The Talisman

A talisman is a figure cut in stone or metal at the proper astrological conjunction (called the planetary hour), and with appropriate magical ceremonies. It is considered to be a charm more powerful than an amulet, averting disease and a violent death from the wearer. The talisman now known as the Lee Stone, or Penny, is said to have suggested to Sir Walter Scott the idea of his novel called "The Talisman."

The Lee Stone is a heart-shaped pebble of carnelian agate, about half an inch square, set in a coin about an inch in diameter. It belongs to the Waterford family, in England, and is said to possess a magical power of warding off disease; it is traditionally asserted to have been brought from the Holy Land. According to the legend attached to the Lee Penny, Robert Bruce requested that, after his death, his heart should be carried to the Holy Land by Sir James Douglass; in 1329 the latter, accompanied by Simon Lochart, of Lee, proceeded on the mission. While in Spain the Scots were drawn into a combat with the Moors. Douglass was killed, and Lochart, who now commanded the party, turned homewards with Bruce's heart, which was eventually burned in the Abbey of Dumferline.

Lochart (changing his name into Lockhart to commemorate the event) had taken prisoner a Moorish chieftain; the wife of the prisoner bargained for her husband's ransom, and, while counting the gold from her purse, let drop this gem. She appeared so anxious about its recovery that Lockhart insisted upon its being made a part of the ransom. The woman unwillingly consented, and informed the greedy Scot that its value consisted in its power to heal cattle; that it was also a sovereign remedy against the bite of a mad dog. So great was the popular faith in this talisman in Scotland, that the Lee Penny was exempted from anathema in the clerical war against superstitions, after the Reformation; the clergy went so far as to extol its virtues, in which implicit faith was placed until a comparatively recent period. The mode of using this talisman was to hold it by the chain, plunge it three times into water, and draw it once round in it--"Three dips and a swirl," as the country people express it; the cattle drinking the water were cured of disease. In the reign of Charles the First, the people of Newcastle, being afflicted with the plague, sent for and obtained the loan of the Lee Penny, leaving the sum of six thousand pounds sterling in its place as a pledge. They were so deeply impressed with the virtues of the stone, that they proposed to keep it and forfeit the money, but the Laird of Lee would not part with his treasure.

"The Talisman," by Sir Walter Scott, is one of the best of the thirty-two novels which he wrote. In chapter IX., Richard Coeur de Lion is cured of a fever by Saladin, his noble enemy. Saladin, hearing of the illness of the King of England in the Holy Land, assumes the disguise of Adoubec el Hakim, the physician, and visits the king. After filling a cup with spring water, he dips into it the talisman, which he takes from his bosom, and when it has been steeped long enough he gives the draught to the king to drink, and the king recovers.

The Abraxas stone is a famous talisman. It is a stone with the word ABRAXAS engraved on it. The word symbolizes the 365 intelligences between deity and man. In the Oriental Tales, "The Four Talismans" were little golden fish, which would fetch anything out of the sea when bidden; a poniard, which rendered invisible not only the person bearing it, but all others at his desire; a ring of steel, which enabled the wearer to read the secrets of men's hearts; and a bracelet, which preserved the wearer from poison.

In Arabia, a talisman, consisting of a piece of paper containing the names of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus (See Vol. I.), is still used "To ward the house from ghosts and demons." In hope of the same consummation, a crocodile is still suspended like a sign-board over the doors of rich Egyptians, while leaves of the century plant answer the same purpose for the poor.