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Article THE UNIVERSALITY OF SUPERSTITION. ← Page 7 of 20 →
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The Universality Of Superstition.
" I myself have them , like blemish spots , somewhat hard and withal insensible , so that it did not bleed Avhen I pricked it . " In "News from Scotland , " 1591 , we read , that having tormented a suspected witch AAith " the pilliwinkles upon her fingers , Avhich is a grievous torture , ancl binding or Avrenching her head Avith a cord or rope , which is a most cruel torture also , they , upon
search , found the enemy ' s mark to be in the fore crag , or fore part of her throat . " King James , in his " Damionologie , " mentions the then prevalent notion , that " the devil teacheth hoAV to make pictures of wax or clay , that by roasting thereof , the person that they bear the name of may be continually melted , or dried away by continual sickness . " The historian Andrexvs describes the same
belief . " The credulity of the age attributed the death of Ferdinand , earl of Derby , who was poisoned in the reign of Elizabeth , to witchcraft . The disease was odd , ancl operated as a perpetual emetic ; and a xvaxen image , with hah * like that of the earl , found in his chamber , reduced every suspicion to certainty . " Daniel , in one of his sonnets , says , —
" The slie inchanter , when to work his will And secret wrong on some forspoken wight , Frames wax , in form to represent aright The poor unwitting wretch he meanes to kill ; And pricks the image framed by magick's skill , Whereby to vex the partie day and night . "
Sometimes this image was cut also out of mandrake or briary root . A less than mortal revenge was sometimes sufficient for the malignity of the witch . Causing a victim to swallow and vomit pins and crooked nails , drying up cows , or hindering beer from xvorking , were milder substitutes . The desirable properties ,
xvith that of self-conversion into a hare or a cat , are among the remaining characteristics of this fantastic race . The early part of the seventeenth century was the great period of xvitch-trials , although , as we shall find , there are cases on record so late as our own century . During the sitting of the Long Parliament numberless executions took place , many
upon the most frivolous charges . In 1613 the attention of the country Avas excited by the famous Lancashire -witches . Regarding this bewitched county , xve may remark , en passant , that so late as 1810 a custom existed at Longridge Fell , and probably in other districts , termed " lating witches , " consisting of a procession carrying lighted candles across the moors in the direction of Lancaster ; xvhich , provided the candles xvere not
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Universality Of Superstition.
" I myself have them , like blemish spots , somewhat hard and withal insensible , so that it did not bleed Avhen I pricked it . " In "News from Scotland , " 1591 , we read , that having tormented a suspected witch AAith " the pilliwinkles upon her fingers , Avhich is a grievous torture , ancl binding or Avrenching her head Avith a cord or rope , which is a most cruel torture also , they , upon
search , found the enemy ' s mark to be in the fore crag , or fore part of her throat . " King James , in his " Damionologie , " mentions the then prevalent notion , that " the devil teacheth hoAV to make pictures of wax or clay , that by roasting thereof , the person that they bear the name of may be continually melted , or dried away by continual sickness . " The historian Andrexvs describes the same
belief . " The credulity of the age attributed the death of Ferdinand , earl of Derby , who was poisoned in the reign of Elizabeth , to witchcraft . The disease was odd , ancl operated as a perpetual emetic ; and a xvaxen image , with hah * like that of the earl , found in his chamber , reduced every suspicion to certainty . " Daniel , in one of his sonnets , says , —
" The slie inchanter , when to work his will And secret wrong on some forspoken wight , Frames wax , in form to represent aright The poor unwitting wretch he meanes to kill ; And pricks the image framed by magick's skill , Whereby to vex the partie day and night . "
Sometimes this image was cut also out of mandrake or briary root . A less than mortal revenge was sometimes sufficient for the malignity of the witch . Causing a victim to swallow and vomit pins and crooked nails , drying up cows , or hindering beer from xvorking , were milder substitutes . The desirable properties ,
xvith that of self-conversion into a hare or a cat , are among the remaining characteristics of this fantastic race . The early part of the seventeenth century was the great period of xvitch-trials , although , as we shall find , there are cases on record so late as our own century . During the sitting of the Long Parliament numberless executions took place , many
upon the most frivolous charges . In 1613 the attention of the country Avas excited by the famous Lancashire -witches . Regarding this bewitched county , xve may remark , en passant , that so late as 1810 a custom existed at Longridge Fell , and probably in other districts , termed " lating witches , " consisting of a procession carrying lighted candles across the moors in the direction of Lancaster ; xvhich , provided the candles xvere not