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1893.18.8

Written charm for the cure of sick cattle.

1893.18.8

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Collection type
Object
Description
Written charm for the cure of sick cattle.
Cultural groups
English
Date / Period
Date made: 1800?, uncertain
Date collected
By 1893
Acquisition information
Donated: 28/02/1893
Materials and processes
Material Paper Plant, Material Ink, Process Written
Dimensions
Width: max 197 mm frame, Length: max 247 mm frame
Object numbers
Accession number: 1893.18.8
Associated publications
Mentioned in Ellen Ettlinger, Folklore vol 54, no. 1, (March 1943) pp 227-249, 'As well as an image of clay, a beast's heart serves malefic sorcery, and this custom too is manifestly of immemorial antiquity. [G.L. Kittredge Witchcraft in Old and New England (Cambr. Mass. 1929) p97] ... In this connexion I would like to refer to a written charm in the Pitt Rivers Museum prescribing as a cure for diseased cattle the piercing of an ox-heart with nine new pins, nine new needles, and nine new nails; the heart had to be burned at midnight while two cursing psalm verses were said. The last fact makes it quite clear that the intention of the spell was to torture the person who had overlooked or bewitched the animal. The charm is of special interest because we have got two fascinating descriptions of its author, the "wise man" John Wrightson, who flourished at Stokesley in the N. Riding of Yorks. about 1830. Wrightson is reported to have always said that he owed his power to his being the seventh son of the seventh daughter, a well known superstitious belief. How skilful he was can be verified by the last sentence of his charm: "Should this fail you need go to non one else as They will nor Can not Cure your beast." I am afraid that his advice was obeyed strictly, as he stood in such high reputation in the neighbourhood that he was at once resorted to in case of sickness, distress or loss of property. [J.C. Atkinson Fourty [sic] Years in a Moorland Parish(London 1891) p 113] ' [p246]

Search terms: Religion, Writing, Medicine, Animal Gear, Religious Object, Amulet, Inscription, Cattle Accessory, Medical Accessory

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