Lancashire, like all other counties, has its own peculiar superstitions,
manners, and customs, which find no parallels in those of other localities.
It has also, no doubt, many local observances, current opinions, old
proverbs, and vulgar ditties, which are held and known in common with the
inhabitants of a greater extent of county, and differ merely in minor
particulars;--the necessary result of imperfect oral transmission. In
former numbers of this work a few isolated specimens of the folk-lore of
this district have been noticed, and the present attempt is to give
permanency to a few others.
1. If a person's hair, when thrown into the fire, burns brightly, it is a
sure sign that the individual will live long. The brighter the flame the
longer life, and _vice versâ_.
2. A young person frequently stirs the fire with the poker to test the
humour of a lover. If the fire blaze brightly, the lover is
_good-humoured_; and _vice versâ_.
3. A crooked sixpence, or a copper coin with a hole through, are accounted
_lucky_ coins.
4. Cutting or paring the nails of the hands or feet on a Friday or Sunday,
is very unlucky.
5. If a person's _left_ ear burn, or feel hot, somebody is _praising_ the
party; if the _right_ ear burn, then it is a sure sign that some one is
speaking evil of the person.
6. Children are frequently cautioned by their parents not to walk
_backwards_ when going an errand; it is a sure sign that they will be
unfortunate in their objects.
7. Witchcraft, and the belief in its reality, is not yet exploded in many
of the rural districts. The writer is acquainted with parties who place
full credence in persons possessing the power to bewitch cows, sheep,
horses, and even those persons to whom the witch has an antipathy. One
respectable farmer assured me that his horse was {56} _bewitched into the
stable through a loophole twelve inches by three_; the _fact_ he said was
beyond doubt, for he had locked the stable-door himself when the horse was
in the field, and had kept the key in his pocket. Soon after this, however,
a party of farmers went through a process known by the name of "_burning
the witch out_," or "_killing the witch_," as some express it; the person
suspected soon died, and the neighbourhood became free from his evil
doings.
8. A horse-shoe is still nailed behind many doors to counteract the effects
of witchcraft: a _hagstone_ with a hole through, tied to the key of the
stable-door, protects the horses, and, if hung up at the bed's head, the
farmer also.
9. A hot iron put into the cream during the process of churning, expels the
witch from the churn; and dough in preparation for the baker is protected
by being marked with the figure of a cross.
10. Warts are cured by being rubbed over with a black snail, but the snail
must afterwards be impaled upon a hawthorn. If a bag containing as many
small pebbles as a person has warts, be tossed over the _left_ shoulder, it
will transfer the warts to whoever is unfortunate enough to pick up the
bag.
11. If black snails are seized by the horn and tossed over the _left_
shoulder, the process will insure _good luck_ to the person who performs
it.
12. Profuse bleeding is said to be instantly stopped by certain persons who
pretend to possess the secret of a certain form of words which immediately
act as a charm.
13. The power of bewitching, producing evil to parties by _wishing_ it,
&c., is supposed to be transmitted from one possessor to another when one
of the parties is about to die. The writer is in possession of full
particulars respecting this supposed transfer.
14. Cramp is effectually prevented by placing the shoes with the _toes_
just peeping from beneath the coverlet; the same is also prevented by tying
the garter round the _left_ leg _below_ the knee.
15. Charmed rings are worn by many for the cure of dyspepsia; and so also
are charmed belts for the cure of rheumatism.
16. A _red-haired_ person is supposed to bring in ill-luck if he be the
first to enter a house on New Year's Day. _Black-haired_ persons are
rewarded with liquor and small gratuities for "taking in the new year" to
the principal houses in their respective neighbourhoods.
17. If any householder's fire does not burn _through_ the night of New
Year's Eve, it betokens bad luck during the ensuing year; and if any party
allow another a live coal, or even a lighted candle, on such an occasion,
the bad luck is extended to the other part for commiserating with the
former in his misfortunes.
Many other specimens of the folk lore of this district might be enumerated;
but since many here have implicit faith in Lover's expression,--
"There is luck in _odd_ numbers;"
I will reserve them for a future opportunity, considering that _seventeen_
paragraphs are sufficient to satisfy all except the most thorough-paced
_folklorians_.