Delving into the past is so much easier now with the joys of the interweb. Gone (mostly) are the days of peering through card indexes or microfiche films and scouring newspapers, although that can also, of course, be fulfilling and productive. Here at St Vincent's we were looking through the impressive
Devonshire Association website and came across the rather excellent
Transactions which began in 1860. There are some articles online and others are available by looking at scanned pages. One which grabbed our attention is entitled ‘
North Devon Customs and Superstitions’ written by JR Chanter and published in 1867. Here goes with some of our favourite ones with a brief introduction from the author which is as follows:
"DEVON in general, and North Devon in particular, has been very retentive of ancient customs, habits, and superstitions. Its folk-lore is especially interesting from its local form of fairy, the Devonshire pixy. But the most noticeable fact connected with North Devon is, not so much the variety or specially local character of its superstitions and vulgar customs, as of their being still generally interwoven with the daily life of the population. In most parts of the country it is necessary, in order to gather up local customs or legends, to seek out ancient crones or noted legend-tellers; but no one can live in this district, and mix much with the country folks, without finding a general belief in witchcraft still existing, and old customs and superstitions in full sway. A great many of these are, or were, common to all England, but having gradually died out in the more busy parts of the country, have continued here, most probably from the isolated nature of the district, and the stagnant character of the agricultural population."
Warts
Warts and swellings are removed by various charms, such as skeins of thread knotted with the number Of the warts to be removed, and struck across the warts as many times, and then buried; or striking with a witch elm wand, or a piece of stolen bacon; in each of which cases as the buried article decays so do the warts gradually decrease; or by depositing a given number of pebbles or peas in a bag, and losing it, but in this case the unfortunate finder gets the warts himself. But the most favourite remedy for warts, and indeed all swellings, is to have “words” said over them.
Toothache
The tooth ache is cured, and, what is more, perfect exemption from it for the future is supposed to be attained, by biting out a tooth from a corpse or skull; and very recently, a skeleton having been discovered at Croyde, the jaws were quickly denuded of all their teeth by the number of persons who hastened to the spot to bite them out. Every old woman has her remedy for boils, some of them of a very ludicrous nature. I was favoured with a new and rather ghastly recipe this week only, which I copy in full.
Boils
“To cure a friend of Boils. – Go into a churchyard on a dark night, and to the grave of a person who has been interred the day previous; walk six times round the grave, and crawl across it three times. If the sufferer from boils is a man, this ceremony must be performed by a woman, and the contrary. The charm will not work unless the night is quite dark.” There is an appended note. “This remedy was tried by a young woman in Georgeham churchyard”, but with what result was not told; the inference was that it succeeded. I should add, that this recipe was given in full faith and belief of its efficacy.
Accidents to Cattle
Accidents, or any obscure ailments to cattle, are commonly attributed to their being witched, or “overlooked”, as the term is, and can only be cured by a white witch; and it is well known that more than one person in North Devon gains his livelihood by acting professionally as a white witch, that is, the country people call him the white witch, though he professes to be a cattle doctor.
The Groaning Cheese
A great many old English customs also still linger, and are frequently practised here. The groaning cheese is cut on the birth of an infant...(FYI, the Groaning Cheese is a tradition that involves hollowing out a hole in a big wheel of cheese and then passing the baby through the remaining cheese-ring on the day of his or her christening. It’s meant to symbolize the birth of the baby “groaning” being sounds made during childbirth—and blesses the child with good luck and fortune. The cheese itself doesn’t go to waste. It is passed around to family and friends to eat to the newborn’s health.)
Other Random Superstitions
And finally. "A shoe is thrown after a bride for luck; and, in cases of death, the common superstition of opening every lock and bolt in the house is very generally observed, as is also another very curious local one. When the funeral procession leaves the house, all the doors are carefully set open, and not closed until after the procession returns, the superstition running, 'Shut one corpse out – three corpses in'. These last customs are continued simply because at these periods the arrangements are generally left in the hands of nurses and other persons about the sick house, who are a class for the most part strongly imbued with superstitious feelings."
There you go. Fascinating!
