Metrical Charm 9: For Loss of Cattle

May naught of what I own be stolen or hidden any more than Herod might do to our Lord. I thought of St. Helena, and I thought of Christ hanging on the cross; so I look to find this cattle, not to have them borne away, and to learn of them, not to have them injured, and to have them cared for, not led off.

"Garmund, servant of God,
Find those cattle and fetch those cattle,
And have those cattle and hold those cattle,
And bring home those cattle.
So that he may never have land to lead them to,
Nor ground to bear them to,
Nor houses to keep them in.
If any should do so, may he never thrive by it!
Within three nights I shall know his powers,
His strength and his skill to protect.
May he wholly wither as fire withers wood,
As bramble or thistle hurts thigh,
He who may purpose to bear off these cattle,
Or think to drive away these kine."