s being in league with the
evil one.

During the last century, when such large numbers of felons for various
crimes found their way to the gallows, there appears to have been an
idea prevalent that if any woman would agree to marry a man under the
gallows he would be entitled to pardon, and under the influence of this
curious notion, a man executed at Cambridge in 1787, just before the
fatal moment arrived, seeing a woman in the crowd whom he knew, called
out to her "Won't you save my life?" This tragic fashion of popping
the question was not effectual in this case, for the man was hung!

The use of charms for curing diseases was of course in operation.
Perhaps the most unique of these was the plan apparently adopted by the
"celebrated skilful woman at Shepreth." Who the skilful woman of
Shepreth was I am unable to say, but we may perhaps infer the nature of
her fame and skill from the fact on record that a man, who was said to
be one of her descendants, did in 1774, when called in to see a butcher
who had run a meat hook into his hand, carefully dress the offending
hook from day to day with healing ointment, &c., and left the man's
hand alone till it got so bad that a surgeon was called in and had to
perform an operation!

There were later examples of the remarkably skilful woman of
Shepreth--the "wise woman" at Fulbourn; "The wise woman in the Falcon
Yard," at Cambridge; and I have no doubt almost every village had at
least by repute its wise woman who could, for a consideration, unravel
all mysteries about stolen property, malicious injuries, and a host of
things amenable to the black art often vulgarly called witchcraft, in
the name of which perfectly innocent creatures had in a previous age
got a ducking in a horse pond, if nothing worse!

{102}

When pretenders of this stamp, and more innocent and less designing
individuals, who were guilty of nothing worse than an imperfect use of
herbal medicine, were suspected of evil influences, it is not
surprising that the studious who ventured to investigate the mysteries
lying beyond the common run of information should get a share of that
peculiar homage which ignorance paid to knowledge. There were, here
and there, individuals, the record of whose eccentricity opens up for
us vistas into the marvellous domain of magic and mystery which cast
its glamour of romance over the old world of the alchemist in pursuit
of the philosopher's stone. One of the most remarkab