44 DORSETSHIRE FOLK-SPEECH AKD SUPERSTITIONS. 



influence over persons is firmly rooted amongst the superstitious of 

 most countries. In Dorset it is believed that if a toad should once 

 seize a person nothing will make it loosen its hold except boiling 

 water be poured upon it. It is considered very unlucky if a toad goes 

 over your foot. Whenever you see a toad you should always spit or 

 throw a stone at it, in order to ward off any evil effects the sight of it 

 would otherwise cause you. The idea here of spitting as a preven- 

 tive of ill may have something to do with the power the toad is 

 said to possess of spitting its " swelter'd venom " at those who 

 happen to annoy it. I have heard more than one curious story of 

 the baneful effects which this "spitting" has supposed to have 

 caused. 



The belief that a toad, or portions of a toad, worn in a bag, are 

 of great efficacy as a charm or preventivB against evil, is prevalent 

 in many parts of Dorset ; and not long ago, a " cunning man " or 

 witch-doctor, used to hold an annual levee in the neighbourhood 

 of Stalbridge, when he sold out to crowds that thronged round him 

 the legs torn from a living toad and placed in a bag, which was 

 worn round the neck of the patient, and counted a sovereign 

 remedy for scrofula and the " overlooked." It was called " Toad 

 Fair." 



In the recently published Life of William Barnes, by his 

 daughter Mrs. Baxter (p. 155), is an account of a quack who lived 

 at Lydlinch, and who professed to cure the king's evil or scrofula 

 by means of a charm consisting of a toad seAved up in a small bag, 

 which was to be worn round the neck. It was, however, only 

 beneficial in the beginning of May at a particular phase of the moon. 

 In Roberta's History of Lyme Regis (1834), p. 261, the author 

 states that toads that had gained access to a cellar or house were 

 ejected with the greatest care, and no injury was offered, because 

 these were regarded as being used as familiars by witches, with 

 veneration or awe. 



Tom Thumb's finger s-and-ihumbs : See Eygs-and-bacon. 



Undei-grimnd-kitty-cat-tceaver : Query, the same as " under- 

 ground jobbler," q.v. (Marshwood). 



