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Scottish
Charms and Amulets
Charm Serpent's Skin |
A "charm serpent-skin and a
talisman ring with adder-bead attached" was exhibited in the Glasgow
Exhibition of 1888, and is now deposited in the Museum of Science and Art,
Edinburgh. The skin is sewed on a ribbon of silk, to one end of which is
attached a bead of mottled serpentine. The finger-ring, which is of
silver, with a small pebble of jasper set in the bezel, is probably of
eastern origin. Unfortunately no particulars have been preserved of the
virtues of this charm. The following extract from Martin, however, may
throw some light on its use:
"Some of the Natives [of North Uist] wear a Girdle of the Seal-Skin about
the middle, for removing the Sciatica, as those of the Shire of Aberdeen
wear it to remove the Chin-cough."
According to the Rev. Dr Henry, in the Highlands, "when
a birth was attended with any difficulty, they put certain girdles, made
for that purpose, about the woman in labour, which they imagined gave her
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."
"The skin of an eel tied round the leg or the arm was a
specific against cramp when bathing" in the North-East of Scotland. |
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Charms and Amulets
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