bloody-bones

This he will be in danger of from the indiscretion of servants, whose usual method is to awe children, and keep them in subjection, by telling them of raw-head and bloody-bones, and such other names as carry with them the ideas of something terrible and hurtful, which they have reason to be afraid of when alone, especially in the dark.

Some Thoughts Concerning Education. Sections 131-140 1909

For followers, reared in the tradition of hysteria depicted above, no raw-head is thought to be too raw, and no bloody-bones too bloody.

The Open Secret of Ireland 1898

"J.M.T. and I have looked Death in the face many a time -- and really he's a poor raw-head and bloody-bones sort of Bogey; don't you think so, old chap?"

The Rough Road William John Locke 1896

Lewis 'own contributions to his "Tales of Terror" and "Tales of Wonder," were of his same raw-head and bloody-bones variety.

A History of English Romanticism in the Eighteenth Century 1886

In 1828 he complains that he has been annoyed by a lady, because he had printed "in the 'Review'" a rawhead and bloody-bones story of her father, Major

Angling Sketches Andrew Lang 1878

I do not like to figure as "Rawhead and bloody-bones" in the nursery of even a crow baby, so I tried several times to redeem the bad name of my race.

Little Brothers of the Air Olive Thorne Miller 1874

A good story of more recent date, I must also note, of a well-known priest in Dublin, who being asked by Mr. Balfour one day whether the people under his charge took for gospel all the rawhead and bloody-bones tales about himself, replied, "Indeed, I wish they only feared and hated the devil half as much as they do you!"

Ireland Under Coercion (2nd ed.) (1 of 2) (1888) William Henry Hurlbert 1861

Susan's do occur, and far oftener than the raw-head and bloody-bones 'stories with which Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe has seen fit to embellish that interesting romance, Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Aunt Phillis's Cabin Or, Southern Life As It Is 1852

Having reached the spot, the dupe was made to strip himself to his shirt and drawers, a magic circle was drawn round him with all sorts of raw-head and bloody-bones ceremonies, and Beppo, exhorting him not to leave the ring, lest the spirits should kill him, stepped out of sight to make the incantations to raise them.

The Humbugs of the World An Account of Humbugs, Delusions, Impositions, Quackeries, Deceits and Deceivers Generally, in All Ages 1850

By proper treatment on the part of the parents or nurse, such unfounded fears will soon vanish; on the contrary, if they are encouraged by dismal stories of witches, ghosts, raw-head and bloody-bones and the like, they will grow and become so deeply rooted, that to shake them off in mature years, will be almost a matter of impossibility.

The Cherokee Physician, or Indian Guide to Health, as Given by Richard Foreman, a Cherokee Doctor; Comprising a Brief View of Anatomy, With General Rules for Preserving Health without the Use of Medicines. The Diseases of the U. States, with Their Symptoms, Causes, and Means of Prevention, are Treated on in a Satisfactory Manner. It Also Contains a Description of a Variety of Herbs and Roots, Many of which are not Explained in Any Other Book, and their Medical Virtues have Hitherto been Unknown to the Whites; To which is Added a Short Dispensatory. Richard Foreman 1849