FOLK-LORE REMINISCENCES. 59 



In July, 1912, 1 was informed by one of the estate workmen 

 at Sherborne Castle, who acts as one of my Scouts, that 

 some old charm had been dug up under an apple tree on a 

 farm at a village near by. Shortly after, I was passing that 

 way and looked the farmer up, and obtained the following 

 information. In a corner of the orchard near the house 

 two or three apple trees had blown down, and another still 

 standing had died. The farmer and his man had " beat up " 

 the roots of the fallen trees, and then proceeded to grub up 

 the dead tree. No sooner had they taken off the turf round 

 the roots of the tree than they came upon a glass bottle, 

 like a " large sweety bottle," which was sealed down with 

 wax, and contained some snakes and mysterious reptiles 

 preserved in a liquid. The workman advised that the bottle 

 should be taken to someone who lived in a large village 

 about a mile away who knew about these things. This 

 was done, and the wise man diagnosed that the bottle con- 

 tained two vipers about 18 inches long and a large centipede 

 about 6 inches long, preserved in spirits of wine. He also 

 said that it was a charm put there by someone who had a 

 spite against the farmer to bring him bad luck, and advised 

 him to seek some wise woman who could break the spell. 

 Now the whole secret of the catastrophy to the apple trees was 

 out, and, worse still, the farmer himself had been really ill 

 for the past year. Consequently, the assistance of the wise 

 woman to whom I have before referred in these papers was 

 at once sought. She informed the farmer that it was the 

 work of someone who had a spite against him, and remarked 

 " I suppose the tree wer dead." This having been admitted, 

 " Ah," said she, " just you plant anything there and zee if 

 it'll grow." Then the wise woman gave him the recipe for 

 breaking the spell. " Take the bottle to zome place off the 

 farm wher' nobody knows, dig a hole, put the bottle into it, 

 then break the bottle and cover it down quickly." The 

 farmer told me that it smelt " fearful " when the bottle was 

 broken no doubt through the exit of the foul spirits. I 

 could not get him to disclose where the bottle was buried. 



