Welsh Folk Lore
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Elias Owen >> Welsh Folk Lore
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It was believed that the descendants of a person who had eaten eagle's
flesh _to the ninth generation_ could charm for shingles.
The manner of proceeding can be seen from the following quotation taken
from "The History of Llanrhaiadr-yn-Mochnant," by Mr. T. W. Hancock,
which appears in vol. vi., pp. 327-8 of the _Montgomeryshire
Collections_.
_A Charm for the Shingles_.
"This custom (charming for the shingles) was more prevalent in this
parish than in any other in Montgomeryshire. A certain amount of penance
was to be done by the sufferer, who was to go to the charmer in the
morning fasting, and he was also to be fasting. The mode of cure was
simple--the charmer breathed gently on the inflamed part, and then
followed a series of little spittings upon and around it. A few visits
to the charmer, or sometimes a single one, was sufficient to effect a
cure.
"The power of charming for the ''Ryri' is now lost, or in any event has
not been practised in this parish, for several years past. The
possession of this remarkable healing power by the charmer was said to
have been derived from the circumstance _of either the charmer himself_,
_or one of his ancestors within the ninth degree_, _having eaten of the
flesh of the eagle_, the virtue being, it was alleged, transmitted from
the person who had so partaken to his descendants for nine generations.
The tradition is that the disorder was introduced into the country by a
malevolent eagle.
"Some charmers before the operation of spitting, muttered to themselves
the following incantation:--
Yr Eryr Eryres
Mi a'th ddanfonais
Dros naw mor a thros naw mynydd,
A thros naw erw o dir anghelfydd;
Lle na chyfartho ci, ac na frefo fuwch,
Ac na ddelo yr eryr byth yn uwch."
Male eagle, female eagle,
I send you (by the operation of blowing, we presume)
Over nine seas, and over nine mountains,
And over nine acres of unprofitable land,
Where no dog shall bark, and no cow shall low,
And where no eagle shall higher rise."
The charmer spat first on the rash and rubbed it with his finger over the
affected parts, and then breathed nine times on it.
Jane Davies, an aged woman, a native of Llanrhaiadr-yn-Mochnant, with
whom I had many long conversations on several occasions, told the
narrator that she had cut a cat's ear to get blood, wherewith to rub the
patient's breast who was suffering from the shingles, to stop its
progress, until the sufferer could be visited by the charmer, and she
said that the cat's blood always stopped it spreading.
There were several charms for many of the ailments to which man is
subject, which were thought to possess equal curative virtues.
_Toothache charms_.
By repeating the following doggerel lines the worst case of toothache
could be cured--
Peter sat on a marble stone,
Jesus came to him all alone.
What's up, Peter? The toothache, my lord;
Rise up Peter, and be cured of this pain,
And all those _who carry these few lines_ for my sake.
This charm appeared in the _Wrexham Advertiser_ as one that was used in
_Coedpoeth_ and _Bwlch Gwyn_. But the words appear in "_Y Gwyliedydd_"
for May, 1826, page 151. The Welsh heading to the charm informs us that
it was obtained from an Irish priest in County Cork, Ireland. The words
are:--
Fel yr oedd Pedr yn eistedd ar faen Mynor,
Crist a ddaeth atto, ac efe yn unig.
Pedr, beth a ddarfu i ti? Y Ddanodd, fy Arglwydd Dduw.
Cyfod, Pedr, a rhydd fyddi;
A bydd pob dyn a dynes iach oddiwrth y ddanodd
Y rhai a gredant i'r geiriau hyn,
Yr wyf fi yn gwneuthur yn enw Duw.
The first two lines of the English and Welsh are the same but the third
and succeeding lines in Welsh are as follows:--
Peter, what is the matter?
The toothache, my Lord God.
Rise Peter, and thou shalt be cured;
And every man and woman who believes these words
Shall be cured of the toothache,
Which I perform in the name of God.
Another version of this charm was given me by Mrs. Reynolds, Pembroke
House, Oswestry--
As Jesus walked through the gates of Jerusalem,
He saw Peter weeping. Jesus said unto him, why weepest thou?
I have got the toothache. Jesus touched his tooth,
And Jesus said, have faith and believe,
Thy tooth shall ache no more.
I return you humble and hearty thanks
For the blessing which you have bestowed on me.
A young man told me that his brother once suffered greatly from
toothache, and a woman gave him a charm like the above, written on paper.
He rubbed the charm along the tooth, and he kept it in his pocket until
it crumbled away, and as long as he preserved it he never was troubled
with the toothache.
_Rosemary Charm for Toothache_.
"Llosg ei bren (Rhosmari) hyd oni bo yn lo du, ac yna dyro ef mewn cadach
lliain cry, ac ira dy ddanedd ag ef; ac fo ladd y pryfed, ac a'u ceidw
rhag pob clefyd."--_Y Brython_, p. 339.
"Burn a Rosemary bough until it becomes black, and then place it in a
strong linen cloth, and anoint thy teeth with it, and it will kill the
worm, and preserve thee from every kind of fever."
It was thought at one time that toothache was caused by a worm in the
tooth, as intimated above.
_Whooping Cough Charm_.
Children suffering from whooping cough were taken to a seventh son, or
lacking a seventh son of sons only, to a fifth son of sons only, who made
a cake, and gave it to the sufferers to be eaten by them, and they would
recover. The visit was to be thrice repeated. Bread and butter were
sometimes substituted for the cake.
The writer has been told of instances of the success of this charm.
Another charm was--buy a penny roll, wrap it in calico, bury it in the
garden, take it up next day. The sufferer from whooping-cough is then to
eat the roll until it is consumed.
_Charm for Fits_.
A ring made out of the offertory money was a cure for fits. About the
year 1882 the wife of a respectable farmer in the parish of Efenechtyd
called at the rectory and asked the rector's wife if she would procure a
shilling for her from the offering made at Holy Communion, out of which
she was going to have a ring made to cure her fits. This coin was to be
given unsolicited and received without thanks.
The Rev. J. D. Edwards, late vicar of Rhosymedre, informed the writer
that his parishioners often obtained silver coins from the offertory for
the purpose now named. So as to comply with the conditions, the
sufferers went to Mrs. Edwards some time during the week before
"Sacrament Sunday," and asked her to request Mr. Edwards to give him or
her a shilling out of the offertory, and on the following Monday the
afflicted person would be at the Vicarage, and the Vicar, having already
been instructed by Mrs. Edwards, gave the shilling without uttering a
word, and it was received in the same manner.
Another charm for fits was to procure a human being's skull, grind it
into powder, and take it as medicine.
_Charm for Cocks about to fight_.
The charm consisted of a verse taken from the Bible, written on a slip of
paper, wrapped round the bird's leg, as the steel spurs were being placed
on him. The verse so employed was, Eph. vi., 16:--"Taking the shield of
faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the
wicked."
William Jones, Pentre Llyffrith, Llanfyllin, was a celebrated cock
charmer. There was also a well-known charmer who lived at Llandegla,
Denbighshire, who refused a charm to a certain man. When asked why he
had not complied with his request, he said--"He will not need charms for
his birds, for he will be a dead man before the main comes off." This
became true, for the man died, as foretold.
_Charm for Asthma_.
Place the Bible for three successive nights under the bolster of the
sufferer, and it will cure him.
_Charms for Warts_.
1. Drop a pin into a holy well and your warts will disappear, but should
anyone take the pin out of the well, the warts you have lost will grow on
his fingers.
2. Rub the warts with the inside of a bean pod, and then throw the pod
away.
3. Take wheat on the stalk, rub the warts with the wheat's beard or
bristles at the end of the ear, take these to four crosses or roads that
cross each other, bury the straw, and the warts will decay with the decay
of the straw.
4. Rub the warts with elderberry leaves plucked by night, and then burn
them, and the warts will disappear.
5. Rub the warts with a bit of flesh meat, wrap the flesh up in paper,
throw it behind your back, and do not look behind you to see what becomes
of it, and whoever picks it up gets your warts.
6. Take a snail and pierce it through with a thorn, and leave it to die
on the bush; as it disappears so will your warts.
_Charm for removing a Stye from the eye_.
Take an ordinary knitting needle, and pass it back and fore over the
stye, but without touching it, and at the same time counting its age,
thus--One stye, two styes, three styes, up to nine, and then reversing
the order, as nine styes, eight styes, down to one stye, and _no_ stye.
This counting was to be done in one breath. If the charmer drew his
breath the charm was broken, but three attempts were allowed. The stye,
it was alleged, would die from that hour, and disappear in twenty-four
hours.
_Charms for Quinsy_.
Apply to the throat hair cut at midnight from the black shoulder stripe
of the colt of an ass.
_Charming the Wild Wart_.
Take a branch of elder tree, strip off the bark, split off a piece, hold
this skewer near the wart, and rub the wart three or nine times with the
skewer, muttering the while an incantation of your own composing, then
pierce the wart with a thorn. Bury the skewer transfixed with the thorn
in a dunghill. The wart will rot away just as the buried things decay.
_Charm for Rheumatism_.
Carry a potato in your pocket, and when one is finished, supply its place
with another.
_Charm for removing the Ringworm_.
1. Spit on the ground the first thing in the morning, mix the spittle
with the mould, and then anoint the ringworm with this mixture.
2. Hold an axe over the fire until it perspires, and then anoint the
ringworm with the sweat.
_Cattle Charms_.
Mr. Hamer in his "Parochial Account of Llanidloes" published in _The
Montgomeryshire Collections_, vol x., p. 249, states that he has in his
possession two charms that were actually used for the protection of live
stock of two small farms. One of them opens thus:--
"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen . . . and in the name of Lord Jesus Christ my redeemer, that I
will give relief to --- creatures his cows, and his calves, and his
horses, and his sheep, and his pigs, and all creatures that alive be
in his possession, from all witchcraft and from all other assaults of
Satan. Amen."
Mr. Hamer further states that:--
"At the bottom of the sheet, on the left, is the magical word,
_Abracadabra_, written in the usual triangular form; in the centre, a
number of planetary symbols, and on the right, a circular figure
filled in with lines and symbols, and beneath them the words, 'By
Jah, Joh, Jab.' It was the custom to rub these charms over the
cattle, etc. a number of times, while some incantation was being
mumbled. The paper was then carefully folded up, and put in some
safe place where the animals were housed, as a guard against future
visitations."
In other cases the charm was worn by the cattle, as is shown by the
following tale:--
_Charm against Foot and Mouth Disease_.
The cattle on a certain farm in Llansilin parish suffered from the above
complaint, and old Mr. H--- consulted a conjuror, who gave him a written
charm which he was directed to place on the horns of the cattle, and he
was told this would act both as a preventive and a cure. This farmer's
cattle might be seen with the bit of paper, thus procured, tied to their
horns. My informant does not wish to be named, nor does she desire the
farmer's name to be given, but she vouches for the accuracy of her
information, and for my own use, she gave me all particulars respecting
the above. This took place only a few years ago, when the Foot and Mouth
Disease first visited Wales.
I obtained, through the kindness of the Rev. John Davies, vicar of
Bryneglwys, the following charm procured from Mr. R. Jones, Tynywern,
Bryneglwys, Denbighshire, who had it from his uncle, by whom it was used
at one time.
_Yn enw y Tad_, _a'r Mab_, _a'r Ysbryd_.
Bod I grist Iesu y gysegredig a oddefe ar y groes,
Pan godaist Sant Lasarys o'i fedd wedi farw,
Pan faddeuaist Bechodau I fair fagdalen, a thrygra
wrthyf fel bo gadwedig bob peth a henwyf fi ag a
croeswyf fi ++++ trwy nerth a rhinwedd dy eiriau
Bendigedig di fy Arglwydd Iesu Crist. Amen.
Iesu Crist ain harglwydd ni gwared ni rhag pop
rhiwogaeth o Brofedigaeth ar yabrydol o uwch deiar
nag o Is deiar, rhag y gythraelig o ddun nei ddynes
a chalon ddrwg a reibia dda ei berchenog ei
ddrwg rhinwedd ei ddrwg galon ysgymynedig
a wahanwyd or ffydd gatholig ++++ trwy nerth a
rhinwedd dy eiriau Bendigedig di fy Arglwydd Iesu Crist. Amen.
Iesu Crist ain harglwydd ni Gwared ni rhag y glwy
ar bar, ar Llid, ar genfigain ar adwyth . . .
ar Pleined Wibrenon ar gwenwyn
deiarol, trwy nerth a rhinwedd dy eiriau
Bedigedig di Fy Arglwydd Iesu Crist. Amen.
It was somewhat difficult to decipher the charms and four words towards
the end are quite illegible, and consequently they are omitted. The
following translation will show the nature of the charm:--
_In the Name of the Father_, _the Son_, _and the Spirit_.
May Christ Jesus the sanctified one, who suffered death on the cross,
When thou didst raise Lazarus from his tomb after his death,
When Thou forgavest sins to Mary Magdalen, have
mercy on me, so that everything named by me and
crossed by me ++++ may be saved by the power and
virtue of thy blessed words my Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Jesus Christ our Lord save us from every kind of
temptation whether spiritual above the earth or
under the earth, from the devilish man or woman
with evil heart who bewitcheth the goods of their
owner; his evil virtue, his evil excommunicated heart
cut off from the Catholic Faith ++++ by the power
and virtue of thy blessed words my Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Jesus Christ our Lord save us from the disease and the
affliction, and the wrath, and the envy, and the
mischief, and the . . . and the planet of the sky
and the earthly poison, by the power and virtue
of Thy blessed words, my Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The mark ++++ indicates that crosses were here made by the person who
used the charm, and probably the words of the charm were audibly uttered.
_Another Cattle Charm Spell_.
Mr. Hughes, Plasnewydd, Llansilin, lost several head of cattle. He was
told to bleed one of the herd, boil the blood, and take it to the
cowhouse at midnight. He did so, and lost no more after applying this
charm.
_A Charm for Calves_.
If calves were scoured over much, and in danger of dying, a hazel twig
the length of the calf was twisted round the neck like a collar, and it
was supposed to cure them.
_A Charm for Stopping Bleeding_.
Mrs. Reynolds, whom I have already mentioned in connection with a charm
for toothache, gave me the following charm. It bears date April 5,
1842:--
Our Blessed Saviour Jesus Christ was born at Bethlehem,
By the Virgin Mary,
Baptized in the River Jordan,
By St. John the Baptist.
He commanded the water to stop, and it obeyed Him.
And I desire in the name of Jesus Christ,
That the blood of this vein (or veins) might stop,
As the water did when Jesus Christ was baptized.
Amen.
_Charm to make a Servant reliable_.
"Y neb a fyno gael ei weinidog yn gywir, doded beth o'r lludw hwn yn
nillad ei weinidog ac efe a fydd cywir tra parhao'r lludw."--_Y Brython_,
vol. iii., p. 137.
Which is:--Whosoever wishes to make his servant faithful let him place
the ashes (of a snake) in the clothes of his servant, and as long as they
remain there he will be faithful.
There are many other wonderful things to be accomplished with the skin of
an adder, or snake, besides the preceding. The following are recorded in
_Y Brython_, vol. iii., p. 137.
_Charms performed with Snake's Skin_.
1. Burn the skin and preserve the ashes. A little salve made out of the
ashes will heal a wound.
2. A little of the ashes placed between the shoulders will make a man
invulnerable.
3. Whoso places a little of the ashes in the water with which he washes
himself, should his enemies meet him, they will flee because of the
beauty of his face.
4. Cast a little of the ashes into thy neighbour's house, and he will
leave it.
5. Place the ashes under the sole of thy foot, and everybody will agree
with thee.
6. Should a man wrestle, let him place some of the ashes under his
tongue, and no one can conquer him.
7. Should a man wish to know what is about to occur to him, let him
place a pinch of the ashes on his head, and then go to sleep, and his
dreams will reveal the future.
8. Should a person wish to ascertain the mind of another, let him throw
a little of the ashes on that person's clothes, and then let him ask what
he likes, the answer will be true.
9. Has already been given above. (See page 272).
10. If a person is afraid of being poisoned in his food, let him place
the ashes on the table with his food, and poison cannot stay there with
the ashes.
11. If a person wishes to succeed in love, let him wash his hands and
keep some of the ashes in them, and then everybody will love him.
12. The skin of the adder is a remedy against fevers.
_The Charms performed with Rosemary_.
Rosemary dried in the sun and made into powder, tied in a cloth around
the right arm, will make the sick well.
The smoke of rosemary bark, sniffed, will, even if you are in gaol,
release you.
The leaves made into salve, placed on a wound, where the flesh is dead,
will cure the wound.
A spoon made out of its wood will make whatever you eat therewith
nutritious.
Place it under the door post, and no snake nor adder can ever enter thy
house.
The leaves placed in beer or wine will keep these liquids from becoming
sour, and give them such a flavour that you will dispose of them quickly.
Place a branch of rosemary on the barrel, and it will keep thee from
fever, even though thou drink of it for a whole day.
Such were some of the wonderful virtues of this plant, as given in the
_Brython_, vol. iii., p. 339.
_Charm for Clefyd y Galon_, _or Heart Disease_.
The Rev. J. Felix, vicar of Cilcen, near Mold, when a young man lodged in
Eglwysfach, near Glandovey. His landlady, noticing that he looked pale
and thin, suggested that he was suffering from Clefyd y galon, which may
be translated as above, or love sickness, a complaint common enough among
young people, and she suggested that he should call in David Jenkins, a
respectable farmer and a local preacher with the Wesleyans, to cure him.
Jenkins came, and asked the supposed sufferer whether he believed in
charms, and was answered in the negative. However, he proceeded with his
patient as if he had answered in the affirmative. Mr Felix was told to
take his coat off, he did so, and then he was bidden to tuck up his shirt
above his elbow. Mr. Jenkins then took a yarn thread and placing one
end on the elbow measured to the tip of Felix's middle finger, then he
told his patient to take hold of the yarn at one end, the other end
resting the while on the elbow, and he was to take fast hold of it, and
stretch it. This he did, and the yarn lengthened, and this was a sign
that he was actually sick of heart disease. Then the charmer tied this
yarn around the patient's left arm above the elbow, and there it was
left, and on the next visit measured again, and he was pronounced cured.
The above information I received from Mr. Felix, who is still alive and
well.
There were various ways of proceeding in this charm. Yarn was always
used and the measurement as above made, and sometimes the person was
named and his age, and the Trinity was invoked, then the thread was put
around the neck of the sick person, and left there for three nights, and
afterwards buried in the name of the Trinity under ashes. If the thread
shortened above the second joint of the middle finger there was little
hope of recovery; should it lengthen that was a sign of recovery.
_Clefyd yr Ede Wlan or Yarn Sickness_.
About twenty years ago, when the writer was curate of Llanwnog,
Montgomeryshire, a young Welsh married woman came to reside in the parish
suffering from what appeared to be that fell disease, consumption. He
visited her in her illness, and one day she appeared much elated as she
had been told that she was improving in health. She told the narrator
that she was suffering from _Clwyf yr ede wlan_ or the woollen thread
sickness, and she said that the yarn had _lengthened_, which was a sign
that she was recovering. The charm was the same as that mentioned above,
supplemented with a drink made of a quart of old beer, into which a piece
of heated steel had been dipped, with an ounce of meadow saffron tied up
in muslin soaked in it, taken in doses daily of a certain prescribed
quantity, and the thread was measured daily, thrice I believe, to see if
she was being cured or the reverse. Should the yarn shorten it was a
sign of death, if it lengthened it indicated a recovery. However,
although the yarn in this case lengthened, the young woman died. The
charm failed.
Sufficient has been said about charms to show how prevalent faith in
their efficiency was. Ailments of all descriptions had their
accompanying antidotes; but it is singularly strange that people
professing the Christian religion should cling so tenaciously to paganism
and its forms, so that even in our own days, such absurdities as charms
find a resting-place in the minds of our rustic population, and often,
even the better-educated classes resort to charms for obtaining cures for
themselves and their animals.
But from ancient times, omens, charms, and auguries have held
considerable sway over the destinies of men. That charming book,
_Plutarch's Lives_, abounds with instances of this kind. Indeed, an
excellent collection of ancient Folk-lore could easily be compiled from
extant classical authors. Most things die hard, and ideas that have once
made a lodgment in the mind of man, particularly when they are connected
in any way with his faith, die the very hardest of all. Thus it is that
such beliefs as are treated of in this chapter still exist, and they have
reached our days from distant periods, filtered somewhat in their
transit, but still retaining their primitive qualities.
We have not as yet gathered together the fragments of the ancient
religion of the Celts, and formed of them a consistent whole, but
evidently we are to look for them in the sayings and doings of the people
quite as much as in the writings of the ancients. If we could only
ascertain what views were held respecting any particular matter in
ancient times, we might undoubtedly find traces of them even in modern
days. Let us take for instance only one subject, and see whether traces
of it still exist. Caesar in his _Commentaries_ states of the Druids
that, "One of their principal maxims is that the soul never dies, but
that after death it passes into the body of another being. This maxim
they consider to be of the greatest utility to encourage virtue and to
make them regardless of life."
Now, is there anything that can be associated with such teaching still to
be found? The various tales previously given of hags turning themselves
and others into various kinds of animals prove that people believed that
such transitions were in life possible, and they had only to go a step
further and apply the same faith to the soul, and we arrive at the
transmigration of souls.
It is not my intention to make too much of the following tale, for it may
be only a shred, but still as such it is worthy of record. A few years
ago I was staying at the Rectory, Erbistock, near Ruabon, and the rector,
the Rev. P. W. Sparling, in course of conversation, said that a
parishioner, one Betsy Roberts, told him that she knew before anyone told
her, that a certain person died at such and such a time. The rector
asked her how she came to know of the death if no one had informed her,
and if she had not been to the house to ascertain the fact. Her answer
was, "I knew because I saw a hare come from towards his house and cross
over the road before me." This was about all that the rector could
elicit, but evidently the woman connected the appearance of the hare with
the death of the man. The association of the live hare with the dead man
was here a fact, and possibly in the birthplace of that woman such a
connection of ideas was common. Furthermore, it has often been told me
by people who have professed to have heard what they related, that being
present in the death chamber of a friend they have heard a bird singing
beautifully outside in the darkness, and that it stopped immediately on
the death of their friend. Here again we have a strange connection
between two forms of life, and can this be a lingering Druidic or other
ancient faith?
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