SUPERSTITIONS
Chief among the ‘unlucky’ things regarded by the superstitious as
omens of approaching calamity are those to which is attached the idea
of a death-portent. This warning of death appears in various ways, it
may be seen in some purely accidental occurrence, or some chance act;
it may be announced by a bird or some other animal; it may even lurk
in the most innocent flower. The following are sure signs of death: If
a small oblong cinder flies out of the fire it is called a _coffin_
(n.Cy.) and betokens death, especially if it lies silently where it
fell; but if, on the other hand, it makes a crackling noise, it can be
a _purse_, and mean money in store, cp.:
Last night (I vow to Heaven ’tis true)
Bounce from the fire a coffin flew.
Gay, _The Farmer’s Wife and the Raven_.
[Sidenote: _Terrifying Apprehensions_]
A large hole in the crumb of a loaf is a _grave_ (Brks.), or a _coffin_
(s.Not.). When the tallow or wax of a candle runs down on one side
it often projects and then reunites to the candle, forming a sort of
loop; this is a _coffin-handle_ (w.Som.), and is a sign of death to
the person in whose direction it forms itself. The same superstition
holds when the grease from the guttering candle forms a broad solid
mass, popularly termed a _winding-sheet_. A piece of charred wick at
the top of a burning candle is a _death-lowe_ [-flame] (Cum.), or a
_shroud_ (Sc. Lin. Som.), and presages death, unless the flame be
extinguished by immersing the candle in running water. When furniture
creaks suddenly it betokens death, but some say it only means a serious
illness. If a clock, a picture, a looking-glass, or a flitch of bacon
falls, it portends death; so does a table-cloth, when it is badly
folded, and has a crease in the form of a diamond in the centre. If
letters cross in the post; if the church clock strikes while the text
of the Sunday morning’s sermon is being given out, or while the last
hymn is being sung; if a piece of land has been accidentally missed in
ploughing or sowing, it is a sign of death. The sound of singing in the
ears is the _dead-bell_ (Sc.). In some districts the choking sensation
in the throat known as the _rising of the lights_ is held to forebode
death, but more usually it is regarded as an insignificant physical
condition, to be remedied by swallowing small shot, the weight of which
will keep the _lights_ in their proper place. To break a looking-glass;
to open an umbrella in the house, especially if it is held over the
head; to put the bellows on the table; to drop a comb--are all deeds
which forebode somebody’s death. The belief that if three people take
part in making up a bed there is sure to be a death in the house within
the year, is a superstition which I found was held to in my own house,
together with the very common one that it is unlucky to turn a mattress
on a Friday or Sunday.
[Sidenote: _Portents of Death_]
Among the omens wrought by insects, perhaps the most common is the
death-watch, also known as the _dead-chack_ (Sc.), and _death-tick_
(Oxf. Dev.). Sir Thomas Browne made a careful study of this particular
source of ‘terrifying apprehensions’, cp. ‘Few ears have escaped the
noise of the death-watch, that is, the little clickling sound heard
often in many rooms, somewhat resembling that of a watch; and this is
conceived to be of an evil omen or prediction of some person’s death:
wherein notwithstanding there is nothing of rational presage or just
cause of terror unto melancholy and meticulous heads. For this noise is
made by a little sheath-winged grey insect, found often in wainscot
benches and wood-work in the summer. We have taken many thereof, and
kept them in thin boxes, wherein I have heard and seen them work and
knock with a little proboscis or trunk against the side of the box, like
a _picus martius_, or woodpecker against a tree. It worketh best in warm
weather, and for the most part giveth not over under nine or eleven
strokes at a time,’ _Vulgar Errors_, Bk. II, Chap. VII. There is great
diversity of opinion as to the signification of crickets. In some parts
of England the sound of the cricket in the house is esteemed lucky (Yks.
Nhp. Cor.), in other parts unlucky (w.Cy.); and again, there are
districts (Shr.) where it is looked upon as a death-portent. If a swarm
of bees settles on the wall of a house, or on a dead tree, or wooden
stake, it is a sign of an approaching death in the family; if they
_knit_ on the ground, it is a sure sign of a berrin’ [funeral]. A death
in the family may also be presaged by the sudden death of a pig. I
remember just twenty years ago, when an old cook, whom I knew very well,
inquired after my brother who was then recovering from a severe attack
of scarlet-fever, she concluded the conversation by saying: ‘I knew
quite well that there would be a serious illness in your family, because
you had told me that one of the pigs had died suddenly.’ The sudden
departure of rats from a house is sometimes held to betoken the death of
one of the inmates. A white bird flying past, or a dove flying against a
window at night, or flying into a room, is a sign of death. In some
places, any bird pecking at a window announces death, but the robin is
the chief harbinger of death, whether he announces his message by
tapping at the window, chirping on the sill, or by hopping into the
room. In the winter of 1910, a tame robin used to cause considerable
uneasiness in this household by coming into the house through the open
windows. If a crow settles on a house, one of the inmates will die
within the year. If a hare or a white rabbit crosses your path; if you
hear a hen crow; if the cock crows at midnight; or if a cow lows three
times in your face, it is a sign of death, as are, too, the midnight
hooting of owls, and the howling of dogs. In the Miracle Play in
Longfellow’s _Golden Legend_, when the Rabbi asks Judas Iscariot ‘Why
howl the dogs at night?’ the answer is:
In the Rabbinical Book, it saith
The dogs howl, when with icy breath,
Great Sammaël, the Angel of Death,
Takes through the town his flight.
If children pick the Herb Robert it means death to one or other of the
parents, hence the name Death-come-quickly (Cum.); for the same reason
the Red and White Campion is called Mother-dee (Cum.). If the child
pluck the red species, its father will perish, or if the white, then the
mother will die. It is very unlucky to bring pieces of the spindle-tree
into the house, hence it is the Death-alder (Bck.); but still more
commonly this superstition is attached to the flowers of the hawthorn,
and further, in some districts to the snowdrop (Shr. Stf. Der. Wor.
Sus.). When a school-fellow of mine died of typhoid fever, the lady
Principal of the boarding-school wrote to my parents, charging them with
being the authors of the calamity, in that they had a short time before
sent me a box of snowdrops. If parsley is once sown in a garden, there
it must stay, to transplant it would be fatal to some member of the
household. If fruit trees blossom out of season it is a token of death:
A bloom upon the apple-tree when the apples are ripe
Is a sure termination to somebody’s life.
The failure of a crop of ash-keys is said to portend a death in the
royal family within the year. Tradition tells that there were no
ash-keys in the year in which King Charles was beheaded.
[Sidenote: _Magpie Rhymes_
_Superstitions concerning Evil Influence of Animals, Birds,
and Insects_
_Popular Sayings and Beliefs as to Good and Ill-luck_
_Lucky and Unlucky Actions_]
The magpie is always an ominous bird. Seen singly, it is everywhere
taken as a sign of evil, but the significance of two or more varies in
different parts of the country. The commonest version of the magpie
rhyme is: One for sorrow; Two for mirth; Three for a wedding; Four
for a birth. Other versions are: Yan is sorrow; Tweea is mirth; Three
is weddin’; Fower is birth; Five is silver; Six is gold; Sebben is a
secret, nivver to be told (n.Cy.). Yen’s sorry; Twee’s morry; Three’s
a wedding; Fower’s deeth; Five’s hivin’; Six is hell; And Sivin’s the
deel’s aan sel (Nhb.). One, sign of anger; Two, sign o’ muth; Dree,
sign o’ wedding-day; Vower, sign o’ death; Vive, sign o’ zorrow; Zix,
sign o’ joy; Zebm, sign o’ maid; An’ eight, sign o’ boy (w.Som.). To
avert these indications you may use one of the following charms: raise
the hat in salutation; make a cross with your foot on the ground, or as
many crosses as there are magpies; wet the forefinger with spittle, and
therewith make the sign of the cross on your shoe; make the same sign
by crossing the thumbs; spit on the ground three times, and say: Devil,
devil, I defy thee! Magpie, magpie, I go by thee! If a shrew-mouse runs
over your foot, it portends ill-luck, sometimes the coming ill-luck
is defined as paralysis of the foot. In Sussex the country people
have an idea that the shrew-mouse is unable to cross a path which has
been trodden by man. Whenever it attempts to do so it is said to be
immediately struck dead, and hence the number of shrew-mice which may
be found lying dead in lanes or on field footpaths. If a hare crosses
the path of a woman with child, she must instantly stoop down and
tear her shift, or the child will have a hare-lip, or _’ar-shotten_
lip, as it is called (Shr.). This superstition is no doubt connected
with the old belief that a witch often took the form of a hare. They
never dow [prosper] that strange dogs follow, is a Yorkshire saying.
It is very unlucky to drive away a black cat, if a stray one should
come into the house. An Oxford landlady told us quite recently that
she had driven away a black cat from her door shortly after she was
married, some twelve years previously, and since then she had ‘buried
twenty-three relations’! It is unlucky when moving house to transport
the cat; it is also unlucky to allow a cat to die in the house, hence
when it begins to be ill, it is better to drown it. It is unlucky to
keep a kitten born in May, for: May chets Bad luck begets. In the North
a May cat is supposed to suck the breath of the baby in the cradle,
if opportunity offers; while in some south-western districts it is
said to bring adders and _varmints_ into the house. Goslings hatched
in May will not bring gain to the owner; and it is an evil month for
marriage. Scotch people especially, even among the well-educated, have
a strong prejudice against marrying in May. Marry in May, You’ll rue
it for aye, is a Devonshire saying. There is an old rhyme against
short-coating babies in May: Tuck babies in May, You’ll tuck them
away, but this is perhaps merely a health warning, parallel to: Don’t
cast a clout Till May is out, based on the uncertain temperature of
the month of May. It is very unlucky to kill a swallow, a robin, or
a wren, and even to take their eggs is a sacrilegious act certain to
bring ill-luck, for: The Robin and the Wren Are God Almighty’s cock
and hen. The Martin and the Swallow Are God Almighty’s scholars. Other
versions of this rhyme are: Martins and swallows Are God’s teachers
and scholars. Robins and wrens Are God’s chickens and hens. Those who
kill a robin or a wren Will never prosper, boy or man. Swallows and
martins bring luck and prosperity under the roof around which they
build, and hence it is a bad sign if they forsake a house where they
have been accustomed to build, cp. ‘Though useless to us, and rather of
molestation, we commonly refrain from killing swallows, and esteem it
unlucky to destroy them: whether herein there be not a Pagan relick,
we have some reason to doubt. For we read in Ælian, that these birds
were sacred unto the Penates or household gods of the ancients, and
therefore were preserved,’ _Vulgar Errors_, Bk. V, Chap. XXIV. It is
also unlucky to kill a ladybird, God Almighty’s colly-cow (Hmp.); or to
kill a spider. If you wish to live and thrive Let the spider run alive,
is a current Berkshire rhyme. The little red spider, when found, should
be put in the pocket, for it means money. Spiders’ webs sometimes
escape destruction through a belief that such a web concealed our Lord
as He lay in the manger from the messengers of Herod. The Sun-beetle
is God’s horse (Cum.), and like the Rainy clock, or Thunder clock
(Cum. Wm.), is supposed to cause terrible storms if it be killed. It
is very unlucky to bid a price for an animal, such as a cow, pig, or
horse, when it is not for sale, for if this is done the animal is sure
to die. To covet another man’s beast is to _heart-eat_ (Lan. Yks.) it,
and an animal so coveted will not prosper. It is unlucky to sell bees,
or to hive a swarm after nightfall. To kill a pig when the moon is
waning means ill-luck with the bacon, it is sure to shrink in the pot.
Some say it will not take the salt, and cannot therefore be cured. Nor
must cider be made at such times, else the apples when gathered will
_shrump up_, and the cider will turn sour. It is unlucky to look into
an owl’s nest. Once upon a time a foolhardy person ventured to do so,
and in consequence he became melancholy, and _destroyed hissell_. It
is important to give a hen an odd number of eggs to sit on, if this is
not done, most of the eggs, if not all of them, will be addled. The
regulation number is thirteen. It is very unlucky to spill salt, or to
help another to salt, or to break a salt-cellar, though the misfortune
may be averted by throwing a pinch of salt over the left shoulder.
She that pricks bread with fork or knife Will never be happy maid or
wife (Shr.), the thing must be done with a skewer. It is unlucky to
hang a picture over a door. When you have set out on any business, or
started on a journey, it is very unlucky to turn back and re-enter
the house, but if it is absolutely necessary to return, the evil may
be counteracted by sitting down on a chair before starting again.
Some say even to look back is unlucky, and in this case they connect
the superstition with the fate of Lot’s wife. Pick up pins, pick up
sorrow, is a saying which is contradicted by other versions such as:
See a pin and pick it up, All the day you’ll have good luck; and: See
a pin and let it lie, You’ll want a pin before you die. Mend your
clothes upon your back, Sure you are to come to wrack. It is unlucky
to use elder-wood for lighting a fire; to burn bones, or evergreens;
to decorate a house with peacock’s feathers; to bring the eggs of any
wild bird into the house. When a child’s tooth comes out, it must be
dropped into the fire, and the following rhyme repeated, or the child
will have to seek its tooth after death: Fire, fire, tak’ a beean, An’
send oor Johnny a good teeath ageean (e.Yks.); or a little salt must
be placed on the tooth, which is then carefully put into the fire with
the words: Fire, fire, burn beean, God sen’ my tiuth ageean (Lakel.).
Another idea is that unless the tooth is burned, the one which grows
in its place will prove a dog’s tooth. If a baby’s first tooth appears
in the upper jaw, it is a bad sign, it may mean that the child will
die in infancy. The bairn at cuts its teeth abeen, ’Ill nivver see
its mairidge sheen, is an old Scotch saying. Similarly, if the teeth
grow with irregular spaces between them, the child will not be a long
liver: If a bairn teeathes odd, It’ll seean gan to God (e.Yks.). But
a gap between the two front teeth wide enough to pass a sovereign
through, is a sign of luck and wealth. It is unlucky to weigh a child,
or to let it see its face in the glass before it is a year old; or to
call it before baptism by the name you mean to give it. If an engaged
couple have undertaken to be godparents to a child, it is unlucky for
them both to stand at the font together, it would presage a parting
within three months. A local instance of this came to my knowledge less
than six months ago. The difficulty was solved by the godmother taking
her place in a pew at a little distance from the rest of the party
assembled round the font. In Cornwall they say: first at the font,
never at the altar. It is unlucky to sing early in the morning: If you
sing afore bite You’ll cry before night; to see the new moon for the
first time through a window; to have the Bishop’s left hand on your
head at confirmation. If you enter another person’s house with your
left foot foremost, you draw down evil on the inhabitants. A new broom
should sweep something into the house before it is used in the contrary
direction, otherwise you sweep good luck away from your threshold. Some
people hold that you must never sweep the dust out of doors, but always
into the fire, for fear lest you sweep the blessing out (Shr.). Friday
is proverbially an unlucky day everywhere. Friday’s a day as’ll have
his trick The fairest or foulest day o’ the wik (Shr.), cp. ‘Selde is
the Fryday al the wyke i-like,’ Chaucer, _Knightes Tale_, l. 681. It
is very unlucky to start out on a journey; to remove from one house to
another; to enter upon a new service; or to set a hen on a Friday, but
specially unlucky is it to begin new undertakings on Good Friday. If
clothes are washed that day some member of the family will die before
the year is out. A Yorkshire superstition holds that if clothes are
hung out to dry that day they will be taken in spotted with blood. On
the other hand, it is esteemed lucky to plant potatoes, and to sow all
kinds of garden seeds on Good Friday. Beans and peas, for instance,
sown on this day yield better crops than they would if sown any other
day. Moreover, it is the best day in all the year to begin weaning
babies. In parts of Devonshire it is thought lucky to break pottery
on Good Friday, because then the points of every sherd are supposed
to pierce the body of Judas Iscariot. If a bunch of quaking grass,
called maidenhair (Nrf.), is brought into the house it is sure to bring
ill-luck; trouble will also ensue if you cut down the house-leek, the
_sungreen_ (Sus.), which grows on walls and roofs. If you should happen
to dig up a mandrake, you must quickly burn it, for anybody that looks
at it will at once go blind. To pick flowers before they are full-blown
causes a _pouk_ (Wor.) or sty in the eye. Marsh-marigolds are called
_drunkards_ (Dev. Wil.) because if you pick them, or even look long
at them, you will take to drink. Poppies are called _ear-aches_ (Der.
Not.) because if gathered and put to the ear, a violent attack of
ear-ache will be the result. In parts of Yorkshire the poppy is known
by the name of _blindy-buff_, because if you hold a poppy to your
eyes it will blind you. North-country children deem it unlucky to
gather the flowers of the _cuckoo-spit_, the Lady’s smock, _Cardamine
pratensis_. To bring two or three primroses into the house of an owner
of poultry in early spring, before any chickens are hatched, means
bad luck to the sittings of eggs; but if the number of primroses is
thirteen or upwards, there is nothing to fear. Old Manx people held a
like superstition about daffodils, believing it to be unlucky to bring
them into the house before the goslings were hatched. This connexion
with geese probably accounts for the Manx name for the daffodil,
_Lus-ny-guiy_, the goose-leek. It is a sign of a parting if two bells
ring together in a house; if a loaf parts in two when it is being cut;
if a cake has a hollow cavity in the centre. To give a knife, a pair
of scissors, or a pin of any sort to a friend will cut love, unless
some coin is received in exchange. To stir the tea in the tea-pot is
to stir up strife. Other signs of a coming quarrel between friends
are: to cross knives; to put the poker and tongs on the same side
of the fireplace; to put a pair of boots on the table, but here the
quarrel may be averted if some one immediately puts the boots under the
table; to pass your friend on the stairs. If two persons kindle a fire
together; or dip their hands into the same basin of water; or together
wipe their hands on the same towel, they will inevitably quarrel. In
the case of the washing of hands, the sign of the cross made over or in
the water will prevent the quarrel.
[Sidenote: _Lucky and Unlucky Signs_]
When a woman’s hair grows in a low point on the forehead, it is
supposed to presage widowhood, and is called a _widow’s peak_ (n.Cy.),
or _widow’s lock_ (War.). If your eyebrows meet across the nose, You’ll
never live to wear your wedding-clothes, is a rhyme belonging to the
Midlands, but elsewhere this peculiarity is deemed a favourable omen.
In some Yorkshire districts the idea is that a person so marked will
never know trouble. A white speck on the finger-nails is called a
_gift_ (in gen. dial. use), and predicts certain events. A _gift_ on
the thumb indicates a present; on the forefinger a friend or lover; on
the middle finger a foe; on the fourth finger a visit to pay; on the
little finger a journey to go. A gift on the thumb is seer ti cum, Bud
yan on the finger is seer ti linger (e.Yks.). An irritation or tickling
in the nose is a sign that a visitor is coming. Sneeze on a Monday, you
sneeze for danger; Sneeze on a Tuesday, you kiss a stranger; Sneeze
on a Wednesday, you sneeze for a letter; Sneeze on a Thursday, for
something better; Sneeze on a Friday, you sneeze for sorrow; Sneeze on
a Saturday, your sweetheart to-morrow; Sneeze on a Sunday, your safety
seek, The Devil will have you the whole of the week (Lan.). A spark
in the wick of a candle is supposed to signify the speedy arrival of
a letter to the person to whom it points. If you kill a _miller_ [a
moth] while it is flying round a lighted lamp, you’ll get a letter
next day (Hmp.). A knot on the wick of a candle, which, when burned,
becomes large and red, is termed a stranger (Lin. Sus.), cp. ‘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,’ _Vulgar Errors_, Bk. V, Chap. XXIV. The same name is given to a
flake or film of soot hanging on the bar of a grate (n.Cy. War. Wil.);
and to a small piece of tea-leaf floating in tea (Sc. Lin. War. Wil.
Som. Cor.), both supposed to foretell the advent of a stranger. If a
bumble-bee comes into the house, it too is a sign of an approaching
stranger. To meet a load of hay is a sure token of a surprise, trivial
or otherwise.
[Sidenote: _Lucky Omens_
_How to ensure Good Luck_]
It is considered lucky to be born on a Sunday; to have _lucken-toes_
(Sc.), that is toes joined by a web or film; to have a mole on the
neck, though some say if it is on the back of the neck it is a sign
that you will be hanged. If you’ve a mole above your chin, You’ll
never be beholden to any of your kin (Shr.); but a mole on the side of
the nose is a sign that the Devil has marked you for his own (Lan.).
A dimple in your cheek, Your living to seek; A dimple in your chin,
You’ll have your living brought in (Yks.). It is a lucky omen to put
on any article of clothing the wrong side out, but it must be done
accidentally, and not changed during that day. Any one making a first
appearance in new clothes should be pinched by a friend to ensure
good luck: Pinch you for your new dress (Shr.). My grandmother always
wished the possessor: Health to wear it, Strength to tear it, And money
to buy another, a formula still repeated in Northumberland, if not
elsewhere. It is lucky to put the left stocking on first; to stumble
on ascending stairs, steps, or ladders; to find a flint arrow-head,
known as a _thunder-bolt_ (Dev.); to find nine peas in a pod; to find
a four-leaved clover; to find an even-ash, that is an ash-leaf with an
even number of leaflets. When found, it should be put in the bosom,
or worn in the hat, for luck. It is lucky to meet a flock of sheep on
the highway when you are making a journey. Good luck for a grey horse
(w.Yks.) is a common expression of children, accompanied by the act of
spitting over their little finger, at the sight of a grey horse, an
action which is supposed to bring good luck. In parts of Lincolnshire
they spit for a white horse, in anticipation of a present to come. It
is a sign of good luck if a _cuddy_ [wren] or _cutty_ builds in your
hayrick (Dor.); if rooks build near the house; if a bird drops upon
you, especially if this should happen on Easter Day; if a spider crawls
over you, or falls upon your face from the ceiling. If a Cornish miner
should meet a snail as he is on the way to the mine, he would drop
before it a crumb from his dinner, or a bit of grease from his candle,
to ensure good luck. To find a toad in the tin-mine is an augury of
good luck to the miner. If when you hear the cuckoo for the first time
you turn a penny over in your pocket, you will never be without one all
the year. Some say that if when you first hear the cuckoo the sounds
proceed from the right hand, it signifies that you will be prosperous,
but if from the left, ill-luck is before you. If the first lamb that
you see in spring has its head towards you, it is an omen of good luck
for the whole year, but if the tail is towards you, misfortune will be
your lot. According to an old Scotch proverb ‘dirt’s luck’, so that in
moving from one house to another it is unlucky to get possession of a
clean house, swept and garnished by the outgoing tenant. An old usage
for bringing luck to a new house was for the incoming tenant to go
into every room bearing in his hands a loaf and a plate of salt. This
was termed the _house-handsel_ (n.Yks.). In the North-country dialects
_handsel_ is the name for a gift conferred at a particular season,
or on commencement of a new undertaking, to confer luck. The gift of
a coin, for instance, to the wearer of a new suit of clothes makes
the suit lucky. Sometimes money is returned for luck by the seller to
the purchaser, and is called the _turn-again_ (n.Lin.), _luck-penny_
(Sc. n.Cy. Nhp. War.), or _luck-brass_ (Yks.). Thus what is given back
to the buyer of a pig may be termed _penny-pig-luck_. The customary
payments in Lincolnshire were one shilling per head for a beast,
sixpence for a calf and a pig, two shillings per score for sheep above
a year old, one shilling per score for lambs; for horses varying sums
according to their value. As late as 1898, Lincolnshire auctioneers
were allowing _luck-money_ to purchasers, at the rate of one shilling
per head on cattle, and a penny per head on sheep and pigs.
[Sidenote: _Protection against Ill-luck_]
The dried tip of a calf’s tongue is called a _lucky-bit_ (Nhp.) and is
worn in the pocket, partly as a protection against danger, but chiefly
because it is supposed that the pocket containing it will never be
without money. The coracoid bone of a fowl carried in purse or pocket is
believed to bring money-fortune, whence the name _lucky-bone_ (Chs.
Shr.). This name is also given to a small bone taken from the head of a
sheep (Nhb. Yks. Lan. Nhp.), worn about the person to produce good luck.
Its form is that of a T cross, whence may perhaps have originated the
peculiar sanctity in which it is held. A _lucky-hole_ (Oxf. Brks.) is a
hole bored in a wayside stone or pillar, to blow through which is
considered to ensure good luck. A stone or pebble with a natural hole
through it is commonly called a _lucky-stone_. In Dorsetshire the finder
of such a stone picked it up, spat upon it, and then threw it backward
over his head, accompanying the action with the words: Lucky-stone!
Lucky-stone! go over my head, And bring me some good luck before I go to
bed. A hairy caterpillar, called a Tommy Tailor (Yks.), may also be
thrown over the head for luck. A black snail seized by the horns and
tossed over the left shoulder brings good luck to the performer of the
action. If it is done by a person who has within the last three days
become engaged to be married, the course of true love will run
considerably more smoothly than would otherwise have been the case. If a
person is setting out on a journey, one of the family sometimes turns
the fire-tongs for luck (Nhb.). To spit on a stone, and then throw it
away, is another means of ensuring a prosperous journey. To carry a
badger’s tooth in the pocket is a good thing to do, for it brings luck
at cards (Dev.). To kill a toad is said to make bees swarm; and to burn
an old shoe is a charm to help goslings to leave the shell at hatching
time.
[Sidenote: _A Story of Noah_]
The following are a few miscellaneous legends, superstitions, and
popular beliefs: According to an old belief in Yorkshire, when a pot is
taken off the hooks or _kelps_ hanging in the chimney over the fire,
care must be taken to stop the vibration of the chain as soon as
possible, for whilst it is in motion the Virgin weeps. From Scotland
comes the explanation of the black spots on each shoulder of the
haddock: they are the marks left by the finger and thumb of St. Peter
when he opened the fish’s mouth to take out the piece of money, v. _St.
Matt._ xvii. 27. The dark marks across the shoulders of a donkey are
said to be the sign of the cross imprinted in remembrance of Christ’s
triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Shr. Oxf.). A Berkshire folklorist
relates the following curious legend which explains why a dog’s nose and
a woman’s elbow are always cold, where there is good health: ‘In the
days of the flood the Ark sprung a small leak, and Noah, who had
forgotten to bring carpenter’s tools on board with him, was at his wits’
end how to act. His faithful dog had followed him to the place where the
leak was, and stood watching the influx of water. In his trouble Noah
seized the dog and crammed his nose into the leak. This stopped it, but
in a few moments Noah perceived that the dog must die if kept in this
position any longer. By this time Noah’s wife had come up and was
standing by his side watching what was taking place. Noah thereupon
released the dog, and taking his wife’s arm stuffed her elbow into the
crack. The danger was thus averted, but a dog’s nose and a woman’s elbow
will remain cold as long as the world lasts.’ _Glossary of Brks. Words_,
&c., Lowsley, 1888.
[Sidenote: _Legendary Natural History_
_Story of St. Catherine of Ledbury_]
Among the remnants of legendary natural history is the idea that an
adder can never die till sunset. Even if it be cut to pieces, the bits
will retain their vitality till the sun goes down. It is believed
of the hedgehog that he sucks the milk from cows; and that he rolls
himself on the apples in the orchard, or the crab-apples fallen in
the copses, and carries them off sticking on his spines. You’ve yer
back up to-daay like a peggy-otchin goin’ a-crabbin’ is a contemptuous
remark made to an ill-natured person (Lin.). Puck, or Puckeridge (Sus.
Hmp.), is a name of the night-jar, also applied to a fatal distemper in
calves, supposed to be caused by the attacks of night-jars. A certain
red beetle, _Telephorus lividus_, is called Sucky-blood (Cum.), from
a local belief that it lives by sucking the blood of cattle. The
Glastonbury thorn, or Holy thorn (War.), possesses a curious legendary
history. Tradition says that Joseph of Arimathaea came to England, and
visited Glastonbury. Being weary after climbing the hill, he halted,
leaning on his staff to rest. The stick sank into the soft ground by
the wayside, and took root, and grew, and became the famous thorn-tree
which is said to blossom on Christmas Day. Christ’s cross is supposed
to have been made of the wood of the aspen, and hence the leaves have
continued to tremble ever since. The berries of the mountain-ash are
called _cock-drink_, or _cock-drunks_ (Lakel.), because they are
reputed to possess the property of intoxicating fowls. The fungus,
_Nostoc commune_, a kind of white jelly often found in poor pastures,
is termed: Star-falling (Nhp.), Star-shot (Lin. Nhp.), Star-slubber
(Yks. Lan.), Star-slutch (Chs.), from a belief that it has fallen
from the stars. The fossil bones of the saurians, found in northern
Yorkshire, are called Fallen angels’ bones, being supposed to belong
to the angels who were cast out of heaven for their rebellion. The
fossilized remains of elephants’ teeth were said to be Giants’ teeth
(n.Yks.). Up and down the brooks and streamlets in the dingles round
about my old home in Herefordshire could be found stones bearing a
grooved mark resembling the print of a horseshoe, beside others marked
as with the oval ring of a woman’s patten. Geologists may have other
explanatory theories, but this is the local legend, and the evidences
for its veracity anybody may see. Once upon a time there lived a holy
lady of some renown, called St. Catherine of Ledbury. One day a mare
and a foal belonging to her were discovered to be missing. There was
no doubt they had been stolen. So the saint betook herself to prayer,
beseeching that the thief might be traced, and that she might recover
her property. But the thief had anticipated the probability of a
search, and had chosen the brook courses as being rocky and unlikely
to retain footprints. Howbeit, in answer to the saint’s prayers the
rocks did retain the marks, and there they are to this day, the
larger footprints of the mare, the smaller ones of the foal, and the
patten-marks of the old woman who stole them away.