d by train on St. Thomas's day.
Smith inquired his charge, and was informed he usually
charged 11s., remarking that unless he took it from
the person affected his incantation would be of no
avail. Smith then handed it to his wife, who gave it
to the witch doctor, and he returned 1s. to her. He
then proceeded to foil the witch's power over his
patient by tapping her several times on the palm of
her hand with his finger, telling her that every tap
was a stab on the witch's heart. This was followed by
an incantation. He then gave her a parcel of herbs
(which evidently consisted of dried bay leaves and
peppermint), which she was to steep and drink. She was
to send to a blacksmith's shop and get a donkey's shoe
made, and nail it on her front door. He then
departed."[282]

Such examples as these may be added to from various parts of the
country, but they do not compare with the terrible case at Clonmel, in
county Tipperary, which occurred in 1895. The evidence showed that the
husband, father, and mother of the victim, together with several other
persons, were concerned in this matter, and one of the witnesses, Mary
Simpson, stated "that on the night of March 14th she saw Cleary
forcibly administer herbs to his wife, and when the woman did not
answer when called upon in the name of the Trinity to say who she was,
she was placed on the fire by Cleary and the others. Mrs. Cleary did
not appear to be in her right senses. She was raving."[283] The whole
record of the trial is of the most amazing description, pointing back
to a system of belief which, if based upon traditional practices, has
been fed by entirely modern influences. Such records as these stretch
back through the ages, and almost every village, certainly every
county in the United Kingdom, has its records of trials for
witchcraft, in which clergy and layman, judge, jury, and victim play
strange parts, if we consider them as members of a civilised
community. Superstition which has been preserved by the folk as sacred
to their old faiths, preserved by tradition, has remained the
cherished possession, generally in secret, of those who practise it.
The belief in witchcraft is a different matter. Though it has
traditional rites and practices it has been kept alive by a cruel and
crude interpretation of its position among the faiths of the Bible,
and it has thus received fresh life.