Bewdley, Sir Henry Herbert, patron; John Buraston, incumbent. Tithes in
Ribbesford manor, £30; in Bewdley, £48; glebe, £2. Said John Buraston
preacheth and catechiseth every Lord's day. Bewdley chapel is declared
to be altogether unfit to be made a parish church, because there was no
land attached to be made into a burying place.
STOCKTON.--Mr. Edward Walsh, patron, "whose forefathers have for many
generations p'sented clerks[5] unto the same." Tithes, £30; glebe,
£6. Mr. Thomas Roberts, rector, "supplyeth the cure himselfe and is a
constant preacher of the word." "The tenths yearly payd out of the sayd
parsonage is the sum of ten shillings eleven pence halfpenny farthing,
and that the sayd tenths are payd to the use of the co'mon welth of
England." Pensax chapel (belonging to Lindridge) is declared as fit to
be united to Stockton.
[5] Clergymen.
MARTLEY.--Parsonage without a chapel; John Clent, Esq., patron; house,
glebe, and tithes, £100; Mr. Thomas Clent, incumbent, "who receaves
the p'ffits of the said p'sonage, and by reason of his being weake and
sick he hath one Mr. Charles Godwin who supplyes the cure under him and
hath for his sallery about 20 pound and he preacheth constantly at due
tymes."
BAYTON.--A vicarage, value £20; patron, Lord Protector; John Simons
vicar, "an able and painfull[6] teacher," who received all the profits
of the living. The "church is very well situated in a hansum and
convenient place for a p'ish church, there is noe convenient place for
a church to bee built in our liberty."
[6] Painstaking.
MAMBLE.--Vicarage, with house, garden, and tithes, worth £25; patron,
the Lord Protector; incumbent, Daniel Mullurd, "who by reason of his
age and weakness is not able to supply the cure but hath p'vided
Tymothy Pyp (?) to officiate there who preacheth duely ev'y Lord's
Day and receaveth the p'ffiitts for his sallary and paynes takeing
there."--Bayton is in this return said to be worth £30, and the church
"is fitt to be united to Mamble (it being the more convenyent church
both for largeness and fittness for the people to meete there)" [They
were accordingly united March 6, 1669.]
DODDENHAM.--"Imprimis, the parsonage of Doddenham and Knightewicke have
ever time oute of minde belonged to one man. They are very unfitt (as
wee conceive) to bee divided having ever beene united and are both very
well worth £60 p. ann. Reprizes goeing oute of the same wee knowe none
butt only 2s. 8d. a yeare that is paid to Mr. Henry Pitt of London."
Glebe and tithes, £30. The Dean and Chapter were formerly the patrons,
"butt since the sale of Deane and Chapter land, wee conceive Mr. Henry
Pitt to be the patron thereof. The cure of both parishes Mr. Tayler
beeing sequesterd is now supplyed by Mr. Mathew Boulton whoe receiveth
the profittes thereof, whoe is an honest man, an able scoller, and a
sound devine, as wee suppose him to bee." In Knightwick there were
twenty families, and in Doddenham thirty-one.
ASTLEY.--Rectory, worth £110. John Winford, Esq., patron; Mr. Samuel
Bowater, the "able minister, who constantly preacheth twice a day."
SHRAWLEY.--Patron, the Lord Protector; value, £80; Mr. John Jordan the
"preaching minister." The living not fit to be united or divided.
Superstitions.
"In all cases of preternatural pretensions a nice question must
always present itself--as to how many of the believers are
fools, how many of them knaves, and how many both one and the
other."
In some parts of this county the following things are considered
unlucky:
To meet a squinting woman, unless you speak to her, which breaks the
charm.
To go a journey on a Friday.
To be one of a party of thirteen at Christmas.
To have a cut onion lying about in the house breeds distemper.
To cross knives accidentally at meal times.
To walk under a ladder.
For the first young lamb you see in a season, or a colt, to have its
tail towards you.
To kill a lady-cow (in Dorsetshire called "God Almighty's cow").
For a sportsman to meet an old woman when going out shooting is a sure
sign of bad sport.
To put the bellows on a table will evoke a quarrel.
To keep Christmas holly about the house after Candlemas Day, in which
case it is believed the Father of Evil will come and pull it down
himself.
To put salt on another person's plate at table. The superstition
that overturning salt at table is unlucky is said to have originated
with Leonardo da Vinci's picture of the Last Supper, where Judas is
represented as overturning the salt; but this little incident in the
picture was more likely the result than the cause of the superstition.
To see the first of the new moon through a window, or glass of any
sort, is also unlucky. But if you see it in the open air, turn the
money in your pocket, and express a wish for luck during the ensuing
month; you are supposed to ensure it.
"Always kill your pig in the new moon, or the fat will run," is an old
saying.
It is unlucky to point to the moon, there being a notion that the "man"
who was transported to that satellite for stealing sticks won't stand
being pointed at.
To have a female come into your house the first thing on New Year's
morning. So extensively does this absurdity prevail, that in many towns
young lads make "a good thing of it" by selling their services to go
round and enter the houses first that morning.
As to cutting your nails on a Sunday, the following couplet is very
expressive:
"Better a child was never born
Than cut his hoofs of a Sunday."
This is varied in some districts, thus--
"Better a child were never born
Than on the Sunday[7] shear the horn."
[7] Some say Friday.
The itching of the nose is a sign of bad news, or, as some have it,
that "you will be kissed, cursed, or vexed, or shake hands with a
fool." If the ear itches, you may expect news from the living; if the
face burns, some one is talking about you; when you shudder, a person
is walking over the spot where your grave will be; and if your foot
itches it is a sign you will tread on strange ground.
To make presents of knives or scissors will be sure to cut off love or
friendship; but if something is given in exchange, it prevents this bad
effect.
Babies must never have their nails cut, but bitten, to prevent their
becoming thieves.
To snuff out a candle accidentally entails the fate of not getting
married in the same year.
It is in the highest degree unlucky to give your neighbour a light at
Christmas time, or New Year's Day; and those who have neglected to lay
in a stock of matches at that season often have to repent the oversight
by being unable to light their fires in the morning, and in most cases
amongst the poor neither prayers nor entreaties will induce them to
part with their fire.
At Mathon, some people believe that if land is left unsown in a field,
there will be a death in the family within the year; and when the
accident is discovered they do not sow it again (see Mr. Watson's
sketch of that parish).
Omens, or tokens of death, adhere to the popular belief to a more
general extent than any other relic of superstition, perhaps one third
of the population attaching more or less credit to them. It would be
impossible to enumerate all these idle fancies, but among them are
prominently the howling of a dog, a winding sheet in the candle, and
the issuing of light from a candle after it is blown out.
A piece of curled tallow (winding sheet) on a candle has been scarcely
ever known to fail as prophetic of death in the family or among friends.
When a single crow flies over you it is the sign of a funeral; two are
a certain prognostication of a wedding.
A bit of coal popped from the fire must resemble either a purse or a
coffin, and consequently good luck or death.
To have a long succession of black cards (spades or clubs) dealt to a
person while at play is prophetic of death to himself or some member of
the family.
When a corpse is limp, it is a sign that another death will happen in
the house.
To have apples and blossoms on a tree at the same time is a sign of a
forthcoming death in the family.
If a white bean grow in the garden it is a sure sign of death.
Any appearance among plants in the garden not understood is considered
"a token." Thus a rose whose flower has any leaves intermixed with
the red petals, as sometimes happens, is called a "death rose," and
foretells death to some of the family.
The first snowdrop brought into the house betokens the death of the
gatherer.
It is bad luck for any one to go through a house with a spade on his
shoulder.
If a woman go into a neighbour's house before she is "churched," some
great misfortune will befall her.
It is unlucky to have rain on a wedding day.
"Happy the bride the sun shines on;
Happy the corpse the rain falls on."
Old shoes thrown after a person leaving the house are supposed to be a
source of great prosperity. This is practised by the highest classes in
the county, especially at weddings.
So many mince pies you eat at Christmas, so many happy months you will
spend during the year.
A donkey braying is an infallible sign of rain.
To cut your hair during the increase of the moon is said to ensure its
favourable growth.
A bright speck in the candle is a sure indication that a letter is
coming to the individual to whom it points.
If the sun shines warmly on Christmas Day there will be many fires in
the ensuing year.
"A great year for nuts a great year for (the birth of) children," is a
common saying, and double nuts presage twins.
Tea-drinking is made to foreshadow a large number of the casualties
of life, including the receipt of presents, the visits of strangers,
obtaining sweethearts, and the like, merely from the appearance of the
tea and the "grounds" or settlement in the cup.
To leave a teapot lid open undesignedly is an indication that a
stranger is coming; and when a cock crows in your doorway, or a bit of
black stuff hangs on the bar of the grate, it is a sign of a similar
event.
It is believed in many districts that some persons have white livers,
and that if a woman marry a man having such a phenomenon inside him,
she must die within twelve months.
The first time a baby is taken out of the lying-in room the nurse must
carry it to the highest part of the house for good luck, and that it
may "rise in the world."
The colliers at Dudley, in the event of a fatal accident to one of
their number, all in the same pit immediately cease from working until
the body is buried. A certain sum is also spent in drink, and is called
"dead money." The same custom, more or less modified, prevails in many
districts.
The "seventh son of a seventh son" is believed to be endowed with
extraordinary curative powers in certain diseases, and the same with
regard to a daughter under similar circumstances.
In the vicinity of the Malvern hills there is a superstition among the
poorer people that when any one is bitten by a viper--which reptile is
occasionally to be met with in bushy ground about the southern part of
the range--if it can be killed forthwith, an ointment made from its
liver will be a specific for the wound.
A "handsel," or first money received for an article sold, if taken
from a particular person or under particular circumstances, Mr. Lees
says, is supposed to be productive of good luck; and some complain that
they cannot do business for want of a handsel from the person of whom
they wish to receive it.
In the year 1643, when some thieves plundered the house of Mr. Rowland
Bartlett, at Castle Morton, among other things they took a "cock eagle
stone, for which thirty pieces had been offered by a physician, but
refused." These eagle stones were ætites, a variety of argillaceous
oxide of iron; they were hollow, with a kernel or nucleus, sometimes
moveable, and always differing from the exterior in colour and density.
The ancients superstitiously believed that this pebble was found in
the eagle's nest, and that the eggs could not be hatched without its
assistance. Many other absurd stories were raised about this fossil.
The custom of burying exclusively on the south side of churchyards
prevails very generally in the rural districts of this county, except
where the smallness of the ground or the extent of the population has
rendered it compulsory to use the north side, which, however, was
formerly reserved for suicides and strangers. Many fanciful theories
have been invented to account for this preference of the south side,
but the most probable is, that, as the principal entrance to the church
was usually on that side, it was natural for burials to be there also,
that the deceased might have the benefit (so accounted in those days)
of the prayers of the congregation as they walked to and fro and beheld
the inscriptions.
The very ancient custom of divination by the flight of birds is not
yet forgotten. The robin and wren are birds of good augury: if a raven
flies over a house, there will soon be a corpse there. The number of
magpies met with as you set out on a journey indicates what is to
happen:
"One for sorrow,
Two for mirth,
Three for a wedding,
Four for a birth."
Mr. Allies tells of a remarkable superstition that prevailed not many
years ago at Suckley, where the country people used to talk a great
deal about "The Seven Whistlers," and that they oftentimes at night
heard six out of these seven whistlers pass over their heads; but that
no more than six of them were ever heard at once, for when the seven
should whistle together there would be an end of the world. This is
supposed to have some reference to fairy lore, and is still believed by
the Leicestershire colliers, who, when they hear "the whistlers," will
not venture below ground, thinking that death to some one is foreboded.
The superstition has probably a German origin.
Fern seed is supposed to make the gatherer walk invisible; but as the
fern is said to bloom and seed only at twelve o'clock at Midsummer
night, the seed can only be caught by using twelve pewter plates;
the seed will then pass through eleven of the plates and rest on the
twelfth.
There was formerly a "holy thorn" at Redmarley Farm, Acton Beauchamp,
but it was cut down a few years ago because of the number of persons
who went to see it. It is stated that the person who cut it down broke
his leg and his arm soon afterwards, and the premises were burnt down.
A similar thorn may be seen (as Mr. Lees informs us) in the hedge of a
garden at Cherry Green, Alfrick.
A superstition exists in some parts of the county that if pieces
of the alder tree are carried in the waistcoat pocket they will be
a safeguard against rheumatism. In Wyre Forest, near Bewdley, is a
botanical curiosity, namely, the celebrated old _Pyrus domestica_, said
to be the only tree of the kind growing wild in England. It is of the
same kind as the "Rowan," or mountain ash, which was and even now is
vulgarly worn as a remedy against witchcraft. It is most thought of by
the common people, and there are various traditions concerning it. The
name given to the tree is "the witty pear-tree"--the mountain ash being
also called "the whitty tree," and the leaves of this tree are very
similar. One of our Naturalist Field Clubs visited it in August, 1853:
vegetation was then entirely confined to its top boughs, which however
still held a few pears on them. Some hermit, or reputed "wise man,"
probably planted this tree, and derived part of his subsistence by
distributing its leaves and fruit, as a protection against witchcraft.
In April, 1856, a poor woman, residing in a village about three miles
from Pershore, acting upon the advice of her neighbours, brought her
child, who was suffering from whooping cough, to that town, for the
purpose of finding out a married couple answering to the names of
Joseph and Mary, and soliciting their interference on behalf of her
afflicted child, as she had been informed that if two married persons
having those names could but be induced to lay their hands on her
child's head, the whooping cough would be immediately cured. After
scouring the town for a considerable time in search of "Joseph and
his fair lady," they were at length discovered in the persons of a
respectable tradesman and his wife residing in Bridge Street, to whom
the poor silly woman made known her foolish request, which at first
excited a smile from the good woman of the house, but was quickly
followed, not by "the laying on of hands," but by good advice, such as
mothers only know how to give in these matters. The poor mother then
thankfully departed a wiser woman.
In the rural districts great faith is put in rings made of the
shillings and sixpences given at the sacrament, and many clergymen
have told me of repeated applications having been made to them for
sacrament shillings, for the purpose of keeping away the evil spirit,
or as a remedy for fits. Mr. Watson, in his History of Hartlebury, says
that he believes nearly every person in that district who was subject
to fits wore such a ring. And there is another parish in the county
where I am told even Protestant poor go to the Romanist priest to have
the relics of saints applied for the cure of diseases.
The Worcester papers in the year 1845 recorded that a person from
this city, being on a visit to a friend about four miles distant,
had occasion to go into the cottage of a poor woman, who had a child
afflicted with the whooping-cough. In reply to inquiries as to her
treatment of the child, the mother pointed to its neck, on which was a
string fastened, having nine knots tied in it. The poor woman stated
that it was the stay-lace of the child's godmother, which, if applied
exactly in that manner round about the neck, would be sure to charm
away the most troublesome cough!
An infallible recipe for the cure of ague is said to be the following:
Go to a grafter of trees, and tell him your complaint. You must not
give him any money, or there will be no cure. You go home, and in your
absence the grafter cuts the first branch of a maiden ash, and the cure
takes place instantly on cutting the branch from the tree.
A Worcestershire woman was asked the other day why she did not attend
church on the three Sundays on which her banns of marriage were
proclaimed? She replied that she should never dream of doing so unlucky
a thing; and on being questioned as to the kind of ill-luck that would
have been expected to have followed up her attendance at church, she
said that all the offspring of such a marriage would be born deaf and
dumb, and that she knew a young woman who would persist in going to
church to hear her banns "asked out," and whose six children were in
consequence all deaf and dumb!
At a certain country church in Worcestershire, on a Sunday early in
1856, there were three christenings, two boys and a girl. The parents
of one boy were in a very respectable class of life; the parents of
the two other children were in humble circumstances. The parties at
the font had been duly placed by the officiating clergyman, and as
it happened, the girl and sponsors were placed last in order. When
the first child--who was the boy of the poor parents--was about to
be baptized, the woman who carried the little girl elbowed her way
up to the clergyman, in order that the child she carried might be
the first to be baptized. To do this she had (very contrary to the
usual custom of the poor, who, in essential points, are generally as
refined as their superiors) to rudely push past "her betters"--_i. e._
the sponsors of the second boy. As she did so she said to one of the
sponsors--by way of apology--"It's a girl; so it _must_ be christened
first;" and christened first it was. But the peculiar manner in which
this was brought about showed that the woman was influenced by some
curious feeling; and on the next day, an opportunity was taken to
discover her motive. This was her explanation: "You see, sir, the
parson bain't a married man, and consequentially is disfamiliar with
children, or he'd a never put the little girl to be christen'd after
the boys. And though it sadly flustered me, sir, to put myself afore my
betters in the way which I was fosed to do; yet, sir, it was a doing of
a kindness to them two little boys, in me a setting of my girl afore
'em." "Why?" "Well, sir! I _har_ astonished as _you_ don't know. Why,
sir, if them little boys had been christened afore the little girl,
_they'd_ have had _her_ soft chin, and _she'd_ have had _their_ hairy
beards--the poor little innocent! But thank goodness! I've kep her
from that misfortin!" And the woman really believed that she had done
so; and the generality of her neighbours shared her belief. Let this be
a warning to clergymen, more especially to bachelors, who would stand
well in the opinions of their poorer parishioners!
BELLS
were formerly a prolific source of superstition. There is a valley in
Nottinghamshire, where a village is said to have been swallowed up by
an earthquake, and it was the custom on Christmas Day morning for the
people to assemble in this valley and listen to the fancied ringing of
the church bells underground. At Abbot's Morton there is a tradition
that the silver bells belonging to the abbot are buried in the site
of his old residence there. At Ledbury, a legend relates that St.
Katharine had a revelation that she was to travel about, and not rest
at any place, till she heard the bells ringing of their own accord.
This was done by the Ledbury bells on her approaching that town. When
the church at Inkberrow was rebuilt on a new site in ancient days,
it was believed that the fairies took umbrage at the change, as they
were supposed to be averse to bells; they accordingly endeavoured to
obstruct the building, but, as they did not succeed, the following
lamentation was occasionally heard by the startled rustics:
"Neither sleep, neither lie,
For Inkbro's ting-tangs hang so nigh."
Many years ago the twelve parish churches in Jersey each possessed a
beautiful and valuable peal of bells; but during a long civil war,
the states determined on selling these bells to defray the heavy
expenses of their army. The bells were accordingly collected and sent
to France for that purpose; but, on the passage, the ship foundered,
and everything was lost, to show the wrath of Heaven at the sacrilege.
Since then, before a storm, these bells ring up from the deep; and to
this day the fishermen of St. Ouen's Bay always go to the edge of the
water before embarking, to listen if they can hear "the bells upon the
wind;" and, if those warning notes are heard, nothing will induce them
to leave the shore; if all is quiet they fearlessly set sail. As a
gentleman, who has versified the legend, says:
"'Tis an omen of death to the mariner,
Who wearily fights with the sea,
For the foaming surge is his winding sheet,
And his funeral knell are we:
His funeral knell our passing bell,
And his winding sheet the sea."
GOOD FRIDAY
is the occasion of great superstition. It is believed that anything
planted on that day will prosper, and that if the seeds of the stock
are sown in the evening, as the sun goes down, the flowers will be
sure to come double. Hot-cross buns, or other bread made on a Good
Friday, are supposed never to grow mouldy, and if kept for twelve
months and then grated into some liquor, will prove a great soother of
the stomach-ache; acorns dried and grated will have the same effect.
The origin of the buns was the consecrated loaf made from the dough,
whence the host itself was formerly taken and given by the priests to
the people; they were marked with the cross, as our Good Friday buns
are. The superstitious frequently preserved Good Friday buns from year
to year, from the belief of their efficacy in the cure of diseases. And
Poor Robin, in his Almanack for 1753, says:
"Whose virtue is, if you'll believe what's said,
They'll not grow mouldy like the common bread."
The poorer people of Offenham will by no means allow any washing to be
about on a Good Friday, which would be considered the forerunner of
much ill-luck. At Cutnal Green it is thought that if you do not empty
your lie tub on Good Friday, you will have bad luck in the ensuing year.
BEES.
In many places in this county, when the master of a family dies, the
old nurse goes to the hive of bees, knocks, and says:
"The master's dead, but don't you go;
Your mistress will be a good mistress to you."