RECENT RECRUDESCENCE OF SUPERSTITION. 87 



exclaiming, " There, take that, thou witch ! " He then put this 

 question to her twice: "Art thou Mary Boland, the wife of 

 Michael Cleary ? Speak by the Lord ! " She replied : " I am 

 Mary Boland, the daughter of Pat Boland, by the Holy Ghost ! " 

 It now occurred to one of the neighbors, named Dunin, that if 

 they should put her on the fire, which fairies are notoriously 

 much afraid of, the indwelling spirit would speak the truth, and 

 probably be compelled also to depart. This clever suggestion 

 was at once acted upon. The sick woman was taken out of her 

 bed and held over the flames, while in the midst of her fearful 

 screams her tormentors kept shouting, " Come home, Bridget 

 Boland, come home ! " She was again put to bed, and Cleary, 

 who had become greatly excited, continued to cry out, " In the 

 name of God, art thou Bridget Cleary, my wife ? " declaring that, 

 if she did not give a satisfactory answer three times, he would 

 burn her up. As she was too exhausted to heed this threat, he 

 threw the petroleum lamp at her and she was soon all ablaze, 

 and, in the words of an eyewitness, " burned like a torch." No 

 voice of compassion responded to her shrieks, which only pro- 

 voked the harsh command of her husband : " Be still ! Troth, I'm 

 not burning Bridget ; in a minute, begorrah, you'll see the witch 

 going up the chimney." The charred body was put into a sack 

 and thrown out of the window. There it was found and borne to 

 the graveyard by the constables of the village, but no member 

 of the family of the deceased attended her funeral. They were 

 all scattered about on the neighboring hills, each armed with 

 a sharp knife and awaiting the appearance of Bridget Cleary 

 mounted on a white horse which the* fairies had given her. 

 There they watched day and night, firmly believing that if 

 they could only succeed in cutting the reins of the bridle 

 the spell would be broken and the unfortunate woman disen- 

 chanted. Instead of the magic steed, they were met by a body of 

 policemen and taken to Dublin, where they are to be tried for 

 murder. 



In Ireland the laws against witchcraft were not abolished 

 until 1821 ; and as the Catholic Church still prescribes formulas 

 and performs rites for the exorcism and expulsion of evil spirits, 

 it is no wonder that the delusion lingers in the minds of the peo- 

 ple, and sometimes gives rise to horrible cruelty like that igno- 

 rantly inflicted upon Bridget Cleary. 



About thirty years ago printed prayers addressed to " the true 

 stature of Jesus," which had been supernaturally revealed to some 

 ecstatic soul, were extensively sold in Bavaria as talismans to 

 prevent and destroy diseases. But superstition, too, is not wholly 

 free from the whims of fashion, and these prayers have now been 

 superseded by another panacea called " Lourdes wafile," a thin 



