Grampian Club > Scotland, social and domestic

General Folklore. 213
granted."' Lady Baird drank of the water in which
the amulet had been dipped, and as symptoms of the
dreaded malady remained undeveloped, she was supposed
to have been cured.
A charmed stone has long been possessed by the family
of Stewart of Ardvoirlich. In size and shape it resem-
bles a large egg, and is similar to the jewel on the top
of the national sceptre. According to tradition, the arch-
druid wore the Ardvoirlich gem as his badge of office.
The Lee Penny has ceased to be an object of super-
stition. Not so the charmed crystal of Ardvoirlich.
Highland graziers make long journeys to procure for
their distempered cattle water in which it has been
dipped. In Galloway, several round flat stones, about
five inches in diameter, and artificially perforated, were
used, within the recollection of persons now living, for
the cure of distemper in horses. One of the stones was
placed in a tub of water, and the ailing animal was
sprinkled with the liquor. Mr. Pennant found that
crystal stones were used by the inhabitants of the He-
brides in charming water, and rendering it remedial.
A crystal which is believed to possess rare virtues is in
the possession of the Campbells of Glenlyon. High-
landers attribute the success of Robert Bruce at Ban-
nockburn to the influence of a crystal charm. Adam-
nan, in his Life of St. Columba, relates that Broichan, one
of the Scottish magi, whom the saint had visited with
a deadly sickness, on account of his having enslaved a
Christian female, was cured by drinking water in which
* The Lee Penny was borrowed by the people of Newcastle to cure
an epidemic which was raging in the place. Owing to a legend that it
could never be lost, the custodier of the Lee Penny was always ready
to grant it in loan.