Historic%20Yorkshire

THE BISHOP BLAIZE FESTIVAL. 185
patients,whohad anything in their throats, the following
recipe: — " Hold the diseased party by the throat and
pronounce these words, — Blase, the martyr, and servant
ofJesus Christ,commands thee to pass up or down."
At the heading of this chapter will be found some
curious lines bearing on the power the martyr's relic
was supposed to possess.
According to Brand, a certain cure for toothache,and
for diseased cattle, was the offering of candles to this
saint. The " Golden Legend " has it that the aid of
St. Blaize was once sought by a woman whoseswinehad
been carried off by a wolf. Through the influence of the
saint the wolf brought the swineback to its owner,whereupon
the woman greatlyrejoiced, and killing the swine
offered its head and feet, togetherwith bread and a candle
to her helper. "And he thanked God, and ate thereof;
and he sayd to her, that every yere she sholde offre inhis
chirche a chandell. And she dyd all herlyf, and she had
moche grete prosperyte. And knowe thou thatto thee,
andto all them thatso shaldo,shal wellhappento them."
Traditionsays thatthe Bishop lived the life of a hermit
and took up his abode in a cave, his only companions
being wild beasts, which daily visited him and which so
muchrespected his sanctity that " if it happened that they
came while he was at prayer they did not interrupt him,
but waitedtill he had ended, and never departedwithout
his benediction." He treated the animals with great
kindness, and relieved theirphysical suffering.
It was formerly the custom to commemorate the name
of St. Blaize in many parts of England, on certain days
set apart for that purpose, by lighting fires in elevated
situations, and making merry in other ways. But it is
with the festivities of our own county that wehave here
to deal.
All the principal towns in the West Riding have at
different times taken part in celebrating his memory,
Bradford, Leeds, Wakefield, and Halifax in particular.
Bradford, being the great woollenmanufacturingcentre,