among
the Philistines when armed with the jawbone of an ass, may have
suggested the fancy that the concretion from the ass's jaw would give
victory to the wearer.
Pliny
notes the opinion that a stone taken from the body of a young swallow,
if worn attached to the human body, helps to strengthen the brain, and
he adds that the stone is said to be found in the young bird even when
it has just
broken the shell.29 According to Thomas de Cantimpré the swallow-stone is a talisman for merchants and tradesmen.30 The merits of the chelidonius, as
this stone was called, were fully recognized in Saxon England and are
given due prominence in an Anglo-Saxon medical treatise, dating from
the first half of the tenth century. When these "swallow-stones" had
been obtained they were to be carefully protected from contact with
water, earth, or other stones. To secure the best results three of
them were to be applied to the person who stood in need of their
remedial effects. Not only did they cure headache and eye-smart, but
they banished the dreaded nightmare, rendered futile the wiles of
goblin visitors, and dissolved all fascinations and enchantments. The
seekers after these wonderful stones are stoutly assured that they can
only be found in "big nestlings."31
" C. Plinii Secundi, " Naturalis historia," ed. Janus, Lipsie, 1880, p. 249, lib. xxz, cap. 11.
M In Konrad von Megenberg^s version " Buch der Natur," ed. Pfeiffer, Stuttgart, 1861, p. 440.
M
Rev. Oswald Cockayne, " Leechdoms, Wortcunning and Starcraft of Early
England," London, 1865, vol. ii, p. 307 (Bk. iii, cap. i, of "Laece
Boc").
