68 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 35. 



knocked at the door, but no one answered them ; 

 they, however, discovered it was not locked, and 

 determined to enter. At the head of the stairs 

 hung a parrot, which on their passing cried out, — 

 " Peepoh, pretty lady, be not too bold, 

 Or your red blood will soon run cold." 



And cold did run the blood of the adventurous 

 damsel when, on opening one of the room doors, 

 she found it filled with the dead bodies of mur- 

 dered persons, chiefly women. Just then they 

 heard a noise, and on looking out of the window 

 saw Bloody Baker and his servant bringing in the 

 murdered body of a lady. Nearly dead with fear, 

 they concealed themselves in a recess under the 

 staircase. 



As the murderers with their dead burden passed 

 by them, the hand of the unfortunate murdered 

 lady hung in the baluster of the stairs; with an 

 oath Bloody Baker chopped it off, and it fell into 

 the lap of one of the concealed ladies. As soon 

 as the murderers had passed by, the ladies ran 

 away, having the presence of mind to carry with 

 them the dead hand, on one of the fingers of which 

 was a ring. On reaching home they told their 

 story, and in confirmation of it displayed the ring. 

 All the families who had lost relatives mysteriously 

 were then told of what had been found out; and 

 they determined to ask Baker to a large party, 

 apparently in a friendly manner, but to have con- 

 stables concealed ready to take him into custody. 

 He came, suspecting nothing, and then the lady 

 told him all she had seen, pretending it was a 

 dream. "Fair lady," said he, " dreams are nothing: 

 they are but fables." " They may be fables," said 

 she ; " but is this a fable ? " and she jjroduced the 

 hand and ring. Upon this the constables rushed 

 in and took him; and the tradition further says, 

 he was burnt, notwithstanding Queen Mary tried 

 to save him, on account of the religion he professed- 



F. L. 



Cure for Warts. — Steal apiece of meat fi-om a 

 butclier's stall or his basket, and after having well 

 rubbed the parts affected with the stolen morsel, 

 bury it under a gateway, at a four lane ends, or, in 

 case of emergency, in any secluded place. All this 

 must be done so secretly as to escape detection : 

 and as the portion of meat decays the warts will 

 disappear. This practice is very prevalent in 

 Lancashire and some parts of Yorkshire ; and two 

 of my female acquaintances having tried the remed v, 

 stoutly maintain its efficacy. T. T. W. 



Burnley. 



Another Charm, for Warts. — Eeferring to Em- 

 dee's charm for warts, which appeared in Vol.ii., 

 p. 19., I may state that a very similar superstition 

 prevails in the neighbourhood of Manchester: — 

 Take a piece of twine, making upon it as many 

 knots as there are warts to be removed; touch 

 each wart with the corresponding knot ; and bury 



the twine in a moist place, saying at the same 

 time, " There is none to redeem it besides thee." 

 As the process of decay goes on, the warts gra- 

 dually disappear. H. 



Charm for the Cure of the King's Evil. — Acting 

 on the advice of your able correspondent Eimdee 

 (Vol.i., p. 429.), I beg to forward the following curi- 

 ous and cruel charm for the cure of the king's evil, 

 extracted from a very quaint old work by William 

 Ellis, farmer of Little Gaddesden,near Hempstead, 

 Herts, published at Salisbury in 1750: — 



" A girl at Gaddesden, having the evil in her Feet 

 from her Infancy, at eleven years old lost one of her 

 toes by it, and was so bad that she could hardly walk, 

 therefore was to be sent to a London Hospital in a 

 little time. But a Beggar woman coming to the Door 

 and hearing of it, said, that if they would cut oft' the 

 hind leg, and the fore leg on the contrary side of that, 

 of a toad, and sbe wear them in a silken bag about her 

 neck, it would certainly cure her ; but it was to be ob- 

 served, that on the toad's losing its legs, it was to be 

 turned loose abroad, and as it pined, wasted, and died, 

 the distemper would likewise waste and die; which 

 hajipened accordingly, for the girl was entirely cured 

 by it, never having had the evil afterwards. Another 

 Gaddesden girl having the evil in her eyes, her parents 

 dried a toad in the sun, and put it in a silken bag, 

 which they hung on the back part of her neck ; and 

 although it was thus dried, it drawed so much as to 

 raise little blisters, but did the girl a great deal of ser- 

 vice, till she carelessly lost it." 



David Stevens. 



Godalniing. 



Fig- Sunday. — One of my Sunday-school boys, 

 in reply to my question " What particular name 

 was there for the Sunday before Easter?" an- 

 swered "Fig-Sunday." 



Can you give any authentic information as to 

 the origin of this name ? It most probably alludes 

 to our Saviour's desire to eat fruit of the fig-tree 

 on his way from Bethany on the Monday following. 



Hone mentions that at a village in Hertford- 

 shire, more figs are sold in that week than at any 

 other period of the year ; but assigns no reason 

 for the custom. If you have met with any satis- 

 factory explanation of this name, I shall feel 

 obliged by your making it public. B. D. 



NOTE ON A PASSAGE IN nUDIBRAS. 



Butler, in his description of Hudibras, says 

 (Part I. 0. i. line 453.) that the knight 



" wore but one Spur, 



As wisely knowing, cou'd he stir 

 To active Foot one side of 's Horse, 

 The other wou'd not hang an A .'* 



Gray, the most copious annotator on the poem, 

 passes these- lines in silence ; and it is probable, 

 therefore, that the description is taken by readers 



