water; and over them are to be said words of Scripture and Our Father.
And then the turfs are taken to church, and prayers are said by the
priest while the green of the turfs is turned altarwards; and then,
before sun-down, the turfs are returned to their own original places:
but first, four crosses, made of quickbeam, with the names Matthew,
Mark, Luke, John, written on their four ends, are to be put, one in the
bottom of each pit, and as each turf is restored to its native spot, and
laid on its particular cross, say thus:--"Crux, Mattheus; Crux, Marcus;
Crux, Lucas; Crux, Joannes."[55] Then the supplicant turns eastward,
bows nine times, and says a rhythmic form of prayer, in which some
heathen elements are just discernible. Then he turns three times towards
the sun in its course, and sings Benedicite, Magnificat, and Pater
Noster, and makes a gracious vow, in the friendly comprehension of which
all the neighbourhood is included, gentle and simple.

This being done, strange seed must be procured, and this must be got
from poor "almsmen"; and the supplicant must give them a double quantity
in return; and then he must collect together all his plough-gear and
tackle, and say over them a poetic formula which has fragments that look
very like the real old heathen charm. It begins with untranslatable
words:--

Erce, erce, erce,
eordan modor.

Erce, erce, erce,
mother of earth.

Then go to work with the plough, and open the first furrow, and say:--