Wax Dolls and Spells

"And one night, as one of suitors was watching behind the curtains in her room, he saw her making more wax dolls. And she made five, and hid them away. And the next night she took one out, and held it up, and filled the golden bowl with water, and took the doll by the neck and held it under the water. Then she said—

'Sir Dickon, Sir Dickon, your day is done, You shall be drowned in the water wan.'

And the next day news came to the castle that Sir Richard had been drowned at the ford. And at night she took another doll and tied a violet cord round its neck and hung it up on a nail. Then she said—

'Sir Rowland, your life has ended its span, High on a tree I see you hang.'

And the next day news came to the castle that Sir Rowland had been hanged by robbers in the wood. And at night she took another doll, and drove her bodkin right into its heart. Then she said—

'Sir Noll, Sir Noll, so cease your life, Your heart piercèd with the knife.'

And the next day news came to the castle that Sir Oliver had fought in a tavern, and a stranger had stabbed him to the heart. And at night she took another doll, and held it to a fire of charcoal till it was melted. Then she said—

'Sir John, return, and turn to clay, In fire of fever you waste away.' "

The White People, The House of Souls, Arthur Machen