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In 1525, the Archbishop of Glasgow, Gavin
Dunbar wrought a whopping 1,069-word curse on the
Border Reiver clans, who were terrorising the whole Scottish border
district.
"I curse their head and all the hairs of their head; I curse
their face, their brain (innermost thoughts), their mouth, their nose, their
tongue, their teeth, their forehead, their shoulders, their breast, their heart,
their stomach, their back, their womb, their arms, their leggs, their hands,
their feet, and every part of their body, from the top of their head to the
soles of their feet, before and behind, within and without."
"I curse them going and I curse them riding; I curse them
standing and I curse them sitting; I curse them eating and I curse them
drinking; I curse them rising, and I curse them lying; I curse them at home, I
curse them away from home; I curse them within the house, I curse them outside
of the house; I curse their wives, their children, and their servants who
participate in their deeds. I (bring ill wishes upon) their crops, their cattle,
their wool, their sheep, their horses, their swine, their geese, their hens, and
all their livestock. I (bring ill wishes upon) their halls, their chambers,
their kitchens, their stanchions, their barns, their cowsheds, their barnyards,
their cabbage patches, their plows, their harrows, and the goods and houses that
are necessary for their sustenance and welfare."
"May all the malevolent wishes and curses ever known, since
the beginning of the world, to this hour, light on them. May the malediction of
God, that fell upon Lucifer and all his fellows, that cast them from the high
Heaven to the deep hell, light upon them."
"May the fire and the sword that stopped Adam from the gates
of Paradise, stop them from the glory of Heaven, until they forebear, and make
amends."
"May the evil that fell upon cursed Cain, when he slew his
brother Abel, needlessly, fall on them for the needless slaughter that they
commit daily."
"May the malediction that fell upon all the world, man and
beast, and all that ever took life, when all were drowned by the flood of Noah,
except Noah and his ark, fall upon them and drown them, man and beast, and make
this realm free of them, for their wicked sins."
"May the thunder and lightning which rained down upon Sodom
and Gomorra and all the lands surrounding them, and burned them for their vile
sins, rain down upon them and burn them for their open sins. May the evil and
confusion that fell on the Gigantis for their oppression and pride in building
the Tower of Babylon, confound them and all their works, for their open callous
disregard and opression."
"May all the plagues that fell upon Pharoah and his people of
Egypt, their lands, crops and cattle, fall upon them, their equipment, their
places, their lands, their crops and livestock."
"May the waters of the Tweed and other waters which they use,
drown them, as the Red Sea drowned King Pharoah and the people of Egypt,
preserving God's people of Israel."
"May the earth open, split and cleave, and swallow them
straight to hell, as it swallowed cursed Dathan and Abiron, who disobeyed Moses
and the command of God."
"May the wild fire that reduced Thore and his followers to
two-hundred-fifty in number, and others from 14,000 to 7,000 at anys, usurping
against Moses and Aaron, servants of God, suddenly burn and consume them daily,
for opposing the commands of God and Holy Church."
"May the malediction that suddenly fell upon fair Absolom,
riding through the wood against his father, King David, when the branches of a
tree knocked him from his horse and hanged him by the hair, fall upon these
untrue Scotsmen and hang them the same way, that all the world may see."
"May the malediction that fell upon Nebuchadnezzar's
lieutenant, Olifernus, making war and savagery upon true Christian men; the
malediction that fell upon Judas, Pilate, Herod, and the Jews that crucified Our
Lord; and all the plagues and troubles that fell on the city of Jerusalem
therefore, and upon Simon Magus for his treachery, bloody Nero, Ditius
Magcensius, Olibrius, Julianus Apostita and the rest of the cruel tyrants who
slew and murdered Christ's holy servants, fall upon them for their cruel tyranny
and murder of Christian people."
"And may all the vengeance that ever was taken since the world
began, for open sins, and all the plagues and pestilence that ever fell on man
or beast, fall on them for their openly evil ways, senseless slaughter and
shedding of innocent blood."
"I sever and part them from the church of God, and deliver
them immediately to the devil of hell, as the Apostle Paul delivered Corinth. I
bar the entrance of all places they come to, for divine service and ministration
of the sacraments of holy church, except the sacrament of infant baptism, only;
and I forbid all churchmen to hear their confession or to absolve them of their
sins, until they are first humbled and subjugated by this curse."
"I forbid all Christian men or women to have any
company with them, eating, drinking, speaking, praying, lying, going, standing,
or in any other deed-doing, under the pain of deadly sin."
"I discharge all bonds, acts, contracts, oaths, made to them
by any persons, out of loyalty, kindness, or personal duty, so long as they
sustain this cursing, by which no man will be bound to them, and this will be
binding on all men."
"I take from them, and cast down all the good deeds that ever
they did, or shall do, until they rise from this cursing."
"I declare them excluded from all matins, masses, evening
prayers, funerals or other prayers, on book or bead (rosary); of all pigrimages
and alms deeds done, or to be done in holy church or be Christian people, while
this curse is in effect."
"And, finally, I condemn them perpetually to the deep pit of
hell, there to remain with Lucifer and all his fellows, and their bodies to the
gallows of Burrow moor, first to be hanged, then ripped and torn by dogs, swine,
and other wild beasts, abominable to all the world. And their candle (light of
their life) goes from your sight, as may their souls go from the face of God,
and their good reputation from the world, until they forebear their open sins,
aforesaid, and rise from this terrible cursing and make satisfaction and
penance."
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