iiilii i'iilili H;;;i:i,!:i;!;d M -475. BOOK 398.9.L475 w.2 pt 1 e 1 LEAN f LEANS COLLECTANEA 3 T1S3 0012MMS0 Pate^ue____ , 1 — 7 Demco 293-5 /_ LEAN'S COLLECTANEA VOL. II. PART I. ^ v.* ^ > ■>' ?-l. P.Midi; i^x-e, CO ^ p WLmn^^ €oiltctHntn COLLECTIONS BY Vincent Stuckey Lean proverbs (Bngllsb d fotciQw), jfolF? %oxc, anb Superstitious, also Compilatious towar&s Dictiouaries of proverbial pbrases m\t> Morbs, ol& auD DisuseD. Vol. IL Part L BRISTOL J. W. Arrowsmith, II Quay Street LONDON SiMPKiN, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent and Company Ljmited 1903 , .s^^^.-% V 2j pV- ->\ CONTENTS Page I. ON SUPERSTITION 3 2. GOOD LUCK — GENERAL . II ^ 3- LUCK IN MAKING MONEY ■ 38 4- BLESSING 53 w 5- LOVE AND MARRIAGE — GOOD LUCK 60 ^ ,, ILL LUCK . 76 "^•n 6. CHILDREN — GOOD LUCK ,, ILL LUCK . • 97 no --^ 7- GOOD LUCK— SPECIAL . 123 '%j) 8. ILL LUCK SPECIAL 135 I ,, GENERAL . 165 - 4 9- TIMES AND SEASONS — GOOD LUCK 214 > ,, ILL LUCK . 231 „ LUCKY DAYS 252 „ UNLUCKY DAYS 256 \y) lO. COLOURS, LUCKY AND UNLUCKY . 270 ^ ^ II. PRESENTIMENTS .... 277 MALEDICTIONS .... 278 ANTIPATHIES .... 278 k WISHES 278 f 12. SIGNS FROM PHYSICAL CHARACTERS 282 'v 13- OMENS AND OTHER SIGNS . 315 _5 14. DIVINATIONS .... 331 ":) 15- CHARMS LOVE AND MARRIAGE 363 X OTHER CHARMS TO AVERT EVIL INFLUENCE TO EXORCISE THE DEVIL WITCHES AND FAIRIES . THE EVIL EYE . 387 424 428 438 465 (Continued in Part II.) \9 >o ^ Folk Lore, Stcperstitions, Omens and Popular Customs. FOLK LORE, SUPERSTITIONS, OMENS AND POPULAR CUSTOMS. I was very angry with my man for alighting from his horse to take up a piece of an old horseshoe he saw lying in the road. When I came to my journey's end I found an old nail in my pocket ; on which I began to reflect how injurious I had been to the servant, and severe in my censure ; for I did not chuse to throw the nail away, but determined to bring it back. — Pegge, Anonymiana, iii. 75. 1766. Wha looks to freits, my master deir. It 's freits will follow him. Ballad, Edom O'Gordon. Harm watch, harm catch. The unsonsie fish gets the unlucky bait. — Ramsay, Sc. Pr. Wherefore he hath good ure That can himself assure Howe fortune wyll endure. Skelton, Colin Clout, 1603. Eur, happe or lucke, with his compoundes boneur, maleur. — Pals- grave, p. 166. An auld threep, a superstition obstinately persisted in of old. Airthful : fearful, producing superstitious dread. An airthful night. — Brockett, Glossary N. C. Words. Superstition is the spleen of the soul. — Swift. Superstition is godless rehgion, devout impiety. The superstitious is fond in observation, servile in fear: he worships God but as he lists : he gives God what he asks not, more than he asks, and all but what he should give, and makes more sins than the ten commandments, — Bishop Hall, Characters of Vices, Superstition Doth violate the deity it worships No less than scorn doth. Ben Jonson, Stap. of News, v. 2. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Nygromancers and fals wytches also Ar of this sort, foUowin;,' the hke offence ; Nat onely they that wytches craftis do, But they also that gyve to them credence, Or them supporteth with favour or defence ; For all such caytayfs as unto them assent Bvleve nat truly on God omnypotent. ^ bar., Ship of Fools, ii. 191. Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven ; for the heathen are • dismayed at them ; for the customs of the people are vain.— jferemiah, x. 2, 3. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy-day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days which are a shadow of things to come ; but the body is of Christ.— Co/os5., ii. 16, 17. The master of superstition is the p.'ople, and in all superstition wise men follow fools; and arguments are fitted to practice in a reversed order.— Bacon, Essays, xvu. Almost every system of superstition in order to be rightly under- stood should be (if I may so speak) read backwards.— Whately, Ervovs of Romanism, Essay IV. Quand je vois qu'un homme d'esprit, dans le plus 6ciaire de tons les siecles, n'ose se mettre a table si on est treize, il n y a plus d'erreur, ni ancienne ni moderne qui m etonne.— Vauvenargues, Reflexions, 321. The Superstitious Man.— Superstition would seem to be simply cowardice in regard to the supernatural. 1 he superstitious man is one who will wash his hands at a fountain sprinkle himself at a temple font, put a bit of laurel-leaf into his mouth, and so go about for the day if a weasel run across his path, he will not pursue his w.ilk until someone else has traversed the road, or until he has thrown three stones across it When he sees a serpent in his house, it it be tlie rea snake, he will invoke Sabazius ; if the sacred snake, he will straightway place a shrine on the spot. Ke will pour oil from his tfask on the smooth stones at the cross roads as he goes by, and will fall on his knees and worship them before he departs. If a mouse gnaws through a meal-bag, he will go to the expounder of sacred law and ask what is to be done; and if the answer is, " Give it to a cobbler to stitch up, he will disregard this counsel, and go his wiy, and expiate the omen by sacrifice. He is apt also to punfy h.s ho;^^^ fre- quently, alleging that Hecate has been brought into it by spells; and if an owl is startled by him in his walk he will exclaim " Glory be to Athene ! - before he proceeds. He will not tread upon a tombstone, or come near a dead body or a woman defiled by childbirth, saying that it is expedient for him not to be polluted. Also on the fourth and seventh days of each month he will order his servants to mull wine, FOLK LORE. and will go out and buy myrtle wreaths, frankincense, con- volvuluses; and in coming in will spend the day in crowning the Hermaphrodites When he has seen a vision he will go to the interpreters of dreams, the seers, the augurs, to ask them to what god or goddess he ought to pray. Every month he will repair to the priests of the Orphic Mysteries, to part.ke in their rites, accompanied by his wife, or (if she is too bus\') by his children and their nurse. He would seem, too, to be of those who aie scrupulous in sprinkling them- selves with sea-water ; and if ever he observes anyone feasting on the garlic at the cross-roads*, he will go away, pour water over his head, and summoning the priestesses, bid them carry a squill or a puppy round him for purification. And if he sees a maniac or an epileptic man he will shudder and spit into his bosom. — Theophrastus, The Characters, translated by R. C. Jebb (1870), xxviii. * A "supper" for Hecate was placed at each new moon on the piles of stones at the cross-roads. — Ar., PI 4us, 595. " Hecate can tell us whether it is better to be poor or hungry. She says that well-to-do or rich people send her a supper every month : whereas poor people snatch it away when it has hardly been put down." Plutarch {De Superst., c. 10) quotes a mention of Hecate as " fastening at the cross-roads on the guilty wretch who has gone after her foul supper." A superstition is any belief not based upon [sufficient] evidence. — M.^ D. Conway, Republican Superstitions. Les religions s'eteignent et disparaissent, les superstitions populaires ne meurent jamais. — Paul Lacroix, Le Moyen Age, i. Nothing is more contrary to good sense than imagining everything we see and hear is a prognostick either of Good or Evil, except it be the belief that nothing is so. — De Foe, Memoirs of Mr. Duncan Campbell, 1732, p. 60. They that are against superstition, oftentimes run into it on the wrong side. If I will wear all colours but black, then am I super- stitious in not wearing black. — Selden, Table Talk, cxxxii. There is a superstition in avoiding superstition ; when men think to do best if they go furthest from the superstition formerly received. — Bacon, Essays, xvii. Lafeu. They say miracles are past ; and we have our philosophical persons, to make modern and familiar, things supernatural and causeless. Hence it is that we make trifles of terrors ; ensconcing ourselves into seeming knowledge, when we should submit ourselves to an unknown fear. — Shak., All '5 Well, ii. 3, I. And thus moderately did our first Reformers begin, as the subject they wrote on would give them leave ; for as carefull mothers and nurses, on condition they can get their children to part with knives, are contented to let them play with rattles ; so they permitted ignorant people still to retain some of their fond and foolish customes, that they might remove from them the most dangerous and destructive superstitions. — Fuller, Church History of Britain, cent, xvi., book 7. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. For, as children must first by fear be induced to know that, which after (when they do know) they are most glad of: so are these bugbears of opinions brought by great clerks into the world, to serve as shewels [examples ?] to keep them from those faults, whereto else the vanity of the world and weakness of senses might pull them. But in you, niece, whose excellency is such, as it need not to be held up by the staff of vulgar opinions, I would not you should love virtue servilely, for fear of I know not what, which you see not : but even for the good effects of virtue which you see. Fear — and indeed, foolish fear — and fearful ignorance, was the first inventor of these conceits ; for, when they heard it thunder, not knowing the natural cause, they thought there was some angry body above that spake so loud : and ever the less they did perceive, the more they did conceive. Whereof they knew no cause, that grew straight a miracle, foolish folks not marking that the alterations be but upon particular accidents, the universality being always one. Yesterday was but as to-day, and to- morrow will tread the same footsteps of his foregoers, so as it is manifest enough that all things follow but the course of their own nature, saving only man, who while by the pregnancy of his imagination he strives to things super- natural, meanwhile he loseth his own natural felicity. Be wise, and that wisdom shall be a god unto thee ; be con- tented, and that is thy heaven ; for else to think that those powers (if there be any such) above, are moved either by the eloquence of our prayers, or in a chafe at the folly of our actions, carries as much reason as if files should think that men take great care which of them hums sweetest and which of them files nimblest. — Sidney, Arcadia, Book IIL, x. 4. Upon my return home I fell into a profound contemplation on the evils that attend these superstitious follies of mankind ; how they subject us to imaginary afflictions and additional sorrows that do not come within our lot. As if the natural calamities of life were not sufficient for it, we turn the most indifferent circumstances into misfortunes, and suffer as much from trifling accidents as from real evils. — Addison, Spectator, No. 7. La sottise est une mauvaise qualite ; mais de ne la pouvoir supporter, et s'en despiter et ronger, comme il m'advient, c'est une aultre sorte de maladie qui ne doibt gueres a la sottise en importunite ; et est ce qu'a present je veulx accuser du mien. J'entre en conference et en dispute avec grandc liberto et facilite, d'autant que i'opinion treuve en moy le terrein mal propre a y penetrer et y poulser de haultes racines ; nuUes propositions m'estonnent, nulle creance me blece, quelque contrariete qu'elle aye a la mienne ; il n'est si frivole et si extravagante fantasie qui ne me semble bien sortable a la production de I'esprit humain. Nous aultres, qui privons nostre jugement, du droict de faire des arrests, regardons mollement les opinions diverses ; et si nous ny 6 FOLK LORE. prestons le jugement, nous y prestons ayseement I'aureille. Ou I'un plat est vuicle de tout en la balance, je laisse vaciller I'aultre soubs les songes d'une vieille ; et me semble estre excusable si j'accepte plustost le nombre impair, le jeudy au prix du vendredy ; si je n'aime mieulx douziesme ou quator- ziesme que treiziesme a table; si je veois plus volontiers un lievre costoyant que traversant mon chemin quaud je voyage, et donne plustost le pied gauche que le droict a chausser. Toutes telles ravasseries, qui sont en credit autour de nous, meritent au moins qu'on les escoute : pour moy, elles emportent seulement I'inanite, mais elles I'emportent. Encores sont, en poids, les opinions vulgaires et casuelles aultre chose que rien, en nature ; et que ne s'y laisse aller jusques la tumbe a I'adventure au vice de I'opiniastrete, pour eviter celuy de la superstition. — Montaigne, Essais, iii. 8. Incident unto this is the inquiry how to raise and fortify the imagination : for if the imagination fortified have power, then it is material to know how to fortify and exalt it. And herein comes in crookedly and dangerously a palliation of a great part of ceremonial magic. For it may be pretended that ceremonies, characters, and charms do work not by any tacit or sacramental contract with evil spirits, but serve only to strengthen the imagination of him that useth it ; as images are said by the Roman Church to fix the cogitations and raise the devotions of them that pray before them. But for mine own judgment, if it be admitted that imagination hath power, and that ceremonies fortify imagination, and that they be used sincerely and intentionally for that purpose ; yet I should hold them unlawful, as opposing to that first edict which God gave unto man, " In sudore vultus comedes panem tuum." For they propound those noble effects which God hath set forth unto man to be bought at the price of labour, to be attained by a few easy and slothful observances. Deficiences in these knowledges I will report none, other than the general deficience, that it is not known how much of them is verity and how much vanity. — Bacon, Advancement of Learning, Book II., vol. ii., 173 (1825). I tried to elicit some ghost stories of vessels, but could hear of nothing but the " Flying Dutchman," nor did I succeed better upon another occasion. This dearth of supernatural adventure is remarkable, considering the superstition of sailors. But their wits are none of the liveliest ; the sea blunts while it mystifies, and the sailor's imagination, driven in like his body to the vessel he inhabits, admits only the petty wonders that come directly about him in the shape of storm-announcing fishes and birds. His superstition is that of a blunted, and not of an awakened ignorance. Sailors had rather sleep than see visions.— Leigh Hunt, Autobiography, ch. xvii. One would easily believe that seamen should be the most religious men of all other, being so frequently in tempests, the dread- LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. fulness whereof is admirably described by the prophet David {Ps., cvii. 23-27), and also by Ovid (Irist., I., xi, ; Metam., 1), " as tempestuous times Amaze poor mortals and object their crimes." (G. Herbert) But thus much superstition they still retain that they will not endure a whore on shipboard, which they do believe does cause a storm, and they will then make bold to throw her overboard, as it were a sacrifice to Neptune. When the Morocco Ambassador came to England he was in a dangerous storm, and he caused a sheep [or ram] to be sacrificed. The Hke opinion they have of a dead body on shipboard, and if a storm arises they will throw it into the sea, as they did that rare mummy that Sir Peter Wych brought from Egypt. — Ay. Children. — But even then, and always while he is young, be sure to preserve his tender mind from all impressions and notions of spirits and goblins, or any fearful apprehensions in the dark. 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. This must be carefully prevented, for though by this foolish way they may keep them from little faults, yet the remedy is much worse than the disease. — From John Aubrey's Natural History of Wiltshire, p. 122, Britton's Ed., 1847; Locke, Thoughts on Education, § 138. Phantomes. — Though I myself never saw any such things, yet I will not conclude that there is no truth at all in these reports. I believe that extraordinarily there have been such appari- tions ; but where one is true a hundred are figments. There is a lechery in lying and imposing on the credulous and the imagination of fearful people is to admiration ; e.g. Not long after the cave at Bathford was discovered (where the opus tesselatum was found) one of Mr. Skreen's ploughboys lying asleep near to the mouth of the cave, a gentleman in a boat on the river Avon, which runs hard by, played on his flageolet. The boy apprehended the music to be in the cave, and ran away in a lamentable fright, and his fearful fancy made him believe he saw spirits in the cave. This Mr. Skreen told me, and that the neighbourhood are so confident of the truth of this that there is no undeceiving them. Such a proceeding as this would be usually and not improperly described as a superstition ; and, indeed, this name would be given to a large proportion of survivals generally. The very word " superstition," in what is perhaps its original sense of a "standing over" from old times, itself expresses the notion of survival. But the term superstition now implies a reproach, and though this reproach may be often cast deservedly on fragments of a dead lower culture embedded 8 FOLK LORE. in a living higher one, yet in many cases it would be harsh, and even untrue. For the ethnographer's purpose, at any rate, it is desirable to introduce such a term as " survival " simply to denote the historical fact which the word " super- stition " is now spoiled for expressing. Moreover, there have to be included as partial survivals the mass of cases where enough of the old habit is kept up for its origin to be recognizable, though in taking a new form it has been so adapted to new circumstances as still to hold its place on its own merits. — Primitive Culture, by Ed. B. Tylor, 1871, vol. i., p. 64. The character of Foresight (Congreve, Love for Love) was then common. Dryden calculated nativities ; both Cromwell and King William had their lucky days ; and Shaftesbury himself, though he had no religion, was said to regard prediction (Johnson, Life of Congreve). As to Shaftesbury, it is far from surprising that they who have no religion should yet be liable to superstition. They are often but the more at mercy of it, from the want of any set limits to belief. The demand for books of astrology is considerable at the present moment, and perhaps has never failed. Mankind cannot get rid of a sense of the unknown world, if it would ; and till it takes to it in the widest and most poetical sense, which is also the heathiest and most natural — such as a child instinctively has when it looks at the stars — it will dabble in the darkest borders of it, with a knowledge less than childish. — Leigh Hunt, Biographical Notice, 1840; Works of Wyeherley, &>c. Buckle asserts as a " fact, notorious to those who have studied the subject, that there are more popular superstitions in Prussia, the most educated part of Germany, than there are in Eng- land ; and that the tenacity with which men cling to them is greater in Prussia than in England." — History of Civilisation, ch. v., n. g. Credulity. — Mais il n'est pas damne qui ne le croit. On dit com- munement quand on raconte quelque chose fort estrange (qu'on dit autrement incroyable). " Si je ne I'avois veu, je ne le croirois jamais." Par cette phrase et maniere de parler on dispense et excuse ceux qui ne I'ont veu de n'en croire rien, voire mesmes on les en persuade. Car en disant " Si je ne I'avois veu je ne le croirois pas" c'est autant qui diroit, " Je conseille ceux qui ne Font veu, de ne le croire pas." — Joubert, Er. Pop., L, iv. 7. 1579. Mr. Bagehot attributes great importance to the savage belief in lucky omens, and he explains their occurrence in this way. — " An expedition," he says, " fails when a magpie crosses its path, and a magpie is then supposed to be unlucky." Surely this is an inversion of the real process, and an inversion which again leads him to attribute exaggerated importance to mere chance. The case may be illustrated from his own anecdotes. Somebody told Scott to cure a disease by sleeping for a night 9 LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. on twelve smooth stones collected from twelve brooks. Does Mr. Bagehot suppose that this superstition originated in the accident that somebody had slept on twelve stones collected from twelve brooks and been cured accordingly ? How did an\ body come to think of collecting the stones and sleeping upon them ? Could such an accident possibly occur ? Obviously the superstition originated in a deductive, and not an inductive process. It was not the result of experiment, but an a priori theory derived from some notions as to the magic influence of the number twelve and of stones in brooks. Perhaps Scott's adviser had read Shakspeare, and fancied, like a good Presbyterian, that objects which included sermons must have a mysterious virtue ; or he had a shadowy recol- lection of the stones set up in Jordan, or some other fanciful association of ideas may have been derived from fifty other causes. But surely nothing can be plainer than that the association preceded the experiment, and indeed was the only reason for making an experiment of so arbitrary a character. The confusion of ideas depends upon the well- known law of the incapacity of an uncultivated mind to distinguish between objective and subjective impressions. Mr. Bagehot, when he was a boy, used to play loo ; and his childish companions found that a particular "fish" which was prettier than the others brought luck with it. Why ? Not because a boy who had that fish had won on a particular occasion, but because the pleasure of having a pretty fish was naturally associated with the pleasure of winning the game. The boys thought, like Mr. Bagehot, that a mysterious power called " luck " had a good deal to do in the world, and that when it meant to favour a boy it would give him a pretty fish as well as a good set of cards. Similarly, for some reason not now traceable, savages disliked magpies ; perhaps they are bad to eat or their cry suggests alarm ; and the unpleasant sensation produced by the flight of the bird suggested the unpleasant sensation of being defeated, which again, they fancied, might precede as well as follow, the actual occurrence of a defeat. Why, indeed, should they attend to magpies more than to a hundred other phenomena, except that they already had some associations with it ? The same thing is proved, if it needed proof, by the universality of certain superstitions. All rude nations are frightened by eclipses, and therefore all rude nations suppose eclipses to portend disaster. If they had argued on the matter they would have necessarily found as many eclipses preceding victories as preceding defeats ; and therefore their views of the meaning of an eclipse would probably have been equally divided. Mr. Bagehot imagines that some " Nestor of a savage tribe" remarked a coincidence, and that his authority gave popularity to the superstition founded upon it. There- fore he infers that "luck" played a great part in the world. The true process we take to be entirely different. Some obvious associations of ideas are suggested to all savage 10 FOLK LORE. good luck. tribes, and give birth to superstitions which bind the "Nestor" as well as his fellows. And the examination of this process leads to the discovery of a curious mental law, which is left unnoticed if we accept Mr. Bagehot's crude explanation. — Wr. Bagehot's "Physics and Politics," Saturday Revieiv, January i8th, 1873. Ex voTO OFFERINGS. — The custom and usage of men in old time was ... to hang up in the Temples Donaries, i.e. gifts, presents, or oblations, as agnisyng to be the only benefit of the gods that they had been preserved harmless. Therefore when to Diogenes . . . were showed the Jewells or oblations that sondrie persons having been from perishing in battaile, from dying in sicknesse, from being drowned and lost on the sea, or from any other great hazard preserved had offered up : " Yea," quoth Diogenes, " but there would be a moche greater number if all those persons which in like case have not been saved had offered up such gifts as these." — Udall, Evasm. Apoph., p. 149, repr. GOOD LUCK— GENERAL. Lucky. Large, wide, easy. Country tailors generally receive direc- tions to make their customers' clothes "brave and lucky." — Brockett, N. C. G. Kelly {Scot. Pvov.) has : " The lucky thing gives the penny," which he explains as "bulky." i.e. You can't have too much of a good thing. Holy water come and bring ; Cast in salt, for seasoning ; Set the brush for sprinkling : Sacred spittle bring ye hither ; Meal and it now mix together, And a little oil with either. Give the tapers here their light, Ring the saints'-bell, to affright Far from hence the evil sprite. Herrick, The Spell. [Hesp. 771.] cui quum Cereale sacerdos Imponit libum farraque mixta sale. Ovid, Fasti, i. 127. O'er hally (holy) was hanged, but rough and sonsie wan away. — Kelly, Scot. Prov. ' Happy-go-lucky. — B. and F., Wit without Money, iv. i. Better be sonsy than soon up. — Ramsay, Scot. Prov. Give a man fortune, throw him in the sea. — B. Jonson, Tale of Tub, iii. 4. Spae well and hae well. — Ramsay ; Kelly. Harm watch, harm catch. — Eng. Prov. Hap and halfpenny goods enough. — Ray, 1670. 11 GOOD LUCK. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Unhardy is unsely, as men saith, — Chau., Reves Tale, 290. For fortune blind such chance hath struck, The bigger knave, the greater luck. Poor Robin, March, 1710. What says Pluck, The greater knave, the better luck. Kelly, Scot. Prov. Fools are fortunate. — Eng. Prov. ; Lyly, Mother Bomhie, v. 3. Praise your luck at parting. — Porter, Tivo Angry Women; H., O.P.^ vii. 372. Bad luck often brings good luck. — Hazlitt, Prov. The properer man the worse luck.— Clarke, Paramiologia, 1639. The properer woman the worse luck. — J. Day, Isle of Gulls, ii. The better men, the worse luck. — A. Brome, The Cloivn. I see a fox and a false knave have all one luck, the better for banning, — Three Lords and Three Ladies of London; H., O.P., vi. 411. The expression, " Good luck," occurs in Psalms, xlv. 5 and cxxix. 8 (Prayer-book Version). A sudden lie hath best luck. — Lingua, i. 8. Nick Noddy hath the luck, when Well-a-day Wit lives in lack. Alelbancke, Pliilotimus, 214. 1583. To put some salt into all articles prepared for food. " Some people put a small quantity of salt into the first milk of a cow after calving that is given to anyone to drink. This is done with a view to prevent skaith, if it should happen that the person is not canny." — P. Killearn, [Stirling] Statis- tical Acct. of Scotland, xvi. 121. Salt was also put into holy water for a charm. Oath by bread and salt. — Gammer Gurton's Needle, v. 2. The THIRD TIME is always lucky. See Shak., Merry Wives of Windsor, V. i., 2. Three is aye sonsy. — Ramsay, Scot. Prov. A la terza Dio lo benedica. — Italian Prov., 1536. To have an old shoe thrown after you when setting out on im- portant business. — G. ; N., i. yt' ; Porter, Tzco Angry Women of Abington; llaz., O.P., vii. 302 ; Ilausted, Rival Friends, iii. 3rd Gipsy. (After the 2nd has predicted the Prince's marriage :) Hurl after an old shoe, I '11 be merry whate'er I do. Ben jonson, Masque of Metamorphosed Gipsies. Sailor setting out on voyage. I would I had an old shoe to throw at thy head (making love). — W. Rowley, A Shoemaker a Gentleman, ii ; Killigrew, Parson's Wedding, iv. 7. 12 FOLK LORE. good luck. Servant going to a new situation. — N., i. 7; Beau, and Fletc, Honest Man's Fortune, v. i ; Wildgoose Chase, ii. i. Now for good luck cast an old shoe after me. — Heywood, Dial., i- 9- To cast auld schone after an individual or after a company, an ancient superstitious mode of expressing a wish for the safety or prosperity of the person or party leaving a house. — Jamieson. For this thou shalt from all things suck Marrow of mirth and laughter, And wheresoe'er thou move, good luck Shall throw her old shoe after. Tennyson, Will Waterproofs Monologue. Philomusus. . . . We have sought all the honest means we could to live . . . our lodging stands here filthy [? fitly] in Shoe Lane, for if our comings in be not the better, London may shortly throw an old shoe after us. — Return from Parnassus, i. 4, 425. Carlo. Would I had one of Kemp's* shoes to throw after you. Punt. Good fortune will close the eyes of our jest, fear not. — B. Jonson, Every Man out of Hum., iv. 4, 42. * Kemp was a prosperous actor of the time. — Brathwait, Shepherd's Tales, Eel., ii. 1621. That ornaments in the shape of a vesica have been popular in all countries as preservatives against dangers, and espe- cially from evil spirits, can as little be questioned as the fact that they still retain some measure of their ancient popularity in England, where horseshoes are nailed to walls as a safeguard against unknown perils, where a shoe is thrown by way of good luck after newly married couples, and where the villagers have not yet ceased to dance round the INIaypole on the green. — Cox, Mythology of the Aryan Nations, II., ii. 12. To "set" hens' eggs odd: if set even, the chicks will not thrive. — Aubrey. And after sundown. — Gregor, 19/5/77. If a brood of chickens, turn out all cock-birds. — Trans. Devonsh. Assoc, ix. 89 ; Henderson. Among the wild Irish, to eat an odd egg endangered the death of their horse. — Memorable Things Noted in the Description of the World, p. 112. In tempo della covatura prendono la paglia per porla sotto le tacchine o galline che covano dal letto dei' maschj ; opinando che nascano piu galletti, poiche prendendola dal letto delle femmine pensano nascere piii galline. Par avere inoltre molti pulcini fanno covare le galline nel cappello del marito ; e perche dall'ovo nascano tutti Ii poUi maschj, si mettono prima le uova in seno ad un uomo, e poi si pongono sotto la chioccia nel Venerdi Santo : e se vogliano aversi piu maschi che femmine pongono giu le uova a tre a tre, dicendo, &c., &c. — PL, Mic, p. 133. 13 GOOD LUCK. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Subjici impari numero debent. — Plin., N. H., x. 75 ; Varro, De Re Rustica, iii. 9. Numerus ovorum quae subjiciuntur impar observatur, nee semper idem : nam primo tempore, id est, mense Januario quin- decim, nee unquam plura subjiei debent : Martio novem- decim nee his pauciora unum et viginti Aprili. — Columella. Concerning the number of eggs that your hens should sit upon, it is requisite that they should be odd and not always alike : in the winter time, as in January and February, the number must be 15 and no more, and toward the spring time, as in March or April, let your number be 19 and no less. — Fitzherbert, Book of Husbandly, IV., vii. 1598; also IV., XV,, xix., XXV. That hen-birds should be hatched, the eggs should be set by a woman in her chemise ; and wearing a maid's hat, to secure birds with crests (tappit birds). — Gr. ; 19/5/77. Dans le Perigord les femmes conservant quelques morceau de la buche de Noel (v., p. 61) pour la prosperite des poulets : et d'autres pensent qu'ils auront autant de poulets qu'il sort d'etineelles des tisons lorsqu'on les secoue.' — D. C. Pour que les couvoes reussissent on met du buis et du fer en erois sous les nids. — Mel., Franche Comte, p. 371. Games. About 70 years ago it was customary for the people in the counties of Kilkenny and Waterford to assemble from different baronies and parishes in order to try their strength and agility in kicking towards their respective houses a sort of monster football prepared with thread of wool and several feet in circumference. To whichever side it was carried the luck of the other was believed to be transferred. — Wilde, Pop. Irish Sup. In taking the pot off the fire, to stop at once the pothooks from vibrating. — Grose, Pop. Sup. The same mischievous Elves (Fairies) cannot enter into a house by night if before bedtime the lower end of the crook or iron chain by which a vessel is suspended over the fire be raised up a few links. — Letter from Prof. Play fair (St. Andrezn's) to Mr. Brand, Jan. 26, 1804. To have a black sheep — an omen of good luck to the flock where it is born. — (West Sussex) F. L. R., i. 8. More than one the reverse. — lb. Contrary to the idea prevailing in the Western Counties. — Mrs. Bray, Lett., xviii. To have a cricket on your hearth. — Chesnel, Diet. ; Bra. ; N. See Dickens, The Cricket on the Hearth. In Dumfries-shire it is a common superstition that if crickets forsake a house which they have long inhabited some evil will befall the family ; generally the death of some member 1-t FOLK LORE. good luck. is portended. In like manner the presence or return of this cheerful little insect is lucky, and portends some good to the family. — Sir W. Jardine, Naturalist's Library. Pliny, TV. H., Bk. 29, alludes to the curative powers of the cricket. Butler. My old master kept a good house for honest men, his tenants that brought him in part, and his son keeps a bad house with knaves that help to consume all. 'Tis but the change of time : why should any man repine at it .-' Crickets, good loving and lucky worms, were wont to feed, sing and rejoice in the father's chimney ; and now carrion crows build in the son's kitchen. — Miseries of Enforced Marriage ; Haz., 0. PL, ix. 521. O gentle crickets, to your airs I 've listened o'er and o'er. O lucky imps, where'er ye dwell That house is never poor. Wolcot, Orson and Ellen, Can. i. Cat. C'est un prejuge bien innocent de mettre un collier de liege aux chattes pour faire passer leur lait. — Rion. To have a black cat come into your house, and remain there. — N. Or a kitten. — (Lancashire) Harland and Wilkinson. At Scarborough, a few years back, sailors' wives liked to keep black cats in their homes to ensure the safety of their husbands at sea. But to have two black cats on shipboard is thought unlucky. — Henderson. Them that ever mind the world to win, Must have a black cat, a howling dog, and a crowing hen. Mrs. Lubbock, N. //., ii. Ci dwad a chath du. Si yn cadw'r gofid maes or tu. Welsh Pr. ; Wm. Howells, Cambn. Supns., 1831, p. 67. The Chinese consider a cat's coming to a house indicates approaching poverty. — Doolittle, ii. 328. To be followed by a beggar, and to relieve him. Pennyboy, Sen. Here he is and with him, what ?— a clapper dudgeon. That 's a good sign, to have the beggar follow him So near at his first entry into fortune. B. Jon., 5. of News, ii. Dor. Little did I hope To meet such worlds of comfort in thyself. This little pretty body, Avhen I, coming Forth of the temple, heard my beggar-boy. My sweet-faced, godly beggar-boy crave an alms, Which with glad hand I gave, with lucky hand. Mass., Vir. Mar., ii. i. 15 GOOD LUCK. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Ask blessing, though you never mean to use it, But give 't away presently to a beggar-wench. Middleton, No Wit like a Woman's, iv. i. How cheap are good prayers ! a poor penny buys That by which man up in a minute flies And mounts to heaven. — Rowley, New Wonder, iv. Marry, if they had used venery with a beggar, they should win all the money they played for that day at dice. — Scot, Discovery of Witchcraft, xi. 15. Spurio. Indeed I am a beggar. Dtichess. That 's the more sign you 're great. Tourneur, Rev. Trag., i. To be followed by a strange dog. — Connoisseur, No. 59. One coming to and staying at your house is an omen of wealth. — (Chinese) Doolittle, ii. 328. To have rooks build near your house. — F. ; East Anglia. To have a white pigeon rest on the window-sill of your house. — Miss M. To have a magpir perch on your roof shows stability of house. — (W. Sussex) F. L. R., i. 8. To have a stork settle on your housetop. Preserves against fire. — Collin de Plancy. Where storks abide, no mother dies in throes. — N., ii. The storke, wreker of advoutrie. — Chau., Ass. of Foules, 361. The stork breeds in chimney-tops, and was fabled to forsake the place if the man or wife of the house committed adultery. Dyce's note; Bowdich, Ess., p. 17. The vulture is sacred in Egypt and Ashanti for the same reason, and the hyaena in the latter. So certain dogs in Cairo and Constantinople still are. One reason for their sacredness was their usefulness as scavengers. See Italian Relation of England (Camden Soc), xxxvii. p. 11, and note, p. 62. And in some land Corno-do men do them call, And some affirm that such folke have no gal*. Lydgate, Fallof Prynces, B. ii. leaf Ivi., Ed. Wayland. * ? Su. G. gall, testiculus. — Jamieson ; Wolroun. We may not wel forego The countring of the co* ; The stork also, That maketh his nest In chimneys to rest. Within those walls No broken gailes May there abyde Of cokoldry syde, Or els philosophy Maketh a great lye. Skelton, Philip Sparroiv, 460. * Jackdaw. 16 FOLK LORE. good luck. La croyance populaire lui attribue de defendre rhonnear du mari, en attaquant vigoreusement a coups de bee et d'ailes les adorateurs de sa femme. — (Dutch) Chesnel, Diet. Ladybird, La petite bete de la Vierge porte toujour quelque bonheur a qui la trouve, mais prise a St. Jean (June 24) elle protege pendant une annee centre divers maux de tete et dents. — Coremans, Belgique. To see ladybirds forebodes good luck. — (Dutch) T. N. M., iii. 328. To have a swarm of bees settle on you, or a ladybird. Strange swarm settle in your garden or to find one. — (W. Sussex) F. L. R„ i. To have swallows or martins build in the eaves and chimneys. If in the corner of the bedroom window, so much the better. It is considered particularly lucky if the same birds return to the spot in successive seasons. — D. C. ; Hone, Ev. D, Bk. The Chinese believe their coming to and building in a new place is an omen of prosperity. — J. Doolittle, Social Life of the Chinese, New York, 1867, vol. ii., p. 328. In Ireland, on the contrary, the swallow is called the Devil's bird by the vulgar, who hold that there is a certain hair on every one's head which, if a swallow can pick off, the man is doomed to eternal perdition. — Whately, Miscs. Remains. Les cultivateurs, par une, innocente superstition voient avec plaisir I'hirondelle faire son nid dans une etable : le fait est qu'elle se nourrit volontiers de moucherons qui incommo- dent les bestiaux. — Rion. \s soon as you are risen, ruffle the bedclothes ; leave not the print of the pot in the ashes ; receive not a swallow into your house ; never step over a besom ; nor keep in your house creatures that have hooked claws. For these pre- cepts of the Pythagoreans, the Tuscans only, as he said, carefully observe. — Plutarch, Symposiacs, viii. 7 ; PlutavcKs Morals, reprint, 1870, iii. 419. Myrtle. In speaking to a person the other day of the difficulty which I had always found to get a slip of myrtle to grow, she directly accounted for my failure by observing that perhaps I had not spread the tail (or skirt) of my dress and looked PROUD during the time that I was planting it. This I found to be a popular belief. — Athenaum, Feb. 5, 1848. To have a flowering myrtle at your window. — (Somerset) N., i. 7. Women who sow flax-seed should, during the process, tell some confounded lies, otherwise the yarn will never bleach white. — iV., v., xii. (American.) For your cabbages to grow double, i.e. with two shoots from one root, or " lucker," that is, with the leaves open, instead of closing into a stock or heart. — Henderson. VOL. n. 17 3 GOOD LUCK. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Fairy butter (Tramella arborea or albida). A fungous excrescence from wood, supposed to be made in the night and scattered about by the fairies. When met with in houses it is reckoned lucky. — Brockett, N. C. Gl. ; Atkinson, Cleveland Dial., 169. The visit of a lunatic or an idiot to anyone is regarded as a fortunate omen. — N., iii. (Poitou.) Bring luck to parents. — Gr. Many odd sayings which emanated from parish idiots were traditionary in parish localities. — Ramsay, Anecdotes of Scotland, p. 188, ed. 1872. So we say : "A fool's hansel is lucky." — B. Jon., Bart. Fair, ii. i. Goldsmith was called an inspired idiot. But the Egyptians pay a superstitious reverence not to imagi- nary beings alone : they extend it to certain individuals of their own species ; and often to those who are justly the least entitled to such respect, as is the case also in Switzer- land. An idiot or fool is vulgarly regarded by them as a being whose mind is in heaven, while his grosser part mingles amongst ordinary mortals, consequently he is considered an especial favorite of heaven. . . . Lunatics who are dangerous to society are kept in confinement, but those who are harmless are generally regarded as saints. Most of the reputed saints of Egypt are either lunatics, idiots, or impostors. — Lane, Modern Egyptians, c. x. To have children on board ship (Sea). Their innocence a supposed protection. To keep the house on the evening before taking a journey. Ne pas sortir de chez soi la veille d'un voyage que Ton a a faire, de crainte qu'il ne soit pas heureux. — Thiers, i. 268. To drink the first thing in the morning. First draught. Is not the first morning's draught mine ? — Brome, A Mad Couple, ii. I. Prithee, let me intreat thee now to drink Before thou wash. Our fathers, that were wise, Were wont to say 'twas wholesome for the eyes. G. Wither, Abuses Stript and Whipt (Vanitie). Valeria. A plague upon these dice ! Another health ; 'sfoot, I shall have no luck Till I be drunk. — Chapman, All Fools, v. i. Send thee good luck with 't [earnest money] and go drunk to bed. — Rowley, Match at Midnight, ii. Drinking in morning. Mane bibendo, nocte studendo, perdis ocellos ; Da mihi, quaeso, pocula sero, mane libellos. The tavern is open before the church. — Barclay, Ship of Fools, ii. 176. There one drinketh fasting, without discretion ; Another devoureth, drinking out his iyen. — lb., 177. IS FOLK LORE. good luck. The luck of drunkenness seems to have been the benefit of the vomit. Galen counsels two vomits a month for the sake of health— Bullein, B. of Def. Drunkenness would seem to have been thought lucky from the proverb, " God takes care of drunken men, and children ; " and Browne, Vulgar Errouvs, V., xxiii., combats the belief that it is good to be drunk once a month [for the vomit]. Hippocrates advised men to get drunk once a month. Cogan, {Hav. of Health, 1596, p. 212) ascribes this doctrine to an Arabian physician (? Avicenna). See notes to Schol. Salem. To be drunk sick, which erst did credit win. Was fear'd infectious, and held worse than sin. Taylor (W. P.), The Fearful Summer, 1625. They that are daily guests at the devil's table know the fashions of his court : they must be drunk at the entrance. It is one of his laws and a physic-bell of hell that they must not wash till they have drunk. — T. Adams, Works, p. 175. 1629. Firke. O, master, is 't you that speak bandog and Bedlam this morning ? 1 was in a dream and mused what mad- man was got into the street so early. Have you drunk this morning, that your throat is so clear ? Eyre. Ah, well said, Firke ; well said, Firke ; to work, my fine knave, to work ; wash thy face and thou 'It be more blest. Firke. Let them wash my face that will eat it, good master ; send for a souse-wife if you will have my face cleaner. — Dekker, Shoemaker's Holiday. Our grandfathers, and they were wondrous wise, Did wash their throats before they wash'd their eyes. Ray, 1670. Our fathers, which were wondrous wise. Did wash their throats before they wash'd their eyes. — lb. This washing (or wetting) of the eyes seems to have been a cant phrase for " liquoring up," as piping was for some- thing else. B. Jonson {Sad Shepherd, ii. 2) speaks of washing the eyes before piping. Before we part fill to the pot, Wash t'other eye and then we '11 try Whether man or death be stronger. Alex. Brome, Songs, ii. 23. I am the Hunt which rathe and early rise. My bottle fiU'd with wine in any wise ; Two draughts I drink to stay my steps withal, For each foot one, because I would not fall. G. Gascoigne, Art of Vcnerie, 1575 {The Huntsman's Blazon). 19 GOOD LUCK. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Lively. Quickly, some sack : I have not yet baptized Mine eyes this morning as I used to do. P. Hausted, Rival Friends, i. 7. 1632. This was called the morning's berry. — Lodge, Wifs Mis., p. 35. To TUMBLE UP stairs. — G. A misfortunate man, ready to break his neck going up stairs. — Torriano, Ital. Py., 1666. Miss {after falling doivn and being chaffed for it). Well, remember this, Colonel, when I have money and you have none. — S., P.C, i. If she stumbles as she is running upstairs, [she] imagines she shall go to church with her sweetheart before the week is at an end. — Connoisseur, No. 56. To MEET a squinting person of the opposite sex. — N., ii. And have one attend on'you. — Miss M. A flock of sheep. It is lucky to part them. — (Devon) N., v. A sow with pig. — Hampson, i. 385. If you meet a flock of sheep, it is lucky to part them. — (Devon) N., V. 2. II nous arrivera du bonheur, si nous rencontrons le matin une femme ou une fille debauchee ou qui marche la tete nue, un loup, une cigale, une chevre, ou un crapaut. — Thiers, Tv., I. 184. Ou si Ton s'entretient de choses deshonnetes, ou que Ton pense a des femmes debauchees quand on va a la chasse. — Ih., i. 183. In Ceylon a white man or a woman with child are looked upon as omens particularly fortunate. — Percival's Ceylon, 2nd Ed., 1805, p. 210. To WASH your face before killing anything. — N., i. Host. Trust me, I had rather Take a fair halter, wash my hands and hang him Myself, make a clear riddance of him, than . B. Jon., New Inn, i. i. Pilate took water and washed his hands, and said : ** I am innocent of the blood of this person." — Matt., xxvii. 24. Whence probably arose our phrase, "To wash your hands of" a disagreeable business. To WASH the hands after milking. — B. E. Else the cows will be dried. Wash your hands, or else the fire Will not teend to your desire : Unwasht hands, ye Maidens, know, Dead the fire, though ye blow. Herrick, Hesp., 788. To SLEEP upon a bed which stands with its foot towards the East. — Popular Stiperstitions, Philadelphia [1832]. 20 FOLK LORE. good luck. To SLEEP with your head and feet lying North and South. The natives of Whydah will not sleep with the head towards the sea. — Duncan, Travels in Westeyn Africa, i. 193. 1847. Who to the North or South doth set His bed, male children shall beget. — Herrick. See an amusing story, N. &> Q., I., xii. 489. To rise from bed on the right hand side. — B. ; Hom.,//m^, Q, 312. B. and F., Custom of Country, iv. 3 ; Draxe, Bib. SchoL, 1633 ; Marston, What you Will, v. i. If you get out on the wrong side, you will be in a bad temper all day. Will lose your way. — Ben. Jon., Talc of a Tub, iv. 3. C. What ! doth she keep house already ? D. Already. C. O, good God ! we rose on the right side to-day. Terence in English, by R[ichard] B[ernard], Phormio, v. 3. (Camb. 4to. 1588.) Alphonso. Sure I said my pray'rs, ris'd on my right side, Wash'd hands and eyes, put on my girdle last ; Sure I met no splea-footed baker. No hare did cross me, nor no bearded witch Nor other ominous sign. Lewis Machin, The Dumb Knight, iv. (1633.) Soto. Are you sure he has not hit me ? It gave a monstrous bounce. Claiidio. You rose o' your right side And said your prayers too, you had been paid else. Fletcher, Women Pleased, i. Yoxx rise on your right side to-day, marry. — Marston, What you Will, Rb, 1 6s3- 1 'm always by my betters led, I last get up and first a-bed ; Tho' if I rise before my time The learned in sciences sublime Consult the stars and thence foretell Good luck to those with whom I dwell. Swift, Riddles {The Posteriors). It must not be forgotten that the miraculous draft of fishes was taken when Peter had let down the net on the right side of the ship. — Ltcke, v. 7. Rising from bed. T. Adams, p. 1164. Idleness {tvho has been cosened and beaten) : A-mumming, quoth you : why this gear will not settle , Either I rose on my left side to-day or I piss'd on a nettle. Marriage of Wit and Wisdom (Shak. Soc), p. 3c. Stipes. Go to, go to : 'tis an ill wind that blows nobody good, cry I ; sure I rose o' th' right side to-day. — P. Hausted, Rival Friends, iv. 6. 1632. 21 GOOD LUCK. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. With many a sobbing sigh and scalding tear he wrested forth the tedious night, in hope that . . . his rising should be on the right side on that day [to meet his mistress]. — Grange, Gold. Aph., D. iii. c. It hapt the on the right syde to chose me umpere. — Horm., Vulg., 205. How happily rose I on my right side to-day, or blessed me well as 1 came forth of doors. — Palsg., AcoL, M. 3. 1540. Eiit. This man this day rose with his arse upwards. — Tinion, i. 4, 1600 (Shak. Soc). Lady A. Well, she had good luck to draw Tom Plump into wedlock : she ris with her arse upwards. — S., P.C., iii. See, however, Montluc, Covi. des Prov., i. 5, 161 1 ; Vous vous etes levee le cul le premier, vous estes bien engrognfee. And thus with joy he doth embrace his bride, Holding himself risen on right side. S. Rowland, Good News and Bad News, C. 2. 1622. To get out of bed (without premeditation) backwards. — Congreve, Love for Love, ii. 2 ; Bra. To have the Bishop's right hand at Confirmation. — (Devon) N., i. 6 ; Horn., Iliad, Q, 672 ; Ovid, Metam., vi. vii. In the North of England those who receive the left hand are considered to be doomed on the spot to celibacy. — Hn. So the priest joins the right hands of the man and woman in wedlock. — K. When two persons are driving a bargain, one holds out his right hand and says: "Strike me!" If the other strike, the bargain holds : whence " Striking a bargain." Accipimus sacra data pocula dextra. — Ovid, Metam., xiv. 276. A phrase now there is which belongeth to your shopboard, that is, to make love, and when I shall hear of what fashion it is made, if I like the pattern, you shall cut me a partlet, so as you cut it not with a pair of left-handed shears. — Lyly, Eup. and his England, p. 290. Neir India il sedersi sulla coscia sinistra d'un uomo e segno di volerlo fare suo sposo ; il sedersi invece sulla coscia destra, e proprio de ifigli e delle nuore. — De Gubernatis, Mahahharata, vol. i., 3^73-3875- See On use of right and left hands. — Browne, Viilg. Er., B. iv. c. 5. Quando mietono tengono legato il braccio stanco con una gamba di grano, ossia paglia, all'articolazione della mano col braccio stesso, e credono con cio che non si gonfi ad essi la mano. — Mich. Placucci, p. 173. So : Scseva res, an unlucky thing. 22 FOLK LORE. good luck. The meaning which such words as " dextrous " and " sinister " have come to bear, shows the force of our prejudice on this subject. Is it not absurd to have so great a care of the right hand of the child to cut his meat, that if he handle his knife in the left hand we rebuke him severely, and not to be secure of his nurture in discipline and learning? — Lyly, Euph., 133. Salutation on rising from bed. Among all the wild men that run up and down in this wide forest of fools, the world, none are more superstitious than those notable Ebritians the Jews, yet a Jew never wears his cap threadbare with putting it off, never bends in the hams with casting away a leg; never cries "God save you!" though he sees the devil at your elbow. Play the Jews therefore in this, and save thy lips that labour. — Dekker, Gull's Hornbook, ch. ii. This is ironically said, following his prototype. Fried. Dede- kindus, who in his Grohianus et Grobiana, De Moviim Simplicitate, Franc, 1549, ch. i,, says: " Gens sine mane suos Hebrsea salutet amicos, Quam tenet implicitam multa superstitio." If you MAKE YOUR BED AT BEDTIME you will look fair in the morning. — Forby, E. Ang. This is in support, probably, of the healthy custom of leaving the bed unmade during the day, when, the bedclothes being turned down, it becomes thoroughly aired. Careful house- wives are too fond of smoothing everything into shape as soon as the bed is quitted, " for the sake of appearances." First the feet and then the head. And then you 're sure of a tidy bed. Dorset Long Ago, ii. 14. To GIVE once in your life a new pair of shoes to a poor person. Otherwise, you will have to travel barefoot after death. — Job, xxxi. ig, 20 ; G. When any dieth, certaine women sing a song to the dead bodie, reciting the journey that the partye deceased must goe; and they are of beliefe (such is their fondnesse) that once in their lives it is good to give a pair of new shoes to a poor man, for as much as after this life they are to pass barefoot through a great launde full of thornes and furzen, except, by the meryte of the almes aforesaid, they have redemed the forfeyte ; for at the edge of the launde, an oulde man shall meet them with the same shoes that were given by the partie when he was lyving ; and after he hath shodde them, dismisseth them to go through thick and thin without scratch or scalle. — Cotton MS., Julius F., vi. 459. Shoes. The gift of them prolonged the giver's Hfe. Does this refer to " Waiting for dead men's shoes " ? 23 GOOD LUCK. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. So natural 'tis for either old or young, For rich or poor to covet to live long, That all the shoes that in their shop they have They 'd freely give to keep them from the grave. Poor Robin Progn., 1737. To DRAW THE FIRST BLOOD, i.e. to be the first to draw blood in a FIGHT. Who spills the foremost foeman's life, His party conquers in the strife. Scott, Lady of the Lake, v. 13. I '11 fight with the next man I meet, and it be but for luck's sake. — Porter, Tu)o Angry Women; H., O.P., vii. 355. To SPIT in your hands before commencing a fight. — P. ; Ay. ; B. A . O. Your salt and brinish tears they need not in this case ; for if I have anointed your palms with hope, spit on your hands and take good hold. — Grange, Gold. Aphr., H. i. r. 1577. Spit in your hand and to your other proofs. — The Troublesome Raigne of King fohn. Quidem vero aggravant ictus ante conatum simili modo saliva in manu ingesta. — Plin., N. H., xxviii. 7. It tightens the grip of the fist, and for the same reason the labourer spits in his palm before grasping his tool. Country boys and fellows (I believe all England over) when they prepare themselves to go to cufts [boxes], before they strike they do spit in their hands for good luck to their endeavours. — Ay. I remember, when a person in a declining condition recovers and is likely to live longer, it is a proverb to say of him that he has spit in his hands and will hold out the other year. — (Kent) K. To spit in your right shoe before you put it on. — B. ; Plin,, N. H., xxviii. 7. Inter amuleta est, editae quemque urinae inspuere : similiter in calceamentum dexteri pedis antequam induatur : item quum quis transeat locum in quo aliquod periculum adierit. — lb. Travellers and recruits will spit upon a stone and then throw it away to ensure a prosperous journey. — H. W. To spit when you smell a bad odour. To dress the hair by brushing it upwards. Some take it for fysyke to kombe their heare upward fro the forehead to the crowne. — Horm., Vulg., 39, 15. In the morning at a temperate fire kembe your head backward, cleanse your body and head of all superfluities.-- Sir T. Elyot, C. of Health, 93. 1541. To SNEEZE to the right after noon, and at the beginning of a repast. — B. ; Aristotle, Probl. 333, Qtiivst. 11. 24 FOLK LORE. good luck. Whoever sneezes at an early hour either hears some news or receives some present the same day. — N., V,, xii. Chi a diguino ha starnutato sara nel giorno regalato. — D. G. To FOLLOW THE sun's COURSE in all you do, East to West by South — right to left. (Deasil — Deas, right hand ; Syl, the sun. — Celt.). Observed at weddings, funerals ; in pledging, and passing the bottle ; dealing cards. The Highlander rows his boat sunwise at setting out, to bring luck [and so turns her when launched stern foremost. — Gr., 26/5/77], ^^d makes a circuit, O) before entering the water in bathing. — Stat. Acct. Perthshire in 7772, ii., p. 15, xi. 621. And round the church after the marriage ceremony.— D. ; Stat. Acct. Logierait, v. 83. And baptisms. — Pennant, Tonv in 1769, p. 3. Round the bride to salute her after the wedding — round a grave before depositing the coffin. — J. F. Campbell, T. of West Highlands, Postscript, IIL The Orientation of churches is probably derived from this. Swed. Raettsyles. B. Knt. A happy omen waits upon this hour, All move portentously the right-hand way. Middleton, Game at Chess, v. i ; and see his No Wit, no help like a woman's, (end). If an invalid goes out to walk for the first time and makes a circuit, this circuit must be Avith the sun : if against the sun, there will be a relapse. — Ht. If a person's meat or drink were to affect the windpipe or come against his breath, they instantly cry out " Deisheal ! " which is an ejaculation praying that it may go by the right way. — P. Callander, \_Pcrthshire,'] Stat. Acct. Scot., xi. 621. In adorando dexteram ad osculum referimus, totumque corpus circumagimus ; quod in laevum fecisse Galliae religiosius credunt. — Plin., Hist. N., xxviii. 5. We still kiss our right hands out of respect, and make a leg. — Ay. Old Highlanders still make the deazil round those to whom they wish well. — Hn. ; Stat. Acct. Scot., [Kirkwall,'] vii. 560. Ingenio. One that goes to a play, to a whore, to his bed in a circle. — The Return from Pernassiis (1606), iii. 4. Cuir an gloine thark far dheas. Send round the glass to the South or right hand. Aghaidh gach nidh fa dheas. The front of everything to the South. The ploughman turns his horse's head so when yoking him. — Ulster four. Arch., ix. 22. The Llama monk whirls his praying cylinder in the way of the sun, and fears lest a stranger should get at it and turn it contrary, which would take from it all the virtue it had acquired. They also build piles of stone and always pass 25 GOOD LUCK. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. them on one side and return on the other, so as to make a circuit with the sun. Mahomedans make the circuit of the Caaba in the same way. The ancient dagobas of India and Ceylon were also traversed round in the same way, and the old Irish and Scotch custom is to make all movements Deisual, or sun-wise, round houses and graves, and to turn their bodies in this way at the beginning and end of a journey for luck, as well as at weddings and other cere- monies. — Wm. Simpson, Meeting the Sun, 1874. M. Du Camp, speaking of the slaughter of animals in the Abbatoir by the Jewish butchers, says : " Je ne sais si c'est un effet du hasard, mais les animaux que j'ai vu sacrifier etaient tons tournos du cote de I'Est, direction ideale vers laquelle tant de religions inclinent a leur insu et sous differents pretextes, comme si elles se souvenaient encore des cultes solaires." — Paris, ses Organes, S'C, ii. log. When your hops are grown about one or two foot high, bind up (with a rush or a grass) such as decline from the poles, winding them as often about the same poles as you can, and directing them always according to the course of the sun. — Reynolde Scot, A Perjitc Platform of a Hopgarden, 1578, p. 26. WiDDERSHiNS. The contrary way (to the sun's course). — Teut.: Wedersyns, contrario modo. — Kilian, Ety. Teut. Lin. To walk Widdershins. i.e. [as the weather shines. — Halliwell, Arch, and Prov. Dic.^ the contrary way to the sun's course. See Jamieson, Scot. Diet. Leave thee, leave thee, I '11 never leave thee. The stars shall gang widdershins ere I deceive thee. Tea-Table Miscellany. This was the manner in which witches and warlocks approached the devil. — Satan's Invisible World, p. 14. Abasit I wox and widdirsynnis stert my hare. — Dougl., Verg., h. 4, 32. When thou wishest ill, Corn, man, or beast would'st spoil or kill. Turn thy back against the sun, And mumble this short orison. Ford, Witch of Edmonton, ii. i. The Keeldar Stone, a huge, heather-crowned fragment of rock on the confines of Jedburgh Forest and Northumberland, marks the spot where the chieftain Cout passed the border on his last, fatal expedition, and it is still considered unlucky to ride three times " withdershins" {i.e. contrary to the sun) round it. — Murray, Handbook to Northumberland. See Scott, Bord. Minst., 7. Quhyll we were past our hair stude widdershins. — Montgomery, Poems, p. 238. 26 FOLK LORE. good luck. Togo against the sun is "andsocles" in Icelandic [Swedish, andsyles. — J.]. The prejudice existed very strongly in Iceland in ancient times. According to the Vatnsdocla Saga, a woman by going against the sun round a house and waving a cloth, brought down a landslip against the bouse. This was about a.d. 990. ... I have heard in Yorkshire that if you walk three times round the room against the sun at midnight and in perfect darkness, and then look in the glass, you will see the devil's face leering out of it at you. Again, on All Souls' Day (I believe), if two people walk round the room at midnight and in dark- ness, going contrary ways, they will never meet : one of the two will have been spirited away. — S. B. G. in Hen, As it was supposed that witches always acted in contrariety to the laws of nature, we hear of their going thrice withershins* round a thing to render it subject to their power. — Edin. Mag., 1820, p. 533. * Nine times. — Montgomery, Poems, p. 118. An old cottager in Morayshire, who had long been bed-rid, was charitably visited by a neighbouring lady, much given to the administration of favorite medicines. One day she left a bolus for him from which she expected strengthening effects, and she called the next day to enquire for her patient, as usual. " Well, John, you would take the medecine I left for you ? " " Oh, no, Ma'am," replied John ; " it wadna gang East." The Scotch, it must be understood, are accustomed to be precise about the "airts*," or cardinal points, and generally direct you to places in that way. He had the habit of lying with his face Westwards. — Chambers, Booh of Days [i. 733]. * Airthir, Erse. *' In our mysteries " (saith Jerome), *' we first renounce him that is in the West who dies to us with our sin ; and then turning about to the East, we make a covenant with the sun of righteousness and promise to be his servants." — Bingham, Christian Antiq., i. 517, ed. Bohn, and p. 654. Facing the sun. *' There 's luck," says auld Lizzy, " in facin' the sun, Thou's young, lish, and clever — may wed a feyne leady And come home a nabob — aye, sure as a gun." Westmoreland and Ctimherland Dialect, p. 256. Orientation of churches. Capt. Silas Taylor says that in days of yore, when a church was to be built, they watched and prayed on the vigil of the dedication, and took that point of the horison where the sun arose for the East, which makes that variation so that few stand true except those built between the two Equinoxes. I have experimented some churches, and have found the Hne to point to that part of the horizon where 27 GOOD LUCK. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. the sun rises on the day of that Saint to whom the church is dedicated. — J. Aubrey, A''. Wilts; MS. Coll. in Ashnolean Mus., Oxford; Antiqu. Report, iv. 72; and see Alex, ab Alex., Genial Dier., iv. 7; Polyd. Vergil, De Invent. Rerum, V. 9. Pineda observes that in the time of Pope Leo IIL (who depre- cated the continuance of the Pagan custom of sun-worship) the custom of building churches and worshipping towards the East was not observed. -In Job, xxxi. 26. Cf. Deiit^ iv. ig, xxii. 3; Ezekiel, viii. 16. Surgit, et aetherei spectans orientia Solis Lumina rite cavis undam de flumine palmis Sustulit,-'' ac tales effundit ad ffithera voces. Virgil, ^neid, viii. 68. * [Sustinet, sec Conington. — Ed.] Illi ad surgentem conversi lumma Solem Dant fruges manibus salsas. — Id., xii. 172. His Dea placanda est ; hsec tu conversus ad ortus Die quater. — Ovid, Fasti, iv. 777. To put a GARMENT on (inadvertently) wrong side out. — B. The luck only follows on its being changed to right. The same young lady one morning came down to breakfast with her cap the wrong side out ; which her mother observing, charged her not to alter it all the day for fear she should turn luck. — Connoisseur, No. 59. He that receiveth a mischance will consider whether he met not a cat or a hare when he went first out of his doors in the morning, or stumbled not at the threshold at his going out, or put not on his shirt the wrong side outwards, or his left shoe on his right foot (which Augustus Caesar reputed for the worst luck that might befall). — Reg. Scot, Discovery of Witchcraft, xi. 15. 1651. To put on your stocking inside out. — Bra. ; Congreve, Love for Love^ ii. 2. Changing it alters the luck. Recevra dans la journee un conseil. — Chesnel, Diet. Buttoning the coat awry or drawing on a stocking inside out causes matters to go wrong during the day. — (American) N., V. xii. To take off a garment when setting about a thing. Tailhy {thyounng at dice against company). I never have any luck, gentlemen, till my doublet 's off. I 'm not half nimble enough. — Middleton, Your Five Gallants, ii. Inscription over door. A poysee* or word of good luck. — Udall, Er, Ap., p. 107. * Posy. To have a present inaugurated to its use by the hand of the donor. — Dickens, Bleak House. 28 FOLK LORE, good luck Cf. T. Heywood, Golden Age, iv. Jupiter arriving at Danae's door, tells the Clown, his man, to ring the bell ; but he answers: "Nay, do you take the rope in hand for luck's sake. The moral is because you shall ring all in," alluding to the nature of Jupiter's visit. Saying prayers. Robin Goodjellow. How sped you with your wench ? Chuvms. I would the wench were at the devil. A plague upon 't, I never say my prayers, and that makes me have such ill luck. — Wily Beguiled; H., O.P., ix. 289. Ilford. Sure I have said my prayers and lived virtuously of late that this good fortune's befallen me. Look, gallants, I am sent for to come down to my father's burial. — Miseries of Enforced Marriage; H., O.P., ix. 332. ANAGRAM(-mancie). Cette divination se fait en cherchant dans le changement des lettres d'un nom propre, un mot qui indique un evenement ; conime Andre Pujon qui offre Pendu a Rion. — Peignot, A musemens Philologigues. Item, a gulling imprese for you at tilt, Item, your mistress' anagram in your hilt. Item, your own sew'd in your mistress' smock. Ben Jonson, Epig., Ixxiii. To have the initials of your name spell a word. Stretching the limbs. Yawning. Only remember that so soon as thy eyelids be unglued thy first exercise must be, either sitting upright on thy pillow, or rarely lolling at thy body's whole length, to yawn, to stretch and to gape wider than any oyster-wife, for thereby thou dost not only send out the lively spirits like vaunt couriers to fortify and make good the uttermost parts of thy body, &c. — Dekker, GiUVs Hornbook, ch. ii., following Dedekindus, Grobianns, ch. i. (both are ironical). Non habet exiguas quoque pandiculatio vires, Si medicos par est credere vera loqui. Accidit ex longo nervos torpere sopore, Atque male officii manus obire sui Excitat hos certo tibi pandiculatio motu Utere : nee moros dedecet ilia tuos. John Wesley believed that " Hysterical laughter and that laughter which is as contagious as the act of yawning when the company are in tune for it, to be the work of the Devil." — Life, by Southey, ii. 354. To bite off with the mouth the first daisy of the year, not to pluck it with the fingers. — JV., iv. To throw ROSE-LEAVES on the fire. — (Scotland) Na. 29 GOOD LUCK. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. To have the first word with a stranger coming into the harvest-field. — (Orkney.) To see the head of the first lamb [or colt. — Noake, p. 167] you meet in Spring before the tail. It should be looking East- wards. Unlucky to see the tail first. — N., i. ; H. W. To see the foal in advance of its dam when first meeting them. — (Scotland) C. In the Highlands it is reckoned lucky to see a foal, calf, or lamb for the first time with the head towards the observer. — C. The first plough should be seen approaching the observer. —(Scotland) Na. Sit and see the swallow flee, Gang and hear the gowk yell, See the foal afore its minnie's ee, And luck that year will fa' thyself. Mactaggart, Gall. Enc. In Scotland it is accounted fortunate to be seated when we see the FIRST SWALLOW in Spring, to be walking when we first hear the cuckoo, and to see for the first time in the year a foal going before the eyes of its dam. — C. Is it not rather the attitude in autumn with reference to the swallow ? Gang an' hear the gowk yell, Sit an' see the swallow flee. See the foal before its mither's ee, 'Twill be a thriving year wi' thee. To see a black lamb first with its rump towards you is unlucky. — Ulster Journal of Archc^ologv, ix. 227. To CATCH A FALLING LEAF. Will have twelvc months' continued happiness. — (W. Sussex) F. L. R., i. g. To seize a black snail by its horns and toss it over the left shoulder. — H. W. If you fling it over the right shoulder, you will bring down ill luck. — Hn. To hang up a corn-stalk over the looking-glass [on the mantel- piece]. — (Scotland) Na. New corn. When the poor get a loaf from the flour of new corn, the first who gets it gives a mouthful, as they say, to his or her neighbour, and they fill their mouths as full as they can in order not to want bread before the harvest comes round again. — (Devon) Mrs. Bray. To have a fly fall into your drinking-glass. — (Scotland) N., i. 12. A fly out of his glass a guest did take. Ere with the liquor he his thirst would slake. When he had drunk his fill again, the fly Into the glass he put, and said, " Though I Love not flies in my drink, yet others may Whose humour I not like, nor will gainsay." — Mus. Del., ii. 30 FOLK LORE. good luck. Host. Here your master And you have been this fortnight recovering of dead flies with crumbs, Another quaint conclusion in the physics Which I have seen you busy at thro' the keyhole — But never had the fate to see a fly Alive in your cups, or once heard, " Drink, mine host," Or such a cheerful, chirping charm come from you. B. Jonson, New Inn, i. i ; see ii. 2. To have drink spilled over you. — Bra.; Mason, Anatomy of Sorcerie, 161 2, p. 90, That if the beer fall next a man it is a sign of good luck. — Melton. All liquids spilled on the ground are supposed to go to the use of the fairies. — Stewart, Pop. Sup. of Highlys., 124. Huffle. So you will name no Spaniard, I will pledge you. Tipto. I rather choose to thirst, and will thirst ever, Than leave that cream of nations uncried up : hini.'\ Perish all wine and gust of wine. [Throws the wine at Huffle. How ? spill it ? Spill it at me ? Tipto. I reck not, but I spilt it. B. Jonson, New Inn, iv. 2. Bring good luck in drinking (Praepoto). Ill luck or chance (Obscoeno). — Huloet. Nice. 'Tis a good sign to have wine spilt in one's lap. — S. S., Honest Lawyer, \v. 1616. Le vin respandre est bon signe le sel verse mauvaise omine. In Nunez, Refvanes, 1555. Lazarillo. But if you can bring all those females into one ring, into one private place, I will read a lecture of discipline to their most honorable ears, wherein I will teach them so to carry their white bodies, either before their husbands or before their lovers, that they shall never fear to have milk thrown in their faces, nor I wine in mine when I come to sit upon them in courtesy. — Middleton, Blurt Mr. Const., ii. 2. See Shirley, Gamester, ii. To drink success to a project. Clarke. Come, sir, before we go any further, here 's one brimmer to your better fortune. \_Drinks.'] Faith, sir, you have the worst luck of any man living — loose eleven games together and never turn stake ! Why, you don't drink malt, man. Unless you ply the glass with better courage, you '11 never win a game at one-and-thirty. — Woman Turned Bully, iv. 3. 31 GOOD LUCK. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Wellborn. Nay, all 's forgotten ! And, for a lucky omen to my project, Shake hands and end all quarrels in the cellar. Massinger, New Way to Pay Old Debts, i. 3. To KILL the first wasp [and adder] you see. — N., i. 11 ; S. Good luck and freedom from enemies throughout the year. If he see a snake unkilled, he fears a mischief. — Bp. Hall. If you kill the first snake you see, you '11 kill the first [principal] enemy you have. — Leland, Gipsy Sorcery. If you kill the first snake you see, you '11 have power over your enemies for the rest of the twelvemonth. — (W. Sussex) F. L. R., i. 9. If you pull the first brake and kill the first snake, You '11 succeed in all you undertake. iV., VI., vi. 256. To kill the first butterfly. — (Devon) Ht. Unlucky not to do so. It is still a superstition in the West of England that unless a person kills the first butterfly he sees in the year, some bad luck will befall him. It is therefore not uncommon to see the country people chasing one in order to destroy it. — Manning, R. Rhymes, iS^y. Moore, however, in his Irish Melodies, under ** 111 Omens," says : As she looked in the glass, which a woman ne'er misses, Nor ever wants time for a sly glance or two, A butterfly, fresh from the night-flower's kisses. Flew over the mirror and shaded her view. Enrag'd with the insect for hiding her graces, She brush'd him — he fell, alas ! never to rise. " Ah, such," said the girl, " is the pride of our faces For which the soul's innocence too often dies." If the first butterfly you see in the opening year is white, you will eat white bread during the year, which is probably tantamount to your having good luck ; but if the first is brown, you will eat brown bread — that is, be unlucky. — (N. Gloucester) N., v. 5. Beetle. Ni fearr dhuit aoine throsgadh na dar-daol a losgadh. A Friday's fast is not better for you than to burn a dar-daol— a black-jet or small beetle, unlucky and poisonous, and which should be thrown into the fire. — Ulster Journal of Archaology, ix. 227. To STICK GEESE FEATHERS you may come across Straight up on end. — Miss M. Steal my goose and stick me up a feather. — Ray. 32 FOLK LORE. good luck. To FIND the perfect image of an oak-tree, in cutting the full-grown bracken slant-wise near the foot of the stem. — N., i. 7. (See other readings of this figure under " Charms.") Dr. Johnson, of Berwick, intimates that in Scotland it is thought to be an impression of the " de'il's foot." — L. To meet with a spray of heather, of which the flowers are white. (W. of England.) Supposed to be transferable luck. — Baring- Gould, John Herring, ch. v. To meet with peas or beans, more than the usual number (or single) in the pod. — Hn. Especially nine. — (W. Sussex) F. L.R., i. To meet with potatoes, gooseberries, &c., of an unusual shape. — Hn. To find a double hazel-nut — one to be eaten and the other thrown over the shoulder. — S. To find an ash-leaf, of which the leaflets are even in number. — S. Even ash, I do thee pluck. Hoping thus to meet good luck ; If no luck I get from thee, I shall wish thee on the tree. — Ht. To find and pick up an old horseshoe, or a rusty nail, or a crooked pin. — B. ; Pliny, Natural History, xxviii. 81 (20). It should be kicked forward when found lying in the road. — D. C, Lorraine and Normandy. Better find iron than tine siller. — Kelly, 5"^. Pr. When a fool finds a horsehoe. He thinks aye the like to do. — lb. Nathaniel. Father ! here, father ! I have found a horseshoe ! Faith, it was just in time ; for t'other night I laid two straws across at Margery's door, And ever since I fear'd that she might do me A mischief for't. There was the Miller's boy Who set his dog at that black cat of hers : I met him upon crutches, and he told me 'Twas all her evil eye. Father. 'Tis rare good luck ! I would have gladly given a crown for one If 'twould have done as well. Southey, Eclogues [The Witch). Sir Sampson. How he is poring on the ground for a crooked pin, or an old horsenail with the head towards < him. — Congreve, Love for Love, iii. g. Trouver une peigne, presage de bonheur. — Collin de Plancy. It is good luck to find old iron, but 'tis naught to keep it. — Three Lads and Three Ladies of London, 1590; Hazlitt, Old Plays, vi. 485. The Chinese wear the iron point of an old ploughshare as a talisman. — Doolittle, ii. 308. VOL. II. 33 4 GOOD LUCK. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. There is no kind of ground That yields a better crop to retchless youth Than that same mould where fetters serve for muck And wit still works to dig up better luck.* Gascoigne, Posies, 1578 [The Fruit of Fetters). * i.e. prison. See Timbs' Things Not Generally Known, 1856, p. 146, for the story of Dr. James, who ascribed the success of his famous "powders" to picking up a horseshoe. He therefore adopted it as the crest on his carriage. Spinning. Non licet mulieres Christianas vanitatem in suis lanificiis obser- vare, sed Deuni invocent adjutorem qui eis sapientiam texendi donavit. — (Ex Concil. Braggar., c. 10) Burchardi, Decreta, x. 19. To receive a crooked or bent sixpence, or any perforated coin. — H. W. In the island of Lewis, the seventh son of a seventh son in curing the King's evil by laying on of hands, gives the patient a sixpenny-piece with a hole in it, through which a string is passed, to wear round the neck. Should this be taken off, a return of the malady may be looked for. — M. To draw pigs backward in taking them from the sow. They will do well. — (Lincolnshire) Brogden. Thiers ridicules those, " Qui font sortir les veaux de I'etable en arriere, ou comme Ton dit, a reculons lorsqu'on les a vendus, afin que leurs meres n'y ayent point de regret." — Tr., i. 237. To SHUT UP THE CAT in the OVEN. — (Lancashire) H. W. Cat. But do ye ken the freet of yon doing wi' the oil on the palms of the hand ? It 's my opinion that it 's an ancient charm to keep the new king in the kingdom ; for there 's nae surer way to make a cat stay at hame than to creesh her paws ni like manner. — The Steamboat, Edin., 1922, p. 236 ; N., ii. 5. Quando li contadini prendono un nuovo cane per guardia, lo mettono nel forno dicendogli. " At mett in te foran, Perche tan cnossa insun d'intoran " Poscia lo mettono sotto il cammino e gli dicono, "At mett sott e camen, Perche tan cnossa parent, ne usen." Traduzione. lo ti rnetto dentro il forno ; Niun conoscer devi intorno. Or tu sei sotto il cammino N6 parente ne vicino Tu conoscere dovrae ; Tutta notte abbajerai. Placucci, Michele ; Usi c Pregitidizi della Romagna, p. 150. ,•^1 FOLK LORE. good luck. Quando il gatto non viiole star in casa, allorche lo veggono ritornare, il reggitoro lo piglia per le gamle aganti lo accosta alia catena che tiene appesa sotto il caminino, e lo fa girare tre volte intorno alia medesima. — Ih. To sell a cradle under an execution, or distraint for rent. — Hn. Les fenimes en couches suivant la Coutume d'Epinal, homo- loguee en 1605 le privilege particulier que pendant le mois de leur accouchement si " plustost elles n'etoient relevees, il ne pouvoit estre faicte acune execution sur les meubles estant es maisons ou elles sont gisantes lesquels appartien- nent a leurs maris et a elles, ou si elles sont vesves accouches d'un posthume." — D. C. Princess Beatrice's " luck." Just in time to reach Osborne to-morrow before the bridal party starts for the church, several solemn Highlanders will set out from Balmoral in charge of a precious parcel. They will hasten with it to Osborne House, and it will not pass out of their keeping for a moment until they place it in royal hands. The Highlands love their Queen not less than she loves them, and they are to do her youngest daughter a high honour. There will be a profusion of flowers at Osborne, but this Highland gift is the bouquet that the bride will carry to church. As they say in the country where it has been gathered, she "is to be married in it." Happy is the married life of her who wears the white heather at her wedding ; and the most conspicuous flower in the Highland bouquet will be a sprig of it plucked from the hills about Balmoral. If this bouquet does not arrive in time, the Archbishop of Canterbury will have to wait for it. White heather is Princess Beatrice's "luck," and she must have it in her hands during the ceremony. " Who finds keeps," is a saying common in the mouths of those who go out early upon the hills to look for white heather. The searchers are many ; but few find it, even when it is wanted to grace a bridal bouquet. There is health, though, in the pursuit, so that the search itself is "lucky"; and it is so good-natured as to be a deceptive plant. The pale sprigs here and there constantly deceives tourists on the hunt for it into thinking that they have stumbled upon real specimens. A blending of blue and purple is the familiar colour of the heather flower ; but it is to be found in plenty in delicate tints, and it is these that deceive the unknowing searcher. Passing along a High- land road that skirts the Grampians, I have been attracted a dozen times a day by a Vv'hite patch on the heathery hill- side. Some of the pale flowers I ha\e even carried off in triumph, only to be convinced afterwards that I had made the common mistake. Within eight miles of Balmoral Castle itself, I have met a Highlander who had lived there all his life, and yet had never seen a sprig of real white heather on the hills he traversed every day. It was not 35 GOOD LUCK. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. that he never looked for it ; for every Highlander knows that it brings rare good luck to the finder, and that the luck can be passed on to his friends. While I write, the heather that Princess Beatrice is to carry to Whippingham Church is blooming on its native hills, for it must reach her fresh ; but loyal eyes found it out long ago, after minute search, and know Avhere to go for it when the time comes. Except in colour, the white heather does not differ from that whic;h covers all the Highland hills. It is the ordinary flower ; but in its virgin whiteness it stands out among great clumps of purple like a tiny spray of snow. They say in the far north that when the sheep, hardy devourers of the tender stem of the heather, come across it in their grazing, they avoid harming it, and that the grouse have never been known to crush it with their wings. There are three varieties of heather common in the Highlands, and each sends up now and then a pure white sprig in miles of purple. The variety known as the Fine-leaved Heath has dark-green leaves which grow in threes round the stem ; while the Cross-leaved Heath, which is rarer, has a blush- tinted flower that grows round the stem in fours. Much more luxuriant than either is the Ling, or Common Heather, whose big purple flower — not pitcher-shaped, like the others — is the most familii.r of all sights on the hills. Burns, like many another Scotch poet, sings of the "blue heather-bell" : — At barn or byre thou shalt na drudge. Or naething else to trouble thee ; But stray among the heather-bells And tent the waving corn wi' me. In all likelihood, he never saw the white heather glinting among the purple ; for the hills that Burns knew Avere those of the Lowlands, and I have not yet heard of the white heather being found on them. On the other hand, I have been shown a whitish-red flower gathered on a Galloway moor which the possessor carried about witli him as a charm. If it spurred him on to nobler deeds, its possession was doubtless "lucky"; but, strictly speaking, it is only the snow-white heather that acts as a talisman. All three kinds of heather grow in profusion in the neigh- bourhood of Balmoral, and the white bloom in each variety has the same meaning and value. The superstitious faith in the white heather as a bringer of luck, so conspicuous in Scotland, may not have a counter- part south of the Tweed ; yet in some parts of the country she would be thought a rash bride who went to church without primroses. The maiden's-blush and the violet are in some places, too, thought indis})ensable ; indeed, there are young ladies who would rather be married on a Friday than omit these from their posies. Herrick, well versed in 36 FOLK LORE. good luck. lore of this kind, takes from a bride the lady-smock, the pansy, and the rose, as flowers pretty enough but not suit- able for the occasion. It was considered an unlucky omen on a wedding morning if the bridesmaids forgot to deck the bridegroom with rosemary. This, indeed, was one of their recognised functions. Ben Jonson, for instance, speaks of their presenting him with a bunch of rosemary bound with ribbons. As a rule, the rosemary was gilded and scented ; and Brand quotes Racket's Marriage Present to prove that it received prominence at weddings to betoken man's supe- riority. The man, it will be noticed, carried it in his hand rather than the woman. " The last of the Flowers is the Rosemary (Ros Marinus, the Rosemary, is for married men), the which by name, nature, and continued use Man chal- lengeth as purely belonging to himself. It overtoppeth all the flowers in the garden boasting Man's rule. It helpeth the braine, strengtheneth the Memorie, and is very medicin- able for the head. Another property of the Rosemary is, it affects the Hart. Let this Ros Marinus, this Flower of men, Ensigne of your wisdome, Love, and Loyaltie, be carried not only in your hands but in your heads and harts." The part played by flowers in thg Roman wed- dings, more especially when arranged in garlands, seems to have been exactly similar to its share in Anglo-Saxon nuptials. A floral carpet along the walk leading to the church has been for long esteemed the prescriptive right of distin- guished brides. In an old English play a lavish strewing of flowers, such as may be expected at the wedding of Princess Beatrice, causes a jealous lady toexclaim : " Shall I never live To walk to church on flowers ? O, 'tis fine To see a bride trip it to church so lightly, As if her new choppines would scorn to bruise A silly flower." On great occasions the table of a Highland chieftain would be poor indeed without its sprig of white heather. When the heir-presumptive reaches man's estate he wears it for luck, and it is considered the height of hospitality to present it to the stranger guest. If he loses it he may look out for disaster. Mr. Black, in his McLeod of Dare, turns the popular superstition to good account. McLeod, on his return from the south to his Highland home, finds a child barring his path. "Hallo, Christina," he says, "won't you let me into the house ? " Then she presents him with a beautiful bunch of Vv^hite heather and allows him to pass. The Queen's youngest child has lived so much of her life at Balmoral that it is quite possible that ere this she has plucked the white heather for herself. At all events, they are quite sure up there that she well understands its value to bring her "luck" in a way that no other flower can pretend to. — St. James's Gazeits, July 22, 1885. 37 MAKING MONEY; LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. LUCK IN MAKING MONBY. I think what 's got by theft doth never prosper. — Middleton, Your Five Gallants, iv. 8. Do I not know what proves the father's prey, The son ne'er looks on 't, but it melts away ? Do I not know the wealth that 's got by fraud, Slaves share it, like the riches of a bawd ? Middleton, Michaelmas Term, v. i. And see B. and F., Sea \ oyage, i. i, ot money gained by usury. II fare la minestra quando si fa il pane e presagio di non arrichirsi. — Placucci, p. 153. Go to bed first, A golden purse ; Go to bed second, A golden pheasant ; Go to bed third, A golden bird. He that lies at the stock*. Shall have the gold rock ; He that lies at the wall. Shall have the gold ball ; He that lies in the middle. Shall have the gold fiddle. Halliwell, P. R. {Schoolboy Rhymes). * i.e. the outer side. The reampig or ream-bowie was never washed, as doing so took away all the luck. — Gr., ig/sf77' Lacerta, with legs and long tail, an earth serpent. The head broken and applied to any place on the body whereas either prick or nail is fixed forthwith shall be drawn forth. This worm is much used of Chirurgiens. — Bullein, BuIhk of Def., f. 84. 1562. A knife that has been used in killing a person is highly valued as a charm. It is hung up from the front of the frame of the bed-curtain, or it may be laid up over it, or it may be suspended from the top of the door-frame of a bedroom, or from the top of one of the windows. Wicked spirits are supposed to be afraid of it. — Doolittle, Chinese, ii. 309, Dishonesty. " Cheating never prospers." A proverb frequently thrown at each other by young people when playing cards together, or games governed by conventional rules of honour. Per scelus immensas quid opes cumulare juvabit ? Turpiter e manibus res male parta fluit. Unlucky coin. Sivi (a usurer's servant). Here was Goody Fin, the fish- woman, fetchVl home her ring last night. Tim. You should have put her money by itself for fear of wronging of the whole heap. Sim. So I did, sir, and wash'd it first in two waters. Rowley, A Match at Midnight, i. i. 38 FOLK LORE. making money. Prayer. Bloodhound (a usurer). He [Tim, his son] is in some deep discourse with Sim concerning monies out to one or another. Widow. Has he said his prayers, sir ? B. Prayer before providence : when did ye know any thrive and swell that uses it ? — lb. I Finni, i Germani e gli Itali antichi credevano che nei rettili vivessero gli spiriti dei Mani, e forse da cio deriva I'opinione de' nostri villici che il ramarro (lusertia) sia sacro alia Madonna. — Rosa. Dirt bodes luck. — Hislop, Sc. Pr. '* But do you not clean the churn before ye put in the cream ? " " Na, na," returned Mrs. McClarty, "that wad no' be canny, ye ken. Naebody hereabouts would clean their kirn for ony consideration. I never heard o' sic a thing in my life. There was Tibby Bell, she fell to cleaning her kirn ae day, and the very first kirning after her butter was burstet and gude for naething." — Hamilton, Cottagers of Glenhurnie. G. has the proverb, "Sh...en luck is good luck," which he explains as the treading in ordure. — Diet. Vnlg. Tongue. So a Jakes farmer was jocularly called a goldfinder. A Cator[er] had of late some wild-fowl bought, And when unto his master he them brought, Forthwith his master, smelling nigh the rump, Said, " Out, thou knave ! these savour of the pump." The man, that was a rude and saucy lout, " Zounds, sir," said he, " smell you them thereabout ? Smell your fair lady there, and, by your favour, You fortune may find, but a fulsome savour." Sir J. Harington, Epigrams (MS. add., Brit. Mus., p. 176). To have much hair, or down, on the arms and hands. — AT'., i. i.; Hone, Year Booh, p. 251 ; B. Jon., Alchem., i. i. Twa or three hairs are better than the blink o' an ill ee. — Miss Hamilton, Cottagers of Glenhurnie, pp. 201, 261, 262. A hairy man 's a geary man, but a hairy wife 's a witch. — Hislop, Sc. Pr. This is the notion in China. Great plenty of hair in a woman signifieth boystousness and covetise. — Shepherd's Kakndar. To set apart a certain sum or piece of money as a nest-egg or nucleus to attract more. A purse-penny. Any coin kept in a purse without being exchanged or given away. — Jamieson. To leave money in open drawer during absence from home. — N., V. vi. 39 MAKING MONEY. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. To carry the tip of a neat's tongue in your pocket. "A lucky bit." Pocket containing it will never want money. Also lucky in fighting. — (Northampton) Sternberg. La queue du lezard est tres fragile, et, separee du corps, elle conserve assez longtemps sa sensibilite : c'est sans doute ce qui a fait croire que cette queue se metamorphosait en lezard, croyance aussi absurde que celle qui prete a deux queues de lezard la propriete de procurer bonheur et richesse a. la personne qui les porte dans ses souliers. — Rion. The head of a stag-beetle. (Cerf volant ou Lucane.) — (Bayeux) Chesnel, Did. ; N ., iii. In North Italy it is hung round children's necks as a talisman. — Rosa. To carry a piece of coal. — Chambers' Journal, 1873 (" Omens "). In the examination of a supposed burglar at Bow Street, witness (a policeman) mentioned that, inter alia, a piece of coal was found in his pocket, which, he added, burglars often carried about them for luck. — Daily News, 17/2, 1879. To carry a piece of the rope by which one has been hung. — B. A badger's tooth sewn within the waistcoat. — Book of Dreams, S-c, Birmingham, 1784. Bring luck at cards. French : " II y a des gens assez fous, pour s'imaginer qu'ils seront heureux au jeu et qu'ils y gagneront toujours, pourvu qu'ils ayent sur eux un morceau de corde de pendu, ou du trefle a quatre feuilles ou un coeur d'hirondelle.'' — Thiers. Au reste ils gagnent partout. Je croy qu'ils portent de la corde du pendu. — Montluc, Com. d. Prov., iii. 7. 161 1. Una soga da ahoreado que dizen es buena para hazer gahar. — Percival, Spanish Grammar, 1599. " He has a mole's foot in his bag," is said of one that wins at play. — (Netherlands) Thorpe, Northern Mythol., iii. 331. Les rognons de pore ou de chien desseches portent bonheur. — (Normandy) Chesnel, Diet. Roitelet. Une plume de cet oiseau (wren) portee en secret fait gagner a tons les jeux. — Collin de Plancy. Trefle a quatre feuilles. Herbe qui croit sous les gibets arrosee du sang des pendus. Un joueur qui la cueille apres minuit le premier jour de la lune et la porte sur soi avec reverence est sur de gagner a tous les jeux. — lb. Cards. (At the dice table) : Sale. Here's luck! Easy! Let's search him, gentlemen; I think he wears a smock. Sho. I knew the time when he wore not half a shirt. Middleton, Michaelmas Term, ii. i. 40 FOLK LORE. making money. How can the Muse her aid impart, Unskill'd in all the terms of art, Or in harmonious numbers put The deal, the shuffle, and the cut ? The superstitious whims relate That fill a female gamester's pate ? What agony of soul she feels To see a knave's inverted heels ! She draws up card by card to find Good fortune peeping from behind ; With panting heart and earnest eyes, In hopes to see spadillo rise ; In vain, alas ! her hope is fed ; She draws an ace, and sees it red ; In read}' counters never pays, But pawns her snuffbox, rings, and keys ; Ever with some new fancy struck. Tries twenty charms to mend her luck. " This morning, when the parson came, I said I should not win a game. This odious chair, how came I stuck in 't ? I think I never had good luck in 't. I 'm so uneasy in my stays : Your fan a moment, if you please. Stand further, girl, or get you gone ; I always lose when you look on," &c. Swift, Jonvnal of a Modern Lady. The privilege of refusing to have the last card of a pack dealt to you is very generally exercised. This may have reference to the " devil's portion," as to which see infra ; but more probably it is from a feeling that the bottom card may have become exposed to the view of the dealer or players in the course of several rounds of a game. But cf. : Last has luck ; found a penny in the muck. — (Worcester.) When an ace, deuce, trey and four compose a trick, the winner of the trick may kiss the dealer. — N . &> Q., xii. Rearage. Gentlemen, I ha' sworn I '11 change the room. Dice ? devils ! — Middleton, Michaelmas Term, ii. i. " Adversis punctis doctum se nemo fatetur ; Vulnera plus crescunt punctis quam bella sagittes," says the epigram. "No man is crafty enough to play against an ill hand," and therefore to put a considerable interest to the hazard of the ruin of a family, or at least more than we find in our hearts to give to Christ, is a great tempting of God. And in these cases, as I have heard from them that have skill in such things, there are such strange chances, such promoting of a hand by fancy and little arts of geomancy, such constant winning on one side, such unreasonable losses on the other, and these strange con- 41 MAKING MONEY. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. tingencies produce such horrible etiects that it is not improbable that God hath permitted the conduct of such games of chance to the devil, who will order them so where he can do most mischief; but without the instru- mentality of money, he could do nothing at all. — Jer. Taylor, [Duct. Dub.,] Works, xiv. 337. To turn up a black deuce in dealing at cards. " There 's luck under a black deuce." Five trumps in the dealer's hand. — N., iii. To be the first person to touch it. — A Womaji's Vengeance, c. xi. ; Chambers' yournal, Pt. ciii. The King of Hearts or Diamonds is the card desired by love- sick maidens. — H. W. Clubs. That when a club is turned up, the trumps remain of that suit for three successive deals. — N., V., xii. 473. That if the knave of clubs turned up, the dealer and his partner hold all four honours. — lb. The four of clubs is an unlucky turn-up card. Won't win the game. It is called the " devil's bedpost." To change seats with your adversaries; to twist the chair you occupy several times on one of its fore-legs, and to change the pack you have dealt with, are all resorted to to alter bad luck into good. Changing hand that holds cards would appear to be a remedy for bad luck. Clove and Orange. Change hands and change luck, or play your cards in another hand. — B. E., New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, 1720. Have fresh cards and pay for them. — lb. To place a fish* on the candlestick to propitiate the goddess of luck. — A Woman's Vengeance, ubi supra. * Counter. It is customary for women to oflfer to sit cross-legged to procure luck at cards for their friends. Sitting cross-legged with the fingers interlaced was formerly reckoned a magical posture, and it is sometimes practised by schoolboys as a charm to avert punishment hanging over a chum ; but it is a natural nervous action in one so moved by anxiety. — G. See, how- ever. When anyone has ill luck at cards, 'tis common to say that somebody sits with his legs across and brings him ill luck. -Ay. Kissing the cards. May kiss the cards at picquet, ombre, loo, And so be taught to kiss the lady too. Wycherley, Country Wife, Epilogue. Luck at commencing play. Es buen pronostico perder la primera mano. — Percival, Spanish Grammar, vii. 1599. 42 FOLK LORE. making money. Spitting, II y a des joueurs qui, pour ramener la chance, se levent et crachent sous leur chaise. — I\Iel., Vosges, p. 457. D'una cosa traggo al gioco lo vantaggio poco poco, Ed e questa, I'appaleso ; Di sputar quando' o del peso Sulla Scarpa del pie dritto E poi starmi zitto zitto. O questo si che 6 sperimentato efficace. Lo lessi la prima volta nel tomo i. de M. Thiers, e I'd praticato con qualche sorta de profitto. — Gian. Leonardo Marugj, Capricci della Jettatuva. The referenoe must be to the Abbe, not the French statesman. Cards and dice. To carry a Good Friday egg. — Tylor, Pvivt. Cult., i. 74. Swearing. " Play fair and swear not ! " " Burn the tables ; I Will neither th' one nor th' other, by this die ! " " Gamester, I '11 now believe thee valiant too, 'Cause you'll not swear less than you mean to do." If you swear you'll catch no fish. See post. When did the term " fish " for counters at cards come in ? To wear out shoes and stockings on the ball or sole of the foot. Indicates long life and prosperity. — Miss M. Wear on the ball, you '11 live to spend all. To BACK YOUR LUCK. i.e. to continue to lay money in a direction which has been already successful. Randle's fortunes come tumbling in like lawyers' fees, huddle upon huddle. — Rowley, Match at Midnight, iv. Hit and be lucky. — Jack Drum's Entertainment, v. 1601. Do not pursue ill luck at play, 'Twill be thine own another day. Howell, New Cent, of N. Sayings, iv. To carry a spade guinea (Geo. III.) ; or a lion shilling (Geo. IV.). The latter is sometimes used as a tossing shilling, having two heads. Ecus de la Vache. Depuis la demonetisation de ces pieces, il y en a beaucoup de conservees et qui se transmettent de pere en fils. Ces pieces, dit-on portent bonheur a ceux qui en possedent Quelques personnes croient qu'elles preservent du tonnere. — Mel., Vosges, p. 456. That its possession does not always bring luck was doubly illustrated in a vulgar tragedy which occurred near Bristol in 1880. Two mechanics, who were " primrosing " in March on the slopes of Dundry Hill, came on the corpse of a 43 MAKING MONEY. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. murdered man, the head lying in a stream at a point some way off the public path, whither it had evidently, for greater secrecy, been dragged by a noose round the neck. There were also traces of a wound at the back of the head, but no fracture of the skull ; so that it remained a question whether life had been extinguished by a blow, by strangu- lation, or by drowning. The body was soon identified as that of an eccentric razor-grinder named Robinson, who had disappeared three weeks before, and whose fantastic dress made him well known. He always wore a long waistcoat, the buttons (20) of which were formed of "lion shillings," to which he had himself soldered shanks. This waistcoat (minus the buttons) had been found stripped from the other dress. Robinson was known to have left home to go with a gipsy named Lock in search of a hedge- hog, which Lock had described as a bonne hoiiche. On hearing of the discovery Lock was found to have hastily left Bristol in the direction of Gloucester, and the police, enquiring along the route, came up with him about half- way, and learned that in each village he had passed through he had changed, or endeavoured to change, a lion shilling ; though the solder remaining, after the shanks were removed, had made this in some cases difficult. Being removed to Lawford's Gate prison. Lock availed himself of the warder's absence at breakfast-time to hang himself in his cell, and so anticipated the conviction of which the lion shillings were the inevitably damning evidence ; as, together with a watch of small value, they furnished the obvious motive for the crime which had been committed. To carry a piece of bent money (a sixpence), or a coin with a hole in it. — Hone, Year Book; N., i. 3, 10. It should be worn continuously in the left side pocket. — Denham. Chris. And I, unhappy Christian that I am, have lost my Practice of Piety, " with a bowed groat." — Ben Jonson, Masque of Metamorphosed Gipsies. Bowed silver. — J. Heiwood, Ep., vi. 3. Quid vero diceret aliquis de his, qui carminibus et ligaturis utuntur, et de circumligantibus Alexandri Macedonis numismata capiti vel pedibus ? Die mihi, hae ne sunt expectationes nostrae, ut post crucem et mortem Domini in ethnici Regis imagine spem salutis habeamus ? — S. Chrysost., HoniiL, xxi. Knowing that the face of Alexander stamped in copper doth make it current, that the name of Cassar wrought in canvas is esteemed as cambric, that the very feather of an eagle is of force to consume the beetle. — Lyly, Euphues, Arber repr., 214. Money bearing the heads of the Empresses Helena and Giulia Pia, of Socrates, Alcibiades, Epicurus and Virgil were likewise worn as amulets, and were pierced with a hole 44 FOLK LORE. making money. (but this, perhaps, was only for conveniently suspending about the neck). See the curious work of Mich. Arditi, // Fascino e VAmuleto contro del Fascino, Napoli, 1825, 4to, p. 12. In the Italy of to-day, the children of the poor, when they strip for bathing, may be seen wearing, as they enter the water, a medal (of the Virgin, probably) hanging by a necklace of twine. [The practice of wearing consecrated medals, hung from the neck, is very usual amongst Roman Catholics. — Ed.] The crooked sixpence seems to have been deliberately bent, and to have been used otherwise than as a "nest-egg." Alice Benden, martyred at Canterbury, 1557, amongst her last dispositions at the stake: "A shilling, also of Philip and Mary, she took forth, which her father had bowed and sent her when she was first sent to prison." — Foxe's Acts and Monuments. They were often given at betrothals as love tokens, and to hansel a boy's first pair of breeches or a new purse. A peculiar Venetian sequin is hung on the forehead over the diseased eye by the Egyptians as a cure for ophthalmia. — Lane, Modern Egyptians, xi. A similar coin on the person of one approaching the sufferer, however, aggravates the complaint. To carry your money in a sealskin purse. The moleskin is also reputed lucky. Her minnie had hained the warl, And the whitrack-skin had routh.* Jamieson, Pop. Ballads, i. 294. * i.e. the weasel-skin purse had plenty. The shilling given to servants as earnest money must be spent at once, neither may it be given to them on the stairs, but in a more settled and suitable place, or they will neither stay long nor be fortunate in their new situation. — (Northampton) S. The giving of arles as earnest money for confirming a bargain is still very common in all the northern counties. It is also an old custom, seldom departed from, for the buyer and seller to drink together on these occasions. Without it the engagement would hardly be considered as valid. — Brockett. The earnest, or godspennie, is given to ratify the bargain in the ballad, *' The Heir of Linne," Percy Reliques. Earnest penny. — Horm., V., 235. Earnest of a bargain (Arrha). — Withals, 1568. As a man that made a bargain will be careful to keep the earnest penny that he lose not all his bargain. — Cawdray, Tr. of Sim., p. 729, 1606; lb., 731, 732. 45 MAKING MONEY. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Howbeit let us repair hither again, I pray you, to-morrow to the intent the rest [of his instruction] if any be, may be paid and so we receive the whole sum in assurance whereof ye have given us sore people this earnest penny. — Bullein, B. of Def. \_Dialoguc between Soreness and Chirurgi\, f. 22. 1562. The Earnest or Bargayn penny is mentioned in 1513-14 in the Old Book of Wye. Also called Chap-money. — Jackson, Shropshire Word-book. To spit on HANDSEL, or first-taken money. — B. ; Del Rio, Disquisitiones Magica, VI., c. ii., § i. ; Grose. Hansel is always lucky when well wet. — H. W. It should be kissed and put in a pocket by itself. — INIisson, Travels over England [Englished by Ozell], 1719, p. 134. The modern Egyptians put it to the lips and forehead before putting it in the pocket. — Lane, Modern Egyptians, ch. xi. Une espece de pour voyeuse me disoit I'autre jour, que les boucheres de Londres, les femmes qui apportent de la volaille au marche, du beurre, des oeufs, &c., et toutes sortes des gens, font un cas particulier de I'argent qu'ils recoivent de la premiere vente qii'ils font. lis le baisent en le recevant, crachent dessus, et le mettent dans une poche apart. — Misson, Travels, &=€., p. 192. Those who are under the influence of superstition are unwilling to receive their first money from sales for the day from an unlucky hand. If the money be laid down on the board they also refuse it, saying to the purchaser, " Gie me 't out o' your hand." — J. Overdo. Thy best, pretty stripling, thy best; the same thy dove drinketh and thou drawest on holy days. Ursula. Bring him a sixpenny bottle of ale : they say a fool's handsel is lucky. Ben Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, ii. i. A thief's handsel ever unlucky. — Ay., Prov. Bmndino. And now come buss me good luck after thieves' hansel. Phil. O, 'tis happy, sir ; you have him fast. Middleton, Widoii', v. i. Of hancel y can no skylle also, Hyt ys nou3t to beleve tharto ; Me thynketh hyt ys fals every deyl, Y beleve yt nou3t, ne never shal weyl. For many havyn glad hancel at the morw. And to them or evyn cometh muchel sorw. Harl. MS., 1701, f. 3, cited in Hll., Diet., s. v. A good new year and a merry handsel Monday, i.e. the first Monday in the year. — Denham. 46 FOLK LORE. making money. Capt. With you, lucky bird, I begin. \_Goes up to the Xing']. Let me see, I aim at the best and I trow you are he : Here 's some luck already, if 1 understand The grounds of mine art : here's a gentleman's hand ; I '11 kiss it for luck's sake. Ben Jonson, Masque of Metamorphosed Gipsies. As tengudo I'estren' o le gatge a bounur. De la fenno mal sajo, o de qualque boulur ? Arnilha, Pavf. Cv., 1673. Have you looked on the present or the earnings of whore or thief as lucky ? — G. Gregor speaks of a new boat being hanselled by the skipper taking the woman last married in the village by the hand and marching her round the boat as it floated in the shallow water. — 26l^''jj. Rom. Come, you are superstitious ; I '11 give you my opinion, and 'tis serious : I am persuaded there came not cuckolds enow To the first launching of them, and 'twas that made them Thrive the worse for 't. Oh, your cuckold's hansel Is pray'd for in the city. — Webster, Devil's Law Case, ii. And of upholders an hep' Erly by the morwe, Geven Gloton with glad chere, Good ale to hansele. P. Plow. Vis., vii. 374. Surely a merchant's wife gives lucky handsel. — Middleton, Your Five Gallants, iv. 8. A woman that goes much to market told me t'other day that the butcher-women of London, those that sell fowls, butter, eggs, &c., and in general most tradespeople, have a par- ticular esteem for what they call Handsel ; that is to say, the first money they receive in a morning they kiss and spit upon it, and put it in a pocket by itself. — Misson, Travels in England, p. 130. Welcome (a publican). To see what luck a handsel will procure. No sooner the cup out of my mouth but another called for. It seems it stayed at me all this while : a dry, shabby host is more absurd than a dumb Exchange. — London Chanticleers, i. ; Haz., O. PL, xii. Strena*" est bona sors Anglice hansell. — Ortus Vocabulorum. * Whence etrenne. No baker shall give unto the regratresses the sixpence on Monday morning by way of handsel-money, or the three- pence on Friday for curtesy-money ; but, after the ancient manner, let him give thirteen articles of bread for tvrelve. — Liber Alhus, Ed. by Riley, p. 232. Some complain that they cannot do business for want of a handsel from the person of whom they wish to receive it. — Noake, Worcester N. &> Q., 172. 47 MAKING MONEY. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Handsell of ill. It seemeth just and good To shed his blood that thirsted after blood. Who plants the tree deserves the fruit : 'tis fit That he that bought the purchase hansell it. Hang Haman, then ! it is his proper good. Quarles, Hist, of Ester, § 14. He that invented the maiden first hanselled it ; viz., James Earl of Morton, who had been for some years Governor of Scotland, but was afterwards beheaded by the same instru- ment he had introduced. — K. No one on the Borders will put on a new coat or dress without placing some money at once in the right-hand pocket. This ensures the pocket being always full. The reverse, if put in left.— Hn. A horse taken to market to be sold must be led by a new halter. — N., iii. Which was sold with it and cast on the roof of the stable he was to occupy. — Gr., 12/5/77. Pour que la vache qu'on vient d'acheter ne cherche pas a retourner dans la maison d'ou elle vient, il faut lui laisser a la tete pendant quelques jours la corde avec laquelle on la conduisait a la maison. — Mel., Vosges, p. 501. A stray horse must be taken to the pound by a wisp of straw, and not by a halter. — N., iv. LucK-STROKEN. Strike ME LUCK. — Davenport, New Trick to Cheat the Devil, iv. i. 1639. Cf. Job, xvii. 3 ; Prov., xxii. 26. This seems to have been a term for giving earnest. [The herring] being thus entred or brought m [from the sea], the consistorians or settled standers of Yarmouth com- mence intestine wars amongst themselves who should give him the largest hospitality ; and gather about him as flocking to hansel him ; and strike him good luck, as the sweetkin madams did about valiant Sir Walter Manny. . . who, being upon the point of a hazardous journey into France, either to win the horse or lose the saddle (as it runs in the proverb), and taking his leave at Court in a suit of mail from top to toe, all the ladies clung about him and would not let him stretch out a step till they had enfettered him with their variable favours and embroidered over his armour like a gaudy summer mead with three [? their] scarves, bracelets, chains, ouches ; in generous reguerdo- ment whereof he sacrimentally obliged himself, &c. — Nash, Lenten Stnjfe, 1598; Havl. Misc., v. 163. Wetting the thumbs and pressing them together was also a form of clinching a bargain.— Gr., i2/5/'77. y. L. Come, strike me luck with earnest and draw the writings. M. There 's a god-penny for thee. B. and P., Scornful Lady, ii. 48 FOLK LORE. making money. So Hall, Virgidemiaviim, II., v. (To a newly-made Vicar) : Go take possession of the church-porch door And ring thy bells, luck-stroken'''^ in thy list, The parsonage is thine or ere thou wist. * i.e. with the earnest penny. See an account of George Herbert "ringing himself in" at Bemerton in Walton's Lives. What ! clap ye hands, or is 't no bargain ? T. Hey wood, Woman Killed, p. loo. Now is the time (Time is a God) to worke [?] our love good luck ; Long since I cheapen'd it, nor is my coming now to huck. Warner, Albion's England, v. 26. But if that 's all you stand upon, Here, strike me luck, it shall be done. Butler, Hudihras, II., i. 540. Rat. Lance. I '11 sell my copyhold ; For, since there are such excellent new-nothings, Why should I labour ? Is there no fairy haunts him* ? No rat, nor no old woman ? B. and F., Wit without Money, iv. i. * i.e. Valentine, whom fortune has greatly and suddenly raised. Bankrupt. Pierce. One that has been a citizen, since a courtier. And now a gamester ; hath had all his whirls And bouts of fortune, as a man would say — Once a bat and ever a bat ! a reremouse, And bird of twilight ; he has broken thrice. Tipto. Your better man, the Genoway proverb says : Men are not made of steel. Pierce. Nor are they bound Always to hold. Fly. Thrice honourable colonel. Hinges will crack. — B. Jonson, New Iwi, iii. i. Blessed bankrupt that by love so thriveth ! — Shak., Venus and Adonis, St. 78. Cuckold. A man lately was advised to adventure something at the Royal Oak Lottery. "No," says he, "for there's not one in a hundred hath any luck but cuckolds." Which his sweet wife hearing, said : " Dear husband, I pray venture, for I am sure you'd have good luck." — Oxford Jests (537), by W. H., 1684. Hammon. W^hy, luck had horns, so have I heard some say. Rose. Now God, and 't be His will, send luck into your way. Dekker, Shoemaker's Holiday. Clown. Sick for a nightcap, go to cuckold's luck. Who thrives like him ? who hath the daintiest duck To deck his stall ? — Davenport, City Nightcap, iv. VOL. II. 49 5 MAKING MONEY. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Adriana. How does thy uncle, the old doctor ? Dost think he'll be a bishop? Ft. Worn. Oh, questionless! For h' has got him a young wife and carried her To Court already. — Barry, Ram Alley, v. Capt. Face. On whom wait you, rogue ? Drawer. Capt. F. Dr. W. S. Bout. W.S. Faith, I attend a conventicle of players. How ? players ! What, is there a cuckold among them ? Jove defend else ; it stands with policy That one should be a notorious cuckold, If it be but for the better keeping The rest of his company together. — lb., iv. By this hand, flesh and blood, she is resolv'd To make my father a most fearful cuckold ; And he 's resolv'd to save his soul by her. How by her ? Thus : all old men which marry Young wives shall questionless be saved : For while they are young they keep other men's wives, And when they are old they keep wives for other men ; And so by satisfaction procure salvation. — lb., iv. SopJwnirus Tyrant. Then I '11 go fetch my wife and take my journey. Stay, we require no pledge : we think thee honest. Soph. Troth, the worse luck for me : we had both been made by 't. It was the way to make my wife great too. Second Maiden's Tragedy, ii. 2 ; H., O.P., x. Nymph. Only perhaps the lucky tie May make thy forked fortune high. R. Fletcher, Poems, 1656, p. 178 (" An Old Man Courting a Young Girl "). Therefore did he [Menelaus] folow the comon opinion of maryed men [in watching his wife] to avoyde mishap, though it come with good luck. — History of Lady Lucres of Scene in Tushan, 1360, 2nd Edn., F. iv. Striking hands. A Salins, comme partout, si vous caressez un jeune enfant, la mere lui dira. " Donne cinq sous," et de sa petite main, le bambin frappera uii coup dans votre main. II n'y a la, selon moi, aucune idee de monnai ni de nombre. Dans les mots " Donne cinq sous" je vols deux mots Latins a peine alteres : Dona assensum. La poignee de main n'a-telle pas toujours 6t6 un des signes des plus vulgaires du consen- tement, de I'acquicscement a un marche ? — Ed. Toubin in Melusine, c. 556. 1877. 50 FOLK LORE. making money. Longest route. II s'en allait perdre son argent a Bade, et il avait pris le chemin le plus long, pensant que c'etait toujours cela de gagne. — E. About, Trente ct Quarante, ch. vi. To meet a frog. Some men had lever for to meet with a froude or a frogge in the waye than to meet with a knyght or a squyre, or with ony man of relygyon or of holy churche, for than they saye and byleve that they shall have golde, — Dives &= Pauper, i, Comm., ch. xlvi. Pour fertiliser un champ, on n'a qu'a ecrire sur le soc du charrue au second labour, le nom de Raphan. — D. C. Meeting. This also has obtained the credit of a presage. That in going out of any place of traffic after having made their markets, the meeting of strumpets signifies gain ; the meeting of sterile persons, loss. But such things as these are current rather by the stamp of experience than by any natural reason taken from causes concurring to the essential constitution of the things. — R. Sanders, Physiognomie, 1653, p. 222. Si les araignees etoient le signe de la richessa, personne ne seroit plus riche que les pauvres. — Salgues, Erreurs et Pi-ejiiges, i. 518. Quand nous voyons une araignee qui file du haut en bas, ou que nous la voyons simplement, c'est signe qu'il nous viendra de I'argent de quelque maniere que ce soit. Thiers, i. 186. Araignee du matin, chagrin Araignee du soir, espoir Araignee de midi*, souci, — Collin de Plancy. * Profit. " Les uns pretendent que c'est de I'argent le matin, et le soir une nouvelle . . . Quelques personnes croient aussi qu'une araignee est toujours I'avant-coureur d'une nouvelle heureuse, si on a le bonheur de I'ecraser." — Id. Mil, If you hold no better opinion of this citizen, It puzzles me why you invite him to Your house and entertainment .... Justice Landhy As some men, Milliscent Do suffer spiders in their chambers, while They count them profitable vermin. Shirley, The Wedding, i. 3. Qu'il nous arriva du bonheur si la premiere fois que nous enten- dons le cou-cou chanter nous prenons quelque chose de ce que rencontre par hazard alors sur nos pieds, et si nous le portons quelque terms sur nous. — Thiers, i. 186. Omina principiis, inquit, inesse solent Ad primam vocem timidas advertitis aures, Et visam primum consulit augur avem. Ovid, Fasti, i. 178. 51 MAKING MONEY. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. To pick up a pin from off the ground. — B. It should be found lying with its head towards you. — Cham. Jour., 1873. See a pin and let it lie, You '11 want one by-and-by. A Labresse on dit qu'une jeune fille qui ramasse dans un grand chemin une epingle par la pointe est exposee a n'avoir pas de lait quand mariee elle sera mere. A Fresse on dit aussi. — D. C. But a yellow crooked pin must on no account be picked up or you will die an old maid. — (W. Sussex) F. L. R., i. To BURN YOUR TEA-LEAVES and dust— sure to get rich. — (Shropshire) N., V. 3. To throw the small spider (money-spinner) over the left shoulder. — B. When a spider is found upon our clothes we use to say, " Some money is coming towards us." Finding it on your person or clothes indicates money. — Fuller, Worthies of England (Kent), p. 58. It must not be removed. — B. When spiders creep on one's clothes it is viewed as betoken- ing good luck,*' and to destroy them is equivalent to throwing stones at one's own head. — J., [Teviotdale.'] * or receiving some new thing. — Miss M. A spider descending upon you from the roof is a token that you will soon have a legacy from a friend. — Hn. Spider. Dreams to none are so fearful as to those whose accusing private guilt expects mischief every hour for their merit. Wonder- ful superstitious are such persons in observing every accident that befalls them, and that their superstition is as good as a hundred furies to torment them. Never in this world shall he enjoy one quiet day that once hath given himself over to be her slave. His ears cannot glow, his nose itch, or his eyes smart, but his destiny stands upon her trial, and till she be acquitted or condemned he is miserable. A cricket or a raven keep him forty times in more awe than God or the devil. If he chance to kill a spider he hath suppressed an enemy : if a spinner creep upon him he shall have gold from heaven : if his nose bleed some of his kinsfolk is dead : if the salt fall right against him all the stars cannot save him from some immediate misfortune. — T. Nash, Terrors of the Night, D. ii. 1594. There hath been of old an observation of gold or treasure to be near where the little spider draweth or creepeth towards a man noted to be under the roof or floor of that house. This proceedeth, it should seem from him that found it when he said, " Aurum mihi fontes Aurapagatum est." — Withals, Dictiotiayy, 1608. 52 FOLK LORE. blessing. Nails. Wenn an Fingern und Zehen die Nagel beschnitten werden, wird im Werroschen mit deni Messer ein Kreuz iiber die Abschnittel gezogen, bevor man sie verwirft, sonst soil der Teufel aus denselben sich Miitzenschirme fabriciren. — J. W. Boeder, Der Ehstcn Aherglauhische Gehvauclic, &'C., p. 139. To have an ant's nest made near your door. Portends security and riches. — Miss M. The ant is called by the peasantry a Muryan. Believing that they are the Small People (Fairies) in their state of decay from off the earth, it is deemed most unlucky to destroy a colony of ants. If you place a piece of tin in a bank of Muryans at a certain age of the moon it will be turned into silver.— Hardwick. To turn the money in your pocket on first hearing the cuckoo. and wish for something.- — N., I., ii. 9. The children sing " Cuckoo, cuckoo, cherry tree ! Catch a penny and give it me." — N. It is lucky to hear it first on the right hand and unlucky to hear it on the left. — (Cornwall) N., i. 11. It is lucky to hear it first on the right hand and from before, i.e. on starboard bow. — Long Ago, i. 30. If you then have money in your pocket, you will not want it all the year, [and if you are fasting, you will be hungry the whole year. — Grimm., Deutsche Mythologie']. — H. W. Let money in your pockets be When first you do the cuckoo hear If you 'd have money all the year. Poor Robin, April, 1727. To RUN ROUND in a circle ensures your not being without work that year. — N. To RUN away as fast as you can, or you will be lazy all the year after. — (Somerset) A''., v. 311. CucKoo. As true as that which the schoolmaster of Padua taught that in the instant wherein you shall see a cuckow, not having seen anie that year before, you shall find an hair under your right foot if you stand still and remove not when you see her : if this hair be black you shall have evil luck that year; if white, good luck; if grey, indifferent luck. — Melbancke, Philotimus, Aa ^. 1583. BLESSING. In caeteris vero gentibus Deos obtestatur ut velint. — P., N. H., xxviii. 5. So in Herefordshire, when the labourers were to do anything they would say, " In the name of God." — Aubrey. 5.3 BLESSING. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Prate. I think I was not blest this morning v;hen I rose : for through my forgetfulness I have left behind me in my study the breviates of all my causes. — Machin, Dumb Knight, F, iii. [By G. Markham, see Greg's List. — Ed.] How happily rose I on my right side to-day or blessed me well as I came forth of doors. — Pals., Ac, M. 3. 1540. At any strange sight. — B. and F., Wit ivithout Money, v. 3. Hodge, Cham agast, by the mass, ich wot not what to do Chad nede blesse me well before ich go them to. Perchance some fellon sprit may haunt our house indeed And then chwere but a noddy to venter where cha no neede. — Gammer Gurton's Needle, i. 3. 1575. Diccon. Ill luck, quod he, mary swere it, Hodge, this day the trueth tel, Thou rose not on thy sight ryde, or els blest thee not wel, Thy mylk slopt up! thy bacon fyltched ! that was to bad luck, Hodge. — Ih., i. 4. It is a custom of many fukapa (or learned and devout persons; and some others to say : " In the name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful," on locking a door, covering bread, laying down their clothes at night, and on other occasions, and this they believe protects their property from genii. The thing over which these words have been pronounced is termed " musemmee aleyh." — Lane, Modem Egyptians, c. x. On lighting the lamp in the evening, more particularly at a shop, on first seeing the new moon, and on looking at oneself in a glass, it is customary to say, '* O God, bless our lord Mohammad," or words of like import. — lb., n. The sign of the Cross. — Every step that we take (says Tertullian) when we come in or go out, put on our clothes or our shoes, when we bathe, eat, light up candles, go to bed, or sit down, we mark our forehead with the sign of the Cross. If for these or other acts of discipline of the same kind you demand a text of Scripture, you will find none, but tradition will be alleged to you as the prescriber of them. — Middleton's Free Inquiry, Introductory Discourse, p. Ixi., 1749. And see Prompt. Parv., ed. Way, 103. They avow that signing with the sign of the Crosse at rysing or lying down, at going out or coming in, at lighting of candles, closing of windowes, or any such action is not only a pious and profitable ceremonie, but a very apostolic tradition. — The Canterburian's ScIf-Co7iviction, 1640 (in the Scottish dialect), chap. 6. Lipsalve. Now, mistress Maria, ward yourself : if my strong hope fail not I shall be with you to bring Shrimp. To bring what, sir ? some more o' your kind ? Lipsalve. Faith boy, that 's mine aim. Shrimp. I '11 be sworn, sir, you have a good loose*, you let fly at him apace. * Term in archery for a discharge of arrows. 54 FOLK LORE. blessing. Lipsalve. I have shot fair and far off, but now I hope to hit the mark indeed. Shrimp. God save it. Lipsalve. But where 's the sign ? Shrimp. Why there. Lipsalve. That 's a special thing to be observed. Middleton, Fam. of Love, iii. 2. Un jour le diable pour epouvanter les hommes, inventa le tonnerre. Dieu survint, qui les rassura et qui leur dit. " Ne craignez point ; je ferai I'eclair qui vous previendra ; et par un signe croix vous pourrez toujours conjurer ce mal nouveau." Et voila pour quvi tout bon chretien se signe quand il fait un eclair. — Perron, Prov. Fv. Comp., p. 141. The MARK OF THE Cross. And see post. This is now confined to illiterate persons, but before the reign of Edward the Confessor it always accompanied the written signature to important documents, and often stood in place of the subscription. — See Hickes, Thesaurus, Dissert. Epist. III., p. 68. The Normans established the custom of those who were able, signing their own names and to omit the use of the cross. — lb., p. 73. The R prefixed to prescriptions is not meant for Recipe as is generally supposed, but is a superstitious invocation and a relic of the astrological symbol of Jupiter. — Paris, Philosophy in Sport. On faisait une croix a la cheminee pour empecher les poules de segarer. — P. Lacroix, Moyen Age. Miners do not like the form of the cross being made under- ground. A friend of my informant, going through some "levels," or "adits," made a + by the side of one to know his way back, as he would have to return by himself. He had to alter it into another form. — Hunt. In those days when they went to bed they did rake up the fire and make a + in the ashes, and pray to God and St. Sythe (Osyth) to deliver them from fire and water and from all misadventure. H (Gloucestershire) Aubrey, Rem. May 3rd, 1643. Now Cheapside Cross was voted down Because 'twas superstitious grown. But had not profit bore the sway It might have stood there to this day. Poor Robin, May, 1698. It is the badge of Antichristian dross For to see butter printed with the cross, And so likewise for coin it is the same To have such marks as bear the cross' name ; But yet you may your consciences beguile When as you tell it then turn up the pile. Yea and Nay Almanac, Part II., 1680. 56 BLESSING. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Calls it the badge of ami-Christian dross When they see butter printed with the cross. Taylor (W. P.), B. of Cormorants, ii. He knows not why, but his custom is to go a little about and to leave the cross still on the right hand. — Bp. Hall. Kruyssen ende saeghenen. Crucis signo se munire. — Kilian. The holy Cross. — Bare, Sh. of Fo., ii. 15. Formerly coin was marked on one side with the cross like our modern florin. The Avord Cross came to be used to signify money. In our own day the Portuguese talk of and have the Crusado — and the double meaning to be played upon. — Shak., As You Like It, ii. 4, 10; 2 Hen. IV., i. 2, 212 ; Tim. of Ath.,\. 2, 157; Ben Jonson, Every Man i7i his Humour, iv. 7; Lihe Will to Like, 1568; Haz., O.P., iii. 346; Dis- obedient Child, lb., ii. 312 ; Rowley, New Wonder, iii. See instances of puns on this cross collected in Skeats' note to P. Plowman's Vis., xviii. 205. Never a cross left him to bless him with. — Pal., Ac, T. 4. 1546. We still say, "He hasn't a penny to bless himself with"; and gipsies require us to " cross their hands with silver." Now I have never a cross to bless me ; Now I go a mumming, Like a poor penniless spirit, Without pipe or drumming. Marriage of Witt and Wisdome, p. 31. What would you have? The devil sleeps in my pocket. I have no cross to drive him from it. — Massinger, Bashful Lover, iii. i. Well might the devil dance [in an empty pocket], for never a cross there was to keep him back. — Greene, Never too Late in Censura Literaria, viii. p. 16. The saymg that it is necessary to have some piece ot money m the pocket, however small, to keep the devil out, alluded originally to the cross on coins, which was supposed to prevent his approach. — Nares' Glossary, Article " Cross." Tom's Fortune. Tom tells he 's robbed, and counting all his losses, Concludes all 's gone ; the world is full of crosses : If all be gone, Tom, take this comfort then, Thou 'rt certain never to have cross agen. Witt's Recreation, Ep., 419. Then come the poor, and strip him so, they leave him not a cross, For he regards ten thousand pounds no more than W^ood's dross. Swift, Song on King, Archbishop of Dublin. But now my barrel of gold which Pride set a-broach, Love began to set a-tilt, which in short time ran so to the lees that the Devil danced in the bottom, where he found never a cross. — Lyly, Euphucs and his England, p. 238. 56 FOLK LORE. blessing. And by his side his whynyard and his pouch The devil might dance therein for any crouch. Skelton, The Bouge of the Court. Cf. Riot. The devil cannot abide to be crossed. — Witch of Edmonton, ii. i. A familiar instance of the power of the + over demons is seen in the opera of " Faust," where Mephistopheles recoils in horror when the sword-handle is presented to him. Cf. Mass., Virgin Martyr, vi., where Harpax is similarly scared by a + of flowers. Chaucer calls it : " Flemer of feendes out of him and here." — M. of L awes Tale, 460. Let the cross on the sixpence (if that be the only Cross thou canst endure) put thee in mind what He suffered that beggeth the smallest Cross in thy purse to relieve him in thy brother. — Rd. Whitlock, Zootomia, p. 524. 1654. As to the young man (subject unto sinne), No marvel though the Divell doe distresse him To tempt man's frailty which doth never linne, Who many times hath not a crosse to blesse him But how can he incurre the heaven's cursse That hath so many crosses in his purse ? Rd. Barnfield, Lady Pecitnia, 12. 159S. He needs not fear those wicked sprights that walke Under the coverture of cole-blacke night, For why ? the divell still a crosse doth baulke Because on it was hang'd the Lord of Light. 161 3. These* and such like dare I not plainly touch For all these crosses and silver in my pouch. * Vices. IBarclay, Eel., ill. The feende men seyne may hoppe in a pouche Whan that no cross therein may appere. Occleve, De Reg. Prin., p. 25. And some against all idolizing The cross in shopbooks or babtizing. But., Hud., IIL, ii. 313. Ortiz [Hist, de Espaha, ii. 121) says that in the plague in Rome in 590 " se introduxo la loable costumbre de hacerse cruces en la boca quando se bosteza y decir," " Dios te ayuaa," o "Jesus to valga," quando se estornuda. Covering the open mouth when gaping with the hand — Not out of respect to the company. That scurvy, mannerly trick with handkerchief. — Middleton, Women beware Women, iii. 3 ; (Dutch) Thorpe, N. Myth., iii. 332. Les femmes Espagnoles, lorsqu'elles baillent, ne manquent pas de se signer quatre fois la bouche avec le pouce, de peur que le diable n'y entre . . . Les Indiens craquent leurs doigts quand quelqu'un bailie pour eloigner les demons. — Collin de Plancy. 57 BLESSING. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Coleridge gives the following as in use at Christ's Hospital up to his time : " Foot, foot, foot is fast asleep, Thumb, thumb, thumb in spittle we steep; Crosses three we make to ease us. Two for the thieves and one for Christ Jesus." A cross made with spittle on a sleeping foot recovers it. — Hunt. To drive away a rainbow. Make a cross of two sticks, and lay four pebbles on it, one at each end. — (W. R. Yorkshire) Henderson ; Denham. Lay two straws across to prevent a witch from entering. — Connoisseur, No. 59. One of the queerest mixtures of sacred and profane is the boy crossing himself before drawing the numbers in the lottery. — Story, Roba di Roma. Pinge duos angues : pueri, sacer est locus, extra Meite ! — Persius, Sat., i. 113. Any one familiar with Italian town life will remember the crosses painted on the walls in the tempting corners of the streets with the notice, " Immondezzaio." In the belief that it will prevent the ginn from entering the bath, it is a common custom in Egypt of Muslims as well as Christians to draw or paint a cross over its entrance. — The Modern Egyptians, by E. W. Lane, c. x., note i. Among the modern Moslems generally when a man yawns* he puts the back of his left hand to his mouth saying, " I seek refuge with Allah from Satan, the accursed ; " but the act of yawning f is to be avoided, for the devil leaps into a gaping mouth. — Pend-Nameh [trans, by de Sacy], ch. Ixiii. * ? gapes. t ? gaping. This may very likely be the meaning of the Jewish proverb : " Open not thy mouth to Satan." — Tylor, Prim. Cult., i. 93. On Reid-een (eve of May 3) in Aberdeenshire a cross is im- pressed with tar on the doors of stables and byres. — J. Especially on Halloween they used to sein or sign their boats and put a cross of tar upon them. — Brand's Orkney, p. 62. In 1563 churchwardens had blue crosses painted at the expense of the parishioners to affix to infected houses. — Machyn's Diary (Camden Soc), vol. xlii. 396 ; Anecdotes and Traditions, (Camden Soc), v. 33. When a house became infected, the officers empowered for that purpose immediately placed a guard before it, which continued there night and day to prevent any person going from thence vmtil the expiration of forty days. At the same time red crosses of a foot long were painted upon the doors and windows with the words " Lord have mercy upon us" in great letters written over them, to caution all passengers to avoid infected places. — Collier's Old Plays, xi. 544. Cf. Ex., xii. 7, 13 ; Taylor (Water Poet), Tlie Fearful Summer, or London s Calamity. 58 FOLK LORE. blessing. *' A Door speaking the same Language [Miserere niei] on it, and a red Crosse on it would more effectually bring a licentious Gallant out of conceit with a Brothell-house than Salomon's calling it the Chambers of Death." — Rd. Whitlock, Zootomia, p. 528. 1654. We see we cannot tell by the water whether the house be on fire : it can as little tell whether there be a red cross on it ; I mean whether it be a malignant fever, or the Plague itself, or no. — lb., p. 67. The alphabet was formerly written in the form of a cross by way of charm and was called Chris-cross row. See Shak., Richard III., i. i, 55. It was also substituted for the figures XII on the dial. — The Puritan, iv. 2. Usurer. All those crosses that I have figured on The Prince's coin stand still betwixt me and danger. Davenport, Neiif Trick, v. 2. 1639. Mrs. Low. Why, then, you are out of my debt : I '11 cross the book and turn over a new leaf with you. — Middleton, No Wit, no Help like a Woman's, ii. 3. I will make a cross upon his gate ; ye, cross on, Thy crosses be on gates all, in thy purse none. J. Heywood, Epigrams. Creeping to the Cross. Cf. Tibull, EL, I., ii. 83 ; P. Plow. Vis., xviii. 428. Gud. A wife is such a cross that all married men would gladly be rid of. Ger. And yet such a cross that all bachelors would gladly be creeping to. — Middleton, Family of Love, i. 2. Swearing on + of sword. ^Spencer, Fairy Queen, VI., i. 43 ; Shak., 1 Henry IV., ii. 4, 328 ; Hamlet, i. 5, 147. To cross yourself when you see a magpie. — N., ii. See post. Or take off your hat. To cross yourself when you see anything alarming. — B. and F., Wit ivithout Money, v. 3. To cross yourself on meeting a priest in the morning. 5^^ Wright, Lat. Stories, Nos. 8g, 118. [Percy Soc] To cross yourself to break the force of the gth or fatal wave. — Wright, Ess. on Pop. Sup. of Middle Ages, i. 296. But holy water in the air to tosse And with the finger here and there to crosse Scorn thou, as fruitless freets, lest Satan slight And scorn such weapons should resist his might. Sir Wm. More, True Crucifixe for True Catholickes, Edin., 1629. Many of the vulgar account it extremely dangerous to touch anything which they may happen to find without saining--' it, the snares of the enemy being notorious and well attested. — Scott, Minstrelsy of Scottish Border. Introd. to Tamlane, &c. * blessing. 69 LOVE & MARRIAGE. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. To mark eggs with a +. It produces good chickens, and scares off weasels, &c. — N., L, ii. Thiers discountenances those " Qui font une croix a leur cheminee, pour empecher que les poules sortent du logis," and others "qui mettent certain nombre de croix sur les bleds avec certaines ceremonies, afin de les conserver." — i. 238. To put a + on the dough before baking. — Ay., N., v. 5 [Glou.] ; Carr, Craven Glossary ; Mich. Placucci, who thinks it a good custom, though he doesn't believe that it keeps off the witches. — Usi, S'C, p. 176. When the bread was put into the oven, they prayed to God and St. Stephen to send them a just batch and an even. — Aubrey, Rem. It is believed that it makes the bread come quicker. — (North- ampton) Sternberg. This I '11 tell ye by the way. Maidens, when ye leavens lay, Cross your dough, and your dispatch Will be better for your batch. Herrick, Ed. Grosart, iii. 63. [Hesperides, 1065. — Ed.] To put a + at the commencement of letters, wills and books. To put a + on the windows of a newly-built house. To put a + on the malt in mashing it up for brewmg (Shropshire). To put a + on draft conveyances and pleadings when sent forth by counsel. To put a + on the skin (shoulder) of a sheep when the outer fleece has been peeled by the butcher. To put a + in place of name for signature. The Felatahs who cannot write use the mark of the cross instead, just as with us. — Denham, Clapperton's Africa, p. 54. 1824. " Emmanuel" also a prefix. — Shak., 2 Henry VI., iv. 2, 94. LOVE AND MARRIAGE-GOOD LUCK. To hear the nightingale sing before hearing the cuckoo. — Webster, Cure for a Cuckold, iv. 1 ; Poor Robin, April, 1677. Ld. Bonoile. We must lose sometimes — Hark, the Nightingale ! Juliefta. You win, my lord, I dare engage myself. Ld. Bonoile. You make the omen fortunate : this bird Doth prophesy good luck. Julielta. 'Tis the first time I heard it. Ld. Bonoile. And I this spring. — Shirley, Hyde Park, iv. i. 60 FOLK LORE. LOVE & MAnniAGE. Mrs. Bonavent. I was wont to have one always in my chamber. Lacy. Thou shalt have a whole quire of nightingales. Mrs. Bonavent. I heard it yesterday warble so prettily. Lacy. They say 'tis lucky when it is the first bird that salutes our ear. Mrs. Bonavent. Do you believe it ? Lacy. Observe the first note always — (zi/ithin) Cuckoo! is this the nightmgale ? Mrs. Bonavent. Why do you look so ? Lacy. Are we married ? I would not have been a bachelor to have heard it. Mrs. Bonavent. To them they say 'tis fatal. Trier. And to married men "Cuckoo " is no delightful note. I shall be superstitious. Shirley, Hyde Park. ** But as I lay this other night wakinge, I thoghte how lovirs had a tokeninge, And amonge hem it was a comune tale, That it were gode to here the Nightingale Rather than the lewde Cukkow singe. Chaucer,* Of the Cuckoo and Nightingale, 46. [* Skeat says probably by Sir Thomas Clanvowe. — Ed.] Thy liquid notes that close the eye of day, First heard before the shallow cuckoo's bill. Portend success in love : Oh, if Jove's will Have link'd that am'rous pow'r to thy soft lay, Now timely sing, ere the rude bird of hate Foretell my hopeless doom in some grove nigh. Milton, Sonnet to the Niglitingale. Compass (who has been cuckolded) What, Ralph ! Here 's another of my young cuckoos I heard last April, before I heard the nightingale. — Webster, Cure for a Cuckhold, iv. i, and the superstition is again alluded to at the end of the play, v. 2. And see Acts iv. 3, omen of general ill-luck. Also iii. 2. At every dinner-party given in honour of an engaged pair, the bride and bridegroom have each a nosegay to dispose of ; and these are sent by them to an unmarried gentleman and lady of the guests as a friendly hint that now it will be their turn. — (Dutch) N., ii. Breaking money. If in the course of their amour she gives the dear man her hair, wove in a true-lover's knot, or breaks a crooked ninepence with him, she thinks herself assured of his inviolable fidelity. — Connoisseur, N., 56. Lady Goldenfleece. Then pray be witness all of you with this kiss 1 choose him for my husband . . . And with this parted gold that two hearts join. [Breaks gold into two pieces and gives one to Lowater.] — Middleton, No Wit, No Help like a Woman's, ii. 3. 61 LOV2 & MARRIAGE. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. (Valeria has been entrapped into a verbal promise of marriage) First Suitor. Stay, stay, stay, you broke no gold between you. Valeria. We broke nothing, sir. First Suitor. Nor drunk to one another? Valeria. Not a drop, sir. First Suitor. You 're sure of this you speak ? Valeria. Most certain, sir. First Suitor. Be of good comfort, wench ; I '11 undertake then at mine own charge to overthrow him for thee. — Middleton, Widotv, ii. i. Trefle a quatre feuilles assure ce jour (June 24) un mari a la belle. — Coremans, Belgique. Among the Kaffirs a promise is always held sacred when a piece of metal was broken between the parties. — Barrow, Southern Africa, i. 168. And now they did a sixpence break In sign of mutual troth. Wolcot, Orson and Ellen, c. 5. A cross was incised on the Anglo-Saxon and Norman moneys that they might be readily broken into halves and quarters for the giving of change. — Robinson, Whitby Glossary. In Cochin China the breaking of one of their copper coins or a pair of chop-sticks between man and wife before proper witnesses, is considered as a dissolution of their former compact and the act of separation. — Barrow, Voyage to Cochin China, p. 304. 1806. And for a token true to pass betwixt us twain Yea, for to keep our hearts in love, she broke a ring in twain. Grange, Golden Aphrod., O. iii. i. 1577. Broken gold. — Killigrew, Thomaso, I, v. i. Then wilt thou much repent thy bargain made in haste. And much lament those perfum'd gloves which yield such sour taste. And eke the falsed faith which lurks in broken rings ; Though hand in hand say otherwise, yet do I know such things. Gascoigne, Posies; The Refusal of a Lover, i. 90. 1575. Harlot. Lethe. Marry a harlot ! why not ? 'tis an honest man's fortune. — Middleton, Michaelmas Term, v. 2. Barber. I was never so out of the body as I have been of late ; send me good luck. I '11 marry some whore but I '11 get it again. — Middleton, M. cf Quccnsh., iii. 3. Ferd. I heard him swear even now he thoutjht he should never thrive till he had married one of your seasoned grass- widows. — Killigrew, Thomaso, II., v. 7. Penniless Bride. When a man designs to marry a woman who is in debt if he take her from the hands of the priest clothed only in her shift, it is supposed that he will not be liable to her engagement. — B. 62 FOLK LORE. love & marriage. Gveenwit. Say he should take a wench with her smock-dowry, No portion with her but her Hps and arms ? Sit' Alex. Why who thrive better, sir ? they have most blessing, Though others have more wealth, and least repent ; Many that want most know the most content. Middleton, Roaving Girl, v. 2. Rutilio. Would I were honestly married To anything that had but half a face,* And not a groat to keep her, nor a smock. B. and F., Custom of the Country, iv. 4. * i.e. a bastard or foundling unacknowledged by her father. Feet washing. The eve of the wedding-day is termed the feet-washing, when a party of the neighbours of the bride and bridegroom assemble at their respective homes ; a tub of water is brought, in which the feet of the party are placed, and a small piece of silver or copper money dropped into the water ; but at this moment one of the company generally tosses in a handful of soot, by which the water is completely blackened ; a most eager and ludicrous scramble now takes place amongst the lads and lasses striving who shall get the piece of money, pushing, shoving and splashing above the elbows, for the lucky finder is to be the first married of the company. A second and more cleanly ablution takes place. — Edin. Mag., Nov. 1818, p. 412. And pigeons billing, sparrows treading, Fair emblems of a fruitful wedding. Swift, Strephon and Chloe. En Perigord la fiancee qui est au moment de recevoir la benediction nuptiale, ne manque jamais de remplir sa poche droite de millet, attendu que ie mauvais genie qui voudroit lui nuire la premiere nuit de ses noces, se trouverait force de dire autant de paroles mystiques, qu'elle a de grains dans la poche, et qu'il ne saurait en connaitre le nombre. Pour ecarter encore tout malefice, les epoux ont le soin de placer une piece de monnaie dans leurs souliers au moment de mariage. — Chesnel, Diet. A person going to be married on meeting a male acquaintance always begins rubbing his elbow. — (W. R. York) N., i. 6. See post. To be FOLLOWED BY A STRANGE DOG whcu going courting. — (Dutch) N., ii. To be PLACED (inadvertently) between husband and wife at the dinner-table will be married within the year. — (Dutch) N ., i- 3- To be touched by the wing of a bat, should one happen to fly into your room, will be married within the year. (Scot) A^, i- 3- 63 LOVE & MARRIAGE. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. To FIND an ash-leaf, of which the leaflets are even in number, brings a lover. — Lees. Find odd-leaved ash, and even-leafed clover And you '11 see your true love before the day 's over. — N. The outside of his doublet was Made of the four-leav'd true-love grass. King Ohcrons Apparel, Mus. Delic. If a person found casually an ash or white clover-leaf with only two foils it was thought lucky, and that if placed under their pillow at night persons (unmarried) would dream of their intended partners for life. — Ho wells, Cambrian Super- stltions, p. 67. FoUR-LEAVED CLOVER. Reputed to be a preventative against madness and against being drafted for military service. — Napier. See as to this and other Plant Superstitions. — Le DiahJe et ses Comes, pas un Frihourgeois de belle hmneur. Fribourg, 1876. If we have the grace of God this grace shall be indeed like a four-nooked clover is in the opinion of some, viz., a most powerful means against the juggling of the sight. — Zach. Boyd, Last Battel of the Soid, p. 68. 1629. With a four-leav'd clover, double-topp'd ash, and green-topp'd seave. You may go before the queen's daughter without asking leave. (Scarborough, Yorkshire) A^., III., i. 298. The seave is the rush of which the tips are generally withered. A four-leaved clover-leaf. Finder will be married within the year. — (Bavarian) N., V., x. 146. To find the Potentilla reptans (creeping cinquefoil) — the Five- leaved Grass with six leaves on — brings a lover. — Lees. Five-leav'd grass with six leaves on, put it under your pillow and you '11 dream of your mon. Noake, W. N. and Q., p. 192. To find the Herb Paris (Paris quadrifolia) with extra leaves. " Its green calyx and four green petals are soon succeeded by a solitary, lurid, purple berry, whence the name given to it by rustics of "One berry" or True-love. Perhaps the latter name may be assigned it from a rustic superstition that any flower or leaf that multiplies its parts, or becomes distorted is to be considered precious ; as a four-leaved trefoil or shamrock, a six-partite leaf of a cinquefoil, Sic.'^ — Lees, Botanical Lookey-oiit, 173. Chaucer, speaking of a man going courting, says : — Under his tonge a trewe-love he here. For thereby wend he to ben gracious. Miller's T., 3693. To find a primrose with six petals, instead of the usual number, five. 64 FOLK LORE. love & marriage. The primrose when with six leaves gotten grace, Maids as a true-love in their bosoms place. W. Browne, Britannia's Pastorals [bk. ii., song 3, 355.— Ed.] The Primrose : BEING AT MONTGOMERY CASTLE UPON THE HILL ON WHICH IT IS SITUATE. Upon this Primrose hill. Where, if Heav'n would distil A shower of rain, each several drop might go To his own primrose, and grow manna so ; And where their form, and their infinity Make a terrestrial Galaxy, As the small stars do in the sky ; I walk to find a true love, and I see That 'tis not a mere woman, that is she, But must or more or less than woman be. Yet know I not which flower I wish ; a six, or four ; For should my true love less than woman be, She were scarce anything ; and then, should she Be more than woman, she would get above All thought of sex, and think to move My heart to study her, and not to love. Both these were monsters ; since there must reside Falsehood in woman, I could more abide She were by Art, than Nature falsified. Live, Primrose ! then, and thrive With thy true number, five ; And woman, whom this flower doth represent, With this mysterious number be content ; Ten is the farthest number ; if half ten Belongs unto each woman, then Each woman may take half us men : Or — if this will not serve their turn — since all Numbers are odd, or even, and they fall First into five, women may take us all. Donne, Songs and Sonnets. To marry at the full of the moon. — Dalyell. Or with a growing moon. — B. Les mariages heureux se font pendant la lune croissante. — Coremans, L'Annee de VAncicnne Belgique, 1844. To marry with a flowing tide. — (Scot., Orkney) Sir John Sinclair, Statistical Account, S'C. Compass. Come widow then : ere the next ebb and tide ; If I be bridegroom thou shalt be the bride. Webster, Cure for a Cuckold, iv. i. " C'est I'achtiendag ou le iS™ jour apres la nuit-mere Mariages de ce jour seront heureux." — Jan. 11, Coremans, Belgique. VOL. II. 65 6 LOVE & MARRIAGE. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. There is a prejudice in Scotland in favour of Dec. 31 as a wedding- day. In England Valentine's day is largely honoured. In 1873, when it fell on a Friday, an enormous number of weddings came off on the day preceding. To be married on the birthday anniversary of a relative of the bride or bridegroom. — N., VI., ii. 389. For the cat to sneeze on the eve of the wedding [within the bride's hearing]. — B., Chambers' Journal, 1875. Regillis, tunicis albis, et reticulis luteis utrisque rectis, textis susum versum a stantibus pridie nuptiarum diem virginis indutae cubitum ibant ominis causa, ut etiam in totis virilibus dandis observari solet. — Festus (S. P.) D& Verborum Sigtiificatione, Ed. Miiller, Qu., xiii. 30. Great attention is paid to the first-foot, that is the person who happens to meet the marriage company, and if such person does not voluntarily offer to go back with them they are generally compelled to do so. A man on horseback is reckoned very lucky, and a barefooted woman almost as bad as a witch. Should a hare cross the road before a bride, it is ominous ; but a toad crawling over the path she has to tread is a good omen ; a magpie on flight crossing the way from right to left, or, as some say, contrary to the sun, is the harbinger of bad luck, but if vice versa is reckoned harmless ; horned cattle are inauspicious to the bridegroom, and a yeld cow (not giving milk) to the bride. — J., Edin. Mag., Nov. 181 8. If the first person met should refuse to turn back and join the company it would be a very unlucky omen. There are also happy and unhappy feet. Thus they wish bride- grooms and brides a happy foot, and, to prevent any bad effect they salute those they meet on the road with a kiss. — Stat. Acct. Scot., Forgle S'C, Banf., xiv, 541. To see a flight of birds, as a couple go to church to be married, foretells many children. In some places the ringers foretell the number of children by tolling the bell a certain number of times after the pealing is finished. See an instance from Wore, 2 N. and Q., iv. 487, where they foretold a family of nine. Garland. On .their road to the [church] some cunning lass who slily awaits their approach will endeavour to throw a garland over the bride, which, if it falls on her, is deemed lucky, but if it does not, unfortunate. — W. Howells, Cambrian Snpir- siifions, p. 1 58. Cf. With this as a symbol of vii'ginity, the practice of suspend- ing a crant (Germ. Krantz) over a maiden's tomb. Evidence of this may still be seen in the S. aisle of Beverley Minster. Shak., Hamlet, v. i, 226, mentions "Virgin's Grants." FOLK LORE. love & marriage. Laurea Rex gestat, diadema sit Imperatoris, Virginis est sertum, clericique corona potentis. Withals, 1608. The bride should be conducted in presence of the minister to the side of her future husband by a circuit from east to west, on the south side. — (Deasil.) Mother's smock. Indulgence (to her son on his going a-courting to Wisdom) : Well yet before thou goest, hold here my blessing in a clout. Well fare the mother at a need : hold to thy tackling stout. Marriage of Wit and Wisdom (Shak. Soc), p. 11. Mrs. Wanton (speeding Wild and Careless on an amorous mission) : Let me shake my smock over you for luck's sake. — Killigrew, Parson's Wedding, iv. 7. See also Two Italian Gentlemen, 1584, Halliwell's rep., p. 25 ; and Wine, Beer, Ale and Tobacco, 1630, p. 181 ; /i. His mother's smock sure did this widower wear For no sooner wooed he but he presently sped, A license he fetcht and he married her straight. Roxburgh Bds., (Ball. Soc), iii. 226. Love-charms are in great request. The Moorish priests sell them to men and women, and the ingredients are as heterogeneous as they are occasionally repulsive. Sometimes a piece of paper upon which the charm is written is soaked in water which is given the victim to drink. Bits of the beloved object's clothes, hair, paring of nails ; nay, even the earth he or she has trodden upon are used in various ways for the specific purpose in view. But the oddest thing of all in the way of a charm came under our notice at Mogador. One now and then sees a fowl or a pigeon with a little red bundle tied to its foot. This puzzled us greatly until on inquiry we found that the bundle contained a charm. It is believed that if the charm is kept in constant motion by the bird a corresponding ferment is excited in the mind of him or her against whom the charm is directed. This device is also employed in order to obtain the friendship or assistance of the great — such as governors of provinces, or even t'ne Sultan himself. — Leared, Morocco and the Moors, 1876, p. 272. Others are of opinion that these feats, which most suppose to be done by charms and philters, are merely effected by natural causes, as by man's blood chemically prepared, which much avails, saith Ernestus Burgranius, in Lucernd vita: et mortis Indice, ad amovem concilianduni et odium (so huntsmen make their dogs love them and farmers their pullen), 'tis an excellent philter, as he holds, sed vulgo prodere grande nefas, but not fit to be made common : and so be mala insana, mandrake roots, mandrake apples, pretious stones, dead men's cloaths, candels, mala bacchica, panis porcinus, 67 LOVE & MARRIAGE. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Hippomanes, a certain hair in a wolf's tail, &c., of which Rhasis, Dioscorides, Porta, Wecker, Rubeus, Mizaldus, Albertus treate: a swallow's heart, dust of a dove's heart, multum valent linguae viperarum, cerebella asinorum, tela equina, palliola quibus infantes obvoluti nascuntur, funus strangulati hominis, lapis de nido equilai, &c. See more in Sckenkius, Ohsevvat. Medicinal, lib. 4. — Burton, An. of Melancholy, III., ii., M. 2, S. 5. Nightingale. It were an heauenly helthe. It were an endlesse welthe, A lyfe for God hymselfe. To here this nyghtyngale Amonge the byrdes smale Warbelynge in the vale ; Dug, dug, jug, jug. Good yere and good lucke, With chucke, chucke, chucke, chucke. Skelton (d. 1529) To Maistres Isahell Pennell. Right-hand place. Of an old custom or ordinance : the woman standeth on the right hand of the man when they be married. — Horm., Vnlg., 146. To have flowers strewn on the path of the married couple as they return from church. Dans quelques localitis du dep'- de la Sarthe, vers la semaine de Paques, on fait sauter aux nouveaux maries un ruisseau dans lequel on jette avec ceremonie des bouquets en primevere pour amener la fecondite et la prosperite dans le nouveaux menage. — Chesnel, Diet. Our bridal fiow'rs serve for a buried corse. — Shak., Romeo and Juliet, iv. 5, 89. Dorilans. Ne'er a great belly yet ? how have you trifled ? If I had done so, son, I should have heard on't On both sides, by Saint Dennis. Cle. You are nobly w-elcome, sir. We have time enough for that. Dor. See how she blushes. 'Tis a good sign : you '11 mend your fault. B. and F., Lovers Progress, i. 2. Pins. A bride on her return from church is often robbed of all the pins about her dress by the single women present, from the belief that whoever possesses one of them will be married in the course of a year. — (W. Sussex) F. L. R., i. But see post. To have grey horses to the carriages at the wedding. For the same reason (as emblematic of purity) white hats are worn by the postboys. The bride herself is drest in white. White 68 FOLK LORE. love & marriage. also are the gloves and wedding favours ; the cards are often tied with silver cord, and the wedding cake is coated with white sugar. — N., ii. Good luck for a grey horse. — Robinson, Dialect of Leeds, p. 316. 1862. White. Garnet. Yet I wish you could take the white and silver to be married in. It 's the worst luck in the world in anything but white. I knew one Bett Stubbs of our town that was married in red, and as sure as eggs is eggs the bridegroom and she had a miff before morning. — Goldsmith, Good Natuvcd Man, iv. Flammeum. The flame-coloured robe, in which the bride went home (CatuU., Ixi.) for luck's sake is now worn in the face of the blushing bride. Music A clod you should be called of a high constable To let no music go afore your child ^' To church to cheer her heart up this cold morning. B. Jon., Tale of a Tub, ii. i. * At her wedding. To have the sun shine on the wedding day. — B. See post. That is for the marriage to take place in the eye of day and not clandestinely. P'or this reason probably the canonical hours were fixed at from 8 a.m. to noon, at which they still remain. [Now to 3 p.m. — Ed.] Dans la commune d' Angles, montagne Noire, les servantes n'essuient point les casseroles avec un morceau de pain, parce que cet acte leur attirerait de la pluie le jour de leur mariage. — Chesnel, Diet. Dans quelques communes on dit qu'un mariage celebre un jour qu'il pleut annonce que les maries ne peuvent manguer de devener tres riches et que la fortune les comblera de toutes ses faveurs. — Ih. While that others do divine. Blest is the bride on whom the sun doth shine. Herrick, Hesperides, p. 152. If it rain in the morning tide, The groom will live to bury the bride ; If it rain in the afternoon, The bride will live to bury the groom. — Mitchell. If the day be foul That the bride gangs hame, Alack and alace But she liv'd her lane ; If the day be fair That the bride gangs hame Baith pleasure and peace Before her are gane. — Chambers. 69 LOVE & MARRIAGE. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. So many drops so many raps [for the bride]. And so Middleton (of Jealousy). It begins : As soon as the sun shines upon the bride A little to shew colour. — Women Beimre Women, iii. i. It is "the bride's part," i.e. the forenoon of the wedding day that should be fine. — Carleton, Traits and Stories of Irish Peasantry ; [Shane Fadh's Wedding.^ Old Shoe. Frisco Now to my young mistresses go I. Somebody cast an old shoe after me. — Englishmen for my Money, iv. i ; Haz., O.P., X. Cast an old shoe after Luscus for luck That goes to his dear her deerly to buck. J. Davies of Hereford, S. of F., Ep., 403. Daban I'Auta sacrat per proucura la pax As batut les soiiilhes des noubels maridats? (As tu devant I'autel sacre, pour procurer la paix* Battu les souliers des nouveaux maries?) Amilha, Parf. Crest, 1673. * du menage. To have an old shoe or slipper thrown after the wedded pair on leaving the bride's paternal mansion. — B. See post. In the Isle of Man the shoe is thrown after bride and bride- groom as they leave their respective abodes. — Chambers' Jonrmil, 1871. The hurling of old shoes, &c., after the bridegroom among ourselves may be a relic of a custom still prevailing in the East. It is a sham assault on the person carrying off the lady : and in default of any more plausible explanation it may be the form of capture in its last stage of disintegra- tion. — McLennan, Primitive Marriage, 30, n. 1865. Broom. An old woman, aunt of the bridegroom, displeased at his marriage, stood at the church gate and pronounced an anathema on the married pair. She then bought a new broom, went home, swept her house, and hung the broom over the door. By this she intimated her rejection of her nephew, and forbade him to enter her house. Another correspondent adds: "When a married woman leaves home for a few days, the husband (in some parts of England) hangs a broom or besom from the window." — N.,u Brooms, after being used in the performance of divers mythical ceremonies, were hung up in houses and regarded like pieces of the rowan or mountain-ash tree as powerful charms against the entrance of evil doers. — Hardwick. C/. " Where do you hang out your broom ? " 70 FOLK LORE. love & marriage. I have heard of a wedding in Norfolk where rick was scattered over their heads. EngHsh people, when the bride comes from church, are wont to cast WHEAT upon her head. — Dr. Muffet, Health's Improvement, p. 130. 1655. Chez les Hebreux, tous les assistans jetaient par trois fois du ble sur la tete de la nouvelle marioe (Selden, Uxor Ehraica, p. 195). Cette ceremonie s'appelle sacha dans I'lnde, et elle y a pris une forme encore plus poetique : ce sont les epoux eux-memes qui se repandent reciproquement du riz ou des perles sur la tete en Grec kihO)) signifiait meme a la fois Orge et Membre generateur (v. Aristoph., Pax, 962-65) et il conserve encore en France ce sens obscene dans une locution populaire (dare hordeum uxori) : on avait nieme surnomme Venus la Deesse du millet (Acppodhi) Kc^/xpi^, Engel, Kypros, ii. 126). — Edelstand Du Meril, Formes du Mariage, p. 4, n. The wheaten ear Avas scatter'd near the porch * The green broom blossom'd strew'd the way to church. " The Happy Village," by Rev. Hy. Rowe, * At wedding. Poems, i. 113. 1796. In the Jura the bridegroom's mother scatters corn, peas, beans, or acorns over them on their return from church. — Chesnel, Did. Vidi in quibusdam partibus, quando mulieres nubebant, et de ecclesia redibant in ingressu domus in faciem eoruni frumentum projiciebant, clamantes. " Abundantia ! abun- dantia ! " quod Gallice dicitur plente, plente ; et tamen plerumque antequam annus transiret pauperes mendici remanebant, et abundatia omni bonorum carebant. — Wright, Lat. Star. (Percy Soc), No. cxx. A Gaillac dept. du Tarn lorsque les epoux sont agenouilles les assistants leur jettent des noix sur le dos, et le premier qui se retourne est considere comme celui qui sera le plus jaloux. — Chesnel, Diet. Quand on veut sgavoir si un Mariage sera heureux, si le mari et la femme vivront en bonne intelligence, s'ils s'amasseront du bien ensemble, s'ils se garderont I'un a I'autre la foi conjugale, les personnes que vont faire la demande de la future epouse, observent assez souvent les jours ausquels ils la doivent faire, et prennent garde aux signes qu'ils rencontrent en y allant. S'ils en recontrent quelques uns de ceux qu'ils croient malheureux, comme une vierge, une femme echevelee, une femme grosse, un Moine, un lievre, un Pretre, un chien, un chat, un borgne, un boiteux, un aveugle, un serpent, un lezard, un cerf, un chevreuil, un sanglier ou quelqu' autre animal ; si on les tire par derriere, si on les retient par leur manteau ou par leur robe, si leur pied heurte centre quelque chose, s'ils entendent le cri d'un oiseau ou d'un autre animal de mauvais augure, s'ils 71 LOVE & MARRIAGE. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. eternuent, si I'oreille gauche leur tinte, s'ils voient un chien noir entrer dans une maison, ils ne passent pas outre et s'en retournent sur leurs pas, ou ils se detournent de leur chemin. Mais si au contraire ils rencontrent quelqu' une de ces choses qu'ils estiment heureuses, par exemple, une courtisane, un loup, une arraignee, un pigeon, une cigale, un crapaud, une chevre; s'ils voient voler du cote gauche ou du cote droit un oiseau de St. Martin ; si en sortant du logis ils entendent le tonnerre du loin, si I'oreille droit leur tinte ; s'ils .saignent de la narine droite, ils s'acquittent au nieme terns de leur commission sans aucun scrupule. — Thiers, Traitc, lib. x., ch. i. Then comes the bride Ximena, the King he holds her hand, And the queen and all in fur and pall, the nobles of the land. All down the street the ears of wheat are round Ximena flying, But the King lifts off her bosom sweet whatever there is lying. Lockhart, Spanish Ballads, *' The Cid's Wedding." For the bride to enter the house under two drawn swords placed + wise. — Del Rio, Disqiiisit. Magic, p. 494, from Beezius. Threshold. Transfer omine cum bono Limen aureolos pedes, Rasilemque subi foram. — Catullus, lix. 166. A good surveyour shuns also the ordering of doores with stumbling-block thresholds, though our forefathers affected them, perchance to perpetuate the ancient custome of bridegrooms, when formerly at their return from church they did use to lift up their bride and to knock their head against that of the door, for a remembrance that they were not to pass the threshold of their house without their leave. — Sir Balthr. Gerbier, Counsel and Advice to all Builders, 1663. This is like the Whit-Monday " beating the bounds" of the parish, when the boys are bumped on the meting-stones. Dum ingreditur domum, boni ominis causa, super ejus caput jacitur triticum quasi inde consecutura sit faeconditatem. — Polydore Vergil, De Inventoribus Reruni, 1. I., ch. iv. When she enters the bridegroom's house, she ought to be lifted over the threshold by her nearest relations. — B. Dans beaucoup de nos campanes on I'y porte encore. — E. du Meril, p. 56. 1861. Turritaque premens frontem matrona corona, Tralata vetuit contingere limina planta. Lucan, ii. 35S. Common to the Romans, the Redskins of Canada, the Chinese, and the Abyssinians. See Sir John Lubbock's Origin of Civilisation [p. 127 in fifth edition, 1889. — Ed.] Sensim super attolle limen pedes nova nupta. — Plautus, Casina, IV., iv. I. 72 FOLK LORE. love & marriage. A survival of marriage by capture. See McLennan [p. i88 in edition of 1886. — Ed.] A remnant of the ancient method of solemnising a marriage by confarreation. — Brockett. See Picture LoquenUs, by Wye Saltonstall, 1631. Quater ipso in limine portae Substitit. — Virg., GLneid, ii. 242. At every door of the hall [of the Great Kaan of Tartary] there stand a couple of big men like giants, one on each side, armed with staves. Their business is to see that no one steps upon the threshold in entering, and if this does happen they strip the offender of his clothes, and he must pay a forfeit to have them back again : or in lieu of taking his clothes, they give him a certain number of blows . . . they think, in fact, that it brings bad luck if any one touches the threshold. — Marco Polo's Travels, Ed. Yule, B. IL, c. 13 ; Wright, c. 10. Afin qu'une nouvelle mariee soit heureuse dans I'etat du mariage, il faut qu'entrant dans la maison de son epoux le jour de ses noces elle casse du pied un ceuf, et qu'on lui jette du bled sur le corps. — Thiers, Traite, iv. 471. Among the charms " pour denouer I'aiguilette 16. Froter de la graisse de loup le haut et les poteaux de la porte de la maison oCi les nouveaux maries vont coucher ensemble." — lb., iv. 528. The Roman bridegroom was anointed with this. — Serv. in Aeneid, IV., No. 46. The threshold was sacred to Vesta, the goddess of chastity, and so not to be trodden under foot. You, you that be of her nearest kin, Now o'er the threshold force her in. But to avert the worst Let her her fillets first Knit to the posts ; this point Remembering, to anoint The sides : for 'tis a charm Strong against future harm. And the evil deads, the which There was hidden by the witch. Herrick, Epithalamy to Sir Thos. Southtvell and Lady, Hesp., 149, ix. Missa foras iterum limen transire memento Cautius atque alta sobria ferre pedem. Ovid, Avior., Ixi. 5. On the bride alighting from her carriage at her father's door, a plate covered with morsels of bride-cake was flung from a window of the second story upon the heads of the crowd congregated in the street below ; and the divination, I was told, consists in observing the fate which attends its downfal. If it reach the 73 LOVE & MARRIAGE. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. ground in safety without being broken, the omen is a liiost unfavourable one. If, on the other hand, the plate be shattered to pieces (and the more the better), the auspices are looked on as most happy. — (E. R. of Yorkshire) N., i. 7. Cf. E troppo evidente di quali guasti sia simbolo una tal ceremonia. — Chesnel, Diet., xiv. The bottle of wine broken in christening the ship when launched corresponds to this. When a bride is conducted home to the bridegroom's house, before she is allowed to enter it or at the very threshold, a [triangular] cake [of shortbread] is broken over her head, the fragments of which all the young people are eager to gather, it being used as dreaming bread. — Ed. Mag., p. 413. Hop. Dans la province de Samara en Russie, lorsq'une nouvelle mariee est de retour de I'eglise la mere de I'epoux arrive tenant une poele remplie de houblon ; elle y met le feu avec des copeaux allumes ; et place cette poele a cote du pied droit de la mariee. Celle ci la repousse loin d'elle avec force. La ceremonie est repetee trois fois, et a chaque reprise, on ramasse un peu du houblon tombe pour le re- mettre dans la poele. On observe avec soin de quelle maniere cet utensile s'est renverse : si le fond se trouve en haut, c'est un presage fatal pour les jeunes maries. — D. C. To pour HOT WATER ON THE DOOR-STEP after the departure of the married couple. To keep it warm for another wedding. — N., ii. It seems confined to Yorkshire. — Henderson. They say that before it dries up, another marriage is sure to be agreed upon. — N., iii. One wedding, the Proverb says, begets another. — Gay, Wife of Bath, i. 1713 ; Roxburgh Ballads, iii. 34. (Ball. Soc.) 'Tis said that one wedding produceth another ; This I have heard told by my father and mother. "The Wooing Maid," Roxburgh Ballads, Ball. Soc, iii. 54. When a bride leaves the house to be married they wash the flags at the entrance of the house, and the first single lady who enters afterwards will be the next married. — (Lincoln- shire) AthcncEimi, 8/g/'49. Una formola conservata dall Atharvaseda da recitursi mentre la sposa entrava in casa, le raccomanda il fuoco e I'acqua come I'uso Romano voleva che la nuova sposa fosse accolta con acqua e fuoco. Quanto al origin della cerimonia e possibile che sia mitica : I'aurora, la prima delle spose, la S{)Osa del sole ci presenta anch' essa alle sue nozze un fenomeno di fuoco ed acqua, ossia di luce e rugiada. — De Gubernalis. 74 FOLK LORE. love & marriage. On the 7th day after her first menstruation the Mussuhnan girl is bathed. Seven married women who assemble for the purpose hold a red-coloured cloth over her head in the form of a canopy, take a small earthen budhnee or pot, and having fastened a betal leaf by a red thread to tlie neck and dropped into it 4 or 5 hurla, each woman twice pours warm water on her head. — Qanoone, Islam. Mistletoe. In Druidical times the young bride Avore a branch of mistletoe suspended from her neck to ensure an offspring numerous as the spotless berries borne by the plant itself. — Lees. Idem collo aut brachio pro amuleto suspensum cum suo cortice gravidarum conceptum adjuvat. — Matthioli, Comm. in Dios- covidem, L, iii., c. 87. To set a sprig of myrtle from the bride's bouquet : if it strikes it is a good omen. To have a hen cackle in the house of the new couple. — (West Riding of Yorkshire) N., i. 6. Made to do so. II bracco* porta bensi una gallina levata dalla casa della sposa, ma giunto a quella del marito gliela consegna viva senza pelarlaf ; quale presentazione di gallina si e un augurio di buona fortuna per la sposa medesima. — Placucci, p. 54. * The "best man." t As in former times. De la graisse de loup et du beurre de Mai. — Regnier, Sat., x. The bride anoynted the poostes of the doores with swynts* grease, because she thought by that meanes to dryve away all misfortune, wherefore she had her name in Latin, Uxor, ab ungendo. — Langley's Translation of Polydore Veygile, f. 9. See Plutarch, cxxviii. c. g. * Wolf 's.— Plin, N. H., xxviii. 37. So when their brides and bridegrooms returned homewards from Church one presents them (as presaging plenty and abundance of all good things) with a pot of butter which they esteem the foundation (though a slippery foundation) of their lives. — Thos. Muffett, Health's Improve- ment, cxv., 1655. Kiss. Apprehensions are sometimes entertained that witches by their incantations may cast ill upon the couple, particularly the bridegroom, if the bride has a rival. To counteract these spells it is sometimes the practice for the bridegroom to kiss the bride immediately after the minister has declared them married persons. — J., Edinburgh Magazine, Nov., 1818, p. 412. Nei paesi montani dell'Abruzzo Teramano, mentre gli sposi stanno a sedere gli astante si baciano e versano danaro in un fazzoletto disteso apposta presso di loro. — De Gubernatis. 75 LOVE & MARRIAGE. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. In another village the bride sits on the church steps and takes a fee for the kiss. Wedding-day omen. The Grande Cascade in the Bois de Boulogne is a resort of Parisian wedding parties, who descend the road leading through the artificial grotto underneath the waterfall, when they get splashed by the spray of the falling water, which is considered lucky. — 5 N., x. 287. Wedding Presents. Among these in the Romagna are included "canestri di ciam- belle in numero dispari indicante prole maschile futura." — Placucci, p. 55. Among the Romans, when the bride was put to bed, the friends of both parties used to snatch away a torch of white thorn which had been borne before her by her praetextatus (a boy sent by the bridegroom to conduct the bride to his house). If this torch happened to be inadvertently put under the bed it was supposed to be the presage of the early death of one of the parties. — Rosini, Anfiq., p. 429. The practice common to Swedish brides to get their husbands to do something implying future subjection to their wills prevails also in China. — Athenaum, Jan. 25/'73, p. 117. On est toujours persuade que celui des deux epoux qui se leve le premier apres avoir re9u la benediction nuptiale sera infailliblement le maitre dans la maison : aussi remarque-t- on assez souvent que la jeune mariee se laisee prevenir par son mari, a moins que celui ci jaloux de la conservation de ses droits n'agisse de ruse en pla9ant sous un de ses genoux un coin du tablier de sa jeune epouse, afin de I'empecher, par cette feinte maladresse d'etre disposee d'usurper le gouvernment du foyer domestique, et a le faire tomber e'n quenouille. — Chesnel, Diet. LOVE AND MARRIAGE-ILL LUCK. On croit aussi dans plusieurs provinces, et on le croit sur nombre d'exemples que les epoux qui mangent avant la celebration de leur mariage ont les enfants muets. — Collin de Piancy. A Sapois on regarde comme d'un tres mauvais augure quand les futurs ont tue ou simplement saigne un animal quelconque pendant I'intervalle, souvent assez long, qui s'est ecoule entre le jour de la publication de leurs bans a I'eglise et celui de la celebration de leurs noces. Une personne de la paroisse qui decede dans le meme intervalle pent comprometre aussi la felicite future des epoux. — Chesnel, Diet. To receive a present of doves. — N., ii. The course of true love will not run smooth. (Channel Isles.) 76 FOLK LORE. "-^ -V'L Tu5k.''°^ Cuckold. See p. 49. In the ceremony of preparing the sour-cakes for St. Luke's fair (each of which bears the name of some one of the neigh- bours) — a dehcate operation from the extreme thinness to which they are beaten — the first that is cast on the girdle is usually named as a gift to some well-known cuckold, from a superstitious opinion that thereby the rest will be pre- served from mischance. — Ure, History of Rutlievglen (1793), pp. 94-7. A very singular superstition in regard to the favourite Scotch dish prevails in Roxburghshire and perhaps in our Southern counties. As it is a nice piece of cookery to boil a haggis without suffering it to burst in the pot and run out, the only effectual antidote known is nominally to commit it to the keeping of some male, who is generally supposed to bear antlers on his brow. When the cook puts it into the pot she says, " I gie this to such a-one to keep." — J. If you be a cuckold, it is an argument you shall be much made of: you shall have store of friends, never want money.— Chapman, Eastzmyd Ho /, v. Captain. His presence is an honour : if he lie with our wives 'tis for our credit, we shall be the better trusted ; 'tis a sign we shall live i' th' world o' tempests and whirlwinds ! Who but that man whom the forefinger cannot daunt — that makes his shame his living — who but that man I say could endure to be thoroughly married ? — Middleton, Phcsnix, i. 2. In Angus the bride's furniture is sent to the bridegroom's house a day or two before the wedding. A spinning-wheel and reel are essential parts of this. If any of such things are broken in the removal or carriage it augurs ill for the happiness of the marriage. When she enters the house as a bride the husband leads her to the fire, and gives into her hands the tongs and crook on which the pot hangs. He also presents her with a pair of pockets made of the same stuff as his wedding suit and filled with newly-minted coin down to a farthing of the current issue. — J. They who marry on the anniversary of birthday supposed to die also on that day. — Miss M. Breeding. Hornet. But he '11 want money, widow. Bellamy. He has had good breeding. Hornet. Hang breeding ! 'tis unlucky ; They never keep their state that have too much on 't. Shirley, Constant Maid, i. i. The properer man, the worse luck. — B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, iii. 4. 77 LovE^&MARmAGE LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Negotiator. Un usage a peu pres general oblige de recourir, pour les nego- ciations preliminaires, a des personnes etrangeres et il s'est conserve dans plusieurs provinces de veritables courtiers de mariage, qui exercent leur profession au grand jour et malgre I'aspece de mepris public oii ils sont tombes sont encore regardes comme des agents indispensables. On les appelle dans le Berry Chat-bure (Oie) et chien-blanc ; dans le Bourbonnais Gourlaud ; en Normandie, Hardouin (Hardeau, O. Fr. Vaurien) et Diolovert (Didaloez Bret. vaurien) ; Dans le Gex Trouille bondon et en Bretagne Bazvalan (baton de genet). — E. Du Meril, Des Formes du Mariage et des Usages Popnlaires qui s'y vattachaient snrtout en France pendant le Moyen Age, p. 7, Paris, 8°, 1861. CucKOO. And playing thus with wanton toys the cuckoo bade good morrow ; Alas, thought I, a token 'tis for me to live in sorrow. Grange, Gold. Aphrod., R. iii. r. I have noted as evil luck in love (after the cuckoo's call) to have happened unto divers unmarried folks as ever I did unto the married. — Gascoigne, Fable of yeronimi, Haz, Ed., ii. 469. r Cat. Quand une jeune fille marche sur la queue d'un chat, elle doit perdre tout espoir d'etre mariee dans I'annee. — Mel., Vosges, p. 453. Morning dream. "And what time of the night dreamed you this?" quod Ferd. " In the grey morning, about dawning of day — but why ask you ? " quod Dame Frances. Ferd., with a great sigh, answered : "Because that dreams are to be marked more at some hour of the night than some other." — Gascoigne, Adventures of F. jferonimi, i., p. 444, Hazlett's repr. They that in the morning's sleep dream of eating Are in danger of sickness or of beating. [Or shall hear of a wedding fresh a beating. (?)] Lyly, Mother Bonibie, iii. 4. What think you, as she lies in her green cove. Our little sleeping boat is dreaming of ? If morning dreams are true, why I should guess That she was dreaming of our idleness, And of the miles of watery way We should have led her by this time of day. P. B. Shelley, The Boat on the Serchio. Namque sub Aurora, jam dormitante lucerna Somnia quo cerni tempore vera solent. Ovid., Metam., xix. 195. 78 FOLK LORE. '-^^^.ftTJ'cT''^ Morning dreams are by many in these days observed. — Ay. ; Gay, Wife of Bath, iv. All the morning dreams are true. — B. Jonson, Love Restored, v. At break of day when dreams, they say, are true. — Dryden, Spanish Friar, iii. 3. Like the dream That overtook me at my waking hour This morn, and dreams they say are then divine. Id., Don Sebast., iv. i. Maria. Good aunt, quiet yourself: ground not upon dreams; you know they are ever contrary. — Middleton, Family of Love, iv. 3. Post mediam noctem visus quum somnia vera. — Hor., Sat., i. 10, 33- After the dream of a wedding comes a corpse. — Ray. ; Morning, Populav Superstitions, PhWadeliphia., 12°, 1832 ; Sanders, Phys. of Dreams, p. 207. 1653, Dreams always go by contraries. — Rowley, Match at Midnight, iv. ; Middleton, Family of Love, iv. 3. 1829. According to the Persians it is only the dreams of women that go by contraries. — Malcolm, Hist, of Pers., i. 29. Dreams and Dutch Almanacs are to be understood by contraries. — Cong., Love for Love, iv. 21, and v. 4. Bonnet. The Court (to a female witness). If you don't speak up, I '11 take off your bonnet and you '11 never get a husband. — Rex v. Catherine Cox, May 17th, 1834; Arahiniana, p. 7. For GIRL TO BE IN CHURCH wheu she is asked, i.e. the banns PUBLISHED. — N., ii. Children of marriage will be born mutes. — (Wore.) N., ii. ; Noake, p. 175. [II est d'usage de se marier a jeun. On croit que ceux que y manqueraient sans les motifs bien puissans n'auraient que des enfans muets. — Memoires de VAcademie Celtique in Grimm, Detit. Myth., ist Aug., app. cxix.] When a couple are to marry, the first public procedure is for the bridegroom, accompanied by the bride's father and a few friends, to wait upon the Session-clerk for getting the banns published. This always takes place on a Saturday evening, and is termed the contract night. From the contract night to the Sunday after their marriage the parties are termed bride and bridegroom, and during this period neither must attend either wedding or funeral, or the consequences will be in the former case that their first- born child will "break Diana's pales" and in the latter never be married. — J. ; Edinburgh Magazine. To be asked in one year or quarter, and married in the next. — (Scot., Perthshire) Hone, Year Book, 612, from Arlis' Pocket Magazine, 1807. 79 LovE&^MARRiAGE LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. To READ THE MARRIAGE SERVICE quite through. Will not be married. — N., ii. To complete a patchwork quilt without assistance. Will not be married. — lb- To send your mistress a lock of your hair, and she accepts it. — B. H. ; Hyland v. Biggar, Daily News, 9/3, 1883 ; Stage Struck, by Blanche Roosevelt. To give a man you are engaged to a pair of slippers. Will never marry him if you do. — W., §553 ; Miss M. To be FORTUNATE AT CARD playing. Will be unhappy in love affairs. Homey (to ladies). Besides we must let you win at cards or we lose your hearts. — Wycherley, Country Wife, v. 4. A Border maiden can scarcely do a worse thing than boil a dish- clout in her crock. She will be sure in consequence to lose all her lovers; or, in Scotch phrase, "She would boil all her lads awa." — Hn. I heard one of my cousins tell the cookmaid that she boiled away all her sweethearts, because she had let her dish- water boil over. — Connoisseur, No. 59. To go a-couRTiNG on a Friday. — N., i. 3. If an unlucky fellow is caught with his lady-love on that day, he is followed home by a band of musicians playing on pokers, tongs, pan-lids, &c., unless he can rid himself by giving his tormentors drink-money. To be the first couple united by a minister. — (Scot.) Rogers. The first child baptised by a minister after his appointment to a parish is [customarily] to receive his Christian name. — Hn. For the church clock to strike during the ceremony. — Egglestone, Weardale, p. 93 ; Chamberlain, W. Worcester Words. To ALTER THE DAY fixed for a wedding [or christening]. — B. For THREE sisters to be married on the same day. In Scotland three weddings at the same time are objected to, as the couple who are first united carry off the minister's blessing. — Rogers. On entend dire encore de nos jours que quand deux mariages se font a la meme messe I'un des deux n'est pas heureux. — Collin de Plancy. On s'imagine que si on celebroit deux mariages le meme jour dans le meme eglise le premier seroit heureux et le second malheureux. — Thiers, Traite, x. 3. In the Department du Nord there exists an old belief that when two marriages take place at the same time the bride who leaves the church before the other will have a boy for hor first child. Two weddings were celebrated simultaneously a few days back at Archies in that Department. The cere- mony over, the two couples with their friends hastened to 80 FOLK LORE. ^°''5,ulTuc"k^''^ reach the door, and arrived there just at the same time. The situation became embarrassing, for the two parties had stopped and exchanged looks of defiance. Fortunately the mayor was a man of resources, for he stepped forward, and giving an arm to each of the young wives, took them out together, to the great relief of all the friends on both sides. — N., iv. Yellow Hammer. So fortune seldom deals two marriages With one hand and both lucky : the best is One feast will serve them both. Middleton, A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, v. 4. If the YOUNGER DAUGHTER in a family be married before her ELDER SISTERS, they must dance barefoot or wear yellow stockings [or dance in the hog's trough. — (Suffolk) C. W. J., in Chambers' Book of Days, i. 723] at the wedding to avert ill luck and get husbands. — B. She is said to have "given them green stockings." — Hislop, Sc. Prov. Swift asks : " Why does the elder sister dance barefoot, when the younger is married before her ? Is it not that she may appear shorter, and consequently be thought younger than the bride ? " — Thoughts on Various Subjects. I must dance barefoot on her wedding day. — Shak., Taming of the Shyew, ii. i, 33. To act as a bridesmaid three times. — D. Three times bridesmaid, never a bride [but if you go on to seven times, the spell is broken]. II y a des provinces (notamment la Normandie) oil les jeunes filles qui parviennent a reunir sept morceaux de jarretieres differentes se croient favorisees par I'amour et esperent de marier dans I'annee. — E. Du Meril, Formes du Mariage, p. 65. To make love indiscriminately to all you meet. Sir Luckless, troth, for luck's sake pass by one ; He that woos every widow will get none. B. Jonson, Epigr., 47 ("To Sir Luckless Woo-all"). To refuse to be kissed under the mistletoe. Will die an old maid. — Nares, Glossary (Mistleto). The maid who was not kissed under it at Christmas would not be married in that [the succeeding ?J year. — Nares, sub voc. Bad luck is believed to attend a " blackfoot"^-' " ; that is, the party who first brings together a couple who afterwards become man and wife. — Rogers. * Pronouced " black fit," — Jamieson. Sir W. Scott uses the term. — Fortunes of Nigel, iii. 237. Also called a mush. Fr. mouche. Willie-Jack, a go-between in courtship. — Jamieson. VOL. II. 81 7 155G8T LovE_& MARRIAGE LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. A(a T< TO? Maiov /.iTji'O^ ooic a'^/ofTai ^jwcuKci^j \ 7r6~cpov on ficao's ecnl tov ATTplWlOV Kai TOO loVlflOV fl>jl>0^, u:l> TOV fieV Af^pOClTTjl, TOV Be Hpa^, '^/a/xifKiwv Qeu.'v, icpou vo/ii^ovre^, TrpoXa^ifiavovai /iiicpov ij TrepijXfivovcnv ',.... ov '^/n/^ioomv ovv ev tiv MftVu', TTepi^icvovTei TOV \ovviov, OS cv6v9 e'ffTi /.leTU tov Maiov. — Plutarch, Qcest. Roman., Ixxxviii. To marry in May. — B. ; Joubert, ii. Will not remain long with your husband. Others say the couple will quarrel. See Ovid, Fastiy V. 487. Who weds in May weds poverty. O' the marriages in May A' the bairns die o' decay. The prejudice against marrying in May, which Lockhart calls a classical as well as a Scottish one, was respected in his own marriage, Sir Weaker Scott hurrying away from London that his daughter Sophia's wedding might take place before that inauspicious month commenced. — Hn. ; Regd. Dalton, iii. 163. The last line of the following was fixed on the gates of Holy- rood Palace on the morning (May 16) after the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots and Bothwell : — " Nee viduae tsedis eadem. nee virginis apta Tempora ; quae nupsit non diuturna fuit. Hac quoque de causa, si te proverbia tangunt, Mense malas Maio nubere vulgus ait." Ovid, Fasti, v. 487. May never was the month of love, For May is full of flowers ; But rather April, wet by kind, For love is full of showers. — Quoted by Denham. Spusa Majulina nun si godi la curtina. De Gubernatis, Sicilian Proverb. On affecte de se marier, ou de se pas marier en certains tems, parcequ' on les croit ou plus heureux, ou plus malheureux que les autres, on evite de le faire le Mercredi par la sotte raison qu'on seroit [trompe le] Jeudi ; on regard le Vendredi conme un jour infortune pour cette sainte alliance ; on ne veut pas epouser en Mai parcequ' on croiroit epouser la pauvrete, ni en Aont, parcequ' on croiroit epouser des . . . On s'imagine que si on celebroit deux mariages le meme jour dans la meme Eglise le premier seroit heureux et le second malheureux. — Thiers, Traite, Ix., c, 3. The Ides of March, when the ancilia or emblems of war were carried about, was also deemed unsuitable. — Ovid, Fasti, iii- 393- The early part of June was by the Romans deemed equally inauspicious for marriage. FOLK LORE. '-°^i,f:LTuc''K^°^ Est mihi sitque, precor, nostris diuturnior annis, Filia, qua felix sospite semper ero. Hanc ego cum vellem genero dare, tempora taedis Apta requirebam, quaeque cavenda forent. Turn mihi post sacras mostratur Junius Idus Utilis et nuptis, utilis esse viris; Primaque pars hujus thalamis aliena reperta est, Nam milii sic conjux sancta Dialis ait : Donee ab Iliaca placidus purgamina Vesta Detulerit flavis in mare Tibris aquis, Non mihi detonsos--' crines depectere buxo, Non ungues ferro subsecuisse licet, Non tetigisse virum, quamvis Jovis ille sacerdos, Quamvis perpetua sit mihi lege datus. Tu quoque ne propera ; melius tua iilia nubet Ignea cum pura Vesta nitebit humo. Ovid, Fasti, vi. 219. [* Paley reads detonsae. — Ed ] The law of the Church is set forth in an old register preserved at Cottenham : " Conjugium Adventus prohibet, Hilarique relaxat ; Septuagena vetat, sed Paschae octava remittit, Rogamen vetitat, concedit Trina potestas." Register of St. Mary, Beverly, Nov. 26, 1641. When Advent comes do thou refraine, Till Hillary sets ye free again ; Next Septuagesima saith thee nay, But when Lowe Sunday comes thou may But at Rogation thou must tarry Till Trinity shall bid thee marry. Slightly varied in Pooy Robin, 1671, Ille petit veniam quoties non abstinet uxor Concubitu sacris observandisque diebus Magnaque debetur violato psena cadurco. Juvenal, vi. 535. Nel fissarsi il matrimonio, si esclude il mese di Maggio, perche credono, che li contraenti sposati in tal mese diventano pazzi, come pure in tutti li Venerdi dell'anno, mentre temono d'incontrare un sinistro evento. — Placucci, p. 46. The Carneval and the Autumn seasons are the usual times for marriage. — Ih. January 14-21, April 3-26, May 22- , are given in Lewes Vaughan's Gloncestevshire Almanack, 1559, as times for wedding. En Normandie on y dit qu'un mariage qui se fait dans le mois de Mai ou dans le vao\sd''Aont est d'un mauvais augure ; dans le premier cas les enfants qui proviennent de cette union sont fous : dans le second les epoux sont jaloux. — Chesnel, Diet. 83 ( '■'"''l^'tucT''^ LEAN'S COLLFXTANEA. In Sicilia si evita ancora il mese d'Agosto. — De Gubernatis. The ill omens which attended a May marriage in Scotland are thus summarised: — "When beginning to dress in her wedding-clothes [the bride] put the wrong side of her petticoat foremost ; in lacing her stays, the lace broke three several times, and about two hours after again snapped with a noise that made those who were seated beside her start from their seats ; when about to put on her gloves, it was discovered that they were both for the left hand ; and in walking to church her apron strings loosed, and it fell in the path before her. Upon standing up before the minister, and when about to join hands, she forgot to take off her glove, and the bridegroom took her right hand with his left. Coming out she dropped one of her garters on the threshold where she had stumbled at her entrance." — Edinburgh Magazine, November, 1818, p. 410. Many weddings this month of May, but the people coupled very unequally — a sneaking Woodcock joined to a wanton Wagtail, a hen-pecked Buzzard to a chattering Magpie, and a clownish Owl to a painted Popinjay. — Poor Robin, 1687. In the Almanac for 1693, ^"^ again September, 1696, the ominous prediction is repeated literatim concerning marri- ages in November. The Almanac for 1724 speaks of marriage being forbidden during all December and part of January, though licenses might be obtained by the rich. Jeunes gens qu'etes a marier, Oh ! n'y vous mariez pas dans le mois de Mai. J'ai vu le coucou ! me ! me ! J'ai vu le coucou, — [Avranches,] Du Meril, p. 73. Simonides. Be of comfort, lady, You shall no longer bosom January ; For that I will take order, and provide For you a lusty April. Eugenia. The month that ought indeed To go before ]\Iay. — Massinger, The Old Law, v. i. The Romaines thought the monthes of April and June propice and good to ibedde in and the moneth of May unlucky. — N. Udall, Er. Ap., p. 140, repr. June is the marrying month in Scotland. — Napier. Aurios fugit en May d'assista a las fian9ailhos, D'augi canta I'auzel, 6 fa tas espousailhos ? Amilha, P. Cr., p. 234. 1683. On pretend que ceux qui se marient en Mai meurent bientot. — Astruc, Hist. Nat. de Langiicdoc, p. 514. 1737. May kittens are killed as useless. They will catch no mice nor rats, but bring in snakes and slow- worms. — (Wilts and Dorset) N. 84 FOLK LORE. "^^i.eLTucr^" May chets bad luck be.c^ets, and sure to make dirty cats. (Huntingdon) Hunt. With a face filled with falseness, Bearded like a katling of May. Barclay, Castle of Labour, ii. 5. 1506. May birds are aye cheepin. i.e. May babies are always sickly. April with fools and May Avith bastards blest. — Churchill. Nel mese di Maggio si astengono dall'allevare i vitelli, e gli agnelleti credendo li contadini che impazziscano. — Mich. Placucci, Usi della Roiiiagna, p. 172. To be married on Innocents' or Childermas day. — B. The Romans held the days in February when the Parentalia were celebrated unpropitious for marriage. To marry in Lent. — S. Marry in Lent, And live to repent. Especially on St. Joseph's day. — Chambers, Book of Days. The feast of St. Joseph was particularly to "be avoided, and it is supposed that as it fell in mid- Lent" the whole period was placed under a ban. — lb. The Russian church does not celebrate marriages in Lent. — Pinkerton, Russia, p. 304. 1833. The unmarried folks are said to go in pairs to do penance during Lent at the Skelligs, a group of rocks on the S.W. coast of Ireland. See N. and Q., i., vi. 553. Ash Wednesday is particularly unlucky. — Sternberg. The celebration of birthdays was prohibited in Lent as well as marriage by the Council of Laodicea. — Bingham, Atiti- quities of the Christian Church, Works, vii. 311. At Manchester Cathedral the marriage fees are doubled during Lent. — Harland and Wilkinson. The Church of Rome forbids the celebration of marriages " depuis le premier Dimanche de I'Avent jusqu' a la fete des Rois et depuis le jour des Cendres jusqu'au Dimanche de Quasimodo inclusivement." — Thiers, Traite, iv. 437. The prohibition seems to extend to all Sundays, Fast-days, and Fete-days of Obligation (chomees). — lb. Since the Reformation no Act of Parliament or Canon of the Church has forbidden marriage to be celebrated during any special season of the year, but the 49th Canon of the Irish Protestant Episcopal Church (1639) forbade the celebration of wedlock in Lent, or on any public fast or on the solemn feasts of the Nativity, Resurrection, and Ascension of our Lord, or of the Descension of the Holy Ghost. — Jeffreson, Brides a7id Bridals, i. 285, n. 85 '-°-iiiLCcr°^ LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Continence was also enjoined on married people at these times. — Hist. Literaire de la Fvance, vi. 369, 365, 370. The liberty to marry at all times of the year without restraint was gained by an Act of Parliament in 1584. — Collier, Ecclesiastical History, vii. 40. To marry at Christmas-tide. He 's a fule that marries at Yule, for when the bairn 's to bear the corn 's to shear. — Denham. To marry a man with a white liver. — Lees. Will die within the year. — (Worcester.) In 1607 the liver was supposed to be "the seat of love." — Ben Jonson, Sad Shepherd, iii. 4 ; INIiddieton, Family of Love, ii. 3, V. I ; The Changeling, i. 2. ; Shak., Merry Wives of Windsor, ii. i, 105; Much Ado, iv. i, 231 ; Twelfth Night, ii. 5, 88; Lyly, Euphues, p. 73; Endimion, i. 3 ; Hall, Satires, ii. 7. The very thought of marriage were able to cool the hottest liver in France. — Chapman, Mons. d'Olive, i. ; Lactant., vi. 15 ; Horat., Od., i. 25, 15 ; iv. i, 12. Whitelivered and cowardly were synonymous. — Middleton, Fair Quarrel, iv. 4. It is well known that the Pagan priests in heathen times pre- dicted good or evil events from the appearance of the livers of the slain victims. If they were red and healthy, it was held to be a good omen ; if white or discoloured, the con- trary. Still among the vulgar in common conversation a man may be heard called a "white-livered scoundrel," as Shakspeare makes Richard HI. call Richmond " a white- livered runagate." Nor is the idea confined to a contu- melious expression, as an impression exists that some persons really have white livers. I know a young woman who had refused to marry a man because she was told he had a white liver, and that therefore she would be sure to die within twelve months after marriage. A gentleman too whom I knew was said to have one, owing to his having married several wives who had died. — Fict. of Malvern, i. See Chesnel, Diet. [£» Normandie.] Woman with white lung. See 3 N., x. 491. Horace {Ode to Lydia, I., xiii. 4) speaks of his liver swelling with bile from jealousy. Bile tumet jecur. Cogit amare jecur. The liver maketh him for to love. — Gower, Conf. Am., vii. Love inflam'd my liver all with lust. — Gascoigne, Fosies, 1575, i. 39. repr. 86 FOLK LORE. ^"^iifLTucK^'"^ Page [to Floriinel). You called him fool, but methinks he proves a physician ; he has found the disease of your liver by the complexion of your looks — John Day, Hmnoitr out of Breath, 1608, iii. Si un homme perd successivement plusieurs fernmes d'une maladie de langueur, on dit qu'il y a le foie blanc. Cela signifie que la cohabitation avec un tel epoux est chose eminemment malsaine et dangereuse. L'observation semble en eflet demontrer que la phlhisie et d'autres maladies constitution nelles on organiques sont susceptibles de se transmeltre d'un conjoint a Vaultre. — Mel., Franche-Comte, P- 351- To marry a person whose surname initial is the same as your own. If the united initials of the lovers placed together spell a word, the marriage will not be h^'p'py . — Chambers Journal, 1871. Cf. p. 29. Change the name, and not the letter, Change for the worse, and not the better. Chambers, Booh of Days. ? because the bride's trousseau would probably not all be new. The Ostiacs of Siberia, who still adhere to Paganism, take as many wives as they can afford to keep. Among them it is legal to marry their brother's widow, their step-mother, step-daughter, and other relations. They are fond of marrying sisters of other families, and believe that marry- ing their wife's sister brings good luck. But they hold it sinful to marry relations of the same name ; yet they attend only to the male line. — Marriage Rites, (~r , of All N aliens, by Lady Augusta Hamilton, Lond., 1822, p. 121. Marriage with a person of the same initials is forbidden in China. — Dennys, Folk Lore of China, p. 19. To marry your first cousin. — N., iii. The union will prove "healthless, wealthless, or childless." To marry your godchild— owing to spiritual kinship. But this does not prevent marriage with one of the parents. See Pepy's Diary, i8th October, 1666. Gossip. And certes, parentele is in two maneres, outher goostly or fleshly ; goostly, as for to delen with hise godsibbes. For right so as he that engendreth a child is his fleshly fader, right so is his godfather his fader espirituel. For which a womman may in no lasse sinne assemblen with her godsib than with hir owene fleshl}' brother. — Chaucer, Pcrsones Tale [_De Luxuria] § 76, 912. The marriage between gossips was forbidden by the Canon-law. — Prompt. Parv., Ed. Way, p. 204 ; B. Jonson, Silent Woman, V. I ; Fabyan, Chron., vii. 242. 87 "-^-ifLTficr^^ LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Weather. To be married in snowy or windy weather ; the snow will cool the love ; the wind blow it away. — (West of England) Baring Gould, John Herring. If it rains while a wedding party are going to or returning from church. — Hunt. A life of bickering and unhappiness. A union could never be happy if the bridal party in going to church met a monk, a priest, a hare, a cat, dog, lizard, or serpent, while all would go well if it were a wolf, a spider, or a toad. — Chambers, Booh of Days. In Sweden it is thought unlucky for a bridegroom to stand at the junction of cross-roads or at a closed gate on his wedding morning. — Chambers' Journal, i8yi. A wedding after sunset entails on the bride a joyless life, the loss of children, or an early grave. — Hn. Marriage is celebrated in the forenoon by the Canons of the Church. Some hold that it is not so lucky to undertake any serious affair dedinante sole, so mass is by the Canons not to be celebrated in the afternoon. The first institution was a supper. — Ay. To put your stocking on wrong-side-out on your wedding-day. Portends a disastrous union. — Hampson, Med. Aev. Kal., X. 385. Manage de dernier quartier ne dure pas long temps. — Coremans, UAnnee de VAncienne Belgiqne. To marry in the wane of the moon. — S. A full moon, or the conjunction of the sun and moon, was con- sidered by the Romans as most propitious. — Chambers, Book of Days, i. 719. Thursday and Friday are the days on which the Orkney islanders incline to marry, and they scrupulously and anxiously avoid it at any other time than when the moon is waxing. — Barry, History of the Orkney Islands, 1805, p. 342- Novam lunam observasti pro domo facienda aut conjugiis sociandis. — Burchard {1024). See Grimm, D. M., p. 36, ed. 1835. Au croissant de la lune, que la joie fut grantz E'sposevent lor fanmes Richiers et Floovanz. Floovant, p. 2259. In Ebberell v. Rackham, a breach of promise case tried at Warwick, it had been arranged to marry at the full moon. — Daily News, i4/2/'8i. To try the wedding ring on before marriage. — Egglestone, Wear- dale. See post. Wedding ring. On croyait qu'il y avait dans le quatrieme doigt qu'on appela spocialement doigt annulaire ou doigt destine a I'anneau 88 FOLK LORE. '■°_Tll\uck"'*°^ un nerf qui repondait directement au cacur ; on reconi- manda done de mettre I'anneau d'alliance ;l ce seul doigt. Le moment ou le mari donne I'anneau a sa jeune epouse devant le pretre, ce moment, dit un vieux livre de secrets est de la plus haute importance. Si le mari arrete I'anneau a I'entree du doigt et ne passe pas la seconde jointure, la femme sera maitresse ; mais s'il enfonce I'anneau jusqu' a Torigine du doigt, il sera chef et souverain. Cette idee est encore en vigueur ; et les jeunes mariees ont generalement soin de courber le doigt annulaire au moment elles recoivent i'anneau de maniere a I'arreter avant la seconde jointure. — Collin de Plancy. As to the loss of a wedding-ring by a wife, see post. Marriage with a diamond ring foreboded evil ; because the interruption of the circle augured that the reciprocal regard of the spouses might not be perpetual. Hence a plain and perfect golden circle is now invariably in use. — Dalyell. Some hold it to be unhappy to be married with a diamond ring, perchance (if there be so much reason in their folly) because the diamond hinders the roundness of the ring, ending the infiniteness thereof, and seems to presage some termination in their love, which ought ever to endure. — Fuller, Holy and Profane State, IIL, xxii. 4. Of Marriage. Ora, se non fusse indiscrete vorrei domandare a me stesso di che sia in origine cimbolo I'anello nuziale : mi contentero invoce soltanto di osservare come alle vodove che si rimaritano, il secondo marito nonusa piii ottrire I'anello. — De Gubernatis. D'apres un rituel de I'eglise de Reims, le pretre placait I'anneau a differents doigts en prononcant une formule rimee que le fiance repetait. (au pouce) Par cet anel I'Eglise enjoint (a I'mdex) que nos deux cceurs en un soient joints (au doigt du milieu) par vrai amour et loyale foy (au quatrieme doight) pour tant je te mets en ce doy. Michelet, Origincs du Droit Frangais. Ring of rush. Nee quisquam annulum de junco vel quaeunque vili materia, vel pretiosa jocando manibus innectat muliercularum, ut liberius cum ea fornicetur ; ne dum jocari se putat, honoribus matrimonialibus se astringat. — Richard Poore [Sarisberiensis], Constitutiones, ch. 55. 1217. At the bottom of this ancient phrase will probably be found the superstition that the ring sanctified, or at least sanctions, even an immoral connection, and this also accounts for the scrupulosity with which it is worn nowadays by m^ost " kept women." 1st der Finger beringt ist die Jungfer bedingt. ^-^-nfL^ficr^^ LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Wedding customs. Believe me, if my wedding smock were on, Were the gloves bought and given, the license come ; Were the rosemary branches dipt, and all The Hippocras and cakes eat and drunk off ; \\'ere these two arms encompass'd with the hands Of bachelors to lead me to the church ; Were my feet at the door, — were ' I, John ' said If John should boast a favour done by me, I would not wed that year. — B. and F., Scornful Lady, i. i. Giving away a bride when you have a daughter of your own UNMARRIED. Veneering. " Thirdly [no] because Anastatia is a little super- stitious on the subject, and feels averse to my giving away anybody until baby is old enough to be married." " What would happen if he did ? " Podsnap inquires of ]\Irs. Veneering. " My dear Mrs. Podsnap, it's very foolish I know, but I have an instinctive presentiment that if Hamilton gave away anybody else first, he would never give away baby." — Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, ix. The BRIDE SHOULD WEAR Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a sprig of furze. C. Bede, Once a Week, i860. See Blue, post. Drest in blue have lovers true, Green and white, forsaken quite. — (W. Sussex.) And our bride's maidens were na few, Wi' tap-knots, lug-knots, a' in blew. " Muirland Willie," in Herd's Coll., ii. 76. Violets should not be worn by any of the w^edding party, being the "flower of death." They were used to loop up the bridal dresses at the Duke of Albany's wedding, but it was not the Duchess who was carried off prematurely. — Fortnightly Review, July, 1884, p. 85. On weddings the bees always expect to be informed of the auspicious event, and to have their hive decorated with a wedding favour (N. ; J. G. Wood in Notes and Queries; and see post), and to know the name of the party and also to get a piece of the bridecake, or they will be angry and sting all within their reach. — (Lincolnshire) Athenceum, 8/9, '49. For the bride to wear pearls at the marriage. — Durham Nullity Suit, Feb, 27, 1885, Mrs. Gerard's evidence. 90 FOLK LORE. "-"^^^^l lSck"°' For the bride to look in the glass after she is fully dressed, or look behind her in going to church. — Ed. Mag., Nov., 1818, p. 412. A glove at least must be put on afterwards. For the bride's mother to be present at the ceremony. — Hn. [Among the agricultural labourers neither father or mother of the bride or bridegroom come with them to church. — (Suffolk) Chambers, Book of Days, i. 723.] The bridesmaid and groomsman should be an engaged couple whose marriage is fixed. — Ih. Where the Scottish custom is followed of the nevvdy-wedded couple being welcomed home by the husband's mother meeting them at the door and breaking a currant bun over the head of the bride before she crosses the threshold. — Chambers' Journal, 1871. La madre nell uso popolare Indo-Europeo non accompagnamai la figlia ne alio chiesa ne al banchetto perche deve stare in casa a piangere. — De Gubernatis. In the Romagna she was not excluded by custom from the marriage ceremony, but she was from the christening breakfast of her daughter's child. — Placucci, p. 31. And the baby's mother likewise, in order not to damage the baby's teeth. — lb. So, too, from her son's toccamano or betrothal before " il bracco in unione de piii prossimi attinenti dello sposo, eccetuata la madre." — lb., p. 46. The brothers of a female are the persons whose consent to her marriage it is most necessary to obtain. The parents have comparatively little to say on the occasion. — Shortland, Trad. &> Supns. of New Zealaiidevs. For the wedding party not to count even, one of them (guests ?) will die within the year. — Chambers' foiirnal, 1871. For the bride not to weep bitterly on the wedding day. — B. II a ete reconnu par experience que les sorciers ne jettent point de larmes, ce qui a donne occasion a Spranger Grilland et Bodin de declarer que I'une des plus fortes presomptions que Ton puisse elever contre le sorcier est qu'il ne larmoie pas. — Borquet, La Novmandie Romanesque. M. Merygreehe. What ! weepe on the wedding-day ? Be merrie, woman. — Udall, Roister Doister, i. 4 (before 1553)- The first bridall banket after the wedding-day, the good handzell feast. — Junius, Nomenclator, p. 80. 1585. Bride weeping. " Et si I'Epousee ne pleure quand on la marie, on doute bien fort qu'elle soit pucelle : de sorte qu'elles sont obligees de porter quelquefois de I'oignon en leurs mouchoirs afin d'attirer des larmes." — (Allemagne) De Gaya, Ceremonies Nuptiales de toiites les Nations, p. 14. Paris, 1681. 12°. 91 LOVE&^MARR.AGE le^^N'S COLLECTANEA. Eugenia. Oh, uncle, you have wounded yourself in charging me that I should shun Judgment as a monster if it would not weep. — Sir Giles Goosecap, 1606, ii. i. If the BRIDE-CAKE cuts sad (heavy). Portends ill-luck to the pair. — Miss M. The bride should put the knife into the wedding-cake, and each bridesmaid give it a push to ensure getting a husband. The icing of the bridecake is called love, the almond paste courtship, and the cake matrimony. — Miss M. Prophesies upon the strength of bridecake. — Killigrew, Parson's Wedding, v. 4. Several correspondents speak of a custom of making the first incision in the cake with a sword, and one of the cakes being cut over the head of the bride as she knelt down. — N., iv. Alexander the Great did so when he took Roxana to wife. — Quint. Curt., lib. 8; N., iv. To have green coloured articles of dress worn at the wedding. Brides in green Sup sorrow unseen, — Chambers. The fairies, whose chosen colour green is, would resent the insult and destroy the wearer. In fact, nothing green must make its appearance that day ; kale and all other green vegetables are excluded from the wedding dinner. With this exception, any good things in season may grace the board, and a pair of fowls must on no account be omitted. It is very important that the bride should receive the little bone called "hug ma close" (anglice, "sides- man," or side-bone), for she who gets it on her wedding- day is sure to be happy in her husband. . . . To rub shoulders with the bride and bridegroom is deemed an augury of speedy marriage ; and again she who receives from the bride a piece of cheese, cut by her before leaving the table, will be the next bride among the company. Dinner over, the bride sticks her knife into the cheese, and all at table endeavour to seize it. He who succeeds with- out cutting his fingers in the struggle thereby insures happiness in his married life. The knife is called the "best man's prize," since commonly the "best man" secures it. Should he fail to do so, he will indeed be unfortunate in his matrimonial views. The knife is at any rate a prize for male hands only ; the maidens try to pos- sess themselves of a "shaping" of the wedding dress, for use in certain divinations regarding their future husbands. — Henderson. Dancing together. Meeting funeral. On se rend coupable de la divination des evenemens et de vaine observance, lorsqu'on s'imagine que si le nouvel epoux et la nouvelle epouse dansent ensemble le jour de leurs noces, la nouvelle epouse sera la maitresse et fera de la peine 92 FOLK LORE. "^^i.u'LTSSr^" au nouvel epoux durant tout le cours de leur marriage ; lorsqu'on fait passer les nouvelles INIariees le jour de leur marriage sous deux, epees nues, mise en forme de croix de S. Andre, afin qu'elles soient heureuses en menage et que leurs maris les traitent honnetement ; lorsqu'on se persuade que si I'un des cierges que les nouveaux maries ont devant eux a la messe des epousailles s'eteint avant que la messe soit finie, I'epoux, ou I'epouse mourra infalliblement dans I'annee ; lorsqu'on croit que quand un marie et une mariee rencontrent un mort en allant a I'eglise pour epouser, le marie mourra le premier ; si le mort est de son sexe, et qu'au contraire la mariee mourra la premiere si le mort est de memo sexe que d'elle. — Thiers, Tr., p. 470. De deux personnes mariees ensemble, celle-la mourra la pre- miere, du nom et du surnom de laquelle les lettres se trouveront en nombre non-pair. — Ih., p. 184. On allume deux cierges a Scaer en Bretagne au moment du mariage ; on en place un devant le mari I'autre devant la femme; la lumiere la moins brillante indique cellui des deux qui doit mourir le premier. — Cambry, iii. 159. Le petillement du feu est dit-on de mauvais augure pour les nouveaux maries. — Collin de Plancy. For a WIDOW to be present at the marriage of young persons. Bride will not live long. — Jamieson. For a dog to come between the couple during the ceremony. — (Highland.) They should stand too close to each other to allow of this. — Kelly, Sc. Pvov. Cf. Kuhn & Schwartz, Norddetitscke Sagen. For swine to cross the path in front of a wedding party. — Hn. Hence the old adage, " The swines run through it," used when something untoward has occurred to break it off. —J. In some parts of the Highlands they are careful to loosen all the knots in the apparel of both parties during the ceremony. — Statl. Acct. of Scotland, v. 83. See Hone. For the wedding party to be in church while the clock is striking. — (Wore.) Chamberlain, W. W. Words, [E.D.S.] To LEAVE the church by a different door from that you come in at. — (Hull) N., i. 6. Or by the chancel door ; you will always be unlucky. — N., 5, x. 23. Cf. Ezekiel, xlvi. g. For the bride to return from church to the bridegroom's house riding on a mare. Children of the marriage will wet their beds in consequence for a dozen years. — 5. of Scot. ; Jamieson. To go on a bridal tour down the water. — (Scotland) N. Bride, bridegroom, or one of bridesmaids will be drowned. — Chau:- bers' Journal, 1871. 93 LovE&^MA^RRiAGE LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. For the bride to enter first her own house after the marriage. As the party leave the church the pipes again strike up, and the whole company adjourns to the next inn or to the house of some relative of the bride's. — Jamieson, Bridal of Caolchairn n., p. 312. To be married in a church which is entered by steps leading DOWNWARDS. See post. Or to mount many steps before reaching the ch.\xxch-doox.— Chavihers' Journal, i^ji. Or when there is an open grave in the churchyard. — lb. To be the first to kneel at the altar rails. Will be the first to die. — (Hull) ^., iv. See post. Morra prima quello che prima si lavera. — De Gubernatis, Mineo in Sicilia. To go to sleep the first on the wedding night. Will be first to die.— (Hull) iV., i. 6. Allorche g!i sposi dormono insieme la prima notte, nessuno di loro vuole smorzare il lume, avendo I'idea che chi lo smorza muore per il primo, e percio lo lasciano consumare da se solo. — Placucci, Usi and dclla Romagna, p. 59. Each has a candle, and care is taken that both are put out together, either by themselves or the bridegroom's mother. — (N. and C. Italy) De Gubernatis. The nightdress of a newly-married pair being stolen, prognosticates unhappiness between them. — Rogers. There is no chance at all of a family, unless, when the bride retires on the wedding night, her bridesmaids lay her stockings across. — Henderson. A Novi Ligure stanno ancora attenti gli sposi alia prima persona die I'indomani delle nozze viene a visitarli ; I'augurio e tristo se questa persona sia un vecchio od un prete. — De Gubernatis. To keep any of the pins used in the bridal toilet. They should be thrown away. — But see p. 68. They must throw away and lose all the pins. W^oe unto the bride if a single one is left about her ; nothing will go right. Woe also to the bridesmaids if they keep one of them, for they will not be married before Whitsuntide. — Note by Ozell in his Translation of Missons Travels over England, P- 352. 1719- To have too much lettuce in your garden. Stops a young wife's bearing. — N ., i, 7. Seynt gregory reherceth in his dyalogues that a nonne entryd in to a gardyne/and sawe a letuse/and covetyd that, and forgate to make the signe of the crosse/and bote it gloton- esly/and anone fyll downe and was rauysshed of a deuylle/ And there cam to her saint Equycyen and the deuylle beganne to crye and to saye What have/I doo ? I satte uppon the lettuse and she came and bote .ne. And anone/ 94 FOLK LORE. ^''"^^l^'luIk!'''^ deuylle yssued oute by the commaundement of the holy man of god. — Caxton, Golden Legend [p. 837 in Kehnscott Press Edition. — Ed.] See Lemnius, De Mirac. Occult. Nature, ii. 42. In Plutarch's Symposiacs, B. iv. (unfinished), Quest, x., is : Why women never eat the middle part of a lettuce. — Morals, 1870, iii. 312. There is a widely-spread notion among the poorer classes that rice, as an article of food, prevents the increase of the population [spite of the examples of India and China]. Not long ago there was an outcry against the giving of rice to poor people under the Poor-law, as it was said to be done with a purpose. — (Suffolk) Chambers, Book of Days, ii. 39; C. W. J. And see post. For the bride and bridegroom to return from the wedding at a gallop. — Carr, Craven Gloss. [Brideale]. Or to find anyone on the threshold of the door. — (Bavarian) N ., V. x. 146. To address a bride after the ceremony by her maiden name. " The same morning the wedded pair left Seaham for Halnaby, another seat of Sir Ralph Milbanke in the same county. When about to depart. Lord Byron said to the bride, ' Miss Milbanke, are you ready ? ' — a mistake which the lady's confidential attendant pronounced to be a bad omen." — More's Life of Byron, iii. 141. To take a new spouse within twelvemonths of the death of the former one. The Church of Scotland denied to women " the benefeitt of mariag quhill neir thrie quarteris passe efter thair hus- bandis deathe." — Dalyell, 5^ Ctithbert's K. S. R., 15th January, 1646. In Italy not within six months. — Hamilton, Marriage Rites, &€., p. 123. Would Heav'n this mourning year were past, One may have better luck at last : Matters at worst are sure to mend ; The devil's wife was but a fiend. Prior, The Turtle and Sparrow. Per totidem * menses a funere conjugis uxor Sustinet in vidua tristia signa domo. — Ovid, Fasti, i. 35. * X. And again : Hoc luget spatio femina maesta virum. — lb., iii. 134. The Romans were somewhat more indulgent to second mar- riages. " It is still accounted indecent to marry within a year ;" I think Dr. Taylor says, " because in that time the husband's body may be presumed to be rotten." — Aubrey, Rem. of Gent, and Jud., 103 r°. Velamen illud non suscipit, qui ad secundas nuptias migrat. — (Italian) Pope Nicolas I., Muratori, Antiq. Ital., xx. Nuptiae secundae raro fecundae. — Richt., Axiom. CEcononi., 57. 95 '■"''-illTu^cT''^ LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Marrying again. She was stedfast and strong, And kept her a widow very long, In faith almost two days ; Because she made great mone, She would not lie long alone. For fear of sodeyne frayes ; Lest her hushond dead Wolde come to her bed, Thus in her mind she says. Bohe of Maid Emlyn, 311, c. 1520. Mastery. Volez-vouz la costume oir que je vous die ? Quant vient a icel jor qu'uns sa fille marie, La chemise sa feme a li vasles vestie Por 90U qu'ele mieux ait le cuer en sa baillie. Chanson d'Antioche, ch. III., v. 501. When the bride was being decked for the ceremony, her maid bid her remember not to speak too loud in church, and on being asked why, answered, " Why, m'm, you know them 'at speaks loudest dies first." — (S. Yorkshire) N., VI. i. 75. Un fiance augurait mal de son mariage, s'il lassait tomber son chapeau a terre. Une fiancee, si on lui touchait la main droite avec la main gauche et si quelqu'un marchait sur le pied droit. — P. Lacroix, Le Moyen Age [Art. Sup., f. xxi.), vol. I. Sie geben fleissig Acht, wenn Braut und Brautigam zu Bette gebracht seyn, welches unter Beyden am ersten einschafft, und glauben sicherlich, dasselbe werde auch am ersten von Beyden sterben. — J. W. Boeder, Der Ehstcn Aherglauhische Gehvauche, &€. (1685), Ed. St. Petersburg, 1854, P- 3^* Celui des maries qui monte au lit le premier mourra aussi le premier. — Perron, Franche-Comte, p. 29. Owl. La vue du hibou n'a aucune influence sur la fecondite des femmes et les omelettes faites avec ses oeufs n'ont jamais gueri et ne gueriront jamais du penchant a I'ivrognerie. — Rion. Giving hands. The bride and bridegroom are not to give their bare hands to anybody on the day of their marriage except to each other at the altar, otherwise they are threatened with poverty during the whole course of their union. — (Bavarian) N., V., X. 146. Chastity. The wise and ancient Fathers had this rule, Should both wed maids the child should prove a fool. Poor Roh. Piogi:., 1690. 96 FOLK LORE. good^IIcIc. Horse. If a horse stood and looked through a gateway or along a road where a bride or bridegroom dwelt it was a very bad omen for the future happiness of the intending couple. The one dwelling in that direction would not live long. — (Scot.) Na. CHILDREN-GOOD LUCK. Caul. See post. Thiers mentions a belief, " qu'un enfant ne sera point sensible au froid et qu'il n'apprehendera point I'hyver, si peu apres qu'il est sorti du ventre de sa mere on lui trempe les pieds et les mains dans de I'eau qui n'aura point ete chauffee ; et que si au meme terns on lui frotte les levres d'une piece d'or, il les aura toujours vermeilles." — Tvaite, ii. 77. The infant comes into the world an exceedingly sacred object, and must be touched by none but the sacred few present till the tapu or restriction has been removed. The ceremony attending the removal of the tapu from the child is as follows : — A small sacred fire being kindled by itself, the father takes some fern-root and roasts it thereon. The food so prepared is called horohoronga. He then places the child in his arms, and after touching the head, back, and different parts of its body with the horohoronga, he eats it. This act is termed Kai-Katoa i te tamaiti, eating the child all over, and is the conclusion of the ceremony performed by the father. The sacred restriction is not yet completely removed from the infant ; but nothing more can be done till the following morning, when at daylight the child's nearest relative in the female line cooks fern-root, touches, &c., and eats it. The child is then noa or free, and may be handed about by everybody. — Shortland, Neiv Zealand. As she is your daughter, I do not wonder at her uniting perfections that are but rarely united. My brother William [the hus- band and father] was a favourite of my mother's, and she certainly made his whole christening suit of that part of her linnen which is supposed to derive matrimonial blessings on the son. For what mother's darling my niece is reserved I do not know, but I hope one who will deserve her. — A Lady of the Last Century (Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu), Ed. Dr. Doran, 1873, 184. See B. Jon., Alch., i. i, and iii. 2. For the expectant mother to make preparations in the shape of baby clothes, &c., in anticipation of her lying in. And to ensure an easy delivery, she must put on her husband's clothes when the pains come on. Se revetir de la chemise de leurs maris, mettre leurs braies ou pantalons et leurs bonnets de coton Limoges. — Chesnel, Diet. Pour avoir un enfant qui soit toujours gai et enjoue il faut que sa mere en lui donnant le jour s'abstienne de se plaindre et surtout de pleurer. — Chesnel, Diet. VOL. II. 97 8 qood°"luc^. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Enfant de Dimanche, enfant de soleil, heureux enfants. — ■ Coremans. Questo uso ha per oggetto di credere che senza tale antici- pate preparative dell' occorrente pel parto fatto in persona dalla figlia in casa, ed alia presenza della madre non potrebbe giammai partorire. — Michele Placucci, p. 20, See as to spells to prevent delivery and their removal. — Scott, Minst. Scot. Border, iii. 170, " Willye's Lady." To he born when the moon is at the full. — R. Oaf. A younger brother, sir ; born at the latter end of the week and wane of the moon, put into the world to seek my own fortune. — Shirley, Love Tricks, iii. 5. If the tide begins to rise at the time when the birth of a child is imminent, it will be a boy; if not, a girl. — (N.Wales) iV.,iii. On chasse les mouches de la chambre, a fin que I'accouchee ne donne pas le jour a une petite fille. — Chesnel, Diet. Prichard {Egyptian Mythologv, 136-8) supposes that Boubastis, or the Egyptian Diana, signified the benevolent influence exercised by the moon over pregnant women. To be born in the night time. People born at night never see spirits.- — Hone, Year Book, p. 151. See post. People born by daylight never see spirits. — Tran. Devonsh. Assoc., iii. 91. According to an old lady in Kent, only those born at midnight do. — A^. iii. Les somnambules sont des enfants nes pendant que luit I'etoile du soir. lis sont plus heureux le soir et la nuit que pen- dant le jour, bien qu'els soient gens d'esprit. (Le nacht wandelaer est toujours considere comme sous I'influence de la lune et de la nachtmoeder, fantome qui a differentes attri- butions malfaisantes.) — Coremans, A. B. For a new-born child to be laid in the arms of a maiden, before anyone else holds him. — (Yorkshire) Hn. To leave the chrisom cap (worn at the baptism) on the child's head till the following morning. It is unlucky to take it off to dry if it should be wetted (in sprinkling) by the minister. —Hn. Its original use was to prevent the rubbing off of the chrism or holy unguent. En Bretagne la femme qui est devenue mere est aussitot entouroe des jeunes nourrices du voisinage, dont chacune sollicite d'elle, comme un grande faveur, de presenter la premiere le sein au nouveau ne. — Chesnel, Diet. Wherewith the women use to shroud the child if dying within the month, otherwise it is usually brought to church on the Day of Purification. Chrisoms in the bills of mortality are such children as die within the month of birth, because during that time they used to wear the chrisom-cloth. — Blount, Glossography. 98 FOLK LORE. good luck. Do not confess you are a lieutenant, or you an antient, and no man will quarrel wee : you shall be as secure as chrisome children. — Shirley, Doubt. Heir. Cf. Shak., Henry V., ii. 3,11. To wrap an infant in the mother's smock. " He was lapped in his mother's smock." — Ray; S., P. C, ii. Cf. S., P. C, i., extract post. '* He has been rowed in his mother's sark-tail." The Scots have a superstitious custom of receiving a child when it comes to the world in its mother's shift, if a male, believing that this usage will make him well beloved among women. And when a man proves unfortunate that way, they will say, "He was kep'd in a board cloth ; he has some hap to his meat, but none to his wives. — A. Ramsay, Scottish Proverb. Lady S. Indeed, miss, I believe you were wrapt in your mother's smock, you are so well beloved. — Marston, What You Will, vi. (1607). This, I think, means " born with a caul." The Italians call it "la camiccia della Madonna." — Placucci, p. 142; Woman Turned Bully, iv. i, and 675. II est ne coiffe. Born rich, honorable, fortunate ; born with his mother's kercher about his head. — Cotgrave. Walker {Par^miologia, 1672, p. 26) gives "Fortune's darling" as the equivalent of this phrase. In Wine, Beer, Ah, and Tobacco contending for Superiority, 1630, Wine says to Sugar : " Why, sure thou wert wrapt in thy mother's smocke." In Munday's Com. of Fideh and Fortunio, 1585, Attilia says : I thank them that they flout me to my face when no other they mock, This was my father's craft, for he ever made my mother to wrap me in her smock. " Fortunate Francis, that was wrapp'd in 's mother's smock " is the self-gratulation of a successful wooer in R. Davenport's The City Night-Cap, ii., 1661. See also Rowley, Match at Alidnight, iv. Mrs. N. The nimble gentleman in the celestial stockings Pr. Hath the best smock fortune to be beloved of women. Middleton, Your Five Gallants, i. i. Host. They call me Goodstock. Lovel. Sir, and you confess it, Both i' your language, treaty, and bearing. Host. Yet all, sir, are not sons o' the white hen ; Nor can we, as the songster says, " come all To be wrapt soft and warm in fortune's smock : " When she is pleas'd to trick or tromp mankind, Some may be coats as in the cards ; but then Some must be knaves, some varlets, bawds, and ostlers, As aces, duces, cards o' ten, to face it Out i' the game, which all the v\Aorld is. B. Jonson, Nctv Inn, i. 3. 99 CHILDREN— GOOD Luci^. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Cf. W. § 156, and Nares, Whiteboy, " be his nown white son," Udall, R. R. D., i. i ; Ford, The Sun's Darling, ii, i ; Like Will to Like, 1568; Hazlitt, O.P., in. 329; white boy, Timon, i. 4. 1600. [Shak. Soc] For money, Hke a chick of the white hen, has generally luck on its side. — Poor Robin, February, 1764. What ! May I not by right be esteemed the son of a white hen (Albae gallinae filius), i.e. that I was born in a good hour, or that I was born with a sylyhoffe* on my head ? — Palsgrave, Acol., L. 2, 1540. * Selig-houve, happy hood. — lb , G. 3. Crispati crines plumae dant calcar amori. Why is young Annas thus with feathers dight ? And on his shoulders wears a dangling lock ? The one foretells he '11 sooner fly than fight, The other shows he 's wrapt in 's mother's smock. But wherefore wears he such a jingling spur ? Oh, know he deals with jades that will not stir. Musarum DelicicB, ii. 126; Wit Restored. For surely Fortune wrapt thee in her smock. And like a lamb did in the cradle rock. — Taylor (W. P.), i. 597. Que n'a-t-on pas dit sur les enfants nes coiffes, c'est a dire qui viennent au monde en repoussant avec la tete une partie de I'amnion. Les commeres sont les seules, a croire, j'espere, que puisque la nature veut proteger la tete de I'enfant a sa sortie du sein maternel, elle lui reserve un avenir facile et s'empressera de detourner tous les maux qui pourraient le menacer ; elles persistent a voir dans ce fait insignifianc ane egide dont la nature couvre son favori. — Emile Bessieres, Snr les Erreurs et les Prejuges Popidaires en Medecina (Faculte de Medecine), Paris, i860, p. 10. It has been suggested that because the child floats in utero in the fluid contained on the amnia that therefore this amnia ought to enable its possessor to float in after-life . . . A Torquay midwife laid it down that the placenta should always be placed in a perfectly dry vessel because if it contained any fluid whatever the child would some day surely die of drowning. — Trans. Devonsh. Assoc, x. 104. For a child to suck a white cow. — (Wilts.) Will thrive better. — N., i. 7. Hilts. You do not know when you are well. I think You 'd ha' the calf with the Avhite face, sir, would you ? I have her for you here : what would you more ? B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, ii. i. Vaches Noires. On pretend que leur lait a la propriete deteindre un incendie produit par le tonnere, et que ce lait convient peu a la nourriture des enfants, surtout s'il a ete tire, ou qu'on le leur donne pendant un orage. — Chesnel, Diet. It induces colic. — Richard, Traditions Lorraines. 100 FOLK LORE. c'bob" lIcI^. For a child to sneeze. As then all fear of the fairies changing it to a warlock is over, — (Scotland) N., i. 12. To CARRY A CHILD, on first leaving the room of its birth, upstairs, that he may rise in the world. — Lees. See p. 20. Jeremy. I came upstairs into the world, for I was born in a cellar. Foresight. By your looks you should go upstairs out of the world too, friend. — Congreve, Love for Love, ii. 7. The mother also should ascend at least one step before going downstairs. — Hardwick. Of course it frequently happens that there is no upstairs ; the mother's room is the highest in the house. In this case the difficulty is met by the nurse setting a chair, and stepping upon that with the child in her arms as she leaves the room. I have seen this done. — fSuffolk) Chambers, Book of Days, ii. 39 (_C.W.J.]. To TOOTH first in the lower jaw ; or the child will die in infancy. — B.; N.,Y.,x. 165. Among the Bakaa tribes, a child cutting the upper front teeth first is put to death. — Livingstone's S. Africa, ch. 28, p. 577. Dans beaucoup de communes du Beam, lorsqu'il nait un enfant on jette par la fenetre du froment et des pieces de monnaie parce qu'on croit que cette offrande sera favorable a son avenir. — Chesnel, Diet. Lorsque les nourrices se mettent en voyage avec leurs nouris- sons elles suivent les sentiers peu frequentes pour eviter le rencontre des sorciers. — lb. To give something edible to the first person met, when carrying an infant first into the open air. It is called the " bairn's piece." Usually bread and cheese. Otherwise child will be unlucky. — (Scotland) N., iii. To have an egg* [or white bread. — Hn.] given to an infant. on its visit. — G. ; N., i. 6. * It should have been just laid. — Long Ago, i. 81. An egg, a pinch of salt, and a penny or a sup o' milk. — N., iii. Que signifie le present qu'on fait des aeufs et du sel a un enfant des la premiere fois qu'il vient a la maison de quelque sien amy. — Joubert, II. Also a cake and some salt (Hutchinson, Vieiu of Northumberland, 1778, Appendix D.) or sugar. Cf. Ezekiel, xvi. 4. Somewhat grotesquely, they add in East Riding of Yorkshire a few matches to light the child heavenwards. — (Leicester- shire) Hn. Childbirth. In a conversation between the angel Michael and Eve, the latter bemoans the consequences of the Fall. Michael suggests various topics of consolation, and amongst others, 101 GooD°LucK. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. promises that " she shall be rewarded for all the pains of motherhood, and the death of the woman in childbed shall be accounted as martyrdom." — The Bible, the Koran, and the Talmud, by G. Weil, 1846, p. 18. According to the old Mexicans, the souls of women who died in labour went to a place of delight in the temple of the sun. — Pritchard, History of Mankind, v. 366. After the birth of the child, the neighbours who come to call on the mother, before touching the infant, purify themselves by taking a burning torch from the fire, crossing themselves with it, and then throwing it into the tire and spitting after it. — Rogers. The first whang or slice of cheese cut after the child is born is given to the young women in the house who have attended on the occasion, that they may sleep over it, in order to procure fecundity when they shall be married. It is never given to married women. — (Roxb.) Jamieson. Buttersaps or scones must be offered to those who come to see the infant. Gossips' feasts, as they tearme them good-HANSEL feasts. — Withals, 1608, p. 291. The women who live on the banks of the Ale and Teviot have a singular custom of wearing round their necks blue woollen threads, or small cords, till they wean their children. They do this for the purpose of averting ephemeral fevers, or, as they call them, " weeds and onfas." These threads are handed down from mother to daughter, and esteemed in proportion to their antiquity. — Henderson. To CALL A CHILD before baptism by its intended name. — Chamber- lain, W. Worcestershire Words. St. Chrysostom {Horn. 8 and 12, on 1 Cor.) rebukes the heathenish ceremonies performed on the birth of a child, one of Avhich was to give it that name which Avas attached to the candle that burned longest out of a row of candles. To crtRiSTEN a child on the same day of the week as it was born on.— Miss M. West wind. To have a west wind blowing when the child is taken to the christening. — J. See post. The W. wind w^as anciently credited with the paternity of bastard children, and they were called indifferently Spurii and Favonei. See Favonius, Du Fresne, Glossary. A Remiremont on a toujours le pieux usage d'asseoir les petits enfants de I'annee sous la couronne du repoisir de la Fete Dieu dans I'esperance qu'en grandissant ils acquerront plus de force et marcheront aussi plus tot. — Chesnel, Did. Jacques. They are a genealogy of jennets, gotten And born thus by the boisterous breath of husbands. 13. and F., Woman's Piize, ii. 5. 102 FOLK LORE. g^ood'^'Sk. Margarita. I am with child, sir. Leon. At four days' warning ? this is something speedy. Do you conceive, as our jennets do, with a west wind ? — Id., Rule a Wife, iv. 3. Medlar. 'SHd, does she hold us for Andalusian studs, that can breed by the air, or procreate by ourselves ? — Lady Alimony, iv. 2 ; H., O.P. Val. Your wanton jennets, That are so proud the wind gets 'en with fillies, Taught me this foul intemperance. B. and F., Valentinian, iv. i. Colax. I change so quick That I suspect my mother did conceive me As they say mares do, on some wind or other. Randolph, Mioses' Lg. Gl., iv. 5. One may believe with more reason that the [Spanish] mares are impregnated and made to conceive by the south-west winds. — J. Howell, Parley of Beasts, p. 141. Saepe sine ullis conjugiis vento gravidae. — Virg., George IIL, 274. Coltes conceyved with wynde never overliveth three year. — Horm., Vtdg., 182. 1519. When maris covette to gendre they forsake theyr company and run towarde the South or the North. — lb., 109. West wind to the bairn When ga'an for its name, And rain to the corpse Carried to its lang hame ; A bonny blue sky To welcome the bride, As she gangs to the kirk Wi' the sun on her side. Edinburgh Magazine, Nov., 1818, p. 412. Jordan water. Cf. Naaman's cure. The superstition which leads to the procuring of water from the river Jordan for use at the baptism of Royal children and others has its parallel in the value attached by Moham- medans to the Zemzem water procured from the Temple of Mecca. — Lane, Mod. Egvptians, c. xi. The negroes prefer rain-water, as having come down from heaven. — W. Ind. Branch. " Aqua -f Jordanis " is sold in Marseilles and at Paris, 24 R. de St. Sulpice, at 5 f. the flask. — Parfait. Wolf's tooth. I have made your daughter a present of a wolf's tooth. I sent to Ireland for it, and I set it hear in gold. They are very Luckey things, for my two ferst one did dye, the other bred his very ill, and none of the Rest did, for I had one for all the rest. — N., ii. ; Letter from Lady Wentioorth to her son, Lord Strafford, March 26, 1713. 103 GooD°Tu''c^. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. The Irish do use a wolf's fang-tooth set in silver [to assist children to cut their teeth], which they hold to be better than coral. — Ay. Topsell mentions this, Hist, of Four-footed Beasts, p. 752. Amber. Des meres superstiticuses entourent de colliers d'ambre le cou de leurs enfans dans le dessein de rendre la sortie des dents plus faciles. — M. Richard, Disserin. siiv les Erveurs Poptilaires relative a la Medicine. [Paris, 1833, 4°.] Coral and bells. Coral is good to be hanged about children's necks. As well to rub their gums as to preserve them from the falling sick- ness. — Hugh Piatt, Jewel House of Art and Nature, 1594. The doctrine of signatures probably suggested that coral would be good for the gums. The FIRST TOOTH CAST by a child should be swallowed by the mother, to ensure a new growth of teeth. — (Amer.), N., V., xii. 166. FoX-GLOVE. Some of the vulgar in Lothian make a superstitious use of these bells. When they suppose that an infant has been injured by magical influence, or, as they express it, gotten ill (perhaps also for preserving them from this dreaded cala- mity), they pull a quantity of fox-glove and put it in the cradle. — Jamieson. These votive offerings must be pinned in the baby's clothes and so brought home. . . . Near Leeds this ceremony is called "a puddening." — Henderson. En Bretagne lorsque le premier ne est conduit a I'eglise pour y etre baptise, on lui attache un morceau de pain noir au cou, et la mere dit alors " Les mauvais esprits verront que ce n'est pas un heureux et ils ne lui jetteront pas un mau- vais sort." La femme qui est devenue mere est aussitot entouree des jeunes nourrices du voisinage, dont chacune sollicite d'elle comme une grande faveur de presenter la premiere le sein au nouveau ne. Cet enfant est considere par elles comme un ange qui arrive du ciel et ses levres inno- cents ne peuvent manquer de sanctifier le sein qu'elles approchent pour la premiere fois. — Chesnel, Did. Crook. When a child was baptised privately it was, not long since, customary to put the child upon a clean basket, having a cloth previously spread over it, with bread and cheese put into the cloth, and thus to move the basket three times successively round the iron crook which hangs over the fire from the roof of the house for the purpose of supporting the pots when the water is boiled or victuals are prepared. This might be anciently intended to counteract the malig- 104 FOLK LORE. good luck. nant arts which witches and evil spirits were imagined to practise against new-born infants. — [Logierait] S(at. Acct. of Scotland, v. 83. See post. The same ceremony is practised in Orkney to exorcise a decUning child. Cf. Levit., xviii. 21. Priest. During the Asperges, and while the priest passed up the church to the altar, a little child, for the first time putting its feet to the ground, was led close behind him. Amongst the people it was a firm belief that, taking its first lesson in such a way, a child would ever after walk well and be quick in its movements. — Our Autumn Holiday on French Rivers, by J. L. Molloy, p. 130 (Normandy). Onychomancie {ouv^, ouvxo'i, ongle) divination qui se faisait en observant les ongles d'un enfant, apres qu'on les avait oints d'huile et de suie, et qu'on avait fait tourner I'enfant du cote du Soleil. — Peignot, Amusements Philologiques. Parturition. If any woman brought a-bed amongst them hapst to lie. Then every place enchaunter-like they dense and purifie ; . . . The like in travailes hard they use and marriages as well, And eke in all things that they buy and everything they sell. B. Googe, Popish Kingdom, p. 57 r. 1570. Baptism, Partial— In Milk. In some corner of the land [Ireland] they used a dampnable supersticion, leaving the right arms of their infants un- christened (as they term it) to the intent it might give a more ungracious and deadly blow. Others write that gentlemen's children were baptized in milke and the infants of poor folk in water, who had the better or rather the only choice. — Rd. Stanihurst, Description of Ireland, ch. 8 in Holinshed's Chron., ii. 1577. Baptism. Le choix du jour pour I'administration de ce sacrement avait semble assez important pour qu'on le fixat d'une maniere generale dans chaque pays ; on ne baptisait d'abord qu'a certains jours, notamment aux principales fetes ; mais plus tard I'Eglise d'occident proclama que tous les jours etaient bons pour conferer le bapteme. Ce fut alors que les prefer- ences des parents se prononcenent d'une fa9on super- stitieuse : les uns ne voulaient baptiser I'enfant que quarante jours apres sa naissance si c'etait un male, et quatre vingt jours apres, si c'etait une fille ; les autres exigeaient que la mere eut ete purifiee ; quelques uns pensaient que le bapterae n'avait pas d'efficacite avant le huitieme jour, &c. — Paul Lacroix, Le Moyen Age et la Renaissance, 1848, vol. i.; Art, Superstitions, f. xiii. 1. 5^^ Thiers, Traite, vol. ii., ch. 6. L'Eglise . . . blamait* qui trempaient dans I'eau froide les pieds et les mains du nouveau ne, pour I'empecher d'etre * Les superstitions. 105 good'^lIcI^. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. sensible au froid ; qui lui frottaient les levres avec una piece d'or pour les lui rendre vermeilles ; qui, avec un ;er chaud, imprimaient sur son corps le signe de la croix ; qui prenaient pour parrains et marraines les premiers pauvres que le hasard amenait au carrefour du chemin ou au seuil de la porte ; qui paraient magnifiquen.ent I'enfant pour le presenter au baptenie ; qui le conduisaient aux fonts baptisniaux avec des instruments de musique et au son des cloches ; qui lui imposait un nom superstitieux ou profane ou ridicule ou diabolique ; qui lui donnaient plusieurs noms, &c. — lb. See Thiers, Traite, ii., ch. n. Omphalomancy, divination dont se servaient les sages-femmes en re- marquant les noeuds qui se trouvent au nombril d'un enfant naissant pour connaitre combien d'enfans I'accouch.ee aura par la suite. — Peignot, Amusements Philologignes. In Greenland the navel-string is preserved as an amulet against sickness and to ensure long life to the child. — Dr. Henry Rink, Danish Greenland: its People and Pi'odiicts, Lon., 1877, p. 205. It must be bitten off or cut with a mussel shell. — Rink, Tales and Traditions, p. 55. In Franche-comte male children wear it round their necks to quicken their wits. So the phrase, " il n'a pas porte son nombril dans sa poche " just means to say he is an ass. — Mel. A urine-tub is held over the head of a woman in labour to ward off evil influences. — Rink, Tales and Traditions, p. 55. Likeness to parent. It is considered lucky for a girl to favour or resemble her father, and a boy his mother. — (Dorset) N., V., x. 138. Suckling. Un jeune nourisson renouvelle le lait, dit on ; c'est une erreur ; si les nourrices ont plus de lait, c'est parceque la con- sommation d'un enfant est d'autant moindre qu'il est plus jeune. — Rion, p. 6. 1869. Si pour remettre un enfant fort extenue, le changement a un laict qui soit plus vieux luy est necessaire. — Joubert, Prop. Vulg., II., 47. Comment se peut faire que la nourrice estant absente cognoisse a ses tetins que son enfant pleure. — lb., 48. C'est bon signe que I'enfant tette bien quand il pisse beaucoup. —lb., 149. Nos femmes de Montpellier ont ceste observation recue de main en main, que le laict de celle que a fait une hlle est meilleur a un fils, parceque disent elles cela le raff'raischir et au contraire que le laict d'une qui a fait un fils est meilleur a une fille, pour la raflfraischir aussi. — id., Err. Pop., I., v. 6. 106 FOLK LORE. good luck. Wet nurse. Though not exactly within the scope of this collection, I cannot resist preserving here an argument and protest more than 300 years ago addressed to mothers on the question of suckling their own offspring : Bon Dieu, quel outrage est-cela si les femmes le s9avoyent bien cognoistre ! Puis done qu'il n'appartient que aux sages, pourquoy est ce que toutes vertueuses femmes ne declarent par c'est effet leur sagesse, et ne quittent le rang des folles ? Je croy encores que si elles S9avoyent quel plaisir il y a de nourrir ses enfans duquel jouissent leurs nourrices, elles se loueroyent plustost a nourrir les enfans d'autruy, que de quitter les leurs. Es d'ou procede que les nourrices communement sont tant amoureuses et passionnees des enfans que leur sont estrangers, sinon de I'extreme plaisir quelles y re9oyvent ? lequel sans comparaison est plus grand que toutes les peines que donnent les enfans, dont il efface aisement les fascheries de la sujection et quelque mauvais temps qu'on en a. Je vous prie que Ton estime un peu le plaisir que I'enfant donne : quand il veut rire, comment il serre a demi ses petits yeux ; et quant il veut pleurer, comment il fait la petite lippe ; quant il veut parler, comment il fait des gestes et signes de ses petits doigts ; comment il begaye de bonne grace, et double en quelques mots, contrefaisant le language qu'il apprent ; quant il veut cheminer, comment il chancelle de ses petits pieds. Mais, y a-il passe temps pareil a celuy que donne un enfant qui flatte et mignarde sa nourrice en tettant, quand d'une main il descouvre et manie I'autre tetin, de I'autre luy prend ses cheveux ou son colet en s'y jouant ? quant il rue coups de pied a ceux que le veulent destourner ; et en un mesme instant jette de ses yeux gracieux mille petits ris et oeillades a sa nourrice ? Quel plaisir est-ce de le voir parfois despiteux et fasche d'un rien, fogner pour une epingle ou autre petite chose, se verser par terre, frapper et rudoyer ceux qui les veulent ou appaiser, ou prendre et emporter ? comment il rejette I'or, I'argent, les bagues et joyaux qu'on luy presente pour faire I'appointe- ment ; et tout soudain on le regaigne pour une pomme ou un fetu? Quel plaisir est d'entendre les folies des petits enfans et voir leurs badineries, d'ouyr ce qu'ils respondent aux demandes, les questions et discours pueriles qu'ils sont, les sottises qu'ils disent, et les propos qu'on ne scay d'ou ils viennent ? De sorte que Ton dit bien vray que "la oij il y a des enfans il ne faut ne fols ne badins." N'y a-il pas grand plaisir de les voir jouer avec les chiens, avec les chats, ou courir apres eux ? petrir de la terre, et en bastir des maisons ou des fours ? contrefaire I'arquebousier, le coureur de lance, le piquier ? sonner du tabourin, faire des reverences, contrefaire les sages, pleurer d'un moineau que le chat leur a prins, ou des oiseaux qui volent qu'ils ne 107 GOOD°TUJ;'^. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. peuvent avoir ? pleurer pour une noix qu'ils ont perdue, et semblables chosettes? N'y a-il pas plaisir et passetemps quand ils ne veulent quitter leur mere ou leur nourrice et ne veulent aller a autre personne, quelque present ou flatterie qu'on leur S9ache faire, et il se faut desrobber finement d'eux ? quand ils ne veulent permettre que leur nourrice caresse en leur presence un autre enfant, ou que luy donne a tetter ? quand ils se mettent en devoir de la deffendre si quelqu'un la menace ou fait semblant de la battre ; comment il crie le premier et se tempeste pour vindiquer I'outrage ? Ceste grand amour jointe a jalousie est si plaisante et agreable qu'elle ravit tout le coeur d'une nourrice si elle est de bon naturel, humaine et gracieuse ; tellement qu'elle n'aimera pas d'avantage ses propres enfans que I'estranger qu'elle nourrit : Et que pent il estre quand la mere propre est sa nourrice ? Si vous prenez plaisir a ce qu'un autre aura fait, comme a un livre, une peinture, ou autre chose artificielle, combien plus a ce qui sera sorti de vostre esprit ? Sans doute I'amour et le plaisir redoublent a I'endroit des meres qui nourissent leurs enfans. Car au contraire, Dieu permet bien souvent que les enfans aiment phis leurs nourrices que leurs meres. — Laur. Joubert, Erreuvs Pcpulaires toucliant la Medicine et la Sante, I., v. i. Paris, 1579. To have an unmarried woman for wet nurse. A rich man in this kingdom, who was never thought to be any of Solomon's offspring, came with his wife to see a nurse- child of his (as he thought), but certainly 'twas his wife's : then very discreetly he asked the wet nurse whether she was a maid or married. She said she was married. "No," says he, " I '11 have no married woman : I'll have a maid to be my child's wet nurse." "Truly, sir," says she, "then you had best bespeak one about London, for we have none such ready-made in the country." — Oxford Jeits, No. 566. 1684. And by this means [wet-nursing] it many times comes to pass that children being brought forth of godly and gentle parents prove churlish and wicked, and utterly estranged from the nature and good disposition of the parents. For children by drinking in strange milk drink in also strange manners and another nature. — Becon, Catechism of Wives., i- 5^7- Mother's milk. On a aussi pretendu que I'enfant ne pent avoir de mal u craindre du sang dont il est forme. C'est une funeste erreur : une nourrice bien portante vaut mieux qu'une nourrice malsaine. Si la qualite du lait a une influence reelle sur la sante des enfants, il ne faut pas aller jusqu'a s'imaginer qu'elle en ait une sur leur caractere. II est egalement absurde de croire que le lait de chevre rende les enfants plus gais que le lait de vache. — Rion. 108 FOLK LORE. good^luck. So have I seen many mothers [Uke the ostrich] refusing to nurse their children ; and, if they could, would have others likewise bear them ; but putting them forth, I believe many perish for want of care and due attendance, for it is not possible that a nurse should have that tender affection which belongs to a mother, and many times with the nurse's milk the children suck the nurse's vices. — John Swan, Speculum Mtmdi, 1635, p. 394. Gryte was the care and tut'ry that was ha'en Baith night and day about the bonny wean. The jizzen-bed ur 'rantry leaves was sain'd And sic like things as the auld grannies kennd ; Jean's paps wi' saut and water washen clean, Reed that her milk gat wrang, fan it was green ; Neist the first hippen* to the green was flung. And thereat seelfu' words baith said and sung ; A clear brunt coal wi' the het tongs was ta'en, Fra out the ingle-mids fu clear and clean, And throw the corsy-belly t letten fa' For fear the weane should be ta'en awa. Helenore, by Alex. Ross, 1768, p. 138, rep. * Hip-cloth. t Infant's first shirt, open before. Voila dont comment il faut entendre ce que le vulgaire pretend dire que I'eschauffement du lait est cause que las mamelles tarissent aux nourrices. II y a une autre intelligence de ce qu'on dit aussi qu'elles tarissent aux bestes non pas si on bout simplement leur laict (comme quand on en fait de la boullie) mais s'il verse au feu, ainsi qu'il pent advenir du bouillon impetueux. Item si on n'y adjuste quelque peu d'eau les bonnes gens disent (au moins en Gascogne, ou je I'ai apprins) que les mammelles tariront a la beste. — Joubert, Err. Pop., v. 7. Sickle. In Bulgaria, when a child is born, the watch, who is present officially, brings a reaping-hook into the rooin, and then proceeds to rub the infant all over with salt, and to fumigate the room in order to drive away all intrusive evil spirits from mother and child. — St. Clair and Brophy, p. 69. For the first years of his life, a piece of garlic (in the case of a girl, one or two coins) is tied upon his head to preserve him from the evil eye. — lb. Morning. Folkes thinken children begotten towards the sonne rising to be conceived more perfect of forme, shape, lymme, and favour. — Udall, Er. Ap., Cic. 12, p. 343. Where children come from. Stork. La cicogne joue un grand role dans les traditions populaires de I'AUemagne. C'est elle qui apporte les enfants dans les 109 ^ill'^luckT LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. families*, tanolis que chez nous on les trouve sous les choux. — E. Rolland, Faune Pop. de la France, p. 380. 1879. * Mannhart, Uebereinstimmungen Deutscher u. Antiker Volksubevliefening in Zeitschrift f. d. a. ncue folgc X. Beggar's bread should be given to children who are slow in learning to speak. — (American) 7V^.,V., xii. 166. Storm. Thunder, lightning, at birth. Merlin. They are his fates that make the elements fight, And these but usual throes, when time sends forth A wonder or a spectacle of worth. At common births the world feels nothing new ; At these she shakes : mankind lives in a few. B. Jonson, Speeches at Prince Henry's Barriers. CHILDREN-ILL LUCK. See post. Pregnancy. If a woman with child looketh upon a dead body, her child will be of a pale complexion. — Browne, Vulgar Errours,Y., xxiv. De celles qui ne veulent qu'on aille querir du feu en la maison d'une accouchee, de peur que I'enfant soit baveux ou chas- sieux. — Joubert, Prop. Vulg., II., 45. Si cela fait a la deliverance que la femme estant en travail de I'enfant disent trois fois (en remnant fort viste la poulce). " J'ay froid, j'ay chaud." — lb., 46. If a female while enceinte happens to enter a churchyard, and inadvertently to wipe her foot upon a grave, her offspring will be born club-footed or kirk-wiped, and hence the phrase "he or she has a kirk-wipe." — (Annandale) N., v. ; Bennett, Traits of Scottish Life, iii. 329. Females during pregnancy have longings for all sorts of food, sometimes for eels, sometimes for wild turnips, or shell-fish, or what not ; but no idea prevails, similar to the popular European prejudice, that the non-gratification of these longings is attended with bad consequences to the child, in the shape of marks to disfigure the body. — Shortland, Neiv Zealand. From ancient times it has been a custom among the Russians, which is strictly adhered to by all classes in the present day, never to disclose the secret of a woman's being in labour except to those who have to wait upon her, till the labour is past, from a superstitious belief that when her state is known, especially to strangers, her sufferings and danger are thereby increased. — Pinkerton's Russia, p. 153. 1833. On chasse les mouches de la chambre, afin que I'accouchee, ne donne pas le jour a une petite fille. — Chcsnel, Diet. 110 FOLK LORE. TlT'CSck:" Dans quelques localites on croyait, il n'y pas fort longtemps que si une veuve de I'annee entrait dans la demeure d'une femme en proie aux douleurs puerperales, elle ne pouvait etre delivrce qu' apres la sortie de cette veuve. -- Id. Allorche si avvicina al parto sono vigilanti le donne di famiglia ad impedire di tenere matasse sul dipanatojo in qualanque giorno precedente il vicino parto. — Placucci, p. 20. And see Id., p. 171. Per otto giorni dopo il parto non lascian vedere il fanciullo a verun povero, sul timore che sotto abito mentito venga qualche stregha a fare mal'occhio, o qualche maleficio al bambino. " Capitando poveri pero in detti giorni si deve ad essi fare la carita senza esitanza, e licenziarli in tutta fretta." —Id., p. 32. Nursing. Le premier lait d'une femme qui vient d'accoucher (le colos- trum) ne peut-etre donne sans danger au nouveau ne on doit bien se garder de le jeter hors de la maison, il faut s'empresser de le repandre sur le foyer. Cette libation se rattache peut-etre aux pratiques de quelques religions anciennes. — Richard, Trad. Lorrains. Sitting cross-legged. See post. And for the women beg, That when they travail you '11 not sit cross-leg ; But when their notes are turn'd to childbirth cries, You '11 cry good-speed to their deliveries. Loudon Chanticleers, Ep. ; H., O.P., xii. Juno, sitting cross-legged, prevents Alcmena's delivery. — T. Heywood, Silver Age, iii., p. 132, &c. (Shak. Soc). Moon. In Cornwall, when a child is born in the interval between an old moon and the first appearance of a new one, it is said that it will never live to reach the age of puberty. Hence the saying, " No moon, no man." — Dyer, p. 41. "A younger brother. Sir; born at the latter end of the week and wane of the moon." — Shirley, Love Tricks, iii. 5. He was born in August — a periphrasis for a liquorish person — one who must be tasting. — Fuller. Dell. I was born, sure, in the dog-days, I 'm so unlucky." — Webster, Northward Ho, iv. i. (in doting on an old man). To gar claes gae through the reik. — Jamieson. To pass the clothes of a new-born child through the smoke of a fire, a superstitious rite which has been used in Fife in the memory of some yet alive, as a protection against witchcraft. A relic of sun-worship, and allied to the consecration to Moloch by passing the child through two fires. — Id. Ill 'iL^Tul'Jr LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Then the first hippen* to the green is flung, And unko' words thereat baith said an' sung, A burning coal with the hett tangs was ta'en Frae out the ingle-mids, well-brunt an' clean ; An' through the corsy-bellyf letten fa', For fear the wean should ta'en awa'. Ross, Helenore, p. 6. [See supra, p. log.] * Wrapper for the hips. t Shirt open in front. Les langes* susqendus pour secher doivent etre retires avant le coucher du soleil, sans cela il pourrait s'y attacher quelque mal. — J. C. Rothenbach, Localsagcn u. Satzungendes Ahey- glauhens, Zurich, 1876. * Swaddling clothes. Kissing. S'il est vray que de baiser souvent les petits enfant on leure boit le sang. — Joubert, Prop. Vulg., IL, 53. C'est un fa9on de parler de nourrice, pour dire qu'on leur gaste le tein [ct.].— Bailly, Quest. Nat. Window. Tenir un enfant penche au dehors de la fenetre arrete sa croissance. — (Swiss) Rothenbach. Sie sehen sich vol fur, dass nichts iiber les Kindes Kopff hingereichet werde, das kind werde alsdann nicht wachsen konnen.— J. W. Boeder, Der Ehsten Ahergl. Gebrauche, 1685, Ed. 1854, p. 55. L'enfant qui nait entre 11 p.m. et minuit disent les femmes de Gerbamont eprouvera grandes infortunes. Mauvais sujet. — D. C. ; Mel., p. 477. To be born in the middle of the day. Will grow up silly. And see p. 98. That if a man be born in the daytime he shall be unfortunate. Or on Whitsunday. — Melton, p. 291. Or in the month of May. May birds are aye wanton. — J. See p. 82. The average shows 4 born in the day to 5 born in the night — fewest about mid-day and midnight. — Quetelet, Sur riiotume, I., ii. 6. Noon, among the ancients, was regarded with terror as a time of sleep and silence. — Leopardi, Errcri pop. d'Aiitichi, c. vii. To let a baby see itself in a looking glass before it is a year old. — S. It grows proud. —(American) iV"., v., xii. Or bring it into a cellar. — (American) AT., V., xii. Will cause its death. — Popular Superstitions, Philadelphia, i2mo. [1832]. Les petis enfants se voir dans leurs mains comme on se voit dans un miroir. — (Swiss) Rothenbach. To WEIGH a baby. It will die or grow up puny. — (Danish) Thorpe, North. Myth., ii. 276. 112 FOLK LORE. ?l7'l5Ik7 No man must be allowed to enter the chamber for three days after the delivery : his hat must be taken away and thrown under the bed, and it can only be redeemed by means of a present. — Chesnel, Did. Cat. Edw. Topsell, History of Four-footed Beasts, 1607, fo., calls it "the idle man's pastime," affirming, further, that many have paid dearly for playing and sporting with them. " It is most certain that the breath and savour of cats consume the radical humour and destroy the lungs, and therefore they which keep their cats with them in their beds have the air corrupted, and fall into fever hectics and con- sumptions." "And therefore also are they dangerous in the time of pestilence, for they are not only apt to bring home venomous infection, but to poison a man with very looking on him ; wherefore there is in some men a natural dislike and abhorring of cats, their natures being so com- posed that not only when they see them, but being near them and unseen and hid of purpose they fall into passions, fretting, sweating, pulling off their hats, and trembling fearfully, as I have known many in Germany . . . and therefore they have cried out to take away the cats." — lb., p. 106. An inquest held on Marie Page, an infant of four months, daughter of a costermonger, living in Harrow Street, Marylebone. On Sunday night the mother put the child to bed, and some time afterwards she found the cat lying across the infant's body. On removing the animal she found that the child was dead. Dr. Rose stated that the death was caused by suffocation. Verdict accordingly. — Daily NeziJS, i5/i2/'8i. Domesticas feles summ.e arcentur a cunabulis puerorum, imo hominum adultorum, ne ori dormientium anhelitum inge- rant : quia eo attractu humidum radicale inficitur, vel consumitur, ne vita supersit. — Olaus Magnus, Hist, de Gent. Septentv., Lib. xvii., c. ig. Geo. O the wicked wit of woman ! for the good turn I did bringing her home, she ne'er left sucking my master's breath, like a cat — kissing him, I mean — till I was turned away. — Middleton, Anything for a Quiet Life, V., i. 5th Hag. Under a cradle I did creep, By day ; and when the child was asleep At night, I suck'd the breath ; and rose, And pluck'd the nodding nurse by the nose. B. Jonson, Masque of Queens. To let a CAT come near a baby. — J. ; Chambers, Book of Days, ii. 30. It will suck its breath away. — Case recorded Ann. Reg., Jan. 25, 1791. May cats are unlucky, and will suck the breath of infants. — H.W., Suppt., Art. Cat. And grow up to be dirty. — N., iii. VOL. II. 113 9 'ir^^Luc^JcT LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Allowing cats to sleep with you, unhealthy. They will draw your health away. — J. ; H. W. Many adults will not sleep in the same apartments with a cat.— J. Catter. A disease to which the roots of the fingers are subject, said to be caused by handling cats too frequently. — (Border) J. Catrick (or Cataract). A disease of the eyes traced to the cat which has run over a dead body! — (N. of Scotland). V. also Weazle-blawing. To rear a kitten and a baby together. — N., ii. The kitten is sometimes killed to save the baby. — Tr. Devonsh. Assoc, X. 107. To let a child sleep upon bones, i.e. in the lap. It cannot lie at full length. — Chambers, Book of Days. Let not the child sleep upon bones. — (Somerset) Ray, Eng. Prov. Note. — The nurse's lap. To cut a child's nails* in the first twelvemonth. — B. * Hair.— H.W. ; N., ii. J'ai vu des nourrices ne dire hardiment qu'elles ne voulaient pas couper les ongles de leurs nourrissons avant qu'ils aient prononce dn sel, sinon tous les maux les mena9aient. — Bessieres, Suv les Ery. en Medecine, Paris, i860. They should be bitten, or he will turn out a thief. — A''., III., i. 6. Or stammer. — (German.) To pare their nails over the family Bible makes them grow up honest. — N. In W. Northumberland it is believed that if the first parings are buried under an ash-tree, the child will turn out a top- singer. — Henderson. In Russia part of the baptismal ceremony is cutting off in the form of a cross part of the hair of the infant, enveloping it in wax and throwing it into the font, or sticking it up in the corner of the church. — Pinkerton, Russia, p. 158. 1833. To WASH THE PALM of a child's hand in the first year, or the arms — particularly the riglit hand — or its fortune will be washed away. — Egglestone's Weardale, p. 90; N., iii. Will never have money. — Trans. Devonsh. Assoc, ix. 90. To WASH THE child's HEAD. Chacun de nous connait le respect que les nourrices portent a la crasse baptismale de leur nourrissons ; pour rien au monde le medecin ne pent parvenir a leur faire nettoyer la tcte des enfans. Jai vu des enfants de 3 au 4 ans et plus chez lesquels la crasse recouvrant le cuh" chevelu etait encore intacte. — Bessieres, Err. in Med. [Paris], i860. 114 FOLK LORE. "T^l'-lSck" To wash a child before he has come to the [canonical] age of reason, that is to say, seven years. — (Bulgaria) St. Clair and Brophy, p. 46. In Greenland, when the child is a year old, the mother licks it all over the body to make it healthy. — Hy. Rink, Tales and Traditions, p. 55. To get the teeth prematurely. — R., 1678. See post. Quickly too'd, quickly go. Quickly will thy mother have moe. (Swedish) Thorpe, North. Myth., 'i\. no. Early to'd, Soon wi' God. — (Yorkshire) Ho. Rol. I am of no country. Dzike. How ? Rol. I was born upon the sea. Duke. When ? Rol. In a tempest I was to'd. Duke. A blustering fellow. — Shirley, The Bird in a Cage, i. i. To be born with teeth in the head. See Signs, post. To be born with the feet foremost. — lb. Children born with feet forward (Agrippae). — Withals, 1568. I will not stand to amplify their discredit which endeavour to turn our day into night, and our light into darkness ; nor yet will compare them to those that are called Agrippse ; who, being preposterously born with their feet forward, are said to enter into the world with ill fortune, and to the great mischief of mankind as Marcus Agrippa and Nero. — Nash, Anat. of Absurd., 1589, p. 39, rep. Doij vient que les masles n'aissent ordinairement la teste la premiere et les femelles les pieds les premiers. — Dupleix, Cur. Nat., 1625. To be prematurely wise. — B. Glo. So wise, so young, they say, do ne'er live long. — Shak., Richard III., iii. i, 79. A little too wise, a little too wise to live long. — Middleton, The Phcenix, i. i. Ld. Sparkish. Well, I fear Lady Answerall can't live long, she has so much wit. — S., P. C, i. La, I ever feared he was not long-lived, he was so witty. — R. Brome, The New Acad., iv. Dans le Bestiaire de Richard de Fourniral Chancelier de I'Eglise d' Amiens vers 1260 on lit. Si que on dist que quant on en voit un (eigne) bien chantant, cil morra ains et tout aussi com d'un enfant que quant on le treuve de bon engien, si dist-on, " II ne vivera mie longuement." — Paulin Paris, MS. Fr. du Bibl. dn Roi, ii. 14-30. 115 ^ill''luok7 LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Aussy voit-on que les enfans que ont tant d'esprit ne sont pas de longue vie. Dont les bonnes gens disent bien : II n'estoit pas pour vivre, car il avoit trop d'esprit. — Jo., I., iii. 8. To put an infant's clothes on the first time over the head. — N., iii. They should be drawn over the feet. Follywit, Nay, over with it, lieutenant, over with it ; ever while you live put a woman's clothes over her head : Cupid plays best at blindman - buff. — Middleton, Mad World, iii. 3. Geo. It must come over your head, sir, like a wench's petticoat. — Dekker, Honest Whore, iii. i. Les habitants du Finisterre conservent encore quelques idees superstitieuses sur les chemises des jeunes enfants. lis croient que si elles enfoncent dans I'eau de certaines fontaines, I'enfant meurt dans I'annee ; il vit longtemps au contraire si ce vetement surnage. — Collin de Plancy. Quand une femme est accouchee d'un enfant mort, il ne le faut pas tirer de la chambre oh. elle est accouchee par la porte, mais par la fenetre, parce que si on I'entiroit par la porte, la mere qui y passeroit, n'accoucheroit jamais que des enfans mort nes. — Thiers, Traite, i. 186. See post. Non devono tenersi sopra il fanciullo pannicelli bianchi, poiche divenuto adulto resta di colore pallido e non rosso. — ]\Iich. Placucci, p. 32. Christening. As to giving children the names of parents and relatives, see post. Names bestowed with ceremony in childhood are held sacred, and are seldom pronounced, out of respect it would seem, to the spirit under whose favour they are supposed to have been selected. Children are usually called in the family by some name which can be familiarly used. A male child is frequently called by the mother a bird, or young one, or old man, as terms of endearment ; or bad boy, evil-doer, &c., in the way of light reproach ; and these names often adhere to the individual through life. — Schoolcraft, The Indian in his Wigwam, p. 213. In many country parishes the child is invariably called by the name of the saint on whose day he happens to have been born. I know one called Valentine because he appeared in the world on the 14th of February, and lately baptized a child myself by the name of Benjamin Simon Jude. Subsequently I was informed that it was unlucky to take the day from a child. — N. Others to make all things recant The Christian or sirname of saint. Butler, Hiidihras, III., ii. 315. A cross child will " be better " after it has been christened. — N., i. 3. If not well christened, will be somnambulists. — N., iii. 116 FOLK LORE. ?ll'-lu!ik7 It is further believed that children will not thrive if they are not CHRISTENED. — Honc, Year Book, p. 253. Quetelet says that four times as many children die in the first month as in the second, and nearly as many as in the second and third years. In short, that one-tenth of children die in the first month, and he adds an opinion of an Itahan that this is greatly owing to the carrying tender infants into cold churches in all weathers and uncovering them there. For the child to go unaccompanied to the christening. [Before Alwit's house. Enter from the house, Midwife with the child, Lady Kix, and other Gossips, who exeunt; then Maudlin, Puritans, and other Gossips.] First Gos. Good Mistress Yellow-hammer Maud. In faith, I will not. First Gos. Indeed it *• shall be yours. Maud. I have sworn, i' faith. First Gos. I '11 stand still, then. Maud. So will you let the child go without company and make me forsworn. First Gos. You are such another creature. [Exeimt First Gossip and Maudlin.] Middleton, Chaste Maid in the Cheapside, ii. 4. * The precedence. To call an unbaptised infant by the name it is to bear.— Low^ Ago, i. 206. Or to divulge its intended name before its baptism. — (W. Sussex) F.L.R.,i. Not to cry when sprinkled at the christening. Too good to live. — Grose. It is also considered as the evidence of the expulsion of the evil spirit. The water sprinkled on an infant's forehead at the font must on no account be wiped off. — (W. Sussex) F. L. R., i. Pour quoy craind-on que de trop crier les enfans se crevent, mesmement s'ils sont masles? — Jo., Prop. Vulg., II., 148. To be christened by a left-handed priest. — B. Cf. post. Matheo. I am the most wretched fellow ! sure, some left- handed priest christened me, I am so unlucky ; I am never out of one puddle or another still falling. — Dekker, The Honest Whore, Pt. II., iii. 2. Left hand. Si c'est bien fait d'empescher que les enfans ne s'adonnent a la main gauche. — Jo , Prop. Vnlg., II., 25. Scotch nurses note with which hand a child takes up a spoon to sup. If it be the left, you may be sure that he will be an unlucky fellow all his life. — Henderson. See Browne, Vulg. Err., iv. 5. In 1598 the right hand was esteemed throughout Europe as the most honourable. — Camden, Eliz. Kennett, ii. 605. 117 ^l^luITkT LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. So is it by the Abyssinians. — Salt, Voyage to Abyssinia, pp. 261-2. 1814. The Japanese, however, think the post of honour to be on the left hand of a grandee. — Golownin, Captivity in Japan, i. 139. 1824. And the Chinese also. — Ellis, Embassy to China, 60, 69. 1817. manu sinistra Non belle uteris in joco atque vino. — Catullus, [xii. 1. — Ed.] To have a godmother who is enceinte. — H.; Mel., Vosgcs, p. 477. She will die within the year. — lb. Most females entertain strong objections against giving evidence or taking oaths before the magistrate when enceinte. — H. W. See The Times, March 5th, 1852, case at Chelmsford. In a case at Bow Street, 28 Dec, 1880, a woman tendered herself as a witness for some Irish prisoners, but refused to be sworn because she was enceinte ; her evidence was therefore not taken. II ne faut pas qu'une femme grosse soit marraine, parceque ou I'enfant dont elle est grosse, ou celui dont elle sera marraine, mourra peu de terns apres. — Thiers, Tr., ii. 86. Quand une femme grosse est marraine on croit qu'une mort prompte menace 1' enfant qu'elle doit mettre au monde ou celui qu'elle nomme en le presentant au bapteme. — De la Mothe ie Veyer, CEuv., x. 267. 1669. Est il vray que si une femme enceinte porte un enfant a bapteme, bien-tost mourra, ou cet enfant, ou celuy qu'elle a dans le ventre ? — Jo., Prop. Vulg., II. {Cah. 105). Groaning cheese. Should the maids and old wives present not partake of the cheese cut by the doctor at the birth of a child, it will grow up with few or no personal charms ; and if they do not take a glass, the same effect will be produced ; and, again, if the father, who also must cut cheese, cut his finger, the child will not love. — Egglestone's Weardale, 89. Costumandosi pure in certe ville di portarsi la creatura al Battesimo sul capo, avra I'avvertenza la portatrice, se e maschio, di portarlo colla testa avanti, e se e femmina, colla testa in dietro, indicando la precedenza del maschio, e la ritenutezza che deve avere la donna. — Michele Placucci, p. 27 ; and see p. 26 as to indicating sex by ribbons. To let BOYS BE PRECEDED BY GIRLS at a christening ; as the boys will then be beardless, and the girls will have their beards instead. — (Scotland) Noake, p. 176; B. ; J. This belief holds its ground in Durham, and extends as far as the Orkney Islands. — Hn. When a boy and girl are christened at the same time, they do not have issue. — (Worcestershire) N., v. 3. 118 FOLK LORE. ^ll'-lSck? Percio che risguarda la puerpera, Ecco li principali pregiudizi ed usi. 1. Alzato dal letto non puo mettersi lo Zinale, ovvero grembi- ale, finche non e stato fatto I'invito del pranzo ai parenti : 2. Non deve, se non sono spirati li 40 giorni dopo il parto, passare lo stillicidio, ne andare altrove, riputando incon- veniente, se cio facesse prima d'essersi presentata alia Chiesa a purificarsi : 3. Non s'azzarda di vestirsi a festa, perche crede, che restino ad essa intorpidite le dita in modo tale da non potere neppure fasciare la creatura : 4. E vietato alia medesima e deve guardarsi dal bevere nel bicchiere stessa colla cognata, come pure dal prestare cosa alcuna alii vicini, ne' quali due casi sparisce il latte alia lattante : 5. A riparare a tale inconveniente vi sono due in vero ridicoli rimedi : il primo si e di mangiare una zuppa insieme nello stesso piatto colla cognata : I'altro rimedio consiste nello scaldar bene il tabbaro del capo di casa, e porlo a rovescio sulla schiena della lattante ; con tali rimedj si crede ritorni il latte a nutrimento della creatura : 6. Si guarda dal toccare lavoro, perche crede, che non solo non riesca bene, ma eziandio che il lavorare pregiudichi alia vista loro a segno di poterla perdere. — Mich, Placucci, Usi, S'C, della Romagna, p. 32. For the mother to go out of the house before the christening [? churching]. — N., iv. The quaaltagh, or first person one meets going from home, is of great consequence, particularly to women the first time they go out after lying-in. If it should happen to be some poor miserable old woman, nothing but bad luck in every undertaking is expected through the whole day. — Harrison, Moiia Miscellany. Une femme avant d'etre purifiee, restait oisive dans son menage et s'abstenait de toucher aux ailments que son contact eut rendus impurs. — P. Lacroix, Moyen Age, i., f. xv. r. To pay or receive visits after childbirth before having been churched. — B. The woman entering a house under these circumstances carries ill luck with her, and it is believed that if she receives any insult or injury she has no remedy at law. — J. ; Hn. Some carry this so far that they v/ould not taste any food that she had dressed. (North of Scotland.) But it is not reckoned necessary that she should be present at any part of divine service. If she set her foot within the walls it is enough. — J. The idea of purification seems to be the key. — lb. She should wear a sixpence in her left shoe till she has been kirked to avert any evil influences on her or the infant from rejected or discarded suitors of her maiden days. — Napier. 119 'iLihluctc LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. To rock an empty cradle. Injurious to infant, and prognostic of early death. — (Dutch). Makes his head ache. — Egglestone, VVeardalc, p. 91. In Sweden they think that it makes the child noisy and given to crying. — Thorpe, North. Myth., ii. no. In China, also, it is considered unlucky. — Athenamm, Jan. 25, 1873, p. 117. Otherwise: You rock another baby into it. — Henderson. If you rock the cradle empty, then you shall have babies plenty. — (W. Sussex.) Maux de tete ou maux de ventre, ou bien la place inoccupee serait prise par quelque chose qui lui serait nuisible. — (Swiss) Rothenbach. If a mother gives away all the baby's clothes she has (or the cradle), she will be sure to have another baby. — (Suffolk) C. W. J. ; Chambers, Book of Days. For a child to speak of itself in the third person, or give itself a NICKNAME (sobriquet). Will die in early youth. — (Cambridge) AtheuiBum, 11/8, 1849. Rendendosi talvolta gravoso a'contadini per la loro poverta I'excessivo carico di figli, e bramosi di non averne altri- menti, impongono all' ultimo che nasce il nome di Sebastiano se e maschio, e di Sebastiana, se e femmina. — Mich. Placucci, Usi, &=€., p. 30. If a child's bread and butter, in falling, alight on the buttered side : bad omen. If on the other side, a good omen. — (Irish) B. Changeling. — J. Brockett says it was a child of a peevish or malicious temper that was thus repudiated by the parents' wounded vanity. Our ancestors firmly believed that it was a common practice with the Fairies to carry off healthy and beautiful children from their cradles or the arms of their nurses and leave their own puny brood in their place. ... In some parts of the South, when a child, from internal disease, suddenly loses its looks or seems to "wanish," as they express it, strong suspicions are sometimes entertained that the declining child is merely an elvish substitute. It was usual with those who believed that their children were thus taken away to dig a grave in the fields upon Quarter-day, and there to lay the fairy skeleton till next morning, at which time the parents went to the place where they doubted not to find their own child instead of the skeleton. — Martin, Western Islands of Scotland, p. 118. Cf. Ovid., Fasti, vi. 135. If the fairies carried off a child, leaving one of their own imps in its place, tradition says that they anxiously watched to see if the bereaved mother would suckle their elvish brood. 120 FOLK LORE. ^LL'tSlKr If she did, her own was irrecoverably lost to her. If she treated it with scorn, refusing to do the duty of a mother, they were forced to restore her own child. — J. C'est une presage facheux que de faire passer un enfant par- dessus la table a manger. Lorsque cela arrive par megarde, en doit s'impresser, pour conjurer le malheur qui menace cet enfant de lui faire reprendre le meme chemin pour regagner le cote qu'il avait quitte. — (Breton) Chesnel, Diet. There in the stocks of trees white faies do dwell, And span-long elves that dance about a pool With each a little changeling in their amies. Ben Jonson, Sad Shepherd ; See Shak., Winter's Tale, iii. 3, 113 ; MidsiDiinier Nighfs Dream, ii. I, 23 & 120. From thence a faery thee unweeting reft. There as thou slep'st in tender swelling band, And her base elfin brood there for thee left. Such men do changelings call, so chaunged by faeries theft. Spenser, Faerie Queen, x. 65. The fayre hath chaunged my childe. — Horm., Vulg., 21. Hen. O that it could be prov'd That some night-tripping fairy had exchang'd In cradle clothes our children where they lay. And call'd mine Percy, his Plantagenet ! Then would I have his Harry, and he mine. Shak., 7 Henry IV, i. i, 86. Whence sprung the vain conceited lie, That we the world with fools supply ? What ! give our sprightly race away For the dull helpless sons of clay ! Besides, by partial fondness shown, Like you we dote upon our own. Where yet was ever found a mother Who 'd give her booby for another ? And should we change with human breed. Well might we pass for fools indeed. Gay, Fables, " Mother, Nurse, and Fairy," 27. Hunt says that in Cornwall children so called are always found to be scrofulous, suffering from mesenteric disease. To TURN THE BED on which a child has been born, within a month of the birth. — Harland and Wilkinson. Sleep. When a stranger enters a room he should be obliged to seat himself, if only for a moment, as otherwise he takes away the children's sleep with him. — (American) N., V., xii. To WEAN a child during the waning of the moon. It will decay to the end of the moon. — (Angus) Jamieson. 121 ^iLi-Tu^G^KT LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. The Lithuanian precept to wean boys on a waxing, but girls on a waning, moon — no doubt to make the boys sturdy and the girls thin and delicate — is a fair match for the Orkney Islanders' objection to marrying except with a growing moon,-Avhile some even wish for a flowing tide. — Tylor, Primitive Ctdttire, [L, 130, 3rd edit., 1891. — Ed.] On est bel enfant jusqu' aux dents. Quand las dents poussent, la fraicheur et I'embonpoint du nourrisson diminue. — Perron, Prov. de Franche Comte, p. 138. To WEAN a child during the month of May. — Edinburgh Magazine, Nov., 1818, p. 410. East. Claridiana. Thou son of a Jew Guido (to Thais). Alas, poor wench, thy husband's circumcised ! Cla. Begot when thy father's face was tow'rd the East To show that thou would'st prove a caterpillar. His Messias shall not save thee from me ; I '11 send thee to him in collops. Marston, Insatiate Countess, i. See post. Lodge, Wifs Misevie, p. 28, seems by Caterpillars to mean Jews. These caterpillars, the Usurers. — Cawdray, Tr. of Sim., 778. 1600. Chrisom-cap. On ne doit pas laisser trop longtemps a une petite fille son cremeilloulot pour qu'elle n'ait pas plus tard de meme des menstrues de trop longue duree. — Mel., Franche -Comte, P- 370- Seven-months' child. Porque el mochacho no vive que es del octavo mes ? Porque el que de siete es suele vivir y escapar ? Secretos de Alonso Lopez, 1547. Contre ceux qui disent que les enfans de sept mois n'ont point d'ongles. — Joubert, Prop. Vulg., IL, 82. Que les enfans nais a sept mois ou autrement avant leur terme sont tousiours malades et en danger de mourir jusques a tant qu'ils ayent attaint le terme qu'ils devoyent sejourner dans le ventre. — lb. (Cabrol, 37). Est-il vray que les enfans de sept mois naissent sans ongles et ceux desquel la mere grosse a mange force sel ? — lb. {Cabrol, 38). Birthday. Sephie Mirza was born in the year of the Egire 1057. For the superstition of the Persians will not let us know the month or the day. Their addiction to astrology is such that they 122 FOLK LORE. ""^f^P^kouL."" carefully conceal the moments of their princes' birth, to prevent the casting their nativities, where they might meet with something which they should be unwilling to know. — Sir John Chardin, Travels. Longing. If babies fret and do not appear to thrive, it is supposed that they are " longing." " Baby," said a nurse to me, " is so uncommon fretty, I do believe he must be longing for something." And to the question. What could he be longing for? the reply was : "Something that his mother longed for, but did not get, before he was born ; and the best way to satisfy him would be, I think, to try him with a brandy cherry or some hare's brains." — (W. Sussex) F. L. R., i. Light. Pourquoy n'est il pas bon que les petits enfans regardent la clarte fort attentivement ? — Jo., II. GOOD LUCK-SPECIAL. The Ember days were looked on as the season [in which to be born. — Ed.] — Melton, Astrol. See post. To be born with a caul on the head. — Browne, V. E. Etre ne coiffe. A silly how. — Browne, Vulg. Err. Haly or selig how, a holy or fortunate cap or hood. — B. Jonson, Alchemist, i. i, ii. 2. Amnios. — Chesnel, Diet. See the Helm, as the Dutch name the caul, historically discussed and rationalised. — Levinus Lemnius, De Miraculis Occuitis Naturm (1666), ii. 8. If red, it is a good omen : if blackish, a bad omen. Sailors buy and carry one to preserve them from being drowned. They were also sold to advocates to increase their oratorical powers and aid their promotion. — Browne, Vtdg. Err., v. 22. Mr. Douce suggests that this was the origin of the Serjeant's coif. It is preserved in Scotland first by mother, and after by those born with it, under the idea that its loss would bring mis- fortune. — J. A child's caul was advertised for sale in Malvern Advertiser, March, 1872. {Of the Bed) For either sheet was spread the caul That doth the infant's face enthral, When it is born (by some enstyl'd The lucky omen of the child). Herrick, Obcron's Palace. \_Hesp., 444. — Ed.] 123 ^^S^EaAL."" LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Credono invulnerabile il detto uomo della camicia, ma solo pero riguardo al piombo, e percio in caso di rissa il com- petitore sostituisce alle palle di piombo altre di cera, o d'argento, oppure mitraglia e cosi credono eludere la virtii portata dalla ripetuta camicia. — Michele Placucci, Usi e Pregindizi della Romagna, p. 25. At page 142 it is called "la camicia della Madonna." Cf. our proverb, p. gg, ante. A person possessed of a caul may know the state of health of the party who was born with it : if alive and well, it is firm and crisp ; if dead or sick, it is relaxed and flaccid. — Grose. Non seulement, dit on encore, I'enfant qui est ne coiffe est heureux ; il a meme le privilege d'etre invulnerable, pourvu qu'il la porte toute sa vie sur soi et encore mieux Test il s'il la mange. — Supns. Anc. et Mod., Amsterdam, 1736, ii. (additions). On the borders persons born with cauls are supposed to possess special powers of healing, but with this restriction — that the virtue is held to be so much abstracted from their own vital energy, and if much drawn upon they pine away and die of exhaustion. — Henderson. Lady Answerall. No, Mr. Neverout, I believe you were born with a caul on your head, you are such a favourite among the ladies, — S., P.C, i. Cf. S., P.C., ii., ante p. 99. In the little toy . . . which is suspended before the child's face [to amuse it when bandaged up] is carefully and super- stitiously preserved the umbilicus, which is always secured at the time of its birth, and being rolled up into a little wad, the size of a pea, and dried, it is enclosed in the centre of this little bag, and placed before the child's face as its protector and its security for good luck and long life. [These toys the women] were very ready to sell for a trifling present ; but in every instance they cut them open and removed from within a bunch of cotton or moss, the little sacred mcdecine, which to part with would be " to endanger the health of the child " — a thing that no con- sideration would have induced them in any instance to have done. — Catlin, North American Indians, 1841, ii. 133. This, as some one wittily observed, seems to proceed on the idea that a person who comes into the world with a cap over his face is destined to go out of the world in the same manner ; that is, to be hanged ; since, according to the well-known proverb, " He that is born to be hanged will never be drowned." — Whately, Misc. Reviews. Some of the Lancashire farmers preserve with great care the membrane which sometimes envelopes a newly-born foal, in the hope that it will ensure them good luck for the future. — Harland and Wilkinson. 124 FOLK LORE. '^^I'pecial!'- It is vulgarly supposed that one person in a thousand comes into the world thus enveloped ; and these cauls are care- fully preserved by mothers to sympathise with the fortunes of the children they belonged to, in whatever part of the world they may be — to be dry when he is happy and well, and moist when he is afflicted or ill. — Hodgson's North- umhcvland, P. IL, iii. 373. Zanclio. Were we not born with cauls upon our heads ? Think'st thou, Chichon, to come off twice arow Thus rarely from such dangerous adventures ? Digby, Elvira, v. 1667. Smock. (See p. 99 ante.) He was wrapp'd in his mother's sark-tail. The Scots have a superstitious custom of receiving a child when it comes into the world in its mother's shift, if it be a male, beheving that this usage will make him well-beloved among women. And when a man proves unfortunate that way they will say, " He was kep'd* in a board-cloth ; he was some hap to his meat, but none to his wives." — Kelly, Scottish Proverbs. * Received. For he was a pretty cocke. And came of a gentill stocke. And wrapt in a maiden's smock. And cherished full daintily Till cruel fate made him dye. Skelton (d. 1529), Book of Philip Sparrow. Quelquefois [I'enfant] sort revestu de sa tunique comme d'une chemise : laquelle rarement lui couvre tout le corps, le plus souvent ne passe les espaules et quelquefois couvre seule- ment le visage. On prend cela a bon augure et dit on qu'il sera heureux : parce qu'il est ne vestu. Est ce point une allegoric sur ceux qui naissent de parens riches et opulens ; de sort qu'ils n'ont rien a faire que pour leur plaisir ou honneur sans etre contrains d'aueune necessite ? On dit communement de ceux la qu'ils sont heureux et nais tout vestus : c'est a dire avec force biens acquis de leurs parens. Les autres qui sont pauvres des leur nativite naissent vrayement tous nuds. — Jo., L, iv. 6. Moins de fondement est en ce qu'on dit, telle chemise ou portion d'icelle empescher celuy qui la porte sur soy de peril & danger. — lb. To have meeting eyebrows. Will never know trouble. — N., i. 7. Some say that it shows you will be hanged. In Durham he is thought a fortunate fellow. — Hn. As honest as the skin between his brows. — Shak., Much Ado, iii. 5, II. The Danes consider him a werewolf. — AT., v. 6. 126 °°ipEaAL^~ LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. The Danes still know a man who is a werewolf by his eye-brows meeting, and thus resembling a butterfly, the familiar type of the soul, ready to fly off and enter some other body. — Tylor, Prim. Cult., i. p. 283. [3rd ed., i8gi, p. 313. — Ed.] In Icelandic sagas a man with meeting eyebrows is said to be hamrammr or a kveldulfr ; that is, a werewolf. A similar notion prevails in Denmark, Germany, and Greece. — S. B. G. in Hn., Thorpe, North. Myth., iii. 154. Trust not the man whose eyebrows meet. For in his heart you '11 find deceit. — 5 N. x. 288. To refrain from putting the tongue in the cavity made by a tooth being extracted. The second tooth will be golden. — (North Brunswick) N., i. 8. To have the teeth wide apart ; i.e. sufficient space between the front middle teeth to allow a small coin to be passed. Will die wealthy. — S. And travel. — N. Must seek his fortune in some distant land. — (American) N., V,, xii. i65. Was this a test applied to children ? and is it in allusion to the practice that Herrick, describing the knick-knacks hung in Oberon's Palace, Hesp., 444, enumerates : " With eyes of peacock's trains and trout- flies' curious wings, and these among Those silver pence that cut the tongue Of the red infant, neatly hung " Hardly, because "the red infant " has barely acquired his teeth. Grosart (Herrick, ii. 107) suggests "tongue-tied," meaning, I suppose, that this was used as a remedy. To cut the TOP SIDE of the loaf before the bottom side. That you may rise in the world. — N., ii. To keep a goat on a farm. Brings luck in its carrying on. — Egglestone's Weavdale. On pretend aussi qu'un bouc assainit I'etable et qu'il empeche le sorcier de jeter un sort. — Mel., Frnnche-Comte, p. 371. Fish. Charm to attract herrings : " Whom the mariners after they have took use in this sort . . . Eight or nine times they swinge them [the herrings] about the mainmast and bid them bring them so many last of herrings as they have swinged them times, and that shall be their ransome, and so throw them into the sea again." — T. Nashe, Lenten Stuff, Harl. Misc., vi. 171. Occasionally herrings are caught, the fins of which are tinged with a beautiful bright red colour, while their bodies ai'e suffused with a shadowy golden haze. By the Scotch fishermen these herrings are known as "wine drinkers," by the fishermen along the coasts of Norfolk and Lincoln- shire they are called " loaders," whilst by the West-country fishermen they are honoured with the appellation of " kings 126 FOLK LORE. °°s°p°EaAL.*'~ and queens." Fishermen look upon these herrings as omens of success, and as soon as one is perceived it is taken from the net, carefully prevented from touching anything that is made of wood, and at once passed round the " scudding- pole " as many times as the fishermen desire to get lasts of herrings at their next haul. — De Caux, The Herring and Herring Fishery. If these fish are taken alive they are returned to the water after being passed round the mast. To EAT FISH FROM THE TAIL towards the head ; as it brings the fishes heads coastwards. — (Cornwall) Hunt, p. 148. A Manxman is said to be known by his mode of eating a herring, as he always commences at the tail and eats it upwards. It is also considered unlucky to turn the fish on your plate — you must cut it through, and not turn it over. — Nail, Great Yarmonth, p. 387. To make an offering of money on board ship. Procures a favourable wind. Of frequent occurrence among the natives of India. — N. In the autumn of 1853, during a tedious voyage from Rangoon to Calcutta in the ship Lahore, the wind was very light and variable. There were a number of camp and other followers on board, who, being extremely anxious for the speedy termination of the voyage, collected among them- selves a sum of money, and had the same deposited on the main truck in order to propitiate a stronger and favourable breeze. Anyone who has been a passenger by the market-boats in the Bay of Naples will recollect the box passed round for donations, ostensibly towards freeing souls in purgatory. I had been in the habit of wearing in my pocket a broad silver piece, given to me as a keepsake by my son George. He had received it, when a mipshipman on board the Milford, from a marine, who had beaten it out from a dollar, and had engraved on it the Milford in full sail, and on the reverse my coat of arms. . . . The wind was adverse to our course ; our ship still labouring in a heavy sea, with strong and sudden squalls. In this gloomy moment the fancy struck me to make trial of the superstition of the man at the helm by laying this silver piece on the face of the compass as a charm, with all the solemnity I could assume. ... In a few minutes he announced to the con- viction of all present a considerable shift of wind in our favour. Credulity now began to circulate rapidly through the ship. . . . My first prediction having succeeded so luckily, I boldly promised them a prize in view, and, whimsical as the incident is, yet it so chanced that in a very short time the man at the mast-head sung out, " Two ships bearing North standing to the Southwards." — Condensed from Cumberland's Memoirs, i. 422. 127 ^Tp^cIal.*^" LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. In general, the Arab sailors are very superstitious : they hold certain passages in great horror, not because they are more dangerous than others, but because they believe that evil spirits dwell among the coral rocks and might possibly attract the ship towards the shoal, and cause her to founder. For the same reason they observe the constant practice of throwing at every meal a handful of dressed victuals into the sea before they sit down themselves to the repast, saying that the inhabitants of the sea must also have their morsel, otherwise they will impede the vessel's course. Our Reys once forgot this tribute; but on recol- lecting it he ordered a fresh loaf to be baked, and threw it into the sea. — Burckhardt, Travels in Arabia, 1829, ii. 347. Oil thrown on the sea. About twelve years ago, during my stay at Malta, I was intro- duced to the Bey of Bengazi in Africa, who was going with his family and a large retinue of servants to Mecca. He very politely offered me and my companion a passage to Egypt. We embarked on board a French brig, which the Bey had freighted, and very unfortunately were captured by an English letter of marque within a few leagues of Alexandria. The captain, however, was kind enough to allow us to proceed ; and as we lay becalmed for two days, the Bey ordered three or four Turkish flags to be hoisted and a flask of oil to be thrown overboard. On enquiring into the purport of the ceremony, we were informed that the flask would float to Mecca (a pretty long circumnavigation) and bring us a fair wind. As we cast anchor in the port soon after, of course the ceremony had been propitious ; nor did we seek to disturb the credulity of a man who had treated us so kindly. — Letter in Dr. Aikin's Athencrum, Ap., 1808, vol. iii. 314. See a similar miracle recorded by Venerable Bade, Hist. EccL, iii. 15. [In the Madras masula-boats, which are employed to carry passengers over the surf, beaching in the third surf, and then being taken completely out of the water as it recedes] the steersman gives time by a song, which is sung by all boatmen ; and, according as its modulations are slow or quick, the oars are plied. These modulations are regulated by the waves, as they may be slow or rapid in succession. I remember on one occasion, when a passenger of rank showed impatience at this noisy song, the boatmen were desired to cease ; but the steersman refused compliance with the order, saying that without his song he would not be answerable for the safety of the passenger. — Sir J. Malcolm, Journal of t/ie Royal Asiatic Society cf Great Britain, i. 9. When a person falls by accident, it is thought proper to pour out a libation of oil on the spot to satisfy the demons. — Leared, Morocco, p. 273. 128 FOLK LORE. ^^fpEciAL;'" Les pecheurs de Dieppe se defendent de parler sur leur barque, de plusieurs choses, belles que des pretres et des chats, et ils s'interdisent aussi le jeu de cartes, comme pouvant leur porter malheur. — Chesnel, Did. In many parts of South Germany the bauer leaves the last ears of corn standing in the field and the last apples hanging on the tree. " That is for Woden, for the Old One," he says when questioned. If this act of piety be neglected the ground or tree whence all has been taken will bear no fruit next year. — "Present Customs in South Germany," Tinsley's Magazine, October, 1874. Besides perpetual offerings to an image of the Queen of Heaven, whom we have before mentioned as the sailor's deity, they [the crew of Chinese junks] worship the compass itself. This is covered with a stripe of red cloth, some of which is also tied to the rudder and cable, the next object of conse- quence to the sailors. Incense sticks are burnt, and gilt paper made into the form of a junk is kindled before it. The compass likewise constitutes headquarters on board. Near it some tobacco, a pipe, and a burning lamp are placed, and here the crew adjourn to enjoy themselves. In a dead calm a quantity of gilt paper shaped like a junk is set adrift, and offerings made to the goddess and sundry demons ; but if all this proves ineffectual, the offerings cease, and they await the result with patience. — Davis, Chinese, c. xviii. In the Travels of Ibn Batata in Persia (14th Century) mention is made of a Sheikh held in high esteem both in India and China, and even the sailors, when labouring under adverse winds, make great vows to him, which they pay to the servants of his cell as soon as they get safely to shore. — Translated by S. Lee, Oriental Translation Fund, London, 1829, 4to, p. 43. To sleep with the dairymaid. — (Cheshire). Brings luck to the dairy. The meaning is probably that when the farmer's wife attends to the dairy herself things go well there. Cf. B. and F., Night Walker, i. 3. Lancelot. Send me out the dairymaid To play at trump with me and keep me waking. B. and F., Lovers' Progress, iii. 2. Phar. For any other I see, excepting your dear self, dearest lady, I had rather be Sir Tim the schoolmaster and leap a dairymaid. — B. and F., Philaster, ii. 2. July. Now make hay whilst the sun shines and get the affections of the dairymaid, who will supply thy belly with syllabubs. — Poor Robin, 1667. Many a syllabub [will be] made and marred betwixt the Dairy- maid and the Servingman. — lb., 1670. VOL. n. 129 10 GOOD LUCK- SPECIAL. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Sty jfohn. Lord Smart. Third Gent. Penurio. Second Gent. Shallow. Petruchio. I must not To bed with this stomach and no meat lady. Maria. Feed where you will, so it be sound and wholesome ; Else live at livery, for I '11 none with you. Bianca. You had best back one o' th' dairymaids ; they "11 carry : But take heed to your girths, you'll get a bruise else. B. and P., Woman s Prize, i. 3. He that would have good luck in horseflesh, must kiss a parson's WIFE. — S., P.C, ii. He is well seen in horseflesh, for he hath lain with a parson's wife. — Howell, Lexicon Tetragloitcn. But I have had devilish bad luck in horseflesh of late. Why then. Sir John, you must kiss a parson's wife. — S., P.C., ii. Penurio, thou know'st all the handsome wenches . What shall I give thee for a merchant's wife nov/ ? I take no money, gentlemen ; that 's base ! I trade in meat. A merchant's wife will cost ye . . . Now do I aim at horseflesh : what a parson's ? B. and P., Women Pleased, iii. 2. Oh women, monstrous women ! little does her father know who has married her. Lucy [with child hy Francisco). Yes, he knows the parson married me, and you can witness that. Francisco [disguised in a parson s habit). And he shall know the parson will lie with her. Well, parson, I will be revenged on all thy coat : I will not plough an acre of land for you to tithe ; I '11 rather pasture my neighbour's cattle for nothing. Oh be more charitable, sir ; bid God give them joy. I care not greatly if I do, he is not the first parson that has taken a gentleman's leavings. How mean you, sir ? You guess my meaning. I hope to have good luck to horseflesh now she is a parson's wife. You have lain with her then, sir ? T. May, The Heir, v. (1633). [The scene is in hell.'] Infortunio. What are you ? Bubulcus. I am a horse-courser*. In. And could'st not thou outride the devil ? Buh. I had not got the grace to mend my pace. I was an honest horse-courser, and suflered every fool to ride me : I knew not what belonged to horse- play ; let the world kick at me I never winced : all that I am damn'd for is, that desiring to • i.e. dealer. Shal. Parson. Shal, Fran. Shal. Fran. 1.30 FOLK LORE. ^^specul."" thrive in the world and to have good luck to horseflesh, I ambled to the bed ot a parson's wife that was coltish once, and gave her husband a horse for it in good fashion. He never gave me God-a-mercy for it ; indeed it proved afterwards to have the yellows. In. There was some colour for it. Well, since your occupation is foundered, you shall trot every day afoot and walk a knave in the horse-fair. Shirley, Love Tricks (1624-5), iii. 5. Second Gipsy. You '11 have good luck to horseflesh, o' my life. You plough'd so late with the vicar's wife. B. Jonson, Masque of Metamorphosed Gipsies. Clare. If he be a parson And I his wife, I sure shall make my friends Lucky to horseflesh. Glapthorne, Wit in a Constable, ii. i. She never made a black pudding without borrowing one of the parson's old wigs to hang in the chimney, firmly believing that there were no other means to preserve them from bursting. — Mrs. H. More, Taiviiy Rachel. To find a four-leaved trefoil [on St. John's day give magical powers]. — B. ; S. V. Zingerle on "Superstitions of Tyrol" {Zeitschrift fiiv Deutsche MythoL, 1853, i 236). Sanct Johnes nutt and the foure levit claver were specified among the ingredients of sorcery. — " Legend of the Bischop of St. Andrews," Scottish Poems of the Sixteenth Century, p. 318. If a man walking in the fielde finds any four-leaved grasse, he shall in a small while after finde some good thing. — Melton, Astrologaster, p. 46. Trefle a quatre feuilles. Herbe qui croit sous les gibets, arrost'e du sang des pendus. Un joueur que la cueille apres minuit le premier jour de la lune et la porte sur soi avec reverence est sur de gagner a tous les jeux. — Collin de Plancy. Some suppose the trefle a quatre feuilles to be " I'herbe qui egare," the cause of people losing their way in a fog or a forest. See Melusine, 1S78, pp. 13, 46. "Herbe qui coupe le fer." — lb., p. 71. HoUSE-WARMIXG. To heat a house : to give an entertainment to friends when one takes possession of a house that has never been occupied before. — J. The phrase used in France for this practice is " chasser les esprits," to drive away the ghosts. Nam peracto aidificio Larem familiarem Dominus salutabat primum, eique sacrum faciebat quo Lemures extra muros ejiceret. Ex quo more apud nos novae domus incola caenam amicis parant : unde natum proverbium chasser les esprits. — Jac. Gutherius, De Jure Maniuni, ii. 16, 275. Lipsiae, 1671, 131 ^°sp°ecIal.*'"~ LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. En Lorraine pour que la vache dont on vient de faire I'acqui- sition ne soit pas en mal de la maison d'ou elle sort, il faut lui mettre pour litiere de la paille tiree du lit de son nouveau maitre. — D. C. ; Richard, Trad. Lorrains. To have a waxing moon, a flowing tide, and the wind blowing on your back when changing houses. — J. Of such importance is the last circumstance, that even where there is a concurrence of the other two, some people rather than fiit with an adverse wind will make the circuit of a whole island to gain the prosperous breeze. To place a Bible, some salt, and some oatmeal in the cupboard of a dwelling house on entering on the occupation of it. Brings peace and plenty. — (Cheshire) N ., iv. See as to salt and manner of entrance, post. Bread and a new broom should be sent in beforehand. — (American) N., V. xii. Salt should be last removed and first set down At table of a knight or country clown. Ponds' Almanac, Dec, 1670. When a newly-built house is first inhabited barley-meal is mixed with oil, and portions of the mass are thrown into the four corners of the building to propitiate the underground neigh- bours — in other words, the demons — with whom the resi- dents have to come in contact. — Leared, Morocco and the Moors, p. 273. The Arabs and Turks consecrate it with the blood of an animal newly killed. — A''., V. vii. 284; Belgravia, Feb., 1878. German folk-lore says it is well before entering a new house to let a cat or dog run in. — Grimm, Dent. Myth., 972, 1095. This is as an offering or first-fruits to the devil. So in opening a new bridge a cock was made to run across first. Cf. post. M. F. Baudry records that in the middle of the 19th century a peasant of Neuville (chant d'oiseul), Normandy, feared to die in the current year if he occupied a new house where a cock had not been sacrificed and its blood spilt on the threshold, and that persons refused to be married at a newly-built mairie until the same ceremony had been performed. — Mehisine, 1878, p. 12. To GIBBET THE BREAD, when inclined to be ropy, corrects this tendency. — A^., iii. Pour encourager les autres. Sometimes owing to a bad harvest-time and the premature garnering of the corn before the ears have had time to harden, the bread when baked becomes fibrous or "ropy."' It is usual with the good dame when such is the case to run a stick through a loaf of it, and to suspend it in a cupboard to prevent the repetition of ropy bread in future bakings. 132 FOLK LORE. '^Ipec'IalI'^ How bitterly sighed the motherly dame As she told her thrifty man, That the last week's batch of her own made bread Was ropy — her tears fast ran. It was plain to him that some evil sprite Had power : these words he said, As on bended knees while saying his prayers, " Why didn't you gibbet the bread ?" Brown, Lay of the Clock and other Poems, Horncastle, 1861. If when peeling onions one be stuck on the point of the knife the eyes will not be affected [by the spirting juice]. — (Scot.) Na. Counterfeit money. The practice of impaling bad silver may be allied to this. And cf. the fixing of vermin on walls, post. Nailed to the counter, like a bad shilling. Imperia. Therefore here hang this counterfeit* at my bed's feet. Frisco. If he be counterfeit, nail him up upon one of your posts. Middleton, Blurt Master Constable, ii. 2. * Portrait. Silver and gold and nothing else is current In England : in fair England's happy land All baser sorts of metals have no warrant. Yet secrectly they slip from hand to hand ; If any such be took the same is lost, And presently is nailed to a post. Rd. Barnfield, Lady Pecunia, 29. 1598. To carry a bittern's claw on the person. Luck in shooting. — Sir H. Davy, Salmonia. To TOUCH BUN for luck. — G. ; Jamieson, Dictionary of Scottish Language. The reader is referred to Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, article " Bun," for an explanation. It is a custom religiously observed by sailors before setting out on a voyage. See a curious illustration in Gifford's Dial, on Witches and Witchcraft, Percy Soc, pp. 109, 113. " Bun " is used also in Scotland for scut of hare, &c. — J., Diet. If there is any truth in the old Courland superstition, that the display of a lady's ankle to the hunters before they started brought them luck, we ought to have had the run of the season that day. — Lawrence, Guy Livingstone, c. ix. Der beischlaf und nocturnae pollutiones bedeuten guten pro- myssel (? luck in the chase). — G. W. Steller, Beschreihung von Kamtschatka, p. 279. But as to women, it is to be noted in general : That to lie with a woman prostitute signifies in some way prosperity ; but a virgin much labour with little advantage, the latter being properly barren and the other so far fruitful as that she is always ready for the act. — Richard Sanders, Psysiognomie, 1653, p. 222. 133 ^^sp^ecVal.*^" LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. To GIVE BACK A SMALL SUM On receiving payment at the close of a bargain. — J. This custom of the luck-penny is followed to ensure good luck to the purchaser. It is now chiefly retained in selling horses and cattle. Many even at the present day would not reckon that a bargain would prosper were this custom neglected. It must be any coin rather than a sixpence — even a smaller one. —N., v. 6. Gregor does not say so. Drinking the blockan ale is part of the ceremony. — May, 1877. To give something more to a purchaser than he can legally claim — to the luck of the bargain or " to the to-luck." — J. G. says called the blessing. To place the poker leaning against the bars of the grate. Makes the fire burn well. See post. In almost every house servants and those who employ them alike believe that a poker leaned up in front of the bars or across them makes the fire burn, and you will be told very positively that experience proves the efficacy of the device — the experience being that the poker has been repeatedly so placed and the fire as repeatedly burned ; and no com- parisons having been made with cases in which the poker was absent and all other conditions as before. — H. Spencer, Pyinciples of Sociology, p. 4. Horse. It is very lucky to own a horse whose fore-legs are both equally white-stockinged ; but if one fore-leg and one hind-leg on the same side are white, it is unlucky. It is unlucky when one leg only of the four is white-stockinged ; but if opposite legs, as off fore and near hind, are white, very lucky. A versified set of instructions on buying white-footed horses [but not exactly in accord with the foregoing] runs thus : *' One white foot — buy a horse ; Two white feet — try a horse ; Three white feet — look well about him. ; Four white feet— do without him." — N., V. vii. 64. Mr. Hyde Clarke says this rhyn:ied belief prevails in Asia INIinor and also in Albania, and is one of the many Turkish super- stitions as to lucky and unlucky marks. He connects it with the Evil Eye. — lb., 158. If you have a horse with four wdiite legs, Keep him not a day ; If you have a horse Avith three white legs, Send him far away ; If you have a horse with two white legs. Sell him to a friend ; And if you have a horse with one white leg, Keep him to the end. lb., 299; Stoke Teignhead, Devon. 134 FOLK LORE. ""sPEaALr Balzan da quattro caval da matto ; balzan da tre caval da Re ; balzan da un nol dar a niun — 1536. C'est un cheval de quatre pieds blancs. i.e. he is unlucky, promises fair, and performs nothing. — Howell, Par. Fr., p. 7. Four white feet which is taken for an ill sign. — Torr. The shoes are yet twisted of the hoofs of mares before they bring forth their young, and they are by no means allowed to foal in stables.— (Scotland) Mactaggart, Gallovid, Ency., art. " Freets," 1824. Wall-eyed. One wall eye she shall have ; for that 's a sign In other beasts the best : why not in mine ? Suckling, The Deformed Mistress. Salt. No one will go out on any important business without taking salt in the pocket, much less remove from one house to another. Many will not put out a child or take one to nurse without salt being mutually interchanged ; nay, although a poor creature be almost famished in the streets, he will not accept any food you may give him, unless you join salt to the rest of your benevolence. — Waldron, Description of the Isle of Man. Heron. Unreasonable therefore are their affections which say to hear an heron cry when thou goest on Imbacie is a sign of speeding (and yet this they ground on a place in the tenth of Homer's Iliad). — Melbancke, Phil., Aa., 3, 1583. Coins. To place several pieces of money in the foundation stone of a new building. Ancient coins are in frequent use as charms suspended by a red string and worn about the body or hung up on the outside of a bed-curtain. They are sometimes tied on the wrists of children soon after birth, and worn for several months. Under the bed, used by a newly-married couple, several sets of five coins of different emperors are often placed. — Doolittle, Social Life of the Chinese, New York, 1867, ii. 308. Placed in the foundations of a house. — lb., 310. ILL LUCK-SPECIAL. " Cependant, continua-t-il, je regrette le peignoir. II eut atteste, d'une fa9on materielle, mon intelligence. On croira peut-etre que je vous ai rencontree par hasard ." Si vous I'aviez apporte, fit-elle, vous ne m'auriez probablement pas trouvee ; 135 '^SPEciALr LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. il vous etjt porte malheur. A Bade . . . j'ai souvent remarque un monsieur dont les poches etaient garnies de deux ou trois sacs en toile destines a emporter I'argent qu'il devoit infailliblement gagner. Jamais il n'a eu I'occasion d'y mettre un florin. Mon peignoir aurait eulememe sort : en punition de ce luxe de precautions vous seriez revenu avec lui sans moi ; n'est il pas preferable de revenir avec mois sans lui ? — La Femme de Fen, par Adolphe Belot, 1872. Quando veggono da lungi ad appressarsi il tempo cattivo, minacci- ante tempesta fulmini tuoni e lampi, frettolosi mettono fuori suir aja sotto il grondajo del telto della casa tutto il ferro che hanno cioe falci, palette, manaje, caviglie, gruppi di ferro, zappe, e tutti gli attrezzi diversi di ferro del perticajo, ossia aratro ; credendo con cio di espellere e tener lontane da proprj campi la gragnuola. — Placucci, p. 121. To MAKE extraordinary preparations for coming good fortune. Will be baulked. A happy, careless indifference, on the other hand, is supposed to attract it to you. Thou that mak'st gain thy end, and wisely well, Call'st a book good, or bad, as it doth sell, Use mine so too ; I give thee leave. But crave, For the luck's sake it thus much favour have, To lie upon thy stall, till it be sought ; Not offer'd, as it made suit to be bought. Ben Jonson, Epigram, 3, " To my Bookseller." To KILL a frog. You will have a sin grow on your back. Les pretendues pluies de crapauds ou de grenouilles sont dues au grand nombre de ces animaux qui sortent la nuit de leurs retraites pendant les pluies chaudes de I'ete. — Rion. Rather, after a heavy thunderstorm, I have seen them by dozens revelling in the floods of rain which fall at these times, so that they might have seemed to have also come from the sky. such strange visiognomies As they were dropped from the skies (And that may be, as we see plain. By Paddocks after shower of rain). Rd. Flecknoe, Diariinii, Jorn. II. 1656. To kill a beetle. Brings rain, thunder, and lightning. — (Hull) A^., i. 6. A stone fashioned into the shape of a beetle, which animal is in great repute as an antidote to evil, because, says Elian, it has no female, and is an image of the sun, ... or ... a frog cut in amber or in cornelian, or in any stone, or even fashioned in gold, has always been held to be efficacious against the Evil Eye. In coral and amber it doubles its virtues, for both of these substances have an influence, in whatever shape they are, and are hung upon the necks of children to this day as amulets, as they were by the ancient Romans. — Story, Roba di Roma, ii. 9. 136 FOLK LORE. special. To have iron or steel about you during a thunderstorm. A charm is usually uttered by the Egyptians to avert the Zoba'ah [a whirlwind of sand or dust] when it seems to be approaching them. Some of them exclaim " Hadeed yd mashoon ! " (" Iron, thou unlucky ! "), as ginn are supposed to have a great dread of that metal. — Lane, Modern Egyptians, c. X. Iron is considered a great protection against demons. When a person is ill in bed it is usual to put a knife or a dagger under his pillow, and before the reason for the custom was explained to us we had been puzzled by it when requested to prescribe for a patient. — Dr. Leared, Morocco and the Moors, 1876, p. 273. To BURN elder wood. Hallowed under the idea that the Cross was made of it. — N., i. 7. Dans le departement du Tarn on ne brule point le sureau parcequ' on craindrait que les poules ne cessassent de pondre des oeufs. — Chesnel, Diet. Biesius [De Aeris Potest.) maketh mention that a house in Spain, seated among many Elder trees (wherewithal the grounds were hedged), cast every man out of it (like Sejus' horse), either dead or diseased, till such time as he caused them to be rooted up, and so made it both wholesome and habitable to the dwellers. — Muffett, Health's Imp., ch. iii. To BURN FERN. Causes rain. Done for this end in great drought. — N., i. 5. In the Mis. Coll. of Dr. Rd. Pococke (Brit. Mus. Add. MS., 15,801, fol. 33) is the following curious letter: — "To my very loving friend, the High SherifT of the County of Stafford. S'', His Majesty having taken notice of an opinion entertained in Staffordshire that the burning of Fern doth draw down rain, and being desirous that the country and himself may enjoy fair weather as long as he remains in those parts, hath commanded me to write unto you to cause all burning of feme to be forborne, &c." — Pembroke, i Aug., 1636. In Sir Wm. Reid's Law of Storms, 2nd Edn., p. 483, &c., accounts are given of the violent whirlwinds caused by fires. During the great drought of 186-, I remarked in the neighbourhood of Douglas (Isle of Man), men employed in all-day watching the standing cereal crops. ? Was there a fear that someone might cause a conflagration to bring the much-wished-for rain ? To have a cut onion lying about in the house breeds distemper. — Noake, Wore. N. and Q., p. 167. To gather poppies. You will presently hear thunder. "Pluck poppies — make thunder." — (Staffordshire) N., VI. ii. 164. 137 ''^pe'-cial" LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. To have a peacock's feather in the house. Causes sickness. — S. [Unless made up into something. — Miss M.] According to Mahometan tradition, the peacock opened the wicket of Paradise to admit the devil. — W. G. Palgrave, C. and E. Arabia, i. 286. To SWEAR. If you swear, you '11 catch no fish. — Howell, Pay^ui. ; Clarke, Param. ; P. Pindar, Epist. to Sylv. Urban. ; Taylor, Jack-a- Lent. Oaths do fray Fish away.— MS. Add. R., 1813, B. Mus. What ! are you cursing too ? Then we catch no fish. — T. Hey wood. Fair Maid of Exch., p. 71. To speak of the honesty of Fishermen and the account we ought to make of their calling, it was the faculty of Simon, Andrevv^, James, and John, the blessed Apostles, and by a common rule all Fishermen must be men singularly endued and possessed with the virtue of patience, for the Proverb says, " If you swear you shall catch no fish," and I myself have been an eye-Vv'itness when seven or eight Anglers have employed their best art and industry two hours, and in the end they have not been able to share one Gudgeon or a Bleake amongst them all, the cause hath been either there was no fish to be caught, or else one impatient fellow of the company hath sworn away good luck. — Taylor (\V. P.), Jack-a-Lent. Rearage (losing at the dice-table) : The devil and his angels ! Lethe. Are these they ? Welcome, dear angels-'; where you're cursed, ne'er stay. — Middleton, Michaelmas Term, ii. i. * Gold coins. As to the ancient belief that perjury and blasphemy were avenged by personal judgments — physical mutilation or debility. See Horace, Od. II., viii. : Ulla si juris tibi pejerati Poena, Barine, nocuisset unquam, Dente si nigro fieres vel uno Turpior ungui, Crederem. Esse deos credamne ? fidem jurata fefellit, Et facies illi, quK fuit ante, manet ; Quam longos habuit nondum perjura capillos Tam longos postquam numina Iffisit, habet. Ovid, Amor., III., 3. So M}jK€T cTTi lyXa'ffffrt? UK-pa'} o\o(fiv^cova (pvani* — Thcocr., Eclog.y IX., 30. * Paley reads (pvaw. 138 FOLK LORE. '%tc\AL~ Merchants never forswear themselves, whose great perjured oaths a' land turn to great winds and cast away their ships at sea, which false perfidious tempest splits their ships abroad and their souls at home, making the one take salt water and the other salt fire. — Middleton, Blacke Booh. Error. There is a poor, thin, threadbare thing call'd Truth, I give thee warning of her ; if she speak, Stop both thine ears close : most professions break That ever dealt with her ; an unlucky thing. She 's almost sworn to nothing. Middleton, Triumphs of Truth . Suche fortune often with fyschers falle, Thoghe they to petyr bothe pray and calle ; Yt profytyth lytyll and skyll ye whye ? ffor they went fyscheng with envye. liaz., E. P. P., ii. 3 ; Pievs of Fulhani. If you swear at your hair when combing it, it will all fall off. — (Suffolk) F.L./. D. The fool shall fish now for himself. A. Be sure, then, His tewgh"^'' be tithf and strong, and next no swearing, He'll catch no fish else. — B. and F., M. Thomas, i. 3. * Tow. t Tight. To have a thing you are making spoken of disparagingly. To be fortunate when playing at cards. Will be unhappy in love. The French have the same: " Heureux au jeu, malheureux en amour." You '11 have a sad husband, you have such good luck at cards. — S., P.C., iii. Les Russes, et surtout les soldats, sont des joueurs exaltes et ils portent habituellement des jeux de cartes dans leurs poches. Cependant si quelque danger les menace, ils s'empressent de se debarrasser de ces cartes, bien persuades qu'en les gardant sur eux elles leur porteraient malheur. — Chesnel, Diet. Si la chance vous est defavorable, il suffit pour la corriger de faire adroitement un nceud a voire chemise, sans que personne s'en apercoive. D'autres vous conceillent de changer simplement un peu votre chemise de place ; mais les gens experimentes preferent le premier moyen. — Ih. To try to overhear conversation intended to be private. " Listeners hear no good of themselves." To call things by their right names. A cat and a pig must be spoken of respectively as " Theebet " and "Sandy." The direct mention of any quadruped should be avoided. — Bertram, Harvest of the Sea. The word " hare" was not pronounced at sea. — Gregor, i/5/'77. 339 "s'pecVal!" LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. If an uninitiated greenhorn of a landsman chanced to be on board of a Newhaven (Scotland) boat, and in the ignorance and simplicity of his heart talked about " salmon," the whole crew — at least a few years ago — would start, grasp the nearest iron thowell, and exclaim : " Cauld iron ! cauld iron ! " in order to avert the calamity such a rash use of the appellation was calculated to induce ; and he would very likely have been addressed in some such courteous terms as " O, ye ig'rant brute, cud ye no ca'd it red fish?" A parson must not be so spoken of, or as " minister," but as " the man in the black coat." — Bertram, Harvest of the Sea, eh. X. In some parts of Aberdeenshire, he who is engaged in brewing is much offended if anyone use the word " water " in rela- tion to the work in which he is employed. It is common to reply in this case: "Water be your part in it." This must be connected with some ancient, though unaccount- able, superstition, as if the use of the Vvord " water " would spoil the browst. — J., Article " Burn." So, too, the word "ingle" is used as a substitute for "fire." The miller is offended if the kiln is called the "fire." — J. It is absolutely unlawful to call the Island of St. Kilda by its proper Irish name, " Hirt," but only the high country. They must not so much as once name the islands in which they are fowling by the ordinary name, " Flannan," but only the country. There are several other things that must not be called by their common names; e.g., " Uisk," which in the language of the natives signifies water, they call " burn " ; a rock, which in their language is "creg," must here be called "cruey," i.e. hard; shore, in their language " claddach," must here be called " vah," i.e. a cave ; sour in their language is expressed " gort," but must here be called "gaire," i.e. sharp; slippery, which is expressed " bog," must be called " soft " ; and several other things to this purpose. — (Isle of Lewis) Martin, Descrip- tion of the Western Islands of Scotland. Superstitio veterum nil cui omen inesse potuit suo nomine appellare voluit verita, ne imprudens lingua offenderet, et hinc ejusmodi euphemismo utendum pro sua simplicitate censuit. — Ihre, Gloss., Article " Gubbe." Pup. Dame, let me take this rump out of your mouth. D. Tur. What mean you by that, sir ? Pup. Rump and Tale 's all one. But I would use a reverence for my lady : I would not zay, sur-reverence, the tale Out o' your mouth, but rather take the rump. D. Tur. A well-bred youth ! and vull of favour you are. Pup. What might they zay when I were gone, if I Not weigh'd my words ? This Puppy is a vool ; Great Hannibal 's an ass ; he hath no breeding : No, lady gay, you shall not zay 140 FOLK LORE. "special." That your Val. Puppy, was so unlucky, In speech to fail, as t' name a tail. Be as may be, 'vore a fair lady. Ben Jonson, Tale of a Tub, iii. 5. On occasions festive or mournful, such as marriages, births, deaths, funerals, or celebrations of birthdays, the Chinese avoid the saying or the hearing, as much as possible, of inauspicious and unpropitious words or phrases — that is, those which can be construed as unfortunate and of ill- omen. For example, at weddings no one should say anything about anyone not having children or grand- children ; at births, no one should drop a word about th.e child being weak or sickly. For the same reason workmen engaged on a new house, and all who come to it, should avoid talking of conflagrations. — Doolittle, ii. 327. Hazlitt attributes to the reluctance to prey on life " the desire to get rid of the idea of the living animal, even in ordinary cases, by all the disguises of cookery, of boiled and roast, and by the artifice of changing the name of the animal into something different when it becomes food. Hence sportsmen are not devourers of game, and hence the aversion to kill the animals we eat" — "and to cannibaUsm." — Plain Speaker, Hot and Cold. When at sea the words "minister," "kirk," "swine," "salmon," "trout," "dog," and certain family names were never pronounced by some, each village having an aversion to one or more of the words. When the word kirk [would] have been used, and there was often occasion to do so, from several of the churches being used as landmarks, the word " bell- hoose," or " bell'oose," was substituted. The minister was called " the man with the black quyte." — Gregor, 26/5/'yj. Thus have I read of the people of Bengala, who are so much afraid of tigers that they dare not call them tigers, but give them other gentle names, as some physicians that will not call their impatient patient's disease madness, but melan- choly. — T. Adams, Woyks, p. 507. 1629. Pliny {Nat. Hist., xxviii. 5) recognises luck in names : " Cur publicis lustris etiam nomina victimas ducentium prospera legimus ? " Among the communities of white fishers on the Banffshire coast, scarcely any one, if he can avoid it, will have trans- actions with a person bearing the obnoxious name of Ross. — Bertram, Harvest of the Sea, c. x. Coull is also held in disesteem. — Gr. Itemque in lustranda colonia, ab eo qui eam deduceret, et quum imperator exercitum, censor populum lustraret, bonis nominibus, qui hostias ducerent, eligebantur ; quod idem in delectu consules observant, ut primus miles fiat bono nomine. — Cicero, De Divinatione, i. 46. See, too, Tacit., Hist., iv. 53. 141 '^SPEaAL." LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Gaia Csecilia appellata est ut Romam venit qua; antea Tanaquil vocitata erat, uxor Tarquinii Prisci regis Romanorum quae tantse probitatis fuit, ut id nomen oininis boni causa fre- quentent nubentes, quam summam asseverant lanificarn fuisse. — Festus, De Veyborinn Significatione, ed. MuUer, lib. vii. Lacus Lucrinus in vectigalibus publicis primus locatur eruendus oininis boni gratia [from the jingle with lucrum] ut in dilectu censuque primi nominantur Valerius, Salvias, Statorius. — lb., lib. x. Omina principiis inquit, inesse solent. — Ovid, Fasti, L 178. Indeed, there is a woundy luck in names And a main mystery, an' a man knew where To vind it. — B. Jonson, TaU of a Tub, iv. 2. R. Gloucester's dukedom is too ominous. — Shak., 3 Henry VI., ii. 6, 107. This name of Gloster is taken for an unhappie and unfor- tunate stile, as the proverbe speaketh of Sejane's horse, whose ryder w^as ever unhorsed, and whose possessor was ever brought to miserie. — Hall, Chron. A woman will not name . . . her husband's father ; she will on no account name her daughter's husband. Two people whose children have intermarried, who are gasala, will not name each other. The reserve with regard to the name extends to the use of it, or of any part of it, in common conversation. — Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 44. To be CALLED Agnes. Will grov/ mad. — (N. Lincoln) N., i. 8. To be born with blue veins on the side of the nose. Will be drowned. — B. ; H. ; Hunt. Will not live long. — Hunt. Si une femme grosse demeurent debout ou assise au pie du lit d'une personne agonizante, I'enfant dont elle est grosse sera marque d'une tache bleue audessus du nez appellee la bierre, qui signifie que cet enfant ne vivra pas long-tems. — Thiers, Traite, i. 236. D'autres [nourrices] aflirment que tel enfant qui presente une ligne bleu transversale a la racine du nez (ligne due au developpement des veines du dos du nez et a I'extreme blancheur de la peau) a ete touche par la mort a sa naissance. — Bessieres, Err. en Medccine, Paris, i860. Then hang the dull wit Of that white-liver'd cit That goodfellows does hit In teeth with a red nose : May his nose look blue Or any dreadfuller hue That may mal:e him speak untrue And disloyal unto the head nose. A. Brome, Songs, ii. 28, "The Prodigal." 142 FOLK LORK. special If you eat the marrow of pork, you will go mad. — F., E. Ang. ; Willis, Cnryent Notes, 1852, p. 104; Howell, Bt'it. Prov. Urina. Romanis turpe erat et ominosum suo nomine lotium illud appellare. Inde multiplices circumlocutiones pro urina. Sic Seneca humorem obscenam dixit aquam immundam. So they called for the Jordan by snapping their fingers. — Mart., iii. 82. We still make use of the term water evasively. Deorum vehiculum tensam, non tentum (fascinum) nominarunt, ne turpe verbum sonaret in sacris. — Facciolati, sub tensa. To sleep in a beanfield at night. Bad dreams, or go crazy. — (Leicestershire) A''., i. 7 ; (Dutch) L. Lemnius, De Miractilis Occiiltis, ii. g. L'effet hallucinatoire produite en plein jour par un champ de f6ves et les reves que ce champ lui faisait monter au cerveau. — Preface by Edmond de Goncourt to Theophile GaiiUer, par Emiie Bergerat, Paris, 1879. Cum faba florescit stultorum copia crescit. To SLEEP LYING ON one's BACK. i.e. the belly upward (renverse). — Baret, Alveayie, 1580. If thou be wyse, slepe nat bolte upright. — Horm., Vnlg., fo. 39. If thou be in hele, take thy fyrst slepe on thy ryght side, and than upon thy lyfte ; but ever let thy shulders and heed be exalted.— lb., fo. 39. To FALL with water-lily flowers in the hand. Will have fits. — (Dutch) N., i. 3. To step over a gun, or a fishing-rod. Spoils sport. — (Highland) Hampson, Med. ^v. Kal., i. 386. In many parts of N. Italy, when a young woman is engaged, "la suocera sbarra la porta con una scopa ; se la sposa e prudente deve alzarla e portarla al posto suo ; se invece vi passa sopra, vorra essere una cattiva massaia." — De Gubernatis. II n'est pas prudent de mettre un poele sur le feu, le jour qu'on seme du froment, parceque le grain qui doit en provenir serait charbonne. — D. C. Si Ton veut que les melons deviennent mangeables, il ne faut pas les semer en presence d'une femme. — Ih. II portar cenere sui birocci o carra e presagio di dovere cadere la coda alle bestie bovine, e percio se ne astengono. — Placucci, p. 153. She walked away and got rid of the two hours as well as she could, paying great attention as she went not to walk over any straws which lay across. — Mrs. Hannah More, Ta-amy Rachel. 143 '6"pecVaiI^"" LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Scott {Pirate, ch. v.) mentions stepping ower the tangs as being of ill-omen. [C/. Dr. Johnson's " particularities," «.^. touching posts, &c., Boswell's Life, I. 485, new ed., Dr. G. B. Hill, 1887. — Ed.] To BURN the ends of the hair. It will not grow. From the like [superstition] might proceed the fears of polling elve-locks or complicated hairs off the head, and also of locks longer than the other hair : they being votary at first, and dedicated upon occasion. — Browne, Vulg. Err,, V. xxiii. Nee minuit densas invida lingua comas. — Ovid, Amor., i. 14. Elf all my hair in knots. — Shak., King Lear, ii. 3, 10. This is that very Mab That plats the manes of horses in the night, And bakes the elf-locks in foul sluttish hairs, Which, once untangled, much misfortune bodes. Shak., Romeo and Juliet, 1. iv. 88. With what pale horror do I wondering see This sight, and fear what the event will be ! Methinks it now portends some overthrow. Threatens some great man's ruin, and doth show Like lightning 'fore the thunder, bidding all Be arm'd against the stroke. " To the young and fair Mrs. H., her hair being unfortunately burnt by chance in the candle as she was combing her head at night." — Robert Heath, Clarestella, 1650, p. 55. To leave a lighted lamp, or candle, in a closet to burn itself out. Accident, illness, or death will overtake the person doing so within a twelvemonth. — N., i. 7. On recommande aux bergers de ne point eteindre la lampe de la veillee parce qu'ils exposent alors a avoir des agneaux noirs. — (Breton) D. C. To have three candles burning together on the table, or in the room. — Collin de Plancy. To have the poker and tongs on the same side of the fire-place. Inmates of room will quarrel. — Chamberlain, West Worcester- shire Words. Sacrilege. To plough, or stop up, a church path. Spirit will not rest till it is reopened. — (Wilts.) N., ii. See post. To pull the first stone out of a church ; though for a good purpose, as to rebuild it. — (Aberdeenshire) Hn. First Soldier. We go to rob a church : I hold my life The money will ne'er thrive : that 's a sure saw, What 's got from grace is ever spent in law. Second Maid's Tragedy, iv. ; H., O.P., x. 444. 144 FOLK LORE. "-sPEaAL."" The mysterious formalities which the Moravians attach to the participation in the Lord's Supper, specially in admitting no spectators to it, have given rise to the belief that anybody who witnesses it without permission will be struck blind. — Henry Rink, Danish Greenland, p. 206. 1877. Bp. Wilson stated that the Manx have generally hated sacrilege to such a degree that they do not think a man can wish a greater curse to a family than in these words: " Clagh ny killagh ayns corneil dty hie wooar ! " (" May a stone of the church be found in the corner of thy dwelling ! "). — Cumming's The Isle of Man, 1848, Appendix, p. 337. There is a very common notion in this country that lands acquired from the Church at the Reformation will not descend in due course, from a failure of heirs ; and to support it is cited the maxim: " De male quaesita non gaudet tertius haeres." Aubrey {Miscs., Local Fatality) cites Charterhouse on Mendip (Hinton), and Butleigh, near Glastonbury (both in Somersetshire), as never having passed to the third generation. Plough. Charrue. Un etranger qui passerait par dessus cet instrument en fonction ne manquerait pas, dans le Commune de Thiefosse en Lorraine, d'etre soup9onne d'aller au sabbat et pour les moins d'etre quelque peu sorcier. A Rochesson en forcerait quelqu'un de retrograder s'il voulait enjamber vu passer au dessus d'une charrue en mouvement, dans la crainte que les pommes de terre ou le grain qu'on doit semer plus tard ne reussissent pas. — D. C. Bible. When their [Jews of Jedno] MSS. of the Bible are from age unfit to be used in the synagogue, they are carefully enclosed in a box and deposited in the burying ground. — Henderson, Biblical Researches in Russia, 1826, p. 207. The scribe, before beginning, is ordered to compose his mind, and to write with such scrupulous accuracy that " where letters are found of a larger or smaller size than the rest, these blunders are to be copied with as great fidelity as any part of the text." — lb., p. 209. When transcribing the incommunicable name of Jehovah, the scribe must continue writing it until it be printed, even though a King should enter the room. — lb., p. 210. Nor is the copyist allowed to begin [Jehovah] immediately after he has dipped his pen in the ink ; when he is approaching it he is required to take a fresh supply when proceeding to waite the first letter of the preceding word. — lb., p. 211 ; Buckle, No. 1803. Houses. 'Tis certain that there are some houses lucky and some that are unlucky; e.g., a handsome brick house on the south side of VOL. IL 145 11 "specVaiI!:"" LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Clerkenwell churchyard hath been so unlucky for at least these forty years that it is seldom tenanted : nobody at last would adventure to take it. Also a handsome house in Holborn that looked into the fields ; the tenants of it did not prosper — about six, one after another. — Aubrey, Nat. Hist, of Wilts, p. iig. In Dickens, Domhey and Son, Towlinson, the butler, " begins to think there 's a fate in it [the death of little Paul], and wants to know if anybody can tell him of any good that came of living in a corner house." — Chap, xviii ; N. and Q., V. v. CORNER-HOUSE. Choose not a house near an inn or in a corner. — (Italian Proverb) Herbert, 1640. The one will be noisy; the other dirty. " Immondezzaio," painted in such places in Italy, explains this. The want of ventilation is another objection. And here is a third : "All places of concavities as cellars, vaults, holes of minerals, where metals be digged, or houses or walls joined together, where as the sun with reflection beateth in with sudden heat, whose absence bringeth cold : this air is distempered. — Bullein, Gov. of Health, f. 42. 1558. The convex corner, we know, is esteemed the luckiest business position, and for the public-house indispensable. Cf. Corner- lot in U.S.A., land advertisements. PiGEON-HOUSE. Unlucky to pull one down. Your wife will die. My husband made a great deal of business ... an excellent fruit-wall was pulled down to have it rebuilt on a new plan. The same thing happened by our acquisition of a new pigeon - house, which, notwithstanding the well-known superstition of its boding the death of the wife, my hus- band ventured to build. Luckily, I survive the omen ; but we have scarcely had a pigeon-pie since. — Lounger, No. 78. See also Gentleman's Magazine Lib., I. ii. To enter the house with the skir or left foot foremost. Bring down evil on the inmates. — Hn. See post. Dr. Johnson held to this, and when he had done it, went out and re-entered right foot foremost. He seems to have had the same feeling as to making the first step out of doors. — Life, 1765. [See Dr. Hill's ed. of Bosivell, i. 485.] See Petronius, Satyricon, cap. v. \Ccna Trimalchionis. Cum conaremur in triclinium intrare, exclamavit unus ex pueris, qui super hoc ofliciiim erat positus ; " dextro pede." — Ed.] For this purpose the steps of the vestibule were made uneven in number. — Vitruvius, iii. 4. See ThnshoU, p. 72. 146 FOLK LORE. '^tcHtr A brazen plate was let into the pavement at Calais on the precise spot where Louis XVI 1 1. 's foot first touched the soil after his exile. It was his left foot. This plate was taken up at the Revolution in 1830. — Murray, Handbook for France. The Druids, however, held the left hand in high esteem, and gathered the samolus "fasting" with it. — Borlase, Anti- quities of Coymvall, 2nd Edn., 1769, p. 95. And Montaigne {Ess., iii. 8) excuses the preference : " Si je ' donne plustot le pied gauche que le droict a. chausser.' " And he has loosed her left foot shee, And latten that ladye lighter be. " Willye's Lady," Minstrelsy Scott. Border, iii. 174. The Kerim Kiatib, merciful scribes, wait upon him [the Turk] in all places, except when he does his needs, where they let him go alone, staying for him at the door till he comes out, and then they take him into possession again ; where- fore when the Turks go to the house-of-office they put the left foot foremost, to the end the angel who registers their sins may leave thsm first ; and when they come out they set the right foot before, that the angel who writes down their good works may have them first under his protection. — Thevenot. Right foot. And stande in the myddes of the lande where the sacke lyeth the which is moost convenient for the fyllynge of thy hopper, and set thy lefte foote before and take an handfull of pees, and when thou takest up thy ryght foot then cast thy pees fro the all abrode, and when thy lefte fote ryseth, take another handful and when thy ryght foote ryseth, then cast them fro the. — Sir Ant. Fitzherbert, Boke of Husbandry, fo. 8. 1534. To enter upon a service by daylight. The servant is sure not to stay long in the place. — Forby, East Anglia. People have an objection to arrive at a strange house on a visit in the daytime. The most favourable time for making a good first impression is when drest in their best for dinner. To bring into the house fewer spring flowers* than 13 at the first GATHERING. So few Only eggs will geese f hatch that season. (E. Norfolk.) Early specimens from precocious spring often followed by ungenial weather, and bad for hatching. — N., i. 7. * Primroses or violets ; daffodils [a handful]. — (Devon) N., v. 8. t Or ducks [and chickens]. — Trans. DiiSn Assocn., ix. 88. I slept soundly, And dreamt of gathering nosegays : 'tis unlucky To dream of herbs and flowers. Shirley, Love Tricks, or the School of Complement, iv, 2. To PICK FLOWERS BEFORE they are full-BLOWN. Will have a " pouk," or stye in the eye. — Chamberlain, V/cst Worcestershire Words, . 147 "specVal." LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. To scrape the snow from the shoes with a knife out of doors. Causes tempest. — Steller, Kamtschatka. To bring the first fox in the jurte. — lb. To go through the house with a spade on your shoulder. — Noake, Wor. N. S' Q., 170. To OPEN AN UMBRELLA over your head in a house. Trouble to yourself or the inmates. — (Ste. Croix) W. Ind. Branch. To allow a dog to sleep on the roof. Imperils the souls of defunct members of the family. — St. Clair and Brophy, Bulgaria, p. 46. Eggs. (See post.) The Ashantees are forbidden eggs by the fetish, and cannot be persuaded to taste milk, which is only drunk by the Moors. — Bowdich, Missicn (i8ig), p. 319. Park [Travels in Africa (1817), i. 114] speaks of women not being allowed to eat eggs. When they (the Irish) eat eggs, they take great care that those eggs are of the same form and the same size, otherwise their horses would die if you speak of one. See Les Oeufs de Paques ; Fournier, Var. Hist, et Lit. ; Berchoux, La Gastronomie. To burn egg-shells. The hens will cease laying. — (N. Lincoln) N., i. 8. II ne faut pas bruler les coques des oeufs, de peur de bruler une seconde fois St. Laurent, qui a ete brule sur un feu nourri de pareils aliments. — Thiers, Traitc. To leave an empty egg-shell in the cup when its contents have been eaten. It should be reversed in the cup (or broken, as below). To prevent witches using it for a ferry-boat. — " Superstitions of Teviotdale," Edin. Mag., 1820, vi. 534, n. I remember a Scotch lady at a public breakfast-table, whose habit it was, after eating the finest egg, to turn up the shell in the cup and replace it in the dish among the unbroken ones. The " sell " it brought about sprung from superstition, and not from cynicism. C'est afin que les poules ne cessent pas de pondre. — Mel. \_Franche Comte], p. 371. The devil should think of purchasing that egg-shell To victual out a witch for the Burmoothes. B. and F., Women Pleased, i. 2. To leave an empty egg-shell unbroken at the bottom. — Pliny, Nat. Hist., xxviii. 4. The witches would sail over in it to England.— (Dutch.) The intent hereof was to prevent witchcraft, lest witches should draw or prick their names herein. — Browne, V. E., v. 23. Least they perchance might use them for boates (as they thought) to sayle in by night. — Note by Wren to ISrowne, V. E. ; Shirley, TJie Young Admiral, iv. i. 148 FOLK LORE. ""special: Vol. I left her in a sieve was bound for Scotland This morn, to see some kindred, whence she was Determin'd to take egg-shell to Schiedam. Shirley, The Impostuye, v. 4. A storm of rain, another of hail : We all must home i' the egg-shell sail. Ben Jonson, Masque of Queens, 5 Charm. And see Id., Sad Shepherd, iii. 5. Defigi quidem diris deprecationibus nemo non metuit. Hue pertinet ovorum, ut exsorbuerit quisque calyces, coch- learumque protinus frangi, aut eosdem cochlearibus per- forari. — Pliny, Nat. Hist., xxviii. 4. Holland, in a note on this passage, says: " Because after- wards no witches might pricke them with a needle in the name and behalf of those whom they would hurt and mischeefe, according to the practice of pricking the images of any person in wax ; used in the witchcraft of these dales." To bring eggs over running water. It will addle them. — (N. Lincoln) N., i. 8. Se una contadina ha da suoi padroni una gallina o tacchina da portarsi a casa per far covare, si guarda di non attraversare fiumi, canali, e simili ove corre I'acqua, sulla ridicolissima persuasiva, che cio facendosi, tanto la tacchina che la gaUina non covino altrimenti. — Michele Placucci, Usi e Pvegindizi del Contadini dclla Rcmagna, Forli, 1818, p. 135. To bring eggs into a house after sunset. — (N. Lincoln) N., i. 8 ; N., V. vi. 24. Or sell them. — Gr. Many will not sell eggs at night. — Long Ago, i. 81. To keep doors open after gloaming. An invitation to evil spirits. — J. See under Sheepfold, post. To omit to bring into the house before nightfall the water required by the household. About it was a wreath of pearl Dropt from the eyes of some poor girl, Pinch'd because she had forgot To leave fair water in the pot. King Obcron's Apparel ; Musanim Delicia. To finish cutting the corn in harvest after sunset. — J. Oh ! that year was a year forlorn, Lang was the har'st and little corn, And sad mischance ! the Maid was shorn After sunset ; As rank a witch as e'er was born They '11 ne'er forget. — Har'st Rig. As in the North of Scotland, the last handful of corn forfeits the designation of Maiden when it is not shorn before Hallowmas, and is called the Carlin ; when cut down after 149 'sPEaAL." LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. the sun has set, in Lothian, and perhaps in other counties, it receives the name of a witch, being supposed to portend such evils as have been by the vulgar ascribed to sorcery. Thus she makes a transition from her proper character of Kaerna, or Ceres, to that of her daughter Hecate, or Proserpine. — Jamieson. To clean a stable, sell milk, or fetch water from the fountain after dusk. — St. Clair and Brophy, Bulgaria, p. 46. To MISS YOUR MOUTH in eating, and drop 3'our victuals. Approach- ing sickness. — G. Garde bien de casser vos oeufs. — Grimod de la Reyniere, Almh. des GGtirmands, 3d. An., pp. 349-50. Si casu cadat a mensa panis caro piscis, Mense ponatur, iterato nee comedatur. Modus Ccnandi, Cotton MS. Titus A., xx., fol. 175, ro. Cibus etiam e manu prolapsus reddebatur, utique per mensas : vetabantque munditiarum causa deflare. — Pliny, Nat. Hist., xxviii. 3. To turn vipside-down the calabash used to bale a boat, betokens destruction and death to it and the passengers. — (St. Vincent) W. Ind. Branch. Bread. Lord Clarendon, in his Autobiography', Ed. 1759, p. 349, tells of a foreigner who was brought before the magistrates, accused of having thrown a fireball into one of the houses where the Great Fire of London first broke out : " The man standing in great am.azement to hear he was so charged, the Lord HoUis asked him ' what it was that he pulled out of his pocket, and what it was he threw into the house ? ' To which he answered ' that he did not think that he had put his hand into his pocket ; but he remembered very well that as he walked in the street he saw a piece of bread upon the ground, which he took up and laid upon a shelf in the next house,' which is a custom or superstition so natural to the Portuguese that if the King of Portugal were walking and saw a piece of bread upon the ground, he would take it up with his own hand and keep it till he saw a fit place to lay it down. The house being in view, the Lords, with many of the people, walked to it and found the piece of bread just within the door, upon a board, where he said he laid it, and the house on fire was two doors beyond it." Dans quelques villages on est encore persuade qu'un pain renverse ou pose sur la crolite de dessus appelee, ' Croute des gar9ons ' par opposition a celle de dessous nomme, 'Croute des filles' sans doute parcequ'elle est ordinairement plus tendre; annonce si le maitre de la maison est indispose, qu'il ne se relevera pas de sa maladie, ou au moins que ce pain ainsi place sur une table ne pent manquer de nuire au 150 FOLK LORE. "-sPEaAL." bonheur et a la prosperite de sa clemeure [Gloss. Lorvain). On croit aussi que la personne qui entame un pain sans avoir preatablement fait avec son couteau la marque de croix sur la croute de dessous est menace d'un malheur prochain. A Gerbamont on dit encore qu'un pain pose sur la croute ou la croute de dessus, pourrait bien etre enleve par I'executeur des hautes ceuvres s'il venait a entrer dans la maison. Dans le Canton de Vezelise si dans un repas une personne place le pain qui lui est servi sur cette meme croute, on lui dit ! Nous allons done voir arriver ici le bourreau ? Ces prejuges se rattachent sans doute au souvenir de quelque droit de havage tet que celui qui se percevait dans plusieurs localites et particulierement a Nancy. — D. C. ; Richard, Trad. Lorrains. To TURN A LOAF UPSIDE-DOWN after helping yourself. Each time a ship is wrecked. — Hunt. If a loaf lies topsy-turvey, it is not good. — (Dutch) Thorpe, North. Myth., iii. 328. Never turn a loaf in the presence of a Menteith. — Scott, Tales of a Grandfather, vii. Are there traitors at the table, that the loaf is turned the wrong side upwards ? — Hazlitt, English Proverbs. Dans plusieurs maisons on coupe encore un petit morceau d'un pain destine k etre envoye aux ouvriers employes travaux champetres, on a soin de le manger avant de leur faire I'envoi de ce pain ainsi entame. — D. C. ; Richard, Trad. Lorrains. To take the first slice or outside of a loaf or joint. This, of bread, is called " the loun's piece." — J. Suio-Gothic, Skalk. The dedication of first fruits prevails in Tibet [sic.) (j\Ioorcroft, Journey . . . in Little Tibet) and South Sea Islands (Ellis, Polynesian Researches). To take the last portion of food from a dish. Left for the fairies. Won't be married that year. Perhaps the custom of the beggars throwing the remainder of drink out of the dish on the ground may be derived from an Ethnic sacrifice to Tellus (the Earth). — Ay. ; Pliny, Nat. Hist., xiv. 28. This " morsel for manners," as it is evasively called, is doubtless the propitiatory offering to some hungry, unseen power. See analagous acts collected in Tylor, Primitive Culture, ii. 36S, and post. J'aimerais bien a me rapeller en quel endroit de la province j'ai ete temoin oculaire d'un acte singulier du culte des Esprits, apporte par les Scythes de I'Asie Centrale a la Suede, a la Norwege, a I'Ecosse, a I'Angleterre, a la Normandie, a la Suisse, a la Savoie, et tres-certainement encore ailleurs ; 151 "sWcVal^" LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. j'ai vu des femmes de la campagne commencer leur repas en jetant par terre une cuilleree de lait ou de bouillon, sans qu'elles pussent me rendre compte de cet usage aveugle- ment suivi. — Traditions Populaires Compare es, par Desire Monnier, p. 665. Paris, 8°, 1854. Leave off first for manners' sake, and be not unsatiable lest thou offend. (Directions for eating.) — Ecclesiasticiis, xxxi. 17. Cf. Tailor's mense. — Brockett, North-Coiintiy Words. Sup- posed to be a corruption of mence = decorum = decency. Meat is good, but mense is better. — Ray. In Bulgaria you must not give away or sell a loaf of bread without breaking a piece from it. — St. Clair and Brophy, p. 46. Nor sell flour without first making a loaf from it. To eat cheese or any other thing that has been nibbled by mice. Gives you a sore throat. — B. E., New Diet, &c. Knife. It is unlucky to seize a coal with a knife and ignite tobacco : this must be done with the hand. — G. W. Steller, Beschrei- hting von Kamtschatka, Frankfort, 1774, P* -74- To sharpen a knife or axe on the road causes tempests. — Id. To scrape snow off the shoes with a knife out of doors causes tempests. — Id. And they""^' hold it for a great sin to cast a knife in the fire, and to draw flesh out of a pot with a knife, and to smite a horse with the handle of a whip, or to smite a horse with a bridle, or to break one bone with another, or to cast milk or any liquor that men may drink upon the earth, or to take and slay little children ; and the greatest sin that any man may do is to water in their houses that they dwell in. — Sir John Maundeville, ch. xxiii., ed. Wright. * The Tartars of Cathay. Laying knives across. — Connoisseur, No. 59. One should be quietly withdrawn, and " Blessed are the peacemakers" uttered. — Chamberlain, West Worcestershire Words. To use a table-KNiFE to toast anything at the fire. Toast with a knife : Sorrow for life. — I\Iiss ]\I. To drop a knife. See below, suh. salt. — Swift, Cadenns to Vanessa. To CROSS your knife and fork at table. Crosses will follow. — G ; Rion ; Spectator, No. 7. Alas ! you know the cause too well, The salt is spilt : to me it fell ; Then, to contribute to my loss, My knife and fork were laid across, On Friday, too (the day I dread). Would I were safe at home in bed. Gay, Fables, i. 37, " The Farmer's Wife and the Raven." 15-2 FOLK LORE. "-special" On dit que cette disposition est I'image de la croix de St. Andre qui inspira de tout temps une grande repulsion. — D. C. If any two things fall together in the shape of a cross, stoop and kiss them, and then take them up, unless you wish for ill luck. — Story, Roba di Roma. To pour gravy out of a spoon backwards (or back-handed). Leads to quarrels. — Hunt. To give a child a spoon to play with. — St. Clair and Brophy, Bulgaria, p. 46. Salt-box. When entering a house in Wales and purchasing some of the furniture, the property of a former occupant, a Welsh gentleman told me I must purchase the salt-box. I bid for that valuable piece of work, and no one attempted to bid against me. I was afterwards told ill luck would pursue me if I had not bought the salt-box. — J. This agrees with Horace, Od., 11., xvi. 13 : Vivitur parvo bene, cui paternum Splendet in mensa tenui salinum Nee leves somnos timor aut cupido Sordidus aufert. That it is ill luck to have the salt-cellar fall towards you. — Melton, Astrologaster. It should be noticed in collections of old plate how many of the salt-cellars are triangular. When Prester John is served at his table, there is no salt at all set one in any salt sellar, as in other places ; but a loafe of Bread is cut crosse, and then two knives are layde acrosse upon the loafe, and salt put upon the blades of the knives, and no more. — Edw. Webbe, Travels, 1590, Arber's repr., p. 25. To help a person to salt [or to brains. — B.]. — G. ; Lyly, Euph. and his England, p. 292. See post. The ill luck, may, however, be averted by a second help. — Hn. The difficulty, in the case of brains, is, perhaps, from the awkwardness of the question : " May I give you some brains ? " The Greeks would not even name them. — Athengeus, Deipn., ii. 73. Et n'offre jamais ne sel, ni teste de beste a personne, si tu n'en es requit auparravant. — Wodroephe, Spared Hours, p. 274. 1623. Lady Smart. Then, madam, shall I send you the brains ? I beg your ladyship's pardon, for they say 'tis not good manners to offer brains. — S., P.C. Some are so exact, they think it uncivil to help anybody that sits by them, either with salt or with brains. — The Rules of Civility, London, 1695, p. 134 (from the French). 153 ""s^peS^al." LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Give neither counsel nor salt till you are asked for it. — Hazlitt, English Proverbs. A tavela non si presente ne sale, ne teste di animale. The one implying want of wit, the other of brains. — Torr. Help me to salt : help me to sorrow. The giving away of salt is counted a " dangerous act," which is thus explained : — •' If the salt passes into the hands of any person who has the power of wishing, i.e. of bringing down harm on a person by uttering an ill wish, the posses- sion of the salt places the giver entirely within the power of the wish. Precisely the same belief holds in Spain with regard to leaven. Some are so exact that they think it uncivil to help anybody that sits by them, either with salt or with brains." — Rules of Civility (French), 1678. To spill salt [or oil (in Italy)]. Fracture of a bone, a sprain, or other bodily misfortune. — Bro. ; Gay, Wife of Bath, i. Quarrel with your neighbour. — (Dutch.) A domestic feud. — Brockett. One of your ships will be wrecked. — (Dutch.) The Ancients were of opinion that Salt was incorruptible: it was therefore made the symbol of friendship, and if it fell casually they thought their friendship would not be of long duration. — Brand. See Bailey, Did. Sal vertida nunca bien cogida. — Nunez, 1555. Judas is represented in L. da Vinci's " Last Supper " doing this. Whom out of temper no mischance at all Can put, no, if towards them the salt should fall. Edm. Gayton, Art of Longevity, cxxxiii. Its falling towards you is a bad sign. What is spilt should be taken on a knife and thrown behind "the back over the left shoulder, and wine poured on the hands.* — Ay. ; Bo. ; S. S., Honest Lazvyer, iv., 1616; Spectator, No. 7. * Passed three times round the head first. If it falleth towards a man at the table, it portendeth, in common consent, some ill news. — Dalyell ; Perkins, Dis- course, c. iii., p. 72, Camb., 1608, 12°. If falling towards the fire, resentment, — Ramesey, Elmiuth^logia, p. 271. Si, etant a table, on renverse la saliere, Ton fait tomber du sel devant nous ou que Ton repande du vin sur nos chausses. — Thiers, Traite, i. 183. Lady Smart. Mr. Neverout, you have overturned the salt, and that is a sign of anger ; I 'm afraid you and miss will fall out. Lady Ansiv, No, no ; throw a little of it in the fire and all will be well. — S., P.C., ii. 154 FOLK LORE. "sPEciAu" Offending daughters oft would hear Vanessa's praise rung in their ear : Miss Betty, when she does a fault, Lets fall her knife or spills the salt, Will thus be by her mother chid : " 'Tis what Vanessa never did." Swift, Cadmus to Vanessa. If the salt falls towards him, he looks pale and red, and is not quiet till one of the waiters pours wine on his lap. — Bp. Hall. If the salt falls towards him, he looks pale and red, Stares as the house were tumbling on his head ; Nor can recover breath till that mishap Be purged by shedding wine into his lap. Tate's Characters, 1691, p. 21. If that their noses bleed some certain drops, And then again upon the sudden slops ; Or if the babbling fowl we call a jay, A squirrel, or a hare, but cross the way ; Or if the salt fall toward them at table, Or any such-like superstitious bable. Their mirth is spoil'd, because they hold it true That some mischance must thereupon ensue. Geo. Wither, Abuses Stript and Whipt {Vanitie). We '11 tell you the reason Why spilling of salt Is esteem'd such a fault : Because it doth everything season. The antiques did opine 'Twas of friendship a sign, So serv'd it to guests in decorum ; And thought love decay'd When the negligent maid Let the salt-cellar tumble before 'em, — British Apollo. Levitia. You mock this, Parvagracio ; I warrant you do not think it evil luck if the salt fall towards you. P. But I do if nobody overthrow it. — Tn-^o Wise Men, and all the rest Fools, vii. 3. i6ig. (Attributed to G. Chapman.) To spill milk. See post. Spilling wine. Drink up your cup, But not spill wine ; For if you do 'Tis an ill sign. — Herrick, Hesp., ccxcii. Jer. Alas, your mother, sir. Cra. Why, what of her ? Is there a plate lost, or a 'postle spoon, A china dish broke, or an ancient glass. And stain'd with wine her damask tablecloth ? Or is the salt fall'n towards her ? What's the matter ? Rd. Brome, The City Wit, i. i. 155 'sVHc^^Lr LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Cooking food. To cook fish and meat — land and sea animals — in one kettle. It is unnatural : it damages the chase, and causes boils (eruptions). — G. W. Steller, Kamtschatka, p. 274. Adieu. Entre personnes qui s'affectionnent, il en est qui repugnent, en se separant, de prononcer le mot ' adieu' parce qu'il leur semble que ce mot-la est le presage d'un cvenement qui les empechera de se retrouver ensemble. Ces personnes-la se font une obligation de dire, au revoir. — Chesnel, Did. To WATCH a person out of sight. — Denham, Folk Lore of North of England, p. 279. You will never see that person again. — Henderson. Them as is watched out o' sight Bides away for many a night. - (Scotland.) So in cooking : " The watched pot is long in boiling." Sixthly, they who, expecting their servant (having sent him forth on an errand), if in case he be somewhat long in coming shall stay waiting for him at the doors or windows of his house, thinking that by his staying there for him he will make the more haste and come the sooner, all such are contemned to this College [of Gotham], &c. — Poor Robin Prog., 1695. To let another drink out of the same vessel after you. He will know your thoughts. — S., P. C, ii. Neveyont (to Miss drinking part of a glass of wine). Pray, let me drink your snuff. Miss. No, indeed you shan't drink after me, for you '11 know my thoughts. — Ih. Some say it is as good as a kiss. — Miss M. The first draught was thought lucky. — Plautus, Asin., v. 3. Prudence. O master Lovel, you must not give ear To all that ladies publicly profess Or talk o' the volee unto their servants ; Their tongues and thoughts oft-times lie far asunder ; Yet when they please they have their cabinet counsels And reserv'd thoughts, and can retire themselves As well as others. Host. Ay, the subtlest of us. All that is born within a lady's lips — Prudence. Is not the issue of their hearts, mine host ? Host. Or kiss or drink afore me ! Prudence. Stay, excuse me ; Mine errand is not done. — Ben Jonson, Neii) Inn, i. i. This is a familiar expression employed when what the speaker is just about to say is anticipated by another of the company. — Giflord. 156 FOLK LORK. special. Voila pourquoi, dans les repas de noces, dans les fetes de village tant d'anioureux s'empressent de saisir I'occasion de toire dans le verre de leur maitresses. — Mel. [Vosges], p. 501 . Kelly {Scots, Pwv.) has: "You will drink before me." "You have just said what I was going to say, which is a token that you '11 get the first drink." See post, Jorevin de Rocheford, in his Travels [published at Paris, 1672, 3 v., i2mo.], writing of Worcester, says : "According to the custom of the country, the landladies sup with strangers and passengers, and if they have daughters they are also of the company to entertain the guests at table with pleasant conceits, where they drink as much as the men. But what is to me the most disgusting in all this is, that when one drinks the health of any person in company, the custom of the country does not permit you to drink more than half the cup, which is filled up and presented to him or her whose health you have drank. — Translated in Antiquarian Repertory, iv. 583. He also says that the women smoked equally with the men, and the children, in going to morning school, as a substitute for breakfast. Washing the person. The aversion from bathing which some people have seems to indicate a superstitious objection to the whole of the body being washed, and it is not difficult to believe that the following may be more than paralleled: — " On the Friday before the marriage [in Bulgaria], the presents, hung on a cord, are exhibited in the bride's house, and she herself has her hair plaited into innumerable minute tresses ; then she takes for the first and last time in her life a complete bath, whilst her two bridesmaids in the same primitive costume as the bather look on, but without sharing in the ablution. — St. Clair and Brophy, Researches in Bulgaria, p. 73. Pourquoy est-ce que les femmes craignent tant I'eau froide au visage? — Jo., Prop. Vulg., II., 313. To WASH in the same water with another. [Or make water with another. — Ay.] Will fall out before night. — Ay. ; G. ; N, I. vi. 193. Either spit in the water or make a cross in the soapsuds. — Trans, Devonsh. Assoc, ix. gi. The + must be made with the finger on the water* to avert this. — (Northampton) S. Or spit into it. — N. * By the second person. — Miss M. Thou makst curtsy to wash hands in water of mine. Making no curtesy to wash thy mouth with my wine ; But, I pray thee, make this change in this matter, More curtesy at my wine and less at my water. J. Heiwood, Epigrams, v. 52. 157 'special." LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. 'Tis an old received opinion : That if two do piss together, they shall quarrel ; or if two do wash their hands together, they shall quarrel. 'Tis well known the several chemical spirits and salts will operate at distances of foot, and being placed within that irradiation will fight, then much easier it is for the ethereal spirits of men that have an antipathy to each other to do the like. — Ay. In the morning when ye rise, Wash your hands, and cleanse your eyes. Next be sure you have a care To disperse the water far ; For, as far as that doth light, So far keeps the evil sprite. Her rick [Hesp., 1066. — Ed.] To wash the jug in which " beastlings*"' have been sent to you before returning it. No luck with the cow or calf if this be done. See p. 39 ante. * This is the thick milk given by the cow for a short time after calving, and which made into a pudding or cheese is esteemed a favour. — Brockett, Glossary of North Country Words. Colostrum. — Skelton, Speahe Parrot, 84; Mart., xxxviii. 13; Servius, Comm. on Verg., Eel. ii. 22. [= biestings. See Facciolati, ed. Bailey, stih colostra. — Ed.] To TWIST A CHAIR round on its leg. Will quarrel. — Hone, Year Book, 252. While talking thoughtlessly with a good woman, I carelessly turned a chair round two or three times ; she was offended, and said it was a sign we should quarrel. — Hone. To have your clothes mended on you. Will be ill spoken of. — (Suffolk) N., i. 2. You for clothes will surely lack, If you mend them on your back. If a servant burns her clothes on her back — a sign that she will not leave her place. — F. There is a saying frights me too. But heaven forbid it should be true ! That where a virgin burns her train, So all her lifetime she 'd remain. Tom Brown, Melusiiida's Misfortune on the Burning of her Smoch, 1699. If a woman finds a hole or rent in her dress for which she cannot account, she must not think of mending it, for it has been made by the witches w^ho w'ill, if it is repaired, bring some misfortune on the wearer. — [Basque], Long Ago, i. 206. Changing clothes. By noon the next day the wind had moderated, and we were again under way. Up to this time, in accordance with an old superstition of seamen, we had not been allowed to 158 FOLK LORE. "sPEmu" change our clothes since leaving" New York [seven days]. The wind had been favourable, and the captain was resolved that no fancy for a necktie or another coat should alter it. You might take off your clothing as often as you pleased, so long as you put the same things on again ; but to change a single garment would be fatal. . . . However, on the morning after the gale, the wind still holding from the south, while the captain desired it to blow from the north- ward, permission was given to vary our attire. One of the stewards was discovered to be a professional barber, and everybody made an elaborate toilet. For a wonder, the old superstition proved true : the wind shifted to north-by- west, and at 3 p.m. we were going at the rate of fifteen miles an hour. — "The Atlantic Yacht Race," All the Year Round (1869), ii. (N.S.), 347, On the ground was spread the sofra, a fine chintz cloth, which had been so long unchanged as to emit no very savoury scent. The Persians endure this, saying : " Changing the sofra brings ill-luck." — Morier. S'il est bien diet que prendre tous les jours chemise blanche emmaigrit, et le filer des femmes, et I'usage de I'huile de nois ? — Jo., Prop. Viilg. (Cab. 33). For a stone, a dog, or a child to come between two persons in conversation. Breaks their friendship. The stone is to be broken, and the other two beaten. — B. Pro malo accipitur si duobus amicis siniul ambulantibus puer medius intercurrerit vel aliquod aliud animal : aestimatur enim quod eorum sit amicitia dividenda. — A. To INVENT a new instrument for the destruction of human life — leads to loss of your own. He that invented the maiden first hanselled it. i.e. was the first whose head was cut off by it. See p. 48 ante. The same story is told of the inventor of the Guillotine, but it is contradicted by Haydn. Like him that makes a trap to catch another, And falls into 't himself. Ben Jonson, Tale of a Tub, iv. 3. In our own day, the loss of the Captain, ironclad turret-ship, with its designer, Cowper-Coles, who went down with all on board, was a fearful exemplification of this saying. 1871. To make a present of a knife or scissors, razor or any cutting instrument. Cuts love. — (Swedish) Thorpe, North. Myth., ii. 108 ; G. ; Connoisseur, No. 56. Or friendship. — Thiers, Trait e, i. 183. [Lest the receiver should bewitch you. — Connoisseur, No. 59.] If you love me as I love you, No knife shall cut our love in two. 159 "-RPEr^2{^~ LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. It is naught for any man to give a pair of knives [i.e. scissors] to his sweetheart, for fear it cuts away all love that is between them. — Melton, AstroL, p. 45. In R. Barnfield's Affectionate Shepherd, 1594, Pt. ii., st. 17, "A paire of knives" is offered by the love-sick swain. Insatiato. Here is a token for thee, my chicken. Levitia. What ! knives ? Oh, I will not take them in any wise : they will cut love. Insatiato. No, no : if they cut anything, they will cut av.ay unkindness. Levitia. Pardon me, good sir, you shall not give them me. If needs you will that I wear them, do you lose and I will find them. Insatiato. That 's a toy of all toys. That were fitter for a stage than a wedding. Levitia. Indeed, you shall not deny me this first request. I pray you lose them. Insatiato. Well, 'tis no news to be made a fool by a woman ; I '11 do it, if it were worse. [Then he v/alks about and drops them down, and she comes after and takes them up, saying] : Levitia. This is as it should be. Now I have deceived destiny. — Two Wise Men and all the rest Fools, 1619, vii. 3 (attributed to G. Chapman). But, woe is me, such presents luckless prove ; For knives, they tell me, always sever love. Gay, 2d. Pastoral, 102. The sheath and the knife, I '11 venture my life, Shall breed you no strife ; But like man and wife, Or sister and brother, Keep one with another. Ben Jonson, Masque of Metamorphosed Gipsies. Thou lay'st in every gash that love hath given me The knife that made it. — Shak., Troilns and Cressida, i. i, 61. Douce [Illiis., ii. 54) thinks this a possible transposition of the saying that "A knife cuts love." Un jeune homme qui ferait cadeau d'un couteau a la jeune fiUe qu'il aime s'exposerait grandement a voir ses amours coupees dans la huitaine. II parait qu'au contraire les jeunes hommes qui tiennent a s'attacher une jeune fille par I'affection ont grand chance de reussir s'ils peuvent lui prendre son couteau. — [Vosges], Mel., p. 454. Something (a pin, a farthing) must be given in exchange by recipient. — G. Si on en donne une aiguille a quelqu'un, on doit avoir soin de s'en faire inimodiatement piquo par lui, autrement on ne tarderait pas a se brouiller ensemble. II en est le meme pour une epingle ou des ciseaux. — D. C. 160 FOLK LORE. "-SPEaAL."" To make a present of a pin. Brings heart trouble. Nor lend one. — Hn. North-country people will say, "You may take one, but, mind, I do not give it " ; and never thank for one. — H. W. To TAKE BACK A PRESENT after you have made it. Will have a stye.* * Or cat-boil.— (West Indian Branch.) Na. Give a thing and take 't again and you shall ride in hell's wain. — Ray. Sendina. In earnest, I dare not* ; 'twill be an ill-omen to me should I take back in safety what I gave with joy in fears and dangers. 'Twere to repent my vows when I have reaped the blessing, I am too superstitious to touch it when I call to mind 'twas the price of my deliverance. — Killigrew, Thomaso, II., iii. 4. * Receive back a ring which she had given to save her violation. To put the cream into a cup of tea before the sugar. It crosses love. — MissM.; N.,iv. To REFUSE CHARITY to a beggar-woman, when setting out on a journey. Will have bad weather and lose your way. Si un chasseur fait I'aumone au pauvre qu'il rencontre, il est sur que le gibier s'eloignera de lui. — (Breton) D. C. Mendicants are often relieved from the simple motive of fear, and that they may not cast an evil eye on the cattle, &c. — N., iii. ; [Poitou,] D., p. 3. Or children. — Fielding, Tom Jones, xii. II. The door that is not opened to him that begs our alms will be opened to the physician. — Hebrew Proverb in Ray, 1678. Pennyboy, Sr. Here he is, and with him — what ! a clapper- dudgeon ! — That 's a good sign, to have the beggar follow him So near, at his first entry into fortune. Ben Jonson, Staple of Nciell. Acad. Sir, I have had worse luck always at hunting the fox. — The Return from Pernmsus, ii. 5. 199 'cENERALr LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. The Forester that dreads To rouse the lodged buck, Because of briers and brakes, deserves To have no hunter's luck. Wit's Interpreter, p. 126. 167 1. It is ill luck To hunt all day and not kill anything. Porter, Two Angry Women; H , O.P., vii. 320. To hunt and not to kill is hunters' sorro'.v. — lb., 322. To RIDE OVER GROWING CORN. Making a path over corn was considered a verj' grave crime, much greater than the mere destruction would account for. Our Lincolnshire people still think a man very much uiore wicked who v/alks or drives cattle over corn than if he did a piece of waste to a similar amount in another manner. — See Mirk, p. 46, 1. 1503, E.E.T.S. 1868. Art ]jou I-won't over corn to ryde when f)Ou mygtest have go by syde ? Note by E. Peacock, Percy Fol. MSS., I. Ixii. Enclosing common lands. 'Tis observed that the enclosures of Northamptonshire have been unfortunate since, and not one of them have prospered. — Aubrey, N. H. Wilts, p. 104. Beggar. Yonder 's my mother : I profess as I 'm here I 'd rather meet a beggar in my dish. Tatham, Rump, iv., 1660. Bat. Dans les campagnes on regard a tort les chauve souris comme de mauvais augure et par un prejuge barbare on les clone, comme les oiseaux de proie, sur les portes des granges. On agit de meme envers les chouettes et d'autres oiseaux nocturnes. — Rion . Wolf. Pourquoy devient en envoue d'estre veu premierement du loup ? —Jo., ii. Havendo visto la coda al topo gridar al lupo ; i.e. esser arro chito. So we say when we have seen the wolf, or rather the wolf has seen us. — Torriano, Ital. Prov., 1606. Mole ferret. As pres per un malur la bestio, rencountrado, La talpo, le furet, o qualqu'autr animal, Crengut que de I'abord t'en arribesso mal ? Amilha, Parf. Crest., 1673. 200 FOLK LORE. "-gen'-e''rTl" H/i?6< 8e Kal Toi's '^wXoi''! tw ^e^iio ^K-rpeTroficOa, kcu /.laXitna ei cwOev I'coi/.iei' av70V9. Kclv ei tii PciKifKov // evvov-^ov iSoi i\ TriOrjKOV ei'Or^ i^iwv Ttj9 o'lKia's, iiri ttoCh uvaaTpe(pei Kal CTrafep-^CTai ovk a'^nOa'} uauTevofievoi ras e(pn/iicpov9 eKeivax? TIMES & SEASONS- rUi-rJtS. LvUlvii. ILL LUCK. If a child falls ill when on a visit at a friend's house, it entails bad luck for the rest of the year if you stay over New Year's Day.— Miss M. To take anything out of the house on New Year's morn before something has been brought in. — B. H. A Labresse on regarde comme d'un tres mauvais presage la rencontre le matin de ce jour d'une femme ou d'une jeune fille.— D. C. Take out, then take in, Bad luck will begin ; Take in, then take out, Good luck comes about. — (Lincolnshire). Everybody should wear a new dress on New Year's Day, and if its pockets contain money of every description, they will be certain not to be empty throughout the year. — Hn. To work on Distaff Day (January 7th), called also Rock Day. The end of the Christmas holydays. II ne faut pas manger des pois, feves ou lentilles pendant les douze nuits, ou on devient malade. — C, A. B. On St. Distaff Day neither work nor play. — Dm. Partly work and partly play Ye must upon St. Distaff's Day. Herrick, Hesp., iii. 55 [1028. — Ed.] Ceremony upon Candlemas Eve : Down with the rosemary, and so Down with the bays and misletoe ; Down with the holly, ivy, all, Wherewith ye drest the Christmas hall : That so the superstitious find No one least branch there left behind : For look, how manj' leaves there be Neglected, there (maids, trust to me) So many goblins you shall see. Herrick, iii. 38 [Hesp., 982. — Ed.] To leave Christmas decorations up after Candlemas*' (February 2nd). — F. They must be taken down, every particle, on Candlemas Eve, or some misfortune will happen to the family. — (East Anglia) iV., v. 2. But not before, or the prosperity of the house will vanish, and not return before the following year. — (Cambridgeshire) Athenaum, 11/8, 1849. * Or the devil will come and pull down the holly himself. — Noake. Quand ond fait des beignets avec des oeufs, de la farine et de I'eau pendant la masse de la Chandeleur de maniere qu'on en ait de faits apres la messe, on a de I'argent pendant toute I'annee. — Thiers, Traite. Among the Finns no fire or candle may be kindled on the eve of Shrove Tuesday. — Douce. 2.37 TiMEs_& SEASONS- LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Si les menageres filent ce jour, leur recolte de lin ne relissira pas. Fou de carnaval ne veut pas voir le rouet. — C, A. B. Ce qu'on seme le Mardi gras reste longtemps vert. Qui veut rester exempt fievre ne doit pas soupe. — lb. A raid was formerly made on the brothels on Shrove Tuesday? in order to aid an enforced continency during Lent. — Dyce, Notes to Middlcton, iii. 217. See Brand, i. 51. The object of the raid made on the brothels on Shrove Tuesday was to cart and confine the inmates, and compel the observ- ance of the law forbidding flesh during Lent. I was born upon Shrove Tuesday, and shall be Now and then given to rebellion. Shirley, Constant Maid, iii. i. Who marries between the sickle and the scythe Will never thrive. Quiconque se marie en Aout souvent amasse rien de tout. Ash Wednesday. Le Mercredi des Cendres le diable poursuit fillettes dans le bois. Rogation days. II ne faut pas semer le chanvre durant la semaine des Rogations. To wash clothes on Good Friday. — Hn. ; Noake, p. 179. In Cleveland, it is said, clothes so washed and hung out to dry will become spotted with blood. — Bray, p. 75. In the Romagna they abstain on all the Fridays in March. — Michele Placucci, p. 115. The suds will turn to blood, as will those of the day before, if kept till Good Friday. — (Herefordshire and Worcestershire) N., V. vii. 284. To work in a lead mine on Good Friday, or on Innocents' or Christmas Days. — N., i. 12. II ne faut pas remuer la terre ce jour pour ne pas troubler le repos du Christ. — C, A. B. To plant potato or garden crops before Good Friday. — Chamberlain, W. Worcestershire Words. To plant potato or garden crops, or wash clothes before Good Friday. — (Norfolk) Antiq. Misc., i. 303. To bake or brew on Good Friday. The house will be burnt down during year. — S. If work be done on Good Friday, it will be so unlucky that it will all have to be done over again. — Mrs. Lubbock, Norfolk Archeology, ii. See post. No iron on that day must be put into the fire. For the poker, a piece of ashwood is used. — (Manx.) 238 FOLK LORE. ^'""^It ll/'al'''*^-- Even the tongs are laid aside, lest any person should unfortu- nately forget this custom and stir the fire with them. — Train, Hist. Acct, of Isle of Man, 8", 1845, p. 117. Saturday (Easter Eve). II faut aussi s'abstenir de remuer la terre le jour du wyvekenszaterdag ; le Flamand aime mieux faire un petit present a sa femme ce jour. — C, A. B. The fire 's already lighted ; and the maid Has a clean cloth upon the table laid. Who never on a Saturday had struck, But for thy entertainment, up a buck. Think of this act of grace, which by your leave Susan would not have done on Easter Eve, Had she not been inform'd, over and over, 'Twas for th' ingenious author of " The Lover." Swift, Dennis' Invitation to Steele. Borrowing days (the three last of March, O.S.). To borrow or lend on any of those days, lest witchcraft may be worked with the loan. — Jamieson. To plough on St. Mark's Day (April 25th). — B. Some of the team will die. — (North Wales) Pennant. Nel mese di Maggio si astengono dall' allevare i vitelli, e gli agnelletti credendo li contadini che impazziscano. — Michele Placucci, Usi e Pregiudizi de'Contadini delta Romagna, Forli, 1818, p. 172. To marry in Lent {N., i. i) or in May. Marry in Lent, And live to repent. Marry in May, And you '11 rue the day [And wed povertaie]. May is considered a trying month for health. See Dr. Forster's Perpetual Calendar. He '11 never climb May hill ; or, If he can climb over May hill, he '11 do.— D. First foot. The natives of the village Barvas (Isle of Lewis) retain a custom of sending a man very early to cross Barvas river every first day of May to prevent any females crossing it first, for that, they say, would hinder the salmon from coming into the river all the year round. — Martin, Description of Western Islands of Scotland, London, 8°, 1716. Broom. A stock of brooms must be laid in before May-day, as it would be unlucky to make any at May-time. In case of neces- sity, a sheaf of straw is used instead of a broom. — (Ireland) Wilde; Couch, Hist, of Polpcrro, Cornwall, p. 163. 239 T.MES__& SE^ASONS- LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Fire. In the counties of Kilkenny and Waterford, it was customary [on jMay morning] for the neighbours to go from house to house, light their pipes at the morning's fire, smoke a blast, and pass out, extinguishing them as they crossed the threshold.— Wilde. Some of the first milking is always poured on the ground as an offering to the good people on May-day. It is also considered very dangerous to sleep in the open air on Mayday, or any time during the month of May. Several of the diseases to which the Irish peasantry are liable are attributed to " sleeping out." — Id. If anyone comes to ask them (the Irish) for fire during the month of May, they not only refuse it, but drive him out of doors with curses, imagining this to be an omen that their butter will be stolen all summer long. — Misson, Travels ovey England, p. 152. On Rood-day (May 3rd) old women are careful to have their rocks and spindles made of the wood of the rowan-tree. — J. The day of the week on which the 3rd of May (one of the Holyrood days) falls is esteemed unlucky for many things, especially for digging peat, or taking an account of the sheep or cattle on a farm. — (Highland) Hampson, Med. Aev. Kal. St. Dunstan (May 19th). This is supposed in Devonshire to be a critical day for the apple-crop, probably in connection with frost. The legend is that he speculated as a brewer, and that the devil agreed to blight the apple-trees about this time to diminish the yield of cider. See N., II. xii. 303. Ascension Day. In detto giorno li contadini non dormono ; altrimenti opinano che dormirebbero per tutto I'anno. See Egg, post. Benedicono il cattivo tempo coll' ovo nato nel giorno dell' Ascensione colla persuasiva che produca buon tempo. —P. L'ouvrage de 1' Ascension est toujours menace de la foudre. — C.,A.B. Qui coud ce jour s'attire de grands malheurs. — Ih. It is strictly observed as a day of rest at the Bethesda Slate Quarries, near Bangor. — Daily News, 7/5, '80. Les Bretonnes ne filent pas en careme, vu que les souris ne manquent jamais de manger de hn. — D. C. To take birds' nests after the 29TH of May. A boy's belief at Fishlake. — Hn. To be born on Whit Sunday. Will die an unnatural death. The child is therefore named after some saint as a protector. — Carleton, Midnight Mass. 240 FOLK LORE. ''"''fLL l^ck^""^- On Whit Sunday (1821) a child was born to Pat. Mitchell, a labourer. It is said that the child born on that day is fated to kill or be killed. To avert this doom a little grave was made, and the infant laid therein, with clay lij^ditly sprinkled on its sod, supported by twigs covering the whole. Thus was the child buried, and at the resurrection deemed to be freed from the malediction. — Leadbcttev Papers, i. 413. If you don't put on some quite new article of dress, the birds will drop their dung on you. — (Cleveland) N ., V. To pare the nails on Whit Monday. Will be unlucky in love. — B. To go near the water on Whit Monday : while some are engaged in setting up ashen crosses. — (English and Irish) Wilde. To let the fire out on Beltane or Midsummer Eve. — Hn. To meet with snakes on Midsummer Eve. — (Cornwall) B. If a girl plucks a rose on Midsummer Eve, and wears it on the following Christmas Day, whoever of the opposite sex takes it from her she must marry him. — (Worcestershire) Lees ; (N. Devon) N., iii. ; L. She must walk backwards into the garden to gather the rose, and sew it up carefully in a paper-bag, and put it aside in a dark drawer till Christmas Day in the morning. Then the bag is to be opened, and the rose placed on her bosom and worn to church. Some young man (the future husband) will either ask for it or take it without asking. — Connoisseur, No. 86. Blindfolded, the rose is to be gathered and sealed up while the clock is striking twelve at mid-day. — (Devon) Bray. Young girls believe that such of them as do not assist at the Fete-Dieu (Corpus Christi, Thursday after Trinity Sunday) will not be married within the twelvemonth. — J. F. Camp- bell, Life in Normandy, 1863, i. 14. June 24. The superstitious customs connected with Midsummer were strictly observed on the eve of St. John the Baptist. Fires were lighted to the windward side of every field, so that the smoke might pass over the corn ; the cattle were folded, and blazing gorse several times carried round them ; mug- wort was gathered as a preservative against the influence of witchcraft ; and it was on this occasion the natives carried green meadow-grass to the top of Barrule in pay- ment of rent to Manninan-beg-mac-y-Lear. — Glover, Isle of Man. St. John's Day. " Claddagh law" often interferes with full advantage being taken of the shoals [of herrings] which come into the Bay [of Galway], there being a superstitious feeling against beginning the fishery before St. John's Day. — Holdsworth, Deep Sea Fishing, 1874, P- 3^5- VOL. 11. 241 17 """^'fLL f5cK°''®- LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. July 3. The dog-days begin. Our forefathers supposed that the malignant influence of the dog star, when in conjunction with the sun, caused the sea to boil, wine to become sour, dogs to go mad, and all other creatures to languish ; while in men it produced increase of bile, hysterics, frenzies, burning fevers, and other malignant disorders. They likewise had an opinion that during those days all physic should be declined, and the cure committed to nature: this season is called the " Physicians' holiday." —Dm. July 25. Lotdag pour les domestiques. Si en sortant ils rencontrent une vieille femme, ils quitteront bientot le service qui ne leur profitera plus. lis aiment aussi de rencontrer des moutons ce jour ; les pores gatent tout leur avenir. — C, A. B. August 24. Les servantes ne doivent pas aller ce jour-la dans les champs ou sont plantes les choux, car St. Barthelemy qui y jette les grosses tetes n'aime pas cela. — lb. There is one day in harvest on which the more ignorant, especially in Rousa, say if any work the ridges will blood [bleed]. — Brand's Orkney, p. 61. HoLYROOD Day (September 14th). This day, they say, is called Holyrood Day, And all the youth are now a-nutting gone, W. Haughton, Grim the Collier of Croydon, iv. i. Here are a crew of youngkers in this wood Well sorted, for each lad hath got his lass. The devil, as some people say, A-nutting goes Holy Rood Day : Let women, then, their children keep At home that day ; better asleep They were, or cattle for to tend. Than nutting go and meet the fiend. But if they '11 not be ruled by this. Blame me not if they do amiss. Poor Robin, Sept. 14, 26, 1693. St. Matthew's Day (September 21st) is called in Sussex "the devil's nutting-day." — N. The picking of hazel-nuts shall be a great employment among the boys this quarter ; but let me advise them to beware how they go into the woods on Holyrood Day, for fear they meet a tall black man with cloven feet, who may chance to frighten them out of their five senses. — Poor Robin, 1667. Michaelmas. In West of Scotland the devil is supposed to touch the black- berries with his club, and those who then eat of them '* the worms will eat their ingangs." — Mactaggart, Gallov. Ency. 242 FOLK LORE. ''^''^^t tu%l'!'*^~ To gather blackberries after Michaelmas Day, as then the devil sets his cloven foot upon them. — Threlkeld, Synopsis Stiypium Hibeynicarum, 1727. Or throws his club over them. — (North of England) Brockett. Hn. says he has met with this belief in Devonshire. The devil goes into the bumblekites on Michaelmas Day. — Murray, Handbook of Novtlmmbeylnnd, speaking of the banks of the Coquet at Warkworth, where they grow abundantly. In Yorkshire this feast is called hipping-day, from its connection with a confection of hips (berries of the wild rose). — Hn. It is a popular belief — kept up probably to prevent children eating them when over-ripe — that the Pooka [or hangman], as he rides over the country, defiles the blackberries at Michaelmas and Holly Eve. — Wilde. All Saints (November ist). At Dieppe the fishermen will not put to sea lest spirits should accompany them, and their nets bring up only skeletons and broken bones. — Bosquet, La Noymandie Romanesque. All Saints, All Souls. Maiiana, repuso la Abuela, es dia de Todos Santos ; segura- mente no saldra a pescar el tio Pedro. Pues bien, dijo la chiquilla, sera pasado maiiana. Tampoco se pesca el dia de los Defuntos, i y porque ? pregunto la nina. Porque seria profanar un dia que la Iglesia consagra a las animas benditas : la prueba es que unos poscadores que fueron a pescar tal dia como pasado manana, cuando feuron a sacar las redes, se alegraron al sentir que pesaban mucho ; pero en lugar de pescado, no habia dentro mas que Calaveras. — F. Caballero, Gavista, i. 7. November, called the "hanging month." — D. ? suicides, or gaol delivery. S. Martin (November loth). On evite ce jaur les carrefours ou se passent des choses que bon Chretien ne doit pas connaitre. — C, A. B. Martinalia (St. Martin's Day), which they call the day of broaching new wines. — Withals, 1608. Change of Style. Between twenty and thirty years ago I was visiting a clerical friend in Kent. His gardener was a worthy fellow, who always kept by him bread baked on Good Friday for the cure of whooping cough, and possessed certain charms which he was bound not to reveal, except upon his death- bed. My host had been talking v/ith him upon the badness of the weather and harvest, for it was a bad year, when the gardener answered with great earnestness : " Yes, sir, father were right. We have never had such good seasons since they took and altered the year. Father always said so ; and as he always said, ' God Almighty knew best.' " — Pall Mall Gazette, 2/2, 1880. 243 """"^fLL !5cK°''^~ LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. The influence of the moon in various diseases, particularly those of a pestilential character, has been much remarked by medical practitioners in tropical regions. Dr. Balfour, who for a long time resided at Calcutta, an accurate and intelligent observer of the diseases which occur in hot climates, is generally considered to have satisfactorily established the influence of the moon in cases of fever, and he was induced, during a period of fourteen years in the East, to pay particular attention to its revolutions in the treatment of those diseases. He found the accession of fever to take place during the three days which either precede or follow the full moon ; and he has endeavoured to show that at the time of the equinoxes an additional power is added to the lunar influence exercised on the human frame. These opinions have met with support and received confirmation from the practice and researches of Lind in Bengal, of Cleghorn in Minorca, of Fontana in Italy, of Gillespie at St. Lucia, of Bell in Persia, and of Annesly in Madras. Dr. Moseley carried his opinions with respect to the influence of the moon on mankind to a ridiculous extreme, and affirmed that almost all people of extreme age die at the new or at the full moon. Aristotle derives many of the derangements of females to the decrease of the moon. Galen says all animals born when the moon is falciform are weak and feeble, and short-lived ; whilst those born at the full are the contrary. Lord Bacon invariably fell into a syncope during a lunar eclipse. Vegetable substances, as well as animals, have always been considered to be greatly under the influence of the moon. — Pettigrew, Stipevstitions in Medicine^ 21. But with the moon was more familiar Than e'er was almanac well- wilier ; Her secrets understood so clear, That some believed he had been there ; Knew when she was in fittest mood For cutting corns or letting blood, When for anointing scabs and itches. Or to the bum applying leeches, When sows and bitches may be spay'd, And in what sign best cider 's made, Whether the wane be or increase Best to set garlic or sow pease. — But., Hud., H., iii. 239. Waning of moon. To kill a pig in the wane of the moon. The bacon will not swell, and the meat will be unwholesome. Hair and nails should be cut during the wane of moon. No other business should be undertaken at this season. — B. Men heir keepe the observations of the moon, in sa far that they sla ther martes (cattle) at the vaxin therof, affirming they grow in the barrell. — Insiilaviim Oychadiarum Descriptio, 1529. They would think the meat spoiled were they to kill the cattle while the moon is wanting. — P. Kirkwall, in Sinclair's \Oyhn.'] Stat. Acct. of Scotland, vii. 560. 244 FOLK LORE. """^'fu^ f5cK°^^" In the parish of Sandwick, in Orkney, pigs used to be killed on December 17th, which was known as Sow-day. — lb. The Egyptians sacrificed swine at the full moon and ate the flesh then, but not at other times. — Prichard, Egyptian Mythologv, 316. Always kill a pig in the new moon, or the fat will run out. — (Wore.) L. See The Husbandman's Practice; or, Prognostication for Ever, London, 8°, 1664. In Orkney it is reckoned unlucky to flit or remove from one habitation to another during the wane of the moon, or send a child for the first time to school. Will turn out idle and unruly. — Trans. Devonshire Assoc, ix. gi. Carnes nullas teredinem sentire, luna decrescente induratas sale.— Pliny, Nat. Hist., XXVIII. c. ult. This is religiously observed by some of our housewives. — Ay. The Burettas never undertake anything of importance between the full and new moon. — Dobell, Travels in Karntchatka and Siberia [1830], ii. 16. See PrichsLrd, Analysis of Egyptian Mythology, 1838, pp. 136-138, for proofs of the general superstition that things pros- pered more at the full moon than when the moon was WANING. Quando menguara la luna no siembres cosa alguna. — (Spanish) Howell. Apples are said, in Devonshire, to shrump up if picked when the moon is waning. — Hn. [The oyster] hath not local motion, and plucked from his proper place is devoid of sense, increasing and decreasing with the moon. — Hy. Buttes, Dyefs Dry Dinner, N r. 1599. An oyster is thyn and lene in the waning of the moon. — Horm., v., 106. Gather your fruit the full moon past ; For why ? they will the longer last. Poor Robin, Sept., 1706. Weatherwise. Marry, sir, I '11 give it out abroad that I have lain with the widow myself . . . and, moreover, that if I had not lain with the widow in the wane of the moon at one of my Seven Stars houses, when Venus was about business of her own and could give no attendance, she had been brought a-bed with two roaring boys by this time. — Middleton, No Wit, no Help like a Woiiian^s, iii. i. Une opinion egalement repandue veut que le bois soit abattu pendant le decours de la lune ; sans cela, il ne serait pas, dit-on, de bonne qualite et ne se conserverait pas. Les anciennes lois forestieres payaient leur tribut a ce prejuge. — Rion. 245 TiMEs_& SEASONS- j^j:^^>^ COLLECTANEA. There is a reason for cutting down wood for timber (namely, in the prime of the moon or about the last quarter), and a special good season of moulding bread and laying of leavens (this before the full of the moon, that in the full itself). — Muffett, Health's Improvement, c. vi. 1655 ; Cogan, Haven of Health, p. 147. Sow peasen and beans in the wane of the moon ; Who soweth them sooner, he soweth too soon : That they with the planet may rest and may rise, And flourish with bearing most plentiful wise. Tusser, Five Hundred Points of Husbandry (Feb.) Peas and beans sown during the increase do run more to hawm and straw ; and during the declension more to cod, according to the common consent of countrymen. — Tusser Redivivus, p. 16. 1744- Root up trees in the wane and after midday. — Tylor, P. C. Bon jardinier seme pendant que la lune croit. — Coremans. Hair and nails should always be cut during the waning of the moon. — (Devon) N. Docket. Spruce, come hither. Do you observe the talents of your fellow, Dashwell ? Spruce. Yes, sir, they are something long. He cuts his nails but once a fortnight, and then observes the moon precisely. — Woman turned Bully, 1675, ^"- 3' Tiberius et in capillo tondendo servavit interlunia. — Pliny, N. H ., xvi. 75. Horses and mares must be put together in the increase of the moone, for foales got in the wane arc not accounted strong and healthfull. — M. Stevenson, Tzi/elve Moneths, 4to, London, 1661, p. 19. Under the persuasion that whatever is done in the rocking of the moon grows, and that whatever is done during her waning, decreases and withers, they cut the turf which they get for fences, and which, of course, they wish to grow when the moon is on the increase ; but the turf which they intend for fuel they cut when she is on the wane, as they wish it to dry speedily. If a house take fire during the increase of the moon, it denotes prosperity ; if during the decrease, adversity. The first day in every quarter is deemed fortunate.— (Highland) Ham., Med. Aev. Kal. In Renfrewshire, if a man's house be burnt during the wane, it is deemed unlucky. If when the moon is waxing, it is viewed as a presage of prosperity. — J. Bleeding. It is not good letting of blood in the wanyng of the moon. — Horm., v., 39. 246 FOLK LORE. ^'"'^1^110%°''^' The rule laid down by Hopton, Concordancy of Yeares : — " In youth, from the change to the first quarter; In middle age, from the first quarter to the full ; In elder age, from the full to the last quarter; In old age, from the last quarter to the change," He [Bishop John, a.d. 636] asked when the maiden had been bled ? and being told that it was on the fourth day of the moon, said : " You did very indiscreetly and unskilfully to bleed her on the fourth day of the moon; for I remember the Archbishop Theodore, of blessed memory, said that bleeding at that time was very dangerous when the light of the moon and the tide of the ocean is increasing. — Bedae Venerabilis Hist. Eccles., ed. Giles, v. 2. " If the moon serve, some that are safe shall bleed." — Ford, Love's Sacrifice, iv. i. Dans I'antiquite, la medecine et la chirurgie ne faisaient qu'une science, que le meme homme professait indistinctement, En 1 1 63 le concile de Tours defendait aux medecins, qui la plupart etaient ecclesiastiques, de pratiquer les operations, I'Eglise repoussant toute effusion de sang. De la, cette division qui a existe, jusqu' a la fin du xviii'- siecle, entre ces deux branches de I'art de guerir. — Bessieres, Evv. siir la Medecine, Paris, i860. New moon. Les entreprises heureuses se commencent pendant la nouvelle lune. — C, UAnnee del'Anc. Belgiqiie. La Lune Seigneur Maen, voit avec plaisir et souhaite bonheur a la fiancee s'etablissant pendant le premier quartier chez son mari ; et il favorise le proprietaire d'une nouvelle maison qui suit cet example. — Ih. Quum ex captivis quareret Caesar, quam ob rem Ariovistus praelio non decertaret, hunc reperiebat causam, quod apud Germanos ea consuetudo esset, ut matres familiae eorum sortibus et vaticinationibus declararent, utrum praelium committi ex usu esset, necne; eas ita dicere; Non esse fas Germanos superare, si ante novam lunam proelio con- tendissent. - Caesar, De B. Gall., i. 50. Coeunt nisi quod fortuitum et subitum mciderit, certis diebus, cum aut inchoatur luna, aut impletur : nam agendis rebus hoc auspicatissimum initium credunt. — Tacitus, De Moribus Germ., c. 11. This Nicholas sat ever gaping upright As he had kyked* on the new mone. Chau., Miller's Tale, 3445. * Keek, gaze earnestly. Shell-fishes be at the best when the moon increaseth, as the poet Horace saith. — Sat., II. 4. 30. 247 TiMEs^& SEASONS- LEAN'S COLLFXTANEA. To cut your hair during the increase of the moon is said to ensure its favorable growth. — Noake, Worcestershire Notes and Queries, 170. To set eggs under hen at new moon. — Tylor, P. C. The people of that country [CathayJ begin all undertakings in the new moon. — Sir J. Maundeville, ch. xxiii. 'Tis a custom in Scotland, chiefly in the Highlands, for women to make a courtesy to the New Moon. A Touch of this Gentilism is retained in England among the younger sort, who the first night the New Moon appears will get astride over a Gate or Stile and cry out : New Moon, Nev; Moon, come tell to me — I prithee, good Moon, come tell to me — This Night who 'tis my husband shall be. An Agreeable Companion (Norwich), 1742, p. 18. In Herefordshire and some other Places the Common People at the prime of the New Moon do say : 'Tis a fine Moon, God bless her. — Ih., 2. The Jewish sacrifices at the New Moon were larger than at other feasts. — Numbers, xxviii. Est il vray que si la femme concoit au croissant de la lune ce sera un fils, et si au decroissant une fille? — Jo., H., Prop. Vnlg., 87. Pourquoy est ce que le bois couppe a la plaine Lune est plus subjet a vermoullure et se pourrit plustost que s'il est couppe en autre temps ? — Dupleix, Cur. Nat., 1625. Pourquoy est ce que la viande corrompt plustost a la clarte de la Lune que du Soleil ? — lb. Set garden beans after Saint Edmund the King, The moon in the wane : thereon hangeth a thing. The 'ncrease of one gallonde, well proved of some, Shall pleasure thy household ere peskod-time come. Tusser, Otie Hundred Points of Husbandry, 1557. Court humours, like cutting of hair, must either be observed when the moon is new or in the full, or else no man will have his hands full that gleans after them. — Nash, Have with you to Saffron Walden, E. 2, 1596. Speaking of moon. There is the same superstition as to first mention of the term Moon after her first appearance that prevails with respect to the day of the week to which she gives her name {v. Monday) ; some, to prevent a female first mentioning it, will enquire of some male : " What is that which shines so clearly ? " or, " What light is that ? " that he may pronounce the portentous word. — J. Full moon. To remove treys, chese a ful mone. — E. E. Misc. ( Warton Club), p. 66. 248 FOLK LORE. '"'"'^1^ 11%^^"*^- Resta la vendemmia accompagnata dal pregiudizio di credere, che quando bolla I'uva nel tino, se si fa il bucato* vengano macchiati tutti li panni ; percio in tal tempo si astengano dal farlo. Hanno il pregiudizio de non fare mai il bucato in tempo di luna plena, perche dicono, che viene tutto macchiato. — Michele Placucci. * Bucking or washing-day. Qui compte son argent dans la pleine lune le voit souvent devenir or, car ce n'est pas la bonne lune qui benit I'argent. — Coremans. If a pig is killed at the fulling of the moon, it is not good for the bacon. — Macready, Rem., i. 475. Kill fat swine for bacon (the better to keep their fat in boiling) about the full moon. — The Husbandman's Practice, 1673. Justice Tutchin. Who woos a widow with a fair full moon shall surely speed : beware of full moons, widow. — Barry, Ram Alley, iv. 161 1. II faut mettre au moulin a la lune ronde pourque le pain se renfle. — Perron, Franc he Comte, p. 39. A cat Whose glaring eyes did unexpected shine, But with like wonder for to gaze on thine ; And as they at full moon increase, so now The fulness of your glory swell'd them too. Rob. Heath, Clarastella, 1650, p. 23. When the moon is at the full Mushrooms you may freely pull ; but when the moon is on the wane wait ere you think to pluck again. (Essex) Dyer, p. 42. Change of moon. His diligence in Harvest-time is exprest by being seen often afield with a fork on his shoulder, and he cuts grass always in the change of the moon. — Saltonstall, Characters, "The Bay lye." Tylor considers the beliefs connected with the moon and its changes to be survivals of popular astrology. — Prim. Cult., i. 118. 1871. Five moons. Hubert. My lord, they say five moons were seen to-night ; Four fixed, and the fifth did whirl about The other four in wondrous motion. K. John. Five moons ! Hubert. Old men and beldams in the streets Do prophesy upon it dangerously : Young Arthur's death is common in their mouths : And when they talk of him, they shake their heads And whisper one another in the ear ; And he that speaks doth gripe the hearer's wrist, 249 ■"""^fLL f^cK^"^" LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Whilst he that hears makes fearful action, With wrinkled brows, with nods, with rolling eyes. I saw a smith stand with his hammer, thus, The whilst his iron did on the anvil cool. With open mouth swallowing a tailor's news ; Who, with his shears and measure in his hand, Standing on slippers, which his nimble haste Had falsely thrust upon contrary feet. Told of a many thousand warlike French That were embattailed and rank'd in Kent : Another lean unwash'd artificer Cuts off his tale and talks of Arthur's death. Shak., K.John, iv. 2, 182. Food of moon. The old Natural Philosophers do say that the Sun feedeth on the salt water and that the Moon taketh her food upon the sweet water. — R. Cawdray, Tr. of Sim., p. 836. 1600. We have only added a letter to the Latin name, which takes his original as Salt itself doth a Sole, Salo and Solo. For the Sun naturally oft-times makes salt of the foam which the sea-waves leave upon the shore : howbeit. Art is a much perfecter salt-maker. — Hy. Buttes, Dyefs Dry Dinner, 8 r., 1599. Moonshine. They say a moonshine night is good to run away with another man's wife ; but I am sure a dark night is best to steal away my father's daughter. — Rowley, Match at Midnight, iv. II est de personnes qui accusent la lune de la degradation des edifices parceque disent-elles sa lumiese " ronge la pierre." C'est une erreur. Cet accident est du a ce que certaines pierres s'impregnent facilement d'humidite et que lorsqu'il vient a geler I'eau contenue dans la pierre en se gelant occupe un espace plus considerable, ce qui fait que la pierre se fend. — Rion. Crook of the moon. Out of due time or in the crook of the moon (intempestive). — Pal., Ac, Q. 4. 1540. Menstruation. Combien de gens vous disent encore que la lune influe sur cet ecoulement, sans reflechir que toutes les femmes ne peuvent etre reglees a la meme epoque. — Bessieres. Lunatic Lunaticus. A person vexed with the phrensie every month. — Withals, Did., 1574. Mad as \ie mone sitt more o\&x lasse. — P. Ploxi.'. Vis,, x. 108, c. When the moon's in the full, then wit's in the wane. — W. Rowley, Witch of Edmonton, ii. i. 250 FOLK LORE. '"'"'1^ fucK°''®- Sleeping in. Porque al hombre mucho empesce al rayo estar de la luna ? — Alonso Lopez, Secretos, 1547. D'ou vient que ceux qui s'endorment aux rays de la Lune venans a s'esveiller se trouvent tous assoupis, engourdis, et comme troublez de leur entendement ? — Dupleix, Cur. Nat., 1625. It is as true as strange (else Trial feigns) That whosoever in the moonshine sleeps Are hardly waked ; the moon so rules the brains, For she is sovereign of the brains and deeps. J. Daviesof Hereford, Wifs Pilgrimage, Sonn. L 31 Onion. An onyn increaseth in the waning of the moon and withereth in growing or increasing. — Horm., V., 39. Foal. There is a default in a horse that is neither sorance, hurt nor disease, and that is, if a horse want warts behind, beneath the spavin place, for then he is no Chapman's ware if he be wild; but if he be lame and have been ridden upon, then Caveat emptor --let the buyer beware! for he hath both his eyes to see and his hands to handle It is a saying that such a horse shall die suddenly when he hath lived so many years as the moon was days old at such time as he was foaled. — Sir Ant. Fitzherbert, Book of Husbandry, fol. 49. 1534. Warts. For warts we rub our hands before the moon. — Bro. Corns. Pray tell your querist if he may Rely on what the vulgar say — That when the moon 's in her increase If corns be cut they'll grow apace ; But if you always do take care After the full your corns to pare, They do insensibly decay And will in time quite wear away : If this be true pray let me know, And give the reason why 'tis so. — British Apollo. Taking medicine. If you will purge humours otherwise than thus, that is, observing the howers, yea, and the mansions or course of the moon, els thou shalt greatly err and do more hurt than good. — Bullein, Bid. of Def., f. 53 [S. M.] Shell-fish. Che ha da far la luna co gamberi ? . . . . Yet it hath influence upon all shell-fish, and is spoken ironically. — Torriano, Ital. Prov., 1666. 251 LUCKY DAYS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. LUCKY DAYS. 'Tis a lucky day, boy, and we'll do good deeds on 't. — Shak., Winter's Tale, iii. 3, 131. Cf. The belter day, the better deed. On appelle Jours nefastes ou nialheureux ceux dans lesquels le vulgaire pretend que rien de ce que Ton entrepend ne reussit. II y a au contraire, dit on des jours ou tout reussit. Ces croyances ne peuvent pas soutenir I'examen. Que Ton considere en effet sans prevention ce qui arrive tous les jours, on verra que, dans la meme journoe, une per- sonne reussit et une outre echoue. Cependant si le jour est heureux, tout doit reussir ; s'il est malheureux, tout doit echouer. — Rion. For some were observers of times, which had their lucky days and their unlucky days, and so their hours. If they go to buy or sell, they choose their hour to set forth in. — Gifford, Dial., p. 58. Apostolus dicit : "Dies observatis et menses et tempora, et annos: timeo ne sine causa laboraverim in vobis." Dies observant qui dicunt : " Puto crastino proficiscendum non est. Post crastinum enim non debet aliquid inchoari, et sic solent magis decipi." Hi autem colunt menses, qui cursum lunde perscru- tantur, dicentes. " Septima luna strument confici non debent : nona autem luna emptum servum domum duci non oportet." Et per haec facilius solent adversa provenire. Tempora vero observant cum dicunt. " Hodie veris initium est et ideo festivitas est." Et rursum : " Posterum est, domum egredi non licet." Annos sic colunt cum dicunt, " Kalendis Jaunarii novus est annus," quasi non quotidie annus impleatur. Haec superstitio longe debet esse a servis Dei. — [Ex dictis Ambros.] Burchard, Decreta, x. 11. Elder leaves gathered on the last day of April cure wounds. Of the days of the week, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are esteemed good and auspicious: the others evil. — Herklots, Customs of Mussulmans of India, c. 36. The day of the week on which you were born is the best and most lucky for you. — Miss M. To begin a thing upon, but not to complete it. — Impl. FoHune-teller. All Red-letter or Saints' days. January 16, 18, "26; February 10, 19, 27, 28; March 14, 18; April 13, 22, 27 ; May 3, 5, 7, 11, 19; June 10, 17, 20, 27 ; July I, 13, 19, 21, 27, 30; August 3. 7> 9; September 4, 8, II, 15, 19; October i, 8, 13; November 3, 9, 11, 15; December 9, 13, 17. — Passenger, Shepherd's Calendar. On January's Sixth, Nine, Twenty-five, The work you take in hand will surely thrive ; February's Tenth, Ninth and Twenty-three Do with the work you undertake agree ; The First of March is lucky held by all. And April's Third and Twelfth the same we call : 252 FOLK LORE. lucky days. The work that then 's begun it prosper shall ; May's Fourth, Fifteenth and Twenty-first are sure To bring prosperity that will endure ; June's Twentieth, Twenty-eight and Thirtieth prove Choice days to treat about affairs of love ; July's Nineteenth and Twenty-one and four Do prosper business and increase your store ; September's Fifteen, Nineteen, Twenty-eight, October's Third and Fifth and Tenth create Such good beginnings as do give us bliss ; November's Third and Twelfth bring happiness. An Agreeable Companion, 1742, p. 65. Sunday to commence a voyage upon. — (Sea) B. Or a journey. — S., P. C. It was contrary to the custom of Columbus to weigh anchor on Sunday when in port. — Hist, del Almirante, c. 62; cited in Irving's Columbus, B. ix. ch. i. Sunday sail, never fail. To wear a new garment for the first time. They will wear twice as long. — N., V. x. 23. Col. Now I always love to begin a journey on Sunday, because I shall have the prayers of the Church to preserve all that travel by land or by water. — S., P. C, ii. To get up for the first time after illness. — (Dorset) N,, V. x. 23. Sunday seems to have been the common and favourite day for marriage. See Shak., Taming of the Shrew, ii. i, 290, 315, and the allusion there to the old song, " I mun be married o' Sunday." The Egyptians think it (next to the eve of Friday) most auspicious for the consummation of marriage. — Lane, Modern Egyptians, c. xi. Commonly selected for battles by the French. Qui naist le Dimanche jamais ne meurt de peste, quoy qu'il en soit attaind. — Jo., II. ; Prop. Vulg. (35). Babies' caps must be left off on a Sunday for the first time, and no cold will be taken. — (W. Sussex) F. L. R., i. 8. It is a favourite custom to set sail on a Sunday for the fishing grounds. A clergyman of the town [Preston Pans] is said to pray against their Sabbath breaking ; and to prevent any injury accruing from this, the fishermen make a small image of rags and burn it on the top of their chimneys. — N. He will never set to sea but on a Sunday, neither ever goes without an Erra pater* in his pocket. — Bishop Hall, Charac- ters of Vertiies and Vices. * A famous astrologer, who prepared a table of the planets and their influence on man. See Melton, Astrologaster. Rooks always begin to build on Sunday. — N., VI. i. ^^. 253 LUCKY DAYS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Sunday and Monday are lucky days for men. Tuesday and Friday for women. — Miss M. Monday and Thursday are the most propitious days for marriage. — S. Monday and Friday among the Finns. Monday, Thursday, and Saturday for beginning a journey. — Niebuhr, Du. de V Arable, 1774, P- i^S- Heureux celui qui commence la route le Samedi ; le prophete prefere ce jour aux deux autres. — Daumas, L'Algerie. Monday is esteemed the most lucky day of the week in Ireland, and all undertakings are put off till then. (" Oh, please God we live till Monday morning, we'll do so-and-so." — Edgworth, Castle Rackrent, 185.) In Scotland no one will give away money on a Monday or on the first day of the moon, and even the mention of that day or of the new moon for the first time by a female is an unlucky omen, not so if by a male. — J. Quand on en re9oit ou quand on en depense le lundi, on est assure qu'on en recevra ou qu'on en depensera toute la semaine. — D. C. Tuesday and Thursday are favourite days for marrying. — B. Tuesday is the most lucky day for sowing corn. — (Island of Mull) Hampson, Med. Aev. KaL, i. 387. Brave fille en Flandre et en Brabant n'entre en service que le mardi (dinsdag) ; pent etre a cause de I'analogie de dinsdag avec dienst (service). — C, A. B. The favourite day for battle with Scandinavian nations, as the festival of their god Tiw. Est il plus sain de se faire tondre le premier Mardi de IMars qu'un autre jour du dit mois, ou d'un autre mois ? — Jo., II. {Cab., 116.) The bridal day was set On Tiseday for to be, Then hey play up the rinawa bride For she has ta'en the gie. And when they came to Kelso town, They gart the clap gae thro', — Saw ye a lass wi' a hood and a mantle Was married on Tiseday 'teen ? " Runaway Bride," Herd's Coll., ii. 87. Tuesday and Wednesday are lucky days. — (Devon) N., i. 4. The Jews believe that the sun always shines on some part of every Wednesday, because the sun was created on the fourth day of the week. — N., iii. But see post. Wednesday for being born on. — Ben Jonson, Alch., i. i. Propatulus ; that is, wide open, as we say, " Wide-open Wednesday." — Withals, 1608. 254 FOLK LORE. lucky days. Thursday has one lucky hour, that before sunrise. — (Devon) N., i. 4. Thursday and Friday for marrying in the Orkney Islands. See p. 82, ante. " Mariage de jeudi, heureux mariage." Pour les charrons, les serruriers, les niarechaux, ainsi que pour les meuniers, le jeudi est un jour heureux, et qui favorise leurs entreprises. —C.,A.B. Thursday is called " el mubarak " (or the blessed), deriving a blessing from the following night and day. — Lane, Modern Egyptians, x. i. Thursday and Saturday for going a-courting in Bavaria.— iV., V. X. 146. Friday is the favourite day for marrying among the Ross-shire fisher- men — never before noon. — Sinclair, Statistical Account of Scotland, xiv. 541, ed. 1795. Nine-tenths of the marriages in Glasgow are celebrated on Friday. — N. and Q., IL xii. 491. No sane fisherman would commence a Greenland voyage or proceed to the herring-ground, and on no other day of the week would he be married. — Bertramet. Doubtless from the direct influence of the Scandinavian Freygga. He that sings on Friday will weep on Sunday. — Herbert, J acuta Prudentum. The only lucky thing on this day, to be born on it. — D. Les Normands le choississent de preference pour mattre de I'eau dans le cidre ou dans le vin ; car un autre jour la liqueur deviendrait aigre. — D. C. Friday night's dreams on Saturday told Are sure to come true, be they never so old. — Dm. Her dreams are so chaste that she dare tell them : only a Fridaie's dream is all her superstition ; that she conceals for feare of anger. — Sir Thos. Overbury, Characters (" Of a Faire and Happy Milkmaid ") added to his " Wife," 1614. The eve or night of Friday is very fortunate, especially for the consummation of marriage. Friday is blessed above all other days as being the sabbath of the Muslims: it is called " el fadeeleh " (or the excellent). — Lane, Modern Egvptians, xi, Saturday. Saturday afternoon seems to have had in early times a quasi- religious observance. — Bo. Perhaps, by way of compromise, on the substitution of Sunday as the modern Sabbath, — Bingham, Ant., xx. 3. 255 UNLUCKY DAYS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Saturday is considered lucky by the Italians, as the day of the Virgin. — Story, Roha di Roma. This may be one reason why it was generally selected as market-day. Ne donna senza amore ne Sabbato senza sole. — Piscetti, 1603. En hiver comme en 6te jamais Samedi ne s'est passe que le soleil n'y ait mis son nez. Jamais ne fut Samedy qu'on ne vit le soleil. — Jo., IL {Cab., 40). Le soleil fait par excellence le Samedi la reverence. — (Cote d'Or, Meuse.) II n'y a pas de Samedi sans soleil ni de viele sans conseil. (Aveyron) Pvoverbes et Dictons Agricoles de France, p. 179. Southey says the Spaniards believe that the sun shines, if only for a minute, every Saturday throughout the year. — Doctor, iii. 165. K. Hen. VII. This day of the week is ours, Our day of providence ; for Saturday Yet never fail'd in all my undertakings. To yield me rest at night. Ford, Perk. War., iii. i. He entered the city upon a Saturday, as he had also obtained the victory [at Bosworth] upon a Saturday, which day of the week, first upon an observation and after upon memory and fancy, he accounted and chose as a day prosperous unto him. — F. Bacon, History of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh. The Spaniards at one time made it a point of duty to eat pork on Saturdays for the sake of despiting the Jews. — Southey's Doctor, 1848, p. 203. Busy. In the way of comfort to the weak I will go and eat. I will eat exceedingly and prophesy : there may be a good use made of it too, now I think on't : by the public eating of swine's flesh to profess our hate and loathing of Judaism, whereof the brethren stand taxed. I will therefore eat ; yea, I will eat exceed- ingly. — Ben Jonson, Bart. Fair, i. i. Saturday has recently become the favourite day for marriages in the fashionable world. 1876. UNLUCKY DAYS. See on Unlucky Days. — Selden, De Jure Naturali et Gentium, III., 17. See notices of the "dies atros" of various nations. — Olaus Wormius, Fasti Danici, 1. I., c. 22, 23, 24, 25; Chambers' Journal, 1876, No. 636. Ille et nefasto te posuit die. — Hor., Od., II. 13. i. 256 FOLK LORE. unlucky days. Dismal day. — Warning foy Fair Women, ii. 1599. I set nat a button by dismolde (atros) days. — Horm., Vulg., xix. It is no dismall day, no one misfalling by chaunce that mangles my mind. — Melb., Phil., p. 6. He (the superstitious) returns if his journey began unawares on the dismal day. — Bp. Hall, Works, vii. 102. Hesiod (Works and Days, 1. 825) speaks of lucky and unlucky days as j-uj-Tifp and ^iq-rpvia respectively. "AXXoTG /tiijTfwiij TTcXet yjiicptj, iiWore p.i'jTrjp. Cf. iEschylus, P^ow. Vinct., 727 [746 ed. Paley. — Ed.] ; Euripides, Alcest., 1. 305, &c. An unlucky day, or ominous, whereof some hold there are two in every month. — Howell, Lex. Tetr., 1659. Old farmers in Devonshire call the three first days in March " blind days," and they were anciently considered so unlucky that no husbandman would sow any seed on any of the three. — Dm. The three last days of March, called the borrowing days, from the badness of the weather. Those who are addicted to superstition will neither borrow nor lend on any of these days. — J. In some districts of Perthshire the day of the week on which the 14th of May happened was regarded as unlucky during the remainder of the year ; and no serious business therefore begun on it. — Hone. None choose to marry in January or May. Taken from Arliss's Pocket Mag., 1807. — Hone, Year Book. Sunt tres dies in anno, qui per omnes observandi sunt, viii idus Aprilis, illo die lunis intrante Augusto, illo die lunis exeunte Decembri, illo die lunis observandum est, in quibus omnes venae in homine aut in pecude plenae sunt. Qui in his hominem aut pecus percusserit, aut statim, aut tertia die morietur, aut vii die periclabitur. Et si potionem acceperit, intra xv dies morietur, et si masculus aut femina in his diebus nascuntur, mala morte morientur. Et si de auca in his diebus aliquis manducaverit intra xv vel xl dies morietur. — Hampson, Med. Aev. Kal. ; Bede, Oper., i. 467. De Minutione Sanguinis. Prima dies mensis et ultima truncat ut ensis. — Ay. Le 13 dn vwis est egalement un jour malheureux dans lequel on ne doit rien entreprendre. — Rion. Unlucky year. The Great Indian Peninsular Railway in their last report state that the falling off in the numbers and revenue of passengers in 1873 has been very large, adding: "The current year is an unpropitious one in the Hindoo calendar, and the induce- ments to travel are below the average. No Hindoo marriages among the better classes are celebrated this year." — N., v. i. VOL. II. 267 18 UNLUCKY DAYS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. January i, 2, 4, 5, 7. 10, 15; February 6, 7, 18; March i, 6, 8 ; April 6, 1 1 ; May 5, 6, 7 ; June 7, 15 ; July 5, 19 ; August 15, 19 ; September 6, 7 ; October 6 ; November 15, 16 ; December 15, 16, 17. January 3, April 30, July i, August i, October 2, December 31. The 13th day of every month is an unlucky day to be born on. — (Tuscan) Leader Scott, A Nook in the Apennines, 1879. February 11, June 2, November 2, December i : and Innocent's or Childermas day. Unlucky days for marrying. — B. The months of April, July, and November, and the nth of every month, are unlucky for entering on the occupation of a house and for signing a lease for one. — Imp. Foviune-teller. Sunday. To cut the nails. — Hone. To turn a feather bed. — N., i. 4. To turn a mattress. — M. ; N., v. 3. You '11 lose your sweet- heart. — (Shropshire.) To turn a bed on a Sunday. — 'Manx) Mona Misc. To go to service. — S. A man had better ne'er been born As have his nails on a Sunday shorn. — D. Sunday shaven, Sunday shorn, Better hadst thou ne'er been born. — Hn. Sunday wooing Leads to ruin. (A Scotch puritanical doctrine.) Siy Sampson. Ha ! thou 'rt melancholic, old prognostication ; as melancholic as if thou hadst spilt the salt or pared thy nails on a Sunday — Congreve, Love fov Love, iii. 9. The herring-fishery is said to have disappeared from Guernsey since it was followed on a Sunday in 1830. — Holdsworth, Deep Sea Fishing, p. 214. In the river of Tweed, which runs by Barwicke, are taken by Fishermen that dwell there infinite numbers of fresh Salmons, so that many households and families are relieved by the profit of that fishing ; but (how long since I know not) there was an order that no man or boy whatsoever should fish upon a Sunday. This order continued long amongst them till, some eight or nine weeks before Michaelmas last, on a Sunday the Salmons plaid in such great abundance in the River, that some of the Fishermen (contrary to God's lawe and their own order) took boates and nettes and fished and caught three hundred Salmons, but from that time until Michaelmas day that I was there, which was nine weeks, and heard the report of it and saw the poor people's lamentations, they had not seen one 2.58 FOLK LORE. unlucky days. Salmon in the river, and some of them were in despair that they should never see any more there ; affirming it to be God's Judgement upon them for the prophanation of the Sabbath. — Taylor, Pennyles Pilgrimage. Eggs ought not to be gathered on Sunday, and no hen must be set on that day nor after dark of any other day in the week. — [Baring-Gould] Long Ago, i. 8i. Among the rabbins Monday (dies Lunai) was ominous ; the Athenians so considered Tuesday, or dies Martis ; the Medes, Wednesday, or dies Mercurii ; the Phrygians, Thursday, or dies Jovis ; the Trojans, Friday, or dies Veneris ; and the Persians, Saturday, or dies Saturnii. Nothing then remains but Sunday, and on this day Christians in general prohibit all work, so that Alexander ab Alexandro is strictly correct in saying that there is not a single lucky day left. — Genialiiim Dierum, xx. In fevers the illness is expected to be more severe on Sunday than on other days of the week : if easier on Sunday, a relapse is feared. — (Perthshire) Sinclair, Statistical Account of Scotland, v. 82. Qui batit a une maison le dimanche, y attire a jamais souris et rats paces et punaises. — C, A. B. Qui ne travaille pas le dimanche assure son champ et son jardin contre les taupes et les souris. — lb. Celle qui coud le dimanche doit souffrir avant de mourir jusqu'a ce que toutes ses couturcs soient decousues. — Ih., p. 45. The Egyptians regard Sunday as an unfortunate day on account of the night which follows it (death of Mohammed). — Lane, Modern Egyptians, xi. Battezzato in Domenica. Non haver cervello ed ingegno.— Torriano. Monday. Last in April, second in August, first of last half of December, first in April (Cain's birthday), second in Au;4ust (Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed), last in December (Judas' birthday), — W. B., Philosopher's Banquet, p. 223. 1633. The Egyptian Days. See above. On shipboard, he who is first catched in a Lie on a Monday morning is proclaimed at the mainmast " Liar! Liar! Liar !" and his punishment is to serve the under-swabber for a week, to keep clean the Beakhead and chains. — Agreeable Companion, 1742, p. 59. Hip. She died on Monday, then ? Mat. And that 's the most villainous day of all the week to die in : and she was well and eat a mess of water-gruel on Monday morning. — Dekker, The Honest Whore, i. i. The first mention of Monday in company by a female is most unlucky. — J. It should be a male. See Moon. Cf. First fit. 259 UNLUCKY DAYS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. In Russia it holds the same place of disesteem as our Friday. — C. P. In 1771 Frederic the Great writes to Voltaire that the Prince Anhault-Dessau, " 'n'entreprenait rien un lundi parceque ce jour etait malheureux." — CEiivres de Voltaire, iii. 134. II ne faut rien preter ni rien emprunter le lundi. — C, A. B. It is unlucky for a traveller on Monday morning to meet a man with [" schloof "*] or flat feet ; but mischief may be averted by returning home, entering it with the right foot foremost, eating and drinking, and starting afresh on one's way. — (Roxb.) J. Supp. * Platches. No one should remove on a Monday, because then the house aflfairs will not thrive. If a servant enters a new service on a Monday he will not long continue in it. — Th., N. M. (N. German) iii. 184. En sort avec les sorciers samedi soir. — C, A.B. Black Monday. — Poor Robin, 1693. If you wish to have luck, never shave on a Monday. — N., i. 7. The term " Black Monday " seems connected with the draping of churches with black in Passion week. See Moon, p. 181 ante. Ce qu'on entreprend le lundi n'atteint pas I'age d'une semaine. — C, A.B. To give away money. — J. Aurios refusat le diliis De douna de foe * a degus, De presta quicon sense gatge De pa, de sal, o de leban, De poou que n'arribes doumatge, O dins la semman, o dins I'an ? Es-te gardat en certen jour De sourtif, filaj, ni fa'l four ?§ Amilha, Parf. Crest., 1683. " L'Esplicaciudes Coumandomens." * Fire. t Sortir. + Filer. § To bake. Tuesday. Tuesday and Friday considered unlucky by natives of Whydah, and no one will enter on the occupation of a new house on either of those days. — Duncan, Travels in Western Africa, 1847, i. 193. So also the Spaniards. — Millot, Mem. de Noailles, ii. 19. The Egyptians call it the day of blood, and only good for blood-letting. — Lane, Modern Egyptians, xi. Ne livrez jamais de combat un Mardi. — Daumas, L'Algerie. Skir or kir-handed people, i.e. left-handed ones, are not safe for a traveller to meet on a Tuesday morning. On other days it is fortunate to meet them. — Hn. 280 FOLK LORE. unlucky days. Le donne non intraprendono lavori nuovi nel giorno di Venerdi, non che negli altri giorni ne'quali v'entra la lettera R, cioe Martedi, Mercoldi. Venerdi, perche avranno esito cattivo non si tagleranno tele, caniicie, giacche sarebbe il tutto mal tessuto e mal lavorato, e corroso dai tarli ; e le tele, e camicie, arrecherabbero pizzicore alle carni, producendo ancora animali molesti alia quieta humana. — Mich. Plac, p. 131. Si guardano dal principiare la covatura nel giorno di Martedi sulla persuasiva che li pulcini nascano storpj, all'opposto credono, che principiata nel Venerdi, nascano senza fiele. —Ih., p. 134. Wednesday for setting out on a journey. Sposa Mercorina e peggiore della brina or fa andare il marito in rovina. — D. G. On ne se marie pas le mercredi, car c'est un mauvais jour. Enfant qui, pour la premiere fois, va a I'ecole le mercredi, n'y'apprend rien. Quand paysanne achete une vache, elle ne doit pas la traire pour la premiere fois le mercredi car elle n'aurait pas de bonheur avec cette vache. Les sorcieres ont du bonheur le mercredi, mais il n'est pas bon de parler d'elles ce jour. Presque toutes ces idees populaires nous paraissent appartenir a la premiere epoque de I'eta- blissement du Christianisme parmi nous. L'opiniatrete avec laquelle nos peres s'en tenaient a vouloir commencer la semaine avec le Woensdag eut sans doute pour suite que les nouveaux chretiens prirent ce jour en haine; d'ailleurs, Wodan ne tarda pas a etre declare chef de demons. — C, A. B. Keys. Au pays de Gex dans le departement de I'Ain une femme ne reniue jamais un trousseau de clefs un Mercredi dans la crainte de devenir folle. — D. C. Woensdag- Katten Duivels-Katten Roede baert * Duivels aertf. * Barbe. t Race. Thursday. First in June. C'est le Jeudi qu'il faut choisir pour introduire sa future femme sous le toit conjugal ; cela sera d'un bon augure, parce que la femme s'y reveillera un Vendredi, qui est le jour ferie des Mussulmans. — Daumas, L'Algerie. Les Bretonnes ne veulent point coudre les Jeudis et les Samedis parce que le travail ces jours-la ferait pleurer la Vierge. — D. C. At toto Thori die hominibus ungues secare minime licuit. — Finnur Magnusson, Lex Edd., s. v. " Thor." Nor to fell trees. — Id. 261 UNLUCKY DAYS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Thursday has been considered unlucky to the Tudor dynasty, Henry VIIL, Edward VL, Mary and Elizabeth having all died on that day of the week. Friday. To begin a thing. To cut the nails. — F. ; H. W. ; N., 4. To go a-courting. — F. To turn a feather bed. — S. ; Montaigne, Ess., iii. 8 ; Macready, Remin. i. 475. To be bled, take physic, or transact business. — Hone, Year Book, 1831, p. 251. The Jews, however, superstitiously pare their nails on a Friday. — Dm. So with the Burmese. — Buchanan, Asiatic Res., i. 172. He that sings on Friday will weep on Sunday. — Herbert, Jactila Pnidentum. Venerdi e Marti, Non si sposa, non si parte. Friday flit, short sit. — Scot. Prov. On ne bat pas les bles. — C, A . B. To commence a voyage or journey. — A''., iii. Friday sail, always fail. — xii. 478. Yet Columbus commenced his great voyage to America on Friday. A plague of Friday mornings, the most unfortunate day in the whole week. — Rowley, Match at Midnight, i. i. De se peigner les cheveux et de se couper les ongles. — (Flem.) C, A. B. Le Vendredi il ne faut pas nommer les sorcieres par leur nom. — Ih. Friday's moon. Come when it will it comes too soon. Les chemises qu'on fait le Vendredi attirent les poux dans certaines provinces. — Thiers, Traite. Si Ton change la chemise le Vendredi, on mourra dans cette chemise. On ne doit pas manger des oeufs le Vendredi ou Samedi de la Semaine Sainte, attendu que presque constam- ment, ils renferment ces jours la des crapauds. — D. C. Thiers gives a curious reason. Ne pas tailler ni coudre des chemises les Vendredis, parcequ'elles attirent des poux : ne pas se peigner les memes jours pour la meme raison (i. 258), and as regards travelling : " Ne pas entrer chez soi le Vendredi en revenant d'un voyage parceque c'est un signe de malheur." (i. 268.) And on a Friday fil all this meschaunce. — Chau., Noinie Pyeeste's Tale, 15,347, 5S. 262 FOLK LORE. unlucky days. M. Minard says that not only the Railway but the Omnibus traffic in France is much less on Friday than on other days of the week. — N., iii. 12. Cf. Unlucky Year, p. 257 ante. En prenant le nombre total des voyageurs transportes pendant le mois de Juillet 1866, on trouve pour le Vendredi 292,902, et en moyenne, pour chacun des six autres jours 317,065 : c'est une difference nette de 24, 163 personnes. — Maxima Ducamp, Paris, ses Organes, &c., 1869, L, ch. iii. ; ///. Les Omnibus, note. The attendance at the 1884 Health Exhibition in London showed the same difference. Une prostituce d'habitude va etre enregistree ; elle ecrit pour supplier qu'en ne I'inscrive ni le jour meme, qui est un 13 ni le 14 qui est un Vendredi. — La Prostitution a Paris et a Londres, par C. J. Lecour, Chef de Police, c. x. 1872. To-morrow morning come away ; Friday we '11 vote a happy day In spite of Erra Pater. A. Brome, To his Friend J. H. A child born of one of the King's wives on a Friday has his throat immediately cut. — Park, Travels in Africa, ii. 283. " Is't not a wonder Quintius should so dread To see a hare running across his way, The salt fall towards him, or his nose to bleed, Begin a journey upon Disemore's day. Yet fears not things more ominous than these ? " &c. Thos. Freeman, Ruble and a Great Cast, 1614. Ep. 25. A grave editorial note appeared in the Malvern News in March, 1872, protesting against the opening day of the Natural History Society for their first excursion being fixed for a Friday. The peasants of the Romagna think the Fridays of March and October peculiarly unlucky. — Mich, Plac, pp. 97, 106, 115. II radersi li capegli nel Venerdi presagisce dolore di capo fino alia Settimana Santa. — lb., p. 153. II far pane in giorno di Venerdi e presagio di disgrazie alle bestie bovine. — lb., p. 154. 11 ne faut pas baigner les enfants, ni mettre les ceufs sous les poules pour couver. — C, A.B. Among the superstitions in which he chose to indulge, the supposed unlucldness of Friday as the day for the com- mencement of any work was one by which he almost always allowed himself to be influenced. Soon after his arrival at Pisa, a lady of his acquaintance, happening to meet him on the road from her house as she was herself returning thither, and supposmg that he had been to make her a visit, requested that he would go back with her. " I have not been to your house," he answered, " for just 263 UNLUCKY DAYS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. before I got to the door I remembered that it was Friday, and not Hking to make my first visit on a Friday, I turned back." It is even related of him that he once sent away a Genoese tailor, who brought him home a new coat on the same ominous day. Yet he sailed for Greece on a Friday. — Moore, Life of Byron, vi. 62. Barbier [Chroniqiie de la Regence dtt, Regne de Louis XV.) writes: " Le roi est parti le 4 de ce mois (Juin 1728) pour Coin- piegne jusqu'au 28 du mois. II est parti Vendredi dernier. Louis XIV. ne partait jamais ce jour-la." En effet si le Vendredi devait avoir une influence quelconque, ce serait plutot une influence bienfaisante, puisque I'Eglise Catholique nous enseigne que si Jesus Christ n'etait pas venu nous racheter, personne n'aurait ete sauve. — Rion. Si se peigner le Vendredy fait mal de teste, et si c'est malheur de prendre chemise blanche ce jour-la ? — Jo., II. (Cab. 39.) Le Vendredy est le plus beau ou le plus laid jour de toute la semaine. — Jo., II. (Cab. 40.) Now Friday came, your old wives say, Of all the weeks the unluckiest day Journey to take or work to do. R. Yleckxioe, Diaviiiin,\nn. 165C. The Gallas never fight on a Friday ; the Ashantees never on a Saturday. — Bowdich, Essay on the Superstitions, S'C, of the Ancient Egvptians, Abyssinians, and Ashantees, p. 32. The Oera Linda Booh [an apocryphal MS. of the XIII. Century (since discovered to be a recent forgery), translated through the Dutch of J. O. Ottema from the Frisian by ^^'m. R. Sandbach ; London: Triibner, 1876] says that (Friday) Fryasday was kept as a kind of sabbath, and so gives a better-grounded reason than any that we have hitherto found why our sailors are unwilling to begin a voyage, and why others believe it to be unlucky to undertake a weighty work on Friday; since it says that a business begun on the day hallowed to Frya shall always end badly. — Rev. Wm. Barnes, in Macmillan's Magazine, April, 1877. Said to be the day on which Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, " so those who are married on it will lead a ' cat and dog life.' " — (W. Sussex) F. L. R., i. 13. O Veneris lacrymosa dies, O sidus amarum Ilia dies tua nox fuit, et Venus ilia venenum. Geoffry de Vinsauf, Lament for Richard Caiir de Lion. Why ne hadde I now thy sentence and thy lore, The Friday for to chiden, as diden ye ? (For on a Friday soothly slayn was he.) Chau., Nonne Preeste's Tale, 15,356. Friday -faced, as a term of reproach. — J. Day, Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, iii. 1659. 264 FOLK LORE. unlucky days. And as the lowering weather looks down So seemest thou Uke Good Friday to frown. Spencer, Shep. Kal , Feb. 29. Saturday. To go to service. — S. Saturday's servants never stay ; Sunday's servants run away. — ^Northampton.) To flit on a Saturday betokens a short term of residence in the place to which one removes. — J. Qui file le Samedi soir doit errer apres sa niort avec un rouet en main. — C, A, B. The Egyptians neither commence a journey, shave, nor cut nails, — Lane, Modern Egyptians. Servant-girls will rarely enter upon a new service either on a Friday or on a Saturday : they think it would lead to disagreement with their mistresses, and to not staying long in the place. — H. W. Nee te peregrina morentur Sabbata ; nee damnis AUia nota suis — Ov.,Rem. Am., 218. Certaine craftis men . . . will nocht begin thair warke on the Saterday, certain schipmen or marinars will nocht begin to sail on the Satterday, certain trauelars will nocht be;^in thair iornay on the Satterday, which is plane superstition, because that God-Almychty made the Satterday as well as he made all other dayis of the wouke. — Archbishop Hamilton's Catechisme, 1551, fol. 22 b. How few will commence an undertaking on Saturday. — J. ; D. William HL died on Saturday, March 18, 1702. Queen Anne ,, ,, August i, 1714. June 10, 1727. October 25, 1760. January 29, 1820. June 26, 1S30. March 16, 1861. December 14, 1861. December 14, 1878. Less manner'd and worse gaited than this Saturn's eve-made slim God never made. — Warner, Albion's England, ch. 31. (A sneer at the labouring class.) Bleeding. La saignee du jour St. Valentin Fait le sang net soir et matin ; La saignee du jour au devant Garde des fievres pour constant ; Le jour Sn. Gertrude bon fait De faire saigner du bras droit : Celui qui ainsi le fera Ses yeux clairs reste annee aura. — (Normandy) D. C. 265 George L George H. George HI. George IV. Duchess of Kent Prince Consort, Albert Princess Alice of Hesse UNLUCKY DAYS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Sunday's child is full of grace, Monday's child is full in the face, Tuesday's child is solemn and sad, Wednesday's child is merry and glad, Thursday's child is inclined to thieving, Friday's child is free in giving, Saturday's child works hard for his living. — Hunt. Monday's child is fair of face, Tuesday's child is full of grace, Wednesday's child is full of woe, Thursday's child has far to go, Friday's child is loving and giving, Saturday's child works hard for his living, And the child that is born on the Sabbath day Is great, and good*, and fairf, and gay. — N., iii. ^' Blithe and bonny.— Hn. Fair and wise. — Mrs. Bray, Traditions of Devonshire, ii , p. 287. t Good. — Hn. ; Mrs. Bray. Monday's child is fair of face, Tuesday's child is full of grace, Wednesday's child is sour and grum, Thursday's child has welcome home, Friday's child is free in giving, Saturday's child works hard for his living, And the child that is born on Christmas Day Is great, and good, and fair, and gay. — N., i. 4. Monday is Sunday's brother, Tuesday is such another, Wednesday you must go to church and pray, Thursday is half-holiday. On Friday is too late to begin to spin, The Saturday is half-holiday agen. Divers Crab-tree Lectures, p. 126. Born on a Sunday, a gentleman. — N., L, iv. Sunday children are in Yorkshire deemed secure from the malice of evil spirits. — Hn. But see Thorpe, N. M., ii. 203. Sneeze on a Monday, you sneeze for danger ; Tuesday, you kiss a stranger ; Wednesday, you sneeze for a letter ; Thursday, for something better ; Friday, you sneeze for sorrow ; Saturday, your sweetheart to-morrow; Sunday, your safety seek : The devil will have you the whole of the week. Atheuaum, February 5th, 1848. Sneeze on Monday, hastens anger ; ,, ,, Tuesday, kiss a stranger; ,, ,, Wednesday, ,, ,, Thursday, „ „ Friday, give a gift ; 266 FOLK LORE. unlucky days. Sneeze on Saturday, receive a gift ; ,, ,, Sunday, before you break your fast, You '11 see your true love before a week is past. — N., i. 4. Sneeze on Sunday before you 're up. See a lover before you sup. — lb. Sneeze on a Sunday morning fasting, You '11 enjoy your own true love to everlasting. — lb. If you sneeze on Saturday night after the candle is lighted, you will see a stranger in next week. — (Devon) lb. As to the salutations to persons sneezing, see Plin., N. H., xxviii. 2. He hath sneezed thrice; turn him out of the hospital. — Howell, English Proverbs. In India, at the present day, one may observe the quasi sign of the cross which a Hindu makes should he chance to sneeze while peforming his morning ablution in the Ganges. Having touched his forehead, nose, chin, and cheeks with the tip of his fingers, he recommences his prayers from the very beginning, and will do so as often as they are inter- rupted by a cachinnation. I have read somewhere that the ancient Romans made oblations to the genius of Osiris. -N., V. See instances of sneezing being accepted as a favourable omen. — Homer, Odyssey, xvii. 545; Propert, Eleg., II. iii. 33; Theocritus, Idyll, vii. 96, and xviii. 16; Aris- tasnetus, Epist. Amatoy, II. v. As of small import. — Plin., N. H., ii. 5. And see on the whole subject Giac. Leopardi, Saggio sopra gli Ervori Popolari degli Antichi, c. vi. Nails. In Wierland sieht man einige solche Abschnitzel in den Busen stecken, um sie gleich bei der Hand zu haben, wenn jenseits darnach sollte gefragt werden. — Boeder, Dcr Ehsten Gebr., p. 139. Old Wytches make a great mater of paring of a man's nayles. — Horm., Vulg., p. 21. If you cut your nails before breakfast on a Monday, you '11 receive a present during that week. — (Devon) Trans. Devonsh. Assoc, x. 105. Cut your nails on a Monday, cut them for news ; „ ,, Tuesday, a new pair of shoes ; ,, „ Wednesday, cut them for health ; „ „ Thursday, cut them for wealth ; „ „ Friday, cut them for woe ; „ „ Saturday, a journey to go ; „ „ Sunday, you cut them for evil. For all the next week you '11 be ruled by the devil. Athcnmim, February 5th, 1848. See H., S. G., iii. 45 ; Plutarch, Treatise of Isis and Osiris [trans, by Squire], 1744, p. 5 ; Hesiod, Works and Days, 742-3. 267 UNLUCKY DAYS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Should you cut your nails on a Monday morning without think- ing of a fox's tail, you will have a present during the week. — (W. Sussex) Trans. Devonsh. Assoc, x. 105 ; F. L. R., i. 8. What a cursed wretch was I to pare my nails to-day ! — a Friday, too; I looked for some mischief. — Middleton, Anything for a Quiet Life, iv. 2. I would give 6ve pounds for the paring of my nails again.— /ft. He will not eat his dinner before he hath lookt in his Almanack, nor pare his nails while Munday, to be fortunate in his love — Lodge, Wit's Mis., p. 12. Superstition nurs'd thee ever since, And publish 'd in profounder art's pretence, That now who pares his nails, or libs* his swine, But he must first take counsel of the sign. (A diatribe added to Astrology.) Bp. Hall, Satires, ii. 7. * Gelds. On salt qu'il pousse des envies aux doigts quand on coupe ses ongles les jours qui ont un R comme Mardi, Mercredi, Vendredi. Enfin, quelques personnes croient en Hollande qu'on se met a I'abri du mal de dents en coupant reguliere- ment ses ongles le Vendredi. — Collin de Plancy, Did. Infern. Days for marrying : Monday for wealth, Tuesday for health, Wednesday the best day of all ; Thursday for losses, Friday for crosses. And Saturday no luck at all. — Hn. Monday health, Tuesday wealth, Wednesday for good fortin ; Thursday losses, Friday crosses, And Saturday signifies northin'. — (Northampton,) Friday hair, Sunday horn. Better that child had ne'er been born. Friday hair, Sunday horn, Goes to the D'ule on Monday morn. — Henderson, Sunday shaven, Sunday shorn, Better had'st thou ne'er been born. Ungues Mercurio ; barbam Jove, Cypride crines. — Ausonius. Capillum vero contrectari, contra defluvia ac dolores capitis xvii. luna atque xxix. — Plin , Nat. Hist., xxviii. 5. See Browne, Vulg. Er., V. xxiii. 10. Thunder. Sunday's thunder brings the death of learned men, judges, &c. ; Monday's ,, the death of women; Tuesday's ,, plenty of grain ; Wednesday's ,, the death of harlots, and other blood- shed ; 268 FOLK LORE. unlucky days Thursday's thunder brings plenty of sheep and corn ; Friday's ,, the slaughter of a great man, and other murders ; Saturday's „ a general pestilent plague, and great death. — Leonard Digges. Lightning. The Curtian Lake and the Ruminal fig-tree in the Forum, having been touched by lightning, were held sacred, and the memory of the accident was preserved by a puteal or altar erected over the cavity that was said to have been made by the thunderbolt. Persons killed by lightning were wrapped up in a white garment, and buried on the spot where the fatal accident occurred. Their bodies were supposed to be incorruptible, and a stroke not fatal con- ferred a perpetual dignity upon the man so distinguished by heaven. — Hart wig, Aerial World, Note XIII. That Mithridates, the mortal enemy of Rome, had been slightly wounded in the forehead by lightning while still a child, and later in life escaped unhurt, while his sword that was lying near him in his sleep was consumed by the celestial fire, served, no doubt, to increase the terror of his name among the Romans, who derived a great part of their superstitions from Etruria. And Quintus Julius Eburnus, who was made consul in the year ii6 before our era, probably owed his dignity to his having been distinguished in a similar manner by the gods. — lb. "When a tomb was struck by lightning, this also was considered as a special sign of Divine favour, and among the sepul- chres of persons thus honoured after death Seutonius mentions that of Julia, the daughter of Caesar and Plutarch, those of Lycurgus, the Spartan legislator, and of the poet Euripides. — Id., cxvi., London, 1874. The ground also that had been smitten by a thunderbolt was accounted sacred, and afterwards enclosed, nor did anyone presume to walk upon it. This we learn from P'estus : " Fulguritum, il quod est fulmine ictum ; qui locus statini fieri religiosus putabatur, quod eum sibi Deus dicasse videretur." It could not, therefore, be sold. — Douce, Illus- trations of Shahs., ii. 89. The ancients considered lightning as a visible manifestation of Divine wrath ; hence, whatever was struck with it was considered to be accursed and separated from human uses. The corpse of a person struck by lightning was never removed from the place where it fell; there it lay, and, with everything pertaining to it, was covered with earth and enclosed by a rail or mound. In some parts of the East, it is, however, considered a mark of Divine favour to be struck by lightning. — Omens and Superstitions, p. iii. The Moors say that lightning is occasioned by God waving His hand to direct the course of His angels. — Bowdich , A shantee , 442. 269 COLOURS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Cleo. Some innocents 'scape not the thunderbolt. — Shak., Antony and Cleopatra^ ii. 5, 77. The Hghtning rent from Ariosto's bust The iron crown of laurel-mimic'd leaves ; Nor was the ominous element unjust, For the true laurel-wreath which Glory weaves Is of the tree no bolt of thunder cleaves, And the false semblance but disgraced his brow ; Yet still, if fondly Superstition grieves, Know, that the lightning sanctifies below Whate'er it strikes ; yon head is doubly sacred now. Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgy., iv. 41. To know what disease any sick body hath by the day and hour of his falling sick. — See Thomas Johnson, N. B. of New Conceits, 1630; HIL, repr., pp. 210-11, COLOURS. See post as to Complexions. Red. Besides the instances of the supposed potency of this colour at p. 126 ante, and post, everyone is familiar with the prejudice entertained for red flannel, under the idea of its extra warmth. Would keep him warmer than a scarlet waistcoat. — Massinger, Bondman, ii. i. Red mufflers are spoken of as being in fashion in London. — Chanticleers, vi. ; H., O.P., xii. Nell' Arpinate le fanciulle misurano I'amore dei fidanzati dal colore del nastro onde essi avvolgono nella domenica delle Palme, il ramo d'ulivo che porta no loro dalla chiesa. Se il nastro e giallo, indica battare la fanciulla da pazza ; se verde, che la si visol tenere in sota speranza ; se rossa, guerre se bianca, pace se turchino amore. — D. G. Red cow's milk is an important element in a receipt for the cure of consumption in Dr. Sampson Jones's Medecinc Boke, pub- lished in the latter portion of the X\TIth Century. Red is especially mentioned as the colour of the heifer set apart for sacrifice for the purification of sin in Numbers, ch. xix., and scarlet is specified as the colour of one of the articles " cast into the midst of the burning of the heifer." The red thread, like the berries of the rowan, the mutch of the woodpecker, the red breast of the robin, &c., in the Aryan myths, is typical of the lightning. — Hk. First she put on a red ribbon which she had bought at last Lammas fair ; then she recollected that red was an unlucky colour, and changed it for a blue ribbon tied in a true lover's knot. — Mrs. Hannah More, Taii'ny Rachel. Talismans, or the doctrine of signatures, may therefore be said to have taken their origin from a belief that medicinal substances bore upon their external surfaces the properties 270 FOLK LORE. colours. or virtues they possessed impressed upon them by planetary influence. The connection of the properties of substances with their colour is also an opinion of great antiquity : white was regarded as refrigerant, red as hot ; hence hot and cold qualities were attributed to different medicines. This opinion led to serious errors in practice. Red flowers were given for disorders of the sanguiferous system, yellow ones for those of the biliary secretion, &c. We find that in smallpox red bed-coverings were employed, with the view of bringing the pustules to the surface of the body. The bed-coverings and hangings were very commonly of a red colour — red substances were to be looked upon by the patient. Burnt purple, pomegranate seeds, mulberries, or other red ingredients, were dissolved in their drinks. . . . John of Gaddesden,* physician to Edward IL, directs his patients to be wrapped up in scarlet dresses ; and he says that when the son of the renowned King of England (Edward II.) lay sick of the smallpox, " I took care that everything around the bed should be of a red colour, which succeeded so completely that the Prince was restored to perfect health without the vestige of a pustule remaining." Wraxall, in his Memoirs, says that the Emperor Francis I., when infected with the smallpox, was rolled up in a scarlet cloth, by order of his physician, so late as 1765, when he died. Kaempfer {History of Japan) says that "when any of the Emperor's children are attacked with the smallpox, not only the chamber and bed are covered with red hangings, but all persons who approach the sick Prince must be clad in scarlet gowns. — Superstitions connected ivith the History and Practice of Medicine and Surgery, by T. J. Pettigrew, 8^, London, 1844, p. 18. See Trait e de Primerose sur Ics Errcurs Vulg. de la Medicine, iii. 27. 1680. And see Ben Jonson, Volpone, 111-12, where Lady Would-be, offering her nos- trums, suggests that they should be "applied with a right scarlet cloth." * Capiatur scarletum, et involvatur variolosus totaliter, sicut ego feci et est bona cura.— Whalley's note. [See The Red Thread of Honour, by F. H. Doyle. — Ed.] Hartin's crimson salt is the best and cheapest disinfectant in the world. Stops the spread of scarlet fever, smallpox, and all other infectious diseases. A shilling bottle, when dissolved in water, makes 300 gallons. Free by post 12 stamps, from W. Hartin and Co., Ethelburga Street, Battersea, and all chemists. — Daily News, October, 1874. The new-married woman no sooner is with child but she wants blankets to wrap the bantling in, and a scarlet mantle for the christening. — Poor Robin, Prog., 1699. A narrow strip of scarlet cloth is worn round the neck as a preventive of whooping cough. — Branch, West Indian Sups. Little bright red seeds, with a black spot, are called "jumby or fairy beads." ? the seeds of the hemlock-tree. — lb. 271 COLOURS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. To mark the stops or pauses in the Chinese Classics with red ink, it is thought, will keep away evil spirits from the reader. Parents oftentimes put a piece of red cloth upon or in the pockets of their little boys, in order to prevent mutilation by evil spirits. They often have red silk braided in the cues of their children to preserve them. — Doolittle, Chinese, ii. 308. Dr. Boorde constantly recommends red specifically. To recover a foot asleep (stonning of a member), " rub the place with a blew or scarlet cloth." — Brev. of Health, 336. To mundify the face. Wipe it with a scarlet cloth and wash not the face {lb., 133), and red wax was to be dropped on a corn or Agnell. — lb., 239. For a man's clothing, he insists on a scarlet nightcap and pettycoat (? under-waistcoat). — Dyetavy, ch. viii. 1547. Pourquoy est ce qu'on enveloppe de rouge ceux qui ont la rougeolle ? (unwritten.) — Jo., V. xxv. 5. White. Le blanc etait pour nos ancetres la coleur sacree. Par la voeu de I'habit blanc on recommandait les enfants, les jeunes filles aux graces des bonnes dames, sort surtout des deux premieres des Wording susters soit peut-etre de la blanche Holda. On disait que c'etait la un moyen de preserver leur vie : des enfants ainsi recommandes etaient respectes par la mort. Peut-etre la sombre Zala devait-elle epargner ce que ses sceurs protageient ainsi. Cette idee, sous forme chretienne, bien qu'elle ne soit pas approuvee par I'eglise (?) s'est maintenue pendant tout le moyen age et meme jusqu'a nos jours mais presque exclusivement parmi les families de haut noblesse, non seulement aux Pays Bas, mais meme en France. Un haut fonctionnaire prussien qui ete a Paris avec les armees allemandes en 1814 et 1815 nous assure avoir vu une demoiselle de tres-haute maison dont on fait remonter I'origine jusqu'a I'un des principaux capitaines des rois Franks, vetue ainsi continuellement en blanc, de memeque tout son entourage, filles de chambre, servantes, cochers, &c., ses equipages meme etaient aussi voues au blanc. Ce fonctionnaire ajoutait qu'en Pomeranie oij le bas-allemand est encore la langue du peuple, cette idee de nos ancetres n'est nullement oubliee. — C, A. B. Aujourdhui encore dans notre Lorraine lorsqu'a sa naissance un enfant est d'une faible complexion et qu'il inspire a ses parents la crainte de ne pouvoir le conserver a leur ten- dresse, ils s'empressent de le vouer a la Sainte Vierge, protectrice de I'enfance jusqu'a ce qu'il ait atteint sa septieme annee. Ce voeu consiste a le vetir constamment d'habitsentierement blancs pendant la duree de cette periode septenaire. — D. C. Drinking cup. The reader who is familiar wiih the religious observances of India is probably aware of the extraordi- nary regard in which the Ciip is held by many sects. In 272 FOLK LORE. colours. Germany, as Idr. Liebich declares {Die Zigeuner in ihrem Wesen und in ihrer Sprache), drinking cups are kept by the Gipsies with superstitious regard, the utmost care being taken that they never fall to the ground. "Should this happen, the cup is never used again. By touching the ground it becomes sacred, and should no more be used. When a Gipsy cares for nothing else, he keeps his drinking cup under every circumstance." I have not been able to ascertain whether this species of regard for the cup ever existed in England ; but I know of many [Gipsies] who could not be induced to drink from a white cup or bowl, the reason alleged being the very frivolous and insufficient one, that it reminded them of a blood-basin. — C. G. Leland, English Gipsies, c. 8. In Ceylon a white man, or a woman with child, are looked upon as omens particularly fortunate. — Percival's Ceylon, p. 210. Yet all, Sir, are not sons of the white hen, i.e. fortunate. — Ben Jonson, New Inn, i. i. C'est un fils de la poule blanche, i.e. heureux. — Diet, de I'Acad. White stones are by some fishermen rejected as ballast. — Gr., 26/5/'77. Methinks it saith, Old babe, now learn to suck. Who in thy youth could'st never learn the feat. To hit the whites which live with all good luck. Gascoigne, Posies, 1575, " G.'s Woodmanship." Black and white. Thus taking his leave, he marched toward his chamber [in her house], which he found all hanged with white and black. Who, knowing well the virtue of each colour and the mixing of the same, thought verily he swimmed against the stream. For (as 1 have heard some say) these colours pretended virginity unto death. — John Grange, The Golden Aphroditis, D, ii. 1. 1577. Blue. Selon les Orientaux quelle que soit la malignite du mauvais ceil elle echoue constamment contre le bleu. Aussi trouve t-on toujours dans chaque ville dans chaque bazar des magasins ou sont etalees de petites boites remplies de graines taillees en forme de mains, graines que les Turcs appellent buchuk on en place des bandelettes autour de la tete des enfants ; on en suspend des guirlandes a la fa9ade des maisons, on en entrelace en spirale le long des mats des navires, et on en cloue a la poupe et a la proue. — D. C. Blue is love true, Green is love deen*. — C. * Done. II. 273 19 COLOURS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Blue is true, Yellow 's jealous, Green 's forsaken. Red 's brazen, White is love, And black is death. (E. of England) Hll, Pop. Rhymes. Blue is beauty, red 's a taiken*, Green 's grief, and yellow 's forsaken. — C. * Token. Blue eyes are, however, looked on with fear. O green 's forsaken, and yellow 's forsworn, And blue's the sweetest colour that's worn.— Cheales. Then shall ye were a shield of blue, In token ye shall be true. "Squire of Low Degree," Haz., E. P.P., ii. 31. When thou didst vow for to be true, And that my colours should be Blue. R. Tofte, Fruits of Jealousy, 1615, p. 68. Abrahaw. Well, since I am disdained, off garters blue! Which signify Sir Abram's love was true. Field, Woman is a Weathercock, i. White and blue were sacred colours with the Germans. — Rochholz, Deutschev Glauhe u. Brauch, Berlin, 1867, ii. 191, 285. Blue dresses were a badge of servitude from the time of the Romans. — Pliny, Nat. Hist., xvi. 18; Shak., Taming of the Shrew, iv. i, 78; / Henry VI., i. 3, 47 ; Shirley, The Cardinal, iii. 2 ; Dekker, Honest Whore, Pt. IL, i. 2 ; ii. i ; iv. i, 2 ; v. 2. This was also the colour of the dress worn by a strumpet when doing penance. — Dekker, Honest Whore, vi , Pt. IL Blue flannel. See post. Female infants should be dressed in blue (the virgin's colour) ; male in red. — N., iv. About St. George, when blue is worn. Bluebells the woods and fields adorn. It was, at no very distant period, a custom even with people of fashion to wear a blue coat on April 23rd in honour of St. George. — Dm. "Blue-light baths" are, it appears, an infallible remedy for pains in the bones arising from rheumatism or railway collisions, and an interesting account is given by General Pleasonton, in a letter to the Chicago Times, of the imme- diate benefit he derived by adopting this mode of treatment. In October last he met with a serious accident in alighting from a train in Philadelphia. His physician said there had been no fracture of the ribs or bones, but that he would suffer a long time from the effects of the shock and fall. Liniments and plaisters afforded no relief; he therefore 274 FOLK LORE. colours. resolved to try a blue-light bath. In his bathroom he had a window with a southern exposure, arranged with alter- nate panes of blue and plain transparent glass. Uncovering his back, the gallant General sat with his back to the blue and sun lights which were streaming through the window into the bathroom. As soon as these lights began to fall on his back General Pleasonton felt much relieved, and at the end of half-an-hour the pains had ceased altogether. Towards evening they returned, but they were much less severe than before he had taken the blue-light bath, and he was able, for the first time, to get some sleep during the night. The next day he took another bath of blue and sun lights, which effectually relieved him of all pain ; and since then, now about three months ago, he has not had the slightest return of uneasiness in his back, three consecutive sun- and blue- light baths having completely removed the effects of his accident. The glass used was of a dark- blue, the colour being derived from a preparation of cobalt fused with other ingredients; and was imported from France. — Pall Mall Gazette, P^ebruary igth, 1877. Yet will I, woful wight, my corps with steadfast colours clad, As russet deck'd with blue, as steadfast suits as may be had, To represent my faithful heart, a banner to be true, And like unto the turtle-dove which changeth not for new. J. Grange, Golden Aphroditis, G. iii. 1. 1577. Yellow. Yellow was a despised colour in the Middle Ages, and formed the dress of slaves and bankrupts ; hence the yellow stockings worn at Christ's Hospital. The Pope's Swiss Guard still wear yellow. The servants of the clergy also wore it. — Shak., 7 Henry VI., i. 3, 47 ; and the Jews in Rome {temp. Elizabeth) wore a yellow cap or hat, and were mobbed if they did not. — Harl. Misc., xii. 150; Evelyn, Diayy, i. 218. \Cf. The San benito worn by the condemned heretic at the auto da fe. — Ed.] Yellow, however, is the favourite colour of the Seiks (Burnes, Bokhara, i. 14; iii. 145, 155). It is the sacred colour of the Buddhist, it being the colour of the flower which is conse- crated to Budhu. — Harvard, Mission to Ceylon and India, 1823, p. lix. And at Roman weddings it was thought of good omen. — TibuUus, II. ii. 17 ; Ovid, Met. [De Orphei Nuptiis,] x. i. In China, charms are written on yellow paper. — Doolittle, ii. 308. Yellow 's forsaken, and green 's forsworn, But blue and red ought to be worn. — C. See Massinger, Duke of Milan, iv. 2. For he that 's jealous of his wife 's being bad, Must have his legs with yellow stockings clad. Poor Robin, 1670. 275 COLOURS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Green. See p. go & 92, ante. They that marry in green, Their sorrow is soon seen. — C. Green and white, forsaken fjuite. In Germany, a Gipsy who loses cas'.e for any offence is for- bidden for a certain time to wear green.— Liebich, Dev Zigeuner. To this day, in the North of Scotland, no young v.oman would wear such attire on her wedding-day. Blue is considered the lucky colour. Probably the saying of a lady married before her elder sisters, " that she has given them green stockings," is connected with this notion. James Grahame, the author of The Sabbath, could not divest himself of being influenced by the superstition that the colour was fatal to the name of Grahame, and he would not so much as allow a green cover to be placed upon his table.— R. Bianca. Never a green silk quilt is there i' th' house, mother, To cast upon my bed ? Mother. No, by troth is there ; Nor orange-tawney neither. B. Here 's a house For a young gentlewoman to be got with child in ! Middleton, IVomen Bewaye Women, iii. i. In Massinger's Renegado (i. i) "an English pirate's whore, with a green apron, comes to grief in Tunis through wearing the sacred colour." Knochem. Ursula, take them in, open thy wardrobe, and fit tliem to their calling. Green gowns, crimson pe'ticoats, green women — my Lord Mayor's green v,-omen ! guests o' the game, true bred. I '11 pro- vide you a coach to take the air in. — Ben Jonson, Barf hoi. Fair, iv. 3. There is in the Tower* (Infer Brevia Regis Edvardi III., anno 24, 1351) a record of the indictment of Wm. Fox, parson of Lee, near Gainsborough, and others, for that they came to Bradholm, in Co. Nottingham, and then and there forcibly took and carried a certain nun, named Margaret de Everingham, a sister of the said House, " exeuntes eam habitum religiosum, et induentes earn robam viridem secularem," Anglice giving her a green gown. — True Briton, April loth, 1801. * [Now in the Public Record Oflice. — Ed.] Brothels are still painted green for distinction. Green gown. The supposed badge of the loss of virginity.- J. Greensleeves was a tune of loose character. — Shak., Merry VViiCs of Windsor, w 5, 18. 276 FOLK LORE. presentiments. The ist Shepherd (B. and F., Prophetess, v, 3) speaks of the green slops he was married in, " probably to indicate the fate that awaited him at the expected visit of the Emperor to his farm." Pour les hommes, on representa leur Chastete par un chapel de branches vertes. Quand Monstrelet decrit la ceremonie du baptcme d'un (ils du Due de Bourgogne en 1430, il dit que le parrain etoit' nu-tete lue et ses gens, malgre le froid, at avoit chascun un chapel vert sur son chief en signifiant qu'il estoit chaste ! Voyez Ducange Gloss. Lat. au mot Capellus- Viridis. — Le Grand d'Aussy, Vie Privee des Fyan^ois, ii. 247 n. Black. Servants who enter their places in black [clothes] will never stay the year out. — (Northamptonshire) S. Unlucky to wear a black dress at a wedding, or when making the first call on a bride. — Miss M. Bess. You said your ship was trim and gay : I'll have her pitch'd all o'er; no spot of white; No colour to be seen ; no sail but black ; No flag but sable. Goodlach. 'Twill be ominous, And bode disaster fortune. Bess. I '11 ha 't so. T. Heywood, Faiy Maid of the West, 1631, L iv. p. 54. Whenever the cat o' the house is black, The lasses o' lovers will have no lack. — D. Kiss the black cat, An' 'tv.'ill make ye fat ; Kiss the white ane, 'Twill make ye lean. To hele mannes woundes whyle they be fresh and clene, black Avulle and oyle ben full medecynable without any charm. — Dives and Faupev, ch. xxxix. PRBSBNTIMBKTS. Buddha non conoscendo ancora la sua futura sposa, appena la incontra sente ch'e dessa. Egli ha la plena intelligenza delle sue virtia. Ora a questi presentiment! che sono diventati una superstizione particolarmente femminina io do volentieri una origine mitica. Mi par difficile che una giovinetta dica d'una cosa accaduta il cuore mi lo diceva se simili avvisi del cuore non abbia mai udita vantare primada sua madre ; la credenza ne presentiment! e tradizionale, ereditaria d! madre in figlia. Buddha s'accosta alia sua sposas, e ha I'intendimento delle sue virtu; Buddha e il sole quello che vede tutto; la sua sposa e r aurora; il sole s'accosta all' aurora ; il sole trova la sua sposa, la indovina alia prima. Per altra parte 1' aurora e 277 WISHES. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. la piu sollecita a destarsi ; e la prima a vedere, a scoprire ; essa prevede ; 1' aurora e donna, e la donna si paragono air aurora; ossia si fece indovina. Ma non solo 1' aurora e sposa del sole ; anche talora la nuvola ; la nuvola tuona ; la nuvola avvisa ; la nuvola e donna ; e la donna si paragono alia nuvola, ossia si fece pitonessa sibilla, druidessa, fata, profetessa. Come aurora presente; come nuvola, predice. — De Gubernatis. The burning of his right ear stunted him likewise, for that is one of the parts that Saturn, an evil planet, governeth ; and so much the rather was he aggrised* for that he had not heard of long time from his fatherf. — Melb., Phil., N. * Terrified. t Who had been beheaded. MALEDICTIONS. They say that all the kynnered of theym that kyllyd Sainte Thomas (A'Becket) of Caunturburye have the wynde and wether against them wheresomever they go. — Horm., Vnlg., p. 102. 1519- Fuller accounts thus for the proverb : ** The Tracys have always the wind in their faces." Cromwell's generals and adherents were believed to transmit a troubled inheritance to their descendants. Fairfax House, Putney, occupied by a friend of mine, Mr. John Bullar, when I visited there about i860, had its haunted chamber, which was never used. Its undisturbed possessors were probably the rats from the river-side. The failure of male heirs was the penalty attached to the acceptance of confiscated Church lands. [_See p. 145, ante. — Ed.] ANTIPATHIES. Plants. Yea (who would think it ?), these fell enmities Rage in the senseless trunks of plants and trees. The Vine, the Cole; the Cole-wort Swdne's-bread dreads; The Fearn abhors the hollow-waving Reeds ; The Olive and the Oak participate, Ev'n to their earth signs of their ancient hate, Which suffers not (O tasteless discord !) th' one Live in that ground where th' other first has grown. Sylvester, (Du Bartas), The Furies, 96. The crowing cock the Lion stout eschews. — Sylvester, u. 5., p. 93. WISHES. The wild hunt of Dartmoor is one of those superstitions common to all the North of Europe ; but, in the especial form which it here takes, it is no doubt a Saxon legacy, and the "master" 278 FOLK LORE. wishes. is the yet lingering representative of Woden, under whose protection the mark, or boundary, was, according to Mr. Kemble, chiefly placed. "Wise," or " wish," was, we learn from the same authority, a name of that grim old deity (lord of the wish, or desire) ; and " whishtness " is still the Devon- shire name for all sorts of supernaturalism. The distant cry of the " wish-hounds " may frequently be heard in the solitary recesses of the moors at noontide on a Sunday, and there are some remarkable legends which tell of their appearance in church during service-time, and of the exorcisms by which they were expelled : a piece of " witchery in broad daylight " which takes us back to the struggle between the old heathens and advancing Christianity. — Quarterly Review, vol. 105, Article "Devonshire." Old and new. Cur ad primitias pomorum, haec vetera esse dicimus, alia nova optamus ? — Pliny, Nat. Hist., xxviii. 5. Cf. Brisonius, De Formnlis, lib. i., s. 150 : " Mos erat Latinis pcpulis, quo die quis primum gustaret mustum dicere, Ominis gratia : Vetus novum vinum bibo, Veteri novo morbo medeor." Correspondence with the unseen. Les personnes pieuses, animees d'un grand esprit de foi ecrivent souvent des billets et de lettres a Marie, qu'elles deposent au pied d'une image veneree, ou qu'elles portent sur leur cceur dans une circonstance solennelle. Marie agree ces saintes industries de la piete et exauce les voeux de ceux qui la prient avec cette touchante simplicite. Cette pratique n'est pas nouvelle. Nous voyons dans les livres saints et dans I'histoire de I'Eglise les plus grands personnages s'en servir pour obtenir de Dieu les graces les plus signales. — Huguet, Devotion a Marie en Exemphs, ii. 355. See details of this practice nowadays in France : Parfait, U Arsenal de la Devotion, Correspondence avec les Saints, 317-26. II y a des gens qui, en semant des carottes, disent : " Longues comme mes cuisses ! " et en semant des navets, " Gros comme ma tete," Afin qui ces legumes deviennent plus volumineux, — Mel. [Vosges], 453. WiSHiNG-CHAiR at Fiuchale Priory, near Durham. Wishing-place at St. Gowan's Head (Pembrokeshire). A fissure in the rock just large enough to hold one person, and formerly the saint's cell. Whoever, seated in this rock, repeats his wish therein in full faith, turning him or herself round each time of uttering it, will, before the year is out, have the desire accomplished. — Murray, Handbook of South Wales. Well of St. Fillan, in the Isle of Comrie, for overcoming sterility. — Statistical Account of Scotland, xi. 181. 279 WISHES. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Well of St. Maughold, in the Isle of Man (sitting in chair), for overcoming sterility. — Sacheverel, Account of the Isle of Man, p. II. Well in the Isle of May. The Wishing-well (in the Habberley Valley, between Bewdley and Kidderminster) is a spot resorted to by maidens to wish as fancy may lead them. To walk three times round the well, dropping a pebble into the basin at each turn, and with it breathing the wish into the ear of the resident fairy, is the course pursued. — Murray, Hdbk. Wore. Wish formed on first eating any fruit or vegetable for the first time in the season that produces it. On first eating hot plum-pudding. — Miss M. On getting the longer half, when pulling the merrythought of a fowl, which is sometimes called the " wishing-bone." — Ay. ; S. 'Tis common for two to break the merrythought of a chicken or woodcock, &c. The anatomists call it clavicula ; 'tis called the merrythought because, when the fowl is opened, it resembles the pudenda of a woman. The manner of breaking it, as I have it from the women, is thus : One puts the merrythought on his nose (slightly) like a pair of spectacles, and shakes his head till he shakes it off his nose, thinking all the while his thought ; then he holds one of the legs of it between his forefinger and thumb, and another holds the other in like manner, and they break it : he that has the longer part, has got his wish ; then he that has got the thought, puts both parts in his hand, and the other draws (byway of lot) ; and then they both wish, and he that lost his thought, draws : if he draws the longest part, he gets his wish ; if the shortest, he loses his wish. — Ay. (Common also in Germany.) If you see a shooting star, the wish you form before its disappear- ance will be fulfilled. — A^., III. i. 4. Beaucoup de gens se figure, sans aucun tondement, que le souhait qu'ils formeront en voyant filer une etoile sera infallibilement exauce. — Rion. ; D. C. ; Ilecart. Dans le Canton de Vezelise on dit que si pendant qu'une etoile file on pent prononcer " Requiescat in pace " on sauve une ame du purgatoire. — Richard, Trad. Lonains. What we call a "falling star" (and which the Arabs term "shihab") is commonly supposed to be a dart thrown by God at an evil ginnee, and the Egyptians, when they see it, exclaim : " May God transfix the enemy of the religion ! " — Lane, Modern Egyptians, c. x. On first hearing the cuckoo, turn the money in your pocket and wish for something. — B. On hearing a donkey bray. — Miss M. 280 FOLK LORE. wishes. On first seeing the new moon. Wish will be realised before the close of the year. — N., i, 5. On seeing a piebald horse. You must not think of his tail. On seeing a black cow. — Miss M. On passing under a ladder (when obliged to do so). — (Scotland) Na. If you see a horseshoe, or piece of old iron, on your path, take it up, spit on it, and throw it over your shoulder, framing your wish at the same time. Keep the wish secret, and you will have it. — Hn. If you can wish a wish while a withe of the Christmas ashen- faggot is burning, it will come true. The withes easily catch fire and burn very rapidly. — (Dorset) S. Y. in Long Ago, 1874, ii. 14. When you drop an eyelash, put it on the back of the right hand, throw it over the left shoulder [blow it off], and wish. — Miss M. Envie. Une femme enceinte qui a ce qu'on appelle vulgairement des envies, c'est a dire des desirs frequents et immoderes de posseder des objets, le plus souvent des fruits, qu'elle ne puisse obtenir immediatement, doit bien se garder pendant sa grossesse de mettre la main droite sur une partie quel- conque de son corps et particulierement sur sa figure.* Si elle ne veut que I'enfant qu'elle porte dans son sein n'arrive au monde et ne conserve toute sa vie une image ineffa9able de tout ce qu'elle a souhaite avec tant d'ardeur. — Richard, Trad. Lorrains. • Malebranche warns them not to scratch their face. Bessieres speaks of this vulgar error, p. 26. On a dit aussi que les ncevi vineux etaient du a ce que la con- ception avait eu lieu pendant les regies. — Bessieres, Err. en Medecine. Some women being with child desire Tarre, yea, I have seen them eat sope and hurt them not, with other vile things that I will not name: without Nature had them, death would follow, yet Phisike compt them deadly. — Bullein, Bui. of Dej., f. 58 [S. &- M.], 1562. La femme grosse est conseillee de mettre la main a son cul, si elle ne pent estre soudain contente de ce qu'elle desire. Le vulgaire a opinion que si durant ceste affection et phantasie elle se touche le visage, le nez, I'oeil, la bouche, le col, la gorge, ou quelque autre partie de son corps, en semblable endroit il paroistra a I'enfant une marque de ce que la mere a eu appetit. Et pource, afin que ceste note soit cachee, il vaut mieux qu'elle soit imprimee aux fesses, ou autre lieu que le vestement couvre. — Jo., I., Bk. III., ch. vii. 281 SIGNS FROM PHYSICAL LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. CHARACTERS. Jaqnes. There 's honourable bones a-breeding ; my sister is the peevishest piece of lady's flesh grown of late. We have good sport at it to see her vex and fret ; she boxes me as familiarly as if I were her cobbler for talking to her. Nay, she cuts her lace, and eats raw flesh too ! What sallet do you think she longed for t'other day ? Ant. I know not. /. For a — what d'ye call 'em ? those long, upright things that grow a yard above the ground — oh, cuckoo pintle-roots ; but I got her belly full at last. — Rowley, All's Lost hy Lust, iii. 1633. SIGNS FROM PHYSICAL CHARACTERS. If a young wife has her husband at sea upon a far voyage, and has any news of his arrival, every accident which then happens is a presage of his near approach : if there is but a thief in the candle, it is a letter from her Love ; if she dream of fire, it is hasty news from him ; if her elbow itch, it is a sign of a strange bedfellow ; if her right hand itch, she must receive money ; and if her mouth itch, she must have a strange kiss : and all this to be performed by her husband upon his arrival ; and if she drinks a dish of coffee with any that understands the deep Arcana of fortune-telling by that means, to be sure all the coffee-grounds that stick upon the sides of the coffee- dish dispose themselves into agreeable shapes : either a ship to bring her husband home, or a boat to fetch her a-board, or something as agreeable that brings the longing lover into a kind of enjoyment before they come into actual possession. So great is the power of conceit or imagination, if backed by desire, that it is almost able to bring future enjoyments into present possession. — Pooy Robin Prog., 1732. A remarkable proof "of the faith accorded to omens by the New Zealanders occurred shortly before the taking of the Pa, or stockade, at Tu Ruapekapeka. The force commanded by Col. Despard, with about 250 native allies under Nini, I\Iohi Tawai, and other chiefs, encamped one day just without the forest in which the enemy had their stronghold. It was arranged between the Colonel and Nini that a combined movement should be made at daybreak the next morning by the troops and native allies, who were to advance on the Pa until they gained a position suitable for a battery. Long before break of day, however, Nini was awoke by a sudden twitching of the nose. As the nose twitched in the right direction, the other chiefs of his party were immediately aroused ; and, after a short consultation, it was unanimously agreed that so favourable an omen was not to be neglected. Therefore, quickly and silently awaking their men, they set off by themselves on the road to the Pa, and before daylight 282 -.^^^ ,. ^ ^^^ SIGNS FROM FOLK LORE. physical CHARACTERS. took possession of a post about 300 yards from it, without opposition. They then sent back messengers to Col. Despard." — Shortland, T. and S. of Neiv Zealandevs. Plautus has allusions to omens derived from different parts of the body, as follows: — Teeth, Amph., I. i. 139; Head, Bacch., V. ii. 75 ; Shoulder-blades, Asin., IL ii. 49 ; Back, Mil. Glo., IL iv. 44. Cramp. 'Fore God, my left leg 'gan to have the cramp. And I apprehended straight some power had struck me With a dead palsy. Well, I must be merry, And shake it off. — Ben Jonson, Volpone, v. i. Skin. Widow (to Bold, disguised as the waiting-maid). Are you clean- skinned ? Bold. Clean-skinned, Madam ? There 's a question : do you think I have the itch ? I am an Englishwoman : I scorn the motion. W. Nay, prithee, Princox, be not angry : it 's a sign of honesty, I can tell you. B. Faith, madam, I think 'tis but simple honesty that dwells at the sign of the scab. — Field, Amends for Ladies, iii. 3. Itching. Of a sign of bad news ; or, as some have it : " You will be kissed, cursed, or vexed, or shake hands with a fool." — Noake, p. 168. O710S. Die, crimson rose, that did'st adorn these cheeks, For itch of love is now broke forth on me ! Uncle. Poor boy, 'tis true ; his wrists and hands are scabby. B. and F., Queen of Gov., iv. i. Paul. Love is a noble thing, without all doubt, sir. Car. Yes, and an excellent to cure the itch. Massinger, Very Worn., iii. 3. If your gartering-place itches, you will go to a strange place. — Connoisseur, No. 59. If your stomach itches, you will eat pudding. If your back itches, butter will be cheap when grass grows there. — lb. Itching of right palm of the hand indicates a gift. — B. Receiving money. — Melton. Rub it on brass, 'Twill come to pass; Rub it 'gainst wood, 'Tis sure to come good. — Demonologia, 1827. If your head* itches, You 're going to take riches. Rub it on wood. Sure to come good ; * ? hand. 283 SIGNS FROM PHYSICAL LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. CHARACTERS. Rub it on iron, Sure to come flying ; Rub it on brass, Sure to come to pass ; Rub it on steel, Sure to come a deal ; Rub it on tin, Sure to come agin. (Suffolk) T. Satchell in Folk L. Rec, i. 240. Lady Smart. And my right hand itches: I shall receive money. — S., P.C., iii. Clou. I no sooner put my nose into the Court but my hand itches for a bribe already. — T. Heywood, Fair Maid of West, I. v., p. 6g. Brutus. Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself Are much condemned to have an itching palm, To sell and mart your offices for gold To undeservers. Cassius. 1 an itching palm ? Shak., yulins Casar, iv. 3, 9. If your right hand itches, you will pay away money ; if your left, you will receive. — Connoisseur, No. 59. Itching of the left palm. A present to make. — A/"., i. 12. Or having to pay money. Itching (pricking) of the thumbs. By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes. Shak., Macbeth, iv. i, 44. [_God's Visitation intervenes between Lust and Pleasure.] Lust. Gog's wounds ! these pangs increase evermore. Inclination. And my little finger is painfully sore ; You will not believe how my heel doth ache. Trial of Treasure; H., O.P., iii. 294. Itching of the lips. That you will kiss somebody. — B. ; Melton, A strol. Itching of the ear. Somebody is speaking of you. — Kelly, Scottish Proverbs. You may expect news from the living. — Noake. Itching of the mouth. You will get some novelty. — Kelly, Sc. Pr. My mouth hath itched all this longe day : That is a signe of kissing at the leste. Chaucer, Miller s Tale, 3683. Itching of the nose. On right side, a stranger-woman coming ; on left, a man. — (Devon) Trans. Devonshire Association, x. 105. You will see a stranger, or you will drink wine. — B. ; Melton. You will be crossed, or vexed, or kissed by a fool. — Hone. You will hear news. — (N. German) Thorpe, Nor. Myth, iii. 186. Somebody is speaking ill of you. — Kelly, Sc. Pr. 284 ^.^^ T. r ^^,^ SIGNS FROM FOLK LORE. physical CHARACTERS. When young wenches' noses itch, they may be assured to be lickt under the snot-gall ere it be long. — Poor Robin, November, 1670. Miss. My nose itched, and I knew 1 should drink wine or kiss a fool. — S., P.C , \. Bellafront. We shall ha' guests to-day, I lay my little maiden- head, my nose itches so. Roger. I said so, too, last night, when our fleas twinged me. [One knocks. Bel. God 's my pittikins, some fool or other knocks. Middleton (or Dekker), Honest Whore, ii. i. If your nose itches, you will shake hands with, or kiss, a fool, drink a glass of wine, run against a cuckold's door, or miss them all four. — Connoisseur, No. 59. Pourquoy dit on quand quelqu'un seigne du nez que bientost il aura bonnes nouvelles — Jo., IL Itching of the sole of the foot. You will walk over strange ground. — (Cornwall) Connoisseur, No. 59; N., i. 12. Gclas. Oh, how my feet itch with desire! — Timon, i. 4, c. 1600 (Shak. Soc). Neveront. Deuce take you, miss ; you trod on my foot. I hope you don't intend to come to my bedside. — S., P.C, i. Itching of the neck. Your neck is youking for the gallows. — Kelly, Sc. Pr. Itching of the knee. You will kneel in a strange church. — (Corn- Vv'all) Connoi'^seKr, No. 59 ; N., i. 12 ; Trans. Devonshire Associa- tion, X. 106. Itching of the side. Somebody is wishing for you.— Connoisseur, No. 59. Itching of the elbow. You will sleep with a strange bedfellow. — N., i. 12. You will change your bedfellow. — (Cornwall) Connoissiur, No. 59 ; see p. 63, ante. You will be married. My elbow itches : I must change my bedfellow. — Howell, Parcrm. Borachio. Conrade, I say ! Conrade. Here, man ; I am at thy elbow. Borachio. Mass, and my elbow itched : I thought there would a scab follow. — Shak., Much Ado, iii. 3, 90. Harpax. Call for a delicate rare whore ; she is brought you. Hircius. Oh ! my elbow itches. Will the devil keep the door ? Massinger, V. Mart., iii. 3. Miss. Well, my elbow itches : I shall change bedfellows. S., P.C, iii. Much more their elbows itch for joy when they meet with the true gold, the true Red Herring. — Nash, Lenten Stuffe, p. 165. 285 ®ph?sica°l'^ LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. CHARACTERS. I know that I shall die, Love so my heart bewitches ; It makes me howl and cry — Oh, how my elbow itches. Love Poems (Ballad Soc), ed. Furnivall, 4. Itching of the right eye — you will laugh. Itching of the left eye — you will cry. — B. ; Connoisseur, No. 59. G. says the reverse. When your right eye itches, it is a sign of good luck ; when the left, a sign of bad luck. — Hone. When both itch, the popular belief is expressed in this distich : "Left and* right Brings good at night." — Halliwell. * Or. — Hone. P. Can. It is an action* you were built for, sir. Pich. And none but you can do it. P., jiin. I '11 undertake it. P. Can. And carry it. P.,ji(n. Fear me not ; for since I came Of mature age, I have had a certain itch In my right eye, this corner, here ; do you see ? To do some work, and worthy of a chronicle. Ben Jonson, Staple of News, i. 6. * Winning an heiress. Mrs. Maylerry. Tell me, then, I beseech you : do you not think this minx is some naughty pack my husband hath fallen in love with, and means to keep under my nose at his garden-house ? Bell. No, upon my life, is she not. Mrs. M. Oh, I cannot believe it. I know by her eyes she is not honest. — Webster, Northward Ho ! ii. 2. Itching of the eyebrow. You will see a stranger. — Connoisseur^ No. 59. Twitching of the eyebrow (la petit souris*). Right, good ; left, bad luck. — N., ii. * Languedoc, le rat. "KWe-rai oc^aX^os ^leu 6 ^e^io^-. — Theocritus, iii. 37. See Plautus, Pseudolus, i. i. Placenta. How my left eyebrow beats ! I do not like it ; It doth presage no good. P. Hausted, Rival Friends, i. i. 1632. Tingling of the e.\rs. You will hear sudden news. — B. Lies are being told about you. — Hone, Year Book, p. 252 ; Rd. Whitlock, Zootoviia, p. 460. 1654. One ear tingles ; some there be That are snarling now at me ; Be they those that Homer bit, I will give them thanks for it. Herrick, On Himself, iii 99. [Hesp,, 1098. — Ed.] 286 _ SIGNS FROM FOLK LORE. physical CHARACTERS. Singing in the ears. Someone is talking of you. — Bro. If the right ear sings or rings, it is a sign of good news ; if the left, of bad news. — Popular Superstitions, Philadelphia [1832]. Absentes tinnitu aurium prsesentire sermones de se, receptum est. — Pliny, Nat. Hist., xxviii. 5. See Fronton et M. Anrel. Epistol. [Ed. Mai.], lib. ii. 5. Poorgrass (a Wessex peasant). I 've had the newsbell* ringing in my left ear quite bad enough for a murder, and I 've seed a magpie all alone. — Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd, p. 68. * Newspoll (Somerset). Burning of cheeks, or ears. — G. ; Beatrice, in Much Ado, Shak., iii. I, 107 ; Webster, Westward Ho! ii. i ; Lyly, Euphues and his England, p. 286. Some say it is not significant after 6 p.m. On the right, you are being praised by someone. — Hunt ; on the left, you are being blamed. — (Danish) T., N. M., ii. 276 ; Hunt. H. W. says the reverse: left is praise; right, blame. Surtout en Normandie. — D. C. Similarly with burning of ears. — Popular Superstitions, Philadel- phia; Del Rio, Disquis. Magic, 451. So S., P. C, i.; Collin dQP\a.ncy, Diet. Inf., siih OxeiWe; S3i\g\xe% Erretirs; Melton, Astrologaster, 1620, p. 45. Bite your little finger, and the slanderous tongue will be bit. — Pliny, Nat. Hist., xxviii. 297. Heiwood [Epigrams) says it shows that you have told a lie. Quand I'oreille gauche nous tinte, ce sont nos amis qui parlent ou qui se souviennent de nous; et le contraire arrive lors- que I'oreille droite nous tinte. — Thiers, i. 185. If your right ear burns, your mother is thinking of you ; if your left, your lover. — (Devon) Trans. Devonshire Association, X. 105. If your right ear or cheek burns, your left friends are talking of you ; if your left, your right friends are talking of you. — Connoisseur, No. 59; N., i. 12. Mr. Couch gives the following, as spoken by the person affected : — " Right cheek, left cheek, why do you burn ? Cursed be she that doth me any harm : If she be maid, Let her be slaid ; If she be widow, long let her mourn ; But if it be my true love: burn, cheek, burn." (Cornwall.) Idle. Fie ! what vain breath you spend. He supply 1 I '11 sooner expect mercy from an usurer when my bond 's forfeited ; sooner kindness from a lawyer when my money 's spent ; nay, sooner charity from the devil than good from a Puritan. . . . 287 ®ph?sicTl'^ LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. CHARACTERS. Nicholas. I warrant my kinsman 's talking of me, for my left ear burns most tyrannically. — The Puritan ; or, The Widow of Watling Street, ii. 4. (1607.) I suppose that day hir eares might well glow, For all the towne talkt of hir hy and low. J. Heywood, Dial., H. i. Careaway. But I promise you I do curstly fear, For I feel a vengeable burning in my left ear ; . . . And surely I shall have some ill-hap, For my hair standeth up under my cap. Jack Jngeler, 1562; H., O.P., ii. 120. Beat. What fire is in mine ears ? Can this be true ? Stand I condemn'd for pride and scorn so much ? Contempt, farewell ! and maiden pride, adieu ! No glory lives behind the back of such. Shak., Much Ado, iii. i, 107. Freedom. Then look to yourself, you cannot live long ; I 'm practising every morning : a month hence I '11 challenge you. Moneylove. Give me your hand upon 't ; there 's my pledge I '11 meet you. [_Strikes him and exit. Free. Oh, oh ! what reason had you for that, sir, to strike before the month ? You know I was not ready for you, and that made you so crank. I am not such a coward as to strike again, I warrant you. My ear has the law of her side, for it burns horribly. I will teach him to strike a naked face the longest day of his life ; slid, it shall cost me some money but I '11 bring this box into the chancery. — Middleton, Trick to Catch the Old One, i. 3. Should I endure these curses and despite, While no man's ear should glow at what I write ? Hall, Satires, IV. i. 35. D'ou vient que I'oreille gauche estant percee la chair s y con- solide beaucoup plustost qu'a la droite ? — Dupleix, C. N. Si le tintement est a I'oreille droite, signe qu'on parle favorable- ment de vous ; a I'oreille gauche qu'on ne fait pas votre eloge. — [Vosges], Mel., p. 501. Bleeding of the nose. That you are in love. — B. ; J. Grange, Golden Aphroditis, M. 1., 1577; Braithwaite, Bonlster Lecture, 1640, p. 130. The Dutch say the same. If only three drops from right nostril, a bad sign. — G. See Shak., Launc. in Merchant of Venice, ii. 5, 24 ; Chapman, All Fools, iv. I. Un presage de inort pour un membre de la famille. — D. C. II nous arrivera du malheur. . . Si nous saignons de la narine gauche. — Thiers, i. 183. 288 ^^^ ,^ ^ ^^^ SIGNS FROM FOLK LORE. physical CHARACTERS. That when a man's nose bleeds but a drop or two*', it is a sign of ill luck. — Melton, Astvologastev. * Three drops. — Warning for Fair Women, ii. 1599. That when a man's nosebleeds one drop, and on the left nostril, it is a sign of good luck ; but on the right, ill. — lb. Ever after a bloody nose do I dream of good luck. — Ford, Lover's Melancholy, v. i. Delio. How superstitiously we mind our evils ! The throwing down salt, or crossing of a hare. Bleeding at nose, the stumbling of an horse. Or singing of a cricket, are of power To daunt whole man in us. Webster, D. of Malfi, i. 2. Ant. My nose bleeds. One that were superstitious would account This ominous, when it merely comes by chance. Two letters that are wrote here for my name Are drowned in blood ! Mere accident ! — lb., ii. 3. As he stood gazing, his nose on a sudden bled, which made him conjecture it was some friend of his. — Lodge, Rosalynde, 1592. For worthless matters, some are wondrous sad, Whom, if I call not vain, I must term mad : If that their noses bleed some certain drops, And then again upon the sudden stops ; Or if the babbling fowl we call a jay, A squirrel, or a hare, but cross the way ; Or if the salt fall toward them at table. Or any such-like superstitious babble, Their mirth is spoiled, because they hold it true That some mischance must thereupon ensue ; But I do know no little numbers be Seduced with this foolish vanity. Geo. Withers, Abuses, IL i. 161 3. Nose-bleeding of a man dreaming of being cuckolded. — Tarlton, N. of Purgatory, p. loi (Shak. Soc). Concupiscence. Both damsels and wives use many such feats : I know them that will lay out their fair teats Purposely, men to allure unto their love. For it is a thing that doth the heart greatly move. At such sights of women I have known men, indeed, That, with talking and beholding, their noses will bleed ; Through great courage moved by such goodly sights. Labouring the matter further with all their mights. L. Wager, Repentance of Mary Magdalene, C. iv. r. 1567. "• 289 20 SIGNS FROM PHYSICAL LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. CHARACTERS. Bleeding. Bess. Sir, I bleed*. D. of Flo. Hah ! bleed ? I would not a sad and ominous fate hang o'er thee For a million ; perhaps 'tis custom with you. Bess, I 've observed, Even from my childhood, never fell from hence One crimson drop, but either my greatest enemy Or my dearest friend was near. T. Heywood, F. M. of 17., IL iv., p. 155. * Suffer. Again she says : My sudden bleeding and my drowsimess Should not presage me good. — lb., v., p. 163. Swelling of the nose. A punishment for perjury, theft, and all falsehoods. — N., iii. See A pimple on the tongue. Thumb. The Master's look at the first sight spoke authority not for much ; but his thumb writ gentleman, and the ring upon 't sealed him Right Worshipful. — J. Day, Peregyin. Scholast.^ Tr. xvii. 1641. Wrist. S'il est vray que de la galle que on a au poignet ou bracelet on puisse juger qu'il y en a aussi aux fesses. — Joubert, IL Shrew, One sure mark* she hath : I marvel if she slip ; For her nose is growing above her over-lip. Jacob and Esau ; H., O.P., ii. 235. * Of a shrew. Is this a play on the word " No," foreshadowing her loyalty in wedlock, for which shrews were given credit ? Cf. A grunting horse and a groaning wife never failed their master. Her nose, nor long, nor short, nor high, nor low, Nor flat, nor sharp : the token of a shrow. Brathwait, Omphale, p. 228. 1621. Lameness. Pourquoy est ce que les boiteux sont plus salaces et luxurieux que ceux qui ont les jambes egales et entieres ? — Sc. Dupleix, La Cnrmitc Naturelle, 1625. Joy. Calvus can scratch his elbow, and can smile That thriftless Pontus bites his lip the while ; Yet I intended in that self-devise To check the churl for his known covetise. Hall, Satires, I^^ i. 45. His very fingers, they did itch To do with her the feat. — Bagf. Ball., i. 258. 290 _ SIGNS FROM FOLK LORE. physical CHARACTERS. King. Of fickle changelings and poor discontents, Which gape and rub the elbow at the news Of hurly-burly innovation. Shak., / Henry IV., v. i, 76. Sea. Why, how now ? charge ! stark dumb ! you have no more Compliment than a fish. Go, speak to her. In. You '11 give me leave to rub my elbow first, In sign that I am taken. Davenant, News from Plymouth, iii. Stye on eyelid. Orgeol. Une petite tumeur ou enflure, longette en forme de grain d'orge (d'ou elle a prins le nom) qui naist au bout et bord de la paupiere. . . . Quand on rapper9oit a quelqu'un on luy dit volontiers " Vous avez refuse quelque chose a une fenime enciente," ou, si Ton liiy refus, on dit "Vous aurez un orgeol en I'oeil." — Jo., L, iii. 6. Le furoncle des paupieres, le grain d'orge, I'orgelet provient de ce qu'on a pose culotte (cacaverunt) dans un sentier. — [Franche Comte], P. Bonnet in Mel., p. 350. Eyebrows. Forehead. A passing prosperous forehead, of an exceeding happy distance betwixt the eyebrows ; a clear, lightning eye ; a temperate and fresh blood in both the cheeks : excellent marks, most excellent marks of good fortune. — Siv Giles Goosecap, 1606, ii. I. Countess. Pray frown, my lord ; let me see how many wives you '11 have. Heigho ! you '11 bury me, I see. — Marston, Insatiate Countess, i. i. It is a vulgar belief that a man is destined to have as many wives as there appear wrinkles in his forehead when he frowns. — Note by Editor in British Stage, Vol. VI. 1820. Ceux qui ont la vaine du front grosse et apparente fort aisee a s'enfier, sont malicieux. — Jo., II. (24). And if a little vein appear between the eyes and the nose of a wench, they say that it signifieth virginity, and in a man, subtiltie of understanding ; and if it appear great and black, it signifieth corruption, heat, and melancholy in women, and in man, rudeness and default of wit ; but that vein appeareth not always. — Shepherd's Kalejidav, 1503. Cold in the head. All that night''-' shef could not sleep, she was so troubled with the rheum, which was a sign she should hear of some drowning. — Nash, Lenten Stiiffe, 1598, p. 168. * Of Leander's death. f Hero. Smallness. Clophus, his small eyes his large conscience shows ; His great head and large ears, his little wit. J. Davies of Hereford, Scourge of Folly, Ep., 27 ; p. 11. 291 SIGNS FROM PHYSICAL LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. CHARACTERS. When Lord Byron was introduced to Ali Pacha, " the Vizier said that he knew he was the Megalos Anthropos* by the smallness of his ears and hands," — Gait's note to Don yuan, iv. 45. * i.e. the Great Man. Blushing. Those which offend have commonly this colour in their face : When guilty men begin to blush, it is a sign of grace. School of Slovenrie, by R. F., 1605, p. 96. And withal (if you have not so much grace left in you as to blush), that you are (thanks to your stars!) in mighty credit. — Dekker, Guirs Handbook, ch. v. To change face In modest minds is sign of grace. T. Heywood, Royal King, ii. The Eie is said to cause our blushing, &c. Thanatus (to Fortune) : And therefore testify thy modestie (For error to defend is impudence) In granting that which thou canst not deny, And to be true thou know'st in conscience ; Thou sure wouldst blush if thou hadst but one eye To stand on terms with mine omnipotence ; But sith thine eyes are blind, and judgment too, Thou canst not blush at that thou canst not do. J. Davies of Hereford, H. H. on E., Civil Wars of Death and Fortune, 9, 1609, p. 186. If the RIGHT ARM starts or jumps in one's sleep it is a favourable omen ; if the left arm, it is unfavourable. — Shortland, Traditions and Superstitions of New Zealanders, 1854, p. 114. Those who are to die early have the lines in their hands indistinct. — Morle/s Life. [ ? ] Nails and hair. In another historian [Grimston] I find that [in Tartary] they do all suffer the nails of their left hand to grow very long, and wear them of their right hand very short ; and this wearing of long nails is not without superstition, for they say they shall be taken up to heaven by their long hair (of which they are curious) and their great nailes. — J. Buhver, A Vieiv of the People of the World, p. 292. A black spot appearing on the nails. A bad sign. — B. ; Burton, Anat. of Mel., i. p. 207. White spots on the nails denote luck. — (Berlin) T., N. M., iii. 184. Flecks on the finger nails : thumb, a gift ; fore, a friend ; middle, a foe; ring, a letter to come*; little finger, a journey to go. — Bro. * Or a sweetheart to corns.— F. L. R., i. ; N., ii. ; Carr, Craven Gloss. 292 •cr^r -u- T /-.O-r- S'°NS FROM FOLK LORE. physical CHARACTERS. A gift on the thumb, Is sure to come ; A gift on the finger, Is sure to Hnger. Once a wish, twice a kiss, thrice a gift. — N., VI. i. 344. A white speck upon the nails made them as sure of a gift as if they had it already in their pockets. — Connoisseny, No. 59. Les macules blanches qui paraissent sur les ongles decelent les mensonges qu'on a dits. — Mel. [Franche Comte], p. 350. Nor do we observe it verified in others . . . that there is much considerable in that doctrine of cheiromancy, that spots in the top of the nails do signify things past ; in the middle, things present ; and at the bottom, events to come. That white specks presage our felicity ; blue ones, our mis- fortunes. That those in the nail of the thumb have significations of honour ; those in the forefinger, of riches ; and so respectively in other fingers. — Browne, V. E., v. 23. These yellow spots upon my fingers, They never come to me but I am sure To hear of anger ere I go to bed. Warning for Fair Women, i. 1599. If you scream when your little finger is pinched, you can't keep a secret (a child's test). — N., v. 6. The bellies or muscles inside the fingers ought to bow when they are bent. — lb., g ; [Hyde Clarke]. Signs of long life. Porque quien ha espessos dientes suele mas tiempo vivir ? — Seer, de Alonso Lopez (158), 1547. To be crooked shouldered, large nostrils, to have above 32 teeth, short fingered, thick and clear coloured. — Thos. Johnson, Neiv Book of New Conceits, 1630 ; HII. repr., p. 209. Signs of short life. To be thin toothed, to have long fingers, and a leady colour. — lb. Pourquoy est ce qu'on estime de courte vie ceux qui ont les dents rares, claires, et non serres ? — Dupleix, CnriosiU Naturelle, 1625. A MOIST hand denotes an amorous constitution. — Shak., 2 Henry IV,, i. 2, 170. Nay, if an oily palm be not a fruitful prognostication, I cannot scratch mine ear. — lb., Ant. and Cleo., i. 2, 48. 0th. Give me your hand : this hand is moist, my lady. Des. It yet has felt no age, nor known no sorrow. 0th. This argues fruitfulness and liberal heart ; Hot, hot and moist. — lb., Othello, iii. 4, 34. With this she seizeth on his sweating palm. The precedent of pith and livelihood. Venus and Adonis, st. v. 293 SIGNS FROM PHYSICAL LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. CHARACTERS. Luce. There be a thousand bragging Jacks in London that will protest they can wrest comfort from me, when I swear not one of them know whether my palm be moist or not. — Webster, Westward Ho! iv. i; Field, Amends for Ladies, iv. 2 ; Davenant, News from Plymouth, iv. 1635- Sogliardo. How does my sweet lady ? hot and moist ? beautiful and lusty ? Ha ! — B. Jonson, Evevy Man out of his Humour, v. 2. Foresight. Does my wife complain ? Come, I know women tell one another. She is young and sanguine, has a wanton hazel eye, and was born under Gemini, which may incline her to society ; she has a mole upon her lip, with a moist palm, and an open liberality on the mount of Venus. — Congreve, Love for Love, ii. 4. Now doth her moistening palm glow in his hand, And courts him unto dalliance. L. Machin'-', The Dumb Knight, iv. i. 1633. [The preface is signed Lewes Machin, but the play is by Gervase Markham. Sec Greg. — Ed.] Bellafront (Dekker, Hon. Whore, ii. i) speaks of Lollio as a filthy, dry-fisted knight, in this sense, as Dyce thinks ; but I think she meant stingy. Clarindore. A spring of youth is in this palm : here Cupid, The moisture, turn'd to diamonds, heads his arrows. Massinger, Pavlt. of Love, ii. i. Iniperia. By the moist hand of love, I swear I will be his lottery, and he shall never draw but it shall be a prize. — Midd., Blurt, ii. 2. A COLD HAND, and a warm heart. Froides mains, chaudes amours. It is a good sign to be cold after eating. Eat till you 're cold, and you '11 live to grow old. — S., P. C. Lord Smart. I 'm always cold after eating. Col. My lord, they say that 's a sign of long life. — lb., ii. Idleness. As for my properties, I am sure you know them of old : I can eat till I sweat, and work till I am a-cold. Marriage of Wit and Wisdom, Shak. Soc, p. I2. This is an old joke ; — " Eat till he sweat and labour without heat." Sweat at his labour and not at his meat. Bullein, Dial. S. and C, 68. Qui pete en mangeant voifle diable en mourant. Cold of complexion, good of condition. — Hunt. One knows not where to have him : he is cold of complexion, but not good of condition, who spits poison. — " The Snake," Strange Metamorphosis of Man, § 27. 1634. 294 SIGNS FROM FOLK LORE. physical CHARACTERS. Faccia senza colore, o bugiardo, o traditore. Poca barba e men colore, solto il ciel non e il peggiore. If a youth cannot span his wrist with fingers of other hand, he is a bastard. — N., i. 4, 53. This is mentioned in Southeys Life, hy his Son, i. 113, as a belief at Bristol schools in his day. (Current in my schooldays at CHfton.) Biistopita. I did ever mistrust I was a bastard, because lapis is In the singular number with me. B. and F., Maid of the Mill, ii. i. People with tapering lingers are said to grow stout towards middle- age. — Miss M. Si les bout des doigts estant gros signifie que la personne est ou deviendra grasse, et la pointe des doigts graisle est signe de maigreur. — Jo. (51). Drowning mark. Hanging face. He hath no drowning mark upon him ; his complexion is complete gallows. — Shak., Tempest, i. i, 27. See post. If thou wilt needs damn thyself, do it a more delicate way than drowning. — Shak., Othello, i. 3, 350. Seek thou rather to be hanged in compassing thy joy than drowned, and go without her. — lb, 358. At the first sight she was enamoured of my age and beardless face, that had in it no sign of physiognomy fatal to fetters. — Nash, Unfortunate Tyavelhrs, 1594, M. 1 r. Proditores et transfugas arboribus suspendunt ; ignavos et imbelles et corpore infames cceno ac palude, injecta insuper crate, mergunt. — Tacitus, De Mar. Germ., 12. Jamieson says that in former times, on the Border, people crossing a swollen stream would cry out, " V/oodie, wooddie,''-" had your ain ! " — (Roxb.) * Gallows. Hanging and drowning. He that is born to be hanged shall never be drowned. — C. ; CI.; Poor Robin, 1667. The water will never warr the widdie.* — Kelly, Scottish Proverbs. ^ Gallows. The water '11 no wrang the widdie — Scott, Wavcrly, i. 272. Rut. Drowning we have 'scaped miraculously, and Stand fast, for aught I knov/, for hanging. B. and F., Custom of Country, i. 3. Aniinta. Sir, your Hymen taper I '11 light up for you. The window shall show you The way to Sestos. 995 SIGNS FHOM PHYSICAL LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. CHARACTERS. Antonio. I will venture drowning. Marline. The simile holds not : 'tis hanging rather ; You must ascend your castle by a ladder : To the foot I '11 bring you. Ant. Leave me to climb it. Mar. If I do turn you off ?— B. and P., Maid of the Mill, iv i. Who nedes to his death, shall ; It is but folye it to prolonge : This is a word said overall*, He that is drowned may no man honge. Barclay, C. of Lab., A. 7, 1506. * i.e. everywhere, A pimple on the tongue. That you have told a lie. — S., P.C. e'/w ^G ffe rou KaXov aivewv y^evcea jJivo 1562. ♦ Lawyer 310 „ SIGNS FROM FOLK LORE. physical CHARACTERS Nay, I further declare, you may know by their hair : If it be red or yellow then, then you may swear They will never prove true, but will love more than you : And the sandy complexions are flatterers too. Have a care of such men, for there 's scarce one in ten But are false and deceitful : be careful, oh then ! Of a two-coloured beard you had need be afeard. Now, if by such a one you by chance be ensnar'd. You '11 have sorrow and wo ; they '11 be jealous, I know, And will watch, peep, and haunt you wherever you go. " The West-country Counsellor," in Bagfoyd Ballads, ii. 495. 1684. In no kyn house J)at rede mon is ne woman of j^o same colour y wys ; take never jjy Innes for no kyn nede, for Jjose be folke j?at ar to drede. Boke of Curtasye, Sloane A/5. 1986 (about 1430-40), 1. 307, E.E.T.S. A red beard and a black head, catch him with a good trick and take him dead. Howell, English Provcvhs. Entre roux poil et felonie s'entre portent grant compaignie. Rom. de Cristal ct de Clavie ; Benoit, Cliivn. des Dues dc Novmandie, ii. 172; Rom. dn Rcnart, i. ig, v. 502. Jamais rousseau ou Normand ne prens ne crois a serment. Le Due, Prov. en Rimes. Soubz chevel roux souvent git un poux. — G. Meurier. Per rubeam barbam debes cognoscere nequnm. Thou shalt know a lewd fellow by his beard, either red or yellow. — With., 1586. Black. Clem. When did you see a black beard with a white liver, or a little felloAv without a tall stomach ? — T. Heywood, Faiy Maid of the West, 1631, L iv., p. 54. Pourquoy dit en de ceux qui ont les yeux verds que toutes bonnes choses leur sont centrales ? — Jo., H., P. V., 332. Cf. Shak., Othello. Squinting. People who squint are said to be of a penurious disposition, but punctual in their dealings. — Miss M. SYMBOL. PYTHAG. Ad finem ubi perveneris, ne velis reverti — f. 71. Ignem gladio ne fodito — lb. A fabis abstineto — 77. Cibum in matellam ne immittas — 72. Cornici ne insidias. — 70. 311 ^ph^sicaI'^ LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. CHARACTERS. Stateram ne ingrediaris— 70. Ne gustaris quibus nigra est cauda — 6g. Aretum anulum ne gestato — 71. Ne cuivis porrigas dextram Carne edilo — 72. VoUenti onus auxiliare, deponent! nequaquam — 72. Per publicam viam ne ambules — 73. Adversus solem ne loquitur. Hirundines sub eodem tecto ne habeas Panem ne frangito — 74. Hostium munera non munera. Erasmus calleth this supersti- tion. Cf. Timeo Danaos. Moles. A mole on the Feet and Hands shows there are others on the Testes, and denotes many children, on the right Arm and Shoulder, great wisdom. on the left Arm and Shoulder, debate and contention, near the Armhole, Riches and honour, on the Neck, commonly denotes one near the Stomach, which denotes strength. on the Neck and Throat, Riches and health, on the Chin, another near the Heart, Riches, on the Lip, another on the Testes, and signifies good stomacks and great talkers, on the right side of the Forehead, great riches ; on the left side of the Forehead, quite the contrary, on the right Ear, riches and honour ; on the left Ear, quite the contrary, between the Eyebrow and the edge of the Eyelid, there will be another between the Navel and the Secrets. — B. A red Mole on the Nose of a Man or Woman, there will be another on the most secret parts and sometimes on the ribs, and denotes great lechery. Yet have I Martes mark upon my face. And also in another privee place. Chaucer, W. of B.'s ProJ., 619. Moles on the Ankles and Feet, signify Modesty in Men, Courage in Wonien. on the Belly, denote great eaters, on or about the Knees, riches and virtue ; if on a Woman's left Knee, many children, on the left side of the Heart, very ill qualities, on the Breast, denotes poverty, on the Thighs, great poverty and infelicity. 'L.n^ton's Notable Things, 1660, p. 153. Quote moles and spots on any place o' th' body by the index face, Butler's Hiidebras, H., iii. 283. 312 nTiT -W T r^-OT^ SIGNS FROM l^OJLK LORE. PHYSICAL CHARACTERS. Moles on the middle of Forehead, Riches and Advancement by favor of Friends, on the right part of Forehead, prosperity in Riches and Love affairs, on the left part of Forehead, many crosses and dis- appointments, between the Eyes towards the Nose, Riches by Marriage, on the Nose, speedy and repeated marriage and many Children. on the right Cheek, prosperity with Covetousness and Craft. on the left Cheek— to a man, crosses in his aflfairs ; to a wonian, loss of honour and danger in Child- bearing. on the Chin, wisdom, but no great riches. on the left Arm, much labour. on the right Arm, Riches gained by industry. on the Breast, Advancement by the favour of Great Ones. on the Belly, to be beloved, and so gain riches and advancement. on or near the Private parts, promises ability in Duty, vigour in Love, and many Children. on the Neck, much labour and sorrow. on the right Hip, much beloved and fortunate in Love. on the left Hip, riches by the death of Relatives. on the right Knee, Success in Love and Several Marriages. on the left Knee, crosses and disappointments. on the right Leg, plenty and an easy life. on the left Leg, travail and poverty, and same on right or left Foot, or any part of the Heel. A New Academy of Compliments, 17. Chi ha il neo sopra la cintura Ha gran ventura.— Howell, Parceum. I have observed that when Englishmen have warts or moles on their faces they are very careful of the great hairs that grow out of those excrescences, and several have told me they look on those hairs as tokens of good luck.— Misson, Travels [by Ozell], p. 358, 1719. De Flares. I must confess my face is bad enough, But I know far worse has [far] better fortune, And not endur'd alone, but doted on ; And yet such pick-hair'd faces, chins like witches', Here and there five hairs whispering in a corner. As if they grew in fear of one another ; Wrinkles like troughs, where swine-deformity swills The tears of perjury, that lie there like wash Fallen from the slimy and dishonest eye : Yet such a one plucks sweets without restraint, And has the grace of beauty to his sweet. Middleton, Changeling, ii. i. 313 SIGNS FROM PHYSICAL LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. CHARACTERS. The hairs that grow out of Moles are held sacred. — Bro., V. E., V. xxiii. Naevos in facie tondere religiosum habent etiam nunc multi. — Pliny, N. H., xxviii. 6. This is still observed by some. — Ay. A mole at the back of the neck marks out the bearer of it as in danger of hanging. — Hn. If you have a mole on your back, you are sure to be murdered. — (Devon) N., v. I have a mole above my right eye, And shall be a lady before I die : As things may happen, as things may fall, Who knows but I may be lady of Bunny Hall ? (Nottinghamshire) Briscoe, Facts and Fancies. This forcast, it seems, was verified. Ohevon. And the blots of nature's hand Shall not in their issue stand ; Never mole, hare-lip, nor scar. Nor mark prodigious, such as are Despised in nativity, Shall upon their children be. Shak., Midsummer Nighfs Dream, v. i, 398. Alison. And that mole there beneath the tip of your right ear is a most shrewd sign [of matrimony]. No, I won't tell you where there is another. Ah, Madam ! Madam ! — J. Gay, The Wijc. of Bath (a Comedy), i. 1713- Warts. I have heard aged mumping beldames, as they sate warming their knees over a coal, scratch over the argument very curiously, and they would bid young folks beware on what day they pared their nails, tell what luck every one should have by the day of the week he was born on, and how many years a man should live by the number of wrinkles on his forehead, and stand descanting not a little on the difference in fortune when they are turned upward and when they are bent downwards. Him that had a wart on his chin they would confidently ascertain he should have no need of any of his kin ; marry, they would likewise distinguish between the standing of the wart on the right side and on the left. When I was a little child I was a great auditor of them, and had all their witchcrafts at my fingers' ends as perfect as Good-morrow and Good-even. — T. Nash, Terrors of the Night, 1594, E. 4. Momford. The creases here are excellent good ; the proportion of the chin good ; the little aptness of it to stick out, good ; and the wart above it most exceeding good. Never trust me if all things be not answerable to the prediction of a most divine fortune towards her. — Sir Gyles Goosecap, 1606, ii. i. 314 ■pOT V T nPTT OMENS AND l^Ui-JtV J-,UKli. OTHER SIGNS. OMBNS AND OTHER SIGNS. Ce sent des presages de bonne ou de mauvaise fortune, quand un chien noir entre dans un niaison etrangere ; quand un serpent tombe par la cheminee ; quand on eternue le matin, a midi, ou au soir, rarement ou souvent ; quand on dit quelque nouvelle ou quelque parole affligeante dans un festin ; quand on marche sur le pied de quelqu'un, quand on entend le tonnerre a gauche ou a droit, quand en sortant de la maison le premier pas que Ton fait est du pied droit ou du pied gauche. — Thiers, i. 185. Cest un mauvais presage quand le matin en se levant on voit un banc renverse et quand quelqu'un crache dans le feu. — lb., Traite, i. 183. God save my eyesight! (exclamation at a bad omen). — Palsgrave, Ac, X. 2. Candle. Quand le bois qui est dans le feu tombe et se derange ; quand la chandelle allumee jette quelques bluettes ou etincelles de feu ; et quand un chien en dormant tourne le nes du cote de la porte de la chambre, c'est signe qu'il doit venir com- pagnie au logis. — Thiers, i. 186. But of lower consideration is the common foretelling of strangers from the fungous parcels about the wicks of candles; which only signifieth a moist and pluvious air about them, hindering the avolation of the light and favillous particles ; whereupon they are forced to settle upon the snast. — Browne, Vulgar Errors, v. 24. The innkeepers and owners of brothels at Amsterdam are said to account these fungous parcels lucky when they burn long and brilliantly, in which case they suppose them to bring customers. But when they soon go out, they imagine that the customers already under their roof will presently depart. They call these puffs of the candle "good men." — Putanisme d' Amsterdam, 12.°, 1681, p. 92. Quand de petits charbons se detachent de la lumiere d'une chandelle ils annoncent . . . une nouvelle agreable s'ils augment la lumiere, facheuse s'ils I'affaiblissent. — C. P. Bien des gens attendent une nouvelle s'il se forme a la meche de la chandelle une etincelle tournee de leur cote . . . de peu d'importance quand en secouant le flambeau I'etincelle dis- parait. See Tres grave quand I'etincelle resiste a plusieurs secousses. — Rion . A sputtering of the candle announces a stranger and was a propitious love omen. — Anthol. Grec, vii., Ep. 177. Sternuit et lumen ; (posito nam scribimus illo.) Sternuit ; et nobis prospera signa dedit. Ecce merum nutrix faustos instillat in ignes : Crasque erimus plures inquit — et ipsa bibit. Ovid, Epist. Heroidiim, xix. 151 (" Hero to Leander "). 315 o^THlR^sfcTs. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Fire. Pfeifet das Feuer, so bedeutet das bei ihnen Gliick, ob es gleich bei denen Jakuten Ungliick anzeiget, und soUten sie diesem- nach bestandig gliicklich sein, weil sie allezeit nasses Holz brennen, so immer pfeifet. — G. W. Steller, Beschreib. von Kamtschatka, p. 276. The thin blue tlame Lies on my low-burnt fire, and quivers not ; Only that film, which flutter'd on the grate, Still flutters there, the sole unquiet thing, Methinks its motion in this hush of nature Gives it dim sympathies with me who live. Making it a companionable form. Whose puny iiaps and freaks, the idling spirit By its own moods interprets, everywhere Echo or mirror seeking of itself, And makes a toy of thought. But O ! how oft, How oft, at school, with most believing mind Presageful, have I gazed upon the bars, To watch that fluttering stranger ! Coleridge, Frost at Midnight. Me oft has Fancy, ludicrous, and wild, Sooth'd with a waking dream of houses, towers. Trees, churches, and strange visages express'd In the red cinders, while with poring eye I gazed, myself creating what I saw. Nor less amused, have I quiescent watch'd The sooty films that play upon the bars, Pendulous, and foreboding in the view Of superstition, prophesying still. Though still deceived, some stranger's near approach. Cowper, Task, B. iv., " Winter Evening." Last night (I vow to heav'n 'tis true). Bounce from the fire a coffin flew ; Next post some fatal news shall tell : God send my Cornish friends be well. Gay, Fables, i. 37, " The Farmer's Wife and the Raven." Much mystic lore of various use she knew. Why coals seem coffins, and why flames burn blue ; If with her tail puss played in frolic mood, Herself pursuing, by herself pursued ; " See ! " cried my Nurse, " she bids for rain prepare, A storm, be sure, is gathering in the air; If near the fire the kitten's back was found. Frost was at hand, and snows hung hovering round ; Her paw prophetic rais'd above her ear Foretold a visit, for some friend was near." Rev. S. Bishop, Poems, i. 116. 316 FOLK LORE. o^hI^'s;^:n°s. Another fiery ordeal (on All Hallowe'en) consists in whirling before the face a lighted brand, singing the old verse — Dingle, dingle, dowsie, the cat 's in the well, The dog 's awa' to Berwick to buy a new bell. They then observe the last sparks of fire and augur from them : many round spots mean money ; a quick extinction, loss of property, and so on. — Hn. A shred of soot hanging from the bars of the grate. A stranger. — Bra. ; Connoisseur, No. 59 ; Coleridge, Frost at Midnight. The number of times you have to blow or clap your hands in order to detach it shows in how many days he will come. If the "coom" is not to be thus detached, it shows that the strangers are not going to ahght. — J. A triangular piece of peat put into the fire means an unexpected stranger. — (Dutch) N., ii. If the FIRE burn brightly* on being pokedf, the absent lover, wife, or husband is in a good humour. — H. W. ; N., i. i. * Up quickly. f Made. — Trans. Devonsk. Assoc, x. 105. You'll have a cheerful husband. — S., P.C., i. ; Connoisseur, No. 59. Gentlemen who are fond of cakes and other sweet things, said to be good-tempered and make good husbands. — Miss M. Col. Oh, Miss, you must needs be very good-humoured, you love sweet things so well. — S., P.C., i. Sudden bursting of the flame from coals. A good sign. Sudden bursting of the flame from coals when the crock is hung up. A stranger. — N. If the fire springs out on the hearth, you may be sure of soon receiving a visit. — (Dutch) Thorpe, Nor. Myth., iii. 328. Bien des gens attendent une visite si un tison roule en dehors de la cheminee. — Rion. An oval cinder flying out of the fire indicates a cradle and baby. A coal starting out of the fire prognosticates either a purse or a coffin, as the imagination may figure either one or the other represented upon it. — Demonologia, by J. S. F., 1827, ^2^; Connoisseur, No. 59. A round cinder flying out of the fire indicates a purse and property coniing, called "purses" by Goldsmith, Vicar of Wakefield, — G. If you poke the fire at the top, above the bars of the grate. Will never marry. — Miss M. If the fire burns up quickly, the housemaid's young man is in a good temper. — Trans. Devonsh. Assoc, x. 106. And see p. 174, ante. The fire burning on one side of the grate. A wedding. — N., ii. 317 o°THlR®sfG''N°s. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. If the kitchen fire be found alight in the morning. A scolding. — N., ii. A dropped fork sticking in the floor. Company coming. — N., v. 3. A woman. If you drop a knife by chance on the floor, a strange gentleman will call before the day is over. — Miss M. If you drop a pin or a needle, a fork or a pair of scissors, and they stick on the point. — Popular Superstitions, Philadelphia. A cock strutting up to the threshold and crowing, or with his face to the door. A stranger. — J. ; N., i. 3. If you drive him away it will save you from the visit. Talking backwards — putting one word inadvertently before another. A stranger. — Hunt. By the chattering of magpies, they know they shall have strangers. Home, Demonologie, 1650. If on a tree, they will come to the adjoining house. — J. [Angus ;] R. Scot, D. of W. A bumble-bee coming into a house indicates that you will see a stranger shortly. If it has a red tail, a man ; if a white, a woman. — iV., IV. ii. 221. To turn the bee out is a most inhospitable action. — Hn. Tea-pot. If a man handles the teapot when under a lady's charge, he will have twins before the year is out. If the teapot be left open inadvertently while the tea is brewing (the lid not down) — a stranger will drop in. — N., iv. The lid of the teapot left open by chance at tea-time. A stranger. — l^Jiss M. ; Noake, Worcestershire Notes and Queries, 171. A floating tea-stalk indicates a beau. The tea should be stirred round briskly, and the spoon then held erect in the middle of the cup. If the stalk clings to the spoon, the beau will come that evening. Otherwise, if the sides of the cup attract. — N., iv. A floating tea-leaf in your cup. A stranger. Place it on the back of one hand and slap the fingers with the other hand, and the number of times necessary to detach it shows the days before his arrival. It is a male if long and hard, a female if short and soft. — Hunt. The sediment of the sugar, in the form of froth, rising to the top of a cup of tea. A present of money coming. — Demonologia. If the broom is set in a corner. Strangers will surely come to the house. — (E. Ang.) F. A brand falling in the corner and remaining in an upright position. A stranger. — Popular Superstitions, Philadelphia. 318 -c/^T T^ T r\T5-c OMENS AND FOLK LORE. other signs. If three women with the same initial sit at the table together. A wedding. — (Derbyshire) N., v. 8. If the parlour-BELL rings whilst the clock is striking. A scolding. — N., ii. If the door-bell rings or the knocker is used whilst the clock is striking. There '11 be anger in the house. — Trans. Devonsh. Assoc, ix. 99. Two bells ringing in the house at the same moment. A wedding. She is no less sure of a good [husband] because she generally has ill-luck at cards. — Connoisseur, No. 59. Holding good cards at play. That you won't marry. Unlucky at play, lucky in marriage. — (Dutch) Thorpe, N. M., iii- 331- If a girl in conversation anticipates what another was about to say. Will be married first. — C. ; Hunt ; Connoisseur, No. 56. As to men, see p. 156, ante. Two bachelors drinking at once to the same young lady. She will soon be married. — S., P. C, ii. The woRK-girl who puts the first stitch in the bride's dress will be married before the year is out. If cotton knots in working. Speedy marriage of the person for whom the article of clothing is intended. — Miss M. As many pins as a dressmaker runs unintentionally into the under- clothing of a lady when she tries on a new dress, so many years the lady will remain unmarried. — Trans. Devonsh. Assoc, X. 106. Miss. Pray, Colonel, make me a present of that pretty pen-knife. Ld. Sp. Ay, Miss, catch him at that and hang him. Col. Not for the world, dear miss : it will cut love. Ld. Sp. Colonel, you shall be married first : I was going to say that.— S., P. C, i. Eclipse. As the Eclipse of the Sun is the cause of death and destruction: so is an error or vice, which is an eclipse of virtue in a Prince, a great calamity and a pernicious plague unto the people, and presageth the like fall in the apish imitating multitude. — Cawdray, Tr. of Sim., 522. The sparkling bulhes of her eyes Like two eclipsed Suns did rise Beneath her crystal brow. To show, like those strange accidents, Some sudden, changeable events Were like to hap below. J. Cleveland, A Sing-song on Clarinda's Wedding, 1667, p. 155. Kiss. One for a wish, Two for a kiss, Three for a cold. 319 OTHlR^sfcTs. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Last piece. Whoever gets the last piece of cake out of the plate at tea-time — will be first to marry. If a girl gets it she will marry a man with a fortune. — Egglestone, IVcardale, p. 91. If in CUTTING TOASTED BREAD, the Segments are not cut clean through so as to fairly detach them, the operator will not be married. — N., iv. Si dans une veillee une jeune fiUe laisse tomber son fuseau et que ce soit les plus petit bout de cet instrument qui arrive le premier a terre, c'est un signe, suivant les femmes de Cornimont (Lorrain) qu'on recevra bientot a la maison la visite d'une personne qui n'y est jamais venue. — D. C. Cat. Nice. My grandam told me a cat sitting on the hatch was no good sign [i.e. the buttery hatch, or half door between the hall and the offices, with a bar on the top to rest the cans and dishes upon]. — S. S., Honat Lawyer, i. 1616. The old lady complained of a cold, and her daughter remarked it would go through the family, for she observed that poor Tab had sneezed several times. — Connoisseur, No. 59. The cat scratching her ear with her paw. A visit from a friend. — Connoisseur, No. 59. (See extract from Bishop, p. 316, ante.) Qu'une jeune fille marche etourdiment sur la queue d'un chat adieu pour elle I'espoir d^tre mariee dans I'annee. — Richard, Trad. Lor rains. Dog. If a feather, a straw, or any such thing be observed hanging at a dog's nose or beard, they call that a guest, and are sure of the approach of a stranger. If it hang long at the dog's nose, the visitant is to stay long, but if it falls instantly away the person is only to stay a short time. They judge also from the length of this guest what will be the size of the real one ; and from its shape whether it will be a man or a woman ; and they watch carefully on what part of the floor it drops, as it is on that very spot the stranger will sit. — James Hogg, Mountain Bard, p. 27, n. Talking of a person. That he or she will shortly appear. " Talk of the devil and he'll appear." Omina principiis inesse solent. — Ovid, Fasti, I., 178. God forgive me, I think I never name her, but I conjure her. Look where she comes ! — Three Lords and Three Ladies of London, 1590; H., O.P., vi. 401. You will live through the year. Beidh tu hed an bhliadhain so, a nois a bhimoid a' tracht on. You will live thro' the year, for we were just speaking of you. — (Ulster Proverb, 488}, U. J. Ar., ix. 227. ^20 FOLK LORE. other signs. Throwing down your chair in rising from it. That you have told a lie. — (Dutch) N., i. 3. Won't be married this year. — S., P.C. Si c'est une dame qu'elle ne sera pas mairesse dans I'annee. — Mel., [Vosges,] 453. If you STUMBLE up-stairs (by accident) you will be married the same year. — Hn. The converse is equally true and far oftener verified, that if you tumble down-stairs you won't be married that year. — The Puritan (1607), v. i. Drop a spoon, and you will have a disappointment before the day is over. — Miss M. Nest. A lady in Worcestershire was lamenting to me that one of the autumnal gales had blown down a squirrel's nest from the position that it had occupied for several years in the top of a tall tree in her garden. She said that this was looked upon by her servants as a sign that something un- lucky would happen to her house or household during the coming year. — [Cuthbert Bede], N., V. x. 23. Adverse winds. See Awkward, in sense of unlucky. — Marlow, Edward II. ; Drayton, Historical Epistles [Queen Isabel]. Old women's luck — wind in the face both going to and from a place. Brogden, Lincolnshire Proverbs. Qu. Marg. Was I for this nigh wreck'd upon the sea, And twice by awkward wind from England's bank Drove back again unto my native clime ? What boded this, but well-forewarning wind Did seem to say "Seek not a scorpion's nest, Nor set no footing on this unkind shore ? " Shak., 2 Henry VI., iii. 2, 82. Wear of shoes. Trip at the toe. Live to see woe ; Wear at the side, Live to be a bride ; Wear at the ball. Live to spend all ; Wear at the heel, Live to spend a deal. — (Suffolk) F.L.R., i. Lights at sea. This is a very elegant description of a meteor well known to sailors. It has been called by the several names of the fire of St. Helen, St. Elm, St. Herm, St. Clare, St. Peter, and St. Nicholas. Whenever it appeared as a single flame it was supposed by the ancients to be Helena, the sister of Castor and Pollux, and in this state to bring ill-luck from the calamities which this lady is known to have caused in the Trojan war. When it came double it was called VOL. n. 321 22 OTHlR^sfcTs. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Castor and Pollux, and accounted a good omen. It has been described as a little blaze of fire sometimes appearing by night on the tops of soldiers' lances or at sea on masts and sailyards, whirling and leaping in a moment from one place to another. Some have said, but erroneously, that it never appears but after a tempest. It is also supposed to lead people to suicide by drowning. — Douce, Illustrations to Shak., i. 3. The following may be referred to : Pliny, N. H., ii. 37 ; Seneca, Quasi. Nat., c. i ; Erasm., Colloq. in naufragio ; Schotti, Phys. Cur., 1209 ; Cotgrave, Frex Art. Furole, &c. If the light first appears in the stem or foreship and ascends upwards, it is good luck ; if either lights begin at the topmast, bowsprit or foreship, and descend towards the sea, it is a sign of tempest. — Steph. Babman, Golden Books of the Leaden Gods, cited by Douce. Cf. Lucian, Pt. I. [_True Hist., L, C. 29 : Xvxi'ovi Be ttoXXoi-? irepiOeovTa^. Nav., 9 • *•"'*' Ttva Xa/iTTpoi' acrrepa AioffKovpwi/ rou erepov eTTiicaOiaai 7w Kap-)^rjaiw. ChaVid., 3 : oXXw? re Kal vtt' eKu'vwv irapaKeKXfjfi.evo^ tV uKpot9 t. — Ed.J Ariel. Sometime I 'Id divide And burn in many places ; on the topmast, The yards and bowsprit, would I flame distinctly, Then meet and join. — Shak., Tempest, i. 2, 198. Dioscuri. Two Hghts appearing in hkeness of fire, and sitting upon the masts or sailyards of ships, betokening a lucky voyage to sailors : Castor and Pollux, or St. Helen. — Junius, Nomen- clator, 1585. Rain and sunshine. In some parts of Germany there used to be, and perhaps is now, a common belief that when the sun shone during rain a tailor was going to heaven. — Globe, 22/7/'79. Quand il pleut et fait chaud, Le bon Dieu plante ses aulx. Quand il pleut et le soleil luit, c'est le diable qui bat sa femme ou qui maree sa fille a coups de baton. Le bon Dieu plante ses aulx pendant que le diable bat sa femme ; I'un fait bien pendant que I'autre fait mal. lis sont en con- tinuelle opposition dans nos legendes. — Perron, Prov. Franche Comic, p. 140. Dream of snakes. In troth, 'tis no good luck to dream of snakes, one shall be sure to hear anger anon. Daniel, Queen's Arcadia, iv. i. 322 FOLK LORE. other signs. Cock-crowing. Pessimum habetur augurium cantus Gallorum vespertinus . . . aut mortem in familiam domumque illam irrepturam, cujus est gallus cantans, aut incendio aedes conflagraturas ; illud futurum autumant si pedes ejusdem galli aquae immissi, frigidi, hoc vero si calidi sentiantur. Ejusdem naturae est opinio de cantu galli in vestibulo concepta ; qui duplicis eventus creditur ; ut, si caudam ad villam vertat, oculisque intuatur fores sdium, hospitum adventum ; sin contra, oculos ad villam, caudam vero versus fores diligat, mortem praesagire dicitur. — Momannus, Dissert., p. 52. Si il oient la pie jangler Qui dent sanz dute noeles aver. Beleve nou3t of the pyes chateryng, Hyt ys no trouthe but fals belevyng. Many belevyn yn the pye Whan she com)) low or hye Chateryng and hath no reste, pan say they — we shall have geste. Rob. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 355. Cf. Maggot-pies, Shak., Macbeth, iii. 4, 125, Lucky numbers. A singular illustration of the Italian's belief in them occurred in 1878 on the death of Sir Wm. Stirling Maxwell at Danieli's hotel at Venice, the employes of the hotel immediately on his death subscribing to take shares in the numbers in the next lottery corresponding with the numbers of the rooms occupied by the late M.P. for Perthshire, both of which numbers strangely enough were afterwards drawn prizes. — N., V. x. 65. Messenger. This is the name in Worcestershire to threads or films floating in a liquid. The following relating to the discovery of pregnancy by the inspection of urine shows the same superstition : *' Ainsi s'abusent les bonnes gens qui cuident I'urine venir de la ou est I'enfant et qu'elle en pent rapporter certaines nouvelles ; et c'est, comme ils disent quand il y a un floe de coton ou de bourre suspendu au milieu de I'urine. Bailie luy belle. II y auroit prou d'hommes gros et enceins, si cela estoit vray." — Jo., II. iii. 3. Playing at soldiers. When children are seen so doing by the roadside it forebodes the approach of war. — (American) N., V. xii. So when the Volunteer movement is lively. Hens fighting. Quand les poules se battent ensemble signe que quelques parents ou amis dont on n'a plus eu de nouvelles depuis long temps, sont decedes. — Mel., [Vosges,] p. 498. 323 OMENS AND OTHER SIGNS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Miser. Quand un avare fait un cadeau, on dit qu'il ne tardera pas a mourir. — lb., p. 451. Pockets. Poches annoncent, quand elles sont mises a I'envers, que la personne qui les porte en cet etat doit bientot aller plaider. Meme dicton au sujet du bonnet, des bas mis a I'envers. —Ih., p. 498. Names. Lovell. The politic And cunning statesman that believes he fathoms The counsels of all kingdoms on the earth, Is by simplicity oft over-reached. Lady All. May he be so ! yet, in his name to express it, Is a good omen. Lovell. May it to myself Prove so, good lady, in my suit to you ! What think you of the notion ? Mass., New Way to Pay Old Debts, v. i. Romelio. I have lost three goodly carracks. Av. So I hear. . . . You gave those ships most strange, most dreadful And unfortunate names : I never look'd they 'd prosper. Rom. Is there any ill omen in giving names to ships ? Ar. Did you not call one the Storm s Defiance ? Another The Scourge of the Sea ? and the third, The Great Leviathan ? Rom. Very right, sir. Ar. Very devilish names, all three of them, and surely I think they were curs'd in their very cradles : I do mean When they were upon their stocks. Rom. Come, you are superstitious. Webster, Devil's Law Case, ii. 3. Alcade. I never saw a braver vessel sail, And she is call'd the Negro. Mullisheg. Ominous, Perhaps to our good fate. T. Heywood, Fair Maids of the West, I. v., p. 64. They [merchants] call their ships by many prosperous names: the Success, the Good Speed, the Triumph, the Safeguard. How vain doth one rock prove all these prosperous titles ! — T. Adams, Works, p. 401. 1629. Dordalus (leno). Quid nomen tibi 'st. Toxilus. Nunc metuo ne peccet. Virgo, Lucridi nomen in patria fuit. Tox. Nomen atque omen quantivis est pretii : quin tu hanc emis ? (seorsum) Nimis pavebam ne peccaret : expedivit. Dord. Si te emam, Mihi quoque Lucridem confido fore te. Plautus, Persa, iv. 4. 324 Vnj V T nOT7 OMENS AND OTHER SIGNS. Lipsius gives Salvias Longinus, Statorius as names of good omen. Curtius, Minutius, Furius, Hostilius as of bad omen. Comet. Cometam mirabile sidus, neque ordinarium, mala perniciemque mortalibus portendere vulgaris est opinio. Politicis bella, seditiones : Theologis religionum mutationes, haereses ; Nautis ventos et tempestates ; Agricolis annonae penuriam, sterilitates ; medicis pestem significare creditur. — J. Prirnerosius,* De Vidgi Erroribus in Medicina, B. II. ch. xxxiv. 1669. * An Englishman. Electrical disturbances often precede destructive rain : the cause of deficient harvests, and of a crop of popular discontent. Comonly wonders fall more ayenst wo than ayenst welthe, as comets and starres, brennyng castelles in the air, eclypses of the sun and mone ayenst kynde, men in the ayre armed or fyghtynge, the rainbowe turned up so downe. — Dives and Pauper, ch. 29. 1493. Lors qu'il-paroit un comete, Chacun chez soy fait le Prophete ; Le Pilote craint I'ouragan, Et le Bourgeois le patapan*. Traite de Primerose par Rostagny, 1689. * i.e. the rappel. Earthquake. These are things An earthquake brings : At nine of the bell They sickness foretel ; At five and seven betoken rain ; At four the sky is clear'd thereby. At six and eight comes wind again. N., V. X. 426 ; Transactions of Asiatic Society 0/ Japan. Steph. A fearful comet sweeps the air, Andr. Heav'n has done us right at last. And grac'd our triumphs with its bonfires too ! . . . St. Nor is this all. Men talk as if an earthquake Had overthrown some houses. An. 'T has yet left The palace standing. Have you more ? St. The statue of your St, Paul drops tears ! An. More change of weather. — J. Wilson, Andron., v. 2. Salad. Si une fille remue la salade, chaque feuille qui tombe retarde son mariage d'une annee. — Perron, Pvov. FrancJie Comti, p. 29. 325 OTHlR^sfcTs. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Inconstancy. The waistcoat wrought thou sentest new Hath of his silk new changed the hue ; The colours of thy picture fair Do drop from board and much impair ; The chain which thou thyself didst knit About my neck (for it most fit) On sudden's broke, presages all That thou from first love soon would'st fall. Rd. Tofte, Fruits of Jealousy, p. 8i. 1615. Three candles on the table. If middle one first put out, a wedding before the end of the year. — Thiers. Three candles burning in one room forebode a marriage. In such cases the Danes say, "Oh, there is a bride in the room ! " Les malheurs qui naissent de trois chandelles allumees. — Rion. A ring of flame in the candle. Matrimony. — B. ; Goldsmith, Vicar of Wakefield. The girls had their omens too ; they felt strange kisses on their lips ; they saw rings in the candle ; purses bounded from the fire, and true-love knots lurked at the bottom of every teacup. A separate piece of wick lying in the snuff of the candle. A thief. Browne, V. E. Probably because it wastes and spoils the candle in making it gutter. — Webster, Westward Ho ! v. i. Mist. W. I know what one of them buzzed in mine ear till, like a thief in a candle, he made mine ears burn. — Ay. Light the taper at the fire of the Sanctuary and leave it burning clear. Yet there is a thief to waste it ; yea, it is ready to dim itself if there be not snuffers to keep it bright. — T. Adams, p. 11 77. Foretells a stranger. — B. and F., Nightwalker, ii. i. Where you see a thief in the candle, call presently for an extinguisher. — Bp. Hall, Remains, p. 46. It is sometimes called a parcel.* — G. And some say, a stranger will arrive from that side of the country on which it lies. — Spectator, No. 7. * A letter. — Connoisseur, 59. A spark in the wick. A letter for the person towards whom it shines. — G. The time of its coming is determined by the number of times of striking the bottom of the candlestick on the table required to detach the spark. — J. A vexatious controversy to the person on whom they alight. Sharp swords. — (Teviotdale). 326 FOLK LORE. other signs. When the tallow in melting curls over the edge. A winding sheet. — G. The person in the company opposite to it will be the first to die. It is said to represent the handle of your coffin. — Hunt. If one lights a candle and it goes out again directly. Will have a disappointment. — Miss M. The smell of brimstone another sign. — Gay, Widow of Bath y iii. That if a candle burn blue it is a sign there is a spirit in the house, or not far from it. — lb. ; Melton ; Connoisseur, No. 59. Frippery. Lent to master Andrew Lucifer upon his flame- coloured doublet and blue taffeta hose . . . " top the candle, sirrah ! methinks the light burns blue." — Middleton, Your Five Gallants, i. i. If the bubbles in the centre of a teacup can be got into a spoon and then into the mouth without the sides of the cup and spoon being touched by them. A letter next morning. — Miss M. When the bubbles rise in the centre of the cup, it is a sign of fair weather; when at the side, of wet. — Miss M. Bubbles upon tea denote kisses. — Hone, Year Book, p. 253. Hazlitt {MS. Notes to Slang Dictionary) calls the froth " the witch." A pair of knives crossed, or the noise made by the steam in escaping from a block of wood burning on the hearth, presage a quarrel. — (Northampton) S. Two teaspoons inadvertently put into the same saucer. A wedding. —Miss M.; N., iv. Meeting a priest the first thing on New Year's morn. Marriage within year of spinsters and widows. — Mich. Plac, p. log. If a loaf parts in your hand while you are cutting it. Bodes dis- sension : parting man and wife. — Hn. A HORSE NEIGHING AT YOUR DOOR betokens coming grief. — (West Indies) Branch. Rainy weather the rest of the week. — N., iv. Nell India e in Russia si crede ancora che I'uomo provi il bisogno di starnutare quando una donna pensa a lui. — D. G. When a person wants to sneeze and cannot. Some one wants to see them and is unable. — Miss M. If you sneeze three times in close succession. Will have a present, and a good husband or wife. For once or twice neesing, from death no escaping. Howell gives this as a British proverb. *' Nag un treu na dau, ni nawdd rhag angeu. — p. 22. Two or iii nesys be holesom : one is a shrowed token. Bina aut terna sternutatio salutaris, solitaria vero gravis. — Horman, 7., p. 30. 327 OTHlR^sfQ^Ns. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. If when a servant is making a bed she happens to sneeze, no person can sleep in it undisturbed, unless a part of the straw or feathers be taken out and l)urnt. — Ess. on Demon- ologv, Ghosts and Apparitions and Popular Superstitions, by James Thacher, p. 205. This is given in Hampson, Med. ^v. Kal., i. 386 (1841) as Highland. When two persons in conversation are going to tell each other the same thing, some lie will soon be told about them. — S. But see p. 319, ante. If a person inadvertently makes a rhyme in conversation. Will receive a present. — Miss M. When the canary bird sings cheerfully, all is well with the family ; when he ceases and becomes silent, calamity is in store. — H. W. When rooks desert a rookery, it foretells the downfall of the family owning the property. When they haunt a town or village, forebodes mortality ; and if they feed in the streets, a storm. — Hn. A single crow perched in the path of the observer forebodes wrath. — N., i. 2. If a HARE runs along a village street. A fire. — S. Dress. If your apron strings*' come untied, your absent lover is thinking of you. — Miss M. * Garter. — Hunt. See p. 305, ante. If you put a button or hook into the wrong hole while dressing in the morning, some misfortune will occur during the day. — Hn. If you tear your dress returning home, you will never take the same walk with the same people again. — (Piedmontese) N., IV. X. If a gentleman burns the tail of his coat or a lady the hem of her skirt during a visit to the county, it is a proof they will repeat their visit. — (Dorset) Long Ago, ii. 14. Shoes. And now my dream 's out ; for I was adream'd. That I saw a huge rat ; O dear, how I scream'd ! And after, methought I had lost my new shoes ; And Molly, she said I should hear some ill news. Swift, The Grand Question. Greg. Lady, your scarf's fallen down. N. 'Tis but your luck, sir, And does presage the mistress must fall shortly ; You may wear it an you please. B. and F., Wit at Several Weapons, iii. i. 328 FOLK LORE. other signs. If steel articles belonging to you, such as knives, keys, &c., become RUSTY without unusual carelessness. Money is put by for you. — (Welsh) N., i. 5. When a loaf is cut up and shows large holes in the inside, the customary proverb is that the baker has chased his wife through the dough. — (Dutch) N., ii. If meat shrink in the pot, it presages a downfall in life ; but if it swells, you will be prosperous. — Hn. The cook is in love when the porridge is burnt. — (Dutch) N., ii. Or a dish is too much salted. — lb. If there is great plenty of nuts in the copses and hedges. Many children will be born that year. — L. Double nuts presage twins. — (Worcestershire) Lees. Lorsque I'annee est fertile en noisettes il y a beaucoup de naissances illegitimes. — D. C. Sept. If store of nuts this month, the proverb 's clear That it will be a mighty bastard year. — Poor Robin, 1687. A full churchyard. — (Derbyshire) Reliquary. A good apple-year. — N., iii. Das jahr in welchen viele Niisse wachsen bringt viele kinder der Liebe. Anna de nesilles * anna de filles anna d'achaulonsf anna de gaichons.;]: Perron, Prov. Franche Comte, p. 23. * Noisettes. f Noix. I Garcons. When there's plenty o' nuts there's a many wasps and a many women with child. — (Shropshire), N.,V. 3. This month some maids makes nine months after sick, When they with men in woods go nuts to pick ; For, being round about with wood enclosed. They oftentimes are wantonly disposed. Poor Robin, 1714 (Sept.) A baby laughing in its dreams is conversing with the angels. — (Dutch) N., i. 3. The French call this " rire aux anges," and think it a bad sign, as indicating that he will soon join their number. — D. C. To dream of the dead before day, is hasty news and soon away. — J. If a girl's"'-' petticoat hangs below her dress, they say her father loves her better tlian her mother, meaning that her mother has neglected her ordinary and natural duties to her. — Chambers, Book of Days ; Miss M. * Being slated child. — Carr, Craven Glossary. Birthday. Such as the weather is on this anniversary, so will your prospects for the year be bright or dull. — Miss M. 329 OTHlR^sfcTs. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Birth of males. I noticed in the course of this year that there was a greater christening of lad bairns than had ever been in any year during my incumbency, and grave and wise persons said that it had been long held as a sure prognostication of war when the births of male children outnumbered that of females. — Gait, Ann. of the Par., p. i8o. Parson. The number of years that a parson will hold a living shown by the number of knoups, or strokes he gives on the church bell at his induction. — Jackson, Shropshire Word Book, Thorn. A Fresse on dit qu'une epine accrochee a la robe d'une jeune fille ou d'une veuve annonce que I'une ou I'autre epousera un veuf. — D. C. (Lorrain.) Bed. A bedmaker who forgets to put the pillows in their places will not be married during that year. — Trans. Devonsh. Assoc, X. io6. Sex of child. Wann zwey schwangere Weiber zugleich niesen, so bilden sie sich ein dass sie beyde Tochter bekommen werden, niesen aber zweene Manner, deren Weiber schwanger seynd, zugleich, so soils sohne bedeuten. — J. W. Boeder, 1685. In Wierland hort man vom erwahnten Weiberniesen gerade das Gegentheil, und, zwar stutzt man sich dabei auf biblischen Grund, Maria und Elisabeth begriissen sich, sie werden jede einen Sohn zur Welt bringen. — (French) R. Kreuzwald, Der Ehsten Abergl. Gehrauche, p. 45. 1854. Lorsqu'un arbre etend ses rameaux sur une maison, il faut s'attendre a ce qu'un revers accable ses habitants. — D. C. Aurora Borealis. It is a common notion among the Welsh peasantry that it portends wars and convulsions of nations. — Cambridge Quart. Mag., iii. 206. 1831. Cow's tail. Hodge. Gog's hart, I durst have layd my cap to a crowne, Ch' would learn of some prancome as soon as ich came to town. Diccon. Why, Hodge, art thou inspyred ? or dedst thou thereof here ? Hodge. Nay, but ich saw such a wonder ich saw nat this seven yere. Tome Tannkard's cow (be Gog's bones !) she set me up her sail. And flynging about his halfe aker, frysking with her taile ; As though there had been in her ars a swarme of bees ; And chad not cryed tphrowh hoore, she'ad lept out of his Lees. 330 FOLK LORE. divinations. Die, Why, Hodge, lies the connyng in Tome Tankard's cow'es tail? Hodge. Well, ich chave hard some say such tokens do not fayle. — Gammer Gurton's Needle, 1575, i. 2. Cicely. If I find not out your sweetheart, let me never be counted a prophetess, and I am sure I have foretold weather from the turning up of my cow's tail. — Nabbes, Tottenham CL, ii. 3. 1638. If a farmer's cows become restive without any apparent cause : forebodes trouble to master or mistress. — (Scotland) Na. Vedendosi su di una noce i frutti fra loro aggruppati e formanti un cosi detto castelleto, e presagio di scarso raccolto nel venturo anno e percio dicono. Quand la nosa fa e castlett, Che ha di gran chil tegna strett. Mich. Plac, 154. En Lorraine, si une femme ou une jeune fille porte, etant habillees, une jupe de dessous plus longue que celle de dessus, c'est un signe, suivant des habitants de Cornimon qu'elle assistera bientot a une noce. Dans d'autres com- munes on croit que la jeune fille qui commet cette acte de negligence ne se marierait pas de long temps. — D. C. DIYINATIONS. For the King of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination : he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver. — Ezekiel, xxi. 21. Divination by lots, verses, or scrolls. — (Sortilegium) Huloet. Finding the way. Falling staff. Which way so ever my staff falleth, that way will I take. — Palsgrave, Ac, x. 1540. Tuh. We are like men that wander in strange woods, And lose ourselves in search of them we seek. Hilts. This was because we rose on the wrong side ; But as I am now here, just in the mid-way, I '11 zet my sword on the pummel, and that line The point vails to, we '11 take, whether it be To Kentish Town, the church, or home again. B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, iv. 2. En' on en' he pois'd his rung, then Watch'd the airt its head did fa' ; Whilk was east he lapt and sung then, For there his dear bade, Meg Macraw. Jock Buvnie. Herring. Dans plusieurs contrees, et meme dans quelques localites de la France, on a la coutume, lorsqu'on mange des harengs de Jeter la laite (roe) au plancher ; si elle s'y attache, c'est 331 DIVINATIONS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. qu'on aura un habit neuf a Paques : dans le cas contraire on n'aura rien. C'est aussi, a ce qu'on croit, un excellent moyen pour savoire si on reussira dans une affaire. — D. C. Grounds in a tea or coffee cup. See full details of the procedure and teachings of the divination by " marc de cafe " in Collin de Plancy, Dictionnaive Infernal. England, a fortune-telling host, As numerous as the stars, could boast ; Matrons who toss the cup, and see The grounds of fate in grounds of tea. Churchill, The Ghost, i. 115. I have seen him (the man she is in love with) several times in coffee grounds with a sword by his side, and he was once at the bottom of a teacup in a coach and six, with two footmen behind it. — C, Connoisseur, No. 56. Vulture. See the speech of Cassius (Shak., Julius Casar, v. i, 80) as to the omens of birds of prey accompanying the march of armies. De vol de vautour guerre en brief jour. C. Boville, Prov., lib. i. 1531. Kite. Some bileue that yf the kyte or the puttoke fly over the way afore them that they sholde fare well that day. — Dives and Pauper, i. Com., ch. 46. Merrythought of fowl (Bro., Quincunx), or wishing-bone. Whoever, in pulling it apart, gets the greater half, may have anything he wishes. — See a7ite, p. 280. Some say the person holding the smaller half will be the first to marry. I have seen a man in love grow pale and lose his appetite upon the plucking of a merrythought. — Addison, Spectator, No. 7. But this was because his wish was to marry. The wish-bone, or forked clavicle of a fowl, belongs to the same family of talismans as the divining rod. — Fiske, Myths and Mythmakers (1873), p. 55, n. This has been associated with the divination regarding the weather of the coming winter by feeling the breast-bone of a goose — a belief common to all Scandinavia. — Rudbeckii, Atlantica, i68g. Dyvynacions by chyterynge of byrdes, or by iieyng of foules, or to dyvyne a man's lyfe or dethe by nombers and by the spere of Pictagoras, or by songuary or sompnary, the booke of dremes, or by the booke that is called the Apostles' lottes, or use ony charges in gaderynge of herbes, or in hangyng of scrowes about man or woman or chylde, or, best, for ony sickness with ony scriptures or fygures and caractes. — Dives and Pauper, ch. 34. 1493. 3.32 FOLK LORE. divinations. Host. And here your host, and 's Fly, witness your vows, And, Hke two lucky l)irds, bring the presage Of a loud jest ; lord Beaufort married is. B. Jonson, New Inn, V. ii. Magpies. — B. I have no doubt that the augury of the ancients was a good deal founded upon observation of the instinct of birds. There are many superstitions of the vulgar owing to the same source. For anglers, in spring, it is always unlucky to see single magpies ; but two may always be regarded as a favourable omen : and the reason is, that in cold and stormy weather one magpie alone leaves the nest in search of food, the other remaining sitting upon the eggs or the young ones ; but when two go out together, it is only when the weather is mild and warm and favourable for fishing. — Sir Humphry Davy, Salmonia, p. 156. En Bretagne les tailleurs sont les entremetteurs des mariages : ils se font nommer dans cette fonction basvanals ; ces basvanals pour reussir dans leurs demandes, portent un bas rouge et un bas bleu et ils rentrent chez eux s'ils voient une pie, qu'ils regardent comma un funeste presage. — Cambry, iii. 47. Our Highland belief agrees with the Norman. We think that the uneven numbers are fortunate, and the even unfortunate. . . . They think that you may calculate on the amount of joy or sorrow you are to meet with by the way the birds fly. For instance, if one magpie flies to the right, your good fortune is to be great ; if to the left, it will be trifling. And again, if you see four magpies and they go to the right, your sorrow will not be great ; if one flies away and three remain, you will hear of a death and a legacy at the same time. — J. F. Campbell, Life in Normandy, ch. 12. The magpie is regarded as a bird of good omen. — Doolittle, Chinese, ii. 327. One 's joy, two 's a greet, Three's a weddin', four's a sheet*'. — (Scotland) N., ii. * Death. [Five for rich, Six for poor. Seven for a witch, I can tell you no more.] — Hll. Four's death. Five a blessing. Six hell, Seven 's the deil's ain sell. — C. One for sorrow. Two for mirth. Three for a wedding, Four for a birth. — Brockett. 333 DIVINATIONS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. [Five for a fiddle, Six for a dance, Seven for England, Eight for France.] One for anger*, Two for luckf. Three for a wedding, Four for a death J, Five for silver ||, Six for gold§. Seven for a secret not to be told I . * HU. t Dm. + Dm,, Bray, (Dev.) Funeral.— (Derbyshire) F. L.Jour., iii. Il Dm. § Dm. Eight for heaven, Nine for hell. And ten for the devil's own sell. — Dm. Magpie, magpie, chatter and flee ; turn up thy tail and good luck fall me. — Dm. It is unlucky to see first one magpie and then more ; but to see two, denotes marriage or merriment ; three, a successful journey ; four, an unexpected piece of good news ; five, you will shortly be in a great company. — G. The prognostic of sorrow may be averted by turning round three times, by raising the hat in salutation, by signing the + on the breast, or by making the same sign by crossing the thumbs and spitting on them, or making the mark of the cross in the mire of the road. — H. W. Vel si picae garriant significatur adventus hospitum. — A. Crows. In Essex, their flying towards you is considered ominous : One 's unlucky. Two 's lucky, Three is health, Four is wealth, Five is sickness. Six is death. — Hll. To see a crow flying alone is a token of bad luck. An odd one perched in the path of the observer is a sign of wrath. — S. Odd crows settled on the path. Dames, from milking trotting home, Said the sign foreboded wrath. And shook their heads at ills to come. — Clare. Ante sinistra cava monuisset ab ilice cornix. — Virgil, Eel,, ix. 15. Oft did a left-hand crow foretell these things in her hull[holly3 tree. — Webbe, Disc, of English Poetvie. Is it not om'nous in all countries When crows and ravens croak upon trees ? — But., Hud. 334 FOLK LORE. divinations. When a single crow flies over you, it is the sign of a funeral ; two are a certain prognostication of a wedding. — Noake, IVor. N. and Q,, p. 169. At weddings their appearance was considered an evil omen. — Propertius, V. v. 16. Always in China. — Doolittle, ii. 327. As well may we calculate from every accident in the day, and not go about any business in the morning till we have seen on which side the crow sits. — T. Nash, T. of Night, D., 4 1. The crow's cry was supposed to be " Cras, eras, eras." Barclay, Ship of Fools, i. 163, makes the fool apply it to his intended reformation. The crow, the slanderous cuckoo, nor The boding raven, nor chough hoar. Nor chatt'ring pie. May on our bridehouse perch or sing, Or with them any discord bring, But from it fly. B. and F., Two Noble Kinsmen., i. i. The carrion crow, that loathsome beast. Which cries against the rain. Both for her hue and for the rest The devil resembleth plain ; And as with guns we kill the crow For spoiUng our relief. The devil so must we overthrow With gunshot of belief, Gascoigne's Goodmorrow; Posies, 1575, i. 57, repr. The raven as he croaks, the thrush as he sings, answer to any questions put to them, and will tell how how many years anyone is to live when he is to be married, and how many children he is to have : any noise which cannot be imme- diately accounted for foretells some misfortune ; and the howling of a dog is the sure forerunner of death in the family. The noise of the sea or the whistling of the wind heard in the night is the lamentation of the spirit of some one who has been drowned complaining for want of burial. — (Brittany) Three Years' Residence in France, by Anne Plumptre, iii. 177. As among the Gentiles there were some called Augurs that, by by observation of the birds of the air in their flying, crying, and eating, made men believe they knew things to come. So likewise some Papists think they can do the same ; as if the Pie chatter, they look for guests ; if the Crow cry, they say, " We shall have rain " ; and if the Owl howl and cry, it is a sign of death. — Rob. Cawdray, Tr. of Similies, p. 561. 1600. 335 DIVINATIONS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. As counjurat le cerbel bas, Crengut agasso, ni courbas* Birat le banc e I'angragnero ? Amilha, Parf. Crest. (Com. de Diu), 1673. * Magpie and crow. Egg. Dans plusieurs localites du dept. de la Saone au retour de I'eglise et avant de rentrer au logis on presente un oeuf au marie, qui le jette aussitot par dessus le toit d'une maison. Sil a employe assez de force ou d'addresse pour que cet ceuf depasse le faite et aille tomber au dela sans toucher la gouttiere opposee c'est une preuve que le mari sera le maitre en menage. Dans le cas contraire, c'est la femme qui gouverne. — D. C. In the old custom of flinging the stocking at weddings when the newly-joined pair were bedded, the men took the bride's left stocking and the women the man's, and tossed it back- ward, sitting at the foot of the bed ; and whoever hit the owner on the head with it, he or she would be married within twelve months. — B. ; Misson, p. 353. This clutter o'er Clarinda lay, Half-bedded like the peeping day, Behind Olympu's cap ; Whiles at her head each twittering girl The fatal stocking quick did whirl. To know the lucky hap. J. Cleveland, A Sing-Song on Clarinda' s Wedding, 1647. Cuckoo. Of all the superstitious ideas connected with the cuckoo, this is of the greatest importance — whether you are on hard or soft ground on first hearing it. Should you be upon soft ground and at your leisure when the quaint cuckoo is heard for the first time that season, you have little to fear, at least for awhile, for your path will be easy and all go Avell during that year ; but should you be so unfortunate as to be upon hard ground, or be employed at a hard job, you may expect to toil your weary bones during the whole of that summer without much rest. — W. M. Egglestone, Weardale Nick- Stick, p. 80. You should be on soft ground and not on hard roads when first hearing it. — Mag. of Nat. Hist., April, 1832. In the last week before the cuckoo leaves, he always tells all that will happen in the course of the year till he comes again : all the shipwrecks, storms, accidents, and every- thing. — Mrs. Lubbock, N. A. The number of the cuckoo's notes which you hear the first time in spring shows the number of years you will remain single. Note. — Browne, Vulgar Errors; Le Roman du Bcnart, iv. pp. 9, 216; Michel, Diet, d' Argot. [Empreu.] 336 P^OLK LORE. DIVINATIONS. In Germany the custom is still prevalent of addressing the cuckoo when he is first heard, with a view of ascertaining the duration of life by counting the number of times it repeats its note. The following is the form : — Kukuk, Becken Knecht ! Sag mir recht Wie viel jahr ich leben soil? — Grimm. See Wright, Latin Stories, Percy Soc, 28, Nos. xli., Ixxxiv.; Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, pp. 389-391 ; and see Wright, Ess. on Pop. Sup. of Middle Ages, i. 256; also D. C. [Im Werroschen.] Wenn der Kuckuck oder das Eichhornchen in die Nachbarschaft der Wohnungen kommen, so bedeutet es Ungluck, sieht man sie auf dem Dache, dann wird das Gebaude abbrennen. — Boeder, Ehsten Gebr., p. 140. A person is considered to hear a note of the cuckoo for the first time in the year when employed in some occupation for which he has a predilection. From the first sight of the cuckoo the place of residence for the ensuing year is foretold. If seen at rest, the person seeing him will remain in his or her present situation. If seen iiying, the seer will remove and to a new residence in the direction towards which the bird files. Much reliance is placed on this augury by farmers' servants who are single, and who frequently change their place of service from year to year. — (Norfolk) S. L. in Athenaum 11/8, 1849. It is unlucky to hear him first with an empty belly. — (Gaelic proverb) Ulster Journ. of Arch., ix. 227. If a man be the first that a woman meets after she comes out of church when she is newly churched, it signifies that her next child will be a boy: if she meets a woman, then a wench is likely to be her next child. — Lupton, Notable Things, B. i. 1660. Spaeing by the girdle. (Still occasionally practised in Angus to discover a thief.) The girdle, used for toasting cakes, is heated till it is red hot. Then it is laid in a dark place with something on it. Every one in the company must go by himself and bring away what is laid on it, with the assurance that the devil will carry off the guilty person if he or she make the attempt. The fear, which is the usual concomitant of guilt, generally betrays the criminal by the reluctance manifested to make the trial. . . . There can be no reasonable doubt that this is a vestige of the ancient ordeal by fire. — J. Sieve and shears. One of the Hallowe'en divinations with regard to marriage. When two persons are evened, or named in relation to the connubial tie, if the riddle (sieve) turns round it is con- cluded that they are to be united. Sometimes a good deal of art is practised in this ceremony. — J. VOL. n. 337 23 DIVINATIONS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Par Conscinomantie jadis tant religieusement observee entre les ceremonies des Romains. Ayons un crible et de forcettes, tu verras diables. — Rabelais, iii. 25. See B. and F., Prophetess, i. 3. To discover a thief by the sieve and shears. Stick the points of the sheers in the wood of the sieve, and let two persons support it balanced upright with their two fingers : then read a certain chapter of the Bible, and afterwards ask St. Peter and St. Paul, if A or B is the thief, naming all the persons whom you suspect. On naming the real thief the sieve will turn suddenly round about. — Ay. For the modern German practice of this mode of divination. — Ay. ; Thorpe, Nor. Myth., iii. 161 ; see also Grimm, D. M., 1062. This is as old as Theocritus (b.c. 282, Idyl, iii. 31), who speaks of it as used to tell fortunes in love. — Potter, Grecian Antiquities, i. 352. Melton, Astvologastcr, 1620, p. 45, speaks of it as used in discovering a robbery by household servants. Searching for things lost with a sieve and sheers.— B. Jonson, Alch., i. I ; Gifford, Dial., p. 58. Still used in Brittany, " Tourner le sas." — D. C. If he lose anything he hath ready a sieve and a key, and by St. Peter and St. Paul the fool rideth him. — T. Lodge, Wit's Mis., p. 12, 1596. A schoolboy knows this, for it plainly appears That a sieve dissolves riddles by help of the shears ; For you can't but have heard of a trick of the wizards To break open riddles with shears or with scissors. Swift, To Sheridan. Profoundly skill'd in the black art As English Merlin, for his heart ; But far more skilful in the spheres Than he was at the sieve and shears. Butler, Hudibras, L ii. 345. In Northumberland young people turn the riddle for the purpose of raising their lovers. It is done between two open doors at midnight and in the dark. — Brockett. Bible and key. To discover a thief by the Bible and key. Hn. mentions a case so late as 1832. " One Mr. White had lost some property, and agreed with the neighbours to resort to the Bible and Key in discovery of the thief. They placed the street-door key on the 50th Psalm, closed the volume and fastened it tightly with a string. The Bible and key were then suspended to a nail, and the name of Mrs. Blucher (the person on whom suspicion had fallen) was repeated three times by one of the women, while another recited these lines : If it turn to thee. Thou art the thief and we are all free. 338 FOLK LORE. divinations. The key then turned, or was thought to do so, and Mrs. Blucher was proclaimed to be the thief: on which she went into Mrs. White's house and beat her, and was finally brought before the Thames Police Court on the charge of assault. See Proverbs, xix. 5 ; Psalm, 1. See an amusing story on this divination. — Hone, Year Booh, p. 254. The proper way to detect a thief by this is to read the 50th Psalm to the apparatus, and when it hears the verse: " When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst unto him," it will turn to the culprit. — Tylor, Prim. Cult., i. 116. Having opened the Bible at the passage in Ruth"^', which says : "Whither thou goest, I will go," &c., and having carefully placed the wards of the key upon the verses, she ties the book firmly with a piece of cord, and, having mentioned the name of an admirer, she very solemnly repeats the passage in question, at the same time holding the Bible suspended by joining the ends of her little fingers inserted under the handle of the key. This is repeated with other names till the book turns round and falls through the fingers at the mention of the lucky man. — N. * Or Psalm 1. 18.— (Devon) Bray. Let a youth or maiden pull from its stalk the flower of the "horse- knot" or "primula," cut the tops of the stamens with a pair of scissors and lay the flower by in a secret place, where no human eye can sea it. Let him think through the day, and dream through the night, of his sweetheart, and then on looking at it the next day, if he find the stamens shot out to their former height, success will attend him in love ; if not, he can only expect disappointment. — Hn. In Berwickshire a similar divination is practised by means of " kemps," i.e. spikes of the ribAvort plantain. Two spikes must be taken in full bloom, and being bereft of every appearance of blow, they are wrapped in a dock-leaf and laid beneath a stone. If next morning the spikes appear in blossom, then there will be "aye love between them twae." — Hn. The same rite has been practised in Northamptonshire. Pulling an herb while resting on the right knee was an in- gredient in divination. — D. The following must be practised on All Hallowe'en, or on Christmas, New Year's, or Midsummer Eve : — Let a Border maiden take three pails full of water and place them on her bed- room floor ; then pin to her nightdress opposite to her heart three leaves of green holly, and so retire to rest. She will be roused from her first sleep by three yells, as if from the throats of three bears: as these sounds die away, they will be succeeded by as many hoarse laughs, after which the form of her future husband Vv'ill appear. If he is deeply attached to 339 DIVINATIONS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. her, he will change the position of the water-pails ; if not, he will pass out of the room without touching them. — Hn. As boulgut descrubi, coumo qualqun t'a dit, Dins I'aigo del ferrat cal serio to un marit ? Amilha, P. Cr., p. 234. They go one or more to what is called a dead and living ford, or, in other words, a ford which has been crossed by a funeral, and, observing profound silence, dip the sleeve of their shirt in it. On returning home they go to bed in sight of a fire, and, lying awake in bed, they will observe an apparition, being an exact similitude of their future spouse, turn the shirt sleeve, as if to dry the other side. — Stewart, Highlajidets, (Hallowe'en). When they (the Irish) have been robbed of their butter, they pull some straws out of the thatch of their houses and throw them into the fire, hoping this will cause the thief to make restitution. — Misson, Travels, 1719, p. 153. Vogliono che se qualcuno e stato derubato, e si ponga un grano di fava entro I'abbeveratojo delle bestie pieno d'acqua, il ladro vado a gonfiarsi a poco a poco, secondo che gonfia il grano di fava che si e posto nell abbeveratojo; e se il ladro non restituisce la roba-rubata vada per declinazione a perire. — Mich. Plac, 172. CoCOA-NUT. Les Cinghalais ont une epreuve judiciaire pour connaitre le coupables, dans laquelle on emploie la noix de coco avec beaucoup de ceremonies superstitieuses. lis font aussi des charmes avec ce fruit et pensent qu'une noix de coco, enfilee dans un baton pent faire decouvrir les traces d'un voleur en dirigeant celui qui la tient. — D. C. JECHO. Standing in the door of the Hall of Common Assembly (none as yet stirring in the house save he alone), he talked to himself as touching the great desire which he had of bis good success, which Dan Echo (never sleeping) cut ofT diffusedly by the latter syllable. N. O. perceiving this division of vocables, thought good to note the sense thereof, because, said he, as some say, it importeth not a little to the prognostication or foreshowing of things to come. Whereupon, framing his words in this order unto himself, he noted verbatim the clipping sound of Echo. — Grange, Golden Aphroditis, \. 1577. (The ends of the lines were : Spare-not-to-speak,-the-game-is- won.) Initials of name. If thou wouldst go out of the town and wouldest know whether it be to thy profit or not, of the first man that thou meetest after thou goest out of doors ask his name ; and if his name begin with any of these letters, a, e, i, o, u, it 340 FOLK LORE. divinations. betokeneth good profit ; p, y, x, joy; g, h, k, betokeneth heritage; 1, m, n, s, thou shalt not speed; c, r, t, note harm ; b, f, worst of all. An old rule. — Thos. Johnson, N. B. of New Conceits, 1630, HIL, repr., 212. By BENDING THE HEAD TO THE HOLLOW OF THE ARM the initial letter of the name of one's future spouse is represented. — (American) N., V. xii. 166. This requires elucidation. Pressing thumbs. When a celebrated actress was playing, she never went on to the stage at the opera without going through a curious performance with each person she met as soon as she came out of her dressing-room. If she met one of the actors, or even a super, she made him hold up his thumb in front of her ; then, placing her thumb on his, she turned her hand round, at the same time pressing downwards. If the thumb on which she pressed was held firm she was satisfied, but if it gave way she imagined that she would break down during the performance. — N., V. x. 147. Sex of unborn child. Milk a drop of woman's milk upon your thumb, or into a dish of water, and if it spread abroad and continue not in the form that it fell, it is a girl ; if it continue perfect without speading, it is a boy. — Thos. Johnson, New Conceits. Encore moins certains sont les signes qu'on bailie vulgairement . . . que si la femme enceinte jette dans I'eau une goutte de son laict et il va au fond c'est une fiUe : sinon un fils. On en dit autant d'une goutte de son sang: duquel aussi on prend c'est argument que si la femme saigne du nez elle est grosse d'une fille, d'autant (paraventure que son sang est plus aigueux & sereux, ou que la fille n'en consume tant que ie fils. Mais je m'arreste plus a la couleur et con- sistance du laict qui est communement plus aigueux et plus roux d'une fille: plus espais et plus blanc d'un fils. Dont il advient aussi que si on jette de ce laict contre un mirouer, ou autre chose Use, il se tient ferme en petits grains rons, comme perles ou comme grains d'argent, et mesmes si c'est au Soleil. Item, si on en jette dans I'eau, il va a fonds perpendiculiairement a cause de sa crassitude et pesanteur. Ce que ne fera celuy d'une fille d'autant qu'il est plus clair et subtil, comme aussi il est plus chaud et cholere. — Jo., I. iii. 4. CEtides. The precious stone found in an Egle's nest, whose virtue is wonderful as well for a woman with child as for the tryall of a thief. — Huloet, Dioscovides. In the year 1643, when some thieves plundered the house of Mr. Rowland Bartlett, at Castle Morton, among other things they took a " cock eagle stone, for which thirty pieces had been offered by a physician but refused." It is 341 DIVINATIONS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. a variety of argillaceous oxide of iron, hollow, with a kernel or nucleus, sometimes movable and always differing from the exterior in colour and density. The ancients super- stitiously believed that this pebble was found in the eagle's nest, and that the eggs could not be hatched without its assistance. — Noake, Wor. N. and Q., 172. As dins I'aigo assajat se, le dinye surnado. (As-tu essaye si le denier surnage sur I'eau. Per descrubi 1' lairou qu'a la fardo panado ? pour decouvir le voleur qui a derobu les hardes ?). — Amilha, Tableu de la hido del Parfet Crestia, 1673. One cannot but smile at the whimsical ordeals of the Siamese. Among other practices to discover the justice of a cause, civil or criminal, they are particularly attached to the use of certain consecrated purgative pills, which the contending parties are made to swallow. He who retains them longest gains his cause ! The practice of giving Indians a conse- crated grain of rice to swallow is known to discover the thief in any company by the contortions and dism.ay evident on the countenance of the real thief. — Demonologia. The thief is supposed to be known by the drying of the salivary glands through fear preventing his masticating. Reading the speal*, or blade-bone, of a shoulder of mutton. It must be well scraped and picked, but no iron may touch it. See Tacitus, Ann., 14. Fr., Espaule. "When Lord Loudon," says Pennant, "was obliged to retreat before the rebels to the Isle of Skye, a common soldier on the very moment the Battle of Culloden was decided, pro- claimed the victory at that distance, pretending to have discovered the event by looking through the bone." — p. 155. The coming of strangers and other events were thus foreseen. Pennant {Tour in Scotland, p. 198. 1769) speaks of it as still practised in the Highlands, where it is called Sleinanachd, It must be the bone of a sheep newly killed. The future of flocks and herds is a special object. — [Clydesdale] J. The [Affghauns] commonest method of divination is by exam- ining the marks in the blade-bone of a sheep held up to the light, which, though practised by people of education, is no better calculated to work on the imagination or dazzle the understanding than our own discovery of future events from coffee grounds. — Elphinstone, Caiibiil {1S15), B. ii. c. 5. Speaking of the Flemish colony in Pembrokeshire, it is remarked by Drayton, Polyolbion, v. : A divination strange the Dutch-made English have Appropriate to that place (as though some power it gave). By th' shoulder of a ram from off the right side par'd, Which usually they boil, the spade-bone being bar'd. Which then the wizard takes, and gazing thereupon Things long to come foreshows, as things done long agone. 342 FOLK LORE. divinations. Murders, adulterous stealths, as the events of war, The reigns and death of Kings they take on them to know, Which only to their skill the slioulder-blade doth show. Divination by the Sortes Sanctorum is still common in this county. On New Year's Day the master of the family opens the Bible with his eyes shut, and the passage first touched by his finger is interpreted to refer to the events of the coming year. — (Northamptonshire) S. In Suffolk the Bible is opened at midnight of New Year's Eve, and a pin stuck in. — N. One of the murderers of Archbishop Sharp, in 1679, said that while at his uncle's house, intending tov/ards the Highlands because of the violent rage in Fife, he was pressed in spirit to return ; and he, inquiring the Lord's mind anent it, got this word borne in upon him, " Go on, and prosper." So returning from prayer, wondering what this could mean, went again and got it confirmed, " Go ; have I not sent you?" Whereupon he durst no more question, and he imbrued his hands in blood. — Dalyell. Before 12 (noon) is the proper time in England for "dipping" on New Year's Day. — N., ii. In tabulis vel codicibus sorte futura non sunt requirenda, et ut nullus in Psalterio, vel in Evangelic vel in aliis rebus sortiri praesumat, nee divinationes aliquas in aliquibus rebus observare. (Ex poenitentiali Theod.) — Burchardi, Decreta, X. 26. Last Chapter of the Book of Proverbs. Each verse indicates the disposition or fortune of the persons born on number corresponding of the days of the month. — N., ii. Used in Cornwall to ascertain the character of an intended wife. A person born on the 14th is prognosticated "to get their food from far"; one born on the 13th will become a woollen-draper ; on the 24th, a linen-draper. — Hunt. The Christian name of the first person of the opposite sex you see on New Year's Day will be that of your future partner. — Hn. To know the disposition of your future husband. Draw a faggot from a stack : if it is smooth, long, and straight, he will be gentle ; but if it be knotty, he will be of a crabbed nature. You '11 marry the man or woman (as the case may be) you meet the first on Valentine morn. — N., i. 6. St. Thomas (December 21). Le jour de St. Thomas les filles le prient de leur accorder un mari selon leurs desirs ; la nuit elles peuvent souvent ^voir ce mari dans leur reves ; ou quelquefois c'est le premier jeune homme qu'elles rencontrent le lendemain matin. — C.,A.B. 343 civiNATiONS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Le jour de St. Thomas Le plus court, le plus bas, Je prie journellement Qu'il me fasse voir en dormant Celui qui sera mon amant ; Et le pays et la contree Ou il fera sa demeurree, Tel qu'il sera je I'aimerai Ainsi soit il. — (Guernsey) N., I. ii. 510. Herring-soam. The fat of herrings (English, seam lard). Young girls throw this against the wall, and if it adheres to it in an upright manner, the husband they will get will be so: if crooked, he will be crooked. — J. ; Gait. A divination is also practised with respect to the weather by narrowly observing the atmospheric changes of the first twelve DAYS OF THE NEW YEAR, each day standing for a month and forming an index to the weather of the period of which it is the numerical representative. — (Northamptonshire) S. ; Miss M.; Mich. Plac. If New Year's Eve night wind blow south, It betokeneth warmth and growth; If west, much milk and fish in the sea ; If north, much cold and storms there will be ; If east, the trees will bear much fruit ; If noth-east, flee it man and brute. On pratique aussi dans quelques localites une divination par les AIGUILLES. On prend vingt cinq aiguilles neuves; on les met dans une assiette sur laquelle on verse de I'eau. Celles qui s'affourchent les unes sur les autres annoncent autant d'ennemis. — C. P. For the casual opening of a bible, see Cardan, De Varietafe, p. 1040. John Wesley is said to have practised it. — Southey's Life of Wesley, i. 115, 185, 205, 206. The Affghans make use of the Koran and of the Persian poet Hafiz after fasting and prayer. — Elphinstone, Caiibiil, ii. 6. The Fellatas " believe in divination by the book." — Clapperton's Second Expedition, 1829, p. 224. The forked sprays of the mistletoe being in shape somewhat like the Runic, letters were used for divination. They were drawn from a bag, each letter representing the character of the drawer of it. Taghairm. Last evening tide Brian an augury hath tried, Of that dread kind which must not be Unless in dread extremity, The Taghairn:: called ; by which, afar, Our sires foresaw the events of war. 344 FOLK LORE. divinations. A person was wrapped up in the skin of a newly- slain bullock, and deposited beside a waterfall, or at the bottom of a precipice, or in some other strange, wild, and unusual situation, where the scenery around him suggested nothing but objects of horror. In this situation he revolved in his mind the subject proposed, and whatever was impressed upon him by his exalted imagination passed for the inspira- tion of the disembodied spirits who haunt these desolate recesses. — W. Scott, Lady of the Lake, Canto, iv. 4. To try your fortune, the following experiment is made on Midsummer Eve at midnight : — An empty room in the house is selected : round the sides of this room on the floor various objects are placed — a turf, a basin of v/ater, a ring, and some others. Having been led into this room blind- fold and left to yourself, you walk at hazard or creep on all fours. If you go to the turf, you will die before the year is out ; if to the basin of water, you will be drowned ; if to the ring, you will be married ; and so on. — (N. Devon) N., iii. A ring is curiously framed according to the signs of the firma- ment ; this is tied to a thread, and let down into a basin or cup of water, and will show great things. — Gifford, Dial., p. 61. Throwing the hooks. Immediately after "crying the Kirn" (giving three cheers for the finished hairst), the bandster collects all the reaping- hooks, and, taking them by the points, throws them upwards ; and whatever be the direction of the point of the hook, it is supposed to indicate the quarter in which the individual to whom it belongs is to be employed as a reaper in the following harvest. If any of them fall with their points sticking in the ground, the persons are to be married before next harvest ; if any one of them break in falling, the owner will die before then. — J. [Teviots and Lothian~\. Winning the maiden. i.e. the last handful of corn cut at harvest (which is afterwards tied up with ribbons and fixed on the walls of the farm- house) is an omen that the gatherer will be married before next harvest. Various stratagems are resorted to to conceal from the other reapers the few blades of corn kept uncut for the purpose. Unlucky after sunset. — J. Twelfth night. Les filles vont dans les etables de brebis, et si leur mains sarre- tent sur le belier, elles se marier ont pendant le cours de I'annee. — C, A. B. Rabdomancy. [jjaj3co9, rod : fiavrci'a, divination.) My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them. — Hosea, iv. 12. Cf. She has taken the crooked stick after all. — (Proverb.) i.e. accepted the worst suitor that offered to her. 345 DIVINATIONS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. In these same days young wanton girls, that meet for marriage be, Do search to know the names of them that shall their husbands be. Four onions, five, or eight they take, and make in every one Such names as they do fancy most, and best do think upon. Thus near the chimney them they sit, and that same onion then That lirst doth sprout doth surely bear the name of their goodman. Their husbands' nature eke they seek to know, and all his guise, V'/hen as the sun has hid himself and left the starry skies, Unto some woodstack do they go, and while they there do stand Each one draws out a fagot-stick, the first that comes to hand ; Which if it straight and even be, and have no knots at all, A gentle husband then they think shall surely to them fall ; But if it foul and crooked be, and knotty here and there, A crabbed, churlish husband then they earnestly do fear. These things the wicked Papists bear and suffer willingly, Because they neither do the end nor fruits of faith espy. Barn. Googe's Popish Kingdom, book iv, fols. 44-6. 1570. Divining rod. La Physique Occulte, ou Traite, de la Baguette Divinatoire, et de son Utilite pour la decouverte des Sources d'Eau, des Minieres, des Tresors caches, des Voleurs et des Meurtriers fugitifs par L[e] L[orrain] de Vallemont [avec] un Traite de la consissance des Causes Magnetiques, des Cures Spympathiques, des Transplantations, et comment assis- sent les Philtres. — (Amsterdam) 1696, 12 ro. Virgida Divina. Some Sorcerers do boast they have a rod, Gather'd with vows and sacrifice, And (borne about) will strangers nod To hidden treasure where it lies : Mankind is sure that Rod Divine, For to the wealthiest ever they incline. S. Sheppard, Epigram, vi. i. 1651. Shoulder-bone of sheep. Selden, in a note on the passage in Drayton, p. 342, ante, gives this quaint illvistration : — " Take this as a taste of their art in old time. Under Henry II. one William IMangunel,* a gentleman of those parts, finding by his skill of prediction that his wife had played false with him, and conceived by his own nephew, formally dresses the shoulder-bone of one of his own rams ; and sitting at dinner (pretending it to be taken out of his neighbour's flock), requests his wife (equalling him in these divinations) to give her judgment. She curiously observes, and at last, with great laughter, casts it from her. The gentleman, importuning her reason of so vehement an affection, receives answer of her : that his wife, out of whose flock the ram was taken, had by incestuous copulation with her husband's nephew fraughted herself with a young one. Lay all together and judge, gentlewomen, the sequel of this cross accident. But why 346 FOLK LORE. divinations. she should not as well divine of whose flock it was as the other secret, when I have more skill in osteomanty I will tell you. Nor was their report less in knowing things to come than past ; so that jealous Panurge, in his doubt de la cocuage, might have had other method of resolution than Rondibilis, liippothade, Bridoye, Trovillogan, or the oracle itself were able to give him. Blame me not in that, to explain my author, I insert this example." * Girald. — Itin., I., cap. ii. Quae te dementia cepit Querere sollicite quod I'eperire times? Th. More, Epig. Make more proselytes than ever did Chaucer's Friar with his shoulder-blade of the lost sheep.— Wilson, Projectors, iii. 1665. But let us now go to thilke horrible sweryng of adjuracioun and conjuraciouns, as doon these false enchantours or nigromanciens in bacines full of water, or in a bright swerd, in a cercle, or in a fuyr, or in the schulder bon 01 a scheep ; I can not sayn but that thay doon cursedly and dampnably against Christ and the faith of holy chirche. — Chaucer, Persones T. [^De Ird.~\ And see prologue to Pardoner's T., 65. The minor sort of Seers prognosticat many future events, only for a month's space, from the shoulder-bone of a sheep, on which a knife never came (for as before is said, and the Nazarits of old had something of it) iron hinders all the operations of those that travell in the intrigues of their hidden dominions. By looking into the Bone*' they will tell if Whoredom be committed in the owner's house ; what money the master of the sheep had ; if any will die out of that house for that month ; and if any cattle there will take a Trake, as if planet-struck. Then v.dll they prescribe a preservative and a prevention. — Kirk, p. 17; sec. xiii. p. 31 of Mr. A. Lang's reprint. * Is this the meaning of the proverb : " He that looketh through a hole may see what will vex him " ? — V. S. L. Death. Palm Sunday. Little Colan hath less worth the observation, unless you will deride or pity their simplicity who sought at our Lady N ant's Well there to foreknow what fortune should betide them, which was in this manner : Upon Palm Sunday these idle-headed seekers resorted thither, v.dth a palm cross in one hand and an offering in the other ; the offering fell to the priest's share ; the cross they threw into the well, which, if it swam, the party should outlive that year ; if it sunk, a short-ensuing death was boded, and perhaps not altogether untruly, while a foolish conceit of this halsening might the sooner help it onwards. A contrary practice to the goddess Juno's lake in Laconia ; for there, 347 DIVINATIONS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. if the wheaten cakes cast in upon her festival day were by the water received, it betokened good luck ; if rejected, evil. The like is written by Pausanias of Inus, in Greece, and by others touching the offerings thrown into the furnace of Mount Etna, in Sicily. — Carew, Survey of Cornwall, p. 344 (181 1). Choosing a site. Superstition guides the Coimbatore cultivator in the choice of site for a well. Generally he procures a sheep, and drives it to the land in which he desires to sink a well ; he then pours some water over the head of the animal, and sets it at liberty. It wanders over the ground, and the spot of land over which it shakes its head to get rid of the moisture is the place in which the well must be sunk. — Robertson's Report of Tour in Coimbatore, House of Commons Paper, 1878, No. 143. Gr.'\sping stick. Another form of divining, by an appeal to lot, was resorted to by boys in their games to determine between two parties, to settle, for example, which side should commence a game or who should have first choice of sides. A long stick was thrown into the air and caught by one of the parties ; then each alternately grasped it hand over hand, and he who got the last hold was the successful party. He might not have sufficient length of stick to fill his whole hands ; but if by closing his hand upon the end projecting from his oppo- nent's hand he could support the weigh of the stick, this was enough. — Na. Superstition in Shropshire. A singular case of superstition revealed itself at the Borough Petty Sessions, at Ludlow, on Tuesday. A married woman, named Mary Ann Collier, was charged with using abusive and insulting language to her neighbour, Eliza Oliver ; and the complainant, in her statement to the magistrates, said that on December 27th she was engaged in carrying water, when Mrs. Collier stopped her, and stated that another neighbour had had a sheet stolen, and had " turned the key on the Bible near several houses ; that when it came to her (Oliver's) house, the key moved of itself; and that when complainant's name was men- tioned, the key and the book turned completely around, and fell out of their hands." She also stated that the owner of the sheet then inquired from the key and the book whether the theft was committed at dark or daylight, and the reply was "daylight." Defendant then called complainant "a daylight thief," and charged her with stealing the sheet. The bench dismissed the case, the chief magistrate expressing his astonishnient that such super- stition and ignorance should exist in the borough. It has been explained by one who professed to believe in this 348 FOLK LORE. divinations. mode of detecting thieves that the key is placed over the open Bible at the words, " Whither thou goest, I will go " {Ruth, i. 1 6), that the fingers of the persons were held so as to form a cross, and the text being repeated, and the suspected persen named, the key begins to jump and dance about with great violence in such a way that no person can keep it still. — Daily News, January gth, 1879. Common in Shropshire and Staffordshire. See Southey, C. P. Book, iv. 244. Hot springs. It is forbidden to bathe in or approach hot springs, as the Kamuli spirits cook there. — G. W. Steller, Kamtschatka, T-n\^ 274. Air. And touching the air, first look that the house wherein you dwell be kept clean and sweet, and all things in it as neat as may be. Open not your windows towards the West or South, but toward the East or North. — Cogan, Haven of Health, p. 265. Flower divinations. Ex foliis papaveris. — Porphyr ap. Euseb., IIL, ii. ; Prcep. Evangel. Phyllorodomancy. From the petals of a rose lying in the palm of one hand, and which is then struck by the other. Rose-leaves. If a young girl had several lovers, and wished to know which would be her husband, she took a rose-leaf for each, and, naming it after him, would watch them in water till they sank, and the last leaf to sink would indicate the one she would marry. — (Scot.) Na. Sycomancy. Par le moyen des feuilles de figuier. — Peignot, Am. Phil. K07Td/3t(n9 was a foolish game that lovers had, and used to play at dyners, suppers, and other banquets, by the bobleyng that the drink made which remained in the cup after they had dronken ; for the drink that was left they would cast up on high, and by the clocking, plashing, or soune that it gave in the fall, they would take a signification whether their lovers were true to them or not. — Udall, Er. Ap., p. 121. Geomancy. Belomancy (/^eXos, an arrow). AsTRAGALOMANCY (astragalos, osselet) ; cette divination se pratique par le moyen des osselets sur lesquels etaient ecrites les lettres de I'alphabet ; on y employait aussi des petits batons, des dez ou des tablettes ecrites jetees en I'air. — Peignot, Avi. Phil. Blepharomancy. Divination qui se faisait par le mouvemens des paupieres. — lb. 349 DIVINATIONS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Chiromancy. The prickles of the holly-leaf serve to indicate the maiden's fortune in marriage : (the time) this year — next year — some- time — never; (the dress) silk — satin — cotton — rags; (the conveyance) coach — carriage — wheelbarrow — car ; (the hus- band's calling) tinker — tailor — soldier — sailor ; (his status) rich man — poor man — beggar man — thief. Children pick the leaves of the herb called "pick-folly" one by one, repeating each time the words " Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief," fancying that the one that comes to be named at the last plucking will prove the condition of their future partners. — (Northamptonshire) S. The Dandelion {Leontodon Taraxacum) is a plant of omen. When its seeds are ripened they stand above the head of the plant in a globular form, with a feathery tuft at the end of each seed, and then they are easily detached. The flower-stalk must be plucked carefully, so as not to injure the globe of seeds, and you are then to blow off the seeds with your breath. So many puffs as are required to blow every seed clean off, so many years it will be before you are married. — Forby, Vocah. of East Anglia, ii. 423. Count your damson stones after eating the portion served to you, repeating in succession " This year — Next — Never," to see when and if you shall marry. A custom in North Notts to provide at weddings plum-tarts for the single to eat, to see the term of their celibacy. — N., iv. Cf. the German flower-test in Goethe's Faust, " He loves me — loves me not," and the French paquerette or daisy, " II m'aime, II m'aime pen, II m'aime beaucoup, II m'aime passionement, II m'aime pas du tout." — D. C. The LEAVES OF THE COMMON ASH are still looked to under the hope of their bringing " luck or a lover " ; if the terminating leaflets are even, the leaves usually ending in an odd leaflet. — Lees. The scarlet petals of the poppy are considered an augury of the continuance or decline of affection by the sound emanating from them when laid on the palm of the hand and struck by the youthful lover. — Lees, Affinities of Plants ivith Man and Animals, p. 65. By a prophetic poppy-leaf I found Your chang'd affection for it gave no sound, Though in my hand struck hollow as it lay, But quickly wither'd, like your love, away. First moon of the new year. Place a looking-glass so as to receive the reflection. If one moon is seen in it, one year before you will marry ; if two, two years, and so on. — N., i. 7. Or look at it through a silk handkerchief, and you see the decisive number. — lb. 350 FOLK LORE. divinations. Sheath of a knife. Another remainder of geomancy to divine whether such an one will return this night or no is by the sheath of a knife or an arrow, which one holds at the great end with his two forefingers, and says, " He comes " ; then slips down his upper finger under his lower, and then the lower under that, and says, " He comes not " ; and sic deinceps till he is come to the bottom of his sheath, which gives the answer. Like unto this is that of Jonathan shooting three arrows, &c. — Ay. See / Sam., xx. 17, to the end; Hosea, iv. 12. Belomancy. Little finger. Little finger, tell me true: Shall I [go to Bath] or no ? Yes, No, Yes, No, Yes, No.* * According to the one falling to little finger is the decision. Lady Percy. In faith, I '11 break thy little finger, Harry, An if thou wilt not tell me all things true. Shak., / Henry IV., ii, 3, 84. Cf. " Beware my Lytyl Finger." A song {temp. Henry VHL) in Hawkins' History of Music, ch. 79. Case of a ruffian throwing a spud up in the air to see by his falling whether he should commit a murder or no. Its falling with its point in the earth decided him in the affirmative. — N., iii. 2, 342. Sir T. Browne supposes this to have been the manner of divination with arrows practised by Nebuchadnezzar, Ezehiel, xxi. 21. East or south-running water. Pourquoy est meilleur I'eau des fontaines qui regardent le levant ? — Jo., Prop. Vulg., II., 297. And as I have said of sea fish, so I say of fresh-water fish : that to be best which is bred in the deep waters running swiftly towards the North, &c. — Cogan, Haven of Health, p. 140. And again of sea fish : that is best which swimmeth in a pure sea and is tossed and hoised with winds and surges. And, therefore, the fish that is taken in the North sea, which is more surging and tempestuous, and swift in ebbing and flowing, is better than the fish that is taken in the dead or South sea. — lb. May. Now Morning Walks are good on the North side Of running Streams which to the Eastward glide. Agreeable Companion, 1742, p. 31. Est pluvialis aqua super omnes sana, levesque Reddit potentes : bene digerit et bene solvit ; Est bona fontis aqua qui tendit solis ad ortum Ac ad meridiem tendens : alio nocet omnis. Boorde, Dyetary, ch. x. ; Modus Cenandi, 260 ; [Cotton MS. Titus A., xx., f. 1 75 r.] Printed with Babees Book, E.E.T.S., 1868, p. II. 351 OIVINATI0N8. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. River Fish likewise are most wholesome and light when they swim in rocky, sandy, or gravel'd rivers, running Northward or Eastward. — Muffett, Health's Improvement, c. xvii. 1655. Easterly towns (especially inclining to the South) and houses are more wholesome than the Westerly, for many causes : First, because the air is there more temperately hot and cold ; secondly, because all waters and springs running that way are most clear, fragrant, pleasant, and wholesome, resembling, as it were, a dainty spring. — lb., c. iii. In Cleveland, girls resort to the following way of divining whether they will be married or no : — Take a tumbler of "south-running water" {see Dalyell, p. 84), that is, water from a stream that flows southwards, borrow the wedding- ring of some gude wife, and suspend it by a hair of one's head over the glass of water, holding the hair between the finger and thumb. If the ring hit against the side of the glass, the holder of it will die an old maid ; if it turn quickly round, she will be married once ; if slowly, twice. — Hn. Hallowe'en. You go out one or more, for this is a social spell, to a south-running spring or rivulet, where " three lairds' lands meet," and dip your left shirt-sleeve. Go to bed in sight of a fire, and hang your wet sleeve before it to dry. Lie awake, and some time near midnight an apparition, having the exact figure of the grand object in question, will come and turn the sleeve, as if to dry the other side of it. — Burns, vi. Od. One of the experiments by which the existence of this agency is tested consists in attaching a horsehair to the first joint of the forefinger, and suspending it to a smooth gold [wedding] RING. When the elbow is rested on the table, and the finger held in a horizontal position, the ring begins to oscillate in the plane of the direction of the finger ; but if a female takes hold of the left hand of the person thus experimenting, the ring begins forthwith to oscillate in a plane at right angles to that of its former direction. . . . The lady towards whom it oscillates is set down as the future spouse of the gentleman experimenting. — N., i. 4. A very singular divination practised at the period of the harvest moon is thus described in an old chap-book : — When you go to bed place under your pillow a prayer-book, open at the part of the matrimonial service, " With this ring I thee wed " ; place on it a key, a ring, a flower, and a sprig of willow, a small heart-cake, a crust of bread, and the following cards : the ten of clubs, nine of hearts, ace of spades, and the ace of diamonds. Wrap all these in a thin handkerchief of gauze or muslin, and on getting into bed cross your hands and say : Luna, every woman's friend. To me thy goodness condescend ; Let me this night in visions see Emblems of my destiny. .352 FOLK LORE. divinations. If you dream of storms, trouble will betide you ; if the storm end in a fine calm, so will your fate ; if of a ring or the ace of diamonds, marriage ; bread, an industrious life ; cake, a prosperous life; flowers, joy; willow, treachery in love; spades, death ; diamonds, money ; clubs, a foreign land ; hearts, illegitimate children ; keys, that you will rise to great trust and power, and never know want ; birds, that you will have many children ; and geese, that you will marry more than once. — Halliwell, P. R. A Riva di Chieri si piglia uno steto d'erba a piu nodi e si rompe ciascuno di questi nodi dicendo all' uno : lo mi sposero qui e all'altro, lo mi sposero fuori : L'ultimo nodo e quello che deve dir la verita. — D. G. Another remainder of geomancy. — Ay. In counting the buttons of the waistcoat upwards, the last found, corresponding to one of the following names, indicates the destiny of the wearer. My belief: A captain, A colonel, A cowboy, A thief.~Hll., P. R. A lord, a laird, a couper, a caird, a rich man, a poor man, a hangman, a thief. — (Scotland) A^., v. 3. A Pinerolo, nel Canavese e nel Mantovano la notte dell' Epifania, ie fanciulle mettono fuori di casa, possibilmente sul tetto, una scodella piena d'acqua. L'acqua diacciandosi nella notte dalle impronte che si vedranno sul ghiaccio, le quali nel canavese sono attribuite ai tre Re Magi, la fanciulla al mattino indovinera il mestiere dello sposo predestinato. — D. G. Oppure le fanciulle pigliano tre fave ; sbucciano I'una per intero I'altra a mezzo, la terza punto e le involgono in tre pezzi di carta e le ripongono sotto il guanciale : la notte le levano a caso una di sotto il guanciale : se la fava e tutta sbucciata, lo sposo sara un povero ; se a mezzo ne povero, ne ricco ; se punto lo sposo sara ricco. — Id. Ball divination. Cook^' a ball, cherry-tree; Good ball, tell me How many years I shall be Before my true love I do see ? One, and two, and that makes three; Thankee, good ball, for telling of me. * Cook is to toss or throw, a provincialism common to the Midland counties. — HU. [? chuck.] Tissy-ball, tissy-ball, tell me true How many years have I to go through ? * * Tossing the cowsHp-ball, and counting each successive catch a year. — (Shropshire) Jackson. VOL. II. 353 24 DIVINATIONS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. The ball is thrown against a wall, and the divination is taken from the number of rebounds it makes. Another version is : Cuckoo, cherry-tree, Good ball, tell me How many years I shall be Before I get married ? — Hll. Nel contado di Pinerolo per sapere se un matrimonio avra luogo si o no mettono insieme due pallottole di stoppa destinate a rappresentare gli sposi desiderati ; quindi le due pallottole si abbruciano nell' aria : se le ceneri si soUevano, buon segno, il matrimonio si fa ; se restano giia, cade pure ogni speranza della povera villanella. — D. G. Bachelor's buttons. "There was an ancient custom," says Grey in his Note: upon Shakspeare, i. io8, "amongst the country fellows of trying Avhether they should succeed with their mistresses by carrying the bachelor's buttons, a plant of the Lychnis kind, whose flowers resemble also a button in form, in their pockets ; and they judged of their good or bad success by their growing or not growing there." — B. In Greene's Quip for an Upstart Courtier, 4°, London, 1620, bachelor's buttons are described as w^orn also by the young women, and that, too, under their aprons. " Thereby I saw the bachelor's buttons, whose virtue is to make wanton maidens weep when they have worn it forty weeks under their aprons for a favour." Host. What say you to young master Fenton ? ... he will carry 't, he will carry 't; 'tis in his buttcnis; he will carry 't {marrying Anne Page). Cf. Shak., Merry Wives of Windsor, iii. 2, 57. Garland. On jette une couronne de neuf sortes de fleurs sur un arbre. Autant de fois que la couronne retombera avant de s'attacher aux branches de I'arbre autant d'annees la fille restera sans mari. — C, A. B. This appertains to Midsummer Day. Well. A mode of consulting the oracle of love often resorted to in the South [of Ireland] : the maiden seeks a neighbouring well,, and dropping a noggin into it, while she repeats the name of the object of her affection, leaves it there for the night, but returns to the spot by daylxeak the next morning. If the vessel is found floating on the surface, all is well ; but if it has sunk, she despanrs " for that offer anyhow." — Wilde. Wells, opening and flowing eastward, were held in the highest estimation, and were formerly thought (in Wales) to aflbrd the purest water. — P. Roberts, Cambrian Pop. Antiq., p. 236. See Venner, Via Recta ad Vitam Longam, 1660, p. 17 ; INIilton, Samson Agon., 547 ; Tasso, Mondo Create Gior., iii. 'st. 8; BuUein, Gov. of Health, f. 102. 31^4 FOLK LORE. divinations. Hinder spout of pump. In the year 1801 I visited Glasgow, and in passing one of the principal streets in the neighbourhood of the Tron Church observed about thirty people, chiefly females, gathered round a large public pump, waiting their turn to draw water. The pump had two spouts, behind and before ; but I noticed that the hinder one was carefully plugged up, no one attempting to fill from that source, although they had to wait long for their turn at the other spout. On inquiry I was informed that though one and the same handle brought the same water from the same well through both spouts, yet the populace, and even better-informed people, had for years and generations believed that the water passing through the hindermost spout was unlucky and poisonous. This prejudice received from time to time a certain sanction ; for in the spout, through long disuse, a kind of dusty fur collected, and this, if at any time the water was allowed to pass through, made it at first run foul. The people asserted that it was certain death to drink of this back-running water, and no argument could turn them, though the well had been repeatedly cleaned out by order of the magistrates, and the internal mechanism of the pump explained to them. — Letter in the Athmaum (Dr. Aikin's), 1808, vol. iv., p 413. Dice. A divination was practised with them, of which the account (Plaut., Asin.,Y. iii. 54) is obscure. The " Jactus Venereus," or lucky throw, has been considered a throw of 14, or the four dice each presenting a different face when fallen. Sex of child. — J. A. Millot, L'Art dc Procreer les Sexes a volontc, Paris. Shalloiv. Yes, sure ; I was drunk when I did it, for I had forgot it. I lay my life 'twill prove a girl, because 'twas got in drink. — Thos. May, The Heiy, i, Fal. Strangers are drunken fellows, I can tell you ; they will come home late a' nights, beat their wives, and get nothing but girls. — Middleton, The Phcenix, ii. 3. And see Merry Drollery, i6gi, p. 152 ; Davenport, City Nightcap, iv. Chough. ... if the child call her mother before it can speak, I '11 never wrestle while I live again. Trim. It must be a she-child if it do, sir, and those speak the soonest of any living creatures, they say. — Middleton, Fair Quarrel, v. i. Also Ipocras saith that a woman being conceived with a man- child is ruddy, and her right side is corny about ; but if she bee conceived with a maid-child, she is black, and her left side is corny about. — The Pathway to Health, fol. ^i. £55 DIVINATIONS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. On a pretendu longtemps que les males etaient engendres dans I'ovaire droite, et les femelles dans le gauche. Un accou- cheur contemporain a emis I'opinion, assez probable du reste, que dans I'acte generateur, le plus fort des deux imprimait son sexe a I'enfant. — Em. Bessieres, Stir les Erreiirs, &€., en Medecim, Paris, i860. Maybe his wife doth fear to come before her time ; And in my maw he hopes to find, amongst the slut and slime, A stone to help his wife, that she may bring to light A bloody babe, like bloody sire, to put poor harts to flight. Gascoigne (1575), The Noble Art of Venery, " The Hart." Ensuite Lorilleux se disputa avec madame Lerat ; lui pretendait que, pour avoir un gar9on, ill fallait tourner la tete de son lit vers le nord ; tandis qu'elle haussait les epaules, traitant 9a d'enfantillage, donnant une autre recette, qui consistait a cacher sous le matelas, sans le dire u. sa femme une poignee d'orties, fraiches, cueillies au soleil. — Emile Zola, L'Assommoiy, iv. 1877. See p. 21, ante. L'epouse est a la droit de I'Epoux et il faut que sa face soit ■ tournee vers le Midi; parceque les Rabins ont ecrit au Talmud que si quelqu'un met son lit en telle sorte qu'il ait la face tournee au Midi, il aura plusieurs enfans. — Le Gaya, Ceremonies Nuptiales, p. 3. 1681. When Nature first brought forth her son and heir, The gods came all one day to gossip with her : Her husband, Hymen, glad to see them there. Drank healths apace to bid them welcome thither ; Till drunk to bed he went, and in that fit He got the second birth, a female chit. Roxb. Bds., Ball. Soc, iii. 95, "A Woman's Birth." Cable. She 'II make me drunk, sure. Carrack. Ah, Captain Flinch ! ■Cable. Pray you, let me sound a parley. The third grape is for Bacchus, not for Cupid. Besides, if I am drunk I shall get wenches, And I know you would have a boy. Carrack. 'Tis that I aim at. Davenant, Neivs from Plymouth, iv. 1635. If the South wind blow in seasoning* time, the shepherds may look for store of ewe lambs ; if the North wind, then for males. — Hy. Buttes, Dyet's Dry Dinner, I., 5 r. 1599. * Admissura, seasoning of a cow and coverynge of a mare. — Eliotes, Diet., This opinion was held by "plusieurs doctes et sages per- sonnes." — Dupleix, Cur. Nat., p. 203. 1625. To ascertain the sex of an unborn child. The blade-bone of a SHOULDRR of MUTTON held to the fire till the thumbs can be forced through the thin part. Pass a string through the holes, knot it, and hnng it on nail in the back-door at night. The first who enters in the morning will be of the sex of the child. — N., i. 2. 356 FOLK LORE. divinations. Musician. I am no comfit-maker or vintner. I do not get wenches in my drink. — Webster, Noythimrd Hoe, iv. 3. Are you curious to know the sex of the cominj^ stranger ? You must notice whether the old baby says Papa or Mamma first. In the former case it will be a boy ; in the latter, a girl. — Hn. ; D. C. Quando nasce un figlio machio, dicono che il marito era adirato. — Mich. Plac, 171. Beltane bannocks. At Belton Eve the matron or housekeeper is employed in baking these. Next morning the children are presented each with a bannock with as much joy as an heir to an estate his title-deeds ; and having their pockets well lined with cheese and eggs to render the entertainment still more sumptuous, they hasten to the place of assignation to meet the little band assembled on the brow of some sloping hill to reel their bannocks and learn their future fate. With hearty greetings they meet, and with their knives make the signs of life and death on their bannocks. These signs are a cross, or the sign of life, on the one side, and a cypher, or the sign of death, on the other. This being done, the bannocks are all arranged in a line, and on their edges let down the hill. This process is repeated three times, and if the cross most frequently present itself, the owner will live to celebrate another Beltane Day ; but if the cypher is oftenest uppermost, he is doomed to die, of course. The bannocks are then eaten. — Stewart, Superstitions of High- lands of Scotland. The BONFIRE TEST. A bonfire is formed of faggots, ferns, and the like. Men and maidens, by locking hands, form a circle, and commence a dance to some wild native song. At length, as the dancers become excited, they pull each other from side to side across the fire. If they succeed in treading out the fire without breaking the chain, none of the party will die during the year. If, however, the ring is broken before the fire is extinguished, "bad luck to the weak hands. — " Hunt. On All Saints even they set up bonefires in every village. When the bonefire is consumed, the ashes are carefully collected in the form of a circle. There is a stone put in near the circumference for every person of the several families interested in the bonefire ; and whatever stone is moved out of its place or injured before next morning, the person represented by that stone is devoted or fey, and is supposed not to live twelve months from that day. — J. ; Statistical Account of Scotland, Perth, xi. 621, 622. 357 DIVINATIONS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. If the left-foot shoe, cast over the house, fell with the mouth upwards, a divination of recovery was obtained ; a distemper was mortal if falling downwards. So a suitor's left shoe : if it fell as advancing to the house, he would succeed ; if as receding, not. — D., p. 285. A Riva di Chieri e nel canavese all' Epifania le ragazze da marito usano lanciare la pantofola o la zoccolo verso la porta di casa ; se la punta si volge verso la porta, il segno e buono : la ragazza entro in carnovale, pigliera marito ; se no, no. Lo stesso pronostico si leva a Pinerolo, ma il primo giorno dell' anno. — De Gubernatis. Twelfth-night cake. La part des absents quand on partage le gateau des rois se garde precieusement ; dans certaines maisons supersti- tieuses, elle indique I'etat de la sante de ces personnes absentes par sa bonne conservation ; une maladie par des taches ou des ruptures. — C. P. Nel giorno della Epifania gettano nel fuoco delle foglie di palma per conoscere chi gli vuol bene, o male ; e se dentro I'anno devono morire, o no ; desumendolo del numero de' crepite e salti che fanno le foglie nel' abbrucciarsi. — Mich. Plac, p. Ill, As to the King of the Bean — the person receiving the slice of the cake containing the secreted bean — zu Bourne, Aiitiq. Vulg., cxvii. ; Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 255-6. A small lump of dough from which the New Year cakes have been taken is reserved, and in it a small coin, usually a farthing, is put. The dough is then rolled thin and cut into small round scones, which, when fired, are handed round to the company. The one receiving the coin will be the first to marry. To spae their fortunes 'mang the deugh The luckie fardin 's put in, The scones ilk ane eats fast eneugh, Lik onie hungry glutton. Rev. J. Nicol, Poems, i. 28. Then also every householder to his abilitie Doth make a mighty cake that may suffice his companie ; Herein a penny he doth put, before it come to fire, This he divides according as his household doth require ; And every peece distributeth, as round about they stand, Which in their names unto the poor is given out of hand ; But who so chanceth on the peece wherein the money lies Is counted king amongst them all, and is with shouts and cries Exalted to the heavens up. Naogeorgus, Popish Kingdom, tr. B. Googe. Nuts. In the landes of Bordeaux, the suitor carries two flasks of wine to the dwelling of his mistress, where he is received by all 358 FOLK LORE. divinations. the members of her family. An omelette is prepared ; but should she bring in a plate of nuts at the dessert, this is the symbol of irrevocable rejection without divination. — Descourtilz, Voiages, iii. last page. Yule brose. Geese were chiefly destined for the solace of gentle stomachs, the prevailing Christmas dish among the common people and peasantry being the national one of fat brose, other- wise denominated Yule brose. The large pot in almost every family of this description, well provided with bullocks' heads or knee-bones [is] put on the fire the previous evening to withdraw the nutritive juices and animal oil from the said ingredients. Next day, after breakfast or at dinner, the brose was made, generally in a large punch-bowl, the mistress of the ceremonies dropping a gold ring among the oatmeal, upon which the oily soup was poured. The family, or party (for on these occasions there was generally a party of young people assembled), provided with spoons and seated around the bowl, now began to partake of the half- boiling brose, on the understanding that the person who was so fortunate as to get the ring was to be first married. — Blackwood's Magazine, December, 1821, p. 692. Wassail bowl. A ring was frequently put into the wassail bowl, which was dived for by the young people. He who obtained the ring was to be married first. — Carr, Craven Glossary, Recovery of sick. Elle trompait le reste de ses craintes avec les superstitions qui disent, oui a I'esperance, se persuadant que sa fille etait rechappee parce que le matin la premiere personne qu'elle avait recontree etait un homme, parce qu'elle avait vu dans la rue un cheval rouge, parce qu'elle avait devine qu'un passant tournerait a telle rue, parce qu'elle avait remonte un etage en tant d'enjambees. — E. de Goncourt, Gcrminie Lacerteux, p. 22. D'oia vient que ceux guerissent plus aisement de leurs playes, ulceres ou autres maladies, desquels les taches des linceux, ou autres linges s'effacent aisement a la lexive. — Jo., II. (Cab., 75). Virginity. Upon the various earth's embroidered gown There is a weed upon whose head grows down, Sow-thistle, 'tis y-clept, whose downy wreath If any one can blow off at a breath We deem her for a maid. — Browne, Brit. Past., i. 4. To be able to look upon the sun, they say, is a sign of one's having a maidenhead. Now that is an observation founded in truth, for venery has a bad effect upon the nerves, debili- tates them greatly, and particularly the optic nerves ; and 359 DIVINATIONS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA, Milk. when this happens people must needs be less able to bear the hght than otherwise. You are to suppose that by losing one's maidenhead, in this case, is not meant just one single act, but long practised. — Pegge, Amnymiana, x. 46, 1766. En Lorraine une jeune fille qui mange du lait pent apprendre par le nombre des goutes qu'elle laisse involontairement, tomber a terre ou sur son tablier, quel sera celui des enfants qu'elle aura quand elle sera mariee. — D. C. Cf. TihuUus, L, ii. 50, Jam jubet aspersas lacte referre pedem. New year (January ist). On New Year's Eve, in many of the upland cottages, it is yet customary for the housewife, after raking the fire for the night, and just before stepping into bed, to spread the ASHES smooth over the floor with the tongs, in the hopes of finding in it next morning the track of a foot. Should the toes of this ominous print point towards the door, then it is believed a member of the family will die in the course of that year ; but should the heel of the fairy foot point in that direction, then it is firmly believed that the family will be augmented within the same period. — Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Man, by Jos. Train, 1845, ii. 115. Brockett [Gloss. N. C. Words) ascribes the ceremony of Ass- riddlin to forecast the deaths in a family to the Eve of St. Mark. Aubrey, however, says : " On New Year's Eve sift [or smooth] the ashes, and leave it so when you go to bed : next morning look, and if you find there the likeness of a coffin, one will die ; if of a ring, one will be married." Cis. Why, last New Year's Eve, when all the house were in bed, I swept up the hearth and smoothed the ashes, and next morning found the print of a wedding ring and a grave upon them. I am confident we shall have a wedding and a burial out of our house this year. — Wilson, Cheats, iv. 5. Shrove Tuesday. Give the first pancake made to the hens : if the cock partakes first, the young maiden who made it will be married that year ; but as many hens as partake of the cake before their lord, as many years will elapse before she is married. — Egglestone's Weardale, p. 92. Midsummer (St. John Baptist) Eve. Hypericum perforatum is gathered with superstitious awe as a " plant of power " by youthful lovers in our county and North Wales on Midsummer night, the night of St. John, and by its fresh or withered state on the ensuing morn "the voiceless flower" is deemed to prognosticate their 360 FOLK LORE. divinations future fortune in matrimony. If fresh, it was saved " to deck the young bride in her bridal hour " ; but if withered, it seemed to say " more meet for a burial than bridal day." Thou silver glow-worm, O lend me thy light, I must gather the mystic St. John's wort to-night — The wonderful herb, whose leaf will decide If the coming year will make me a bride. Leighton, Flora of Shropshire, p. 374. Si les herbes cueillies la veille de la S. Jean on plus de vertu qu'a un autre jour ? — Jo. At shovegroat, venter-point, or crosse and pile, At leaping o'er a Midsummer bonefier. Or at the drawing Dun out of the mire. (Plays mentioned in an Old Collection of Epigrams cited in Nares.) Besides the well-known method of discovering treasures on the Eve of St. John, a curious rite is practised here to propitiate the guardian spirits. When the precise locality has been found, some of the ashes thrown out into the Harman during the Kulada [winter solstice] are spread at night over the place. The footprint which is seen imprinted the next morning is that of the animal which the genius requires as a propitiatory offering — St. Clair and Brophy, Bulgaria, p. 54. Halving apple. If a couple took an apple on St. John's Eve and cut it in two, and if the seeds on each half were found to be equal in number, this was a token that these tv/o would soon be married. If the halves contained an unequal number of pips, the one whose half had the greatest number would be married first. If a pip were cut in two, the one having the larger half would have trouble. If two pips were cut, early death or widowhood to one of the parties. (Scotland) Na. St. Matthew (September 21st). Winterdag. A minuit les filles se rendent pres d'un ruisseau. L'une porte une couronne, soit de pervenche, soit de roses de Notre Dame attachee a du lierre. Une autre porte une couronne de pail ; une troisieme tient en main une poignee de cendres ; ces trois objels doitient etre jetes a I'eau. Puis commence une ronde. Les filles, les yeux bandes, se bais- sent et saisissent dans I'eau soit la couronne de pervenche, qui est la couronne nuptiale, soit la couronne du malheur, celle de paille, soit enfin les cendres, la mort ! D'autres jettent dans I'eau des grains d'orge qui signifient les gar9ons. Elles donnent grandement attention pour voir comment ces grains se reunissent ou se separent. Trois feuilles marquees et jetees dans I'eau cette nuit signifient pere, mere, fille. La feuille qui s'engloutit la premiere annonce la mort de la personne qu'elle designe. — C., A. B. 361 DIVINATIONS. LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. St. Michel (September 29th). Les filles melent des noix vides, mais soigneusement renfermes avec les noix pleines ; puis fermant les yeux elles en pren- nent une sans choisir. Celle qui en tire une pleine aura bientot un mari. C'est St. Michel qui donne les bons maris. —C.,A.B. St. Mark's Eve (April 25th). Robert Staff, who formerly kept the Maid's Head Inn at Stalham, opposite to the church, told Mrs. Lubbock that he and two other men had been able to tell who were going to die or to be married in the course of the year. They watched the church porch opposite to the house on St. Mark's Eve. Those who were to die went into the church singly and stayed there ; and those who were to be married went in in couples and came out again, and this Staff had seen. Mrs. L. had often heard him say so ; but he would never tell anybody who were to die or to be married, "for he did not watch with that intent," — Proverbs and Popular Superstitions still preserved in the parish of Irstead, Norfolk Archeology, Norwich, 1849, ii. 295. Celui qui va la nuit de S. Marc sur le portail d'une eglise entre minuit et une heure voit les esprits de ceux, qui en son endroit devront, mourir pendant I'annee. On nomme cela quaed sien. — C, A. B. On St. Mark's Eve a party of males and females, but never a mixed company, place on the floor a lighted pigtail or FARTHING CANDLE, which Riust have been stolen. They then sit in solemn silence, their eyes fixed on the taper. When it begins to burn blue, the intended lovers will appear and cross the room. The doors and cupboards must remain unlocked. — Carr, Craven Gloss. On St. Mark's Eve, at twelve o'clock, The fair maid she will watch her smock. To find her husband in the dark, By praying unto good St. Mark. — Poor Robin, 1770. St. Andrew's Day (November 30th). Les jolies filles du pays de Franchimont font un cercle autour d'une oie ; celle que celle-ci touche la premiere se mariera bientot.— C, A. B. Lorsque fiUe prend une clef en main cette nuit et qu'elle fait couler dans un vase rempli d'eau par le panneton de cette clef, qui doit avoir forme de croix, du plomb fondu, les instruments du metier de son futur mari se forment dans I'eau. — lb. To Andrew all the lovers and the lustie wooers come. Believing through his aid and certain ceremonies done (While as to him they presents bring and conjure all the night) To have good luck and to obtain their chief and sweete delight. B. Googe, Popish Kingdom, p. 55. Cf. M. Luther, Colloq. Mensal., \. 362 TrrwT T.' T r\-r?Tr charms love and rULvK l^UKii. marriage. CHARMS-LOYE AND MARRIAGE. See the play, Tivo Italian Gentlemen, 1584, Halliwell's repr., pp. 20, 21. A Roscoff en Bretagne les femmes apres la messe balayent la poussiere de la chapelle de la S'* Union, la soufflent du cote par lequel leurs epoux ou leurs fiancts doivent revenir, et se flattent, au moyen de cette inoffensif sortilege de fixer le cceur de celui qu'elles aiment. — Voyage de Cambry dans la Finisterre, i. Dans d'autres pays on croit stupidement se faire aimer en attachant a son ecu certains mots separes par des croix. Waxen image. Then mould her form of fairest wax, With adder's eyes and feet of horn ; Place this small scroll within its breast, Which I, your friend, have hither borne: Then make a blaze of alder wood ; Before your fire make this to stand ; And the last night of every moon The bonny May 's at your command. Hogg, Mountain Bard, p. 35. This is the poyson, Philautus, the inchantment, the potion that creepeth by sleight into the mind of a woman and catcheth her by assurance better than the fond devices of old dreames, as an apple with an Ave Mary, or a hasell wand of a year old, crosses with sixe characters, or the picture of Venus in virgin waxe, or the image of Camilla upon a moul- warps skin. — Lyly, Euphues and his England. Dumb cake. \^See St. Agnes' Fast, post. — Ed.] A charm- divination on St. Faith's Day* (October 6th) is still in use in the North of England. A cake, of flour, spring water, salt and sugar, is made by three girls, each having an equal hand in the composition. It is then baked in a Dutch oven, silence being strictly observed, and turned thrice by each person. When it is well baked, it must be divided into three equal parts, and each girl must cut her share into nine pieces, drawing every piece through a wedding-ring, which had been borrowed from a woman who had been married seven years. Each girl must eat her pieces of cake while she is undressing, and repeat the following verses : — " O good St. Faith, be kind to-night. And bring to me my heart's delight ; Let me my future husband view, And be my visions chaste and true." — Hll., P. R. * Some Friday night. — K. St. Agnes' night. — Gay, Wife of Bath, i. 3. You must know two must make it, two must bake it, two break it, and the third put it under each of their pillows (but you must not speak a word all the time), and then you will dream of the man you are to have. — Connoisseur. 363 ''"'^mTr^iagI/''^ LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. New-laid egg. A new-laid egg offers another means of divinf^ into futurity. On New Year's Eve perforate with a pin the small end of the egg, and let three drops of the white fall into a basin of water. They will diffuse themselves on the surface into fantastic forms of trees, &c. From these the initiated will augur the fortunes of the egg-dropper, the character of his wife, number of children, and so forth. This is still practised in Denmark, where also, as a variety, the girls will melt lead on New Year's Eve, and, pouring it into water, observe the next morning what form it has assumed. If it resembles a pair of scissors, she will inevitably marry a tailor ; if a hammer, her husband will be a smith, and so on. — Hn. Prevalent in Tuscany at Epiphany. — De Gubernatis. On Fastren's E'en (Shrove Tuesday), bannocks being baked of the eggs which have been previously dropped into a glass amongst water for divining the weird of the individual to whom each egg is appropriated, she who undertakes to make them, whatever provocation she may receive, must remain speechless during the whole operation. If she cannot restrain her loquacity, she is in danger of bearing the reproach of a by-shot, i.e. a hopeless maid of one shot, or pushed aside. — J. ; Tarras' Poems, p. 72. Melted lead is used as the egg in South of Scotland on Hallowe'en. — J. Cold pudding will settle your love. — N., ii. In Sussex it is taken in the hand and passed behind the head and over the shoulder to the mouth. — S., P.C., ii. Appule fruture is good hoot, but fe cold ye not touche ; Tansey is good hoot, els cast it not in your clowche. J. Russell, Boke of Nurture, Harl. MS. 4011, 171. The Pipe, th' immortal Pipe, if used before, To after-years^ transmits your glory's ore ; For that can best (as you may quickly prov^e) Settle the Wit, as Pudding settles Love. "A Tobacco Pipe," Sam Wesley, Maggots, 1685, p. 41. If thou be bewitched with eyes, wear the eye of a weasel in a ring, which is an enchantment against such charms, and reason with thyself whether there be more pleasure to be accounted amorous or wise. — Lyly, Euphues and his England, p. 273. To wear the picture of the beloved object constantly next the heart is universally accounted a never-failing preservative of affection. — Connoisseur. If you carry a nutmeg in your pocket, you '11 be married to an old man. — S., P.C, i. The meaning of this, " A gilt nutmeg," seems to have been a common gift (Dyce says at Christmas and other festivities). In Barnfield's Affectionate Shepherd, Pt. II., amongst a 364 FOLK LORE. ^"^-^rAlrR^^G"!/"" lover's offerings, are "A guilded nutmeg and a race of ginger"; and Dumain, in Shak., Loves Labour's Lost, V. 2, 637, mockingly suggests it as having been Mars' gift to Hector. Prudence. They have robbed me of a dainty race of ginger. . . Meg, And I have lost an inchanted nutmeg, all gilded over ; was inchanted at Oxford for me to put in my sweetheart's ale a-mornings ; with a row of white pins, that prick me to the very heart — the loss of them. — B. Jonson, Masque of Metamorphosed Gipsies. A Charm, or An Allay for Love. If so be a toad be laid In a sheep's-skin newly flay'd, And that tied to man, 'twill sever Him and his affections ever. Herrick, [Hesp., 589. — Ed.] Sir Philip Sidney derives the word charm from carmen. — Apology for Poetry, 1595. Adder's tongue {Ophioglossum vulgatum). One of the bulbs of the root is supposed to resemble the com.b of a cock, and if sewed in any part of the dress of a young woman without her knowledge, will, it is believed, make her follow the man who put it there as long as it keeps its place. — J. See a peculiar use of the adder's tongue as a love-charm in Siam. — Herbert's Travels, bk. 3, [in Anthropomor., p. 343.] Cut the stem of a full-grown bracken fern slantwise near to the root, and the section will show you the initials of your true love. — La Fillastre. See also p. 33, ante, and charms, post. Also PARE an apple without breaking the skin ; throw the rind, when all cut, over your head, and it will form, in falling, the initials of your lover. — D. C. The first letter of his surname or Christian name. — Connoisseur, No. 56. I pare this pippin round and round again, My shepherd's name to flourish on the plain ; I iiing th' unbroken paring o'er my head ; Upon the grass a perfect L is read. Gay, Shepherd's Week, Past., iv, 91. The 28th October is the day, and this the spell: "St. Simon and St. Jude, on you I intrude; By this paring I hold to discover. Without any delay, to tell me this day The first letter of my own true lover." The girl takes the paring in her right hand, and, standing in the middle of the room, recites the above. She must then turn round three times, casting the paring over her left shoulder, and it will form the first letter of her 365 ^"^MTR^VrGl/"" LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. husband's name ; but if the paring breaks into many pieces so that no letter is discernible, she will never marry. The pips of the apple must then be placed in cold spring water, and eaten by the girl. — Hll. Snail. The hue of the slug is said to indicate the lover's complexion. White is the most fortunate. — Wilde. Place a snail on a pewter platter on May Eve, and it will, by crawling, trace the initials of your future husband. — (Irish, Wilde; and Devonshire, Manning.) Or place it on the ashes of the hearth. — Miss Wise. Last Mayday fair I searched to find a snail That might my secret lover's name reveal ; Upon a gooseberry bush a snail I found, For always snails near sweetest fruit abound. I seized the vermin, home I quickly sped, And on the hearth the milk-white embers spread. Slow crawl'd the snail, and, if I right can spell, In the soft ashes mark'd a curious L ; Oh, may this wondrous omen lucky prove. For L is found in Lubberkin and Love. Gay, Shepherd's Week, Past., iv. 49. It should be a slug, and discovered accidentally. — Wilde. A girl had only to agitate the water in a bucket of spring-water with her hand, or to throw broken eggs over another person's head> if she wished to see the image of the man she should marr}-. — Chambers, Book of Days. The ashes raked oat of the fire on Midsummer Eve, and left in an heap, will indicate the next morning, by their form, the occupation of your future husband. — (North Devon) N., iii. Of ash-heaps, in the which ye use Husbands and wives by streaks to choose. Herrick, A New Year's Gift sent to Sir Simon Steivard [Hesp., 319. — Ed.] Retiring to bed on Midsummer Eve, when you take your shoes off, place them in the form of a letter T, and repeat these lines : " I place my shoes like a letter T In hopes my true love I shall see In his apparel and his array, As he is now and every day." Then change the shoes so as to make the down-stroke with the one that Avas the top-stroke before, and repeat the lines again. Reverse them, and say the lines for the third time. Having written a letter of the alphabet on so many little pieces of paper, throw them all into a basin of water with their faces downwards, and place the basin under the bed. Then go to bed ; but be sure not to speak after having repeated the above lines, or the charm will be broken, 3G6 T7nT V T nPT7 CHARMS-LOVE AND rUl^iV J^UKtL. MARRIAGE. though friends in the room do all they can by asking questions. In the morning examine the basin. If any of the letters have turned over, faces upwards, they v/ill indicate the name of your future husband. — (North Devon) Ih. Knapweed. Pull out the threads from the blossom of the knapweed. Young women place these in their bosom, naming their lover ; and, if they are right, the bud within an hour will flower again. — (Northampton) S. ; Autrefois en Bretagne. — D. C. Now young girls whisper things of love . . . Or trying simple charms and spells Which rural superstition tells. They pull the little blossom threads From out the knot-weed's button heads, And put the husks, with many a smile, In their white bosoms for a while ; Then, if they guess aright the swain. Their love's sweet fancies try to gain, 'Tis said that, ere it lies an hour, 'Twill blossom with a second flower, And from their bosom's handkerchief Bloom as it ne'er had lost a leaf. Clare, Shepherd's Calendar, p. 49. It was likewise a custom among the country fellows to try whether they succeed with their mistresses by carrying the bachelor's buttons (a plant of the lychnis kind, whose flowers resemble a coat button in their form) in their pockets ; and they judged of their good or bad success by their growing or not growing there. — Reed, Shak., v. 122 ; Shak., Merry Wives of Windsov, iii. 2, 60. And see Greene, Quip for an Upstart Courtier, 1592, Harl. Misc., v. 397. Lady-fly. This lady-fly I take from off the grass. Whose spotted back might scarlet-red surpass : " Fly, lady-bird, North, South, or East or West ; Fly where the man is found that I love best." He leaves my hand ; see, to the West he 's flown. To call my true love from the faithless town. Gay, Shepherd's Week, Past., iv. 83. Dr., Dr. Ellison, where will I be married ? East or west, or south or north ? Take ye flight and fly away. (North of Scotland) J. Lady Landers, Sir Ellison, Lady EUison, Lady Couch, and lady cow are other names by which it is known in Scotland. — J. St. Valentine. St. Valentine's Eve has an observance of its own in the South of Scotland. The young people assemble, and write the 367 ^"^mTr^\agI/''° LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. names of their acquaintances on slips of paper, placing those of the lads and lasses in separate bags apart. The maidens draw from the former, the young men from the latter, three times in succession, returning the names after the first and second times of drawing. If one person takes out the same name three times consecutively, it is without fail that of the future husband or wife. Thus, in Burns' song of " Tam Glen," the maiden sings : " Yestreen at the Valentine dealing My heart to my mou' gied a sten. For thrice I drew ane without failing, An' thrice it was written, Tam Glen," — Hn. We also wrote our lovers' names upon bits of paper, and rolled them up in clay and put them into water ; and the first that rose up was to be our Valentine. Would you think it ? Mr. Blossom was my man ; and I lay a-bed, and shut my eyes all the morning, till he came to our house, for I would not have seen another man before him for all the world. — Connoisseur, No. 56. On Valentine's Day take two bay leaves, sprinkle them with rosewater, and lay them across your pillow in the evening. When you go to bed put on a clean nightgown turned wrong side outwards, and, lying down, say these words softly to yourself: " Good Valentine, be kind to me, In dreams let me my true love see." — Hll. " Last Friday, Mr. Town, was Valentine's Day, and I '11 tell you what I did the night before. I got five bay leaves, and pinned four of them to the four corners of my pillow and the fifth to the middle, and then if I dreamed of my sweet- heart Betty said we should be married before the year was out." — Connoisseur. Nor is he altogether free from superstition ; for he will make you believe that if you put his leaves but under your pillow, you shall be sure to have true dreams. — T!ie Bay Tree, p. 37 [Strange Metamorphosis of Man, 1634.] Lady Tub. Come hither, I must kiss thee, Valentine Puppy ! ^^'ispe, have you got a valentine ? W, None, madam ; He 's the first stranger that I saw. Lady T. To me He is so, and as such, let 's share him equally. [They struggle to hiss him']. B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, iii. 2. It was a Derbyshire custom on Valentine's Day for girls to peep through the keyhole of the door before opening it, and if they saw a cock and hen in company they considered they would be married that year. — Long Ago, i. 81. 368 Trr»T T^ T nRT7 charms-love and rULlS. JLUKJb. MARRIAGE. Last Valentine, the day when birds of kind Their paramours with mutual chirpings find ; I rearly rose, just at the break of day, Before the sun had chas'd the stars away ; A-field I went, amid the morning dew. To milk my kine (for so should hus'wives do) ; Thee first I spied, and the first swain we see, In spite of fortune, our true love shall be. Gay, Shepherd's Week, Past., iv. 37. Frog. There is a certain crooked bone in a frog which, when cleaned and dried over a fire on St. John's Eve, and then ground fine and given in food to any person, will win the affections of the receiver to the giver, and in young persons will produce a desire for each other's society, culminating eventually in marriage ; also when a married couple do not agree well together, it will reconcile them. — Na. Pick late on a Friday nine she-holly leaves*; place them in a three-cornered handkerchief, and, when brought home, select nine of them, and tie them in the handkerchief with nine knots, which is to be placed beneath the pillow. Unbroken silence must be preserved from the time of setting out to collect the leaves till the next morning. — Hn. * i.e. smooth and without prickles. A bunch of she-holly is hung up in the stables in Lorraine to prevent the cows having the dartres or tetter. — D. C. Wedding cake. Young girls still put a piece of it under their pillows in order to obtain prophetic dreams. In some cases this is done by a friend writing the names of three young men on a piece of paper, and the cake, wrapped in it, is put under the pillow for three nights in succession before it is opened. Should the owners of the cake have dreamed of one of the three young men therein written, it is regarded as a sure proof that he is to be her future husband. — Na. Put a piece of wedding cake [or groaning cheese]* in a stocking under your pillow, after having passed it three or nine times through a wedding ring,f and you will dream of your true love. — G. ; Connoisseur, No. 56 ; Gay, Wife of Bath, i. * Or christening cake, after it has been wrapped in the infant's smock. — J. t And through the buttonhole of the bridegroom's coat. — Egglestone, IVcaydale. In the Highlands the Bannich Bruader, or dreaming bannock, is used in this way, one of the ingredients of which is soot. It must be baked in strict silence. — Stewart, Superstition of Highlanders. It is peculiar to Fasten's Eve ; i.e. Shrove Tuesday. VOL. II. 369 26 ''"^mTr^Va^gI/''^ LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Throughout the North of England Border-land the birth of a child is the signal for plenty of eating and drinking. Tea, duly qualified with brandy or whisky, and a profusion of shortbread and buns, are provided for all visitors, and it is very unlucky to allow anyone to leave the house without his share of these good things. But most important of all is the "shooten" or groaning cheese, from which the happy father must cut a " whang o' luck " for the lassies of the company, taking care not to cut his own finger while so doing, since in that case the child would die before reaching manhood. The whang must be taken from the edge of the cheese, and divided into portions, one for each maiden. Should there be any to spare, they may be distributed among the spinster friends of the family ; but if the number should fall short, the mistake cannot be rectified : there is no virtue in a second slice. The girls put these bits of cheese under their pillows, and ascribe to them the virtues of bridecake similarly treated. — Hn. Now it is plain that cake and a new cheese were formerly provided against the birth of a child both in England and Scotland, and the custom still extends as far south as the Humber. In the North of England, as soon as the happy event is over, the doctor cuts both cake and cheese, and all present partake of both on pain of the poor baby growing up without personal charms. The cake which is in use on these occasions in Yorkshire is called pepper-cake, and somewhat resembles thick ginger-bread. It is eaten with cheese and rich caudle, and all visitors to the house up to the baptism are invited to partake of it. . . . In Oxford- shire the cake used to be cut first in the middle, and gradually shaped to a ring, through which the child was passed on his christening-day. The Durham nurse reserves some cake and cheese, and when the infant is taken out to its christening she bestows them on the first person she meets of opposite sex to that of the child. — Id. As the newly-married wife enters her new home on returning from kirk one of the oldest inhabitants of the neighbour- hood, who has been stationed on the threshold, throws a plateful of shortbread over her head, so that it falls out- side. A scramble ensues, for it is deemed very fortunate to get a piece of the shortbread, and dreams of sweethearts attend its being placed under the pillow. A variation of this custom extends as far south as the East Riding of Yorkshire, where, on the bride's arrival at her father's door, a plate of cake is flung from an upper window upon the crowd below. An augury is then drawn from the fate which attends the plate : the more pieces it breaks into the better ; if it reach the ground unbroken, the omen is very unfavourable. — Id. Hide some daisy roots under your pillow, and hang your shoes out of window. 370 FOLK LORE. ^"^^MTRRVrG^I/'^^ In Dorsetshire the girls, on going to bed at night, will place their shoes at right angles to one another in the form of a T, saying : " Hoping this night my true love to see, I place my shoes in the form of a T." — Hll., P. R. On Hallowe'en or New Year's Eve a Border maiden may wash HER SARK and hang it over a chair to dry, taking care to tell no one what she is about. If she lie awake long enough, she will see the form of her future spouse enter the room and turn the sark. — Hn. Hunt gives this as Midsummer. BUTTERDOCK. The seeds of butterdock must be sowed by a young unmarried woman half an hour before sunrise on a Friday morning in a lonelisome place. She must strew the seeds gradually on the grass, saying these words : " I sow, I sow ; Then my own dear Come here, come here. And mow and mow." The seed being scattered, she will see her future husband mowing with a scythe at a short distance from her. She must not be frightened; for if she says, "Have mercy on me," he will immediately vanish. This method is said to be infallible, but it is looked upon as a bold, desperate, and presumptuous undertaking. — Hll., P. R. True love (Moonwort). Two young unmarried girls must sit together in a room by themselves from twelve o'clock at night till one o'clock the next morning without speaking a word. During this time each of them must take as many hairs from her head as she is years old, and having put them into a linen cloth with some of the herb true-love, as soon as the clock strikes one she must burn every hair separately, saying : " I offer this, my sacrifice. To him most precious in my eyes ; I charge thee now, come forth to me. That I this minute may thee see." Upon which her first husband will appear, walk round the room, and then vanish. The same event happens to both the girls, but neither sees the other's lover. — lb. Put a Bible under your pillow with a sixpence clapt into the book of Ruth,* and you will dream of your future husband. — B. * Ver. i6 and 17 of chap. i. — H. W. Or an onion on St. Thomas' Eve. — N., i. 7. 371 *'"''''r!uR'^\^Gl/''° LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Or a golden pippin, having stuck nine pins in the eye and nine in the stem (all new), and tied the left garter round it. Go into bed backwards, saying : " Le jour de St, Thomas, Le plus court, le plus bas, Je prie Dieu journellement Qu'il me fasse voir en dormant Celui qui sera mon amant, Et le pays et la contree, Ou 11 fera sa demeuree, Tel qu'il sera je I'aimerai." (Guernsey) Ainsi soit il. Nine pins were stuck in a red onion, so disposed that one was exactly in the middle, saying : " Good St. Thomas, do me right, Send me my true love this night In his clothes and his array Which he weareth every day, That I may see him in the face. And in my arms may him embrace." (Derby) Long Ago, ii. 26. Or the BLADEBONE OF A LAMB [or rabbit], pricked at midnight with nine pins. — Hn. Or drive a penknife through the thin part, and bury both in the ground. This makes the lover uneasy to have an interview. Or the FIRST egg of a pullet. This is a suitable present for a sweetheart. — N., i. 2. Triple leaves plucked at hazard from the common ash are worn in the breast of maidens for the purpose of causing prophetic dreams respecting a dilatory lover. — H. W. Buckinghamshire damsels, desirous to see their lovers, stick two pins across through the candle they are burning, taking care that the pins pass through the wick. While doing this they recite the following verses : " It 's not this candle alone I stick. But A. B.'s heart I mean to prick ; Whether he be asleep or awake, I 'd have him come to me and speak." By the time the candle burned down to the pins and went out, the lover would be sure to present himself. — Hn. At Ashbourne, in Derbyshire, if a young woman wishes to divine who her future husband is to be, she goes into the churchyard at midnight, and as the clock strikes twelve commences running round the church, repeating, without intermission : " I sow hempseed, hempseed I sow ; He that loves me best, come after me and mow." 372 T7r»T T^ T nPTT CHARMS-LOVE AND tUi^t^ i^UKt.. MARRIAGE. Having thus performed the circuit of the church twelve times without stopping, the figure of her lover is supposed to appear and follow her. — L. Jewitt, in Journal of British Archisological Associatiojt, 185 1-2. See Gay's [Shepherd's Week, Past., iv. 31. — Ed.] When you first see the new moon after Midsummer, go to a stile, turn your back to it, and ask that you may see your love that night. — N., i. 4. The young women in Galloway, when they first see the new moon, sally out of doors and pull a handful of grass, saying: '• New mune, true mune, tell me if you can, Gif I hae here a hair like the hair o' my guidman." The grass is then brought into the house, where it is care- fully searched, and if a hair be found amongst it, which is generally the case, the colour of it determines that of the future husband. — C. Another, used in the Lowlands on first observing the new moon • *' New mune, true mune, Tell unto me. If [naming him] , my true love, He will marry me. If he marry me in haste. Let me see his bonnie face ; If he marry me betide. Let me see his bonnie side ; Gin he marry na me ava'. Turn his back and gae awa'." And he must satisfy her longing thought What or how many husbands she shall have ; Of what degree ; upon what night she shall Dream of the man ; when she shall fast, and walk In the churchyard to see him passing by. Just in those clothes that first he comes a suitor. May, Old Couple, i. Bow or CURTSEY TO THE NEW MOON, and sit on or stride a stile, or stand on a stone stuck fast in the ground with your back against a tree, and ask to see your future husband, saying : " All hail to thee, moon ! all hail to thee ! I prithee, good moon, declare to me This night who my husband must be." — Aubrey. Cf. Horat., Ode, iii. 23. St. Agnes' eve and night. [See dumb cake, p. 363, ante. — Ed.] Upon St. Agnes' night (January 21st) you take a row of pins and pull out every one, one after anotlier, saying a paternoster, sticking a pin in your sleeve, and you will dream of him or her you shall marry. — [Aubrey, Miscellanies, p. 136] ; De Foe, Life of Duncan Campbell, Ep. Ded. Peg. I think an ill star reigned when I was born : I cannot have as much as a suitor. This master Miccome, 373 """"mTTr'i^gI/''" LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. that you forsooth so much scorn, I could find in my heart to pray nine times to the moon and fast three St. Agnes' Eves so that I might be sure to have him to my husband. — Cupid's Whirligig, 1630, E. 4. Another of the nurses' prescriptions is this : Fasted upon the stones on St. Agnes' night together. — Marston, Insatiate Countess, i., 1613. St. Agnes' Fast is thus practised throughout Durham and Yorkshire : Two young girls, each desirous to dream about their future husbands, must abstain through the whole of St. Agnes' Eve from eating, drinking and speaking, and must avoid even touching their lips with their fingers. At night they are to make together their "dumb cake," so called from the rigid silence which attends its manufacture. Its ingredients (flour, salt, water, &c.) must be supplied in equal proportions by their friends, who must also take equal shares in the baking and turning of the cake, and in drawing it out of the oven. The mystic viand must next be divided into two equal portions, and each girl, taking her share, is to carry it upstairs, walking backwards all the time, and finally eat it and jump into bed. — Hn. She* can start our Franklin's daughters, In her sleep, with shrieks and laughters, And on sweet Saint Anna's night. Feed them with a promis'd sight — Some of husbands, some of lovers. Which an empty dream discovers. B. Jonson, A Particular Entertainment, S^c. 1603. '■ Queen Mab. They'll give anything to know when they shall be married — how many husbands they shall have — by cromnyomantia, a kind of divination with onions laid on the altar on Christmas Eve, or by fasting on St. Anne's Eve or night ; who shall be their first husband ; or by Amphitomantia, by beans in a cake, &c., to burn the same. — Robt. Burton, Anat. of Mel., P. Ill,, s. ii. 4, I. 1676. They told her how, upon St. Agnes' Eve, Young virgins might have visions of delight, And soft advisings from their loves receive Upon the honey'd middle of the night. If ceremonies due they did aright ; As supperless to bed they must retire. And couch supine their bodies, lily white, Nor look behind nor sideways, but require Of heaven with upward eyes for all that they desire. The Eve of St. Agnes, by John Keats. On St. Agnes' Day take a sprig of rosemary and another of thyme, and sprinkle them thrice with water. In the evening put one in each shoe, placing a shoe on each side 374 Trr»T T/ T r»T?Tr charms— love and i^Ul^K l^UKii. MARRIAGE. of the bed ; and when you retire to rest, say the following lines, and your husband will appear visible to sight : " St. Agnes, that 's to lovers kind, Come, ease the troubles of my mind." — HU., P.R. Four corners. She raised her head once more, but she had forgotten that she was sleeping for the first time in a strange bed. Up she jumped, and commenced a performance which is never omitted by American girls under similar circumstances. She called the three corners of the room each by the name of one of her friends, but to that which was nearest her heart she gave no name. Then she returned to her bed, and stepped in backwards, gazing intently at the nameless corner. It is believed by every American that if this cere- mony be gone through properly, the true love in the then nameless heart-corner will make his appearance in a dream. — Stage Struck, by Blanche Roosevelt, 1884, ch. xi. If on Midsummer Eve a young woman takes off the shift she has been wearing, and, having washed it, turns it wrong side out and hangs it in silence over the back of a chair near the fire, she will see, about midnight, her future husband, who deliberately turns the garment. — Hunt ; Connoisseur, No. 56. Egg. An unmarried woman breaking an ordinary hen's egg precisely at noon on Midsummer Day, and looking intently at the contents which have been received in a glass, will either see her future husband or something indicative of his position, e.g. a mansion in the egg, which showed that she would marry a rich man. — Trans. Devonsh. Assoc, ix. 8g. An egg roasted hard, and the yolk taken out and salt put in its stead (sc. filled up), to be eaten fasting without supper when you go to bed. Mrs. Fines, of Albery, in Oxford, did thus : she dreamt of a grey or ancient white-haired man, and such a shape which was her husband. This I had from her own mouth at Ricot. — Ay. Any unmarried woman fasting on Midsummer Eve, and at mid- night LAYING A CLEAN CLOTH with bread and cheese, and ale, and sitting down as if going to eat, the street door being left open — the person whom she is afterwards to marry will come into the room, and drink to her by bowing ; and afterwards, filling the glass, will leave it on the table, and, making another bow, retire. — G. At eve, last Midsummer no sleep I sought, But to the field a bag of hemp-seed brought. I scatter'd round the seed on every side, And three times in a trembling accent cried, " This hemp-seed with my virgin hand I sow, Who shall my true-love be, the crop shall mow." I straight look'd back, and, if my eyes speak truth, With this keen scythe behind me came the youth. Gay, Shepherd'' s Week, Past., iv. 27. 375 ^"''mTr^^gI/''° LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. If he be hang'd, he'll come hopping, and if he be drown'd, he'll come dropping. Swift, P. C, i. Another method to see a future spouse in a dream. The party enquiring must lie in a different county to that in which he commonly resides, and on going to bed must knit the left GARTER above the right-legged stocking, letting the other garter and stocking alone; and, as you rehearse the following verse, at every comma knit a knot. — G. ; De Foe, Life of Duncan Campbell, Ep. Ded. This knot I knit, "" To know the thing I know not yet. That I may ste The man* that shall my husbandf be. How he goes and what he wears. And what he does all days and years. * Woman. f Wife. Accordingly, in your dream you will see him ; if a musician, with a lute or other instrument ; if a scholar, with a book, &c. — Ih. Among the many superstitious rites of Hallow-e'en, knotting the GARTER holds a distinguished place. It is performed, like the preceding freits, by young females, as a divination to dis- cover their future partners in life. The left-leg garter is taken, and three knots are tied on it. During the time of knotting, the person must not speak to any one, otherwise the charm will prove abortive. — C. This knot, this knot, this knot I knit, To see the thing I ne'er saw yet — To see my love in his array, And what he walks in every day ; And what his occupation be, This night I in my sleep may see. And if my love be clad in green, His love for me is well seen ; And if my love is clad in gray. His love for me is far away ; But if my love be clad in blue. His love for me is very true. After all the knots are tied, she puts the garter below her pillow, and sleeps on it ; and it is believed that her future husband will appear to her in a dream in his usual dress and appearance. The colour of his clothes will denote whether the marriage is to prove fortunate or not. Variation. And if his livery I 'm to wear. And if his bairs I am to bear. Blithe and merry may he be. And may his face be turned to me. 376 T7nj V 1 n-R-p CHARMS-LOVE AND rUi^K L,UKJb. MARRIAGE. Whenever I go to lye in a strange bed, I always tye my garter nine times round the bedpost, and knit nine knots in it, and say to myself : " This knot I knit, this knot I tye, To see my love as he goes by, In his apparelled array As he walks in every day." — Connoisseur, No. 56. Fille se rend pres du puits avec un chandelle et regarde dans I'eau assez souvent elle y voit le portrait de son futur mari. — C, A. B. This on Christmas Eve. If a girl at midnight on Christmas Eve goes into the garden and plucks twelve sage leaves without breaking the stalk, she will see her future husband approach- ing from the opposite side of the ground. — S. Take the heart of a live pigeon, stick it full of pins, and while it is burning on the hearth, she will see her future husband. — Id. If you wish to see your lover, throw salt on the fire every morning for nine days, and say : It is not salt I mean to burn. But my true love's heart I mean to turn ; Wishing him neither joy nor sleep. Till he come back to me and speak. — N. Dragon's blood* wrapped in paper, and thrown on the fire, will recall a neglectful lover, saying : May he no pleasure or profit see Till he comes back again to me. — N. * A drug or gum. In burning it gives out an acid flame, similar to that of benzoic acid. — Trans. Devonsh. Assoc, iii. 93. Another plant of omen is the yarrow [Achillcea millefolium), called by us yarroway. The mode of divination is this : You must take one of the serrated leaves of the plant, and with it tickle the inside of the nostrils, repeating at the same time the following lines : Yarroway, yarroway, bear a light blow ; If my love love me, my nose will bleed now. If the blood follow this charm, success in your courtship is held to be certain.— (E. Anglia) Forby, Voc. Way {Prompt. Parv., sub Voc.) remarks that the yarrow, being a reputed styptic, made this result more marked. To know whether a woman will have the man she wishes. Get TWO lemon-peels : wear them all day, one in each pocket ; at night rub the four posts of the bedstead with them : if she is to succeed, the person will appear in her sleep and present her with a couple of lemons ; if not, there is no hope. — The True Fortune-teller. Hallowe'en. Take three dishes : put clean water in one, foul water in another : leave the third empty : blindfold a person and lead him to the hearth, where the dishes are ranged :^he 377 ''"''mTr-rugI/''^ LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. (or she) dips the left hand : if by chance in the clean water, the future husband or wife will come to the bar of matrimony a maid; if in the foul, a widow; if in the empty dish, it foretells with equal certainty no marriage at all. It is repeated three times, and every time the arrangement of the dishes is altered. — Burns. Take four, five, or eight onions, name them after your lovers, and place them near to the chimney : the first that sprouts will be your true love. Roasting apples. The apple charm is very simple, consisting merely in every person present fastening an apple on a string, hung and twirled round before a hot fire. The owner of the apple that first falls off is declared to be upon the point of marriage ; and as they fall successively, the order in which the rest of the party will attain to matrimonial honours is clearly indicated, single blessedness being the lot of the one whose apple is the last to drop. — (W. Sussex) F. L. R., i. Place several apple-pips, moist from the core, against your cheek or forehead, naming each pip after one of your admirers : that which sticks to the skin the longest, represents your true- love. — L. I am sure Mr. Blossom loves me, because I stuck two of the [apple] kernels upon my forehead while I thought upon him and the lubberly squire my papa wants me to have ; Mr. Blossom's kernel stuck on, but the other dropped off directly. — Connoisseur, No. 56. This pippin shall another trial make. See, from the core two kernels brown I take ; This on my cheek for Lubberkin is worn. And Boobyclod on 'tother side is borne. But Boobyclod soon drops upon the ground, A certain token that his love's unsound. While Lubberkin sticks firmly to the last, Oh, were his lips to mine but join'd so fast ! Gay, Shepherd'' s Week, Past., iv. 99. The ancient use of apple-pips was to shoot them out from the finger and thumb : if they flew far and struck the ceiling, it indicated success in love. — Hor., Sat., 11. hi. 272 ; Pollux, Onoviasticon, ix. 8. Put apple-pips into the fire, and if they crack in bursting, your love is true. — L. If they burn away silently, your love has no regard for you. — Hn. If you love me, bounce* and fly; If you hate me, lie and die. — (W. Sussex.) (To be said.) * Pop. Precisely the same in Modern Greece. — Turner, Tour in Levant, iii. 5^7- 378 T?m V T nPTT CHARMS-LOVE AND tUL.iS. L,UKt.. MARRIAGE. The Greek women will put apple-pips into the fire or candle ; if they jump it is a sign their friend or lover remembers them : the contrary if they be quiet. — lb. Two hazel nuts I threw into the flame, And to each nut I gave a sweetheart's name. This with the loudest bounce me sore amazed, That in a flame of brightest colour blazed. As blazed the nut so may thy passion grow. For 'twas thy nut that did so brightly glow. Gay, Shepherd's Week, Past., iv. 6i. Burning the nuts (on Hallowe'en) is a famous charm. They name the lad or lass to each particular nut, as they lay them in the fire ; and according as they burn quietly together, or start from beside one another, the course and issue of the courtship will be. — Burns. Laurel leaves placed on the coals was the earlier test. — Pollux, Ononiasticon, iv. 7. (Daphnomancy.) Nell' Umbria la sera deli' Epifania le regazze per sapere se troveranno marito vanno nude (cosi almeno perche I'oro- scopo riesca bene dovrebbero andare) a cogliare un ramo d'olivo verde. Preparano un posticino sul focolare, stac- cano un fogliuzza, la bagnano di saliva e la buttano quindi sul focolare ; se la fogliuzza fa tre salti e per lo meno gira e rigira sopra se stessa ne traggono augurio di prossimo e felice matrimonio, se al contrario la foglia brucia senza muoversi ogni speranza di matrimonio e perduto. — De Gubernatis. Another mode of divination is by the willow wand. Let a maiden take a willow branch in her left hand, and, without being observed, slip out of the house and run three times round it, whispering all the time: "He that's to be my gudeman, come and grip the end o't." During the third run the likeness of her future husband will appear and grasp the other end of the wand. A sword is sometimes used instead of a wand, but in this case it must he held in the right hand. — Hn. The young women of some districts in the North of England have a method of divination by kale or broth, which is used for the purpose of learning who are to be their future husbands. The plan followed is this : The maiden at bedtime stands on something on which she never stood before, holding a pot of cold kale in her hand, and repeating the following lines. She then drinks nine times, goes to bed backwards, and of course dreams of her partner : — Hot kale or cold kale, I drink thee ; If ever I marry a man, or a man marry me, I wish this night I may him see. To-morrow may him ken In church, fair or market. Above all other men. — Carr, Craven Glossary. 379 ^^^Zrr'TagI/''^ LEAN'S COLLECTANEA. Pulling the kail-plant on Hallowe'en (October 31st, Eve of All Saints) is thus described : The individual who desires to ascertain as to his or her future partner, proceeds to the garden, or kailyard, with the eyes closed, and in this condition pulls a stock of cabbage. The stock being large or little, straight or crooked, determines the size and shape of the future spouse. If earth adhere to the root, that is tocher or portion; the taste of the stem indicates the disposition or temper of the husband or wife. The stems are then placed on the top of the door, and the Christian names of parties proceeding afterwards into the house fix in succession the Christian names of the future helpmates. This is the first ceremony. Burning the nuts, the second ; and a third, steal out all alone to the kiln, and darkling (in the dark) throw into the pit a clue of blue yarn ; wind it in a new clue off the old one, and towards the latter end something will hold the thread. Demand " Wha hands ? " An answer will be returned from the kilnpit by naming the Christian and surname of your future spouse. — R. Burns, notes to Halloween. See "South Running Water," p. 351, ante. After pulling the kail they go next to the barnyard and pull each, at three several times, a stalk of oats. It is essential to a female's good fame that her stalk should have the top- grain or pickle of the third stalk attached to it. — Burns. And according to the number of grains upon the stalk the puller will have a corresponding number of children. — Stewart. Minor charms. — An apple is eaten alone before a looking-glass, when, by the light of a candle, the face of the future conjugal companion will be seen in the glass peeping over your shoulder. Some traditions say you should comb your hair all the time. — lb. A handful of hemp-seed is sown with an invocation, and the future spouse forthwith appears. — Connoiseur, No. 56. Ay, hemp-seed I sow, and hemp-seed I mow, and he that is my sweetheart come, follow me, I trow. And so if an individual, when all alone in a dark barn or out- house, throws up a sieve or riddle full of nothing, or rides round the stack-yard on a broomstrick three times. Take an opportunity of going unnoticed to a beanstack and fathom it three times round. The last fathom of the last time you will catch in your arms the appearance of your future spouse. — Burns, nt supra. Sooty Skon. A cake baked with soot and eaten by young people on Hallowe'en in order to dream of their sweethearts. An individual goes to the barn (on Hallowe'en), opens both its doors,* and then takes the instrument used in winnowing corn called a WECHT, and goes through all the gestures of letting down 380 T7nT T