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Hone-Whispering: A secret
method by which certain persons are able to acquire power
over refractory horses. As is well known to students of
gypsy lore, that interesting people appear to be in
possession of some secret by which they are enabled to
render vicious horses entirely tame; and opinions are
divided as to whether this secret consists in the
application of a certain odour or balm to the horse's
muzzle, or whispering into its ear a spell or incantation.
It is said, indeed, that the gypsy horse-charmer applies
aniseed to the nose of the animal. But besides being
practised by gypsies, horse-whispering is in vogue amongst
many other peoples. Camden in his Recital of Irish
Superstitions says:—" It is by no means allowable to
praise a horse or any other animal unless you say ' God
save him.' If any mischance befalls a horse in three days
after, they find out the person who commended him, that he
may whisper the Lord's Prayer in bis right ear." It was
said by Con Sullivan, a famous Irish horse-whisperer of
the eighteenth century, that it is out of the power of the
professors of the art to explain the source of their
influence, —the same thing being affirmed by those who
practise it in South America, where a couple of men will
tame half a dozen wild horses in three days. The same art
is widely practised in Hungary and Bohemia, and it was
from a Bohemian gypsy that a family in the county of Cork
claimed to hold a secret by which the wildest or most
vicious horse could be tamed. For generations this secret
was regularly transmitted as a parting legacy at the time
of death from the father to the eldest son.
Throughout the North of Scotland there are disseminated
members of a secret society for the breaking in of
refractory horses, which is believed to be called the
Horseman's Society, and which purports to be able to trace
its origin away back into the dark ages Those only are
admitted who gain their livelihood by the care and
management of horses, and the more affluent and better
educated are jealously excluded. Many farmers entertain a
prejudice against the members of the society, but they are
forced to admit that they are always very capable in the
management of their teams, and can perform services which
would otherwise require the calling in of a veterinary
surgeon. They are usually skilled in the knowledge of
herbs and simples, and a great deal of the marvellous is
imputed to them. In fact it is stated that they hold their
meetings at night and in the clear moonlight, going
through various equestrian performances with horses
borrowed for the occasion from their masters' stables.
There is further said to be an inner circle in the
society, where the black art and all the spells and charms
of witchcraft are the objects of study, and the members of
which can smite the horses and cattle with mysterious
sickness, and even cast a glamour over human beings.
Indeed a local writer goes so far as to say that the inner
circle of the Horsemen employ hypnotic influence both on
men and animals, as it is said certain North-American
Indians, and some of the jangle tribes of Hindustan, do.
The famous Con Sullivan has already been alluded to, and
his achievements were really wonderful. On one occasion
his services were requisitioned by Colonel Westenra
afterwards Earl of Rosmore, who possessed a racehorse
called " Rainbow," of the most savage description, which
would attack any jockey courageous enough to mount him by
seizing him by the leg with his teeth, and dragging him
from the saddle. A friend of the Colonel's told him that
he knew a person who could cure Rainbow, and a wager of
£1,000 was laid on the matter. Con Sullivan, who was known
throughout the countryside as " The Whisperer " was sent
for, and after being shut up alone with the animal for a
quarter of an hour, he gave the signal for the admission
of those who had been waiting on the
result. When they entered, they found the horse extended
on his back, playing like a kitten with Sullivan, who was
quietly sitting by him; but both horse and operator
appeared exhausted, and the latter had to be revived with
brandy. The horse was perfectly tame and gentle from that
day. Another savage steed named " King Pippin " took an
entire night to cure, but in the morning he was seen
following Sullivan like a dog, lying down at the word of
command, and permitting any person to put his hand into
his mouth. Shortly afterwards he won a race at the Curragh.
Sullivan is described by one who knew him well as an
ignorant rustic of the lower class, but there can be no
question as to his extraordinary powers.
The statement of Sullivan is probably correct, that the
successful whisperer is not acquainted with the secret of
his own power. " The reason," says Rich, " is obvious. A
force proceeding immediately from the will or the
instinctive life would be impaired by reflection in the
understanding and broken up or at least diminished by one
half. The violent trembling of the animal under this
operation is like the creaking and shivering of the tables
before they begin to ' tip,' and indicates a moral or
nervous force acting physically, by projection perhaps
from the spirit of the operator. None of these cases are,
after all, more wonderful than the movement of our own
limbs and bodies by mental force, for how does it move
them with such ease ? And may not the same power that
places its strong but invisible little fingers on every
point of our muscular frames, stretch its myriad arms a
little further into the sphere around us, and operate by
the same laws, and with as much ease, on the stalwart
frame of a horse, or even a clothes-horse ? "
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