A nutshell seem a gilded barge,
A sheeling seem a palace large,
And youth seem age, and age seem youth,
All was delusion, nought was truth."
Gipsies were believed to possess this power, and for their own ends to
exercise it over people. In the ballad of "Johnny Faa," Johnny is
represented as exercising this power over the Countess of Cassillis--
"And she came tripping down the stairs,
With a' her maids before her,
And soon as he saw her weel faured face,
He coost the glamour o'er her."
To possess a four-leaved clover completely protected any one from this
power. I remember a story which I heard when a boy, and the narrator of
it I recollect spoke as if he were quite familiar with the fact. A
certain man came to the village to exhibit the strength of a wonderful
cock, which could draw, when attached to its leg by a rope, a large log
of wood. Many people went and paid to see this wonderful performance,
which was exhibited in the back yard of a public house. One of the
spectators present on one occasion had in his possession a four-leaved
clover, and while others saw, as they supposed, a log of wood drawn
through the yard, this person saw only a straw attached to the cock's
leg by a small thread.
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