"---- it happed for to be That, while the weping Venus made her mone, (Cyllenius riding in his chirachee) Venus might Valens in this palais see; And Venus he salveth and maketh chere And her receiveth as his frende full dere!" On the other supposition of "Valanus" being a common name, to which a capital letter has been prefixed in mistake, then the only word for which it would appear to be a probable substitution would be "Vallum," in the sense of a border or rampart; but the application would be so far-fetched that I shall not attempt it, especially as I look upon the explanation afforded by "Valens" as most probably the true one. A. E. B. Leeds, March 20. 1851. * * * * * FOLK LORE. _Cure of Hooping Cough._--There is a superstition in Cheshire that hooping cough may be cured by holding a toad for a few moments with its head within the mouth of the person affected. I heard only the other day of a cure by this somewhat disagreeable process; the toad was said to have caught the disease, which in this instance proved fatal to it in a few hours. A. H. H. _Charms from Devonshire._--The following charms were obtained from an old woman in this parish, though probably they are all known to you already: (_a._) _For a Scald or Burn._ "There were three angels came from The East and West, One brought fire and another brought frost, And the third it was the Holy Ghost. Out fire, in frost, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." (_b._) _For a Sprain._ "As our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was riding into Jerusalem, His horse tripped and sprained his leg. Our Blessed Lord and Saviour blessed it, and said, 'Bone to bone, and vein to vein, O vein, turn to thy rest again!' M. N. so shall thine, in the Name," &c. {259} (_c._) _For stopping Blood._ "Our Blessed Saviour was born in Bethlehem and baptized in the river Jordan. 'The Waters were wild and rude. The child Jesus was meek, mild, and good.' He put His foot into the waters, and the waters stopped, and so shall thy blood, in the Name," &c. (d.) _For the Tooth-ache._ "All glory! all glory! all glory! be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. "As our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was walking in the garden of Gethsamene, He saw Peter weeping. He called him unto Him, and said, Peter why, weepest thou? Peter answered and said, Lord, I am grievously tormented with pain, the pain of my tooth. Our Lord answered and said, If thou wilt believe in Me, and My words abide with thee, thou shalt never feel any more pain in thy tooth. Peter said, Lord, I believe, help Thou my unbelief. In the Name, &c. "God grant M. N. ease from the pain in his teeth." (_e._) _For Fits._--Go into a church at midnight and walk three times round the communion table. This was done in this parish a few years since.