PREVALENT BELIEF IN DEMONOLOGY. 



173 



The practice of informing bees of any death 

 that takes place in a family, is well known, and 

 still prevails among the lower orders in England. 

 The disastrous consequences to be apprehended 

 from non-compliance with this strange custom 

 is, that the bees will dwindle and die. The man 

 ner of communicating the intelligence to the lit 

 tle community, with due form and ceremony, is 

 this to take the key of the house, and knock 

 with it three times against the hive, telling the 

 inmates, at the same time that their master or 

 mistress, &c. (as the case may be) is dead! 

 Mr. London says, when in Bedfordshire lately, 

 we were informed of an old man who sung a 

 psa .rn last year in front of some hives which 

 were not doing well, but which, he said, would 

 thrive in consequence of that ceremony. Ma 

 gazine of Nat. Hist, for 1828. 



The Constitutional (January 1828) states, 

 that under the influence of the Jesuits, and with 

 the countenance of the authorities, &c. the most 

 brutifying tales of superstition and fanaticism are 

 printed and circulated in the provinces of France. 

 One of the ridiculous narratives to which it al 

 ludes, details the fate of a blaspheming baker, 

 who, being infected with the heresies of the Re 

 volution, had addicted himself to the commission 

 of every kind of impiety. While his oven one 

 day was heated, and he was about to put the 

 bread into it, he vented his usual oaths in the 

 presence of two neighbours ; when, lo ! the dough 

 miraculously refused to enter, and the baker was 

 seized with a cold shivering, of which he died in 

 two days. In his will he left 600 francs to the 

 church, confessed his enormities, and besought 

 the prayers of his friends. In another, we are 

 told of the discovery of a miraculous image, which 

 will be a permanent source of ecclesiastical reve 

 nue. This image is that of a saint, which has 

 been for the last two centuries concealed in a 

 rock. It was discovered by means of a little 

 white bird perched upon a brilliant crucifix, which 

 guarded the spot. Since the discovery, the lame 

 walk, the sick are healed, and the blind recover 

 their sight, by resorting to the consecrated 

 ground. 



It is not above fifteen or sixteen years ago since 

 the late Alexander Davidson, A. M., lecturer on 

 experimental philosophy and chemistry, when in 

 Ireland, was much annoyed by the superstitious 

 belief in necromancy and infernal agency which 

 still prevails among a large portion of the lower 

 orders in that country. When delivering a 

 course of lectures in a small town not far from 

 Londonderry, the rumour of the experiments he 

 performed spread among the body of the people, 

 many of whom had listened at the outside of the 

 hall in which he lectured, to the loud detonations 

 produced by electrical and other experiments, 

 particularly the explosions of hydrogen gas. The 

 great majority of the inhabitants believed he was 

 an astrologer and necromancer, and considered 



it dangerous to have the slightest intercourse 

 with his family, even in the way of buying and sell 

 ing. One morning his servant-rnaid was sent 

 out for bread and groceries for breakfast. After 

 a considerable time, she returned with a pitiful 

 countenance and a heavy heart, and declared that 

 not an article of any description could be obtain 

 ed. &quot; What,&quot; says Mr. D., &quot; is th ere no tea, 

 sugar, or bread in the whole village?&quot; &quot; Oyes,&quot; 

 replied the maid, &quot; there is plenty of every thing 

 we want, but nobody will sell us an article; they 

 say we are all witches and wizards and necro 

 mancers, and iff no canny to tak ony o your 

 money.&quot; Mr. Davidson and family, in this case, 

 might have starved, had he not bethought himself 

 of employing the servant of an acquaintance, who 

 was one of his auditors, to procure, in her mas 

 ter s name, the requisite provisions ; and this 

 plan he was obliged to adopt during the remain 

 der of his stay in that plane. At another time his 

 boots required to be repaired; the servant took 

 them to a shoemaker, and they were received 

 by one of the female branches of his family ; but 

 when the shoemaker understood to whom they 

 belonged, he stormed, and was indignant at their 

 receiving any thing from such a dangerous indi 

 vidual. The servant soon after returned to 

 inquire if the boots were repaired. &quot; Is the astro 

 loger s boots mendit ?&quot; one of the family vocife 

 rated. &quot;No, was the reply, &quot;they are not 

 mendit, nor do we intend to mend them, or have 

 any thing to do with them.&quot; The shoemaker s 

 wife desired the servant to come in, and lifl 

 the boots herself; &quot; for,&quot; said she, &quot; I will not 

 touch them;&quot; and it appears that both the shoe 

 maker and his family had been afraid even to put 

 their fingers upon them, and doubtless imagined 

 that the very circumstance of their having been 

 received into the house would operate as an evil 

 omen. On the day previous to his leaving that 

 place, he sent his servant to engage a chaise to 

 carry them to the next town. The servant told 

 the landlady of the inn (which was the only one 

 from which a carriage could be procured) that her 

 master wished to hire a chaise for to-morrow to 



carry them to N . The landlady told her it 



could not be granted. &quot; For what reason?&quot; said 

 the maid. &quot; You know very, wellivhat is the rea 

 son,&quot; said the landlady, in a very emphatical 

 tone. After the servani returned with this reply, 

 Mr. Davidson himself went to the inn, when the 

 following dialogue took place between him and 

 the Ian lady : &quot; Well, madam, can you give mo a 

 chaise to-morrow to carry me to Newry ?&quot; &quot; No ; 

 for our horses are very tired, as they have been 

 out all day, and they cannot go to-morrow.&quot; &quot; O 

 dear, madam, is that the only reason ? You know 

 very well / can make them g-o.&quot; The landlady, 

 putting on a grave countenance, replied with em 

 phasis, &quot; We all know that very well. We know 

 that you could sink the town, if you chose to do it. 

 But I shall give you the chaise, to carry you out 



