Whilst there are many parts of Leicestershire folklore that are also found in other parts of the country; some recorded folklore is specific to Leicestershire and the immediate district. Some of my favourite Leicestershire folklore is the wonderful, and often bizarre, leechcraft: healing or medical “cures.”
Rub a wart three times with the rind of stolen bacon. Nail the rind up on some outside wall, and, as it dries up, the wart will dry up also.
Charm against drunkenness: “Take the lungs of an hog; roast it; whosoever eateth thereof fasting shall not be drunk that day, how liberally soever hee takes his drinks.”
Swallowing shot will remedy “raisin’ o’ the loights” (heart-burn).
Get a black snail, rub it on the wart, then stick it on a thorn until it dies.
To cure whooping cough seat the patient on a donkey, with his face towards its tail. Give him a roast mouse to eat. He must not know what he's eating.
The Churchyard Mould Cure for rheumatism: bury the patient in the earth for two to three hours, naked, his face only uncovered. Repeat daily until the rheumatism is cured.
To cure a wart travel to an ash tree with some fresh pins. Stick a pin through the bark, and then into the wart until it produces pain. Take it out and stick it into the tree. Use a different pin for each wart. The warts will disappear in about six weeks.
Charming for whooping-cough and fits: the operator, generally an old woman, draws a circle round the sufferer’s face nine times with her fore-finger, pausing each time at the centre of the forehead and the chin, her lips moving silently during the performance. (It is believed the words of the charm were probably transmitted from mother to daughter as a treasure to be secretly guarded, and may now be irrecoverably lost).
When stung with a nettle find a dock leaf and beat the sting with the leaves, repeating the words "in dock, out nettle " — a word with every blow.
Sources:
Leicestershire Legends, Folklore & Dialect
County Folklore: Leicestershire & Rutland
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