'
He gave me the card. The paper was quite legibly inscribed in an old
hand, and this is what was on it:
When I grew in the Wood
I was water'd w'th Blood
Now in the Church I stand
Who that touches me with his Hand
If a Bloody hand he bear
I councell him to be ware
Lest he be fetcht away
Whether by night or day,
But chiefly when the wind blows high
In a night of February.
This I drempt, 26 Febr. Anno 1699. JOHN AUSTIN.
'I suppose it is a charm or a spell: wouldn't you call it something of
that kind?' said the curator.
'Yes,' I said, 'I suppose one might. What became of the figure in which
it was concealed?'
'Oh, I forgot,' said he. 'The old man told me it was so ugly and
frightened his children so much that he burnt it.'
MARTIN'S CLOSE
Some few years back I was staying with the rector of a parish in the
West, where the society to which I belong owns property. I was to go over
some of this land: and, on the first morning of my visit, soon after
breakfast, the estate carpenter and general handyman, John Hill, was
announced as in readiness to accompany us.
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