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A girl cured of tapeworm; a woman cured of an adder bite; a...

Date 14 December 1973
Track ID 76556
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1973.160

Original Tape ID

SA1973.160

Summary

A girl cured of tapeworm; a woman cured of an adder bite; a man who couldn't catch any disease.

Betsy Whyte's granny came to a house where she called every year and found that the young girl of the house was wasting away, though she was still eating. Betsy's granny advised as a last resort that the girl should be given nothing to eat but salt fish, and nothing to drink. This was done for three days, then the girl was held over a big basin of water. She vomited, and a huge creature came out of her stomach. Betsy thinks it must have been a tapeworm. Her mother told her that they pulled and pulled to get it out, and it was as thick as her pinkie [little finger]. Betsy's mother told her this story about her granny.

One of Betsy's mother's brothers also had a gift of curing. He once cured a woman who had been bitten by an adder by getting her to put her hand into a fowl he had killed.

He died in an unfortunate manner. One morning in the horrors of drink he asked a girl to give him a bottle which was nearby. It contained spirits of salts [hydrochloric acid]. He drank it and died.

Another brother of Betsy's mother couldn't catch any disease. During the First World War, he tried to catch measles or whooping cough from the children so that he wouldn't be sent back to the trenches.

Language

English

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good