Throughout all past time, credulity and superstition have constantly and
strongly competed with the art of medicine. There is no doubt, according
to Pliny, that the magical art began in Persia, that it originated in
medicine, and that it insinuated itself first amongst mankind under the
plausible guise of promoting health.[217] In proof of the antiquity of
the belief, this great Roman encyclopaedist cites Eudoxus, Aristotle, and
Hermippus, as averring that magical arts were used thousands of years
before the time of the Trojan war.
Assuredly, in ancient times, faith in the effects of magical charms,
amulets, talismans, etc., seems to have prevailed among all those
ancient races of whom history has left any adequate account. In modern
times a belief in their efficiency and power is still extensively
entertained amongst most of the nations of Asia and Africa. In some
European kingdoms, also, as in Turkey, Italy, and Spain, belief in them
still exists to a marked extent. In our own country, the magical
practices and superstitions of the older and darker ages persist only as
forms and varieties, so to speak, of archaeological relics,--for they
remain at the present day in comparatively a very sparse and limited
degree. They are now chiefly to be found among the uneducated, and in
outlying districts of the kingdom. But still, some practices, which
primarily sprung up in a belief in magic, are carried on, even by the
middle and higher classes of society, as diligently as they were
thousands of years ago, and without their magical origin being dreamed
of by those who follow them. The coral is often yet suspended as an
ornament around the neck of the Scottish child, without the potent and
protective magical and medicinal qualities long ago attached to it by
Dioscorides and Pliny being thought of by those who place it there. Is
not the egg, after being emptied of its edible contents, still, in many
hands, as assiduously pierced by the spoon of the eater as if he had
weighing upon his mind the strong superstition of the ancient Roman,
that--if he omitted to perforate the empty shell--he incurred the risk
of becoming spell-bound, etc.? Marriages seem at the present day as much
dreaded in the month of May as they were in the days of Ovid, when it
was a proverbial saying at Rome that
"Mense malas _Maio_ nubere vulgus ait."
And, in the marriage ceremony itself, the finger-ring still holds among
us as prominent a place as it did among the superstitious marriage-rites
of the ancient pagan world. Among the endless magical and medical
properties that were formerly supposed to be possessed by human saliva,
one is almost universally credited by the Scottish schoolboy up to the
present hour; for few of them ever assume the temporary character of
pugilists without duly spitting into their hands ere they close their
fists; as if they retained a full reliance on the magical power of the
saliva to increase the strength of the impending blow--if not to avert
any feeling of malice produced by it--as was enunciated, eighteen
centuries ago, by one of the most laborious and esteemed writers of that
age,[218] in a division of his work which he gravely prefaces with the
assertion that in this special division he has made it his "object (as
he declares) to state no facts but such as are established by nearly
uniform testimony."
In a separate chapter (chap. iv.) in his 30th Book, Pliny alludes to the
prevalence of magical beliefs and superstitious practices in the ancient
Celtic provinces of France and Britain. "The Gaelic provinces," says he,
"were pervaded by the magical art, and that even down to a period within
memory; for it was the Emperor Tiberius who put down the Druids and all
that tribe of wizards and physicians." We know, however, from the
ancient history of France posterior to Pliny's time, that the Druids
survived as a powerful class in that country for a long time afterwards.
Writing towards the end of the first century, Pliny goes on to
remark;--"At the present day, struck with fascination, Britannia still
cultivates this art, and that with ceremonials so august, that she might
almost seem to have been the first to communicate them to the people of
Persia." "To such a degree," adds this old Roman philosopher, "are
nations throughout the whole world, totally different as they are, and
quite unknown to one another, in accord upon _this_ one point."[219]
Some supposed vestiges of a most interesting kind, of very ancient
Gallic or Celtic word-charms, have recently been brought before
archaeologists by the celebrated German philologist Grimm, and by Pictet
of Geneva. Marcellus, the private physician of the Roman Emperor
Theodosius, was a Gaul born in Aquitane, and hence, it is believed, was
intimately acquainted with the Gaulish or Celtic language of that
province. He left a work on quack medicines (_De Medicamentis
Empiricis_), written probably near the end of the fourth century. This
work contains, amongst other things, a number of word-charms, or
superstitious cure-formulas, that were, till lately, regarded--like
Cato's word-cure for fractures of the bones--as mere unmeaning
gibberish. Joseph Grimm and M. Pictet, however, think that they have
found in these word-charms of Marcellus, specimens of the Gaulish or
Celtic language several centuries older than any that were previously
known to exist--none of the earliest glosses used by Zeuss, in his
famous _Grammatica Celtica_, being probably earlier than the eighth or
ninth centuries. If the labours of Grimm and Pictet prove successful in
this curious field of labour, they will add another proof to the
prevalence of magical charms among the Celtic nations of antiquity, and
afford us additional confirmation of the ancient prevalence, as
described by Pliny, of a belief in the magical art among the Gaelic
inhabitants of France and Britain.[220]
The long catalogue of the medical superstitions and magical practices
originally pertaining to our Celtic forefathers, was no doubt from time
to time increased and swelled out in Britain by the addition of the
analogous medical superstitions and practices of the successive
Roman[221] and Teutonic [222] invaders and conquerors of our island. A
careful analysis would yet perhaps enable the archaeologist to separate
some of these classes of magical beliefs from each other; but many of
them had, perhaps, a common and long anterior origin. We know further
that, in its earlier centuries among us, the teachers of Christianity
added greatly to the number of existing medical superstitions, by
maintaining the efficacy, for example, of a visit to the cross of King
Edwin of Northumberland, for the cure of agues, etc.,--the marvellous
alleged recoveries worked by visiting the grave of St. Ninian at
Whitehorn, or the cross of St. Mungo in the Cathedral churchyard at
Glasgow; the sovereign virtues of the waters of wells used by various
anchorets, and dedicated to various saints throughout the country; the
curative powers of holy robes, bells, bones, relics, etc.
Numerous forms of medical superstitions, charms, amulets, incantations,
etc., derived from the preceding channels, and possibly also from other
sources, seem to have been known and practised among our forefathers,
and for the cure of almost all varieties of human maladies, whether of
the mind or body. Our old Scottish hagiologies, witch trials,
ecclesiastical records, etc., abound with notices of them. Nor have some
of the oldest and most marked medical superstitions of ancient times
been very long obliterated and forgotten. I know, for example, of two
localities in the Lowlands, one near Biggar in Lanarkshire, the other
near Torphichen in West Lothian, where, within the memory of the present
and past generation, living cows have been sacrificed for curative
purposes, or under the hope of arresting the progress of the murrain in
other members of the flock. In both these instances the cow was
sacrificed by being buried alive. The sacrifice of other living
animals,[223] as of the cat, cock, mole, etc., for the cure of disease,
and especially of fits, epilepsy, and insanity, continues to be
occasionally practised in some parts of the Highlands up to the present
day. And in the city of Edinburgh itself, every physician knows the fact
that, in the chamber of death, usually the face of the mirror is most
carefully covered over, and often a plate with salt in it is placed upon
the chest of the corpse.
The Museum of the Society contains a few medicinal charms and amulets,
principally in the form of amber beads (which were held potent in the
cure of blindness), perforated stones, and old distaff whorls, whose
original use seems to have been forgotten, and new and magical
properties assigned to them. But the most important medicinal relic in
the collection is the famous "Barbreck's bone," a slice or tablet of
ivory, about seven inches long, four broad, and half-an-inch in
thickness. It was long in the possession of the ancient family of
Barbreck in Argyleshire, and over the Western Highlands had the
reputation of curing all forms and degrees of insanity. It was formerly
reckoned so valuable that a bond of L100 was required to be deposited
for the loan of it.
But the main object of the present communication is, through the kind
permission of Struan Robertson, Lady Lockhart of Lee, and others, to
show to the Society two or three of the principal curing-stones of
Scotland.
Several of these curing-stones long retained their notoriety, but they
have now almost all fallen entirely into disuse, at least for the cure
of human diseases. In some districts, however, they are still employed
in the treatment of the diseases of domestic animals.
A very ancient example of the use of a "curing-stone" in this country is
detailed in what may be regarded as the first or oldest historical work
which has been left us in reference to Scotland, namely, in Adamnan's
_Life of St. Columba_. This biography of the founder of Iona was
probably written in the last years of the seventh century, Adamnan
having died in A.D. 705. He was elected to the Abbacy of Iona A.D. 679,
and had there the most favourable opportunities of becoming acquainted
with all the existing traditions and records regarding St. Columba.
About the year 563 of the Christian era, Columba visited Brude, King of
the Picts, in his royal fort on the Ness, and found the Pictish
sovereign attended by a court or council, and with Brochan as his chief
Druid or Magus. Brochan retained an Irish female, and consequently a
countrywoman of Columba's, as a slave. The 33d chapter of the second
book of Adamnan's work is entitled, "Concerning the Illness with which
the Druid (_Magus_) Brochan was visited for refusing to liberate a
Female Captive, and his Cure when he restored her to Liberty." The story
told by Adamnan, under this head, is as follows:--
_Curing-Stone of St. Columba._
"About the same time the venerable man, from motives of humanity,
besought Brochan the Druid to liberate a certain Irish female captive, a
request which Brochan harshly and obstinately refused to grant. The
Saint then spoke to him as follows:--'Know, O Brochan, know, that if you
refuse to set this captive free, as I desire you, you shall die before I
return from this province.' Having said this in presence of Brude the
king, he departed from the royal palace and proceeded to the river Nesa,
from which he took a white pebble, and showing it to his companions,
said to them:--'Behold this white pebble, by which God will effect the
cure of many diseases.' Having thus spoken, he added, 'Brochan is
punished grievously at this moment, for an angel sent from heaven,
striking him severely, has broken in pieces the glass cup which he held
in his hands, and from which he was in the act of drinking, and he
himself is left half dead. Let us await here, for a short time, two of
the king's messengers, who have been sent after us in haste, to request
us to return quickly and relieve the dying Brochan, who, now that he is
thus terribly punished, consents to set his captive free.'
"While the saint was yet speaking, behold, there arrived as he had
predicted, two horsemen, who were sent by the king, and who related all
that had occurred, according to the prediction of the saint--the
breaking of the drinking goblet, the punishment of the Druid, and his
willingness to set his captive at liberty. They then added:--'The king
and his councillors have sent us to you to request that you would cure
his foster father, Brochan, who lies in a dying state.'
"Having heard these words of the messengers, Saint Columba sent two of
his companions to the king, with the pebble which he had blessed, and
said to them; 'If Brochan shall first promise to free his captive,
immerse this little stone in water and let him drink from it, but if he
refuse to liberate her, he will that instant die.'
"The two persons sent by the saint proceeded to the palace and announced
the words of the holy man to the king and to Brochan, an announcement
which filled them with such fear, that he immediately liberated the
captive and delivered her to the saint's messengers."
The stone was then immersed in water, and in a wonderful manner, and
contrary to the laws of nature, it floated on the water like a nut or an
apple, nor could it be submerged. Brochan drank from the stone as it
floated on the water, and instantly recovered his perfect health and
soundness of body.
"This little pebble (adds Adamnan) was afterwards preserved among the
treasures of the king, retained its miraculous property of floating in
water, and through the mercy of God effected the cure of sundry
diseases. And, what is very wonderful, when it was sought for by those
sick persons whose term of life had arrived it could not be found. An
instance of this occurred the very day king Brude died, when the stone,
though sought for with great diligence, could not be found in the place
where it had been previously left."[224]
In the Highlands of Scotland there have been transmitted down, for many
generations, various curing or charm-stones, used in the same manner as
that of Columba, and reckoned capable, like his, of imparting to the
_water in which they were immersed_[225] wondrous medicinal powers. One
of the most celebrated of these curing-stones belongs to Struan
Robertson, the chief of the Clan Donnachie. I am indebted to the
kindness of Mrs. Robertson, for the following notes regarding the
curing-stone, of which her family are the hereditary proprietors. Its
local name is
_Clach-na-Bratach, or Stone of the Standard._
"This stone has been in possession of the Chiefs of Clan Donnachaidh
since 1315.
"It is said to have been acquired in this wise.
"The (then) chief, journeying with his clan to join Bruce's army before
Bannockburn, observed, on his standard being lifted one morning, a
glittering something in a clod of earth hanging to the flagstaff. It was
this stone. He showed it to his followers, and told them he felt sure
its brilliant lights were a good omen and foretold a victory--and
victory was won on the hard-fought field of Bannockburn.
[Illustration: Fig. 17. Clach-na-Bratach.]
"From this time, whenever the clan was 'out,' the Clach-na-Bratach
accompanied it, carried on the person of the chief, and its varying hues
were consulted by him as to the fate of battle. On the eve of
Sheriffmuir (13th November 1715), of sad memory, on Struan consulting
the stone as to the fate of the morrow, the large internal flaw was
first observed. The Stuarts were lost--and Clan Donnachaidh has been
declining in influence ever since.
"The virtues of the Clach-na-Bratach are not altogether of a martial
nature, for it cures all manner of diseases in cattle and horses, and
formerly in human beings also, if they drink the water in which this
charmed stone has been thrice dipped by the hands of Struan."
The Clach-na-Bratach is a transparent, globular mass of rock crystal, of
the size of a small apple. (See accompanying woodcut, Fig. 17.) Its
surface has been artificially polished. Several specimens of round
rock-crystal, of the same description and size, and similarly polished,
have been found deposited in ancient sepulchres, and were formerly used
also in the decoration of shrines and sceptres.