Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-03-29
sTRANGE CHARMS AND SPELLS
English Farmers In This Country Who
Believe in and Practice Them.


Believe in and Practice Them.
From Tho Nei0 Yors san.
Years ago 3 number of emigrants from
Devonshire, Lancaster, Cornwall, York
shire, and ether counties OF England set
tied in northern Pennsylvania, near the
New York line. They have made some of
the finest farms in the State, and are the
best OF citizens; but many Of them cling,
with singular tenaeity, to a strange belief
in the efficiency of certain charms that
have been used fer centuries among the
class TO which they belonged in England.
The charmed ring cure for epilepsy is
one of these. Only few days ago a
Jeweler in one OF the villages was called
upon by resident OF the settlement, who
had with him his daughter, q siokly girl of
10. The girl produced nine English two
penny pieces, from which the ieweler
was requested to make ring to fit the
grips middle finger. Ii was necessary,
the farmer said. that q portion of each
coin should be used, aud the rest OF the
pieces saved and returned to his daugh-
ter. The coins were gwen her by nine
bows. as near her own age as could be
found, which would give to the ring a
charm which, when she put It on, would
cure her OF epilepsy, fF0m which
she was suffering. This he maintained
was a cure that never failed. II
the victim Of epilepsy was 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 certain charm
against fire.
To cure ague the patient is taken 10 a
spot where two roads cross, and an oak 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 with
our looking behind.
Sufferers with erysipelas, by wearing in
a silken BAG around their necks toad
from which the right hind leg and
the left fore leg has been cut, until the
mutilated reptile dies, win get well Of the
disease.
The tongue cut from living fox, these
charm believers say, carried about the
person, will ward off disease OF ali 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 bis pocket constantly an immense
tooth from a human jaw. The tooth, he
says, was taken from the mouth of a man
after he was dead, who was hanged in
HertfOrdshife more than a hundred years
ago, and was carried by the prese at own
er's father, grandfather, ana great-grand-
father. 1t is carried as a preventive of
tOOthache, the tooth from a dead persons
mouth being a certain charm against tn at
malady. the owner of the tooth says he
never had The tOethache in his life. A
double, hazelnuJ carried in the pocket or
about the person is also q preventive of
this painful ailment.
The charms for the dispersion of warts
believed in by many Of these honest far
mers are numerous and most singular.
For instance, If person with warts on
his or her hands will write down the mum.
Der 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
PERSONS bands and appear on those of the
tramp. By cutting notch on green
elder stick for every wart a person may
have, rubbing the stick on every wart,
ana then buFying it in The barnyard, and
leaving it there te ret, the warts may be
cured. Warts may also be removed by
taking a black snail, rubbing it on all the
warts at night, and impaHng the email on
a thorn bush, repeating the process nine
successive nights. by which time the
warts and the snail will both be shrivelled
up. Another way To get rid OF warts is for
the person TO see funeral pass unexpect.
edlv. wherever he may be, and as il
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 OF
warts. Let the afflicted person take as
many peas as he has warts and touch each
wart with a different pea. He must
then wrap each pea in a SEPARATE piece OF
paper, and bury them secretly in the shade
Of an ash tree or under hazel bush. II
peas are not in season and the person
with warts does not care to try the efiea-
cy of any of the above named charms, let
him select as many pebbles as he has
warts. Sewing them up in a small bag,
he must take them to where four roads
cross and throw the bag over his left
shoulder. This charm Will never be re-
sorted to, however, by persons who have
no righteousness in their hearts, tor IL by
chance any other persons should find the
bag and open it the Warts will appear on
his hand.
A wen is usually troublesome and IN
slightly thing to be afflicted with, but the
victim Of wens need not suffer long II they
! believe in the English charm. lake 4
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 a bottle and bury it. II that
fails, the patient must not Tepine, but
simply walt until the next May day. Rise
early in the morning OF that day before
the sun has disturbed the dew. Go TO a
graveyard, and by passing the hand three
times from head TO foot over the grave,
collect the dew that lies on the grave OF
the last young person who was buried in
the yard. NJ the victim Of the wen is wo-
man the grave must be that OF a man, and
vice versa. Apply the dew Immediately
TO the wen, and a cure is guaranteed. In
England, according 10 an old resident
the dead stroke" was considered a new.
er-failing cure for wens. This was the
strOking Of the affected part with the hand
Of dead criminal.