Caution of our Ancestors--A Magpie crossing one's
Path--What four Magpies betokened--The Poet and the
Magpies--More about Magpies--Flight of Birds--Swarming
of Bees--Howling of Dogs--Lowing of Cattle--Crowing of
Cocks--Dogs' Power of Sight--Stockings wrong side
out--Evil effect of Suspended Eggs--Burning Fish
Bones--Sign of a Letter coming--Sneezing of a
Cat--Various Signs--The sight of a Fox foreboding
Evil--Owls and Ravens--Various Signs and Omens--How to
prevent Ill Luck--Reputed Witches crossing the
Path--Highland Superstition--Print of a Caldron, what
it denoted--Unlucky to pass over a Balance--How to see
in the Dark--When not to pare your Nails--Touching a
Dead Body--Funeral Processions--Storks and Storks'
Hearts--How to Sit--Marriages--A Prophetic
Rhyme--Favourable and Unfavourable Times for
Marriages--Unfortunate to lose or break a Wedding
Ring--Rules to be observed in taking possession of a
House--Throwing Slippers, Besoms, Salt, and Rice after
Newly-married Persons--Charms for Bridegrooms and
Brides--Mothers and Children--More about
Marriages--Rules to be observed at Baptisms--How to
treat Young Children.
Mark the caution of our ancestors: If a magpie crossed one's path when
setting out on a journey, his mission, whatever it happened to be, was
certain to prove unsuccessful, unless the traveller immediately
crossed himself--a ceremony he invariably performed--and thus the
unfavourable influence of the hateful bird ceased. In the south of
England, people supposed that if a person saw four magpies at one
time, he would soon lose by death a dear friend. But an old English
poet, writing of magpies, says:
"One is a sign of sorrow; two are a sign of mirth;
Three are a sign of a wedding; and four a sign of birth."
The chattering of one of these birds in the morning bespeaks the
arrival of a stranger before evening. It is thought unlucky to kill a
magpie or a swallow. The congregating of magpies on a house-top
precedes an important event, in which the inmates are interested. If a
bird fly through a window, it is a sign that one of the inmates will
soon die. If a pigeon, which does not belong to any one of the family,
come into a house, it forebodes death to the occupant of the domicile.
The alighting of a swarm of bees on a dead tree or on the withered
bough of a living tree, signifies that the owner of the tree will soon
pass through death's portal. The howling of dogs, the lowing of
cattle, and the crowing of cocks at night, foretell the death of some
person in the neighbourhood. Dogs are supposed by not a few people to
see death as it enters a dwelling; and hence, in their opinion, the
cause of that quadruped's frequent dismal howling.
When one, by mistake, puts on his stockings in the morning wrong side
out, he secures good luck for that day at least. Birds' eggs hung up
in a house, prevent good luck entering that dwelling. He who wishes to
thrive should abstain from burning fish bones. A spark in the candle
gives notice that a letter is coming. If the cat sneeze or cough,
nothing is more certain than that one person, at least, in the house
will soon have a cold. When one's ears tingle, lies are being told
about him. When his cheeks burn, he is assured people are talking
about him. If the right eye itches, good luck is expected; and when
the left eye waters, misfortune is looked for. When the nose itches,
vexation--probably the death of friends--is expected. The meeting of a
fox, or the seeing of one crossing the path, presages the attempt of
an impostor to commit a fraud at the expense of the traveller. Owls or
ravens appearing on important occasions, portend unlucky events. If a
weasel be met in the morning, it is necessary to turn three times on
the heel and throw three stones, to prevent ill luck. It is more lucky
to meet a man than a woman as a first-foot. Every person is advised to
avoid meeting a cat, when going on an important mission. It is also
unlucky to meet a pig; and it is thought prudent to return home when a
hare or a reputed witch crosses the path ere the morning dew
disappears before the sun. A man leading or riding on a mare with
foal, is cautioned against allowing the animal to go in the track of a
wolf; because, if she place a hoof on the spot where that ravenous
beast's foot has been, she will cast her foal.
Time was, in Great Britain as in the East, when almost every one,
whether walking, riding, or sailing in a boat, went with the sun, when
setting out on a journey, or proceeding to sea. The Highlanders of
Scotland invariably went _deiseal_, or to the right, at every meeting
of importance. They went to the right, around the grave, with the
corpse--to the right three times around the consecrated well before
drinking. The company at a marriage went three times round the house
before crossing the threshold. Companies, on taking their seats at
table, were expected to turn to the right. Even at the present day,
the loving-cup and decanters are handed to the right around the social
board. When one lets salt fall on the floor or table, he should not
omit to cast a small quantity of the condiment over his left shoulder.
Beware of passing the salt at table unless it be asked for, and of
placing your fork and knife cross-ways.
When one sneezed, he did not evoke Jupiter to save him, the same as
the people of some other countries did, but he, or some of his
friends present, said _Deiseal_. When an infant was born, the midwife
encircled it three times right about with a burning candle. These
customs were no doubt commenced by the Highlanders in honour of the
sun, which they once worshipped; but in later times people did as
their forefathers and foremothers had done, through a superstitious
belief, thinking that by so doing they would prevent evil
consequences, and secure good fortune.
It is unlucky to leave the print of a caldron in the ashes after
taking the utensil off the fire. If people are wise, they will not
pass over a balance, or take up fire with a sword. To enable a person
to see in the dark, he is recommended to anoint his eyes with a salve
prepared from the right eye of a hedgehog, boiled in oil, and
preserved in a brazen vessel. A blackamoor is an unlucky first-foot.
If the chickens do not come out readily to feed in the morning, the
owner may make up his or her mind to meet with disappointments before
night.
It was formerly, if not now, unlucky to pare your nails on Sunday or
Friday. To prevent one dreaming about a dead person he has seen, it is
necessary to touch the body. To secure money being always in one's
pocket, he is advised to keep a bent sixpence, or a coin with a hole
in it, in his purse; to take it out and spit on it at every new moon;
and to return it to the pocket while wishing himself good luck.
It is unlucky to look at a funeral through a door or a window. Should
one wish to gaze on the melancholy procession, he ought to take his
position in the open air. The family will be fortunate on the roof of
whose house a stork builds its nest; and if any one take the heart of
a stork, and tie it up in the skin of a hawk or of a vulture, no enemy
can conquer him so long as he carries the charm attached to his right
arm. To sit with one's hands closed is bad, but to sit cross-legged
secures good fortune. At a card-table, people occasionally sit in the
latter position, with the view of bringing lucky deals.
A bride should not be married in a white satin dress. That a
newly-married couple may have no obstacles in the way of prosperity,
every one meeting them going to church to be united, or returning home
after the hymeneal knot is tied, should retrace his steps with them a
short distance. No small importance is attached to the old rhyme:
"Blessed is the bride that the sun shines on;
Blessed is the corpse that the rain rains on."
Marriages at the festival of St. Joseph are carefully avoided as
unfortunate. All fast-days and vigils should also be avoided as
marriage-days, they being considered inauspicious. The first day of
May continues in many lands to be held in great esteem, and the 12th
of that month is a high day among the witches. At that time they may
be seen dancing on the surface of lakes, brushing the dew off the
grass, milking cows in their folds, and flying through the air, or
escaping from pursuers in the shape of hares.
If a married woman lose her wedding ring, she has reason to fear the
estrangement of her husband's affections. If she break it, she thinks
there is danger of the matrimonial tie being soon severed by death. If
a newly-married couple go into a clean-swept house, they expect to be
poor all their days; but if the house be but indifferently cleaned,
and the precaution taken to throw salt and a small quantity of coals
in at the door before any furniture or household goods are carried
across the threshold, good luck is expected. As a warning, however, to
persons who might wish to injure their neighbours, we think it right
to say that, down to the time we write, it is considered that any one
removing from a dwelling with clean-swept floors, has reason to expect
grief and trouble in his new abode. Every one knows that slippers,
besoms, salt, and rice should be thrown after a newly-wedded pair; and
that a cake must be broken over a bride's head when she first enters
the house of her husband; but it is not so well known that a
bridegroom should have silver--say sixpences--and salt in his shoes,
when he first approaches the marriage bed, and that the bride should
avoid putting her bare feet on the floor when preparing to retire for
the night with her future companion in life. If these precautions be
neglected, there is danger of the wedded pair being deprived of little
prattlers around their fire in the early days of their wedded life,
and of having sons or daughters to comfort them in declining years. A
mother should not enter a neighbour's house after having an infant
before she is "kirked"; nor should she carry her child even to her
nearest and dearest friend's abode before the little one has been
baptized.
It is unlucky for a bridegroom to have for his "best-man" one who is
not his blood relation. It is unlucky for a "best-man" to have on a
black coat at a marriage; it is an omen of evil to the bride and
bridegroom. If a bride slip her foot or her horse stumble when
proceeding to church to be married, it is regarded as an evil sign;
and if the bridegroom come down when on his way to meet his betrothed,
before the hymeneal knot is tied, misfortunes are expected. If he has
to cross a stream, and his bonnet or hat fall into the water, his
death is not far distant. A bride's glove should not be taken off
before the bridegroom's is removed, preparatory to their joining hands
in wedlock before the clergyman. If any part of a dinner-set or
tea-set be broken at a marriage or baptismal feast, it is a sign that
misfortunes are coming.
If two children--a boy and a girl--are baptized in church on the same
day, and the latter be sprinkled before the former, the girl's
relations have reason to fear that in ripe years she will have a
beard. If a mother or nurse do not give bread and cheese to the first
person she meets when going to church with a child to be baptized, it
is questionable whether the infant's career through life shall prove
prosperous. The "first-foot," on receiving his bread and cheese, is
expected to return a short distance with the child, to show his good
will.
If a person, who is a stranger, leave a house wherein there is an
unbaptized child, particularly if it be a girl, without eating or
drinking, the infant's beauty is in danger of being taken away. It is
unlucky to let a child see its face in a mirror before it is a year
old. When an infant is suspended by the dress with its head downwards
for a few seconds after being washed in the morning, it prevents an
evil eye from affecting the little one that day.