Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 50.djvu/111

Rh drawn into a combat with the Moors. Douglas was killed, and Lochart, who now commanded the party, turned homeward with Bruce's heart, which was eventually buried in the Abbey of Dunfermline. Lochart (changing his name into Lockhart, to commemorate the event) had taken prisoner a Moorish chieftain, and the wife of the prisoner when she bargained for the husband's ransom, while counting the gold from her purse, let drop this gem, and appeared so anxious to recover it that Lockhart insisted upon its being made a part of the ransom. The woman unwillingly consented, and informed the greedy Scot that its value consisted in its power of healing cattle, and that it was also a sovereign remedy against the bite of a mad dog. So great was the popular faith in this talisman in Scotland that the Lee penny was exempted from anathema in the clerical war against superstitions after the Reformation, and the clergy went so far as to extol its virtues, in which implicit faith was placed until a comparatively recent period. The mode of using this amulet was to hold it by the chain, and then plunge it three times in water, and once round—three dips and a swell, as the country people expressed it; the cattle drinking the water were cured. In the reign of Charles I, the people of Newcastle being afflicted with the plague, sent for and obtained the loan of the Lee penny, leaving the sum of six thousand pounds sterling in its place as a pledge. For this sum the Laird of Lee, the owner, would not part with it. It is reported also that about the beginning of the last century Lady Baird, of Saughton Hall, having been bitten by a mad dog, and exhibiting all the symptoms of hydrophobia, her husband obtained a loan of the amulet, and she having drunk and bathed in the water in which it was immersed, was cured of her malady.

Many other interesting examples of superstitious practices might be given, some of which have been handed down from remote antiquity, while others are of comparatively modern date and probably the result of circumstances and environment. The use of the staff and rod in divination was known to the ancient Jews, and Hosea reproached them for adhering to the superstition. Tacitus mentions this sort of divination as a custom of the ancient Germans.

We are all aware of the frequency with which the divining rod is used in the search for water, ores, and hidden treasure; and we learn occasionally of certain individuals claiming to possess the power of curing sickness and healing wounds by the mere laying-on of hands; of exorcising evil spirits, and combating the spells of rival witches; laying ghosts and giving charms and amulets, and pretending, in fact, to be able to accomplish almost anything that may be desired.

Who has not heard of carrying a potato, or a horse-chestnut.