A bottle of urine and iron nails dug up from under the stove of an old English house

In some old houses in England, when they are being renovated, workers will dig up a small bottle under the fireplace, under the threshold, or inside the wall, made of pottery or glass, sealed.

When archaeologists open them, the contents are often: urine, hair, fingernails, pins, iron nails, and sometimes a piece of heart-shaped cloth, studded with pins.

This is called a "witch bottle". In England from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, people believed that if someone had been cursed by a witch, fell ill, or had something happen at home, they could make a bottle to deal with it. Put in the urine of the cursed person, then fill it with pins and nails, seal it, bury it under the fireplace, or put it in the fire to burn. Legend has it that doing so would cause the witch intense pain, make her unable to urinate, and force her to come and lift the curse.

Some researchers have counted that more than two hundred such bottles have been found in England, most of them beside the fireplace, because the fireplace is the "entrance" to the house, and evil spirits can come down the chimney.

Some are now in museums; some, after being discovered by the homeowner, are buried back exactly as they were. Because they feel that since the previous owner put it that way, there must be a reason, and there is no need to move it.

So perhaps, under the fireplace of some house in England, there is now buried a bottle, containing the urine of a person from three hundred years ago, and a pile of rusty needles.

#Folklore #网络转载 #英国