Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-10-13
The Power of the Pins.
ENGLISH SUPERSTITION CONNECTED W.T.
THE GLITrERING LITTLE SHAFTS.

1he rover or The Pins,
ENGLISH SUPERSTITION CONNECTED WITH
THE GLTTrERING LITTLE SHAFTS.
: Why north.country people are so per
slstent in their refusal to give one another
pin it is not easy to discover, as ever
they themselves cannot give the origir
} and reason of this superstition. Wher
, asked for pin they invariably say
" You may take one, mind, do not give
it to you Another fact associated with
pins will doubtless interest those of the
, fair sex about 10 enter upon the happy
state of matrimony. Thus, it is still prev.
tent belief in certain places that the bride
in removing her bridal robe and chaplet
must take special care to throw away
every pin worn on that eventful day.
Evil fortune will sooner or later it is
affirmed inevitably overtake the bride
who keeps even Que pin used in the bridal
toilet, Woe also TO the bridesmaids il
they retain any of them, as their chances
of marriage will therby be materially les
sened, and anyhow they must give up all
hope of being married before the foIlwng
Whitsuntide. On the other hand, in Sus
sex bride often on her return home from
church robbed at once of all the pins
about her dress, by her single friends pres.
ent, from the behalf that whoever possesses
one of them will be married in the course
of year. Much excitement and amuse-
ment are occasionally caused by The
youthful competitors for this supposed
charm; and the bride herself is not infre-
quently the victim of rather rough treat
ment.
Among the magical proprierties of
pins we may mention their supposed eff :
cacy in the cure of certain diseases
Thus, in Leicestershire, in the case of
warts, the patient is taken to an ash tree,
where pin is first stuck into the bark,
and Withdrawn; wart is tranfixed with
it until 1t feels pain, and then the pin is
again pushed into the tree Every wart
thus treated is said to die away gradually
until it entirly disappears. A few years
ago, we are told, some trees might be
seen thickly studded over with pins, each
the index of cured wart. In place of
pin nail driven into oak is reported to
cure toothache. A Gloucestershre rem
edy consists in rubbing the warts with a
pin as many times as there are warts. As
the snail by degrees withers away, so it is
believed that the wart impregnated with
its matter does the same.
One of the most popular species of
enchantment to which pins have been
applied, is their supposed Influence in
counteracting cases of witchcraft. An
interesting case of this kind occurred
within the last few years in Sussex, which
Mrs. Latham has recorded ih the Folk
Lore Record. A lady observed upon
cottage hearth a quart bottle filled with
pins, and upon inquiring why they were
put there, WAS reqested not to touch the
bottle because it was red hot, and because,
if she did so, she would spoil the charm.
What charmP" she asked, in some
surprise. why, ma'am," replied the
woman, " it has pleased God to afflict my
daughter here with falling fits, and the
doctors did her no good; so | was reom-
mended 10 90 to a wise woman residing
near Guilford and she said, if she was
well paid for it she could tell me what
allied the girl and what would cure her,
So | said was agreeable, and she told me
that people afflicted with falling fits were
bewitched, and that must get as many
pins AS would fill n quart bottle, and put
them into it, and let it stand close to the
fire upon the hearth until the pins were
red hot. As soon rs this took place they
would prick the heat of the witch who
had brought this affiiclion on my poor
girl. and then she would be glad enough
to remove it," A medical Practitioner in
the same neighborhuod, in illustration re-
lated that when house in Puiborough
was undergoing repair Il bottle containing
upward of POO pins was found beneath the
rooms, every one being bent and some of
them nearly in curve. This mode of
appears to have been of COM
mon occurrence, and the workmen who
were engaged in doing up the house in
question affirmed that they often made
similar discoveries in repairing houses
Another curious case of counteracting
witchcraft by "pin-stcSing" occurred at
"A recent period in the parish of Honiton
Clyst. A landlord having lost one of his
tenants, certain repairs and improvements
we're found necessary to prepare for the
next. In carrying out the work Il chimney
had to be explored, when. in the course of
the operation there was found, carefully
secreted a pigs heart stuck all over with
thorn prickles, This is supposed to have
been done by the direction of some wise
Or cunning person, as a meaus of taking
revenge on the witch to whose incantations
the party considered some mischief due, in
the belief that the heart of the ill-wisher
would be pierced in like manner until it |
finally became as pulseless as that of the
pig.
In divinaton, pins are generally drop
ped into wells and omons gathered from
the direction in which they fall. In the
North of England there are the I" wish
ing wells" into which, if the passers by |
drop crooked pin and breathe their wish |
they may rest assured of its fultillment.
Near Wooler in Northumberland, on the |
flanks of the Cheviots, there is spring |
of water locally known as Pin Well"
and the Worm WE'LL" at Lambton, has |
for many years been popular resort for
pin divination. st. Helen's well, near
Seton, is no less famous. Young people |
from time immemorial have been in the
habit of casting pins or pebbles into it,
and making prognostcations from the |
circles formed on the surface of the agi-
tated water. In many well may be
found the pins which have been dropped |
by maidens desrous of knowing when !
" they were to be married." One writer |
tells us how he once witnessed on May |
a group of beautiful girls perform
the ceremony of pin dropping at Madron
we'll, near Ponzanoc. Two pieces of straw,
about an inch long each, were crossed
and the pin run through them. The cross
was then dropped into the water and the
rising bubbles carefully counted, as they
marked the number of years which would |
pass ere the arrival of the happy day.
People also formerly we're accustomed
to visit this we'll and wash in its waters
when suffering from sundry maladies
All over the highlands of Scotland there
are holy healing wells at which the peas
antry leave offerings of pins and nails
From the Queen.