The evil spells over milk and butter are generally practised by women,
and arise from some feeling of malice or envy against a prosperous
neighbour. But the spell will not work unless some portion of the milk
is first given by consent. The people therefore are very reluctant
to give away milk, unless to some friend that they could not suspect
of evil. Tramps coming in to beg for a mug of milk should always be
avoided, they may be witches in disguise; and even if milk is given, it
must be drunk in the house, and not carried away out of it. In every
case the person who enters must give a hand to the churn, and say, “God
bless all here.”
A young farmer, one of the fine handsome fellows of the West, named
Hugh Connor, who was also well off and rich, took to wife a pretty
young girl of the village called Mary, one of the Leydons, and there
was no better girl in all the country round, and they were very
comfortable and happy together. But Hugh Connor had been keeping
company before his marriage with a young widow of the place, who had
designs on him, and was filled with rage when Mary Leydon was selected
for Connor’s bride, in place of herself. Then a desire for vengeance
rose up in her heart, and she laid her plans accordingly. First she
got a fairy woman to teach her some witch secrets and spells, and
then by great pretence of love and affection for Mary Connor, she got
frequent admission to the house, soothing and flattering the young
wife; and on churning days she would especially make it a point to come
in and offer a helping hand, and if the cakes were on the griddle, she
would sit down to watch and turn them. But it so happened that always
on these days the cakes were sure to be burned and spoiled, and the
butter would not rise in the churn, or if any did come, it was sour
and bad, and of no use for the market. But still the widow kept on
visiting, and soothing, and flattering, till Mary Connor thought she
was the very best friend to her in the whole wide world, though it was
true that whenever the widow came to the house something evil happened.
The best dish fell down of itself off the dresser and broke; or the
rain got in through the roof, and Mary’s new cashmere gown, a present
that had come to her all the way from Dublin, was quite ruined and
spoiled. But worse came, for the cow sickened, and a fine young brood
of turkeys walked straight into the lake and got drowned. And still
worst of all, the picture of the Blessed Virgin Mother, that was pinned
up to the wall, fell down one day, and was blown into the fire and
burned.
After this, what luck could be on the house? and Mary’s heart sank
within her, and she fairly broke down, and cried her very life out in a
torrent of tears.
Now it so happened that an old woman with a blue cloak, and the hood
of it over her head, a stranger, was passing by at the time, and she
stepped in and asked Mary kindly what ailed her. So Mary told her all
her misfortunes, and how everything in the house seemed bewitched for
evil.
“Now,” said the stranger, “I see it all, for I am wise, and know the
mysteries. Some one with the Evil Eye comes to your house. We must find
out who it is.”
Then Mary told her that the nearest friend she had was the widow, but
she was so sweet and kind, no one could suspect her of harm.
“We’ll see,” said the stranger, “only do as I bid you, and have
everything ready when she comes.”
“She will be here soon,” said Mary, “for it is churning day, and she
always comes to help exactly at noon.”
“Then I’ll begin at once; and now close the door fast,” said the
stranger.
And with that, she threw some herbs on the fire, so that a great smoke
arose. Then she took all the plough irons that were about, and one
of them she drove into the ground close beside the churn, and put a
live coal beside it; and the other irons she heated red-hot in the
fire, and still threw on more herbs to make a thick smoke, which Mary
thought smelt like the incense in the church. Then with a hot iron rod
from the fire, the strange woman made the sign of the cross on the
threshold, and another over the hearth. After which a loud roaring was
heard outside, and the widow rushed in crying out that a hot stick was
running through her heart, and all her body was on fire. And then she
dropped down on the floor in a fit, and her face became quite black,
and her limbs worked in convulsions.
“Now,” said the stranger, “you see who it is put the Evil Eye on all
your house; but the spell has been broken at last. Send for the men to
carry her back to her own house, and never let that witch-woman cross
your threshold again.”
After this the stranger disappeared, and was seen no more in the
village.
Now when all the neighbours heard the story, they would have no
dealings with the widow. She was shunned and hated; and no respectable
person would be seen talking to her, and she went by the name of the
Evil Witch. So her life was very miserable, and not long after she died
of sheer vexation and spite, all by herself alone, for no one would go
near her; and the night of the wake no one went to offer a prayer, for
they said the devil would be there in person to look after his own. And
no one would walk with her coffin to the grave, for they said the devil
was waiting at the churchyard gate for her; and they firmly believe
to this day that her body was carried away on that night from the
graveyard by the powers of darkness. But no one ventured to test the
truth of the story by opening the coffin, so the weird legend remains
still unsolved.
But as for Hugh Connor and the pretty Mary, they prospered after that
in all things, and good luck and the blessing of God seemed to be
evermore on them and their house, and their cattle, and their children.
At the same time, Mary never omitted on churning days to put a red-hot
horse-shoe under the churn according as the stranger had told her, who
she firmly believed was a good fairy in disguise, who came to help her
in the time of her sore trouble and anxiety.