Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 26, 1915.djvu/211

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Collectanea. 20 r

secrated ground, and in consequence was unable to rest — with the permission of the owner of the house they took the bones away, and on leave being obtained from the Rector of S. Martin's, they buried the bones in a corner of the churchyard. This happened years ago, but the ghost has never been seen again.

Christine Ozanne. St. Martin's Rectory, Guernsey.

Notes on Enclosed Folklore Jottings. By Miss F. Carey.

(^) "Bonjour, yl/f5:f R ."

In Guernsey the country titular etiquette is rather peculiar. A gentleman is " ' un Monsieur ' pur et simple," and would of course be talked of as "Monsieur le Marchant" or "'Monsieur' de Sausmarez." Yeoman farmers are legally known as " le Sieur"; such as "'le Sieur' Jean AUez" or "'le Sieur' Pierre Hocart," and would be talked of by their equals and inferiors as " ' Mess ' AUez" or "'Mess' Hocart." A mere fisherman would not of course have any prefix attached to his name, so that the mere fact that the man in question was called "Mess," would show that he was feared by his neighbours.

(^) I myself can vouch for a similar story.

About fifteen years ago a former gardener of ours at Le Vallon. had an only boy who, for the first six months of his life was quite strong and well. Suddenly he began to ail and steadily grew weaker and weaker. His parents took him to the doctor and faithfully carried out all his prescriptions, but the child grew steadily worse, and, when I saw him, he looked as if he had only a few hours to live. Then his mother persuaded her husband to let her send for a " desorcelleur," or wliite witch, as her mother had been convinced from the first that the child was " under a spell." The "desorcelleur" came and said she had just been called in in time as the child was dying. She muttered a charm over the cradle and said that the child must never go anywhere without the protection of a bag of quicksilver hung round his neck, in his cradle, and on his perambulator. This was done, and the