Iron
Its occult virtues are thus described by Pliny, according to Holland :-" As touching the use of Yron and steele in Physicke, it serveth otherwise than for to launce, cut, and dismember withal; for take the knife or dagger, an make an ymaginerie circle two or three times round with the point thereof upon a young child or an elder bodie, and then goe round withall about the partie as often, it is a singular preservative against all poysons, sorceries, or enchantments. Also to take any yron naile out of the coffin or sepulchre wherein man or woman lieth buried, and to sticke the same fast to the lintle or side post of a dore, leading either to the house or bed-chamber where any dooth lie who is haunted with Spirits in the night, he or she shall be delivered and secured from such phanasticall illusions. Moreover, it is said, that if one be lightly pricked with the point of sword or dagger, which hath been the death of a man, it is an excellent remedy against the pains of sides or breast, which come with sudden prickes or stitches."
In certain parts of Scotland and the North of Ireland, there is a belief in the potency of iron for warding off the attacks of fairies. An iron poker, laid across a cradle, will, it is believed, keep the fairies away until the child is baptised. The Rev. John G. Campbell in his Superstitions of the Scottish Highlands relates how when a child, he and another boy were believed to be protected from a fairy which had been seen at a certain spot by the possession, the one of a knife, and the other of a nail. This was at Appin in Argyllshire. 66 " Irving's Church, Speaking with Tongues in : In 1831 an outbreak of speaking with tongues occurred in the congregation of Edward Irving, in London. For several years Irving had waited for such a visitation, and had instituted special early-morning services for the purpose of hastening it. At length, in July, 1831, the "visitation " came, first one and then another of the congregation speaking with tongues and with prophetic uutterance. Irving himself was not at first entirely disposed to accept the utterances as of divine origin. But the undoubted good faith and irreproachable doctrine of his flock reassured him. Robert Baxter, who was absent at the commencement of the outbreak, but who was himself influenced to prophesy at a later date, has left an account of his experiences. The phenomena did not greatly differ from that of similar outbreaks. The inspired speakers were often attended by physical symptoms, such as convulsions, and they spoke in loud, somewhat unnatural tones. Baxter declares that he spoke sentences in Latin, French, and unknown languages. At length, however, evil spirits began to appear in the company, some of the congregation admitting that they had been possessed by false spirits.
The outbreak seen afterwards died out.