_Giving Cheese at a Birth._--In the county of Northumberland, not far
from the Cheviots, I met with the following custom. When a woman's
confinement is near, a cheese is made, which, when the child is born, is
cut into pieces and distributed among all the houses (without exception)
in the vicinity. If the child is a boy, the pieces of cheese are sent to
the males; if a girl, to the females, each member of a family receiving
a portion. Visitors also come in for their share. Whence did this custom
arise?