_Folk Lore in Lancashire_ (Vol. iii., p. 55.).--Most of, if not all the
instances mentioned under this head by Mr. Wilkinson are, as might be
expected, current also in the adjacent district of the West Riding of
Yorkshire; and, by his leave, I will add a few more, which are familiar
to me:
1. If a cock near the door crows with his face towards it, it is a sure
prediction of the arrival of a stranger.
2. If the cat frisks about the house in an unusually lively manner,
windy or stormy weather is approaching.
3. If a dog howls under a window at night, a death will shortly happen
in that house.
4. If a _female_ be the first to enter a house on Christmas or New
Year's day, she brings ill luck to that house for the coming year.
5. For hooping-cough, pass the child nine times over the back and under
the belly of an ass. (This ceremony I once witnessed, but cannot vouch
for its having had the desired effect.)
6. For warts, rub them with a cinder, and this tied up in paper and
dropped where four roads meet, will transfer the warts to whoever opens
the packet.