THE NEIGHBOTJEHOOD OF BROWN •WILLY. 351 



bewitched) them ; and white witches, — those who avert the 

 evil eye, — have not yet ceased out of the land. Of Amulets 

 mention must be made of certain small crystal balls, called 

 kinning stones, — held in high esteem for the cure of ailments of 

 the eye — which are to be compared with similar stones in use 

 among the Irish for the benefit of diseased cattle. Frequent 

 mention is made, and good illustrations have been given of some 

 of these objects of popular veneration, in back volumes of the 

 Journal of the Eoyal Hist, and Arch. Society of Ireland, to be 

 seen on the shelves of our library at Truro ; and some interest- 

 ing remarks in connexion with white pebbles as found in barrows, 

 and used as amulets, appear in the number of that Journal for 

 April, 1887, pp. 61 — 3. I examined one of these kinning stones 

 recently, which had been lent to a person with a bad eye, who, 

 on recovering from his ailment, had returned it to the owner. 

 It proved to be a translucent blueish-white globular crystal, 

 about 1 1 inch in diameter ; in texture, horny rather than vitreous ; 

 apparently not made of glass, but perhaps of rock crystal ; pierced 

 by a hole, and the hole containing a boot lace for suspension ; 

 having striae running through the substance of the crystal 

 perpendicular to the hole. It had been for many generations 

 in possession of the family of the owner, who valued it very 

 highly, " but was willing to lend it to anyone to do good." This 

 kind of amulet is worn around the neck, the bad eye being struck 

 with the crystal every morning ; but they do not appear to be 

 ever used for cattle, in which respect they differ from those in 

 Ireland. There are other kinning stones within reach, but 

 examples are not common ; their virtues are familiar to the 

 people, and instances are to be met with among the country 

 folk, where recovery from a "kinning " in the eye (" kennel," in 

 the West of Cornwall) is attributed solely to the use of these 

 charms. 



Those interested in ferns and wild flowers may be reminded 

 that Lastroea oriolatris is common hereabouts ; the Beech fern 

 is to be found on Brown WiUy ; also the Hymenophyllum 

 Tunbridg., by those who know where to look for it. The bogs 

 have of course their peculiar and interesting flora, but besides 

 being mostly very small and easily overlooked, the best bog plants 

 seem to luxuriate where the ground is most treacherous, and 



