In the old churchyard of the monastery at Saints’ Island, there is
an ancient black marble flagstone; and the monks gave it power as _A
Revealer of Truth_, and it is called the _Cremave_, or Swearing Stone.
Any one suspected of sin or crime is brought here from the country
round, and if the accused swears falsely, the stone has the power to
set a mark upon him and his race for seven generations. But if no mark
appears then he is known to be innocent; and as long as the world
lasts, the stone is to have this power, for so the monks decreed; and
with many holy and mystic ceremonies they gave it consecration, as the
“Revealer of Truth.” And though the English burned the monastery and
defaced the altar and carried off the holy vessels, yet they had no
power over the Cremave, or Swearing Stone, which remains to this day.
Many years ago, so runs the tale, a murder was committed in the
neighbourhood, and a certain man being suspected as the murderer, he
was forced to go to the “clearing stone”; for the people said, “If he
is innocent, the Cremave will clear him; and if guilty, let him suffer
for his crime.”
So, on the appointed day, he went with his friends and the accuser to
the Swearing Stone; and there he was met by the priest, who adjured him
to speak the truth in presence of all the people and before the face of
God.
The man laid his hand upon the stone, and solemnly swore that he was
innocent; but instantly his right arm was shrivelled up, his feet
failed, and he was carried home a miserable cripple, and so remained to
the end of his life.
Some weeks after a daughter was born to him, who bore across her
forehead the impress of a bloody hand; and every one of his descendants
have some strange mark, by which the people know that the race is
accursed to the seventh generation; after which time the doom will be
lifted, and the expiation made for the crime and the perjury will be
considered sufficient by the Lord in heaven, who will then grant to the
race pardon and grace at last.