0)
to o> o
§
(O
CO
.
>M PAINT
.
FOR COLLECTING AND FEINTING
RELICS OF POPULAR ANTIQUITIES, &c.
ESTABLISHED IN
THE YEAR MDCCCLXXVIII.
Alter et Idem.
PUBLICATIONS
OF
THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.
IV.
PRESIDENT. THE RIGHT HONOURABLE EARL BEAUCHAMP, F.S.A.
VICE-PRESIDENTS.
H. C. COOTE, Esq., F.S.A.
W. R. S. RALSTON, ESQ., M.A.
E. B. TYLOR, Esq., LL.D. F.R.S.
COUNCIL.
Edward Brabrook, F.S.A. James Britten, F.L.S. Dr. Robert Brown. Sir W. R. Drake, F.S.A. G. L. Gomme, F.S.A. Henry Hill, F.S.A.
A. Lang, M.A.
F. Ouyry, F.S.A.
The Rev. Professor Sayce, M.A.
Edward Solly, F.R.S., F.S.A.
William J. Thorns, F.S.A.
W. S. W. Vaux, M.A.
DIRECTOR.— William J. Thorns, F.S.A. HON. SEC.— G. L. Gomme, F.S.A., 2, Park Villas, Lonsdale Road, Barnes, S.W.
REMAINES OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
BY JOHN AUBREY, R.S.S.
1686-87.
EDITED AND ANNOTATED BY
JAMES BRITTEN, F.L.S.,
COMPILER OP " OLD COUNTRY AND FARMING WORDS: " JOINT AUTHOR OF "A DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH PLANT-NAMES," &C., &C.
LONDON:
PUBLISHED FOR THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY BY
W. SATCHELL, PEYTON, AND CO.,
12, TAVISTOCK STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C.
1881.
PREFACE.
THE manuscript (Lansdowne MSS. 231), which is now for the first time printed in its entirety for the members of the Folk-Lore Society, has long been known to lovers of folklore; and more or less copious extracts from it have been published in at least three different works. Attention seems to have been first directed to it by Mr. (afterwards Sir) Henry Ellis, who made extracts from it in his edition of Brand's Popular Antiquities (1813). More copious selections from it will be found in Time's Telescope for 1826, where, in the " Advertisement," it is referred to as follows: "To Henry Ellis, Esq., Keeper of the MSS. in the British Museum, our especial acknow- ledgments are due for many kind hints and com- munications, particularly as it regards some MSS. in the Lansdowne Collection that have escaped the researches of our literary ferrets, and the extracts from which cannot fail of proving an agreeable novelty to our readers." These extracts will be found at pp. 38, 40, 71, 74, 91, 98, 117, 123, 132, 158, 227, 231, 233, 251, 293-7, 302. In 1839 Mr. W. J. Thorns made numerous extracts for a volume entitled Anecdotes and Traditions, published by the Camden Society ; to these extracts he appended notes which greatly
b
11 PREFACE.
increased their value ; the more important of them will be found in the Appendix (I.) to the present volume, the initials " W. J. T. " being affixed to them, as well as the page where they will be found in the Anecdotes. In his preface Mr. Thorns says that with one exception the selections differed from those made by Ellis, which last, " combined with those here printed, may be said to comprise everything deserving of publication contained in the volume."
Notwithstanding this dictum of one peculiarly able to form a judgment in the matter, the Folk-Lore So- ciety determined, soon after its establishment, to print the whole MS. Mr. Thorns' s book has long been unob- tainable ; the extracts in Time's Telescope were hardly known — I have met with no reference to them; so that all that could be considered available for general use was contained in Ellis's edition of Brand, and this represents but a small portion of the whole work. In the present volume a faithful transcript is offered to the reader. I have carefully collated the proofs with the original ; and, although it would be presumption to suppose that no errors of transcription from the somewhat crabbed MS. have arisen, I hope that these are but few and unimportant.
The work in its printed form speaks for itself : I may however be allowed to point out one or two cir- cumstances connected with it. The MS. was evidently intended by Aubrey as a rough draft of what was intended to have been an elaborate work. As it stands it is disjointed, and there are numerous repe-
PREFACE. Ill
titions, while the same subject is alluded to in many separate passages. It was thought best to print the whole as it stood, and to trust to a comprehen- sive index to bring together the various references to the same subject. I have sometimes introduced cross-references in the text, but it was not possible to do this systematically ; so that it will be necessary to consult the index to ascertain all the references to a given subject. Any suggestions or additions which I have entered in the text are placed in square brackets, as are also my own footnotes. Dr. White Kennett's initials are affixed to many of the notes; many more are in his handwriting, but not initialed, and to these I have appended " W. K." in square brackets. I have sometimes verified Aubrey's references and amplified his quotations, and here again square brackets will indi- cate what I have done, but I have not had the leisure to make these references at all complete. In one or two cases I have been obliged to omit a word or two which even in a reprint would be considered unsuit- able for publication ; but I have almost always allowed the text to stand as written, even at the risk of offending the scrupulous reader. I have thought this also the right course to adopt, because, had I cut out matters which seem to me offensive, I should have excised several passages which reflect unfairly upon the Catholic Church, as well as one or two to which Christians of all denominations would probably take exception. I need hardly say that I do not share Aubrey's views upon these matters.
IV PREFACE.
The Remaines, while containing much of value, are not of equal merit throughout. Aubrey had the faculty of collection rather than that of selection, and he was clearly inclined to be credulous, and thought to be so by some of his most noteworthy contemporaries. The great naturalist John Ray, for example, expresses himself plainly on this head in a letter printed by Aubrey in the Natural History and Antiquities of Surrey (v. 410). He says : —
" I think (if you can give me leave to be free with you) that you are a little too inclinable to credit strange relations. I have found men that are not skilful in the history of nature very credulous, and apt to impose upon themselves and others, and therefore dare not give a firm assent to anything they report upon their own authority, but are ever suspicious that they may either be deceived themselves, or delight to teratologize (pardon the word), and to make show of knowing strange things. >?
In the same work, however (iv. 407, Appendix), Aubrey gives the following justification of his con- duct : —
" It may seem nauseous to some that I have raked up so many old western proverbs, which I confess I disdain not to quote. Pliny himself being not afraid to call them oracles, lib. 18, cap. 4: 'Ac prinium omnium oraculis majore ex parte agemus, quse non in alio vitse genere plura certiorave sunt.7 For pro- verbs are drawn from the experience and observation of many ages, and are the ancient natural philosophy
PREFACE. V
of the- vulgar, preserved in old English and Norse rhymes handed down to us, and which I set as instantise crucis, for our curious modern philosophers to examine, and give 810X19 to their '0X15."
At the present day, whatever we may think of Aubrey's credulity, all folk-lorists are glad that he did not " disdain to quote " the proverbs, sayings, and traditions of the people.
With regard to the notes which I have here and there added, a word or two of explanation seems needed. When I undertook to edit the work at the request of the Council of the Folk-Lore Society, I had hoped that these would be much more numerous, and that I should have obtained much help in my work from those who were far more fitted than myself to undertake the task. I regret to say that, although the work was sent in slip-proof to all the Members of the Council, I have received no assistance whatever from the greater number of them. I do not wish to be understood as complaining of this want of assistance — I know too well what it is to be more than fully occupied — but I mention this as tending to explain the fewness of the notes. Mr. Coote has given me one or two notes which will be found in the Appendix (I.), and to him and to Mr. Satchell I am indebted for much help in verifying the classical quotations. Mr. Solly has kindly assisted me on one or two points, and Mr. Gromme has been, as he always is, helpful. The authorities at the British Museum, with their usual cour- tesy, gave every facility for the transcription of the MS.
VI PREFACE.
I soon saw that to do the work as it should be done would be to render it a complete treatise upon folklore, so varied are the matters upon which it touches ; and this was not the intention of the Society in issuing the volume, which should be looked upon rather as a col- lection of suggestive notes, or a storehouse from which all may take away what suits them best. I have been at some pains, however, to collect from Aubrey's other works such passages as belong to folklore, and these I have placed in the Appendix.
The Natural Hist, of Wiltshire quoted is the volume edited by John Britton in 1847 for the Wiltshire Topographical Society ; one or two of his additional notes, signed J. B., are added. By the kindness of the Royal Society I have been able to consult their MS. of this work ; the extracts I have made from this, which have not previously been published, are referred to as Eoyal Soc. MS. I have not made extracts from what is perhaps Aubrey's most important work from a folklore point of view — I mean his Miscellanies ; to have done so would have unduly extended the present volume, and moreover it is easily accessible in the cheap and handy reprint issued in 1857 by J. Russell Smith, which no folklorist should be without. Another work which I think is not as well known as it should be, and which may profitably be consulted by students, is Mr. T. J. Pettigrew's little volume On Superstitions connected with the History and Practice of Medicine and Surgery. (London, 1844, pp. 167.)
I may perhaps be allowed to point out how fully
PREFACE. Vll
Aubrey's remark at p. 26, as to the effect of a great social convulsion like a civil war upon the customs and traditions of the people, is illustrated throughout the book. " Before the Civil wars'* is a constantly recurring date for sayings and customs which Aubrey seems to imply, even when he does not actually state, did not exist after that period.
It need hardly be said that Aubrey has by no means exhausted the folklore of the classics from which he has made extracts. Those which he has given are rather indications of the richness of the mine which will some day, no doubt, be thoroughly worked — perhaps by a member of the Folk-Lore Society.
1 have not thought it necessary to give any biogra- phical sketch of Aubrey ; the Memoir issued by John Britton in 1845 may be consulted on this head.
I trust that the little I have been able to do, imper- fect and unsatisfactory as it is> will be accepted as an evidence of my desire to help forward the Folk-Lore Society to the best of my power.
JAMES BRITTEN.
Isleworth, February, 1881.
To his ever honoured Friend
EDMUND WYLD of GLASLY HALL in ye COUNTY of SALOP, Esquier,
These REMAINES OF GENTILISME are dedicated as a small Token of ancient Friendship by his affectionate & humble
Servant
J. AUBREY.
REMAINS
OF
GENTILISME AND JUDAISME,
BY
J. AUBREY R.S.S.
Ovid Fastorum lib. iv. [vi. 417, 418]
Caetera jam pridem didici puerilibus annsi Non tamen idcirco praetereunda mihi.
See Hospinianus de Festis. Feb. 1686-7.
Christmas.
|U-BATCH, Christmas batch Yu-block or Yule-block (from Aeolus ?) (i.) a Christmas block. Yu-gams or Yule-gams, Christmas games : ab A.S. Gehal. Dan. yule-dag natalis Christi. hoc forte a Latino-Hebraeo Jubilum, Skinner. — Mr. Jo. Ray in his English Words.
Capt. Potter (born in the north of Yorkshire) says, that in the Countrey churches, at Christmas in the Holy-daies after Prayers, they will dance in the Church,1 and as they doe dance, they cry (or sing) Yole, Yole, Yole etc.
Noel signifies Christmas in the French language : it seemes to be derived from Yoel as that from MQ\. In ye West-riding of Yorkshire on Xtmass eve at night they bring in a large Yule-log 2 or Xtmass block and set it on fire, and lap their Christmas Ale, and sing, Yule Yule, a Pack of new cards and a Xtmass stool. — W. K.
In several parts of Oxfordshire, particularly at Lanton, it is ye custom for the Maid Servant to ask the Man for Ivy to dress the Hous, and if the Man denies or neglects to fetch in Ivy, the Maid steals away a pair of his Breeches and nails them up to yc gate in the yard or highway.3 — [W. K.]
At Danby Wisk in ye North-Riding of Yorkshire, it is the custom for ye Parishioners after receiving ye Sacrament, to goe from Church directly to the Ale Hous and there drink together as a testimony of Charity and friendship. Ex ore T. Lister Armig.— W. K.
K. Arthur having taken York and the British Gentry and Nobility lodging there gave themselves to all luxury and volupt- eousness as in triumph of their glorious victories. It is reported that the celebration of the nativity of our Lord for 13 daies
1 [See Appendix.] 2 [See Appendix.]
8 [The Rev. J. C. Blomfield, the present Rector of Launton, informs me that no trace of this custom now exists there. — ED.]
6 BEMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
together wth immoderate feasting and gluttony used at this day by ye English and Scots was begun at this time by K. Arthur, and that it is nowhere els in use beyond the Seas. — Hect. Boet. 1. 9, fol. 160.— [W. K.J
In the Infancy of Christian Religion it was expedient to plough (as they say) with the heifer of the Gentiles : ( i ) to insinuate with them, and to let them continue and use their old Ethnick Festivals which they new named with Christian names, e. g. Floralia, they turnd to ye Feast of St. Philip and Jacob, etc. The Saturnalia into Christmas. Had they donne otherwise, they could not have gain'd so many Proselytes or established their Doctrine so well, and in so short a time, and besides they well understood that profound Aphorisme of Numa Pompilius, Nulla res efficacius multitudinem regit, quam Superstitio : of which, if taken away, Atheisme and (consequently Libertinisme)
will certainly come into its I1™™ j- This after the Ecclesi- asticall politie of those times. The Gentiles would not perfectly relinquish all their Idols ; so, they were persuaded to turne the Image of Jupiter with his thunderbolt to Christus crucifixus, and Venus and Cupid into ye Madonna and her Babe, which Mr. Th. Hobbes sayth was prudently donne. See his Leviathan p. [364].
See St. Hierome's Epistles. He speakes in one of them of their building their Christian Churches where their old Ethnick ones were, etc. — Get the Christmas Caroll and the Wasseling Song.
Old customes and old wives fables are grosse things, but yet
T, i buried in oblivion ,,
ought not to be rejected ; there may some truth
and usefulnesse be
picked elicited
out of them, besides tis' a pleasure
to consider the errours that enveloped former ages as also the present.
Excerpta out of Ovid's Fastorum
LIB. I. JANUARY. T. Livy, lib. 1, Numa Pomp.
Per totidem (sc. x.) menses a fnnere conjugis uxor Sustinet in viclua tristia signa domo. — [35-6.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 7
It is still accounted undecent for widows to marry within a yeare (I thinke) Dr. Tayler sayes, because in that time the husbands body may be presumed to be rotten.1
Insert out of the Calender of ye old Ovids Fastorum that I have lent to Dr. Goad, the remarqueable observations as to the Weather.
There is a proverb in Welsh of great antiquity, sc.
Haf hyd gatan Gaiaf hyd Fay.
That is, if it fye somerly weather till the Kalends of January, it will be winterly weather to the Kalends of May. They look upon this as an Oracle.2
Democritus talem futuram hiemem arbitratur, quails fuerit brumse dies, & circa eum term, item solstitio aestatem. — Plin. lib. 18, cap. 26.
\Holy Bread.~]
Cui cum cereale sacerdos
Imponit libum farraq. mixta sale. — [Fasti, i. 127, 128.]
Libum 3 is a cake made of Honey (sugar is a nouvelle, since ye discovery of America), meale, and oyle, Hence I suppose are derived our Cimnells 3 ; also ye Wafer. — N.B.
Utq. Sacerdotis fugitivus, liba recuso. — Horace, Ep. [Lib. 1, x. 10.]
" Kichell is a cake, which Horace calleth Libum, and with us is called a God's Kichell, because Godfathers and Godmothers used commonly to give one of them to their God-children, when they asked blessing."4 This word is in the Sompner's tale, fol. 39,
P.I.
I knew an usher of Winchester-schoole whose name was Kichell.
Ibidem Wastell bread (libellus) fine Cymnell.
" Pain benist, Holy bread such as is used in Churches in Catholick countries." 5
1 [See Coote's "Romans of Britain," pp. 288-291.— ED.]
2 [See Swainson's " Weather Folk-Lore," pp. 20-24.— ED.]
3 [See Appendix and p. 14.]
4 Exposition of hard words in Chaucer, by Mr. [Francis] Thinne.
5 Cotgrave's Dictionare.
8 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
Abbas solus prandebit supremus in refectorio habens vastellum de qua voce Walsius in Glossario. Si non sit Umbraculum aut Baldekinum (a Canopy) nescio quid significat ; neque tamen conjecture possum, quare Umbraculum Vastellum diceretur;1 qusere. — [W. K.j
But by the word Vastellus no doubt is meant the Wastel or Wassal Bowls, which as a piece of state was placed at the upper end of the table for the use of the Abbat, who drank out of that Plate a Health or Poculum Charitatis to the rest of the fraternity. — W. Kennett.
Newyears Day.
Prospera lux oritur: linguisq' animisq' favete; Nunc dicenda bono sunt bona verba die. — [Fasti, i. 71, 72.]
Hence the complement of wishing one Happy New yeare. Wishing each other a happy-New -yeare.
.... laeta tuis dicuntur verba calendis, Et damus alternas accipimusq: preces. — [Fasti, i, 175-6.]
Newyears Gifts.
Quid vult palma sibi, rugosaq' caryca, dixi, Et data sub niveo Candida mella favo. — [Fasti, i. 185-6.]
Omens [see pp. 19, 25, 30].
Omina principijs, inquit, inesse solent. Ad primam vocem timidas advertitis aures: Et visam primum consulit augur avem.— [Fasti, i. 178-80.]
Numa first invented the adoration of dead men's ghosts.
Omen, ait, causa est, ut res sapor ille sequatur, Et peragat coeptu' dulcis ut annus iter.— [Fasti, i. 187-8.]
[Dogs Barking.] Exta canum Triviae.— [Fasti, i. 389.]
Mdm. — How they bark all night when the moone shines : e. g. from Bathe to Oxford : the dogges take their cue from Hamlet to Hamlet.
1 Vit. S. Alban Abbat, Mat. Par. p. 141.
REMAINS OF GENT1LISME AND JUDAISME.
[Blessing of Fields.']
Pagus agat festum: pagum lustrate, colon! ; Et date paganis anima liba focis. — [Fasti, i. 669-70.]
To this, seemes to answer, the walking of the young men & maydes who recieve the Sacrament on Palme- Sunday, and after dinner walke about the Corne to bless it ; but this day gives many a conception.
Mdm. at Twelve-tyde at night they use in the Countrey to wassaile their Oxen and to have Wassaile-Cakes made.
Ploughmen 's Feasts .... Holydaies.
Grett the song which is sung in the ox-house when they wassell the oxen. [See p. 40.]
LIB. II. FEBRUARY.
Un-leavened Bread Torrida cum mica farra [Fasti, ii. 24] was a Purgamen.
\_Sowle-groveJ]
The Shepheards, and vulgar people in South Wilts call Feb- ruarie Sowlegrove : and have this proverbe of it : viz. Sowle- grove sil lew.1 February is seldome warme.
Absolution.
Onyie nefas, omnemq' mali purgamina causam
Credebant nostri tollere posse senes. Grsecia principium moris fuit: ilia nocentes
Impia lustratos ponere f acta putat. Actoriden Peleus, ipsum quoq' Pelea Phoci
Csede per Hsemonias solvit Acastus aquas. — [Fasti, ii. 35-40.]
Baptisme.
Solve nefas, dixit: solvit et ille nefas. Ah nimiam faciles, qui tristia crimina caedis Fluminea tolli posse putetis aqua.— [Fasti, ii. 44-46.]
1 Sil pro seld. (i.) seldome.
10 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
To this agreeth that of St. Paul — Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth, but a new creature. [Galatians, vi. 15.]
There is a custome eiijoynd by some Witches and Wizards for nocents to leap three times 'over a rivulet.
And one of mine Acquaintance B. G. Cramer says that he once saw in Germany, in Anhalt, the Boys throwing before an old woman suspected to be a witch, an old used broom in her way, to see whether she would pass over it or no, which if she dos not, take it for a proof to be a witch. — [See p. 25.]
Fertility of Women.
Hie caprum mactat: jussse sua terga puellss Pellibus exsectis percutienda dabant. — [F. ii. 445-6.]
Meibomius hath writt a little Treatise de Usu Flagrorum in re venerea.
[Phantoms^]
The phantome of Romulus that appeared to Julius Proculus as he walked by a Hedge by moonlight. A single testimony.
et in tenues oculis evanuit auras ;
Conyocat hie populos, jussaq' verba refert. — [F. ii. 509-10.]
Fooles holy day. We observe it on ye first of April.
Lux quoq' cur eadem stultorum festa vocetur
Farra tamen veteres jaciebant, farra metebant; Primitias Cereri farra resecta dabant.— [F. ii. 513, 519-20.]
And so it is kept in Germany everywhere.
Nam modo verrebant nigras pro farre favillas; Nunc ipsas igni corripuere casas.— [F. ii. 523-4.]
Purgatorie.
Est honor et tumulis: animas placate paternas;
Parvaq' in extinctas munera ferte pyras. Parva petunt Manes: pietas pro divite grata est
Munere: non avidos Styx habet ima deos. Tegula projectis satis est velata coronis:
Et sparsae fruges, parcaq' mica salis:
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISMS. 11
Inque mero mollita Ceres, violeeq' solutse :
Haec habeat media testa relicta via. Nee majora veto: sed et his placabilis umbra est.
Adde preces positis et sua verba focis. Hunc morem JEneas, pietatis idoneus auctor,
Attulit in terras, juste Latine, tuas. Ille patris Genio solennia dona ferebat ;
Hinc populi ritus edidicere pios. — [F. ii. 533-546.]
*****
Vix equidem credo: bustis exisse feruntur,
Et tacitee questi tempore noctis avi. Perq' vias Urbis, Latosq' ululasse per agros
Deformes animas, vulgus inane, ferunt. Post ea prseteriti tumulis reddunturhonores;
Prodigiisq' venit funeribusq' modus. — [F. ii. 551-556.] * * * # #
Nunc animse tenues, et corpora functa sepulchris
Errant; nunc posito pascitur umbra cibo. Nee tamen hoc ultra, quam quum [tot] de mense supersint
Luciferi, quot habent carmina nostra pedes. — [F. ii. 565-568.]
Childrens teeth burnt.
When Children shaled their Teeth the women use to wrap, or put salt about the tooth, and so throw it into a good fire. The above-mentioned Cramer saith that in Germany, in his native Country, some women will bid their Children to take the Tooth, which is fallen or taken out, and goe to a dark corner of the house or Parlour, and cast the same into it thereby saying these words :
Mouse 1 Here I give the a tooth of bone,
But give thou me an Iron-on
(or Iron Tooth), beleeving, that another good tooth will grow in its place.
Tyeing the tongues of foes with a charme.
Ecce anus in mediis residens annosa puellis,
Sacra facit Tacitae: vix tamen ipsa tacet. Et digitis tria thura tribus sub limine ponit,
Qua brevis occultum mus sibi fecit iter. Turn cantata tenet [ligat] cum f usco licia plumbo [rhombc] ,
Et septem nigras versat in ore fabas. — [F. ii. 571-576.]
12 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
When I was a boy a charme was used for (I think) keeping away evill spirits ; wh was to say thrice in a breath,
Three blew Beanes in a blew bladder, Battle, bladder, rattle.
Quodq' pice adstrinxit, quod acu traiecit aena,
Obsutnm msense torret in igne caput: Vina quoque instillat: vini quodcumq' relictum est,
Aut ipsa, aut comites, plus tamen ipsa, bibjt. Hostiles linguas inimicaq' vinximus [ora]
Dicit discedens, ebriaq' exit anus. — [F. ii. 577-582.]
There is, in some corners of this Nation some trick or charme against an ill tongue, or (as they terme it) labouring under an ill tongue, wch quaere. Mchn. in Mr. Lillies Astrologies there is
a Receipt for it, Take Populeam, &c [See Miscellanies,
p. 139.]
[Day-fatality.*]
Some peculiar daies fatal to particular persons, as Matthew Paris observes of Thomas Becket, Abp. of Canterbury : —
Nescitur quomodo rerum prsesagio vel eventu contigerit, quod multa beato Thomae die Martis mirabilia contigerunt. Die enim Martis scilicet die Thomae
Apostoli natus extitit [Bene in mundum intravit die Martis contra Dia-
bolum praeliaturus: Mars enim secundum Poetas, Deus belli nuncupatur] .... Die Martis sederunt Principes apud Northamptonam et adversus cum loqua- bantur. Actus est die Martis in exilum. Die Martis apparuit ei Dominus apud Pontiniacum dicens: Thoma, Thoma, Ecclesia mea glorificabitur in sanguine tuo. Die insuper Martis reversus est ab exilio. Martyrii quoq' palmam die Martis est adeptus .... Venerabile corpus ejus die Martis gloriam translationis sus- cepit.— Sub An. 1169, p. 116.
Oliver Cromwell obtained his two greatest victories at Dunbar and Worcester on Septemb. 3, and died on that day An. 1658. — [W.K.]
Et vigilant nostra semper in aede Lares.— [F. ii. 616.]
Quare if in Ireland or Scotland there is any resemblance of the Lares, or of any worship to 'em.
1 [This is treated of at length in Miscellanies, pp. 1-24: see also p. 63.— ED.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 1 3
Charistia : aryaTrai : Love Feasts.
Diis generis date thura bonis. Concordia fertur
Illo praecipue mitis adesse die. Et libate dapes: ut grati pignus amoris,
Nutriat intinctos missa patella cibos. Jamq' ubi suadebit placidos nox ultima somnos,
Parca precaturae snmite vina maims.— [F. ii. 631-636.]
Drinking good healths and y* King's health.
Et bene vos, patriae, bene, te pater, optime Caesar, Dicite suffuso, per sacra verba, mero. — [F. ii. 637-8.]
Bounds, mere-stones, and Perambulations.
Termine, sive lapis, sive es defossus in agro
Stipes ab antiquis, sic quoq' numen habes. — [F. ii. 641-2.] Conveniunt, celebrantq' dapes vicinia simplex;
Et cantant laudes, Termine sancte, t^as.— [F. ii. 657-8.]
**** Et seu vomeribus, sen tu pulsabere rastris, Clamato, Meus est hie ager, ille tuus. — [F. ii. 677-8.]
.... [an] veris praenuncia venit hirundo? — [F. ii. 853.] One swallow makes no spring.1
LIBER III. MARCH, a
Annus erat, decimum cum Luna repleverat orbem.
Hie numerus magno tune in honore fuit. Seu quia tot digiti, per quos numerare solemus:
Seu quia bis quino foamina mense parit. Seu quod ad usq' decem numero crescente venitur;
Principium spatiis sumitur inde novis.— [F. iii. 121-126.] ***** Assuetos igitur numeros servavit in anno.
Hoc luget spatio fcemina moesta virum.— [F. iii. 133-4.]
The vulgar in the West of England doe call the month of March, Lide. A proverbiall ryhthme —
" Eate Leekes in Lide, and Ramsins in May, And all the yeare after Physitians may play."
[For this proverb in other languages see Mr. Swainson's "Weather Folk- Lore," p. 14— ED.]
14 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
Julius Caesar.
Ille moras Solis, quibus in sua signa rediret,
Traditur exactis disposuisse notis. Is decies senos trecentum et quinq' diebus
Junxit, et e pleno tempera [quarta] die. — [F. iii. 161-164.]
Faunus and Picus.
Di sumus agrestes, et qui dominemur in altis Montibus. . . .— [F. iii. 315-6.]
Robin Goodfellow. Mr. Lane: Moorehouse. [See pp. 81, 86.]
Weddings out [see p. 18].
Nubere siqua voles, quamvis properabitis ambo,
Differ: habent pame commoda magna morse.— [F. iii. 393-4.]
Terms of the Law.
" Conjugium Adventus prohibet, Hilariq' relaxat. Septuaginta vetat, sed Pascha? octava reducet; Rogatio vetitat, concedit Trina potestas."
Drinking Healths.
annosq' precantur
Quot sumant cyathos; ad numerumq' bibunt. — [F. iii. 531-2.]
So Martial [i. 72]:
Nsevia sex cyathis, septem Justina bibatur. Ilia, levi mitra canos incincta capillos, Fingebat tremula rustica liba manu. — [F. iii. 669-70.]
We use Cymnells in Lent (wch is in March) and Wafers and March-paines, id est March-bread.
Canonization of J. Caesar.
Ipsa virum rapui, simulacraq' nuda reliqui,
Quee cecidit f erro, Csesaris umbra f uit. Ille quidem coelo positus Jovis atria vidit;
Et tenet in Magno templa dicata Foro.-*[F, iii. 701-704.]
REMAINS OF GENT1LISME AND JUDAISMS. 15
A liars.
Ante tuos ortus arse sine honore fuerunt,
Liber, et in gelidis herba reperta focis. Te memorant, Gange totoq' Oriente subacto,
Primitias magno seposuisse Jovi. Cinnama tu primus captivaque thura, dedisti,
Deq' triumphato viscera tosta bove. Nomine ab auctoris ducunt Libamina nomen,
Libaq' : quod sacris pars datur inde focis. Liba Deo fiunt : succis quia dulcibus ille
Gaudet, et a Baccho mella reperta ferunt. — [F. iii. 727-736.]
*****
CymbaUs.
Jamq' erat ad Khodopen Pangseaq' flumina ventum :
Aerifere comitum concrepuere manus. Ecce novae coeunt volucres, tinnitibus actas,
Quosq' movent sonitus aera, sequuntur apes. Colligit errantes, et in arbore claudit inani
Liber: et inventi praemia mellis habet. — [F. iii. 739-744.]
Beating brasse-pannes, &c., when Bees doe swarme, wch cus- tome is still observed.
Minerva ye Patronesse of Scholars, Shoemakers, Diers, &c: So S1 Luke for Painters, S1 Crispine for Shoemakers, &c.
LIB. IIII. APRIL. Tabors, hence Drummes.
• prisciq' imitamina facti Aera Deae comites raucaq' terga movent.— [F. iv. 211-12.]
In Herefordshire, &c. parts of the Marches of Wales, the Tabor and pipe were exceeding common : many Beggars begd with it : and the Peasants danced to it in the Churchyard on Holydayes and Holyday-eves.
The Tabor is derived from the Sistrum of the Romans (who had it from the ) (sc. a brazen or Iron Timbrel). Crotalum a Ring of Brass struck with an Iron rod : as we play now with the Key and Tongues.1
1 [See Appendix.]
16 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
Recieving of Sortes. The lot is from the Lord.— Proverbs, ch. 16, v. 33, and chap. 18, v. 18.
Usus abest Veneris: nee fas animalia mensis Ponere: nee digitis annulus ullus [in]est. — F. iv. 657-8.]
Sampson's Foxes.
Utque luat poenas gens hsec, cerealibus ardet: Quoq' modo segetes perdidit, ille perit. — [F. iv. 711-2.]
Fire-Ordeale. Certe ego transilui positas ter in ordine flammas.--[F. iv. 727.]
Holy-ivater-sprinkle. Udaq' [virgaque] roratas laurea misit aquas. — [F. iv. 728.]
Perfumes offered to ye Gods. I, pete virginea populus suffimen ab ara. — [F. iv. 731.] *****
Sanguis equi suffimen erit, vituliq' favilla:
Tertia res, durae culmen inane fabae. Pastor, oves saturas ad prima crepuscula lustret
Uda prius spargat, virgaq' verrat humum. Frondibus et fixis decorentur ovilia ramis;
Et tegat ornatas longa corona fores. Coerulei fiant puro de sulfure fumi;
Tactaq' fumanti sulfure balet ovis.— [F. iv. 733-740.]
*****
Silvicolam tepido lacte precare Palen. Consule, die. pecori pariter pecorisq' magistris: Effugiat stabulis noxa repulsa meis. — [F. iv. 746-8.]
So on Marsfield-downe and thereabout, at night they prayd to God & Sfc Oswald to keep the sheep safe in ye Fold : & in the morning they prayed to God and S1 Oswald to .... [See p. 27.]
Haec ubi castarum processit ab agmine matrum,
Et manibus puris fluminis hausit aquam, Ter caput irrorat, ter tollit in aethera palmas. — [F. iv. 313-315.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 17
Britannos vero prae Diis aliis Cererem et Proserpinam (quae et Isis dicitur) inferna coluisse numina Strabo perhibet. Hinc infernales sui ritus et nocturna sacra. Nox diem ducit, et per noctes, dierum seriem ; per lunas, mensium ; per hyemes, an- norum numerant. Sic hodie Sevennight pro vii. diebus, a fortenighte quasi fourteen night pro xiv. diebus dicimus/ Et majores nostri xx, xxx, Ix. winters pro totidem annis recitabunt ; hyemem autem ideo conferrabant infernalibus, quod rerum semina sub hoc tempore ab eisdem existimabant conservari. — Spelmani [cfr. Grlossarium, 428, s. v. Nodes]. [W. K.]
Cheese-fats.
Dentq' viam liquido vimina rara sero.— [F. iv. 770.]
et nos faciamus ad annum
Pastorum dominae grandia liba Pali. — [F. iv. 775-6.]
Praying towards ye East.
haec tu conversus ad ortus
Die ter et in vivo prolue rore manus.— [F. iv. 777-8.]
Purgation.
Omnia purgat edax ignis, vitiumq' metallis Excoquit: idcirco cum duce purgat oves.— [F. iv. 785-6.]
Burning of the dead.
Arsurosq' artus unxit (sc. Komuli). — [F. iv. 853.J Ultima plorato subdita flamma rogo. — [F. iv. 856.]
White Surplisses. Obstitit in media Candida turba via,— [F. iv. 906.]
Praeambulation. sc. Rubigalia.
Nee venti tantum Cereri nocuere, nee imbres;
Nee sic marmoreo pallet adusta gelu; Quantum, si culmos Titan incalfacit udos:
Turn locus est irae, diva timenda, tuae.— [F. iv. 917-920].
0
18 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME,
LIB. V. MAY.
Praestitibus Maiae laribus videre Kalendae Aram constitui, signaque parva Deum. — [F. v. 129-130.]
May-day, S St. Philip and Jacob, sc. 1 May.
Mater, ades, florum, ludis celebranda jocosis;
Distuleram partes mense priore tuas. Incipis April! : transis in tempora Maii.
Alter te fugiens, cum venit alter, habet.— [F. v. 183-186.]
In fastigio Turris Collegii S. Magdalenae Oxoii, Ministri istius Sodalitii chorales, annuatim de more, prime die Maij ad horam quartam matutinam melodice cantant. Ant. a Wood, Historia & Antiquitates Oxo lib. ii. p. 211.
'Tis commonly sayd, in Germany, that the Witches doe meet in the night before the first day of May upon an high Mountain, called the Blocks-berg, situated in Ascanien, where they together with the Devils doe dance, and feast, and the common People doe the night before ye said day fetch a certain thorn, and stick it at their house-door, believing the witches can then doe them no harm.
Mchn. at Oxford the Boyes doe blow Cows horns & hollow Caxes all night ; and on May-day day the young maids of every parish carry about their parish Garlands of Flowers, wch after- wards they hang up in their Churches.
Commons fy Forests.
Venerat in morem popnli depascere saltus:
Idq" din licuit, poenaq' nulla fuit. Vindice servabat nullo sna publica vulgus:
Jamq' in private pascere inertis erat. — [F. v. 283-286.]
Serenades^
Ebrins ad durum formosae limen amicae
Cantat: habent nnctae mollia serta comae.— [F. v. 339-340.]
Diriges, or Masses for ?/e Dead.
Kitus erit veteris, nocturna Lemuria, sacri : Inferias tacitis Manibus ilia dabunt.— [F. v. 421-422.]
1 V. Ovid, de Arte Amandi, lib.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISMS. 19
Sinne-eaters [see p. 33].
Jam tamen extincto cineri sua dona ferebant;
Compositiq' nepos busta piebat avi. — [F. v. 425-6.]
*****
Signaq' dat digitis medio cum pollice junctis;
Occurrat tacito ne levis umbra sibi. Terq' manus puras fontana perluit unda;
Vertitur, et nigras accipic ore fabas. Aversusq' jacit: seel dum jacit, Haec ego mitto;
His, inquit, redimo meq' meosq' fabis. Hoc novies dicit, nee respicit: umbra putatur
Colligere, et nullo terga vidente sequi. — [F. v. 433-440.]
Holy-water^ fy Power of Bells. Eursus aqua tangit, Temesaeaq' concrepat aera. — [F. v. 441.]
Ghosts.
Mandantem amplecti cupiunt et brachia tendunt. Lubrica prensantes effugit umbra manus. — [F. v. 475-6.]
Weddings out [see p. 13],
Nee viduae taedis eadem, nee virginis apta
Tempora: quae nupsit, non diuturna fuit. Hac quoq' de causa, si te proverbia tangunt,
Mense malum Maio nubere vulgus ait. — [F. v. 487-490.]
\TlieHoly Mawle.]1 An old Countrie Story.
Corpora post decies senos qui credidit annos Missa neci; sceleris crimine damnat avos. — [F. v. 623-4.]
The Holy-mawle, wch (the}7 fancy) hung behind the Church dore, wch when the father was seaventie the sonne might fetch, to knock his father in the head, as effoete, & of no more use.
Rob. Sharrock's 'TTrofccn? 'H0 . 216.
Pomp. Mela, lib. 3, cap. de India. 7. Lex erat Sardose, ut filii patres jam senio confectos fustibus caederent, et interemptos sepelirent. Ratio legis haec subteritur : 'Aia^pbv yap K\,,
1 [See Appendix.]
c2
20 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
"Absurdum enim ducebant senectute confractum ulterius vivere, quod labatur, ex multa perperam faciat corpus senectute confractum et maceratum."— JElian, lib. 4. Var. Hist. c. 1.
Atq> hanc ipsam sententiam confirmat pulchella qua extat apud Herodotum Historia, Thalia, lib. 3, num. 28.
This old story of the Holy-mawle, no doubt, was derived from the aforesayd histories: but disguised (after the old fashion) with the Romancy-way.
Holy-water-sprinckle. Uda fit hinc laurus.— [F. v. 677.]
LIB. VI. JUNE.
Altars, & Altar-tables.
Ante focos olim longis considers scamnis Mos erat; et mensae credere adesse deos. — [F. vi. 305-6.]
Old way of Baking , e.g. amongst y* poor in Herefs. fy Wales.
Suppositum cineri panem focus ipse parabat; Strataq' erat tepido tegula quassa solo. — [F. vi. 315-6.]
Immuring of Nunnes.
viva defodietur humo.
Sic incesta perit: quia, quam violavit, in illam Conditur: et Tellus Vestaq' mimen idem est. — [F. vi. 458-60.]
Omens.
Non ego te, quamvis properabis vincere, Caesar,
Si vetat auspicium, signa movere velim.— [F. vi. 763-4.]
So if a Hare crosseth the way ; or one stumble at the threshold goeing-out : it is still held ominous among some countrey people.
Pipes : hence Organs in Churches.
Me thinks St. Augustin was too straight-laced in not liking Organs in Churches: because it was Jewish: no good conse- quence. See Dr. Sanderson's Sermon, II. ad Aulam, § 25, Vol. i. and sermon
Cantabit Fanis, cantabat tibia ludis: Cantabat moestis tibia funeribus.— [F. vi. 659-60.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 21
Yorkshire Minstrels, e. g. Rayer, Founder of St. Bartholomews
Hospital.
Dulcis erat mercede labor
Irish howlings at Funeralls, also in Yorkshire within these 70 year es (1688).
Praeficae mulieres ad lamentandum conductae v Plauti, et notas Jan.
Douzae.1
Ducit supremos Naenia nulla toros. — [F. vi. 668.]
(sc. after their banishment.)
'Tis a great pity that Ovid had not lived, to have finished the other six moneths ; wherby a great deale of curious Antiquity is losst.
Of Whistling.
Mdm. The seamen will not endure to have one whistle on ship- board: believing that it rayses winds. On Malvern-hills, in Worcestershire, &c., thereabout when they fanne their Corne, and want wind, they cry Youle ! Youle ! Youle ! to invoke it, wch word (no doubt) is a corruption of ^Eolus (ye God of ye Winds).
This ye above sd Cramer affirmes to be don likewise in Ger- many. He being once upon the River Elbe, begun accidentally to whistle, which the Watermen presently disliked, and would have him rather to forbeare.
Altars.
Hosea, ch. iv. v. 13. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountaines, and burn incense upon the hills under oakes, and poplars, and elms, because the shadow thereof is good.
Psalm 78, v. 59. For they grieved him with their Hill-altars, and provoked him to displeasure with their Images. The Altars many times, in processe of time, became Temples ; for, unles it had been at first on such an account, one would wonder to see
1 [The reference is to Truculent!, Act ii. sc. 6, 1. 14. See note in ed. Delph.]
22 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISMS.
on how high places severall of our churches are placed, e. g. W. AVickham. in Bucks, Wierflowe [Winterflow] in Wilts, and Pertwood, &c. In the infancy of Xpian religion, they kept the old Temples with a new worship, as also ye old Festivalls with a new Xpian name. I remember my honoured friend Sr AV. Dugdale, told me his Remarque, viz. that most churches dedicated to S* Michael either stood on high ground, or els had a very high Tower or steeple, as at Sl Michael's ch: in Cornhill. The Chapelle on Glastonbury Torre is dedicated to S* Michael. So that of Sfc Michaels Mount in Cornwall, and I think in Bretiagne, in France.1
Thunder.
In time of Thunder they invoke S* Barbara. So Sr Geof: Chaucer speaking of ye great Hostesse, when she did f — t, her ghests would cry S* Barbara when she lett off her Gun (ginne) . They did ring ye great Bell at Malmesbury-abbey (called Sfc Adelm's Bell) to drive away Thunder and Lightning. The like is yet used at ye Abbey of Sfc Germans, in Paris, where they ring the great Bell there.2 In Herefordshire, &c. : they lay a piece of Iron on the Barrell to keepe it from sowring.3 The like is don in Germany in laying steel upon or at it.
Bride-cakes: and breaking the Cake over the head of y* Bride.
Plin. [Nat. Hist.] xviii., 3. Quin et in sacris nil religiosius confarreationis vinculo erat: novaeq' nuptae farreum praeferebant.
Confarreatio genus erat sacrificii inter virum et uxorum, in signum firmissimae conjunctionis ; diffarreatio contra.
AVhen I was a little boy (before the Civill warres) I have seen (according to the custome then) the Bride and Bride-groome kisse over the Bride-cakes at the Table : it was about the later end of dinner: and ye cakes were layd one upon another, like the picture of the Sew-bread in ye old Bibles. The Bride-groome wayted all Dinner.
1 [See Appendix.]
2 [See Miscellanies, p. HI, and Nat. Hist. Wilts., p. 76.]
3 [" This is a common practice in Kent." Miscellanies, p. 140.]
OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
23
in Zerbst the Bridegroom waiteth all dinner time. At Basel in Helvetia, a kind of bread or cake is presented to the Bridegroome comming out of Church at the doore of his house before he cntres, the Man y* presenteth it, breaketh of a bit, which the Bridegroome receiveth and eateth it. [W. K.]
Soule-cakes.
In Salop, &c. die omm Animarum (All-Soules-day Novemb. 2d) there is sett on the Board a high heap of Soule-cakes, lyeing one upon another like the picture of the Sew-Bread in the old Bibles. They are about the bignesse of 2d cakes, and n'ly all the visitants that day take one ; and there is an old Rhythm or saying,
A Soule-cake, a Soule-cake,
Have mercy on all Christen soules for a Soule-cake.
This custome is continued to this time. This putts me in mind of the Feralia diet, a ferendis ad tumulum epulis : id quod forant [ferunt ?] tune epulas ad sepulchrum quibus jus ibi parentare. Feralia deum manium dies in Febr. Had Ovid continued his Fastorum to Novemb: in probability we should have found such a kind of custome used at that time sc. Novemb: 2d.
Mdm. Seed-cakes, for the Ploughmen, after Sowing is donne; I thinke, All- Saints' night, or Eve. Also Cakes at Home-harvest.
Offertories at funeralls.
These are mentioned in the Kubrick of yc ch. of Engl. Cofnon- Prayer-booke : but I never sawe it used, but once at Beaumaris, in Anglesey ; but it is used over all the Counties of North- Wales. But before when the corps is brought out of Doores, there is Cake & Cheese, and a new Bowie of Beere, and another of Milke with ye Anno Dni ingraved on it, & ye parties name deceased, wch one accepts of on the other side of ye Corps ; & this Custome is used to this day, 1686, in North Wales,1 where a small tablet or board is fixt near the Altar, upon wch the friends of ye defunct lay their offerings in mony according to their own ability and the quality of the person deceased. This custom proves a very
1 [From this to the end of the paragraph is added by Dr. Kennett.— ED.]
24 KEMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISMS.
happy augmentation to some of the very poor vicars, and is often the best part of their maintenance.
Sinne-eaters.
It seems a remainder of this custom wch lately obtained at Amersden, in the county of Oxford, where at the burial of every corps one cake and one flaggon of Ale just after the interrment were brought to the minister in the Ch. porch. W. K.
Of casting or drawing Lots.
Pro. 26, 33, the lot is cast into the lap ; but the whole. ,, 18, 18, the lot causeth contention to cease.
Mat. 27, 35, parted his garment casting lots.
When I was a Boy in North Wilts (before ye Civill-warres) the mayd-servants were wont at night (after supper) to make smoothe, the Ashes on the Hearth, and then to make streakes on it with a stick ; such a streake signified privately to her that made it such an unmarried man, such a one such a mayd : the like for men. Then the men and the mayds were to choose by this kind of way, their Husbands and wifes : or by this divination to know whom they should marry. The maydes I remember were very fond of this kind of Magick, wch is clearly a Branch of Geomantie. Now the Rule of Geomantie is, that you are not to goe about your divination, but wth a great deale of seriousnes, and also prayers ; and to be performed in a very private place; or on the sea shore.
See . . . . de Pisis or Cattan's Geomantie : who affirme that the points being thus duly sett downe, it is ^equivalent to a Scheme sett to a Horary Question.
This way of chusing valentines by making little furrows in the Ashes and imposing such and such names on each line or furrow is practist in Kent and many other parts. W. K.
In Germany at night before Christmas many sinfull things in some places are donn by young Maids, or Men. e. g. a mayd washeth her feet in a brazen bason, & afterwards throwes out the water, and placeth it in any place, and hearknes to it, by this she will know, what manner of Man the future husband will bee,
REMAINS OF GENTIL1SME AND JUDAISMS.
25
when she heareth scribling, she taketh it, that he will be a scholar, or scrivener, if she heares sewing a Taylor, or Shoemaker &c. Some lay themselves backward at the oven, and hold their hand in it, to get an hair, if the hair is black or whithe, or of any other colour, such haires their future husband will have. Yea, as some say, maids will keep a peece of meat at the first and three following Ad vent- Sundays, and at 12 a clok at night before Christmas doe lay the Table Cloth, and sett up the sd meat, without laying on it any knif : then say, Here I sit and would fain eat, if my sweetheart would come and bring me a knif, where upon a ghost in shape of a man presenteth her with a knife, & such a one her future husband will bee.
Another Remainder of Greomancy to divine whether such a one will returne this night or no, is by the sheath of a knife, wch one holds at ye great end with his two fore fingers, & saves he comes, then slips downe his upper finger under his lower, & then the lower under that & sayes, he comes not, and sic deinceps till he is come to the bottome of his sheath, wch gives the Answer. Like unto this is that of Jonathan's shooting three arrowes, &c. : See Samuel, chap. xx. v. 17, which read to the end.
So in Germany the S[c]hool boys practise, when the School- master stayes longer, than he useth to doe, they take a book and open it in the midst, at some part after the beginning or most at end, and then they begin with the first leaf of the book to say, he comes, with the second the schoolmaster comes not, with the third leaf again he comes, till they come to the last leaf, where they first opened the book, and thereby they believe he will come, or not at all.
The magick of the Sive and Sheeres, (I thinke) is in Virgil's Ecglogues : The Sheers are stuck in a Sieve, and two maydens hold up ye sieve with the top of their fingers by the handle of the shiers : then say, By S* Peter & Sl Paule such a one hath stoln (such a thing), the others say, By S* Peter & S* Paul He hath not stoln it. After many such Adjurations, the Sieve will turne at ye name of ye Thiefe.
Also I remember, the mayds (especially the Cooke mayds & Dayrymayds) would stick-up in some chirikes of the joists or &c. : Midsommer-men, wch are slips of Orpins, they placed them
26 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISMS.
by Paires, sc: one for such a man, the other for such a mayd his sweet-heart, and accordingly as the Orpin did incline to, or recline from ye other, that there would be love, or aversion ; if either did wither, death. — [See Appendix.]
So in Germany in the night before Christmas they take a trencher, and put upon it a little heap of salt, as big a walnut, more or lesse, for such and such a one, and for themselves too, and set it in a safe place, in the morning when they find the heap or heaps entire, all will live the following yeare, but if any or more are melted down a little, they take it y* the same man or woman will dye, for which it was designed.
\_0mens.~\
When a Magpie chatters on a Tree by the house it declares the comeing of a stranger thither that night. So I have heard in Germany.
" Saepe sinistra cava praedixit ab Ilice cornix." — Virgil.1
So likewise a Thiefe in the Candle.
If a Hare crosses ones way, they held it an unlucky Omen.
To stumble at ye Threshold (in ipso limine) is an old saying & held ominous. & unlucky, e. #., in Master Hobarts Tale in Spencer, before the Fox stole the Kid.
[Here follow the lines from Ovid Fast. lib. i. 178-80, already given at p. 8.]
[Customs."]
It was a Custome for some people that were more curious than ordinary, to sitt all night in the church porch of their Parish on midsomer-eve (i) S* John Baptist's eve ; and they should see the apparitions of those that should die in the parish that yeare come and knock at the dore : and still in many places on S* Johns night they make Fires, (i) Bonfires, on ye Hills, &c. : but the Civil warres comeing on have putt all these Rites, or cus- tomes quite out fashion. Warres doe not only extinguish Reli- gion & Lawes : but Superstition : & no suffimen is a greater fugator of Phantosmes, than gunpowder.
1 [This should run, " Ante sinistra cava monuisset ab ilice cornix." — Virg. Eel. ix. 15.— ED.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISMS. 27
When children did shalle to they rubbed Salt up°n
it, and then threw it into the fire (and also for the Teeth of old people). [See p. 10.]
On Sl Stephens day the Farrier came constantly and blouded
all j !• Cart-horses, &c. So in Germany. Cramer.
\_Horseshoe and Witches.~\
A Horse-shoe nailed on the threshold of ye dore is yet in fashion : and no where more than in London : it ought (Mr. Lilly sayes) to be a Horse-shoe that one finds by chance on the Roade. The end of it is to prevent the power of Witches, that come into your house. $ is 8 to ^ sc. to Witches.
So in Germany ye common people doe naile such an Horse- shoe on the Threshold of the doore. So neere the main-mast in ships ..... [See Miscellanies, p. 140.]
Mat. Nayler was advised by the Wizard of Feversh. in Kent to leap three times over a small running streame, to prevent her being taken, when she escaped out of prison. Something like this in Ovid's Fastor :
manibus puram fluminis hausit aquam,
Ter caput irrorat, ter tollit ad aethera palmas.
Ovid's Fastor. lib. iv. [314-5.]
& then she makes her imprecations. — [See p. 9.]
[Music at Meals, .]
In Wales, the Gentlemen have their Harpers, who play to them at Dinner & supper : and so have the Irish. 'Tis & old Cus- tome derived from the Trojans (Brute) who came hither, v. Tho : Walsingham de hoc, &c., who sayes, that it was about ye time of ye Prophet Samuel ; he acquainted ye Pope, that upon a carefull search of ancient Records he found that the Britons are descended from the Trojans about ye time of Samuel. In like manner, Evander and also Hercules came out of Greece into Italie ; but the many Greeke words that remain in the British language (more than Latin from the Romans being here) doe
28 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
sufficiently evidence that the Greekes had here Colonies or &c. Homer, in lora of his Odysseus (Ulysses), comends the use of musique at meales.
Ov yap tywye ri (^rjfil rtXof ^apikarepov elvai r\ orav ivtypcxrvvrj p,kv ?%»; Kara dfjfiov uiravra^ dairvfjioveg 6' ava du>/*ar' aKova^vrai aotdov rjfjievoi f^etjjf, Trupa fir) TrXrjOuiffi dirov Kal
A receipt to cure a horse of being Hag-ridden.
Take Bittersweet, and Holly, and twist them together, and hang it about the Horses neck like a Garland : it will certainly cure him. probat.
In the West of England (& I beleeve, almost everywhere in this nation) the Carters, & Groomes, & Hostlers doe hang a flint (that has a hole in it) over horses that are hagge-ridden for a Preservative against it.— 1[See Miscellanies, p. 140.]
Fairies.
"Y&m 5* \v p,sffffo) vvfity
Nv/40ai a/coijUJfroi, deivai Beat
Theocritus, Idyllium xiii. [43-44.] Within, the nymphes, the ladies of ye plaines, The watchfull nymphs that dance, & fright the swains.
\_SignsofLying.~]
'Eyo» ds at rbv ^a\6v aivz&v ^TevSea pivbg inrepQev dpairjg OVK ava<f>vab).
Theocrit., Idyllium xii. [23-24.] Tell-tale blisters rise, and gall thy tongue.
, This was doctrine when I was a little boy [and is so now. — ED.]
[Prayers to Saints.] From my old cosen Ambrose Brown [of Winterborne- Basset.']
Old Symon Brunsdon of Winterborne Basset, in Wilts : he had been parish-clarke there tpe. Mariae Eeginae. The Tutelar Saint of that Church is Saint Katharine ; he lived downe till the
KEMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISMS. 29
beginning of King James the first : when the Gad-flye had hap- pened to sting his Oxen, or Cowes, and made them to run-away in that Champagne-countrey, he would run after them, crying out, Praying, Good Saint Katharine of Winterborne stay my oxen, Good Sl Katharine of Winterborne stay my Oxen, &c. This old Brunsdon was wont in the summer-time to leave his Oxen in the field, and goe to the church to pray to Saint Katha- rine. By that time he came back to his oxen perhaps the Gadfly might drive them away, upon such an occasion he would cry out to St. Kath. as is already here sayd. We must not imagine, that he was the only man that did so heretofore ; and the like Invocations were to other Saints and Martyrs, e. g. at S* Oswald's-Downe and Forde-downe, &c. thereabout the Shepherds prayd at night & at morning to Sfc Oswald (that was martyred there) to preserve their Sheepe safe in the fold. S* Oswald was slayne by Penda on the great downe east of Marsfield in Glocestershire as you ride to Castlecombe from whence it is called Sfc Oswald's-downe : in these parts, nay as far as Auburne-chase (and perhaps a great deale further) when they pent their sheep in ye Fold, they did pray to God & Sfc Oswald to bring the sheep safe to ye Fold : and in the morning, they did pray to God & Saint Oswald, to bring their sheep safe from ye Fold. The countrey folk call St. Oswald St. Twosole.
In those dayes, when they went to bed, they did rake up their fire and make a K£< in the Ashes, and pray to God and Saint Sythe (i) St. Osythe to deliver them from fire, and from water and from all misadventure.
When the bread was putt into the Oven, they prayed to God & Saint Stephen, to send them a just Batch and an even.
[Fairies.']
They were wont to please the Fairies, that they might doe them no shrewd turnes, by sweeping clean the Hearth and setting
by it a dish of fair wr [water] halfe sadd bread,
wheron was set a messe of milke sopt with white bread. And on the morrow they should find a groate of wch the .... if they did speak of it they never had any again. That they
30 EEMAINS OF GENT1LISME AND JUDAISMS.
would churne the creame &c. Mri8 H., of Hereford had as many groates, or 3ds this way as made a little silver cup or bowl, of (I thinke) 3lbs value, wch her daughter preserves still.
That the Fairies would steale away young children and putt others in their places ; verily believed by old woemen of those dayes : and by some yet living.
Some were led away by the Fairies, as was a Hind riding upon Hakpen with corne, led a dance to ye Devises. So was a shep- herd of Mr. Brown, of Winterburn- Basset : but never any afterwards enjoy themselves. He sayd that ye ground opened, and he was brought into strange places underground, where they used musicall Instruments, violls, and Lutes, such (he sayd) as Mr. Thomas did play on.
And in Germany old women tell the like stories received from their Ancestors, that a Water-monster, called the Nickard, does enter by night the chamber, where a woman is brought to bed, and stealeth when they are all sleeping, the the new-born child and supposeth another in its place, which child growing up is like a monster and commonly dumb. The remedy whereof that the Mother may get her own child again. The mother taketh the Supposititium, and whipps it so long with the rod till the saied monster, the Nickard bringes the Mothers own child again & takes to himself the Supposititium which they call Wexel balg.
[Funeral Customs."]
From Mr. Mawtese, in whose father's youth, sc. about 60 years since (now 1686), at country vulgar Funeralls was sung this song.
At the funeralls in Yorkeshire, to this day, they continue the custome of watching & sitting-up all night till the body is interred. In the interim some kneel downe and pray (by the corps), some play at cards, some drink & take Tobacco : they have also Mimicall playes and sports, e. #., they choose a simple young fellow to be a Judge, then the Suppliants (having first blacked their hands by rubbing it under the bottome of the Pott), beseech his Lop: [Lordship] and smutt all his face. They play likewise at Hott-cockles.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 3l
Esse aliquid manes, et subterranea regna, Et contum, et Stygio ranas in gurgite nigras, Atque una transire vadum tot millia cymba.
Juvenal, Satyr II. [149—151].
The beliefe in Yorkeshire was amongst the vulgar (phaps is
in part still), that after the persons death the soule went over
( ~\ (\ i fi~i Whinny-moore,1 and till about •! -, fi2A > at the Funerall a woman
came (like a Praefica) and sang the following song : —
This ean night, this can night,
every night and awle : Eire and Fleet2 and Candle-light
and Christ recieve thy Sawle.
When thou from hence doest pass away
every night and awle To Whinny-moor 1 thou comest at last
and Christ recieve thy silly poor sawle.
If ever thou gave either hosen or shun3
every night and awle Sitt thee downe and putt them on
and Christ recieve thy sawle.
But if hosen nor shoon thou never gave nean 4
every night, &c: The Whinnes shall prick thee to the bare beane
and Christ recieve thy sawle.
From Whinny-moor that thou mayst pass
every night &c: To Brig o' Dread thou comest at last
and Christ &c:
From Brig of Dread that thou mayest pass
no brader than a thread
every night &c : To Purgatory fire thou com'st at last
and Christ &c:
1 Whin is a furze, 2 Water.
3 sc. There will be hosen and shoon for them.
4 Job, cap. xxxi. 19. If I have seen any perish for want of cloathing or any
poor without covering.
„ 20. If his loyns have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed
with the fleece of my sheep, &c.
32 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
If ever thou gave either Milke or drinke
every night &c: The fire shall never make thee shrink
and Christ &c :
But if milk nor drink thou never gave nean
every night &c : The Fire shall burn thee to the bare bene
and Christ recive thy Sawle.1
Omens.
The casuall falling of the salt at ye table towards one is by many (perhaps most) observed to be an ill omen to this day. — [See " Miscellanies," pp. 38-48, for a chapter on Omens.]
Amulets.
Fascinum: ponitur pro veretro (obscoena viri parte). Fascinus vel fascinum veretrum diet, quod depelleret fascinationes itaq' pro amuleto e collo pueris suspendebatur. — Yarro ad Scaligeri.
Mdm. In the digging of the Ruines & foundations of London (after the great Conflagration) there were found severall little Priapusses of Copper about an inch long, wch the Romans did weare about their necks, for the reason above alleged. Elias Ashmole Esq. hath some of them amongst his
Fontanalia (fy Fontinalia) Fest.
A fonte, quod is dies ferige ejus, ab eo autem tarn et in fontes coronas jaciunt & pueros coronant.
The Fellows of New-college in Oxford have time out of mind every Holy-thursday betwixt the houres of eight and nine gonne ' to ye Hospitall called Bart'lemews neer Oxford : where they retire into ye chapell, and certain prayers are read and an Antheme sung : from thence they goe to the upper end of yc • grove adjoyning to the chapell (the way being beforehand strewed with flowers by the poor people of ye Hospitall), they place them- selves round about the Well there, where they warble forth
melodiously a Song of three or 4, or 5 parts ; which being per-
. •
1 [See Appendix.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 33
formed, they refresh themselves with a mornings-draught there, and retire to Oxford before Sermon. A. WOOD.
Solemn Feasts about Wells.1 Fontium Sacra. This Custome is yearly observed at Droit-Wich in Worcester-
shire, where on the day of St. Richard the lp1 of
y° Well (i. e.) salt-well, they keepe Holyday, dresse the well with green Boughes and flowers. One yeare sc. A° 64, in the Presbyterian times it was discontinued in the Civil-warres ;
and after that the spring \ s ^ \ c or dried up for some
time. So afterwards they ^^f their annuall custome (not-
withstanding the power of yc Parliament and soldiers), and the salt-water returned again and still continues. This St. Richard was a person of great estate in these parts, and a briske young fellow that would ride over hedge and ditch, and at length became a very devout man, and after his decease was canonized for a Saint. See his life in an old printed booke in folio, in ye Librarie of Westminster Abbey.
Ad Fontem Bandusium.
Sacrificia fonti promittit, ejusq' amoenitate summopere comendat. O fons Bandusiae, splendidior vitro, Dulci digne mero, non sine floribus, Cras donaberis hsedo
Cui frons turgida cornibus Primis et Veuerem et praelia destinat, Frustra; nam gelidos inficiet tibi Rubro sanguine rivos
Lascivi soboles gregis. Te flagrantis atrox hora Caniculse Nescit tangere ; tu frigus amabile Fessis vomere tauris
Prsebes, et pecori vago. Fies nobilium tu quoque fontium Me dicente, oavis impositam ilicem Saxis, unde loquaces Lymphce desiliunt tuse.
Ilorat. Lib. III. Ode xiii.
1 [See Appendix.] D
34 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
In Processions, they used to read a Ghospell at the springs to blesse them, wch hath been dis-continued at Sunny- well in Bark- shire, but since 1688.
Near St. Clements at Oxford, was a spring (stopt up since the warres) where St. Edmund (A-B. [Archbishop] Cant.) did sometimes meet & converse with an Angel or Nymph: as Numa Pompilius did with Egeria. See Anth. Woods booke of this.
A prayer used when they went to Bed.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Bless the Bed that I lye on. And blessed Guardian- Angel keep Me safe from danger whilst I sleep.
I remember before ye civill warres, ancient people when they heard the clock strike, were wont to say, " Lord grant, that my last howre may be my best howre."
They had some pious ejaculation too, when the Cock did crow wch did putt them in mind of ye Trumpet at ye Eesurrection.
Home Harvests.
Festum primitiarum is Lamas.
Home Harvests are observed (more or lesse) in most Counties of England, e. g. South-Wilts, Heref. &c: when they bring home the last load of Corne ; it is donne with great joy and merri- ment : and a Fidler rides on the loaded Cart, or Wayne, playing : a Barrell of good Beer is provided for the Harvestmen, and some good Kustique cheer. This Custome (no doubt) is handed downe to us from the Romans : who after this manner celebrated their Cerealia (Sacra Cereris) instituted by Triptolemus.
Sheep-sheerings.
Sheep-sheerings, on the Downes in Wiltshire, and Hampshire &c: are kept with good Cheer, and strong beer : but (amongst other dishes) Furmetrie is one. The Fidler and Tabourer attended this Feaste.
The Romans had their Palilia vel Parilia, Palis Dese (Pas- torum) festa.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 35
Cockfighting at Shrovetide.
^Elianus in Iiis varia Historia speakes of Cock-fighting in his time, lib. ii. cap. 28. After their victorie over the Persians, the Athenians made a lawe, that Cocks should one day in the yeare be brought to fight in the Theatre, the occasion of which lawe was this. When Themistocles went forth with an Army of ye Citizens against the Barbarians, he saw some Cocks fighting, neither did he behold it slightly, but turning to the whole Army, These (sayd he) undertake this danger " neither for their Coun- trey, nor for their Countrey Gods, nor for the Monuments of their Ancestors, nor for Fame, Liberty, or Children ; but that they may not be worsted, or yield one to the other." With which words he encouraged the Athenians. This therefore, as that time was an occasion of inciting them to valour, he would have to be ever after had in remembrance.
Sinne-eaters. [See pp.. 18, 22.]
In the County of Hereford was an old Custome at funeralls to i ire j poor people, who were to take upon them all the sinnes of
the party deceased. One of them I remember lived in a cottage on Rosse-high way. (He was a long, leane, ugly, lamentable poor raskal.) The manner was that when the Corps was brought out of the house and layd on the Biere ; a Loafe of bread was brought out, and delivered to the Sinne-eater over the corps, as also a Mazar-bowle of maple (Gossips bowle) full of beer, wch he was to drinke up, and sixpence in money, in consideration whereof he tooke upon him (ipso facto) all the Sinnes of the Defunct, and freed him (or her) from walking after they were dead. This cus- tome alludes (methinkes) something to the Scape-goate in ye old Lawe. Leviticus, cap. xvi. verse 21, 22. "And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goate and confesse over him all ye iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their trans- gressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fitt man into the wildernesse. And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities, unto a land not inhabited : and he shall let the goat
D2
36 REMAINS OF GENT1LISME AND JUDAISME.
goe into the wildernesse." This Custome (though rarely used in our dayes) yet by some people was L^inued even *n *^e strictest time of ye Presbyterian goverment: as at Dynder,
kinred
volens nolens the Parson of ye Parish, the re}ations °f a woman deceased there had this ceremonie punctually performed according to her Will : and also the like was donne at ye City of Hereford in these times, when a woman kept many yeares before her death a Mazard-bowle for the Sinne-eater ; and the like in other places in this Countie ; as also in Brecon, e. g. at Llangors, where Mr. Gwin the minister about 1640 could no hinder ye performing of this ancient custome. I believe this custome was heretofore used over all Wales.
See Juvenal Satyr, vi. [519-521,] where he speakes of throwing purple thread into ye river to carry away ones sinne.
In North- Wales, the Sinne-eaters are frequently made use of; but there, insted of a Bowie of Beere, they have a bowle of Milke.
Methinkes, Doles to Poore people with money at Funeralls have some resemblance of that of ye Sinne-eater. Doles at Funeralls were continued at Gentlemens funeralls in the West of England till the Civil- warre. And so in Germany at rich mens funerals Doles are in use, and to every one a quart of strong and good Beer. — Cramer.
New Mooned
Coelo supinas si tuleris manus Nascente Luna, rustica Phidyle: &c.
Horat. lib. iii. Ode xxiii.
In Scotland (especially among the Highlanders) the woemen doe make a Curtsey to the New-moon ; I have known one in England doe it, and our English woemen in the Country doe retaine (some of them) a touch of this Gentilisme still, e. g.
"All haile to thee Moon, all haile to thee!
I prithee good Moon, declare to me, This night, who my Husband must be."
This they doe sitting astride on a gate or stile the first evening 1 [See Miscellanies, p. 132.]
REMAINS OF GENTIL1SME AND JUDAISME. 37
the new moon appeares. In Herefordshire &c. the vulgar people at the prime of the moon, say, 'tis a fine moon, God bless her.
v. Job, cap. 31, v. 26, 27. If I beheld the sun when it sinned, or the moon walking in brightness.
And my heart hath been secretly enticed or my mouth hath kissed my hand.
Sound a trumpet in the new-moon. — Psalme [Ixxxi. 3].
When I was a Boy before ye Civill warres 'twas the fashion to to kisse ones hand, and make a legge.
Tot pariter pelves, tot tintinnabula dicas Pulsari, &c.— Juvenal, Satyr, [vi. 441-2.]
" The wild Irish, or Welch, who during Eclipses run about beating &c. pans thinking their clamour & vexations availeable to the assistance of the higher orbes." — Osborn's Advice, p. 105.
Howselin receiving yc sacrament in the explanation of the hard words to Chaucer.
To Husle— a Saxon word.— T.G.
Putting-off of Hatts.
Helmet pulled off when spoke to Alexander. Q. Curtius in Engl. p. 402. [Quern (coenum) ut videre milities detrahentem galeam capiti (ita enim regem alloqui mos est), &c. Q. Curtii Rufii lib. ix. cap. iii. 4.]
Persius, Sat. v. 85 [82] :
"Haec mera Libertas; hoc nobis pilea donant."
Servi manu emissi raso capite a Domini s pileum libertatis insigne sumebant. — T. Farnaby.
" Vindicta postqnam meus a Praetore recessi." — [Pers. Sat. v. 88.]
The cropping short of ye Apprentices haire, seemes to be derived from the slavery of the Romans : now out of Fashion.
Reliquum e poculo ejecit.
Perhaps the Custome of the Beggars, throwing the remainder of drinke out of the Dish on the Ground, may be derived from an Ethnick sacrifice to Tellus (the Earth), Gratitudinis ergo.
38 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
David longing to drinke of ye water of ye well by ye gate of Bethelem, when three of his worthies brought it, he would not tast a drop of it : in condemnation of his inordinate appetite, which had exposed such worthy persons to hazard their lives, poured it out unto the Lord. — [II.] Sam. xxiii. 15, 16.
\_Serpents.~\ A. Persii, Sat. i. 113.
Pinge duos angues: pueri, sacer est locus; extra Meiite.
Ut nefas ducitur in sacro loco alvum exonerare vel meire, ejusq' religionis symbolum appinguntur angues tamquam Genii Loci, et quo hide terreant et submoveant pueros. — Tho. Farnaby. Mchn. in a book wch Mr. Jo. Heysig (a Swede) gave to Elias Ashmole, Esq. entituled Olai Vereli Manuductio compendiosa ad linguam Scandicam antiquam, recte intelligendam : Upsalae 1675 (a thin folio), all the ancient Inscriptions are entertoilees with Snakes, e. g. as in the margent.
Mdm. in Saint Chad's Ghospell at Lich- field Cathedrall (wch is a thousand yeares old), the Latin is writt in the Saxon cha-
[Here are two racter, and the letters are an inch long, at figures of serpents
interlaced.] least. At the beginning of every Ghospell,
is the picture of the Evangelist sitting in a chaire, and the armes of the chaires of every one doe terminate in Serpents heads.
Quaere whether there are not Serpents carved upon some very old Fonts, Church-dores, or1 about the Capitalls of old Gothick pillars ? I have a conceit that I have seen some such thing.
The Caduceus of Mercurie is adorned with two Serpents in the posture of Generation. Mdm. ye cast skin of an Addar (a-vfyap, Anglice, the slough of an Addar) is an excellent remedie to drawe out a Thorne, out of ones flesh. The Sussexians doe weare them for Hatt-bands, wch they say doe preserve them from the gripeing oftheGutts.1
1 [They are worn round the head in North Lincolnshire against headache. N and Q. 1st s. viii. 32.— ED.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 39
Vide Spondam Epitomen Baronii Amialium — where he speakes de Basidilianis, that did keep Sacrifices for Christ, as well as Jewish — and they had serpents that were fed with the bloud of the Sacrifices. Vincentius Lerinensis adversus Haereticos also saieth the same. The Bramens have also serpents in great veneration : they keep their Corne. I thinke it is Tavernier, that mentions it.
[A note upon horse-shoes and witches, a repetition of that given on p. 25 is given here in the MS.]
It is not unlikely, that the Torsures in the initiall great Text letters of Patents, Wills, Indentures, &c. : such kind of sacred writing were derived from the Torsures of snakes, anciently.
I have seen initiall Text letters of K. Hen. 8th that have been perfectly interwoven Knotts.
I have seen some old Text letters terminate in Serpents : these text letters (as here) were left off about the Restauration of his Majestie: and printed ones used instead, wth the Kings picture in them. •
Q. Ceres drawne by Serpents. Dr. Burnet for Scotish Gentilisme, especially amongst ye Highlanders. . .
In nomine Dei, Amen.
We doe beginne our Wills thus and in text letters ; but the torsures of the initial letter (as also of Indentures) hath been much discontinued since A.D. 1660. In Herefordshire, &c., those parts, when they undertake any businesse or are to lift up a Burden, they say, in the name of God (i) in the power of God.
Weisembachius Disputatio i. p. 1.
" Exorsus est Justiniaims ab invocatione (quamvis Codex Haloandrinus non habethanc epigraphen) Domini nostri Jesu Christi. Pie et religiose. Gen. xlviii. v. 16,ubi Jacob invocat Angelum Fcederis, Christum. Malach. iii. v. 1. Psal. ii. v. 12, and Ixxxiv. v. 10. Quare Pontifex non ita auspicatur Jus Canon- icum, Rainaldus Corsus sed adfert rationes. Lib. 3, indag. jur. c. 15. 'EK TOV icpa- Trtfov TO vtyaana irpodrjXov. Ex lacinia cognoscitur pannus. Ex prima igitur ratione, quam reddit, de casteris judicare promptum est. Non erat necesse, inquit, Pontificem declarare se esse Christianum, perinde ac Imperatorem. Eo enim ipso, quod dicit se Episcopum, affirmat se esse Christianum, c. 1 & 2 distinc. ij. Cum multi imperatores a Christi lege fuerint alieni."
40 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISMS.
The Athenian Mercury, Vol. 6, Numb. 5, Feb. 15, 1691.
The ancients had a solemne time of giving these names— equivalent to our Christnings, and those taken very probably from the Custom of Circumcision among the Jews, recieved also by severall other nations. Thus we find in Alex- ander ab Alex, diebus, Genial. Varro, and others, that 'twas the custom among all civiliz'd nations to give the Name on a certain day, the seventh, eighth, ninth, or tenth, according to the manner of the place, and that this was always performed with great solemnity, and among the Greeks with Feasts and Sacrifices.
Homes and Cuckolds.
Pufendorf, Lib. vi. c. I. § 10.
- ejusmodi maritorum insignia quae vulgo p' ludibriis jactantur, nova non esse neq' solis occidentalibus usurpata, adparet ex Niceta Acominato 1. 2, de imperatore ubi refert ilium Imperatorem eximia cornua cervorum, quos venatus erat, in porticibus fori suspendisse p' speciem ostentandse magnitudinis feraru' quos exposuit cum revera mores civitatis uxorum lascivia notaret.
Rings worne on the Left Hand.
S. Pufendorf de Jure Naturas et Gratise ; in Kosario Persico Sardi, c. 8. Haec ratio affertur, quia sinistra manus, dextra utiq' minus digna annulo exornatur; quia dextrae manus summum decus ipsa dexteritas. p. 611.
of England Customs.']
Mdm. that non obstante the Change of Religion, the Plough- boles, and also the Schooleboies will keep-up and retaine their old Ceremonies and Customes and priviledges, which in the west of England is used still (and I believe) in other parts. So in Somersetshire when they Wassaile (which is on .........
I thinke Twelfe-eve) the Plough-men have their Twelve-cake, and they goe into the Ox-house to the oxen, with the Wassell- bowle and drink to the ox w. the crumpled home that treads out the corne ; they have an old conceived Rythme ; and after- wards they goe with their Wassel-bowle into the orchard and goe about the Trees to blesse them, and putt a piece of Tost upon the Rootes, in order to it.
And the Schoole-boies in the west : still religiously observe S* Nicholas day (Decemb. 6th), he was the Patron of the Schoole- boies. At Curry-Yeovill in Somersetshire, where there is a Howschole (or schole) in the Church, they have annually at
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 41
that time a Barrell of good Ale brought into the church ; and that night they have the priviledge to breake open their Masters Cellar- dore.
Item, for Cock-fighting, the Schoole-boies continue that Custome still : and have their Victors, that is, he whose Cock conquers or beates the rest, is Victor, and eo nomine, he hath the Priviledge, during that Lent, to save what Boy he pleases from Whipping.
On Shrove Tuesday shroving when the Victor Boy went thro ye streetes in triumph deckd with ribbons, all his schoole fellowes following with drum and a fiddle to a Feast at their Masters schoole house. The custome (I thinke) now left of. He was victor whose cock over come. Item, 0 Sapientia (Decemb. 16) is a great day observed by the Schoole-boies ; and (I thinke) was before the Civil-warres by the Undergraduates at Oxford : if not likewise by the Bachelors of Art.
Quaere Colonel John Wyndham plus de hiis ; he went to schoole at Curry-yeovill.
In my fathers time, they had a Clubbe (fustis) at the schoole- dore : and they desired leave exeundi foris (two went together still) they carried the Clubbe. I have heard that this was used in my time in Country-schooles before the Warres. When Monks or Fryars goe out of their Convent, they always are licensed by couples ; to be witnesses of one anothers actions or behaviour. We use, now, the word Clubbe, for a Sodality at a Taverne or Drinking-house.
Pollux divinationis genus quod fit per cribrum. ex Calepino. vide. — Delvio disq. Mag. Holyok's Diet.
Love-feasts.
Agapse AyaTrae, convivium Christianorum Tertull. Apol. 29. coena nostra de noie rationem suam ostendit, vocatur ajyairr), id qd dilectio penes Gra3cos est. v. i. Cor. 11-20 & Photium et Bal- samonem ad Canon ii. Concilii Gangaensis et Causab. exerc. 16, contra Bacon. Numb. 31 et Canonem 28 Concilii Laodiceni ubi sunt prohibits, Mart. Certain love-feasts used in the Primitive Church, where all the Congregation met and feasted, after they
42 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
had recieved the Communion together : and those that were rich brought for themselves and the poor, and all eate together, for the encrease of mutuall love, and for the rich to shew their love & charity to the poor.1
Feralia a ferendis ad tumulum epulis, a feriendis pecudibus, Fest. ve/cvcrla. Feralia deuin manium dies in Februario apud Rom. Ver. Feralia ab inferis et ferendo, q. d. ferunt turn epulas ad sepulchrum quibus jus ibi parentare, Fest. feralia diis manibus sacrata, festas & inde ferales funestum. All Souls Day, a day dedicated to God for the dead. — [See p. 21.]
[SpittU.-~8ee p. 80.]
A Persii Satyra ii. v. 30.
Ecce avia, aut metuens divum matertera cunis Exemit puerum, frontemq' atq' uda labella Infami digito, et lustralibus ante salivis Expiat, urentes oculos inhibere perita.
Tho: Farnaby. Pulchra est haec diei lustrici hypotyposis qui puellarum octavus est, puerorum nonus, quo die puerum lustra- bant, votis pro eo conceptis, et nomine illi indito, unde et Nominalis dictus. Saliva purgatoriam vim habere credebatur, et ad fascina inhibenda valere. Bonae vero scaevae causa et ad placandam Nemesim, quani enormiori glorise invidere credebant, saliva, infamis digitus 7% crdOrjs, effigies adhibebantur quasi praefiscinia. Plin. lib. 28, c. 2 & 4.
The wild Irish (among many old customes) doe use this, sc. when they doe prayse your horse, or &c. they doe spitt upon it ; sc. praefiscine. Hence Mr. Sam. Butler, in his Hudibras, part p.], canto p.]:
A deep Occult Philosopher,
As learn'd as the Wild Irish are.
The Christian form of Christning children, is much derived from the aforementioned custome.
1 [See Miscellanies, p. 217.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 43
[The reference here is to the Order for the Baptism of Infants in the " Ritual e Romanum." " Sacerdos digito accipiat de saliva oris sui, et tangat aures et uares infantis : tangendo vero aurem dexteram, et sinistram, dicat: * Ephpheta, quod est, adaperire:' deinde tangit nares, dicens: •< In odorem suavitatis. tu autem effugare, diabole ; appropinquabit enim judicium Dei.' " The origin of this custom will be found in S. Mark, vii. 32-35. — - ED.]
[Amulets*
Here follows almost verbally the passage given at p. 30 under this heading. — ED.]
Girdles.
In St. John's [Luke's] Ghospel, ch. [xii.] v. [35] it is sayd, " Let your loynes be girt." It was accounted before ye civill warres a very undecent and dissolute thing for a man to goe without his Girdle in so much that 'twas a Proverbe, "Ungirt and unbless't." Riobanus, in his Anatomie of the Vertebra, quotes the aforesayd Text: and saies, that that part ungirt inclines men to be libidinous. — [See p. 60.]
Out of y* Fewdal law. Homage is an oath of fealtie, acknowledging himself to be the Lord's man, wherein the tenant must be ungirt^ uncovered, kneel upon both his knees, &c. — Littleton Tenure.
Cocklebread.1
Young wenches have a wanton sport, wch they call moulding of Cocklebread ; viz. they gett upon a Table-board, and then gather-up their knees & their coates with their hands as high as they can, and then they wabble to and fro with their Buttocks as if the[y] were kneading of Dowgh with their A — , and say these words, viz. :
My Dame is sick & gonne to bed,
And I'le go mowld my^cockle-bread.
1 [See Appendix.]
44 IIEMA1NS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISMS.
In Oxfordshire the maids, when they have put themselves into the fit posture, say thus :
My granny is sick, and now is dead,
And wee'l goe mould some cockle-bread.
Up wth my heels, and down wth my head,
And this is the way to mould cocklebread. — [W. K.]
I did imagine nothing to have been in this but meer Wanton- nesse of Youth — rigidas prurigine vulvae. Juven. Sat. 6 [129.] But I find in Burchardus,1 in his Methodus Confitendi on the VII. Coinandement, one of ye articles of interrogating a young Woman is, if she did ever subigere panem clunibus, and then bake it, and give it to one that she loved to eate : ut in majorem modum exardesceret amor ? So here I find it to be a relique of Naturall Magick, an unlawfull Philtrum.
'Tis a poeticall expression, to kisse like cockles :
" The Sea nymphes that see us shall envy our bliss, Wee'll teach them to love, and J ^ j Cockles to kiss."
An old filthy Khythme used by base people, viz. :
" When I was a young Maid, and wash't my Mothers Dishes, I putt my finger in my [ — ] and pluck't-out little Fishes."
See Burchardus, ut ante, where there is an interrogatory if
she did ever put a little fish [ ] (immittere pisci-
culos in vulvam) and let it die there, and then fry it, and give it to her lover to eate, ut in majorem modum exardesceret amor ? The Ld Chancellor Bacon sayes : Thus the fables of the Poets are the Mysteries of the Philosophers ; and I allude here, that (out of fulsome Bibaldrie these simple Rhythmes I have picked out) the profoundest natural Magick, that ever I met with in all my life.
The young girls in and about Oxford have a sport calld Leap- candle, for which they set a candle in the middle of the room in a candlestick, and then draw up their coates into the form of
1 " Quis veterum Poetarum plus*obscoenitatis, impuritatis, flagitioru' professus est, quam docet Pomitentiale Burchardi? J. R. in confut. fab. Burdon. pag. 305 " Dr. Sanderson, Vol. IP Serm. 2d ad Aulam, pag. 45.
KEMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 45
breeches, and dance over the candle back and forth, with these words :
The Taylor of Bisiter, he has but one eye,
He cannot cut a pair of green Galagaskins if he were to die.
This sport in other parts is called Dancing the candlerush. Terent. Adelph. act v. seen. iv. [1 — 4]:
D. Nunquam ita quisquam bene subducta ratione ad vitam fuit, Quin res, aetas,1 usus, semper aliquid apportet novi, Aliquid moneat: ut ilia, quae te scire credas, nescias, Et quae tibi putaris prima, in experiundo [ut] repudies.
in Olymp. Discipulus est prioris posterior dies Farnaby.
Shepherds.
In the West-parts of England (and I believe also in other parts) the Shepherds have no Wages but the keeping of so many sheepe of his owne with his masters flock : so that the Shep- herds Lambs never die, or mis-carrie : or his sheep stollen. Plautus gives us a hint of this Custome among the Komans in his Asinariae, act iii. sc. 1 [36-7].
Philenium (Meretrix).
" Etiam opilio qui paseit, mater, alienas oves,
Aliquam habet peculiarem, qui spem soletur suam."
Nota peculiaris (e peculio) is the marke of the Opilio's sheep : the Master (or Patron) had another mark. Dr. Potts.
Plautus lived 184 yeares before Christ : "La mort de Plaute, selon la meilleure opinion, sous les Consuls P. Claudius Pulcher et L. Porcius Licinius, sc. 184 ans devant Jesus Christ."
Revelk) or Wakes.
Concerning the origen of Wakes, Venerable Bede speakes in his Historic. See 1 Kings, ch. 8, v. 62, &c., and v. 65, " And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, seven and seven dayes, even fourteen dayes." So 2 Chron. ch. 7, v. 5, & 8, 9, and Nehemiah, c. 8, v. 10, 11, 12. In the exposi-
1 Considerata recte vivendi via translata a Calculatoribus.
t7riXo£7roi dZveg (row£a£ot. — Pindar.
46 BEMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JU0AISME.
tion of hard words in Chaucer, in the word Vigills. " It was the manner in times past, upon Festival evens, for Parishioners to meet in their Church-houses, or Church-yards, and there to have a drinking fitt for the time. Here they used to end many quarells between neighbour and neighbour. Hither came the Wives in comely manner, and they that were of the better sort had their Mantles carried with them, as well for shew, as to keep them from cold at the table. These Mantles also many did use at Morrowe-masses, and other times."
As also all the Journemen of every handy craft in the same week doe nothing but drink and are merry, going in Procession two abreast into the fields (where then tradesman's daughters and Maids are not very far off, which they take and dance very civilly till they are weary), with their Ensign, or flying colours made of silk, and the joyners make themselves one (vexillum) out of chips variously interwoven and coloured, but the plough- men have a white table clod, or sheet, instead of an ensign. W. K.
In Germany was formerly, about 50 or 60 yeares since, or not so long, likewise in use, that at night in the wintertime all the mayds of the village met together, and brough[t] with them along their Spinning-wheel, or distaff, and spun very late in the night, where then the young men were not far off, which now is quite abolished by reason of the great exorbitances they committed. Cramer. [W. K.]
Ovid's Metamorphoses, lib. iiii. [32-41].
Solae Mineides intus
Intempestiva turbantes festa Minerva,
Aut ducunt lanas, aut stamina pollice versant,
Aut haerent telae, famulasq. laboribus urgent.
E quibus una levi deducens pollice filum,
Dum cessant aliae, commentaq' sacra frequentant,
Nos quoque, quas Pallas, melior dea, detinet, inquit,
Utile opus manuum vario sermone levemus:
Perq' vices aliquid, quod tempora longa videri
Non sinat, in medium vacuas referamus ad aures.1
Lanificio Metonymies.
Church-ales^ in the Easter holydayes.
These church-ales, no doubt, were derived from the aydirai, or love-feastes, mentioned in the New Testament.1
At Zerbst, in Germany, every houskeeper, that is able, bakes at Easter-Even (as also at Whit Sunday- Even) even several greate Cakes about a yard long and an half yard broad for his family to eat at the holy dayes. [~W. K.]
Servi (Viilanes).
" In England we had many Bond-servants untill the time of our last Civil warres : and, I thinke, the Lawes of Villenage are still in force, of which the latest are the strongest. And now since slaves were made free, which were of great use and ser- vice, there are grown up a rabble of Rogues, Cutpurses, and other the like trades ; Slaves in Nature, though not in Law." Sr Walter Raleigh's Hist. 5th part, pag. 326.
Mdm. at Tormarton, in Gloucester shire (anciently the seate of Rivers, afterwards Sl Lowes by match 2) is a Dungeon of about 13, or 14 foot deep, of good ashler-work. About four feet from the ground are iron rings fastned in the wall, and it is thought by the parishioners there, that it was to tye offending Villaines. All lords of manours had such power over their Villaines, and if they whip't them to death, they were not in danger of the Lawe.
A statute about H. III. time, Quaerit Domini habere prisona de malefactoribus suis. Dr Th. Gale.
Mr Hook found staples in ye wall at Sfc Martins-le-grand, and a skeleton. Id.
But to ascend higher, sc. to Seigniories; all Castles had Dungeons. I remember at ye castle at Bristowe there was one, at the bottome of every Tower.
'Tis like enough, that all Monasteries had Dungeons too ; for they have the power of Life and Death within themselves ; wit-
1 [See Miscellanies, p. 217.J
2 [" This manner did anciently belong to the family de la Riviere t .
The family of the St. Loe's were afterwards lords of this manor. Sir John St, Loe, in right of his wife, was seized thereof 1481." Atkyns' Ancient and Present State of Glostershire (1712).— ED.]
48 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
nesse the poore Monke at in France, who, upon
complaint of his friends to the Bishop of the Diocese he was pluckt-out of ye Dungeon in a most miserable condition ; sc. his feet and hands were rotten ; and shortly after he dyed. This was in the yeare of our Lord 1663.
Sr John Hoskyns (from whom I had this account) was then in France.
At ye castle of Walingford under the government of Brien Fitz-Count, in the reign of Hen. 2, was a very deep dark dungeon call'd Cloere-Brien. [W. K.]
There be now iron staples strong and large in the walls of ye chancel in the church of Amersden [Ambrosdeii] com. Oxon., to wch as tradition pretends, the confessors us'd to tie and whip the penitent women. [W. K.]
Painted-glasse windowes in Churches.
" Delubra sunt omnia subobscura, nee id aedificandi inscitia factum, sed con- silio Sacerdotum ferunt, immodicam lucem dispergere ; parciore velut dubia colligi animos, & intend! Religionem putant." — Sp Tho: More's Utopia.
Willielmus Malmesburiensis, page , saeth,
Aedificia e saxo, et fenestraj vitreae anno Domini 735 per Benedictum Abbatem (nisi raro).
& Sr William Dugdale told me, he finds that the art of painting in G-lasse came first into England in King John's time, qd. NB.
The curious Oriental reds, yellows, blew, & green in Glasse painting (especially when the sun shines) doe much refresh the Spirits. After this manner did Dr R. revive the spirits of a poor distracted gentleman ; for whereas his former Physitian shutt up his windowes and kept him in utter darknesse, he did open his windowe-lids and let in the light, and filled his Windowes with glasses of curious Tinctures, which the distempered person would alwaies be looking on, and it did conduce to the quieting of his disturb't spirits. I remember Dr Sanderson saies (speaking of church musique) in short, whatever does tend to the quieting of the mind & contemplation, tends to Devotion, qd. NB. con- trary to the Presbyterians & Fanaticks.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 49
Johannes Medicus, who lived and wrot in time of Ed. 2, and was Physitian to that king, gives an account of his curing the Prince of ye Smallpox (a distemper but then lately known in England) by ordering his bed, his room, and his attendants to be all in scarlet, and imputes ye cure in great measure to the vertue of ye colour. — W. K.
Churches. [The whole of this note is by Dr. Kennet.]
As to the situation of the primitive Xtian Churches, it is evident that they were commonly set upon an hill or some high and eminent place, and looked toward ye East.
Nostrae columbae domus simplex, etiam in editis semper, et apertis, et ad lucem, amat figuram Spiritus sancti, orientem Christi figuram. Tertullian adversus Valent.
The Quire at the east end of Xtian Churches was contrary to the site of ye Temple at Jerusalem, whose Holie of Holies or upper end was westward. The church built by Cardinal Kichlieu at Bichlieu, a Town of his own building too, has its Quire westward, and its entrance in at the east end thereof, wch was so appointed by him I suppose, least otherwise it might spoil the fashion of his Town, a respect being had to the Model according to wch it was built, and not out of an opinion of the indifferencie of situation, for albeit he were contented to turn his face sometimes westward in his adoration when living, yet being dead he looks Eastward in the Chappel of his own building in the college of Sorbon, where he lies buried. What was done by the said church of Richlieu was intended by that in Covent Garden, but it was not permitted to be consecrated till the said design was altred, wch was done. — Savage, Dew of Hermon, p. 26.
Some Cathedrals were built wth a single Cross, representing that whereon our Saviour was crucified (for since Constantino's In hoc vincesj Churches have not been only so built, but the sails of ships have been furled up in manner of a Cross) ; some were built wth a double Cross, the uppermost representing that whereon the title was written, I N B, I.
E
50
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDA1SME.
Not only Churches but some Towns in England seem of design to be built after the manner of a cross especially Glocester, whose figure stands thus : —
a. ye Eastgate. b. the Northgate. c. ye South-
d. ye Westgate. e. the V*^
College v. S* Maries J\^
Church. /. the castle. g. ye Middle row.
And indeed the form of Oxford is much the same : —
a. the castle, b. High
bridge, c. Northgate. d
d. Eastgate. e. Cairfax.
It was a custom in Conventual Churches to hang an Agnus Dei at the top of the steeple or spire, wch the Religious thought a charm agst storms and thunder. — Vit. S. Alban. Abbat, p. 142.
Images in Christian Churches.
Mr. Tho. Hobbes (Malmesburiensis) saies in his Kingdome of Darknesse (speaking there of Images) the Christians found them, not made them : but let them stand.
"Tpvoi; Carolls.
Edm. Waller, Esq. (Poet), said that Poetrie was abused when 'twas turned to any other subject than the Praise of the Creator. The principal service of God is neglected, and Petitions and Thanksgiving for ourselves, used in its stead. — So Orpheus's Hymns, Homes, &c.
Insert here our Christmas Carolles.
PentalphcCs?
[See Appendix.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 5l
This figure of three triangles intersected and made of five lines, is called the pentangle of Solomon, and when it is de- lineated on the body of a man, it is pretended to touch and point out the five places wherein our Saviour was wounded. And therefore there was an old superstitious conceit that this figure was a fuga Daemonum, the Devils were afraid of it. W. K.
This marke was heretofore used as the signe of the K£< is now ; sc. at the beginning of letters, or bookes, for good-lucks sake ; and the women among the Jews (Dr. Kalph Bathurst tells me) did make this marke on the childrens chrysome cloathes. This marke is one of the Pentacles mentioned in Clavicula Solomonis (a MSS. which I have given to the museum at Oxon.), wch see and transcribe it here. Mr. Lancelot Morehouse, the minister of Little Langford, did commonly putt this marke at the top of his letters, as now some putt the hp.
Mr. Wyld Clarke Merchant Factor at Santo Crux in Barbaric tells me, that the Jewes in Barbery have this mark above, on their trunks, in nailes, and on their cupbords, and Tables : so in France, &c. and heretofore in England, were putt crosses KJH f°r good luck, and my old friend Mr. Lancelot Morehouse (rector of Pertwood in Wilts) was wont to make this marke at the top of his missive letters, as the R. Catholiques doe the ^. And he told me (1660) that the Greeke Christians did so.
Mdm. Pentacles are clearly Jewish, as appears by the Hebrew letters inscribed in them. v. Zecorbeni.
In Kent & many other parts the women when they have kneaded their dough into a loaf cut ye form of a cross on the top ofit-[W.K.]
In Germany some of the vulgar sort of People make a Cross before they begin anything, viz.: when they are cutting a loaf, they make first a Cross upon it with the knif, &c.
Tergetors (or Tregetors). Concerning Tergetors, see Chaucer, in The Frankelin's tale,
For I am siker that the? ben sciences, By whiche men maken dyverse apparenceSj E 2
52 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDATSME.
Such as the subtill tregetores play, For oft at festes have I well heard say, That tregetores, within an hall large, Have made come in water and a barge And in the hall rowen up and doune. Sometime hath seamed come a grim lioun, And sometime flowers spring as in a bede Sometime a vine and grapes white and rede; Sometime a castel of lime and stone, And when hem listed, voiden hem anone : Thus seemed it to every man's sight.
The Squire's Tale.
And other rowned to his felaw lowe, And saied he lied, for it is rather like An apparence made by some magike, As Jogglours plaien at these feastes great, Of sundry thoughts thus they jangle and treat As lewed ! people deemeth commonly Of things that been made more subtilly, Than they can in her lewdness comprehend; They deemen gladly to to the badder end, And some of hem wondren on the mirrour, (That born was up to the maister tour) How men might in it such things see. Another answerd and sayd it might well bee Naturally by compositions Of angels and slie reflections; And saedon that in Rome was such on, They speaken of Alhazen and Vitellion, And Aristotle that writeth in her lives Of queint mirrours, and of perspectives As knowing they that han her bookes heard.
Sir Grefrey Chaucer was born about the second or third jeare of King Edward the third; and died 25 Octob. 1400, sc. tpe. Hen. 4. About this time Friar Roger Bacon lived.
I have heard my grandfather Lyte say, that old father Davis told him, he saw such a thing donne in a Gentlemans hall at Christmas, at or neer Durseley in Gloucestershire, about the middle of King Henry the eight's reigne. Edmund Wyld, Esq. saies, that it is credibly reported, that one showed the new King of France, in anno 1689, or 1690, this trick, sc. to make
1 (i.) ignorant.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 53
the apparition of an Oake, &c. in a hall, as described by Chaucer, and no conjuration. The King of France gave him the person five hundred Louis d'or for it.1
Mdm. a Hamborough Merchant, now (or lately) in London did see this trick donne at a Wedding in Hamborough, about 1687, by the same person that shewed it to the King of France. E. W[yld], Esq.
Quaere Mr. Martin (the jeweller), &c. dehijs. See Mr. Baxter's Booke of Apparitions, &c. 1691.
SpaVd Bitch.
I believe all over England, a spaied bitch is accounted whole- some in a House; that is to say, they have a strong beliefe that it keeps away evill sprits from haunting of a House ; e. g. amongst many other instances, at Cranborn in Dorset about 1686, a house was haunted, and two Tenants successively went away (left the house) for that reason: a third came and brought his spaid bitch, and was never troubled.
[In the account of the haunted house at Woodstock (Plot's Nat. Hist. Oxon., pp. 206-210), we read:
" October 21. The Keeper of their Ordnary and his bitch lay in one of the rooms with them, which night they were not dis- turbed at all. But October 22, though the bitch kennel'd there (to whom they ascribed their former nights rest), both they and the bitch were in a pitiful taking." p. 207.— ED.]
Had Ovid finished his Festivalls, 'tis very likely we might have found this Preservative in some of ye remaining monthes he left undonne.
— — visseq' canes ululare per umbram Adventante Dea— Virg. ^Eneid: 6, [257-8.]
and (I thinke) in Homers Odysses there is something to this purpose, quaere.
Invisibility.
Take on Midsummer-night, at xii., when all the planets are above the earth, a Serpent and kill him, and skinne him ; and 1 [See Appendix.]
54 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
dry it in the shade and bring it to a powder. Hold it in your hand and you will be invisible. This Receit is in Johannes de Florentia (a Rosycrusian) a booke in 8° in high Dutch. Dr. Ridgeley the Physitian hath it, who told me of this.
M. 'Tis on St. Agnes night (January 21) not St. Annes night, that ye Dreames are given. Ben Johnson (the woemen tell mej was out as to St. Anne's night. [The reference here is to Jonson's masque of "The Satyr," where he says that the fairy queen Mab can
" — on sweet St. Anna's night, Feed them with a promised sight, Some of husbands, some of lovers, Which an empty dream discovers." — Ed.]
When the j cheeke burns.
When the eie-lid itcheth.
Mehn. William Fenshaw Esq. told me, that he had seen a letter writt by Cardinal Wolsey to the Lord ...... to this
purpose, viz.:
My Lord, I understand that there is a Reformation in Religion intended by the Parliament ; and I wish that severall things were reformed ; but let me tell you that when you have reformed, that others will come, and refine upon you, and others again upon them; et sic deinceps; that at last there will be no Religion left, but Atheisme will spring up. The Mysteries of Religion are to be let alone ; they will not beare an examination.
I confesse this recitall here foreigne to these Remaines, but it deserves to have roome.
[Here begins a second part prefaced as follows.] REMAINS OF GENTILISME, 1688.
LACTANTIUS. Primum sapientiae gradus est falsa intelligere.
OVID, de Ponto, Eleg. 6 [lib. I. v. 44-46]. Quid potius faciam? non sum qui segnia ducam Otia; mors nobis tempus habetur iners.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 55
Dr. Sanderson, Sermon 9th, ad Aulam, 1st Volume, p. 176, D.
" The ancient church both Greeke & Latine, by the Warrant of the holy spirit in the N. T., tooke the liberty to make use of sundry words & phrases fetch'd from the very dregs of Paganisme, for the better explication of sundry points in the Xpian Faith; and to signify their notions of sundry things of Ecclesiasticall usage to ye people. The Greek Church hath constantly used this word pvffrripiov ; a heathenish superstitious word ; the Latine Church in like manner the word Sacramentum, a heathen military word : to signify hereby the holy Sacraments of the Xpian Church. I have noted it the rather, to let you know that the godly & learned Christians of these Primitive times were not so fondly shy and scrupu- lous (as some of ours are) as to boggle at it; and much lesse so rashly supercilious (I might say, and superstitious too), as to cry down and condemn for evil, and even eo nomine, the use of all such, whether names or things, as were invented, or have been abused by Heathens, or Idolaters."
Mr. J. Seldon writt a 4to booke called Tabletalke ; wch will not endure the Test for ye Presse : speaking there of Ovid's Fastorum, he saies, " that he was the Canonist of those times." The Earle of Abingdon hath a copie of it in MS. : as also ye Earle of Carbery : it will not endure the Presse.
The Britons imbibed yier Gentilisme from the Eomans ; and as the British language is crept into corners : sc. Wales, and Cornwalle : so the Kemaines of Gentilisme are still kept there, wch customes (no doubt) were anciently over all Britaine and Gaule ; but the Inundation of the Goths, drove it out, together with the Language. When I was in France (1664), Msieur Rotier told me, that much of the fulsome Superstition and Ceremonies were left off, with [in] the last 30 yeares. The Jesuites (clearer sighted than the other Orders) doe omitt them, as being ridiculous and giving scandall. Perhaps in Britanie in France many of the old Eoman customes may be retained still. Quaere de hoc.
Mdm. The English Foot and the English Mile are the neerest to the Roman Foot and Mile of any nation, v. Eratosthenes Batavus by Willebrod Snellius, de hoc.
But how comes it to pass, that the British language being utterly lost in England, that so many Roman Customes should yet remain ? But indeed they are most northward, and towards Wales ; the South retaines but few of them.
This being added to the former part, with a little help, will serve for a Preface.
56 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
Read too over again Cicero's Natura Deorum.
OVID'S EPISTLES. Stumbling at the threshold.
Protesilaus pede in limine offenso omen dederat — omen re- movete sinistrum.
Cum foribus velles ad Trojam exire paternis, Pes tuus offenso limine signa dedit.
Epistle xiii. Laodameia Protesilao [87-88.]
Pedum offensiones semper infausti ominis fuerunt. — Alex. lib. 2, Genial. cap. 26.
Edm. Spencer, in Mother Hubbards Tale, or in ye Shepherd's Kalendar, viz., when the Kid's mother went out in ye morning & left ye Kid behind, and sparr'd the dore, she stumbled at the Threshold, wch did bode her ill luck.
Plighting of Troth.
Commissaq' dextera dextrae.— Dido JEneae [Ep. ii. 31.] In Mariage, the Priest does joyne their right hands, and yc man saies I, N. take thee M. & e contra.
So in confirming of Bargaines ; they say, Give me your hand upon it : meaning their right hand. So in Metamorph., lib. vii. [494-6],
JEacidae longo juvenes post tempore visum Agnovere tamen Cephalum, dextrasq' dedere Inq' patris duxere domum.
Metam., lib. vi. [506].
Utq' fide pignus dextras utrasq' poposcit.
In several parts of England, when two persons are driving a bargain one holds out his right hand and sais strike me, if ye other strike the bargain holds, whence ye striking a bargain. [W.K.]
Amongst the Grermains of the better sort the giving their right hand upon any promise holds as fast and sure as an oath.
Tutelar saints painted on the proive of the Ships. As we have now the B. Virgin, Saint Christopher, &c.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDATSME. 57
Q. What S* is most powerful! at sea ?
Accipit et pictos pnppis adunca Deos. Qua tamen ipse vehor, comitata Cupidine parvo Sponsor conjugii stat Dea picta sui.
Paris Helenas, 64 [Ep. xvi. 111-113;]
So in Tristium :
Et pictos verberat unda Deos. — Eleg. 3 [iv. 8.]
Est mini sitq', precor, flavae tutela Minervae Navis, et a picta casside nomen habet.
Ovid, Tristium, lib. i. eleg. 10 [1-2].
Perq. tot eventus et iniquis concita ventis Aequora Palladio numine tuta fuit. — Ibid. [11-12.]
Stranger in the Candle. Hero to Leander: — [Ep. xix.]
Interea lumen (posito nam scribimus illo) Perstrepit [sternuit] et nobis prospera signa dedit.
Ecce merum nutrix faustos instillat in ignes: " Cras erimus plures," inquit, et ipsa bibit. — [151-154.]
Morning Dreames, ibid.
Namq' sub aurora, jam dormitante lucerna,
Somnia quo cerni tempore vera solent, Stamina de digitis cecidere sopore remissis;
Collaq' pulvino nostra ferenda dedi. Hie ego ventosas natem delphina per undas
Cernere non dubia sum mihi visa fide. Quern postquam bibulis injecit fluctus arenis,
Unda simul miserum vitaq' deseruit. — [195-202.]
Morning dreames are by many in these dayes observed. Cutting Names on ye Barkes of Beech Trees.
Incisae servant a te mea nomina fagi, Et legor Oenone, falce notata tua. — [Ep. v. 21-22.]
Nodding of Images, p. 89: Pice Fraudes.
\
This is an old piece of priest-ft- The Image of the B. Virgin nodded to S1 Bernard, and said (id est, the Priests
58 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISMS.
boy with a tube behind the statue), Good morrow, Father Bernard ; I thanke your Lap, qd he, but S1 Paul saeith that is not lawful for women to speake in the church.
Dr. Brevent, of ye Masse, and Preface to ye Translation of S* Bernard's Soliloquies.
At Leominster in Herefordshire, was a great Nunnery, where the head of the Image of our Lady did on extraordinary occa- siones, nodde : Upon the dissolution, they found the joints in the neck adapted for it. — Booke of Martyrs.
" In all Eeligions Preist-craft is the same." Mr. J. Dryden, Absolom and Achitophel.
Acontius Cydippae :
Juro, quam colimus, numina magna Deae. Adfuit, et praesens ut erant, tua verba notavit. Et visa est mota dicta l tulisse coma. — [Ep. xx. 19-20.]
Villains.
Utq' solent famuli, cum verbera saeva verentur Tendere submissas sub tua crura manus. — [Ep. xx. 77-78.]
Whipping of Villains. Certe ego cum posita stares ad verbera veste. — [Am. lib. i. vi. 19.]
Before Villenage was taken off, if a lord of a mannor had whipp't his Villaine to death, he would not have been hanged.
Cydippe Acontio :
Protinus egresso Superis, quibus insula sacra est, Flava salutatis thura merumq' damus. — [Ep. xxi. 91-92.]
Ubi Larem familiarem salutavit. Plaut. Amphitr. act 4, seen. 1. Consueverant Deos salutare.
Springs.
Est nitidus vitreoque magis perlucidus amne, Tons sacer: hunc multi numen habere putant.— [Ep. xv. 156-7.]
In Cheshire, in Mr. M. Kents Grandmother's time, when they went in Perambulation, they did Blesse the Springs (i), they did read a Ghospell at them, and did believe the water was the better.
1 Auspisse, id quod capitis nutu prae se tulit.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
59
On Rogation days G-ospells were read in ye cornfields [before] the Civill Warrs.
Mem. A gosple read at ye head of a barrle in Procession w'thin the parish of Stanlake, com. Oxon. Vid. Dr. Plot, Nat. Hist, of Oxf. [W. K]
[" I cannot but note an odd custom at Stanlake, where the parson in the procession about Holy Thursday reads a gospel at a barrels head in the cellar of the Chequer Inn, where some say there was formerly a hermitage; others, that there was anciently a cross, at wrhich they read a gospel in former times, over which now the house and particularly the cellar being built they are forced to perform it in manner as above." — Plot, Nat. Hist. Oxfordsh. (1677), p. 203.]
Quern supra ramos extendit aquatica lotos,
Una nemus: tenero cespite terra viret. Hie ego cum lassos posuissem flebilis artus,
Formosus puer est visus adesse mihi. — [Ep. xv. 159-162.]
Sive redis, puppisq' tuas votiva paramus Munera ; quid laceras pectora nostra mora?
[Ep. xv. 211-212.]
AMOBUM.
Raw-head fy bloody-bone feard by Children.
At quondam noctem simulacraq* vana timebam: Mirabar, tenebris si quis iturus erat. — [Lib. i. vi. 9-10.]
venit amor, non umbras nocte volantes,
Non timeo — [vi. 13-14.]
Quis Veneris f amulae connubia liber inire, Tergaq' complecti verbere secta velit? — [Lib. ii. Eleg. 7, 21-22.]
et intorto verbere terga seca.— Tibullus. [Eleg. lib. i. ix. 22.]
Mem. A whipping Tom in Kent who disciplined the wandring Maids and Women till they were afraid to walk abroad. [W. K.]
Witches, according to ye Scotch rule.
Oculis quoq' pupula duplex
Fulminat, et gemino lumen ab ore venit. — [Lib. i. viii. 15-16.]
Stella tibi oppositi nocuit contraria Martis. — [Lib. i. viii. 29.]
60 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
Girdles. ' Ungirt, unbless't,' a Proverb. Ipse ego segnis eram, discinctaq' in otia natus. — [Lib. i. ix. 41.]
A consuetudine Romanorum, quibus turpe erat in publicum ire discinctos. — p. 132.
Proverbium est apud Hebraeos, ut lumbos praecingere ant succingere, dicant pudicitiam servare, & a libidine sibi temperare. Hoc respectu Jehovah ad Jobu', cap. 38, v. 3, & cap. 40, v. 7. Accinge sicut vir lumbos tuos (i) sicut vir fortis restringe luxnriam.
Henr. Meibomius de Flagros usu ven.
so, a dissolute fellow.
Non pudet ad morem discincti vivere Nattae ? Pers. Sat. iii. [31] :
et discinctus hie accipitnr p' metaphorice a verbe laxa p' dissolute, luxurioso et intemperante. Nam discingi fore mollitiem et turpitudinem quondam significat, unde proverbium, Discincta vestis, discinctus animus.
Sr W. Davenant's G-ondibert :
" He seem'd the Heir of prosperous parents toiles, Gaye as young Kings that wooe in foreign Courts, Or joyful Victors after Persian spoiles ; He seem'd of love and courtship made for sports ; But wore his cloathing loose, and more un-brac't Than Kavishers oppos'd in their designe."
Gird up the loines of your mind. — 1 Peter, i. 13.
Upon this text, Riolanus in his Anatomie (I remember) makes an observation ; that to be un-girt, inclines a man to venery. [See p. 41.]
Mdm. to see in Cotgrave's Dictionary ye word Ceincture.
[ Unlucky number.^
Ergo ego vos rebus duplices pro nomine sensi? Auspicii numerus non erat ipse boni. — [Lib. i. xii. 26-27.]
I thinke the Table-players doe not count a Deux a good cast.
Stumbling, goeing out of dore.
Omina sunt aliquid : modo cum discedere vellet,
Ad limen digitos restitit icta Nape. — [Lib. i. xii. 3-4.]
An III Tongue. Nee minuit densas invida lingua comas.— [Lib. i. xiv. 42.]
REMAINS OF GENTJLISME AND JUDAISME. 61
Periwiggs.
Nunc tibi captives mittet Germania crines ; Culta triumphatse munere gentis eris. — [Lib. i. xiv. 45-46. |
Charmes.
Carmina sanguinese deducunt cornua Lunae; Et revocant niveos Solis euntis equos. — [Lib. ii. i. 23-24.]
Tacitus, Annales, lib. ii. :
D'ailleurs on trouvoit des carcasses et des ossemens de morts deterrez, de charmes & des imprecations contre les parois ; le nom de Germanicus grave dans les lames de plomb, de cendres toutes souillees de sang, & plusieurs autres sortileges par ou 1'on croit que les ames sont consacrees aux Dieux souterrains.
Speaking by ones Fingers.
Verba superciliis sine voce loquentia dicam : Verba leges digitis, verba notata mero.— [Lib. i. iv. 19-20.]
This is in use in our dayes ; sc. a, b, c, &c. alphabet on the several joints of ye fingers.
nee in digitis littera nulla fuit.— [Lib. ii. v. 18.]
Witchcraft.
Sagave punicea defixit nomina cera, Et medium tenues in jecur urget acus — [Lib. iii. vii. 29-30.]
King Edward 6th was killed by Witch-craft by figures after this manner : see the Chronicle ; and ye late D. of Buckinghams mother was killed in Ireland by a figure made with haire by her 2d husbands (Ld Ancram) brothers nurse, who bewitched her to death because her foster-child (2d brother) should inherit ye estate: and one Hammond, of Westminster, was hangd, or
tryed for his life about 1641 for killing by a
figure of wax.1
Q. Ye Countesse of Thanet, again.
Times prohibiting Marriage.
Annua venerunt Cerealis tempora sacri :
Secubat in vacuo sola puella toro. — [Lib. iii. x. 1-2.]
Idem in Sacris Isidis fiebat. v.'Lib. i., Amorum, Eleg. 8. 1 [See Appendix.]
62 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISMS .
Sacred Groves.
Stat vetus et densa praenubilus arbore lucus ; Adspice; concedas numinis esse locum.— [Lib. iii. xiii. 7-8. J
Keligious Groves are of great antiquitie, as appeares by the Sacred Scripture ; and in many Religious Houses after Christianity they were planted or found. Exod. 34, 13, Ye shall cutt downe their groves. Deut. 7-5, 12, 13 ; Kings
14, 23, built them groves. 2 Chron. 33, 19, Manassah set up groves before he was humbled: 24, 3, Josiah began to purge Judah of groves ; Isa. 17, 8, Not lookt either to groves or images. 1 Kings 15, 13, She had made an idol in a grove, &c.
DE ARTE AMANDI.
Sonuerunt cymbala toto
Littore, et attonita tympana pulsa manu. — [Lib. i. 537-8.]
Hence are derived ye tabor and pipe.
Blessing.
Et, Bene, die, dominae; [bene, cum quo dormiat ilia:]
Sed male sit tacita mente precare viro. — [Lib. i. 601-2.]
Quibus omnia bona optabant, iis precabantur, Bene sit: sicut contra impre- cantes dicebant, male sit [Cfr.] Plaut. Curcul. Act. 4, Seen. ult. Et veniat, quse lustret anus lectumq' locumq' :
Praeferat et tremula sulphur et ova manu. — [Lib. ii. 329-330.] Lustrationibus et aquam perennis flavii adhibet. Horn. Hi. Apulei ; lucidam tsedam, ovum, et sulphur. — [Metam. lib. xi. cap. 16.] Item Juvenal, Satyr, 2 & 6. Vid. Natal, lib. 1. Mytholog. cap. 16.]
A magiall Receipt to know whom one shall marry.
See Stanihurst.
Egges roasted hard, and the yelke taken out and salt putt in its sted, sc. filled up: to be eaten fasting without supper, when you goe to bed. I thinke only one egge.
Mrs Fines, of Albery, in Oxdsh. did thus : she dream't of an ancient grey or white haird man and such a shape> which was her husband. This I had from her owne mouth, at Ricot, before the Earle of Abington. v. Theocriti Idyllion II. of strewing of salt in ye witchcraft.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME. 63
Irish custome yet used by them. Jam morior: cara lumina conde manu :
Exit, et, incauto paulatim pectore lapsus, Excipitur miseri spiritus ore viri. — [Lib. iii. 742, 745-6.]
Secret writing.
Tuta quoque est, fallitq' oculos e lacte recenti
Littera: carbonis pulvere tange; leges. Fallet et humiduli quae fiet acumine lini
Et feret occultas pura tabella notas. — [Lib. iii. 627-630.]
EEMEDIUM AMORIS. Day-fatality.
nee te (a) peregrina morentur
Sabbata; nee damnis Allia (b) nota suis. — [219-220.]
(a.) Judseis culta, i de Arte Cultaq. Judeo septima sacra viso.
aut omina dira
Saturni [aut] sacram me tenuisse diem. Tibull. — [Lib. i. iii. 18-19.]
(b.) Dies Alliensis ater. So we dread to doe any businesse on Childermas day, sc. Innocents : as also on the Sunday.— [See p. 12.]
IN IBIN.
Haec est in fastis cui dat gravis Allia nomen. — [221.] Memorandum. In old MS. Kalenders, and (if I much mistake not) in ye Kalender of Ven. Bede, are severall unlucky dayes noted downe, these in verse : e. g. I remember for the first of January, wch is unlucky,
Prima dies mensis, et ultima truncat ut ensis.
DE NUCE. Even or odde.
Est etiam, par sit numerus qui dicat, an impar : Ut divinatas auferat augur opes.— [79-80.]
PEDONIS ALBINOVANI AD LIVIAM. Irish custome.
At miseranda parens suprema neq' oscula fixit,
Frigida nee fovit membra tremente sinu. Non animam apposite fugientem excepit hiatu.— [95-97.]
64 REMAINS OF GENTILISME AND JUDAISME.
Scriech-owles.
Sedit in adverse nocturnus culmine bubo, Funereoq' graves edidit ore sonos. — [Ibis, 225-226.]
They are held unlucky in our dayes.
Magidk.
Ut qui post longum sacri monstrator iniqui Elicuit pluvias victima caesus aquas. — [Ibis, 399-400.]
Thracius Busiriden docuit nece humanae pluvias impetrari posse a Jove, sed primus ad illo occisus est. — [cfr.] Ovid. 1 Arte [649-650.]
From ye Aegypt. Juvenale. Dr Tho. Gale.
Invidiam facerent nolenti surgere Nilo.— [Juv. Sat. xv. 123.]
TKISTIUM, LIB. I. Frankincense.
Hoc duce, si dixi felicia secula; proq' Caesare thura pius Caesaribusq' dedi. — [Eleg. ii. 103-104.]
So Tacitus speakes of Tiberius sacrificing to his father, when his wife came and taunted at him.
Prostration^ e. g. in ye Apocalyps.
Ilia etiam ante Lares passis prostrata capillis
Contigit extinctos ore tremente focos: Multaq' in aversos effudit verba penates. — [Eleg. iii. 43-45.]
LIB. III.
Ewe Trees sc. in Churchyards.
Utq' viret Lauras semper, nee fronde caduca Carpitur; aeternum sic habet ille decus [Eleg. i. 45-6.]
Offerings at Funeralls. Tu tamen extincto feralia munera ferto. — [Eleg. iii. 81.]
LIB. II. ELEG. 1.
Et pia thura dedi pro te (Caesare).— [59.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 65
LIB. III. de Natali, Eleg. 13 [13-18].
Scilicet expectas solid tibi moris honorem, Pendeat ex humeris [vestis] ut alba meis ?
Fumida cingatur florentibus ara coronis ? Micaq' solenni thuris in igne sonet ?
Libaq' dem pro te genitale notantia tempus ? Concipiamq' bonas ore f avente preces ?
LIB. IIII.
Cristning Cakes.
Lucifer amborum natalibus adfuit idem:
Una celebrata est per duo liba dies. — [x. 11-12.]
We still use Cakes at Christnings. Also cakes at Twelfetyde when they wassail the oxen ; also at Easter, Whitsontyde, and at Home-harvests. At Heydelberg, in Germany, every woman gets at the Christning a Cake. And there are sometimes two, or three score pair of them. Cramer.
At Burcester [Bicester] in Oxfordshire at a Christening the women bring every one a Cake and present one first to the minister if present. At Wendlebury and other places they bring their Cakes at a Gossiping, and give a large cake to the father of the child, wch they call a Rocking Cake. At Amersden [Am- brosden], in Oxfordsh. it was a late custom to offer for every burial to the minister at the church porch one cake and one pot of ale.1 W. K.
The maids in Oxfordshire have a way of foreseeing their sweethearts by making a dumb cake ; that is, on some Fryday- night, several Maids and Batchelors bring every one a little flower, and every one a littel salt, and every one blows an egge, and every one helps to make it into past, then every one makes ye cake and lays it on the gridiron, and every one turns it, and when bakt enough every one breaks a piece, and eats one part and laies the other part under their pillow to dream of ye person they shall marry. But all this to be done in serious silence w'hout one word or one smile, or els the cake looses the name and the vertue. W. K.
1 [These customs have long been extinct in the places named. ED.]
F
66 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
LIBER V.
[Funeral Customs.'] Tibia f uneribus convenit ista meis —
[Eleg. i. 48.]
Allusio ad funerum consuetudinem in quibus nsenia canebatus a tibicine, laudes defunct! recensens.
Natalem. Quaeq' semel toto vestis mihi sumitur anno,
Sumatur fatis discolor alba meis. Araq' gramineo viridis decespite fiat ; Et velet tepidos nexa corona focos. Da mihi thura, puer, pingues facientia flammas, Quodq' pio fusum stridat in igne merum.
[Eleg. v. 7-12.]
DE [Ex] PONTO.
Sed prius imposito sanctis altaribus igni, Thura fer ad magnos vinaq' pura Deos.
Lib. iii. Eleg. i. [161-2.]
Canonized Saints. Nee pietas ignota mea est : videt hospita terra
In nostra sacrum Caesaris esse domo, Stant pariter natusq' pius, conjuxq' sacerdos
Numina jam facto non leviora Deo. — Lib. iv. Eleg. 9 [105-8],
His ego do toties cum thure precantia verba Eo quotiens surgit ab orbe dies. — [111-12.]
Tu certe scis hoc, Superis adscite, videsq' Caesar, ut est oculis subdita terra tuis. Tu nostras audis, inter convexa locatus
Sydera, sollicito quas damus ore, preces. — [127-130.]
testere licet: signate Quirites. — [Lib. iv. Eleg. xv. 11.]
Testationes signis eorum, qui intererant, obsignare moris erat.
OVIDII METAMORPHOSES, LIB. 1.
Warwolfe.
Territus ipse fugit; nactusq' silentia ruris Exululat, frustraq' loqui conatur: ab ipso
Colligit os rabiem: solitaq' cupidine caedis Vertitur in pecudes, et nunc quoq' sanguine gaudet, &c.
Lycaon in Lupum [232-5].
. This is the Lycanthropos ; the French call it Garloup ; and doe believe that some wicked cruel men can transforme them-
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 67
selves into woolves and bite, and worry people and doe mischiefe to mankind: when I was at Orleans I sawe in the Hospitall there a young fellow in cure whose left cheeke was eaten (he sayd by this Garloup), for sayd he had it been a woolfe he would have killed me out right and eaten me up. No doubt heertofore this opinion was in this island, v. Verstegan de hoc. [See p. 83.]
Pinnes.
— sed fibula vestem
Vitta coercuerat neglectos alba capillos. — [Metam. ii. 412-3.]
Pinnes are of no great Antiquity ; before they use a Claspe or a Thorne. Mcfm. the greatest wast of Copper is Pinnes, wch one would little imagine ; wch I heard Count Oxenstern (the
King of Sweden's Embassador) affirme to the French
Embassador at ye Royal Societie. 167 ...
ne puro tingatur in aequore pellex. — Lib. ii. fab. vi. [530.]
One would easily believe that sea-men should be ye most religious men of all other being so frequently in tempests ; the dreadfulnes whereof is admirably described by ye Prophet David, Psalme 107, v. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, & also by Ovid in his lib. i. Tristium, and xi. Metamorphosis, Fab. 10.
As tempestious times
Amaze poor mortalls, and object their crimes. — G. HERBERT.
But thus much Superstition they still retain, that they will not endure a whore on Shipboard ; wh (they doe believe) does cause a storme; and they will then make bold to throw her overboard, as it were a sacrifice to Neptune. When .... the Morocco Ambassador came to England he was in a dangerous storme, & he caused a sheep (or ram) to be sacrificed. The like opinion they have of a dead body on shipboarde, wch they hold to be very unlucky, and if a storme arises they will throw it into ye sea ; as they did that rare Mummie that Sir Peter Wych brought from Egypt.
Old-wives Tales.
Before printing, Old-wives Tales were ingeniose : and since Printing came in fashion, till a little before the Civil-warres,
F 2
68 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
the ordinary sort of People were not taught to reade ; now-a-dayes Bookes are common, and most of the poor people understand letters ; and the many good Bookes, and variety of Turnes of Affaires, have putt all the old Fables out of doors ; and the divine art of Printing and Gunpowder have frighted away Robin-good- fellow and the Fayries.
Nos quoq', quas Pallas, melior dea, detinet, inquit,
Utile opus manum vario sermone levemus,
Perq' vices aliquid, quod tempora longa videri
Non sinat, in medium vacuas referamus ad aures. — Lib. iiii. [38-41.]
In the old ignorant times before woomen were Readers, ye history was handed downe from mother to daughter, &c. ; and W. Malmesburiensis pickt up his history from ye time of Yen. Bede to his time out of old Songs ; * for there was no writer in England from Bede to him. So my nurse had the history from the Conquest downe to Carl. I. in ballad.
Our Borrows. Quaq' pater Corythi parva tumulatur arena. — Lib. vii. fab. 9 [361~1.
St. George.
Illic immeritam maternae pendere linguae Andromedam paenas injustus jusserat Ammon. Quam simul ad duras religatam brachia cautes Vidit Abantiades (sc. Perseus) ;
Trahit inferus ignes
Et stupet, eximise correptus imagine formae.
unda
Insonuit: veniensq' immense bellua ponto Imminet: et latum sub pectore possidet sequor. Conclamat virgo, &c
Hanc ego si peterem Perseus
Praeferrer cunctis certe gener
Ut mea sit, servata mea, virtute paciscor, &c.
Lib. iiii. fab. 18 [669-72, 675, 687-90, 696, 700, 702].
The story of St. George does so much resemble this that it makes us suspect 'tis but copied from it. Dr. Peter Heylin did 1 [See Appendix.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 69
write the History St. George of Cappadocia, wch is a very blind business. When I was of Trin. Coll. there was a sale of Mr. Wm Cartwright's (Poet) bookes, many whereof I had ; amongst others (I know not how) was Dr. Daniel Featly's1 Handmayd to Devotion; wch was printed shortly after -Dr. Heylins Hist. aforesd. In the Holyday Devotions he speakes of St. George, and asserts the story to be fabulous ; and that there was never any such man. Wm Cartwright writes in the margent " For this assertion was Dr. Featly brought upon his knees before Wm Laud A-Bp. of Canterbury." See Sr Thos Browns Vulgar Errors concerning S* George, where are good Remarks. He is of opinion that ye picture of S* George was only emblematical. Methinkes ye picture of S* George fighting with ye Dragon hath some resemblance of S* Michael fighting with the Devil, who is pourtrated like a Dragon.
Ned Bagshaw of Chr. Ch. 1652 shewed me somewhere in Nicephorus Gregoras, that ye picture of St. George's horse on a wall neighed upon some occasion. Quis credere possit? Ovid Metamph. 15. I don't thinke Dr. Heylin consulted so much Greeke.
The story of S1 George is wittily burlesqued in ye Ballad of " Sr Eglamere that valiant knight," &c.
I will conclude this paragraph with these following verses, that I remember somewhere : —
To save a Mayd, St. George the Dragon slew,
A pretty tale, if all is told be true: Most say, there are no Dragons: and 'tis sayd,
There was no George; 'pray God there was a Mayd.
But, notwithstanding these verses, there was such a one as S* George of Cappadocia ; who was made Bishop of Alexandria, and is mentioned by S* Hierome, &c.2
Sheilds. [See p. 77.]
At Nileus, qui se genitum septemplice Nilo
Ementitus erat, clypeo quoq' flumina septem
Argento partim, partim crelaverat auro. — Lib. v. fab. 1 [187-9].
1 He was ye minister of Lambeth, where he was buried.
2 [See Appendix.]
70 REMAINS OF GENT1LISME.
Ale.
at inde
Prodit anus; Divamq' videt; lymphamq' roganti
Dulce dedit, tosta quod coxerat ante, polenta.1— Lib. v. fab. 7 [448-450].
Mazes, or Mizmazes?
Daedalus, ingenio fabrae celeberrimus artis,
Ponit opus: turbatq' notas, et lumina flexum
Ducit in errorem variaru' ambage viarum.
Non secus ac liquidis Phrygius Maeandrus in undis
Ludit et, ambiguo lapsu refluitq' fluitq';
Occurrensq' sibi venturas aspicit undas:
Immmeras errore vias; vixq' ipse reverti
Ad limen potuit; tanta est fallacia tecti
Utq' ope virginea, nullis iterata priorum, Janua difficilis filo est inventa relecto.
[Lib. viii. 159, 168, 172-175.]
The curious description of this Labyrinth, putts me in mind of that at Woodstock bow'r, wch my Nurse was wont to sing, viz. : —
Yea, Rosamond, fair Rosamond,
her name was called so, To whom dame Elinor our Queen
was known a deadly foe, The King therefore for her defence
against the furious Queen, At Woodstock builded such a Bower
the like was never seen. Most curiously that Bower was built,
of stone and timber strong, A hundred and fifty dores
did to this Bower belong; And they so cunningly contriv'd
with turnings round about, That none but with a clew of thread,
could enter in, or out.
1 Ex polenta, liquidu' dedit cum polenta, auferendi casu. Turneb. interpretatur, quern Cicer. vertit cinnum: cui potioni conficiendae miscebatur pol. h. e. farina hordeacea: de quo plura lege lib. 12, c. 8. v. etiam de farina hor- deacea in Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. [xx] cap. [51].
2 [See Appendix.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
71
The Mazes are in imitation of these Labyrinths : & anciently (I believe) there were many of them in England : on the downe between Blandford and Pimpern, in Dorset, which was much used by the young people on Holydaies and by ye School-boies. At West Ashton in Wilts, is another : and (I thinke) there is one on the Cotteswold Downes, where Mr. Dovers Games were celebrated. At Southwarke was a Maze, wcl1 is converted into Buildings bearing that name. There is a Maze at this day in Tuthill fields, Westminster, & much frequented in summer-time in fair afternoons.
One on Putney Heath in Surrey. — [W. K.]
Neglecting St. Richard's Well at Droytwich in Worcestersh.
Cceptus ab agricolis Superos pervenit ad omnes Ambitiosus honos: solas sine thure relictas Praeteritas cessasse ferunt Latoidos (sc. Dianas) aras, Tangit et ira Deos. At non impune feremus ; Quaeq' inhonoratae, non et dicemur inultae ; Inquit; et CEneos ultorem spreta per agros Misit aprum. Lib. viii. fab. 4 [276—282.]
Plin. Nat. Hist. Lib. 31, c. 7. Dalecamp. Est apud Atheneum in Troade sal Tragasseus, cui cum vectigal Lysimachus imposuisset, evanuit ; et vectigali, mox sublato, succrevit in usum. Rhodig. cap. 12, lib. 9. Junius c. 9, lib. 3, eandem historian! recitat, & multas praeterea ejusdem argumenti.
In the Civil-warres they neglected the anniversary Dressing of the Salt- well at Droytwich : and afterwards the Spring became dry : to the great losse of the Towne ; and ever since (volens nolens) the Minister there (and also ye Soldiers) they did & will dresse it. [See p. 33.]
The day of the solempnization of the feast and dressing this well is the ninth day after Whitsunday ; from Mri3 Hemmings. V. de hoc in the Lives of ye English Saints, in Westminster Librarie.
First Fruits.
(Enea namq' ferunt, plenis successibns anni,
Primitias, frugem Cereri, sua vina Lyaeo,
Palladios flavse latices libasse Minervas. — [viii. 273 5.]
72 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Dressing-up of Churches with Flowers, fyc. Templa coronantur Lib. viii. fab. 4 [264.]
Hence come ye festons in Architecture. — Zopheri.
Lib. viii. fab. 11.
Nee minus Autolyci conjux, Erisichthone nata, Juris habet ; pater hujus erat qui numina Divum Sperneret, et nullos aris adoleret honores. Ille etiam Cereale nemus violasse securi Dicitur, et lucos ferro temerasse vetustos. Stabat in his ingens annoso robore quercus; Una nemus; vittse mediam, memoresq. tabellae, Sertaq. cingebant, voti argumenta potentis. Saspe sub hac Dryades festas duxere choreas. Saepe etiam, manibus nexis ex ordine, trunci Circumiere modum: mensuraq. roboris ulnas Quinq. ter implebat; nee non et caetera tanto Sylva sub hac omnis, quantum fuit herba sub ilia.
***** Dixit, et, obliques dum telum librat in ictus, Contremuit, gemitumq. dedit Deoida quercus:
*****
Editus e medio sonus est de robore talis:
Nympha sub hoc ego sum, Cereri gratissima, ligno.
Lib. viii. fab. 11 [738—750, 757—8, 770—1.]
I have seen in ye forest, before one comes to Orleans, on an old venerable oake, that grew by ye high way, an Altar and a painted picture; from the Serta come our festons, both at Festivalls and in Architecture.
Re fin' d Cups.
1 fabricataq. fago
Pocula, quse cava sunt flaventibus illita ceris.
[Lib. viii.] Fab. 9 [669-670.]
Ovid putts fagus for acer for ye verse sake. Beach would make a scurvy cup.
1 Let this paragh. stand in ye margent for antiquity sake.
REMAINS OP GENTILISME. 73
LIB. IX.
Hindring a Womans Labour.
Utq. meos audit gemitus, subsedit in ilia. Ante fores ara, dextroq. apoplite Isevum Pressa genu, digitis inter se pectine junctis Sustinuit partus. Tacita quoq. carmina voce Dixit: et incceptos tenuerunt carmine partus.
Fab. vi. [297—301.]
Woemen are superstitious as to this at woemens labours still. V. Sr Th: Browns Vulgar Errors.
Midwives woemen have some custome, of saving the after- birth, or burning of it, in relation to the long or short life of the new-borne Babe. Quaere, to wch this in Ovid, lib. viii. fab. [4, 451-459] seemes something to allude :
Stipes erat, quern, cum partus enixa jaceret
Thestias, in flammam triplices posuere sorores :
Staminaq. impresso fatalia pollice nentes,
Tempora, dixerunt, eadem lignoq. tibiq.
O modo nate, damus, Quo postquam carmine dicto
Excessere Dese; flagrantem mater ab igne
Eripuit torrem: sparsitq. liquentibus undis.
Ille diu fuerat penetralibus abditus imis;
Servatusq. tuos, juvenis, servaverat annos. [451-459.]
Cum daret; elapsae manibus cecidere tabellas
Online turbata est; misit tamen . [Lib. ix. 570-1.]
Te, Dea, te quondam,1 tuaq. hsec insignia vidi:
Cumtaq. cognovi; sonitum, comitesq. facesq.
Sistrorum . [Lib. ix. 775-7.]
1 Quse nunc in ara tua, ad quam advolvor, conspiciuntur: hoc est, simulacrum tuum.
74 REMAINS OF GENTILISME .
Rosemary Sprigges at Funeralls.
Jamq, per immensos egesto sanguine fletus, In viridem verti coeperunt membra colorem: Et modo qui nivea pendebant fronde capilli, Horrida csesaries fieri; sumptoq. rigore Sidereum gracili spectare cacumine coelum. Ingemuit: tristisq. Dens, Lugebere nobis, Lugebisq. alios, aderisq. dolentibus, inquit. — [Lib. x.], Fab. iii.
[136—142.]
Herat. Carmina, lib. ii. ode 14 [23-25] :
neq. harum, quas colis, arborum
Te, praeter invisas cupressus, Ulla brevem dominum sequetur.
Epodon. ode 5 [18] :
Jubet cupressus funebres.
Ingentum struxere pyram: cui frondibus atris Intexunt late/a et ferales ante cupressos. [215-217.] Constituunt Virg. JEneid. lib. vi.
take off your Tiff
Ye men of Rosemary, and drinke up all, Remembring 'tis a Butler's Funerall: Had he been Master of good Double Beer, My life for his John Dawson had been here.
On Jo. Dawson, Butler of Christ-church, Oxon. Dr. Corbet's Poems.
Garlands.
Festa piae cereris celebrabant annua matres
Ilia, quibus nivea velatae corpora veste
Primitias frugum dant, spicea serta, suarum. — Lib. x. fab. 9 [431-3.]
At Newton, in Malmesbury-hundred, on
in Easter- weeke is an ancient Custome (still observed) of a mayd to give a Ghirland to a young man of that parish : see the de-
1 Cyparissus in arborem.
2 Alludit ad Roman : consuetudinem, qua cupressus ante def unctor. domos collocabatur.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
75
scription of it in my Description of the Antiquities of Wiltshire, Lib. A.1 In Germany 'tis still in use that young men get Ghirlands of Mayds which they take for a great kindness.
The young man whose late sweetheart is married to some other person does often in a frolique literally wear a willow garland, as I have seen in some parts of Oxfordshire. — W. K.
Myrrhe.
Arbor agit rimas, et fissa cortice vivum
Keddit onus vagitq. puer:2 quern mollibus herbis
Naiades impositum lacrymis unxere parentis 8 —
[Lib. x.] Fab. 10 [512-513].
Mctm. The gumme (Myrrhe) is given in Physick and mede- cines for woemens diseases. — See Riverius de hoc.
[ Omen."] Ter pedis offensi signo est revocata. — Lib. x. fab. ix. [452.]
Schriech Owles.
ter omen
Funereus bubo lethali carmine fecit.— Ibid. [452-3.]
Hanging out a white flag ; sc.for a parle.
Velamenta 4 manu prsetendens snpplice, qui sit, Quoq. satus, memorat [Lib. xi. 279-280.]
Haley 'on-daies.
Perq. dies placidos, hyberno tempore, septem
Incubat Halcyone pendentibus sequore nidis,
Turn via tuta maris : ventos custodit, et arcet
JEolus egressu: praestatq. nepotibus aequor. — Lib. xi. fab. 10 [745-8].
Hard-men.
Turn vero praeceps,5 curru fremebundus ab alto,
Desilit: et nitido securum cominus hostem
Ense petens, parmam gladio, galeamq. cavari
Cernit, et in duro Isedi quoq. corpore ferrum — Lib. xii. fab. 3 [128-131].
1 [See p. 136.] 2 Adonidem.
4 Quod erat filo laneo velatum caduceum.
5 Achilles, invulnerable but his heele.
Myrrhae.
76 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Item,
Cum sic Nestor ait, Vestro fuit unius aevo Contemptor ferri, nulloq. forabilis ictu — [169-170.]
The Swedes and ye Danes, & Norwegians are peremptory in this opinion still : and in the Parliament army were severall of these countreys that avowed they had that Preservative, sc. against a sword. I have heard from some Brokers (that buy old cloathes), that in the time of these war res they found in severall cloathes of soldiers they bought, Sigills in metall, wch they wore about them as Preservatives. — See Corn. Agrippa, &c.5 de Sigillis : so. certain mysterious Numbers.
Stagges Homes.
in alta
Quae fuerant pinu, votivi cornua cervi. — Fab. 5 [Lib. xii.],Fab. [4, 266-267].
Mr. Lancelot Moorehouse (Westmorland), told me a story that some where in that north country upon an Oke were fixt a Stagges home, wc}i in process of time grew into the oke (i) the oke had inclosed the roote of them ; but he has seen the stumpes wch weather & time had curtaild. The Tradition was that a Greyhound had coursed the stag a matter of xxx miles, and at this place the Stagge & Greyhound fell-downe both dead ; and in a plate of lead was writt thus :
Here Hercules kill'd Hart-of -grease, And Hart-of-grease kill'd Hercules.
The Hercules and Hart of grese is in Whinfield-park, in Westmorland. From Mr. Edmund Gibson, of Queen's College, in Oxford, who is that country-man; as concerning the time he has not yet fully enformed himselfe : but he will in some short time acquaint me ; he intended to have inserted it in his anno- tations of his Chronicon Saxonicum, but that
Horn-church in Essex hath its denomination from ye Homes of a Hart that happened to be killed by a Kings Dogges neer the church as it was building : and the Homes were putt in the wall of ye church. Mr. . . . Estcot, a gent, commoner 1647 of
KEMAINS OF GENTILISME. 77
Trin. Coll. Oxon. went to school there, and sayd yl the stumps of ye Homes were extant in his time.1
The Foresters of ye Newe-forest in Hants, came annually to St. Lukes Chapel at Stoke-Yerdon (a Hamlet in ye parish of Broad Chalke in Wilts.) with offerings, that their Deer and cattel might be blesst. I have a conceit, that there might be dedicated and hung up in that chapell (now demolished) some homes of stagges that were greater than ordinary : and the like at St. Lukes Chapell, at Turvey Acton in Gloucestershire, by yc Keepers and Foresters of Kingswood Forest.
Squires. Anniger ille tui fuerat genitoris, Achille. — [Lib. xii. 363.]
Sheilds. [See p. 69.]
Surgit ad hos clypei dominus septemplicis Ajax
clypeus vasti ccelatus imagine mundi.
iste tuns, tarn raro prselia passus,
Integer est clypeus; nostro, qni tela ferendo Mille patet plagis, novus est successor habendus.
neq. enim clypei ccelamina norit,
Oceanum, et terras, cumq. alto sydera ccelo, Ple'iadasq. Hyadasq. immunemq. sequoris Arcton, Diversasq. urbes, nitidumq. Orionis ensem.
Lib. xiii. fab. 1 [2, 110, 117-119, 291, 294].
Perfumes in Churches.
Thure dato flammis, vinoq. in thura profuso. — Lib. xiii. fab. 4 [636]. Those that write of Spirits and Magique affirme that the good spirits are delighted with Perfumes and cleanlines, as ye evill spirits love stinking smells, Aconite &c.
\_Herbs as Charms in DuelsJ] num succus fecerit herbas. — [Lib. xiii. 941.]
Heretofore when a trial was to be decided per Duellum, before they two { oSSSta jdidOTgagethe Herald gave them
1 [Mr. Thorns says: — " On the Hart's Horn Tree in Whinfell Park, see the Rev. J. Hodgson's Westmoreland, 8vo. 1814 (Beauties of England and Wales), p. 105. On the various conjectures respecting Hornchurch, see Gent. Mag. xcviii. 1, 305." ED.]
78 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
an Oath, to confesse whether they had about them any Charme,
or Herb.
I remember one of ye heralds (I think Sl George or .... Segar) has writt a Booke wherein he speakes of the Formality and Heraldique lawes of Triall per duellum : where this and more is mentioned.
Masses for ye Dead. Sacrificat, tunmlumq. sui genitoris honorat.— Lib. xiv. [84.]
Ale.1
raisceri tosti jubeth ordea grani,
Mellaq. vimq. meri, et cum lacte coagula passo.
Quiq. sub hac lateant furtim dulcedine, succos
Adjicit. [Lib. xiv. 273-276.]
Sr Walter Raleigh in his Historic saieth, that he that was the Inventor of making of Malt, was a person of great witt, & an excellent Chemist, for without Malt, Ale or Beer is not to be made: boyle the Barley never so much.
Right hand. — — accipimus sacra data pocula dextra.— [Lib. xiv. 276.]
This is also the modern fashion : and a piece of ill manners to give one his left hand.
Inde fides, dextraeq. datse, — - ibid. [297.]
C. Tacitus. Lib. i. p, 58, Ceux de Langres luy avoient envoye, selon la cous- tume, un present de deux maines entrelacees, en signe d' Alliance.
Lib. ii. p. 106. II arma ensuite les esclaves les plus robustes, des depouilles de quelques marchands/ et essaya par divers moyens de corrumpre le Centurion Sicenna, depeche par 1'armee de Syrie vers les Cohortes Pretoriennes, pour leur porter le symbole de deux mains entre-lacees, en signe de Concorde et alliance.
Miserat Civitas Lingonu', vetere institute dono Legionibus, dextras Jwspitis insigne. Tacit. Hist. Lib. ii.
Centurionemq. Sisennam dextras concordice insignie Syriaci exercitus
nomine ad Prsetorianos ferentem, varijs artibus aggressus est. — v. J. Lipsius's Notes.
1 Set this in the margent, being foreign to Gentilism.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 79
In the chapell of Priory Sl Maries, a Nunnery, in the pish of Kington Sfc Michael, in Wiltshire, was found, 1637, a stone like a grindstone of about sixteen inches diameter, in the center whereof was a heart held by two right hands.
The draught of the Stone
found in the Priory Chapel of
[Here is a figure.] Kington S* Mary, founded by
Mawd the Empresse.
I have seen some Rings made for Sweet-hearts with a Heart enamelld held between two right hands. See an epigrame of G. Buchanan on two Rings that were made by Q. Elizabeths appointment, wch being layd one upon the other shewed the like figure. The Heart was 2 Diamonds, wch joined made the Heart. Q. Eliz. kept one moeitie, and sent ye other as a Token of her constant Friendship to Mary Q. of Scotts ; but she cutt of her Head for all that.1
prima putatur
Hostia sus meruisse mori : quia semina pando Eruerit rostro, spemq. interceperit anni. Vite caper morsa Bacchi mactatus ad aras Ducitur ultoris.— Lib. xv. fab. 2 [112-115].
Portents.
Tristia mille locis Stygius dedit omina bubo: Mille locis lacrymavit ebur: cantusq' feruntur Auditi, sanctis et verba minantia lucis. Victima nulla litat, magnosq. instare tumultus Fibra monet, csesumq. caput reperitur in extis. Inq. foro, circumq. domos, et templa deorum Nocturnos ululasse canes, umbrasq. silentum Erravisse ferunt, motamq. tremoribus urbem. —
Fab. 51 [791-798].
Prayers to departed Saints.
Accedat crelo ; f aveatq. precantibus absens. —
Ibid. [870.]
Similes preces pro salute Claudij Csesaris habet Senec. Lib. de Consul, ad. Polyb. Plin. in fine Paneyr. pro Trajan. 1 [See Appendix.]
80 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Spittle.
'Tis a common use in London, and perhaps over great part of England, for Apple-woemen, Oyster- woemen, &c., & some Butchers, to spitt on the money wch they first recieve in the morning, wch they call good handsell. — v. pag. [42] the Irish custome.
VlRGILIJ ECLOG.
Saepe malum hoc nobis (si mens non laeva fuisset)
De ccelo tactas memini praedicere quercus.
Ssepe sinistra cava prsedixit ab ilice cornix. — [i. 16-18.]
Fascinating eies.
Nescio quis, teneros oculos mihi fascinat agnos. — [iii. 103.] Some persons eies are very offensive : non possum dicere quare ; there is aliquid Divinum in it, more than every one
understands. I have heard a j gp^-g^ [ merchant saye, that in
Spaine they are very shie, and wary, who they let looke on their Childrens eies for feare of this. 'Twas reported of one in N. W. that he had such urentes oculos, that he bewitched his owne cattel, sit fides pene.
Adorning of Fountaines.
Spargite humum folijs: inducite fontibus umbras, Pastores [v. 40, 41.]
Evill Tongue.
Haec tibi semper erunt, et cum solennia vota
Eeddemus Nympbis, et cum lustrabimus agros. — [v. 74-75.]
In Germany when some come which are not very good friends, or doe not like them and praise the children, the Parents or Nurse do not love to heare it, and for a remedie thereof, that it may doe no hurt to the children, they imme- diately give bad language to them, &c.
Aut si ultra placitum laudarit, baccare frontem
Cingite, ne vati noceat mala lingua future. — [vii. 27, 28.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 81
Mr W. Lilly in his Astrologie has a discourse concerning those that labour under an ill-tongue, and prescribes a medicine for it, of Unguentum populeum, &c.: qd. vide, and he delivers Astrologicall Rules to discover it [see p. 12].
Pocula bina novo spumantia lacte quot annis Craterasq. duos statuam tibi pinguis olivi. — [v. 67, 68.]
Ho, ho, ho, of Robin-goodfellow.
Mchn. Virgil speakes somewhere (I think in ye Georgiques) of Voyces heard louder than a Man's. Mr. Lancelot Morehouse did averre to me, super verbum sacerdotis, that he did once heare such a loud laugh on the other side of a hedge, and was sure that no Human voice could afford such laugh.
This relates something to page [84 and 86] Robin Goodfellow.1
Rymers.
Pastorem, Tityre, pingues
Pascere oportet oves, deduction dicere carmen. — Eel. vi. [4, 5].
Before the Civil warres in Staffordshire, at & about Coventrey Warwickshire, and those parts, there went along with the Fidlers, Rymers (who perhaps were Fidlers too), that upon any subject given would versifie extempore halfe an houre together.2 Tarle- ton the Comedian. This it seemes was in fashion amongst the arcadian shepherds (Polybius sayes that all the Arcadians were musicall).
Et cantare pares, et respondere parati.
Alternis igitur contendere versibus ambo
Ccepere: alternos Musse meminisse volebant. — Eclog. vii. [5, 18, 19.]
These Rymers were of great antiquity in England, as appeares by many Families called by that name: and like enough the custome was deriv'd from the old Bards. In Wales are some Bards still who have a strange gift in versyfying: but the fitt will sometimes leave them, and never returne again. The vulgar sort of people in Wales have a humour of singing extempore upon occasion : e. g. certain Gentlemen coming to ....
1 [See "Miscellanies," pp. 106-111.]
2 From Elias Ashmole, Esq. and Mr Joyner.
G
82 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
the woemen that were washing at ye river fell all a singing in Welsh, wch was a description of ye men and their horses.1
Hie focus et taedse pingues; hie plurimus ignis
Semper, et assidua postes fuligine nigri. — Eclog. vii. [49, 50.]
Mopse, novas incide faces; tibi ducitur uxor: Sparge, marite, nuces. — Eclog. viii. [28, 29.]
Effer aquam, et molli cinge haec altaria vitta; Verbenasq. adole pinguis, et mascula thura. Conjugis ut magicis sanos avertere sacris Experiar sensus.— [Ib. 64-67.]
[Herbs used against enchantments.']
Vervaine and Dill
Hinder witches from their will.— Dodonceus Herball.
Hypericon (St. John's Wort) is Fuga Dsemonum.2
Trueloves knotts and knotts wh grasse.
Terna tibi haec primum triplici diversa colore
Licia circumdo, terq. haec altaria circum
Effigiem (sc. amatoris) duco. Numero deus impare gaudet.
Necte tribus nodis ternos, Amarylli, colores:
Necte, Amarylli, modo; et, Veneris, die vincula necto.
Eclog. viii. [73-5, 77, 78.]
___ A true loves knott.
•^••••••••i^"^** Turn ft about a as loose
as you can, and then a over ft likewise. This is a kind of Divination used by young virgins.3 They have told me they have tryed it and seen it tryed severall times, but severall times also they have not seen it doe. Penrud. To Divine if your Mistress love you : and ye like for a woman. Take two blades of green Grasse folded in each other as in the figure : and then putt in your bosome or neck, while one can say
1 From Mr. Andr. Middleton. 2 [See Appendix.]
3 [Clare (" Shepherd's Calendar") speaks of young girls as — " Oft making love-knots in the shade Of blue-green oat, or wheaten blade." — ED.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 83
3 pater nosters ; and all ye while you are folding it and wearing it you must thinke of her that you love : and if she loves you the grass will be changed as in the figure (i), ye grasses will not be mutually lock't together as when folded up.
Magick.
Limus ut hie durescit, et haec ut cera liquescit
Uno eodemq. igni; sic nostro Daphnis amore.
Sparge molam, et fragiles incende bitumine lauros.— [Eel. viii. 80-82.]
Has olim exuvias mihi perfidus ille reliquit,
Pignora chara sui; quse nunc ego, limine in ipso,
Terra, tibi mando; debent haec pignora Daphnin. — Ibid. [91-93.]
Has herbas, atq. hsec Ponto mihi lecta venena Ipse dedit Moeris; nascuntur plurima Ponto, His ego saepe lupum fieri, et se condere sylvis Moerin, saepe animas imis excire sepulchris, Atq. satas alio vidi traducere messes.
Ibid [95-99], Vide Warwoulfe, p. [66.]
Invoking the Moon.
Tell sacred Moon what first did raise my flame, And whence my Pain and whence my Passion came.
Theocrit. Idyllinm ii. v. p. 14, part 1st.
In Yorkeshire &c. northwards, some country woemen doe worship the New Moon on their bare knees, kneeling upon an earth-fast steane (i) stone. And the people of Athol, in the High-lands in Scotland, doe worship the New Moon. — v. de hoc, Blau's Atlas in Scotland, qd N.B.— [See pp. 36 and 142.]
Fer cineres, Amarylli, foras, rivoq. fluenti
Transq. caput jace; nee respexeris; 1 his ego Daphnin
Aggrediar; nihil ille deos, nil carmina (charmes) curat.
[Eel. viii. 101-103.]
At morning-peep soon quench ye bl^zeing wood
And scatter all the Ashes ore the flood,
And thence return, but with a steddy pace,
Nor looke behind on the polluted place:
Then let pure Brimstone purge the Booms and bring
Clear Fountain water from the sweetest Spring,
This mixt with Salt, with blooming Olives crowned
1 Quia fere se nolunt numina videri. G2
84 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Spread ore the Floor, and purge polluted ground. Then kill a Bore to Jove, that free from harms The Child may live, and Victory crown his arms.
v. Theocritus, Idyllium xxiii.
Aspice: corripuit tremulis altaria flammis
Sponte sua (dum ferre moror) cinis ipse. Bonu sit !
Nescio quid certe est: et Hylax in limine latrat. — [Eel. viii. 105-107.]
Quod nisi me quacunq. novas incidere litis
Ante sinistra cava monuisset ab ilice cornix:
Nee tuus hie Mceris, nee viveret ipse Menalcas. — Eclog. ix. [14-16.]
Dressing of Fountaines.
Quis caneret Nymphas? quis humum florentibus herbis Spargeret? aut viridi fontis induceret umbra? — [Ib. 19-20.]
Modern custome of rusticTc Lovers.
tenerisq. meos incidere amores
Arboribus: crescent illse, crescetis, amores. — [Eel. x. 53, 54.]
GrEORGIC. LlB. I.
Robin Goodfellow. \_Seepp. 81, 86.]
Et vos, agrestum prsesentia numina, Fauni,
Ferte simul fauniq. pedem Dryadesq. puellse. — Georg. lib. i. [10, 11.]
Vos quoq. plebs Superum, Fauni, Satiriq., Laresq., Fluminaq, et Nymphse, Semideumq. genus. — Ovid in Ib'm. [81, 82.]
The Fauns are accounted the Country Gods and are thought alwaies to inhabit the woods. The first of them was Faunus, King of ye Aborigines, the sonne of Picus, and grand-child of Saturn, who first reduced ye Inhabitants of Italy to civil life ; he built houses, and consecrated woods. From him ('tis likely) comes our Robin Groodfellow.
votisq. vocaveris imbrem. — [157.]
Commons.
Ante Jovem nulli subigebant arva coloni : Nee signare quidem aut partiri limite campum Fas erat: in medium quserebant. — [125-127.]
Sc. all in common, e. g
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 85
Tune alnos primum fiuvii sensere cavatas.— [136.]
So the Curricles in Wales : sc. the old British boates made of Osiers, like a basket, and covered wh leather.
etiam festis qusedam exercere diebus
Fas et jura sinunt: rivos deducere nulla Relligio vetuit, segeti prsetendere ssepem, Insidias avibus moliri, incendere vepres, Balantumq' gregem fluvio mersare salubri, &c. — [268-272.]
Observations of the Moon.
Ipsa dies alios alio dedit ordine Luna
Felices operum : quintain f uge ; pallidus Orcus,
Eumenidesq' satse
* * * *
Septuma post decimam felix, et ponere vitem, Et prensos domitare boves, et licia telas Addere : nona f ugae melior, contraria f urtis.
pressae cum jam tetigere carinse,
Puppibus et Iseti nautse imposuere coronas.
[276-8, 284-6, 303, 304.]
A Proverbial Verse.
Tertia quinta qualis est luna tota talis.
According to the Kules of Astrologie, it is not good to under- take any Businesse of importance in the new of the moon : and not better just at the Full of the moon : but worst of all in an Eclipse : and as to Nativities this is very remarkable.
Cerealia.
Sacra refer Cereri lastis operatus in herbis,
Extremse sub casum hyemis, jam vere sereno.
Tune agni pingues, et tune mollissima vina. — [339-341.]
Portents.
Tempore quanquam illo tellus quoq', et sequora ponti, Obscceniq' canes, importunaeq' volucres
86 KEMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Signa dabant. Quoties Cyclopum effervere in agros
Vidimus undantem ustis fornacibus JEtnam,
Flammarumq* globos liquefactaq* volvere saxa ! &c. — [469-473.]
See N. MachiavePs Discourses upon Titus Livius, lib
He (who was no superstitious man) sayes to this purpose, that so it is, That oftentimes before Changes in Government doe happen Portents, e. g.; in my Time, on the first day of the Sitting of ye Parliament 1641, at St. Trenchards, at Lickyat in Dorset, as they were at dinner, the scepter fell out of the king's (Ch. I.) hand in Playster in the Hall. At his Triall the head of his Cane fell off. Before Oliver Pr: death a great Whale came to Greenwich as also (they say this sofher 1688). At K. James IId returning fro Westm. Abbey when he was crowned, a puff of wind tore the canopy carried over Him by ye Wardens of the Cinque ports. 'Twas of Cloath of gold & my strength (I am confident could not have rent it) and it was not a windy day.
GEORG. LIB. II.
Miscueruntq' herbas, et non innoxia verba. — [129; also III. 283.]
Wafers.
Ergo rite suum Baccho dicemus honorem
Carminibus patriis, lancesq' et liba wafers feremus. — [393, 394.]
Robin-Goodfellow, fyc. [See pp. 81, 84.]
deos qui novit agrestes,
Panaq' Sylvanumq' senem Nymphasq' sorores. — [493, 494.]
Ipse dies agitat festos: fususq' per herbam, Ignis ubi in medio, et socij cratera coronant, Te, libans, Lensee, vocat: pecorisq' magistris Velocis jaculi certamina ponit in ulmo; Corporaq' agresti nudat prsedura palaestra.
GEORG. LIB. III.
Charmes, to bewitch.
PuniceEeve agitant pavidos formidine pennae. — [372.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 87
Ale.
Hie noctem ludo ducunt, et pocula laeti
Fermentoq' atq' acidis imitantur vitea sorbis. — [378, 380.]
High-places. ductos alta ad donaria currus.— [533.]
GEORG. LIB. IIII. Swarming of Bees.
Tinnitusq' cie, et Matris quate cymbala circum. — [64.] We use this Custome still. And so in Germany likewise.
[ The number three.~\
Ter liquido ardentem perfudit nectare Vestam:
Ter flamma ad summum tecti subjecta reluxit. — [384, 385.]
Thrice, thrice I pour, and thrice repeat my charmes.
Theocriti Idyllium ii.
Mat Nayler was advis'd by the witch when she made her escape, to leape over a Rivulet three times.
A counter charme.
But least she charme me, I have murmur'd thrice, Spit thrice; -for old Cotytto taught me this.
Theocritus Idyllium vi.
Terque senem flamma, ter aqua, ter sulphure lustrat.
Ovid's Metamorph. lib. vii.— [261.]
Vanishing of Ghosts.
ipsa procul nebulis obscura resistit.
— et ex oculis subito, ceu fumis in auras
Commixtus tenuis fugit diversa: neq' ilium Prensantem nequicquam umbras, et multa volentem
Dicere, praeterea vidit
munera supplex
Tende, petens pacem, et faciles venerare Napseas.
[424, 499-502, 530, 531.]
88 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Dinges.
Inferias Orphei lethaea papavera mittes
Et nigram mactabis ovem [545, 547.]
Inferiae diet, sacrificia quae inferis solvuntur, quae dijs manibus inferebant atque ad mortuoru' sepulchras inferebantur.
Sacrifices donne to ye infernall Gods for them that be dead : a Dirige, or Masse for the dead.
Christmas.
Jamdudum ausculto, et cupiens tibi dicere servus
Pauca, reformido, Davusne? Ita, Davus, amicum
Mancipium domino, et frugi, quod sit satis: hoc est
Ut vitale putes. Age, libertate Decembri,
Quando ita majores voluerunt, utere. — Horat. lib. ii. satyr. 7. [1-5.]
Hoc mense Decembri, cum Saturnalia celebrentur, inquit dominus, servis loqui liceat, quicquid libet.— Bond.
Mr. Jo. Seldens Table- Talke.
u 1. Christmas succeeds the Saturnalia, the same time, the same number of Holydaies ; then the Master waited upon ye servant like ye Lord of Misrule.
" 2. Our Meates and our Sports (much of them) have relation to Church-works. The Coffin our Christmas-Pies in shape long, in imitation of the Cratch, our choosing Kings and Queens on Twelth night, hath reference to the three Kings. So likewise our eating Fritters, whipping of Tops, Roasting of Herrings, Jack-of- Lents, &c. ; they were all in imitation of Churchworks, Emblems of Martyrdom. Our Tansies at Easter have reference to the bitter Herbs ; though at the same time 'twas always the Fashion for a Man to have a Gammon of Bacon, to shew himself to be no Jew."
See in the Preface before my lib. A (about ye end) where are Remarkes concerning the K. and Q. of ye Beane, of Bp. and Abbot and Prior : and of ye Child Bp. whose monum* is in Salisbury church, who died in his Episcopate : of ye Lord of Misrule, Mr. Purchase in his Pilgrimage derives it fro ye Persians.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
89
Misselto.1 Vulgar Errors, lib. ii., 1-6.
As for ye magical fluids of this plant, and concieved efficacy unto veneficial intentions, it seemeth a Pagan relique derived from the ancient Druides, the great admirers of Oak : especially the Misselto that grew thereon : wch according to ye particular of Pliny they gathered with great solemnity. For after sacrifice, the Priest in a white garment ascended the Tree, cut downe the Misselto with a golden hook, and recieved it in a white coate ; the virtue whereof was to resist all poisons, and make fruitful any that used it. Vertues not expected from clas- sical practice ; and did they fully answer their promise wch are so commended, in Epileptical intentions we would abate these qualities. Country practice hath added another, to provoke after birth, and in that case the decoction is given unto Cows. That ye Berries are poison, as some concieve, we are so far from averring that we have safely given ym inwardly ; and can con- firm the experim* of Brassavolus, that they have some purgative quality.
Au-guy-lan-neuf. The voice of Country people begging small presents, or New year's gifts, in Christmas : (an ancient tearme of rejoycing, derived from the Druides ; who were wont, the first of January, to goe into the Woods, where having sacrificed, and banqueted together, they gathered mistletow, esteeming it excellent to make Beasts fruitfull, and most soveraigne against all poyson. — Cotgrave's French Dictionary.
That Bayes will protect from ye mischief of Lightning and Thunder, is a quality ascribed thereto, comon with the Fig-tree, Eagle, and skin of a Seal. Against so famous a quality, Vice- comerantus pduced the experiment of a Bay-tree blasted in Italy.
We dresse our Houses at Christmas, with Bayes, and hange up in the Hall, or &c., a Misselto-bough ; 'tis obvious to ghesse how 'tis derived downe to us.
1 Missel is masse.
90 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Latet arbore opaca
Aureus et folijs et lento vimine ramus, Junoni infernse dictus sacer : hunc tegit omnis Lucus, et obscuris claudunt convallibus umbrae. Sed non ante datur telluris operta subire, Auricomos quam quis decerpserit arbore foetus, Hoc sibi pulchra suum ferri Proserpina munus Instituit.— Vig. ^Eneid, Lib. vi. [136-143.]
Letts.
tf
v. pag. [24.]
c Homericse. Sortes ) Virgilianse. I Biblicse.
Sortes Biblicae were condemned by a Councel.1
Sortes VirgiliariaB are in use still, but more beyond sea than in England; but perhaps heretofore as much here. As for Homer, Graecu est non potest legi ; for Greeke was not under- stood westwards of Grecia, till after the taking of Constanti- nople ; but ye Grecians did use the Homerican Sortilege.
These divinations are performed after this manner, viz. : the Party that has an earnest desire to be resolved in such an Event takes a pinne ; an thrusts it between the leaves of one of ye above said bookes, and choose wch of the pages she or he will take, and then open the booke and begin to read at the begin- ning of y* period. The booke at the prickinge is held in another's hand.
In December 1648, K. Charles the first being in great trouble, and prisoner at Caersbroke, or to be brought to London to his Triall ; Charles Prince of Wales, being then at Paris, and in profound sorrow for his father, Mr. Abraham Cowley wente to
{} him ; his Highnesse asked him whether he would wayne on j
play at Cards, to diverte his sad thoughts. Mr. Cowley replied, he did not care to play at Cards ; but if his Highnesse pleasd,
1 q. Mr. Ho. Dodwell what Councell ? Kesp: vide Gratianum.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 91
they would use Sortes Virgilianae (Mr. Cowley alwaies had a Virgil in his pocket) ; the Prince accepted the proposal, and prick't his pinne in the fourth booke of the ^Eneids at this place :
At bello audacis populi vexatus et armis,
Finibus extorris, complexu avulsus lull,
Auxilium imploret, videatq. indigna suorum
Funera; nee, cum se sub leges pacis iniquae
Tradiderit, regno aut optata luce fruatur.
Sed cadat ante diem mediaq. inhumatus arena. — [615-620.]
The Prince understood not Latin well, and desired Mr. Cowley to translate the verses, wch he did admirably well, and wch Mr. Geo. Ent (who lived in his house at Chertsey, in the great plague 1665) shewed me of Mr. Cowley's owne hand writing. I am sorry 1 did not take a copie of them.1 It is good while since I sawe them. I thinke the pinne was put about Et si fata
Jovis poscunt [1. 614] , but for want of Mr. Cowley's I
will sett downe Mr. Ogilby's :
Let him be vext with a bold people's war, Exil'd, forc't from his son's embrace ; may he Seeke aid, and his owne friends sad funerals see. Nor when dishonour'd peace he makes with them, Let him lov'd-life enjoy, or Diadem : But die before Ms day? the sand his grave, And with my bloud this last request I crave.
Now, as to ye last part, "the sand his grave," I well remember, it was frequently and soberly affirmd, by officers of ye army, &c. Grandees, that ye body of King Charles the First was pri- vately putt into the Sand about White-hall ; and the coffin that was carried to Windsor and layd in K. Hen. 8th'8 vault was filled with rubbish, or brick-batts. Mr. Fab. Philips, who adventured his life before ye Kings Try all, by printing, assures me, that the Kings Coffin did cost but six shillings : a plain deale coffin.3
1 Search for it amongst Mr. Ents papers in ye Library of ye R. Soc.
2 Charles 1st was but 58 when he dyed.
3 [See Appendix.]
92 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
'Twas this place :
VlRG. JENEID. LIB. 4 [615].
Audacis populi bello, &c. By a bold people's stubborn armes oppres't, Forc't to forsake ye land he once possess't, Torn from his dearest sonnes, let him in vain Seeke helpe and see his friends unjustly slain. Let him to base unequal termes submit • In hope to save his crown, yet loose both it And life at once, untimely let him dy, And on an open stage unburied ly.
Translated for K. Ch: II. by Mr. Abraham Cowley.
stat ductis sortibus urna. Virg. 6 [22].
placuit caeleste precari
Numen, et auxilium per sacras quserere sortes.
Ovid, Metam. 1. [367-8.]
At Wanborough in Wiltshire is a Lott-meade, where is great meriment every yeare ; also there a Lot-meade at Sutton- Benger, in the said countie, which manner did belong to Malmes- bury Abbey : as (I thinke) Marborough also did.1
'Tis a common way of Divination, in the Country, to take the sheath of a knife (most commonly), or an arrow, and climbe up with their fingers from the bottom to the top, e.g., whether such a one will come to their house this night or not ? Every one has seen it.
There seemes to be something like this in Hosea, ch. iv. v. 12, " My people aske counsell at their stocks, and their staff e declareth unto them "
'Tis common for two to breake the Merrythought of a chick- hen, or wood-cock, &c., the Anatomists call it Clavicula ; 2 'tis called the merrythought, because when the fowle is opened, dis- sected, or carv'd, it resembles the pudenda of a woman. " The furcula, or merry -thought, in birds, which supporteth the scapulae, affording a passage for the windpipe and gullet." — Sr Tho. Brown, in the " Quincunx naturally considered."
* .' [See Appendix.] 2 Qy. Dr. Tyson.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
93
The manner of breaking it, as I have it from the woemen, is thus : viz. One puts ye merrithought on his nose (slightly) like a paire of spectacles, and shakes his head till he shakes it off his nose, thinking all the while his Thought ; then he holds one of the legs of it between his forefinger and Thumbe, and another hold the other in like manner, and breake it ; he that has the longer part, has got the Thought ; then he that has got the thought putts both parts into his hand, and the other drawes (by way of Lott), and then they both Wish, and he that lost his Thought drawes ; if he drawes the longest part, he has [gets] his wish, if the shorter he looses his Wish.
This custome is used not only in England, but in Germanie ; from Mr. Christian Smyth, of Berlin, in Brandenburgh. He also saies that ye divination by a knife or straight stick measured by the thumbes, He comes, he comes not, &c. is used in Germanie.
The breaking the Merrythought is in use in Anhalt, in Ger- many, but without putting it on the nose and without thinking anything, but they breake it only to get some thing from him that looseth it.
" Samuel, by God's appointment, first anointed Saul very pri- vately, and after, in a full assembly of the people at Mispeh, evidenced him to be the man whom God had chosen by the determination of a lot} — 1 Sam. 11."
Candlemas Day.
There are certain popular prognosticks drawn from Festivals in the Kalendar, and conceived opinions of certain daies in the months;2 so there is a general tradition in most parts of Europe that inferreth ye coldness of succeeding winter from the shining of the sun upon Candlemas day, according to the pverbial distich,
Si Sol splendescat Maria purificante
Major est glacies post festum quam fuit ante.
In Germany they looke upon the breast-bone of a Goose (sc. when the flesh is taken off either boiled or rested), and when the
1 Dr. Sanderson's 3d sermon ad magistrati, vol. 1, pag. 377. 2 Enquiries into Vulgar Errors, book vi. chap. iv. p. 239.
94 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
fore part of the bone that resteth in the midst is brown it signifies an hard winter at the beginning, but if the last part of it is so, then after Christmas will be a great cold till the end, but when the bone is pale or white then little or no winter at all will bee.
So it is usual among us to qualifie or conditionate the xii. months of the yeare, answerably unto the temper of the xii. daies in X^as, and to ascribe unto March certain, all wch men believe upon some borrowed experience of their owne and recieved tradition of yr forefathers.
Now, the Calendars of these computers are very different ; ye Greekes dissenting from the Latins, & the Latins from each other, y* one observing ye Julian, the other ye Gregorian account ; now this latter account by ten dayes at least antici- pateth the others : yet in the several calculations ye same events seeme true, and men with equal opinion of verity, expect, and confesse a confirmation from them all. Whereby is evident the oraculous authority of tradition, and the easie seduction of Men, neither enquiring into ye verity of the substance, nor reforming upon repugnance of circumstance. And thus may divers be mistaken who superstitiously observe certain times, or set down unto themselves an observation of unfortunate months, or daies, or houres ; as did the Egyptians, two in every month, and the Romans the days after the Nones, Ides, and Calends. And thus the Rules of Navigators must often fail, setting down, as Rhodiginius observeth, suspected and ominous daies in every Month, as the first and seventh of March, the fifth and sixth of April, the twelfth and fifteenth of February. For the accounts hereof in these months are very different in our daies, and were different with several nations in ages past.
Mdm, the old verse so much observed by Countrey-people :
" If Paul's day be faire and cleare It will betyde a happy yeare."
Clara dies Pauli bona tempora denotat anni: Si fuerint venti, designant prselia genti. Si nix aut pluvia designant tempora cava. Si fuerint Nebulse pereunt Animalia quaeque
REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Et sunt hie multi qui credunt omnia stulti. Et si vult Dominus, convertit is omnia solus.1
95
Proverb: "April borroweth three dales of March, and they are ill."2
On Candlemas-night hang your Smock a Charcoale fire, &c. On New Year's-eve night, sift (or smooth) the Ashes and leave it so when you goe to Bed ; next morning looke and if you find there the likenesse of a Coffin, one will dye : if of a Ring one will be married.
Hempe-seed I sow,
And Hempe-seed I mowe,
And he that is my sweetheart come follow me, f trow.
Mdm, green Hemp leaves will make one to be in the same con- dition with Dotroa.3 So Opium and Lachissa, which is made of green Hempe. From Mr. Wyld Clarke, merch* and Factor at Sto Crux in Barbarie.
Trees.
The Druides performed no sacred services without the leaves of Oak; and not only the Germans but the Greeks adorned their altars wth green leaves of Oak. In the rites performed to Ceres they were crowned wth Oak : in those to Apollo wth Bays : in those to Hercules wth Poplar : in those to Bacchus wth Myrtle. Was not the Oak abused by the Druides to superstition ? And yet our late Reformers gave order (wch was universally observed accord- ingly) for the Acorn, the fruit of the oak. to be set upon the top of their maces or crowns, instead of the Cross. Of happy presage to us that ye money wch bore such fruit should (like that in the plains of Mamre) serve for ye shelter of our earthly Angel K. Charles from the heat and fury of rebellion till the Cross reassumed its place again upon the top of his crown. — H. Savage, Dew of Hermon, p. 16.— [W. K.]
1 [Cfr. Swainson's " Weather Folk-Lore," p. 35.]
2 [It is usually considered that March is the borrower. — See Swainson's " Weather Folk-Lore," p. 65.]
3 [The Tbgrnapple (Datura Stramonium}, called Deutroa in Purchas' " Pilgrimes " (ii. 1757), where an account of its intoxicating effects is given, and Dcn'try in Butler's " Hudibras," b. iii. c. 1. — ED.]
96 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Chancells.
Chancell ; called so from the Cancelli. This has some resem- blance of the a8vT09, or Sanctum Sanctorum of the Jews.
[Cheek burning.'] When ones' cheeke burns they'le say one is talk't of.
Telismans.
Consecrated Bells were Telismans, e.g. St. Adelm's Bell, at Malmesbury-abbey, wch had ye power (as they believed) to drive away Thunder and lightning ; and when it did so, pre- sently that Bell was rung out. The great bell at ye Abbey of St. Germans at Paris, is rung for the same purpose on such occasions.1 When Church bells were cast heretofore it was donne with great ceremony and prayer, and an Inscription in the nature of a Charme was inscribed at the Brimme ; in Weaver's Funerall Monuments are severall sett downe, e.g. Andreas campana fugiant
quaecunq. profana plango fulgura frango.
But the Astrologers their vertue to ? who is a friend to $ . and it must be cast at a certaine friendly aspect of both those planetts.
Cocklebread?
I have some reason to believe that the word cookie is an old antiquitated Norman word, wch signifies a — e ; from a beastly rustique kind of play, or abuse, wch was use when I was a school- boy by a Norman Gardiner, that lived at Downton, neer me ; so hott cockles is as much as to say hott or heated buttocks or a — e. See and transcribe out of Dr. Francis Bernards .... Bur- chardus the (canonist and casuist), and printed A° Dm 1549, at Colen. He lived before the Conquest.
Cerealia.
Md:m in Herefordshire, and also in Somersetshire, on Mid- sommer-eve, they make fires in the fields in the waies : sc. to Blesse the Apples. I have seen the same custome in Somerset,
> [See p. 22.] * Refer this to pag. [43].
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 97
1685, but there they doe it only for custome-sake ; but I doe guesse that this custome is derived from the Gentiles, who did it in remembrance of Ceres her running up and downe with Flambeaux in search of her daughter Proserpina, ravisht away by Pluto;1 and the people might thinke, that by this honour donne to ye Goddesse of husbandry, that their Corne, &c. might prosper the better.
Mctm ye sitting-up on Midsommer-eve in ye churche porch to see the Apparitions of those that should dye or be buried there, that yeare : mostly used by women : I have heard 'em telPstrange stories of it. Now, was not Ceres mother-in-law to Pluto, King of the infernal Ghosts ? and Virgil makes JEneas to sacrifice a barren cowe to Proserpine for his trumpeter Misenus, " ste- rilemq. tibi, Proserpina, vaccam." 2
Vowing of Children by Barren Women.
1 Samuel, ch. i. v. 11. And she vowed a vow, and said, 0 Lord of Hosts, if thou wilt indeed look upon ye affliction of thine handmayd and remember me, and not forget thine hand- maid, but will give unto thine handmaid a male child, then will I give him unto ye Lord all the daies of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.
Mr. George Dickson, now Rector of .Brampton, near North- ampton, was by his breeding mother devoted to the office of the ministry, to which he was bred and ordain'd, tho Heir to a plentifull Estate.— [W. K.]
In the Temple-church in London, is a Chapel on the south of the Round-about walkes, wherein now the Fines are conserved ;
but it { 1S [ ye chapelle dedicated to St. Anne : wch was much ^was J
resorted to by barren women; and was of great repute for opening .the womb. The Knights Templars were notable wenchers, for whose convenience and use the stewes on yc Bankside (over against the Temples) were erected and con-
1 V. Claudian de Raptu Proserp.
2 Lib. vi. JEneid [251].
98 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
stituted. These were the Crosse-keys, the Popes Head, and
ye
Mr. J. Selden had (what ever is become of it) the Orders or Statutes ] for the Gj-overment of them, e.g. A woman was to lye
but with » . . . .
&c. The old & true name of Fetter-lane was Fouter-
lane, wch was also haunted by the Templars.
So Mag Pie Lane in St. Maries parish Oxford was antienly called Grope Ally.— [W-K.]
High Places.
v. Lev. 26, 30 ; destroy your high places. Numb. 21, 28 ; high places of Arnon.
32, [33], 52 ; pluck downe all their high places.
1 Kings, 3, 2 ; sacrificed in the high places.
2 Kings, 15, 4 ; incense still in the high places. Zach. [Ezek.] 6, 3 ; I'le destroy your high places.
besides divers other texts.
So we have St. Michaels mount, in Cornwall, and Glaston- bury Tor ; and in Bretaigne, in France is another St. Michaels Mount, whither pilgrims doe much resort, as they did also in old time to ye chapel on ye mount in Cornwal. We have in several places in England churches and chapells built on high hills, e.g. at West Wycumb, in Bucks ; Winterfl&w, in Wilts ; St. Anne's Chapelle, in Surrey, S1 Marthas capell on ye pico near Guild- ford, cum multis alijs ; mctm, Sr William Dugdale told me, he observed, that where a Church or Chapel was dedicated to St. Michael that it either stood on a Hill, or els had a high steeple, e.g. St. Michaels in Cornhill.
Mdm (he chapel with the tower, called Glastonbury-Tor, was dedicated to Saint Michael the Arch-Angel. It is seated on the top of a Pico, like a sugar-loafe, and is higher a good deale than the steeple of our Lady church, at Salisbury.
St. Michael-how-chap, near Fountaines, Yorks.
1 Qy. A. W. if amongst his books in yc library.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 99
Irish Custome, v. pag. [ ]. Virg. ^Enead. lib. iiii. [683-5.]
Date vulnera lymphis,
Abluam, et extremus siquis super halitus errat, Ore legam.
Mris Venables (widowe of ye Baron Venables, of Kinderton) tells me that in North Wales (and I thinke in Cheshire adjoyning to it) they doe sett Dishes of meate on the Coffin, at a Funerall, and eate over the Defunct. [See pp. 23, 36.]
Chiromantie.
As old as Job.
Job, " He hath not set the lines in the hand of man in vain." Job is the ancientest writer of ye old Testament, wch appeares thus : viz. there is mention of Abraham, and of the Flood : but no mention at all of Moyses ; qd NB.
Crests.
Ipse inter primes praestanti corpore Tumus Vertitur, arma tenens, et toto vertice supra est: Cui triplici crinita juba galea alta Chimseram Sustinet, ^Etnaeos efflantem faucibus ignes.
Virg. ^Eneid. lib. vii. [783-6.]
Mdm. Ye Turks use of Horse-tailes, by way of Ensigne.
'Tis an old reciev'd opinion, That if two doe p — together they shall quarrell : or, If two doe wash their hands together, they will quarrell. 'Tis well known y* severall Chemicall, spirits and
salts will operate at distance, sc. of foot, and being
placed within that irradiation will fight : then how much easier
it is for ye aetheriall spiritts of men that
each other ) , j ,1 1.1
! to doe the like, others natures j
have an antipathic to are contrary to each
Names of y" Weeke-dayes.
die!?™ die 0li3 d. J) ™e d. <? Us d. d. Jovis d. ? ris.
Saterday. Sunday. Monday. Tuesday. Wensday. Thursday. Fryday.
In Welsh, thus
H 2
100 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Ye Planetary Hours.
De Diebus Septimanae insignis est et singularis apud Dionem locus Libri 37 : sic enim ait ille.
Dion Cassiusy Lib. 37. }
To Se Srj e? ToO? aaTepas rov CTTTO) rov$ TrXaz^ra?, K.T.\. "Id est ea interpretatione Xylandri, quod autem dies ad septem sidera ilia quos planetas appellarunt referuntur, id ab ^Egyptijs haud ita dudum, ut paucis dicam, institutum ad omnes homines dimanavit. Nam priscis Graecis, quantum mihi constat, notus hie mos non fuit, et quern ad modum is nunc et apud omnes homines ubique et prsesertim apud Komanos usitatus est, paucis qua ratione et quo pacto ita insti tutus sit, differam. De quo duos sermones accepi haud ita difficiles cognitu, contemplationi tamen cuidam innitentes. Nam siquis harmoniam earn quae diatessaron vocatur (quas alioquin in Physica prima obtinere creditur) etiam ad ista sidera quibus omnis cseli ornatus constat, ita transferet, quem ad modum ordo conversions uniuscujusq,, eorum exegit, factoq, ab extremo ambitu quem Saturno tribuunt initio, dein proximo sequentes duos motus praeteriens quarti dominium recenseat, iteming ab eo duobus proxime praateritis ad septimam conversionem deveniat. At^ hoc modo diebus singulis eorum inspectores gubernatoresq, Decs in orbem rediens deligat, assignetqj. Is inveniet omnes dies Musicae quadam ratione caelesti administrationi congruere. Atque haec prior fertur ratio. Altera hoc est. Horas tarn diei quam noctis numen a prima incipiens eamc^ Saturno tribue, sequentum Jovi, tertian! Marti, quartam Soli, quintam Veneri, Mercuric sextam, septi- mam Lunaa secundum ordinem orbium quem eo quo perhibui modo -3Cgyptijs tradunt, hocq,, aliquoties facto ubi per viginti quatuor horas circumiveris, primam subsequentis diei horam invenies Soli obtingere. Jam si hujus quoque diei horas viginti quatuor eodem modo tractos, ad Lunam referes primam tertiae diei
1 Victa1 Opera. 1646, Varioru' de rebus, p. 352, c. 4.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
101
horam. Sique eodem modo reliquos etiam dies percurreris, quaevis dies sibi congruentem Deum accipiet. Atq> hsec quidem ita perhibentur."
[Hare's Flesh.'] Leporis esus venustos reddit.
" Quod autem quum veteres, turn recentiores persuasum habeat, ex leporis esu exhilarescere homines atq. aliquid venu- statis, formack elegantioris concipere, non ex meticulosi et pavidi animantis gustu id evenire ominor, sed quod festivi aliquot consodales convocare soleant in coetum et accubationem epularem puellas quasdam amabiles ac generosas, itac^ illaB, quae despectse habiles sunt ac deformes, nee unquam in hujusmodi consessum acciri contigit, inelegantes censeri soleant, nee unquam de- gustasse leporem : quod Martialis non invenusto epigrammate improbat amasiae, lib. [v. epig. 29].
Si quando leporem mittis mihi, Gellia, dicis,
Formosus septem, Marce, diebus eris. Si non derides, si verum, lux mea, narras,
Edisti numquam, Gellia, te leporem.
Quam opinionem hinc enatam conceptamq, conijcio (nam & nullo hactenus explicata est) quod qui Geniali alicui convivio interfuit, ut assolet ubi lepus decerpitur, septem continuatis diebus blandus appareat, venustus, hilaris, festivus, siquidem ubi inter epulas omnia hilariter transacta sunt, elucent etiam post elapsos aliquot dies in fronte, supercilijs, vultu, labijs, oculis, nutibus (omnia . n . sunt animi indices) magna alacri- tatis indicia, multaq^ se pro ferunt, erections mentis argumenta: nam risu, cachinnis, osculis hinc inde exhibitis, tripudijs, vino, canti'lenas corpus concalefactu efflorescit, ac fit coloratius, san- guine in externum habitum undiq,, diffuso, haec itaq^ efficiunt, ut leporis esus animi nebulas discutiat vultumck serenum praastet ac facium nitido rubore perfusam."
He sayes a little before of the hares flesh, qd nullum apud Belgas, conviviuum satis splendidum, ant magnifice instructum quod leporino ferculo non sit exornatum : quum nuiia caro sit melancholias magis affinis et cognita." Levinus Lemnius de Complexionibus [ed. 1619], pag. 183.
102 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Memorand : It is found by Experience that when one keepes a Hare alive and feedeth him till he have occasion to eat him, if he telles before he killes him that he will doe so, the hare will thereupon be found dead, having killed himself. — [W. K.]
T/ie Slack Catts Head, fyc.
Mris Clarke (a Herefordshire woman). Bury the head of a black Catt with a Jacobus or a piece of gold in it, and put into the eies two black beanes (what was to be done with the beanes she hath forgott) but it must be donne on a Tuesday (die $ ) at twelve o'clock at night, and that time nine night the piece of gold must be taken out ; and whatsoever you buy with it (always reserving some part of the money) you will have money brought into your pockett, perhaps the same piece of gold again.
Fairy "money.
Not far from Sr Bennet Hoskyns, there was a labouring-man, that rose up early every day to goe to worke ; who for a good while many dayes together found a ninepence in the way that he went. His wife wondering how he came by so much money, was afraid he gott it not honestlye ; at last he told her, and after- wards he never found any more.
Beanes.
Fdbis dbstine is one of the Symbols of Pythagoras. Dr. Windet, in his De Vita Functorum Statu, hath a learned discourse of Beanes, out of Jewish authors. 'Tis many (above 20) yeares since I read it ; I- remember that they affirme it to be a plant belonging to ye Terrestrial spirits, and that the cavity of the stalk resembles barathum; but there is one grosse error, viz., that the black of ye beane (hilum) in alternis annis is either above or below. The Jewes have strange fancies concerning the Invisible beane'sc. Take the head of a man that dies of a natural death, and set it in the ground, and in his eie, set a Beane, cover it with earth, and enclose it about, that nobody may looke into it, and
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 103
without the enclosure set another Beane, or two ; l when those without the enclosure are ripe, that within will be ripe also ; then take the Beane-stalke within ye Inclosure, and take a Child, wch hold fast by the hand, and the child must shell the Beanes ; there will be but one invisible beane of them all, wch when ye child has, ye other party cannot see her — credat Judeus Apella, non ego. — But thus much I am morally certaine of, that about 1680 two (or three) Jews, merchants, did desire Mr. Wyld Clarke merchant of London, leave to make this following ex- periment in his Garden at Mile-end; which he saw them doe, and who told me of it. As I remember, 'twas much after this manner. They took a Black Catt, and cutt off it's head, at a certaine aspect of ye Planets, and buryed it in his garden by night with some Ceremonies, yt I have forgot, and put a Beane in the braine of ye Catt ; but about a day or two after, a Cock came and scratcht it all up. Mr. Clarke told me, that they did believe it, and yet they were 'crafty, subtile merchants. This brings to my remembrance a story that was generally believed when I was a Schooleboy (before the civill Warres) that Thieves when they broke open a house, would putt a Candle into a Dead man's hand, and then the people in the Chamber would not awake. There is such a kind of story somewhere amongst the magical writers.
Sneezing.
A good omen — Catullus de Acme et Septimio. — [Carm. cxlvi., 8,9.]
Hoc ut dixit, Amor, sinistram ut ante, Dextram sternuit approbationem.
v. Theocritus Idy Ilium, xviii. O happy Bride-groom ! Thee a lucky sneeze To Sparta welcom'd
We have a Custome, that when one sneezes, every one els putts off his hatt, and bowes, and cries God bless ye Sr. I have heard, or read a Story that many yeares since, that Sneezing was an Epidemical Disease and very mortal, wch caused this yet re- ceived Custome.2
1 q Dr. Ridgeley wr Luther mentions this. 2 q. de hoc.
104 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
In Germanie 'tis counted to be very uncivilly done not to say at one's sneezing, God bless thee, or salutem. Cramer.
Houses haunted.
The greatest antiquity that I have met with of houses being haunted is in Plautus's Mostellaria, v. ye prologue [4], Terrifica monstra ait videri in sedibus.
See farther in that Comaedie.
It is certain that there are Houses that are haunted, tho not so many as reported, for there are a great many cheates used by Tenants Mr. Moss of Dunstable (who was accounted ye great Conjuror but was indeed a person of great piety, charity, and sanctity), did assure E. W[yld], Esq., this to be true, and
there was a way to cure them E Societate Jesu,
de ^xorcismis hath several wayes. I remember 'tis principally with perfumes.
[Iron a preservative against thunder, ,]
In Herefordshire (and those parts), when it thunders and lightenes the woemen doe putt Iron, e. g, an iron barr or the like, on the Barrell, to keep the Beer from sowring. Mctai. 'Tis a rule in Astrologie, that $ does never hurt to his owne House.
This putting of iron upon harries of drink is a common prac- tise in Kent. [W. K.] [See p. 22.]
Horshoe at ye Threshold.
It should be a Horse-shoe that is found in the highway acci- dentally : it is used for a Preservative against the mischiefe or power of Witches ; and it is an old use derived from the Astrolo- gical principle, that Mars is an enemie to Saturne, under whom witches are ; and no where so much used as (to this day) in the west part of London, especially the New-buildings,1
1 I think this is in the first part already.— [See p, 27. J
REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
105
Trinity.
The 2d pson is made of a piece of bread by ye Papist, ye third person is made of his owne frenzy, malice, ignorance, and folly by the Roundhead (to all these the Sp1 is intituled). One the baker makes, the other the cobbler, and between these two I think ye first person is sufficiently abused. Mr. J. Seldens Table Talke.
The old way of expressing the Trinity by the way of painting or carving was thus, sc. a venerable old man sitting in a chaire, with a severe aspect, wrinkled forehead, circumflex't eie-browes, great white curled beard ;
Barba viros, hirtseq. decent in corpore setae. — Ovid. Metam., lib. 14 [xiii. 850].
out of his belly issued a Crucifixe, over wch was the Dove. I have seen many of these before the rage & zeale of ye Civil warre, particularly in Glasse, in ye east windowe of the Library of New- College, Oxon.
The windowes of St. Edmunds Church at Saru1 were of excellent worke ; and Gondamar offered some hundreds of pounds (I thinke 500), for ye east windowe there ; wch about A° 1631, or 1632, Mr. Sherville, then Recorder there, broke, upon the account of yr expressing God the father as aforesayd, and doeing of it broke his leg,2 for he was fain to clammer on a pew to reach high enough with his stick. For this fact he was brought into the Star re -chamber. Mr. Attorney Noy was his intimate acquaintance, and did him all the service that he was able ; not- withstanding wch the of ye court run so highe,
Ab. Laud was so violent against him, that he was ruind by the fine. Edw: Earle of Dorset, who had a great mastership in extemporary Oratorie, had the boldness to cope with the Abp., and replied to him concerning his justifying of ye picture, by that in Daniel of Ancient of daies, &c.
Mcfm. 1 John v. 7. *Qrt, rpet? eloriv ol ^apTVpovvTes ev rw ovpava>, 6 Tlarrjp, KOI 6 A 070?, KOI TO "Ayiov TLvevfjia' KOI QVTOL ol
1 Ye college was built by St. Edmund, A-Bp. Canterbury.
2 ^ych some Divines looke upon as a judgement.
106 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Tpels ev etc™.1 The last clause of this verse is not found in the ancient MS. copies, e. g. that in the Vatican Library, and ye Tecla MS. in St. James Library, and others ; as it is not in an old MS. in Magdalen Coll. Library, in Oxford. That at St. James's was sent as a Present to King Charles the first, from Cyrillus, Patriarch of Constantinople, as a jewel of that antiquity not fitt to be kept amongst Infidels. Mr. . » . . Rosse (translator of Statius), was tutor to ye D. of Monmouth,
gott him the place [of] made him
Library-keeper at St. James. He
desired K. Ch. I. to be at ye charge to have it engraven in copper plates, and told him it would cost but £200, but his Ma^ Would not yield to it. Mr. Ross sayd that it would appeare glorious in history after His Matis death. Pish, sayd he, I care not what they say of me in history when I am dead. H. Grotius, J. G. Vossius, Hensius, &c. have made journies into England purposely to correct their Greeke Testaments by this copie in St. James.
. Sr Chr. Wren sayd that he would rather have it engraved by an engraver that could not understand or read Greek than by one that did.
Churches.
The way of coming into our great churches was anciently at the West door, jl men might see the Altar, and all the church before them, the other Doores were but Posterns. Mr. Jo. Selden, Table Talke.
Of altars, and their being placed at the east-end of the temples, fyc.
^Edes autem sacrae Deorum ifhortalium, ad regiones quas spec- tare debent, sic erunt constituendae, uti, si ratio nulla impedierit, liberaq. fuerit potestas aedis, signum quod erit in cella colio- catum, spectat ad vespertinam coeli regionem: uti qui adierent ad aram immolantes, aut sacrificia facientes, spectant ad partem coeli orientis, & simulachrum, quod erit in aede ; et ita vota sus- cipientes contueantur aedem, et orientem coeli, ipsaq. simulachra videantur exorientia contueri supplicantes & sacrificantes ; quod
1 Pernse these MSS. again and see if y« whole verse be there.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 107
Aras omnes Deoru necesse esse videatur ad orientem spectare. — Vitruvius, lib. iv. cap. 5.
Clemens Alexandrinus (in Protreptico). " Superstitio templa condere persuasit. Qua enim prius hominum sepulchra fuerunt, magnificentius condita, Templorum appellatione vocata sunt. Nam apud Lariscam civitatem in arce, in templo Palladis, Acrisij sepulchrum fuit, quod nunc sacrarij loco celebratur ; in arce quoq. Atheniensi, ut est ab Antiocho in nono Historiarum scriptum, Cereris sepulchrum fuit; in templo vero Palladis, quern Poliada Grrseci vocant, jacet Erichtonius, &c."
[Images of Rye-dough.~\ We have a sayeing, H® ^^ like an image of rye-dough.
Mchn. In the old time the little Images that did adorn the Altars were made .of Rye-dough. When King James IId. pulled downe the old gallerie at White-hall (built by Cardinal Wolsey), Sr Chr. Wren and Mr. E. Hooke told me that the little heads and figures in the freezes wch we tooke to be carved in wood were all of Rye-dowe.
Disenheriting eldest sonnes.
The Disenheriting of Eldest-sonnes falls-out to be very unpros- perous to those that are possessed of that Estate, as is frequently to be observed by every one, e. g., the Duke of Somerset's (Seymer) family, &c.: the Speaker Seymer is descended of ye eldest son of ye\D. of S. protector and sic de ceteris. There are texts of scripture against, e. g. Thou shalt not.disenherit thine eldest son, and' the male child that first openest the wombe is holy to ye Lord. — [Exod. xiii. 2.] But there is a remarqueable aphorisme or Rule in Astrologie, sc. That the judgement that is to be made of the Fathers good or ill fortune, is to be made out or known by the scheme of the Nativity of his First Son, qd. N.B.
Dr. Sanderson's 14 Serm. ad Aulam, sect. 6, vol. 1 : "Or when they shall disinherit their children for some deformity of body or defect of parts, or the like. As reason sheweth it to be a great sin, & not to be excused by any pretence : so it is an
108 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
observation grounded upon manifold experience that, when the right heires have been disenherited upon almost whatsoever pre- tence, the blessing of God hath not usually followed upon the person, and seldome hath the estate prospered in the hands of those that have succeeded in their roome."
Fayres.
See in St. Gregories Epistles his eple to Melitus, Bp. of London, where he speakes of their Faires and preserving their
old Customes. Originall of faires, and so y1 at Way Hill,
in Hampshyre ; Woodbery Hill, in Dorset, &c. The old British Temples were on hills, and so old faires, bringing the Christian
customes as neer as might be to the British, and
they brought) bringing j
their Cattell there to sell, and make sacrifices, and be merry together.
Tavern-bush.
The Tavern-bush is dress't with Ivy, wch is derived from that of Bacchus, vide Ovid's Metaphorph. lib. iii. fab. 3, was hid by his aunt Ino with ivy leaves in his cradle that Juno might not find him. Also the Thyrsi the speares of ye Bacchanalians were adorned with ivy.
Furtim ilium primis Ino matertera cunis Educat. Inde datum Nymphae Nyscides antris Occuluere suis; lactisq. alimenta dedere.— [313-315.]
manibus frondentes sumeres thyrsos
Tusserat [Met. iv., 7, 8.]
The dressing the tavern bush with Ivy-leaves fresh from ye plant was the cusfcome 40 years since, now generally left off for carved work.
Drinking Healths. v. Theocriti Idyllium 11 :
For he drinks Healths, and when those Healths are past, He must he gone, and goes away in hast.
So Martial, Epigram : — [lib. i. Ep. 71.]
Nsevia sex cyathis, septem Justina hibatur.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 109
Drinking wine witli Borage. v. Theocritus, Idyllium, xiv.
my wine was good:
'Twas four years old, yet mild. I vow 'tis true, With Burrage mixt it dranke as well as new.
Garlands. [See p. 136.] It is a custome still at ye funerall of young virgins to have a
garland of flowers wered on the corps, wc
dedicated hung up
in the
Church over her grave.
many ribbons wh an hour-glass hunge in the middle
of the hollow like the clapper of a bell.
This is in Germany very common as well when young Men, Batchelors, as when Mayds are burried, that the coffin is spread all over with Garlands, and crowns made of flowers, and in some places hung up in Churches — Cramer, or spread over the Grave in Churchyards.
v. Theooritus, Idyllium xviii.
At Sparta's Palace twenty beauteous Mayds
The Pride of Greece, fresh garlands crowned their heads
With Hyacinth and twineing Parsly drest,
Grac't joyful Menelaus Mariage Feast.
Sr. Th. Brown's Vulgar Errors, London, 1686. Book v. chap, xxij.2
1. If an hare crosse the way there are but few above 60 yeares old that are not perplexed thereat — an augurial terror — inauspi- catum dat iter oblatus lepus. The ground of ye conceit was probably that a fearfull animal passing by us portended to us something to be feared. So ye meeting of a fox presaged some future imposture. — v. Deut. xviii.
2. That owles and ravens were ominous appearances and signi- fying unlucky events, as Xtians yet conceit, was also augurial.
1 Ciceronis de Nra Deor.
2 [The following passages are not actual quotations, but epitomised from Sir T. Browne's work.— ED.]
110 REMAINS OF GENTTLISME.
Because many ravens were seen when Alexander entered Babylon they were thought to psage his death, and because an owle appeared before ye battle, it presaged the ruin of Cyrus.
3. The falling of salt is an authentick psagemt of ill-luck, nor can every temper contemn it ; nor was the same a grail pgnostiq among the ancients of future evil, but a pticular omi- nation concerning the breach of friendship. For salt as incor- ruptible was ye symbole of friendship, and before ye other service was offered unto yeir guests. But whether salt were not only a symbol of friendship wh man, but also a fig. of amity and reco- ciliation wh God, and was therefore offered in sacrifices, is an higher speculation.
4. To breake an eggshell after ye meat is out we are taught in our childhood. Pliny, " Hue ptinet ovorum ut exsorbuerit quisq. calices protinus frangi, aut easdem cochlearibus pforari," and the intent thereof was to prvent witchcraft; lest witches should draw or prick their names therein and veneficiously mis- chiefe ye persons, they broke ye shell.1
5. The true lovers knot is still retained in presents of love amongst us ; in which forme the zone or wooden girdle of ye bride was tyed, phaps it had its originall from nodus Herculeanus, resembling the snaky complication in ye Caduceus or rod of Hermes.
6. When our cheek burneth, or eare tingleth, we usually say that some body is talking of us, wch is an ancient conceit, and ranked among supstitious opinions by Pliny, " Absentes tinnitu aurifi praesentire sermones de se, receptum est," wch is a conceit hardly to be made out wyout the concession of a signifying genius or universal Mercury.
7. When we desire to confine our words, we com only say they are spoken under the rose.2 Nazianzen makes the rose a symbol of silence, and the ancient custome in Symposiack meet- ings was to weave chaplets of roses about their heads; and so we condemne not ye German custome wch over the table 3 de- scribeth a rose in ye ceiling. The rose was ye flower of Venus,
1 This is usual in Dantzig in Prussia. ' 2 Prov. Under the rose be it spoken. 3 This is true, for I myself, have seen it to bee painted at the said place. ,
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. Ill
*
wch Cupid consecrated to Harpocrates, the God of Silence, and was therefore an embleme thereof to conceal the pranks of venery.
8. That Smoak doth follow the fairest is ancient opinion, as is to be observed in Athanseus.
9. To sitt cross legged or with our fingers pectinated, shutt together, is accounted bad. Friends will psuade us from it. The same conceit was religiously observed by ye ancients as is observable from Pliny. Poplites alternis genibus imponere nefas olim, and also fro Athenseus, that it was an old veneficious practice, and Juno is made in this posture to hinder the delivery of Alcmena.
10. The set and statary times of pareing of nails and cutting of haire is thought by many a point of consideration, wch is perhaps but the continuation an ancient superstition.1 For piaculous it was unto ye Romans to pare their nails upon the Nundinse, observed every ninth day, and was also feared by others upon certain daies of the weeke, according to that of Ausonius, " Ungues Mercurio, barbam Jove, Cy pride crines," and was one . part of ye wickednesse of Manasses, when 'tis delivered that he observed times.2
11. A common fashion it is to nourish hair upon the nodes of the face, wch is ye ppetuation of a very ancient custome, and though innocently practised among us may have supstitious original, according to that of Pliny, " Nsevos in facie tondere religiosum habent multi." From ye like might proceed the feare of poling elvelocks or complicated hair, they being votary at first and dedicated upon occasion, preserved wth care and accordingly esteemed by others, as appears by that of Apuleius, " Adjure per dulcen capilli tui nodulum."
12. A custome there is in most parts of Europe to adorn aqueducts, springs (? spouts), and cisterns with lion's hec;ds ; wch although is illaudable ornament, is of an Egyptian genealogy, who practised the same under a symbolised illation. For, because its sun being in Leo, the flood of Nilus was at the full, and water became conveyed into every part, they made the
1 q. ye custome now (I thinke) not upon a Monday.
2 1 Chron. 35.
112 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
*
spouts of their aqueducts through the head of a lion. And upon some Cselestial respects it is not improbable the great Mogul or Indian King doth bear for his arms the lion and the sun.
13. Many conceive they are unblest until! they put on their girdle. Wherein there are involved considerations. For by a girdle or cincture are symbolically implied truth, resolution, and readiness for action, wch are parts and virtues required in the service of God. According whereto ye Israelites did eat the paschal lamb with their loins girded.1 And ye Almighty bids Job gird up his loyns like a man, " Gird up the loyns of yr minds" — Peter [i. 13]. So ye high priest was girt with a girdle of fine linnen. So it is sayd concerning our Saviour, a Righteous- ness shall be ye girdle of his loyns, and faithfulness ye girdle of his reins." Unto this day the Jews doe bless themselves when they put on their zone or cincture. The heart and parts wch God requires are divided from ye inferior and concupiscential organs; implying thereby a memento into purification and cleanness of heart, wch is cofhonly difiled fro ye concupiscence and affection of those parts. And thus we may make out yc doctrine of Pythagoras, to offer sacrifice with our feet naked, that is, that our inferior parts and farthest removed from reason might be free and of no impediment to us.
14. The picture of God the Father in ye shape of an old man is a dangerous piece, and in this fecundity of sects may revive the Anthropomorphites. Which, although maintained from the expression of Daniel, "I beheld when the ancient of days did sit, whose hair was like the pure wool ; " yet it may be derived from the hieroglyphical description of ye ^Egyptians, who ex- pressed the eneph or creator of ye world an old man in a blue mantle with an egg in his mouth, wch was ye emblem of ye world.
15. The sun and moon are usually described with humane faces ; whether herein there be not a Pagan imitation, and these visages at first implied an Apollo and Diana, we may make some doubt, and we find the statue of ye sun was framed with raies about the head, wch were the indeciduous and un- shaven locks of Apollo.
1 Isa. 11.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 113
16. We shall not, I hope, disparage the resurrection of our Redeemer if we say the sun doth not dance on Easterday.
17. Great conceits are raised of ye involution or membranous covering comonly called the sillyhow, that sometimes is found about ye heads of children upon their birth, and is therefore preserved with great care, not only as medical in diseases, but effectual in success concerning the infant and others, which is surely no more than a continued superstition, for hereof we read in the life of Antoninus delivered by Spartianus, that children are born sometimes with this natural cap, which mid- wives were wont to sell unto lawyers, who had an opinion it advantaged their promotion.
19. A conceit there is that ye devil comonly appeareth wth a cloven hoof, wherein, though it seem excessively ridiculous, there may be something of truth, and ye ground at first might be his frequent appearing in the shape of a goat, wch answers that description. This was the opinion of ancient Xtians con- cerning ye apparition of Panites, Fauns, and Satyrs, and of this form we read of one that appeared to Antony in ye wilderness. The same is also confirmed from expositions of S. Scripture, for where it is sayd, " Thou shalt not offer unto devils," ye original word is Seghmirim,1 rough and hairy goates, because in that shape ye devil most often appeared. Nor did he only assume this shape in elder times, but commonly in latter times, especially in ye place of his worship, if there be any truth in the confession of witches. And therefore a goat is not improperly made a hieroglyphic of ye devil, as Pierius hath expressed it.2 So might it be an emblem of sin as it was in the sin offering, and so likewise of wicked and sinfull men according to ye expression of scripture in ye method of the last distribution, when our Saviour shall separate the sheep from the goats, that is, ye sons of ye Lamb from the children of the devil.
Sf Th. Brown's Vulgar Errors.
Chap, xxiij. 1. That temperamental dignotions and con- jecture of prevalent humours may be collected from spots in the
1 Levit. 17. 2 Bodinus in his Dsemonomania.
I
114 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
nails, we are not averse to concede, but yet not ready to admit sundry divinations vulgarly raised upon them ; nor do we observe it verified in others what Cardan discovers as a property in himselfe,1 to have found therein some signs of most events that ever happened unto him, or that there is much considerable in that doctrine of chiromancy, that spots in the top of ye nails do signifie things past, in ye middle things present, and at the bottom events to come ; that white specks prsage our felicity, blue ones misfortunes ; that those in ye nail of ye thumb have significations of honour, those in ye forefinger of riches, and so respectively in other fingers (according to the planetical rela- tions from whence they receive their names), as Tricassus hath taken up and Picciolus well rejecteth.2
3. Though useless unto us and rather of molestation, we comonly refrain from killing swallows, and esteem it unlucky to destroy them ; 3 whether herein there be not a Pagan relique we have some reason to doubt, for we reade in -/Elian that these birds were sacred unto the penates or houshold gods of the ancients, and therefore were preserved. The same they also honoured as ye nuncios of the spring ; and we find in Athenseus the Rhodians had a solemn song to welcom in the swallow.
4. That candles and lights burn dim and blue at the apparition of spirits may be true, if the ambient air be full of suphureous spirits, as it happeneth oftentimes in mines, when damps and exhalations are able to extinguish yem. And may be also verified when spirits doe make themselves visible bodies of such efflu- viums, But of lower consideration is the coinon foretelling of strangers from the fungous parcels about the wicks of candles, which only signifieth a moist and pluvious air about them, hindering the evolution of ye light and favillous particles, where- upon they are forced to settle upon the snaffc.
5. Though corall doth pperly prserve and fasten ye teeth in men yet is used in children to make an easier passage for them, and for y* intent is worn about their necks. But whether this custom were not superstitiously founded, as p'sumed an amulet
1 De Varietate Rerum. 2 De Inspectione Maims.
1 So in Germany they believe.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 115
or defensative against fascination, is not beyond all doubt. For the same is delivered by Pliny. " Aruspices religiosum Coralli gestamen amoliendis periculis arbitrantur, et surculi infantia alligati, tutelam habere creduntur." 1
6. A strange kind of exploration and peculiar way of Rhabdo- mancy is that which is used in mineral discoveries:2 with, a forked hazel, com only called Moses his rod, wch freely held forth will stir and play if any mine be under it. And though many there are who have attempted to make it good, yet until better information, we are of opinion, with Agricola, that in itself it is a fruitless exploration, strongly pcenting of Pagan derivation, and the Virgula Divina, proverbially magnified of old. The ground whereof were the magicall rods in poets, that of Pallas in Homer, that of Mercury, that charmed Argus, and that of Circe, wch transformed ye followers of Ulysses. Too boldly usurping the name of Moses Rod, from which, notwith- standing, and that of Aaron, were pbably occasioned the fables of all the rest ; for that of Moses must needs be famous unto the Egyptians, and that of Aaron unto many other nations, as being prserved in the Ark, until the destruction of the temple built by Solomon.3
7. A practise there is among us to determine doubtful matters by the opening of a book, and letting fall a staff, wch notwith- standing are ancient fragments of Pagan divinations. The first an imitation of Sortes Homericse, or Virgilianse, drawing deter- minations from verses occasionally occurring. The same was practised by Severus, who entertained ominous hopes of ye Empire, from that verse in Virgil " Tu regere imperio populos
1 Md'm. The Irish doe use a woolves fang-tooth set in silver for this purpose; which they hold to be better than coral. And in the very same manner the children in Germany weare about them furnished too with little silver bells.
2 De Re Metallica, lib. ii.
3 In the thirty yeares civill warr in Germany, some of the Soldiers had the same Rod, to make use of in discovering the money silver and gold plates, which the owners had hid under ground and when the Rod held by one did incline to any place, it was a token that money lay there hid. (If I mistake not) Doctor Helvetius in his Diribitorio Medico, mentiones it, and sayes that it must be cutt at Midsummer night at twelve a clock.
12
116 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Romane memento," and Gordianus, who reigned but a few daies, was discouraged by another ; that is " Ostendunt terris hunc tantum fata, nee ultra esse sinunt." Nor was this only performed in heathen authors, but upon the sacred text of Scripture,1 as Gregorius Turonensis hath left some account ; and as the practise of the Emperor Heraclius before his expedition into Asia Minor, is delivered by Cedrenus. As for the divination by the staff it is an augurial relique, and the practise thereof is accused by God himselfe, " My people ask counsel of their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them."2 Of this kind of divination was that prac- tised by Nebuchadnozor in that Chaldean miscellany delivered by Ezechiel : " The King of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of two waies to use divination ; he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked into the liver ; at the right hand were the divinations of Jerusalem." That is, as Estius expounded it, the left way leading unto Kabbah, the chief city of the Amorites, and the right hand unto Jerusalem, he considered idols and entrals, he threw up a bundle of arrows to see which way they would light, and falling on the right hand he marched towards Jerusalem. A like way of Belomancy or divination by arrows hath been in request by Scythians, Alanes, Germans, with the Africans and Turks of Algiers. But of another nature was that practised by Elisha, when by an arrow shot from an eastern window, he signified the destruction of Syria, or when according to the three strokes of Joash, with an arrow upon the ground, he foretold the number of his victories. For thereby the spirit of God particular'd the same ; and deter- mined the stroaks of the king unto three, which the hopes of the Prophet expected in twice the number.
8. We cannot omit to observe the tenacity of ancient cus- tomes, in the nominal observations of the several dayes of the week, according to Gentile and Pagan appellations, for the
1 Such a book has seen Cramer made by a Jesuit, the subject was of consola- tion for afflicted and distressed Christians, pretending alwaies to get some com- fort when used and to the purpose.
2 Hosea 4. 3 Ezek. 24. 4 2 Kings, 13, 15.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 117
original is very high, and as old as the ancient Egyptians, who named the same according to the seven planets, the admired stars of Heaven, and respected deities among them.1 Unto everyone assigning a several day; not according to their celestial order, or as they are disposed in Heaven ; but after a diatessaron or musical fourth. For beginning Saturday with Saturn, the supreamest planet, they accounted by Jupiter and Mars unto Sol, making Sunday. From Sol in like manner by Venus and Mercury unto Luna, making Monday ; and so through all the rest. And the same order they confirmed by numbering the hours of the day unto twenty-four, according to the naturall order of ye planets. For beginning to account from Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and so about unto twenty-four, the next will happen unto Luna, making Monday. And so with the rest, according to the account and order observed still among us.
The Jews themselves in their astrological considerations concerning nativities, and planetary hours, observe the same order, upon as witty foundations. Because by an equal in- terval they make seven triangles, the bases whereof are the seven sides of a septilateral figure, described within a circle.2 That is, if a figure of seven sides be described in a circle, and at ye angles thereof the names of the planets be placed, in their natural order on it : if we begin with Saturn, and successively draw lines from angle to angle, until seven equicrural triangles be described, whose bases are the several sides of the septilateral figure, the triangles will be made by this order. The first being made by Saturn, Sol, and Luna, that is Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday ; and so the rest, the order still retained.3
But thus much is observable, that however in celestial con- siderations they embraced the received order of the planets, yet did they not retain either characters, or names in coinon use among us ; but declining humane denominations, they assigned them names from some remarkable qualities ; as is very obser-
1 v. pag. 2 Make ye figure.
3 Cuius Icon apud doct. Gaffarel. cap. ii. et Fabrit. Pad.
118 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
vable in their red and splendid planets, (i) of Mars and Venus.1 But the change of their names disparaged not the consideration of their natures, nor did they thereby reject all memory of those remarkable stars ; which God himself admitted in his tabernacle, if conjecture will hold concerning the golden candle- stick, whose shaft resembled the sun and six branches the planets about it.
9. We are unwilling to enlarge concerning many other; only referring unto sober examination what natural effects can be reasonably expected, when to prevent the ephialtes or night- mare, we hang up an hollow stone in our stables ; when for amulets against agues we use the chips of a gallows and places of execution. When for warts we rub our hands before the moon, or cofhitt any maculated part to the touch of the dead. What truth there is in those common female doctrines, that the first rib of roast beefe powdered is a peculiar remedy against fluxes. That to urine upon earth newly cast up by a mole bringeth down ye menses in women.
That if a child dieth and the neck becometh not stiff, but for many hours remaineth lithe and flacied, some other in the house will dye not long after. That if a woman with child looketh upon a dead body, her child will be of a pale complexion ; our learned and critical philosophers might illustrate, whose exacter performances our adventures do but solicite; mean while, I hope, they will plausibly receive our attempts, or candidly correct our misconjectures.
Disce, sed ira cadat naso, rugosaq. sanna Dum veteres avias tibi de pulmone revello.
Thus far Sr Tho8 Brown.
1 Maadim Nogah.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 119
Historia Ecclesiastica Tho: Holies Malmesburiensis^ pag. 62.
Numina nee tantum Gentes fictilia amabant,
Sed Festos etiam concelebrare dies ; Tollere quos quicunq. esset conatus ineptus,
Fecisset madidum saxeus imber eum. Hinc Chronidas festus (tune Saturnalia) nunc est
Catholicus festus, nomine Carnivali. Nonne etiam mensis Maij primum meministi,
Te puero, juvenes concelebrare diem ? 1 Ut Phallum arboreum (membrum navile) ferebant
E sylvis, medio quern statuere foro ; Utq. ilium circa juvenes duxere Choreas
Aptus vir bellis, apta puella viris ? Hunc festum Gentes olim Priapeia vocabant,
Optatum pueris, Virginibusq diem. Nondum defecit vetus Ambarvalia festus
(Festus, at innocens, permanet ille dies) Et quern rurales finita messe coloni
Cum Baccho Cereris concelebrare solent. Temporibus priscis sunt Bacchanalia dicta,
Cum vini colerent ebrietate Deum Multa tulere patris legi contraria Christi
Dum populum properant conciliare sibi.
1 At Heidelberg the Fisher men have at the 1st May-day, by ye Permission of the Elector, a peculiar sport upon the River Neckar, tying a naked goose rubb'd all over with soap to a long pole midst in the river, and then one boat after another roweth as fast as is possible to the said pole without the least stopping at it, and one young fisher man standing upright in the boat snatchd after the said naked goose with his hand, and if he can pull down the same he wins the game, but before they can fetche it they trye very often in vain.
In Germany almost every where at Easter, & especially at Whitsunday, they set in their houses, parlors, & chambers, young Birch trees which they keep a fortnight or longer green in keeping the same in tubs with fresh water, and in some places the churches are also full.
I doe not remember that I ever sawe a May-pole in France : quaere if there are any there. In Holland they have their Meybooms, wch are streight young Trees set up. And at Woodstock in Oxon, they every May-eve goe into ye Parke, and fetch awa a number of Haw-thorne-trees, wch they sett before their dores, 'tis pity that they make such a destruction of so fine a tree. At Westchester on S* Johns Baptist eve, they bring a multitude of young Birch trees and plant before their dores to wither : but this is nothing to May day : but rather (perhaps) to Ceres. I have a conceit that Priapus was the Tutelar Saint of the barbers ; methinks the elevation of the barber's pole resembles an erection of Hasta Priapi. In France, as likewise in Germany, the Barbers have no Poles ; but only Basins at ye win- dowes. The church of S* Andrews Undershaf t, London, is denominated from the May-pole (heretofore pole was called shaft). The shaft or Pole stood where Mr Weekes house is.
120 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
With gifts in hands, whose rites
Are proper to appease deceased sprights.1
Tilting.
" Chariotry is one of the antiquated Modes of Chivalry. Here- tofore, as it was used in Triumphs, so in field service and Games. This use may well goe conjoyned ; for ordinarily publick sports, either by the policy of the masters or the propension of men's affections, maintain a resemblance with the deeds of arms of their respective countreys."2
After the coming in of ye Gothes these Roman Games and Cirques were turned into Tilts and Tournaments, e.g. the Annuall solempnity of ye Kts of King Arthur's Round Table at Pentecost, &o. Tilting breath'd its last when K. Charles 1st left London. The Tilt-yard was where the Guard-house is now, opposite to Whitehall. In those days all gent, of a thousand pounds p annu kept a Horse or Horses for a man-at-armes.
Theeves* handsell ever unlucky. — Proverb. And as mischances never goe alone.3
There is a Spanish proverb word for word wlh this. The astrologers give a reason for this : and so e contra, when good fortune comes, it comes tumbling.
Angel in the Revelation. Prostration.
But all those just resolves and vows repeated Thine and my angry angel have defeated, Which thus to me hath in sad wise convey'd, For thy sweet face this dust and uselesse shade.4
For I full ill,
Should hearken to my present Angels will.
1 Sophoclis Electra, translated by Mr. Chr. Wase.
2 Mr. Chr. Wase, his com'ent.
3 Sophoclis Electra.
* Sophoclis Electra of the Greeke, translated by Mr. Chr. Wase.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 121
Sovereign Apollo, them with favour hear, And me wh them; for I did still appeare With hand enlargd, according to my power. And now, Lycasan King, I bring my store, I pray, I prostrate me, I beg.
A Proverb.
" He loves me as well as the Devil loves Holy- water," (i) he me.
That Salt is inimique to the Evill spirits is agreed upon by the writers of Magick : as also perfumes, wch is the reason they were used in their temples and sacrifices, Holy water is water wherein fine white Salt hath been dissolved. l Mdm. there was no sacrifice without salt. Mdm. I did try, 1669, ye fountaine at Fosfount with a lixivium of pott-ashes ; I opened the glasse bottle, 1686, and it was still sweet and cleare as when putt in, only brackish with the lixivium.
Fore-noon.
Mariage is celebrated in the Fore-noon by the Canons of the Church; some hold that 'tis not so lucky to undertake any serious affaire declinante Sole. Mass is by the canons not to be celebrated in the Afternoon. The first Institution was a Supper.
Springs.
Q. of ye Earle of Abington about the Holy-well that his Lo? told me is in his Parke at Eicot, and the name of it, and the custome that was used there in ye old time. The keepers used some ceremony in some place there but in those days (I believe) it was not a parke. The water of the well is held to be good for the Eies. See if Dr Plott hath not mentioned this in his Oxfordshire.2 This should be referred to the Paragraff of Holy wells. [See p. 33.]
1 [See p. 128.]
2 [Plot does not mention this particular well, but has references to others which were " accounted soveraign for the eyes " in Nat. Hist. Oxf . chap. ii. — ED.]
122 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Caleslies.
Parvaq. quamprimum rapientibus esseda mannis.—Amoruni, lib. ii. eleg. 16. [49.] Spicula cum pictis haerent in casside pennis. — Ex Ponto, lib. iv. eleg. 7. [37.]
Immuring. Virgo Vestalis damnati incest!, viva defossa est.1
Lords of Misrule: vid. King of y* Beam.
At Christmas, were at great houses Lords of Misrule during the xij. daies. This seemes to be derived (saith Mr. S. Purchas, in his Pilgrimage, pag. 69) from the Feast in Babylon kept in honour of the G-oddesse Dorcetha, for five dayes together : during which time the Masters were under the Dominion of their servants ; one of which was usually sett over the rest and royally cloathed, and was called Sogan, that is, Great Prince, v. Tacit. Annales, lib. [xiii. c. 15] : Kings of Saturnalia.
Consecrating Churches.
Holy anointing oyle, to anoint the Tabernacle, Exod. c. 30, v. 23, &c. and Exod. [Levit.] 8, v. 10. In some few churches one shall find crosses painted on the walls (commonly within a circle), but at Our Lady Church at Saru the crosses were of copper, now only remain the vestigia where they were let into the stone. When the Bishop consecrated he went about the church, with holy consecrated oyle, and with a pencill, made a little cross in the middle of the painted one.
Holy and Ivy, sc. dressing of Churches and Houses, $c. " Boughs of goodly trees, Palme," &c. : Leviticus, 23, v. 40.
Lampes. " Lampes to burne continually." Leviticus, 24, 3 [2].
\_Fairies. See p. 125.]
Mdm, Mr. Elias Ashmole sayes that a Piper at Lichfield was entertayned by the Fayries, and who sayd he knew which houses
1 T. Livius, lib. [viii. c. 15.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 123
of the Towne were Fayry-ground. Mr. Ashmole also spake of a cavous place, e.g that at [Borough-hill] in Surrey, where people, against Weddings or &c. bespoke Spitts, pewter, &c. : and they had it; but were to returne it, or els they should never be supplyed any more.1
Horse-shoe on y* Threshold.
At Mr. Ashmoles threshold the hollow of ihe horseshoe pointeth into the house as here expressed. [See p. 9.]
Proverbs.
A proverb in the west, e. g. Wiltshire and Dorsets.
Soulegrove sil leu (i.) February is seldome warme. [See p. 9.]
Item. Good to cut Briars in the Sere month (i.) August. I believe the word Sere comes from the star Sirius in the mouth of the great Dog.
From old Mr. Frederick Vaughan.
The Friars Mendicant heretofore would take their opportunity to come to the houses when the good woemen did bake, and would read a Ghospel over the batch, and the good woman would give them a Cake, or &c. It slfould seem by Chaucer's tale that they had a fashion to beg in Eythme.
" Of your white bread I would desire a shiver, And of your hen the Liver."
Arithmetical Figures.
" When the kings of Africa possessed Spaine they founded universities there ; 2 then great ignorance in the Latin church, but much knowledge amongst them. Our philosophy and mathematicks translated from the Arabiq. Scaliger saieth, that the figures which we use in arithmetick came from the Arabians and Moores to ye Spaniards, and thence to us about 300 yeares since (1612) and then much differing from the characters we now
1 [See Appendix.]
2 Purchase in his Pilgrimage, p. 242 : ex Scalig. Epist.
124
REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
use. e. g. the old figures in the folios of the Bookes of the Bp. of Salisburies consistorie court, and in the old out-of-fashion Astrolabes and mathematical Instruments, and in old MSS., as 1,2,3, «, T?,<7, A, 8, p, 0.
Mdm. In ye chancell at Horspath, Oxon, in ye circle about
W. Wanfleets V> sc 1 8 99 ; on Hampton-court-gate,
1^32 ; on the gate at Saint Johns juxta Olerkenwell, 1^)04 ; on a cross beame at London Bridge between two Houses, thus — 1 8 95 (L) 1495.
Mdm. All old accounts are in numerall letters : even to my remembrance when I was a youth Gentlemen's BaylifFs in the Countrey used no other, e. g. i. ii. iii. iiii. v. vi. vii. viii. ix. x. xi. &c. 1. = 50, c. = 100, and to this day in the accounts in ye Exchequer. And the Shop-keepers in my Grandfathers time used to reckon with Counters ; wch is the best and surest way ; and is still used by the French. Heretofore the seven planets were made thus :
©
IS &
Dr Ealph Bathurst saies that the Jewes (I think, q.) used this marke on their childbed linnen
Charmes or Spells.
This following spell is to be worne about the neck for an ague :—
Dr Bathurst saith, that this spell is corrupt Hebrew, sc. dabar is verbu, and abraca is benedixit (i.) ver- bum benedixit.
^abracadabra,
^bracadabr,
.racadab
,acada
cad,
abracadabra bracadabr
r
a
c a d a
b a d a c a r
r b a
REMAINS OF GENT1LISME. 125
For a cure of ye quartan ague the Physitian and Poet Sam- monicus prescribed this spell, Mczonice Iliados quartum suppone tremanti. [W. K.j
Pliny makes mention of spells, e. g. lib. [xxvii. 106.] "Keseda, morbos reseda: [Scisne quis hie pullus egerit radices? nee caput, nee pedes habeant. Haec ter dicunt, totiesque despuunt." This was 'as a cure in inflammation.]
Spell is old English for word, so Gospell (i.) God's word.
A Spell to cure the biting of a Mad Dog.
Rebus Rubus Epilepscum.
Write these words in paper, and give it to the party, or beast bitten, to eate in bread, or &c. Mr, Dennys of Poole, in Dorset- shire sayeth, this Receipt never failed.
Perhaps this spell may be the anagramme of some sence or recipe : as Dr Bathurst hath discovered in Abracadabra, which I thought had been nonsense.
A preservatif.
Dec doco diablo dec terrain Juno esta place fodro non colpello vivecatis agratis Jnbo non deco Vox delibrom Thorn at esto tempo p' me.
Stick up a staffe, or note the place where you begin, and goe round the ground saying the Spell aforesayd till you come where you did begin, day or night ; from Mr. Pary in Surrey. This does passe my understanding; but (perhaps) it may be deciphered too.
Faieries.1
When I was a Boy, our Countrey people would talke much of them : they swept up the Harth cleane at night : and did sett their shoes by the fire, & many times they should find a threepence in one of them. Mrs. Markey (a daughter of Serjeant Hoskyns, the Poet) told me, that her Mother did use that Custome, and had as much money as made her (or bought her) a little Silver- cup of thirtie shillings value.2 Elias Ashmole, Esq. , sayes : there 1 [See p. 122.] 2 [See p. 30.]
126 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
was in his time a piper in Lichfield that did know what houses were faiery-ground, and that the piper had oftentimes seen them.
Incliantments.
Wissenbachii Disputationes, Disp. iii. § 39, sc. Poena Vene- ficii similiter ut caedis, gladius est. Exodi, 20, v. 5, Deut. 18, v. 10. Nee sane mitior esse potuit, cum plus sit hominum occidere veneno quam gladio. Lapsoq. igitur est Constantinus in 1. 4 (eodem quam edidit postquam ad fidem Christianum con- versus esset) ubi incantationem, quse fitad bonum finem, puto, ne maturis vindenmijs imbres noceant, aut ventis, grandinisque lapidatione quatiantur, tanttim non probat. Et huic derogatum 1. 4, Nov. Leonis 65. Ac generaliter amuleta omnia quse et <j)v\aKTr)pia dicuntur, damnantur Laodiceaae Synodi, c. 36, vide Cujae 27, observat 17. De Susurris et Carminibus magicis, vide Bodin. en sa Demonomanie des Sorciers, p. 60.
Pardons of Malefactors.
Idem, disp. Ivii. § 5. In Germania habeo morem hunc capitis aliquis damnatur, qui coelebs sit, intercedit puella, petens damnato poenam remitti, sibiq. matrimonio jungi. The same custome is at London, of wcb I remember one instance.
Triall of Witches by Swimming.
Ibidem, § 6. His temporibus foeminas sortilegii suspectas, judices Germanorum aquis superponunt, manibus & pedibus vinctas ; quae merguntur, a scelere puras esse pronunciant ; quae vero supernatant, sortium impietate teneri judicant, quod etiam a\oyov. This I have known donne at Leominster, in Hereford- shire, by the common-people in the late Civil war.
Fire Ordele fy Water Ordele.
Idem, Contradictiones Juris Canonici, § 35, anciently in use in Germany. Quo probationis genere diu usi sunt Xpiani, ex
REMAINS OF GENTILISME, 127
cacozelia potionis zelotypige, quam strupri [sic] insimulatis mulieribus Moyses dari voluit, Num. 5. Et in legibus Philippi Comitis Flandriae, vulneris noctu illati reus, si ita Scabinis videatur, ferro candente se expurgare jubetur.
Mere-stones.
Idem, De Actionum cessione, disp. ii. § 9. Intra 5 pedum, qui inter confines agros interjacent, latitudinem, nulla est Usu- capio. (forte quod confinium Deo Termino, ex institute Numae Pompilij, sacrum putaretur. Alex, ab Alexandro, lib. 3, gen. dier. Halicarnass : lib. 2).
Tornaments.
Idem, Contradictiones Juris Canonici, § 56. Torneamenta, hastiludia, hoplomachias prohibet Clemens V. Papa, i. un extund de tornea. Permittet Johannes xxii., extravag. eod. Limnse b. de Jur. Publ., cap. 15, p. 171.
Y9 old story of y* Church-mawle, weh hung behind the dore, for the eldest sonne to fetch to knock his father in the head when past Ixx}
Idem, disp. viii. § 29. Olim aatas Ix. annorum excusabat a muneribus publicis. Pliny 4., ep. 23, unde Sexagenary pro- verbialiter dicuntur Depontani, eo quod suffragium non ferrent. Car. Sigon. 1, de antiq. jur. cir. Rom. 17 in fine. Ovid's Fastorum [v. 633-4].
Pars putat, ut ferrent juvenes suffragia soli, Pontibus infirmos prsecipitasse senes.
Caeterum tempus hie computatur naturaliter, egressum oportet Septuagesimum qui velit excusari.
Consecrated things.
Id., disput. ix. § 12. Quseritur, An res ab Hereticis conse- cratae, in usus profanes possint converti? Neg. Semel Deo dicatum in usus humanos ulterius transferendum non est. Opp. 1. s. c. de pagan. Principes occupant loca sacra. Resp. ex
1 [See p. 19.]
L28 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
loquitur de locis sacris quse falsis diis dedicata sunt a Paganis. Vide locu Apostoli, 1 Corinth. 10, v. 20.
Holy -water?-
Ex Chronico Saxonico : An cxiv. Alexander hie constituit aquam benedictam fieri. (Annot. ex Laud, quas sic habet Florentinus Wig: Alexander Papa constituit aquam sparsionis cum sale benedicto in hominum habitaculis spargi.)
Lavington, Novemb. 1693.
Excerpta out of Sephersheba, or the Oath-book written by the learned Jo: Tombes, B.D. in 4to, 1662.
Swearing.
Pagg. 36, 37. Homer, in his Iliads, mentions the Heathen Gods oath, that it was by Styx, (i) the imagined horrid lake of Hell, or place of the dead. It is likely their oath was to impre- cate to themselves that, if they did not so, let them be thrust down from the air into ye Styx. v. Peter, 2 ep. 2, 4 ; Jude, v. 6. With this kind of swearing, in the most formidable manner that ever I read any oath taken, were some lawes in England confirmed by K. Hen. 3, and the Nobles of England holding burning Tapers in their hands, and then casting them out of their hands with direfull imprecations to themselves, to be extinguished if they violated them. In the grants to ye Church by the Saxon Kings you may see in the Monasticon Angl: many direfull imprecations, as let them that be thrown into
ye abyss, and let their portion be with Judas Iscariot, &c.
P. 41. That solemnity wch in some places is used in touching and kissing of the Book is plainly of the same kind with the elevation or apprehension of the hand, that is, it signifies consent to swear, and the oath itselfe. Ezek. 17, 18, " seing he despised the oath, by breaking the Covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand " (i), his hand being given to him, he pmised and sware sub- jection to the King of Babylon. For, giving the hand, is a signe
1 [See p. 121.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 129
of a pmise of fidelity, as 2 Kings 10, 15, when Jehonadab gave Jehu his right hand. And thus when persons are made friends, or pmise amity one to another, they give to each other their hands, & plight their troth to each other, and witness this before God by joyning of hands, it hath the form and right of an oath, called the Covenant of God, Prov. 2, 17. The Grecians in Homers Iliads say, Where are your oath and right hands to which we trusted ?
P. 43. Another Rite of Swearing is comeing before the Altar of God, e. g., Kings 8, 31. If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be layd upon him to cause him to swear, and the Oath come before thine Altar, in this house, then heare thou in Heaven, and do, and judge thy servants. The coming before the altar, whether to see it or take hold of it, was for greater dread of God — pag. 44. Doubtless this coming to the Altar to swear, was one of the most solemne binding Rites of Swearing by Gods appointment, Numb. 5, 16, Psal. 43, 3, 4.
Cicero, in his Oration for Balbus, mentions it as a custome among the Greeks, that persons should go to the Altars to take Oaths, and in his Oration for Flaccus, he saith of one, that no man would believe him though he held the Altar when he did swear, hence the Greek proverb fJ>e%pi, @CI)/JL&V, usq. ad Aras. Even now, saith Zanchius, torn. 4, lib. i. de Juramento, Thes. 5, when Emperours & Kings are created, and promise by Oath that they will keep the Laws, they are wont to swear at the Altar, touching it with their hands. This ceremony, saith he, is from the Gentiles, and is wont to be observed onely in the solemne Oaths of Kings and Emperours. Thus was the King of England sworn at his coronation, April 23, 1661. Aristotle also, in 3, 1. Politico, saith, the oath was the stretching, or holding- out of a Scepter by a King. So saith Suidas, they termed the King's Scepter opKiov, because they sweared by it. These and many more such wayes of swearing there were among the Gen- tiles, of which may be seen Alexander ab Alexandro Genial, dier. lib. v, c. 10, Gell. noct. Attic. 1. ii. c. 6.
K
130
REMAINS OF GKNTILISME.
P. 46, 47. Lastly there was a Eite of Swearing, and Cove- nanting in Leagues of Amity by eating together after the Sacri- fice, and so it is said of Abimelech & Isaac, when there was an oath and covenant betwixt them, a feast was made and they did eate and drinke together, Gen. 26, 28. And when Jacob and Laban made a covenant together, and sware one to another, it is said, Gen. 31, 54, Then Jacob offered sacrifice, or killed beasts (as it is in the margin) upon the Mount, and called his brethren to eat bread, and they did eat bread and tarried all night in the Mount. Dr. Cudworth, in his book of the true notion of the Lords Supper, conceives it to have been a federate Rite, as the feasting upon a sacrifice, and it is certain that, as the Lords Supper should be as a Rite that signifies our remembrance of Christs sacrifice, so also our joyning together into one body, 1 Cor. 10, 16, 17, and 12, 13, and it appears by Chrysostoms words, Horn. 15 ad Popul. Antioch., In that thou makest him swear upon the holy Table, where Christ o/ered-up is laid, wilt thou there sacrifice thy brother? that in his days there was a Rite among Christians to swear, and take the Sacra- ment of the Lords Supper upon it, and that the Table of the Lord was used to this end, as the Altar among the Israelites ; whence it is likely the custome came of confirming oaths, whether of Leagues of by testifying of the truth to go to the Communion-Table, or Altar among the Papists, and to take the Sacrament or Lords Supper upon it as one of the plainest and surest signs of their veracity & fidelity. Nor is it unlikely that when in the Liturgie of the Church of England, in the Rubrick about Matrimony, it is said, the new married persons, the same day of their marriage, must recieve the Holy Communion ; that it was, that they might confirm thereby their marriage covenant. (This custome was (rarely) used by the better sort of people before the civil warres.)
P. 55. Usage of swearing by creatures, came, partly, from ye reverence of the name & majesty of God. Bp. Sanderson, .... 5, § 2, &c.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 131
P. 62. Paganish and Popish Oathes, which remain yet among us, as namely, by the Mass, Rood, Crucifix, Cross, or Lady, Reliq of Saints, Angels, Martyrs, fire as Gods Angel, Gods precious coales, &c.
P. 68. The Irish, at every third word, are wont to interpose an oath, as by the Trinity, God, ye Sts Patrick, Brigit, Baptism, Faith, Temple, the Godfathers hand, thy hand. But to keep their oath, these things are of greatest moment : 1 . That he swear at the altar the book toucht, open, & put upon the head. 2. That they take to witnesse some Saint, whose crooked staff or bell he toucheth, or kisseth. 3. That he swear by the hand of his Earl, or Lord, or other potent man. Camden, ex Giraldo.
Baptising.
P. 93. Exorcisms, used by the Ancients on persons to be bap- tized, whereby they adjured ye Devils to go out of the person to be baptized, and tooke on them to blow out the evil spirit, that the Holy Spirit might be admitted (Nazianzen in his 4th Orat. of Bapt., Cyril, Augustin, & others, mention as practised among Christians).1
New D.
P. 95. Camden in Hibernia, out of Giraldus. When the wild Irish first see the new moon, they comonly bow their knee and recite the Lords Prayer, and at the end speake to the Moon with a loud voyce, Leave us healthy as thou hast found us, or as when they take the Wolves for their Godfathers, whom they call Chari Christ, praying for them and wishing well to them, and so fear not to be hurt by them. [See pp. 36, 83.]
Charms.
P. 96. To avoid all Superstitions, and unlawfull Adjurations, especially Charming by Spells, and saying of Prayers for Cattle
1 ["Ter exsufflet leniter in faciem infantis, et dicat semel; 'Exi ab eo (vel ab ea) immunde spiritus, et da locum Spiritui Sancto Paraclito.'"— Kituale Komanum, Ordo Baptism!. — ED.]
K 2
132 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
by old ignorant people, which are reliques of Heathenisme, and no better than Witchcraft.
Giving the hand.
P. 98. seeing he hath despised the oath, by breaking
the covenant (when he hath given his hand), and hath done all these things, he shall not escape. Ezech. 17, 15, 16, 17, 13.
Here endeth the Excerpta out of Mr. Tombes.
Some Customes of Eaton Schoole.
Eaton College and schoole were founded by King Henry the Sixth. They doe hold some lands by a Custome of offering to the travellers Salt ; 'tis on (I thinke) the first day of Hilary- terme. The schoole-master and all his scholars goe to a Tumulus (or Barrow) by the Roade, near to Slough, wch is about a mile from the College.
Also, about Whitsuntide, I thinke on Holy-thursday, the schoole-boyes doe hunt a Earn, till they kill him; and then they have a venison-feast made of him ; they use to over-heate them- selves, and get the small -pox.
Also, on Shrove-tuesday, as soon as ever the Clock strikes nine, all theBoyes in the Schoole cry TO BAKXfl, TO BAKXO, TH BAKXft, as loud as they can yell ; and stamp, and knock with their sticks: and then they doe all runne out of the schoole.
I am not acquainted wh the school-master here, but I have a good mind to write to him for a more particular account of these Customes.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 133
'Tis Midsommer-night, or Midsommer-eve (S* Jo: Baptist) is counted or called the Witches night, q. Mris Fincher, &c., of the breaking of Hen-egges this night, in which they may see what their fortune will be.
Of fermented Liquours.
" Since the planting of Vineyards, seeing all Countries could not beare Grapes, Bacchus also taught the world to make vinum e frugibus with water, as Diodorus Siculus reports, from whence the Egyptians had their Zithum and Curmi, the Spaniards their Cerea, the -Turks their Cowset, and wee our Ale and Beer ; all these are extracted out of Corne, by the pureness and tenuitie of water." Mr. Jordan, pag. 108, cap. 14, Virgil.
The Scythian's drinke was made in this manner, wch Virgil speakes of :
Hie noctem ludo ducunt ; et pocula laeti Fermento atq. acidis imitantur pocula sorbis.
Beanes. [See pp. 102, 182.]
" Whereas Galen produceth the boy ling of beanes as a familiar example to shew the tenuity of water, we may gather that the use of beanes was common in yose daies, although the Pytha- gorean sect did then much flourish, which were thought to forbid the use of them ; but I find that here hath been a great mistake, for Aristoxenus, who wrote the life and doctrine of Pythagoras, affirms that he did delight much in that kind of food. But it seems the cause of this mistake was a verse in Empedoclesj AetXot 7rdv$ei\oi icvdpwv diro %e£/oo9 efecr#e, cyanis subducite dextras ; but he meant it of continency and abstinence from venerie, as Aulus Grellius doth interpret it, where Kvdpoi are understood to be testiculi. Cicero mentioneth the same of the Pythagorians, but in another sense, because Beanes were thought
134
REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
by their flatulency to disturb our dreames, and so to hinder the divination which might be gathered from them, as also Midden- dorssius judgeth." Mr. Jordan, of Bathes, p. 12, cap. 2.
Prophets.
Prophesie not ceased, e. g. that in Peter Martyr of the West Indies, where a West Indian prophecied, that strangers should come after a strange manner and possess their Countrey (see it).
The Characteristiques of the Popes by Saint Malachy (a monk of Bangor) are wonderfully Prophetique. NB.
Mdm. 'Tis certain true that a prophet or Bardh in Caermar- thenshire predicted that this John Earle of Carburys father would be a Lord, and that his sonne would be a Lord ; this Lds grand- father asked further ; no, he would say no more, there would be an end of that family. From my worthy and reverend friend and neighbour, Frederick Vaughan, Esq. Bachelor of Divinity and Prebendary of ye Church of Sarii. About 1685, when this E. of Carburys father lay a dyeing, he was curious because of this prophesie to know if the child his daughter-in-law was delivered of were a son & living : 'twas a sonne, but dyed ; but they did not let him know so much : so he died in peace.
The signe of the Wild Man.
This Signe is not uncommon in and about London. I confess I wonderd heretofore how such an odd signe should happen to be so in vogue, but by Rudbecki Atlantica I find it to be de- rived from the Suedes, as they (in all probability) from the
Greekes. It is from Rudbeck.)
Ol. Rudbecki Atlantica, Tab. 1, fig. 20.
[Here is a figure.]
(sett downe ye fig. out of
The Suedes had Hercules for a deity, whom they call in their language «£er<f lar. * A. Populus arbor Herculi sacra. Virg. Bucolica, Ecloga vii.
Populus Alcidas gratissima
Populus in fluvijs pulcerrima.
REMAINS OF GENTIL1SME.
135
Pliny saith, lib. 16, cap. 23, Nat. Hist, that their leaves after midsommer turne about upside downe (and then the white side appeares). The like for ye Elme, Lime tree, Olive tree, Aspe, and Sallow or Willow.
Le Blason des Armoires par Hierome de Bara, Lyons 1581, 4to, wherein he recites the names and coate armour of three score and fourteen knights of King Arthur's Kound Table : whereof this Rovstelin is one.
Mdm. One of the Supporters of George, Prince of Denmarke (sc. that on the right side), is a kind of Hercules with a green club and green leaves about his pudenda and head, as we use to paint the signe of the greene man.
[Here is a figure.]
Rovstelin de Haultmont, d'or, a un sauuage de sable embastonne de gueulles.
Tregetors. See Chaucer's [Franklin's] Tale. [See p. 51.]
Villaines [see p. 47]
have a resemblance of the Servi under the Roman govern- ment, a but yet the Bondmen of this nation were not used with us so cruelly as the Bondmen of the Romans Civil Laws, as ap- peareth by their Comoedies ; nor as in Greece, as appeareth by theirs. But they were suffered to enjoy copy-hold lands, to gaine and get as yr servants, that now and yen their lords might fleece them and take a piece of money of them, as in France the
lords doe.
The change of religion (as to the Christian religion) caused this old kind of servile servitude and slavery to be brought into that moderation for villaines regardants, and by little and little found out more civil and gentle meanes to have that donne, whch in time of heathenisme, servitude or bondage did, they almost extinguished the whole." Sr Th. Smythe C. Wealth, p. 251.
136 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
A Spell.
Arseverse (i.) averte ignem, Tuscorum lingua, arse, est averte; verse, ignem significat. A spell written upon a house to preserve it from burning. — Fest. Holyoake's Dictionarie.
[The passage in full is: "Arseverse, Fest. A spell written upon an house to preserve it from burning, ^f Arseverse, i.e. averte ignem: Tuscorum lingua Arse est Averte, & Verse ignem significat. Alii exponunt Verse, i.e. Verte & Arse, Arddrem ; Ignem, Becm. ^[ Inscribat aliquis Arse vorse in ostio, Afran. ^f Etiam parietes incendiorum deprecationibus conscribuntur, Plin." — Holyoke, Diet. 1677.— ED.]
GARLANDS. The Custome at Newnton on Trinity -Sunday.
King Athelstan having obtained a victory over the Danes by the assistance of ye Inhabitants of this place, riding to recreate himselfe, found a woman bayting of cowe upon the waye called the Fosseway (wch is a famous way and runnes through this parish, and goes from Cornwall to Scotland). This woman sate on a stoole, with the cowe fastened by a rope to the legge of the stoole. The manner of it occasioned the king to ask why she did so ? She answered the king, that they had no common belonging to the towne. The Queen being then in his company, by their consents it was granted, that the towne should have so much ground in common next adjoining to this way as the women would ride round upon a bare-ridged horse ; she under- takes it, and for ascertaining the ground, the king appointed Sr Walter, a knight that wayted on him, to follow the woman or goe with her ; which being donne, and made known to the monks at Malmesbury (they to show their liberality upon the extent of the Kings charity) gave a piece of ground parcell of their Inheritance and adjoyning to the churchyard, to build a house upon, for the Hayward to live in, to look after the Beasts that fed upon this common. And for to perpetuate the memory
REMAINS OF GENTILIBME. 137
of it, appointed the following Prayers to be sayd upon every Trinity-Sunday, in that house, with the Ceremony ensueing ; and because a Monke of that time, out of his devotion, gave a Bell to be rung here at this house before prayers began, his name was inserted in the Petitions for that guift.
The Ceremonies. — The Parishioners being come to the Dore of the Haywards house, the Dore was struck thrice, in honour of the holy Trinity, then they entred ; the Bell was rung ; after which, silence being, their Prayers aforesayd. Then was a Garland of Flowers made upon a hoop brought forth by a Mayd of the Towne upon her Neck ; and a young man, a Batchelour, of another parish, first saluted her three times (the Kiss of Peace) in honour of the holy Trinity, in respect of God the Father. Then she putts the garland upon his neck and kisses him 3 times in honour of ye Trinity, particularly God the Sonne. Then he putts the Garland on her neck again and kisses her 3 times, and particularly in honour of God the holy ghost. Then he takes the garland from her neck again, and by the custome must give her a penny at least, which (as fancy leades) is now exceeded, as 2s. 6d., &c.
The method of giving this Garland is from house to house annually, till it comes round.
In this Evening every Comoner sends his supper up to this house, which is called the Tele-Jiowse^ and having before layd-in there, equally a stock of mault, which was brewed in ye house, they suppe together, and what was left was given to the Poor.
The Forme of Prayer. — "Peace goodmen peace; this is the house of charitie, and house of peace; Christ Jhesus be with us this day & evermore. Amen.
" You shall pray for the good prosperity of our soveraigne lord King Hen. 8 and his Royall Issue (of late dayes K. Ch. 2d, Queen Katherine, Duke of Yorke, & the rest of ye Royall pro- genie), with all the nobility of this Land, that Almighty God would give them such grace wisdome & discretion, that they
138 REMAINS OF GENTELISME.
may doe all things to the glory of God, the kings honour & the good of ye kingdome.
" You shall pray to God that moved the hearts of King Athelstan, and Dame Mawd his good queen, to give this ground to our forefathers & to us, and to all them that shall come after us, in Fee for ever.
" You shall pray to God for the sowle of Sr Walter, the good black knight, that moved his heart to our forefayers and us this ground both to tread and tite, and to them that shall after us, in Fee for ever.
" You shall pray to God for the sowle of Abbot Loringe that moved his heart to give us this ground to build this house upon, to our forefathers and to us and to them that shall come after us, in Fee for ever.
" You shall pray to God for the sowle of Dan [?] Alured, the black Monke, that moved his heart to give the Bell to this house.1
" For the sowles of these Benefactors whom the Lord hath moved their hearts to bestow these benefitts upon us, let us now and ever pray, Pater noster, &c."
In the late warres this Howse was burned down by ye Soldiers ; and the Custome of Supping is yet discontinued, togeyer with brewing that quantity of drinke. The rest of the ceremonies are yet continued on the Toft, and on the old dore of the Howse, which yet remains, which they doe then carry thither ; and a small quantity of drinke, of 6 or 8 gallons, is yet drunke after the Garland is given.
Mdm. About 1660 one was killed, striving to take away the Garland ; and the killer was tryed for his life at Salisbury.
This towne did belong to Malmesbury Abbey, and was given by v. the Legier booke.
Mdm. Sr . . . . Gower (the Poet) hath a [Here is costly Monument in Sfc Mary Overy's church, where a figure.] ^ j«eg ajong jn i^s scariet gowne ; his head is en- circled with a kind of chaplet of silver, as in the 1 (This bell is row at Mr Richard Estcourt's house, in yis parish.)
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 139
margent; sc., at about every inch J length of gold is an interposition of a quaterfoile argent. I have not anywhere seen the like.
" The use of flowry Crowns and Garlands is of no slender Antiquity, for besides the oldGreekes and Romans, the Egyptians made use hereof. This practise also extended as far as India, for Philostratus observes that at ye Feast wch ye Indian king, their custom was to wear garlands and come crowned wh yem into their feasts."1
"The Crowns or Garlands of ye Ancients were eiyer Gestatory, such as they wore about their Heads, or Necks ; Portitory, such as they carried at Solemne Feasts ; Pensile or suspensory, such as they hanged about ye Posts of their Houses in honour of their Gods, as of Jupiter Thyrasus, or Limeneus, or els they were Depository, such as they layd upon the Graves and Monuments of ye Dead. For the making of them these were employed, o-T€(f)avo7r\6Kot,. These garlands were convivial, festival, sacri- ficial, nuptial, honorary, funebrial."2
At ye feasts in the halls of the City of London the stewards doe wear garlands of Laurel ; in some places in the countrey they hang up Festival Garlands, and on Mayday adorne the may-poles wy them ; as to nuptial, and honorary I can say little ; but funeral garlands for young maydens, are still in use, and dedicated to the church, hanging over the Grave.
In Zerbst in Anhalt in Germany 40 yeares ago was the fashion to give every man or Batchelor a garland and a hand- ketcher at the weddings : But now in stead of a Garland they give a Lemon or orange. But by the common sort of people garlands are still in use. [W. K.]
Cakes.
Fertum, genus libi, a cake made of sundry graines and spices : strues, a certain Cake wch the Paynims offered to the Gods. So we have still our Cake at Home-harvest, at Easter, and Whitson- tide. Also Wedding, and Christning-cakes, and Funeral cakes.
1 Sr Th. Browne's Miscellanies, pag. 89.
2 Ne\raton in Malmesb. Hundred, de Garland, in lib. A.
140 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Not working on Holydaies.
Columella, lib. 2, cap. 22, delivers what Works were not to be permitted upon the Roman Ferice, or Festivals.
Cerealia. or Cakes, in part
" Gates. — Pliny affirmeth, that the Pulticula thereof (might it not be oatemeale ?) was most in use among the Germans ; yet that the Jews were not without all use of this Grain seemes confirmable from the Rabbinical account, who reckon five Grains liable unto their offerings, whereof the Cake presented might be made, that is, Wheat, Gates, Rye, and two sorts of Barley." *
Mazes. [See p. 208.]
I have reason to believe from Rudbecks Atlantica that we recieved our use of Mazes (labyrinths, Miz-mazes) from the
Danes. — See there Tab. 35, fig. 132, cap as they from
the ^Egyptians and Greekes ; see Pliny, lib. xvi. cap. 13, de Labyrinthis.
Fortune Tellers.
" Neq. sic ideo Druidum genus penitus abolitum erat,
quin foeminas vaticinatrices ac fatidicas ab ipsis oriundas sub Alexandro Severo & Aureliano floruisse supra ostendimus & quosdam in Gallijs e stirpe Druidorum satos testatur Auso-
Chere in bowles ; an old expression.
Refer this to [page 142], where is mention of the Song sung at Queen's College, in Gxford, on Christmas Day, when one of the scholars brings-up the Bores head, singing Caput Apri affero, &c. I doe believe, that this custome was very ancient,
1 Sr Th. Brown's Miscellanys, p. 23.
2 Th. Smytk, S.T.P. Coll. Magdal. Oxon.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 141
perhaps it might be derived from the Sus Caledonius. v. Meleager aprum occidit, Homer's Iliads, Iota. Ovidij Metamorph. lib. viii. Fab. 4.
Homer's Iliads, Iwra, p. 356, v. 539. [543 et seqq.]
Tbv ff vibg OlvyoQ amKTeivev HoXXewv S' EK TroXiwv OtjprjTOpciG dvdpag ayeipag Kai Kvijag, ov pev -yap K tddpr] iravpoiat (3pOTol<n Totrcrof «?i>, 7roXXoi>£ dk irvprje tirtpria aXeyeivrjs 'H d' a/jKJ)' avrw Orjiee iro\iiv KeXadov %ai O.VTO) 'A/u^i <rwo£ KeQaXrj al dipftar
In Gemmae et sculpturae antiquae depictse ab Leonardo Augusti, no. 1685, there is to be seen Caput Meleagri et apri Calydonij, 13, in Cornicla.
At ..... , in Switzerland, they doe itatacertainej ,.a^ !•
of ye year, goe out and kill a wild bore, which they fasten on a horse as riding astride, and so march with him into the City with Musick, and much jollity ; I have seen the draught of it engraven. Dr. Jo. Pell had it, who showed it to me.
The armes of the Deanery of Exeter is as in the margent expressed. There was some reason heretofore, for this change of the Boare's-head. There is a lordship in Kent called Denford (but one house on it), which paies to the Deanery of Exeter. Dean of Rochester, a Boare at Christmas
or at Christmas Day.
Bowles's Coate. Boares, as a Crest, were accounted
very honourable ; 0. g. the crests of King Eichard 3, the Earles of Oxford, &c.
I believe the name of Bowles came
from an Office of bearing or carrying a
The boares heads should be— Bowie wh a Bores head to a Ld Abbot's
argent, langued gules. ^ & ^^ ^^ ^^ Qn g()me fegtivall
day at Christmas. The first dish, archidapifer, q. if the Archi-
142 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
dapifer Elector carries a Boares-head ; l so we carry up ye Collar of Brawne ye first dish.
This song is sung on Christmas-day in the Hall at Queen's Coll. in Oxford, by one of the Taberders : but in the chorus all the Company doth assist.
The Boars Head in hand bear I Bedeckt wth Bays and Rosemary, And pray my Masters merry be Quot estis in convivio.
CHOKUS.— Caput apri defero,
Reddens laudes Domino.
The Boars head as I understand Is the bravest dish in all our land, And thus bedeckt wth a gay Garland Let us servire cantico.
CHOE. — Caput apri, &c.
Our Steward hath provided this In honour of the King of Bliss, Which on this day to be served is In Reginensi atrio.
CHOE. — Caput apri, &c.
The custome at Queen's Coll. on Newyeares day in ye morning, that the Deane (or Bursar) quaere, gives to every one of the Fellowes & scholars a Needle threaded saying, take this and be a good husband. Dr Locky sayd it was a Rebus for Eglefild, the founder's name ; aiguille fil.
The Rumpe Parliament employed Mr. Blaeu, of Amsterdam, to survey Scotland, wch is accurately done ; when he describes the High-landers, he speakes of their worshipping of the new- moon 2 and severall other superstitions, wch see in his Atlas, in Bibl. Bodleana: E. W[yld] Esq.
1 II porte d'azure, three boares* heads argent in bowles d'or, by the name of bowles.
2 [See p. 36.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 143
HOMERS ILIADS, GENEVA, MDCIIII.
Victims.'] Feasts. \ Lib. A. pag. W.
When they had ended the sacrifice they began the feasts, e.g.
v. 469.
Tti 7r<riO£ %a rjrvog t£ tpov so, Kovpoi [iev Kparfjpag £7re<rr£i//avro Trorolo. Nw/jjjtrav d'dpa TTCLGIV, s7rapZdfj,evoi tieTrakaoiv Oi dt Traviifjiepioi fjio\7ry Oebv I\CL<TKOVTO KaXov aeidovTeg Traiijova^ Kovpoi 'A%ata)v, Me\irovT6£ 'Eicaepyov, 6 dt Qpsva TepTrtT CLKOVWV.
The like description in lib. H., p. 278, v. 313.
Salt and Barley in Sacrifices. B. p. 76, v. 421.
AvTap ITTGI p'eu^avro, %ai ov\o%wraf
Molas, sc. cakes made of salt and barley.
Lotts.
H. p. 270, v. 169.
dp' oi'y' t^eXov dwrig juerseiTre
yap ^i) ovfosi evicvrj/judaQ ' * *
Qg I^>a0' 01 tie icXrjpov 'Ev 8' t(3a\ov Kvvky 'Ayafie^vovoc ' Aaoi S' rjprjaavTO, Otolai de
Feasts at Funeralls. Achilles makes a funerall Feast at his friend Patroclus's death.
%£. p. 864, v. 28.
' S' '11,0V irapa vrji irod&KeoQ AictKida iot avTap o roiai Tatyov p,tvoeiKea daivv. IloXXot [tiv (36t£ dpyot, &c.
144 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Of spirits appearing and not resting in peace without buriall.
4. p. 866, v. 62.
Evr£ 1 TOV VTTVOQ tpapiTTf, \v<!)v /ieXe&j/uara Ou/tov,
"HX0e d' tTrl 1//UX?) TIaTpoK\rjot; Havr' avT$ ;ueye0of re icai ofi/J-ara jcdX', 6iKi/ia, Kai <jni)vr)V' KCU rota Trepi xpo'i efyiara £<ro. 2r^ d'ap' inrep KetpaXrJQ, ^ai fjuv Trpbq p,v96v Eu^etg, avTap ip,tlo XeXafffievog tTrXtv 'A%iXXeu. Ov fj,ev %wovTO£ aierfdei^ d\\a Qavovrog' 0a?rre fte orri raxiora, 7rv\ag 'AV^ao TTCjO^ffw T^Xs /te eipysfft ipu^ai ei^wXa KafiovTW, OVTS jue Trwf fjiiffyevOat vTrtp irorafjioio i&atv 'AXX'
Casting drinke on y* ground.
H. p. 288, v. 480.
tj/ Trikeiv Trpiv Xelt^ai inrepfievei Kpoviuvt.
Tombe $ Pillar. Sarpedons Monument. n. p. 644, v. 673.
Qrjaova1 tv A.VKLYJQ evpeirjs iriovi dfjfjia) 'J&vBa tTap'xyGOVGi KaalyvriToi Tt erat re
re ffr^X?/ re* ro yap yspag tari Bavovrw.
Sindging of Swine.
I. p. 352, v. 467.
-- IloXXoi de aveQ QaXtdovreQ a ravvovro dia <p\oybg '
Sacrificing wine to the Gods. I. p. 362, v. 657.
"Qg t(f>aO'' ol dk cfcaTOf eXwv Senas 27rei(ravr6f, Trapd vrjdQ loav ira\iv.
Throwing dust on ones head in mourning. n p. 926, v. 162.
Adicpvffiv et'/iar' ttyvpov o 8' tv ptacroiai yepatof ev %Xaii/y fcefcaXv/i/^£vof d/f^i ^c TroXX?) re xa^ avxwi TOIO yepovrog.
Achillem.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
1.45
Washing of hands before Sacrifice. ft. p. 934, v. 363 [302], King Priam.
an<f>iiro\ov Tap,irjv wrpui/' 6 yepatot,
Xepaiv vStop sTrixtvai aKrjparov rj dk
Xepviflov d/i0i7roXof, Trpoxoov 9' a/za, xtpaiv t\ovaa.
*» KvireXXov iSe^aro r}s iTretra -rag fiwy ep/ee, \eTj3e dt Ovpavbv eiaavidwv' ^ (f>(»vr]crag tTrog rfvSa "Zev Trare, &c.
. [See p. 90.]
n. p. 938, v. 399.
"E| 5e oi uleg a<r«/, tyw o
Twv n'tra TraXXo/tei'og, /cX^py Xa%ov evOad' f
Time of Mourning. n. p. 954, v. 669 [664].
'EvvijfJiap fj,ev KCLVTOV ivi /zeydpoig yoaot/tfiv, Ty dexdry 8s KB OaTrrot/iev, da'ivvro re Xaog' dry 5s «e rvfiflov sir' awraJ iroirj
Ibid. v. 676 [671].
'Qg apa *EXXa/3e
Giving of the right Hand.
STTI icapirf xe?Pa Seiaei ivi
Singing at Funeralls. [See p. 31.]
n. p. 956 [719].
-- rbv p,kv tT
TprjTolQ kv Xe%£e(T<Ti dwav, irapa d" daav Qprjvwv i%apXov£i °'ire OTOVoeaaav aoiCrjv OI ptv dp Wpfiveov, £7ri de Tyaiv S' ' Avdpoftaxn XevKwXcvog r/pxc yoo o, &c.
Then Hecuba (Hector's mother) makes her speech ; then Helen.
146 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Suppers at Funeralls.
a p. 962, v. 724 [801].
-- avrdp £7T6ira
Ev owayapd/iej/oi, daivvvr' tpiicvdea daira iv IlpidfJioio --
Washing of hands before Prayer. i. p. 334, v. 171.
<t>£pr€ 8k xsPff^ #^WP? evQijprjffai re *O<f>pa Ait Kpovidy aprjaoptQ', diK
Achilles singing the Acts of Hero's to his harpe in his tent.
i. p. 336, v. 186.
Tbv d' evpov Qpeva TBpTropevov Qoppiyyi Xiyliy, Ka\^ SaiSaXey (CTTI d' apyvpeog Zvybg ijev). TJ)V after tZ, evdpuv noXiv Heriwvoe 6\eaaag. Ty oye Ovpbv trtpirev, deide 8'dpa K\ea dvdpwv.
Saying Grace. Sacrifice before Meate.
I. p. 338, v. 220 [219].
— — 9eolffi dk Qvoai dvwyei HcLTpoicXov, ov irdlpov. 6 5' iv Trvpl /3d\Xe
. p. 912, v. 861. At y° Games.
K\t'ipȣ 8* iv Kvvsy xaXjc^pet TrdXXov iXovreg.
Lotts.
r. p. 124, v. 316.
KXj7p8f Iv Kvvey xaXKr/pe'i TraXXov c 'OTTTrorepoe ^») TrpoaOtv a^ki Aaoi 5' ^p^<ravro, Oeolai 6e
* * * *
"Q£ ap* e0av-7rdXX€v 5f /i£yct£ KvpvOaioXog 'E/crwp, "Ai// bpooiv. ndpiof 5e 0owg SK «X^pog opouaev.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 147
Glories.
2. p. 714, v. 205.
'A/*0i ££ ol KeQaXy vtyoQ t-re^e Sla Oedwv Xpvaeov, 6K S'avrov Sale 0\6ya
To yr Good Health.
1. p. 338, v. 224. Ulysses.
nXr)ffdfj.ev OQ d'olvoio 5« " Xdip '
HOMER'S ODYSSES. APUD JOHN VIGNON, MDCIX. 0/er Wine to the Gods.
B. p. 54, v. 25 [427].
-- a/i^i 5e Kvfia
Sreipy iroptyvpeov fjieydX' ta^e, vijog iov "R d' i&tev Kara Kvpa diaTrpqcasa
' apa oTrXa Qorjv dvd vrja KpartjpaQ tiriaretyEaQ oivolo. Aeiflov 5' aiQavdroiai Oeolg aieiyeveTijoiv. 'EK iraVTuv de fid\i<?a Aio£ yXavKuTTidij Kovpy
r. p. 56, v. 23 [532].
'AXX' aye, ra/were p,lv yXwcraaf, icspdaffOe Se olvov, *O(J>pa Hoaeiddwvi $ dXXoig dBavdroiai
KOLTOIO fjied<i>fie9a' roTo yap wpj;.
Offer Wine to Mercury at Bedtime.
H. p. 198, v. 12 [136].
Ewpe de <baif]K(i)V r/y^ropa
kvoKOTrtj) ' , ore
Wine-offering to Jupiter.
H. p. 200, v. 20 [179].
- Kprjrrjpa KepaacrafitpOG [teOv vtlfiov dvd [tfyapoVi 'iva iq At'i TCpTrucspavvy /, o<T0' iKfryaiv lip aifioioiaiv oTrrjSel
1 Propinavit. L 2
148 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Washing hands before Prayer. M. p. 378. v. 20 [335].
The Mahometans doe so, to this day.
'A\\' ore $?} dia vrjtrov iwv ij\v%a trai £, '69' ITTI GKfiraQ i/v
Oi 6" apa fioi yXvicvv VTTVOV STTI 3\£(j>a.poiGiv !%euccv.
White Barley used in Invocations to ye Gods, in Danger.
M. 380, v. 9 [358], Moyses's drinke offering.
Ov yap f\ov xplXevicbv itiffffeXfus STTI vrjog.
Drinke-offering. Ibid. v. 10 [359].
Avrap eirei p tv^avro, $ tafyaZav $ tdeipav, M.rjpovg T E^era/iev, Kara, re Kviaoy e/caXui//av,
Oi)d el^ov fjieOv XeT^/ai STT' aiOofJicvoig iepolaiv 'AX\' vdctTt (TTrevSovTe^ sTTWTTrwv lyKara
Grace Cup.
It is of great antiquity, see concerning it in Athenaeus : but Dr Th. Guydol M.D. hath writt very fully of it in his learned Book, sc. Historia -ZEsculapii, a MS. Concerning the grace cup, read Stuckius. In Dr Godwin's Roman Antiquities, lib. ii. ch. 1. He mentions, Poculum charitatis boni genij.
Sacred Oak. T. p. 592, v. 29 [296].
T6v d'tQ Awd&vriv faro (Brifjizvai, otypa Geolo 'EK tipvoQ ii-^txofioio Atop fiovXqv
Glories of Saints.
. 2. p. 570, v. 9 [353].
p,oi doiceei Saidwv atXa^ tfifjievai avrov
Kat
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 149
Passage of Souls over Whinny-moore, Yorksh. [See p. 31.]
2. p 575, v. 3 [417].
'AXV ayer OIVOXOOQ ntv sTrapZaaQu "0<ppa a7reiffavT€Q KaraKiio^v o'iicad i6
n. p. 718 in initio [v. 9].
-- *1PXe B'apa
'Eppeiae ajcaK^ra tear evpuevra Ke Hap 5' Iffav 'Qiceavov re podf ^ Xevicdda 'Hde -Trap rjeXioio irvXag £, SfjfJiov ' "H'iffav* at\l/a S' 'IKOVTO tear daQodeXbv *EvOd re vaiovai
Kissing.
Taking by the Hand.
a p. 740, v, 25 [397].
vg Se Xa/3wv icvae x&p ***• tapir <i> >
Masters of the Feast.
Sc. at the Feast was a Sacrifice, as is to be seen by many instances in Homer. The Master of the Feast tooke care that noon dranke too little or too much. See Theod. Beza's Notes on the New Testament. 'Tis now the Mag JOT Domo.
Chimnies.
Hearths are of greater antiquity than chimneys. Hearths were first used both for sacrifices and houses, e. g. Temple-hall, &c.
Sectaq. fumosis exta dedere focis. — Ovid. Fastoru' lib. iv. [638].
Adas, pro aris & focis.
Camiuus, Kdjuvos, was the chimnev where they melted their Oares.
150 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Highlanders (in Scotland). Piscis adhuc illi populo sine fraude natabat. — Ovid. Fast. lib. v. [vi. 173].
I have heard some of 01. Cromwels army say, that the High- landers ate only oate-meale and water and milk : that their Rivers did abound with Trowtes but they had not the witt to take them till the English taught 'em.
" The Laplanders solemne manages, and beginne the same Vf \\hfire and flynt) as with a mystery so aptly applied to the image of stone as if it had been receaved from the middest of Grecia. For, in that they adhibit a mystery to fire, as they doe not this alone (forasmuch as the Romans observed the same custome) even so are they herein partly to be comended in that they use the ceremonies of so noble a people. The mystery of the Flynt is no lesse to be praysed, both forasmuch as this is domesticall Philosophie, and hath also a neer aflfinitie and signi- fication to these solemnities. For as the flynt hath in it fire being hid, which appeareth not but by mouvinge and force, so is there a secret life in both kindes of man and woman, which by mutuall conjunction cometh forth to a liuing birth." l
I have a conceit that the Highlanders have something of this custome, de quo qusere.
CATULLUS, CUM NOTIS VARIORU'. TRAJECTI AD RHENUM, 1659.
Sneezing.
De Acme et Septimio. Epig. 46. [xlv. 8, 9]. Hoc ut dixit, Amor, sinistram, ut ante, Dextram stenmit adprobationem.
Drumme, or rather Tabour. Epigr. 64 [Ixiii. 9, 10].
Tympanum, tubam, Cybelle, tua, mater, initia; Quatiensq. terga tauri teneris cava digitis.
Appendix to Peter Martyr's Decads, pag. 272.
BEMAINS OF GENTILISME. 151
" • The army being enflamed with this speech, and making
shew of a resolution to fight, Scipio comending their good will, sent them away and gave them charge to feed and be ready and in armes at the sound of the Trumpet and Drumme " * (see the original in Greeke, I suspect it is a mistake).
Periwigges.
" Periwigges were worne by Hannibal for a disguise." — Polybius, lib. iii. 148, D.
TlBULLUS.
Dreames.
Ipse procuravi ne possent sseva nocere
Somnia, ter san-cta deveneranda mola. [I. v. 13, 14].
Not-ploughing on Holy-daies.
Luce sacra requiescat humus, requiescat arator;
Et grave suspense vomere cesset opus. — Lib. ii. eleg. 1 [5-6].
non audeat ulla Lanificam pensis imposuisse manum [9-10].
Taking Penance in a White Sheete. Lib. i. eleg. 3 [29-30].
Ut mea votivas persolvens Delia noctes [voces], Ante sacras, lino tecta, fores sedeat.
It seemes in those dayes they did their Penance the Church dore.
Lib. ii. eleg. 5 [89-90].
Ille2 levis stipulse sollennes potus acervos Accendet, flammas transilietq. sacras.
Purgationum qua die Paliliam [sic] fiebant, meminit Ovidius : sed mos iste transiliendi ignem e foeno et stipulis excitatu, cujus Propertius quoq' meminit lib. iv. valde notandus est : quia ex eo
1 Polybius, lib. iii. about ye middle. 2 Pastor.
152 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
cognoscimus uncle mos ille esset ortus quo et veteres quidem Christian! leguntur usi, ignem transiliendi certa anni die, expia- tionis causa et divinationis Theodoritus — aliam originem illius fecit, explicans morem transmittendi filios per ignem, cujus saepe fit mentio in vetere Fcedere : adhuc sua aetate servatam a nonnullis fuisse earn consuetudinem scribit, idq. se in quibusdam civitatibus fieri vidisse testatur. Diem non indicat hujus supsti-
tionis Atq. ut Palilium catharmi exeunte vere, aut
ineunte estate agitabantur a Rusticis Romanis, sic isti Junij die xxiij aut xxiv, in quam Joannis Baptistae natalis incidit, ignem e fceno excitatum transiliebant. — CASAUBON.
Lib. in. Eleg. 4 [9-10].
Et vatum ventura hominum genus omina noctis Farre pio placant & saliente sale.
Ibid. Apollo's Harp in parts ii. or Hi. \ib. 39], Hanc primum veniens plectro modulatus eburno.
Friar's frocks, fy Shavelings.
Qui grege linigero circumdatus, et grege calvo.— Juvenal, Sat. vi. [533] Perhaps they were like the white friars, as ye Morocco fashion.
Nunc dea linigera colitur celeberrima turba. —
Ovid. Meiam, lib. i. [747] de Iside et sacerdotibus ejus.
Linigeri fugiunt calvi, sistrataq. turba. —
Martial, Ep. lib. xij. Ep. 29 [19].
PROPERTIUS. Hardmen. Lib. i. eleg. 12 [9-10].
Invidiae fuimus: num me Deas obruit? an quae Lecta Prometheis dividit1 herba jugis.
1 (i) devovit [no].
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 153
See Ovid's Metamorph. lib. xii. fab. 4 and 5 [165—174].
visum mirabile cunctis,
Quod juveni corpus nullo penetrabile telo, Invictumq. ad vulnere erat, ferrumq. terebat. Hoc ipsum ^Eacides, hoc mirabantur Achivi: Cum sic Nestor ait; Vestro fuit unicus sevo Contemptor ferri, nulloq. forabilis ictu Oycnusi at ipse olim patientem vulnera mille Corpore non laeso, Perrhsebum Csenea vidi; Csenea Perrhaebum qui factis inclytus, Othryn Incoluit.
See Libavius de Cruentatione Cadaverum de hoc.
nata (herba)1 primo ex cruore & sanie in terrain stillante, dum Prome-
thei jecur aquila rostro lancinans in Caucaso depasceretur. Ejus flos prominet cubiti mensura, colore corycio assimilis croco, caule gemino, radix sub terra caro videtur recens incisa, succu' nigricante esse tanquam phagi. Nee vim item tacet; Si, inquit, Proserpinse re divina noctu peracta hoc corpus linias, ferro nullatenus oblasdi poteris: neq. item ignis incendia sentire.— Rhodigin.
Captain Carlo Fantom (a Croatian) spake 13 languages, was a Captain under the Earle of Essex. Sr Rob. Pye was his Colonel, who shot at him for not returning a horse which he tooke away before the Regiment. This was donne in a field near Bedford, where the army then was, as they were marching to the relief of Gainsborough. Many are yet living that sawe it. Capt. Hamden was by ; the 2 bullets went thorough his Buff-coat, and ye Capt. H. sawe his shirt on fire. Capt. Carlo Fantom tooke the Bullets and sayd to Sr Rob. — Here, take your bullets again. None of the soldiers would dare to fight with him, they said they would not fight wh the Devil. E. W[yld] Esq. was very well acquainted with him, and gave me many a Treat : and at last he prevailed with him so far, towards the knowledge of this secret, that Fantom told him, that the Keepers in their Forests did know a certain herb, which they gave to Children, which made them to be shott-free (they call them Hard-men). He had a world of Cutts about his body with swords. He was very quarrelsome, and a great Ravisher. He left the Parliament Party, and went
1 Prometheum, Apollonius Argonauticon, iii.
154 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
to ye King Ch. ye first at Oxford, where he was hanged for Ravishing.
R[obert] E[arl] of Essex General for ye Parliament, had this Captain Fantom in high esteem : for he was an admirable Horse- officer, and taught the Cavalry of ye army the way of fighting with Horse ; ye General saved him from hanging twice for Ravishing, once at Winchester, 2ndly at St. Albans, and he was not content only to ravish himselfe, but he would make his soldiers doe it too, and he would stand by & looke on. He met (coming, late at night, out of ye Horseshoe Tavern, in Drury Lane) with a Lieutenant of Col. Rossiter, who had great jingling spurres on ; sd he, the noise of your spurres doe offend me, you must come over the Kennel and give me satisfaction. They drew, and passt at each other & the lieutenant was runne thorough & died wlP an hour or two : and 'twas not known, who killed him.
Sd he, I care not for your Cause, I come to fight for your halfe- crown & yr handsome woemen ; my father was a R. Catholiq. and so was my grandfather. I have fought for the Christians against the Turkes, and for the Turkes against the Christians.
In a Booke of Trialls by Duell in fol. (writ by ... Segar I thinke) before the Combatants fight, they have an Oath ad- ministered to them by the Herald ; where is inserted (among other things), that they have not about them either Charm, or Herb.1
Mdm. Martin Luther, in his Commentarie on the first (or second Commandement, I thinke ye first) saies, that a Hard-man was brought to ye D. of Saxonies Court ; he was brought into ye great hall and was commanded to be shott, with a Musquet ; the bullet drop't downe and he had only a blew spott on his skin, where he was struck. Martin Luther was then by, and sawe the bullet drop downe.
They say that a silver bullet will kill any Hardman, and can be beaten to death with cudgels. The Elector Palatine, Prince Roberts Brother, did not believe at all that any man could make himself hard. [W. K.]2
1 See this, I think, in Sr W. Dugdale. 2 [See pp. 75, 77, and Appendix.]
KEMAINS OF GENTILISME. 155
Eleg. 17, lib. 1 [21-22]. Roses on Graves.
Ilia meo caros donasset funere crines: Molliter et tenera poneret ossa rosa.
Inter omnes flores, quibus veteres sepulchra sua accumula- bantj principatum quendam obtenuisse yidetur Rosse, quametiam Graeci mentionem faciunt. Anacreon, ode et? pobov.
To tie $ vooovotv apicel To 8s $ viicpoig apvvsi.
Romani vero Hosarum adeo fuere studiosi, ut jis post mortem monumenta sua spargi supremo judicio nonnunquam jusserint, legato ad hanc rem relicto, cui plerumque haec -erat adnexa conditio, ut in Ravennati inscriptione legimus : Ut. quotannis. Rosas, ad. monumentum. eius. deferant. Here are added two more old ISS. to the same purpose.
See my Antiquities of Surrey [iv. 185], where in the parish of [Ockley] some graves have Rose-trees planted at the head & feete ; and some are adorned annually. I thinke (I have now forgot) 'tis for young people, whose sweet-hearts take this care, wch appeares here to be derived from the Ancients.1
Mri9 Smyth's notion of men being metamorphosd into Trees, and Flowers is ingeniose; sc., they planted a Tree, or a flower on the grave of their friend, and they thought the soule of the party deceased went into the tree or plant.
They planted a tree at the birth of children, I think some- thing of it in the life of ye poet Vergil.
Sc: the grove of Ashes without Roulington-parke, were planted at the birth of a son, wch William, Earle of Pembroke, in King James the first time planted. The child dyed very young.
1 [The passage runs thus: " In the churchyard are many red rose-trees planted among the graves, which have been there beyond man's memory. The sweet- heart (male or female) plants roses at the head of the grave of the lover deceased; a maid that lost her dear twenty years since, yearly hath the grave new turf 'd, and continues yet unmarried."— ED.]
156 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Names in Barke of Trees. [See p. 57.]
Ah quoties teneras resonant mea verba sub umbras, Scribitur et vestris Cynthia corticibus.
[Lib. I. eleg. xviii. 21-22.]
The initial letters of names are frequently made in the Barkes of Trees still.
Caleshes.
Si te forte meo ducet via proxima busto, Esseda caelatis siste Britanna jugis. — [lib. II. i. 74, 75.]
See Caesar, lib. iv. de bello Gallico. Lib. iv. Eleg. iii. Hiberniq. Getae, pictoq. Britanniae curru.
Testis, quern niveum quendam percussit, Adonin, Venantem Idalio vertice durus aper. — [lib. II. xiv. 53, 54.]
D. Hieronymus in comment iii. Ezech. Adonem interfectum esse ab apro scribit, idq. mense Junio contigisse, a quo Adonis Thammuz dictus.
In hoc plangitur a mulieribus quasi mortuus & postea revi- viscens canitur atque laudatur.
Horn-church in Essex. See part the ii. [p. 76.]
Incipiam captare feras, et reddere pinu Cornua [lib. II. xix. 19, 20.]
Cervorum & id genus ferarum cornua de arboribus sacris suspensa Numinibus dedicabant, & Dianae imprimis : Ovid Met. Teliq. habet instar, in ilia, quae fuerant pinu votivi cornua cervi. (Plutarchus, templis omnibus Dianae cornua cervorum adfigi moris fuisse.)
.Jewes veiled at divine Service, with white (I think) flannell. Ante tuosq' pedes ilia ipsa adoperta sedebit — [lib. II. xxviii. 45.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 157
" Duo adorationis signa, velari, & sederc. de velatione notis- timu vel ex illo, Et caput ante aras Phrygio velavit amictu. sic Plaut. in Curcul." Qui hie est, qui operto capite -ZEsculapium salutat?"
Virg. lib. iii. ^Eneid. [403-5.]
Quin, ubi transmissse steterint trans aequora classes, Et positis aris, jam vota in litore solves: Purpureo velare comas adopertus amictu.
Quum videt accensis devotam currere tsedis In nemus, & Trivise lumina ferre Dese.
Intelligit ferias, quae Idibus Augusti Dianae fiebant.
Maiae Mercurium creastis Idus. — Mart. lib. xi. Ep. Ixxiij .
Augustis redit Idibus Diana.— [lib. XII. Ixvii.] Atq. onerare tuam fixa per arma domum. — Lib. III. eleg. vii. [ix. 26.]
Before the Civil warres, a Justice of peace's hall was so fur- nished, & lookt dreadfull.
Diq. Deseq. omnes, quibus est tutela per agros,
Praebebant vestris verba secunda focis. — Eleg. xi. [xiii. 41, 42].
Table-bookes. Vulgari buxo sordida cera fuit. — Eleg. xxi. [xxiii. 8].
Siquis.
I, puer, et citus haec aliqua propone columna ; Et dominu' Esquilijs scribe habitare tuum. — [xxiii. 23, 24].
LIB. IV. Bonfires. Feu dejoye.
Annuaq. accenso celebrare Palilia foeno. — Eleg i. [19].
158 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Mappes. Cogor et e tabula pictos ediscere mundos. — Eleg. iii. [37].
Ibid. [59, 60]. Schriech-owle, $ Thief in y* Candle.
Sive in finitimo gemuit stans noctua tigno, Seu voluit tangi parca lucerna mero.
Eleg. v. [26]. Porcelane. Murreaq. in Parthis pocula cocta focis.
Nullus veterum melius expressit, quid essent Murrea poculos quam noster Propertius, qui dicit esse pocula cocta, non autem gemmea, ut Virgil. Senec. Plinius. Quomodo crystallus & vitrum vocatur gemma a Martiali et alijs, ita murrina gemmea dicuritur. Sed de veris gemmis Plinius scribens inter eas murrina annumerat, scilicet quod ignoraret esse pocula signina cocta apud sinas facta, quae nos Porcellana vocamus. Quare ridiculi sunt, qui ex Plinio gemmea hariolantur. Mirum vero Plinium ignorasse, quod tarn perspicue Propertius dixit videtur autem murra vox Latina pro gemma antiquitus usurpari solita.
Eleg. v. [22]. Y< Purple Dye.
Et quse sub Tyria concha superbit aqua.
This rich dye hath been lost for many hundreds of yeares, and the concha unknowne, till within (about) ten yeares 1672 since a poor woman by the sea-side in ... shire, in Wales, happened to discover it, and she gott money by making markes in Handkerchifes, &c., by it. Mr Cole, of Bristow and R.S.S. hearing of it tooke a journey to her, and for a reward, got the secret of her, and we have some of these conchae in the Eieposi- tory at the R. Society. The staine will not be washed out. Pancirellus, &c., recites, that the Rom. Emperours did write their names in edicts and diplomas in purple inke. The colour is glorious, and it is deeper or fainter according as it is more or lesse tinged. So
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 159
Meg. vi. [41, 42], Image of y' Tutelar Saint of a Ship.
Solve metu patriam, quse nunc te vindice freta Imposuit prorse publica vota tua.
Scaliger notat in prora fuisse tutelam navis.
Eleg. vii. [1-6]. Apparitions of Persons deceased. [See p. 10.]
Sunt aliquid manes; letum non omnia finit;
Luridaq. evictos effugit umbra rogos. Cynthia namq. meo visa est incumbere fulcro
Murmur ad extremes nuper humata viae, Quum mihi somnus ab exequijs penderet amoris,
Et quererer lecti frigida regna mei.
Eleg. vii. [37, 38.]
At Nomas arcanas tollat versuta salivas; Ducet damnatas ignea testa manus.
(i) Quasstionem habe de Lygdamo, aut de Nomade, quse te amatorio veneficio nunc delinivit. ea si arcanas suas removerit salivas, quas clam ad incantandum mentem tuam cibo immixtas tuo adhibet, et ignea testa uratur. de sclere veneficio perpetrati confitebitur. — Turneb.
Eleg. vii. [89-91]. Ghosts.
Nocte vagae ferimur; nox clausas liberat umbras;
Errat et abjecta Cerberus ipse sera. Luce jubent leges Lethaea ad stagna reverti.
Eleg. xii. [xi. 7]
Vota movent superos: ubi portitor sera recepit.
Lucianus de Luctu: Hoc usq. adeo valide vulgi animos persuaserunt ut simulas familiaris quispiam mortuus fuerit, imprimis obolum et in os imponant, quern pro vectura sit accepturus portitor. sic Athenienses.
When I was a Boy (before ye Civil-warres) I heard 'em tell that in ye old time they used to putt a Penny in dead persons mouth to give to St. Peter : and I thinke that they did doe so in Wales and in the north countrey.
160 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
[Here begins " PART YE HID " in the MS.]
Csetera jampridem didici puerilibus annis
Non tamen idcirco prsetereunda mihi. Auctor in incerto est -
Reliquum e poculo ejecit. In part ye ist. [See pp. 37 and 179.]
Homer's Iliad ^ 218.
- 6 dk ira.vvvx.OQ Xpv(T£8 ti Qlvov
Lotts. Part iid. [See p. 90.] Homer in the xiv. lib. of his Odysses : 207.
'A\\' tjTOi rbv Krjpeg tfiav Bavaroio Qspaffa Eig 'A'idao 56fisQ' rot Si Zwfjv kdaoavro Tldideg wTrsp^vfiot, (^ tni K\iipov£
[Price of copying MSSJ]
The price of writing of manuscripts before ye use of printing was xxx. shillings p quire (from Fabian Philips Ctus).
Singing of ye Gospels and Carolls.
The ancient way of Worshiping the Immortal Gods was by Hymnes, e. g. Orpheus, Linus, Homer, &c. Hence was derived the singing of the Ghospell. The original Ghospells were writt in verses, to be sung : not consisting of certain and the same measures of feet : and concerning this, see Dr. Castle's Notes on the Polyglotte-Bible. In the University of Oxford the old E. Catholiq. custome is yet retained (at least, in most Colleges) for one of the Scholars of the House in the middle of Dinner, to sing the Ghospel of the Day : I doe remember some Divines, that when they read the Chapters, did it with such a cadence, that it
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 161
was rather to be termed singing, than Heading. Our Carolls at Christmas are but Hymnes of Joy for that Blessed Tyde.
The ministres of the Lutheran Church in Germany sing in some Churches the words of the Institution of the Holy Sacra- ment. Cramer. [W. K.]
Mr. Edm: Waller sayd to Eliz: Countess of Thanet, that poetrie was abused when 'twas turned to any other way, sc. than hymnes.
" The Asiatick custome of singing a Carol to Christ about Cock-crowing mentioned in Pliny (lib. iv. [x.] ep. 97) in his epistle to Trajan the Emperor, in the first age of the church, is retained in Wales to this day in our Ply gains or Pulgains as we term them." pag. 173, Heart and its Soveraign, by T. J. of Oswestry.
[The Cross.']
" Though we look upon the materiall Cross, as a great rarity (which at Rome they Idolize, and are beholding to our St. Helena for it), and honour that bearing, as the Churches coate of Arms, yet our true sense and Religious use thereof, appears in our Remembrances and obligations by it, to brotherly love and charity, having no other word to express welcome which ought to be from the heart, but Croeso, which is derived from the cross, mae chwi croeso, you are welcome in the Cross." The Heart and its Sovraign, by T. J. p. 173.
Ibid. " Though they believe no Purgatory, yet it is usuall with them at ye death of their friends to wish the party deceased a good Resurrection, Duw a Roiddo Ailgyfodiad da, God graunt him a good (a second) Resurrection, an Ancient practice in the Eastern church (Ephanius in Aerio)."
[Lent Custom.']
It is the custom for the Boys and Girls in Country Schools in several parts of Oxfordshire (as Blechingdon, Weston, Charlton, &c.) at their breaking- up in the week before Easter to goe in a
M
162 KEMAINS OF GENTILISMB.
gang from house to house with little clacks of wood and when they come to any door they fall a beating their clacks, and singing [the following] song, and expect from every house some eggs or a piece of bacon, wch they carry baskets to receive, and feast upon them at the week's end.
At first coming to ye door they all strike up, very loud,
Harings Harings white and red Ten a penny Lent's dead Rise dame and give a Negg Or else a peice of Bacon One for Peter two for Paul Three for Jack a Lents all Away Lent away
often repeated. As soon as they recieve any largess, they begin the chorus,
Here sits a, good wife Pray God save her life Set her upon a hod And drive her to God.
But if they loose their expectation, and must goe away empty, then wth a full cry,
Here sits a bad wife The devil take her life Set her upon a swivell And send her to ye Devill.
And, in farther indignation, they commonly cut the latch of ye door, or stop the keyhole wth dirt, or leave some more nasty token of displeasure.1 [W. K.]
Gentilisme.
Stat vetus, et densa prsenubilus arbore lucus;
Adspice; concedes numen inesse loco. Accipit ara preces, votivaq. thura Deorum.
Ara per antiquas facta sine arte manus.
Ovid's Amorum, lib. iii. eleg. 12. — [xiii. 7-10.]
1 [See Appendix.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 163
Glories about the Heads of Saints.
Mr. Mdd Lloyd sayes, that when Dr. Powell preacht, that a smoake would issue out of his head, so great agitation of spirit he had. Why might such accidents heretofore be a Hint to ye glories, wch the Painters putt about the heads of the canonized Saints ?
Sirens, in Homer and Ovid: expresse the verses.
At Leghorn, and other Ports in Italie, when Shippes arrive, the Courtizans runne to the Mariners with their Lutes and Ghitarres, playing and singing, wh their Haire dissheveld and Breasts naked, to allure them and gett fine things of them. In like manner at Gosprit, neer Portsmouth, where the Seamen lye, the towne is full of wanton wenches, and there is never a house but hath a virginall in it, and (they say) scarce 3 honest women in the Town.
Strowing of Salt. Theocritus, Idyllium ii. [18, 19] :
*AX^ira TOI TTOO.TOV irvpi raxrerat, a\\' , &C.
Mola quidem in igne consumitur, sed asperge Thestyli infelix -
Howling of Dogges. Ibid. [33-36] :
Ni£j> Ovffti TO. Trirvpa TO d' "Apre/u $ TOV kv $S<f
'Padd/jiavOa K| tin Trep aatyaXeg aXXo i, ral KVVGQ afiiv dva TTToXiv wpvovra kv rpioSoiffi' TO %a\%£ov MQ ra%of a^ei.
Nunc furfures sacrificabo. Tu vero Diana etiam ilium qui apud inferos est, Rhadamanthum movere posses, et siquid alium firmum est, Thestyli, canes nobis per urbem latrant; Dea adest in trivijs: vas ameum quam primum pulsa.
M 2
164 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
So—
- visaeq. canes ululare per urbem
Adventante Dea -- Virg. ^Eneid.— [vi. 257, 258.]
Itching of ones Right Eie. Idyllium iii. :
"AAAereu 6<f>Qa\p.bQ fto\v oSe^iog apa y idrju fiev A.VTO.V ; dffeop,ai TTOTI TO.V iriTito <5 §' airoK\iv9ei£>
Ibid. [29, 30] :
Ovde TO TT]\e<})i\ov 7rore/jd£aro TO K\aTayr]fj,a 'AXA' CLVTWQ aTToXSt TTOTI 7ra%e'i i%a[iapavOri.
Telephilon allisum nullam edidit sonum Sed frustra molli in brachio tabefactum est.
Sieve and Sheeres. Ibid. [31] :
EtTre ^ 'Ay/ooiw r a\a9ea KoamvofJiavTiQ. Dixit et Agraso vera, cribro vaticinans.
Sorcerie.
" What virtue yet sleeps in this terra damnata and aged cinders were petty magick to experiment; these crumbling reliques and long-fixed particles superannate such expectations. Bones, hairs, nails, and teeth of the dead were the tresuries of old sorcerers. In vain we revive such practises ; present super- stition too visibly perpetuates the folly of our Forefathers, wherein unto old observation this Island was so compleat that it might have instructed Persia."
I remember at Bristow (when I was a boy) it was a common fashion for the woemen, to get a Tooth out of a Sckull in ye ch:
1 Sr Th: Brown's Urne-buriall, p. 42. Britannia hodie earn attonite celebrat tantis ceremonijs, ut dedisse Persis videre possit. Plin: 1: 29.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 165
yard, wch they wore as a preservative against the Tooth-ach. Under the cathedral-church at Hereford is the greatest Charnel- house (i) for bones, that ever I saw in England. In A° 1650 there lived amongst those bones a poor old woman that, to help out her fire, did use to mix the dead men's bones; this was
thrift and poverty, but cunning alewives < f the Ashes of
these bones in their Ale to make it intoxicating. Dr. Goddard bought bones of the Sextons, to make his drops with. Some make a playster for the Growte with the earth or mucilage newly scraped from the shin-bones.
Christian forme of Buriall.
" The last valediction of ye Gentiles — vale, vale, vale nos te ordine quo natura permittet loquemur — thrice uttered by the attendants was very solemn, and somwhat answered by the Christians, who thought it too little, if they threw not the earth thrice upon the enterred body. In strewing their tombs the Romans affected ye Eose ; the Greeks, Amaranthus and Myrtle ; that the Funerall pyre consisted of sweet fuell, Cypress, Firre, Larix, Yewe, and trees perpetually verdant, lay silent expres- sions of their surviving hopes. Wherein Christians which deck their Coffins with Bays have found a more elegant Embleme. For that he seeming dead, will restore itselfe from the root, and its dry and exuccous leaves resume their verdure again." Ibid. p. 56.
Yewe-trees in Church-yards.
Ibid. "Whether the planting of Yewe-trees in Church-yards hold not its originall from ancient Funerall rites or as an Embleme of Resurrection from its perpetuall verdure may also admit con- jecture."
p. 60. " That they buried a piece of money with them as a Fee of the Elysian Ferry-man was a practise full of folly."
p. 61. " Why the Funerall suppers consisted of Egges, Beans, Srnallage, and Lettuce, since the dead are made to eat Asphodels
166 REMAINS OF GEKTILISME.
about the Elyzian meadows? Why, since there is no Sacrifice acceptable, nor any propitiation for the Covenant of ye grave, men set up the Deity of Morta, and fruitlessly adored Divinities without eares? It cannot escape some doubt."
Musick at Funeralls.
p. 57. " They made use of Musick to excite or quiet the affections of their friends, according to different harmonies. But the secret and symbolical hint was the harmonical nature of the soul, which delivered from the body, went again to enjoy the primitive harmony of heaven, from whence it first descended ; which, according to its progress traced by antiquity, came downe by Cancer and ascended by Capricornus."
The Diurnal gave us the description of the pompous funeral
of Queen Christina's mother, in Sweedland, (A° ), where,
among other pieces of State, there was funeral, Musiq. contrived with passionate sad notes.
In Germany in Zerbst in Anhalt at Gentlemen's funeralls is most alwayes a very good Funeral Musique. Cramer. This the reason of ringing out the Bells in most Churches as soon as ever the body is in-laid. W. K.
Lyeing wth y* head Westwards in y* Grave.
p. 47. u Though we decline ye Religious consideration,
yet in cemiteriall and narrowe burying places, to avoid con- fusion and cross position, .a certain posture were to be admitted, which even Pagan civility observed, the Persians lay north and the south, Megareans and Phoeniceans placed their heads to the East, the Atheneans, some think, towards the West, which Christians still retain."
At Midleton- Stony in ye county of Oxford most of the antient graves in the church-yard either by ignorance or by the spirit of opposition, lie north and south, as was observed to me by the late Rev. Mr. Henry Gregory. W. K.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 167
Corps carried with the feet foremost.
p. 58. " That they carried them out of the world with their feet forward, not inconsonant to reason : As contrary unto the native posture of man, and his production first into it. And also agreeable unto their opinions, while they bid adieu unto the world not to look again upon it, whereas the Mahometans, who think to return to a delightful! life again, are carried forth with their heads forward and looking toward their houses/'
p. 62. " The ghosts are afraid of swords in Homer, yet Sybilla tells JEneas in Virgil, the thin habits of spirits was beyond the force of weapons."
But Michael Psellas positively affirmes, that Spirits are capable of being hurt ; and so say other writers of magick ; and one advised Mr. Mompesson, of Tydworth, to shoot suddenly and at randome in the aire.
Cymballs.
" We read in Clemens Alexandrinus ! that the Arabians made use of cymbals in their wars instead of other military musick ; and Polysenus in his Stratagems aifirmith that Bacchus gave the signall of Battle unto his numerous Army not with Trumpets but with Tympans and Cymbals."
From tympana came our tabors and
[Tamburres I Drummes
Mdm,
the Norwegian or Lapland drumme wch Mr. J. Heysig gave to ye musaeum of the Royal Societie. Bacchus made extraordinary Conquests in ye East, but Time & Oblivion hath turn'd them into fables. — See Herodotus de hijs.
House-leek set on houses.
" Nature hath somwhat after a Quincuncial manner ordered the bush in Jupiters beard or House-leek ; wch old superstition set on the tops of houses, as a defensative against lightening and thunder."2— Cyrus Garden p. 126.
1 Miscellanies, p. 122.
2 [The frequent planting of this on the roofs of houses and outbuildings is probably due to a belief in its preservative qualities. De Gubernatis enumerates it among the plants which are " Censees proteger contrele tonnerre " (Mythologie des Plantes, i. 293). Ed.]
168 EEMATNS OF GENTILISME.
Violin.
It appears by Basse-relieves, &c.,
Apollo's Harpe. figures of Antiquity, that Apollo's Harpe
(of this Fashion) had but fower strings :
now fower strings can have but fower
Notes ; wherefore, sayes Sr Christopher
[Here is a figure.] Wren, that the Plectrum was not the
Instrument to strike the strings with,
as we doe strike the strings of a Citterne
with a Quill ; but they used the Plectrum
The Plectrum was a piece to stoppe wh instead of Fretts, and so of Ivory or Box, with which shortened ^ gtri to e note ^ had they stopt the string, instead . J . n
ofafret,andthentouchtye occasion for. So at length they came
string with their Finger. to necks and fretts : which are much
better : and from hence is descended our
Violin &c. But it was the Bow-string, that was the first Hint for String-Instruments of Musick.
At tu materno donasti nomine mensem,
Inventor curvae, furibus apte, fidis. Nee pietas hsec prima tua est; septena putaris,
Pleiadum numerum, fila dedisse lyrae.
Ovid. Fastorum, lib. v.— [103-106.]
"Lyra, quasi Xur/ja, quod Apollini a Mer curio (qui earn primus creditur invenisse), pro bourn compensatione fuit data, cum ante Chelys diceretur." — Calepin's Diet.
Vide Ovid. Metamorph. lib. ii. fab. 11.
Pavit et Admeti tauros formosus Apollo. Tibullus.— [Lib. ii. 3.]
Vide Euripides Alcest de hoc.
Qui poeticam Astrologiam scripserunt, volunt hanc lyram esse a Mercuric primum inventam in Cyllene a Arcadiaemonte, et ab eo Apollini donatum. Apollinem autem inventa cithara, Orpheo lyram concessisse: mortuo autem Orpheo, a Musis in coalo fuisse collocatam. — Calepin's Diet.
Fertur in [et] abducta Briseide [lyrneside] tristis Achilles, JEmonia curas attenuasse lyra. — Ovid. [Trist.] lib. 4, eleg. i. [15, 16.]
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 169
Te canam magni Jovis et Deorum Nuntium, curvseq. lyrse parentem.
Horat. 1 Carm. ode 16 [lib. i. ode x. 6, 6J.
Cithara, KiOdpa, a harpe. Instrumenfcum musicum. Hanc Hieronymus scribit effici in modum A literae cum chordis vi- ginti quatuor, et per digitis varijs vocibus, tinnulisq. in diversis modis concitari. Plinius, lib. vii. cap. 56. A. Ye first rudiment of the harpe. — Idem. [i. e. Calepin's Diet]
Testudo. Musicum mstrumentum vivae testudinis figurae non admodum dissimile, quod et Grseci nomine ^eXtw appellant (Angl. lute). Hujus inventionem Mercuric assignat Hyginus, qui quum aliquando in testudinem incidisset, cujus varo longa vetustate erat esesa solis relictis nervis, qui digitis percussi non inamoenum edebant sonum, ex illius similitudine lyram excogi- tavit ; unde et testudinis illi nomen mansisse quidam existimant. — Idem.
O decus Pho3bi, & dapibus supremi Grata testudo Jovis, 6 laborum Dulce lenimen, mihi cumq. salve
Rite vocanti. Horat. lib. i. Carm. [ode xxxii. 13-16."]
Ipse, cava solans aegrum testudine semorem. — Virg. Georg. 4 [464]. Cicero 2 de Nat. Deorum. Quocirca et in fidibus testudine resonatur.
Mchn. In Gemmae et Sculpturse antiquae depictse ab Leonardo Augustino, 4to, 1685, is the figure of Lira di Apollo, with six strings, between two Dolfins under a Bull.
Harpers.
" The Musitians of those times lived in reputation, as you shall perceive by the Bardes of Wales and Ireland." — Dr. Rob. Record's Epistle dedicatorie of his Arithmetik to King Edward vj. When I was a Boy every Gentleman almost kept a Harper in his house ; and some of them could versifie.
170 KEMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. xv. cap. ix.
" Bardi quidem fortia virorum illustrium facta heroicis com- posita versibus cum dulcibus lyrae modulis cantitarunt."
Homer says somewhere in his Odysses, that at 'bed-time they offered wine to Mercury. — [See p. 147.]
Goodman. [See p. 181.]
"Yeomen are not called masters, for that pertaineth to gentle- men only. But to their sirnames men adde Goodman, as if the sirname be Luter, Finch, Brown, they are called Goodman Luter, Goodman Finch, Goodman Brown, amongst their neigh- bours I meane not in matters of importance or in law. Bonus vir non tan turn Judex set et quiuis alius vir Justus, sequus, Justus, innocens et prudens consideratuxq. paterfamilias acci- piendus, 1. iii. §"— Sr Th. Smyth's C. W. chap. 23. /. de Beceptis, qui arbitrium vere petunt ut Sententiam dicant.
Horat. lib. I. epist. [XT!. 40, 41.]
Vir bonus est quis?
Qui consulta patrum, qui leges juraq. servat, &c.
Quilibet itaq. minime astutus & fallax, sed integrae vitae & existimationis idoneusq. & diligens paterfamil. vir bonus appel- latur, pro eodemq. virum bonum & bonum patremfamil. nostri auctores dicunt. — L. ix. § .
Lexicon Juridicam Jo. Calvini. But a Goodman in the acceptation of the London-Scriveners is a wealthy fore -handed man that is good security.
Yeoule. See one of ye former parts. [See p. 5.]
In the Newes-letter was an advertisement of Decemb. 16th, from Ireland, that the Enniskelling-men designe to present his
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 171
grace ye D. of Schonberg with 1,000 head of Black-cattle against Yule.
\_Boy-BisJiop. ]
Under the arch, between two pillars on the north side of ye nave of ye cathedrall church of Sarum, is a little monument in Purbec marble of an Episcopus Puerorum, who died, in his honour.1 Mr. Lancelot Morehouse presented to Seth, Ld of Sarum an old Sermon, that was preached at St. Paule's, Lon- don, upon that occasions. So I believe, that there were Episcopi puerorum in every Cathedrall church of England ; and the like in Abbies and Priories, from whence come of so common names as Bishop, Abbot, Prior, as King from King of the Beane. What dignity happened to fall during the Choristers Episcopat (which I think lasted all the twelve-day es) was in his fdonationl I guift. j
The tradition of ye Choristers, and those that show the Church is, y* this Childe-bishop being melancholy, the Children of ye Choire did tickle him to make him merry, but they did so overdoe it that they tickled him to death : and dyeing in his office and Honour, here was this little monument made for him, wth the episcopal ornaments, e. g., mitre, crosse, and cope.
T7ie Quintin.
Riding at ye Quintin (in French Quintaine) at Weddings was used by the ordinary sort (but not very common) till the break- ing-out of the Civil-warres. When I learned to reade I sawe one at a Wedding of one of ye Farmers [?] at Kington-St. Michael ; it is performed at a crosse way, and it was there by the pound, and 'twas a pretty rustique sport. See the Masque
of . in Ben: Johnson, where there is a \ 1VGcie, i
( pertect J
description of this custome. 1 Mr ..... Gregories Miscellanies, where he speakes of this monument.
172 KEMAINS OF GENTILISME.
[There is a figure here to which the following description refers.]
b is a Holler (for corne) pitched on end in some crosse way, or convenient place by which the Bride is brought home.
a, a leather Satchell filled wh Sand.
c, at this end, the young fellowes that accompany the Bride, doe give a lusty bang with their truncheons, which they have for this purpose, and if they are not cunning at it and nimble, the Sand-bag takes 'em in ye powle, and. makes them ready to fall from their horses, c, c, is a piece of wood about an ell long that turnes on the pinne of the Howler, e. When they make their stroke they ride a full career. It seemes to be a remainder of the Roman Palus. v. Juvenal, satyr vi. v. [247-249.]
aut quis non vidit vulnera pali,1
Quern cavat assiduis sudibus, scutoq. lacessit, Atq. omnes implet nmneros?2
Lar.
The Irish doe keep some of the last yeares Wheat or Barley, to hang up in their Houses, as a Lar. See in Blaen's Atlas concerning this.
Because some used to hang these idols in their chimneys, Lar is used for a chimney, pro foco, pro domo, et pro igne, — Holyoke's Diet.
Sta/s and Sceptres.
"Rods and Staffs were the badges, signes, and cognizances of Princes, and were a kind of Sceptre in their hands, denoting their Supereminencies. The Staff of Divinity is ordinarily described in the hands of Gods and Goddesses in old draughts. Trojan and
1 Ad quern in terra defixu foeminas exercent tanqua tyrones, ut simulata pugna, feriendi, insiliendi, recedendi vera disciplinam ediscant. Vegetius. [lib. ii.]
2 Sc. motuum et excercitationium militarium.
REMAINS OF GENTIL1SME. 173
Grecian princes were not without the like, whereof the shoulders of Thersites felt from the hands of Ulysses. Achilles, in Homer, as by a desperate oath, sweares by his wooden Sceptre which should never bud nor bear leaves again ; which, seeming the greatest impossibility to him, advanceth the Miracle of Aaron's rod. And if it could be well made out that Homer had seen the Bookes of Moses, in that expression of Achilles he might allude unto this Miracle." 1
Welsh Hubbubs.
The Gaules had the very same custome in J. Caesar's time, as is to be seen in lib. vii. of his Commentaries.
Marriages.
" I thinke, amongst the old Romans, these marriages which were made per coemptionem in manum, and per aes and libram, made the wife in manu & potestate viri, whereof also we had in our old law and ceremony of marriage a certain memorie as a view and vestigium : For the woman at the Church- door was given of the Father, or some other of the next of kinne, into the hands of the husband, and he layd downe gold and silver for her upon the booke as though he did buy her ; the Priest was belike instead of Lipercus." 2
Keepers offered [offerings] to St. Luke.
At gtoke Verdon in ye parish of Broad Chalke, Wilts, was a Chapell in the chapel close by the Farme-house dedicated to St. Luke, who is ye Patron or, Tutelar Saint of ye Horne-beastes, and those that have to doe with them. Wherfore, the Keepers
1 Sr Tho8 Brown's Miscellanys, pag. 31.
2 Sr Tho: Smyth's Coinon Wealth of England, p. 240.
174 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
and Forresters of ye New Forest came hither yeare at St. Lukes- tyde, |t0^f ej their offerings to St. Luke, that they might be fortunate in their Game, their Deer, & their cattle. In the like manner the Foresters, &c. of Kings Wood, in com. Glor. did come to make their offerings at Turvills Acton, in Glocester- shire ; the Chapell, wch is but little, but well built, stands in the middle of ye street: but was dedicated, they say, to Saint Margaret.
En cette grappe souueraigne, Digne present de 1'immortel, Pour en faire a la Magdelaine,1 Une devotieuse estraine An plus beau lieu du grand Autel.2
Dextras.
[Utque] ut pignus fidei [fide] dextras utrasq. [utriusque] poposcit,
Inter seq. datas junxit. Ovid, Metamorph. lib. vi. De Philomela,
[506-7.]
JEacidas longo juvenes post tempora visu,
Agnovere tamen Cephalum (Legatum) dextrasq. dedere.
Ovid. Metam. lib. vii.— [494-5.]
At Priorie St. Mary (a nunnery), in ye parish of Kingston
St. Michael, have been formerly, and also lately, found upon
digging in ye garden, in consecrated ground, severall coffins of
freestone ; they have all a hole, or two in the bottom, bored wh
an augur. There was found, about 1640, a
round stone, like a little grindstone, of about
[Figure.] two feet diameter, with two hands holding a
heart only on one side, as in the margent. To
what use it served I could never learn e ; it was
found at the foot of a Grave in which there was
found a Chalice.
1 Pomona.
2 Seigneur Pibrae, Plaisirs du Gentilhome Champestre.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 175
This putts me in mind of some passages in Tacitus : sc. Hist. lib. i. : Miserat Civitas Lingonum, vetere institute dona Legioni- bus, dextras hospitij insigne. Hist. lib. ii. : Centurionemq. Sisennam dextras concordise insignia Syriaci exercitus nomine ad prestorianos ferentem, varijs artibus aggressus est. — See T. Lipsij, notas.
Homer's Iliads, A, p. 146 [v. 159] :
T' aicpriTOi ^ Serial JI
dextrae junctas fidebamus.
C. PLINIJ SECUNDI. HIST. NATURAL. (cum notis variis).
Such or such a flower or plant happened to grow upon such a ones grave (as ye great bore-thistle on good- wife Jacquez) gave the occasion of imagining that they were turned into that flower or plant, as Ajax into a hyacinth, &c.
Ye modern manner of Merchants Accompts, sc. Debtor and Creditor.
Huic (Fortunae) omnia expensa, huic omnia feruntur accepta, & in tota ratione mortalium, sola utramq. paginam facit. c. 7.
Lotts.1 Adeoq. obnoxise sumus Sorti, ut sors ipsa pro Deo sit.
Putting on the right Shoe first.
Libro secundo, cap. 7. Divus Augustus laevum prodidit sibi calceum prsepostere inductum, quo die seditione militare prope afflictus est.
1 [See p. 90, &c.]
176 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Astro logie — Ascenden t.
Pars alia hanc (Fortunam) pellit, astroq. suo eventus assignat, & nascendi legibus. cap. 7, p. 11.
Angells with Wings. Aligeros deos. — Ibid.
Curricles.
Lib. vii. cap. 56. In Monmouthshire, &c. in Wales; and also in the River Severne, even as far as Worcester, these kind of Boates (wch they call curricles) are used to this day.
Conjuration.
Lib. ii. cap. 53. Extat Annalium memoria, sacris quibusdam et precationibus vel cogi fulmina, vel impetrari.
See the travells of Seignr de la Valle, dedicated to Pope .... concerning Mount Carmel, where he gives an account, that after the prayers there performed by ye Passengers in the caravans, doe ensue Raines. Also he there gives an account, y* Mount Sinai is a vulcano, & (I thinke he says likewise) Mount Horeb.
Mdm. In ye Life of Vavasour Powel is a very observable
remarke of ye power of Prayer, sc. Anno there was an
extraordinary Drowth, the Congregation met & joyned in fer- vent prayer ; and though a cloud had not been seen for severall weekes, while they were in their humiliation, God sent them a mighty refreshing Showre of Raine.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
177
Sneezing.
Lib. ii. cap. 40. Origem, appellat ^Egyptus feram, quam in exortu Caniculae et contra stare, et contueri [tradit], ac velut adorare, cum sternuerit. (An respexit ad morem veterum, quo sternuentes non tantum ab his qui aderant, salutabantur; sed etiam ipsi sibi qui sternuebant, Deum propitium precabantur, et adorabant. Salmas, 474.)
Sneezing and stumbling with the foot are counted matters of presage: in augurijs sternutamenta, et offensiones pedum. cap. 5.
nman
Lib. v. [cap. i.] Herculis ara apud hortos Hesperidum. Lib. vi. cap. 22. Taprobrane insula (now thought to be Sumatra) ibi coli Herculem.
Witches.
Lib. vii. cap. 2. Visu effascinunt, qui duplices habent pupillas
eosdem pra3terea non posse mergi, ne veste quidem degra-
vatos. This is observed by the Scotts to this day.
Fairies or Apparitions.
[Ib.] In Africse solitudinibus hominum species obvise fiunt, momentoq. evanescunt.
Religious Tonsures.
Lib. viii., [cap. 46.] et donee invenerint (Apim) mosrent,
derasis etiam capitibus.
[Lib. viii.1
Rat Gnawing. cap. 57. arrosis Carboni Imp. apud Clusium
fascijs, quibus in calceatu utebatur, exitium.
N
178 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Cock-fighting.
Lib x. cap. 25. Pergami omnibus omnis spectaculum gallorum publice editur, seu gladiatorum. (Hinc sumptum Alectoroma- chiae exeraplum in Scholis nostris circa Hilarin. Pintian?).
Ghirlands used at May des funer alls. [See p. 109.]
[Lib. x.] cap. 43. prsecedente tibicines et coronis omnium
generum.
Iron layd on Barrells, to prevent Sowring of the Beer by Thunder,
in Hereff. fyc.
[cap. 54.] Remedium contra tonitum, clavus ferreus sub stramine ovorum positus, aut terra ex aratro.
Setting of Eggs under ye Hen.
[Ib.] Subiici impari numero debent. Incubanda subiici (goose-egges) utilissimum ix. et xi.
Right-hand.
Morientibus oculis aperire dextra osculis aversa appetitur, in fide ponigitur [lib. xi. 45].
Trees in Churchyards.
Lib. xii. cap. 1. Hsec fuere numinum templa, priscoq. ritu simplicia rura etiam mine Deo praecellentem arborem dicant. (Hoc etiam nostro saeculo fit. Procerissimas arbores in aedium sacrorum vestibulis, et sepulchretis vicinis alunt. Dalecamp.)
Elder stick, wch our Wilts, fyc. butchers Sf grasiers fyc. doe carrie in their pockets to preserve them from galling. [See p. 184.]
Lib. xv. cap. 29. Virgae (Myrti) gestatse manu viatori pro- sunt in longo itinere pediti. Duae myrti sacras ante delubra Quirini.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
179
Lib. xiv. cap. 23 [20]. excitari lenitatem.
y or rosind, Jacks, or Cannes.
— arbitrant crudo flore resinae
Casting ye drinke left in y Cup, on the ground. [See pp. 37 , 1 60.]
[Lib. xiv.] cap. 22. Torquatus Tricongius nihilque ad eliden-
dum in pavimentis sonum ex vino reliquisse. eum morem
indicat Horatius his versibus.
" et mero Tanget pavimentum superbo." [Carm. II. xiv. 26, 27.]
This custome some in Germany will also observe.
Ale.
[Lib. xiv.] Cap. 22. " Est et Occidentis populis sua ebrietas, fruge madida : pluribus modis per Gallias, Hispaniasq^, nomini-
bus alijs, sed ratione eadem JEgyptus quoq> e fruge sibi
potus similes eicogitavit." Aristot. lib. de Temulentia scribit, zytho ebrios, in dorsum supinos cadere, ac reclinari, vino madidos in faciem pronos ferri.
Crackling of ye Bayleafe in y9 fire.
Lib. xv. cap. 30. " Laurus quidem, manifeste abdicat ignes crepitu, & quadam detestatione. (Crepitum sonorum portendere faelicia existimatum a Theocrito, Lacretio, Porphyrio: contra vero? laurum injectam igni et tacitam, tristia.")
" Laurus ubi bona signa dedit, gaudete, coloni." Tibullus [lib. II. eleg. v. 83.] " Et tacet extincto laurus adusta foco." Propertius [lib. II. eleg. viii. 36.]
Ewgh Trees in Churchyards.
Lib. xvi. cap. 10. " Picea feralis arbor, et ftmebri indicio ad fores posita, ac rogis virens."
The Northerns call it the Kirk-garth? sc., a garth for taking Fish.
N2 '
180 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Spontaneous falling of Trees near the dwelling-house.
[Lib. xvi.] cap. 32. " Est in exemplis, et sine tempestate, ullave alia causa quam prodigy , cecidisse multas (arbores)." Columella, or Varro, q> saieth, that when the top of a Firre iieer the house is blowne downe towards the dwelling-house, the master will die that yeare.
Candles burning by dead corps.
[Lib. xvi.] cap. 37. " Scirpi . . . , candelae luminibus, & fune- ribus serviant." [Nota. Quod adnotavit interpres Theocriti, "juxta mortui cadaver, quamdiu supra terram esset, ignem accensum conservabant, qua in re candelis his utebantur." Dalecamp].
Cutting Haire at the new of the Moone.
[Lib. xvi.] cap. 39. " Tiberius idem & in capillo tondendo servavit interlunia."
Graffing.
Lib. xvii. cap. 14. " Id etiam religionis servant, ut luna cres cente, ut calamus utraq^ deprimatur manu."
Charmes and Inchantments.
[Lib. xvii.] cap. 28. " Quippe cum averti carmine grandines credant pleriqj ; cujus verba inserere non equidem serio ausim, quanquam a Catone prodita, contra luxata membra, jungenda harundinum fissurse."
Mdm. Little children have a custome, when it raines to sing, or charme away the Kaine ; thus they all joine in a Chorus, and sing thus, viz. :
" Raine, raine, goe away, Come againe a Saterday."
I have a conceit, that this childish custome is of Great antiquity ; yl it is derived from ye Gentiles.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 181
Invisibility.
fy on Midsummer-night at xii., Astrologically, when all the Planets be above the earth, a Serpent, and kill him and skinne him : and dry it in the shade, and bring it to a powder. Hold it in your right hand and you will be invisible. This fy is in Johannes de Florentia, a Bosy-crucian, a booke in 8°' in High Dutch. Dr Kidgeley hath it.
Nouvelles.
Tinning of brass skillets, &c , began about 1660 ; but it was used by the Romans in Plinys time, who tells how 'twas done : sc., wth sal Armeniac.
Unluckie creatures y* happen to crosse the way.
Lib. xviii. cap. 1. " Ut inauspicataru animantium via [vice] obvij quoqk vetent agere aut prodesse vitae."
Bride-cakes.
[Lib. xviii.] cap. 3. "Et in sacris nihil religiosius confarrea- tionis vinculo erat : novaeq,, nuptse farreum praeferebant." (Festo et Boethio matrimonia contrahebantur farreo libo adhibito. Itaq> farreum hie libum plures ejusmodi exponunt, servetur mos ille prferendi libum ante prodeuntes sponsas etiam nunc apud rusticos Lugdunenses. Dalecampius.)
Goodman, an Addition. [Seep. 170.] Ibid. "Agrum male colere, censorium probrum judicabatur.'
(ut refert Cato) quern virum bonum colonum dixissent, amplissime laudasse existimabant.
Old Coynes, sc. the old British. Ibid. Servius rex, ovium bourne^ effigie primus aes signavit,
182 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Test or Barm.
[Lib. xviii.] cap. 7. " Gallise & Hispanias frumento in potum resolute, quibus diximus generibus, spuma ita concreta p fer- mento utantur. Qua de causa levior illis, quam caeteris, panis
est."
Pancakes, fy Fritters, fy Fourmentie.
[Lib. xviii.] cap. 8. u Pulte autem, non pane, vixisse longo tempore Romanes manifestum, quoniam inde & pulmentaria
hodieqk dicuntur Et hodie sacra prisca, atq^ natalium,
pulte fritilla conficiuntur."
Baking.
[Lib. xviii.] cap. 1 1 . Pistores non fuerunt ad Persicum usq> bellum, annis ab Urbe condita DLXXX. The Tartars & Sarmatians used a kind of Batter baked on a hearth ('tis somewhere here- about). So in Herefordshire & Wales (when I was a boy), poor beggarly people, did doe the like on a tilestone. I have seen them doe it.
The Scotts, or Highlanders, make their Oaten-cakes after this old way. (Polenta is barley-flour dried at ye fire and fried after it hath lien soaking in water. Puls, 'tis, foem : Frumenty, or such kind of meale. Pulmentum, Gruell, Pottage, qd ex pulte fiebat.
At my father's hous in Kent on every Sunday morning we used to breakfast on a pudding cake, a flat thin cake (made of the same compost wth the pudding to be boild for dinner) laid upon paper and tested on the gridiron. W. K.
Beams.
[Lib. xviii.] cap. 12. In Faba peculiaris religio. "Namque fabam utique e frugibus referre mos est auspicij causa, quse ideo referiva appellatur. Et auctionibus adhibere earn lucrosum putant." (In Lemuribus, quae maio p trinoctium fiebant, fabam nigram lotis manibus pedibusq^ nudis, p ora versantes, sere tin- niente. Lemures domo se ejicere clamantes, et ut abirent novies clamantes, expiari sic Manes arbitrati. Dalecamp.) Quin et prisco
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 183
ritu Fabacia1 suse religionis Diis in sacro est, praevalens pul- mentari cibo, & hebetare sensus existimata, insomnia quoq^ facere. Ob hsec Pythagorica sententia damnata : ut alij tradidere, quoniam mortuoru animi sint in ea. Qua de causa parentando utiqk assumitur.
Mdm. The old custome (yet continued) of putting a Beane into ye Cake at Twelfe-night; and also a Pea; sc., the Beane for the King (of ye beane) and the pea for the Queen.
Turnips.
[Lib. xviii.] cap. 13. " Serere nudum volunt, precantem sibi et vicinis serere se."
Toade.
[Lib. xviii.] cap. 17. Multi ad milij remedia, rubetam noctu arvo circumferri jubent, priusq sarriatur, defodiq, in medio inclusa vas : fictili ita nee passerem, nee vermes nocere ; sed eruenda priusq metatur, alioqui amoru fieri." I have heard that this is used by some in England, e, g. in Somersetshire near Bridgewater. Sd. Mr. Paschall.
a Lucky Hand.
[Lib. xviii.] cap. 24. " Fit quoq> quorundam occulta ratione, quod sors genialis atq> foecunda est." Sc. in sowing of Corne or other seeds.
Of putting an odd number of Egges under a Henne.
[Lib. xviii.] cap. 26. In eum diem (bruma) ternadena subji- cito (ova) aestate, tota hieme pauciora, non tamen infra novena."
Prognostic^ of Winter Weather.
Ibid. " Democritus talem futuram hiemem arbitrator," qualis fuerit brumae dies, et circa earn terni : [item] solstitio aestatem.
[Lib. xviii.] cap. 29. Excellent Prognostiques for fertility & e contra.
1 Fabacia, a beane cake.
184 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Ibidem. "Archibius ad Antiochum Syriae Regem scripsit: ' Si fictili novo obruatur rubeta rana in media segete, non esse noxias tempestates.' " I have known this used in Somersetshire.
To preserve Corne in a Garner.
[Lib. xviii. cap. 30]. " Sunt qui rubeta rana in limine horrei pede e longioribus suspensa, invehere jubeant." Used by some in the west.
Hodmendods in gardens (i.) likenesse of men to scare birds.
Lib. xix. cap. 4. In re medio satyrica signa [contra inviden- tium effascinationes] .
Horse-heads on y* "hedges about Chalke, fyc. but that is to fright Deer.
[Lib. xix.] cap. 10. " Nee erucas, si palo imponantur in hortis ossa capitis ex equino genere fbeminse duntaxat."
Lib, xx. cap, 5. " Inula a jejunis commanducata, [dentes confirmat], si ut eruta est, terram non continuat [attingat]."
Hanging up Squills.
[Lib. xx.] cap. 9. " Pythagoras scillam in limine quoque janu93 suspensam maloru medicamentoru introitum pellere tradit."
e. g. Our Graziers, fyc. wearing an EldersticJc. [See p. 178.]
[Lib. 20.] cap. 14. " Intertrigines, (sc. menta,) quoq. si teneatur tantum prohibet."
fy. for y* Spleene.
Lib. xx. cap. 14. Aiunt & lieni mederi earn (mentam) ita ne vellatur ; si is qui mordeat, dicat se lieni mederi, per dies ix.
Strowing of Flowers at Funeralls.
Lib. xxi. cap. 3. " fun us elocavit, quaq> pragferebatur, flores e prospectu omni sparsit."
REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
185
Dressing of Images wh flowers Sf festoons.
Ibid. " Et jam tune coronae Deoru honos erant, & Larium publicoru privatoruc^ ac sepulchoru & Manium."
Against Charmes and Sorceries.
[Lib. xxi.] cap. 17. "Traditur et ante portas villarum (As- phodelum) satum, remedio esse contra veneficiorum noxam."
[Lib. xxi.] c. 20. Xyris " praecipitur, ut sinistra manu (lectu) ad hos usus eruatur, colligentesqj dicant, cujus hominis utique causa eximant. Scelus herbarioru aperitur in hac mentione. Partem ejus servant, et quarundam aliaru herbarum, sicut plantaginis: & si parum mercedis tulisse se arbitrantur, rursusq> opus quaerunt, partem earn quam servavere, eodem loco infodiunt : credo, ut vitia, quae sanaverint, faciant rebellare."
Herbs.
[Lib. xxi.] cap. 21. Abrotonum efficacissimam esse herbam contra omnia veneficia, quibus coitus inhibeatur.
Agues.
[Lib. xxi.] cap. 23. Magi Aneraonam quam primum aspiciatur eo anno tolli jubentes : diciqj colligi earn tertianis & quartanis remedio. Postea alligari in panno roseo, & in umbra asservari, opus sit adalligari.
The like.
[Lib. xxi.] c. 30. Parthenium " Magi contra tertianas sinistra manu evelli earn jubent, dicic^ cujus causa vellatur, nee respicere. Dein ejus folium aegri linguae subjicere, ut mox in cyatho aquae devoratur."
186 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Livery et Seisin.
Lib. xxii. cap. 4, " Summum apud antiques signum victorias erat, herbam porrigere victos, hoc est, terra & altrice ipsa humo, & humatione [etiam] cedere : quern morem etiam nunc durare apud Germanos scio."
Ague, ut ante.
[Lib. xxii.] cap. 14. Lamium. Item, cap. 20, de anchusa. Item, cap. 21, " Seminis (Tricocci) grana quatuor [pota], quar- tanis pdesse dicuntur, tria vero tertianis : vel si ipsa herba ter circumlata subjiciatur capiti. " Item, ibid." Magi heliotropium (Turnesol) quartanis quater, in tertianis ter alligari jubent ab ipso asgro, precariqj eum, soluturum se nodos liberatum, et ita facere non exempta herba.
To cure a Felon [ Whitlow'].
Lib. xxii. cap. 25. u Novem granis (hordei) si furunculum quis circumducat, singulis ter, manu sinistra, et omniam ignem abijciat, confestim sanari aiunt."
Warts.
Ibid. " Verrucaru in omni genere prima luna singulis granis singulas tangunt, eaq^ grana in linteolo deligata post se abij- ciunt, ita fugari vitium arbitrantes."
F« Wild Vine.
Lib. xxiii. cap. 1. Utuntur ea (Labrusca) pro amuleto. Ibid. " Aiunt si quis villam ea (black Briony) cinxerit fugere accipitres, tutasq^ fieri villaticas alites."
K[_ing^s Evill. Pr.
[Lib. xxiii.] cap. 6. " Radix (Cotoneoru), circumscripta terra manu sinistra capitur, ita ut qui faciet, dicat quas capiat, & cujus causa ; sic adalligata strumas medetur."
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 187
Eiesight. fy.
[Lib. xxiii.] c. 6. " Si quis unum ex his (cytinis) solutus vinculo omni cinctus & calceatus, atq^ etiam annuli, decerpserit duobus digitis, pollice & quarto sinistrge manus, atq^ ita lustratis levi tactu oculis, mox in os additum devoraverit, ne dente con- tingat, affirmatur nullam oculoru imbecillitatem passurus eo anno."
Ki[ng's] evilly fyc.
[Lib. xxiii.] c. 7. " Produnt, si quis inclinata arbore, supino ore aliquem nodum ejus morsu abstulerit, nullo vidente, atq> cum aluta illigatum licio e collo suspenderit, strumas et parotidas discuti."
For the same.
[Lib. xxiii.] c. 7. u Corticem (caprifici) impubescentem puer impubis si defracto ramo detrahat dentibus, medullam ipsam adalligatam ante solis ortum, prohibere strumas."
For ye Chin-cough.
Metm. to creep under a Bramble that rootes again in the ground at the other end.
To stanch bloud.
[Lib. xxiii.] c. 7. " Mori germinatione, priusquam folia
exeant, sinistra decerpi jubentur futura poma hi terram
si non attigere, sanguinem sistunt adalligati, sive ex vulnere fluat, sive ore, sive naribus, sive hasmorrhoidis : ad hoc ser- vantur repositi."
Head-ach.
[Lib. xxiii.] c. 8. " in capitis dolere, impari numero
baccas (Lauri) cum oleo conterere, & calefacere."
So Virg. [Eel. viii. 75] "numero deus impare gaudet."
188 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
[Lib. xxiii.] c. 9. " Inguen ne intumescat ex ulcere, satis est surculum tantum myrti habere secum, non ferro nee terra con- tactum."
Galling between y* legs.
Lib. xxiv. cap. 8. " Virgam populi in manu tenentibus inter- trigo non metuitur."
So our countrymen doe weare Elder sticks in their pockets.
Ad idem. [See pp. 178, 184.]
[Lib. xxiv.] c. 9. " Virgam (Agni casti) qui in manu habeant, aut in cinctu, negantur intertriginem sentire."
Belly-ach.
[Lib. xxiv.] c. 9. " Gravis auctor in medicina, virgam ex (tamarice) defractam, ut nee terram nee ferrum attingeret, sedare ventris dolores asseveravit impositam, ita ut tunica cinctuq. [corpori] apprimeretur."
Impotence.
[Lib. xxiv.] c. 9. " Aiunt si (Tamarici), bovis castrati urinae immisceatur, vel in potu vel in cibo, Venerem finiri. Carboq. ex eo genere urina ea restinctus in umbra conditur : idem cum libeat accendere, rursum uritur. Magi et id ex spadonis urina fieri tradiderunt."
Head-ach.
[Lib. xxiv.] c. 10. Coronam ex Smilace factam impari foliorum numero, aiunt capitis doloribus mederi.
Savine $• Samolum (Pasqueflower).
[Lib. xxiv.] c. 11. Both much estimed by the Gaulish Druids. " Hanc [Druidae Gallorum] Sabinam contra omnem perniciem habendam prodidere, et contra omnia oculorum vitia [fumum ejus prodesse] .... Legitur sine ferro dextra manu," suum &c. u Samolum sinistra manu legi a jejunis contra morbos boumq. nee respicere legentem," &c.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 189
Holly-tree.
[Lib. xxiv.] c. 13. " Aquifolia arbor in domo aut villa sata, veneficia arcet." They use to be planted near houses : and in churchyards, e.g. within Westminster abbey cloister, &c.
Pin fy web in ye eies.
[Lib. xxiv.] c. 15. Aiunt, si quis ante Solis ortum Chamae- laeam capiat, dicatq. ad albugines oculorum se capere, adalligata discuti id vitium.
Conjuration.
[Lib. xxiv.] c. 17. Aglaophotin herba Magos utique uti, cum velint Deos evocare de hac herba vide miram historian! apud .ZElianum, c. 27 et 29, lib. 14, de animalibus. Dalec. vocariq. cynospartum terrestre &c. Homero Moly. Idem.
Magick.
[Lib. xxiv.] c. 17. Achaemenidon nasci in Taradistilis Indiae, " cujus radice in pastilles digesta, in dieq. pota in vino, noxij per cruciatus nocte confiteantur omnia, per varias numinum imagina- tiones."
Ibid. "Adamantida, Armeniae Cappadociaeq. alumnam; Hac admota leones resupinari cum hiatu laxo."
Ibid. Ophiusa " pota terrorem minasq. serpentium obversari, ut mortem sibi eo metu consciscant : ob id [cogi] sacrileges illam bibere. Adversari autem ei palmeum vinum."
Divination. Ibid. Theangelida pota Magi divinent.
To make Beasts tame.
Ibid. " (Enotheridem cujus aspersu, e vino, feritas omnium animalium mitigaretur."
190 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Love.
Ibid. " Anacampserotem cujus omnino tactu re-
dirent amores, vel cum odio deposit!."
Magick.
[Lib. xxiv. cap. 19.] Rombotinum arborem ad etc. " ita
ut ferro non attingatur; qui perunctus est despuit ad suam dextram ter. Efficacius esse remedium aiunt, si tres quoq. [trium] nationum homines perungant dextrorsus."
The wild Irish, when they blesse your horse, or &c. they spit upon him (perhaps thrice, quaere). [See p. 42.]
fy for Swine.
Ibid. Lappa canaria effossa sine ferro, et addita in colluviem medetur suibus potaturis, vel ex lacte ac vino. " Quidam adij- ciunt et fodientem dicere opportere : Haec est herba argemon, quam Minerva reperit subus remedium, qui de ilia gustaverint."
King's-evill and Pain.
Ibid. " Sunt qui genicula novem, vel unius, vel e duobus tribusve herbis,1 ad hunc articulor numerum involvi lana succida nigra jubeant, ad remedia strumse panorumve. Jejunum [debere] esse quicolligat: ita ire in domum absentis cui medeatur, super- venientiq. ter dicere, jejuno jejunum medicamentum dare, atq. ita adalligare, triduoq. id facere. Quod e graminum genere septem internodia2 habet, efficacissime capiti contra dolores adalligatur."
Preservatives.
Lib. xxv. cap. 8. Tantumq. glorise habet Vettonica, ut do[mus] in qua sata sit, < ^Ufa j- existimetur a piaculis omnibus.
1 Quick- grasse. 2 Sc. in the root.
REMAINS OF GENT1LISME. 191
[Lib. xxv.] cap. 9. Utraq. [Verbenaca] sortiuntur Gralli, et praectnunt responsa. Sed Magi utiq. hanc rem insaniunt. Hac perunctos impetrare quse velint, febros abigere, amicitias con- ciliare, nulliq. non morbo mederi. Colligi circa Canis ortum debere, ita ut ne Sol aut Luna conspiciat, favis ante et malle terra ad piaraentum datis. Circumscriptam ferro effodi sinistra manu & in sublime tolli. Siccari in umbra, separatim folia, caulicem, radicem. Aiuntq. si aqua spargatur triclinium, qua maduerit, laetiores convictus fieri.
Vervain and Hypericum against evil Spirits.
" Vervaine and Dill, Hinder Witches from their will." — Dodon: Herball.
Hjpericon is called Fuga Dsemonum. Some doe putt it, there - fore, under their Pillowes.1
Against Witchcraft.
[Lib. xxv.] c. 9. Cyclaminus "in omnibus serenda domibus, si verum est, ubi sata sit nihil noceri mala medicamenta : amu- letum vocant."
For the Toothach.
[Lib. xxv.] c. 13. Senecionem (Groundswell) " si ferro circum- scriptam effodiat aliquis, tangatq. ea dentem, et alternis ter despuat, ac reponit in eundem locum, ita ut vivat herba, aiunt dentem eum postea non doliturum.
Lib. xxvi. c. 8. " Intertrigines negat fieri Cato, absinthium Ponticum secum habentibus."
Cure of Botches.
[Lib. xxvi.] c. 9. Verbascum, &c. " Experti affirmavere, plu- rimum referre si virgo imponit nuda, jejuna jejuno, & manu supina tangens dicat, Negat Apollo pestem posse crescere, quam nuda virgo restinguat, atq. ita retrorsa manu ter dicat, totiesq. despuant ambo."'
1 [See p. 82 and Appendix.]
192 KEMA1NS OF GENTILISME.
Ague.
[Lib. xxvi.J c. 11. " Buglosso inarescente, si quis medullam e caule eximat, dicatq. ad quern liberandum febre id faciat, et alliget ei septem folia ante accessionem, aiunt a febre liberari."
Wearinesse.
[Lib. xxvi.] c. 15 [14]. " Artemisiam et elelisphacum alliga- tas qui habeat viator, negatur lassitudinem sentire."
Lib. xxvii. cap. 5. " Aster . . . sed ad inguinum medicinam sinistra manu decerpi jubent, et juxta cinctus alligari,"
Tettar or ringworme.
[Lib. xxvii.] c. 11. " Lapis vulgaris juxta flumina fert museum siccum, canum. Hie fricatur altero lapide, addita hominis saliva : illo lapide tangitur impetigo. Qui tangit, dicit,
dyptog
To staunch bloud.
[Lib. xxvii.] c. 12. In tertianis quidam sinistra manu Poly- gonum adalligant : atq. adeo contra pfluvia sanguinis.
Contra collections inflammationesq.
[Lib. xxvii.] c. 12. Reseda " Qui curant ea, addunt hsec verba: Keseda, morbos reseda: scisne, scisne quis hie pullos egerit radices ? nee caput, nee pedes habeant. Haec ter dicunt, totiesq. despuunt." [See p. 125.]
Contra inguines et collectiones.
[Lib. xxvii.] c. 13 " Thlaspi — " Prascipitur, ut qui colligit, dicat sumere se contra [inguina, et contra] omnes collectiones, et contra vulnera, unaq. manu tollat."
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 193
Toothac/i.
Lib. xxviii. c. 1. " Vi interempti dente gingivas in dolore scarificari, Apollonius efficacissimum scripsit."
This medicine was much used at Bristow, when I was a boy.
[Lib. xxviii.] c. 2. Vestales virgines " hodie credimus non- dum egressa urbe mancipia fugitiva retinere in loco precatione."
Cracking of Eggeshells, or making holes in them.
[Ibid,] " Defigi quidem diris execration ibus nemo non metuit. Hue pertinet ovorum, ut exsorbuerit quisq. calices cochlearumq. protinus frangi, aut eosdem cochlearibus perfo- rari."
As in saying thus : The Devill take thee, or. The Ravens pull out thine eyes, or I had rather see thee Pie-peckt : & such like.
This custome of breaking the bottom of the Egge-shell is (yet) commonly used in the countrey. " Because afterwards no Witches might prick them with a needle in the name and behalfe of those whom they would hurt and mischeefe, according to the practise of pricking the images of any person in wax : used in the witchcraft of those daies." — Philem. Holland.
Stopping of an House on fire.
[Ibid.] Etiam parietes incendiorum deprecationibus circum- scribuntur.
Deprecatio ilia ex Ascanio nota fuit, si in pariete scribetur Arse Vorse. Vide Festum in dictione Arse. Dalecatnp.
" Festus noteth that in the old Tuscan language the words Arse verse signifie Averte ignem (i.) Put back the fire." Phil. Holland.1
Sciatica.
[Ibid.] Theophrastus ischiadicos carmine sanari (sc. libro de enthusiasmo. Dalecamp) , &c. plura, vide.
[' See p. 136.] 0
194 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
[Lib. xxviii.] c. 2. " Caesarem Dictatorem post unum anci- pitem vehiculi casum, ferunt semper, ut primum consedisset, id quod plerosq. nunc facere scimus, carmine ter repetito securi- tatem itinerum aucupari solitum."
Wishing a good New-yeare.
[Ibid.] " Cur primum anni l incipientis diem laetis preca- tionibus invicem faustum ominamur? "
This custome we observe at our New-years-tyde.
Praying for the Dead.
Ibid. " Cur ad mentionem defunctorum testamur memoriam eorum a nobis non sollicitari ? "
So we say, God rest his Soule in peace.
Odd numbers. [See p. 187.]
Ibid. u Cur impares numeros ad omnia vehementiores cre- dimus ?"
So Virg. [Eel. viii. 75.] numero deus impare gaudet.
And our House-wives, in setting of their egges under the Hen, do lay an odd number.
Sneezing.
Ibid. Cur sternutamentis salutamur ?
Yet in mode : sc. we putt off our hatts and say, God blesse you.
gathering of Fruits, fyc.
Ibid. " Cur ad primitias pomorum, haec vetera esse dicimus, alia nova optamus ? "
These be old, God send us new.
1 First of March.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
195
Wlien one's ear burnes.
[Lib. xxviii. c. 2.J " Quin et absentes [tinnitu] aurium prsesentire sermones de se ? "
We use to say, that when ones eare, or cheeke burnes some body talkes of them.
[Ibid.] In caeteris vero gentibus, Deos ante obtestantur, ut velint.
So in Herefordshire, &c: when the labourers were to doe anything, they would say, In the name of God.
Ibid. u Alius saliva post aurem digito relata solicitudinem animi propitiat."
I doe thinke that I have heard something of this.
Kissing one's right hand.
Ibid. " In adorando dextram ad osculum referimus." We still kisse our right hands, out of respect : and make a legge.
Lightning.
Ibid. " Fulgetras poppismis adorare, consensus gentium est."
(i) Drawing in of the breath: e contra, by whistling they call
for winds, sc. the Winnowers in Herefordshire, &c. [Seep. 21.]
Ibid. " Recedente aliquo ab epulis, simul verri solum, aut bibente conviva, mensam vel repositorium tolli, inauspicatissimum
indicator." Item "omnino non esse." " Item.
a Repente conticescere convivium adnotatum est non nisi in pari prsesentium numero : qua in re famaa labor est, ad quemcunq. eorum pertinens.
This is not quite out of fashion.
0 2
196 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
[Omens. See p. 8.]
[Lib. xxviii.J c. 2. " Et sunt condita auguria, si quid loquenti cogitantive. acciderit, inter execratissima."
So at the same instant, that Mr. Ashton was goeing out of the house, when he was goeing to France, the Cock happened to crow: at which his wife was much troubled, and her mind gave her, that it boded ill luck. He was taken at sea & after tryed and executed.
Ibid. " Medicamenta, priusquam adhibeantur, in mensa forte deposita, negantur prodesse."
Paring of one's nailes.
Ibid. " Ungues resecari nundinis. Romanis tacenti, atq. a digito indice, multorum pecuniae religiosum est."
Many are superstitious not to pare their nailes (I thinke) on a monday: which seemes to be derived from
" Pagana lege in plerisq, Italiae prsedijs cavetur, ne mulieres per itiuera ambulantes torqueant fusos, aut omnino detectos ferant, quoniam adversetur id omnium spei, praecipueq. frugum."
Ibid. " Carmina quasdam extant contra grandines, contraq. morborum genera, quaedam etiam experta.".
blear *eies.
Ibid. Mutiamis ter Consul, viventem muscam circumligatam in linteolo albo, carere ipsum lippitudine.
Numbers.
[Lib. xxviii.] cap. 4. " Pythagorae inventis non temere fallere, impositivorum nominum imparem vocalium numerum clauditates, oculorumve orbitatem, ac similes casus, dextris assig- nare partibus, parem laevis."
REMAINS OF GENTIL1SME. 197
The Woemen have a way of divining whether the husband or wife shall die first by number of the letters in Latin, or the Husbands, and wives Christen-names : which may be derived from hence : and one as true as the other.
Moles in the face.
[Lib. xxviii. c. 4.] " Naevos in facie tondere, religiosum habent etiani nunc multi." This is still observed by some.
Spittle. [See p. 190.]
[Ibid.] " Despuimus comitiales morbos, hoc est, contagia
regerimus. Simili modo et fascinationes repercutimus
Veniam quoq. h, Deis spei alicujus audaciores petimus, in sinum spuendo. Eadem ratione terna despuere precatione, in omni medicina mos est, atq. ita effectas adjuvare : incipientes furun-
culos[ter] presignare jejuna saliva Inter amuleta est,
editu quemq. urinse inspuere : similiter in calceamentum dextri pedis, antequam induatur : item si quis transeat locum, in quo aliquod periculum adierit Extranei adventu, aut si dor- miens spectetur infans, a nutrice ter adspui."
Countrey boyes & fellowes (I believe all England over) when they prepare themselves to goe to cuffs (boxes) : before they strike, they doe spitt in their hands, sc. for good luck to their endeavours.
I remember in Kent, when a person in a declining condition recovers and is likely to live longer, it is a proverb to say of him that he has spit in his hand, and will hold out the nother year. W. K.
Dead hand.
[Ibid.] " Immatura morte raptorum manu, strumas, paro- tidas, guttura, tactu sanari [affirmavit]. Quidam vero cujusq. defuncti duntaxat sui sexus, laeva manu sinistra [aversa]."
198 REMAINS OF GENTIL1SME.
Mdm. The wenne that grew in ye man's cheeke at Stowell, in Somerset, as big as an egge, was cured by stroking it with his dead kinswomans hand ; and Mr. Davy Mell (Musitian), had a child wh a hunch back cured in the like manner.1
Tooth-ach.
[Lib. xxviii.] c. 4. Sunt qui prsecipiant dentem qui caninus vocetur, insepulto exemptum adalligari. Of this I have noted before.
For a quartain Ague.
Ibid. " In quartanis fragmentum clavi a cruce, involutu lana, collo subnectunt : aut spartum e cruce : liberatoq. condunt caverna, quam sol non attingat."
This is oftentimes donne at London : many have great faith in it: yl hangman getts mony for pieces of the halters for this purpose.
headach.
[Ibid.] " Inguinibus medentur aliqui, licium telae detractum alligantes novenis septenisve nodis, ad singulos nominantes viduam aliquam atq. ita inguina alligantes licio."
Laqueum suspendiosi circumdatum temporibus.
Used by some still.
Prevention of y* Toothach.
[Ibid.] Frigida aqua colluere ora matutinis impari numero ad cavendos dentium dolores (semel, ter, quinquies, &c. Dalec). This is a common custome.
Hicquet.
[Lib. xxviii.] cap. 6. " Pleriq. anulum e sinistra in longis- simum dextrae digitum transferre." Yet in use.
1 Dr. Ridgeley.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 199
Sitting crosslegged, fyc.
[Lib. xxviii.] c. 6. " Adsidere gravidis, vel cum remedium alicui adhibeatur, digitis pectinatim inter se implexis, veneficium est, idq. compertum tradunt Alcmena Herculem pariente." Pejus, si circa unum ambove genua. Item Poplites alternis genibus imponi. Ideo haec in concilijs ducum potestatum fieri vetuere majores, velut omnium actum impedientes."
When one has ill luck at Cards, 'tis common to say, that some- body sitts with his legges acrosse, and brings him ill luck.
Veiling of bonnets.
[Ibid.] " Capita aperiri aspecta magistratuum, non venera- tionis causa jussere, sed (ut Varro auctor est) valetudinis, quoniam firmiora consuetudine ea fierent."
Transpose this to ye diatribe of Fashions.
Falling sicknesse.
[Ibid.] " Clavum ferreum defigere, in quo locoprimum caput defixerit corruens morbo comitiali, absolutorium ejus mali dicitur."
Hercules knot.
Ibid. "Vulnera nodo Herculis1 prasligare, mirum quantum ocyor medicina est."
The number foure.
[Ibid.] " Numerum quaternarium Demetrius condito volumine, et quare quaterni cyathi sextarijve non essent potandi."
Counter-charme.
[Ibid.] " Hostanes contra mala medicamenta omnia promisit auxiliari, matutinis horis suam (urinam) cuiq. instillatam in pedem.
1 " Wherein no ends are to be seen, they^are so close couched, & therefore hardly to be unloosed."— Ph. Holland.
200 REMAINS OF GENTIL1SME.
Pissing.
[Lib. xxviii. c. 6.] " Magi vetant (meiendi) causa contra Solem Lunamque nudari, aut umbram cujusq. ab ipso respergi." Hesiodus juxta obstantia reddi suadet, ne Deum aliquem nudatio offendat. See Hesiod ev
[Lib. xxviii.] c. 7. " Abigi grandines turbinescjj contra ful- gura ipsa (muliere) in mense connudata, sic averti violentiam coeli, in navigando quidem tempestates etiam sine menstruis."
This is certain, that Mariners will not endure a whore on shipboard (no more than a dead corps) believing that a Storme will seize on them.
Ague.
[Ibid.] Ex homine resegmina unguium e pedibus manibusq^ cera permixta, ita ut dicatur tertianae vel quaternae, vel quoti- dianae [febri] remedium quaeri, ante Solis ortum alienae januae affigi jubent, ad remedia in ijs morbis ; quanta vanitate si falsum est, quantave noxia, si transferunt morbos ad innocentiores ! "
Numbers.
[Lib. xxviii.] c. 8. " Facilius (Hyaenam) capi, si cinctus suos venator, flagellumq^ imperitans equo septenis alligaverit rodis."
[Ibid.] " Frontis (Hyaenae) corium fascinationibus resistere."
In old Hangings, &c.: we see old Heroes with the skins of
Lyons, &c., heads on theirs: as also on their knees: which were
not worne only perhaps for ornament or the like ; but upon some
medicinall or magicall account.
raising Tempests.
[Ibid.] Chamaeleontis " caput et guttur si roboreis lignis ac- cendantur, imbrium & tonitruum concursus facere."
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 201
Brase-nose Coll. Gate.
[Lib. xxviii.] c. 10. " Veneficijs rostrum lupi resistere in- veteratum aiunt, ob idcjj villarum portis praefigunt."
The Snowtes or muffle that is nailed at the top of the gate is like the snoute of some beast ; why not a Wolfe's ?
BellyaTce.
[Lib. xxviii.] c. 13. " Ventris dolore tentari negant talum leporis habentes."
Pissing a Bed.
[Lib. xxviii.] c. 15. " Magi verrini genitalis cinere poto ex vino dulci demonstrant urinam facere in canis cubili, ac verba adjicere, ne ipse urinam faciat, ut canis in suo cubili.
Ibid. " Inguina & ex ulcer um causa intumescunt. Remedio sunt equi setee tres totidem nodis alligatae intra ulcus."
Joint-gowte.
[Lib. xxviii.] c. 16. " Leporis pedes adalligatos Podagras mitigari pede leporis viventis abscisso, si quis secum assidue habeat."
Sleep.
[Lib. xxviii.] c. 19. " Somnos fieri lepore cibis sumpto (Quidam supstitiose conciliando somno leporis pedes nocturno pileolo alligant.) Dalec.
This is a saying in the countrey still : and that it will make one looke faire.
Ibid. " Vulgus et gratiam corpori in vii. dies."
Salting Meate.
[Lib. xxviii.] c. 20. " Nullas (carnes) teredinem sentire, Luna decresente induratas sale."
This is also religiously observed by some of our Housewives.
202 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
[Lib. xxix.] c. 5. " Lapidem a cane morsum, usqj in pro- verbium discordiae venisse " (Canis in lapidem saeviens).
(In opinione vulgi fuit, quibus in asdibus esset lapis a cane morsus, discordiae et intestinis dissensionibus omnia perturbari. Dalec.).
Flies.
[Lib. xxix.] c. 6. " OlympiaB sacro certamine, nubes (mus- carum) immolato tauro, Deo quern Myiodem vocant, extra terri- itorium id abire." (This Idol of ye Paynims, I take to be called in the holy Scripture Beel-zebub. Ph. Holland.)
I remember at Oxford (before the Civill warres) the custome was that some day of ye Whitsun-holydayes, q> de hoc, the Master-cooke (for that yeare) with the rest of his Brethren were marched in silke doublets on Horseback, and rode (I thinke) to Bartholomews or Bullington-green, fetch in the Flye : the sd master-cooke treated his brethren before they rode out. (At Exeter Coll. 1642) I sawe them drinke their mornings draughts:
and on Michaelmas day they rode thither again to \ J >
V J J
the Fly away. Methinkes this old Custome lookes as if it were derived from that mentioned in Pliny.
Headach.
[Ibid.] " Surculus ex nido milvi pulvino subjectus." I have heard of this in the countrey.
Lib. xxix. cap. 3. " Hie tamen complexus anguium et fru- gifera eoru concordia, in causa videtur esse, quare exterae gentes Caduceum in pacis argumentis circundata, effigie anguium fecerint. Nec^ enim cristatatos esse in caduceo mos est."
Lib. xxx. cap. 2. " Tyridabes rex Armenieniae Magus .... navigare noluerat, quoniam expuere in maria, alijsq> mortalium necessitatibus violare naturam earn fas non putant."
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 203
Transplanting diseases.
[Lib. xxx.] c. 5. " Prascordia vocamus uno nomine exta in homine : quoru in dolore cujuscumq^ partis, si catulus lactens admoveatur, apprimaturq^ his partibus, transire in eum morbus dicitur. Idc^ in exenterato proscissoc^ vivo deprehendi, vitiato viscere illo quod doluerit homini : et obrui tales religio est. Hi quoqj quos Melitseos vocamus, stomachi dolorem sedant applicati sa3pius. Transire morbos aegritudine eoru intelligitur, plerumqj & morte."
[Lib. xxx.] cap. 6. " Pecudis lien recens Magicis prseceptis super dolentem lienem extenditur, dicente eo qui medeatur, lieni se remedium facere."
[Lib. xxx.] c. 7. Traditur in torminibus, anate apposita ventri transire morbum, anatemq. emori.
fy. For a Fellon.
[Lib. xxx.] c 12- " Furunculis mederi dicitur araneus, prius- quam nominetur impositus, & tertio die solutus," &c., wch see.
Droitwich Salt Spring.
Lib. xxxi. c. 7. Sal Tragasseus.
See the story of Droitwich Salt-Spring [p. 71],
Of Childrens Coralls.
Lib. xxxii. c. 2. " Aruspices eorum vatesq. imprimis religiosum id gestamen (sc. corallium) amoliendis periculis arbitrantur. Surculi infantiae adalligati tutelam habere creduntur."
204 REMAINS OF GENT1LISME.
Coralls are worne by children still : but in Ireland they value the fang-tooth (holder) of an wolfe before it : which they set in silver and gold as we doe ye Coralls.
[Lib. xxxii.] c. 5. " Mala medicamenta (sorceries) inferri posse negant, aut certe nocere stella marina sanguine vulpino illita, & affixa limini superiori, aut clave aereo januae."
To this purpose we still use frequently to naile a horse-shoe (found by chance) on the threshold of the dore ; nothing more common, and most used in London.
Magical Remedies for Fevers.
[Lib. xxxii.] c. 10. " Cor (ranae) adalligatum frigora febrium
minuit, et oleum, in quo intestina decocta sint : " cum multis alijs.
Ibid. " Infantium gingivis dentitionibusq^ multum confert del- phini cum melle dentium cinis, & si ipso dente gingivae tangan- tur. Adalligatuscfc idem pavores repentinos tollit. Idem effectus et caniculae dentis."
Rings.
Lib. xxxiii. c. 1. " Manus et prorsus sinistrae maximam auc- toritatem conciliavere auro, non quidem Romanae, quaerum more ferreum id erat & bellicae virtutis in signe.
Wedding Rings.
Ibid. " Hi quoqj qui ob legationem acceperant aureos, (annulos) in publico tantum utebantur his : intra domos vero ferreis. Quo argumento etiam nunc sponsae annulus ferreus mittitur, isq. sine gemma."
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 205
Signets.
[Lib. xxxiii. c. 1.] " Contra vero multi nullas admittunt gemmas, auroc^ ipso signant : id Claudii Caesaris principatu re- pertum."
Ring-fingers.
Ibid. " Singulis primo digitis geri mos fuerat, qui sunt minimis proximi : sic in Numae & Servij Tullij statuis videmus. Postea pollici proximo induere, etiam Deoru simulachris : dein juvit et minimo dare. (In digito qui minimo proximus est, annulus gestabatur, prassertim pronubus, quod in eo venam esse crederet rudis antiquitas, ad cor usc^ pertingentem. Alex : ab Alex. Dalec.) Galliae Britanniaeqj in medio dicuntur usse. Hie nunc solus excipitur : caeteri omnes onerantur, atq> etiam priva- tim articuli minoribus anulis. Sunt qui tres uni minimo conge- rant: alij vero & huic unu tantu, quo signanda signent."
An old verse as to Kings :
Miles, Mercator, stultus, maritus, Amator.
Coronets.
[Lib. xxxiii] c. 2. " Praetercfe armillas1 civibus dedere, quas non habent externi. lidem coronas ex auro dedere civibus."
" A. Posthumius Dictator apud lacum Regillum castris Latin- orum expugnatis, ei cujus maxime opera capta essent, hanc coronam ex praeda dedit.
Perhaps our earles and barons' coronets were derived from hence.
Gold.
[Lib. xxxiii] c. 4. " Vulneratisq^ et infantibus applicatur ut minus noceant, si quae inferantur, veneficia.
1 Before the Civil warres I remember Tom a Bedlams went about a begging. They had been such as bad been in Bedlam, there recovered, & come to some degree of sobernesse, and when they were licencesed to goe out, they had on their left arme an Armilla of Tinne (printed), about 3 inches breadth: wch was sodered-on. [See Appendix. ]
206 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Some doe use pure gold bound to old ulcers or fistulas, as a secret ; and wh good successe : gold attracts mercury ; and I have a conceit, that the curing of ye Kings evil by gold was first derived from hence : but the old gold was very pure ; and printed wh Sfc Mich: the Arch-Angel, & to be stamped ac- cording to some Kule Astrological.
Iron.
Lib. xxxiv. c. 15. "A rubigine vindicatur cerussa & gypso & liquida pice ..... Ferunt quidam et religione quadam id fieri
Medicina e ferro est et alia, quam secandi. Namque
circumscribi circulo terve circumlato mucrone, et adultis et in- fantibus prodest contra noxia medicamenta : et prsefixisse in limine e sepulchro ebulsis clavos adversus nocturnas lympha- tiones. Pungicfe leviter mucrone, quo homo percussus sit, contra dolores laterum peclorumq, subitos, qui punctionem afferant. Quajdam ustione sanantur: privatim vero cams rabidi morsus.1 Quippe etiam prsevalente morbo, expaventesq^ potum ust & plaga illico liberantur.
Searing wh a red-hot iron is a present Remedie for the Biting of a Viper ; this, those that gett Adders for the London Apothecaries, when they are bitt, doe use.
Tinning of Brasse-potts.
[Lib. xxxiv.] c. 17. " Stannum illitam seneis vasis saporem gratiorem facit, & compescit aeruginis virus: mirumck, pondus non auget."
" Album (plumbum) incoquitur asreis operibus Galliarum in- vento, ita ut vix discerni [possit] ab argento, eaque incoctilia 2 vocant. Deinde et argentum incoquere simili modo coepere equorum maxime ornamentis, jumentorumq,, jugis in Alexia oppido : reliqua gloria Biturigum fuit. Coepere deinde & esseda, & vehicula, et petorita3 exornare : similiqj modo ad aurea quoque,
1 R' rabidi canis. 2 Coctilia.
3 A French waggon wh 4 wheels.
REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
207
non modo argentea, staticula inanis luxuria pervenit : quaec^ in scyphis cerni prodigium erat, hsec in vehiculis atteri, cultus vocatur."
I never saw tinned-potts, scil. Brasse-potts tinned, till since the yeare 1660. 'Tis not every Brazier, that hath attained that mystery yet (1691). But Madam Ball doeth assure me, that her Father had some Brasse-potts tinned thus, that were her grandfather's, Sr Geo: Bond, Lord Mayor of London above an hundred years since.
An Apothecaries boy boyling a Potion of in a brasse-
skillet, was like to have killed a Gentlewoman.
Scutcheons in Windowes fyc.
Lib. xxxv. cap. 2. Alias foris et circa limina animoru in- gentium imagines erant, affixis hostium spolijs, quae nee emptori refringere liceret ; triumphabantque etiam dominis mutatis ipsaB domus ; et erat haec stimulatio ingens, exprobantibus tectis: quotidie imbellem dominu intrare in alienum triumphum.
cap. 11. De aviu cantu compescendo : sc. " draconem in longissima membrana depictu circumdedere loco: eoq. terrore aves tu siluisse narratur, & postea cognitu est ita posse com- pesci."
Exorcismes.
[Lib. xxxv.] cap. 15. " Habet (sulphur) et in religionibus locum ad expiandas suffitu domos."
Rebuses.
Lib. xxxvi. cap. 5. Sunt certe etiamnum in columnarum epistylijs inscalpta nominum eorum argumenta, rana atq. lacerta (scilicet Batrachus & Saurus), who were the Arti- ficers).
So Sr Eeginald Bray, architect to K. Hen. 7th, hath set up in severall places of ye roofe (vaulture) of the chapell at Wind- sore, a Brake, as a Rebus for his name, Harington, a hare, a ring, & a Tun. Islip, a eie, & the slip of a Tree ; this I well
208 REMAINS OF GENT1L1SME.
remember in the Hall windowes where the Children of West- minster Schoole dine ; defaced about 1662.
The arms of ye family of Dobell on a monument in St. Marie's Ch. in Oxford is three does and a Bell. The rebus of Bekington (a Benefactor to Lincoln College) is a Beacon in a Tun cut in stone and affixt in the wall of ye first quadrangle. [ W. K.]
Labyrinths, fy Mazes.
[Lib. xxxv.] cap. 13. " Hinc utiq. sumpsisse Daedalum ex- emplar ejus Labyrinthi, quern fecit in Creta, non est dubium, sed centesimam tantum portionem ejus imitatum, quae itinerum ambages occursusq. ac recursus inexplicabiles continet, non (ut in pavimentis puerorumve ludicris campestribns videmus) brevi lacinia millia passuum plura ambulationis continentem ; sed crebris foribus inditis ad fallendos occursus redeundumq. in err ores eosdem."
See part . . . concerning the mazes.
Tintinnabula.
Ibid. Porsenae Regis HetrurisB sepulchrum — "in summo orbis seneus & petasus unus omnibus sit impositus, ex quo pen- deant excepta catenis tintinnabula, quse vento agitata, longe sonitus referant, ut Dodonae olim factum."
Fundament a.
[Lib. xxxv.] cap. 14. " Templum Ephesiae Dianas ducentis viginti annis factum a tota Asia. In solo id palustri fecere, ne terras motus sentiret, aut hiatus timeret. Rursus ne in lubrico atq. instabili fundamenta tantae molis locarentur, calcatis ea substravere carbonibus, dein velleribus lanae."
The tradition at Salisbury is, that Our Ladies-church there was built upon Wool-packs; but I doe believe, that was a Figurative expression, as if one should say, that Paules church at London were built upon Coale : because the Found for the building is raised by a tax out of ye Coales that are brought from Newcastle ; so I presume, that when Salisbury church was building, there was a Tax layd upon the wool] sacks ; Wiltshire
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 209
being the greatest Wooll countrey in England. At Roiien is a Tower called the Butter-tower, which was built out of a Tax on ye Butter that was brought. So one might figuratively say it was founded upon Butter.
A like tradition that London-bridge was built upon wooll- packs.1 [W. K.]
Hangings, or Tapestrie.
[Lib. xxxv ] cap. 15. u Reliquus apparatus tantus Attalica veste, &c: (rendred, a Hanging of Gold).
Veneficia.
[Lib. xxxv.] cap. 19. "Amianthus2 alumini similis, nihil igni deperdit. Hie veneficijs resistit omnibus, privatim Magorum."
Ibid. Gagate " dicuntur uti Magi in ea, quam vocant axino- mantiam : et peruri negant, si eventurum sit, quod aliquis optet."
Gifts to Temples.
Lib. xxxvii. cap. i. " Hoc exemplo Caesar Dictator sex
dactyliothecas in aede Veneris Genitricis consecravit: Marcellus, Octavia genitus, in Palatina Apollinis aede cella unam.
Beata Dei Genitrix : The beginning of an old Antheme at our Lady-church at Sarum.
Chesse-boards.
[Lib. xxxvii.] cap. 2. " Tertio triumpho (Pompeius) die na- talis sui egit, transtulit alveum cum tesseris lusoris e gemmis duabus latum pedes tres, longum pedes quatuor."
Horloge.
Ibid. " Museum ex margaritis, in cujus fastigio erat horolo- gium (quaere de hoc). ,
[Lib. xxxvii.] cap. 3. Succinum " infantibus adalligari amu- leti ratione prodest."
1 [These two paragraphs are given at somewhat greater length in Nat. Hist, of Wilts, p. 98 ; and more briefly in Nat. Hist. Surrey, ir. 42. ED.] 8 It is taken for Alume de plume.
P
210 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Diamonds.
[Lib. xxxvii.] cap. 5 [4]. "Adamas & venena irrita facit, et lymphationes abigit, metusq. vanos expellit a mente."
Silver boates, for drinking.
[Lib. xxxvii.] cap. 9 [8]. Chrysoprasio " et amplitude ea est, ut cymbia etiam ex ea fiant."
These silver boates are very common at Bristow among the merchants, who used to carry them in their pockets to Tast wine ; they call them Tasters. T They were first called cognes (from coggones, litle boats), ye word is still retained in a cogue of brandy. W. K.
[Lib. xxxvii.] cap. 8. " Non translucet Molochites, spissius vivens, a colore malvse nomine accepto, reddendis laudata signis, et infantium custodia quadam, innato contra pericula ipsorum medicamine."
Amulets.
[Lib. xxxvii.] cap. 9. " Totus Oriens pro amuletis traditur
gestare (Jaspidem) quae ex ijs smaragdo similis est &
Licet obiter vanitatem Magicam hie quoq. coarguere, quoniam hanc concionantibus utilem esse prodiderunt."
I wonder that here is no mention of the virtue of the Saphir. The Bishops have on the back of ye glove of the .... hand, as is to be seen in their monuments at Winton, &c. ; a saphir ring. They say it preserves from infection of Pestilential & infectious diseases. See Albertus Magnus de hoc : I warrant he has recited vertues enough of it.
[Lib. xxxvii.] cap. 9. Amethysts " Magorum vanitas resis- tere ebrietati eas promittit, & inde appellatas. Prseterea si Lunse nomeii aut Solis inscribatur in ijs, atq. ita suspendantur collo e capillis cynocephali vel plumis hirundinis, resistere veneficijs. Jam vero quoque modo adesse reges adituris. Grandinem quoq. avertere & locustas, precatione addita, quam demonstrant."
REMAINS OF GENTILISME. 211
Tempests.
[Lib. xxxvii.] cap. 10. " Sunt et chelonitides oculis testudi- num similes, ex quibus ad tempestates sedendas multi utuntur.
[Lib. xxxvii. cap. 10.] " Grlossopetra linguas similis hu- manae in terra non nascitur, sed deficiente Luna coelo decidere, et lenocinanti necessaria creditur. Yentos ea comprimi narrant. Gorgonia nihil aliud est, quam corallium : nominis causa, quod in duretiam lapidis mutatur. Emollit maria. Fulminibus & typhonibus resistere affirmant."
Agnus DeVs some believe, to have the like virtue against Tempests at sea, &c.
Invisibility.
Ibid. " Magorum impudentiae vel manifestissimum in hoc quoque exemplum est, quoniam admixta herba Heliotropio, qui- busdam quoq. additis precationibus, gerentem conspici negent."
Divination.
Ibid. " Hammonis coram inter sacratissimas ^Ethiopiae gem- mas, aureo colore, arietini cornus effigiem reddens, promittitur prse-divina somnia representare."
Ibid. " Zachalius Babylonius in his libris quos scripsit ad regem Mithridatem, humanae gemmis attribuit fata: has non contentus oculoru & jocinerum medicina decorasse, a rege etiam aliquid petituris dedit & litibus judicijsq interposuit : in praelijs etiam eas (Haematites) salutares pronuntiavit."
Raising of Spirits.
[Lib. xxxvii. cap. 11.] " Ananchitide in hydromantia dicunt evocari imagines deorum: synochitide umbras inferorum evo- catas teneri : dendritide alba defossa sub arbore, quse caedatur,
212 KEMAINS OF GENTILISME.
securis aciem non hebetari. Et sunt multo plures, magisq. monstrificse, quibus barbari dedere nomina, confess! lapides esse. Nobis satis erit in his coarguisse illorum dira mendacia."
FINIS.
Painting of Ale-house dores with a checquer.
Athenian Mercury, No. 10, March 4th, 169£.
" The most ancient Publick houses were Inns, which had par- ticular Licenses from the Barons of the Exchecquer; and payd such a Tribute into the King's Exchecquer, and therefore were marked with a Checquer, as the only signe of publick Entertain- ment. Some believe, that Chess was the only play used by our Ancestors in some publick Houses, which therefore had a Checquer for distinction sake, as a Billiard-Table, &c., are now. But the antiquity of Chequers (as being the first Signes, as also for that for a great while after that Branch of the Eevenue was tributary to the Crowne, no other Signes were used) shews this last opinion to be false."
APPENDIX I.
NOTES REFERRED TO IN OR REFERRING TO PRECEDING PAGES.
Page 5. Dancing in Churches. — " The practice of dancing in churches, which prevailed among the early Christians, has been by some writers supposed to be an imitation of similar proceedings in Pagan times. The late Mr. Douce, who was of this opinion, quotes in his Dance of Death, p. 6, a decree of a council held under Pope Eugenius II. in the ninth century, in which the custom is thus noticed : ' Ut sacerdotes admoneant viros ac mulieres, qui festis diebus ad ecclesiam occurrunt, ne ballando et turpia verba decantando chores teneant ac ducunt, similitudinem Paganorum peragendo' (Leg. Antiq. iii. 84). But may not this practice have arisen among the the Jews? We know that David danced before the ark, 2 Samuel, vi. 14 ; and Eisenmenger, in his Entdecktes Judenthum, p. i. s. 46, tells us that it is a rabbinical tradition that at the marriage of Adam and Eve in Paradise the Creator and the angels danced, having the sun, moon, and stars, als dem Frauenzimmer, as partners! A work on the subject of * The Religious Dances of the Early Christians/ which I have not been able to consult, but which bears a very high character, I mean, M. C. H. Bromel's Fest-Tanzen der Ersten Christen, Jena 1705, would probably throw great light upon this point." — [ W. J. T. p. 80.]
Page 5. The Yule Log. — " The learned Dr. Jacob Grimm, in his Deutsche Mythologie, p. 117, quotes from the Memoir es de VAcademie Celtique notices of a similar custom which prevails at Commercy en Lorraine: — * Le 24 Decembre vers les six heures du soir, chaque famille met a son feu une enorme buche appelee Souche de Noel. On defend aux enfans de s'y asseoir, parceque, leur dit on, ils y attrape- raient la gale. Notez, qu'il est d'usage dans presque tout le pais de mettre le bois au foyer dans toute sa longueur, qui est d'environ 4 pieds, et de 1'y faire bruler par un bout/ A somewhat similar practice
Q
214 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
obtains at Bonncval : ' La veille de Noel, avant la messe de miuuit, on place dans la cheminee de 1'appartement le plus habite une buche, la plus grosse que 1'on puisse rencontrer, et qui soit dans le cas de resister pendant trois jours dans le foyer. C'est ce que lui a fait donner le nom de trefue, trefoue, trois feux.' Among the traditions of Denmark, recorded by Thiele in his Danske Folkesagn, 3 sam. s. 102, is the following: — < When people at Christmas Eve sit together at table and wish to know who among them will die before the next Christmas, some one goes out quietly and peeps in at the window, and whoever is seen to sit at table without a head will die in the coming year.' And from Thiele's note we learn that at Anspach it was believed that, when at Christmas or New Year's Day the tree which had been brought in was lighted, any one had but to look at the shadows of those present to learn who would die in the course of the next year, for their shadows would be seen headless." — [W. J. T. p. 81.]
Mr. Coote writes: " The Anglo-Saxon word is 'geol' not 'gehal.' The Yule log is Latin in origin. Vico, in his Scienza Nuova (Michelet's translation, liv. 2, ch. 5, p. 178, Paris, 1827), says, that amongst the common people of Naples in his time (i. e. 1725) it was the custom for the father of the family on the night of Christmas Eve, seated at his hearth, to set fire to a log of wood, and to throw incense and sprinkle wine upon the flames. The month of December was in the old pagan system under the tutela of Vesta. Hence there- fore the reverence thus shown to the hearth and fire. See the Calendarium Farnesinum, Zell's Delectus, p. 59."
Page 5. The Loving Cup. — " This practice, which is so perfectly in unison with the character of a simple-minded people, is clearly allied to one still existing, we mean the drinking from the ' Loving Cup,' a ceremony which is yet observed by several of the City Companies when the Courts dine in their halls, though perhaps more immediately
to the Agapae [see p. 41] In Grimm's Deutsche Mythologie,
pp. 36-38, we have much curious information upon the custom (of Pagan origin, but which Christianity never succeeded in out-rooting) of Miniietrinlcen, drinking to the love or rather memory of the absent. But the passage is too long to translate, and will not very well admit of curtailment."— [W. J. T. p. 82.]
Pages 7 and 14. Simnel Cakes. — Mr. R. H. Alcock, of Bury, sends me the following note upon this subject : —
NOTES. 215
" At Bury, in Lancashire, they prepare cakes for Midlent Sunday, which they call Simnel Cakes. They are circular in outline and of various sizes, from two or three pounds weight up to fifty pounds or even more. In composition they are not unlike rich plum cake, but contain additional ingredients, including spices. The use of them is universal in the town, and when drink was allowed to flow more freely than it is now the streets of Bury on Midlent Sunday were scenes of much drunkenness; but this scandal is now happily amended.
" Several attempts have been made to trace the origin of this custom and the derivation of the word simnel. One of these derives simnel from the Latin semolina, fine flour, which was used for preparing the altar bread of the Catholic Church. This or very similar words are used in Holstein, and by other people of the Saxon race, to designate a sort of bun or cake made of wheat flour, superior in quality to the rye-bread in common use. Another supposition is, that the original and proper name of the cake is simblin and not simnel, and that the latter is a corruption introduced by newspaper writers and confectioners who considered it more euphonious and jess rustic than the older and common name ; and this may be true, for even twenty-five years ago simblin was much the more usual name. On this basis the following argument has been raised: That Midlent Sunday was always held before the Reformation as a sort of popular festival, at which families assembled all their members together, and that the old English word ' simbel ' signifies a feast, a meeting, or coming together. Symblian and symbl, we are told, are forms in which the verb to feast is written, and hence ' sym- blende' or feasting-cake is the origin of the name ' symblin cake' of Bury, where it was used at this festival of Midlent. This explanation is ingenious and seems not improbable, if we admit that ' simblin ' is the original name, though even then it is difficult to understand how such a general proposition should have such a purely local application, and why Bury alone should have its ' simblin cakes.' By some the name is referred to Lambert Simnel, who in 1487 landed in North Lancashire, and on his march southward had his force strengthened, among others, by Sir Thomas Pilkington, of Pilkington and Outwood and Lord of Bury, who joined him along with several of his dependants. After the defeat of Lambert Simnel this Sir Thomas Pilkington was taken and beheaded, and his estates, including the demesne of Bury, were confiscated. It may be presumed that many if not most of the families of Bury sustained losses during these disturbances, and hence
Q2
216 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
it has been supposed that the simnel cakes were originally funeral cakes eaten in commemoration of these events.
" All these conjectures are more or less fanciful, yet it is possible that each of them may contain some truth. The derivation from semolina seems too sound to be lightly put on one side, and the two words simnel and simblin might exist side by side with the same or with different derivations in the old time before Lambert Simnel; but it remains to be accounted for why this particular manner of celebrating Midlent Sunday should be peculiar to Bury, and it is possible that the local connexion with Lambert Simnel may have served to perpetuate his name in connexion with the cake, and at the same time an old custom which in most places has fallen into desuetude."
The Bury Times for March 6, 1880, contains a reprint of a long paper on Simnel Sunday, which was " published a few years ago by one of our Lancashire weeklies."
Page 9. Sowlegrove. — Mr, Coote notes: "The Wiltshire name of 'Sowlegrove' may rather seem to be a reminiscence of the anniversary sacrifices in February for the repose of the souls.
' Placutis sunt tempora pura sepulchris, Tune cum ferales praeteriere dies.' — Fast. 2, v. 33, 34.
What ' grove ' is a corruption of, I do not know."
Page 9. Lew. — " A.-S. hleow, or hleo, shelter, shade, covering ; Du. lauw. Shelter from the wind. ' In the Isw zide o' the hedge/ * On Jnsses holtes hleo : ' ' Within this grove's shelter.' Thence /ee-ward, the opposite of windward, and a Zee-shore. Also tepid, as lew-warm, luke- warm, which is from the A.-S. wlsec; Ger. lau, lau-warm; Da. luuken; Du. laauw." — Barnes's Dorset Gloss. (1848), p. 357.
"Lew, calm and warm. The people of South Wilts have this proverb: 'Sowle grove sil lew,' z. e. l February is seldom warm.' So in Kent we say a lew hedge, under that side where the wind does not come. So Dunelm. to lie under the lee, or lew, or laigh, i. e. under ye shelter, A.-S. hlsepe, Agger, aceruus. Hence Mr. Noel sais is yc name of Lewes in Suss." — Kennett, Lansd. MS. 1033.
Page 12 (top). This " charme " occurs in Peele's Old Wives Tale (1595) : " Did you never hear so great a wonder as this, Three blue beans in a blue bladder, rattle, bladder, rattle."
NOTES. 217
Page 12. Day Fatality. — Mr. Solly sends the following as an illustration of how much Cromwell thought of fortunate and un- fortunate days. " His letter to the Speaker, W. Lenthall, from Worcester, dated 3rd Sept. 1651, announcing the victory, begins : — * Being so weary and scarce able to write, yet I thought it my duty to let you know thus much, that upon this day, being the third of September (remarkable for a mercy vouchsafed to your forces on this day twelvemonth in Scotland), we beat the enemy totally,' &c. &c. The conviction of the fortunate day must have been very strong in Cromwell's mind when he wrote this hurried letter after * five hours as stiffe a contest as ever I have seen.' "
Page 15. Pipe and Tabor. — " The pipe and tabor, after contri- buting to the amusement of the people for centuries in a manner to ensure them the admiration, if not of musicians, at least of all advocates of the ' greatest happiness ' principle, have at length disappeared from among us, and left behind nothing but a name closely associated with the rural pastimes of the country. Aubrey, who like too many antiquaries is for referring the origin of everything to the Romans or the Druids, derives the tabor from the sistrum of the Romans. The reader who will take the trouble to consult Schilling's Universal Lexicon der TonJcunst, under the words 'Sistrum' and * Rappel,' will soon be convinced of Aubrey's error, while the same work, sub voce ' Tamburin,' shows us the antiquity of the tabor from its use (or rather its prototype, the timbrel) by Miriam as an accompaniment to her song and dance of victory after the passage of the Red Sea. (See Exodus xv. 20.) "— [W. J. T. page 84.]
" When King Charles II. was at Salisbury, 1665, a piper of Stratford sub Castro playd on his tabor and pipe before him, who was a piper in Queen Elizabeth's time, and aged then more than 100." — Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 70.
Pages 16, 20. Holy-water-sprinJcle.—Thls was the old English name for the aspergillus, or brush used by the priest for sprinkling the congregation before high mass, and on other occasions. It is called " holy water spryngelle or strencle " in Prompt. Parv.; and in Turner's Libellus (1538), a brush-like horsetail (Equisetum) is called "hally- water stryncle," on account of its resemblance to an aspergillus.
Page 18. The Holy Mawle. — " In spite of all the erudition which Aubrey has displayed upon the subject of this very repulsive superstition, we suspect that, though < much disguised (after the old
218 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
fashion) in the Romancy-way,' it is connected with some of those personifications of the word Hamav (malleus), with the attributes of death or the evil one, referred to by Grimm in his Deutsche Mytho- logie, s. 124, et seq. and which seem again, from another passage in the same work (p. 559), to have somewhat of a biblical foundation. Hieronymus, in a letter to Pope Damasus, in which he treats of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, speaks of Malleus as among the names of the devil (Greg. Magn. Oxon. i. 1125), * In Scriptura sacra Mallei nomine Diabolus designatur, per quern nunc delinquentium culpse
periuntur, aliquando vere percussio ca3lestis accipitur nam
quia in appellatione Mallei antiquis hostis exprimitur, Propheta tes- tatur, dicens : Quomodo confractus est et contritus malleus universe terras,' Jerem. 1. 23, which is rendered in the English version, * How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken ? ' The English reader will bear in mind that in the inscription round the tomb of Edward I. in Westminster Abbey that monarch is termed « Malleus Scotorum.' "— [W. J. T. pp. 84-5.]
Page 20. Immuring of Nuns. — It would appear that this is a subject which investigation may prove to have been much mis- represented. In a notice of the Camp of Refugey edited by Samuel H. Miller, which appeared in The Academy for Dec. 11, 1880 (p. 421), the following passage occurs : " We are sorry to find that one of [the notes] gives additional currency to the horrible fable that it was a monastic practice for the authorities to cause evil monks and nuns to be walled up in niches. The splendid description in * Marmion' of such a scene renders it well-nigh impossible to convince people that such things were not, but it is necessary to do what one can to remove such an undeserved stigma upon the memories of men and women who would have shrunk from such a refinement of cruelty with as much horror as ourselves. We must beg Mr. Miller, before he
issues a new edition to read what the late Archdeacon
Churton has said on this painful subject in the Reports of the Asso- ciated Architectural Societies, ii. 311-15. No man of his day was more capable of investigating such a story as Scott tells with judi- cial impartiality ; and of it he says without hesitation that as a part of monastic discipline there never was a time when it could have been true."
Page 22. Altars. — " Aubrey repeats this observation, but with a difference, as the heralds say, where he is treating of high places
NOTES.
219
[p. 98] Grimm, in his Introduction (xx.), .... has some
very interesting remarks upon the manner in which the early Christians * converted temples into churches, erected chapels on the hills dedi- cated to the gods, and founded monasteries in the sacred woods,' &c. M. Le Roux de Lincy, in his introductory volume to Le Livre des Legendes, has devoted one chapter to ' Traditions of Forest and Hills,' in which he quotes a number of traditions relative to the Tombeleine and Mont Saint Michel, referred to in the text, from the very elegant and interesting volume published by M. Raoul in 1833, entitled Histoire Pittoresque du Mont Saint Michel et de Tombeleine, &c." — • [W. J. T. p. 86.]
Page 22. S. Adelm. — " Old Bartlemew, &c. old people of Malmesbury, had by tradition severall stories of miracles donn by St. Adelm, some whereof I wrote down heretofore; now with Mr. Anth. Wood at Oxford. I remember the tradition in our parts was, that St. Adelme, abbot of Malmesbury, travelling by Haselbery, threw down his glove, and said, if they digged there they should find great treasure ; they digged and found a quarrie of excellent freestone, whereof our churches and monasteries were built. He had travelled abroad, and by the surface of the ground could easily guess that freestone was underneath that crust."— Royal Soc. MS. fol. 207.
Page 23. Offerings at Funerals. — The following extract, from an article on " Churchyard Superstitions " in the St. James's Gazette, seems to imply that this custom of offering money still survives. " A curious surviving custom at Welsh funerals is termed the * parson's penny.' After reading the burial service in the church, the clergyman stands behind the table while a psalm is being sung. In the meantime each of the mourners places a piece of money on the table for his acceptance. This ceremony is regarded as a token of respect to the deceased, although it was no doubt originally intended to compensate the clergyman for praying for the soul of the departed. In some Welsh parishes also a similar custom, called ' spade-money,' is kept up. After the corpse has been committed to its resting-place the grave-digger presents his spade as a receptacle for donations, these offerings, which often amount to a goodly sum, being regarded as his perquisite." See also Bingley's North Wales.
Aubrey is in error in saying that "these are mentioned in the Kubrick of the Church of England Common Prayer Book."
220 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Page 25 (last line). Mid summer- Men. — For details regarding this custom, see Brand, i. 329-330 (Bonn's edition).
Page 26. Bonfires on S. John's night. — See Brand, ii. 317-9 (Bonn's ed.) It may be worth while noting that the practice is still (1880) general in many parts of Ireland, e.g. co. Galway and co. Limerick.
Page 28. Ambrose Brown. — He was 103 years old at the time of his death, 166- . — See Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 69.
Page 29. S. Oswald. — This localisation of the martyrdom of S. Oswald differs from that given by Alban Butler (Lives of the Saints, Aug. 5). It appears from Butler's remarks that a good deal of doubt existed as to the actual locality. S. Oswald was a popular saint in pre-reformation times; the author referred to says that his prayer for the souls of the soldiers who slew him became proverbial ; u it became a proverb, ' 0 God, be merciful to their souls,' said Oswald when he fell."
Page 29. St. Twosole. — Similar corruptions of the name of a saint are offered by " T'andry " for St. Andrew, certain cakes made in Bucking- hamshire on the feast of St. Andrew being called " T'andry cakes " (Henderson's Folk-Lore, ed. ii. p. 98); and Tawdry for St. Audrey or Etheldreda. " At the fair of St. Audry, at Ely, in former times, toys of all sorts were sold, and a description of cheap necklaces, which, under the denomination of taivdry laces, long enjoyed great celebrity. Various allusions to tawdry laces occur in Shakspeare, Spenser, and other writers of their age." — Chambers's Book of Days, ii. 459.
Page 31. Funeral Song. — " This remarkable specimen of the funeral dirge has been printed by Sir Henry Ellis in his edition of Brand, ii. 180, and also, somewhat differently, by Sir Walter Scott in his Minstrelsy, ii. 141, neither of whom, however, furnishes us with that important passage as regards the mythology on which the song may be said to be founded, which describes the bridge of Dread as being {na brader than a thread;' which passage, though a marginal addition in Aubrey's MS., is clearly of the same age and authority as the rest of the poem, and therefore deserving of particular notice as identifying the myth with cognate Jewish and Mahommedan fables. In the remarks which Sir Walter Scott has prefixed to it? after
NOTES.
221
noticing the word sleet, in the refrain (for in his version we read, * Fire and sleet and candlelight'), which he supposes to be 'corrupted from self or salt,' a quantity of which, in compliance with a popular superstition, is frequently placed on the breast of a corpse, he proceeds to quote from a MS. in the Cotton Library, Julius, F. vi. 459 (con- taining an account of Cleveland in Yorkshire in the reign of Eliza- beth), the following curious illustration of it : —
" ' When any dieth, certaine women sing a song to the dead bodie, reciting the journey that the partye deceased must goe ; and they are of beliefe (such is their fondnesse) that once in their lives it is good to give a pair of new shoes to a poor man, forasmuch as after this life they are to pass barefoot through a great launde full of thornes and ftirzen, except, by the meryte of the almes aforesaid, they have redeemed the forfeyte ; for at the edge of the launde an oulde man shall meet them with the same shoes that were given by the partie when he was lyving ; and, after he hath shodde them, dismisseth them to go through thick and thin without scratch or scalle.'
" After numerous quotations to show that ' the mythologic ideas of this dirge are common to various creeds,' Sir Walter has given at full length the very minute description of the Brig 0' Dread, from the MS. legend of ' Sir Owain,' in which the bridge is described as placed between paradise and purgatory. There occurs, however, in the Preliminary Discourse (pp. 120-1, ed. 1801), which Sale has prefixed to his translation of the Koran, a passage so very curiously illustrative of this peculiar superstition that I trust I may be excused if, notwithstanding its great length, I quote it entire.
" < The trials being over, and the assembly dissolved, the Mahom- medans hold that those who are to be admitted into paradise will take the right-hand way, and those who are destined to hell-fire will take the left ; but both of them must first pass the bridge, called in Arabic al Sirat, which they say is laid over the midst of hell, and described to be finer than a hair and sharper than the edge of a sword, so that it seems very difficult to conceive how any one shall be able to stand upon it ; for which reason most of the sect of the Motazalites reject it as a fable, though the orthodox think it a sufficient proof of the truth of this article that it was seriously affirmed by him who never asserted a falsehood, meaning their Prophet, who, to add to the difficulty of the passage, has likewise declared this bridge is beset on each side with briars and hooked thorns, which will, however, be no impediments to the good, for they shall pass with wonderful ease and
222 KEMAINS OF GENTILISME.
swiftness, like lightning or the wind, Mohammed and his Moslems leading the way ; whereas the wicked, what with the slipperiness and extreme narrowness of the path, the entangling of the thorns, and the extinction of the light, which directed the former to paradise, will soon miss their footing and fall down headlong into hell, winch is gaping beneath them. This circumstance Mohammed seems to have borrowed from the Magians, who teach that, . on the last day, all mankind will be obliged to pass a bridge, which they call Pul Chinavad, or Chinavar : that is, the straight bridge, leading directly into the other world, on the midst of which they suppose the angels, appointed by God to perform that office, will stand, who will require of every one a strict account of his actions, and weigh them in the manner we have already mentioned. It is true the Jews speak likewise of the bridge of hell, which they say is no broader than a thread, but then they do not tell us that any shall be obliged to pass it, except the idolaters, who will thence fall into perdition.'
" Sale's account of this Jewish bridge, ' no broader than a thread,' is confirmed by Esenmenger, in his Entdechtes Judenthum, ii. s. 258.
" Notwithstanding the great length to which this note has already extended, I cannot bring it to a close without referring the reader to that very curious chapter (xxi.) in Grimm's Deutsche Mythologie, in which he treats of the ' soul ' ; more especially to that part of it which relates to the soul's passage across the gulf which separates this world from the infernal regions, wherein mention is made of its traversing the bridge across the river (see page 483); more particularly with respect to the dirge which has called forth these remarks, the passage in which he speaks of the Todtenschuh, or shoe of the dead, (in the old Norse tongue Helsko), which was bound on the foot of the deceased as a preparation for the long journey on which he was setting forth ; and from which custom, although now no longer observed, the honours paid to the dead are at Henneberg, and many other places, Rtill designated as the Todtenschuh."—[W. J. T. pp. 90-1.]
Pages 32, 40. Amulets. — For a good chapter on this subject see Pettigrew's Superstitions, pp. 47-54 : see also p. 124, &c.
Page 33. Wellfloivering. — " The custom which Aubrey has here recorded, on the authority of Anthony Wood, is clearly one whose origin may be traced to the times of Paganism, and, as such, it affords us a striking example of the manner in which the rites of heathenism
NOTES.
223
were eventually Christianized, when it was found that they had taken so strong a hold upon the affections of the people, that the decrees of councils and the sermons of the priesthood were in vain directed against them. Grimm's Deutsche Mythologie, pp. 68, 70, and 826-334, contains an abundance of curious materials illustrative of the veneration in which certain fountains, springs, and streams were formerly held, and of the various peculiar customs to which this feeling has given rise. And in Sir Henry Ellis's edition of Brand's Popular Antiquities, ii. 266, 267, a number of similar particulars are collected, in illustration of the following passage, which we quote as having peculiar reference to Aubrey's memorandum on the subject of Well- worship. Various rites appear to have been performed on Holy Thursday at wells in different parts of the kingdom, such as decorating them with boughs of trees, garlands of tulips, and other flowers placed in various fancied devices. In some places, indeed, it was the custom, after prayers for the day at the church, for the clergyman and singers even to pray and sing psalms at the well.
'• The custom of well-flowering is still practised on Holy Thursdays at Tissington in Derbyshire [and in other places in the same county] ; see Lysons' Magna Britannia, vol. v. p. ccxli. : c There is service in the church on that day, and a sermon, after which each of the wells is visited, and the three psalms for the day, with the epistle and gospel, are read, one at each well, of which there are five, of remarkably clear water.' See also that agreeable miscellany, Hone's Every Day Book, ii. 640, where the correspondent, after giving an account of the Tissington Well-Flowering, refers to the ancient practice of sprinkling the Severn with flowers, a practice alluded to by Dyer in his poem of the Fleece, and by Milton in his Comus : —
The shepherds, at their festivals,
Carol her good deeds loud in rustic lays,
And throw sweet garland wreaths into her stream
Of pansies, pinks, and gaudy daffodils."
" In Partridge's History of Nantwich, 1774, p. 59, is the following account of a similar custom which prevailed at that place: * Every Ascension Day our pious ancestors sang a hymn of thanksgiving for the blessing of the brine. That ancient pit, called the Old Biat (ever held in great veneration by the townspeople), was on that day bedecked and adorned with green boughs, flowers, and ribbands, and the young people had music and danced round it, which custom of dancing, and adorning the pit continued till a very few years ago.' Klemm, in his
224 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Handbuch tier Germanischen Altertlwrnskunde, p. 338, tells us that among the old Germanic tribes salt-springs were considered as sacred, and the wish to possess them led to frequent contests and bloodshed " W. J. T. [pp. 92, 93.]
The S. Richard alluded to by Aubrey is commemorated on April 3, but the account given of him by Alban Butler, from his life by Ralph Booking, his confessor, does not agree well with . Aubrey's statement. Butler says he " always manifested the utmost dislike to gay diversions," and " condescended to become his brother's servant."
Page 38 (last paragraph). Slough of an adder. — The following extracts from the Royal Society MS. give a more detailed account of the uses of this: —
" For the prick of a thorne. R. a piece of the slough of an adder, and tye it to the wrong side of the finger or, &c. that is prick't with a thorne: it will open the orifice that you may pluck it forth. From Mrs. Markey, Sir Jo. Hoskyn's aunt." — Folio 1 64.
" For the spleen. Take a finger length of the slough of an adder in powders. I knew one that tryed it with good successe. In Sussex they weare hattbands of them for the headach or &c." — Folio 165.
The following extracts from the same MS. may find place here: —
" Sir Thorn, Trenchard, of Dorsetshire, walking in his parke at Lich-yate, was stung in the foot by an adder: which he killed. He presently betooke himselfe to his chamber; the (male or female) adder hunted him on the foot, and came and bounc't at his chamber doore ; they opened the doore and killed it. This is attested by the family.
" The fundament of a pigeon applied to the bite-place of an adder, that pigeon will quickly dye ; then put on another, &c., till no more will dye. Capt. Haniden." — Folio 166. A somewhat similar remedy (for hydrophobia) is given in Philosophical Transactions, xiv. 410(1687): "Pluck the feathers from the breech of an old cock, and apply it bare to the bite, and do this upon each of the wounds. If the dog were mad, the cock will swell and die, and the person bitten will do well ; but if the cock dies not, the dog was not mad. If the wounds be very small, it is requisite to open them with a lancet."
Page 42. Love-feasts. — " 'Aya?™?, or love-feasts, or revels. These stories are verily believed by most of this parish [Frensham] and by
NOTES.
225
many of their daughters, who can hardly be of any other opinion, so powerful a thing is custom joyn'd with ignorance. I remember the very same tradition and belief is in and about Camelot in Somerset- shire, where King Arthur kept his court. Homer in his Odysses reports that Ulysses in his travels came to a town where at one end of it it was day and at the other night. Mr. Thomas Hobbes in his translation makes this observation in the margin : Homer did not believe this, but it was a pleasure to him to think how much the learned could make the ignorant believe." — Nat. Hist, and Antiq. of Surrey, iii. 366-7.
Page 43. Cocklebread. — " ' Cockell-Bread ' is mentioned in Peele's Old Wives Tale, but the ingenious editor of that early dramatist expresses his regret that, * after many inquiries on the subject of cockell-bread,' he is unable to inform the reader what it was (Peele's Works, i. 234). The mystery is now clearly solved, for the question in Burchardus, which we here quote at length (from Grimm, xxxix.), fully establishes the correctness of Aubrey's views as to the origin of this game: — ' Fecisti quod quasdam mulieres facere solent, prosternunt se in faciem, et discoopertibus natibus jubent, ut supra nudas nates conficiatur panis, et eo decocto tradunt mantis suis ad comedendum. Hoc ideo faciunt ut plus exardescant in amorem illorem.'
"The name 'Hot Cockles' is derived by Strutt, in his Sports and Pastimes, p. 393, ed. 1833 (which contains, however, no allusion to any such Norman word as that to which Aubrey refers), from the 1 Hautcs Coquilles ' of the French. In the Memoires de V Academic Ccltique, torn. iii. we have a description of a curious marriage custom, which may possibly bear some reference to the ' cockel-bread,' or at least to the etymology of the name." — [W. J. T. pp. 95-6.]
Mr. H. C. Coote writes : — " I have more than once heard a nurse say to a baby, tossing it up in her lap —
' Up with your heels and down with your head, That is the way to make cockle bread.' "
Page 50. Pentalpha^ Pentacle. — " The ' Pentaculum Salomonis,' the ' Druden-fus ' of the German magical writers, and which is regarded at the present day by the superstitious in Germany as an effective hindrance to the power of witches, is said to have its origin in the secret doctrines of the Pythagoreans, and to have been from thence transferred to the mysteries of Druidism. Be this as it may, it is
226 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
certain it was looked upon in the Middle Ages as a sign of immense power ; and, at the present moment, the magical Pentalpha, in the western window of the southern aisle of Westminster Abbey, is one of the emblems which still exist, and tell to the initiated that the black monks who once chanted in the quire were deeply read in occult science. We are not therefore surprised to find it treated of in Dr. Carl Grabner's Bilder der Wunderkunst und des Aberglaubens, 8vo, Weimar, 1837, p. 86, or that Goethe should have made Faust avail himself of its influence, —
' Fur solche halbe Hollenbrut 1st Salomonis Schlussel gut,'
but it would scarcely be expected that a belief in its influence should be gravely avowed in a work published at the commencement of the nine- teenth century :— * It is always necessary to have this Pentacle in readi- ness to bind with, in case the spirits should refuse to be obedient, as they can have no power over the exorcist while provided with and fortified by the Pentacle, the virtue of the holy names therein written presiding with wonderful influence over the spirits. It should be made in the day and hour of Mercury, upon parchment made of a kidskiii, or virgin, or pure clean white paper, and the figures and letters wrote in pure gold ; and ought to be consecrated and sprinkled (as before often spoken) with holy water.' (Barrett's Magus, book ii. pt. iii. p. 109."— [W. J. T. p. 98.]
Page 49. Smallpox. — "In smallpox red bed-coverings were em- ployed, with the view of bringing the pustules to the surface of the body. The bed furniture and hangings were very commonly of a red colour ; red substances were to be looked upon by the patient. Burnt purple, pomegranate seeds, mulberries, or other red ingredients, were dissolved in their drink. In short, as Avicenna contended that red bodies moved the blood, everything of a red colour was employed in these cases." After citing the treatment of Edward II. alluded to by Dr. Kennet, Mr. Pettigrew continues : " Wraxall, in his Memoirs, says, that the Emperor Francis I., when infected with the smallpox, was rolled up in a scarlet cloth by order of his physician, so late as 1765, when he died. Kaempfer (History of Japan) says, that 'when any of the emperor's children are attacked with the smallpox, not only the chamber and bed are covered with red hangings, but all persons who approach the sick prince must be clad in scarlet gowns.' " — Pettigrew's Superstitious, pp. 18, 19.
NOTES. 227
Page 51. Chaucer's Tregetours. — " A much more recent instance of such
* An apparancc ymade by some magike; As jogeleurs plaien at these festes grete,'
is given in the first volume of The Gentleman's Magazine (1731), p. 79, where we are told that on the 15th February 'the Algerine Ambassadour went to see Mr. Fawkes, who at their request shew'd them a prospect of Algiers, and raised up an apple tree, which bore ripe apples in less than a minute's time, which most of the company tasted of.' This Faux was a well-known character in his day, and fully entitled to be called a ' conjuror,' since, in the account of his death, which is recorded in the (same magazine, he is said to have died worth 10,00(K., acquired by his dexterity. Faux may be consi- dered as a legitimate descendant of Pasetes the juggler, described by Agrippa in his Vanity of Arts as being * wont to shew to strangers a very sumptuous banket ; and, when it pleased him, to cause it vanish awaye, al they which sate at the table being disappointed both of mete and drinke.' See also Warton's History of English Poetry, ii. 238, who, speaking on the subject of Chaucer's Tregetour, observes, ' We frequently read in romances of illusive appearances framed by magicians, which by the same powers are made suddenly to vanish.' To trace the matter home to its true source, these fictions have their origin in a science which professedly made a considerable part of the Arabian learning. In the twelfth century the number of magical and astrological books translated into Latin was prodigious. The reader who is anxious to satisfy himself of the truth of this assertion may readily do so. In the collections of Early English Prose Romances, which the Editor of the present volume published some years since, ample proof of Warner's accuracy may be found. See the Lyfe of Virgilius, p. 25 ; The Famous History of Dr. Faustus, pp. 101 and 121 ; and The History of Fryer Bacon, p. 29 ; while among the German legends of Number Nip which Busching has collected in his Volks-Sagen, Marchen, tmd Legenden there occurs also a similar scene, and which is translated in Thoms's Lays and Legends of Germany, p. 216. The reader is referred for further illustration of the subject to Tyrwhitt's Notes upon this very passage of the Franklin's Tale, and to Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, book iii. cap. iv.; , . . . [also] to Luther's Table Talk, in the xxxvith chapter of which he will find a very curious story of a trial of magical skill between the Emperor Frederick, the father of Maximilian, and a conjuror; see p. 390 of
228 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
th « translation published at London in 1652, fol." — [W. J. T. pp. 99-100.]
Page 56. Striking a Bargain, — " A custom somewhat analogous is said to exist in Westminster School at the present day, where two boys who agree to fight go through the form which they call chopping hands ; and it is said that this form of accepting . a challenge is looked upon as so irrevocable that there has scarcely ever occurred an instance of the combat so resolved upon not taking place." — [W. J. T. p. 100.]
Page 57. Nodding of Images. — The quotation from what has been called " Dr. Foxe's lying Book of Martyrs " may, of course, refer to a matter of fact well known at the time. But it is as well to note that Collier (Church History, iv. 426-7) says that "whether the impostures [alleged by Henry and his followers against monasteries] are matter of fact will be a question." " It is sufficiently evident to any one who will take the trouble to inquire that our forefathers were not the blind fools some moderns suppose, to be juggled by any priest who pulled the strings of a puppet; nor did any one dare to accuse them of such folly while they were alive to reply." — Our Lady's Dowry, by the Rev. T. E. Bridgett, p. 302, where is other matter bearing on the subject.
Page 59. Whipping Tom. — " ' Whipping Tom's Rod for a proud Lady ' is the title of a satirical tract published about the year 1744. Whipping Tom himself would appear to bear some resemblance to Mumbo Jumbo, who disciplined the 'wandering maids and women' of Africa." — [W. J. T. p. 101.]
Page 61. Death by Enchantment. — " Though there is little authority for Aubrey's assertion that the death of Edward the Sixth had been compassed ' by witchcraft by figures of wax,' and though his supposed union of the Duke of Buckingham's mother with Lord Ancram is so great a blunder that it is not easy to guess its origin, yet the practice of attempting to destroy the lives of individuals by such a process was formerly exceedingly common ; so much so, indeed, that Dobenek, in his Volksglauben des Deutschen Mittelalters, ii. 20-28, devotes a chapter to this peculiar subject. Shakspeare has perpetuated, in the second part of Henry the Sixth, the charge brought against Eleanor Cobham, the Duchess, of conspiring—
NOTES. 229
' With Margery Jcmrdain, the cunning witch, And Roger Bolinbroke, the conjuror,'
that they should, to use the words of Fabyan, ' devise an image of wax like unto the king ; the which image they dealt so with that by their devilish incantations and sorcery they intended to bring out of life, little and little, the king's person, as they little and little con- sumed that image.' Our history affords also many other instances of such attempts, but the most recent which we have met occurs in Camerarius's Dissertationes Physico-Medicce, Svo, Tubingen, 1712, where we have an account of the endeavour of a prisoner at Turin to procure the death of the prince then reigning by stabbing a waxen image, after he had made use of several superstitious ceremonies, and also of a consecrated host. The man's knowledge, that upon the accession of a new prince to the dominions of Savoy and Piedmont all criminals were set at liberty, induced him to make this attempt, for which, after he had had his flesh torn off with red-hot pincers, he was hanged and quartered. And in the Memoirs of Literature, v. 125, whence the above account is derived, we are told that another man had suffered the same punishment for the same crime, at Turin, sixty years previously."— [W. J. T. pp. 101-2.]
Page 68. Old Wives' Tales. — " This is stated rather too strongly. Malmesbury mentions Bede, the Saxon Chronicle, Ethelward, and Eadmer, as authorities with which he was conversant. Of these, the first and second alone are of much importance for the Saxon periods of our history; and Malmesbury's narrative of that period is prin- cipally founded upon them, with some occasional assistance derived, as he acknowledges, from 'cantilence? old songs, a source of history not at all to be despised."— [W. J. T. p. 102.]
Page 68. St. George and the Dragon. — " Selden has poured out all his learning upon the subject of England's patron saint in his Titles of Honor, part ii. cap. v. ss. 41-4, in which he severally treats ' Of the chiefest testimonies in the Eastern parts of the Greek Church concerning Saint George ' ; ' The chiefest testimonies concerning him in the Western Church ' ; ' A consideration how he came to be taken for the Patron Saint of the English nation, and of his Feast Day'; and ' Of the Figure usually representing Saint George'; and where the reader will find ample information upon all the points
R
230 REMAINS OF GENTIL1SME.
touched upon in Aubrey's memorandum. Selden was inclined to believe * that his name had been first taken to us under Edward the Third/ but felt some doubts upon the point, seeing that, i in a most ancient Martyrologie, peculiarly belonging to this kingdome, he is the only saint mentioned for the three and twentieth of Aprill, though both in the Greek and Latin Martyrologies there be divers more beside him on that day. Unlesse there had beene some singular honor given him from this nation, why should his name alone be so honored with it.' The Martyrology to which Selden referred is the Saxon one in the library of Bennet College, Cambridge. A striking instance of the esteem in which the patron saint of England's soldiery was held at the battle of Poictiers is given in the curious collection of poems, written by Peter Suchenwirt, the German poet and herald of the fourteenth century: —
' Di Frantzois schrienn ' Nater Dam ! '
Das spricht: Unser Fraw mit nam;
Der Engelischen chrey erhal ;
' Sand Jors ! Sand Jors ! ' ' &c. ' The Frenchmen shont forth ' Notre Dame,'
Thus calling on Our Lady's name ;
To which the English host reply,
' Saint George 1 Saint George ! ' their battle cry.'
See Peter Suchenwirt' s Werke, &c. Wien, 1827, p. 60."— [W. J. T. p. 104.]
Alban Butler and Baring-Gould (Lives of the Saints, under the date April 23) may be consulted by those interested in the history of
St George.
Page 70. Mazes or Mizmazes. — "The lines quoted by Aubrey are from the ballad (written by the well-known Thomas Delorney, and printed by Percy, Reliques, ii. 143) on the subject of ' Fair Rosa- mond/ the beautiful mistress of Henry II Brompton
(apud Decem Scriptores, 1151) has probably furnished the founda- tion of one part of the legend, who says, ' Huic puellee spectatissimse fecerat Rex, apud Wodestoke, mirabilis architectural cameram operi Dedalino similem, ne forsan a Regina facile deprehenderetur, sed ilia cito obiit.' But, as Sir James Macintosh observes (History of Eng- land, i. 171), 'he speaks only of a contrivance against surprise; and clearly intimates that Rosamond died a natural death.'" — [W. J. T. p. 105.]
NOTES. 231
Page 79. Rings. — "Aubrey here alludes, it is presumed, to the diamond ring originally given by Elizabeth to Mary as a pledge of affection and support, and which Mary commissioned Beatoun to take back to her when she determined to seek an asylum in England. (See Camden's Elizabeth, p. 109, ed. 1615; Lingard, viii. 15, ed. 1838.) The following is one of Buchanan's Epigrams on the subject of the ring described by Aubrey (see p. 177 of the edition of his Poems, published at St. Andrew's, 1594): —
Loquitur Adamas in cordis effigiem sculptus, quern Maria Elizalethce Angl. misit.
( Quod te jampridem videt, ac amat absens,
Hasc pignus cordis gemma, et imago mei est ; Non est candidor, non est hsec purior illo, Quamvis dura magis, non mage firma tamen.'
And another Epigram, entitled ' De Adamante misso a Regina Scotiae ad Reginam Anglise,' will be found on p. 154 of the same volume." — [ W. J. T. p. 107.] See Mr. W. Jones's Finger-Ring Lore, pp. 340-3.
Page 80. Spitting on money for luck. — This is still a common practice about London, and apparently also in Yorkshire, where " some persons take out their money when first they hear the welcome cry [of the cuckoo], and spit upon it for good luck. Spitting for good luck on the first money taken during the day is very common ; this money is popularly called hansel." — Science Gossip, 1867, p. 177.
Page 82. Fuga Dcemonum. — " A house (or chamber) somewhere in London was haunted ; the curtains would be rashed at night, and awake the gentleman that lay there, who was musical, and a familiar acquaintance of Henry Lawes. Henry Lawes to be satisfied did lie with him, and the curtains were rustled so then. The gentleman grew
lean and pale with the frights ; and Dr. cured the house of this
disturbance, and Mr. Lawes said that the principal ingredient was Hypericon put under his pillow." — Miscellanies, pp. 140-1. Another account of this is given as follows in the Royal Soc. MS. fol. 118: " St. John's wort [Hypericon], plentifull in North- Wilts, and it growes also in Cranborn Chase. 'Tis Fuge dasmonum. A gentleman haunted with evil spirits had his curtains rasht every night and brought into leanesse : was freed from them by putting Hypericon
R 2
232 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
and Ros Solis under his pillow. This Dr. Ridgeley, M.D , who knew him, told me." Parkinson (Theatrum Botanicum, p. 573, 1G40) says of Hypericum pcrforatum : " Some have called it Fuga-dcemonum, superstitiously imagining that it will drive away devillsj" and Lang- ham (Garden of Health, ed. ii. p. 583, 1633) says : " Kept in the house, it suffereth no wicked spirit to come there." See also p. 191.
Page 82. True Lover's Knots. — The following is a fuller description by Clare than that quoted in the footnote : —
" When I was young, and went a weeding wheat, We used to make them in our dinner seat : We laid two blades across, and lapt them round, Thinking of those we loved; and, if we found Them linked together when unlapt again, Our loves were true ; if not, the wish was vain. I've heard old women, who first told it me, Vow that a truer token could not be."
Shepherd's Calendar, pp. 147-8.
Miss Baker speaks of — " Spells or charms, made by rustics, of the blades of the oat or wheat, and sometimes of the reed-blade." — North- amptonsh. Gloss, p. 407.
Page 90. Sortes Virgiliance. — "A very different account of the inci- dent related by Aubrey is given by Welwood in his Memoirs, pp. 93 and 94 (ed. 1820), where it is said that it was the king himself who, being at Oxford and viewing the public library, was shown a magnifi- cent Virgil, and induced by Lord Falkland to make a trial of his fortune by the Sortes Virgiliance, and opened the book at the passage just referred to. Weldon [Welwood] adds : * It is said King Charles seemed concerned at this accident, and that the Lord Falkland, observ- ing it, would likewise try his own fortune in the same manner, hoping he might fall upon some passage that could have no relation to his case, and thereby divert the king's thoughts from any impression that the other might have made upon him; but the place that Falkland stum- bled upon was yet more suited to his destiny than the other had been to the king's, being the following expressions of Evander upon the untimely death of his son Pallas, as they are translated by Dry den : —
•' O Pallas ! thou hast fail'd thy plighted word, To fight with caution, not to tempt the sword; I warn'd thee, but in vain; for well I knew, What perils youthful ardour would pursue;
NOTES. 233
That boiling blood would carry thee too far; Young as thou wer't in dangers, raw to war ! O curst essay of arms, disastrous doom, Prelude of bloody fields and fights to come.'
Sir Henry Ellis, Original Letters, 1st series, iii. 323, remarks upon the manner in which the king's body was disposed of, ' That opinions differed, at the time of this king's death, respecting his interment, cannot be doubted ; ' adding, after quoting the above statement from Aubrey, ' Sir Henry Halford's Account, however, of what appeared on opening the coffin of King Charles the First at Windsor, on the 1st of April, 1813, has set this question perfectly at rest.' " — [W. J. T. p. 110.]
Page 92. Lot-meades- — These Lot-meads constitute a very curious survival from the primitive village community. They doubtless formed a portion of the annual redistribution of lands which took place among the villagers. This redistribution leads us back to the very earliest times of English history. At Wanborough, Sutton-Benger, and Marlborough, there may have been the one lot-mead only representing the last surviving relic of the times when the inhabitants of these towns met together every year to divide by lot the arable lands belonging to their community. Sir Henry Maine in Village Communities in the East and West, M. Laveleye in Primitive Property, Professor Nasse in The Land Community of the Middle Ages, have thoroughly explained the particulars of this early form of landholding. Mr. Benjamin Williams, F.S.A. in Archeeologia, vol. xxxiii. and Mr. G. L. Gomme, F.S.A. in Archaeologia, vol. xlvii. have given important details connected with England. But the best way to illustrate the lot-meads mentioned by Aubrey is to give the following account of the whole process as it has been performed in Somersetshire : —
In the parishes of Congresbury and Puxton are two large pieces of common land, called East and West Dollmoors, which are divided into single acres, each bearing a peculiar and different mark cut in the turf, such as a horn, four oxen and a mare, two oxen and a mare, pole-axe, cross, dung-fork, oven, duck's nest, hand-reel, and a hare's tail. On the Saturday before Old Midsummer, the several proprietors of estates in the parishes of Congresbury, Puxton, and Week St. Lawrence, or their tenants, assemble on the commons. A number of apples are previously prepared, marked in the same manner with the before-
234 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
mentioned acres, which are distributed by a young lad to each of the commoners from a bag or hat. At the close of the distribution each person repairs to his allotment, as his apple directs him, and takes possession for the ensuing year. An adjournment then takes place to the house of the overseer of Dolemoors (an officer annually elected from the tenants), where four acres, reserved for the purpose of paying expenses, are let by inch of candle, and the remainder of the day is spent in that sociability and hearty mirth so congenial to the soul of a Somersetshire yeoman. (Collinson's History and Antiquities of Somersetshire, iii. 586, quoted in Blount's Tenures of Land and Customs of Manors, by Hazlitt, pp. 80-81, and in Hone's Every Day Book, sub voce 23rd June.)
For a further illustration of how much the district of Malmesbury, of which Aubrey says so much, possessed many of the relics of this bygone custom, a letter printed in the Athemeum of April 24, 1880, p. 537, by Mr. G. L. Gomme, may be referred to.
Page 93. Candlemas Day. — Another prognostic taken from this day is given in Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 16: —
" In South Wiltshire the constant observation is that if droppes doe hang upon the hedges on Candlemas Day that it will be a good pease year, it is generally agreed on to be matter of fact ; the reason perhaps may be that there may rise certain unctuous vapours which may cause that fertility. (This is a general observation, we have it in Essex. I reject as superstitious all prognosticks from the weather on particular days. — John Kay.)"
Page 98 (top). Those interested in this unsavoury subject will find a good deal of information in the Philosophical Transactions, xxx. 840-2 (1718).
Page 113. Sillyhow. — This is a Scotch word for the caul: "In Scotland, according to Ruddiman (Glossary to Douglas's Virgil), it is called a lialy or sely how, a holy or fortunate cap or hood. A midwife in Scotland is called a howdy or howdy wife." — (Pettigrew's Supersti- tions, p. 86.)
Page 115. Divining Rod. — Under the initials "B.M." I have given a short sketch of the history and use of the divining rod in the Gar- deners' Chronicle for Oct. 17 and 24, 1874. Reference may also be
NOTES.
235
made to Gent. Mag. 1751, pp. 507-8, 1752, p. 77 ; Hone's Year-book, under Dec. 30 ; Billingsley's Agricultural Survey of the County oj Somerset (1797); Vallemont's La Physique Occulte ou Traite de la Baguette Divinatoire ; Pliippen's Narrative of Practical Experiments (1853) ; Chevreul's De la Baguette Divinatoire (1854). A list of treatises on the subject is given in Notes and Queries, first series, x. 468; and a popular sketch of it in Baring-Gould's Curious Myths of the Middle Ages.
Page 120. Proverbs. — " Thieves' handsel ever unlucky." In Bonn's Handbook (p. 99) corresponding proverbs are given in Italian, French, Greek, and Latin: " ill-gotten goods seldom prosper" is our usual form. " Misfortunes seldom come alone " or " never come single " has one Latin and three French equivalents (Bohn, p. 116), but no Spanish one is given.
Page 123. Fairies. — " In the vestry here [Frensham], on the north side of the chancel, is an extraordinary great kettle, or caldron, which the inhabitants say, by tradition, was brought hither by the fairies, time out of mind, from Borough-hill, about a mile from hence. To this place, if any one went to borrow a yoke of oxen, money, &c., he might have it for a year, or longer, so he kept his word to return it. There is a cave, where some have fancied to hear musick. On this Borough-hill (in the tything of Cherte, in the parish of Frensham) is a great stone lying along, of the length of about six feet ; they went to this stone, and knocked at it, and declared what they would borrow, and when they would repay, and a voice would answer, when they should come, and that they should find what they desir'd to borrow at that stone. This caldron, with the trivet, was borrow'd here after the manner aforesaid, but not return'd according to promise ; and though the caldron was afterwards carried to the stone it could not be received, and ever since that time no borrowing there. The people saw a great fire one night (not long since) ; the next day they went to see if any heath was burnt there, but found nothing. But I do believe that this great kettle was an ancient utensil belonging to their church- house for the use of the 'AyaTrai, or love-feasts, or revels." — Nat. Hist, and Antiq. of Surrey, iii. 366.
Page 124. Abracadabra. — " With this spell one of Wells hath cured
236 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
above a hundred of the ague." See Miscellanies, pp. 133-4. Petti- grew's Superstitions, p. 53, should also be consulted.
Page 132. Eton School. — A good account of the "salt" custom at Eton will be found in Chambers's Book of Days, ii. 665-6.
Pages 136-8. Garlands. The custom at Newnton on Trinity Sun- day.— This remarkable custom, as related by Aubrey, was obtained by him originally from a " Mr. E. G.,5' who wrote to him a long letter detailing the custom as it is inserted in his manuscript. This letter is dated " Fest. Ascens. 1682," and is printed in a small pamphlet entitled "Miscellanies on several Curious Subjects : now first published from their respective originals. London : Printed for E. Curll at the Dial and Bible, over against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet Street, 1714." The letter contains the following opening, which is interesting from a literary point of view in showing how much Aubrey was known and respected for his antiquarian pursuits : — " Sir, — Hearing you were upon a survey of the North Riding of the County of Wilts, I thought this authentick account of the Town of Newnton might be acceptable to you, and be a small Help to your Design : For the Truth of what I send you, I have good Authority, and the particular Novelty of it might deserve a Place in your much wish'd for Work : It is as follows. * Newnton. This Village affords a lovely Prospect to the South, S.W. and S.E. On the South it is terminated by the blue Hills of Hackpen, Cheshill, &c., of that Range, between Malmes- bury-Town and the Ruins of the Abbey, with Charlton House (the Seat of the Earl of Berkshire) and, 'till the late unhappy Wars, with the Woods of Charlton Park and the Park of Hyams. At the upper end of this village was Sir Giles Escourt's House, Knight and Baronet, Lord of this Mannor, flank'd with a delicate Grove of Oaks, which he cut down and sold for £700. This Village, long Time ago, stood a little higher in the Field, where they still plough up Foundations of Houses : The Tradition is, that it was burnt and then built here, whence it was call'd Newnton, quasi New-Town. At the upper end of this Town, at the old Manor House, where the old Pidgeon House is, is a fine Fountain of Free-stone, from whence the Water was brought in Pipes of Lead to Malmesbury- Abbey ; they sometimes digg'd for the Pipes, but now I think few are left. Some of these Pipes have been digg'd up within these 20 years. This Town was
NOTES. 237
given to Malmesbury Abbey. The Church here was anciently a cbapel of ease to that Abbey, from which it is distant above two Miles.' "
From this printed copy it is worth noting the following variations in spelling from that in Aubrey's MS.
The Tele-howse on page 137 is printed by Curll eale-house.
" You shall pray to God," line 3, p. 138, reads, " You shall praise God " in the printed letter.
"Dan" in line 15 is printed " Don," and the following additional notes.
Page 137, " Tele House." The printed letter continues after the paragraph given by Aubrey, " of which house there is an account in Somner's Glossary, at the end of the English historians, printed at London 1652."
The matters connected with Aubrey in this pamphlet are as follows : —
V. "Mr. Lidall's Letter to Mr. Aubrey on the Disturbances at Woodstock Mannour- House in 1649."
VI. " Mr. Paschal's Letter to Mr. Aubrey, giving an account of a strange storm of Thunder."
VII. " Mr. Paschal's Letter to Mr. Aubrey, about a Discovery of some Ruins, &c. at Athelney."
VIII. " Mr. Aubrey's designed Introduction to the Survey and Natural History of the North Division of the County of Wilts."
XI. "Mr. E. G.'s Letter to Mr. Aubrey, giving an Account of an old Custom at Newnton in Wiltshire."
XII. " Mr. Paschal's Letter to Mr. Aubrey, concerning the Lead Mines and several Matters of Antiquity discovered in Somersetshire."
Page 153. Hard-men. — lt The oath referred to will be found in Segar's Honour Militarie and Civill, fol. 1602, p. 134. The superstition on which the supposed safety of this ' bold-faced villain ' was founded is clearly allied to that which forms the groundwork of Weber's beau- tiful opera, * Der Freischutz.' Some traces of it will also be seen in the story of the * Magic Gun,' one of the Palatine legends, printed in the Lays and Legends of Ireland. In Dr. Carl Grabner's Bilder der Wunderkunst, p. 30, we have, however, a more particular reference to this art of rendering the body invulnerable. It is there stated to be commonly known as the Pas-Passau in 1611, by the hangman of the town, who gave them scraps of paper to swallow, inscribed with
238 KEMAINS OF GENTILISME.
the mystical signs and words, * Arios : Beji, Glaji, Ulpke, nalat, nasala, eri lupie,' and which, in the belief of the credulous, enabled them, under the command of the Archduke Matthias, to defeat the ill-paid and dispirited forces of his brother the Emperor Rudolph II. Another method of accomplishing this object is also related by Grabner, who, at p. 205, tells us, on the authority of Hartmann's Teufeh- Stucklein, Frankfort, 1678, that a Jew once presented himself before Duke Albrecht of Saxony, and offered him a charm (Knop), engraved with rare signs and characters, which should render him invulnerable. The duke determined to try it, had the Jew led out in the field with his charm hanging round his neck ; he then drew his sword, and at the first thrust ran the Jew through."— [W. J. T. pp. 112-113.]
Page 158. Purple Dye.*— The paper referred to will be found in the Philosophical Transactions, xv. 1278-1286 (1685):— "A letter from Mr. William Cole, of Bristol, to the Phil. Society of Oxford, con- taining his Observations on the Purple Fish."
Page 161. Plygain. — Bingley, North Wales, ed. ii. (1814), quotes from Pennant as follows: " On the morning of Christmas-day, about three o'clock, the inhabitants used formerly to assemble in the churches; and, after the prayers and sermon were concluded, they continued their singing psalms and hymns with great devotion till daylight. Those who through age or infirmity were disabled from attending the church invariably read the prayers in their own houses, and sang the appro- priate hymns. This act of devotion was called ply gain, ' the crowing of the cock.' "
Page 162. Lent is dead. — " The Jack a1 Lent named in the preceding song refers to an image so called which was formerly thrown at in Lent, like cocks on Shrove Tuesday. Thus Ben Jonson, in his Tale of a Tub, says —
' On an Ash Wednesday,
When thou didst stand six weeks the Jack a' Lent, For boys to hurl three throws a penny at thee.'
" In the introduction to the second volume of Kinder und Haus- Mdhrchen of the Brothers Grimm we are told that in the * Neckar- thal ' it is the custom, for the boys to dress themselves with paper
NOTES. 239
caps, wooden swords, and sham moustachios, and go from house to house singing
' Eier 'raus, eier 'raus,
Der Marder 1st im Hiihnerhaus ! ' (Eggs out ! eggs out ! the polecat's in the hen-hcuse !)
until they receive some eggs, which at night they either eat or sell." — [W. J. T. p. 114.]
Page 165. Bones mixed with Ale.— The Royal Soc. MS. (fol. 184) refers as follows to this repulsive custom : " Dead men's bones, burnt to ashes and putt into drinke, doe intoxicate exceedingly. It was very much used in Ireland, for the prevention whereof a statute was made."
Page 174. Chapel at Turvill Acton. — Cfr. p. 77, where it is said to have been dedicated to St. Luke.
Page 175. Plants upon graves. — The following passages are con- nected with the " imagining " referred to by Aubrey : —
" Mr. Wyld saies, that in the ditches about Worcester, where the great fight was, Ann 165.. (wherein the bodies of the slaine lye buried), doe growe huge thistles : quaere of what sort? " — Royal Soc. MS. fol. 128.
" Danesblood (ebulus) about Slaughtonford in plenty. There was heretofore (vide J. Milton) a great fight with the Danes, which made the inhabitants give it that name." — Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 50.
" This place (Gatton) is renowned for a great slaughter committed on the plundering Danes by the women ; and as a confirmation of this tradition the vulgar show the herb called Dane-wort in great plenty, which they fancy to have sprung from the Danish blood." — Nat. Hist, and Antiq. of Surrey, iv. 217.
The tradition referred to here in connection with Sambucus Ebulus is well known: it is sometimes associated with other plants. — See Diet, of English Plant-Names, pp. 142, 143 : and a paper which I contributed to the Gardeners' Chronicle for 1875, p. 515. The " bore- thistle " mentioned at p. 175 is Carduus lanceolatus.
Pages 178, 184. Wearing of an Elder-stick. — In the Royal Society MS. fol. 139, is the following extract from Coles's Art of Simpling,
240 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
which contains a slightly more detailed account of the custom : " It is generally believed in Wiltshire (in the west), that if a man take an elder-stick and cutt it on both sides (so that he preserve the joint), and put it in his pocket when he rides a journey, he shall never gall. Our graziers and carriers doe commonly doe thus."
Page 189. "For a pinne and webbe in the eye, a pearle, or any humour that comes out of the head. — My father laboured under this infirmity, and our learned men of Salisbury could doe him no good. At last one goodwife Holly, a poore woman of Chalke, cured him in a little time. My father gave her a broad piece of gold for the receipt, which is this : Take about halfe a pint of the best white wine vinegar, put it in a pewter dish, which sett on a chafing dish of coales covered with another pewter dish ; ever and anon wipe off the droppes on the upper dish till you have gott a little glassefull, which reserve in a cleane vessell; then take about half an ounce of white sugar candie, beaten and searcht very fine, and putt it in the glasse, so stoppe it, and let it stand. Drop one drop in the morning and evening into the eye, and let the patient lye still a quarter of an hour after it. I told Mr. Robert Boyle this receipt, and he did much admire it, and took a copie of it, and sayd that he that was the inventor of it was a good chymist. If this medicine was donne in a golden dish or porcelane dish, &c. it would not doe this cure, but the vertue proceeds, sayd hee, from the pewter, which the vinegar does take off."— Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 74.
Page 198 (top). Stroking with a dead hand. — The following some- what fuller account is given in Royal Soc. MS. fol. 361-2. " 'Tis
certain the touch of a dead hand hath wonderfull effects, e.g
of Stowell in Somersetshire had a wenne in the inside of his cheeke, as big as a pullet egge, which by the advice of one was cured by once or twice touching or rubbing with a dead woman's hand (e contra for a woman, a dead man's hand). He was directed, first, to say the Lord's Prayer, and to beg a blessing; he was perfectly cured in a few weeks. I have seen the man, and Mr. Paschal, Rector of Chedley [?] attests it. Mdm. Mr. Davys Mells (a famous violinist and clockmaker) had a child crookback't cured thus, as the learned Dr. Ridgely hath averred to me.— [See Brand (Bonn's ed.),iii. 276-8.] Dr. Ralph Bathurst, Dean of Wells, and one of the Chaplains to
NOTES. 241
King Charles 1st, who is no superstitious man, protested to me that the curing of the king's evill by the touch of the king does puzzle his philosophic ; for whether they were of the House of Yorke or Lan- caster, it did. Tis true (indeed) there are prayers read at the touching, but neither the king minds them nor the chaplaines. Some confidently report that James, D. of Monmouth, did it ; quaere." Mr. Pettigrew has a long and interesting chapter on " the Royal Gift of Healing" (Superstitions, pp. 117-54)^
Page 198. Hangman's rope. — In Russia fragments of this are believed to confer luck upon gamesters: see Folk-Lore Record, iii. 137; also Brand (Bohn's ed.), iii. 276-7.
Page 205, footnote. Tom a' Bedlams. — " Till the breaking out of the civill warres, Tom 6 Bedlam's did travell about the countrey. They had been poore distracted men that had been putt into Bedlam, where recovering to some sobernesse they were liceutiated to goe a begging : e. g. they had on their left arm an armilla of tinn, printed in some workes, about four inches long: they could not gett it off. They wore about their necks a great horn of an oxe in a string or bawdrie, which, when they came to an house for almes, they did wind: and they did put the drink given them into this horn, whereto they did put a stopple. Since the warres I doe not remember to have seen any one of them. (I have seen them in Worcestershire within these thirty years, 1756: MS. note, anonymous.)" — Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 93.
"The practice of thus marking the poor 'Tom a' Bedlams 'resembles that of compelling the poor lepers of the Middle Ages to reside in houses set apart for them, and to give notice of their approach by ringing a bell, or sounding their clap-dish ; a custom which has given rise to some of the most pathetic incidents introduced into the ballads and songs of the people."— [W. J. T. p. 114.]
There is a song entitled " Tom a Bedlam," purporting to represent the ravings of a madman, in Durfey's Wit and Mirth, iii. 43.
APPENDIX II.
FOLK-LORE EXTRACTED FROM AUBREY'S WORKS (THE "MIS- CELLANIES" EXCLUDED), NOT IMMEDIATELY CONNECTED WITH SUBJECTS REFERRED TO IN THE " REMAINES."
Proverbial Sayings.—" A Wiltshire proverb: —
' When the wind is north-west The weather is at the best: If the raine comes out of east 'Twill raine twice twenty-four howres at the least.' "
Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 16.
" A proverbial rithme observed as infallible by the inhabitants on the Severne side: —
' If it raineth when it doth flow, Then yoke your oxe, and goe to plough; But if it raineth when it doth ebb, Then unyoke your oxe, and goe to bed.' " — Id.
11 Old Wiltshire country prognosticks of the weather: — ' When the hen doth moult before the cock, The winter will be as hard as a rock; But if the cock moults before the hen, The winter will not wett your shoes seame.' " — Id.
[There is a similar rhyme in Swainson's Weather Folk-Lore, p. 238.] " 'Tis a saying in the West that a dry yeare doe cause a dearth." — Id.p 33.
" A proverb: —
' Salisbury plain Never without a thief or twain.' " — Id. p. 69.
[Cfr. Bonn's Handbook of Proverbs, p. 223.]
" Proverb for apples, peares, hawthorns, quicksetts, oakes: —
' Sett them at All-hallo w-tyde, and command them to grow; Sett them at Candlemass, and entreat them to grow.' "—Id. p. 105.
[Cfr. Bohn's Handbook, p. 38.]
FOLK-LORE FROM AUBREY'S WORKS. 243
" Somerset proverb: —
' If you will have a good cheese, and hav'n old, You must turn'n seven times before he is cold.' " — Id.
[Bohn, p. 29.]
" The North for largeness, the East for health, The South for buildings, the West for wealth."
Royal Soc. MS. fol. 24.
" Not far from this place [the Globe Theatre] were the Asparagus Gardens, and Pimblico-Path, where were fine walks, cool arbours, &c. much used by the citizens of London and their families, and both mentioned by the comedians at the beginning of 1600. To walk in Pimblico became proverbial for a man handsomely drest; as these walks were frequented by none else." — Nat. Hist. Surrey, v. 221.
Kit of the Candlestick. — " Ignis fatuus, called by the vulgar Kit of the Candlestick, is not very rare on our downes about Michaelmas." — Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 17.
Mr. Thoms's chapter on " Puck as Will-o'-the- Wisp " ( Three Notelets on Shakespeare, pp. 59-72) may be referred to here ; the name " Kit- with-the- Candlestick " will be found in the footnote to p. 80 of the same volume.
Healing Springs. — " In the parish of Lydyard-Tregoz is a well, called by the country people Antedocks Well (perhaps here was the cell of some anchorete or hermite), the water whereof, they say, was famous heretofore in the old time for working miracles and curing many diseases." — Id. p. 23.
" In Lancarim [Glamorganshire] is a medicated spring, much frequented from several counties, time out of mind, for the King's Evil. There is a rill of about an ell broad between the two collines, covered with wood ; about twelve yards from this spring the rill falls from a rock eight or nine foot high, which makes a grateful noise ; the spring (which is exceeding clear) comes out of a pure white marie, I thought there had been no white marie in Wales, for the earth is red. Above this spring (about a yard broad and deep) spreads an old oak with hoary moss, on the boughs whereof two crutches. A graduate doctor hereabout imputes the vertue of this spring to the limestone, and says one of the chief ingredients of the doctors for the King's Evil is lime-
244 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
water." — Letter from Aubrey to Sir J. Hoskyns, published in Philo- sophical Transactions, xix. 727 (Oct. 1697).
Springs a Sign of Dearth. — " At Funthill Episcopi, higher towards Hindon, water riseth and makes a streame before a dearth of corne, that is to say, without raine, and is commonly look't upon by the neighbourhood as a certain presage of a dearth ; as, for example, the dearness of corne in 1678. So at Morecombe Bottome, in the parish of Broad Chalke, on the north side of the river, it has been observed time out of mind that when the water breaketh out there, that it foreshewes a deare yeare of corne, and I remember it did so in the yeare 1648. Plinie saieth (lib. ii. Nat. Hist.) that the breaking forth of some rivers annonce mutationem significat" — Nat. Hist. Wilts, pp. 32, 33.
" Mr. Tho. Ax tells me that somewhere in Wiltshire, between Ingepen and Andover, there breaketh out a rivulet against a dearth." — Royal Soc. MS. fol. 69.
Gilbert White of Selborne writes of a similar belief in Hampshire, He says : — " The land-springs, which we call levants, break out much on the downs of Sussex, Hampshire, and Wiltshire. The country- people say, when the levants rise corn will always be dear ; meaning that when the earth is so glutted with water as to send forth springs on the downs and uplands, that the corn vales must be drowned. And so it has proved for these ten or eleven years past " (Letter xix. to Daines Barrington, Feb. 14, 1774). The Rev. W. T. Bree, writing in London's Magazine of Natural History for 1829 (ii. 297), speaks of a " corn spring " in the parish of Allesley, Warwickshire, which was known as "the Dudley's [Dadley's] spring/' and «' has long been held in estimation among the lower orders for foretelling, as they believe, the dearness of corn ; and many old people, I am told, have been in the habit of watching its operations and placing much faith in them." He mentions another spring of a similar kind at Atherstone in the same county. Another correspondent of the same magazine (ii. 408) says that this is similar to springs " called, in Kent, nailbournes, one of which joins the Little Stour at Bishops- bourne." Hasted, in his History of Kent (folio ed. iii. 333), says, " Their time of breaking forth and continuance is very uncertain; but they are held, by the common people, to be the forerunners of scarcity of corn." See nailburn in Halliwell's Dictionary, and nail-bourne in
FOLK-LORE FROM AUBREY'S WORKS. 245
Pegge's Alphabet of Kenticisms (Eng. Dial Soc. series C. in. iii.) In Kennett's MS. Glossary (Lansdowne MS. 1033), under " Nail- borns," we read, "The encrease and swell [of] some rivulets in Kent, especially the Bourne, which issues at Lyminge, are there call'd nailborns, as in Yorksh. they are term'd gipsies" Under the word " Gipseys," Kennett assigns the word to the East Biding, and says they are " mentioned by Guil. Neubrigen, cap. 28, by the name of vipse"
/Spring giving Warning of Political Changes. — " In a grove of ew- trees, within the manour of Westhall, in the parish of Warlingham, as I have frequently heard, rises a spring upon the approach of some remarkable alteration in church or state, which runs in a direct course between Lille Hills to a place call'd Foxley-Hatch, and there disappears, and is no more visible till it rises again at the end of Croydon town, near Haling- pound, where with great rapidity it rushes
into the river near that church It began to run a little
before Christmas, and ceas'd about the end of May, at that most glorious sera of English liberty the year 1660. In 1665 it preceded the Plague in London and the Revolution in 1688." — Nat. Hist, and Antiq. of Surrey, iii. 47-8.
St. Thomas Becket's Path. — " In the common field of Winterbourn .... is the celebrated path called St. Thomas Becket's path. It leads from the village up to Clarendon Parke. Whether this field be sown or lies fallow, the path is visible to one that lookes on it from the hill, and it is wonderfull. But I can add yet farther the testimonies of two that I very well know (one of them my servant, and of an excellent sight) that will attest that, riding in the rode from London one morning in a great snow, they did see this path visible on the snow. St. Thomas Becket, they say, was sometime a cure priest at Winterbourn, and did use to goe along this path up to a chapell in Clarendon Parke to say masse, and very likely 'tis true ; but I have a conceit that this path is caused by a warme subterraneous steame from a long crack in the earth, which may cause snow to dissolve sooner there than elsewhere ; and consequently gives the dissolving snow a darker colour, just as wee see the difference of whites in damask linnen."— Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 37.
" 'Tis affirmed that between this place [Sutton] and Thorpe is to
S
246 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
be seen a path in the corn, like St. Thomas Becket's path." — Nat. Hist, and Antiq. of Surrey, iii. 230.
Spontaneous Generation. — "Edmund Wyld, Esq. R.S.S. hath had a pott of composition in his garden these seven yeares that beares nothing at all, not so much as grasse or mosse. He makes his challenge, if any man will give him xx11 he will give him an hundred if it doth not beare wheate spontaneously, and the party shall keep the key, and he shall sift the earth composition through a fine sieve, so that he may be sure there are no graines of wheat in it. He hath also a composition for pease, but that he will not warrant, not having yet tryed it."— Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 38.
Coal and Holly. — " As yet we have not discovered any coale in this country, but are supplied with it from Glocestershire adjoining, where the forest of Kingswood (near Bristowe) aboundeth most with coale of any place in the West of England; all that tract under ground full of this fossill. It is very observable that here are the most holly trees of any place in the West. It seemes to me that the holly tree delights in the effluvium of this fossill, which may serve as a guide to find it. I was curious to be satisfied whether holly trees were also common about the collieries at Newcastle, and Dr. . . . Deane of Durham, affirmes they are." — Id. p. 41.
" Holly is indifferently common in Malmesbury hundred, and also on the borders of the New Forest ; it seems to indicate pitt-coale." — Id. p. 55.
Pebbles: the Warning-stone. — " The millers in our country use to putt a black pebble under the pinne of ye axis of the mill-wheele, to keep the brasse underneath from wearing ; and they doe find by experience that nothing doth weare so long as that. The bakers take a certain pebble, which they putt in the vaulture of their oven, which they call the warning-stone ; for when that is white the oven is hot." — Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 43.
Strawberries sometimes Injurious — " Strawberries have a most delicious taste, and are so innocent that a woman in childbed, or one in a feaver, may safely eate them ; but I have heard Sir Christopher Wren affirm that if one that has a wound in his head eates them they
FOLK-LORE FROM AUBREY'S WORKS. 247
are mortall. Methinks 'tis very strange. Quasre trie learned of this? " — Id. p. 50. This is also mentioned by Aubrey in a letter to Kay, Aug. 5, 1691. See Correspondence of Ray (Ray Soc.), p. 238.
Trees Groaning when Felled. — " When an oake is felling, before it falles it gives a kind of shriekes or groanes, that may be heard a mile off, as if it were the genius of the oake lamenting. E. Wyld, Esq. hath heard it severall times. This gave the occasion of that expression in Ovid's Metam.orph. lib. viii. fab. ii. about Erisichthon's felling of the oake sacred to Ceres: —
' Gemitumq' dedit decidua quercus.' " — Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 53.
In the Nat. Hist, and Antiq. of Surrey (ii. 34) this belief is referred to at greater length, and Aubrey adds : — " It has not unusually been observed that to cut oak-wood is unfortunate."
Preservative against Witches. — " Whitty-tree or wayfaring tree is rare in this country ; some few in Cranbourn Chace, and three or four on the south downe of the farme of Broad Chalke. In Herefordshire they are not uncommon ; and they used, when I was a boy, to make pinnes for the yoakes of their oxen of them, believing it had vertue to preserve them from being forespoken, as they call it; and they use to plant one by their dwelling-house, believing it to preserve from witches and evill eyes." — Id. pp. 56-7.
The rowan tree, or mountain ash (Pyrus Aucuparia). the power of which against witches is well known (see Henderson's Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties, ed. ii. pp. 224-226), is here intended, although the name wayfaring tree is usually applied to Viburnum Opulus. This latter is however referred to by Aubrey (loc. cit.) under the name coven-tree. Halliwell gives Whitty tree as a western name for the mountain ash.
Local Rhyme. — " Pewsham Forest was given to the Duke of Buckingham, who gave it, I thinke, to his brother, the Earle of Anglesey. Upon the disafforesting of it the poor people made this rhythme : —
' When Chipnam stood in Pewsham's wood,
Before it was destroyed, A cow might have gone for a groat a yeare, But now it is denyed.'
s2
248 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
" The metre is lamentable, but the cry of the poor was more lament- able. I knew severall that did remember the going of a cowe for 4d. per annum. The order was, how many they could winter they might summer ; the pigges did cost nothing the going. Now the highwayes are encombred with cottages, and the travellers with the beggars that dwell in them." — Id. p. 58.
Local Saying. — " At Auburn is our famous coney-warren, and the conies there are the best, sweetest, and fattest of any in England ; a short, thick coney, and exceeding fatt. The grasse there is very short, and burnt up in the hot weather. 'Tis a saying that conies doe love rost meat." — Id. p. 59.
A Cowstealer's Trick. — " Some cowstealers will make a hole in a hott lofe newly drawn out of the oven, and putt it on an oxe's horn for a convenient time, and then they can turn their softned homes the contrary way, so that the owner cannot swear to his own beast. Not long before the King's restauration a fellow was hanged at Tyburn for this, and say'd that he had never come thither if he had not heard it spoke of in a sermon. Thought he, I will try this trick." — Id. p. 61.
" In Lancashire they make the homes of their cattle grow, and shape them, by anointing them once in a moneth or six weekes with goosegrease." — Royal Soc. MS. fol. 155.
Power of Moonwort. — " Sir Bennet Hoskins, Baronet, told me that his keeper at his parke at Morehampton, in Herefordshire, did, for experiment sake, drive an iron naile thwert the hole of the wood- pecker's nest, there being a tradition that the damme will bring some leafe to open it. He layed at the bottome of the tree a cleane sheet, and before many houres passed the naile came out, and he found a leafe lying by it on the sheete. Quaere the shape or figure of the leafe. They say the moonewort will doe such things. This experiment may easily be tryed again. As Sir Walter Raleigh saies, there are stranger things to be seen in the world than are between London and Stanes." —Nat. Hist. Wilts, p. 64.
Regarding this statement Ray observes, " The story concerning the drawing out the nail driven crosse the woodpecker's hole is without doubt a fable " (p. 8). The belief is one of considerable antiquity, for
FOLK-LORE FROM AUBREY'S WORKS. 249
we find it in Pliny (Nat. Hist. lib. x. 20). It exists still in Normandy and Central France. See Holland's invaluable Faune Populaire de la France, ii. 62 (1879). The traditional power of the moonwort (Botrychium Lunaria) over iron is well known. Culpeper (ed. 1653) says, " Moonwort is an herb which they say wil open locks, and unshoo such horses as tread upon it ; this some laugh to scorn, and those no smal fools neither; but country people that I know, cal it Unshoo the Horse ; besides I have heard commanders say, that on White Down in Devon-shire near Tiverton, there was found thirty hors-shoos, pulled off from the feet of the Earl of Essex his horses being there drawn up in a body, many of them being but newly shod, and no reason known, which caused much admiration ; and the herb described usually grows upon heaths." Coles (Adam in Eden) says, " It is said, yea, and believed by many, that moonwort will open the locks wherewith dwelling-houses are made fast, if it be put into the key-hole."
Birds not Breeding before a Pestilence. — " 'Tis certain that the rookes of the Inner Temple did not build their nests in the garden to breed in the spring before the plague, 1665; but in the spring following they did." — Id.
Lizards and Newts thought Poisonous. — " In Sir James Long's parke at Draycot-Cerne are grey lizards ; and no question in other places if they were look't after ; but people take them for newts. They are of that family. About anno 1686 a boy lyeing asleep in a garden felt something dart down his throat, which killed him : 'tis probable 'twas a little newt. They are exceeding nimble ; they call them swifts at Newmarket Heath. When I was a boy a young fellow slept on the grasse; after he awak't, happening to put his hand in his pocket, something bitt him by the top of his finger : he shak't it suddenly off so that he could not perfectly discerne it. The biteing was so venomous that it overcame all help, and he died in a few hours : — ' Virus edax superabat opem: penitusq' receptum Ossibus, et toto corpore pestis erat.' " — Ovid, Fasti.
Id. p. 66.
The Kev. J. G. Wood says that within his knowledge the newt was considered poisonous in Wiltshire, and specifies one or two cases in which this was supposed to have been proved. See his Illustrated Natural History (Reptiles), p. 181. A similar idea is entertained in Staffordshire ; see Science Gossip for 1869, p. 129.
250 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
Toad found in an Ash Tree. — " Toades are plentifull in North Wiltshire, but few in the chalkie countreys. In sawing of an ash two foot square, of Mr. Saintlowe's, at Knighton in Chalke parish, was found a live toade about 1656 ; the sawe cutt him asunder, and the bloud coome on the tinder-sawyer's hand ; he thought at first the upper sawyer had cutt his hand. Toades are oftentimes found in the millstones of Darbyshire." — Id.
Bite of a Man Poisonous. — ft Mdm. Dr. W. Harvey told me that the biteing of a man enraged is poysonous. He instanced one that was bitt in the hand in a quarrell, and it swoll up to his shoulder, and killed him in a short time. (That death, from nervous irritation, might follow such a wound is not improbable ; but that it was caused by any * poison ' infused into the system is an idea too absurd for refutation.— J. B.)."— Id. p. 72.
May dew Beneficial. — "Maydewe is a very great dissolvent of many things with the sunne that will not be dissolved any other way : which putts me in mind of the rationality of the method used by "Wm. Gore, of Clapton, Esq., for his gout, which was to walke in the dewe with his shoes pounced ; he found benefit by it. I told Mr. Wm. Mullens, of Shoe Lane, Chirurgion, this story, and he sayd this was the very method and way of curing that was used in Oliver Cromwell, Protec- tour."— Id. p. 73.
The Ricketts. — "Mr. M. Montjoy, of Bitteston, hath an admirable secret for the cure of the ricketts, for which he was sent to far and neer ; his sonne hath the same. Rickettie children (they say) are long before they breed teeth. I will, whilst 'tis in my mind, insert this remarque, viz. about 1620, one Ricketts of Newbery, perhaps corruptly from Ricards, a practitioner in physick, was excellent at the curing children with swoln heads and small legges, and, the disease being new and without a name, he being so famous for the cure of it, they called the disease the ricketts, as the King's evill from the King's curing of it with his touch ; and now 'tis good sport to see how they vex their lexicons, and fetch it from the Greek Pa^tt,- the back bone." — Id. p. 74.
This seems to throw some light upon the etymology of the word, which has been discussed at some length in Notes and Queries, 6th series, i. 209, 318, 362, 482.
FOLK-LORE FROM AUBREY^ WORKS. 251
Legend regarding the Site of Salisbury Cathedral — " The follow- ing account 1 had from the right reverend, learned, and indus- trious Seth Ward, Lord Bishop of Sarum, who had taken the paines to peruse all the old records of the church that had been clung together and untoucht for perhaps two hundred yeares. Within this castle of Old Saruin, on the east side, stood the cathedral church ; the tuft and scite is yet discernable : which being seated so high was so obnoxious to the weather that when the wind did blow they could not heare the priest say masse. But this was not the only inconvenience. The soldiers of the castle and the priests could never agree ; and one day, when they were gone without the castle in pro- cession, the soldiers kept them out all night, or longer. Whereupon the bishop, being much troubled, cheered them up as well as he could, and told them he would study to accommodate them better. In order thereunto he rode severall times to the lady abbesse at Wilton to have bought or exchanged a piece of ground of her lady- ship to build a church and houses for the priests. A poor woman at Quidhampton, that was spinning in the street, sayd to one of her neighbours : i I marvell what the matter is that the bishop makes so many visits to my lady ; I trow he intends to marry her.' Well, the bishop and her ladyship did not conclude about the land, and the bishop dreamt that the Virgin Mary came to him, and brought him to or told him of Merrifield ; she would have him build his church there and dedicate it to her. Merrifield was a great field or meadow where the city of New Sarum stands, and did belong to the bishop, as now the whole city belongs to him. This was about the latter of King John's reigne, and the first grant or diploma that ever King Henry the Third signed was that for the building of our Lady's Church at Salisbury."— Id. pp. 96-7.
Tradition regarding the Pillars in Salisbury Cathedral. — " 'Tis strange to see how errour hath crept in upon the people, who believe that the pillars of this church [Salisbury Cathedral] were cast, for- sooth, as chandlers make candles ; and the like is reported of the pillars of the Temple Church, London, &c.l and not onely the vulgar swallow down the tradition gleb, but severall learned and otherwise understanding persons will not be perswaded to the contrary, and that the art is lost. (Among the rest, Fuller, in his Worthies of England, gave currency to this absurd opinion,— J. B.) Nay, all the bishops
252 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
and churchmen of that church in my remembrance did believe it, till Bishop Ward came, who would not be so imposed on ; and the like errour runnes from generation to generation concerning Stoneheng, that the stones there are artificial." — Pp. 97-8.
Knockings. — " In the time of King Charles II. the drumming at the house of Mr. Mompesson, of Tydworth, made a great talke over England, of which Mr. Joseph Glanvil, rector of Bath, hath largely writt, to which I refer the reader. But as he was an ingenious person, so I suspect he was a little too credulous ; for Sir Ralph Bankes and Mr. Anthony Ettrick lay there together one night out of curiosity, to be satisfied. They did heare sometimes knockings; and if they said, 'Devill, knock so many knocks,' so many knocks would be answered. But Mr. Ettrick sometimes whispered the words, and there was then no returne; but he should have spoke in Latin or French for the detection of this. Another time Sir Christopher Wren lay there. He could see no strange things, but sometimes he should heare a drumming, as one may drum with one's hand upon a wainscot ; but he observed that this drumming was only when a certain maid servant was in the next room ; the partitions of the rooms are by borden-brasse as wee call it. But all these remarked that the devill kept no very unseasonable houres ; it seldome knock't after 12 at night or before 6 in the morning." (In Hoare's Modern Wiltshire (Hundred of Amesbury), p. 92, is a narrative, quoted from Glanvil, of the nocturnal disturbances in the house of Mr. Mompesson, at North Tidworth, Wilts, in the year 1661, which excited considerable interest at the time, and led to the publica- tion of several pamphlets on the subject. The book by Mr. Glanvil, referred to by Aubrey, is called ' A Blow at Modern Sadducism ; or, Philosophical Considerations touching the being of Witches and Witch- craft ; with an Account of the Demon of Tedworth,' Lond. 1666, 4to. There are other editions in folio and 8vo, in 1667 and 1668. Addison founded his comedy of * The Drummer ; or, the Haunted House,' on this occurrence. — J. B.) — Id. p. 121.
See Miscellanies, pp. 117-8, for further instances of knockings. A fourth edition of Glanvil's book, Sadducismus Triumphans, appeared in 1726.
Apparitions. — "At Salisbury a phantome appeared to Dr. Turbervill's sister severall times, and it discovered to her a writing or deed of settlement that was hid behind the wainscot. Though I myselfe
FOLK-LORE FROM AUBREY'S WORKS. 253
never saw any such things, yet I will not conclude that there is no truth at all in these reports. I believe that extraordinarily there have been such apparitions; but where one is true a hundred are figments. There is a lecherie in lyeing and imposeing on the cre- dulous ; and the imagination of fearfull people is to admiration : e.g. not long after the cave at Bathford was discovered (where the opus tessellatum was found), one of Mr. Skreen's ploughboyes lyeing asleep near the mouth of the cave, a gentleman in a boate on the river Avon, which runnes hard by, played on his flajolet. The boy appre- hended the musique to be in the cave, and ran away in a lamentable fright, and his fearfull phancy made him believe he saw spirits in the cave. This Mr. Skreen told me, and that the neighbourhood are so confident of the truth of this that there is no undeceiving of them." — Id. p. 122.
There is a long chapter upon apparitions in Miscellanies, pp. 70-105, containing one or two very circumstantial narrations; the instances given above, however, are not there included.
Graveyard Superstition. — "The grave-digger here [Woking] told me that he had a rule from his father, to know when not to dig a grave upon a corpse not rotted; which was, when he found a certain plant about the bigness of the middle of a tobacco-pipe, which came near the surface of the earth, but never appeared above it. It is very tough, and about a yard long; the rind of it is almost black, and tender, so that, when you pluck it, it slips off, and underneath is red ; it hath a small button at top, not much unlike the top of an asparagus : of these sometimes he finds two or three in a grave. He is sure it is not a fern root. He hath with diligence trac'd it to its root, and finds it to spring from the putrefaction of the dead body. The soil here is a fine red or yellowish red sand ; so that the cippus of the grave is by the wind and the playing of the boys quickly equal'd with the other ground : and to avoid digging upon a fresh corps, as aforesaid, had this caution from his father. In Send churchyard, about a mile or two hence, and in such a soil, he told me, the like plant is found; but for other church- yards he can say nothing. He said that coffins rot in six years in the churchyard in the church in eighteen years. This place [plant] did put me in mind of the yuoXt mentioned by Homer; but that, Homer says, puts forth a little white flower a little above the earth." — Nat. Hist, and Antiq. of Surrey, iii. 225-6.
254 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
From the description of the plant there is little doubt but that the fertile form of some Horsetail (Equisetum, probably E. arvense) is intended. The resemblance of these to asparagus did not escape the notice of the older herbalists ; see * Fox-tailed Asparagus,' in Diet. English Plant-names, p. 192.
A Causeway made by the Devil. — " Staen-street Causeway is ten yards broad, but in most places seven; two miles and a half or three miles long. It runs from Belingsgate to Belinghurst in Sussex, and so to Arundel. It goes through Dorking churchyard, which they find by
digging of the graves It is made of flints and pebbles ; but
there are no other flints nearer than seven miles, and the pebbles are such as are at the beaches in Sussex, from whence the common people say they were brought, and that it was made by the devil." — Nat. Hist, and Antiq. of Surrey, iv. 187.
Building on Consecrated Ground unlucky. — " In [Newdigate] church- yard stood a chapel dedicated to St. Margaret, which was pull'd down by one of the family of the Newdigates to give place to the building of a farm-house; and the tradition runs that this family soon after began to decay."— Id. iv. 262.
Insect indicating presence of Saltpetre. — " I remember the saltpetre men told me heretofore, that in ground abounding with saltpetre they find a little yellow insect, as yellow as gold, which is a good indication to them for saltpetre." — Aubrey to Ray, Dec. 15, 1692, Correspondence of Ray (Ray Soc.), p. 257. See also p. 238.
Popular Remedies (i.) connected with Plants. — " King James II.
sent, by Sir Garden, to the Royal Society a plant called Star of
the Earth, with the receipt made of it to cure the biting of mad dogs, which is in ^Philosophical'] Transact. No. 187. By the salt-pits at Lymington, Hampshire, grows a plant called Squatmore, of wonder- ful effect for bruises, not in any herbal. This I had from Th. Guidott, M.D., whose father had the saltworks and is a witness of the cures done by it. My old friend Mr. Fr. Potter (author of the Interpretation G66), told me that a neighbour of his who had the gout many years, an ancient man, was cured by an old woman with the leaf of the wild vine. I came there above a year after and the party had never a
FOLK-LORE FROM AUBREY^ WORKS. 255
touch of it. E. W[yld], Esq., tells me of a woman in Bedfordshire who doth great cures for agues and fevers with meadsweet, to which she adds some green wheat. A Parliament captain (in Ireland) told me, when the army was sorely afflicted with the bloody flux, and past the skill of doctors, they had a receipt from an Irishman, viz. to take the partition pith of a walnut and dry it, then to pulverize it, and drink as much as could be heaped on a 4d or Qd. in wine, or &c., and this cured the army." — Aubrey to Ray, Aug. 5, 1691, Correspondence of Ray (Ray Soc.), p. 238.
The plant called Star of the Earth is, in Phil. Trans, no. 187, identified with Silene Otites ; but this was an error, as was sub- sequently shown at length by Thomas Steward, in Phil. Trans, xl. (no. 451), pp. 449-462, the plant intended being the Buck's-horn Plantain (Plantago Coronopus). Squatmore is the Horned Poppy (Glaucium luteum). Aubrey has a similar notice of it in Royal Soc. MS. fol. 127, where he explains the name thus: — "In our western languages, squat is a bruise, and a roote we call a more" : there is a curious account of its properties in Phil. Trans, xx. (no. 242), p. 263. Wild vine is the White Bryony (Bryonia alba) ; Meadsweet, the Meadow- sweet (Spiraea TJlmaria).
(ii. For Cancer.) " In the holes made by the feet of cattle in this forest of Bradon the standing water lookes of the colour of burnt copper or (to use a more known comparison) of changeable taffata, which brings to my memory that about 1642 a lady of the west, being extremely ill of a cancer in her breast, and receiving no benefit from the country, as she was carrying into her litter at the inne at Hartley rowe, a poor woman was begging an almes of her. She pray'd God to bless her, and asked what ailed her. The lady slighted her question, but the poor woman was still importunate and sayd that perhaps she might doe her good. The lady told her she had a cancer in her breast. Sayd the woman, * That I can and have cured. Goe to some heaths or places where bogges are, and where you see in the prints of the feet of cattle or the like water stand with a thin cleame of a changeable taffata colour, thrust downe a staff, and there will stick to it some mud; repeat it severall times till you have gott as much as will make an emplaster, which apply to your breast.' The lady made use of it, and was cured." — Royal Soc. MS. fols. 56, 57.
(iii. For Jaundice.) " Tenches (Tinea) are common. Take tenches and slitt them in two, and put them to the soules of the feet and region
256 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
of the heart ; it is an approved receipt for the yellow jaundise. Tenches will, after application, stinke in an hower ; let them lye on twelve houres, and then put on fresh ones ; a matter of five applica- tions will doe the cure, if not too late. Mdm. When the tenches are taken off they must be buried in the earth ; they take out the back bone, but apply the entrailes ; the head is cutt off, because it will be uneasy to the patient." — Royal Soc. MS. fol. 157..
(iv. Loaches.) " Loches are in the upper Avon, at Amesbury, where they use to drinke them alive in sack ; they say 'tis wholesome ; I believe 'tis but a piece of wantonesse, but this is an ancient custom." Royal Soc. MS. fol. 158.
(v. For the Plague.) " Calcinatio bufonum. R. Twenty great fatt toades (in May they are best), putt them alive in a pipkin, cover it, make ignem rotce to the top; let them stay on the fire till they make no noise, then they will begin to smoake (the smoake is very dan- gerous) ; then cover it all over with coales ; lett them burn till they smoake no more ; then let all coole in the pipkin ; you will find all cal- cined white with black bones, which beat fine in a mortar, and it will bee a black powder. Take halfe the black calcination and put it in a crucible or small pipkin, cover it with a tile, plant it in a melting fur- nace, make ignem rotce to the top ; and, as the pulvis begins to glow, stir it now and then with a iron spatula; let it calcine so long till you perceive blow fumes to arise like $ ; then take out a little with a spatula, if white 'tis enough; then take out the crucible, let it cool, beat it very fine in a stone mortar, keep it in a glass for use, 'tis a special remedie for the plague ; dose is ^i 3 mornings together. Dr. Thorn. Willis mentions this powder in his Tractat. de febribus, and that he had the receipt a quodam Aulico, which was Sr Robert Long. Also good to pestilentiall feavers and the small pox." — Royal Soc. MS. fol. 167.
(vii. For the Gowte.) "Take snailes out of their shells and pound them, and make a plaister of them, which apply to the place grieved. The Morocco Ambassador came to see Mr. Ashmole's rarities when Mr. Ashmole was ill of the gout. The Ambassador then told this medicine, which they much used in Africa." — Rcyol Soc. MS. fol. 168.
(viii. For an Ague or an Hectick Fever.) " R. The morning urine of the sick party before it is cold, and boyle an egge in it till it lookes blew ; put it into a pasture emot's hill, and in a few dayes, as the egge wastes, the party will recover. You must prick the shell indifferently
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257
full of holes with a bodkin, that emots may get in, and it must be putt to the bottom of the emot hill, that it takes no aire. The receipt I had from Captain Hamden, who hath tryed it severall times with good successe. The medicine is in Crollius, and Mr. Robert Boyle quotes it."— Royal Soc. MS. fol. 168.
(ix. For a Bruise.) "A plaster of honey effectually helpeth a bruise. From Mr. Francis Potter, B.D. of Kilmanton. It seemes to bee a very rational medicine; for honey is the extraction of the choicest medicinal flowers." — Royal Soc. MS. fol. 169.
Weather Prognostics. — " The watermen of the Thames foretell change of weather when it freezeth by the cruddling of the clowdes like sand, and the sweating of the stones. The shepherds in Spaine will foretell raine a fortnight before it comes. Mists are there very often, and they are thicker than in England. The custome there is, before they goe a hawking, to send to the shepherd to know at what o'clock the mists will break up, which they will tell to an hower. When my Lord Cottington was ambassadour there, he used this method, of which I was enformed by Rowland Plattes, Esq., who was then gentleman of his horse, and Sir Robert Southwell affirmes the same. It is generally observed by us, that when the springs doe breake out, and the water riseth high in wells, to be a certain sign of dry weather, and vice versa, that when the springs in wells doe shrink, 'tis a certain signe of wet weather." — Royal Soc. MS. fol. 32.
" 'Tis observed that when the sea-mews do return to Colern down, from the sea, 'tis signe of a storme : the watermen say, that the sea- mews against fowle weather will gater together at the sea and make a noise and away to land according as Virgil speakes (Georg. lib. i.) : — < Jam sibi turn curvis male temperat unda cavinis, Cum media celeres revolant ex asquore mergi, Clamoremq. ferunt ad littora ; cumq. marinse In sicco ludunt fulicae.'
" At Fausby (neer Daintre") in Northamptonshire a raven did build her nest on the leads between the tower and the steeple. By the placing of her nest towards a certain point of the compas the inhabitants did make their prognostiq as to the dearness or cheapnesse of corne ; when she build on the north side it was a ...... and when it was on the
south side the oldest peoples grandfathers here, did never
remember, but that this raven yearly made her nest here, and in the
258 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
late civil warres the soldiers killed her. I am sorry for the tragical, end of this old church bird, that lived in so many changes of governmt. and religion, waies of worship in the church. But our shepherds and ploughmen doe make as usefull considerable observations of a mouse- hole of a fieldmouse : which way it points ; sc. if it points eastward it is a signe of a wett winter, for here the wett comes from the west for the most part." — Royal Soc. MS. fols. 33-4.
" When the magpie builds high, 'tis a signe of a wett somrner." — Id. fol. 34.
"I remember that Mr. Thomas Hobbes told me that at Naples it is observed that a small clowd as big as one's fist doeth presage thunder and lightning, then they ring their bells, which they believe have power to drive it away." — Royal Soc. MS. fol. 37.
" The niall (or woodpecker) was much esteemed by the Druides for
divination; see concerning this in Ponticus Vicunnius, p To this
day the country-people doe divine of raine by their cry : clank, clank, clank, which noise of theirs is a signe of raine." — Royal Soc. MS. fol. 161.
This belief is still general about the green woodpecker (Picus viridis), which is called " rain-bird" in the north of England, and "rain-pie" in Somersetshire. M. Holland (Faune Populaire de la France, ii. 60-2) cites many equivalent French names, and says that the same belief is general; and Mr. Swainson ( Weather Folklore, p. 248) gives a Venetian proverb to the same effect.
The Spanish Fig. — "In Spain they have an art to make figges poy- sonous by planting certain poysonous plants at the roote of the tree ; hence comes the proverbe of the Spanish Figge. The way of doeing it is in a printed booke which E. W[yld], Esq., hath." — Royal Soc. MS. fol. 20.
The Dwy or Twy, a Meteor. — " In the year 1659, on Saturday after- noon, as Mr. George Crake and Mr. Whorwood were passing over from Southampton to the Isle of Wight, a conglomerated substance in the aire easily observed, and resembling in some measure a chain-shot, was first taken notice of by a thatcher, who was at worke on a house near the seaside, and seeing the boat where those two gentlemen, their men and horses, with two boatmen were^ said to the man that serv'd him, ' That Dwy ' (for so this meteor is vulgarly called) * will en- danger that boat,' pointing towards it. And in very short time after,
FOLK-LORE FROM AUBREY'S WORKS. 259
he saw the men in the boat labouring to lower saile, and lay all flatt, who not being able to effect their designe, the Dwy presently overset the boat, and all were drowned. A few dayes after, being at my father's house at Lymington, at dinner, a master of a ship that was then in Cows-road dined with us, and was telling us news, that some dead bodies arose lately by his vessel's side, which I presently suspected to be the gentlemen mentioned, whom I left well, and found it true. Doctor Walter Pope, then Fellow of Wadham College, Oxon, Mr. John Smart, Fellow of Trinity College, Oxon, and Mr. Cripps, Fellow of Merton College, were then with me, and had gon with Mr. Crake and Mr. Whorwood had not my invitation prevailed with 'em. The nature of this Twy is such that if it meet with opposition it destroyes all, but to anything that yields it does no hurt ; of a very swift motion, and certain mischiefe where it falls, and very usuall there, if not peculiar to the place."— Royal Soc. MS. fol. 35.
"During a tempest at Loughton, in Cheshire (near Staffordshire), about 1649, which happened on a Sunday in the time of divine service, a purplish nubecula came into the church and there brake like Aurum Fulminans, and did kill and hurt many, with spotts and holes ; the more they tampered with medicines the worse they were, till they happened to apply milke, and that only did give them ease and cure. I have seen a pamphlet that gives an account of the like accident, which happened at Teverton in Devonshire; 'twas between 1630 and 1640. Mr. Hook has it."— Royal Soc. MS. fol. 37.
Timber folk-lore. — " It is observed by the timber-buyers in London, that when they fell their timber, sc. oakes, that if the wind happens to change to the east, they doe stay their felling of them ; for then the barke will not runne, as they terme it. From Mr. Edm. Wyld, Esq., and Mr. Abbas, a timber merchant." — Royal Soc. MS. fol. 132.
Lapwings laying in an easterly position. — " I have heard it affirmed that lapwings doe lay their eggs on the east side of a hill, and lett the sun hatch them ; and that one has taken of the egges, and layd them in an east window and they were hatched, sed quaere de hoc."— Royal Soc. MS. fol. 161.
Seven- children at a birth.— After referring to the occurrence of this phenomenon, Aubrey proceeds: —
260 REMAINS OF GENTILISME.
" In this parish [Wishford Magna] is a confident tradition that these seven children were all baptised at the font in this church, and that they were brought thither in a kind of chardger, which was dedicated to this church and hung on two nailes (which are to be seen there yet) neer the belfree on the south side. Some old men are yet living that doe remember the chardger. This tradition is entred into the register booke there, from whence I have taken this narrative." — Royal Soc. MS. fol. 180.
To make Test. — " Take an oaken bough in summer, or in winter a broom bush, putt either of them into the yest that workes, and let it imbibe as much as it will, so hang it up and keep it for your use. When you use it, putt a little of this to a little wort (i.) about two quarts bloud warm. This R Colonell Everton had from a Scotch witch."— Royal Soc. MS. fol. 303.
Stobball-play , a Wiltshire game. — " Stobball-play (it is peculiar to North Wilts, North Gloucestershire, and a little part of Somerset, near Bath), they shite * a ball stuffed very hard with quills, and covered
with soale leather as big as a bullet, with a staffe commonly
made of withy, about three and-a-half feet long. Colem-downe is the place so famous and so frequented for stobball playing. The turf is very fine, and the rock (i.) freestone is within an inch and half of the surface, which gives the ball so quick a rebound. A stobball ball is of about four inches diameter, stuffed very hard with quills sowed into soale leather, and as hard as a stone. I doe not heare that this game is used anywhere in England, but in this part of Wiltshire, and Gloucestershire adjoining. They strike the ball with a great turned staff of about four feet long." Royal Soc. MS. fol. 347. It is probably the same as stool-ball] cfr. Brand (ed. Bohn), i. 179, 180 ; ii. 442.
Witches and Wizards. " In the time of King James the 1st there
was one Cantelow, of Funthill, whom the countrey thereabout
did repute a great wizard. Severall odd stories goe yet of him, but one to this purpose : a difference had been between the minister of Orston (or near Orston) and him ; and shortly after, when the minister
* Halliwell reads " strike," but in the MS. it is certainly « shite."
FOLK-LORE FROM AUBREY'S WORKS. 261
was in bed, and going to his repose, he should heare in his chamber chimney the noise of a great passing bell, but without dore it was not heard. This noise continued every night for divers moneths, to the parson's great vexation. Some did think it might be a trick contrived by a great virginal wire strained, but it was never discovered. About 1649, one Mris Bodnam, of Fisherton Anger (a poor woman that taught children to reade) was tryed for a witch at Salisbury, before the Chief Baron Wyld, and was executed. Evidence against her was that she did tell fortunes, and shewed people visions in a glasse, and that a maid saw the devill with her, with whom she made a contract, and that she knew 'twas the devill by his cloven foot ; that a boy was carried up in the aire to a place covered with snow to gather certain plants, and that a black bore did shew where he should dig for them ; these herbs were for a philtre. Mr. Anth. Ettrick, of the Middle Temple (a very judicious gentleman), was a curious observer of the whole triall, and
was not satisfied in the The crowd of spectators made
such a noise that the judge could not heare the prisoner, nor the pri- soner the judge; but the words were handed from one to the other by Mr. E. Chandler, and sometimes not truly reported. This memo- rable triall was printed by Bowers, one of the clarkes, about
1651. ^:'—Eoal Soc. MS. fol. 363.
INDEX.
Abracadabra, 124, 235
Absolution, 9
Accounts, manner of keeping, 175
Acorn used instead of cross, 95
Adder, skin of, 3H, 224; remedy against
its bite, 206, 224 Adelm's (S.) Bell, 22, 96, 219 Adonis, death of, 156 Advent Sundays, folk-lore, 25 Agapa, 41, 214, 224 Agnes' Night (S.), dreams on, 54 Agnus Dei hung from a steeple, 50 ;
virtue of, 211 Ague, amulet against, 118 ; spell and
cures for, 125,185, 186, 192, 198, 200,
257 Ale, 70, 78, 87. 179; bones mixed with,
165, 239
Ale-house doors, painting of, 212 All Souls' Day, cakes on, 23 Altars, 15, 20, 21, 218 ; placed at east
end, 106; swearing before, 129, 131 Ambrosden (Oxon.), customs at, 24,
65; church at, 48 Amulets, 32, 126, 209, 210, 222 ; coral
worn as, 114 ; wolf's tooth as, 115 ;
against ague, 118 Amethysts, 210 Anemone, use of, 185 Angels with wings, 176 Anglesea funeral custom, 23 Antedock's well, 243 Apollo's harp, 152, 168 Apparitions, 144, 177, 252; on Mid- summer Eve, 26, 97 Apples, blessing of, 96 Arithmetical figures, 123 Armilla, 205
Arrows, divination by, 92, 116 Arseverse, 136, 193 Arthur (King), his taking of York
and feasting thereafter, 5 Ascendent, 176 Aster as a medicine, 192 Astrology, 176 August called sere month, 123
Baking, old way of, 20, 183 ; S. Stephen invoked in, 29
Baptism, 9, 131
Barbara, S., invoked, 22
Bard, a prophetic, 134
Bargain, striking a, 56, 228
Barking of dog, 8
Barley in sacrifice, 143 ; in invocations, 148; as a Lar, 172; used as a cure for whitlow, 186
Barm, 182
Barrows, 68
Bay tree, against lightning, 89; crack- ling of leaves, 179; berries of, 187
Beans, 133, 182; blue, rhyme regard- ing, 12, 216; king and queen of, 88, 122, 183; burial of, 102, 103; in- visible, 102
Beasts, to make tame, 189
Beating pans when bees swarm, 15
Beaumaris, custom at, 23
Becket, S. Thomas. Tuesday con- nected with, 12; his path, 245
Beef, powdered, used against fluxes, 118
Beer kept from souring by iron, 22, 104, 178
Bees, beating pans when they swarm, 15,87
Bell, S. Adelm's, 22, 96
Bells, power of, 19, 96 ; swearing by, 131; rung at funerals, 166
Bellyache, 188, 201
Berkshire lore, 34; Wallingford Castle in, 48
Bicester, rhyme concerning, 45 ; cakes at, 65
Birch at Easter and Whitsuntide, 119
Birds not breeding before a pestilence, 249
Bitch, spayed, 53
Bite of a man poisonous, 250
Black cat's head, 102
Blear-eyes, 196
Blessing, 62; of fields, 9; of deer and cattle, 77; of apples, 96; of the brine, 223
264
INDEX.
Blood, to staunch, 187, 192
Bloody-bone and raw-head, 59
Boar at Christmas, 141; Boar's head
song, 142
Bones mixed with ale, 165, 239 Bonfires, 157; on Midsummer Eve, 26,
220
Bonnets, veiling of, 199 Book, opening of, as an omen, 115;
swearing by, 131 Borage, drinking wine with, 109 Bore-thistle, 175 Borough-hill (Surrey), frequented by
fairies, 123, 235 Borrowing days, 95 Botches, cure of, 191 Bounds, 13 Bowls, cheer in, 140 Boy-bishop, 171 Bramble, creeping under, 187 Brass-pots, turning of, 206 Brase-nose College Gate, 201 Bread, holy, 7 ; unleavened, 9 ; cross
made on, 51; gospel read over, 123 Briars cut in August, 123 Bride cakes, 22, 181 Brig of Dread, 31, 221 Brine, blessing of the, 223 Bristol, tooth used at, as cure for tooth- ache, 164 Brown's (Sir T.)Vulgar Errors, quoted,
109; Urn Burial, quoted, 164 Bruises, cures for, 255, 257 Bryony, black, as an amulet, 186 Bullet, silver, will kill a Hardman, 154 Burial, Christian, 165 Burning'of shed teeth, 11; of the dead,
17; of' cheek, 54, 96, 110, 195; of
ear, 195 Bury (Lancashire), use of simnels at,
215 Burying of black cat's head, 102; of
beans, 102 Butter-tower at Rouen, 209
Cassar, Julius, 14
Cakes, 139, 140; soul, 23; for plough- men, 23 ; at Easter, 47 ; christening, 65 ; dumb, 65 ; rocking, 65
Caleshes, 122, 156
Cancer, mud a cure for, 255
Candle, stranger in, 57, 114 ; burning blue, 114; thief in, 26, 158; burning by corpse, 180
Candlemas-day, 93, 95, 242 ; weather prognostic on, 234
Candlerush, dancing the, 45
Canonised saints, 66
Cards, ill-luck at, 199
Carols, 50, 160
Casting drink on the ground, 37, 144, 160, 179
Casting lots, 24
Cat, black, head of, 102
Catherine, Si, invoked, 29
Cattle, prayers for, 131
Catullus, extracts from, 150
Caul, a child's, 113
Causeway made by the devil, 254
Cerealia, 85, 96, 140
Chancels, 96
Charistia, 13
Charles I. and lots, 90
Charms, 61, 124, 131, 180, 185, 190, J94; tongues tied with, 11 ; against evil spirits, 12 ; herbs used as, 77, 153 ; to bewitch, 86 ; against shot, 154
Chaucer's Tergetors, 51, 135, 227
Cheek burning, 54, 96, 110, 195
Cheer in bowls, 140
Cheese, Somerset proverb regarding, 243
Cheese fats, 17
Chequers, 212
Cheshire, springs blessed in, 58, 223 ; eating at funerals in, 99
Chess-boards, 209
Child-bishop, 171
Children, vowing of, 97 ; seven at a birth, 260
Chimneys, 149
Chin-cough, cure for, 187
Chiromantie, 99
Christening, 42 ; christening cakes, 65
Christian festivals, institution of, 6; burial, 165
Christmas, 88; customs, 5, 26, 89, 142, 214; Christmas pies, 88; boar at, 141
Church-ales, 47
Churches, 106; dancing in, 5, 213; painted windows in, 48 ; form of, 49 ; situation of, 49 ; images in, 50 ; de- coration of, 72, 119, 122 ; lamps in, 73 ; perfumes in, 77 ; consecrating, 122
Church-houses, 46
Church-mawle, 127
Churchyards, yew-trees in, 64, 165, 178, 179
Cimnells, 7, 14, 214
Clock striking, prayer at, 34
Cloud, small, a sign of thunder, 258
Cloven hoof, 113, 261
Club, carrying of, 41
Coal and holly, 246
Cock-crowing, 34, 161, 196
Cockle-bread, 43, 96, 225
INDEX.
265
Cock-fighting, 178; at Shrovetide, 35 Cognes, 210 Coins, old, 181 Commons, 18, 85 Conies and roast meat, 248 Conjuration, 176
Consecrated things, 127 ; ground un- lucky to build on, 254 Consecrating churches, 122 Coral connected with teeth, 114; as an
amulet, 114, 203, 204 Corn, preserving of, 184 ; prognostics
of price of, 244, 258 Cornfields, gospel read in, 59 Coronets, 205 Corpse carried head foremost, 167 ;
candles burning by, 180 Counter-charm, a, 87, 199 Counters used for reckoning, 124 Cowstealer's trick, 248 Crests, 99 Cromwell, Sept. 3rd associated with,
12,217 Cross, the, 161; churches built inform
of a, 49; towns built in form of, 50;
sign of the, 51
Cross-legged, sitting, 111, 199 Crowing of cock, an omen, 196 Crowns and garlands, 139 Cuckolds, 40 Cups, refined, 72 Curricles, 85, 176 Cutting hair, times for, 111; in a new
moon, 180
Cutting names on trees, 57 Cutting oak-wood unlucky, 247 Cymbals, 15, 167 Cypress at funerals, 74
Dancing the candlerush, 45 ; in churches, 5, 213
Danesblood, or Banewort, 239
Day-fatality, 12, 63, 216
Days, names of, 99, 116
Dead, burning of the, 17 ; masses for, 18, 78; touch of the, 118, 197, 198, 240; folklore of, 118; gifts for, 120; praying for, 194 ; unlucky on board ship, 67, 200
Dead man's head, 102; hand, 103, 197, 198, 240
Dearth, springs a sign of, 244
Death, signs of, 118, 180, 214; by en- chantment, 61,228
Decorating of churches, 72
Derbyshire, well-flowering in, 223
Devil, cloven hoof of, 113. 261 ; and holy water, 121; causeway made by, 254
Diamonds, 210
Dill against witches, 82, 191
Diriges, 18, 88
Diseases, transplanting, 203
Disinheriting eldest sons, 107
Divination, 189, 211
Divining rod, 115,234
Dog barking, 8; spell against a mad,
125; howling of, 163; cure of bite of
a mad, 254 Doles at funerals, 36 Dorsetshire, haunted house in, 63;
mazes in, 71; proverbs, 123 Dotroa, 95 Drawing lots, 24 Dreams, 151; on St. Agnes' Night, 54;
morning, 57
Dressing of fountains, 32, 80, 84 Drink, casting on the ground, 37, 144,
160, 179; offering, 148 Drinking custom, 5 ; healths, 13, 14,
108 ; wine with borage, 109 Droitwich, well-feast at salt-spring,
33, 71, 203 Drums, 150, 167
Duels, herbs used as charms in, 77 Dumbcake, 65 Dungeons, 47
Dust, throwing on one's head, 144 Dwy, a meteor, 259 Dye, purple, 158
Ear burning, 195
East, praying towards the, 17 ; altars
placed in the, 106 Easter, cakes baked at, 47 ; tansies at,
88; sun does not dance at, 113; birch
used at, 119
Eating together, as an oath, 130 Edward VI. killed by witchcraft, 61 Eggs filled with salt, used in divining
marriage, 62 ; shells broken, 110,
193 ; used in Midsummer Eve for
divining, 133 ; an unequal number
to be set, 178, 183; as a remedy
against ague, &c. 257 Elder-stick worn against galling, 179,
184, 239
Eldest sons, disinheriting, 107 Elvelocks, 111
Enchantments, 126; death by, 61, 228 Essex, Hornchurch in, 76, 156 Eton School, customs of, 132, 236 Even or odd numbers, 63 Evil tongue, 12, 60, 80 Exorcism, 104, 131, 207 Eyelid itching, 54, 164 Eyes, fascinating, 80; pin and web in
the, 189 Eyesight, remedy against defective, 187
266
INDEX.
Face, moles in the, 197
Fair Rosamond, 70, 230
Fairies, 28-9, 122, 177, 235; children
stolen by, 30; money of, 102, 125 Fairs, 108
Falling sickness, 199 Fascination, 80, 200 Faunus and Picus, 14, 84 Feasts, 119, 143; at funerals, 143 February called sowle-grove, 9, 123, 216
Felling of timber, 260
Fellon, cure for a, 203
Feralia, 42
Fermented liquors, 133
Fertility of women, 10
Festivals, institution of Christian, 6
Fetter-lane, 98
Feude joie, 157
Fevers, remedy for, 204, 257
Fig, the Spanish, 258
Figures, 123
Fingers, speaking by, 61
Fire, ordeal by, 16, 126 ; _St. Syth invoked against, 29 ; Midsummer eve, 26, 96 ; spell against, 136 ; used at Lapland marriages, 150
First-fruits, 71
Flag, white, 75
Fleet (=water), 31
Flies, 202
Flint, preservative against hag-riding, 28; used at Lapland marriages, 150
Flowers in churches, 72 ; at funerals, 184; images dressed with, 185
Fluxes, powdered beef used against, 118
Fontinalia, 32, 80
Fools' holy day, 10
Forenoon, 121
Foresters, offerings of, 77, 174
Forests, 18
Fortune-tellers, 140
Foundations, 208
Fountains, adoring of, 32, 80, 84
Four, the number, 199
Foxes, Sampson's, 17 ; meeting of, 109
Frankincense, 64
Frensham (Surrey), fairy cauldron at, 123, 235
Friars' frocks, 152
Fritters, 182
Frog buried in rield, 184 ; hung on threshold, %b.\ as a remedy for fever, 204
Fruits, gathering of, 194
.Fuga Damionum, 82, 191, 231
Funerals, howling at, 21; offertories at, 23, 64-5, 219; singing and play- ing at, 20, 145, 220; sin-eating, 19,
Funerals — contimt cd
24, 35; customs, 66; feasts at, 143; suppers at, 165; music at, 166; strew- ing of flowers at, 184; rosemary at, 74; eating at, 99, 146; garlands at, 109, 139,178
Furmetrie, 34, 182
Galling, elder stick worn against, 178,
184, 188
Gallows, chips of, a cure for ague, 118 Garlands, 74, 109, 136, 139, 178, 236 Gathering of fruits, 194
Generation, spontaneous, 246
Gentilisme, 55, 162
George, S., and the Dragon, 68, 229
German customs, 10, 11, 18, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 36, 46, 47, 51, 56, 65, 75, 80, 87, 93, 104, 109, 110, 115, 119, 126, 139, 166
Ghosts, 10, 19, 159, 167; vanishing of, 87
Gifts, New Year's, 8; to temples, 209
Ginger, against toothache, 193; in cut- ting teeth, 204
Gipsies, springs so called, 245
Girdles, 43, 60, 112
Giving the hand, 132, 145, 174
Glories, 147; of saints, 148, 163
Gloucestershire: Gloucester built in a cruciform shape, 50; Turvey or Tur- vill Acton, 77, 174, 239
" God, in the name of," an invocation, 195
God the Father, picture of, 112
Godfather, swearing by his hand, 131; wolf taken for, 131
God's Kichell, a, 7
Gods, perfumes offered to the, 16
Gold, 205, 206
Goodfellow, Robin, 14, 81, 84, 86
Goodman, 170, 181
Goose bone foretells weather, 93
Gospels read at springs, 34, 58 ; in cornfields, 59 ; over bread, 123; sing- ing of, 160
Gossips' bowl, 35
Gout, bones used against, 165 ; snails used against, 257
Grace, saying, 146
Grace cup, 148
Grafting, 180
Grass, love divination with, 82 ; cure in kirg's evil, 190
Graves, roses planted on, 155 ; laying with head westward in, 166; plants springing from, 175
Graveyard superstition, 253
Green man, sign of the, 177
INDEX.
267
Groaning of trees when felled, 247
Grope Alley, 97
Groundsel a cure for toothache, 191
Hag-ridden, horses being, 28
Hair, folk-lore, 25, 111 ; cropping of,
37; figure of, used in witchcraft, 61 ;
cutting of, 111, 181 Halcyon-days, 75 Halter used against ague, 198 Hampshire, sheepshearing in, 84 ;
foresters in, 77, 174 Handsel, 80 Hands, joining of, 56; giving the, 129,
132; swearing by, 131 ; Avashing of ,
145, 146; lucky, 183; kissing, 195;
dead, 103, 197, 198 Hangings, 209 Hanging up squills, 184 Hangman's rope, 198, 241 Hard-men, 75, 152, 153, 237 Hare unlucky, 26, 109; flesh of, 101;
suicide of, 102 ; a remedy in various
cases, 201
Harp, Apollo's, 152, 168 Harpers, 27, 169 Hart-of -grease, 76 Harvest custom, 34, 65 Hatband, skin of adder worn as, 38, 224 Hats, removing, 37 Haunted houses, 53, 104 Hazel rod used in discovering ruins, 115 Headache, snakeskin' worn against, 38,
224 ; laurel berries used against,
187; smilax used against, 189; cure
for, 198, 202 Healing springs, 243 Healths, drinking, 13, 14, 108, 147 Hemp seed, 95 Herbs as charms in duels, 77, 153;
against enchantments, 82 ; properties
of, 185
Hercules, 134; Hercules' knot, 199 Hereford Cathedral, 165 Herefordshire, tabor and pipe in, 15;
baking in, 21, 182; folklore, 22, 39,
104, 178, 195; harvest custom, 34;
funeral custom, 35; moon lore in, 37;
blessing of apples in, 96 ; trial of
witches in, 126 .Heroes, singing acts of, 146 Highlanders, 150 High-places, 22, 87, 98 Hills, churches built on, 22, 87, 98 Hindering labour, 73, 111 Hobbes's " Leviathan," quoted, 6 ;
"Historia Ecclesiastica," quoted, 119 Hodmendods (= scarecrows, 184) " Ho, ho," of Robin Goodfellow, 81
Holder (= fang-tooth), 204
Holly used in churches, 122 ; planted
near houses, 189; and coal, 246 Holy bread, 7
Holy days, not working on, 140, 151 Holy mawle, 19, 157, 217 Holy Thursday, ram hunted on, 132;
well-flowering on, 223 Holy water, 19, 121, 128; the devil
and, 121
Holy-water-sprinkle, 16, 20, 217 Home harvests, 34, 65 Homer's Iliad, extracts from, 143 Honey a remedy for bruises, 257 Hoof, cloven, 113 Horace quoted, 33, 36 Horloge, 209 Hornchurch, 75, 156 Horns, 40, 156; stags', 76; of cattle,
how shaped, 248 Horse, head of, on hedges, 184 Horses, bled on S. Stephen's Day, 27;
hag-ridden, 28 Horseshoe and witches, 27, 104; on
threshold, 123, 204 Hot-cockles, 30 Hours, the planetary, 100 Houseleek planted against thunder, 167 Houses, haunted, 53, 104 ; on fire, to
save, 136, 193
Howling at funerals, 21; of dogs, 163 Howschole, 40 Howselin, 37 Husbands, folk-lore connected with
choosing, 24
Hydrophobia, remedy for, 224 Hypericum, 82, 191, 231
Ill-luck, sitting crosslegged a sign of,
199 Images in churches, 50: nodding of, 57,
228 ; made of rye-dough, 107 ; in
ships, 159; dressed with flowers, 185 Immuring of nuns, 20, 122, 218 Impotence, 188 Incense, 64
Inflammation, spell against, 125, 192 Insect indicating presence of saltpetre,
254
Invisibility, 53, 102, 181, 211 Invoking the moon, 83 Irish customs, 21, 27, 37, 42, 63, 99, 115,
131, 172,190,204; oaths, 131 Iron, 206 ; used against thunder, 22,
104, 178
Itching of eyelid, 54, 164 Ivy used at Christmas, 5 ; tavern-bush
dressed with, 108; churches dressed
with, 122
268
INDEX.
Jack a' Lent, 162, 238 January, weather in, 7 Jaundice, tenches a cure for, 256 Jews, belief of regarding beans, 102;
veiled at divine service, 156 Joint-gout, 201 Journey, Caesar's use of a charm on
going a, 194 Jupiter's beard (= houseleek), 167
Katharine, S. invoked, 29
Keepers' offerings to S. Luke, 77, 173
Kent, folk-lore, 22, 104; how valen- tines are chosen in, 24; bread folk- lore, 51; whipping Tom in, 59; cus- toms, 182; proverb, 197
Kichell, 7
King of the bean, 88, 122, 183
King's health, drinking, 13; evil, cures for, 186, 187, 190, 241
Kirk-garth, 179
Kissing, 149; of right hand, 195
Kit-of-the-candlestick, 243
Knife, divination by, 25, 92, 93
Knockings, 252
Knots, lovers', 82, 110, 232; Hercules', 199
Labour, hindering, 73, 111
Labyrinth, 70, 208 .
Lamps, 122; in churches, 73
Lancashire, simnels in, 215
Laplanders, marriage custom of, 150
Lapwings laying in an easterly position, 260
Lares, 12; wheat or barley used as, 172
Laurel garland, 139
Left hand, rings worn on, 40
Lent, simnels used in, 14, 214; cus- toms, 161, 238
Letters, initial, 39 ; number of, in name, divination by, 197
Levants, 244
Lew (= warm), 9, 123, 216
Libum, 7
Lide, March called, 13
Lightning, 195
Lincolnshire, snake-lore of, 38
Lions' heads, springs adorned with. Ill
Liquors, fermented, 133
Livery, 186
Lizards thought poisonous, 249
Loaches drunk in sack, 256
London, horseshoes used against witches 'in, 27, 104, 204 ; pardon of malefac- tors in, 126; spitting on money in, 231
Lord of Misrule, 88, 122
Lot-meads, 92, 233
Lots, 16, 24, 90, 115, 143, 145, 146, 160,
175, 232
Love-charm, 190 Love-feasts, 13, 14, 224 Love-knots, 82, 110, 232 Lovers, customs of, 84 Loving cup, 5, 214 Lucky hand, 183 Luke, S., offerings to, 77, 173 Lying, signs of, 28 Lyre, 168.
Mad dog, spell against, 125
Magic, instances of, 52, 64, 83, 189, 190
Magpie chattering, 26; building high a sign of wet, 258
Maids' funerals, garlands at, 178
Malachi (S.), prophecies of, 134
Malefactors, pardon of, 126
Man, wild, sign of, 134; bite of , poi- sonous, 250
Maps, 158
March called Lide, 13
March-paines, 14
Margaret, S., chapel dedicated to, 174
Marriage, 173; times prohibiting, 61; divination regarding, 62; criminal pardoned if marriage be promised, 126; fire and flint used at, 150
Masses for the dead, 18, 78
Master of the feast, 149
Mawle, church or holy, 19, 127, 217
May-day, 18, 119
Maydew beneficial, 250
May Eve custom, 119 ; meeting of witches on, 18
Maypole, 119, 139
Mazar-bowle, 35
Mazes, 70, 140, 208, 230
Meals, music at, 27
Meat, salting, at wane of moon, 201
Mere-stones, 13, 127
Merry-thought, divination by, 92, 93 ; why so called, 92
Midsummer Eve customs, 26, 97, 119, 133, 152; bonfires on, 26, 96, 220; charm for invisibility, 53, 181
Midsummer-men, 25, 220
Midwives' custom, 73
Minerva patroness of scholars, 15
Misrule, lord of, 88, 122
Misseltoe, 89
Mizmazes, 70, 140, 230
Moles in the face, 197
Moly, 189
Monday, not paring nails on, 196
INDEX.
269
Money left by fairies, 29, 102, 125, 235; buried with the dead, 159, 165
Moon, new, 36, 131, 142, 180; invoca- tion of, 83 ; observations of, 85 ; figure of, 112; curing warts by, 118; salting meat at wane of, 201 '
Moonwort, power of, 248
Morning dreams, 57
Morrow-masses, 46
Mountain ash against witches, 247
Mourning, sign of, 144; time of, 145
MSS., price of copying, 160
Mud a cure for cancer, 255
Music at meals, 27
Myrrh, 75
Myrtle as a remedy, 188
Nail, iron, in falling sickness, 199;
and woodpecker, 248 Nailbourne, 244
Nails, paring, 111, 196; spots on, 113 Names, 40; cut on trees, 57, 156; of
week-days, 99
Needle given to fellows of Queen's Col- lege, Oxford, 142 New moon, 36, 83, 85, 131, 142 New Year's Day, 8, 194; custom at
Oxford, 142 ; gifts, 8 ; Eve folk-lore, 95 Newnton (Wilts), Trinity Sunday
custom at, 136, 236 Newts thought poisonous, 249 Niall (= woodpecker), 258 Nickard, 30
Nightmare, to prevent, 118 Nodding of images, 57, 228 Noel, 5
Nouvelle (= novelty), 7, 181 Numbers, 196; unlucky, 60; even or
odd, 63, 183, 187, 188, 194, 198, 199,
200 Nuns, immuring of, 20, 122, 218
O Sapientia, 341
Oak used by Druids, &c. 95; sacred,
148; groaning when felled, 247 Oaths, 128; Irish, 131 Odd number, 63, 183, 187, 188, 194, 198 Offerings to S. Luke, 77, 173 Offertories at funerals, 26, 64, 65, 219 Old Wives' Tales, 67, 229 Omens, 8, 20, 26, 31, 32, 75, 109, 115,
152, 177, 180, 196
Ordeal by fire, 16, 126; by water, 126 Organs in churches, 20 Orpine, divination by, 25, 220 Oswald, S., invoked, 16, 29, 220 Osythe, S., invoked, 29 Ovid, extracts from Fasti, 6; Epistles,
56
Owls, unlucky, 64, 75, 109, 156
Oxen, wassailing of, 9, 40 ; protected from witches, 247
Oxford, shape of, 60; May custom at, 18 ; Holy Thursday custom at, 32 ; spring at, 34 ; O Sapientia observed at, 41; Christmas and New Year's customs, 142 ; Whitsuntide custom, 202
Oxfordshire (Launton), Christmas cus- tom, 5; funeral custom, 24 ; cockle- bread in, 44; dancing the candlerush in, 44; haunted house in, 53; gospel read at Stanlake, 59 ; cakes in, 65 ; garlands in, 75 ; May pole, 119 ; springs in, 121; Lent custom, 161; burial at Middleton Stony, 166. See also Ambrosden
Pain benit, 7
Painted windows, 48
Palilia, 34, 151
Palm Sunday custom, 9
Pancakes, 182
Pardon of malefactors, 126
Paring nails, 111, 196
Paris (Matthew), quoted, 12
Parley, white flag hung out for, 75
Parson's penny, 219
Pasque-flower, 188
Passage of souls over Whinny-moor,
31, 149 Paul's Day (S.), weather lore of, 94,
96 Pea, queen of the, on Twelfth night,
183
Penance in white sheet, 151 Penny put in mouth of the dead, 159 ;
the parson's, 219 Pentacle, 51, 124, 225 Pentalpha, 50, 225 Pen tangle of Solomon, 51 Perambulations, 13, 17 Perfumes offered to the Gods, 16; in
churches, 77 Periwigs, 61, 151 Persius quoted, 38, 42 Pestilence, birds not breeding before,
249
Peter, S., penny offered to, 159 Phantoms, 10 Picus and Faunus, 14, 84 Pillar and tomb, 144 Pimlico, to walk in, 243 Pin and web in the eyes, 189, 240 Pins, 67
Pipes, 20, 62; and tabor, 15, 217 P— sing, 99, 200, 201 Pitched cans, 179 U
270
INDEX.
Plague, toads a remedy against, 256
Planets, signs of, 124
Planetary hours, 100
Plants, popular remedies connected with, 254; on graves, 175, 239
Plautus quoted, 45
Plighting of troth, 56
Pliny's Natural History quoted, 175
Ploughmen's feasts, 9
Plygain, 161, 238
Poisons, 209
Polenta, 182
Populus, 134
Porcelain, 158
Portents, 79, 85, 86
Prayer on going to bed, 34; for cattle, 131 ; washing before, 146, 148 ; power of, 176; for the dead, 194
Praying towards the east, 17; to saints, 28,79
Preservative, a, 125, 190
Price of copying MSS., 160
Prophets, 134
Prostration, 64, 120
Proverbs, 120, 235, 242 ; Welsh, on weather, 7; Wilts, 9, 123, 242; West of England, 13,242; concerning rye- dough, 107
Pudding cake, 182
Purgation, 17
Purgatory, 10
Purple dye, 158, 238
Putting-off of hats, 37
Putting on the right shoe first, 175
Quarrelling caused by washing to- gether, &c. 99
Quartan ague, spell against, 125, 198
Queen of the Pea, 183
Quick-grass, a cure for king's evil, 190
Quintain, riding at the, 171
Babbits, see Conies
Eain, charm against, 180; sign of, 258
Eaising of spirits, 211
Ram hunted on Holy Thursday, 132
Eat gnawing, 177
Eavens unlucky, 109
Eaw-head and bloody-bone, 59
Eayer, 21
Eebuses, 207
Eeceiving of sortes, 16
Eefined cups, 72
Eeseda used as a spell, 125, 192
Eevels, origin of, 45, 224
Ehjabdomancy, 115
Ehyme, local, 247
Ehymers, 81
Eichard, S., his well at Droitwich, 33,
71, 224
Eicketts, the, 250 Eiding at the quintain, 171 Eight hand, 78, 178; giving of, 145,
174; shoe, 175 Eing, 79, 204, 231 ; worn on left hand,
40; fingers, 205 Eingworm, cure for, 192 Eobin Goodfellow, 14, 81, 84, 86 Eocking-cake, 65 Eod, divining, 115, 234; magic, 115;
Moses', 515
Eogation-days, gospels read on, 59 Bosamond, Fair, 70, 230 Eose, a sign of silence, 110; planted
on graves, 155 Eosemary at funerals, 74 Eubigalia, 17 Eye-dough, images of, 107
Sacred oak, 148
Sacrifice, salt and barley in, 143; of wine, 144 ; washing hands before, 145 ; before meat, 146
St. John's Wort, 82, 191, 231
Saints painted on ships, 56, 139; canon- ised, 66 ; prayers to, 79 ; glories of, 148, 163
Salisbury, boy-bishop at, 171 ; tradi- tion of church at, 208; of pillars of, 251 ; legend of site of, 251
Salt, 162 ; strewing of, 163 ; burning of teeth with, 11,27; Christmas folk- lore, 26; falling of, 32, 110; against evil spirits, 121 ; Eton custom re- garding, 132, 236
Salting meat at wane of moon, 201
Saltpetre, presence of, indicated by an insect, 254
Samolus, 188
Sampson's foxes, 16
Savine, 188
Saying grace, 146
Scapegoat, 35
Scarecrow, 184
Scarlet, the colour as a remedy in smallpox, 49, 226
School folk-lore and customs, 25, 40, 41, 161
Sciatica, 193
Scottish folk-lore and customs, 36, 83, 177, 182
Scotland, moon worshipped in, 142
Screech-owls, 64, 75, 158
Scutcheons in windows, 207
Sea-mews a sign of a storm, 257
Secret writing, 63
Seisin, 186
INDEX.
271
Sere month (= August), 123
Serenades, 18
Serpents, 38 ; used in charm for invisi- bility, 53, 181
Servi, 47
Seven children at a birth, 260
Sevennight, 17
Shaling (= shedding of teetb), 11, 27
Shavelings, 152
Shears and sieve, 25, 164
Sheep, S. Oswald invoked for, 29
Sheep-shearing, 34
Sheet, white, penance in, 151
Shepherds, wages of, 45
Shields, 69, 77
Ship, dead bodies, &c., unlucky on, 67, 200; image of saint on, 56, 159
Shoe, putting on the right first, 175
Shot, charm against, 153
Shropshire, soul-cakes in, 23
Shrovetide, cockfighting at, 35, 41 ; Eton, custom at, 132
Sieve and shears, 25, 164
Signets, 205
Sillyhow (= caul), 113, 234
Silver bullet will kill a Hardman, 154; boats for drinking, 210
Simnels, 7, 14, 214
Sin-eaters, 19, 24, 35
Singeing of swine, 144.
Singing at funerals, 30, 145; of gos- pels and carols, 160
Sirens, 163
Sistrum, 15
Sitting cross-legged, 111, 199
Sleet, 221
Slough of an adder, 38, 224
Smallpox, remedial property of scarlet in, 49, 226
Smoke follows the fairest, 111
Snails a remedy against gout, 257
Snake, see Adder
Sneezing, 103, 104, 150, 177, 194
Somersetshire customs, 40, 41 ; Mid- summer fires in, 96 ; toad folk-lore in, 183, 184; lot-meads, 233; pro- verb, 243
Son, disinherited eldest, 107
Sorcery, 164
Sortes, 16, 90, 115, 145, 146, 160, 175, 232
Soul cakes, 23
Souls, passage of, over Whinny Moor, 31, 149
So wle- grove, 9, 123, 216
Spade money, 219
Spanish fig, 258
Sparring a door (= barring), 56
Speaking by one's fingers, 61
Spells, 124, 125, 131, 136
Spirits, charm against evil, 12 ; in sacri- fice, 143; appearing of, 144; raising of, 211
Spittle, 42, 80, 159, 190, 195, 231
Spleen, recipe for, 184
Spontaneous generation, 246
Spots on the nails, 113
Spring, swallow a sign of, 114
Springs, gospel read at, 34; at Oxford, 34; in Cheshire, 58; adorned with lions' heads, 111; in Oxfordshire, 121; healing, 243; a sign of dearth, 244 ; giving warning of political changes, 245; a sign of dry or wet weather, 257
Squatmore, 255
Squills, hanging up, 184
Squires, 77
Staffordshire, rhymes in, 81
Staffs and sceptres, 172
Stags' horns, 76
Stanlake (Oxon.), gospel read at, 59
Star of the earth, 254, 255
Stephen, S., horses bled on his day, 27; invoked in baking, 29
Stews, 97, 234
Stick, falling of, as an omen, 115
Stobball-play, a Wilts game, 260
Stone, with a hole, against nightmare, 28, 118; the warning, 246
Stonehenge, tradition regarding, 252
Storm, seamews a sign of, 257
Stranger in the candle, 57, 114
Strawberries sometimes injurious, 246
Strewing of salt, 163 ; of tombs, 165 ; of flowers, 184
Striking a bargain, 56, 228
Stroking with dead hand, 198, 240
Stumbling at threshold unlucky, 26, 56, 60, 177
Sun, picture of, 112; does not dance on Easter Day, 113
Sunningwell (Berks.), gospel read at springs, 34
Suppers at funerals, 146
Surplices, 17
Surrey, mazes in, 71; fairy-ground in, 123, 235; roses on graves in, 155; graveyard superstitions in, 253; causeway made by the devil in, 254
Sussex, snake-lore of, 38, 228 ; cause- way made by the devil in, 254
Swallow, one does not make spring, 13; sign of spring, 114; unlucky to kill, 114
Swarming of bees, pans beaten at, 15, 87
Swearing, 128, 173
Swifts (= newts), 249
272
INDEX.
Swimming, trial of witches by, 126 Swiss folk-lore, 23 Sjthe, S. (= Osythe), 29
Table-books, 157
Tabor, 15, 62, 150, 167; and pipe, 15,
217
Talismans, 96 Tansies at Easter, 88 Tapers in churches, 73 Tapestry, 209 Tasters, 210 Tavern-bush, 108 Teeth, burning of with salt, 11, 27;
coral connected with, 114 ; worn
against toothache, 164 Tele-house, 136 Tempests, 211
Tenches a cure for jaundice, 256 Temples, gifts to, 209 Tergetors or Tregetors, 51, 135, 227 Tetter, cure for, 192 Theocritus quoted, 108, 109 Thief in candle, 26, 158 Thieves and dead man's hand, 103 ;
their handsel unlucky, 120 Thorn a protection against witches, 18 Three, the number, 87 Threshold, stumbling at, 26, 56; horse- shoe on, 123, 204
Throwing dust on one's head, 144 Thunder, charms against, 22, 167 Thursday (Holy), ram hunted on, 132 Tibullus, extracts from, 151 Tilting, 120 Timber folk-lore, 259 Tinned pots, 207 Tintinnabula, 208 Toad buried in fields, 183; found in
an ash tree, 250; a remedy against
the plague, 256 Tom, Whipping, 59, 228; a-Bedlam,
205, 241
Tomb and pillar, 144 Tombs, strewing of, 165 Tongue, an evil, 60, 80; charm against,
12
Tongues tied with a charm, 11 Tonsures, 177 Toothache, 198; tooth worn against,
164; groundsel used against, 191;
ginger used against, 193 ; cure for,
198
Tournaments, 127 Towns built in form of a cross, 50 Transplanting diseases, 203 Trees, 95; cutting names on, 57, 156;
spontaneous falling of, 180; groaning
when felled, 247
Tregetors, 51, 135, 227
Trial of witches by swimming, 126
Trinity, the, 105
Trinity Sunday custom at Newnton, 136, 236
Troth, plighting of, 56
True loves knots, 82, 110, 232
Twelfth eve custom, 40; Twelve-tide, 65, 183
Turnips, 183
Turnsol, 186
Turvill Acton, chapel at, 174, 239
Twosole, S. (= St. Oswald), 29, 220
Twy, a meteor, 259
Tying of tongues with a charm, 11
" Ungirt, unbless't," 60, 112
Unleavened bread, 9
Unlucky number, 60; days, 63; crea- tures, 181
Urine as a charm, 118
Valentines, how chosen in Kent, 24
Vanishing of ghosts, 87
Vastellus, 8
Veiling of bonnets, 199
Verbascum a cure for botches, 191'
Verbena, 191
Vervain, 82, 191
Victims, 143
Villains, 47, 58, 135; whipping of, 58
Vine, wild, 186, 255
Violin, 168
Viper, see Adder
Vipse, a spring, 245
Virgil, extracts from, 80
Vowing of children, 97
Wafers, 86; used in Lent, 14
Wakes, origin of, 45
Wales, rhymes in, 81
Walking after death, 35
Wallingford Castle, Berks, 48
Walnut-pith as a remedy, 255
Warming- stone, 246
Warts, cures for, 118, 186
Warwickshire, rhymes in, 81 ; funeral custom in, 99
Washing together a cause of quarrel- ling, 99; hands before sacrifice or prayer, 145, 146, 148
Wassaile cakes and custom, 9, 40
Wassal bowls, 8
Wastell bread, 7; bowls, 8
Water, ordeal by, 126; holy, 19, 121, 128
Wax, figure of, used in witchcraft, 61
Weariness, cure for, 192
Wearing of an elder-stick, 178, 184, 239
INDEX.
273
Weather-lore, 7, 9, 13, 93, 183, 235, 257
Wedding-rings, 204
Weddings out, 14, 19; riding at quin-
i tain at, 171
Weekdays, names of, 99, 116
Wells, feasts about, 32, 121, 222
Welsh weather proverb, 7; customs, 15, 20, 27, 36, 37, 159, 161, 183, 219; hubbubs, 173; boats, 176
Werewolf, 66
West of England, March called Lide in, 13; customs, 40, 45
Westchester, May Eve custom at, 119
Westminster, maze at, 71
Wheat used as a Lar, 172
Whinny-moor, 31, 149
Whipping Tom, 59, 228
Whistling, 21; for wind, 21, 195
White flag, 75; sheet, perance in, 151
Whitlow, cure for, 186
Whitsuntide, birch at, 119; Oxford custom at, 202
Whitty-tree, 247
Whore on shipboard, 67, 200
Widows, marriage of, 7
Wild man, sign of the", 134, 177
Willow garlands, 75
Wilts, stobball-play in, 260; elder-stick worn in, 178, 184 ; offerings to S. Luke in, 173 ; hot-cockles played in, 96 ; blessing of cattle in, 77 ; sheep- shearing in, 34 ; mazes in, 71 ; gar- lands in, 74; February called Sowle- grove in, 9, 123; S. Oswald invoked in, 16; marriage lore, 24; harvest custom, 34; lot-meads in, 92; Newn- ton custom, 136, 235
Wind, whistling for, 21, 195
Windows, painted, 48 ; at Salisbury, 105; scutcheons in, 207
Wine offered to the gods, 144, 146, 170
Winnowers whistling for wind, 195
Wishing a happy new year, 8, 194
Witchcraft, 61, 191
Witches, 59, 177, 260; custom of, 10; test for, 10, 126 ; meeting of, on May Eve, 18 ; and streams, 27 ; horseshoes used against, 27, 104 ; using eggshells, 110, 193 ; preserva- tive against, 247
Witches' night, 133
Wizards, 260
Wolf, tooth of, as an amulet, 115, 204; taken for godfather, 131
Women, fertility of, 10
Woodpecker and nail, 248 ; cry of, a sign of rain, 258
Woodstock, haunted house at, 53; May Eve custom, 119
Woolpacks, church said to be built on, 208; London Bridge said to be built on, 209
Worcestershire custom, 21; well-dress- ing in, 33, 71
Writing, secret, 63
Yeast, 182, 260
Yew trees in churchyards, 64, 178, 179
York taken by King Arthur, 5
Yorkshire Christmas customs, 5 ; howl- ing at funerals. 21; funeral customs, 30; Whinny-moor in, 31, 149; min- strels, 21 ; invocation of new moon, 83; spitting on money in, 231
Yowle, a cry for wind, 21
Yu-batch, 5
Yule, 5, 170
Yule-games, 5
Yule-log, 5, 2, 13
L
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Aubrey, John
Remaines of Gen till sine and Judaisme
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