Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 2.djvu/332

 272

NOTES AND QUERIES. [io* s. n. OCT. i, MM.

to death by means of a figure made with hair *" because her foster-child should inherit y e estate"; and one "Hammond, of West- minster, was hanged or tryed for his life

about 1641 for killing by a figure of wax"

(see Aubrey's 'Remaines of Judaisme and Gentilisme ')

Invultuation is defined by Thorpe, who is quoted by Kemble in his * Saxons in Eng- land,' in the following words :

"A species of witchcraft, the perpetrators of which were called vultivoli, and are thus described by John of Salisbury : * Qui ad affectus hominum immutandos, in molliore materia, cera forte vel limo, eorum quos pervertere nituntur, effigies exprimunt' ('De Nugis Curial.,' lib. i. cap. 12). Among the most remarkable instances is that of Eleanor Cob- ham, Duchess of Gloucester, and Stacey, servant to George, Duke of Clarence (* Anc. Laws and Inst.,' vol. ii., Gloss.). It was against the crime of prac- tising against the life of an enemy by means of a waxen or other figure that the law of Henry I. enacts : ' Si quis veneno, vel sortilegio, vel invul- tuacione, seu maleficio aliquo, faciat homicidium, sive illi paratum sit sive alii, nihil refert, quin factum mortiferum, et nullo modo redimendum sit' ('LI. Hen.,' Ixxi. 6)." Kemble's * Saxons in England,' vol. i. ch. xii. p. 432.

The virtues of the corp creadh, or clay image, are still popularly believed in by the rustic population of the Scottish Highlands. The removal by death of an official obnoxious to smugglers was believed to have been compassed in this way. When in the High- lands a sudden death is desired, the clay image is placed in a rapidly running stream. If, on the other hand, a long and lingering and painful illness should be desired, a number of pins and rusty nails are stuck in the chest and other vital parts of the image, which is then deposited in comparatively still waters. Should, however, the corp creadh happen to be discovered in the water before the thread of life is severed it at once loses its efficacy, and not only does the victim recover, but, so long as the image is kept intact, he is ever after proof against the professors of the black art. In the case of ^the officer mentioned the figure was believed to have miscarried because a pearl- fisher happened to discover it before it had been many days in the water (Folk - lore Journal, 1884, vol. ii. pp. 219-20).

The identity of the frog and the toad is a matter of common confusion among the pea- santry of this country. The d wining process, though without the pins, is seen again in the belief that if the scrofulous, or those suffering from glandular swellings, enclose a live toad in a bag, and hang it up in a room, the disease will depart or the swelling be reduced ac- cordingly as the poor toad wastes away and

dies. "In the time of common contagion," says Sir Kenelm Digby, " men used to carry about with them the powder of a toad, which draws the contagious air, which otherwise would infect the party." The frog is a com- mon amulet against the evil eye, among the Italians, Greeks, and even the Turks. Mr. El worthy, in his ' Evil Eye,' narrates several instances of what were believed to be pigs* hearts, and also of onions, being stuck full of pins for the same purpose. A witch threatened the matron of the Wellington Union that she would "put a pin in her." The other women heard the threat, and cautioned the matron not to cross her. When the woman died there was found fas- tened to her stays a heart-shaped pad stuck with pins, and also fastened to her stays were four little bags in which were dried toads feet. All these things rested on her chest over her heart when the stays were worn. The pins in an onion are believed to cause internal pains, and those in the feet or other members are to injure the part repre- sented, while pins in the heart are intended to work fatally ; thus a distinct gradation of enmity can be gratified (p. 55).

Aubrey in his * Remaines ' mentions a frog buried in a field, and one hung on the threshold. And among 'Excellent Prognos- tiques for Fertility, and e contra,' he has the following : "Archibius ad Antiochum Syrise Regem scripsit : 'Si fictilinovo obruatur rubeta. rana in media segete, non esse noxias tem- pestates.' I have known this used in Somer- setshire," he says, quoting, I think, Pliny's ' Hist. Nat.,' lib. xviii. cap. 7. And " To pre- serve Corne in a Garner," "Sunt qui rubeta rana in lumine horrei pede e longioribus sus- pensse, invehere jubeant" (? Lib. xviii. cap. 30, ibid.). J. HOLDEN MACMICHAEL.

The folk-lore of pins, needles, and sharp thorns, which for purposes of magic may be regarded from the same point of view, is very extensive, and seems to be spread all the world over. I have a considerable accumula- tion of examples which I dream of arranging for publication ; but it will be a serious undertaking, and must be delayed for the present.

Sticking pins into living creatures for folk- lore purposes is, I regret to say, a by no means unknown rite. For example, we find

in Richard Blakeborough's 'Wit of the

North Riding,' p. 205, and in the Athenceum y 2 March, 1901, p. 267, notices of live cocks being pierced with pins. I do not think I have among my notes any account of similar cruelty being inflicted on the toad. There is, however, a gruesome account of burning