Charmers and Charming in England and Wales from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth

Century
Author(s): Owen Davies
Source: Folklore, Vol. 109 (1998), pp. 41-52
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Folklore Enterprises, Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1260569
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Folklore 109 (1998):41-52

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Charmers and Charming in England and Wales from

Eighteenth to the Twentieth Century
Owen Davies

Abstract

Charmers have long been recognised as an important aspect of folk medicine. Unfortunately,
however, they have usually been conflated with cunning-folk and consequently the well-
defined tradition of charming has been rather obscured. Charmers were quite a diverse group
of healers but, in general, they all shared several characteristics that separated them from
other practitioners of folk medicine. Popular faith in charmers was undoubtedly very strong,
and several traditional forms of charming have continued up till recently. The present article
not only examines the question of who the charmers were, but also explores their practices
and their place in a wider religious and medical context. It is a companion-piece to the
author's previous article published in Folklore 107 (1990):19-31.

Introduction

In the historiography of magic and folk medicine a The fairly extensive ethnographic source material
variety of interchangeable terms have been used to relating to charmers collected by nineteenth-century
describe several types of folk healer whose roles were,
folklorists and antiquarians reveals, however, that
in fact, quite distinct and well-defined. The most ob-
within popular culture charmers were regarded as
vious example of this has been the compounding of quite distinct from cunning-folk. The compounding of
"charmers" with the more complex magical practition- terms and r6les in the work of those who have recorded
ers known variously as "cunning-folk," "conjurors,"the activities of charmers is little evident within the
and "white witches." This tendency has not been ab-discourse of popular culture during the period. The
sent from the work of folklorists. Ruth Tongue, for ex-object of the following discussion, therefore, is to de-
ample, listed as a "white witch" a blacksmith who lineate clearly the behaviour and function of charm-
could "draw nails or thorns from a horse's hoof by ers,
a and to restore them to their unique place in the
charm," and as a "conjuror" a man who charmed forhistory of magical healing and folk medicine.
warts (Tongue 1965, 76-7). Margaret Courtney inter- The charming tradition outlived most other aspects
changed the terms "charmer" and "white witch" of folk magic, and charmers remained in demand in
(Courtney 1890, 145), and Charlotte Burne used parts of the country up until the 1970s. To understand
"charmer" and "conjuror" interchangeably (Burne
the longevity of the charming tradition within the con-
1883, 169). This blending of terms has led to some con-
text of folk medicine, we firstly need to make an im-
fusion both in their own work and in that of those whoportant distinction between folk illness and folk medi-
have used them as source material.
cine, since the latter has commonly been used as an
The same loose classification can also be found in
all-encompassing term.As Irwin Press has argued, both
the work of historians. Keith Thomas, for instance, al-
"are aspects of the same cognitive system, but they
though obviously aware that charmers operated in aare not identical and should be conceptually differen-
distinct way, discusses them in the same context as tiated" (Press 1978, 72). Press defines folk illness as
cunning-folk and includes them in his observations on relating to concepts of cause, etiology and manifesta-
the status, function and activities of cunning-folk. In
tion, while folk medicine refers solely to instruments,
Thomas's index, for example, the reader, looking un- practices and practitioners. Importantly, as Press has
der "charmers," is told to see under "wizards" (Tho-observed, folk medical practices may survive long af-
mas 1971). Alan Macfarlane (1970), and Kathryn Smith ter concepts of folk illness have disappeared. Charm-
(1977, 26) have also seemingly placed charmers and ers did not diagnose, and charmed only for common-
cunning folk in one homogeneous group. This tendency place complaints which were recognised by orthodox
has undoubtedly arisen partly from the fact that someand folk medicine alike and which were popularly held
cunning-folk added the role of charmer to their list of
to have a natural causation. Thus, in this sense, charm-
remunerative occupations,' and also that a few charm-
ers, unlike cunning-folk, were a component of folk
ers flouted the traditions which bound them, and so medicine but not of folk illness. The belief in witch-
appeared to be acting like cunning-folk. craft had been central to folk concepts of illness, and

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 42 Owen Davies

as that "witchcraft" to instantly confer protection died

belief against
early-twentieth witches as well. The ague charm was probably utilised c
came increasingly for this purpose because to be efficacious it had to be
continued worn permanently as to func
a prophylactic, rather than pro-
cine. nounced verbally.
Within the category of "charming" I have included Charmers could be of either sex. When male, their
three types of folk healer: those who possessed writ-occupational status was varied, though it was usually
ten or oral charms (as discussed in Davies 1996); thoserelated to traditional rural vocations. For example, John
who had an innate healing touch; and those who pos- Tobias, a wart-charmer of Cerne, Dorset, was a mason
sessed object-charms with healing properties. The rea- (March 1899, 479); a charmer from Llanigon,
son I believe they can be discussed in the same contextRadnorshire, was a wheelwright (Morgan 1896, 304);
is that all three types of charmer usually professed noand in the vicinity of Marwood, Devon, a blacksmith
other magical powers, they only healed "natural" ail- and a small coal-dealer were both well-known for
ments, and they mostly respected a tradition of gratu-stanching blood (N&Q 3rd series 1 [1862]:404). From
ity. Theo Brown's experience of Devon charmers still prac-
tising and in demand, most were associated with the
Social Status land. The majority were farmers, though she knew of
one who was a farrier, one who kept broiler chickens
A good general definition of charmers was given andbyanother who was a veterinary surgeon (Brown
the nineteenth-century Shropshire folklorist Charlotte1970, 43). Charmers were, then, usually from the arti-
Burne:
san/ tradesman/ small farmer class in society. With the
They are often very respectable people, who make no exception of those born with a healing touch, few
pretence of magical arts and owe their power merely charmers were from the labouring classes. A similar
to the possession of some infallible charm, only effec- exclusion of the lowest social class in rural society from
tual against one disease, which they are reluctant to wielding the power of beneficial magic is evident from
divulge and which, for the most part, they firmly be- an examination of the occupations of cunning-folk
lieve in themselves (Burne 1883, 181). (Davies 1997, 92-3).
As this description indicates, charmers were remark-
able for their ordinariness:2 they did not usually dab-Charm Transmission
ble in any other magical activities. Unbewitching,
People usually became charmers because the secret of
fortunetelling, thief detection and love magic were all
the charms, and the rituals often associated with them,
in the province of cunning-folk. In this respect we can
were passed on to them by a family member or some-
certainly draw a clear boundary of practice between
times a close friend, when the possessors of the charm
the two types of healer. The only activity which they
felt they were about to die. One reason for their se-
sometimes shared was the application of herbs or
herbal remedies as an adjunct to healing rituals. crecy was that it was commonly held that if the charm
Charmers usually cured for ailments which fell into was disclosed it would immediately lose its efficacy
or that, if imparted, the charmer would lose his or her
only two categories. The first category included inju-
power and the other person would gain it. It was said of
ries resulting from accidents, such as bleeding, burns,
snake-bites and pricks. The second consisted of "natu- the Wiltshire charmer, William Willshire, that his gift
ral" diseases such as ringworm, toothache, scrofula andwould be lost if "the secret be revealed, except at the
warts. Unlike cunning-folk, charmers did not cure fortime of death" (Wiltshire Notes and Queries 6 [1908-10]:38).
A correspondent in Notes and Queries recounted how
any supernaturally inspired ailments. I have found only
one old woman of Brackley, Northamptonshire, who had
one instance of a charmer curing for witchcraft, that is
the following charm found amongst the papers of an"a more than ordinary renown for the cure of agues":
inhabitant of a parish adjacent to Marystowe, Devon: received the secret from the dying lips of her mother;
who, in her turn, is said to have received it from hers
When Jesus saw the Cross, thare to be crucified, pilate
said unto him "What aileth thee? why shakes thou? ... This old dame is upwards of ninety, and still refuses
hast thou fever, ague or witchcraft?" Jesus said unto to part with her charm, the probability of its perishing
him "I have neither fever ague nor witchcraft, but with her, forms a constant theme of lamentation among
her gossips (N&Q 2 [1850]:36).
shake for thy sins." Whosoever carryeth this in his
mind or in writing shall never have neither fever, ague In another instance, an old man at Monk Soham, Suf-
or witchcraft-in the name of the father and of the
folk, told W. Wollaston Groome that his mother knew
Son and of the holy ghost. Amen and Amen (TDA
31:1.11). a charm for curing scalds and burns, and that "when
she was dying was just going to tell the words to him,
This was the common charm for curing the ague and but someone coming into the room interrupted her,
fever (see Davies 1996, 22-3). Presumably, someone and as she died very soon afterwards he never learnt
down the line of ownership simply tagged on the word the secret" (Groome 1895, 119).

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 Charmers and Charming in England and Wales 43

transmission
In the case of written charms for of folk knowledge
toothache and ague,in popular culture.
They show that oral
the text of the charm was occasionally and written
passed transmission were
from
one sufferer to another rathernot
like a chain-letter,
mutually even
exclusive, but could interact to dissemi-
though such charms were often nate originally
and preserve information
given which,
with although secret,
the injunction that they must benefited
neverthe bewhole community.
opened or read.
Marie Trevelyan knew a South The Wales collier
influence of print on who de- and pres-
the transmission
clared that his fellow workmen passed
ervation of charmson a easy
is not toothache
to assess. Its significance
charm from one to the other, and with
was that almost
anything immedi-
printed was immediately transferred
ate relief. She also noted that: from
"Inthe the present
private to the publicday the
domain. In this context,
charm is written on a piece of paper,
it must enclosed
be stressed that access toin an knowledge
printed
envelope, and sealed" (Trevelyan was not limited to
1909, the literate. Those who could read
227).
A rule of thumb concerning werethe transmission
able, and often expected, to pass of on any knowl-
charms was the requirement that they
edge gained from be passed
printed on 1991; Vincent
sources (Reay
contra-sexually, otherwise they 1989).would
I have not cease
come across toany be ef- of eight-
examples
fective. This explains why theeenth-
Herefordshire
or nineteenth-century folklor-
popular literature which
ist, Ella Leather, when asking anincluded
oldany of the healing
woman to charms
tell hermentioned, but
what she said when she charmed severalburns,
examples of was
common told that
charms for stanching
it would be of no use at all if she
blood, told
ague andher; Leather
fever were printed inwaseducated works
directed to an old local man who also knew the charm during the early modern period (Davies 1996). It is
(Leather 1912, 70). As with all rules of thumb, though, possible that some of these printed versions of charms
contra-sexual charm transmission was not always ad- could have found their way into, as well as out of, the
hered to. We have already seen that the Brackley channels of folk transmission.
charmer received her knowledge from her mother. There is nothing in the English tradition of popular
Writing in the 1960s, J.B. Lang also observed that, al- literature, however, which mirrors the content of the
though in most Dorset districts the charming ability French chapbooks Le Medecin des pauvres, and Medicin
could only be passed on to someone of the opposite des Campagnes during the period concerned. These very
sex, in the Marshwood Vale charms were also passed popular works, contained a number of standard heal-
on from mother to daughter (Lang 1969, 222). ing charms, such as the St Appolonia charm for tooth-
The Cornish charmer and seventh son, Tony ache. Judith Devlin has suggested that the literary ver-
Cleverdon, on being asked by the Revd R.S. Hawker if sions of healing charms contained in Medicin des
he might write down some of his charms, questioned Campagnes "became popular, and that the book's in-
whether "their virtue would not be utterly destroyed fluence on rural society was maintained through the
when he was gone, by their being put into ink" reading or memorization of its contents" (Devlin 1987,
(Hawker 1870, 173). Mrs Whitcombe recorded that in 48). The widespread ownership of these chapbooks
Cornwall and Devon: "According to the superstition undoubtedly helped perpetuate the tradition of charm-
prevalent with the lower orders, the efficacy of all ing, and perhaps to some extent created a certain uni-
charms is destroyed when they are recorded in print" formity of content. However, the English tradition of
(Whitcombe 1874, 14). However, one of Theo Brown's charming was maintained throughout the nineteenth
Devon informants was of the opposite opinion, stat- century and well into the next century without the cir-
ing that the charm must never be passed by word of culation of comparable popular printed works.
mouth, but should be written down; moreover, it As modern French ethnographic studies of charm-
should not be delivered directly, but left where the re- ers show, the ability to charm is not just based on the
cipient might find it by chance (Brown 1970, 38). One possession of knowledge. Only those who also pos-
Sussex charmer, on being asked to divulge the sub- sess the gift [le don] are considered to be effective
stance of her charms, reasoned as follows: (Bouteiller 1966; Laplantine 1978; Julliard 1982; Camus
1990). Andrd Julliard, in a study of charmers [leveurs
I promised the man who taught me them, by all that's
de maux] or [panseurs de secrets] in the D~partement of
good and great, never to tell them to any one, but I
did not say I would not write them down, and I have Ain, in southeastern France, found that although Le
done so, and they will be found after my death, for I Medicin des pauvres was known and owned by a number
should like to know I have done some good to my of countryfolk, only those considered to have le don
neighbours after I am gone (Latham 1878, 37). were consulted (Julliard 1982, 44). Furthermore,
Dominique Camus, in his recent study of panseurs de
There would seem, then, to be some disagreement secret in eastern Brittany, found that althoughLe Medicin
within popular discourse as to the effect of the writtendes pauvres was widely diffused in the region, and sev-
transmission of charms. However, many charms were eral formulae he had collected could be found in it, he
passed down through a written tradition, and those had not come across any panseurs who actually owned
for ague and toothache were only efficacious in their a copy (Camus 1990, 25). The same concept of "the
written form. Charmers, therefore, provide a concrete gift" existed, though not so explicitly, in the English
indication of the strength and longevity of the written tradition. Joseph Hammond obtained several charms

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44 Owen Davies

from based
"an old on
and
in his Cardiff
book abo
the to mark
comment: "
the and
gift, "ca
and
(HammondMonmou
1897
"True smithy.
charming
possession
out of
by o
t
species of
ary initi
imb
fitly" consider
(Eyre 190
The concept of
tradition of wa
Payment
ods for remov
could Another "law" of traditional charming which distin- be
usually
Most ofguished charmersthese
from cunning-folk was that the pa- c
tween some dec
tient should never say "please" or "thank-you," or give
stick, twine
any direct cash payment for their treatment. Keith or
Tho-
had beenmas stated that "charmers and rubb
blessers sometimes per-
of the formed
wartstheir services without making any formal th
another charge" (Thomas 1971,comm
298), but the evidence suggests
wart wasthat he understated therubbe
case and that, in fact, it was
their number
rare for charmers to make any formal charge. As the c
were charmer and erstwhile butcher Luke
then Page, of St
place
way, so the
Briavels, Gloucestershire, put it, "you got to takewaNo
to the first
Thanks, but thank the Almighty, and keep it to inq
your-
tle bag.self" (Eyre 1905, 168). This rule presumably derived
Despite t
were numerous
from the belief that these charms and the ability to
any other
charm were divine gifts and as such ailme
should, in turn, be
some extra hea
given freely to those who required it. Of course, the
ployed dictates exactly
of poverty led to the circumvention of this
ample, policy Morley
of strict gratuity, and presents in kind were usu-
nised this phen
ally given, sometimes after a respectable period of time.
charms ...
While this rule But
undoubtedly stemmed from an altruis-
only to tic tradition,
slipit could also serve to shield the charmer
a th
them with the
from the possibility of prosecution for obtaining money
1984, 295).
under fraudulent pretences. AlthoughIn valid, this latter, ac
ten find that
more cynical, explanation was not, I believe, the pre- th
mulae. Two
dominant reason why charmers refused Dor money.
Bowring Cunning-folk, who of Cer
sometimes charged considerable
ing common
sums of money, rarely asked for payment in kind and op
the stalk
seem to have been largely of som
unbothered by the possibil-
wart separately
ity of prosecution for fraudulent cash payments.
then said Tony Cleverdon told the "that
Revd R.S. Hawker that his
was buried
powers had been as good as a fortune (Mar
to him all his
aged life:
sixty-eigh

There for, although he is forbidden old

was by usage and tradition to m
warts on
take money for theyour
exercise of his functions nothing h
week orhas hinderedathat he shouldmonth
always be invited to sit as
many you'd
an honest guest at the table furnished withgot
good things
and they'd
in the house of his votaries (Hawker be1870, 173). go
tell her what to s
The Northamptonshire correspondent who furnished
But never told h
he'd the account of the Brackley
read in charmer concluded
the that al-
though the fact that the influence and position natu-
As mentioned
rally accruing to charmers afforded sufficient motive b
formed for imposture the spit
(even though there was no immediate
each wart with
pecuniary remuneration), he believed that, for the most
rected the
part, "they may be said to be the dupessuff
of their own
round each
credulity" war
(N&Q 2 [1850]:36). It is not surprising,
(Groomethough, that charmers1895,
were loath to reveal the content

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 Charmers and Charming in England and Wales 45

of their charms. "O, Tony," says he, "master's mare is blooding streams,
Theo Brown believed that the "gift-in-kind" and I be sent over to you to beg you to stop it." "Very
payment
of charmers was a modern development, well," I said, "I can do it the
for just as well here as if I came
"white
witch of old was always a professional down and opened the door: just
and tell me the name of
charged
the beast, and I'll proceed." "Name," says he, "why,
considerable fees" (Brown 1970, 41). I believe this state-
there's no name that I know by, we allus call her the
ment is misleading. Her conclusion was probably
black mare?" "No name?" Says I, "then however can I
reached as a result of the common confusion of tradi-
charm her? Why the name's the principal thing! Fools!
tional charmers with cunning-folk. Like several other Never to give her a name to rule the charm by! Be off!
West Country writers on folklore (Hewett 1900; Powell Be off! I can't save her" so the poor old thing died in
1908; Tongue 1965), she adopted the three-type catego- course (Hawker 1870, 178).
risation of witches delineated by the antiquarian John
Nearly a century after the above events, a Dorset farmer
Brand. According to Brand, anyone who practised some
had a more fruitful, "charming" encounter. His cow
form of "magic" conformed to one of the following three
being very ill with redwater,3 he was persuaded to visit
types, depending on their motivation: "white witches"
a local female charmer, a friend's mother-in-law. Upon
who used their magical powers to do good; "black
meeting her, the following conversation ensued:
witches" who acted for purely maleficent reasons; and
"grey witches" who were a mixture of white and black, "What is her name?" she enquired. "I don't know" he
"for they can both help and hurt" (Brand 1849, 4). Ac- replied. "What is her colour?" she asked. "Red," was
cordingly, Brown pigeonholed charmers as "white the reply. "Give her a name," his mother-in-law said.
witches." However, I believe that the use of colour epi- "Ruby, because she's red," he said (Lang 1969, 223).
thets was a misleading-though simple and conven-Ruby was charmed, and within a couple of days was
ient-way to describe magical practitioners in educated
on the mend and passing clear water once more.
discourse. I have come across very few examples of As is evident from Tony Cleverdon's story of Farmer
these colour epithets being used within popular dis- Colly's mare, some charmers could effectively operate
course, either in the West Country or anywhere else,their charms from a distance. As was observed in
and have certainly not come across any instances of Breconshire, it was not always necessary that the pa-
the term "grey witch." Though there were a few charm- tient see the charmer, but he or she must be given the
ers who did exploit their position and charge for theirname and description of the person and the disease
services-one Bennett, for example, the village carpen- (Hartland 1913, 506). William Pearson, a Kendal grocer
ter of Ilmington, Warwickshire, who charmed for thrushand general dealer in the first half of the last century,
in the early 1840s, apparently took a fixed fee from each knew of a man in his neighbourhood, a landlord and
patient (Potter 1913, 241)--I believe they were the ex-shopkeeper, who was able to charm burns without ac-
ception not the rule.
tually seeing the sufferer (Pearson 1863, 16). Lady
Rosalind Northcote knew of a charmer, living near Ex-
eter, who could stanch blood and prevent thorns from
Charming Procedures festering:
For ailments which did not require immediate atten- He cured a woman a little while back without even
tion, such as ringworm, erysipelas and King's evil, seeing her. She fell on one hand into a bundle of furze
charmers could often only operate effectively at cer- and went to his house for help. He was out at the time,
tain times of the day or night. A ringworm charmer of but was told of the occurrence on his return and said
Stamfordham, Northumberland, obliged his patients something which cured her (Northcote 1900, 217).
to come to him before sunrise, when he used to take
Another nineteenth-century Devon charmer, an old
some earth from his garden and rub the part affectedspinster with one eye and eyebrow higher than the
while repeating certain unrecorded words (Henderson
other, who lived at Lew Down, Devon, was in great
1879, 140). In East Cumbria, those suffering from ec-demand for stanching blood. The wounded person
zema and erysipelas could only be charmed between would send her a handkerchief soaked in their blood,
sunset and sunrise, and had to undergo treatment three and on receiving it she stroked the kerchief three times,
nights in succession (Penfold 1907, 54). It was vital tomuttered a stanching charm,4 and meanwhile the flow
the efficacy of some charms that the patient's name beof the patient's blood ceased. The Revd Sabine
known. This was obviously no problem when treatingBaring-Gould remarked that it was by no means unu-
humans, but could lead to complications when the pa-
sual to meet the postman for Bratton Clovelly coming
tient was an animal. As one charmer explained, "you
to Lew Down or going back to Bratton, with his right
must know the Christian name, and, if it be an animal,
hand extended to the uttermost holding a kerchief that
you do give him one" (Eyre 1905, 168). For the animal
was to be blessed, or which had been blessed (Baring-
with no name the future looked grave unless its owner Gould 1925, 143-4). This handkerchief method was
showed a little inventiveness. The Cornish charmer,practised by "Old Ann" of Delabole, Cornwall, who, in
Tony Cleverdon, recounted the following cautionary
two instances, cured a woman of "wildfire" (shingles)
incident concerning one Farmer Colly's mare:
and another suffering from a sore leg (Paynter 1929,

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 46 Owen Davies

29). A blacksmith of St Austell, Cornwall, also only such considerations as such well disposed per-
charmed for eczema in the same way (Hammond sons seem to me to be misled by, and which are these
1897, 350). By the 1950s, the widespread ownership three, namely,
of telephones meant that those charmers still oper- 1. That only scripture words, or only very good words,
are used in their charms.
ating, and able to effect cures at a distance, were even
more accessible to sufferers. A Dartmoor farmer told 2. That many cures have followed upon the use of them
in this way.
the folklore collector Lois Deacon, around 1952, that
3. That many persons have died, or still remain uncured,
a charmer had cured his bullocks of ringworm by who would not be charmed. These are very ancient and
telephone (TDA 91:199). Around the same period, inveterate excuses for this wicked practice (ibid., 22).
an official inspecting a farm near Bridport, Dorset,
was surprised to see a cow being led backwards outIn Lyne's opinion, "if cures are certainly wrought by
of the farmhouse. It transpired that the cow hadcharms, it must be by agency of the Devil, with a curse,
redwater, and that they had asked the charmer toand not a blessing" (ibid., 25). Over sixty years later,
come and cure it, but the charmer was ill in bed, so Revd Rundle also dismissed similar arguments justify-
the cow was taken to the telephone to hear the charm ing the use of charms:
(Lang 1969, 222). it had been stated there may be a great deal said in
favour of actual good being done by them because they
generally ended with an invocation of the All-holy Trin-
Charming and Religion
ity, thus showing a certain amount of faith. His experi-
The Cornish antiquarian Joseph Hammond discov- ence, however, was that there was no such kind of faith
ered at one of his wife's mothers' meetings that displayed: they said "If you could cure he, you can cure
"there was not a Cornish woman present who did me" ("Superstition in Cornwall," 173).
not regard [charming] as quite a natural and properThese nineteenth-century criticisms hark back to the
thing to do." As a result of this popular attitude, he vehement and widespread attacks on charmers and
found that the "humbler class" would talk about
blessers by sixteenth- and seventeenth-century protes-
charms quite freely (Hammond 1897, 350-1). Simi- tant writers such as William Perkins and Conrad Platz.
larly, the Revd Rundle, vicar of Godolphin, Corn-According to them, the belief that holy words had an
wall, observed that people "would not talk aboutinherent efficacy was an outright rejection of the sec-
ghosts till they were quite sure they would not ond
be commandment (Clark 1993, 66-8). For Perkins,
laughed at," but would openly confess their belief
charmers were to be condemned along with witches:
in healing charms ("Superstition in Cornwall," 173).
There was obviously little doubt in the popular mind by Witches we understand not those onely which kill
that charming was a legitimate activity sanctionedand torment: but all Diviners, Charmers, Juglers, all
by God. "Charming is quite right, of course," said Wizzards, commonly called wise men and wise women;
an old man of Weobley, Herefordshire, to Ella yea, whoseover doe any thing (knowing what they doe)
Leather, "there's charmin' in the Bible, and it's a which cannot be effected by nature or art; and in the
same number we reckon good Witches, which doe no
good thing" (Leather 1912, 70). A similar opinion was
hurt, but good, which doe not spoile and destroy, but
voiced by a Dartmoor farmer's wife, who "evidently save and deliver (Perkins 1610, 255).
considered them as prayers to God; indeed, one day
she asked me whether the Bible did not tell us As to is apparent from a number of the examples cited in
pray for God for healing" (TDA 27, 65). A Shrop- this article, fasting was an important element of the
shire blacksmith's wife (who possessed a charm for charming tradition. During the eighteenth and early-
toothache) stated, "it's our Saviour that does it, not
nineteenth centuries, both the Catholic and Methodist
us-same as stopping blood," and went on to say
traditions resorted to fasting and prayer to heal the sick
that it was necessary to have "faith in Him, have
and the possessed (MacDonald 1982; Rack 1982). As
faith that He will stop it" (Burne 1883, 181). Keith Thomas has observed, while Protestantism re-
Although charms were considered to be legitimate jected outright the Catholic ritual of exorcism, "it
Christian prayers and blessings for healing purposesseemed that the Protestant remedy of fasting and prayer
according to popular reasoning, those with moral might well be developed into a ritual claiming some-
and spiritual authority did not always look upon thing very near mechanical efficacy" (Thomas 1971,
them in such a benign light. Many clergymen cer-571). Although by the eighteenth century the Anglican
tainly did not agree with one old Wiltshire charm-
church had rejected the practice, it survived in both
er's opinion that "it can do no harm if it does no
the Methodist tradition and in folk medicine.
good" (Heath 1880, 332). In 1817 the Revd RichardBoth held great store by the power of fasting spittle.
Lyne, Rector of Little Petherick, informed his con-
It was probably Bridget Bostock's use of fasting spittle
gregation that "to use charms of any kind, for the which led John Wesley to conclude there was "no room
relief of bodily or mental disorders ... or for any other
to doubt" her curative powers. Wesley himself thought
purpose, is an abominable thing, contrary to the gos- it a sovereign remedy for many diseases (Rack 1982,
pel of Christ, and therefore injurious to true religion"
140-2). The use of fasting spittle has a long history. Pliny
(Lyne 1817, 3). He went on to notice: was said to have espoused its medicinal properties for

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Charmers and Charming in England and Wales 47

curing snake bites, boils and cricks in the

were several neck,
other and of healer,
types
Vespasian is said to have cured a blind
similar man with
descriptions andit subscrib
(Hazlitt 1995, 561-2; Elworthyventions
1895, 418-21).
thoughIts theyChris-
did not use
tian legitimacy, however, derived charmers
from its possessed
curativeinnate
use heali
in the Bible.5 There was, it seems, a big gulf
ally charmed forbetween
ailments for wh
the interpretation of the Bibleditional
in popular written
and inor oral healing c
official
religion.6 In the popular mind, son wasthese charms
Bridget were of Copp
Bostock,
prayers, their holy power often became
being something
strengthened ofbya national
fasting and the application ofin fasting spittle. Though
1748.7 She was described by on
Christian orthodoxy maintained the there
General was Evening
a differencePost as "an o
between charms and prayers, according to popular
seated in an elbow-chair, con-in a mos
cepts the two were not mutually exclusive.
petticoats In popular
not reaching above half
religion the Bible was imbuedShe with cured for blindness,
the power to heal deafnes
not only the soul but also thetism, body. As inevil,
King's Methodism,
hysterical fits,
popular conceptions of religionof often
breath, heldpalsy,
to thedropsy,
literal leprosy
fused
truth of the Bible. If fasting spittle to treat
worked syphilitic
in the Bible, cases. All
therefore, it must also work fect a cure was
in general, to stroke
as long as it the affect
was applied by a "gifted" charmer ing spittle andand both parties
pray for the suff
had faith. Furthermore, it did not tend to cure
matter that all
thedisorders
apoc- and too
ryphal narratives within some of these
cures, though charmsothersweremade mone
not actually in the Bible, because tion.they
In 1748 were soneverthe-
many "people of
less, in a sense, biblical. This point
ing to is her,
well that
illustrated
severalby poor locals
the following reported conversation between a
able subsistence parson their ho
holding
and one of his parishioners, Dame Mr Grey:
Blatchford, sexton of Brides
1880s, was not only in possessio
Well Dame Grey, I hear you have a charm to cure the
healing
toothache. Come, just let me hear it; I shouldcharms but also possessed
be so much
pleased to know it. ing ability to charm (TDA 17, 120)
covered
Oh, your reverence, it's not worth telling his curative
(long coax- powers when
ter birth,
ing talk ensues). Well, your reverence, you"before
have been he had been w
was
very kind to me, and I'll tell you: it'smade
just a to stroke
verse from some afflic
Scripture as I says over those as have the
them, andtoothache:-
he believed that if th
"And Jesus said unto Peter, What ailieth thee? And Peter
then his gift would never have b
answered, Lord I have toothache. And The Lord healed
him." who desired to be healed had
Blatchford an odd number of tim
Well, but Dame Grey, I think I know my Bible, and I
don't find any such verse in it.
(wens for example), it being neces
Yes your reverence, that is just tion tookIt's
the charm. place on a Tuesday
in the
Blatchford
Bible, but you can't find it! (N&Q 1, 293). had been born. Furthe
place an odd number of times-se
Considering the confusion educated
following people created
the first stroking. Blat
between humble charmers with their simple
successful, but "religious"
when he was, he
healing charms and the shrewd cunning-folk
We have already with their
seen the eleme
occult talismans and amulets, healing
it is not procedure
surprising thatof Bridget
the former were still occasionally anxious to dissociate
wart-charmers; we also find it re
themselves from the latter when conversing
ful charming of with the (Swyno'
shingles
ignorant educated enquirer. Thus, one Sussex folklor-
sufferer had to go to the charmer
ist recounted how she managed thetocharmer
obtain a had
charm for
to operate fasti
burns from a noted charmer the only "after she had as-
Montgomeryshire Collections
sured me more than once that there was no harm in
a boy to a respectable farmer's w
using it, for it was only a blessing,
dergo and had nothing
the following to
treatment:
do with witchcraft" (Latham 1878, 35). The old Lew
Down charmer interviewed by Sabine
The Baring-Gould
charmer blew gentle breathing
similarly protested that "she had
cles no intercourse
first, with
then a series of wee tit-spi
ner-repeating the same
Satan, and that all her operations were honest and per- as many tim
necessary ... my
formed through the grace of God, and by justifiable smarting was fina
she applied a lotion which she ca
charms" (Baring-Gould 1925, 143).
other than genuine thick cream). A
but the scars remain to this day (Pe
The Healing Touch and Seventh Sons and Daughters
This charmer derived her gift fo
So far the discussion has centred on those charmers
quence of one of her ancestors havin
who operated using archaic The
wordcharms, but remained
healing power there with

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48 Owen Davies

the eagle-eatercharge f
or
tions. Charlotteacceptabl B
living at One Redbroo of t
to charm James shingle L
1883, 186). men Also, by a
game-keeper cury nam and
ate 1764:
eagle's flesh;
sought after This is to Inform the Public. by
Another exampl
powers That James Leech, of Warrington,
was thatin the County of Lan-
King's caster, Yeoman, having had the good
evil, who Fortune to be Born
the Seventh Son of a reputable Family, residing formerly
quired his curati
at Cogshall, in the County of Chester, being sufficiently
he had been place
convinced of his Ability in perfectly curing the unfor-
for the first tim
tunate Disorder of the King's Evil, shall be glad to re-
any new-born
lieve anyone who may labour under the same, at a rea-
b
treated in
sonable Expense. Inthis
Testimony of which, he has Cured w
weeks, his grand
of this Disorder, Elizabeth Herpard, of Plumbly; Mary
he or she had
Frith, of Fraudly; wa
and Peter Lawton of Camberbach; all in
the affected area
the County of Chester, to whom any Person or Persons
would continue
may apply, if they Please, for the Truth hereof. t
the disease disa
A rather more humble seventh son was an Irish boy
passed (TDA 85,
who ran errands in the office of a N&Q correspondent,
The belief
who recalled: that h
ferred upon a se
a seventh He occasionally came late, for which he varied his ex-an
son,
widespreadcuses. At last its frequency occasioned
in me to speak very E
265-9). sharply, when he replied, "I wouldn't
The conc help it sir, I'm
sure I wouldn't; I've only bin on an act o'mercy. " "What
found before the
act of mercy?" "Ye see, sir, I'm a seventh of a seventh,
the mid-seventee
an' I touches for sickness" ... it was necessary that he
tioners had gaine
should touch fasting; that his hand should be crossed
sure (Thomas 19
with silver (generally a shilling), though from the very
eighteenth and
poor a fourpence would suffice, and from the rich n
enth sons half-a-crown was andnecessary (N&Q 7 [1855]:260). da
cise their healing
evil, but The boy admitted that he earned for
also more from his "prac- o
tice" than he did from his situation in the office.
(Burne 1883, 186
Not all seventh sons were comfortable with their
thought to posse
birthright or, indeed, were aware of it. In the second
During the mid-
Devonport,half of the nineteenth century, the brother of a Mr Tyson, a
one
the other
bank-keeper at
a
Hawkshead, Cumbria,
sevent
being known as
evil, a
thoughseventh son was sought out by a woman
both working at
Coniston Copper Mines in order to have her arm healed.
ing (Smith 1990,
Tyson's brother apparently had gift
genealogical little faith in his own
powers, but as the woman was persistent he consented
traditional paymen
Page to apply his healing touch (Cowper 1899, 316). A Dev-
observed, "t
onshire man recounted how, after the birth of his sev-
his services, thou
(Page enth daughter in succession,32).
1893, the news soon got about T
cept noand within a
money fortnight he had received two applica-
friends tions could that"sh
from troubled mothers requesting the baby
the lastlay her hand
century, on their child's arm or leg. They argued
seventh that it would
son, not harm his child and might
livecure theirs
Taunton, of King's evil (Baring-Gould
Somers 1908, 79).
see him at sunris
Broom was
Charm Custodians in su
were waiting the
of the While not being able to effect cures themselves, H
morning. there
the lumpwere people who whilst
were in possession of healing object
this ritual,
charms for which they had Broom
custodial responsibility, an
and groaned
which could be borrowed gratis by those ina g
need of their

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 Charmers and Charming in England and Wales 49

1890,
curative powers. In the north of 144). Another especially
England, Cornish kinning-stone,
east an orange-
coloured
of the Pennines, the touch of Irish cornelian usually
objects, bead, was deemed
sticksso valuable that
and stones, was held to be efficacious
it was against
included in the custodian's will (Adams 1919,
132). Finally, This
snake-bites and bee- and wasp-stings. a womanbelief
living (inhas
1911) a
near Guilden
long history. Morden, Cambridgeshire was in possession of a
"bloodstone," an
Writing in the early eighth century, old marble-shaped
Bede made the bead inlaid with
following observation in his description
five wavy lines, two
ofwhite
Ireland:
and three orange, and hung
on a piece of red silk with three knots in it. To effec-
almost everything in this isle confers immunity to poi-
tively stanch blood, some drops of blood had to be al-
son, and I have seen that folk suffering from snake-bite
lowed to fall on it, and then it was hung low down on
have drunk water in which scrapings from the leaves
the back over the shoulders and next to the skin. As the
of books from Ireland have been steeped, and that this
blood dried on the "stone," so the flow of blood would
remedy checked the spreading poison and reduced the
swelling (Bede 1968, 39). cease. The "stone" had been bought for the large sum
of three guineas by her great-grandfather to cure her
In October 1884, William Egglestone visited
father's nosebleeds, and had been lentaout several times
seventy-eight year old woman, living
whilst in near
her possession the1912,
(Williams Old349).
Abbey of Blanchland, Northumberland, who owned a
famous Irish stone, a water-worn flint, lentiform and
Charmers in the Medical Market Place
of a dark colour blotched with white. The charm had
been in the house when she married into it and had Those ailments for which people resorted to charmers
been the property of her husband, who had inherited it also, of course, have been treated by doctors and
could
veterinaries. That people's first choice was often the
from his father. During her time it had been lent "all up
and down" to people bitten by adders (Egglestone 1889; charmer was a consequence not only of the strong faith
Webb 1969). An Irish stone in the possession of a lady in the curative powers of charmers, but also of a gen-
living near Stamfordham, Northumberland, was never eral lack of confidence in orthodox medicine. The ex-
permitted to touch English soil, and had to be carried
perience of people badly scalded or burned serves to
to the patient in a basket (Henderson 1879, 166). Even
illustrate this point. Such injuries require immediate
in 1970 an Irish stick was still more or less in use in
attention and so someone had to be called in quickly. A
Famdale, Yorkshire: "The owner, not an elderly woman,
traditional healing charm existed for this condition, and
so the charmer was often called in before the doctor.
was a little bashful about the stick but pleased that
someone was still interested. It had been handed down Charmers cost little, if anything, and in many cases they
in the family" (Hudlestone 1970, 143). The contributorlived nearby and were easily accessible. The doctor and
of this information makes the apposite point that theantiquarian Alfred Hayman Cummings remembered
relative redundancy of this stick was due not only to being sent for to see a child in the district of Truro, who
improvements in modem medicine, but also to the fact had been scalded. Cummings recommended that the
that modern mechanised farming methods made thechild be removed to the local infirmary, but the advice
likelihood of contact with adders increasingly unlikely.
was declined since the mother had just had the child
Old beads seem to have been imbued with the powercharmed by a charmer living hard by "and was quite
to cure eye complaints, and were known as sure no ill effect would therefore ensue" (Cummings
lammer-beads in Scotland8 and "kenning" or "kinning" 1875, 239). From an account of an inquest held at the
stones in the southwest of England. A family from GreatGreen Man Inn, Mendlesham, Suffolk, in 1893, Eliza-
Torrington, Devon, had in its possession one such beth Wade stated that her deceased child had pulled a
"stone" which had been handed down through the fam- cup of boiling soup over herself and badly scalded her-
ily. It was kept (in 1899) in a small wooden box, care-self:
fully wrapped and tied up in a piece of linen. The stone,
She did not send for a doctor, but at once sent for an
a good sized bead with a bit of string through it, had to
old woman living in the neighbourhood ... The old
be kept from touching any wooden substance or it woman came at once, and said some strange words over
would lose its power (TDA 31, 110). Another Devon the child, and passed her hands across the injured parts.
custodian was a Miss Soaper, an old lady who lived in Witness, under these circumstances, did not consider
the parish of Thrustleton, who possessed a bluish-green the attendance of a medical man necessary. Medical
kenning-stone, which was "much resorted to by peo- evidence was given to the effect that the child's life
ple troubled with sore eyes" (Henderson 1879, 145). A could not have been saved any way (Knowlson n.d.,
Cornish kinning-stone, seen by the Revd A.H. Malan, 130. My italics).
was described as a translucent, blueish-white globularThe lack of faith in the orthodox medical profession
crystal, about one-and-a-quarter inches in diameter and
and the enduring belief in the abilities of charmers were
pierced by a hole containing a boot lace for suspension.
revealed during the inquest in 1851 of a child named
It had apparently been in the same family for genera- James Clifford, the son of a labouring man of
tions, and was highly valued by the present owner, whoNorthwood Green, Gloucestershire. He had died from
"was willing to lend it to anyone to do good" (Courtney
severe burns to the bowels, face and hands. It was stated

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 50 Owen Davies

that the warts (Deane and Shaw 1975, 121). It also seems that in
parents
one-leggedthe post-war period a significant
widow proportion of the re-
ointment quests made toandcharmers concerned livestock.9
mu Indeed,
expressed the longevity oftheir
this remnant charming tradition in cthe
with theWest Country
charm may be related to the predominancet of
ble, was of
dairying in the region. the o
saved had Medical advanceshe and improvementsbeen in healthcare
deceased over the last seventy years have undoubtedly
"died fro contrib-
treatment," but
uted to the decline of charming. Environmental and
amount agricultural changes
to a have also led to the reduction of
crimin
Similar somereasons
of the problems which charmers used to charm f
recorded for. The ague, orbymalarial fever, had mo
been largely eradi-
cated by the Second World War
Favret-Saada andowing to the wide-
liked doctors
spread drainage of wetland areas and bec the spraying of
their anopheles
problems mosquito colonies (MacArthur 1951;
as
rience was
MacDougall 1979). Modernconsifarming methods have also
also reduced the likelihood of to
thought contact with adders,
be their
"science."numbers having Charm
declined owing to habitat loss (Crofts
were less expensive too; as was explained to and Jefferson 1994, 2:19). But the decline of the charm-
Favret-Saada, "to the charmer, we give what we want,"
ing tradition cannot be fully explained by such "pro-
whereas they had to pay the doctor whatever he or she
gressive" factors; as we have seen, certain aspects of
demanded. Charmers were also consulted when the the English charming tradition could adapt quite well
doctor's treatment was too slow or when the ailment,to twentieth-century society. In western England, until
such as eczema, was difficult to treat with modern the 1970s, charming co-existed alongside modern medi-
medicine (Favret-Saada and Contreras 1981, 51). Simi-
cine and occasionally complemented it. Improved trans-
port and the telephone made charmers even more ac-
larly, Dominique Camus found that in eastern Brittany,
people went to charmers before consulting doctors be-
cessible. It would seem that the decline of the English
cause charmers were always available when needed and Welsh charming tradition probably has as much to
and clients knew that neither the charmer nor the cure
do with changes in our rural culture and communal
structures,
was expected to take a long time to act. Charmers also as it does with medical advances and no-
shared the same social background as their clients,
tions of intellectual progress.
which put them at their ease (Camus 1990, 12-13).
Lusty Hill Farm, Bruton
Conclusion
Abbreviations
The charming tradition outlived most other aspects of
folk medicine, and charmers remained in demandN&Q in -Notes and Queries
TDA-Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the
parts of the country until the 1970s. Unlike cunning-folk,
charmers were a feature of folk medicine, not folk ill-
Advancement of Science, Literature and Art.
ness. The belief in witchcraft had been central to folk
concepts of illness, and as that belief died out during
Notes
the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, so the
1For example, in the nineteenth-century Conjuror, Jones
r61e of cunning-folk became increasingly redundant
also. Charmers, however, continued to function as of Llangurig,
a charmed for the toothache (Howse 1949, 198).

residual aspect of folk medicine. 2The same observation has been made concerning modem
From the early-twentieth century onwards, though, healers. See Nolan (1988-9, 49).
Irish
there was a diminution in the range of ailments for3Redwater is caused by a tick biting the animal and inject-
which people consulted charmers. The tradition
ingof
a parasite into its bloodstream which breaks down the red
charming for toothache, ague, burns, scalds, pricks,
corpuscles of the blood, which causes it to get into the urine.
adder-bites, sprains and scrofula declined, but charm-
4The charm employed was Ezech. 16.6.
ing for warts and other skin problems remained fairly
popular. In 1907 Henry Penfold remarked that "of thesFor example, John 9:6: "he spat on the ground, and made
clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man
superstitions mentioned ... the only one that shows signs
with the clay."
of continued existence is the charming of skin diseases"
(Penfold 1907, 63). Theo Brown found that the com- 6For a discussion of the wider divergence between popu-
monest charmers still operating in Devon duringlar theand orthodox religion, see Smith (1971) and Obelkevitch
1950s and 1960s were those who charmed for warts, (1976).
ringworm and bleeding (Brown 1970, 41). Jimmy
7A collection of contemporary accounts of Bostock were
Moore, one of the last popular Cornish charmerscompiled
and by W.H. Chaloner (1948). See also Rack (1982, 140-
still operating in the 1970s, cured for ringworm3).and

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 Charmers and Charming in England and Wales 51

Davies,
8The name derives from "amber," of Owen. "Healing Charms
which some in Use
ofin these
England and Wales
beads were made. 1700-1950." Folklore 107 (1996):19-32.

9Ringworm was particularly problematic in dairying ar- - . "Cunning-Folk in England and Wales During the
eas because the fungus can quite easily be caught from Eighteenth
con- and Nineteenth Centuries." Rural History 8
tact with cows, and hand-milking obviously increased (1997):91-107.
the
risk of contagion. Redwater was presumably cured using a
Deane, Tony and Tony Shaw. The Folklore of Cornwall. Lon-
charm for stanching blood. Josep Perez also found from his
don: Batsford, 1975.
study of charmers in Lower Saxony, that the charming tradi-
tion has largely become restricted to curing livestockDevlin,
(Perez,Judith. The Superstitious Mind: French Peasants and the
1988). Supernatural in the Nineteenth Century. New Haven and
London: Yale University Press, 1987.

Egglestone, William Morley. "Charms for Venom." The

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