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260 THE MAGIC OP JEWELS AND CHARMS
in the glow that warms an Englishman's heart when he reads the ringing words put by Shakespeare into the mouth of Henry V:
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered.
It
is related by Metaphrastus that when St. George was condemned to death
by burning, his executioners (fearing that the flames of the pyre might
be extinguished because of his virtue) covered his body with a garment
of amiantos (asbestos) ; for it was believed that when this material
began to burn the flame could not be extinguished. But all precautions
were vain, for as soon as the saint was placed in the flames the fire
went out, contrary to the laws of nature, and not a hair of his head
was injured. This tale illustrates a curious but not unnatural
misunderstanding of the name asbestos, which really signifies
inextinguishable, but was intended to mean that the substance would
not burn, and hence that no flame could be extinguished in it.18
In
an unpublished manuscript written by Aubrey are quoted the following
curious lines on the legend of St. George and the Dragon :19
To
save a mayd, St. George the Dragon slew, A pretty tale if all is told
be true; Most say there are no Dragons, and 'tis sayd, There was no
George; pray God there was a mayd.
The
St. George thalers, coined by the counts of Mansfeld (Thüringen),
enjoyed in bygone times a reputation as amulets for soldiers. This
belief is said to have originated from the actual preservation of a
soldier's life by one of these coins, which he had sewed up in the
lining of his coat just
M
Aldrovandi, "Museum metallieum, Bononiœ," 1648, p. 653. "Thorns,
"Anecdotes and Traditions," London, 1839, p. 103 (Camden Soc Pub.).
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