A house (or chamber) somewhere in London, was haunted; the curtains would be rashed at night, and awake the gentleman that lay there, who was musical, and a familiar acquaintance of Henry Lawes.  Henry Lawes to be satisfied did lie with him; and the curtains were rashed so then.  The gentleman grew lean and pale with the frights; one Dr. —–­ cured the house of this disturbance, and Mr. Lawes said,that the principal ingredient was Hypericon put under his pillow.

In Herefordshire, and other parts, they do put a cold iron bar upon their barrels, to preserve their beer from being soured by thunder.  This is a common practice in Kent.

To hinder the night mare, they hang in a string, a flint with a hole in it (naturally) by the manger; but best of all they say, hung about their necks, and a flint will do it that hath not a hole in it.  It is to prevent the nightmare, viz. the hag, from riding their horses, who will sometimes sweat all night.  The flint thus hung does hinder it.

Mr. Sp. told me that his horse which was bewitched, would break bridles and strong halters, like a Samson.  They filled a bottle of the horse’s urine, stopped it with a cork and bound it fast in, and then buried it underground:  and the party suspected to be the witch, fell ill, that he could not make water, of which he died.  When they took up. the bottle, the urine was almost gone; so, that they did believe, that if the fellow could have lived a little longer, he had recovered.

It is a thing very common to nail horse-shoes on the thresholds of doors:  which is to hinder the power of witches that enter into the house.  Most houses of the West end of London, have the horse-shoe on the threshold.  It should be a horse-shoe that one finds.  In the Bermudas, they use to put an iron into the fire when a witch comes in.  Mars is enemy to Saturn.  There are very memorable stories of witches in Gage’s Survey of the West-Indies of his own Knowledge:  which see.

At Paris when it begins to thunder and lighten, they do presently ring out the great bell at the Abbey of St. Germain, which they do believe makes it cease.  The like was wont to be done heretofore in Wiltshire; when it thundered and lightened, they did ring St. Aldhelm’s bell, at Malmsbury Abbey.  The curious do say, that the ringing of bells exceedingly disturbs spirits.

In the Golden Legend by W. de Worde.  It is said the evill spirytes that ben in the regyon of th’ayre doubte moche whan they here the belles rongen.  And this is the cause why the belles ben rongen whan it thondreth, and whan grete tempeste aud outrages of wether happen to the ende that the feudes and wycked spirytes shold be abasshed, and flee and cease of the movynge of tempeste.  Fol. xxiv.

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**A Letter from the Reverend Mr. Andrew Paschal, B.D.  Rector of Chedzoy in Somersetshire, to John Aubrey, Esq. at Gresham College, London.