Hand of Glory: A Grisly Oddity

In past times, the “Hand of Glory” was a grisly talisman used by thieves in a very corrupt and illegal form of magic. Used mostly 18th century France and England, the Hand of Glory was the severed hand of a thief who had been freshly executed at the crossroads.        

The night after the hanging, other robbers would sneak in, cut off the hand of the dead man, take the hand home and soak it in lamp oil, then marinate it in pepper, nitrate, salt, the blood of a screech owl, human fat and other dastardly ingredients.
            The severed hand was made into a candle that would render sleeping people powerless once the thieves broke into their homes, using the severed hand not only as a magical charm, but also a torch to light the way. In some cases, another candle was fashioned from the blood and fat of the dead man. Then the candle was wedged between the fingers of the hand.
            In any event, as the thieves would collect their loot, they would light a fire and recite this rhyme while the dreaded hand burned as a taper against the darkness:
Hand of Glory shining bright lead us to our spoils tonight!

Under the power of the dreaded Hand of Glory, no one in the house would wake up to discover the crime in progress. It had the unusual capacity to unlock doors. All in the home would sleep on as the thieves would flood in with their gorey charms— the family would be unaware of the burglary.
            These grisly talismans may seem to have no place in our modern age but there are dozens Hands of Glory displayed in museums in England and France. The poet Robert Graves wrote that “Hand of Glory” translated from the French main de glorie is derived from the word mandragore, related to the mandrake root, a plant also said to help thieves stay anonymous with its powers.

It was believed that during the dog days of summer, households could protect themselves from Hand of Glory spells by creating a special unguent made from the fat of a white hen, the gall of a black cat and the blood of a screech owl.  The ointment was then spread on thresholds, window panes, and any other entrance of a home. On a mundane level, it might be the robbers also believed that since the first thief was already caught, his ghost might watch over them as their “Hand of Glory,” which is no doubt one of the most gruesome magical talismans in the world.

Here are just three fascinating Hand of Glory narratives from a book of "Hand of Glory Stories" published by Pittsburgh Press:

1#

One evening, between the years 1790 and 1800, a traveler, dressed in woman's clothes, arrived at the Old Spital Inn, the place where the mail coach changed horses, in High Spital, on Bowes Moor. The traveler begged to stay all night, but had to go away so early in the morning that if a mouthful of food were set ready for breakfast there was no need the family should be disturbed by her departure. The people of the house, however, arranged that a servant maid should sit up till the stranger was out of the premises, and then went to bed themselves.

The girl lay down for a nap on the longsettle by the fire, but before she shut her eyes she took a good look at the traveler, who was sitting on the opposite side of the hearth, and espied a pair of man's trousers peeping out from under the gown.

All inclination for sleep was now gone; however, with great self-command, she feigned it, closed her eyes, and even began to snore. On this the traveler got up, pulled out of his pocket a dead man's hand, fitted a candle to it, lighted the candle, and passed hand and candle several times before the servant girl's face, saying as he did so: "Let all those who are asleep be asleep, and let those who are awake be awake." This done, he placed the light on the table, opened the outer door, went down two or three of the steps which led from the house to the road, and began to whistle for his companions

The girl (who had hitherto had presence of mind enough to remain perfectly quiet) now jumped up, rushed behind the ruffian, and pushed him down the steps. She then shut the door, locked it, and ran upstairs to try and wake the family, but without success: calling, shouting, and shaking were alike in vain. The poor girl was in despair, for she heard the traveler and his comrades outside the house. So she ran down again, and seized a bowl of blue (i.e., skimmed milk), and threw it over the hand and candle; after which she went upstairs again, and awoke the sleepers without any difficulty.

The landlord's son went to the window, and asked the men outside what they wanted. They answered that if the dead man's hand were but given them, they would go away quietly, and do no harm to anyone. This he refused, and fired among them, and the shot must have taken effect, for in the morning stains of blood were traced to a considerable distance.

These circumstances were related to my informant, Mr. Charles Wastell, in the spring of 1861, by an old woman named Bella Parkin, who resided close to High Spital, and was actually the daughter of the courageous servant girl.

#2

Two magicians, having come to lodge in a public house with a view to robbing it, asked permission to pass the night by the fire, and obtained it. When the house was quiet, the servant girl, suspecting mischief, crept downstairs and looked through the keyhole. She saw the men open a sack, and take out a dry, withered hand. They anointed the fingers with some unguent, and lighted them. Each finger flamed, but the thumb they could not light; that was because one of the household was not asleep.

The girl hastened to her master, but found it impossible to arouse him. She tried every other sleeper, but could not break the charmed sleep. At last, stealing down into the kitchen, while the thieves were busy over her master's strongbox, she secured the hand, blew out the flames, and at once the whole household was aroused.

#3

One dark night, when all was shut up, there came a tap at the door of a lone inn in the middle of a barren moor. The door was opened, and there stood without, shivering and shaking, a poor beggar, his rags soaked with rain, and his hand white with cold. He asked piteously for a lodging, and it was cheerfully granted him; there was not a spare bed in the house, but he could lie on the mat before the kitchen fire, and welcome.

So this was settled, and everyone in the house went to bed except the cook, who from the back kitchen could see into the large room through a pane of glass let into the door. She watched the beggar, and saw him, as soon as he was left alone, draw himself up from the floor, seat himself at the table, extract from his pocket a brown withered human hand, and set it upright in the candlestick. He then anointed the fingers, and applying a match to them, they began to flame. Filled with horror, the cook rushed up the back stairs, and endeavored to arouse her master and the men of the house. But all was in vain--they slept a charmed sleep; so in despair she hastened down again, and placed herself at her post of observation.

She saw the fingers of the hand flaming, but the thumb remained unlighted, because one inmate of the house was awake. The beggar was busy collecting the valuables around him into a large sack, and having taken all he cared for in the large room, he entered another.

On this the woman ran in, and, seizing the light, tried to extinguish the flames. But this was not so easy. She blew at them, but they burnt on as before. She poured the dregs of a beer jug over them, but they blazed up the brighter. As a last resource, she caught up a jug of milk, and dashed it over the four lambent flames, and they died out at once. Uttering a loud cry, she rushed to the door of the apartment the beggar had entered, and locked it. The whole family was aroused, and the thief easily secured and hanged.

This tale is told in Northumberland.Pittsburgh Press.

by Susan Sheppard