Chapter VIII: Introduction (5)

"There are found in the north parts of Scotland, and the isles adjacent called Orcades, certain trees, whereon do grow certain shell-fishes, of a white colour, tending to russet; wherein are contained little living creatures; which shells in time of maturity do open, and out of them grow those little living things; which, falling into the water, do become fowls, whom we call barnacles, in the North of England brant geese, and in Lancashire tree geese; but the others that do fall upon the land perish and do come to nothing. Thus much by the writings of others, and also from the mouths of people of those parts, which may very well accord with truth. But _what our eyes have seen and hands have touched, we shall declare_. There is a small island in Lancashire called The Pile of Foulders [or Peel of Fouldrey] wherein are found the broken pieces of old and bruised ships, some whereof have been cast thither by shipwreck, and also the trunks or bodies, with the branches, of old rotten trees, cast up there likewise; whereon is found a certain spume or froth, that in time breedeth unto certain shells, in shape like those of the mussel, but sharper pointed, and of a whitish colour; wherein is contained a thing in form like a lace of silk, finely woven as it were together, as of a whitish colour, one end whereof is fastened unto the inside of the shell, even as the fish of oysters and mussels are. The other end is made fast unto the belly of a rude masse or lump, which in time cometh to the shape and form of a bird; when it is perfectly formed the shell gapeth open, and the first thing that appeareth is the foresaid lace or string; next come the legs of the bird hanging out; and as it groweth greater it openeth the shell by degrees, till at length it is all come forth and hangeth only by the bill. In short space after it cometh to full maturity and falleth into the sea, where it gathereth feathers and groweth to a fowl, bigger than a mallard and lesser than a goose; and black legs and bill, or beak, and feathers black and white, spotted in such a manner as is our magpie (called in some places a pie-annet), which [not the magpie, but the barnacle-hatched fowl] the people of Lancashire call by no other name than a tree goose; which place aforesaid, and all those parts adjoining, do so much abound therewith, that one of the best is bought for 3_d._; For the truth hereof, if any doubt, may it please them to repair to me, and I shall satisfy them by the testimony of good witnesses(!).... They spawn as it were in March and April; the geese are formed in May and June, and come to fulness of feathers in the month after." "There is another sort hereof, the history of which is _true, and of mine own knowledge_; for travelling upon the shores of our English coast between Dover and Romney, I found the trunk of an old rotten tree, which (with some help that I procured by fishermen's wives, that were there attending their husbands' return from the sea) we drew out of the water upon dry land. On this rotten tree I found growing many thousands of long crimson bladders, in shape like unto puddings newly filled, before they be sodden, which were very clear and shining; at the nether end whereof did grow a shell-fish, fashioned somewhat like a small mussel, but much whiter, resembling a shell-fish that groweth upon the rocks about Guernsey and Jersey, called a limpet. Many of these shells I brought with me to London, which, after I had opened, I found in them living things, without form or shape; in others, which were nearer come to ripeness, I found living things that were very naked, in shape like a bird; in others, the birds covered with soft down, the shell half open, and the bird ready to fall out, which no doubt were the fowls called barnacles.... That which I have seen with my eyes and handled with my hands, I dare confidently avouch and boldly put down for verity.... We conclude and end our present volume with this wonder of God. For which God's name be ever honoured and praised." This author figures the _Britannica Conchæ Anatifera_, or the breed of barnacles; the woodcut representing a tree growing by the sea, with leaves like mussel shells, opening, and living creatures emerging; while others, swimming about in the sea beneath, are perfect goslings! Well may the old herbalist call this "one of the marvels of this land; we may say of the world." Dr. Charles Leigh, in his _Natural History of Lancashire_, gravely labours to refute the notion that barnacles grow into geese, as had been asserted by Speed and others.

Sir J. Emerson Tennent, writing in _Notes and Queries_ (vol. viii. p. 223), referring to Porta's _Natural Magic_ for the vulgar error that not only in Scotland, but in the river Thames, "there is a kind of shell-fish which get out of their shells and grow to be ducks, or such-like birds," observes that this tradition is very ancient, Porta, the author, having died in 1515. In _Hudibras_ is an allusion to those--

"Who from the most refin'd of saints,
As naturally grow miscreants,
As _barnacles_ turn Soland geese,
In th' islands of the Orcades."

The story (says Sir James) has its origin in the peculiar formation of the little mollusc which inhabits the multivalve shell, the _Pentalasmi Anatifera_, which by a fleshy peduncle attaches itself by one end to the bottoms of ships or floating timber, whilst from the other there protrudes a bunch of curling and fringe-like cirrhi, by the agitation of which it attracts and collects its food. These cirrhi so much resemble feathers, as to have suggested the leading idea of a bird's tail; and hence the construction of the remainder of the fable, which is given with grave minuteness in _The Herball, or General Historie of Plants_, gathered by John Gerarde, Master in Chirurgie (London, 1597). After quoting the account, Sir James adds, that Gerarde, who is doubtless Butler's authority, says elsewhere, "that in the north parts of Scotland, and the islands called Orcades, there are certain trees whereon these tree geese and barnacles abound." The conversion of the fish into a bird, however fabulous, would be scarcely more astounding than the metamorphosis which it actually undergoes, the young of the little animal having no feature to identify it with its final development. In its early stage (see Carpenter's _Physiology_, i. 52) it has a form not unlike that of the crab, "possessing eyes and powers of free motion: but afterwards becoming fixed to one spot for the remainder of its life, it loses its eyes, and forms a shell, which, though composed of various pieces, has nothing in common with the jointed shell of the crab." Mr. T. J. Buckton (_Notes and Queries_, vol. viii. p. 224) says that Drayton (1613), in his _Polyolbion_, p. iii., in connexion with the river Dee, speaks of--

"Th' anatomised fish, and fowls from planchers sprung,"

to which a note is appended in Southey's edition (p. 609), that such fowls were "_barnacles_, a bird breeding upon old ships." In the _Entertaining Library_, "Habits of Birds," (pp. 363-379), the whole story of this extraordinary ignorance of natural history is amply developed. The barnacle-shells which I once saw in a sea-port attached to a vessel just arrived from the Mediterranean had the brilliant appearance at a distance of flowers in bloom. (See _Penny Cyclopædia_, article "Cirripeda," vii. 206, reversing the woodcut). The foot of the _Lepas Anatifera_ (Linn.), appeared to me like the stalk of a plant growing from the ship's side. The shell had the semblance of a calyx, and the flower consisted of the fingers (_tentacula_) of the shell-fish, "of which twelve project in an elegant curve, and are used by it for making prey of small fish." The very ancient error was to mistake the foot of the shell-fish for the neck of a goose, the shell for its head, and the _tentacula_ for a tuft of feathers. As to the body, _non est inventus_. The Barnacle Goose is a well-known bird; and these shell-fish bearing, as seen out of the water, resemblance to the goose's neck, were ignorantly, and without investigation, confounded with geese themselves. In France, the barnacle goose may be eaten on fast-days, by virtue of this old belief in its fishy origin. From a passage in the _Memoirs of Lady Fanshaw_, it appears that Sir Kenelm Digby, at the table of the Governor of Calais, declared that barnacles, a bird in Jersey, was first a shell-fish to appearance, and from that, sticking upon old wood, became in time a goose! An advertisement of June, 1807, sets forth that the "Wonderful curiosity called the Goose Tree, Barnacle Tree, or Tree bearing geese, taken up at sea on the 12th January, 1807, by Captain Bytheway, and was more than twenty men could raise out of the water--may be seen at the Exhibition Rooms, Spring Gardens, from ten o'clock in the morning till ten at night, every day. The Barnacles which form the present exhibition possess a neck upwards of two feet in length, resembling the windpipe of a chicken; each shell contains five pieces, and notwithstanding the many thousands which hang to eight inches of the tree, part of the fowl may be seen from each shell. Sir Robert Moxay, in the _Wonders of Nature and Art_, speaking of this singularly curious production, says, that in every shell he opened he found a perfect sea-fowl[!], with a bill like that of a goose, feet like those of water-fowl, and the feathers all plainly formed." (_Ibid._, p. 300.)

WARTS FROM WASHING IN EGG-WATER.

It is commonly held that washing the hands in water in which eggs have been boiled will produce a plentiful crop of warts. Not long ago two young and intelligent ladies stated that they had inadvertently washed their hands and arms in egg-water, and in each case this had been followed by large numbers of warts. This sequence they affirmed to be a consequence, and the warts were shown as an ocular demonstration of the unpleasant results of such lavation.

FORTUNE-TELLING.--WISE MEN AND CUNNING WOMEN, ETC.

There is scarcely a town of any magnitude in Lancashire, or in one or two adjacent counties, which does not possess its local "fortune-teller" or pretender to a knowledge of astrology, and to a power of predicting the future events of life, under the talismanic name of "fortune," to a large and credulous number of applicants. The fortune-teller of the nineteenth century professes to be able to "cast nativities" and to "rule the planets." If, as is not unfrequently the case, he be a medical botanist, he gathers his herbs when the proper planet is "in the ascendant." Some of these impostors also profess to "charge the crystal" (_i.e._, to look into a globular or egg-shaped glass), and thereby to solve the gravest questions respecting the future fortunes of those who consult them. Nor is this by any means an unprofitable pursuit. The writer is aware of several instances in which "casting nativities," &c., has proved a golden harvest to the professor. One individual gave up a well-paid occupation in order that he might devote himself wholly to the still more lucrative practice of astrology and fortune-telling. He not only predicted future events by means of the stars, but he gave heads of families advice as to the recovery of stolen property and the detection of the thief; while impatient maidens he counselled how to bring shy or dilatory lovers to the point. Another practitioner added to these practices the construction of sun-dials, in which he was very ingenious, and thereby amassed considerable property after a long and successful career. Instances are very common that credulity is not confined to the ignorant or uneducated classes. An intelligent and well-meaning lady once very seriously cautioned the writer against diving into the secrets of astrology, as, she said, that pursuit had "turned the head" of one of her acquaintance. She not only had a firm faith in the truth of all astrological predictions, but (from apprehension engendered by this faith) she would not on any account suffer any of these practitioners to predict her fortune, nor would she on any account consult them. It seems that on one occasion she did commit herself so far as to go to "a wise man," whom we will call Mr. I., in company with Miss J., whose marriage with Mr. K. was then somewhat doubtful; and she afterwards solemnly affirmed that the astrologer told her all her fortune. She described him as first carefully drawing the requisite diagram, showing the state of the heavens at the hour of Miss J.'s birth; and after "charging his glass" he declared that the marriage would take place within a few months; "but," he added, "he was also very sorry to inform her that she would die young." Both these events did really happen within a limited period; and of course the lady's belief in the truth of astrological prediction was very powerfully strengthened and confirmed. Some time after these events, this identical Mr. I. was brought before the magistrates in petty sessions, charged with obtaining money under false pretences; with practising astrology, palmistry, &c., and he only narrowly escaped imprisonment through some technical error in the charge or summons. It was said that the charge was a vindictive one--hence there was great rejoicing amongst his friends when it was dismissed; but the inspector of police who had charge of the case did not hesitate to declare that there were many persons then present who had paid Mr. I. money for his predictions.

Another specimen of the fortune-teller we may notice from a rural district. In the hamlet of Roe Green, in the township of Worsley, in a humble cottage, a few years ago lived a man who held the position of overseer or head of one class of workmen in the employ of the Bridgewater Trust. In the language of the locality, "Owd Rollison [Rawlinson] was a _gaffer_." But to this regular avocation he added the profession of fortune-telling, and in the evenings many were the applicants for a little knowledge of future events from the villages and hamlets for miles around. His stock-in-trade consisted of various books on astrology, &c., and of two magic glasses or crystals, one a small globular mass of common white glass, with a short stem by which to hold it; the other was about the size and shape of a large hen's egg, but without any stem or handle. His whole apparatus was for some months in the possession of the writer, and a list of his books may serve to show the sort of literature held in esteem amongst this class of planet rulers. 1. _The Three Books of Occult Philosophy_ of Henry Cornelius Agrippa, translated by J. Freake (London, 1651, pp. 583).[85] 2. Lilly's _Christian Astrology_, in three books (London, 1659, pp. 832). 3. John Gadbury's _Thesaurus Astrologiæ_ (Westminster, 1674, pp. 272). 4. _The Star_, by Ebn Shemaya (London, 1839, pp. 203). Zadkiel's _Grammar of Astrology_ (London, 1849, pp. 178): in this volume were also bound up "Tables for Calculating Nativities," by Zadkiel (London, 1850, pp. 64). 6. _A Plea for Urania_ (London, 1854, pp. 387).

One or two MS. books, apparently blank copy-books, which had been used to draw diagrams, or, as the phrase goes, to "construct horoscopes," or "erect schemes," or "cast nativities," showed that "Owd Rollison" had dabbled a little in a sort of Astrology; but the rudeness of these attempts betrayed him to be but a mere tyro in the "celestial science." He had also a reputation for selling "charms" against the various ills that flesh is heir to; amongst others, one to stop hæmorrhage. One countryman told the writer that he remembered, when a boy, that his uncle having a very severe hæmorrhage, so that he was believed to be bleeding to death, this boy was told to run off as hard as he could to Owd Rollison to get something to stop the bleeding. He soon received a small piece of parchment containing sundry unintelligible characters upon it, which was to be sewed up in a small bag and worn continually, so that the bag should rest on the skin just over the heart. This was done, the bleeding stopped, and the man recovered. Another person, who had been a sort of confidant of the wise man, told the writer that at one period Rawlinson went at regular intervals, and on stated days, to Manchester, where at a quiet public-house he met other "wise men," and they assembled in an upper chamber, with locked door, and sometimes remained for hours in deliberation. Of the subject of such deliberations the informant said he knew nothing, for he was never admitted; he had the honour of remaining outside the door as watchman, guard, or sentinel, to prevent any prying listeners from approaching. He conjectured that what they were about was "magic and such like;" but more he knew not. "Owd Rollison" kept his situation under the Bridgewater Trust until his death, at a ripe old age; and though he left several sons and a daughter, the mantle of his astrological or fortune-telling wisdom does not seem to have fallen on any of them.

Much might be stated respecting the practice of the art of fortune-telling by wandering gipsies, especially in that branch of it termed palmistry--predicting the future from an examination of the "lines" of the palm of the left hand, each of which, in the jargon of palmists, has its own peculiar character and name, as the line of life, of fortune, &c.; but as these wanderers are not indigenous to Lancashire, but may be found in every county in England, it may suffice thus to name them. Of the old women who tell fortunes by cards chiefly, to silly women who are always wanting to know whether their future husband is to be denoted by the King of Hearts (a true-loving swain) or by the Monarch of Diamonds (as indicative of great wealth), it is enough to say that they may be found by scores or hundreds in every town in Lancashire.

MAGIC AND MAGICIANS.

Our forefathers had a strong faith in the power of magic, and even divided the knowledge of it into two opposite kinds--viz., "white magic," which was acquired from the communications of the archangels and angels, or at least from some of the good spirits who were allowed to aid human beings by their supernatural power in deeds of beneficence; and black magic, or "the black art," also termed "necromancy," which was derived from dealings with the devil, or at least from commerce with his imps, or the evil spirits of wicked dead men. At one period the terms magician and conjuror had the same meaning--one who conjured, by magical power, spirits and demons to appear and do his bidding. Conjuror has since become a name for a professor of _legerdemain_ or sleight-of-hand.

EDWARD KELLY, THE SEER.

Edward Kelly, whose dealings in the Black Art, it is said, would fill a volume, was born at Worcester, and had been an apothecary. We have elsewhere noticed his doings as an alchemist. He was for a considerable time the companion and associate of "Dr." John Dee, performing for him the office of "Seer," by looking into the doctor's crystal or stone, a faculty not possessed by Dee, who in consequence was obliged to have recourse to Kelly for the revelations he has published respecting the world of spirits. These curious transactions may be found in Casaubon's work, entitled, _A True and Faithful Relation of what Passed for many years between Dr. John Dee and some Spirits_--opening out another dark page in the history of imposture and credulity. Dee says that he was brought into unison with Kelly by the mediation of the angel Uriel. Afterwards he found himself deceived by him, in his opinion that these spirits which ministered unto him were messengers of the Deity. They had had several quarrels before; but when Dee found Kelly degenerating into the worst species of the magic art, for the purposes of avarice and fraud, he broke off all connexion with him, and would never afterwards be seen in his company. Kelly, being discountenanced by the doctor, betook himself to the meanest practices of magic, in all which money and the works of the devil appear to have been his chief aim. Many wicked and abominable transactions are recorded of him.

In Lilly's Memoirs are the following passages relating to this Seer:--"Kelly outwent the Doctor, viz., about the Elixir and the Philosopher's Stone, which neither he nor his master attained by their own labour and industry. It was in this manner that Kelly obtained it, as I had it related from an ancient minister, who knew the certainty thereof from an old English merchant, resident in Germany, at what time both Kelly and Dee were there. Dee and Kelly, being on the confines of the Emperor's dominions, in a city where resided many English merchants, with whom they had much familiarity, there happened an old friar to come to Dr. Dee's lodgings, knocking at the door. Dee peeped down stairs: 'Kelly,' says he, 'tell the old man I am not at home.' Kelly did so. The friar said, 'I will take another time to wait upon him.' Some few days after, he came again. Dee ordered Kelly, if it were the same person, to deny him again. He did so; at which the friar was very angry. 'Tell thy master I came to speak with him, and to do him good; because he is a great scholar, and famous: but now tell him, he put forth a book, and dedicated it to the Emperor. It is called _Monas Hieroglyphicas_. He understands it not. I wrote it myself. I came to instruct him therein, and in some other more profound things. Do thou, Kelly, come along with me. I will make thee more famous than thy master Dee.' Kelly was very apprehensive of what the friar delivered, and thereupon suddenly retired from Dr. Dee, and wholly applied unto the friar, and of him either had the Elixir ready made, or the perfect method of its preparation and making. The poor friar lived a very short time after: whether he died a natural death, or was otherwise poisoned or made away by Kelly, the merchant who related this, did not certainly know." "It was vulgarly reported that he [Kelly] had a compact with the devil, which he out-lived, and was seized at midnight by infernal spirits, who carried him off in sight of his family, at the instant he was meditating a mischievous design against the minister of the parish, with whom he was greatly at enmity."[86]

RAISING THE DEAD AT WALTON-LE-DALE.

In the reign of Queen Elizabeth and the year 1560, three judicial astrologers met in Preston, for the purpose of raising a corpse by incantations. They were Dr. Dee, Warden of Manchester, Edward Kelly, his assistant, and "seer," and Paul Wareing, of Dove Cotes, near Clayton Brook. Casaubon, in his "True and faithful Account of what passed for many years between John Dee and some Spirits," (apparently quoting from Weever's _Funeral Monuments_) states that "The aforesaid Master Edward Kelly, a person well skilled in judicial astrology, with one Paul Wareing (who acted with him in these incantations and all these conjurations) and Dr. Dee, went to the churchyard of St. Leonard's, in Walton-le-Dale, near Preston, and entered the burial ground exactly at midnight, the moon shining brightly, for the purpose of raising the body of a person who had been interred there, and who had during his life hidden a quantity of money without disclosing the fact previous to his death. Having had the grave pointed out to them on the preceding day, they opened it, removed the coffin lid, and set to work by various exorcisms, until the body became animated, by the spirit entering it again. The body then rose out of the grave and stood upright before them. It not only satisfied their wicked desires, it is said, but delivered several strange predictions concerning persons in the neighbourhood, which were literally and exactly fulfilled. Sibley, in his _Occult Sciences_, relates a similar account of this transaction, and also gives an engraving representing the scene, which took place at the midnight hour in the church of Walton. Another account states that Dr. Dee was engaged with Kelly in this enterprise, August 12th, 1560, and that Paul Wareing, of Clayton Brook, was the other who gave assistance in endeavouring to obtain an intercourse with familiar spirits."--(_Whittle's Preston._)

AN EARL OF DERBY CHARGED WITH KEEPING A CONJUROR.

The loyal and munificent Edward (third) Earl of Derby, notwithstanding his great services to Queen Elizabeth, and his long-proved loyalty, was maligned and accused of traitorous intentions. The Earl of Huntingdon wrote to Sir William Cecil, then the Queen's Secretary of State (afterwards Lord Burghley, her Treasurer), a letter, communicating suspicions of the Earl of Derby, which the writer asked should be burned as soon as read, but which has been preserved (and printed) amongst Lord Burghley's _State Papers_ (I. 603.) Modernising the spelling, the letter runs thus:--

Sir,--I am bolder to write to you on weighty matters, than I dare be
to some others; the cause I leave to your consideration, and so to
you only I am bold to impart that I hear. The matter in short is
this:--Among the Papists of Lancashire, Cheshire, and the Cosynes
(?), great hope and expectation there is, that Derby will play as
foul a part this year as the two Earls did the last year. [See the
Rising in the North.] I hope better of him for my part, and for my
respects, both general and particular, I wish him to do better. I
know he hath hitherto been loyal, and even the last year, as you
know, gave good testimony of his fidelity, and of his own
disposition, I think, will do so still; but he may be drawn by evil
counsel, God knoweth to what. I fear he hath even at this time many
wicked counsellors, and some too near him. _There is one Browne, a
conjuror, in his house, kept secretly._ There is also one Uphalle,
who was a pirate, and had lately his pardon, that could tell
somewhat, as I hear, if you could get him. He that carried my Lord
Morley over, was also there within this se'ennight, kept secretly.
He with his whole family never raged so much against religion as
they do now, he never came to common prayer for this quarter or this
year, as I hear, neither doth any of the family, except five or six
persons. I dare not write what more I hear, because I cannot justify
and prove it; but this may suffice for you in time to look to it.
And surely, in my simple opinion, if you send some faithful and wise
spy, that would dissemble to come from D'Alva, and dissemble popery,
you might understand all; for if all be true that is said, there is
a very fond company in the house at this present. I doubt not but
you can and will use this matter better than I can advise you. Yet
let me wish you to take heed to which of your companions (though you
be now but five together) you utter this matter _ne fortè_ it be in
Lathom sooner than you would have it; for some of you have men about
you and friends attending on you, &c., that deal not always well. I
pray God save our Elizabeth and confound all her enemies; and thus I
take my leave, committing you to God his tuition.

Your assured poor friend,
H. HUNTYNGDON.
From Ashby, 24 Aug., 1570.

P.S.--Because none there should know of my letter, I would not send
it by my servant, but have desired Mr. Ad to deliver it to you in
secret. When you have read it, I pray you to burn it and forget the
name of the writer. I pray God I may not hear any more of your
coming to ----.

There seems to have been no substantial ground for suspecting the loyalty of the Earl of Derby, which remained unshaken through another ordeal, the conspiracy of the Duke of Norfolk to marry the Queen of Scots, and place her on the English throne. But the Bishop of Ross gave evidence, that in Mary's design, in 1571, to escape from Sheffield Castle to the Continent, she was aided by several Lancashire gentlemen; and adds, that she wrote a letter by a little priest of Rolleston's to Sir Thomas Stanley. Sir Thomas Gerrard and Rolleston devised a cypher for her; and they offered to convey her away, and willed the Bishop to ask the Duke of Norfolk's opinion therein. The prelate further stated that Hall told him that if the Queen [Mary] would get two men landed in Lancashire, Sir Thomas Stanley, and Sir Edward Stanley, along with Sir Thomas Gerrard, and Rolleston, would effect her escape to France or Flanders, &c. Upon this evidence Sir Thomas Stanley, Sir Thomas Gerrard, and Rolleston, were apprehended, and committed to the Tower as state prisoners.[87]

FOOTNOTES:

[75] Allen's _History of Yorkshire_, vol. iii. pp. 421-425.

[76] _Gort_, narrow; _gor_, upper, Brit.; _gór_, blood, A.-S. _Gorple_ may mean the bloody pile, or the upper pile.

[77] From _Sceot-hull_, afterwards _Scout_ or _Shoot-hill_, and _worth_--_i.e._, the farm or hamlet of the projecting ledge or hill.

[78] Dr. Borlase's argument is cumulative. He observes that rock basins are always on the _top_, never on the _sides_ of the stones; that the ancients sacrificed on rocks; that water was used by them for lustration and purification; that snow, rain, or dew, was preferred by them to running water; that it was not permitted to touch the earth; that the Druids practised similar rites, and held rain or snow-water to be holy; and they attributed a healing virtue to the gods inhabiting rocks; that their priests stood upon rocks to wash, sprinkle, and drink, &c. All these considerations, he conceives, favour his opinion that rock basins were _used_, if not _formed_, by the Druids.

[79] See Watson's _History of Halifax_, pp. 27-36.

[80] Professor Hunt is of the same opinion. See his recent work on the _Drolls of Cornwall_, vol. i. pp. 186-228.

[81] T. G. C., in _Notes and Queries_, vol. vii. p. 177.

[82] In his _History of Blackpool_, pp. 333-4.

[83] Speet, spit, or spittle, are names in Lancashire for a spade.

[84] L. B., in _Notes and Queries_, vol. viii. p. 613.--_Bibliographical Notice of the Works of the Learned and Rev. Divine, John White, D.D., &c._ London, 1624; in _Chet. Soc. Books_, vol. xxxviii. p. 52.

[85] There is another curious volume, which professes to contain a fourth book of Agrippa; but it is spurious. It includes five treatises--viz., 1. Henry Cornelius Agrippa's Fourth Book on Occult Philosophy and Geomancy; 2. The Magical Elements of Peter de Abano; 3. The Astronomical Geomancy of Gerard Cremonensis; 4. Isagoge, or the Nature of Spirits, by Geo. Victorius Villinganus, M.D.; and 5. Arbatel of Magick. Translated into English by Robert Turner, Philomathées. (London, 1665, 8vo, pp. 266.) Another version of this book appeared in 1783, 8vo. It would lead us too far to describe the strange contents of this book, which contains long lists of the names of good and evil spirits, and symbols representing their characters; also symbols of the archangels and angels, their sigils, planets, signs, &c.

[86] See Roby's _Traditions of Lancashire_.

[87] (_Lord Burghley's Papers_, vol. ii., p. 771.) The death of Edward Earl of Derby, "with whom (says Camden) the glory of hospitality hath in a manner been laid asleep," took place on the 24th October, 1572.

MIRACLES, OR MIRACULOUS STORIES.

An age of credulity is naturally rich in miracles. Superstition is ever prone to explain the mysterious, or to account for the questionable, by hunting for some supernatural cause; and hence the popular love for and strong faith in the miraculous. No church erected before the Reformation but had its miraculous legend; no well or spring of a remote antiquity but had its tradition, either connected with its origin or with its marvellous and miraculous powers of healing. The miracle of a past age, preserved to the present in the form of a legend, is equally entitled to a place in our Folk-Lore.

MIRACLES BY A DEAD DUKE OF LANCASTER AND KING.

One of the Harleian Manuscripts (Cod. 423), found amongst the papers of Fox the Martyrologist, and entitled "De Miraculis Beatissimi Militis Xpi Henrici Vj." (Of the Miracles of the Most blessed Knight of Christ, Henry VI.), consisting of about 150 closely written pages, contains an account of a vast number of reputed miracles performed by this weak and credulous monarch (who long hoped to pay his large debts by the aid of two alchemists!) and of which the following specimens will doubtless suffice for our readers:--How Richard Whytby, priest of St. Michael's, was long ill of a fever, and at last miraculously cured by journeying to the tomb of Henry VI. John, called Robynson, who had been blind ten years, recovered his sight by visiting Henry's tomb. How Henry Lancaster, afflicted in fever, was miraculously cured in three days by the appearance of the blessed prince Henry VI. in the sky. How a girl called Joan Knyght, who was nearly killed with a bone sticking in her throat, and considered dead, on the bystanders invoking Henry VI., vomited the bone and was restored to health. If these superstitions wanted a crowning absurdity, that is not wanting in the fact that Henry VII. actually sent an embassy to Rome, to importune the newly-elected Pope Julius II. to canonize Henry VI. as a saint! His holiness referred the matter to certain cardinals, to take the verification of the deceased monarch's holy acts and miracles; but these were not sufficiently obvious to entitle him to the dignity of the calendar, and the negotiation was abandoned in despair.[88]

Mr. Monckton Milnes, M.P. (now Lord Houghton), in an interesting letter in _Notes and Queries_, I. 181, asks for information respecting this popular "saint," to whom the Church, however, denied canonization. He refers to Brady for an account of the miracle performed at the tomb of Thomas Earl of Lancaster, and of the picture or image of the Earl exhibited in St. Paul's, London, and the object of many offerings. Brady cites the opinion of an ecclesiastic, who doubted the propriety of this devotion being encouraged by the Church; the Earl, besides his political offences, having been a notorious evil-liver. In June 1327, a "King's letter" (of Edward III.) was given to Robert de Weryngton, authorizing him and his agents to collect alms throughout the Kingdom for the purpose of building a chapel on the hill where the Earl was beheaded; and praying all prelates and authorities to give him aid and heed. This sanction gave rise to imposture; and in the following December a proclamation appeared, ordering the arrest and punishment of unauthorized persons collecting money under this pretence and taking it for their own use. The chapel was constructed, and officiated in till the dissolution of the monasteries; the image in St. Paul's was always regarded with especial affection, and the cognomen of "_Saint_ Thomas of Lancaster" was generally accepted and understood. Five hundred years after the execution of the Earl of Lancaster [in 1822], a large stone coffin, massive and roughly hewn, was found in a field that belonged of old to the Priory of Pomfret, but at least a quarter of a mile distant from the hill where the chapel stood. Within was the skeleton of a full-grown man, partially preserved; the skull lay between the thighs. There is no record of the decapitation of any person at Pontefract of sufficient dignity to have been interred in a manner showing so much care for the preservation of the body, except the Earl of Lancaster. The coffin may have been removed here at the time the opposite party forbade its veneration, from motives of precaution for its safety.--R. M. M.--[The Editor of _Notes and Queries_ adds, that "The Office of St. Thomas of Lancaster," which begins "_Gaude, Thoma, ducum decus, lucerna Lancastriæ_," is printed in the volume of "_Political Songs_" edited by Mr. Wright for the Camden Society, from a royal MS. in the British Museum, _MS. Reg. 12_. Another correspondent, we believe Mr. James Thompson of Leicester, states that at the dissolution of the monasteries in that town, several relics of St. Thomas (who was Earl of Leicester, as well as of Lancaster) were exhibited; amongst others his felt hat, which was considered a great remedy for the headache!]

A MIRACULOUS FOOTPRINT IN BRINDLE CHURCH.

Beneath the eastern gable of the chancel lies a huge stone coffin, with a cavity for the head, but its history is unknown. In the wall just above it is a small indentation, resembling the form of a foot, which, according to tradition, was made by the high-heeled shoe of a Popish disputant, who, in the ardour of debate, wished, if the doctrine he advanced was not true, that his foot might sink into the stone, "upon which the reforming stone instantly softened, and buried the papistical foot;" much in the same way, no doubt, as the flag in Smithells Hall received the print of the foot of George Marsh, the martyr.[89]

THE FOOTPRINT AT SMITHELLS OF GEORGE MARSH, THE MARTYR.

George Marsh, one of the three Lancashire martyrs in the reign of Queen Mary, was the son of Mr. George Marsh, a yeoman of Dean, and was born about 1575. He was educated at the Bolton Free Grammar School, and for a time followed farming, and, marrying at twenty-five, settled there till the death of his wife; when, placing his children with his father, he became a student at Cambridge University, was ordained, and was appointed curate of All-Hallows, Bread-street, London. He continued for some time preaching the reformed doctrines, and zealously supporting the Protestant faith, both in London and Lancashire; and while in his native county, in March 1555, he learned that he had been sought after by the servants of Mr. Barton of Smithells Hall, a magistrate; on which he went thither voluntarily, and was examined before Mr. Barton. In a passage near the door of the dining-room is a cavity in a flag, bearing some resemblance to the print of a man's foot, and this cavity is said by tradition to have been caused by the martyr stamping his foot to confirm his testimony, and it is shown to this day as a miraculous memorial of the holy man. The story goes, that "being provoked by the taunts and persecutions of his examiners, he stamped with his foot upon a stone, and, looking up to Heaven, appealed to God for the justness of his cause; and prayed that there might remain in that place a constant memorial of the wickedness and injustice of his enemies." It is said that about the beginning of the eighteenth century this stone was removed by two or three young men, of the family of Barton, then living at the hall, during the absence of their parents; that they cast it into the clough behind the hall; but all the inmates of the house were so much disturbed that same night by alarming noises, that they could not rest. Inquiry led to confession, the stone was replaced, and the noises ceased. It is also stated that in 1732, a guest (John Butterworth, of Manchester,) sleeping alone in the Green Chamber at Smithells Hall, saw an apparition, in the dress of a minister with bands, and a book in his hand. The ghost of Marsh (for so it was pronounced to be) disappeared through the door-way, and on the owner of Smithells hearing the story, he directed that divine service (long discontinued) should be resumed at the hall chapel every Sunday. Such are some of the stories told about Smithells Hall; and there is hardly an old hall in the country that has not one or more such traditions floating about its neighbourhood. It is as if ghostly visitants scorned to honour with their presence any house below the dignity of a hall. In this case, it may be observed that neither in Marsh's own account of what passed at Smithells, nor in Mr. Whatton's Biographical notice of him in Baines's _History of Lancashire_, is any mention made of the miraculous footprint. But in a volume of four or five tracts printed at Bolton (no year stated) the third tract is "The Life and Martyrdom of George Marshe," &c. "Also, the particulars respecting the print of a foot on the flag shewn at Smithills Hall, near Bolton;" which latter is signed "W. D.," and dated "August 22, 1787." Amongst other discrepancies, it may be observed that W. D. makes Marsh's interrogator "Sir Roger Barton;" while Marsh, a native of the immediate neighbourhood invariably writes of him as "Mr. Barton."

A LEGEND OF CARTMEL CHURCH.

Better than six hundred years ago (runs the story) some monks came over to Lancashire from another country; and, finding all this part of the kingdom covered with wood, they resolved to build a monastery in some part of Cartmel Forest. In their rambles, they found a hill which commanded a prospect so beautiful and extensive that they were quite charmed with it. They marked out a piece of ground on the summit, and were preparing to build the church, when a voice spoke to them out of the air, saying "Not there, but in a valley, between two rivers, where the one runs north, and the other south." Astonished at this strange command, they marvelled where the valley could be, for they had never seen a valley where two rivers ran in contrary directions. They set out to seek this singular valley, and travelled throughout the North of England, but in vain. Wearied with their fruitless search, they were returning to the hill where they had heard the strange voice. In passing through a valley covered with wood, they came to a small river, the stream of which ran north. They waded through it, and shortly after found another, the stream of which ran south. They placed the church midway between the two streams, upon a little island, of hard ground, in the midst of a morass; dedicating it to St. Mary. They also built a small chapel on the hill where they had heard the voice, which they dedicated to St. Bernard. The chapel has long since disappeared, but the hill is still called Mount Bernard.[90]

THE PROPHET ELIAS, A LANCASHIRE FANATIC.

In 1562, a native of Manchester who called himself Elias, but whose real name was Ellys, pretended to possess the spirit of prophecy. He went to London, where he made some proselytes, uttering his "warning voice" in the public places. James Pilkington, D.D., a native of Rivington, in Lancashire, and an eminent Protestant divine, who was raised by Queen Elizabeth in 1560 to the See of Durham, preached before the Queen at Greenwich, against the supposed mission of this Manchester fanatic. The Bishop of London, three days afterwards, ordered the northern prophet to be put in the pillory in Cheapside. He was thence committed to Bridewell, where he died in or about 1565.

FOOTNOTES:

[88] Baines's _Lancashire_.

[89] Baines's _Lancashire_.

[90] See _Lonsdale Magazine_, February, 1821.

OMENS AND PREDICATIONS.

An intense desire to know future events, besides being the great encouragement of astrologers, sorcerers, and magicians, wise men, cunning women, fortune-tellers, &c., has given rise to a large class of small circumstances which are regarded as indicative of coming good or bad luck, of good or evil fortune, to the observer or the person experiencing their influence. Hence, nothing is more common than to hear amongst uneducated and credulous people predications from the most trivial occurrences of daily life. A winding-sheet in the candle, spilling the salt, crossing knives, and various other trifles, are omens of evil to thousands of lore-folk to this day. Should one of your children fall sick when on a visit at a friend's house, it is held to be sure to entail bad luck on that family for the rest of the year, if you stay over New Year's-day. Persons have been known to travel sixty miles with a sick child rather than run the risk. A flake of soot on the bars of the grate is said to indicate the approach of a stranger; a bright spark on the wick of a candle, or a long piece of stalk in the tea-cup, betokens a similar event. When the fire burns briskly, some lover smirks or is good-humoured. A cinder thrown out of the fire by a jet of gas from burning coals, is looked upon as a coffin, if its hollow be long; as a purse of gold, if the cavity be roundish. Crickets in a house are said to indicate good fortune; but should they forsake the chimney corner, it is a sure sign of coming misfortunes.

In the neighbourhood of Lancaster I know ladies who consider it "lucky" to find _old iron_: a horse-shoe or rusty nail is carefully conveyed home and hoarded up. It is also considered lucky if you see the _head_ of the first lamb in spring; to present his _tail_ is the certain harbinger of misfortune. It is also said that if you have money in your pocket the first time you hear the cuckoo, you will never be without all the year.[91]

In Lancashire we still dislike the moaning or hooting of owls and the croaking of ravens, as much as the Romans did of old. In a large class of our population few would yet defy evil fate, by beginning a journey or any important undertaking, or marrying, on a Friday; on which day Lancashire, like other sailors, have a strong repugnance to beginning a voyage. This day of the week is regarded as of evil augury, because it was the day (Good Friday) when our Saviour's blood was shed. The auguries of dreams are so numerous, that a large class of chap-books are still to be found circulating in country places, from _Mother Shipton_ to _Napoleon's Book of Fate_. Few young women in the country, farmers' daughters and servants, were without a favourite "Dream-Book." Again, the farmer or cottager deems it necessary, in order to secure a crop of onions, to sow the seed on St. Gregory's-day [March 12] named "Gregory-gret-Onion," (_i.e._, Gregory the Great). Amongst the more pardonable longings to raise the veil of futurity are those of village maidens (and not a few of those in towns too, and of all ranks) to get a peep at the figure of the husband whom the future has in store for her. On All-Hallows' Eve she strews the ashes which are to take the form of one or more letters of her lover's name; she throws hemp-seed over her shoulder and timidly glances to see who follows her. On the fast of St. Agnes she watches a small candle called a "pig-tail," to see the passing image of her future husband. The up-turned tea-cup, for its leaves, or the coffee-cup for its "grounds;" the pack of cards, with the desired King of Hearts or Diamonds, the sputterings and spurtings of a tallow-candle, all furnished to the omen-instructed damsel some sign by which to read the future, and to arrive at a knowledge of her lot in life, as to husband, children, fortune, &c. When leaving home to begin a journey, or to commence any future enterprise, it is deemed an important observance, necessary to insure good luck, to walk "withershins" (_i.e._, as the weather or sun shines). In many country places this is always observed by a bridal party when advancing to the altar to have the marriage solemnized, and, of course, one particular aisle of the church is the only fortunate or lucky one to proceed by. Some, however, say that to walk "widdershins" is to take a direction contrary to the course of the sun, _i.e._, from right to left.[92] Some persons more credulous than humane, will shut up a poor cat in the oven, to ensure their own good luck. Days have long been parcelled out between lucky and unlucky, for any important undertaking, as a journey, taking a partner in business or for life, buying land, or even for such trivial matters as blood-letting, taking physic, cutting the hair, or paring nails. Again, the moon's age is an important element in securing future weal or woe. For the first year of an infant's life many mothers will not have its hair or nails cut, and when the year is gone these operations must be performed when the moon is so many days old, to ensure good results. A tooth, as soon as it has been drawn, should be sprinkled with salt, and thrown into the fire; if it be lost, no rest or peace will be enjoyed till it is found again. The following are a few omens drawn from observing peculiarities about animals:--

CATS.

1. If a cat tear at the cushions, carpets, &c., with its claws, it is considered to be a sign of wind. Hence we say, "the cat is raising the wind." 2. If a cat in washing its face draw its paw quite over its forehead, it is a sign of fair weather. If not so, it betokens speedy rain. 3. Allowing cats to sleep with you is considered very unhealthy. They are said to "draw your health away." 4. Those who play much with cats have never good health. A cat's hair is said to be indigestible, and you will die if one get into your stomach. 5. It is counted unlucky to allow cats to die in a house. Hence when they begin to be ill they are usually drowned. A case of this kind occurred in Burnley a short time ago. 6. If a kitten come to a house, it is counted a lucky omen.

DOGS.

1. Dogs are said to sit down and howl before the door when any one is about to be sick, or die. A death is considered _certain_ if the dog return as often as driven away. 2. Dogs are hence considered to be somehow acquainted with the spirit world, "or else," as one said, "how should they know when a person is going to die?" This is firmly believed in about Mellor and Blackburn. In Burnley and neighbourhood equally so at present. 3. The _life_ of a dog is sometimes said to be _bound up_ with that of its master or mistress. When either _dies_ the other cannot _live_. Is this a remnant of the old belief in the transmigration of souls? 4. The whining of a favourite dog is considered by many to betoken calamity to the family to which it belongs.

LAMBS.

It is very lucky for lambs to have their faces towards you when you first see them in Spring. The omen is much more favourable when they are looking towards the east.

BIRDS.

To kill or ill-use swallows, wrens, redbreasts, &c., is accounted unfortunate; for these all frequent our houses for good. There is a stanza common among us which declares that

"A Cock Robin and a Jenny Wren
Are God Almighty's cock and hen;
A Spink and a Sparrow
Are the Devil's bow and arrow."

Birds are supposed by some to be somehow cognizant of what is about to happen. A _jackdaw_ is always an unwelcome visitor, if it alight on the window-sill of a sick chamber. A _white dove_ is thought to be a favourable omen; its presence betokens recovery to the person within, or it is _an angel in that form_ ready to convey the soul of a dying person to heaven. I once knew a Wesleyan Methodist who was of opinion that "forgiveness of sins" was assured to her by a small bird, which flew across her path when she had long been praying for a token of this kind. When a _Canary-bird_ sings cheerfully, all is well with the family that keeps it; when it becomes silent, and remains so, there is calamity in store for that household. If you hear the _cuckoo_ shout towards the east, for the first time in any year, and have gold, silver, and copper coin in your pockets, you will never want money during that year.

SWALLOWS.

1. If swallows, or martins, begin to build their nests about a house or barn, it is looked upon as predicating good luck to the occupier. "The _more_ birds the _better_ luck." 2. On the contrary, when they forsake a haunt, the occupiers become apprehensive of misfortune. Hence farmers will always protect such birds, and often ill-use boys who may be stoning them, or attempting to rob their nests.

MAGPIES.