loked abouten and hym agros,

Hese wit was ney forlore;

But yet he thouthe on Ihū Crist,

On his deth and on hese uprist,

That for us was i-bore.

Lord God Almythti, thou it wost,

Fadir sone and holi gost,

To thee i menene my mone;

For my spouse that was so trewe,

Fadir hende brith of newe,

Wol wo is me alone.

For my sones that ben forlorn,

That wilde bestes hath awei born,

I not nouth where to wone;

To wheche lond mai i fle,

How longe schal i on lyve be,

Sorewes comen gret wone.

Of Job i well bethenke me,

That long in welthe hadde be,

And fel sone in care;

Ihū Crist for love of The,

To carful well i nevere be,

How so it ever fare.

I have wepte al my fille,

I nele no more, i well be stille,

Goddes helpe is us ney;

Thanne come an aungel from hevene,

And spake to hym with mylde Stevene,

Of God that woneth on hey.

Be bold blithe, he seide, Eustace,

For in hevene is maad thi place,

There thou schalt myrie be;

Thi children and thi wif,

Schal have longe lyf,

And al that blisse i-se.

Thus long he wente forth his wai,

Biddynge his bedes on hase lai,

Til beter tyme come;

To Swynke and swate he most,

For hese spendying was ney go,

——  it under no  ——

With bowe and arwe and horn,

For to kepe a lordis corn,

Be day and eke be nyth;

..............................

knythes from fer i fare

For to seeke here and thare

After on manne

The emperoures counceyler

We han forth far and ner

There can no man hym kenne:

The wisest knyth of hese coort he was,

He was i hoten Sire Placidas,

On huntynge out he ferde;

And never after come he hom,

Ne no tidyng of him com.

..............................

On the mouthe is a wounde."

[1] Proverb.

[The first of these fragments is obviously a portion of a religious tale (similar to the French Contes Dévots, from one of which it is probably borrowed).

The second is a portion of the Legend of St. Eustace, otherwise named Placidas, which occurs in an earlier metrical English form among the Collections of Lives of Saints in MS. Laud. 108. art. 59.; MS. Digby 86.; MS. Bodl. 779. art. 64.; MS. Vernon, fol. 170; MS. Ashm. 43. art. 73.; and MS. Cott. Cal. A. II. It occurs as prose in the Golden Legend.]

FOLK LORE.

Medical Use of Mice.

—Seeing some Queries and Replies on this subject, I am induced to send you a few extracts from an old book in my possession (marked "very scarce"), published in 1661. Its title is Panzoologicomineralogia, or a Compleat History of Animals and Minerals. By Richard Lovell, St. C. C. Oxon. It treats chiefly of the medicinal uses of the various objects. I am tempted to tell you the use of a "unicorne," but confine myself to the mouse.

"The flesh eaten causeth oblivion, and corrupteth the meat; yet those of Chalecut eat them; it is hot, soft, and fattish, and expelleth melancholy.... A mouse dissected and applied, draweth out reeds, darts, and other things that stick in the flesh.... Mice bruised, and reduced to the consistence of an acopon (what's that?), with old wine, cause hair on the eyebrows.... Being eaten by children when rosted, they dry up the spittle. The magicians eat them twice a month against the paines of the teeth. The water in which they have been boiled helps against the quinsey. Being boiled and eaten, they help children's pissing in bed. The fresh blood kills warts. The ashes of the skinne, applied with vinegar, help the paines of the head. The head worn in a cloth, helps the headach and epilepsy. The braine being steeped in wine, and applied to the forehead, helpeth the headach. Used with water, it cureth the phrensy. The heart, taken out of a mouse WHEN ALIVE, worne about the arme of a woman, causeth no conception. The fillet of the liver, drunk with austere wine, helpeth quartans. The liver, rosted in the new of the moon, trieth the epilepsy. The dung, is corrosive. Given in any liquor, it helpeth the collicke. It looseneth the body; therefore some nurses use it for children in suppositories(?). It helpeth hollow teeth, being put therein."

There is more of the sort, to the extent of 2-¾ closely printed pages. It should be added that the author quotes authorities, old and new, for the several facts he adduces. Pliny is a great authority with him, and Galen is often cited.

J. K.

Legend of Haydon's Gully.

—In the parish of Hinton-Blewett, North Somersetshire, or immediately adjoining it, in the direction of West Harptree, there is a wooded gorge in the hill-side, through which runs a small stream, and which is called "Haydon's Gully." I have lately heard the following tradition respecting it; viz. that a gentleman named Colonel Haydon, who was accused of high treason, used to spend his nights under his brother's roof, somewhere in the neighbourhood, and every morning came and backed his horse into a hole in the bank, where he spent the day in order to evade his pursuers. You will perhaps agree with me, that this story, which, if it has any truth in it, probably refers to Monmouth's days, is worth inquiring into.

ARTHUR WRIGHT.

The Crow Charm and the Lady-bird Charm.

—The following charms are repeated by children throughout Yorkshire and Lancashire, and, I doubt not, in other parts of the kingdom also. They may be classed with the "Snail Charms" (Vol. iii., pp. 132. 179.):

I remember, as a child, sitting out of doors on an evening of a warm summer or autumn day, and repeating the crow charm to flights of rooks, as they winked home to their rookery. The charm was chaunted so long as a crow remained in sight, the final disappearance of them being to my mind proof "strong as Holy Writ" of the efficacy of the charm.

The lady-bird charm is repeated to the insect (the Coccinella septempunctata of Linnæus)—the common seven-spotted lady-bird—to be found in every field and garden during summer.

The lady-bird is placed upon the child's open hand, and the charm is repeated until the insect takes to flight. The warmth and moisture of the hand no doubt facilitate this, although the child believes fully in the moving power of the charm.

N.B. The lady-bird is also known as lady-cow, cow-lady, and is sometimes addressed as cusha-cow-lady.

ROBERT RAWLINSON.

School Superstitions.

—Several