Saturday, September 12, 2020

The Great Curse


In 1525 Gavin Dunbar, Archbishop of Glasgow, cursed the reivers of the borders between England and Scotland.

"I curse their head and all the hairs of their head; I curse their face, their brain, their mouth, their nose, their tongue, their teeth, their forehead, their shoulders, their breast, their heart, their stomach, their back, their womb, their arms, their legs, their hands, their feet, and every part of their body, from the top of their head to the soles of their feet, before and behind, within and without.

"I curse them going and I curse them riding; I curse them standing and I curse them sitting; I curse them eating and I curse them drinking; I curse them rising, and I curse them lying; I curse them at home, I curse them away from home; I curse them within the house, I curse them outside of the house; I curse their wives, their children, and their servants who participate in their deeds. I wary their crops, their cattle, their wool, their sheep, their horses, their swine, their geese, their hens, and all their livestock. I wary their halls, their chambers, their kitchens, their stanchions, their barns, their cowsheds, their barnyards, their cabbage patches, their plows, their harrows, and the goods and houses that are necessary for their sustenance and welfare."

And then he got very religious and anti-semitic so I won't repeat it.

I stumbled across the polished boulder in Carlisle.

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