HOUSEHOLD SUPERSTITIONS.
Prevalence and Continuity of
Superstitions--Sneezing--Stumbling--A Whistling
Woman--Sweeping--Breaking Crockery--Fires and
Candles--Money--Other Superstitions.
It has often been asked how that formidable array of superstitions,
which are so firmly established in most houses, came into being, and
what is their origin? Although indeed one may occasionally smile at
the "reign of terror" which these frequently exercise over their
credulous believers, yet it must be admitted they are not limited to
any one class. In discussing and comparing the intellectual condition
of one class of society with another, we are apt, while passing
censure on the one for its odd notions and fanciful beliefs, to
forget how the other often cherishes the very same, although it may
be in a more disguised form. Thus, by way of example, whereas some
ignorant persons resort to a cunning man or "wise woman" for advice
in case of emergency, many an educated person is found consulting
with equal faith a clairvoyant or spirit-medium. While, too, some
uneducated person believes in a particular omen, which is condemned
by an intelligent community as the height of folly, many cultivated
people, as we have said, may be found who hesitate before sitting
down to dinner when the party consists of thirteen. However much,
therefore, we may dislike to own the fact, we must acknowledge that
superstition is a distinct element in the human character, although
under the influence of education it has not the same opportunity
for development as in the case of those whose mental powers have
never been thoroughly trained. These superstitions, beliefs, and
practices, too, it must be remembered, have not sprung up in a day,
but have been handed down from generation to generation in popular
traditions, tales, rhymes, and proverbs, and consequently have become
so interwoven with the daily life as to make it no easy task to root
them out. It has been truly said:--
"How superstitiously we mind our evils!
The throwing down salt, or crossing of a hare,
Bleeding at nose, the stumbling of a horse,
Or singing of a cricket, are of power
To daunt whole man in us."
As Mr. Tylor has truly shown, when a custom or superstition is
once fairly started in the world, disturbing influences may long
affect it so slightly that it may keep its course from generation
to generation, as a stream once settled in its bed will flow on for
ages. Thus thousands of superstitions, the true meanings of which
have perished for centuries, continue to exist simply because they
have existed. A striking example of this fact may be found in the
widespread folk-lore associated with the act of sneezing in this
and other countries, which may be traced back to the most remote
period. Thus, in the classic ages of Greece and Rome, we read of the
lucky sneeze of Telemachus, and of Aristotle's remark that people
consider a sneeze as divine, but not a cough. On account of sneezing
being deemed lucky, it has always been customary to salute the
sneezer, a custom which the ancient Greeks claimed to have derived
from Prometheus, who stole celestial fire to animate his newly-made
figure of clay. Tradition says that as the fire permeated its frame,
the creature sneezed, which caused Prometheus to invoke blessings
on it. Anyhow the practice of salutation on sneezing dates from
the earliest times, and it is interesting to find a superstition
of this kind, which may be looked on as a curiosity of primitive
civilisation, still existing in our midst. Thus, in the Midland
counties, grandmothers still exclaim, "God help you!" when they hear
a child sneeze; and it is a very common notion that to sneeze three
times before breakfast is a pledge that one will soon receive a
present of some kind. The sneezing of a cat is considered an evil
omen, it being a sign that the family will all have colds. According
to a Scotch superstition a new-born child is in the fairy spells
until it sneezes, but when this takes place all danger is past. A
correspondent of _Notes and Queries_ tells us that he once overheard
"an old and reverend-looking dame crooning over a new-born child,
and then, watching it intently and in silence for nearly a minute,
she said, taking a huge pinch of snuff, 'Oich! Oich! No yet--no
yet.' Suddenly the youngster exploded in a startling manner, into a
tremendous sneeze; when the old lady suddenly bent down and, as far
as I could see, drew her fore-finger across the brows of the child,
very much as if making the sign of the cross (although as a strict
Calvinist she would have been scandalised at the idea), and joyfully
exclaimed, 'God sain the bairn it's _no a warlock_.'" Indeed it is a
very prevalent idea that no idiot ever sneezed or could sneeze. Some
attach importance to the day on which a person sneezes; and in the
West of England it is said that--
"Sneeze on Sunday morning fasting,
You'll enjoy your own true love to everlasting."
Another household superstition which has come down to us from the
far-off past is connected with stumbling; frequent allusions to which
occur in the classic writers. Thus, at the present day to stumble
up-stairs is considered unlucky by some, but just the reverse by
others. Grose remarks that to stumble up the stairs is a prognostic
of good luck, and in some places it is supposed to indicate that
the stumbler if unmarried will cease to be so before the year is
out. Others affirm that to stumble in the morning as soon as one
goes out of doors is a sign of ill-luck. As an instance of this
omen in ancient times, it is stated that Tiberius Gracchus, as he
was leaving his house on the day of his death, stumbled upon the
threshold with such violence that he broke the nail of his great
toe. It is not necessary, however, to quote further cases of this
superstition in years gone by, it being sufficient for our purpose to
show that it has been handed down to us by our ancestors, and that
stumbling, like sneezing, has always been regarded as an ominous act.
Again, stumbling at a grave has been ranked among unlucky omens, a
superstition to which Shakespeare refers in _Romeo and Juliet_ (Act
v., sc. 3), where Friar Laurence says:--
"How oft to-night
Have my old feet stumbled at graves."
We may also compare Gloucester's words in _3 Henry VI._ (Act v., sc.
3):--
"For many men that stumble at the threshold
Are well foretold that danger lurks within."
Hence various charms have been practised to counteract the supposed
ill-effect of this unlucky act, upon which Poor Robin, in his
"Almanack for 1695," quaintly remarks:--"All those who, walking the
streets, stumble at a stick or stone, and when they are past it turn
back again to spurn or kick the stone they stumbled at, are liable to
turn students in Goatam College, and upon admittance to have a coat
put upon him, with a cap, a bauble, and other ornaments belonging to
his degree."
Again, in most places there is a very strong antipathy to a woman
whistling about a house, or even out of doors, this act being
said to be always attended with fatal results. Thus, there is a
Cornish saying to the following effect:--"A whistling woman and a
crowing hen are the two unluckiest things under the sun;" and the
Northamptonshire peasantry have this rhyme which is to the same
purport:--
"A whistling woman and crowing hen
Are neither fit for God nor men."
Or, according to another version:--
"A whistling wife and a crowing hen
Will call the old gentleman out of his den."
Why there should be this superstitious dislike to a woman's whistling
it is difficult to decide, but at the same time it is a curious
fact that one seldom hears any of the fair sex amusing themselves
in this manner. Mr. Henderson informs us that the seafaring part
of the population on the coast of Yorkshire have the same dread of
hearing a woman whistle. A few years ago, when a party of friends
were going on board a vessel at Scarborough, the captain astonished
them by declining to allow one of them to enter it. "Not that young
lady," he said, "she whistles." Curiously enough the vessel was
lost on her next voyage; so, had the poor girl set foot on it, the
misfortune would certainly have been ascribed to her. According to
one legend, this superstition originated in the circumstance that
a woman stood by and whistled while she watched the nails for the
Cross being forged. A correspondent of _Notes and Queries_ assigns
another origin. He tells us that one day, after attempting in vain
to get his dog to obey orders to come into the house, his wife
essayed to whistle, when she was suddenly interrupted by a servant,
a Roman Catholic, who exclaimed in the most piteous accents, "If you
please, ma'am, don't whistle. Every time a woman whistles, the heart
of the Blessed Virgin bleeds." The French, it seems, have a similar
prejudice to hearing a woman whistle about a house, their proverb
being as follows:--"Une poule qui chante le coq, et une fille qui
siffle, portent malheur dans la maison."
There are numerous signs and omens connected with household work.
Thus, in Suffolk, the people say that if after sweeping a room the
broom is accidentally left up in a corner, strangers will visit the
house in the course of that day; while others affirm, in the Northern
counties, that to sweep dust out of the house by the front door is
equivalent to sweeping away the good fortune and happiness of the
family. Care should rather be taken to sweep inwards--the dust being
carried out in a basket or shovel--and then no harm will happen.
Furthermore, the spider, which in daily life is little noticed except
for its cobweb, the presence of which in a house generally betokens
neglect, is by no means an unfriendly intruder. Although the servant
oftentimes ruthlessly sweeps this uncared-for little visitor away
from the wall, yet a common proverb reminds us that--
"If you wish to live and thrive,
Let the spider run alive,"
ill-luck being supposed to quickly overtake those who kill or even so
much as injure it. It was a notion formerly prevalent in many parts
of Scotland that should a servant wilfully kill a spider, she would
certainly break a piece of crockery or glass before the day was out.
One reason why the spider is protected against ill-usage is that it
is supposed to bring prosperity; but the real cause, perhaps, is due
to the influence of an old legend which relates how, when Christ lay
in the manger at Bethlehem, the spider came and spun a web over the
spot where He was, thus preserving His life by screening Him from all
the dangers that surrounded Him.
Referring to the breaking of crockery, of which we have just spoken,
there is a prevalent idea that if a servant breaks two things she
will break a third. On one occasion the mistress of a household in
Suffolk was not a little horrified at seeing one of her servants take
up a coarse earthenware basin and deliberately throw it down upon
the brick floor. "What did you do that for?" she not unnaturally
inquired. "Because, ma'am, I'd broke two things," answered the
servant, "so I thout the third better be this here," pointing to the
remains of the least valuable piece of pottery in the establishment,
which had been sacrificed to glut the vengeance of the offended
ceramic deities. A correspondent of Chambers' "Book of Days,"
alluding to another piece of superstition of this kind, tells us
that he once had a servant who was very much given to breaking glass
and crockery. Plates and wine-glasses used to slip out of her hands
as if they had been soaped; even spoons came jingling to the ground
in rapid succession. "Let her buy something," said the cook, "and
that will change the luck." "Decidedly," said the mistress, "it will
be as well that she feel the inconvenience herself." "Oh, I didn't
mean that, ma'am!" was the reply; "I meant that it would change the
luck." A few days after this conversation, on being asked whether she
had broken anything more, she answered, "No, sir, I haven't broken
nothing since I bout the 'tater dish." Unluckily, however, this was
too good to last; the breaking soon re-commenced, and the servant was
obliged to go.
A superstitious dread still attaches in household matters to
Friday as being an unlucky day, and many will not even so much as
turn a bed for fear of some misfortune befalling them. Thus, in
Northamptonshire, we are told the housewife allows the bed to remain
unturned; and a Sussex saying admonishes persons "never to begin
a piece of work on Friday, or they will never finish it." We may
note here that one tradition assigns a very early origin to the
unfortunate reputation of Friday, affirming that it was on this day
that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. It is considered very
unlucky to change servants on this day of the week, and many try to
avoid, if possible, doing so.
That bright and ever-cheerful companion of our homes in winter time,
the fire, has given rise to a host of omens and portents, many
of which at times create no small consternation when the events
supposed to be prognosticated are not of a very lucky character. A
hollow cinder, for example, thrown out of the fire by a jet of gas
from burning coals is looked upon as a coffin if it be long, but as
a money-box if it be round. Some, too, exclaim on seeing the fire
suddenly blaze up that a stranger is near; whereas in the Midland
counties if the fire burn brightly after it has been stirred, this
is considered a sign that the absent lover, wife, or husband, as the
case may be, is in good spirits. A very popular charm for reviving a
fire when it has burnt down is to set the poker across the hearth,
with the fore-part leaning against the top bar of the grate. The
poker and top bar thus combined form a _cross_, and so defeat the
malice of the witches and demons who preside over smoky chimneys. One
notion is that the poker when in this position creates a draught, but
the real meaning of this harmless superstition is, perhaps, the one
that we have just given. Various items of weather-lore, also, have
been derived from the way fires burn, an enumeration of which we find
in Willsford's "Nature's Secrets":--"When our common fires do burn
with a pale flame, they presage foul weather. If the fire do make a
buzzing noise, it is a sign of tempests near at hand. When the fire
sparkleth very much, it is a sign of rain. If the ashes on the hearth
do clodder together of themselves, it is a sign of rain. When pots
are newly taken off the fire, if they sparkle, the soot upon them
being incensed, it is a sign of rain. When the fire scorcheth and
burneth more vehemently than it useth to do, it is a sign of frosty
weather; but if the living coals do shine brighter than commonly at
other times, expect then rain. If wood, or any other fuel, do crackle
and wind break forth more than ordinary, it is an evident sign of
some tempestuous weather near at hand; the much and sudden falling
of soot presages rain." Once more, there is a curious notion that
if a person sit musing and intently looking into the fire, it is a
sign that a badly-disposed person is either fascinating him for evil,
or throwing an evil spell over him. When this is the case, in order
to break the spell, some one without speaking or attracting notice
should take the tongs and turn the centre piece of coal in the grate
right over, at the same time repeating certain words. While speaking
of fires, we may note that there is a belief among the Yorkshire
peasants that it is unlucky to allow a light to be taken out of their
houses on Christmas Day--a superstition which prevails in Lancashire
with regard to New Year's Day. A few years ago a man was summoned at
Bradford on a charge of wilful damage by breaking a pane of glass
in a cottage window. Having entered for the purpose of lighting his
candle, the woman of the house strongly remonstrated, but offered him
instead a few matches. The man then created a disturbance, and on the
husband trying to eject him he broke the window.
Omens, too, from candles are very numerous. Thus, we may note
that in some of the Northern counties a bright spark in the candle
predicts the arrival of a letter, and if it drops on the first shake,
it is an indication that the letter has already been posted. To snuff
out a candle accidentally is a sign of matrimony, and a curious mode
of divination is still practised by means of a pin and a candle.
The anxious lover, while the candle is burning, takes a pin and
cautiously sticks it through the wax, taking care that it pierces the
wick, repeating meanwhile the following rhyme:--
"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."
She then patiently watches, for if the pin remains in the wick after
the candle has burnt below the place in which it was inserted, then
the loved one will be sure to appear; but should the pin drop out, it
is a sign that he is faithless.
There are, however, a host of other superstitions relating to
home-life, some of which we can only briefly describe, scattered
as they are here and there over the United Kingdom, and varying in
different localities. Thus, according to a well-known superstition,
if a person suddenly shivers, it is a sign that some one is
walking over his future grave, a notion which is not limited to
any particular county, extending as far north as Scotland. It
is fortunate, however, that all persons are not subject to this
sensation, otherwise the inhabitants of those districts or parishes
whose burial-grounds are much frequented would, as an old antiquarian
writer has observed, "live in one continued fit of shaking." Some,
too, deem it unlucky to turn back after they have once started on
some errand, or to be recalled and told of something previously
forgotten. This superstition extends beyond our own country, and
is found on the Continent, as for example in Sweden, where it is
considered unadvisable not only to turn round when one is going on
business, lest it should turn out ill, but even so much as to look
back. At the present day, too, in the Midland counties, children
are frequently cautioned by their parents not to walk backwards
when going on some errand, it being regarded as a sure sign that
misfortune will befall them if they disobey this injunction. Akin to
this superstition, there are several others of a similar kind, among
which we may include the supposed ill-luck of walking under a ladder;
and North-country people have a dislike to meeting a left-handed
person on a Tuesday morning, although on other days it is considered
fortunate to do so. Referring to the many other items of folk-lore
associated with our daily life, we must not omit those relating to
money. Thus, it is generally acknowledged to be a bad omen to find
it; and to insure health and prosperity, one should always turn a
piece of money in one's pocket on first seeing the new moon, and
on hearing the cuckoo in spring. There is, too, the common custom
of the lower orders to spit on money for "luck's sake," a practice
which is not only found in foreign countries, but may be traced back
to ancient times. Misson, in his "Travels in England," describes
this piece of superstition as it prevailed in this country in former
years:--"A woman that goes much to market told me t'other day that
the butcher-women of London, those that sell fowls, butter, eggs,
etc., and in general most tradespeople, have a peculiar esteem for
what they call a _handsel_, that is to say, the first money they
receive in the morning they kiss it, spit upon it, and put it in a
pocket by itself." Many, too, as a charm against poverty, carry a
piece of money, with a hole in it, or one that is bent, in allusion
to which Gay says:--
"This silver ring beside,
Three silver pennies, and a nine-pence bent,
A token kind to Brunkinet is sent."
Others, again, dislike "counting their gains," a superstition which,
it has been suggested, may have some connection with David's sin in
numbering the people of Israel and Judah. Hence some regard with
feelings of strong antipathy our own decennial census, and it is only
the compulsion of the law which induces them to comply with this
national means of ascertaining the state of the population. Among
minor superstitions, it is said that smoke and dust always follow the
fairest; and if without any neglect, but even with care, articles of
steel, such as keys, knives, &c., continually become rusty, it is
a sign that some kind-hearted person is laying up money for one's
benefit.
When, too, as often by coincidence happens, two persons in
conversation are on the point of telling each other the same thing,
it is an indication that some lie will before long be told about
them; others think that if the two immediately join hands and wish
silently, their desires cannot fail to come to pass. Some again,
have a strong objection either to being weighed or to having their
likeness taken, the latter superstition being mentioned by Mr.
Napier as prevalent in some parts of Scotland. Once more, there is a
belief among the Sussex peasantry that bottles which have contained
medicine should never be sold, or else they will soon be required
to be filled again for some one in the house. These are some of the
quaint superstitions with which even the trivial occurrences of home
life are surrounded, and although, according to one view, many of
these have little or no foundation for their existence beyond their
traditionary history, yet it is a remarkable fact that they should
have preserved their characteristic traits in spite of the long
course of years through which they have travelled down to us from the
past.