"A ragged troop of boys and girls

Do pellow him with stones;
With clubs, with whips, and many raps,
They part his skin from bones."

and (which is the greater shame) I have seen both senatores majorum Gentium & matrones de eodem gradu, following this bulling business.

"I can say no more of it, but only to set forth the antiquity thereof (as the tradition goes): William Earl of Warren, the first Lord of this town, in the time of King John, standing upon his castle walls in Stamford, viewing the fair prospects of the river and meadow under the same, saw two Bulls a fighting for one cow; a butcher of the town, the owner of one of those Bulls, with a great mastiff dog accidentally coming by, set his dog upon his own Bull, who forced the same Bull up into the town, which no sooner was come within the same but all the butchers' dogs, both great and small, follow'd in pursuit of the bull, which by this time made stark mad with the noise of the people and the fierceness of the dogs, ran over man, woman, and child that stood in the way; this caused all the butchers and others in the town to rise up as it were in a tumult, making such an hideous noise that the sound thereof came into the castle unto the ears of Earl Warren, who presently thereupon mounted on horseback, rid into the town to see the business, which then appearing (to his humour) very delightful, he gave all those meadows in which the two bulls were at the first found fighting (which we now call the Castle Meadows) perpetually as a common to the butchers of the town (after the first grass is eaten) to keep their cattle in till the time of slaughter;

upon

this condition, that as upon that day on which this sport first began, which was (as I said before) that day six weeks before Christmas, the butchers of the town should from time to time, yearly for ever, find a mad bull for the continuance of that sport."

At present the magistracy of the town decline any interference with the bull-running.

A very long account of a similar practice at Tutbury will be found in Dr. Plott's History of Staffordshire, where it appears to have been a custom, belonging to the honour of the place, that the minstrels who came to matins there on the Feast of the Assumption of the blessed Virgin should have a Bull given them by the prior of Tutbury, if they could take him on this side the river Dove nearest to the town; or else the Prior was to give them forty pence; for the enjoyment of which custom they were to give to the lord at the said feast twenty pence. See Plott's Staffordshire, p. 439. See also Shaw's History of Staffordshire, vol. i. p. 52; and an elaborate Memoir in the second volume of the Archæologia, p. 86, where the subject is considered by Dr. Pegge.

In later times the Tutbury Bull-running appears to have given rise to greater excesses than that at Stamford. "Happily," says Mr. Shaw," a few years since, his Grace the Duke of Devonshire, who is grantee of the site of the priory, and the estates belonging to it, was pleased to abolish this barbarous custom, which it is to be hoped will have the same effect upon those similar brutish diversions of Bull-baiting practised in many country towns, (particularly in the northwest parts of this county,) at that season of the year called the Wake."

It should seem that the expression of "the Lady in the Straw," meant to signify the Lady who is brought to bed, () is derived from the circumstance that all beds were anciently stuffed with straw, so that it is synonymous with saying "the Lady in Bed," or that is confined to her bed. (2)

It appears that even so late as Henry

VIII.'s time there were directions for certain persons to examine every night the Straw of the King's Bed, that no daggers might be concealed therein.

In "Plaine Percevall, the Peace maker of England," printed in the time of Queen Elizabeth, we find an expression which strongly marks the general use of Straw in Beds during that reign: "These high-flying Sparks will light on the heads of us all, and kindle in our Bed-Straw."

Some have thought, but I cannot be induced to accede to the opinion, that the term "Lady in the Straw" takes its rise from a Straw Mattress necessarily made use of during the time of delivery. (3)

Henry, in his History of Britain, 4to. vol. i. p. 459, tells us, that "amongst the ancient Britons, when a birth was attended with any difficulty, they put certain Girdles made for that purpose about the Women in labour, which they imagined gave immediate and effectual relief. Such Girdles were kept with care, till very lately, in many families in the Highlands of Scotland. They were impressed with several mystical figures; and the ceremony of binding them about the Woman's waist was accompanied with words and gestures, which showed the custom to have been of great antiquity, and to have come originally from the Druids." (4)

The following is an extract from a rare

work entitled "Wits, Fits, and Fancies," b. l. which I have more than once had occasion to quote:

"A Gentlewoman in extremitie of Labour sware that if it pleased God she might escape Death for that once, she would never in all her life after hazard herselfe to the like daunger againe; but being at last safely delivered, she then said to one of the Midwives, 'So, now put out THE HOLY CANDLE, and keepe it till the next time."

In the Injunctions at the Visitation of Edmunde (Bonner) Bishop of London from September the 3rd, 1554, to October 8th, 1555, 4to. printed by John Cawood, we read, (Signat. B v.) "A Mydwyfe (of the diocesse and jurisdiction of London) shal not use or exercise any Witchecrafte, Charmes, (5) Sorcerye, Invocations, or Praiers, other then suche as be allowable and may stand with the Lawes and Ordinances of the Catholike Churche."

In the "Articles to be enquired in the Visitacyon in the fyrst yeare of Queen Eliz." 1559, the following occurs: 66 Item, whether you knowe anye that doe use Charmes, Sorcery, Enchauntmentes, Invocations, Circles, Witchecraftes, Southsayinge, or any lyke Craftes or Imaginacions invented by the Devyl, and specially in the tyme of Women's travayle."

It appears from Strype's Annals of the Reformation, vol. i. p. 537, under Anno 1567, that then midwives took an oath, inter alia, not to "suffer any other Bodies Child to be set, brought, or laid before any Woman delivered of Child in the place of her natural Child, so far forth as I can know and understand. Also I will not use any kind of Sorcery (6) or Incantation in the time of the Travail of any Woman."

(1) There appear to have been some ceremonies anciently used when the lady took her chamber. It is stated, that when the Queen of King Henry VII. took her chamber in order to her delivery, "the Erles of Shrewsbury and of Kente hyld the Towelles, whan the Quene toke her Rightes; (a) and the Torches ware holden by Knightes. When she was comen into hir great Chambre, she stode undre hir Cloth of Estate: then there was ordeyned a Voide of Espices and swet Wyne: that doone, my Lorde, the Quene's Chamberlain, in very goode wordes desired, in the Quene's name, the pepul there present to pray God to sende hir the goode Oure: and so she departed to her inner Chambre." Strutt, vol. iii. p. 157, from a MS. in the Cotton Library.

(*) In the old Herbals we find descriptions of a herb entitled "The Ladies BedStraw."

(3) In the "Child-bearer's Cabinet," in a rich Closet of Physical Secrets collected by the elaborate paines of four severall Students in Physick, &c." 4to. Lond. printed by Gartrude Dawson, no date, p. 9, we read "How, and wherewith, the Child-bed Woman's Bed ought to be furnished. A large Boulster, made of linen Cloth, must be stuffed with Straw, and be spread on the ground, that her upper part may lye higher than her lower; on this the woman may lye, so that she may seem to lean and bow, rather than to lye drawing up her feet unto her that she may receive no hurt."

(*) Levinus Lemnius, English translat. fol. 1658, p. 270, tells us, that "the Jewel called Ætites, found in an Eagle's nest, that has rings with little stones within it, being applied to the Thigh of one that is in labour, makes a

(a) In "A New Dialogue, &c." 8vo. Lond. pr. by Ihon Day and William Sheres, signat. B 8, we read: "Yf the Masse and the Supper of ye Lord be al one thyng, the Rightes, the Housell, the Sacramente of Christes bodye and bloude, and the Supper of the Lord are all one thyng."

(a) Lupton, in his second book of "Notable Things," 52, says, "Etites, called the Eagle's stone, tyed to the left arm or side; it brings this benefit to Women with Child, that they shall not be delivered before their time: besides that, it brings love between the Man and the Wife: and if a Woman have a painfull Travail in the Birth of her Child, this stone tyed to her Thigh brings an easy and light Birth."

Ibid. Book iv. 27, "Let the Woman that travels with her Child (is in her labour) be girded with the skin that a Serpent or Snake casts off, and then she will quickly be delivered." Tortola.

(b) SATOR

AREPO

TENET

OPERA

ROTAS.

Christus Nazarenus

et qui venblictaono

Rex Judeorum fili Dei miserere mei Amen."

The following Customs of Child-birth are noticed in the "Traité des Superstitions" of M. Thiers:

"Lors qu'une femme est preste d'accoucher, prendre sa ceinture, aller à l'Eglise, lier la Cloche (a) avec cette ceinture et la faire sonner trois coups afin que cette femme accouche heureusement. Martin de Arles, Archidiacre de Pampelonne, (Tract. de Superstition.) asseure que cette Superstition est fort en usage dans tout son pais: Superstitiosum est quod ferè in omni hac nostra patria observatur, ut dum femina est propinqua partui, novam [zonam?] vel Corrigiam qua præcingitur, accipientes, ad Ecclesiam occurrunt, et Cymbalum modo quo possunt Corrigia illa vel Zona circumdant, et ter percutientes Cymbalum, sonum illum credunt valere ad prosperum partum, quod est superstitiosum et vanum. Tom. i. p. 320.

Ibid. p. 327: "Quand une femme est en mal d'Enfant, luy faire mettre le haut de Chausse de son Mari, afin qu'elle accouche sans douleur."

(a) The following passage from "The Lucky Idiot, or Fools have Fortune," from the Spanish of Don Quevedo de Alcala, by a person of quality, 12mo. Lond. 1734, mentions this Custom in Spain: "I remember once that in the dead time of the night there came a Country-Fellow to my Uncle in a great haste, intreating him to give order for knocking the Bells, his Wife being in Labour, (a thing usual in SPAIN;) my good Curate then waked me out of a sound sleep, saying, Rise, Pedro, instantly, and ring the Bells for Child-birth quickly, quickly. I got up immediately, and as Fools have good memories, I retained the words quickly, quickly, and knocked the Bells so nimbly, that the inhabitants of the Town really believed it had been for Fire." P. 13.

Ibid. p. 329: " Mettre les pieds et les mains des Enfans dans la Glace, ou, s'il n'y a point de Glace, dans l'eau froide, aussi-tost qu'ils sont nez & avant qu'ils ayent receu le Baptesme, pour empescher, qu'ils n'ayent l'onglee aux pieds ou aux mains: et leur faire boire du vin aussi-tost qu'ils son venus au monde, pour empecher qu'ils ne s'enyvrent."

Ibid. p. 327:"Fendre un Chesne, et faire passer trois fois un Enfans par dedans, afin de la guerir de la Hergne. Le pere & la mere de l'Enfant doivent estre à chacun un costè du Chesne."

Ibid. p. 332: "Percer le toit de la Maison d'une femme qui est en travail d'Enfant, avec une pierre, ou avec une fleche, dont on aura tue trois animaux, sçavoir un homme, un sanglier, et une ourse, de trois divers coups, pour la faire aussi-tost accoucher: ce qui arrive encore plus asseurement quand on perce la Maison avec la Hache ou le Sabre d'un Soldat arraché du corps d'un homme, avant qu'il soit tombè par terre.

Ibid. p. 334; "Chasser les Mouches lorsqu'une femme est en travail d'Enfant, de crainte qu'elle n'accouche d'une fille."

The subsequent Poem, founded on a singular custom, is from "Lucasta: Posthume Poems of Richard Lovelace, Esq." 8vo. Lond. 1659, p. 27.

"To a Lady with Child that asked an old Shirt.

"And why an honour'd ragged Shirt, that shows

Like tatter'd Ensigns, all its Bodies blows?
Should it be swathed in a vest so dire,
It were enough to set the Child on fire.
But since to Ladies 't hath a Custome been
Linnen to send, that travail and lye in;
To the nine Sempstresses, my former Friends,
I su'd, but they had nought but shreds and
ends.

At last, the jolli'st of the three times three
Rent th' apron from her Smock, and gave

it me.

'Twas soft and gentle, subtly spun, no doubt.

Pardon my boldness, Madam; here's the Clout."

(5) In John Bale's "Comedye concernynge

thre Lawes," A.D. 1538, signat. B. iii. b. Idolatry says:

"Yea but now ych am a she
And a good MYDWYFE perde,

Yonge Chyldren can I charme,
With whysperynges and whysshynges,
With crossynges and with kyssynges,
With blasynges (a) and with blessynges,
That Spretes do them no harme."

In the same Comedy, signat. E. iii. Hypocrysy is introduced mentioning the following foreign Charms against Barrenness :

"In Parys we have the Mantell of Saynt Lewes,

Which Women seke moch, for helpe of their Barrennes :

For be it ones layed upon a Wommanys bellye,

She go thens with Chylde, the myracles are seene there daylye.

"And as for Lyons, there is the length of our Lorde

In a great pyller. She that will with a coorde

Be fast bound to it, and take soche chaunce as fall,

Shall sure have Chylde, for within it is hollowe all." (a)

(6) In the collection entitled "Sylva, or the Wood," p. 130, we read that "a few years ago, in this same village, the women in labour used to drinke the urine of their husbands, who were all the while stationed, as I have seen the Cows in St. James's Park, and straining themselves to give as much as they

AGAINST the time of the good wife's delivery, it has been everywhere the custom for the husband to provide a large Cheese and a Cake. (') These, from time immemorial, have been the objects of ancient superstition.

It is customary at Oxford to cut the Cheese (called in the North of England, in allusion to the mother's complaints at her delivery," the Groaning Cheese") in the middle when the child is born, and so by degrees form it into a large kind of ring, through which the child must be passed on the day of the christening. (2)

Bartholinus informs us that the Danish women, before they put the new-born infant into the cradle, place there, or over the door, as amulets, to prevent the evil spirit from hurting the child, garlick, salt, bread, and steel, or some cutting instrument made of that metal. (3)

(a) See Moresini Papatus, p. 72.

In Scotland, children dying unbaptized (called Tarans) were supposed to wander in woods and solitudes, lamenting their hard fate, and were said to be often seen. (b) In the North of England it is thought very unlucky to go over their graves. It is vulgarly called going over "unchristened ground.” (4)

In the Highlands of Scotland, as Mr. Pennant informs us, children are watched till the christening is over, lest they should be stolen or changed by the fairies. (5)

It appears anciently to have been customary to give a large entertainment at the churching, and previous to that at the christening. (0)

(a) In Mr. Nichols's History of Leicestershire, Hist. and Antiq. of Leicester, p. 225, a Note informs us that "upon the dissolution of the Monasteries at Leicester, a multitude of false miracles and superstitious relicks were detected. Amongst the rest, Our Ladies Girdle shewn in eleven several places, and her Milk in eight; the Penknife of St. Thomas of Canterbury, and a Piece of his Shirt, much reverenced by big-bellied women," &c.

(b) See "Pennant's Tour in Scotland," 8vo. 1769,

P. 157.