Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-12-03
CURING BY CHARMS.
Strange Superstitions Rife In an
Old English Settlement

Years ago a number of emigrants
! from Devonshire. Lancaster Cornwall.
| Yorkshire and other counties of En-
gland settled in Northern Pennsylvania,
near the New York State line. They
/ the State and are the best of citizens,
but many of them cling with singular
/ tenacitv to a strange belief in the eff
| cacy of certain charms that have been
! used for centuries among the class to
which they belonged in England. The
charmed ring cure for epilepsy is one
Of these. Only few days ago jew
eler at Honesdale was called upon by a
resident of the settlement, who had
with him his daughter. a sickly girl of
fifteen. The girl produced nine En-
glish two-penny pieces. from which the
1 jeweler was requested TO make ring
to fit the girls middle finger. 1t was
necessary, the farmer said. that a por-
ton of each coin should be used and
the rest of the pieces saved and re-
turned to his daughter. The coins
were given her by nine boys, as near
her own age as could be found, which
would give to the ring charm which.
when she put il on, would cure her of
epilepsy, from which she was suffering.
This he maintained was cure that
was always tried in Devonshire and
never failed. If the victim of epilepsy
was a male, the nine coins must be
presented by nine females.
Some Of these farmers keep the skins
of adders in or on their houses and
buildings, believing them to be 4 GER
tain charm against fire. To cure ague
the patient is taken to a spot where
two roads cross. and an oak tree is
found as near the spot as possible. A
lock of his hair is lifted up and driven
into the tree with an ash peg. The
patient must then tear himself loose.
leaving the hair sticking in the tree,
and walk away without looking be-
hind him. Sufferers with crysipelas,
by wearing in silken bag around
their neck toad from which the right
hind leg and the left fore leg has been
cut until the mutilated reptile dies will
get well of the disease. The tongue
cut from living fox, these charm be-
levers say, carried about the person
will ward off disease of all kinds, but
as the person carrying one of these fox
tongues will surely die if he should
happen to meet fox at any cross
roads, the charm is seldom invoked.
One old resident of the settlement car
ries in his pocket constantly an i'm
mense tooth from human jaw. The
/ tooth, he says, was taken from the
mouth of man who was hanged in
Hertfordshire more than a hundred
years ago after the man was dead, and
was carried by the present owner S
father, grandfather and greatgrand-
father. 1t is carried as a preventive for
toothache, the tooth from dead per
sons mouth being a certain charm
against that malady. The owner OF
the tooth says he never had the tooth
ache in his life A double hazelnut car
ried in the pocket or about the person
is also 4 preventive of the disease.
The charms for the dispersion Of
warts believed in by many of these hon.
est farmers are numerous and most
with warts on his or her hands will
write down the number of them on the
band of tramp's hat without the
tramp knowing it he will carry the
warts away with him-that is, they
will gradually disappear from the per-
sons hands and appear on those of the
tramp. BY cutting a notch on green
elder-stick for every wart q person ma,
have. rubbing the stick on every wart
and then burying it in the barn-yard
until il rots. the warts may be cured,
Warts may also be removed by taking
Q black snail. rubbing it on all the
warts at night, and impaling the snai
on thorn bush. repeating the process
| nine consecutive nights. 10y which time
the warts and the snail viii both b.
s1r.7C1co up. Anotner way 10 get ru
of warts is for the person TO see funer-
al pass Unexpectedly, wherever he
may be, and, as it passes, rub his warts
quickly and repeat the words: Warts
and corpse pass away and never more
return" Green peas may also be used
to advantage in taking off warts. Let
the afflicted person take as many peas
as be has warts and touch each wart
with different pea. He must then
wrap each pea in separate piece Of
paper and bury them secretly in the
shade of an ash tree or under a hazel
bush. If peas are not in season and
the person with warts does not care to
try the efficacy Of any of the above
named charms. let him select as many
up in small bag, he must take them
= where four roads cross and throw
the bag over his left shoulder. This
charm will never be resorted to, how
ever, by persons who have no mali
ciOusness in their hearts, for if, by
chance, any other person find the bag
and open it the warts will appear on
his hand.
A wen is usually troublesome and
unsightly thing to be afflicted with, but
the victims of wens need not suffer
long if they believe in the English
charm. Take common snake. Hold
it by the head and tail. and draw it
backward and FORWARD nine times over
the wen. Then cork the snake in .
bottle and bury it. II that fails the pa