
"The adoration of wells continues in certain aspects to the present
day, from John-o'-Groat's to the Mull of Galloway. I visited a well at
Craiguck, in the parish of Avoch, Ross-shire, some years ago, and
found numerous offerings fastened to a tree beside it; and of at least
a dozen wells in Scotland the same thing is more or less true. An
anxious loving mother would bring a sick child to such a well at early
morning on the 1st May, bathe the child, then cause the little one to
drop an offering into the well--usually a pebble, but sometimes a
small coin. Then a bit of the child's dress was attached to a bush or
tree growing on the side of the well. These visits were paid in a
spirit of earnestness and faith, and were kept more or less secret.
Some of the wells have names of Christian saints attached to them; but
I never knew of a case in which the saint was in any way recognised or
prayed to. There is reason to believe these wells were the objects of
adoration before the country was christianised, and that such
adoration was a survival of the earlier practice to which Seneca and
Pliny referred."
However much the custom of seeking health by bathing or dipping in
lakes, or drinking from certain springs, may be deplored, it is
tolerable compared with the superstitious belief that prevails, of
epilepsy being cured by the affected person drinking water out of a
suicide's skull, or by tasting or touching the blood of a murderer.
A gentleman, writing lately from Fort William, says:--"It is a mistake
to suppose that superstition is entirely extinct in the Highlands, or
that it is confined to old women alone. It was only the other day a
certain spinster in Lochaber, who has reached the shady side of sixty,
owned a cow. Up to last week the cow was a model one in every sense of
the term, but last week it showed sure signs of the effect of the
'evil eye.' The symptoms were chiefly deficiency in quantity and
quality of milk. A consistory of old women was soon called, and, among
a host of other queer contrivances, they had recourse to
one--commendable chiefly for its simplicity, and also for its complete
success. It was no other than smearing the brute all over with soot
and salt! As this was done for the purpose of spoiling the beauty of
the beast, it may be better guessed than described how completely it
answered the purpose."
Another gentleman, writing from Grantown, assures us that "One night
in 1878, two men, one of whom was blind, entered the village of
Grantown and inquired as to the nearest route to Tomintoul. They came
from a parish north of Inverness, and the object of their long journey
was to visit a representative of the family of the warlock Willox,
with a view to overturn some bad luck which had beset the course in
life of the younger of the two. The attempt to dissuade them from
proceeding further on their foolish errand was fruitless. Their faces
had been set on the journey, and they were sternly resolved to
accomplish it at all hazards. They pressed on their way, the blind man
leaning on the arm of his companion, though night was on the point of
falling. The matter pressed heavily on the younger, and it was in vain
he tried to conceal his thoughts, being either 'crazed with care or
crossed in hopeless love.'"
We have not learned how the travellers succeeded, but this we know,
that members of the Willox family have been supposed for generations
to profess knowledge of the occult science. Those of the nineteenth
century, to whom the hidden secrets of their fathers have been
imparted, eke out a livelihood by cultivating a small patch of land in
a mountainous district, and vending nostrums for the cure of diseases
in man and beast, and selling charms to counteract witchcraft. Persons
have been known to travel more than a hundred miles to consult a
Willox. That a wide-spread belief exists of this family's mystical
powers, is manifest from the number of people seeking their advice.
Further, the warlocks of untainted Willox blood not only direct
attention to the healing art and the means of outwitting witches, but
they aid in discovering lost and stolen property.
In 1871 a little boy in Dundee was afflicted with a sore upon his
right leg. Medical skill proved of no avail, and the parents began to
fear the boy would be rendered helpless for life. One day, however, an
old Irish woman saw the boy, and, on ascertaining the nature of his
disease, declared that she could by means of the "gold-touch" heal
the sore. She asked for and obtained the marriage ring of the
invalid's mother. With the ring the strange woman rubbed three times
round the sore. She performed the same operation next day, and on the
next again. On the fourth day no mark of a sore could be discovered.
No doubt remained on the parents' and neighbours' minds that the
operator was a white witch, possessed of valuable charms.
CHAPTER LXIX.
Ghost at Sea--Tragical Event--Ghosts in
Edinburgh--Fear of Ghosts in
Glasgow--Fortune-telling--Choice of Lovers, how
decided--A handsome Dowry--Old Irish Story--How a
Ghost settled a Land Question--A Highland Prophecy
respecting the Argyll Family--Gipsies and
Superstition--Yetholm Gipsies--Episode in a Police
Court--Curses--Superstition among
Fishermen--Superstition among Seamen--Providing for
the Dead--A Warning--Blood Stains--Various
Superstitions--Hallow-e'en at Balmoral--Faith in
Dreams, Signs, Omens, Predictions, and
Warnings--Self-accusing Catalogue--Reflections on the
Memories of our Ancestors.
A strange story is told in connection with the report of the murder at
sea on board the barque "Pontiac," of Liverpool, by Jean Moyatos, a
Greek sailor, in custody in Edinburgh a few years ago. We do not know
whether the particulars we are about to relate came out in the
investigation, but undoubtedly they had a strong bearing on the case,
and made it probable, that but for the hallucination of one of the
crew--not the Greek sailor--the murder would not have taken place.
Five days after the "Pontiac" left Callao, Jean Moyatos murdered one
of his fellow-seamen, and stabbed another in such a dangerous manner
that his life was despaired of. Two nights before the fatal occurrence
the mate of the "Pontiac" was standing near the man at the helm, no
other person being on the quarter-deck at the time, when the latter
in great terror called out, "What is that near the cabin door?" The
mate replied that he saw nothing, and looked about to see if any one
was near, but failed to discover any person. The steersman then, much
terrified, said the figure he saw was that of a strange-looking man,
of ghostly appearance, and almost immediately afterwards exclaimed,
"There he is again, standing at the cabin window!" The mate, though in
view of the place referred to, saw no figure near it, nor at any other
part of the quarter-deck, though he looked round and round. Next day
the report went from one to the other that a ghost was on board, which
filled some of the sailors with alarm, while others made a jest of it.
Next night a boy (a stowaway) was so dreadfully alarmed in his bunk by
something he saw or felt (we do not know which), that he cried out so
loudly as to waken all the seamen in bed. The boy was sure it was the
ghost seen the previous night that had frightened him; and others of
more mature years were inclined to think so too. Perhaps more than
one-half of those on board believed that something supernatural was in
the ship, and that some calamity would soon happen. But there were two
at least on board who did not believe the ghost stories, and these
were the man subsequently murdered, and his companion who was stabbed.
The former joked with the boy about the ghost, and said he would have
his knife well sharpened and ready for the ghost if it appeared the
next night. He would give it a stab and "chuck" it overboard. The
latter joined in the joke, saying he also would help "to do for the
ghost;" and others said they would have letters ready for the ghost to
carry to their friends in the other world. Jean Moyatos overheard what
was said as to stabbing and throwing overboard; and in consequence of
his imperfect knowledge of the English language, and having previously
supposed there was a combination against him, thought the threats were
made against him, and therefore resolved to protect himself. A few
hours after the jesting we have briefly explained took place, he
stabbed the two men who principally carried on the jest, with the
fatal result known. The murder, as might be expected, filled every one
on board with horror; and the terror of the sailors who believed there
was a ghost on board became overwhelming. At night, whether in bed or
on watch on deck, they had great dread, it being heightened by reports
that strange noises were heard below. Not even at the end of the
voyage had the fear been overcome; for, after the ship lay moored in
the docks of Leith, two of the crew who had agreed to sleep on board
became so frightened, after their companions were paid off, that they
refused to remain in the vessel at night.
Jean Moyatos, on being brought to trial before the High Court of
Justiciary, was found to be insane; and therefore the Court ordered
him to be confined in a lunatic asylum during Her Majesty's pleasure.
A circumstance, freely spoken of within the past few years, has given
rise to a rumour that ghosts frequent the neighbourhood of the Dean
Cemetery, Edinburgh. The story is, that about three o'clock one
morning a private watchman named Clark (employed to look after a block
of buildings at Bell's Mills, Water of Leith) and his friend the
constable on the beat, were surprised, in the midst of a friendly
talk, by a tall figure--which, at least to their startled eyes, seemed
to be in white--clearing a wall and alighting on the ground close
beside them. It darted along the road towards the Dean Cemetery. As it
ran, the two men heard, or thought they heard, a clinking sound like
that made by a horse with a loose shoe. Too much frightened to watch
the movements of their visitor, Clark and his companion took to their
heels, nor thought of halting until they were a considerable distance
from the locality. Clark refused to return to his post, and some
difficulty was even experienced in getting the constable to look upon
the matter from a business point of view.
Whether the same ghost or not we cannot tell, but not long ago many in
Edinburgh became startled at rumours of a ghost being seen in various
parts of Edinburgh. On a Saturday night the movements of a ghost
caused great excitement in the Fountainbridge district, particularly
at Murdoch Terrace, Bainfield, where a large crowd collected. On the
ghost being observed, five men, armed with bludgeons, pursued it till
it reached the Dalry Cemetery, where it jumped over the wall, and was
not seen again. Bodies of men formed themselves into a detective
force, to lie in wait at different places for the apparition. It was
gravely alleged that the ghost made its appearance in varied
attire--sometimes in black, sometimes in white, and occasionally with
the addition of horns. One dark night a cabman, driving through the
Grange, and looking about him with great fear, and trembling for the
appearance of this irrepressible "Spring-heel Jack," suddenly heard a
loud noise over his head, and the next instant something descended
with such force on his shoulders as to send his pipe flying over the
splashboard, and himself nearly after it.
The alarm excited in the weak-minded and ignorant can scarcely be
credited. We know of one case where a cab-driver, who was ordered to
go at an early hour in the morning to a house in the suburbs to convey
a lady and gentleman from an evening party, positively refused to go,
through sheer terror of encountering "Jack," as the ghost was named,
preferring rather to risk losing his situation. It is said that the
girls employed in factories in the vicinity of the Canal would not
venture to their work till it was fairly daylight, and even then they
went in a body. Several policemen asserted that they had seen the
ghost. The stories about the ghost created such an impression on the
minds of many young people residing within a wide radius of the
haunted district, that they would not venture out after dark.
Glasgow, as recently as 1878, had its ghost also, or supposed it had.
The residents in the Northern District of that city were thrown into a
state of excitement, hardly to be credited in enlightened times. One
night it was whispered that the school at the corner of Stirling
Street and Milton Street had become the abode of a horde of warlocks,
whose cantrips were equalled only by the antics cut by their
demoniacal ancestors in "Alloway's Auld Haunted Kirk." It was
seriously averred by dozens of persons that they had actually
witnessed the hobgoblins in the enjoyment of their fiendish fun. In a
brief space of time the whole neighbourhood turned out to see the
terrible visitants that had come among them. Frequently as many as
from four to six thousand people--the large majority of whom were
children in groups of threes and fours, clinging to each other's
hands, and evidently in mortal terror of being suddenly spirited away
no one knew where--assembled to catch a glimpse of the mysterious
cause of the commotion. To such a height did the excitement grow, that
one night the authorities stationed no fewer than nine policemen round
the school, for the purpose of restoring order. On the following night
"the ghost," as it was now called, still uncaught, and gliding as
noiselessly and swiftly through the deserted rooms as on the first
night of its appearance, frightening the souls and raising the hair of
all who believed in it, and the authorities, being suspicious of
mischief on the part of some one concealed on the premises, sent two
detectives into the attics of the building, for the purpose of
arresting the apparition should it stalk in their direction and prove
to be made of flesh and blood. After waiting several hours the
officers relinquished their watching, and left the school to its
ghostly occupant. All sorts of theories were propounded to account for
the unearthly sights that were witnessed through the windows of the
building, but it turned out that a very innocent combination of
circumstances had caused all the excitement. It was believed that the
reflection from a set of mirrors in the house opposite, falling upon a
series of thickly-glazed maps hanging upon the school wall, had
produced the appearances which served to create so great a sensation.
We have seen there was neither ghost nor goblin in the city of St.
Mungo, but we have also seen from the above incident that time has not
enabled us to cast off altogether the fetters of superstition.
Cunning, duplicity, and falsehood are associated with fortune-telling.
An instance in exemplification is within our recollection. Not far
from the junction of the Gadie and Urie with the Don, in
Aberdeenshire, dwelt a rich farmer. His only daughter possessed rare
natural charms, gifts, and graces. She could spin, sew, manage the
dairy, sing with a voice equal to that of the mavis or blackbird,
while her heart was as tender as that of any other sighing maiden. Two
lovers sought her hand--one rich, the other poor. The poor man she
declared to be her choice, but the purse-proud father declared his
firlot of silver money, his twelve cows, and as many calves, his sheep
and oxen, intended as his daughter's dower, would never enrich a
pennyless man without houses and lands. So he said; yet he changed his
mind through the influence of a fortune-teller, hired to tell what
pleased her employers best. In presence of father and mother the sibyl
professed to see, first, in her cup a splendid mansion, with wealth in
great store, cattle, and fields of waving corn, then gradual decline
of riches, until the young lady, her husband, and six or eight
children, were seen living in a little hut in great poverty.
On hearing such an evil prophecy, the interpreter desired to cast the
cup again, to ascertain whether the Fates were resolved to adhere to
their former announced decree. Father and mother leaned back in their
chairs, giving utterance to disquieting thoughts. Through various
incantations the gods were propitiated. A second cup disclosed a small
beginning for the daughter and her husband, but a grand ending. To
prove which prediction was the correct one, the fortune-teller had
recourse to the egg and lead tests--pouring the white of an egg and
boiling lead into water, and watching the fantastic figures produced.
Every fresh trial terminated in favour of the poor wooer. Father and
mother changed their minds; the daughter almost leaped for joy; two
fond hearts were united, and the promised dower was not kept back. For
many years the young couple throve, and at last died, in peace and
possession of plenty, leaving an honourable name, likely to descend to
future generations.
The immediately preceding anecdote reminds us of an old Irish story
bearing on the land question, and showing how agrarian difficulties
were settled in ancient times, without recourse to assassination.
One night in 1662, one Francis Taverner, while riding home near
Drumbridge, observed two horsemen pass him silently. Not even the
treading of the horses' feet could be heard, and presently a third
horseman appeared in the likeness of James Haddock, formerly a farmer
at Malone, where he died five years previously. Mr. Taverner asked the
spectre rider number three (for in reality the three riders were
apparitions) why he appeared to him. To this the ghost replied, that
if he would ride his (the ghost's) way he would inform him. Mr.
Taverner refused to go any other way than that which led to his own
home. Man and ghost parted company; but no sooner had they done so
than a dreadful storm arose, in the midst of which hideous screeches
rose above the gale. Mr. Taverner and his horse were sensible of some
evil influence being near them; and they continued in a state of
semi-stupor until cock-crowing. Chanticleer's clarion notes seemed to
work a charm; for as they wakened the morn, all became calm--placid as
an inland lake unrippled by the wind.
Next night an apparition in the likeness of James Haddock appeared
again to Mr. Taverner, and bade him go to Eleanor Welsh, wife of one
Davis, but formerly the spouse of James Haddock, by whom she had an
only son, to whom Haddock had by will given a lease of a farm, but of
which the son was deprived by Davis. "Tell her," said the ghost, "that
it is the will of your former husband that our son should be righted
in the lease." Through some infatuation, the man disregarded the
instructions of the apparition, and for his neglect he was haunted and
threatened by the apparition in several forms.
So uneasy did Mr. Taverner feel, that he left his mountain home and
went to Belfast. Thither the ghost followed him, and again threatened
to tear him in pieces unless he delivered the message. He therefore
went to Lord Chichester, owner of the farm, and with tears in his eyes
related the whole story. Dr. Lewis Downs, a minister in Belfast,
hearing the relation, at first questioned the lawfulness of obeying a
spirit, but, on mature consideration, and having respect to the
injured son's interest, not only thought the message should be
delivered, but agreed to accompany Taverner to Davis's house to hear
it communicated.
Dr. Taylor, bishop of Down, Connor, and Dromore, after strictly
examining Taverner anent the whole matter, expressed his belief in the
realness of the apparition. No doubt the medium of communication
suffered much mental torture, and great excitement prevailed in the
north of Ireland; but, however, to use a hackneyed phrase, "All's well
that ends well." The apparition's mission to earth was fulfilled; for
the young man's wrongs were redressed, and he remained for many years
in secure possession of his father's lands.
An old Highland prophecy respecting the Argyll family has been brought
to mind by the marriage of the Marquis of Lorn, heir apparent to the
dukedom, with a princess of England. It was foretold that all the
glories of the Campbell family would be renewed in the first chief who
in the colour of his locks approached nearest to that of the great Jan
Roy Cean (Red John the Great), Duke of Argyll. Nature has performed
her part in the person of the noble Marquis, and fate is not likely to
allow the prophecy to remain unfulfilled.
Gipsies have always been associated with superstition. In their tents,
and elsewhere, the women belonging to that class are professed
fortune-tellers. We have heard them in all parts of Scotland and
England telling fortunes, and seen people trembling at their curses,
and witnessed others highly elated at their blessings and favourable
predictions. In far-back times the leaders of the gipsies were chosen
as their chiefs in consequence of this acknowledged power of
divination and enchantment; they were therefore regarded not as kings
or princes, but as prophets or magicians.
At Yetholm the gipsies have an idea that it is unlucky to have
unbaptized children in their houses. Women of that village sell
dreaming powders, by sleeping on which for a certain number of nights
the sleepers are privileged to see their future partners in life.
As an instance in the belief of unholy prayers, we give an episode in
the Leith police court in 1878. A woman named Allan was charged with
assaulting a man because he had ill-used one of her boys. She was a
person of wild passions, and upbraided the man with divers acts of
cruelty to her children. Bursting out into loud cursing, she reminded
the man that, eight years previously, she had, in consequence of him
kicking her orphan child, prayed that neither he nor his wife should
have children; "and you know," she exclaimed, "my prayers have been
answered!" The woman professed to believe her unholy prayers had
hindered the subjects of her wrath from having offspring. The man
quailed under the termagant's piercing eye, and trembled at the
renewed curses.
At the same court, a few years ago, it transpired that two women in
the fishing village of Newhaven had a quarrel, during which one of
them cursed the other and "salted her," _i.e._ threw salt at her. To
cast salt with an evil intent after one, is as unlucky, in the
estimation of fishermen and their wives, as it is to tell a
fisherwoman that a hare's foot is in her creel, or to mention
"Brounger" or the name of a four-footed beast at sea.
A few sceptical friends, not believing all they had heard regarding
the superstitious notions of fishermen, were advised to put a young
pig among some fishermen's lines on board of a boat at Newhaven pier.
The trick being performed, and discovered before the boat put to sea,
both pig and lines were tossed overboard, to the spoiling of a whole
day's fishing.
A boat's crew recently left Newhaven pier for the oyster dredging in
the Firth of Forth. One of the crew, a young lad, who had been at a
circus in Edinburgh the previous evening, happened, while giving an
account of what he had seen, to say "horse." No sooner had the hated
word been uttered, than his companions assailed him in a most
unmerciful manner. His disregard of the tradition of his fathers put
an end to the fishing, it not being considered prudent by the men to
prosecute their calling any more that day. In these superstitions,
fishermen are following the examples of the ancients. It will be
remembered the names of the Furies, Kings, etc. were not to be named,
and that there were birds and beasts of ill omen.
Fishermen have an aversion to go to sea in a boat from which a man
has been drowned, and they are opposed to the breaking up of an old
boat. This last-mentioned superstition continues to prevail, and it
accounts for so many useless crafts being seen at fishing towns
unnecessarily occupying much valuable ground, as in olden times, and
as mentioned by us under "Signs, Omens, and Warnings," at page 399. At
the Tweed, fishermen still (1879) have a belief in the power of
fairies to affect the fisheries. It is the custom not only to
impregnate nets with salt, but also to throw part of that commodity
into the water, to blind the mischievous elves, who are said to
prevent fish being caught. The salting process was carried on at
Coldstream very recently, with a result highly satisfactory to the
operators, if not to others.
A ship captain has informed us that, when a young man, he incurred the
displeasure of an old seaman, with whom he sailed in one of the old
trading smacks between Leith and London. On refreshments being served
out, according to custom, one day, he (our informant) handed a jug of
beer to the old sailor through the steps of a ladder. For this act the
aged salt swore at him, and called him an unlucky lubber, while at the
same time he dealt him a severe blow on the face.
Another captain of a vessel trading between Leith and London has told
us of a singular passage he had thirty years ago. To oblige a friend,
he agreed to convey a hare to another friend in the English
metropolis. A fair wind carried the vessel past the Bass Rock, but
then a storm sprang up, which kept the ship tossing about for days
without reaching the English coast. An old sailor declared their
retarded progress was due to the hare being on board. By consent of
all the crew, the hare found a place overboard, and then the wind
became so favourable that the ship made a quick run to the Thames.
A gentleman in Edinburgh told us recently he had frequently seen
burning candles beside a corpse at mid-day, while at the same time a
small plate or saucer with salt rested on the corpse's breast, and
every one who looked on the body had to put his hand on the inanimate
brow. He further told us he had seen a priest of the Roman Catholic
Church put a half-crown into the mouth of a corpse at Portobello, to
represent, we presume, the obolus exacted by Charon for ferrying the
shades of the buried dead across the under-world rivers.
In Ireland, at a period not remote, an opinion prevailed that the
spirit of a dead person went about deceased's former home for a month.
During that length of time a fire was always kept burning in the
house, and a jug of water stood in deceased's chamber, so that his
spirit might refresh itself. At the month's end a clergyman, by means
of prayer, put the spirit to rest.
Within the last decade (we think in 1872) a highly respectable family
in the county of Edinburgh was greatly alarmed by a pheasant flying
through their dining-room window, killing itself on the spot, and
breaking a large pane of plate glass. To the family the event came as
a warning of early calamity. Next day a messenger announced that a
worthy doctor of divinity, a dear family friend, had died the previous
night.
We hear occasionally of the impossibility of wiping out the traces of
flagrant crimes. The blood of Rizzio, shed on the floor of Holyrood
Palace, in presence of Queen Mary, has defied the rubbing of years to
wipe it away. There the blood stains remain a wonder to the thousands
who visit Scotland's royal palace. At a time almost forgotten, a good
man was hurled from a window of Torwood Castle, not far from the field
of Bannockburn. His blood stained the grass on which the body fell,
and since that time the herbage there is mixed with red blades of
grass and red clover.
A Saturday's flitting is followed by a short sitting. No one should
take possession of a new house before throwing coals and salt into
it. No important undertaking should be commenced on Friday or
Saturday, nor yet at the end of a year. "Berchta spoils flax found
unspun the last day of the year." A shooting star falling near a
house, foretells an early death in that dwelling.
Old flint arrow-heads are worn as charms, under the belief that they
were the points of elfin arrows. If a lady be wise, she will not have
two tea-spoons in her saucer at the same time. If a young lady desire
to know how many sweethearts she has, let her pull her fingers, and
the number will be equal to the cracks heard. In fact we have nearly
as many signs, omens, charms, and freits as our forefathers had. We
have legendary lore concerning the supernatural, we have mythological
fables, forecasts, fatalities, our spell-bound individuals, our fey
persons, and those who have had glamour cast into their eyes. None of
us are likely to forget the New Year, Christmas, St. Valentine's Day,
Beltane, Hallow-e'en, and many other high days, which come to us,
month after month, with their peculiar rites and ceremonies. Even
Queen Victoria, with a desire to please, takes pleasure in observing
Hallow-e'en at her Highland residence.
In 1876 Hallow-e'en was celebrated at Balmoral Castle with unusual
ceremony, in presence of Her Majesty, the Princess Beatrice, the
ladies and gentlemen of the royal household, and a large gathering of
the tenantry and servants on the estates of Balmoral and Invergeldie.
The leading features of the celebration were a torchlight procession,
the lighting of large bonfires, and the burning in effigy of witches
and warlocks. Upwards of 150 torchbearers assembled at the castle as
darkness set in, and separated into two parties, one band proceeding
to Invergeldie, and the other remaining at Balmoral. The order was
given to light the torches at a quarter before six o'clock, and
shortly after that hour the Queen and the Princess Beatrice drove to
Invergeldie, followed by the Balmoral party of torchbearers. The two
parties then united and returned in procession to the front of
Balmoral Castle, where all were grouped round a large bonfire, which
blazed and crackled merrily, the Queen's pipers playing the while.
Refreshments were then served to all, and dancing was engaged in to
the strains of the bagpipes. When the fun was at its height, there
suddenly appeared from the rear of the castle a grotesque figure,
representing a witch, with a train of followers dressed like sprites,
who appeared terrified at the monster fire blazing, and danced and
gesticulated in all fashions; then followed a warlock of demoniacal
shape, who was succeeded by another warlock drawing a car, on which
was seated a witch, surrounded by other figures in the guise of
demons. The unearthly visitors having marched several times round the
burning pile, the principal figure was taken from the car and tossed
into the flames amid weird shrieks and howls, the burning of blue
lights, and a display of crackers and other fireworks. The health of
her Majesty the Queen was then pledged and drunk with Highland honours
by the assembled hundreds; the health of the Princess Beatrice was
also received with enthusiasm. Dancing was then resumed, and was
carried on till a late hour at night. The scene was very picturesque,
Lochnagar and other mountains in the neighbourhood being covered with
snow. Although the wind blew piercingly cold from the north, her
Majesty and the Princess remained a considerable time, viewing the
sports with evident interest.
As to giving up faith in dreams, signs, omens, predictions, and
warnings, some people would nearly as soon give up their belief in the
Bible. Then add to these a belief in ghosts, and we have a catalogue
before us so self-accusing that we dare not cast serious reflections
on the memories of our ancestors.
CHAPTER LXX.
Lizzie M'Gill, the Fifeshire
Spaewife--Fortune-telling--Predicting a Storm at
Sea--Servants alarmed thereby--Prediction
Fulfilled--Adam Donald, an Aberdeenshire Prophet--Adam
supposed to have been a Changeling--A Careless
Mother--Adam as a Linguist--His Predictions and
Cures--His Marriage--Valuable Charm--The Wise Woman of
Kincardineshire--The Recruiting
Sergeant--High-spirited Lady wooed and won--Lucky
Lightfoot, the Spaewife--Charmed Ring and its
Effects--Elopement and Marriage--An Enraged
Father--Life in America--Sergeant Campbell's
Death--Second Marriage--Literary
Talents--Strong-minded Women.
In the spring of 1866, Eliza M'Gill, who resided near a romantic
church in the Presbytery of St. Andrews, died at the advanced age of
ninety-three years. For a long period almost every one, far and near,
knew her as a spaewife of no ordinary knowledge. Lizzie (the name
usually given her) could scarcely be called an impostor, for she
appeared to have sincere faith in her profession. Often she exclaimed
with solemn fervency, "The gift I hae is fae aboon, an' what He gies
daurna be hidit." It was common for coy damsels and staid matrons to
wend their way to Lizzie's cot about twilight, to have their fortunes
spaed. About ten years before her death, when the prospects of the
herring fishing were discouraging in the extreme, a buxom young woman,
belonging to Pittenweem or St. Monance, repaired one evening to
Carnbee to consult Lizzie. The damsel went with a heavy countenance,
but she returned radiant with smiles, for the wise woman had said,
"That altho' it was to be an awfu' puir draw, yet her folk was to hae
a grand haul next e'enin'." And, true to the old wife's prediction,
the crew in which she interested herself returned with a splendid
prize from the fishing ground, followed, of course, with an increase
of fame to the prophetess. On another occasion Lizzie was no less
fortunate in the result foretold. A fisher-wife in the former place
had received a sovereign from her husband, which, in the hurry of the
moment, she had placed on the bedside. Going shortly afterwards to
remove it, what was her consternation to find that the gold piece was
gone! The most diligent search and inquiry were instituted after the
lost treasure, but all to no purpose. In the extremity of her distress
the poor woman thought of the "witch o' Carnbee," and, adjusting her
cap, was soon on her journey thither. Lizzie's words fell on her
troubled spirit like oil on the stormy sea; for she was told that, in
the course of a day or two, the sovereign would be again in her
possession. And so it proved: on drawing her husband's sea boots from
under the bed, the coin fell from the toe of one of them.
On one occasion, a cheap trip by the steamer "Xantho" from Anstruther
to Leith being advertised, many of the labouring classes, with their
friends, arranged to visit Leith and Edinburgh. Unfortunately,
however, the trip was to take place when the farmers of the district
were very busy with the sowing of the turnips, and when, of course,
their people were needed for that work. For the purpose, it is said,
of keeping the men at home, a rumour circulated over the East Neuk, to
the effect that the steamer and all on board were to perish in a
fearful gale. The servants were so greatly alarmed by the prediction
of Lizzie (it was she who spread the report), that they resolved to
remain at home. The most remarkable feature of the affair is, that on
the day in question a violent gale arose, which prevented the steamer
returning to Anstruther until next morning. The non-arrival of the
boat, as may be inferred, was the cause of the liveliest alarm to the
friends of those on board, and an old worthy was heard to exclaim with
respect to the prediction: "I dinna believe in sic things mysel', but,
some way or ither, they aye come true." Lizzie's father and her whole
family are said to have been highly respectable. Her truant and
impulsive disposition led her, however, into conduct and habits that
deprived her of the respect and help of her friends; and necessity at
length appears to have constrained her to act the part of a
fortune-teller, which she is known to have practised with success more
than half a century.
Adam Donald, the prophet of Bethelnie, a contemporary of Lizzie
M'Gill, stood high in Aberdeenshire as a seer. From his peculiar
appearance in early life, grave doubts existed as to whether he was
actually the offspring of his reputed parents, or whether he had not
been substituted by the fairies for a lovely boy, the son of a worthy
pair who believed not in the existence of witches or fairies.
One day the mother went out, leaving the child well in his cradle, and
on returning, about an hour afterwards, she found a cold, marble-like
infant, that never throve, never smiled, but, on the contrary, cried
from morning to night, and from night till morning. On hearing of the
changed infant, people flocked to witness the sudden alteration which
had taken place in Mr. and Mrs. Donald's child. One knowing dame
thought she understood the whole matter. The fairies were the wicked
beings that had done all the mischief; and that they were permitted to
do so, arose entirely through the parents' carelessness or ignorance.
"Would it be believed," said the dame when speaking of the
extraordinary circumstance, "that the simple mother went out, leaving
her child alone, uncrossed, without a charm about its person, and
without a horse-shoe being nailed on the threshold or behind the door,
or a piece of rowan-tree at the door or window or in the cradle?" The
friend to whom the reflections were made shook her head, while she
replied, "Ay, ay, unbelieving generation; they will be burning the
Bible some day soon."
Adam grew up, and became a wonderful being. From his ability to tell
secrets past and future, and his power to effect cures, he became
known as the "prophet of Bethelnie." Owing to a distorted state of
body, he could not engage in robust employment to obtain a
subsistence. He therefore, to amuse himself, read such books as his
parents' stinted means could afford. Though it was supposed he could
scarcely read English, he carefully collected many curious books in
French, Latin, Greek, Italian, and Spanish. He often retired to an old
churchyard and church in ruins, near his residence, to hold converse
(so he said) with spirits of the dead, which informed him of things
unknown to ordinary men.
When property went amissing, the owner repaired to the "prophet;" when
cattle died, he named the witch who had killed them; and when any one
became sick, Adam Donald supplied a remedy either by charms or herbs.
Every Sunday, for many years, people of all classes crowded to consult
him either as a necromancer or physician. His fee seldom exceeded
sixpence for each consultation, yet he lived in comparative comfort.
When far advanced in life, miserable-looking object though the
"prophet" remained, he prevailed on one of the handsomest girls of his
neighbourhood to marry him. This matrimonial alliance helped to
strengthen the supposition that Adam possessed more than human power.
The prophet of Bethelnie, although he had offspring, went to his long
home without instructing a successor in the secret art he for many
years followed with pecuniary advantage. He saved his reputation by
preserving silence. If the following anecdote be true, there can be
little doubt that the prophet assisted to restore decaying nature by
the use of amulets or charms.
An old woman, whose eyes had become dim by reason of years, purchased
a charm from the prophet, which Adam assured her would revive her
sight to its former clearness. On the charm--hieroglyphics traced on
parchment--being suspended from the neck, it proved effectual. In a
short time the old woman could thread a small needle, and see to pick
up a pin from the floor. A female neighbour, with impaired sight,
hearing of the cure, begged the charm from the lucky owner, but she
would not part with it. All the favour the applicant could obtain was
permission to copy the hieroglyphics on paper. The copy thus obtained
and worn by the second patient brightened up her eyes also. Adam's
medicines excited love, and his charms secured affection.
Fifty or sixty years ago Kincardineshire had its wise women. At the
time referred to, a recruiting sergeant (whom we shall call Donald
Campbell), equally devoted to his sovereign and the fair sex, made a
favourable impression on the inhabitants of a small town fifteen or
twenty miles from Aberdeen. The parish minister, the parochial
teacher, and the doctor had something favourable to say of the
sergeant. Nurses and other servant-maids could see nothing but the
sergeant's red-coat; and it was whispered that even the young ladies
smiled on him. Indeed that must have been so, for we are told that
every one welcomed the Highlander: even the little children ran to
meet him; and how heartily he did kiss them, but whether for their own
sakes or the love he bore to their nurses, sisters, or aunts, none
could tell. This, however, is certain: he did not encourage the
shoemaker's sister, the tailor's daughter, nor the buxom widow who
presided at the little inn. His affections were concentrated on a lady
whom one could scarcely expect to yield her heart to such a humble son
of Mars. The fair one was no less a personage than the daughter of
Captain B---- of U----, a lady well known for miles around for her
courage and love of out-door sports. Few could manage a high-spirited
horse better than Rose Bloomer (by this name we introduce the young
lady to our readers), or clear a fence with greater ease. And as for
the fishing-rod and fowling-piece, she could handle them as
dexterously as any disciple of Isaac Walton or of Nimrod could desire.
True, she was not what is generally termed a beauty: her features,
though not coarse, were scarcely those a sculptor or a painter would
desire to have before him while completing his "Venus" for the next
fine-art exhibition. In her short stout figure and determined look
were indications of a strong-minded woman. Miss Bloomer, having lost
her mother in early life, and her father being devoted to the chase,
pedestrianism, and other athletic sports congenial to most country
gentlemen, the young lady, his only child, had ample scope for
indulging her inclinations.
Sergeant Campbell greatly admired Miss Bloomer's dexterity. Often did
he watch her guidance of a high-mettled steed, now urging it to its
utmost speed, and then reining in the impatient animal. The sergeant,
we have said, greatly admired Miss Bloomer's dexterity; but, what is
more, he resolved to secure her hand in marriage. Plan after plan,
laid with the view of obtaining an introduction, failed. The lady
frequently passed him without deigning to cast her eyes on his
red-coat. Why should she? Was he not a poor soldier? and was she not a
match for the best young gentleman in the county? These and like
questions occurred to Campbell, and more than once made him almost
despair of securing the lady's affections. Again and again his
drooping spirits revived; his pertinacity had no bounds. What could
not be secured, thought he, by ordinary means, might be obtained by
extraordinary measures.
Sergeant Campbell, learned in the superstitions of his native land,
believed them with a child-like faith. He had heard of Lucky
Lightfoot, the spaewife; and to her he went for assistance. The old
woman, on hearing the sergeant's tale, requested him to leave with her
a gold ring he was wearing--a request he complied with. A few days
afterwards the woman returned the soldier his ring, now charmed, with
instructions to endeavour to get Miss Bloomer to wear it, though but
for a few minutes.
In her frequent rambles along the banks of a meandering stream, the
beauties of which Arthur Johnstone had celebrated in Latin verse, and
regarding which Thomas the Rhymer had uttered prophecies, Campbell,
unnoticed, followed Miss Bloomer, in the hope that fortune would
favour him some day. She botanized, fished, and shot, unheeding her
secret admirer. One day, to his delight, he observed her coming along
a footpath, and resolved to drop the ring, in the hope that she would
pick it up. Having left it in a conspicuous place, he retired into a
thicket to watch the result. The lady, seeing the ring, took it up,
examined it, and having no pocket or purse, put it on one of her
fingers, and, as fate would have it, on the fourth finger of the left
hand--the finger the Greeks discovered, from anatomy, had a little
highly sensitive nerve going straight from it to the heart. "Now,"
thought he, "she is mine. I shall follow her, and ask whether she has
found my ring;" but before he could muster courage to carry his
resolution into effect, Miss Bloomer disappeared.
With the view of discovering the owner, she continued to wear the
ring. Unexpectedly, Fred and Georgina Hopper, her cousins, while
driving past, stopped to take dinner, and to them she showed the ring.
Fred, who was an inveterate joker, made it the subject of several
jests, all of which Miss Bloomer bore with good humour; but when Miss
Hopper suggested that the ring might belong to some mean person, and
hinted that it was an act of impropriety to wear it, the blood rushed
to Miss Bloomer's cheeks; and she clenched her little fist, but for
what purpose did not transpire.
In the evening the cousins drove away, leaving Miss Bloomer in
anything but a pleasant mood. Evidently the charm had commenced to
take effect, or Miss Hopper's remarks had disturbed the young lady's
equanimity.
Still wearing the ring, Miss Bloomer retired to rest, or rather to
bed, for during the night she was restless, tossing from side to side
like one in delirium. One, two, three struck on the old clock, and
still sleep did not come to soothe her disturbed brain. Whether in a
sleeping or waking state she could not tell, but a regiment of armed
men, with the recruiting sergeant at their head, seemed to pass before
her, while in the distance there appeared ships at anchor in a large
commodious bay. At four o'clock the lady stood at her window admiring
the beautiful scenery. Retiring again to rest, she fell asleep, and
did not waken before her accustomed time of rising.
After breakfast Miss Bloomer went out, as usual, to follow the bent of
her mind. She had not gone far, before Sergeant Campbell approached
her in a most respectful manner, and inquired if she had found a ring
the previous day. It was scarcely necessary for her to return an
answer, because there before him, on her ungloved hand, the ring
appeared. As she handed it to him, an indescribable sensation ran
through her whole frame. They entered into conversation; and how long
they walked and chatted together, and what were the subjects of their
conversation, we shall not pause to mention: sufficient to say that,
before they parted, an early meeting was arranged. In due time, and
quickly after each other, other meetings took place.
In course of time, old dames hinted that if the lady continued to keep
tryst in the romantic secluded spots of her father's domains with such
a fine-looking soldier as Campbell, she would provoke the goddess
supposed to preside over love affairs, and most likely entitle herself
to a rush-ring only on her wedding-day, instead of the customary gold
one. But the evil prophetesses were wrong for once. Seldom did a
recruiting party forward more stalwart soldiers to headquarters than
Sergeant Campbell and his subordinates did. Indeed he owed much of his
success to Miss Bloomer's exertions. She proved a valuable assistant;
for, through her persuasion, a large number of young men on her
father's estate were induced to enlist, and leave the homes of their
youth for ever.
Happy days of single bliss cannot last for ever. Before three short
months had passed, Sergeant Campbell and Miss Bloomer observed more
than once the finger of scorn pointed at them. Threats were made by
the parents of certain young men who had enlisted, to make known the
conduct of the young lady and her lover to Captain Bloomer. What was
to be done? Miss Bloomer's reputation was at stake, and the sergeant's
life endangered, as will afterwards appear.
The betrothed pair (by this time Sergeant Campbell and Miss Bloomer
were engaged to be married) perceived the necessity of acting
promptly, and therefore they resolved to elope. An obstacle, however,
stood in the way of their doing so immediately. If the sergeant
abandoned his station, he would be pursued, arrested, and dealt with
as a deserter. Miss Bloomer, equal to the occasion, resolved to "buy
him off."
The discharge from the army being obtained, and the indispensable
arrangements for a long journey completed, the sergeant and his true
love secretly departed for Aberdeen, where they were united for better
and worse--not by a clergyman, but by a magistrate, before whom they
went and declared themselves to be husband and wife--a ceremony as
binding by the law of Scotland as if there had been regular
proclamation of banns, according to custom, in the parish church, and
they had been married by an ordained minister. In place of a new
marriage ring being placed on the bride's finger by the gallant
sergeant, he, at her request, put on the charmed ring, the magical
power of which she confessed could not be resisted.
Having shown the effect of Lucky Lightfoot's subtle art, we might take
leave of the subject; but as the career of Mrs. Campbell (Mr. Campbell
did not survive long) is peculiarly interesting, particularly in
connection with a class that has created no small stir on both sides
of the Atlantic, we shall pursue our narrative a little further.
The newly married couple, not considering themselves safe from pursuit
in the Granite City, posted south, and reached the Clyde in less than
twenty-four hours, where they secured a passage on board a vessel
bound for America.
As soon as Captain Bloomer heard of his daughter's elopement, his rage
could not be restrained. Arming himself with a brace of pistols, and
mounting his fleetest steed (and a valuable stud he had), he rode in
pursuit, stopping not before he reached Aberdeen. Not finding the
fugitives there, he hastened to Edinburgh, with the twofold object of
bringing back his daughter and shooting her companion in flight. After
diligent inquiry in the city, he obtained what he considered reliable
information that they had proceeded in the direction of the Borders,
to be married at Gretna Green, a village celebrated as a place where
many distinguished and obscure persons have been married by a
blacksmith. As the reader already knows, the offended father went in
the wrong direction.
Months passed before the captain's equanimity became restored; but
time, the alleviator of sorrow and best soother of a turbulent spirit,
brought a favourable change.
Mr. and Mrs. Campbell arrived safe in America, the land of their
adoption, with little more means than sufficient to provide for their
immediate wants. After love's first fever ended, calm reflection
followed. Romance disappeared before the stern realities of life.
Friends they had few, relations none, in the wild wide expanse of
America. Mrs. Campbell became home-sick: the scenes of her father's
mansion, and everything pleasant connected with the estate, rose
before her mind's eye. Above all, she constantly thought of her father
with more than half regret at the rash act she had been guilty of.
Then she did what most young ladies would do under similar
circumstances--wrote to her father asking forgiveness. Before Captain
Bloomer received the letter, the last spark of anger in his breast had
given place to paternal anxiety. Left alone without wife or child,
gladly would he have welcomed her home, had not prudential reasons
rendered it necessary to keep father and daughter separate. Her letter
gave great satisfaction; and he resolved to assist her and her
husband. Through an English friend, a sufficient amount was remitted
to America, to enable Mr. Campbell to purchase an estate. The young
couple settled down comfortably in an improving locality, with every
prospect of comfort and happiness.
Before the fifth winter of Mr. and Mrs. Campbell's married life had
passed, Mr. Campbell died, leaving his wife alone (they had no issue)
in a far distant country. Mrs. Campbell returned to Scotland, and took
up her residence in Edinburgh for a few years. Again a brave defender
of his country led the lady to the hymeneal altar. The union proved an
unhappy one: Mrs Smith (this, though a common name, is the cognomen by
which she will now be known) separated from her husband, and sailed
once more for America. Preferring town life to solitude in the forest,
Mrs. Smith settled down (if such could be said of one possessed of
bustling active habits like hers) in the greatest city of the United
States. To augment an income rendered small through the misfortune and
death of her father, she became a journalist. Her papers were
favourably received, being pointed and piquant. Her talents were
chiefly directed to the support of women's rights; and she became a
leader of the class of strong-minded women, still seeking to assert
their rights in politics, science, and art.
CHAPTER LXXI.
Superstition at Chelmsford--Woman
Bewitched--Fortune-telling Quack--Old
Zadkiel--Incantation in Somerset--Turning the Bible
and Key--Woman assuming the form of a Hare--Woman
ruling the Stars--Young Women Deceived--Superstition
in London--Generality of Superstition--A
Prediction--How to preserve Children from
Disease--Dreams Fulfilled--Virtue of Holly and Ivy in
Worcestershire and Herefordshire--Legend concerning
the Tichborne Family--Romantic Divorce Case.
A case tried at Chelmsford, on the Home Circuit, in 1864, affords a
curious proof how much antique superstition still lingers amongst the
English peasantry. For twenty years before 1863 there had been living
in one of the Essex villages an old man, deaf and dumb, who enjoyed
the reputation of a wizard or fortune-teller. He was eighty years of
age, and the singularities of his manner and appearance contributed to
the impression he made on the rustic mind. The better sort of people
treated the old man with a kindness due rather to his calamities than
to his profession, while the more sceptical of the rabble who did not
fear him, seem to have amused themselves occasionally at his expense.
Dummey had been at the village of Ridgewell, near Hedingham, in the
summer of 1863, where there was a beer-house, the landlady of which
was one Emma Smith. The old magician wanted to sleep in the beer-house
instead of returning to his own hut, but Emma Smith refused to give
him leave. He gesticulated menacingly in his own fashion with his
stick, and went his way angrily. Soon after this Emma became ill. The
image of Dummey rose before her mind, and she pronounced herself
"bewitched."
After long misery, she went forth to seek the old man, found him at
the "Swan," a public-house near his own den, and tried to persuade him
to return with her, that his presence might break the spell which hung
over her. She repeatedly offered him three sovereigns as payment for
this service; but neither money nor words could move him. Meanwhile
the news spread that a woman who had been bewitched by old Dummey was
at the "Swan," and a crowd assembled and pulled the unlucky wizard
about, so that he fell once or twice on the ground. Smith took an
active part in the assault; and after the "Swan" was closed, she was
seen beating him and tearing his clothes. Fear for herself--fear of
his supernatural gifts--were both merged in the stronger feeling of
rage; and at last she, assisted by one Stammers, a carpenter, pushed
the old man into a brook. He died at Halsted poorhouse from the
effects of the ill-usage. Emma Smith and Stammers were sentenced to
six months hard labour for their share in this outrage--the judge
excusing the leniency of the punishment on the ground of the woman's
state of mental excitement, and of the man's having pulled Dummey out
of the water when the ducking seemed likely to produce death.
Only a few years ago an example of superstition in England came
prominently before a public court of justice. It appears that in the
neighbourhood of South Molton, North Devon, an old man aged
eighty-six, living at Westdown, near Barnstaple, was charged with
"using certain subtle craft, means, or device by palmistry and
otherwise, to deceive and impose on certain of her Majesty's
subjects." For some time a woman named Elizabeth Saunders, then
residing in an adjacent hamlet, had been ill. Doctors' remedies
failed, and her husband sent for the old man named Harper, generally
called the "White Witch," but who called himself an herbalist. He went
to the house of the woman, and gave her four or five iron rods in
succession, with which she tapped a piece of iron held by her in the
other hand while in bed. At the ends of the rods were the names of
planets, such as Jupiter and Mercury. He asked the age of the woman
and the hour she was born, saying he wanted to find out under what
planet she came into the world. He gave her some bitters to take, but
she died a few days afterwards. The defence was that the rods and
piece of metal were a rude method of using electricity, by which means
the defendant had effected many cures; but no explanation was given as
to the meaning of the names of the planets. It was stated that the
"White Witch" charged the woman 25s. for his services. Several
witnesses, called for the defence, said they had been cured of
complaints in the legs and arms by the defendant's magic rods when
nobody else could cure them. The Bench sentenced him to a month's
imprisonment.
A case of witchcraft came recently to our knowledge from Stonehouse.
Ann Bond, a professed herbalist, stood charged before a bench of
justice with having obtained £1 by means of a subtle device. Mary Ann
Pike said her sister, Mrs. Summers, having a bad leg, had been advised
to let the prisoner see it. Bond, after looking at the limb, declared
that it was not an affliction by God. She went away, and afterwards
returned with some cards. These she arranged, and, after looking at
them, said her sister was so ill-wished that her face would be drawn
to her toes, and that she would die at the age of thirty-seven. Mrs.
Summers asked the prisoner if she could do her any good. Bond replied,
"Yes; if you come at once under my demand; my usual price is 25s., but
I'll do it for £1." Deponent lent her sister a sovereign to give to
the woman. Bond turned up a bottle, and said to witness, "There is
one dark woman, and a tall woman, doing your sister injury; the circle
was not laid intentionally for her, but for her husband." The prisoner
was convicted and punished. She had formerly been imprisoned for a
similar offence.
In 1878, at a meeting of the guardians of the Coventry Union, an
inmate named Arnold, _alias_ "Old Zadkiel," a professor of astrology,
was the subject of inquiry. A letter had been addressed to him by a
lady at Dorchester, anxious to learn "what planet she was born under,
and the position of her future husband." She forwarded a number of
postage stamps. There was another letter from a lady at Leamington,
asking Arnold to keep an appointment with her, to "read her destiny."
The astrologer formerly lived in Coventry, and carried on an extensive
trade until he was sent to Warwick gaol, which he left for the
workhouse. He was cautioned by the Board. "Old Zadkiel," taking
offence, left the workhouse, saying he "should resume his astrology"
and the "ruling of the planets."
Not long ago a well-to-do farmer near Ilchester, in Somerset, had the
misfortune to have several of his cattle taken away by disease. A
veterinary surgeon who was consulted, thought the remainder of the
herd were in a fair way of recovery; the farmer, however, insisted
that he and his cows had been "overlooked," and immediately sought out
a "wise woman" residing in an adjacent town. Acting upon the advice of
the old hag, the farmer returned home, and encircled with a faggot the
last bullock that died, ignited the pile, and burnt the carcase, an
incantation being pronounced over the burning beast. The remainder of
the herd became well, and their recovery was attributed by the farmer
and his simple-minded neighbours, not to the skill of the veterinary
surgeon, but to the success of the weird ceremonial prescribed by the
fortune-teller.
A remarkable case of credulity came before Ludlow police court, in
January of this year (1879). Mary A. Collier was summoned under the
local bye-laws for using abusive language to Elizabeth Oliver. Both
parties, it transpired, lived in Lower Gouldford; and a sheet having
been lost off a garden line, with a view to discover the thief, the
superstitious practice of "turning the key and the Bible" was resorted
to. Complainant said Collier met her in the street, and said the Bible
had been turned down for Jones' yard, Martha Cad's yard, and
Burnsnell's yard, and when Mrs. Oliver's name was mentioned, "the
Bible fled out of their hands." The Bible was then turned to see if
the sheet was stolen during the day or night, and Mrs. Collier then
called her "a daring daylight thief." Mrs. Collier informed the Court
that "the key turned for Mrs. Oliver and no one else, and the words in
the Bible were for her." Mrs. Oliver said the sheet had been found
under the snow. The Bench dismissed the case, and said such gross
superstition was more like a relic of the past, and would not have
believed that such a thing existed in this advanced age.
In the village of East Knighton, Dorsetshire, in the year above
mentioned, a remarkable case reached the public ears. In a cottage
dwelt a woman named Kerley and her daughter, a girl of about eighteen
years, supposed to be bewitched. It was positively stated that they
had been thrown out of the cottage into the street, although neither
window nor door was open, and heavy articles of furniture were sent
flying about in all directions.
An old woman called Burt was named as the cause of all the mischief,
and she was declared to have assumed the form of a hare, to have been
chased by the neighbours, and then to have sat up and looked defiantly
at them. It is positively believed that until blood is drawn from the
witch the manifestations will not cease.
We must confess that superstition is stripped of its romance by
prosaic courts and stern judges. A case tried at Newbury
quarter-sessions is fresh in the memory of many. Maria Giles, _alias_
"The Ranter," well known as the "Newbury Cunning Woman," was tried on
the charge of having obtained sums of money from two women living at
villages in a wild district in North Hants, by falsely pretending she
had the power to recover some goods they had lost. The women travelled
twelve miles to consult the prisoner. She went through some absurd
proceedings, and pretended she saw in a glass the parties who had
taken the goods. Prisoner had practised witchcraft for many years. She
professed to rule the stars, and said that if the nights were clear
and fine she would be able to recover the goods sooner. The jury
returned a verdict of guilty, and sentenced her to five years penal
servitude.
The proceedings of a professional fortune-teller formed the subject of
investigation by the mayor and other magistrates of Newbury in 1871. A
widow named Maria Moss had been pretending to tell the fortune of
divers persons, particularly young women, whom she had induced to go
to her house. The principal witnesses called were Alice Prior and
Maria Low, two young women, who proved that the prisoner had promised
to tell their fortunes. Her practice had been to produce a pack of
cards, which she placed upon the table, and told each girl to cut them
into three parts. In one case she said she saw "London," and told
Prior that she would get a good situation there, and be married to a
widower. She represented to Low that she would also have an excellent
situation in London, and be married to a gentleman with plenty of
money. She induced the girls to obtain goods from tradesmen in the
town and bring them to her house, and the girls also removed wearing
apparel from their own homes and deposited the same with the prisoner,
who promised to send the goods after the girls had arrived in the
metropolis. However, the mother of Low discovered that clothes had
been taken away from her house, and the intended journey of the girls
was of course prevented. The Bench dealt with the case under the
Vagrant Act, and sentenced the woman to fourteen days in Reading gaol.
In the beginning of 1879 a photographer named Henry, of Cooper's Road,
Old Kent Road, London, was charged at the Southwark police court with
obtaining money by false pretences. The prisoner issued an
advertisement, offering for eighteen stamps to send to unmarried
persons photographs of their future wives or husbands, and for
twenty-four stamps a bottle of magnetic scent, or Spanish love scent,
which were described, the first as "so fascinating in its effects as
to make true love run smooth," and the other as "delicious, and
captivating the senses," so that "no young lady or gentleman need pine
in single blessedness." Several witnesses stated that they had
answered these advertisements; and numbers of letters--some from
Australia, China, and other places abroad, relating to them--were
found at the defendant's house. It appeared that he had been carrying
on a very successful fraud for some time. The magistrate sentenced the
prisoner, under the Vagrant Act, to three months hard labour.
Four men were charged at the Marylebone police court, London, in 1871,
with telling fortunes. They had a place in that district, in which the
police found a magic mirror, cards, nativities, planetary schemes, and
all the paraphernalia of fortune-telling imposition. On the police
going to the house, they found no fewer than thirty or forty young
women in a waiting-room, each having paid a fee. A book was found in
which were entries of the dupes in each week, the numbers varying from
89 to 662. The prisoners were sentenced to three months hard labour.
Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, London, and nearly all the other
cities, towns, and country districts of England continue to have their
fortune-tellers and reputed witches and ghosts. There are still many
believers in the prophecies of Mother Shipton, but none believe more
implicitly in her sayings than the labouring classes of Somerset.
Recently a report, put in circulation in the neighbourhood of Ham
Hill, made them think a great catastrophe was about to occur in that
particular locality. Mother Shipton had predicted that Ham Hill, one
of the great stone quarries of Somerset and a prominent feature in the
landscape for many miles, would be swallowed up on Good Friday. The
collapse of this immense hill was to ensue from a terrible earthquake,
the effect of which would be felt especially in that part of
Somersetshire. One result of this belief was that persons left the
neighbourhood temporarily in order to escape the disaster. Other
people removed their household goods from shelves and cupboards, in
order that they might not be thrown down by the upheaval of the earth;
and in some cases, we are told, people delayed planting and
cultivating their gardens. The residents who believed in the predicted
event said that Yeovil would also be visited at the same time by a
great and disastrous flood. One case was that of a man who delayed
planting his garden with potatoes because he believed there would be a
terrible frost, and that the River Thames would be covered with ice.
This he connected in some way with the Ham Hill affair. Amongst the
labouring classes considerable alarm existed, and Good Friday was
looked forward to with no little amount of anxiety in that part of
Somerset.
Good Friday came and passed without any untoward event. Yet that is
not enough to dispel the faith in Mother Shipton's prediction. She is
not at fault. Some blundering calculator made a mistake as to time,
and the people of Somerset are yet to have their great catastrophe.
A curious superstitious custom is observed in the Isle of Man. Mothers
believe their children may be preserved from disease by placing them
in the hopper of a water flour-mill while the wheel makes three
revolutions. On a Sunday not long since a number of children were
taken to the Grenaby mill, in the parish of Malew, three miles from
Castletown, in order to be subjected to the "charm" we have mentioned.
Two hoppers of the mill were crammed full of children, and, as soon as
they were settled, the miller caused the wheel to revolve three times,
the parents of the children being present at the time. In order to be
efficacious, the ceremony must be gone through at a time when the
ministers of the district are preaching in their pulpits. For this
reason, about noon on Sundays is generally the time chosen for the
performance of this curious rite.
At an inquest lately held in London on the body of a woman aged
eighty-two years, the evidence showed that the woman's death resulted
from injury to the head, caused by a fall from her chair. One of the
witnesses told the coroner that he believed the time had come for the
woman to die. His reason for that opinion was, that she had dreamed, a
fortnight before her death, that she had a fall, and cut open her
head, and was likely to die in consequence.
An awful fulfilment of a dream took place at a calico-printing
establishment at Sunnyside. A clerk in the work remarked to one of the
machine printers that he was glad to see him at his employment; the
printer asked his reason for his congratulations, when the clerk
observed that during the previous night he (the clerk) had dreamed
that he (the printer) had, while at his work, dropped down dead. The
printer replied, in a jocular way, "You see you were mistaken, for I
am alive yet." The printer being in his usual health and spirits, no
further notice was taken of the matter; but singularly, at three
o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, while attending to his
duties at his machine, he dropped down dead without the least warning.
This year (1879) the Deal magistrates sentenced a man named George
Wylds to two months imprisonment for refusing to proceed to sea in the
barque "Umzinto," on a voyage from London to Port Natal. The man told
the magistrate that he was satisfied with the ship, officers, and
food, but he had had a dream that the ship would be lost, and would
not go to sea in her for any amount of money. Once before he had a
dream that a vessel in which he was sailing would be lost, and it was
lost.
It is worth recording that in many parishes of Worcestershire and
Herefordshire the holly and ivy that have adorned churches at
Christmas-time are much esteemed and cherished.
If a small branch of holly, with the berries upon it, is taken home
and hung up in the house, it is considered sure to bring a lucky year.
A little of this church ivy given to sheep is considered likely to
make them bring forth two lambs a-piece. The evergreens that were hung
up in the house must, however, all be burned, except the mistletoe
bough, which should be kept throughout the year; and it generally is
in farmhouses, as, according to old people, it prevented any bad
effect from the evil eye, and fiends and hobgoblins were scared away
by it, as stated in this verse of an old sagacious adviser:
"On Candlemas eve kindle the fire, and then
Before sunset let every leaf it bren;
But the mistletoe must hang agen
Till Christmas next return;
This must be kept, wherewith to tend
The Christmas bough, and house defend,
For where it's safely kept, the fiend
Can do no mischief there."
Some country churches in Worcestershire and Herefordshire are still
usually decked with sprigs of yew at Easter, and boughs of fragrant
fresh-leaved birch at Whitsuntide; and a sprig of yew thus
consecrated, when taken and kept in the house, is deemed a
preservative from the influence or entrance of any malignant spirits.
In like manner, a branch of the birch is honoured by being placed on
or over the kneading-trough; for, thus placed, it is considered to be
a sure antidote against heavy bread.
A celebrated case, in which the pursuer, newly returned from
Australia, sought to establish, in the Court of Common Pleas (we think
in 1871 or 1872), his claim to the ancient baronetcy of Tichborne,
recalls to mind a legend current in the Tichborne family for many
generations relative to the "Tichborne Dole." The house of Tichborne
dates the possession of its right to the manor of Tichborne, near
Winchester, as far back as two centuries before the Norman Conquest.
About the middle of the twelfth century the then head of the family
married Mabel, only daughter and heiress of Sir Ralph de Lamerston, of
Lamerston, in the Isle of Wight, by which he acquired considerable
estates in that part of England, in addition to his own possessions in
Hampshire. After many years of wedded happiness, during which the Lady
Mabel became celebrated for her kindness and care of the poor, and
death approaching, she besought her husband to grant her the means of
leaving behind her a charitable bequest, in the shape of a _dole_, or
measure of bread, to be distributed annually, on the 25th of March
(the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary), to all
needy and indigent people who should apply for it at the hall door.
The said bread was to be the produce of a certain piece of ground
containing an area of fifteen acres, and of known value; but should
the applicants be greater in number than the measures produced,
twopence in money was to be given as the _dole_.
Lady Mabel's husband was induced to consent to his wife's request,
only on condition of her being able to crawl or walk round the piece
of ground demanded--a condition of apparent impracticability, from the
fact of her having been bedridden for many years previous; and this
task was to be performed while a certain brand, or billet of wood, was
burning on the fire in the hall at Tichborne. The dame, nothing
daunted, ordered her attendants to carry her to the place she had
selected, where, being set down, she seemed to receive a renovation of
strength, and, to the surprise of admiring onlookers, she succeeded in
crawling round several rich and goodly acres within the required time.
The field which was the scene of Lady Mabel's extraordinary feat
retains the name of "Crawls" to the present day.
On the task being completed, the lady was re-conveyed to her chamber,
and, summoning the family to her bed-side, she proceeded in a most
solemn manner to deliver a prophecy respecting the future inheritors
of Tichborne--predicting its prosperity as long as the annual _dole_
existed, and leaving her malediction on any of her descendants who
should discontinue or divert it, and declaring that, when such event
should happen, _the old house would fall, the family would become
extinct from the failure of heirs-male_, and that--as a final warning
of the approach of their decay--a generation would appear of _seven
sons_, followed immediately by one with _seven daughters and no sons_.
The _dole_ continued to be regularly given from the time of Henry II.
to 1799, when Sir Henry Tichborne discontinued it. Then began the
fulfilment of Lady Mabel's prediction. In 1803, four years after the
cessation of the gift, a portion of the house fell, and the remainder
was pulled down. Sir Henry, the seventh baronet of the name of
Tichborne, who had abolished the _dole_, had _seven sons_. Sir Henry,
the eighth baronet, and eldest of the seven sons, married Anne,
daughter of Sir Thomas Burke, Bart., of Marble Hill, and by her had
_seven daughters_. Sir Henry died leaving no sons.
In 1826 Sir Henry's second brother, Edward, who eventually became the
ninth baronet, having inherited the extensive property of Miss
Elizabeth Doughty of Snarford Hall, was obliged, by the terms of her
will, to drop the name of Tichborne and assume that of Doughty, thus
fulfilling, in some measure, that part of Lady Mabel's prediction
which foretold that the name would become extinct. Sir Edward Doughty
married in 1827, and had an only son, who died before he attained the
age of six years. Sir Edward's brother James, who eventually became
the tenth baronet, married, and had two sons--Roger Charles, who was
supposed to have been lost at sea off the coast of South America in
the spring of 1854 (the claimant of the baronetcy from Australia
called himself the said Roger); and Alfred Joseph, the eleventh
baronet, whose son Henry--a posthumous child, born in 1866--is now in
possession of the title and estates.
When the only son of Mr. Edward Doughty (subsequently the ninth
baronet) died, the hitherto singular fulfilment of Lady Mabel's
prediction struck him so forcibly that he besought his elder brother,
Sir Henry Joseph, to restore the ancient _dole_, which he agreed to
do; and it was again distributed, with certain restrictions, in flour,
confining it to the poor of the parish of Tichborne; and in this
manner it continues to be distributed to the present day.
Whether the resumption of Lady Mabel's gift may prove sufficient to
ward off the fatal prediction, _time alone will show_. The male race
is supposed to depend upon the life of a single heir in his minority.
This _cause celebre_, one of the most important disposed of this
century, not only ended, in the claimant's defeat, but in his
conviction for perjury and attempted fraud--a fraud which, if
successful, would have secured him estates worth between £20,000 and
£30,000 a year.
A romantic divorce case came before the High Court of Justice in
England in 1876, in which the superstitious element was strongly
blended. The proprietor of an extensive estate asked for a divorce
from his wife, belonging to the gipsy tribe. The petitioner became
interested in a family of gipsies, who were in the habit of pitching
their tents on his ground. He visited their encampment, and became
familiar with them. The member of the company who most excited the
petitioner's attention was a daughter, by name Esmeralda, whose charms
ultimately captivated the petitioner, and they were married in Norway
in June 1874. The co-respondent, stated to be an Oxford man, and who
also interested himself in the welfare of the gipsy race, seemed to
have made the acquaintance of the parties some time after the
marriage. The lady became enamoured of the Oxford gentleman. She went
with him to Bristol, and after that the petitioner did not see his
wife for some time. The husband received a letter from his wife
stating that she was ready to be reconciled to him. They accordingly
came together, and his wife suggested to him that they were both
bewitched, and she stated that in order to have such bewitchment
removed she would go to the Gussoree Gorge, a fabled deity in the
Roman Camp, who had the power to dispel the bewitchment and restore
the parties to their _status quo_. They did go to this famed
astrologer, Gussoree Gorge, who turned out to be none other than the
co-respondent, with whom Esmeralda was afterwards found living as his
wife in Edinburgh.
The petitioner, on being examined, said the respondent complained of
being bewitched, and went to Cardiff to consult the wise men of the
tribe. On another occasion she went again to consult the Gussoree
Gorge, or wise man, and brought back two letters from the astrologer.
It occurred to witness that they were in the co-respondent's
handwriting. He, on receipt of another letter after his wife left him
again, went to Edinburgh, where he found her. She threw herself on her
knees and craved forgiveness. He promised to forgive her. She asked to
go home at once, but there was a difficulty about the train. That
night they slept at Melrose, and in the morning she said she had had a
dream that her lover whom she had left in Edinburgh had committed
suicide. Witness agreed to allow her to go to Edinburgh, it being
understood she should immediately return. She never did so, and
witness did not see her again until the 31st of January.
Here the romance and superstition end. The petitioner became a wiser
and sadder man. Esmeralda lived to repent of her folly, and so did the
Oxford man of learning.
CHAPTER LXXII.
Spiritualism--Spiritualism not a new
Delusion--Phantoms at a _Seance_--Juggling of a
Medium--Unsuccessful Effort at a Vulgar
Deception--Spiritualists exposed--A Medium's Deception
discovered--Foolish Exhibitions--Russian Peasants and
their House Spirits--Spirits' Care over Persons and
Property--Death, Pestilence, War, and other Evils
foretold by Spirits--A Suggestion.
Much might be written concerning spiritualism (already alluded to in
these pages); but really the subject deserves little attention,
further than that it might be worth serious consideration whether the
class of persons who lay claim to the power of raising the dead, and
of being able to command responses from spirits, should not be
prosecuted as rogues and cheats. Spiritualists cannot even pretend
they have discovered anything new. We have repeatedly, particularly
under the head "Laws against and Trials of Witches," shown that
deceitful girls and old crones could perform all the sleight-of-hand
and delusions practised by modern spiritualists.
Spiritualists have grossly imposed upon credulous persons; and others,
without much consideration, attend _seance_ after _seance_, for no
other reason than that the manifestations displayed by the tricksters
have become the grand arcana of fashion. The phantoms raised at a
_seance_ are in proportion to the gloom surrounding the audience. It
cannot be doubted by men of penetration, that spiritualism, in its
birth and maturity, is associated with sordidness and wickedness. At
best, the spiritual operations are childish, or at least they fall
short of the tricks of a Chinese juggler.
One gentleman, writing of the spiritualistic movement in 1871, says:--
"A new movement on behalf of spiritualism has sprung up in the
metropolis, and Miss Kate Fox, Rochester, United States, in whose
family the phenomena were first discovered, is now in England on a
propagandist mission. I was invited last night to meet Miss Fox, but
owing to a cold the lady was unable to come. A celebrated medium was,
however, present, as were some half-dozen ladies and gentlemen well
known in society--one of the latter being a sergeant-at-law, and a
judge accustomed to sift evidence and determine the difference between
truth and falsehood. The _seance_ was not, however, productive of
anything very strange. The only curious manifestation occurred with a
lath about two feet long and a quarter of an inch thick, which most
certainly rose off the table apparently of its own accord, and at one
time seemed disposed to walk about the room, but didn't. Two glass
ornaments, filled with flowers, were also attracted towards each
other, and subsequently parted company though no hands were near them.
The great anticipated incident of the evening was, however, a failure.
A Morse writing telegraphic machine had been prepared, and it was
hoped that the lever would be worked with spirit hands, but, after
waiting two hours, no indication was given of any movement, and the
experiment was abandoned in despair."
The well-known Walter Thornbury relates as follows his experience at a
spiritual _seance_:--
"I went up into a stuffy parlour and found about fourteen people,
hot, nervous, and evidently uncomfortable. They were staring at
some weird-looking pictures. On a long table were several
speaking-trumpets, formed of stiff brown and gilt paper. Some of the
visitors took up these, talked hollowly through them, and laughed with
uneasy scepticism. There were two ladies, several young men who looked
like clerks, a bluff man from Liverpool, and a dwarf. Presently
Messrs. A. and C. (two coarse-looking young men) entered, seated us
round the table, and requested us to join hands. The gas was then
turned down, and the _seance_ began. A. was at the end of the table,
facing C. at the other. There was at first a good deal of
half-hysterical laughing and nervous talking, and shy or bold voices
from here and there in the dark. The bluff Liverpool man objected to
joining hands--he had been to successful _seances_, where hands were
not joined. Mr. A. said that joining hands often improved 'the
conditions.' One did not know what was passing behind one, or what was
coming. So even the boldest of us 'held his breath for a time.' All at
once Mr. C., at the further end from me, began to gurgle and groan
like a person in an epileptic fit. Some one cried, 'Turn up the gas.'
It was done, and we beheld the medium with his head twisted like a
young laocoon in the folds of a red tablecloth. He disentangled
himself with a disturbed, suffering air. The spirits were upon us,
though why they should stifle their interpreter I could not quite see.
The sceptics smiled sardonically. I suspected the lady in nankeen
colour next me, and the dwarf and people immediately round both
mediums. A female voice tremulously suggested that singing might
'improve the conditions;' on which Mr. C. struck up 'Power of Love
Enchanting' in maudlin spiritualistic words. Things looked dull. All
at once we were hailed by one of the most tremendous gruff bass voices
that ever hailed a man-of-war. John King, the favourite spirit of Mr.
A., had appeared with a grumbling announcement of his presence. 'Who
is this John King?' inquired the Liverpool man, who, if he was a
confederate, acted peculiarly well. 'He lived about three hundred
years ago,' said some one in the dark. 'Then he must have fought with
the Armada,' suggested the Liverpool representative. Mr. A. leaped at
the suggestion, and replied, 'It is supposed he did.' On John King
again growling that there he was and what did they want, a sceptic
opposite me exclaimed in the true dramatic manner, 'Rest, rest,
perturbed spirit,' which so enraged John King (whom the lady in buff
next me whispered 'had been a notorious pirate') that he bellowed in
his ear, 'You seem very fond of Shakspere.' A few minutes after there
were sounds of violent blows, and several sceptics were struck on the
head by John King's speaking-trumpet; a sofa cushion was flung at me,
and something else was thrown at the gentleman from Liverpool. A
sceptic who had said that any ventriloquist could imitate a deep
voice, got rapped violently on the head, and John King bellowed at the
same time, 'Is that ventriloquism?' A man near me said he thought he
felt a cold breeze passing over his hands, and a cold finger touch
his. One thing I could not help observing: this was, that the missiles
hurled at sceptics came in a slanting line from where Mr. A. sat. I
also noticed that a singular creaking of the medium's chair usually
preceded any utterances of John King. The lady in nankeen now began,
in a wheedling, coaxing voice, to beg 'Kate' to appear. Kate is Mr.
A.'s second 'familiar,' and he described her to us as a short person
with dark ringlets, and wearing a blue robe fastened by a
girdle--facts which seemed to deeply interest the lady in nankeen.
Presently a little whiffling voice announced Kate, who, however, only
said something about 'Jenny Jones, of Hampstead,' and then withdrew.
To Kate Mr. A. assumed a gallant, lover-like manner; to John King an
air of half-amused defiance. By-and-bye two stones were thrown
violently upon the table, but no one expressed any audible alarm.
Still the room was hot and stifling, the darkness affected the coolest
imagination, and straining one's eyes and ears for spiritual
manifestations produced a not unnatural feeling of uneasiness in the
mind. Sometimes I fancied the table jerked or reared a little,
sometimes I thought I heard animals' feet pattering up and down the
table. It is on such workings of the imagination that spiritualists,
and especially the professional mediums, trade. No more voices coming,
Mr. A. proposed our changing places to 'improve the conditions'--that
is to say, to re-pack the confederates, and still more isolate the
sceptics; but no result came. A grosser and more unsuccessful effort
at a vulgar deception I never saw; and I only ask whether it is just
to prosecute poor women for getting a few shillings by telling
servants' fortunes, and leave professional spiritualists like Messrs.
A. and C. unprosecuted? If pretending to evoke the dead and predict
death for hire is not obtaining money under false pretences, what is?"
For a short time the spiritualists created a considerable sensation,
but their prosperity did not long continue. Mr. W. Irving Bishop, an
American gentleman, who came to Great Britain recommended by Dr.
Carpenter and other members of the Royal Society, exposed the
phenomena attributed to the influence of spirits, in the Windsor
Hotel, Edinburgh, in January 1879.
There was a distinguished company present, including Principal Sir
Alexander Grant, Lord Curriehill, Archbishop Strain, and a number of
the University professors. A committee of four gentlemen having been
chosen to watch the proceedings, Mr. Bishop gave an exposure of the
galvanometer test, accepted by a number of scientific men in London as
conclusive proof of the _bona fides_ of spirit manifestations. Mr.
Bishop next gave an illustration of the theory of "unconscious
cerebration." Archbishop Strain, having written on a slip of paper a
number of figures and the name of a deceased person, took in his left
hand the end of a long wire. Mr. Bishop, taking the other, recited the
numerals from 1 to 9, and stopped at the figures in one of the papers.
Afterwards he recited the alphabet in the same manner, stopping at the
letters in the name on the same slip. The figures 6952 were found to
be those which had been written. The archbishop stated before the
paper was opened that he did not himself remember the figures he had
put down, and that he had never mentioned what they were to any one.
Mr. Bishop explained that he detected the figures when naming them,
from the unconscious action of the archbishop's mind on his nervous
system as it affected the wire. In the same way he informed the
archbishop correctly that the name of a deceased person written in the
enclosed piece of paper was Sir Walter Scott. Mr. Bishop also
furnished illustrations of the manner in which sounds were produced
from instruments of music, and bells rung by persons tied with their
hands and legs to seats, and how, even in that situation, he could put
a ring upon a handkerchief placed round his neck--a feat which had
been considered impossible by one fastened as he was, without the
loosing of the knots of the cords with which he was bound. His last
exposure was the Katie King mystery, the calling of 'material spirits'
from the other world, and exhibiting them in the room. This
performance puzzled the audience as much as any of the others while it
proceeded, and the explanation given of it was as amusing as it
turned out to be ingenious.
Another spiritualist exposure recently created a sensation in
"spiritualistic circles," by the detection of a medium fraud in
Portland, Maine, United States. Doctors Gerrish and Greene, of
Portland, were instrumental in bringing about the issue. The medium in
question was a female, who, after hiding herself behind a screen in
the corner of her parlour, was enabled to send out "spirits" for the
inspection of her select audiences. Attired in the ordinary way, she
would allow her skirts to be pinned to the floor; and while she was
seated upon a stool, the lower portion of the screen being some
distance from the floor, the audience were invited to satisfy
themselves that the medium did not move from her position. Dr. Greene,
on one occasion, while the so-called spirit was moving around, asked
it to shake hands. This request being granted, he firmly grasped the
hand, and found the spirit to be the medium herself, who struggled in
a very unbecoming way to free herself. While Dr. Greene thus secured
the medium, Dr. Gerrish quickly drew the screen aside, and discovered
the apparel of the lady in a heap at the foot of her stool, and still
pinned to the floor. The trick was then shown to consist in wearing
under-garments, with which she could emerge from her external apparel
with ease, and, to all outside appearance, without any disturbance.
To our mind, the most foolish of all foolish exhibitions is that at
which one has the presumption to stand before an intelligent audience
and declare his ability to call one from the dead for his or their
amusement. But if we can by any great stretch of imagination suppose
that Englishmen and Americans have succeeded in opening up a
communication between them and spirits, they are still far behind the
Russian peasants, who have their house spirits, who are of
considerable use. These spirits take persons, houses, cattle, and
chattels of every description under their care. They are heard wailing
before a death. One of them rouses the inmates of a house if fire or
robbery be threatened. Pestilence and war are foretold by such spirits
lamenting in the meadows. Here we have useful spirits, worth
having--not like our ones, capable of communicating only by means of
knocks and through showmen. If spirits can do no more for living men
than they have done, they may remain away, and let the showman medium
return to honest labour, or be sent to seek knowledge and truth within
the walls of a prison or in a house of correction.
CHAPTER LXXIII.
Superstition in Roman Catholic
Countries--Miracle-working Images, Winking Madonnas
and Apparitions--Image paying Homage to the Virgin
Mary--St. Dominic--Madonnas at Trastevere--Girl
carrying the Sacred Stigmata of the
Passion--Miraculous Cures--The Virgin Mary appearing
to Children--Superstitious Ceremony at
Dieppe--Blessing the Neva--Lady offering up her Life
to save the Pope--A Legend--Superstitious Belief of
Napoleon's Mother--Trust in Amulets--Zulu
Superstition--Witchcraft forbidden under Treaty of
Peace with Great Britain--Eating Fetish--Superstition
among the Ashantees--Endeavour to prevent the Advance
of the British Army--Shah of Persia's
Talismans--Bathing Fair--Indian Princes consulting
Fortune-tellers--The Queen of Hearts--Procuring Rain
in India--Superstition in America--Mysterious Lights
at St. Lawrence--Superstitious Artists--Hogarth's last
Picture, "The End of all Things."
In Roman Catholic countries superstition frequently culminates in
miracle-working images, winking madonnas, and apparitions resembling
the Virgin Mary. For not a few delusions the priests and nuns are
responsible. We are not speaking without authority. The Very Rev.
Father A. Vincent Jandel, General of the Dominican Order, addressed
from Rome a circular letter in 1870 to all the provincials of his
order, giving an account of what he considered a wonderful occurrence
that took place at Soriano, in Calabria. There is at Soriano a
celebrated Sanctuary of St. Dominic, and in the church an ancient
image of that saint, life-size, carved in wood, held in high
veneration. On the 15th of September of that year, which is its festa,
another image of wood is carried processionally with much pomp. Thirty
persons, who had remained after the conclusion of the solemnity to
pray before the ancient image, suddenly perceived it to move, as if
alive. It came forward, then retreated, and turned towards the image
of the Virgin of the Holy Rosary. The cry of "St. Dominic! St.
Dominic! A miracle! a miracle!" burst from every lip. The wonderful
news sped like lightning through the town. Men and women left their
occupations to crowd to the sanctuary; and soon no fewer than two
thousand persons had witnessed the strange movements, which continued
for about an hour and a half, amidst prayers, tears, and acclamations.
To the great joy of the monks of the Holy Trinity, in 1871, two
madonnas, in an obscure, out-of-the-way church of St. Grisogono, in
Trastevere, melted multitudes to tears by the miraculous movements and
expressions of their eyes. The most remarkable in its exercises was an
oil painting in the interior of the church. To such a height did the
excitement reach amongst the crowd privileged to witness it, that the
friars judged it prudent to bring its performances to a close by
removing it from the church, and shutting it up in a press in the
convent. The second madonna is a fresco in the open piazza as one
approaches the church and convent. It is a recent painting, of
life-size, with eyes lowered on the spectators looking at it from
below, in such a manner that the movements of the pupils (if movements
there be) should be very sensible. The madonna is but one of three
figures on the fresco. On her right is John the Baptist in the dress
of the monks of the establishment, and on the left Pio Nono as
Pontiff. This madonna began to move its eyes as soon as its companion
was locked up, and the wonder lasted for many days.
In the same year (1871) the Rev. Father Ubald sent a letter to a
colleague, the following passages of which were quoted in the
_Bulletin Religieux_ of Versailles:--"I arrive from Belgium; this time
I have seen Louise Lateau. I do not know whether you ever heard of
her, but at present the name is in everybody's mouth in Belgium and
Northern France. Louise Lateau is a girl of 21, who carries the sacred
stigmata of the Passion, and every week on Friday is in a state of
profound ecstacy. Dr. Lefevre, professor of medicine at the University
of Louvain, has published a medical examination, in which he says:
'The flow of blood begins in the night (from Thursday to Friday
generally), between midnight and one o'clock.' It took place for the
first time on the 24th April 1868, by her losing blood on the left
side of her chest. On the Friday following, hemorrhage was observed at
the same place, and, moreover, blood oozed out from the top or instep
of the foot. On the third Friday--viz. the 8th May--blood came out at
the left side and from the feet during the night. Towards nine in the
morning blood rushed out copiously from both hands, back and palm.
Finally, on the 27th September, a percolation of blood also set in on
the forehead, as if the young girl had been crowned with thorns. Since
then the marvellous phenomenon never missed a Friday, except once or
twice. Doctors affirm that Louise thus loses from five to ten ounces
of blood every Friday. In spite of this, and albeit she has not taken
food for the last six months, she has, I assure you, quite ruddy
cheeks (_teint vermeil_), and seems to enjoy capital health (_sante
florissant_)."
The correspondent of the Paris Ultramontane paper _L'Univers_ wrote
from the Lourdes in 1876: "I have just been witness of a marvel, of
which I hasten to send you an account. Several other miracles have
taken place within the last couple of days, but I have said nothing
about them, as they did not come under my own observation. However, I
can assure you of the accuracy of the following statement:--Madeleine
Lansereau, aged 33 years, broke one of her legs about 19 years ago,
and became lame, her left leg being fearfully twisted. She came to
Lourdes with the pilgrimage from Picardy, and was radically cured at
the moment the Papal Nuncio sent to crown the Holy Virgin was saying
the paternoster in the mass he was celebrating in the grotto. She told
the crowd that, having walked into the little pool, a lively internal
emotion took possession of her, and she cried out, 'I am cured! I am
cured!' Her companions wept with joy and admiration at the miracle.
When they asked her what she had done for that great grace, her simple
reply was, 'I have prayed to St. Radogonde and St. Joseph, but
especially to the Holy Virgin, and now I am cured.' While she was
speaking, the Bishop of Poictiers came and said, 'Madeleine, thank the
Holy Virgin fervently.'"
The Rev. Canon Tandy, D.D., writing from St. Paul's Convent,
Birmingham, in 1871, to a reverend brother, informs him, in pious
phraseology, that two nuns had been suddenly cured of serious
disorders of long standing by drinking a bottle of water from Lourdes.
In acknowledgment of the favours shown by our Lady of Lourdes, the _Te
Deum_ was recited.
A deaf and dumb girl from Blois was made whole at Lourdes a few years
ago by the Virgin Mary.
Not long since the Bishop of Laval wrote a pastoral letter on the
subject of the miraculous appearance of the Virgin to four children in
a village in Mayence, and was so convinced of the reality of the fact
that he decided to erect a chapel in honour of Mary on the ground upon
which she had condescended to appear.
Recently there might be seen emerging from a church at Dieppe, on a
Saturday morning, a religious procession, headed by a person carrying
a silver processional cross, and accompanied by choristers singing
penitential psalms, proceeding to the eastern pier of the harbour to
perform a curious Roman Catholic ceremony. Taking up a position beside
the rolling water, the priests prayed for the success of the fishing,
then said a paternoster, while the people knelt; then a priest,
dipping a brush in holy water (which was carried in a swinging silver
vase), sprinkled three times the salt water of the ocean with the holy
fluid, making the sign of the cross with the brush at the words, _Seo
sibera nos a malo_. Then came a collect of repose for the souls of the
dead whose bodies had not been recovered from the depths of the sea;
and, all being over, the priests, with the choristers, people, and
cross-bearers, returned, chanting their psalms to the church, where
the high mass of the festival of St. Luke was celebrated.
This ceremony at Dieppe reminds one of the well-known annual ceremony
in Russia, of blessing the Neva in presence of the Czar and other
members of the Imperial Family; but, as the performance has been
described by numerous writers, we shall not further refer to it.
The Marquis of Segur, a zealous Catholic, relates that, in 1866, when
the Pope was seriously ill, Mdlle. Leautard, a lady of Marseilles,
resolved to offer up her life in place of his Holiness, and sought his
permission to do so. The Pope, after long silence, placed his hand on
her head, and said, "Go, my daughter, and do what the Spirit of God
has suggested to you." Next day, on receiving the consecrated wafer,
the lady fervently expressed her desire to die, and was immediately
seized with a sharp pain, which carried her off three days afterwards.
The Pope, on hearing of her death, exclaimed, "So soon accepted!" The
Marquis believes this sacrifice accounted for the Pope's prolonged
life.
A Hohenzollern legend was brought to mind in Germany through a serious
illness of the Emperor, who, however, fortunately recovered, and
continues to adorn his exalted position. The legend runs thus:--
Many years ago there was a Hohenzollern Princess (a widow with two
children), who fell in love with a foreign Prince--rich, handsome, and
brave. She sent him a proposition of marriage; but the Prince declined
her suit, explaining that "four eyes" stood between him and
acceptance. He referred to his parents, whose consent he could not
obtain. But the Princess understood him to refer to the four eyes of
her two children--to his unwillingness, in fact, to become a
stepfather. So she suffocated the infant obstacles, and wrote to her
lover that the way was clear. He was stricken with horror at the cruel
deed, and died cursing her bloodthirsty rashness. The Princess, in her
turn, became overwhelmed with remorse. After lingering a day or two in
indescribable anguish, she too died, and was buried under the old
castle at Berlin; but not to rest quietly in her unhappy grave. At
rare intervals she appears at midnight, clad in white, gliding, ghost
like, about the castle; and the apparition always forebodes the death
of some member of the Hohenzollern family. The white lady has been
seen, we are assured, three times within about a year--once just
before the death of Prince Albrecht; again, to announce the end of
Prince Adalbert; and the last time while Queen Elizabeth lay on her
deathbed.
We have shown that the great Napoleon Bonaparte was superstitious in
the highest degree; and so was his mother before him. Both believed in
fate or destiny. She was surrounded by luxury and pomp; but her
solicitude about her son, and the belief that his glory could not
last, rendered her miserable. The divorce of Josephine, the retreat
from Russia, the exile to Elba, the final overthrow at Waterloo, and
the banishment to St. Helena, were heavy blows; but she was prepared
for them. While the sun of the Emperor's fortunes blazed in the
zenith, she shivered under the shadow of her fear; and her fear proved
prophetic. She witnessed the downfall of every one of her children;
but she bore her adversity with dignity and resignation, and died in
her eighty-seventh year.
Indeed not only were Napoleon and his mother superstitious, but the
whole Bonaparte family were believers in fate. Napoleon III. says in
his will, "With regard to my son" (the late Prince Imperial, who
perished at the hands of Zulus), "let him keep, as a talisman, the
seal attached to my watch." True to the traditions of his family, the
young Prince put trust in amulets. When the Prince's body was
discovered (here we have a double case of superstition), it lay
stripped of all its clothing, but there were left with the body a
locket and a gold amulet, admittedly the seal bequeathed to him by his
Imperial father, as the Zulus were afraid they were charms--articles
they stand in great dread of.
Thinking of Prince Napoleon's untimely death, brings the Zulu
character to remembrance. Among the Zulus a belief prevails that
kindly and angry spirits hover around them--the former endeavouring to
do them good; the latter trying to do them harm. Zulus also believe in
divine smoke, witchcraft, and dreams. Whenever a charge of witchcraft
is made against any one, no mercy is shown him. Such an accusation
affords a pretext to a king or chief for getting rid of an obnoxious
person and acquiring his substance. The Inyanga, like our witch-finder
of old, has no difficulty in bringing home guilt to the unfortunate
accused. A Zulu judge, before pronouncing sentence, pretends that he
consults the divine oracles of his nation. When a Zulu sneezes he
says, "I am blessed, and the ancestral spirit is with me." So he
praises the family manes, and ends by asking blessings, such as cattle
and wives.
In September 1879 official news came from Sir Garnet Wolseley that
King Cetewayo had been captured, that the Zulu war had come to an end,
and that the following were among the terms of peace, signed by the
chiefs of Zululand: "I will not tolerate the employment of witch
doctors, or the practice known as smelling out, or any practices of
witchcraft."
Not unfrequently the representatives of Great Britain, in concluding
peace with heathen nations, have, as in the case of the Zulus, to
respect the superstitious notions of the people they have to deal
with, so as to make the agreement more binding in the minds of the
heathen contracting parties.
On one occasion the Ashantees put up a fetish to stop the advance of
the British army. It consisted of a kid transfixed through the throat
and heart, and staked to the ground; six cooking-pots, inverted, were
stuck on stakes round the kid, and, a few feet from it, another kid
was found buried: this, according to Ashantee custom, had been buried
alive. A similar fetish had been put up at a river near Moinsey to
stop the British troops. The advancing army found almost every turn of
the road to Coomassie strewn with fetish documents. Near Fommanah
nearly every tree had a white rag fastened to it as a charm. On the
King hearing of the British victory, he went to pour libation to the
spirits of his ancestors, and to ask their assistance against the
enemies of his country.
The Shah of Persia has numerous talismans, exceeding two hundred in
number. We give details of four of them. One is a gold star, supposed
to have been possessed by the legendary Rustem. It is called Merzoum,
and has the reputation of making conspirators immediately confess.
When the Shah's brother was accused of treason some time since, the
star was shown him, and, terrified and overcome by remorse, he avowed
his iniquities. His confession was, of course, attributed to its
efficacy. He was banished. The next important talisman is a cube of
amber, which, we are told, fell from heaven in Mohammed's time. It is
supposed to render the Shah invulnerable, and he wears it about his
neck. Another is a little box of gold, set in emeralds, and blessed by
the Prophet. It renders the Royal Family invisible as long as they are
celibates. Another is a diamond set in one of the Shah's scimitars,
which renders its possessor invincible; and there is also a dagger
with the same property, but it is ordained that those who use it shall
perish by it. It is therefore carefully kept shut up in a sandal-wood
box, on which is engraved a verse of the Koran.
As of old, superstition prevails all over India. Semi-religious
ceremonies are gone through in seasons of drought, to procure rain. At
other times means are taken to propitiate the gods, to subdue enemies,
and to secure good fortune to individuals, households, and
communities. There are Indian princes who regularly consult their
fortune-tellers regarding public and private affairs.
A curious bathing fair was held at Ajudhia, in Oude, in February 1878.
When a peculiar conjunction of the planets takes place (which occurs
only once in eighty years), the natives rush in crowds to the river,
as they believe that if they manage to bathe and go through certain
ceremonies in four minutes and a half, they will obtain the remission
of their own sins and those of millions of their ancestors. On this
occasion the rush to the river turned out so great that numbers were
trodden under foot, and sixty-five persons lost their lives.
The mysterious lights in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which are believed
by mariners to be warnings of great tempests and shipwreck, were
unusually brilliant in 1878. It is said to be a fact, established by
the experience of a century, that when these lights blaze brightly in
the summer nights, the phenomena are invariably followed by great
storms. They give the appearance to spectators on the shore of a ship
on fire. The fire itself seems to consist of blue and yellow flames,
now dancing high above the water, and then flickering, paling, and
dying out, only to spring up again with fresh brilliancy. If a boat
approaches, it flits away, moving further out, and is pursued in vain.
The lights are plainly visible from the shore from midnight until two
in the morning. They appear to come from the sea shoreward, and at
dawn retire gradually, and are lost in the morning mist. Paradis, the
French pilot, who took charge of the British Fleet under Admiral Sir
Hovenden Walker when it sailed up the St. Lawrence to seize Quebec in
1711, declared he saw one of these lights before that armada was
shattered by a dreadful gale on the 22d of August. The light, he said,
danced before his vessel all the way up the gulf. Every great wreck
that has taken place there since Sir Hovenden Walker's calamity has
been preceded, if tradition is to be believed, by these mysterious
lights, and they have thus warned the mariner of fatal storms.
In July last (1879) a woman, known as the Queen of Hearts, who had
attained the age of one hundred years, and who had been known for
three quarters of a century as a fortune-teller, died in Vienna.
Apparently gifted with the faculty of prescience, intimately
acquainted with the shuffling of cards, deeply learned in the lore of
the prophetic lines traced by the graver of Fate upon human hands and
feet, this lady devoted her days to the unravelling of the tangled
secrets of the future, charging those whose curiosity prompted them to
pry into the regions of the unknown, five ducats per revelation. As
many of the leading ladies of the Austrian aristocracy were among her
clients, and the accuracy of her forecasts having earned for her a
mighty reputation throughout the realms of the Hapsburgs, she
contrived to amass a handsome fortune. "Herz-Dame" was a person of
extraordinary acumen, and a physiognomist of the highest order. Her
sources of private information were numerous, and her ramifications
are believed to have permeated every class of Austrian society.
A comparatively recent instance of superstition in America is that
of an old Indian woman being suspected of witchcraft, and stoned
to death in Pine Nut Valley, Nevada; and in another part of the
world, far separated from America, a similar act of superstition
was committed, in which a human creature fell a victim to the gross
delusions of her neighbours. We refer to a case of witch-burning in
Russia. In October 1879 seventeen peasants were tried for burning
to death a supposed witch, who resided near Nijni-Novgorod. Of the
accused persons, fourteen were acquitted, and three sentenced to
church penances--sentences which, if rigorously carried out, will
not be easily borne.
A Leipsic writer gives an account of a number of superstitious
artists, some of which are very curious. Tietjens, for instance,
believed that the person would speedily die who shook hands with her
over the threshold at parting; Rachel thought she gained her greatest
successes immediately after she had met a funeral; Bellini would not
permit a new work to be brought out if on the day announced he was
first greeted by a man, and "La Somnambula" was several times thus
postponed; Meyerbeer regularly washed his hands before beginning an
overture; and a noted _tragedienne_ never plays unless she has a white
mouse in her bosom.
But these eccentricities can hardly compare with the strange belief
and doings of Hogarth, the celebrated painter and engraver,
particularly towards the close of his long life. A few months before
he was seized with the malady which cut him off, he commenced his "End
of all Things." A few of his intimate friends looked upon his picture
as prophetic; and so he seemed to regard it himself. The artist
worked with diligence, seemingly with an apprehension that he would
not live to complete the piece. Finish it, however, he did in a
masterly style, grouping everything that could denote the end of all
things. Prominent were a broken bottle, an old broom, a bow unstrung,
the butt-end of an old musket, a crown tumbled in pieces, towers in
ruins, the moon in her wane, the map of the globe burning, Phœbus
and his horses dead in the clouds, a vessel wrecked, Time with his
hourglass and scythe broken, a tobacco-pipe in his mouth, the last
puff of smoke going out; a play-book, with _Exeunt Omnes_ on one of
the open pages; an empty purse, and a statute of bankruptcy taken out
against nature.
"So far so good," said Hogarth. "Nothing remains but this,"--taking
his pencil and dashing off the similitude of a painter's palette
broken. "FINIS!" exclaimed the artist; "_the deed is done_--ALL IS
OVER." Hogarth never handled pencil again, and within a month of the
completion of this picture he was no more.
Transcriber's Notes:
There are a number of quotations in this work, many of which contain
archaic spelling and/or dialect. There are also several occurrences of
variant spelling and hyphenation used by the author. These have all
been retained as printed, with a few exceptions relating to proper
names or references to quotations, which are listed below. Printing
errors (transposed or missing letters, etc.) have been corrected
throughout.
^ has been used to indicate superscripted matter.
This book sometimes uses asterisks to indicate an ellipsis.
Transcriber's Amendments:
Table of Contents - Chapter XVII - Mirando amended to Miranda -
"Miranda beseeching Prospero to allay the Wild Waters"
Table of Contents - Chapter XVIII - De'il amended to Deil - ""Address
to the Deil""
Page 66 - Hamadrydes amended to Hamadryades - "... and Hamadryades,
who are born and die with the oaks;"
Page 75 - Anguigenœ amended to Anguigenæ - "... calls them
Anguigenæ, serpent or snake-descended."
Page 84 - Phorcus amended to Phorcys - "Scylla, a daughter of
Phorcys ..."
Page 173 - De'il amended to Deil - ""Address to the Deil""
Page 177 - Boccacio amended to Boccaccio - "In the story of
_Isabella_, by Boccaccio ..."
Page 203 - Lock amended to Loch - "They dwell in the tempests of dark
Loch-na-Garr."
Page 218 - Haiawatha amended to Hiawatha - ""Song of Hiawatha.""
Page 240 - Cladius amended to Claudius - "He was dragged before
Claudius Maximus ..."
Page 271 - Hengest amended to Hengist - "... who had been massacred by
Hengist ..."
Page 273 - Rabinical amended to Rabbinical - "Rabbinical Tradition"
Page 358 - Nastradamus amended to Nostradamus - "... then a child, to
old Nostradamus ..."
Page 554 - Murdoch amended to Morduck - "In July Sarah Morduck was
brought ..."
Page 639 - Leipzic amended to Leipsic - "A Leipsic writer gives an
account ..."
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Mysteries of All Nations - Rise and Progress of Superstition, Laws Against and Trials - of Witches, Ancient and Modern Delusions Together With - Strange Customs, Fables, and Tales" ***
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