"In various parts of the county [Cornwall] there are, amongst the granitic masses, rocks which have fallen across each other, leaving small openings, or there are holes, low and narrow, extending under a pile of rocks. In nearly every case of this kind, we find it is popularly stated, that any one suffering from rheumatism or lumbago would be cured if he crawled through the openings. In some cases, nine times are insisted on "to make the charm complete."
Mrs Bray, in her "Traditions of Devonshire," gives several examples of the prevalence of this superstition over the granitic district of Dartmoor. [a]
[a] "Creeping under tolmens for the cure of diseases is still practised in Ireland, and also in the East, as is shown by Mrs Colonel Elwood In her Trayels."--Gentlemen's Magazine, July 1831."
Hunt 1903
[The Tolman Stone near Scorhill Circle on the North East edge of the open moor on Dartmoor has, I am told, still got this property.]
No comments:
Post a Comment