_The Crow Charm and the Lady-bird Charm._--The following charms are
repeated by children throughout Yorkshire and Lancashire, and, I doubt
not, in other parts of the kingdom also. They may be classed with the
"Snail Charms" (Vol. iii., pp. 132. 179.):
_Crow Charm._
"Crow, crow, get out of my sight,
Or else I'll eat thy liver and lights."
_Lady-bird Charm._
"Lady-bird, lady-bird, eigh thy way home;
Thy house is on fire, thy children all roam,
Except little Nan, who sits in her pan,
Weaving gold-laces as fast as she can."
I remember, as a child, sitting out of doors on an evening of a warm
summer or autumn day, and repeating the crow charm to flights of rooks,
as they winked home to their rookery. The charm was chaunted so long as
a crow remained in sight, the final disappearance of them being to my
mind proof "strong as Holy Writ" of the efficacy of the charm.
The lady-bird charm is repeated to the insect (the _Coccinella
septempunctata_ of Linnæus)--the common seven-spotted lady-bird--to be
found in every field and garden during summer.
The lady-bird is placed upon the child's open hand, and the charm is
repeated until the insect takes to flight. The warmth and moisture of
the hand no doubt facilitate this, although the child believes fully in
the moving power of the charm.
N.B. The lady-bird is also known as _lady-cow_, _cow-lady_, and is
sometimes addressed as _cusha-cow-lady_.