Write these words in paper, and give it to the party, or beast, bitten, to eat in bread, or &c. Mr. Denny's of Poole in Dorsetshire sayeth this receipt never fails. Perhaps this spell may be the anagramme of some fence or recipe, as Dr. Bathurst has discovered in Abradacabra."* *Aubrey, ut supra, fol. 179. THREE PROVERBS. THERE were three proverbs, or sayings rather, at one time in use amongst the French, which are curious from their connexion with old customs. They are To PAY HIS ENGLISH, TO LOSE THE HAIR, and To LOSE THE GIRDLE, and to the explanation given of them in Howell's Familiar Letters I will add a few remarks from other writers. To pay his English.-"There is one saying, or proverb, which is observable, whereby France doth confess herself to be still indebted to England, which is when one hath paid all his creditors, he useth to say, j'ai payè tous mes Anglais, so that in this and other phrases Anglais, is taken for creancier, or creditor. And I presume it has its foundation from this, that when the French were bound by treaty in Bretigny to pay England so much for the ransom of King John, then prisoner, the contribution lay so heavy on the people that for many years they could not make up the summe." To lose the hair. "There be two other sayings in French, which, though they be obsolete, yet are they worthy the knowledge. The first is, il a perdu ses cheveux, he hath lost his hair, meaning his honour; for in the first race of kings there was a law called la loi de la cheveleure whereby it was lawful for the noblesse only to wear long hair; and if any of them had committed some foul and ignoble act, they used to be condemned to have their long hair to be cut off as a mark of ignominie; and it was as much as if he had been fleurdelized, viz.: burnt on the back, or hand, or branded on the face." Thus far Howell-but his reading on the subject does not appear to have been very extensive, while he is guilty of the unpardonable fault of giving no authority for the little he does advance. There was no want, however, of information in regard to this matter, for in olden times the hair was held amongst most nations in singular honour, and to be deprived of it in any way was amongst the gravest punishments. Thus Gandinus tells us that a servant who contemned the imperial edicts was to be beaten naked at the stake and to have his head shaved,*-that women, who had committed an offence against others, should also be beaten and shaved by the men of the neighbourhood,†that a slave should be polled, who dared to set fire to a forest the like should be the punishment of a thief, but on the second offence he was to be shorn entirely,§-all these being Lombard customs. Other authors give ample testimony to the same effect. Camerarius in particular is quite eloquent on the subject, devoting to it a whole chapter, wherein he relates a multitude of notable things.|| The beard and hair, he tells us, in the language of divines * 66 Servus, qui literas imperiales despexerit, nudus ad palum vapulet et capilli ejus tondeantur." Gandin. Tractatus de Maleficiis-De pænis reorum, Sect. 55. p. 190, 8vo. Lugduni. 1555. +"Item verberantur et tonderantur mulieres per viros vicinales, quæ super aliquas aggressionem fecerint." Id. "Item debet tonderi servus qui ignem in sylva mittere ausus fuerit." Id. § "Decalvatur fur pro secundo furto." Id. Sect. 56. Id. Camerarii Opera Subcisiva, Centuria prima, cap. xxxvi. p. 165, 4to. Francf. 1602-6-9. were not to be understood as being material, but with reference to the spirit, as appears from the "fragrant beard of Aaron."* In the same way his sons were forbidden by divine law to shave their heads or chins,† and Hesychius Hierosolymitanus maintains that these capillary ornaments were the signs of our wisdom and perfection. From Jean du Tillet, Bishop of Meaux, we learn that it was a custom amongst the ancient Franks during the Merovingian dynasty that the people should be cropt in sign of subjection; those of the blood royal wore long hair as an emblem of their sovereignty, and from their childhood before they came to the throne allowed it to grow as much as possible, having it bristling up, as it were, behind, while on the two sides in front the said locks were braided, combed, anointed, and perfumed. In this way when the Burgundians had slain Clodomir, the son of Clovis, the first Christian king, they recognized the body by the long locks; and thus too when the son of Chilperic was murdered and flung into the river Marne by order of his mother-in-law, Fredegonde, he was known by the fisherman who had taken the corpse in his nets."§ * Psalm cxxxiii. 2. Leviticus xxi. 5. In the notes upon Eginhart De Vita Caroli Magni (cap. i. p. 14, 4to. Traj. ad Rhenum) we are told that this custom originated with the son of Pharamond. § "En la premiere ligneè des Meroviens.... les subjets portoient cheveux roignez, en signe de subjèction; les princes du sang les portoient longs en signe de domination et de leur enfance avant leur advenemens aux couronnes les laissoient croitre tant qu'ils pouvoient, en avoient partie du derriere comme espousees (an old word used by Rabelais and other ancient writers for herisseès) et par devant des deux costez estoient lesdits cheveux tressez, peignez, oincts, et parfumez. Agathie en sa Histoire Gothique escrit la difference susdite et que les Bourguignons recogneurent aux cheveux longs avoir tuè en la bataille Clodomire fils de Clovis premier Chrestien," &c. Recueil des Roys de France, &c., Par M. J. du Tillet, p. 217. 4to. Paris. A story singularly illustrative of hair being the ensign of royalty is given by Francis Hotoman, a writer sufficiently distinguished to have been deemed worthy the notice of Bayle. In substance it is as follows. Formerly Queen Chrotildis, the mother of Childebert and Clothaire, was regent, who, being passionately devoted to the children of her deceased son, Chlodomer, used every effort to exclude her surviving sons that she might exalt her grandchildren to the royal dignity. Hence she nourished their locks with the greatest care, of which fact the kingbrothers being made aware, they immediately despatched to her a certain Arcadius, who, exhibiting a naked sword and a pair of scissors, gave her the option, which of the two she would have applied to the heads of her grandsons. But she, says Gregory of Tours, moved with excessive rage, particularly when she saw the drawn sword and scissors, replied, in the bitterness of her feelings, "I would rather, if they are not raised to the throne, see them dead than shorn." Thus either grandson was slain before her eyes.* * "Dominata est quondam Chrotildis Regina, mater Childeberti et Clotharii regum, quæ, cum alterius filii, nomine Chlodomeris, demortui filios insano quodam amore prosequeretur, summam contentionem adhibuit ut nepotes, remotis filiis, in regiam dignitatem produceretur. Itaque capillitium eorum summâ cum diligentia nutriebat, cujus rei reges fratres certiores facti, confestim Arcadium quendam ad eam miserunt, qui nudum gladium simulque forcipem ei ostentans, optionem illi faceret utrum illorum nepotum suorum capiti admoveri mallet. At illa, inquit Gregorius Turon, nimium felle commota, præcipuè cum gladium cerneret evaginatum ac forcipem, amaritudine præventa, respondit, satius mihi est, si ad regnum non eriguntur, mortuos eos videre quam tonsos.' Ita nepos uterque in ipsius conspectu interfectus. Franc. Hotomani Francogallia, cap. xix. p. 13, 12mo. Coloniæ, 1574. It should be observed, however, that in the bishop's narrative the queen is described as not knowing what she said in the excess of her grief—“ ignorans in ipso dolore quid diceret”—(Greg. Tur. Hist. Fran 6 |