malefactors were cut down. A young woman came fifteen miles for the
sake of the rope from Mooney's neck, which was given to her, it being
by many apprehended that the halter of an executed person will charm
away the ague and perform many other cures."

Pettigrew relates that "In Skippon's account of a 'Journey through the
Low Countries,' he makes mention of the lectures of Ferrarius and his
narrative of the cure of the ague of a Spanish lieutenant, by writing
the words FEBRA FUGE, and cutting off a letter from the paper every
day, and he observed the distemper to abate accordingly; when he cut
the letter F last of all the ague left him. In the same year, he says,
fifty more were reported to be cured in the same manner."

Another charm for ague was only effective when said up the chimney on
St. Agnes Eve, by the eldest female of the family. It was as follows:

"Tremble and go!
First day shiver and burn.
Tremble and quake!
Second day shiver and learn:
Tremble and die!
Third day never return."[129]

Pliny said: "Any plant gathered from the bank of a brook or river
before sunrise, provided that no one sees the person who gathers it,
is considered as a remedy for tertian ague." Lodge, in glancing at the
superstitious creed with respect to charms, says: "Bring him but a
Table of Lead, with Crosses (and 'Adonai,' or 'Elohim,' written in
it), and he thinks it will heal his ague."

Mr. Marsden, while among the Sumatrans, accidentally met with the
following charm for the ague: "(Sign of the cross.) When Christ saw
the cross he trembled and shaked and they said unto him, hast thou
ague? and he said unto them, I have neither ague nor fever; and
whosoever bears these words, either in writing or in mind, shall never
be troubled with ague or fever. So help thy servants, O Lord, who put
their trust in thee!"

From Douce's notes, Mr. Brand informs us that it was usual with many
persons about Exeter who had ague "to visit at dead of night the
nearest cross road five different times, and there bury a new-laid
egg. The visit is paid about an hour before the cold fit is expected;
and they are persuaded that with the Egg they shall bury the Ague. If
the experiment fail, (and the agitation it occasions may often render
it successful) they attribute it to some unlucky accident that may
have befallen them on the way. In the execution of this matter they
observe the strictest silence, taking care not to speak to anyone,