The wedding ring is worn on the fourth finger of the left hand from an old belief that a nerve ran from it straight to the heart. Chambers found the belief still strong in country places, above all in Somerset, where every finger but the ring finger was thought harmful and the ring finger could heal any sore or wound it stroked. Country people in England and Ireland also believed that a wart or similar growth would go if it was rubbed with a wedding ring.
The Healing Ring Finger
Printed under 3 February · Somerset
Lore and belief
all the fingers of the hand are thought to be injurious except the ring-finger, which is thought to have the power of curing any sore or wound which is stroked by it.
From Chambers's Book of Days, vol. 1, pp. 220-221. Read the original
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