God bless the cattle

Printed under 23 November

Lore and belief

A writer on the oddities of the law found in Rolle’s Abridgment a note that in the country, when people passed cattle, they said ‘God bless them’. Anyone who passed without the blessing was taken for a witch. The same books held it actionable to say of a man that he had enchanted a neighbour’s bull.

in the country, when men pass cattle, it is usual to say, "God bless them!" otherwise they are taken for witches.

From Hone's Year Book, col. 1390. Read the original

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