MISCELLANEOUS.
ACTIONS.
1271. If a child in eating an apple merely girdles it and leaves the
apple good at stem and below, it indicates that he will be a poor man;
the saying is, "a poor man's core."
1272. It is unlucky to turn back after starting to go anywhere. To avert
misfortune after turning back, make the sign of the cross in the dust
with the heel, and spit in the cross.
_Arkansas (negro), and Kentucky._
1273. It is unlucky to turn back after having once started out.
_Quebec._
1274. To get out of bed on the wrong side puts one out all day. "He got
out of bed with the wrong foot foremost" is said of a person who has a
fit of crossness.
_Northern Ohio._
1275. To drop your books on the way to school signifies that you will
make mistakes in your lessons.
_Chestertown, Md._
1276. Drop a book and you will miss your lesson, unless it is immediately
picked up and kissed.
_Alabama._
1277. Whoever eats the last piece of bread will be an old maid.
_Pennsylvania._
1278. If you break something, you will break two other things.
_Maine, Massachusetts, and Northern Ohio._
1279. To twirl a chair on one leg means that you are going to fight with
somebody.
_Peabody, Mass._
1280. Whirling an empty chair indicates that a whipping is in store for
the transgressor.
1281. If you twirl a chair around on one leg, it is a sign that you are
about to break dishes.
_Chestertown, Md._
1282. You mustn't pay the doctor entirely, or there will be sickness in
the family.
_Lonsdale, R.I._
1283. You must leave by the door through which you enter, or there will
be trouble with the family, or ill luck to yourself.
_Pennsylvania._
1284. If you leave by any other door than the one through which you have
entered, it is said that you will not come again.
_Cumberland, Me._
1285. In bathing, the eyes should always be rubbed towards the nose, as
that makes them large, and rubbing out the opposite way makes them small.
_Cambridge, Mass._
1286. In climbing a fence,--
Get over, meet with clover,
Get through, meet with a shoe;
Get under, meet with a blunder.
_Sunderland, Mass._
1287. If you step on a grave, you will never grow any more.
_Chestertown, Md. (negro)._
1288. Step over a living thing, and that thing, whether a human being or
not, will not grow any more.
_Province of Quebec, Can._
1289. To step over one leg of a child will cause it to grow longer than
the other.
_Baltimore, Md._
1290. To comb the hair after dark is a sign of sickness.
Comb your hair after dark,
Comb sorrow to your heart.
_Connecticut._
1291. If you comb your hair after dark, it will make you forgetful.
_Northern Ohio._
1292. If the right hand itches, you are going to get money; if the left,
you will shake hands with a friend. If the nose itches, a friend is
coming.
_Talladega, Ala._
1293. Two persons wiping hands on the same towel and twisting it
occasions a quarrel.
_Pennsylvania._
1294. Wash and wipe together,
Live in peace together.
_Northern Ohio._
1295. If two persons wash their hands at the same time, it is a sign that
they will be friends forever.
_Alabama._
1296. If two persons wipe their hands at the same time, they will be foes
forever.
_Alabama._
1297. When two persons put one hand of each flat together, palm to palm,
they will quarrel.
_Province of Quebec, Can._
1298. If two persons clasp hands so as to lock the fingers, bringing the
palm of one person against the palm of the other person's hand, it will
break friendship.
_Newton, Mass._
1299. If you hug your knee (hold your knee in clasped hands), you will
hug up trouble.
_Salem and Medford, Mass._
1300. When your joints crack, it is a sign that you have not outlived
your best days.
_New York, N.Y._
1301. If you kiss through a veil, there'll be a coolness.
_Portland, Me._
1302. Crossed knives are a sign of a quarrel.
_Cumberland, Mass._
1303. Stir with a knife,
Stir up strife.
1304. Never look after a friend who is leaving you till he is quite out
of sight, or you will never see him or her again; but turn your eyes away
while he is still visible, that he or she may return.
_General in the United States._
1305. Never say "good-by" more than once.
_Alabama._
1306. One who habitually bites the nails is ill-natured.
_Ohio._
1307. If you bite your finger-nails you will always be poor.
_Massachusetts._
1308. If you sleep with your head towards the north, it will prevent
sickness.
_General in the United States._
1309. If you can cut a pie fair and true, you'll have a likely husband.
If you make the slices uneven, he'll be crooked.
1310. If you make a bed handsomely, you'll have a handsome husband.
1311. If you cut pie straight, you will go to housekeeping.
If you cut pie crooked, you will have no house to keep.
_New Hampshire._
1312. If you make a rhyme involuntarily, you will have a present.
_New Brunswick._
1313. The free use of salt is a sign of having a temper.
_Lynn, Mass._
1314. To say anything backward is a sign you will get a present.
_Peabody, Mass._
1315. If you sing before you eat,
You'll cry before you sleep.
_Ohio and Iowa._
1316. If you sing before breakfast, you will cry before supper.
_Cambridge, Mass._
1317. If you laugh before breakfast, you will cry before supper.
_Prince Edward Island and Somerville, Mass._
1318. Little birds that sing in the morning
The old cat will catch before night.
Accustomed to be said to children when they were especially hilarious in
the early morning.
_Northern Ohio._
1319. If a child sing before breakfast, it will get a whipping before
night.
_New Hampshire._
1320. To sing after you go to bed is a sign that tears will come before
breakfast.
_Maine._
1321. If the sole of either foot itches, you will walk on strange ground.
_Boston, Mass._
1322. When about to begin a new enterprise, one must not step over straws
in starting out.
1323. If you stumble with the right foot, it means a glad surprise.
_Pennsylvania (negro)._
1324. In going anywhere, if you strike the right foot you will be welcome
wherever you may be going, and if the same happens to the left foot, you
will be on strange ground.
_Bellville, O._
1325. To sit on a table is a sign of coming disappointment.
_Maine and Massachusetts._
1326. In drinking tea, if you take a stem in the mouth it means an enemy;
you must bite it and throw it over the right shoulder.
_Central Maine._
1327. If you stub your toe going into a house, you are not wanted there.
_Guilford, Conn._
1328. If, in going visiting, you stub the right toe, you are welcome; if
the left, you are unwelcome.
_Massachusetts and Ohio._
1329. If you stub your toe going anywhere, it means a disappointment.
_Bathurst, N.B._
1330. Stub your toe,
Lose your beau.
_Salem, Mass._
1331. To bite the tongue while talking means that you have told a lie.
1332. If you bite your tongue suddenly while eating, it is a sign some
one is coming hungry.
_Cambridge, Mass._
1333. In going along the street or path, where there is a tree, go inside
rather than outside the tree, for you will be disappointed if you take
the latter course.
_Eastern Massachusetts._
1334. In drinking water, if you glance over the glass, you are a flirt.
_Pennsylvania._
1335. Whistling girls and crowing hens
Always come to some bad ends.
_General in the United States._
1336. Whistling girls and sheep
Are the very worst cattle a farmer can keep.
1337. A whistling girl and a laughing sheep,
Are the very best property a man can keep.
_Northern Ohio._
1338. Girls that whistle and hens that crow
Make their way wherever they go.
1339. Whistle before you eat,
Cry before you sleep.
_Baldwinsville, N.Y._
BODILY AFFECTIONS.
1340. If the right cheek burns, some one is speaking well of you; if the
left, they are speaking ill of you; if both, they speak well and ill at
once. Moisten the finger in the mouth and touch it to the cheek, naming
those whom you suspect; the one at whose name it grows cool was speaking
of you.
_New Brunswick._
1341. If your right ear burns, some one is talking well of you; if your
left, he is talking ill.
_General in the United States._
1342. If you bite the corner of your apron, you will make back-biters
bite their tongues.
_Pennsylvania._
1343. Pinch your ear, and the person talking of you will bite his own
tongue.
1344. If the right ear burns, it is a sign that some one is thinking well
of you; if the left ear burns, it is a sign that some one is thinking
unkindly of you; but if both ears burn, friend and foe are fighting about
you.
_Pennsylvania._
1345. If your ears burn, people are talking well of you; if your ears are
cold, the contrary.
_New Hampshire._
1346. If your right ear burns, a lady is speaking of you; if the left, a
man.
_Maine and Pennsylvania._
1347. If your left ear itches, some one is saying unpleasant things about
you; but if your right ear, pleasant things. Some say,--
Both left and right
Are good at night.
_Cambridge, Mass._
1348. If the right eye itches, it is a sign you will cry; if the left,
you will laugh, because R stands for "roar" and L for "laugh."
_Baldwinsville, N.Y._
1349. If the right eye itches, you'll laugh; if the left eye, you'll cry.
_Boston, Mass._
1350. If your eye itches, some one wants to see you and can't.
_Peabody, Mass._
1351. If you look at one who has inflamed eyes, you'll catch the disease.
_Maine and Ohio._
1352. If your elbow itches, you will sleep with a stranger.
_Boston, Mass._
1353. If the right foot itches, it is a sign you will go where you will
be welcome; if the left foot itches, it is a sign you will go where you
are unwelcome.
_Baldwinsville, N.Y._
1354. If while going to see any one your left foot itches, you are not
welcome.
_Alabama._
1355. The nose itching is a sign you are going to "get mad."
_Peabody, Mass._
1356. If your nose itches, it is a sign of a present.
1357. If your nose itches, some one will be provoked with you.
1358. If your nose itches, it is a sign that
You'll be mad,
See a stranger,
Kiss a fool,
Or be in danger.
_Prince Edward Island._
1359. If your nose itches, you will
See a stranger,
Kiss a fool,
Or be in danger.
_Peabody, Mass._
1360. If your nose itches, it is a sign you will be kissed, cussed, or
vexed.
_Somerville, Mass._
1361. If the nose itches, some say you will receive a letter; others
declare it is a sign your lover is thinking of you.
_Baldwinsville, N.Y._
1362. If the palm of the hand itches, it is a good sign that you will
kill something.
_Labrador._
1363. Itching in the palm is a sign of a fight, or of seeing a stranger.
1364. An unexpected scratch denotes surprise.
1365. A long scratch across the palm denotes a sleigh-ride.
_Pennsylvania (negro)._
1366. A scratch on the hand denotes a ride; the length of the scratch
indicates the length of the ride.
_New England._
1367. A scratch on the right hand is a sign of a ride to come; on the
left, a disappointment.
_Baldwinsville, N.Y._
1368. If your knee itches, you are jealous.
_Boston, Mass._
1369. Being lousy is an indication that the lousy person is in good
health.
_Newfoundland._
1370. Some hold that the white spots that one has on the finger-nails
represent the lies you have told.
_Maine and Baldwinsville, N.Y._
1371. If you shudder without apparent cause, some one has stepped over or
upon your grave.
_Gilsum, N.H._
1372. If you shudder, it is a sign that a rabbit is running across, or a
goose is eating grass from your grave.
_Chestertown, Md._
1373. There is an old superstition that every sigh causes a drop of blood
to flaw from the heart.
_Exeter, N.H._
1374. "Smooches" made on the face by soiled fingers (called beauty spots
in Ohio) mean a present.
_New Brunswick._
1375. A lump on the tongue means that you have told a lie.
_Prince Edward Island, New York, and Northern Ohio._
APPAREL.
1376. If you mend your apron or dress while on you, some one will lie
about you.
_Maine and Alabama._
1377. As many stitches as you take (in mending a garment while wearing
it), so many lies will be told about you.
_New Hampshire._
1378. If a garment is mended while being worn, it is a sign the wearer
will do something he is ashamed of before the week is out.
_Newton, Mass._
1379. If one mends his clothes upon his back,
It is a sign his trouble will never come back.
_Connecticut._
1380. Basting threads left in a garment signify that it is not yet paid
for.
_Massachusetts and Ohio._
1381. Put your clothes on the wrong side out and you'll have a present
before the week is out.
_Peabody, Mass._
1382. If, when dressing, one puts on any of his clothing wrong side out,
it is a sign that he will soon receive a present.
_Alabama._
1383. If you happen to put your skirt on wrong side out, you are likely
to get a new one.
_Alabama._
1384. You mustn't talk when some article of dress you are wearing is
being mended, or some one will talk or tell lies about you.
1385. In dressing for a journey, if you wish to have good luck, dress the
right foot first.
_Belleville, Ohio._
1386. If the hem of a lady's dress turns up, she is sure to have a new
one.
_Alabama._
1387. While sewing on a garment, should you sew it to your dress by
mistake, as many stitches as you take, so many lies will be told about
you.
_Baldwinsville, N.Y._
1388. If you break your needle in making a dress, you will live to wear
it out. If you tear a hole in a new dress, the first time wearing it, you
will have a new one before that is worn out.
_Deer Isle, Me._
1389. If you break a needle in sewing a new gown, it is a sure sign you
will live to wear out the garment.
_Holyoke, Mass._
1390. If you break your needle in making a garment, or have to rip out
some of it, you will live to wear it out.
_Boston, Mass._
1391. If a white petticoat falls below your dress, it is a sign that your
father loves you better than your mother.
_New England._
1392. Crooked pins are a sign that the owner is an old maid.
_Province of Quebec, Can._
1393. Should a friend withdraw a ring from the finger of another, it is a
sign it will break friendship. The owner should take off the ring and
hand it to the friend.
_Baldwinsville, N.Y._
1394. A hole in the toe of your shoe or stocking, so as to show the toe,
means a letter.
_Cape Breton._
1395. Old shoes, particularly the soles, were often buried by negro
servants on Monday morning to keep the devil down through the week.
_Chestertown, Md._
1396. Save the old shoes to throw after the carriage, when any of the
family start on a journey; it will insure a safe return.
_Massachusetts._
1397. Wear the boot (or shoe) on the side, a rich man's bride;
On the toe, spend as you go;
On the heel, love to do weel;
On the ball, live to spend all.
_Boston._
1398. Hole in the toe, spend as you go:
Hole at the side, be a rich bride;
Hole at the heel, spend as you feel;
Hole on the ball, live to spend all.
_New York._
1399. Wear 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 save a deal.
_New York._
1400. Wear on the toe,
Spend as you go;
Wear on the ball,
Love to spend all.
Wear on the side,
You'll be a rich bride.
1401. Of stockings:--
Wear at the toe,
Spend as you go:
Wear at the heel,
Spend a good deal;
Wear at the ball,
You'll live to spend all.
_South Carolina._
CUSTOMS.
1402. Halloween cabbages are pulled and thrown against the owner's door
as a reminder of his laziness.
_Southern Pennsylvania and Ohio._
1403. Shelled corn is thrown at every one--the significance not known.
_Southern Pennsylvania._
1404. If a man is insulted and means to be revenged, he will bare his arm
and cut a cross in it with his knife, called a "vengeance mark."
_Mountains of North Carolina._
1405. If you wash your face in dew before sunrise on May Day, you will
become very beautiful.
_Alabama._
1406. Dry spots, where there is no dew, are called "fairy rings."
_Salem, Mass._
1407. Run round a fairy ring twice on Easter Sunday morning, and fairies
will arise and follow you.
_Salem, Mass._
1408. The looking-glass is often turned with the face to the wall, or
taken out of the room during a thunder-storm, because "quick-silver is so
bad to draw the lightning."
_Bathurst, N.B._
1409. You are said to "take the manners" if you take the last of any kind
of food from a plate.
_New England._
1410. "Manners dish" is the dish put on for show, and not expected to be
eaten.
_Northern Ohio._
1411. Homoeopathic pills must be taken in odd numbers.
_New England._
1412. When a meteor is seen, Catholics often say, "A soul is ascending
into heaven."
1413. A present of a knife or any pointed instrument cuts friendship;
always sell it for a penny.
1414. A present of pins breaks friendship.
_General in the United States._
1415. There was a superstition among old people who had never been much
abroad, in the town where I was born (Stratham, N.H.), that if they were
photographed they were likely to die soon after, and many rather objected
on that account.
_Stratham, N.H._
1416. After sneezing, it is customary to say, "God bless you."
_General in the United States._
1417. A bit of steel, such as a needle, protects one from witches.
_Brookline, Mass._
1418. A thief may be detected by a key turning in the Bible to Psalm i.
18-21, when the name of the guilty person is mentioned.
_Labrador._
DAYS.
1419. What you do on your birthday, you will do all the year.
_Salem, Mass._
1420. On cutting the finger-nails:--
Cut them on Monday, cut them for news,
Cut them on Tuesday, a pair of new shoes,
Cut them on Wednesday, cut them for health,
Cut them on Thursday, cut them for wealth,
Cut them on Friday, cut them for sorrow,
Cut them on Saturday, see your sweetheart to-morrow,
Cut them on Sunday, cut them for evil,
All the whole week you'll be ruled by the devil.
_Baldwinsville, N.Y._
1421. If you wear a garment for the first time on Saturday, you will have
another one before it is worn out.
_Bedford, Mass._
1422. Study on Sunday, forget it through the week.
_Nashua, N.H._
1423. If, of your own accord, you leave home for Sunday visiting, you
will be forced to leave for two Sundays following.
_Labrador._
1424. Get a letter on Monday, and you'll get six during that week.
_New York, N.Y._
1425. If you break anything on Monday, you will break something every day
in the week.
_Somerville, Mass._
1426. If you break anything Sunday, you will continue to do so every day
of the week, or as you commence Sunday, so you will go through the week.
_Eastern Massachusetts._
1427. If you begin anything Saturday, it must be finished that day or it
will not get finished.
_Boston, Mass._
1428. Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for a letter,
Sneeze on Tuesday, sneeze for something better,
Sneeze on Wednesday, sneeze for news,
Sneeze on Thursday, sneeze for a new pair of shoes,
Sneeze on Friday, sneeze for sorrow,
Sneeze on Saturday, see him to-morrow.
_Niagara Falls, Ont._
1429. Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for danger,
Sneeze on Tuesday, kiss a stranger,
Sneeze on Wednesday, receive a letter,
Sneeze on Thursday, something better,
Sneeze on Friday, sneeze for sorrow,
Sneeze on Saturday, see your true love to-morrow.
Sneeze on Sunday, your safety seek,
Or the devil will have you the rest of the week.
_Crown Point, N.Y._
1430. Sneeze before twelve and one, and you will hear news.
_Brighton, Mass._
1431. Sneeze at the table, there will be one more or one less at the next
meal.
_Alabama._
1432. Sneeze before your breakfast,
See your beau before the day is past.
_Brighton, Mass._
1433. If you sneeze once, a girl is thinking of you; twice, she is
wishing for you; thrice, it is a sign of a cold.
_Alabama._
1434. Sneeze before seven,
Sneeze before eleven.
_Boston, Mass._
1435. What you sew on Sunday, you'll take out on Monday.
What you sew on Sunday, you'll rip out in heaven.
_Massachusetts._
1436. Never cut your toe-nails Sunday, or you will do something to be
ashamed of before the week is out.
_Granville, Mass._
1437. Cut your nails Monday morning, without speaking (?), and you will
get a present before the week is out; some have it, "without thinking of
a red fox's tail," instead of "without speaking."
_Westport, Mass._
DOMESTIC LIFE.
1438. It is supposed that a broom placed behind the door will keep off
witches.
_Bruynswick, N.Y._
1439. To burn the stub of a broom or break a sugar-bowl, means a quarrel.
_Westport, Mass._
1440. A spark seen on a candle or lamp when the light is extinguished
means the receipt of a letter.
_St. John, N.B., and Salem, Mass._
1441. Wet the finger and touch the "letter" on the candle. If it come off
on the finger, it means a letter for you.
_Maine._
1442. The letter in the candle will face the one for whom the letter is
to be. If the little snuff bud is bright, it means a letter.
_Northern Ohio._
1443. If the candle is sooty, or shows a spark in the wick on blowing
out, it is a sign that a letter is on its way.
1444. If chairs become entangled (legs interlaced, etc.), it means a
quarrel.
_Bathurst, N.B._
1445. If you choke (food gets in the windpipe), it means some one has
told lies about you.
_Cape Breton._
1446. It is a sign of good old-fashioned economy to use up a dish-cloth
until it can be put into your mouth.
_Massachusetts._
1447. If a door opens of itself, it is supposed to indicate the presence
of a spirit, usually one of the family.
_Massachusetts._
1448. It is unlucky to name a child after a dead child of the family.
_Newfoundland._
1449. If you begin keeping house with many in the family, it is a sign
that you will always have a large family or houseful.
_Ohio._
1450. If a wood fire snaps and sparkles, each time it does indicates the
receipt of a letter.
_Peabody, Mass._
1451. One of the negro superstitions was that when the fire burned with a
blue flame, it was the devil seeking to speak to them. A handful of salt
would make him go away.
_Alabama._
1452. Sweep the floor after dark, you'll see sickness before morning.
1453. If while eating you drop food on the floor, it is a sign that some
one is telling lies about you.
_Cape Breton._
1454. Food dropped on the floor by one signifies that some one grudges
you it.
_Common in the United States._
1455. Do not change your place at table; it is very unlucky.
_New York, N.Y._
1456. If you keep changing your furniture to different places, you'll be
poor.
_Massachusetts._
1457. Not drinking the whole contents of a glass or cup means
disappointment.
_Westport, Mass._
1458. If sooty bubbles form and blacken on the wick in a lamp burning
whale oil, each bubble indicates the receipt of a letter.
_Peabody, Mass._
1459. When sparks are seen on the bottom of the tea-kettle, it is a sign
that folks are going home from meeting.
_New Hampshire and Boxford, Mass._
1460. Sparks flying from a fire mean letters; the number of the sparks is
the number of the letters.
_Boston, Mass._
1461. If a spark or sparks jump out of the fire and hit you or come
towards you, it is a sign some one has a spite or grudge against you.
_Bathurst, N.B._
1462. Two spoons given to one person denotes that that person will have
two homes before the year is out.
_Chestertown, Md._
1463. The tea-kettle suddenly singing means news.
_Patten, Me._
VARIOUS.
1464. A stratum of warm air indicates the presence of the devil.
_Boston, Mass. (Irish)._
1465. If, when a newly-married couple go to housekeeping, she slyly takes
her mother's dish-cloth or dish-wiper, she will never be homesick. Old
Mrs. ---- told me that she believed that was the reason she was not
homesick when they moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio.
_Ohio._
1466. To have a sharp knife is a sign of a lazy man.
_Central Maine._
1467. Passing anything through a ladder is a sign of a long passage.
_Conception Bay, N.F._
1468. If a ship has a starboard list, it is a sign of a quick passage; if
a port list, it is a sign of a long passage.
_Conception Bay and New Harbor, N.F._
1469. Write the date of the first snowstorm, and you'll gain a bet before
the winter is through.
_Massachusetts._
1470. To ascertain a girl's age, pull a hair from her head, hang a
finger-ring from this inside a tumbler or goblet, and it will strike the
number of years.
_Boston, Mass._
1471. Throw a strand of your hair in the fire; if it blazes you will live
long and happily; if not, you will die soon.
_Alabama._
1472. If a tree falls to the right while you are looking at it, you are
going on a long trip before the end of the year, and will have some
unexpected piece of good luck.
_Alabama._
1473. A person born on Halloween is said to be possessed of evil spirits.
_Alabama._
1474. Place a broom across the door, and if any of your departed friends
wish to speak to you they are free to come and go at will while the broom
remains there.
_Alabama._
1475. If a person who raises fowls is bothered with hawks, he may prevent
the trouble by throwing a handful of "rocks" into the fire while it is
burning brightly.
_Alabama._
NOTES.
NOTES.
Introduction, page 8.--S.G. Drake, _Annals of Witchcraft in New England_,
Boston, 1869, p. 189, remarks that the principal accusers and witnesses
in the witchcraft prosecutions of 1692, in Salem, Mass., were eight girls
from eleven to twenty years of age, and adds with reference to their
conduct previous to the accusations: "These Females instituted frequent
Meetings, or got up, as it would now be styled, a Club, which was called
a Circle. How frequent they had these Meetings is not stated, but it was
soon ascertained that they met to 'try projects,' or to do or produce
superhuman Acts. They doubtless had among them some book or books on
Magic, and Stories of Witchcraft, which one or more of their Circle
professed to understand, and pretended to teach the Rest." An examination
of the evidence in the trials, however, shows not only no authority for
these assertions, but that no such meetings took place previous to the
trials, nor did any such "circle" exist. Drake derived his information
from a paper by S.P. Fowler, who, in an address before the Essex
Institute, in the year 1856, had remarked: "These girls, together with
Abigail Williams, a niece of Mr. Parris, aged eleven years, were in the
habit of meeting in a circle in the village, to practise palmistry,
fortune-telling, &c." For such representation Mr. Fowler had no warrant;
it would seem that he had obtained the notion by transferring to the time
of the trials his experience in connection with spiritualistic "circles"
of his own day. It is curious to observe how readily this suggestion was
adopted, and with what uniformity recent popular narratives of the
delusion reiterate, with increasing positiveness of phrase, the unfounded
assumption. The expression, to "try projects," is therefore taken by Mr.
Drake from modern folk-lore. Fowler's address, entitled "An Account of
the Life and Character of the Rev. Samuel Parris, of Salem Village, and
of his Connection with the Witchcraft Delusion of 1692," was printed in
the _Proceedings_ of the Essex Institute, Salem, Mass, 1862, vol. ii. pp.
49-68 and also separately (Salem, 1857). For assistance in determining
the origin of Drake's statement I am indebted to Mr. Abner C. Goodell,
Jr., of Salem, Mass.--_W.W.N._
Nos. 15-16.--The reader who is interested to know how much importance has
been attributed to the caul will do well to consult Levinus Lemnius, _De
Miraculis Occultis Naturæ_. Chapter viii. of Book II. is headed: De
infantium recens natorum galeis, seu tenui mollique membrana, qua facies
tanquam larva, aut personata tegmine obducta, ad primum lucis intuitum se
spectandam exhibet.
The belief in the efficacy of the caul goes back at least to the time of
St. Chrysostom, who, in the latter part of the fourth century, preached
against this with kindred superstitions. Advertisements of cauls for
sale, at prices ranging from twenty guineas down, have from time to time
appeared in the London papers as recently as the middle of the present
century, if not even later.
No. 60.--See "Current Superstitions," _Journal of American Folk-Lore_,
vol. ii. No. V.
Nos. 116-118.--The custom of consulting in augury the occasional white
spots on the finger-nails still survives, despite the protestation of old
Sir Thomas Browne. He says:--
"That temperamental dignotions, and conjecture of prevalent humours, may
be collected from spots in our Nails, we are not averse to concede. But
yet not ready to admit sundry divinations vulgarly raised upon them. Nor
do we observe it verified in others, what _Cardan_ discovered as a
property in himself: to have found therein signs of most events that ever
happened unto him. Or that there is much considerable in that doctrine of
Cheiromancy, that spots in the top of the Nails do signifie things past;
in the middle, things present; and at the bottom, events to come. That
White specks presage our felicity; Blue ones our misfortunes. That those
in the Nail of the Thumb have significations of honour, those in the
fore-Finger, of riches, and so respectively in other Fingers (according
to Planetical relations, from whence they receive their names), as
_Tricassus_ hath taken up, and _Picciolus_ well rejecteth."
No. 148.--A very complete account of the signification of moles is quoted
from "The Greenwich Fortune Teller," in Brand's _Popular Antiquities_
(Bonn's ed.), iii. 254.
CHAPTERS IV. AND V.--Two of the most interesting and most accessible
lists of projects and Halloween observances are Gay's well-known
_Shepherds Week_ and Burns's _Halloween_.
No. 170.--It is an interesting psychological fact that projects are in
the great majority of cases tried by girls and young women rather than by
boys and young men.
No. 174.--Here, as in many other cases, it is assumed that young men and
women are accustomed to indulge in promiscuous kissing. The use of the
word gentleman sufficiently indicates the level of society from which
this project was obtained. Gentleman in this sense signifies any male
human being over sixteen. It is often used more specifically to mean
sweetheart, as "Mary and her gentleman were at the policemen's ball."
No. 184.--On Biblical divination see Brand's _Popular Antiquities_
(Bonn's ed.), iii. 337, 338.
No. 186.--This custom of divining the color of the hair of one's future
wife or husband, which is probably very old, yet survives in many places,
but with interesting modifications as to the bird which gives the signal
to try the divination. In Westphalia it is at sight of the first swallow
that the peasant looks to see if there be a hair under his foot.
According to Gay, in England it is the cuckoo.
"When first the year I heard the cuckoo sing,
And call with welcome note the budding spring,
I straightway set a running with such haste
Deborah that won the smock scarce ran so fast;
Till spent for lack of breath, quite weary grown,
Upon a rising bank I sat adown,
There doffed my shoe; and by my troth I swear,
Therein I spied this yellow frizzled hair,
As like to Lubberkin's in curl and hue
As if upon his comely pate it grew."
Nos. 187-193.--These practices, and others like No. 453 and the
asseverations, Nos. 60-67, shade off insensibly into children's games,
customs, and sayings. Games pure and simple have been omitted from the
present monograph, since they are evidently out of place among
superstitions. They have been admirably treated in Mr. Newell's _Games
and Songs of American Children_. The customs and sayings for the most
part belong in collections like Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_ rather than
in the present collection.
No. 211.--Projects in which flowers and leaves are employed certainly
much antedate the Christian era. Theocritus (Idyll III.) describes one in
which a poppy petal is used, and he also refers to another form of
love-divination by aid of the leaf of the plant Telephilon.
No. 245.--It is probable that the direction in which one is to walk
during the performance of this and similar acts of divination is not a
matter of indifference, even when no direction is prescribed. One would
expect to find it done sunwise. See note on Chapter xvi.
Nos. 254-256.--The _Sedum_ has long enjoyed a reputation for aphrodisiac
qualities, as is set forth in Gerarde's _Herbal_ and other authorities.
Perhaps the choice of the plant for use in this form of project is due to
some lingering tradition of its potency, or it may be simply because of
its great vitality and power of growing under adverse conditions.
No. 334.--I happen to know that in 1895 one bride, in a Boston suburb,
wore seven yellow garters, at the request of seven girl friends. Probably
the fashion of wearing yellow garters owes its present currency to the
repute in which they are held as love-amulets.
CHAPTER VIII.--Some notion of the prevalence of a popular belief in the
omens to be derived from dreams may be obtained from the fact that dream
books are still enough in demand to warrant their publication. I have
seen but one such volume. That was more than thirty years ago. A dream
book is now published by a New York firm, and I find, from inquiries in
Boston, that it sells at a moderate rate.
No. 626.--See Shoe Omens in Brand's _Popular Antiquities_ (Bohn's ed.),
iii. 166.
Nos. 785-789.--The curious reader will find an excellent summary of the
beliefs in regard to sneezing in Brand's _Popular Antiquities_, vol. iii.
Nos. 796-800.--In New Hampshire it was formerly usual for young people to
purchase gold beads, one at a time, with their earnings. When a
sufficient number of beads was obtained the necklace was made, and after
it had once been put on was never taken off by night or day. It is
difficult to induce the elderly people who still retain these necklaces
to part with them, there being a superstitious feeling in regard to the
consequences.
Nos. 831, 832.--These cures and a few other superstitions have been taken
from a very interesting paper, "Notes on the Folk-Lore of Newfoundland,"
in the _Journal of American Folk-Lore_, vol. viii. No. XXXI. Almost all
of the other folk-lore from Newfoundland and Labrador has been given me
by Rev. A.C. Waghorne. It is interesting to notice how among these
seafaring people weather-lore predominates over all other kinds.
Nos. 845-848.--These devices for suppressing hiccoughs are scarcely
superstitions in reality, as they doubtless often do relieve the nervous,
spasmodic action of the respiratory muscles, by fixing the attention upon
the cure. But in the popular mind some charm, I take it, is attributed to
the counting, repeating, or what not.
CHAPTER XIII.--Several remedies for warts are here introduced which
belong with the collection of animal and plant lore for which the writer
has much material accumulated. In general such topics, including a very
large number of saliva charms and cures, have been omitted from the
present list.
Nos. 872, 880-882.--It is interesting to notice this illustration of the
doctrine of signatures. Excrescences of such varied character, whether
animal or vegetable, are supposed by contact to cause warts, doubtless
simply because of the accidental resemblance.
Nos. 889-896.--It seems that any juices of peculiar or marked color are
popularly credited with curative power. The plants whose juices are
thought to cure warts are, it will be noticed, of wide botanical range.
In all probability there is no similarity in the effects to be obtained
from the application of their sap.
No. 979.--The somewhat unusual phenomenon of rain falling while the sun
is shining seems to have so attracted the attention of the human mind as
to have given rise to various sayings.
A native of Western Africa told me that among his tribe, the Vey people,
it was always said when the sun shone as rain fell that it was a sign
that a leopardess had just given birth to young.
In Japan the occurrence is said to indicate that a wedding procession of
foxes is passing near by, and the children have a pretty habit of running
to the supporting pillars of the house, to place the ear against the
timbers and listen for the footfalls of the foxes. The little people also
interlace their fingers in a certain way, then peeping through the chinks
between the fingers they declare they can see the wedding-train.
Nos. 1020-1028.--The mackerel sky is a name given to an assemblage of
cirrus clouds which are thought to imitate the barred markings on the
side of a mackerel. Mares' tails are wisp-like, curved cirri.
CHAPTER XV.--To illustrate the remarkable prevalence of a regard for the
phases of the moon in the management of every-day affairs among the
Pennsylvania Germans, the following list of their beliefs is appended.
All are from Buffalo Valley, Central Pennsylvania.[157-1]
THE MOON.
All cereals, when planted in the waxing of the moon, will germinate more
rapidly than if planted in the waning of the moon.
The same is true of the ripening of grain.
Beans planted when the horns of the moon are up will readily pole, but if
planted when the horns are down will not.
Plant early potatoes when the horns of the moon are up, else they will go
too deep into the ground.
Plant late potatoes in the dark of the moon.
For abundance in anything, you must plant it when the moon is in the sign
of the Twins.
Plant onions when the horns of the moon are down.
Pick apples in the dark of the moon, to keep them from rotting.
Make wine in the dark of the moon.
Make vinegar in the light of the moon.
Marry in the light of the moon.
Move in the light of the moon.
Butcher in the increase of the moon.
Boil soap in the increase of the moon.
Cut corn in the decrease of the moon, else it will spoil.
Spread manure when the horns of the moon are down.
Lay the first or lower rail of a fence when the horns of the moon are up.
Put in the stakes and finish the fence when the horns are down.
Roof buildings when the horns of the moon are down, else the shingles
will curl up at the edges and the nails will draw out.
Lay a board on the grass; if the horns of the moon are up, the grass will
not be killed; if they are down, it will.
Cut your hair on the first Friday after the new moon.
Never cut your hair in the decrease of the moon.
Cut your corns in the decrease of the moon.
Nos. 1114-1123.--These superstitions regarding planting crops according
to the moon are by no means idle sayings that have no influence over
farmers. I know positively that in many parts of the United States and in
Prince Edward Island gardens and fields are often planted after direct
reference to the almanac in regard to the moon's changes. Metropolitan
dwellers have small knowledge of what an important book the almanac is to
many country people. In many a quiet farm home the appearance of the new
almanac is looked forward to with great interest. Its arrival is
welcomed, and it is hung up near the kitchen clock for constant
reference. It is studied with care, especially on Sundays. The farmer or
farm-wife, who would scorn to do an hour's work in the hay-field to save
a crop from a Sunday shower, earnestly peruses the almanac to get rules
to guide the week-day sowing and planting. There are old auguries, too,
of whose import I am not definitely informed, to be derived from
consulting the signs of the zodiac; auguries, I think, concerning human
destiny as well as the planting of crops. Speaking of the place held by
the almanac recalls one of those neighborhood anecdotes that by oft
telling become classic. A young woman long ill, with consumption I
believe, died very suddenly. Her brother, in speaking of the event, said:
"Why, no, we never thought of Mary dying so soon. Why, she sat up in the
big rocking-chair most all Sunday afternoon, reading the almanac, and
then she died on Monday." Poor Mary, the thin volume was her sole
library!
CHAPTER XVI.--It would involve a much more extended discussion than the
space-limits of these notes will allow, to undertake to show the origin
and meaning of the superstitions in regard to the sun and sunwise
movement. While the origin and meaning of sun-worship has been very fully
treated by Sir G.W. Cox, Professor Max Müller, Professor De Gubernatis,
and others, the existence in modern times and among civilized communities
of usages which seem to be derived from sun-worship has apparently almost
escaped notice. I quote in this connection a few paragraphs from my brief
article on this subject in the _Popular Science Monthly_ for June,
1895:--
"In dealing with the origination of actions or customs in which is
involved what Dr. Fewkes calls the ceremonial circuit,[158-1] it is
difficult to determine the value of the factor, whether it be large or
small, that is due to the greater convenience of moving in a right-handed
direction. Occasionally the dextral circuit is followed in cases in which
it is evidently less convenient than the sinistral would be, as in
dealing cards in all ordinary games. Also, who can tell just how large or
small an element may depend upon the tradition that the left hand in
itself is uncanny without reference to the sun's apparent motion? There
certainly is a general feeling of wide distribution that to be
left-handed is unfortunate. Dr. Fewkes's careful and valuable researches
among the Moki Indians of Arizona, however, show without doubt that they
in their religious rites make the circuits sinistrally, _i.e._, contrary
to the apparent course of the sun, or, as physicists say,
contra-clockwise. The Mokis also are careful to stir medicines according
to the sinistral circuit. But doubtless instances go to show that among
Asiatic and European peoples the general belief or feeling is that the
dextral circuit--_i.e._, clockwise, or with the apparent motion of the
sun--is the correct and auspicious direction."
"As contra-sunwise notions were thought to be of ill omen or to be able
to work in supernatural ways, so it came to be believed that to reverse
other acts--as, for instance, reading the Bible or repeating the Lord's
Prayer backward--might produce powerful counter-charms. The negroes in
the Southern States often resort to both of these latter practices to lay
disturbing ghosts. In the ring games of our school children they always
move sunwise, though whether because of convenience or from some
forgotten reason who can say?"
"In New Harbor, Newfoundland, it is customary, in getting off small
boats, especially when gunning or sealing, to take pains to start from
east to west, and, when the wind will permit, the same custom is observed
in getting large schooners under way. So, too, in the Western Isles, off
the coast of Scotland, boats at starting are, or at any rate used to be,
rowed in a sunwise course to insure a lucky voyage."
"It will be noticed that in several of these cures, as well as in some of
the charms already cited, no rule is given as to the direction to be
followed in movement; but it is quite possible that the original
description was more explicit, and it is almost certain that in every
instance a sunwise course would now be followed."
No. 1166.--This appearance is due to the presence of a minute unicellular
plant of a red color, which grows and multiplies with great rapidity on
the surface of bread, starch-paste, and similar substances. So general
was once the belief in its portentous nature that Ehrenberg described it
under the name _Monas Prodigiosa_.
No. 1176.--The non-appearance of _rigor mortis_ as omen of another death
is alluded to in a skeptical way by Sir Thomas Browne in his _Vulgar
Errors_, Book V. chapter xxiii.
No. 1280.[TN-12]--Doubtless this apparently most trivial and meaningless
sign is but one of hundreds of examples of pure symbolism. The custom of
draping the bell or front door-knob with crape when death has come to a
house is suggested by seeing anything hung on the door-knob. It might be
convenient to hang the dish-cloth to dry on the kitchen door-knob, as the
door stands open. The idea of death is suggested, then comes the thought,
"this is like death, hence it may bode death," and so the omen arises.
No. 1204.--See article on "Current Superstitions," _Journal of American
Folk-Lore_, vol. ii No. IV.
No. 1207.--Not infrequently people of education and culture feel that
mourning is significant of further deaths. In popular arguments about the
advisability of wearing mourning it is said that if one begins to wear
it, he will have occasion to continue to do so. It is also claimed that
mourning is directly unhealthful on account of injurious components of
the black dyes used. This delusion no doubt proceeds from observed cases
of ill-health due to the depressing effects of mourning upon the spirits
(and therefore the physical condition) of the wearer.
No. 1237.--See "Current Superstitions," _Journal of American Folk-Lore_,
vol. ii. No. IV.
I chanced to know a few years ago of a family party of educated,
unusually intelligent people, when it happened that the number to dine
was thirteen. One laughingly proposed to sit at a side table and did so.
The dinner table would otherwise have been a bit crowded, the hostess
said as excuse for heeding the evil omen of thirteen at table. I doubt if
one of those present had any real faith in the superstition, and yet I
fancy there was a certain feeling of relief in avoiding the augury
predicted by the old saying.
No. 1241.--See article, "Survivals of Sun Worship," by the author, in
_Popular Science Monthly_, June 9, 1895.
No. 1247.--To what extent an old custom of touching the dead survives I
cannot say, but I well remember a painful experience of my own early
childhood. I had been taken to the funeral of a little child, and at the
proper time passed with the little procession to take leave of the dead
baby. A lady who had charge of me turned down the wrist of my glove and
bade me touch the corpse, which I did. At the time I felt it was to show
me how cold were the dead, but I now think it must have been in
conformity with some tradition, for the person who directed me was one
who had great regard for what were deemed the proprieties in funeral
rites.
Nos. 1335-1338.--It is quite a general custom among country people on the
Eastern Shore of Maryland to decapitate a crowing hen. The same custom is
reported from New Hampshire and from Prince Edward Island. Does not this
proverb then refer to the common superstition that it presages death or
disaster for a hen to crow, in consequence of which such hens are
summarily killed?
No. 1415.--There is a somewhat widespread prejudice in the minds of old
people against having their pictures taken, particularly if they have
never done so. I do not think the objection is a natural conservatism, or
dislike of doing something to which one is unaccustomed. The ill omen
does not appear to have been feared for the young as well as for the old,
even in provincial localities, when for the first time portraiture by
daguerreotypy or more recently by photography was introduced. It has long
been known that among primitive peoples there is a decided prejudice
against portraiture. The notion seems to be that the individual may lose
his vigor, if not his life, by allowing a copy of himself to be made in
any way. Catlin in his intercourse with the North American Indians found
great difficulty in gaining the consent of individuals to his painting
them. He says in his work on _The Manners, Customs, and Condition of the
North American Indians_, "The Squaws generally agreed that they had
discovered life enough in them [Catlin's portraits] to render my medicine
too great for the Mandans; saying that such an operation could not be
performed without taking away from the original something of his
existence which I put in the picture, and they could see it move, could
see it stir." Herbert Spencer, in his _Principles of Sociology_, vol. i.
p. 242, refers to a similar belief among the Chinooks and the Mapuchés.
It would seem as if there is in the popular mind an instinctive
recognition that the tenure of life is less strong in the aged than in
the young. So while the general notion that it is dangerous to have one's
person represented has disappeared from the mind of civilized man, a
similar psychological condition survives here and there among people
leading peculiarly simple lives.
Another evidence of a popular belief in some vital relationship between a
portrait and its original is suggested by the quite general superstition
that photographs (or other pictures) fade after and in consequence of the
decease of the original. I have found this to be a common belief in
Ireland, Prince Edward Island, and in various parts of the United States.
I remember as a child to have heard persons remark while turning over a
family album of photographs, "That looks as if the person were dead." In
fact, I think that I thus received the impression that the picture of one
dead underwent some change that many persons could perceive and thus
become aware of the death of the original. This notion is akin to a
superstition of the Irish peasantry that the clothes left by the dead
decay with unusual rapidity.
In parts of New Hampshire it is counted unlucky to have a photograph
copied while the original lives. Is this because death is thereby
suggested, since it is so customary to have enlarged copies of a
photograph made after the decease of the original?
FOOTNOTES:
[157-1] _Journal of American Folk-Lore_, vol. iv. No. XIII., "Folk-Lore
from Buffalo Valley," J.H. Owens.
[158-1] _Journal of American Folk-Lore,_ vol. v. No. XVI. p. 33.
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the religious ceremonies, ethical conditions, mythology, and oral
literature of Indian tribes; collection of the traditions of stocks
existing in a relatively primitive state, and the collation of these with
correct accounts of survivals among civilized tribes; gathering of the
almost wholly unrecorded usages and beliefs of Central and South American
races; the comparison of aboriginal American material with European and
Asiatic conceptions, myths, and customs; a study of survivals among
American negroes, including their traditional inheritance from Africa,
and its modification in this Continent; preservation of the abundant
folk-lore of the French and Spanish regions of North America; record of
the oral traditions of the English-speaking population, and description
of communities now or lately existing under isolated conditions.
The publication of the Memoirs cannot be met from the regular fees of the
Society, but is rendered possible by annual contributions to the
Publication Fund, of ten dollars, for such time as individual subscribers
may be pleased to continue such subscription.
Subscribers are enrolled as members of the Society, and receive all its
publications, issued after the date of subscription, including the
Journal and Memoirs.
A list of Annual Subscribers is printed in the Journal, and in each
volume of the Memoirs, so long as subscription continues.
Persons willing to assist in this work of publication, by the annual
payment, during such time as they may please, of ten dollars (which sum,
it will be understood, includes the annual membership fee of the
Society), are requested to remit their subscriptions to the Treasurer,
John H. Hinton, M.D., No. 41 West 32d St., New York, N.Y.
Transcriber's Note
The following errors and inconsistencies have been maintained.
Misspelled words and typographical errors:
TN-1 11 "over the the right shoulder" the word "the" is repeated
TN-2 15 "are his own, property," extra , after "own"
TN-3 70 463 Missing . at end of sentence
TN-4 80 510 , instead of . at end of sentence
TN-5 84 683 "Masssachusetts" should read "Massachusetts"
TN-6 93 794 "crock" for "crack"
TN-7 103 898 Missing . after the number
TN-8 105 924 Missing close quotes
TN-9 118 1084 "new moon. come" . instead of ,
TN-10 119 1199 Number should read 1099
TN-11 128 1205 "bad luck or seven" "or" should read "for"
TN-12 159 Note 1280 should read 1180
The following words were inconsistently hyphenated:
close-fistedness / closefistedness
sun-wise / sunwise