500 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 113- 



Fide fortis 

 Accensus periculis, erectus adver&ls. 



Nemo Rex magis, cui regna quatuor 



Anglia, Scotia, Hibeinia — Ubi (juartum? 



Ipse sibi. 



Tria eripi potueie 



Qiiartum iiitnetiim mansit. 



Priorum defeiisio, Exercitus qui defecerunt 



Postretni tutelar, virtutes nunquam transfuga;. 



Quill ncc ilia tria erepta omnino. 



Instar Regiiorum est Ludovicus hospes 



Sarclt aiiiicitia talis tantas saci-ilegia perlidia', 



Imperat adluii; qui sic exulat. 



IVIoiitur, ut vixit. fide plemis 



Eoque advolat quo fides ducit 



Ubi nihil pcrfidia poljest. 



Non flotibus bic, canticis locus est. 

 Aut si flendum, flenda Anglia.' 



" Pour copies conformes, Le Maire de St. Germain," &c. 



The aufhenticity of the signature attested by 

 Her Britaunic Majesty's consul iu Paris, Doc. 11, 

 1850. 



SHETLAND FOLK LORE. 



The Wrexting Thread. — AVIien a person lias re- 

 ceived a sprain, it is customary to apply to an in- 

 dividual practised in casting tlie "wrested thread." 

 This is a thread spun from black wool, on which 

 are cast nine knots, and tied round a sprained leg 

 or arm. During the time the operator is putting 

 the thread round the affected limb, he says, in a 

 muttering tone, in such a manner as not to be 

 understood by the bystanders, nor even by the 

 person operated upon — 



" The Lord rade (rode). 

 And the foal slade (slipped); 

 He lighted. 

 An she righted. 

 Set joint to joint*. 

 Bone to bone, 

 And sinew to sinew. 

 Heal in the Holy Gliost's name ! ! ! ' 



Ringworm. — The person affected with ringworm 

 takes a little ashes between the forefinger and 

 thumb, three successive mornings, and before 

 taking any food, and holding the ashes to the part 

 affected, says — ■ 



[* This charm is remarkable for its resemblance to 

 an early German one found by Grimm in a MS. of the 

 tenth century, originally published by hiui in 1842, 

 and to be found, with references to Norwegian, Swedish, 

 Flemish, and this Scottish version, in the second edition 

 of his Deutsche Mythologie, s. 1181-2. — Ed.] 



" Ringworm I ringworm red ! 

 Never mayst thou spread or speed, 

 But aye grow less and less, 

 And die away among the ase (ashes)." 



Bwn. — To cure a burn, the following words 

 are used : — 



" Here come I to cure a burnt sore ; 

 If the dead knew what the living endure, 

 The burnt sore would burn no more." 



The operator, after having repeated the above, 

 blows his breath three times upon the burnt place. 



Elf shot. — A notion is jirevalent, that when a 

 cow is suddenly taken ill, she is elfsliot ; that is, 

 that a kind of spirits called "trows," different in 

 their nature from fairies, have discharged a stone 

 arrow at her, and wounded her with it. Though 

 no wound can be seen externally, there arc dif- 

 ferent persons, both male and female, who pretend 

 to feel it in the llesh, and to cure it by repeating 

 certain words over the cow. They also fold a 

 sewing needle in a leaf taken from a particular 

 part of a psalm book, and sew it in the hair of 

 the cow ; which is considered not only as an infal- 

 lible cure, but which also serves as a charm against 

 future attacks. This is nearly allied to a practice 

 which was at one time very prevalent, and of 

 which some traces may perhaps still exist, in what 

 would be considered a more civilised part of the 

 country, of wearing a small ]iiece of the branch of 

 the rowan tree, wrapped round with red thread, 

 and sewn into S(mie ])art of the garments, to guard 

 against the effects of an " evil eye," or witchcraft ; 



" Rowan-tree and red thread 

 Puts the witches to their speed." 



In the neighbourhood of Peterhead, there lif ed, 

 a fQ-sv years ago, a famous exorcist, whose ances- 

 tors had for several generations practised the same 

 profession. He was greatly resorted to by parties 

 in the Buchan district, for curing elfshot cattle, 

 cows whose milk had been surreptitiously taken 

 away, to recover stolen property and find out 

 thieves, and put a stop to " cloddings." This 

 latter description of diablerie, is just a repetition 

 of the Cock Lane ghost's tricks, and occasionally 

 yet occurs. On one occasion the exorcist was 

 bearded in his own den : for about twenty-five 

 years ago a terrible " clodding " took place at a 

 iarm-house in the parish of Longside, a mile or 

 two from his own ; it defied the united efforts of 

 priest and layman to lay it, and the operator was 

 called in, and while in the middle of one of his 

 most powerful exorcisms, was struck on the side of 

 his head with a piece of peat. The annoyance 

 continued a few weeks, and then ceased altogether. 

 In the parish of Banchory Ternan, about seven 

 years ago, a " clodding" took place, which created 

 considerable sensation in the district. 



DUNROSSNESS. 



