{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_18992/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_18992","id":"gutenberg_18992","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18992","summary":null,"tags":["Category: American Literature","Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Folklore -- England","Folklore -- United States"],"text":"Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Julia Miller, and\nthe Online Distributed Proofreading Team at\nhttp://www.pgdp.net (This file was made using scans of\npublic domain works from the University of Michigan Digital\nLibraries.)\n\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note: A number of typographical errors and inconsistencies\nfound in the original book have been maintained in this version. A\ncomplete list is found at the end of the text.\n\n\n\n\n               CURRENT SUPERSTITIONS\n\n              COLLECTED FROM THE ORAL\n                TRADITION OF ENGLISH\n                   SPEAKING FOLK\n\n                     EDITED BY\n                  FANNY D. BERGEN\n\n        _WITH NOTES, AND AN INTRODUCTION BY_\n                WILLIAM WELLS NEWELL\n\n\n                BOSTON AND NEW YORK\n  Published for The American Folk Lore Society by\n           HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY\n        LONDON: DAVID NUTT, 270, 271 STRAND\n    LEIPZIG: OTTO HARRASSOWITZ, QUERSTRASSE, 14\n                       1896\n\n\n\n\n  Four hundred and fifty copies printed,\n  of which this is No. ----\n\n\n  Copyright, 1896,\n  BY THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.\n\n  _All rights reserved._\n\n\n  _The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A._\n  Electrotyped and Printed by H.O. Houghton and Company.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nIn the \"Popular Science Monthly\" for July, 1886, there was printed a\nsomewhat miscellaneous assortment of customs and superstitions under the\ntitle: _Animal and Plant Lore of Children_. This article was in the main\ncomposed of reminiscences of my own childhood spent in Northern Ohio,\nthough two or three friends of New England rearing contributed personal\nrecollections. Seldom is a line cast which brings ashore such an abundant\ncatch as did my initial folk-lore paper. A footnote had, by the advice of\na friend, been appended asking readers to send similar lore to the\nwriter. About seventy answers were received, from all sorts of\nlocalities, ranging from Halifax to New Orleans. These numerous letters\nconvinced me that there was even then, before the foundation of the\nnational Society, a somewhat general interest in folk-lore,--not a\nscientific interest, but a fondness for the subject-matter itself. Many\nwho do not care for folk-lore as a subject of research are pleased to\nhave recalled to them the fancies, beliefs, and customs of childhood and\nearly youth. A single proverb, superstition, riddle, or tradition may, by\nassociation of ideas, act like a magic mirror in bringing back hundreds\nof long-forgotten people, pastimes, and occupations. And whatever makes\none young, if only for an hour, will ever fascinate. The greater number\nof those who kindly responded to the request for additional notes to my\nanimal and plant lore were naturally those of somewhat literary or\nscientific tastes and pursuits. Many letters were from teachers, many\nothers from physicians, a few from professional scientists, the rest from\nmen and women of various callings, who had been pleased by suggestions\nthat aroused memories of the credulous and unreflecting period in their\nown lives. The abundant material thus brought in, which consisted of\nfolk-lore items of the most varied kind, was read gratefully and with\npleasant surprise.\n\nThe items were assorted and catalogued after some provisional fashion of\nmy own. Succeeding papers issued in the \"Popular Science Monthly\" brought\nin further accessions. I gradually formed the habit of asking, as\nopportunity offered, any one and every one for folk-lore. Nurses abound\nin such knowledge. Domestic help, whether housekeepers, seamstresses, or\nservants, whether American or foreign, all by patient questioning were\ninduced to give of their full store.\n\nThe folk-lorist who chances to have a pet superstition or two of his own\nthat he never fails to observe, has an open-sesame to beliefs of this\nsort held by any one with whom he comes in contact. The fact that I have\n(I blush to confess it) a preference for putting on my right shoe before\nthe left has, I dare say, been the providential means of bringing to me\nhundreds of bits of folk-lore. Many times has the exposure of this\nweakness instantly opened up an opportunity for asking questions about\nkindred customs and superstitions. I once asked an Irish peasant girl\nfrom County Roscommon if she could tell me any stories about fairies. \"Do\nye give in to fairies then, ma'am?\" she joyously asked, adding, \"A good\nmany folks don't give in to them\" (believe in them, _i.e._, the fairies).\nApparently she was heartily glad to meet some one who spoke her own\nlanguage. From that hour she was ever ready to tell me tales or recall\nold sayings and beliefs about the doings and powers of the \"good people\"\nof old Ireland.\n\nA stewardess, properly approached, can communicate a deal of lore in her\nleisure hours during a three or four days' ocean trip. Oftentimes a\ncaller has by chance let drop a morsel that was quickly picked up and\npreserved.\n\nThe large amount of botanical and zooelogical mythology that has gradually\naccumulated in my hands is reserved for separate treatment. Now and then\nsome individual item of the sort appears in the following pages, but only\nfor some special reason. A considerable proportion of my general\nfolk-lore was orally collected from persons of foreign birth. There were\namong these more Irish than of any other one nationality, but Scotch and\nEnglish were somewhat fully represented, and Scandinavians (including one\nIcelander), Italians, a Syrian, a Parsee, and several Japanese\ncontributed to the collection.\n\nIt has been a puzzling question to decide just where to draw the line in\nseparating foreign from what we may call current American folk-lore. The\ntraditions and superstitions that a mother as a child or girl heard in a\nforeign land, she tells her children born here, and the lore becomes, as\nit were, naturalized, though sometimes but little modified from the form\nin which it was current where the mother originally heard it. Whether to\ninclude any folk-lore collected from oral narrators or from\ncorrespondents, even if it had been very recently brought hither, was the\nquestion. At length it has been decided to print only items taken down\nfrom the narration of persons born in America, though frequent parallels\nand numberless variants have been obtained from persons now resident\nhere, though reared in other countries.\n\nIt would be a most interesting task to collate the material embraced in\nthe present collection with the few published lists of American\nsuperstitions, customs, and beliefs, and with the many dialect and other\nstories, the books of travel, local histories, and similar sources of\ninformation in regard to our own folk-lore. Equally valuable would be the\nendeavor to trace the genesis of the most important of the superstitions\nhere set down. But the limits of the present publication make any such\nattempt wholly out of the question, and the brief notes which are\nappended refer to but a few of the matters which invite comment and\ndiscussion.\n\nSome few repetitions have been almost unavoidable, since not infrequently\na superstition might consistently be classified under more than one head;\nbesides, it is not unusual to find that varied significations are\nattributed to the same act, accident, or coincidence. When localities are\nwanting it is sometimes because the narrator could not tell where he had\nbecome familiar with the items communicated; again, a chance\ncorrespondent failed to note the locality. In putting on paper these\npopular beliefs and notions, the abbreviated, often rather elliptical,\nvernacular in which they are passed about from mouth to mouth has to a\ngreat extent been followed.\n\nIt is impossible here to name the legion of individuals from whom the\nsubject-matter of the various chapters of this volume has been gathered.\nBut thanks are especially due to the following persons, who have\ncontributed largely to the contents of the book:--\n\n  Charles Aldrich, Webster City, Iowa.\n  Miss Ellen Beauchamp, Baldwinsville, N.Y.\n  John G. Bourke, Capt. 3d Cavalry U.S.A., Ft. Ethan Allen, Vt.\n  Miss M.A. Caller, A.C.F. College, Tuskeegee, Ala.\n  John S. Caulkins, M.D., Thornville, Mich.\n  Miss Ellen Chase, Brookline, Mass.\n  Miss Ruth R. Cronyn, Bernardston, Mass.\n  Uriah A. Greene, Flint, Mich.\n  Professor George M. Harmon, Tufts College, Mass.\n  W.J. McGee, U.S. Geol. Survey, Washington, D.C.\n  Hector McInnes, Halifax, N.S.\n  John B. Nichols, Washington, D.C.\n  John G. Owens,[viii-1] Lewisburg, Pa.\n  Prof. Frederick Reed, Talladega, Ala.\n  Mrs. Amanda M. Thrush, Plymouth, O.\n  Miss Helen S. Thurston, Providence, R.I.\n  Rev. A.C. Waghorne, New Harbor, N.F.\n  Miss Susan Hayes Ward, \"The Independent,\" New York, N.Y.\n  Miss Ellen L. Wickes, Chestertown, Md.\n\nAbove all am I indebted to Mr. Newell, whose generous cooeperation and\nadvice have been invaluable to one working under peculiar hindrances.\n\n  FANNY D. BERGEN.\n  CAMBRIDGE, MASS., 1. 15. 1896.\n\n[viii-1] Deceased.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nCHAP.                                                             PAGE\n       INTRODUCTION                                                  1\n    I. BABYHOOD                                                     21\n        Baptism.--Physiognomy.--Introduction to the World.--First\n        Actions.--Various.\n   II. CHILDHOOD                                                    26\n        Asseveration.--Challenge.--Fortune.--Friendship.--\n        Mythology.--Punishment.--Sport.--Various.\n  III. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS                                     32\n        Beauty.--Dimple.--Ears.--Eyes and Eyebrows.--\n        Finger-nails.--Foot.--Forehead.--Hair.--Hand.--Moles.--\n        Nose.--Teeth.\n   IV. PROJECTS                                                     38\n        Apples.--Apple-seeds.--Babies.--Bed.--Bible.--Birds.--\n        Buttons.--Four-leaved Clover.--Counting.--Daisy Petals.--\n        Doorway.--Eggs.--Fingers.--Garments.--Letters of the\n        Alphabet.--Midnight.--Plants.--Ring.--Stars.--Tea-leaves.--\n        Walking Abroad.--Water.--Various.\n    V. HALLOWEEN AND OTHER FESTIVALS                                55\n   VI. LOVE AND MARRIAGE                                            59\n        Engagement.--Attire of the Bride.--Lucky Days.--The\n        Marriage Ceremony.--Courting and Wedding Signs.\n  VII. WISHES                                                       67\n VIII. DREAMS                                                       70\n        Animals.--Colors.--Dead Persons.--Earth.--Eggs.--Fire\n        and Smoke.--Human Beings.--Meteorological Phenomena.--Money\n        and Metals.--Teeth.--Water.--Weddings and Funerals.--\n        Miscellaneous\n   IX. LUCK                                                         79\n        Cards.--Days.--Dressing.--Horseshoes.--Pins.--Salt.--\n        Sweeping.--Turning Back.--Miscellaneous.\n    X. MONEY                                                        87\n   XI. VISITORS                                                     89\n  XII. CURES                                                        94\n        Amulets.--Charm.--Water.--Miscellaneous.\n XIII. WARTS                                                       101\n        Causes.--Cures.\n  XIV. WEATHER                                                     106\n        Cold.--Days and Times.--Fair or Foul.--Moon.--Rain.--Wind\n        and Storm.\n   XV. MOON                                                        117\n        Divination.--Fortune.--Moonlight.--Wax and Wane.\n  XVI. SUN                                                         123\n        Domestic and Mechanical Operations.--Cures.\n XVII. DEATH OMENS                                                 125\nXVIII. MORTUARY CUSTOMS                                            131\n  XIX. MISCELLANEOUS                                               134\n        Actions.--Bodily Affections.--Apparel.--Customs.--Days.--\n        Domestic Life.--Various.\n       NOTES                                                       151\n\n\n\n\nCURRENT SUPERSTITIONS.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nThe record contained in the present volume forms the first considerable\nprinted collection made in America of superstitions belonging to\nEnglish-speaking folk. Numerous as are the items here presented, only a\npart of the matter is included, the collector having preferred to reserve\nfor separate presentation superstitions connected with animal and plant\nlore, material which would require a space about equal to that here\noccupied. Again, the present gathering by no means pretends to\ncompleteness; while certain departments may be adequately represented,\nother sections exhibit scarce more than a gleaning. The collection,\ntherefore, will be looked on as a first essay, subject to revision and\nenlargement.\n\nThe designations of locality will suffice to show the width of the area\nfrom which information has been obtained, as well as the degree of\nsimilarity which appears in the folk-lore of different regions belonging\nto this wide territory. Here and there may be observed items showing a\nmeasure of originality; a new superstition may have arisen, or an ancient\none been modified, according to the fancy of an individual, in\nconsequence of defective memory, or in virtue of misapprehension. But on\nthe whole such peculiarities make no figure, nor does recent immigration\nplay any important part. Almost the entire body of this tradition belongs\nto the English stock; it is the English population which, together with\nthe language, has imposed on other elements of American life its polity,\nsociety, ethics, and tradition.\n\nThis relation is not an isolated phenomenon; on the contrary, it is\nentirely in the line of experience. Language is the most important factor\nwhich determines usage and influences character; this result is effected\nthrough the literature, oral or written, with which, in virtue of the\npossession of a particular speech, any given people is brought into\ncontact. In this process race goes for little. Borrowing the tongue of a\nsuperior race, a subject population receives also the songs, tales,\nhabits, inclinations which go with the speech; human nature, in all times\nessentially imitative, copies qualities which are united with presumed\nsuperiority; to this process not even racial hostility is a bar;\nassimilation and transmission go on in spite of hatred directed against\nthe persons who are the object of the imitation; such a process may be\nobserved in the recent history of Ireland.\n\nReception of new ideas, however, though promoted by the possession of a\ncommon language constituting a means of exchange, is not limited by its\nabsence; on the contrary, in all historical time among contiguous races\ntakes place a transference of ideas which dislike and even warfare do not\nprevent. Here the law seems to be that the lower culture has relatively\nlittle effect on the higher with which it is in contact, while the\nsuperior civilization speedily influences an inferior one. Nor is the\neffect confined to the higher classes of any given society; beginning\nwith these, the new knowledge descends through all ranks, and everywhere\ncarries its transforming influence. What is true of written literature in\na less degree is true of oral; songs and tales, rites and customs,\nbeliefs and superstitions, diffuse themselves from the civilization which\nhappens to be in fashion, with a rapidity greater or less according to\nthe interworking of a multitude of modifying forces. In the other\ndirection, from the lower culture to the higher, exchange is slow, albeit\nlikely to be promoted, in certain cases, by peculiar conditions, such as\nthe deliberate literary choice which seeks opportunity for archaistic\nrepresentation, or the respect which an advanced race may have for the\nmagical ability of a simple tribe, believed to be nearer to nature, and\ntherefore more likely to remain in communion with natural forces.\n\nBut these exceptional effects are of small relative moment; the general\nprinciple, continually at work, in the main controls the result. In\nregard to the themes of stories especially, the many tongues and dialects\nof Western Europe offer scarcely more variation than will be often found\nto exist among the versions of the same tale which may be discovered in a\nsingle canton. The spirit of the language, already mentioned as\nconstituting the element of nationality, taking possession of this common\nstock of knowledge, moulds its precise form and sentiment in accordance\nwith its own character; it is in details, rather than in outlines, that\nracial differences are found to exist; this principle applies in a\nconsiderable degree in the field of folk-tales, even between cultures so\nopposite as those of Western Europe and Western Africa.\n\nIn the case of superstitions, the diffusive process, though less rapid or\neffectual than in tales, is nevertheless continually active; in Europe,\nat least, a similar identity will probably be discovered. But in this\ncategory the problem of separating what is general, because human, from\nthat which is common, because diffused, always a complicated task, will\nbe found more difficult than in literary matter, and without the aid of\nextensive collection insoluble. It is possible to fall back on the\nconsideration that, after all, such resolution matters not very much,\nsince in any case the survival of the belief indicates its humanity, and\nfor the purpose of the study of human nature borrowed superstitions may\nbe cited as confidently as if original in the soil to which they have\nemigrated, and where they have indissolubly intertwined themselves with\nthought and habit.\n\nAgain, it is to be considered that while differences of speech impede,\nbut do not prevent integration, changes of condition may have an\nimmediate effect in producing differentiation. Protestantism, by\nbanishing complicated usages connected with sacred days, has caused\nEnglish folk-lore to vary from Continental; so far this contrast seems a\nresult of the alterations of the last three hundred years, rather than of\nmore remote inconsistency.\n\nIf these remarks are in any degree valid, it follows that from the\npresence or absence of any particular item of belief in this or that\nEnglish-speaking district no conclusion is to be drawn; the deficiency\nmust be supposed to proceed from absence of record, and seldom to depend\non the structure of the population. To this general doctrine, as usual\nwith such propositions, may be observed minor exceptions. Whatever doubts\nmay be cast on the operation of the principle as applicable to England,\nthere can be no doubt that it is valid in the United States and Canada.\n\nIt is not, however, intended to assert that the contributions of the\nentire region covered in this collection are identical in character. On\nthe contrary, it will be seen that the record made in certain districts,\nas for example in Newfoundland and among the Mountain Whites of the\nAlleghanies, presents superstition as more primitive and active than in\nthe eastern United States. But this vitality is only to be regarded as\nthe persistence of a stock once proper to English-speaking folk, and by\nno means as indicating a diversity of origins.\n\nThe chief value of a collection such as the present consists in the light\nit may be made to cast on the history of mental processes; in other\nwords, on its psychologic import.\n\nTo appreciate this value, it is needful to understand the quality in\nwhich superstition really consists. This distinguishing characteristic is\nobscured by the definitions of English dictionaries, which describe\nsuperstition as a disease, depending on an excess of religious sentiment,\nwhich disposes the person so affected to unreasonable credulity. In the\nsame spirit, it has been the wont of divines to characterize superstition\nand unbelief as opposite poles, between which lies the golden mean of\ndiscreet faith. But this view is inadequate and erroneous.\n\nThe manner of conception mentioned has been borrowed from Latin and Greek\nwriters of the Roman republic and of the Imperial period. In primitive\nRoman usage, _superstitio_ and _religio_ were synonyms; both, perhaps,\netymologically considered, expressed no more than that habit of careful\nconsideration with which a prudent man will measure the events which\nencounter him, and determine his conduct with a view to consequences.\n_Superstitio_ may have indicated only the _overstanding_ of the\nphenomenon, the pause necessary for its deliberate inspection. By Cicero\na distinction was made; the word was now employed to designate a state of\nmind under the influence of supernatural terrors. In the Greek tongue a\nsimilar conception was expressed by the word _deisidaimonia_, or fear of\ndaemons, a term in bad odor as associated with practices of Oriental\ntemple worship representing primitive conceptions, and therefore odious\nto later and more enlightened Hellenic thought. Established as a synonym\nof the Greek noun, _superstitio_ received all the meaning which Plutarch\nelaborated as to the former; the idea of that excellent heathen, that\ntrue piety is the mean between atheism and credulity, has given a sense\nto the word superstition, and become a commonplace of Christian hortatory\nliterature.\n\nIt is, however, sufficiently obvious that the signification mentioned\ndoes not have application to the omens recorded in the present volume,\nthe majority of which have no direct connection with spiritual beings,\nwhile it will also be allowed that these do not lie without the field\nordinarily covered by the word superstition. For our purposes, therefore,\nit is necessary to enlarge this definition. This may be done by\nemphasizing the first component part of the word, and introducing into it\nthe notion of what has been left over, or of survival, made familiar by\nthe genius of Edward B. Tylor. In these lingering notions we have\nopinions respecting relations of cause and effect which have resulted as\na necessary consequence from past intellectual conditions. A\nsuperstition, accordingly, I should define as a belief respecting causal\nsequence, depending on reasoning proper to an outgrown culture. According\nto this view, with adequate information it would be possible to trace the\nmental process in virtue of which arise such expectations of futurity,\nand to discover the methods of their gradual modification and eventual\nsupersession by generalizations founded on experience more accurate and\nextensive. Yet it is not to be assumed that in each and every case such\nelucidation will be possible. In all human conduct there is an element\nwhich cannot be designated otherwise than as accidental; this uncertainty\nappears to be greater, the reaction against the natural conditions less\ndefinite, the more primitive is the life. It is impossible to forecast in\nwhat manner a savage may be impressed by an event of which he can note\nonly external conditions, or how his action may respond to the\nimpression. One may guess what opinion an augur would form concerning the\nappearance of a single eagle or raven; but it would be labor lost to\nattempt to conjecture the manner in which the imagination of the observer\nwould explain a flight of these birds, or what complicated rules augural\nart might evolve to guide the interpretation.\n\nThis accidental quality, and the arbitrariness with which phenomena are\njudged to be ominous, will be visible in the numerous \"signs\" here\nrecorded. At first sight, it may be thought that extreme folly is their\nsalient quality. Yet if we take a wide view the case is reversed; we are\nsurprised, not at the unintelligibility of popular belief, but at its\nsimplicity, and at the frequency with which we can discern the natural\nprocess of unsystematic conjecture. Such judgments are not to be treated\nwith derision, as subjects of ridicule, but to be seriously examined, as\nrevealing the natural procedure of intelligence limited to a superficial\nview of phenomena.\n\nThis consideration leads to an important remark. The term survival\nexpresses a truth, but only a part of the truth. Usages, habits,\nopinions, which are classed as superstition, exhibit something more than\nthe unintelligent and unconscious persistence of habit. Folk-lore\nsurvives, and popular practices continue, only so long as endures a\nmethod of thinking corresponding to that in which these had their origin.\nIndividual customs may be preserved simply as a matter of thoughtless\nhabit; yet in general it is essential that these usages should be related\nto conscious intellectual life; so soon as they cease to be so\nexplicable, they begin to pass into oblivion.\n\nThe chapters of this collection, therefore, will emphasize the doctrine\nthat the essential elements of human nature continue to exist, however\nopposite may be the actions in which its operations are manifested. In\nexamining many of the maxims of conduct here set forth, we are able to\nunderstand the motives in which they had their being; we perceive that\nthe inclination has not disappeared, however checked by mediation through\ncomplex experience, and however counteracted by the weight of later\nmaxims. The examiner finds that he himself shares the mental state of the\nsuperstitious person; if not, he can easily make an effort of imagination\nwhich will enable him to comprehend its evident reasonableness. Thus,\nwhile superstitions are properly designated as survivals, it will in many\ncases be found that they represent a survival of ratiocination as well as\nof action.\n\nIn some striking examples, also, it happens that the modern notion\nindicates the continuance of conceptions more ancient than a mass of\nconnected ideas which have wholly perished. The former endure, because,\nbeing simple in their nature, they represent a human impulse, an impulse\nwhich animated the prehistoric ancestor as well as the modern descendant.\nWhen this tendency ceases to operate, the plant suddenly withers. So it\nis that an elimination of these beliefs, which formed the science of\nremote antiquity, has taken place in our own century, which has worked a\nchange greater than fifty preceding generations, because it has been able\nto introduce generalizations with which ancient notions and habits are\nperceived no longer to coincide.\n\nAs illustrations of the psychologic value of the material, it may be\npermitted to offer brief comments on the several sections.\n\nIn the usages of mothers and nurses, it is interesting to observe with\nwhat persistence survives the conception that the initial action of the\nseries determines the character of events sequent in order. It is still a\nuniversal practice to consecrate every baby by a rite not ecclesiastical.\nThe infant, on his first journey, must be taken to a height symbolic of\nhis future fortune, an elevation believed to secure the prosperity of his\nwhole subsequent career. It would be of interest to learn what analogies\nthe practice has among races in a primitive condition of culture. The\nbabe of the Pueblo of Sia, when on the fourth day (four being a sacred\nnumber) for the first time he is taken from the dark chamber, is ritually\npresented to his father the Sun; similarly, in a superstition of the\npresent series (I know not how generally observed) Sunday is said to be\nthe day on which the infant is first to be carried into the sunshine. It\nis likely that such continuing customs represent feeble echoes of\npre-Christian dedicatory ceremonies, which in the first instance were\nthemselves founded on a corresponding habit of thought; according to an\nopposite, yet connected system of notions, we find Protestant\nChristianity still preserving a memento of the world-old and universal\nbelief in a crowd of malicious spirits, prepared at every moment to take\nup their residence in the convenient shelter of the human frame, as a\nhermit crab watches for a suitable shell in which to make his home. It\nmust be owned that the volume of observances connected with infancy, here\npresented, is very inadequate; it is certain that a nurse of a century\nago would have been familiar with a vastly more extensive array of duties\nand cautions. As we go back in time and culture, action becomes more\nrestricted. Where the effects of any line of conduct are unknown,\nadherence to precedent is all-important; every part of the life must be\nadministered according to a complicated system of rules, while common\nprudence is considered as inseparable from religious obligation.\n\nThe following section presents us with interesting material, in the\nexhibition of ideas and customs which are maintained by children\nthemselves, and which they learn from one another rather than from their\nelders. It is true that these are of necessity the reflection of the\nconceptions and practice of older persons; but, according to the law of\ntheir nature, it is found that children often exhibit a peculiar\nconservatism, in virtue of which habits of thought still exercise\ncontrol, which among men and women have been outgrown. This is\nillustrated in popular games and songs which children have orally\npreserved; and the same is true of their superstitions. Women,\nespecially, who may peruse this collection will be surprised to find how\nmany of the items here recorded will seem familiar, and at the same time\nto have received credence; in the case of a particularly clear-minded\nperson, free from any disposition toward credulity, nearly a hundred of\nthese superstitions were remembered. The ideas in question, perhaps at no\ntime more than half believed, have frequently altogether faded into\noblivion.\n\nAttention should be paid, also, to the imaginative power of the youthful\nmind, and the manner in which beliefs are visualized, and appear as\nrealities of perception. To illustrate this principle have been included\na few examples belonging rather to individual than to general opinion.\nThe little girl who without any direct instruction imagines that the\nlight of the heaven gleams through the orifices we call stars, who sees\ncelestial beings in meteor form winging their way across the skies, or\nwho is surrounded by the benevolent spirits which her discriminating\neducation, banishing the terrors of the supernatural world, has permitted\nto exist for her comprehension, illustrates that readiness of fancy and\ncontrol of vision by expectation which belongs to humanity in the reverse\ndegree of the reflective habit. Herein childish conceptions and vivacity\nof feeling represent the human faculty which education may control but\ncannot obliterate.\n\nBeliefs relating to the influence of physiognomy present us with a very\nlimited anthology of popular ideas, which in elaborate developments have\nbeen expanded into pseudo-sciences, and fill whole libraries of learned\nmisinformation. These notions may be divided into two classes. On the one\nhand appear indications founded on natural analogies, as when we still\nspeak of close-fistedness. On the other side, many of these associations\nare arbitrary, as when the study of spots on the nails is supposed to\ngive means for determining future fortune. Such conclusions depend partly\non the correct opinion that in the cradle lies the future man, with all\nelements of his complex nature, and partly on external marks, the\ninterpretation of which is purely arbitrary.\n\nThe chapter on \"Projects\" presents the reader with a class of usages,\nsufficiently foolish when considered in themselves, but none the less\ndemanding attention, as exhibiting, in full energy, the survival, at the\nend of the nineteenth century, of the practice of divination. It is true\nthat these attempts to forecast the future are commonly made in a\nsportive manner and only with partial belief, being now for the most part\nreduced to social sports. They belong also almost exclusively to the\nfemale sex, who by way of amusement still keep up rites which are to\ndetermine the future partner in life. Yet that these observances were\nformerly performed with sober forethought may be seen by the\nsuperstitious character with which in retired districts they are still\ninvested; it is likely that in this limited field we have the final\nechoes of ceremonies employed to determine action and to supply means for\nthe estimation of every species of good or evil fortune. Among these\ncustoms a considerable part may be of relatively recent origin, but a\nnumber are undoubtedly ancient.\n\nParticularly remarkable is the word by which in the English folk-lore of\nAmerica, at least, these practices seem to have been popularly entitled.\nDictionaries give no aid in explaining the signification of the word\n\"project,\" here used in the sense of a ceremony of divination. I cannot\noffer any explanation as to the probable antiquity of the term; neither\nmiddle-Latin nor Romance languages seem to offer parallels. One might\nguess that if all were known, the use might be found to proceed from the\nspecial language of mediaeval magic or astrology (perhaps\nmirror-divination).\n\nWith practices of this sort has been connected an incident of colonial\nhistory. During the accusations brought against alleged witches of Salem,\nMassachusetts, in 1692, the chief agents were a group of \"children\"\nbelonging to a particular neighborhood of that town. It has been asserted\nthat these young persons, previous to the outbreak of the excitement,\nformed a \"circle\" of girls in the habit of meeting for the purpose of\nperforming \"magical tricks\" (to use a phrase employed by Cotton Mather),\nand that it was experience so acquired that fitted them for the part\nafterwards played in the trials. This statement has been repeated by so\nmany recent writers as to become a commonplace of accepted history; it\nwould seem, however, that the representation depends on the invention of\na modern essayist, who transferred to the colonial period ideas derived\nfrom his acquaintance with the phenomena of contemporary spiritualistic\n_seances_, and that the habit of \"trying projects,\" no doubt universal in\ncolonial times, had nothing to do with the delusion in question. (See\nnote, p. 153.)\n\nAncient popular divination would, as a matter of course, have taken a\nritual character, and been associated especially with particular seasons.\nIt is therefore more than an accident, that many of these harmless\nobservations seem especially connected with Halloween. The Day of All\nSaints, of which name our English title is a translation, precedes that\nof All Souls; for the institution and significance of both the church has\nits explanation. Yet this account is not the correct one: these feasts\ndescend, not from any Christian ecclesiastical ordination, but from an\nancient festival of the dead; they represent the survival of a\ncelebration which probably consisted in the bestowing on the departed,\nafter the ingathering of the harvest, his share of the fruits of the\nground, conveyed by direct material administration. That at such a period\nspirits of the dead should be supposed to walk the earth, would be a\nmatter of course; in early time these would be conceived as returning in\norder to behold and join the sacred dances of the tribe. Accordingly,\nthere seem to be indications showing an original association of some of\nthese usages with the lower world; such may be the significance of the\nbackward movement, or the inversion of garments, occasionally\nrecommended. In order to put one's self in connection with the world of\ndarkness, it is essential to reverse the procedure which is proper for\nthe realm of light. This principle, appearing in mediaeval magic, could\nalso be illustrated from savage custom. It can hardly be doubted that the\nlimitation of such forecasts to the field of choosing partners for life\nis but a survival of an older practice, in which divinations of fortune\nin other directions also were sought; on the day sacred to the dead, it\nmay be that the latter, as having power and knowledge, were invoked to\nact as illuminators. The stress laid on dreams appears to imply a\npractice of evoking spirits, whether of the deceased or of the living.\n\nIn the division entitled \"Love and Marriage\" we are dealing not with\nceremonies, but \"signs;\" in the former case a voluntary action is implied\nin the consulter of fate; in the latter, the subject is passive. The word\n\"signs\" is a popular term for omens of any kind; in this case we cannot\nbe in error in seeking a Latin derivation, _signum_ being classically\nused in this sense. Here, again, the prognostics in question are\nrespected only by women, and at the present time, with but a light\nadmixture of genuine credulity, unless among people of secluded\ndistricts, retaining old-world notions. Foolish as are these ideas of\nsequence, they indicate a habit of association anciently prevalent, which\nin early times had the most serious consequences.\n\nThe gathering of expectations relating to \"Wishes\" shows that the name\nand idea of folk-lore must not be limited to primitive beliefs, or to the\nideas of uneducated persons. The assumption that an occurrence, neither\nunusual nor characterized by any correspondent quality, may promote the\nfulfilment of a contemporaneous desire, illustrates the arbitrary nature\nof a considerable part of this lore. Nevertheless, it cannot be doubted\nthat many of these beliefs, if they could be followed back to their\norigins, would be found to exhibit some process of consistent though\nerroneous reasoning, as exhibited in the case of wishes made with\nreference to the state of the moon, hereafter to be mentioned. It is also\nto be observed that prayer to the evening star forms a feature of the\nusages in question.\n\nOf dreams we are presented with a series in some degree representing\ntheir function in surviving belief. The comparison of these with dream\nbooks, still sold and used, and with a more extensive collection of\nsuperstitions, retained in this and other continents, would no doubt\noffer curious results. At present attention may be called only to one\nremarkable trait, namely: the interpretation of dreams by contraries.\nThis practice I conceive to be altogether modern, and to have resulted\nfrom the extension of scientific culture, which has lead to the discredit\nof more direct explanations. So far as I am aware, dreams in literature,\nancient or mediaeval, are always presumed symbolically to represent the\nfuture, and to be capable of straightforward interpretation.\n\nThe usages of folk-medicine form a wide subject, which would occupy many\nvolumes such as the present; a mere bibliography of the literature could\nnot be included in the number of pages here allowed. The gleaning, also,\nis in this case very imperfect; the greater number of such \"Cures\" would\nfall in that part of the subject here omitted, relating to the function\nof animals and plants. In this field, conceptions formerly operative have\nnot yet disappeared; \"the doctrine of signatures,\" that is to say, the\nrule that the healing object is indicated by its resemblance to the organ\naffected, has scarcely passed into oblivion, while popular systems of\ntreatment are still based on rules not essentially different. In addition\nto this guiding idea, an exorcistic method has survived; in our folk-lore\nis retained the removal of the trouble in virtue of its transfer to\nanother place or person. Especially in the significant case of warts,\nsuch rule of early medicine operates with full force. Here, as in other\ninstances, the obscure influence of suggestion plays a complicated part;\nbelief in the efficacy of any system of treatment appears sufficient to\npromote its effect. These charms are perhaps sometimes effective, even\nalthough no conscious attention is paid to the process; but to enter on\nthis field would be foreign to the present discussion. It is sufficient\nto point out that in popular belief the preservation of the theory goes\nhand in hand with the survival of the practice.\n\nWeather proverbs form an extensive body of popular observations, here\nonly partially recorded. From the psychologic point of view, the\nprincipal interest attaches to the mental causes of these prognostics.\nCollectors have generally assumed that in this field experience is at the\nbasis of a great part of the alleged knowledge. It may be so with a few\nof the simpler signs; yet, even in respect to these, great diversity is\nvisible. In general, I should myself attach small importance to this\nconsideration. Remarkable in man regarded as an intellectual being is the\nvariation to be observed in the effect of experience. In certain\nrelations of daily life the savage is as quick to learn, and as accurate\nin his judgment, as civilized man; mention need only be made of his skill\nin the hunt, and his intimacy with the forest. But under complicated\nconditions, whenever this action falls outside of daily habit, he appears\nincapable of profiting by observation; on the contrary, it is usually\nimagination which dictates presumed experience. The latter rarely\ncorrects a superstition; as already remarked, discovery of error in the\napplication of inherited theory is applied only to increase the\ncomplexity of the formula. Not until the existence of a means of record,\nand the formation of a body of observations capable of methodical\narrangement, is an erroneous belief superseded, when the true causes of\nthe events become manifest; of this principle ideas respecting the\nweather constitute good illustrations.\n\nStudents of this collection will be surprised by the number and vitality\nof formulas and beliefs relative to the moon. It is probable that the\nmajority of the readers of the male sex will have no other associations\nwith the newly born moon than that poetic sentiment which delights in the\nvision of the faint sickle silver through the twilight; if they possess\nany further association with the planet, it is likely to be no more than\na vague dread of the effect of its radiance falling on a sleeper. Women,\non the contrary, will remember that the moon should be first seen not\n\"full face,\" but \"over the the[TN-1] right shoulder;\" they will be aware\nthat with such vision may be united a wish, to which jesting fancy\nassigns a probability of accomplishment. But these, also, will be\nsurprised by the discovery that lunar divination is maintained with\nprofound seriousness, and that the honor paid to the orb is nothing else\nthan a continued worship, still connected with material blessings\nexpected from its bounty.\n\nThis record reveals the central principle and natural cause of moon\nworship, by making clear the effect still ascribed to the variation of\nthe luminary. It is the night which is especially the season of primitive\nworship; from times long antecedent to written history, as well among the\nlowest savages as among tribes possessing the beginnings of civilization,\nchanges of the starry heavens have been the object of devout\ncontemplation and of reverent study. To the watcher it is the rapid\ngrowth of the lunar crescent that is the most distinctive feature of\ndifferences between the nights, an alteration which could not but be\nsupposed to exercise control over human and animal life. According to\nnatural processes of thought, it was inevitable that during the time when\nit so rapidly increases, and becomes dominant in the sky, the principle\nof growth should appear to prevail; and on the other hand, that the time\nof lunar diminution should be the season of decay. Hence the conclusion,\nprobably prevalent in all times and countries, that designs and\nundertakings which expect increase should belong to the new moon, and\nthat only operations which aim at the annihilation of existence should be\ncarried on during the waning quarter. In Hellenic antiquity, the dark of\nthe moon is mentioned as the suitable time for magical operations; for\nsuch, no doubt, as were concerned with a forwarding of life. Our\ncollection exhibits the full survival of the usage and theory. It is the\nnew moon to which is dedicated the money that under its expanding\ninfluence will be sure to multiply; it is at such time that the seed is\nto be put into the ground. On the contrary, the abolishment of pests and\ndiminution of objects in which shrinkage is desired may be obtained by\nconnecting these with the waning sphere.\n\nLunar change has had an important connection with ancient myth as well as\nwith primitive ritual. For the reason indicated, the crescent was\nassigned as an emblem to goddesses of growth. This ornament passed from\nCybele and Diana to Mary; as on the vault of St. Mark's the Virgin wears\nthe starry robe of the earlier goddess, so on garden walls of Venice she\nstands crowned with the crescent, in the same manner as the divinities\nwhom she has superseded. In this connection is especially to be\nconsidered the habit of personification implied in our English rhymes. Of\nlate, the doctrine which perceives in myth a symbolic expression of the\nforces of nature has fallen into comparative discredit, a contempt\nexplicable in view of the unscientific manner in which \"sun-myths\" have\nbeen exploited; our English sayings, therefore, are to be received as a\nwelcome demonstration that one must not proceed too far in his attitude\nof doubt. If the popular mind, to-day, and in a country particularly\naccessible to the influences of modern culture, worships the personified\nmoon, it may be considered as certain that antiquity did the like.\nMythology is woven out of so many strands that goddesses like Artemis and\nDiana may have been much more than lunar personifications; but I think it\ncan scarce be doubted that in a measure such they were.\n\nThere is to be noted a most important characteristic of modern\nsuperstition, namely, that the original usage, and also the primitive\ntheory, has sometimes continued the longest, because founded on the\nbroadest and most human foundation. The modern survival exhibits those\nfundamental conceptions out of which grew the complicated rites and\nelaborate mythologies of ancient religions. In this manner, as from a\nheight of observation, we are able to look back beyond recorded history,\nand to trace the principles of historic development. So may be elucidated\nproblems which neither metaphysical speculation nor historical research\nhas proved adequate to expound. Comparative study of folk-lore has placed\nin our hands a key which ingenious theorists, proceeding with that\nimperfect knowledge of antiquity which can be gathered from books, have\nlacked, and for the want of which they have wandered in hopeless error.\n\nIn modern folk-belief the influence of the sun is less directly apparent.\nThe custom of saluting the rising orb, with which the day was once begun,\nor of ascending high places where the benediction of the luminary could\nbe obtained, and the direct reverence to solar rays belonging to all\nprimitive life, survives only in the vague symbolism which, until very\nlately, has caused churches to be built on hills. But a single essential\nfeature of sun-worship still survives, not only among ignorant and\nisolated peasants, but in the households and among the matrons of\neducated English-speaking folk. To this significant relic, so far as I\nknow, Mrs. Bergen has been the first to direct attention. That the sun\nmoves in a particular course must have been one of the first observations\nwhich primitive man made in regard to the movements of celestial bodies.\nHis cardinal rule being to perform everything decently and in order, it\nfollowed that the precedent set in heaven was to be imitated on earth. In\nany operation for which success must be sought, progress must be\nsun-wise; the reverse order could be suitable only for operations of\ndestructive magic, tending to undo natural sequences. Nevertheless, even\nprimitive man has a passion for originality, a desire to obtain\npeculiarly intimate relations with nature, which may be to the advantage\nof his own people; probably from this consideration certain American\ntribes have reversed the ceremonial order, so far at least as to make\ntheir processional movements in the opposite direction; but our modern\ncustoms or household life show, among the ancestors of English folk, that\nthe sun-wise circuit entered not only into the religious life, but also\nmingled with and directed the most ordinary actions. Little does the\nmodern housewife, who in beating the egg instinctively stirs her spoon in\none direction,--a form of movement usually recommended by no conscious\nassociation of ideas,--imagine that in the method of her action she is\nbearing testimony to the deepest ethical and ceremonial conceptions of\nremote ancestors; yet there can be no doubt that such is the case. Here\nalso prevails the remarkable principle to which attention has already\nbeen directed. The mythology of the ancient worship has perished, but the\nnotion which inspired the ritual practice has survived; sun-worship is\nthus shown to have been characteristic of our forefathers, as indeed, in\nall probability, it was an original feature of primitive human life. In\nthis case, also, could we go back a little way in time, we should\nprobably find a conception of the sun as a personal being united with\nusages arising from contemplation of this path.\n\nIt is always found that especial conservatism attaches to customs and\nideas associated with death; the disinclination to exercise independent\nthought on a subject so serious leaves the field open for the continuance\nof ancestral notions and practices. It is therefore natural that the\nvolume of superstition associated with the end of life should only be\nparalleled by that connected with the marriage relation. A vast number of\nactions and experiences still pass as the \"signs\" of approaching\ndeparture. As in omens generally, the prevailing principle is usually the\neffect of association of ideas; the shock to the nerves consequent on the\nimagination of the occurrence is, in the popular fancy, inseparable from\nbelief in its reality. Hence the general tendency to insist on\neuphemistic speech, the required abstinence from unpleasant suggestions,\nthe _favete linguis_ of the Roman. In this body of deeds to be avoided,\nancient and modern notions are interwoven. One must not pass under a\nladder, for a ladder is used in modern executions; one must not carry a\nspade through the house, for with a spade is dug a grave. More in\naccordance with fundamentally human ideas, the delicate rose of fall\npresages the untimely waning of a youthful life. As with all\nsuperstition, the sign is not merely the prediction of an event; it is\nfelt that as the avoidance of the omen would be to escape its\nconsequence, so the careless action, in becoming the presage of calamity,\nis likewise its cause. Here appear natural antinomies of human thought:\non the one hand, the sense of the inevitableness of the designated fate;\non the other hand, the consciousness of ability by altering conditions to\nchange conclusions. Thus the thoughts and actions of primitive man are\ninspired by the same contending intellectual forces which in later time\nappear under the guise of warring philosophies.\n\nStill more remarkable are the remains of world-old usage, wherein may be\nremarked tendencies which have formerly been expressed in elaborate\nrituals. In customs relating to death, a controlling feature is that\nsense of individual possession which has been prevalent from a time\nantecedent to the rudimentary beginnings of civilization. To early man,\ndoubt is but a change of state; the head of the household, in his place,\nbe it the tumulus erected for his shelter, be it the distant land to\nwhich his spirit has been transported, holds the same rights and is\nentitled to the same privileges which on earth he enjoyed. His wives, his\nslaves, his steeds, his arms, are his own,[TN-2] property, which none dare\nmeddle with, inasmuch as the departed, now more than heretofore, has the\npower to enforce his title. In a measure, therefore, these possessions\nmust accompany him on his voyage, and remain with him in his new abode.\nBut this deprivation is too great: in the natural course of things, the\nliving cannot waive so much and continue to live. A part is given for the\nwhole; substitution takes the place of direct offering. The dead is no\nmore to be received among the living, bringing with him, as he does, a\nclaim on other lives; by many methods, by concealment, placation,\nsubstitution, ritual exile, he must be banned to the place where only on\noccasions he may be sought and consulted. One of these methods of\navoidance is the habit of making the return of the funeral procession so\nintricate that the spirit may be deceived in its attempt to retrace the\nroute; it is perhaps a consequence of this manner of thought that even\nnow, in retired districts, it is held unwise for the mourners to return\non the same path by which they proceeded.\n\nThese usages change their character, inasmuch as the original intent of\nceremonial actions being forgotten, acts intended to secure more\npractical ends are performed in order to correspond to supposed\nobligations of decency. Such is the case with the arrangement of the\nchamber of death, with the stoppage of the clock, of which traces are\nfound in customary usage; so it is with the inversion of garments, of\nwhich also in our lore traces seem to linger. Different, perhaps, is the\nidea underlying the covering of the mirror; indications show that the\npractice was once extended to all objects in the room, which formerly\nseems to have been draped with white cloth. The object appears to have\nbeen to protect domestic objects from the contamination caused by contact\nwith the dead, which would protect them from subsequent employment by the\nliving, who otherwise could not with safety associate themselves with the\nother world, just as even at the present time it is not held lucky to\nwear the garments of the departed. In the same manner the Mosaic law\ncommanded the Israelite to cover, at the time of death, the vessels used\nin his tent. It has been remarked that white, and not black, is the\nproper color for such drapery. The association of white with the dead, as\nthe hue of mourning, is ancient; it appears to me that the idea of ritual\npurity, expressed by the color, is at the bottom of the custom. In\nHellenic times white continued to be the hue most closely associated\nwith the dead, albeit black, as the sign of melancholy, was also\nintroduced. The character of funeral rites, from Western Europe to Japan,\nexhibits a similarity which, in my judgment, is to be explained only on\nthe supposition of very early and long continued historical contact,--a\ncontact otherwise demonstrable.\n\nOn the other hand, a world-old custom, which may be set down as human and\nuniversal, dictated, and among all nomadic peoples continues to dictate,\nthe abandonment of any habitation in which a death has occurred. The\nobvious motive is expressed in a surviving superstition that a second\ndecease is likely to follow a first. Death, naturally impersonated and\nidentified with the spirit of the departed, will return to the place\nwhere he has once made himself at home, and in which he has proprietary\nrights. This idea constitutes a superstition which stands directly in the\nway of progress; thus the Navajo refuses to build a house, which at the\nfirst mortality among his family it would be necessary to desert. The\ncause of the general custom is to be sought, not in any sanitary\nprinciple, but in the associations explained, acting with superstitious\nforce. In the course of time and with the advance of culture such\ndesertion is no longer possible, and some means must be found by which\nthe requirement shall be evaded; the desired escape is effected by such\nalterations as shall vary the character of the mansion and indicate it as\na new place of abode, not subject to the perils of the home invaded by\ndeath.\n\nThe remarks which have been offered are presented only by way of\nsuggestions which could be indefinitely extended. To construct a\ncommentary on the body of beliefs presented in this volume would be an\nenticing but a laborious task; such notes, also, would far exceed in\nvolume the compass of this work. Besides, as originally remarked, the\npresent collection contains but a part of the volume of surviving\nsuperstitions. For these reasons, it will be possible to proceed no\nfarther.\n\nIn commending this collection to the attention of psychologists, and to\nthe continuing industry of students of folk-lore, I need only express my\nhope that it may be sufficient to make clear how far-reaching are the\nstudies for which folk-lore supplies material. The history of religion,\nthe theory of mythologies, cannot afford to overlook modern popular\nbeliefs, in which ancient conceptions appear as still effective. In the\nsame way, archaeology, regarded only as the investigation of monuments and\nliteratures, and dissociated from the observation of continuing human\nlife, is devoid of inspiration and vitality. These studies, when\naccompanied with disregard of the existing world, and indifference to the\nfortunes and relations of humanity as a whole, remain not only\nincomplete, but positively misleading, and devoid of their best claim on\nrespect and attention. It is to be hoped that this interesting\ncollection, made under so many difficulties, will have a useful effect in\nhelping to emphasize this truth, and to render obvious the possible uses\nof traditional information.\n\nCAMBRIDGE, MASS., Dec. 24, 1895.\n\n\n\n\nCURRENT SUPERSTITIONS.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nBABYHOOD.\n\n\n1.    The bairn that is born on fair Sunday\n      Is bonny and loving, and blithe and gay.\n      Monday's bairn is fair in the face,\n      Tuesday's bairn is full of grace,\n      Wednesday's bairn is loving and giving,\n      Thursday's bairn works hard for a living,\n      Friday's bairn is a child of woe,\n      Saturday's bairn has far to go.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n2.    Monday's child is fair of face,\n      Tuesday's child is full of grace,\n      Wednesday's child is sour and sad,\n      Thursday's child is merry and glad,\n      Friday's child is loving and giving,\n      Saturday's child must work for a living;\n      But the child that is born on the Sabbath day\n      Is blithe and bonny, good and gay.\n          _Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\n(Some put it, Sunday's child shall never know want.)\n\n3.    He who is born on New Year's morn\n      Will have his own way as sure as you're born.\n\n4.    He who is born on an Easter morn\n      Shall never know want, or care, or harm.\n\n5. A child born on a saint's day must bear the saint's name. It is\nunlucky to take away the day from it.\n          _Catholic superstition._\n\n6. Thursday has one lucky hour, just before sunrise, for birth.\n\n\nBAPTISM.\n\n7. If a child cries during baptism, it is the devil going out of it.\n          _Niagara Falls, Ont._\n\n8. It is lucky for the child to cry at baptism, but unlucky for the\ngodmother to wear mourning.\n\n9. If twins are brought to baptism at the same time, christen the boy\nfirst, or else he will have no beard, and the girl will be beggared.\n\n\nPHYSIOGNOMY.\n\n10. An open hand in a baby is a sign of a generous disposition, but a\nhabit of closing the fingers indicates avarice, or, as we say,\nclosefistedness.\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n11. If a child \"favors its father,\" it is good luck for it. It will get\non well in the world.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n12. A baby that has two crowns will live in two continents or kingdoms.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n13. A double crown on the head means that the owner will \"break bread in\ntwo kingdoms.\"\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n14. \"Two crowns will never be satisfied.\" This is a sign of a very\nchangeable disposition.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n15. A baby born with a veil over its face has good luck.\n          _General._\n\n16. A child born with a veil over its face will never be drowned. Many\nsailors are known to wear the caul, with which they were born, about the\nperson as a charm against death by drowning.\n          _Sailor's superstition._\n\n\nINTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD.\n\n17. Take the baby first into the sunlight on Sunday. Put it into short\nclothes and make all changes on that day.\n\n18. To make a child rise in the world, carry it upstairs (or to the\nattic) first.\n          _Mifflintown, Pa._\n\n19. The baby must go upstairs before it goes downstairs, or it will never\nrise in the world.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n20. To be a bright baby, it must go up before it is carried down, and it\nmust be bumped to the attic roof for luck.\n          _New England._\n\n21. A young baby was taken up a short step-ladder by its nurse before\nbeing for the first time carried downstairs lest it should die before it\nwas a year old.\n          _Holyoke, Mass._\n\n22. A child will have a nature and disposition similar to that of the\nperson who first takes him out of doors.\n          _Georgia._\n\n23. The first time a baby is taken out of its room, it must be taken up,\nor it will not go to heaven. If the door of the room steps down, then the\nperson carrying the baby must step up on a chair or book with the baby in\nher arms.\n          _North Carolina._\n\n24. Let the baby have or touch the thing he starts after on taking the\nfirst step, and he will always get what he wishes. If it be the moon,\nthen let him touch something light, on which its light shines.\n\n25. When taking the child into your arms for the first time, make a good\nwish for him; if you give him his full name and he opens his eyes and\nlooks at you (answers to his name), it is good luck.\n\n26. To be a bright baby, it must fall out of the crib before it is eleven\nmonths old.\n          _Brookline, Mass._\n\n27. If a baby does not fall out of bed, it will be a fool.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n28. A child's tumbling out of bed is a sign he will never be a fool.\n          _Maine._\n\n29. To drink water out of a bucket which is being carried on a child's\nhead stops its growth.\n          _Virginia._\n\n30. To step over a young child stops its growing.\n          _Virginia._\n\n31. About 1860 the Alabama negresses believed that if any one stepped on\ntheir pickaninnies it would dwarf them.\n\n32. Pass a baby through a window and it will never grow.\n          _South Carolina._\n\n33. Do not go for the first time into the room where the infant is\nwithout removing the veil and gloves.\n\n34. If the \"cradle cap\" of a baby be combed with a (fine?) tooth comb,\nthe child will be blind.\n          _Labrador._\n\n35. A baby should not look into a glass before it is a year old; if it\ndoes it will die.\n          _Deer Isle, Me._\n\n36. Hold a baby to a looking-glass, he will die before he completes his\nfirst year.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n37. If you let a child look into a looking-glass before it is a year old,\nit will cut its teeth hard.\n          _Baltimore, Md. (negro), and Virginia._\n\n38. It is bad luck not to weigh the baby before it is dressed. When it is\nfirst dressed put the clothes on over the feet instead of the head for\ngood luck.\n\n39. The common nurse has an objection to weighing a new-born baby.\n\n40. Always give a baby salt before it tastes aught else. The child will\nnot choke, and in general it is a good thing to do.\n          _Mansfield, O._\n\n\nFIRST ACTIONS.\n\n41. If a child cries at birth and lifts up one hand, he is born to\ncommand.\n\n42. If the baby smiles in its sleep, it is talking with angels.\n\n43. If a baby yawns, the sign of the cross should be made over it that\nthe evil spirit may not enter.\n          _Niagara Falls, Ont._\n\n44. While tying on a baby's cap repeat,--\n\n      Look up there and see a fly,\n      Look down there and see it die.\n\nIts chin will follow the direction indicated, and the tying is hastened.\n          _Brookline, Mass._\n\n\nVARIOUS.\n\n45.   First a daughter, then a son,\n        The world is well begun.\n      First a son, then a daughter,\n        Trouble follows after.\n          _Maine and Massachusetts._\n\n46.   First a son, then a daughter,\n      You've begun just as you oughter.\n          _Brookline, Mass._\n\n47.   Rock a cradle empty,\n      Babies will be plenty.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n      48. Rock the cradle empty,\n      Have children a plenty,\n      Rock the chair empty,\n      Have sickness a plenty.\n          _Nashua, N.H._\n\n49. To rock the cradle when the baby is not in it will kill it.\n          _New York._\n\n50. If the empty cradle be rocked, the baby will have the colic.\n          _New York and Ohio._\n\n51. The first time a baby is taken visiting, if it is laid on a married\ncouple's bed there will be a baby for that couple.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n52. The mother who gives away all the clothes of her dead baby will\neventually be comforted by the coming of another child.\n\n53. However many children a woman may have, the last will be of the same\ngender as the first, and they will look alike.\n          _Maine and Massachusetts._\n\n54. One article of an unborn infant's wardrobe must be left unmade or\nunbought or the child is liable not to live.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n55. A baby's nails must not be cut with scissors before it is a year old;\nit will make it steal.\n          _North Carolina._\n\n56. To cut a baby's finger-nails deforms it; if the baby is a month old,\nto do this will cause the child to have fits.\n          _Georgia._\n\n57. To allow a child to look into a mirror before it is a month old will\ncause it trouble in teething.\n          _Georgia._\n\n58. Tickling a baby causes stuttering.\n          _Georgia._\n\n59. If an infant be measured, it will die before its growing time is over.\n          _Georgia._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nCHILDHOOD.\n\n\nASSEVERATION.\n\n60. A child to whom is told any story which he considers remarkable will\nusually reply by an expression of skepticism, such as: \"Really and\ntruly?\" \"Honestly?\" \"Earnest, now?\" or, \"You are fooling.\" The first\nspeaker answers by some formula or asseveration, as, \"Honor bright\" (_New\nEngland_); \"Deed, deed, and double deed\" (_Pennsylvania_); \"True as I\nlive,\" or, \"Hope I'll die if it isn't so,\" or simply, \"Hope I'll die.\"\n          _General in the United States._\n\n61. A formula of asseveration in Maryland and Pennsylvania is, \"I cross\nmy heart,\" accompanied by the sign of the cross.\n\n62. A sign resembling that of the cross is made on the chin or throat.\n\"You won't tell?\" \"No.\" \"Well, cross your throat.\"\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n63. When a child wishes to make an asseveration, he wets his finger on\nhis mouth and signs a cross on his throat.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n64. In asseveration, the proper method is to use the words, \"Hope to die\nif I don't,\" the speaker drawing the forefinger across the throat from\near to ear.\n          _Biddeford, Me._\n\n65. Asseveration in Maine and Massachusetts is often made by the\nfollowing formula. First boy: \"Honor bright?\" Second boy: \"Hope to die.\"\nFirst boy: \"Cut your throat?\" Second boy draws finger across throat. This\nis the strongest possible form of oath that can be taken by a boy.\n\n66. Little girls, without any idea of the meaning, employ the following\nformula of asseveration:--\n\n      Certain, true,\n      Black and blue.\n\nA variant of the first line: \"Certain and true.\"\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n67. A form fuller than the preceding:--\n\n      Certain, true,\n      Black and blue,\n      Lay me down and cut me in two.\n\n68. A boy who desires to tell an extravagant story without being guilty\nof a lie would point with his thumb over his left shoulder. If he should\nsucceed in accomplishing this without the observation of the boy to whom\nhe is talking, so much the better.\n          _Biddeford, Me._\n\n69. \"In my school-days, if a boy crossed his fingers, elbows, and legs,\nthough the act might not be noticed by the companion accosted, no blame\nwas attached to the falsehood.\"\n          _New York city._\n\n70. The addition of the words \"in a horn\" justify a falsehood. In the\nchildhood of the informant, it was not considered honorable to express\nthe words in such manner that they could not be heard by the child with\nwhom conversation was carried on.\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n71. In making a false statement, it was proper to say \"over the left.\"\nThis was often uttered in such manner that the person addressed should\nnot perceive the qualification. Or, the statement would be made, and\nafter it had been taken in and believed, the words \"over the left\" would\nbe added.\n          _Ohio and Cambridge, Mass._\n\n72. A formula for making a false statement: \"As true as I lie here,\"\nsaid, as one fools, gives free scope to white lies.\n          _Roxbury, Mass._\n\n73. An imprecation of children against disloyalty:--\n\n      Tell tale tit,\n      Your tongue shall be slit,\n      And every dog in our town\n      It shall have a bit.\n          _Ohio._\n\n\nCHALLENGE.\n\nTo \"stump\" another boy to do a thing is considered as putting a certain\nobligation on him to perform the action indicated. The phrase is\nsometimes used, although the person giving the \"stump\" may not himself be\nable to accomplish the feat.\n\n74. We used to \"dare\" or \"stump\" one another to eat green \"chuckcherries.\"\n          _Brookline, Mass._\n\n75. Daring or \"stumping\" is or has been common among children generally.\nSometimes it is to jump a certain distance; sometimes to skate out on\nthin ice; again, to touch something very hot. Once in Ohio several lads\nwere collected together about a spring. One of them drew a pail of fresh\nwater and by chance brought up a small live fish. One of the boys\n\"stumped\" his companions to eat the fish alive, without dressing or\ncooking. The boys took the \"stump,\" one quickly cut up the unfortunate\nlittle animal and each boy swallowed a bit. Often the dare is to eat some\nvery untoothsome morsel.\n\n\nFORTUNE.\n\n76. Put a mark upon a paper for every bow you get, and when you have one\nhundred bury the paper and wish. When the paper is decayed you will find\nyour wish in its place.\n          _Cambridge and Bedford, Mass._\n\n77. Children collect two or three hundred names of persons, asking each to\ngive a bow with the name. This bow is expressed after the name on a sheet\nof paper on which the latter is written by this sign [Symbol: H with\nslanted cross-bar]. After all are collected the paper is secretly buried\nface downward, and then dug up after two or three months, when money is\nsometimes found under it.\n          _North Cambridge, Mass._\n\n78. At Christmas or New Year's children, on first meeting, call out \"My\nChristmas-gift,\" or \"New Year's-gift,\" and the one who calls first is to\nreceive a gift from the other.\n          _Mansfield, O._\n\n\nFRIENDSHIP.\n\n79. If two persons, while walking, divide so as to pass an obstruction\none on one side and one on the other, they will quarrel. Children avert\nthis catastrophe by exclaiming, \"bread and butter,\" which is a counter\ncharm. On the other hand, if they say \"pepper and salt,\" the quarrel is\nmade doubly certain. So universal is the practice that many grown people\nof the best social class (women) still involuntarily avoid such\nseparation, and even use the childish words. In country towns, when girls\nare walking with young men, if the latter pass on the other side of the\ntree it is considered as rude, and as a token of indifference; in such a\ncase one girl will cast a meaning look on her companion as much as to\nsay, \"he does not care for you.\" To use the local phrase, it would be\nsaid, So-and-so is \"mad\" with ---- (naming the girl).\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n80. In passing a tree in the middle of the sidewalk, children used to\npass it on one side going one way and on the other side going the other\nway for luck.\n          _Billerica, Mass._\n\n\nMYTHOLOGY.\n\n81. The stars are angels' eyes.\n          _Westminster, Mass._\n\n82. The stars are holes made in the sky, so that the light of heaven\nshines through. \"I remember, as a child, that this idea was suggested to\nme on seeing the effect of holes in the lamp shade. I think, however,\nthat I rather liked to suppose it true and firmly believed in the\nexplanation.\"\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n83. \"As a child, I constantly looked into lilies and tulips in the\nexpectation of finding fairies lying within them.\"\n          _Mansfield, O._\n\n84. \"I remember that as a child, while walking with a companion, she\ncried: 'Why, a fairy lighted on my hand!' The child believed that this\nhad been the case.\"\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n85. The children used to fearfully look in the well, and on seeing the\nreflected face in the bottom, would cry out, \"Face in the well, pull me\ndown in the well,\" and would then run away quickly.\n          _Bruynswick, N.Y._\n\n86. At the age of six or seven years, a child, while going to a spring to\ndraw water, saw a little creature with wings fly from one star to\nanother, leaving behind an arc of light. She cried to her aunt: \"Oh,\naunt, I saw a little gold-boy!\" Her aunt, somewhat shocked, rebuked the\nchild, who insisted on the literal truth of her vision.\n          _Mansfield, O._\n\n87. Stick your thumb through a knothole and say:--\n\n      Old Gran'f'ther Graybeard, without tooths or tongue,\n      If you'll give me a little finger I'll give you a thumb.\n      Thumb'll go away and little finger'll come.\n\n88. Go to the woodpile and say, \"Johnnie with your fingers, and Willie\nwith your toes,\" and something (suthin) will come out of the woodpile and\ntear off all your clothes (close).\n          _Gilsum, N.H._\n\n\nPUNISHMENT.\n\n89. An \"eyewinker\" placed in the palm of the hand will cause the ferule\nto break when the teacher strikes the palm with it.\n          _Portsmouth, N.H._\n\n90. Pine tar or pitch in the hand will prevent the blows of the ferule\nfrom causing pain. (_Portsmouth, N.H._, sixty years ago.)\n\nBelieved by most schoolboys there at that time.\n\n\nSPORT.\n\n91. At croquet, if your ball was about to be sent flying, the safeguard\nwas to draw an imaginary X with your mallet, saying, \"Criss cross.\" It\nmade your enemy's foot slip, and many a girl would get \"mad\" and not\nplay, if you did it often.\n          _Brookline, Mass._\n\n92. Children believe it is unlucky to step on the cracks in the\nflagstones, which are believed to contain poison. It is a game to walk a\nlong distance on such stones without setting foot on the interstices.\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n93. When children are tired of swinging, or think it is time for the\nswinger to give way to another, the phrase is \"let the old cat die.\"\nAfter this has been said, it is unlucky to quicken the motion of the\nswing again.\n          _General._\n\n\nVARIOUS.\n\n94. When a child loses a tooth, if the tongue is not put into the cavity\na gold tooth will come in place of it.\n          _New York and Northern Ohio._\n\n95. The ideas of children about the significance of color are mixed. Thus\nin croquet no child (in a town near Boston) would take the red ball,\nbecause it was supposed to mean hate. Blue is the favorite color.\n\n96.   Red and yellow, catch a fellow.      _Brookline, Mass._\n      Pink and blue, he'll catch you.      _Deerfield, Mass._\n      Pink and blue, he'll be true.        _Deerfield, Mass._\n      Black and white, hold him tight.     _Pennsylvania._\n\n97. An old superstition which still survives among children is, that if\nthey crawl over an older person and do not crawl back they will never\ngrow again.\n          _Haverhill, Mass._\n\n98. \"We used always as children to get X's scored with a pin on our new\n'village gaiters.' We were told it was to make them safe and take the\nslipperiness off.\"\n          _Brookline, Mass._\n\n99. Children say that the one who takes the first bite of an apple that\nis to be passed about for eating will fail in his or her lesson.\n          _Chelsea, Mass._\n\n100. Boys believe that they can prevent the stitch in the side which is\nliable to be induced by running, by means of holding a pebble under the\ntongue. \"I believe I could run all day, and not get tired, if I could\nhold a pebble under my tongue,\" said one.\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nPHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.\n\n\nBEAUTY.\n\n101. If a person is very handsome, it is a sign that he will have one of\nthe infectious diseases of childhood (measles, whooping cough, etc.) more\nthan once.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n\nDIMPLE.\n\n102.  Dimple in chin.\n      Devil within.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n103. A dimple in the chin is lucky. Some say \"it shows you're no fool.\"\n\n104. A dimple is the mark left by the angel's finger in turning up the\nface to kiss it when asleep.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n\nEARS.\n\n105. Small ears indicate that a person is stingy. Large ones show that he\nis generous.\n          _General._\n\n106. Large ears are a mark of a liar. Small ears show that one is truthful.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n107. Long, slim ears are a sign that you will steal.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n108. If the protuberance behind the ear is large, it indicates generosity.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n\nEYES AND EYEBROWS.\n\n109. Hazel eyes betoken a good disposition.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n110. If your eyebrows meet, you will be rich.\n          _Somerville and Bedford, Mass._\n\n111. A well-known children's rhyme runs:--\n\n      Blue-eye beauty, do your mammy's duty!\n      Black eye, pick a pie,\n      Run around and tell a lie!\n      Gray-eye greedy gut\n      Eat all the world up!\n          _General in the United States._\n\n112. If the eyebrows meet, one is ill-tempered.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n113. If the eyebrows are far apart, you will live away from home; if near\ntogether, you will live near home, or at home.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n114. Heavy eyebrows are a sign of long life.\n          _Lawrence, Mass._\n\n\nFINGER-NAILS.\n\n115. Always keep your nails clean and you will be rich.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n116. A white spot in the nail, when it comes, means a present. You get the\npresent when it grows to the end and is cut.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n117. White spots on the nails of the left hand denote the number of lies\none has told.\n          _Maine and Central Illinois._\n\n118. Count on finger-nail spots:--\n\n      Friends,\n      Foes,\n      Money,\n      Beaux.\n\nBegin with the first nail spotted, and the noun falling to the last nail\nthus marked gives the sign.\n          _Deerfield, Mass._\n\n119. Another formula:--\n\n      (First finger) a friend,\n      (Second finger) a foe,\n      (Third finger) a gift,\n      (Fourth finger) a beau,\n      (Fifth finger) a journey to go.\n          _Mansfield, O._\n\nAn almost identical variant is found in Prince Edward Island.\n\n\nFOOT.\n\n120. If your instep is high enough to have water flow under it, you are\nof good descent.\n          _Brookline, Mass._\n\n121. A mole on the sole of the left foot means trouble and hardships\nduring life.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n\nFOREHEAD.\n\n122. If there is a blue vein in the child's forehead extending down upon\nthe nose, it is one of the surest signs of early death.\n          _Maine and Massachusetts._\n\n123. Vertical wrinkles in the brow show the number of husbands one will\nhave. Horizontal ones show the number of children.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n\nHAIR.\n\n124. Coarse hair indicates good nature; fine hair quick temper.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n125. Red hair indicates a \"spit-fire.\"\n          _Massachusetts and Chestertown, Md._\n\n126.  Beware of that man,\n        Be he friend or brother,\n      Whose hair is one color\n        And moustache another.\n          _Portland, Me._\n\n127. The color of the hair growing on the neck indicates the color of the\nhair of one's future husband.\n\n128. A single white hair means genius; it must not be pulled out.\n\n129. If you pull out a white hair, two will come in its place.\n          _Somewhat general in the United States._\n\n130. Hair growing upon the upper lip of a woman means riches.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n131. The point formed by the hair growing on the forehead is called \"A\nwidow's peak.\"\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n132. When a woman's hair parts where it should not, it is a sure sign she\nwill be a widow.\n          _Springfield, Mass._\n\n133. Draw a single hair from the head strongly between the thumb and\nfinger-nail. If it curls up, you are proud.\n          _St. John, N.B., and Prince Edward Island._\n\nThe same result indicates that you are cross.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n134. Hairy arms mean wealth.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n135. Hairy arms mean strength.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n136. Scrape the finger-nail and the thumb-nail along a hair, and if, by\nthe third time, it curls up, the owner is high-tempered.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n137. Put some of your hair in the fire. If it burns slowly you will have\na long life. If quickly, a short one.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n\nHAND.\n\n138. A straight line in the palm of the hand is an omen of early death.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n139. The letter formed by the veins on the inside of the wrist is the\ninitial of the name of the future husband or wife.\n          _St. John, N.B._\n\n140. A person with an initial in his hand will be very fortunate in\nselecting a companion for life.\n          _Alabama._\n\n141. In clasping your own hand, you put uppermost either your right or\nyour left thumb. If the former, you are to rule; _vice versa_, you yield.\n          _Brookline, Mass._\n\n142. If the thumb sticks up in the closed fist, you are either capable or\nhonest, probably the latter, as thieves are said to double theirs in.\n          _New England._\n\n143. If you cannot make your thumb and one finger meet around your wrist,\nyou are a glutton.\n          _Province of Quebec._\n\n144. If you cannot touch the tips of your little finger and first finger\ntogether behind the two middle fingers, on both hands, then you will not\nmarry the man you want to marry.\n          _Province of Quebec._\n\n145. Clasp your fingers, and if the right thumb lap over the left you\nwere born in the daytime. If the left overlap, you were born at night.\n\n146. The number of folds on your wrist as you bend your hand shows the\nnumber of thirties you are to live.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n147. If the ends of the fingers are capable of being bent far back, it\nindicates a thief.\n\n\nMOLES.\n\n148. A mole on the eyebrow denotes that one will be hanged. On the ear it\ndenotes that he will be drowned.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n149.  Mole above breath\n      Means wealth.\n\n150.  Moles on the neck,\n      Money by the peck.\n          _Prince Edward Island and Northern Ohio._\n\n151. A mole on the neck indicates that its owner will be hanged.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n152. A mole on the side of the neck means a death by hanging.\n          _Central Maine._\n\n153. A mole on the arm indicates riches.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n154.  Mole on your arm,\n      Live on a farm.\n          _Alabama._\n\n155. A mole on the arm means that you will fight many battles, and will\nbe very successful in them.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n\nNOSE.\n\n156. A vein across the nose is an omen of short life.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n\nTEETH.\n\n157. A broad space between the teeth indicates a liar.\n          _Biddeford, Me._\n\n158. Broad front teeth mean that one is generous.\n          _Biddeford, Me._\n\n159. A space between the two front upper incisors signifies wealth.\n          _Mansfield, O._\n\n160. If the front teeth are wide apart, it means one can't keep a secret.\nIf overlapping, one is close-mouthed.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n161. Do not trust people with pointed teeth.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n162. If you have a space between your teeth, it is a sign that you will\ndie of consumption.\n          _Baltimore, Md._\n\n163. A lump (enlarged papilla) on the tongue is a sign one has told a lie.\n          _Mansfield, O._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nPROJECTS.\n\n\nLove divinations or love charms, I have found, are popularly known as\n\"projects\" in parts of New England and on Mt. Desert. On Prince Edward\nIsland and in various parts of the Canadian provinces the practice of\nsuch divinations is usually spoken of as \"trying tricks.\" If a number of\nyoung people are together, one will say, \"Let's try tricks.\" In the\nMiddle and Western United States the usual colloquial expression for\nthese love divinations is \"trying fortunes.\" One girl will say to another\nat some appropriate time, \"Let's try our fortunes.\"\n\n\nAPPLES.\n\n164. Eat an apple at midnight before the glass, saying,--\n\n      Whoever my true love may be,\n      Come and eat this apple with me,\n\nholding the lamp in the hand. The true love will appear.\n          _Winn, Me._\n\n165. Throw a whole apple-paring on the floor, after swinging it three\ntimes around your head. It will form your true love's initial letter.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n\nAPPLE-SEEDS.\n\n166. When eating an apple, snap it with the fingers and name it for a\nperson of the opposite sex. Count the fully developed seeds (all of the\nothers are kisses), and the last one must correspond to the following\nformula:--\n\n      One's my love,\n      Two's my love,\n      Three's my heart's desire.\n      Four I'll take and never forsake,\n      Five I'll cast in the fire.\n      Six he loves,\n      Seven she loves,\n      Eight they both love,\n      Nine he comes,\n      Ten he tarries,\n      Eleven he goes,\n      Twelve he marries.\n      Thirteen honor,\n      Fourteen riches,\n      All the rest are little witches.\n          _Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\nSome change the latter lines of this formula into\n\n      Thirteen they quarrel,\n      Fourteen they part,\n      Fifteen they die with a broken heart.\n\n167. Similar rhymes commonly repeated in northern Ohio, after naming an\napple and counting the seeds, are,--\n\n      One I love,\n      Two I love,\n      Three I love, I say.\n      Four I love with all my heart,\n      And five I cast away.\n      Six he loves,\n      Seven she loves,\n      Eight they both love.\n      Nine he comes,\n      Ten he tarries,\n      Eleven he courts,\n      And twelve he marries.\n          _Prince Edward Island and Mansfield, O._\n\n168. Lay in the hand four apple-seeds and have some one name them, then\npick them up, saying,--\n\n      This one I love all others above,\n      And this one I greatly admire,\n      And this one I'll take and never forsake.\n      And this one I'll cast in the fire.\n          _St. John, N.B._\n\n169. A love divination by way of apple-seeds, much practiced when a\nnumber of young people were spending the evening together, or perhaps by\ngrown-up boys and girls in district schools as they ate their noon-day\nlunch about the stove, was as follows:--\n\nTwo seeds were named, one for a girl and one for a young man, and placed\non a hot stove or in front of an open fire. The augury, concerning the\nfuture relations of the young people was derived from the behavior of the\ntwo seeds. If as they heated they jumped away from one another, the two\npersons would become estranged or their friendship die; if the seeds\nmoved nearer together, marriage was implied; if the one named for the\ngirl moved towards the other, it signified that the young woman was\nfonder of the young man than he was of her, and so on.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n170. \"A common project in my girlhood was to place an apple-seed on each\nof the four fingers of the right hand, that is, on the knuckles, first\nmoistening them with spittle. A companion then 'named' them, and the\nfingers were worked so as to move slightly. The seed that stayed on the\nlongest indicated the name of your future husband.\"\n          _Stratham, N.H._\n\n171. Name apple-seeds and place on the lids of the closed eyes. Wink and\nthe first to fall off shows the name of your future husband.\n          _Winn, Me., New York, and Pennsylvania._\n\n172. To name apple-seeds, put one on each temple, get some one to name\nthem, and the one that sticks the longest will be the true one.\n\n173. Name apple pips, put them on the grate, saying,--\n\n      If you love me, live and fly;\n      If you do not, lie and die.\n\n\nBABIES.\n\n174. Kiss the baby when nine days old, and the first gentleman you kiss\nafterward will be your future husband.\n          _New England._\n\n\nBED.\n\n175. Go upstairs backward, into a chamber backward, and into bed\nbackward. Drink some salt and water, and if you dream of some one\nbringing you drink it will be your future husband.\n          _Maine and Salem, Mass._\n\n176. The first time two girls sleep together let them tie two of their\nbig toes together with woollen yarn, and the one with the shortest piece\nof broken string left attached in the morning will be married first.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n177. If two girls on sleeping together for the first time tie their\nwaists together with string or thread, and the thread gets broken in the\nnight, the first man who puts his arm round the waist of either will\nhave the first name of the man whom that girl will marry, whether that\nman is the one or not.\n          _Province of Quebec._\n\n178. After getting ready for bed in silence, take a ball of string and\nwind about the wrist, repeating,--\n\n      I wind, I wind,\n      This night to find,\n      Who my true love's to be;\n      The color of his eyes,\n      The color of his hair,\n      And the night he'll be married to me.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n179. Name the bed-posts for four different men. The one you dream about\nyou will marry.\n          _General._\n\n180. The first time you sleep in a room name the corners each with a\ndifferent (man's) name. The first corner you face on waking indicates\nwhom you will marry. (_New England._) The same thing is done with the\nbed-posts in Ohio.\n\n181. Put four names of boys on four slips of paper and take one blank\nslip. Intermingle them, and then without looking at them put one under\neach leg of the bed and one under the pillow. The name of the last will\nbe that of your future husband.\n          _Franklin, Mass._\n\n182. Rub the four bed-posts with a lemon and carry the lemon in the\npocket the next day, and the first man you speak to you will marry.\n          _New Hampshire._\n\n\nBIBLE.\n\n183. Read the third verse of the third chapter of Hosea, Joel, and Amos\nfor three Sundays in succession, and the first gentleman you walk with\nyou will marry.\n          _Nashua, N.H._\n\n184. Put the end of a key in the Bible, on the verse of Solomon's Song\nreading, \"I am my beloved's and he is mine;\" close the book and bind it\nround with string or garter, each girl supporting the key with the first\nfinger of the right hand. One of them repeats a verse to each letter as\nthe other girl names it, beginning the alphabet, till it turns at the\ninitial of the future husband or lover.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n\nBIRDS.\n\n185. When you see a turkey-buzzard flying alone, repeat,--\n\n      Hail! Hail! Lonely, lonesome turkey-buzzard:\n      Hail to the East, hail to the West,\n      Hail to the one that I love best.\n      Let me know by the flap of your wing\n      Whether he (or she) loves me or not.\n\nNote the manner of the bird's flight: if he flaps his wings your lover is\ntrue; if not, the lover is false.\n          _Tennessee._\n\n186. When the call of the first turtle-dove is heard, sit down and remove\nthe shoe and stocking from the left foot, turn the stocking inside out,\nin the heel of which if a hair is found, it will be of the color of the\nhair of the future husband or wife.\n          _Tennessee._\n\nIn Mt. Desert, Maine, and Prince Edward Island the same project is tried\non hearing the first robin.\n\n\nBUTTONS.\n\n187. The coming husband is determined by repeating the following words,\ntouching each button of the coat, vest, or dress in order:--\n\n      Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief.\n      Doctor, lawyer, Indian chief.\n\n      Or,\n\n      Doctor, lawyer, merchant, chief.\n\n      Or,\n\n      Doctor, lawyer, merchant, cheat.\n          _Ohio._\n\n188. With reference to the habitation to be occupied:--\n\n      Big house, little house, pig-sty, barn.\n          _New Hampshire._\n\n189. As to the wedding dress:--\n\n      Silk, satin, velvet, cotton, woolen.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n190. In regard to the vehicle:--\n\n      Carriage, wagon, wheelbarrow, chaise.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n191. The first of these button formulae is used by boys to foretell their\nprofession in life. A friend remembers how in childhood his buttons were\ncompletely worn out by the continual practice of the inquiry.\n\n192. With reference to the acquisition of a coat:--\n\n      Bought, given, stolen.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n193. \"Rich man, poor man, beggar, thief, doctor, lawyer, merchant,\nchief.\" Said over by little girls on their back hair combs to find the\noccupation of their future husbands.\n          _New York._\n\n\nFOUR-LEAVED CLOVER.\n\n194. If a girl puts a two-leaved clover in her shoe, the first man who\ncomes on the side where the clover is will be her future husband.\n          _Michigan._\n\n195. Put a four-leaved clover in your shoe, and you will marry a man\nhaving the first name of the man whom you meet first after doing it.\n          _Province of Quebec._\n\n196. With a four-leaved clover in your shoe, you will meet your lover.\n          _Michigan._\n\n197. If the finder of a four-leaved clover put it in her own shoe, she\nwill marry the first person with whom she crosses a bridge.\n          _Michigan._\n\n198. Put a four-leaved clover over the door. The first person to pass\nbeneath will be your future mate.\n          _Newport, R.I., and Michigan._\n\n\nCOUNTING.\n\n199. Count sixty white horses and one white mule, then you will marry the\nfirst man with whom you shake hands.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n200. Count a hundred white horses and two white mules, and the first\nperson you shake hands with you'll marry.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n201. Count a hundred white horses during leap year. The first man that\nshakes hands with you after you have your hundred will be your future\nhusband.\n          _Bedford, Mass._\n\n202. Count one hundred gray horses (one mule stands for ten horses), and\nthe first gentleman with whom you shake hands is your intended.\n          _Alabama._\n\n203. After meeting ninety-nine white horses and a brown one for the\nhundredth, the first person with whom you shake hands will be your future\nmate.\n          _Newport, R.I._\n\n204. Count five hundred colored people, and the next gentleman you meet\nyou will marry.\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n205. Count ninety-nine negroes and one white horse, and the first boy you\nanswer \"yes\" or \"no\" to you will marry.\n          _South Boston, Mass._\n\n206. Count forty white horses, the first man you meet afterwards you'll\nmarry.\n          _Champaign, Ill._\n\n207. In crossing a bridge, if one sees two white horses on it (in\ndifferent teams) and wishes at once for a man to marry her, she'll get\nhim.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n208. Count a hundred \"tips\" (a bow with the lifting of the hat). The\nhundredth will be your future husband.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n209. Count the buttons of an old boot. The number of buttons indicates\nthe number of years before marriage.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n210. If you count the boards of the ceiling (loft) in a strange room\nbefore going to sleep, you will dream of your lover.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n\nDAISY PETALS.\n\n211. Pull off the \"petals\" of a daisy one by one, naming a boy (or a girl\nas the case may be) at each one, thus, \"Jenny, Fanny, Jenny, Fanny,\" etc.\nThe one named with the last petal is your sweetheart. The seeds which\nremain on the back of your hand after taking them up show the number of\nyour children.\n\n212. Common at the present time is the formula:--\n\n      He loves me, he loves me not.\n\n213. To tell the fortune, take an \"ox-eye daisy,\" and pluck the \"petals\"\none by one, using the same words as have been given above for buttons.\n          _General in the United States._\n\nIn Ohio and other Western States where the ox-eye daisy is not common,\nchildren use instead the bloom of the despised dog-fennel.\n\n214. Fortunes are told by pulling off leaflets of a compound leaf, such\nas the locust, repeating, \"Rich man, poor man,\" etc.\n          _Central Illinois._\n\n215. Name a daisy, and then pull off the petals (ray-flowers) one by one,\nsaying \"yes, no,\" and if \"yes\" falls on the last, the person loves you,\nand _vice versa_.\n          _Alabama._\n\n216. A formula for daisy petals:--\n\n      He loves me,\n        He don't;\n      He'll have me,\n        He won't;\n      He would if he could,\n        But he can't.\n          _New Brunswick._\n\n217. If you find a five-leaf daisy (that is, one with five ray-flowers)\nand swallow it without chewing, you will in the course of the day shake\nhands with your intended.\n          _Alabama._\n\n218. Another:--\n\n      Hate her,\n      Have her,\n      This year,\n      Next year,\n      Sometime,\n      Never.\n          _New Brunswick._\n\n219. Another:--\n\n      He loves,\n      She loves,\n      Hate her,\n      Have her,\n      This year,\n      Next year,\n      Now or never.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\nGirls repeat the last three lines only of the above rhyme.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n\nDOORWAY.\n\n220. Put the breast-bone of a fowl over the front door, and the first one\nof the opposite sex that enters is to be your future companion.\n          _Alabama._\n\n221. Hang over the door a corn-cob from which you have shelled all but\ntwenty grains. The first man that enters you'll marry.\n          _Arlington, Mass._\n\n222. Nail a horseshoe over the door, and the first one who enters is your\ntrue love.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n223. Hang a wishbone over the door. The first one who enters will be your\nlover.\n          _Somewhat general._\n\n224. Two girls break a wishbone together. The one who gets the longest\nbit will remain longest unmarried, or, as the familiar rhyme runs,--\n\n      Shortest to marry,\n      Longest to tarry.\n\nIf the \"knot\" (that is, the flattened portion at the junction of the two\nprongs of the bone) flies away and does not stick to either prong, the\ntwo girls are to remain unmarried. Each girl puts her bit of the wishbone\nover a different door. The first man who enters either door is to marry\nthe girl who has placed her bit of wishbone over the door.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n\nEGGS.\n\n225. Take an egg to your window; break it over a knife; remember the day\nand date. Wish that your true love would come to you. If you go too high,\nhe will be killed.\n          _Nashua, N.H._\n\n226. Put two eggs in front of the open fire on a very windy day, and soon\ntwo men will come in with a coffin. The man at the foot will be your\nfuture husband.\n          _Chestertown, Md. (negro)._\n\n227. One or more girls put eggs to roast before an open fire, seating\nthemselves in chairs before it. Each puts one egg to roast, and when her\negg begins to sweat (it will sweat blood), she is to rise and turn it. At\nthis time the one whom that projector is to marry will come in through a\ndoor or window (all of which must be left open throughout) and take her\nvacant chair. If she is to die before she marries, two black dogs will\nenter, bearing a coffin, which they will deposit on her chair.\n          _Quaker Neck, Kent Co., Md._\n\n228. Boil an egg hard, take out the yolk, and fill its place with salt.\nEat it before going to bed. The one you dream of as bringing you water is\nyour future husband.\n          _Mansfield, O._\n\nTo be done by two girls in silence, going backward as they retire.\n\n\nFINGERS.\n\n229. Name each of the four fingers of one hand for some person of the\nopposite sex, then press them tightly together with the other hand; the\none that hurts the worst indicates whom you will marry.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n\nGARMENTS.\n\n230. Scatter your clothes in the four corners of the room, naming them.\nThe man you are to marry will bring you your clothes in a dream.\n          _Maine._\n\n231. The first time you sleep in a room, name the corners each a\ndifferent (man's) name. The first corner you face on waking indicates\nwhom you will marry.\n\nThe same thing is done with bed-posts in Ohio.\n\n232. On your birthday, as you retire at night, take off your slipper or\nboot. Stand with your back to the door and throw it over your head. If\nthe toe points to the door, you go out of the chamber a bride before the\nyear is out. You must not look at the boot until the morning.\n          _Bedford, Mass._\n\n233. At night before going to bed take one of your garters and tie it in\na knot and hang it on the bed-post above your head. While tying repeat,--\n\n      This knot I tie, this knot I knit,\n      To see the young man I haven't seen yet.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n234. Young girls on going to bed at night place their shoes at right\nangles to one another, in the form of the letter T, repeating this\nrhyme:--\n\n      Hoping this night my true love to see,\n      I place my shoes in the form of a T.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n235. The first time you sleep in a house, upon retiring place the shoes\nin the form of a T, and say over,--\n\n      My true love by-and-by for to see,\n      Be as she (or he) be,\n      Bear as she (or he) may,\n      The clothes she (or he) wears every day.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n236. Catch the four corners of a handkerchief up in the hand, then let\nsome one wishing to try her fortune draw two. If she gets two corners on\nthe same side, she will not be married. If she gets opposite ones, she\nwill be married.\n          _Prince Edward Island and Chestertown, Md._\n\n237. A rhyme on stockings and shoes:--\n\n      Point your shoes towards the street,\n      Leave your garters on your feet,\n      Put your stockings on your head,\n      You'll dream of the man you are going to wed.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n238. Put the chemise, inside out, on the foot of the bed and under it a\nboard with ashes upon it; then go to bed backwards, saying,--\n\n      Whoever my true love may be,\n      Come write his name in these ashes for me.\n          _Winn, Me._\n\n239. Place the heel of one shoe against the instep of the other for three\nnights in a row. You will dream of your future husband.\n          _Franklin, Mass._\n\n240. On Friday night after getting all ready for bed, roll your petticoat\nup, and before lying down put it under your pillow, repeating this\nverse:--\n\n      This Friday night while going to bed,\n      I put my petticoat under my head,\n      To dream of the living and not of the dead,\n      To dream of the man I am to wed,\n      The color of his eyes, the color of his hair,\n      The color of the clothes he is to wear,\n      And the night the wedding is to be.\n          _Rock Hall, Md._\n\n\nLETTERS OF THE ALPHABET.\n\n241. Write names on three pieces of paper, throw them up in the air (in\nthe dark); feel for one, put it under the pillow, and in the morning look\nat it to see the name of the man you are to marry.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n242. Put pieces of paper, each bearing one letter of the alphabet, in\nwater face down, and then place them under the bed. Those turned up in\nthe morning are the initials of your future husband.\n          _Prince Edward Island and Northern Ohio._\n\n243. Write the names of several men friends, each on a slip of paper. On\nthree successive mornings choice is made from these. If the name drawn is\nalways the same, it is the name of your future husband. If the lot falls\ndifferently every morning, you will never be married.\n\n244. Write two names (of possible lovers), cross out the common letters.\nTouch the uncrossed letters, repeating in turn, \"Love, friendship, hate,\"\nand the last uncrossed letter will indicate the state of the heart.\n          _Prince Edward Island, St. John, N.B., and Northern Ohio._\n\n\nMIDNIGHT.\n\n245. Go out at midnight and walk around a peach-tree, repeating,--\n\n      Low for a foreigner,\n      Bark for a near one,\n      Crow for a farmer,\n      Screek, tree, screek, if I'm to die first.\n          _Quaker Neck, Md._\n\n246. Eat an apple at midnight before the glass, saying, \"Whoever my true\nlove may be, come and eat this apple with me,\" while holding a lamp in\nthe hand. Your true love will appear.\n          _Winn, Me._\n\n247. Set the table in silence for two at eleven o'clock P.M., with bread\nand butter and silver knives and forks. Two girls sit down at twelve, and\nsay, \"Whoever my true love may be, come and eat this supper with me.\"\n          _Winn, Me._\n\n\nPLANTS.\n\n248. Take beans in the hand, go out of doors and throw them against the\nwindow. The first man's name that you hear spoken is the name of the man\nyou will marry.\n          _Connecticut._\n\n249. Put three raw beans in your mouth, go out of doors, stand in front\nof some one's window and listen. The first man's name you hear spoken\nwill be either that of your future husband or of the one having the same\nname.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n250. If a piece of brush or brier sticks to the dress, name it. If it\ndrops, the lover is false; if it sticks, he is true.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n251. Blow seeds from the dandelion until none remain, counting each puff\nas a letter of the alphabet; the letter which ends the blowing is the\ninitial of the name of the person the blower marries.\n\n252. Rub your hands in sweet fern. The first one you shake hands with\nafterward is your true love.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n253. Wear a piece of fern in the toe of your shoe, and the first person\nyou meet you will marry.\n          _New Hampshire._\n\n254. Take a live-forever leaf, squeeze it to loosen the inner and outer\nskin. If it makes a balloon as you blow into it, you will be married and\nlive a long time. If it does not, you will be an old maid.\n          _St. John, N.B._\n\n255. Stick a piece of live-forever up on the wall, and in whatever\ndirection it leans, the lover will come from that quarter.\n          _Miramichi, N.B._\n\n256. Take two shoots of live-forever and pin them together on the wall.\nIf they grow towards each other, the couple will marry; if away, they\nwill become estranged.\n          _Nantucket, Mass., and Western Massachusetts._\n\n257. Break off a piece of dodder or \"lovevine,\" twirl it round the head\nthree times and drop it on a bush behind you. If it grows, the lover is\ntrue; if not, he is false.\n          _Tennessee._\n\n258. Twist a mullein-stalk nearly off after naming it. If it lives, he or\nshe loves you; if not, not.\n          _Newton, Mass., and Tennessee._\n\n259. After proceeding as above, count the number of new shoots that\nspring up (if any). The number shows how many children will result from\nthe marriage.\n          _Greene Co., Mo._\n\n260. Put a pea-pod with nine peas over the door. The first one who comes\nunder it you will marry.\n          _New England._\n\n261. Pluck three thistles in bloom, cut off the purple part and put the\nremainder of the flower in water over night, after naming. The one that\nblooms out over night you will marry.\n          _St. John, N.B., and Northern Ohio._\n\n262. Saturday night walk round a tall white yarrow three times, saying,--\n\n      Good evening, good evening, Mr. Yarrow.\n      I hope I see you well to-night,\n      And trust I'll see you at meetin' to-morrow.\n\nThen pluck the head, put it inside the dress, and sleep with it. The\nfirst person you meet with, to speak to, at church will be your husband.\n          _Deerfield, Mass._\n\n\nRING.\n\n263. Suspend a ring by a hair from the finger. Let it swing over a\ntumbler. The number of strokes against the side of the tumbler indicates\nthe number of years of age of the future husband.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n264. Hang a gold ring over a glass of water, from a hair, saying the name\nof some man. If the ring strikes the side of the glass three times you\nwill marry him.\n          _Willimantic, Conn._\n\n265. Put three saucers on the table, and walk round it blindfolded three\ntimes, then put a finger in a saucer. One saucer contains a gold ring,\none soapsuds, one is empty. Repeat twice (making nine in all). If one\ntouches the ring, she will marry an unmarried man; if the suds, she will\nmarry a widower; if the empty one, she will be an old maid. The one\ntouched two out of three times is the fate.\n          _Central Maine._\n\n266. If a piece of wedding-cake is passed through a ring and put in the\nleft stocking, then placed under the pillow and slept on three nights\nrunning, you will dream of your lover, or he or she will come to you.\n          _New England._\n\n\nSTARS.\n\n267. If you look at a bright star intently before retiring, you will\ndream of your sweetheart.\n          _Alabama._\n\n268. Count nine stars for nine successive nights. (If a rainy or cloudy\nnight intervene, the charm is broken, and the project must be begun\nagain.) The person you dream of on the ninth night will be your future\npartner in life.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n269. Count nine stars for nine consecutive nights, and the person you\ndream of the last night is your intended.\n          _Prince Edward Island and Alabama._\n\n270. Count nine stars for nine nights in succession, and the first young\ngentleman with whom you shake hands is to be your future husband.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n271. For three successive nights look out of the window and name three\nstars. Walk to bed backward and without speaking. The one you dream of\ntwo nights out of three will be your husband.\n          _Central Maine._\n\n272. Have some one call a star which you have picked out, by the name of\na young man. The next time you meet this man, if his face is toward you,\nhe loves you; if his side, he likes you; if his back, he hates you.\n          _Province of Quebec and Bedford, Mass._\n\n\nTEA-LEAVES.\n\n273. After drinking tea, turn the cup upside down, whirl it round three\ntimes, set it down in the saucer, whirl again, take it up, turn right\nside up, and look at the grounds. If all are settled in the bottom of the\ncup, you will be married right off. If they stay on the side, the number\nof grounds will be the number of years before marriage. The fine dust in\nthe bottom means trouble, a wish, a letter, or a journey.\n          _Somewhat general in the United States._\n\n274. Take a \"beau\" (a little stem) from the tea and put it in your shoe.\nThe first man you meet you will marry.\n          _St. John, N.B._\n\n275. Sticks of tea in the teacup denote beaux. Name them, and bite them,\nand the hardest loves you best.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n\nWALKING ABROAD.\n\n276. Go to walk and turn back. The first man you meet you'll marry.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n277. If you walk the length of seven rails of a railroad track, the first\nman that speaks to you after you get off will be your future husband.\n          _Bedford, Mass._\n\n278. Take a looking-glass and walk backwards to the wall, and you will\nsee your future husband's picture.\n          _Nashua, N.H._\n\n279. If you walk with a gentleman (for the first time), and have on new\nshoes and go over a bridge, you will marry him.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n280. If a young woman walking into a strange place picks up three pebbles\nand puts them under her pillow, she will marry the young man she dreams of.\n          _Carbonear, N.F._\n\n281. Run three times around the house, and on the third round a vision of\nyour husband will rise before you.\n          _Alabama._\n\n\nWATER.\n\n282. Float two cambric needles on water and name them. If they float\ntogether, they'll marry. If they float apart, they won't marry.\n          _Petit Codiac, N.B._\n\n283. Girls prepare basins of dirty and of clean water. If a blindfolded\ngirl puts a stick, with which she reaches about, into the dirty water,\nshe will marry a widower. If into clean water, she will marry a young man.\n          _Labrador._\n\n284. Place three basins on the floor, one containing dirty water, another\nclear water, and the third empty. Let the (blindfolded?) person crawl up\nto them on her hands and knees. The one she touches will foretell her\nfate. The clear water means she is to marry a rich man, the dirty water,\na poor man, and the empty basin no man at all.\n\n285. Make ready a mirror, a lamp, a basin of water, a towel and soap. Go\nto bed backward, not speaking afterwards, and lie awake till midnight. If\nyour sweetheart comes and washes, combs his hair, and looks at you,\nyou'll be married. If you don't see him, you'll see your coffin. (Both\nsexes.)\n          _Labrador._\n\n286. When a pot is boiling over, put a small stick in one of the ears and\nname it for the one you like best. If he loves you in return, the water\nwill cease to boil over; if not, it will continue.\n          _Double Creek, Md._\n\n287. Let two girls wash and wipe the dishes together, then put a dish of\nwater behind the door with a broom-handle in it. Two men will come in who\nwill be the husbands of the two projectors.\n          _Deer Isle, Me._\n\n288. Run molten lead into hot water; the shape of the pellets formed\nshows the occupation of your future sweetheart.\n          _Labrador._\n\n289. Pour molten lead on a hearth; the shape the metal assumes in cooling\nforetells the occupation of one's future husband.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n\nVARIOUS.\n\n290. On accidentally making two lines rhyme, kiss your hand, and you will\nbe so fortunate as to see your lover before nine that night.\n          _Alabama._\n\n291. Put a looking-glass under the pillow, and you will dream of your\nlover.\n          _Green Harbor, N.F._\n\n292. Tie a true lover's knot (of shavings) and place it under the pillow.\nYou will dream of your lover, even if at that time he is unknown to you.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n293. Steal a salt herring from a grocery store, eat it, don't speak after\neating, and the first man you dream of will marry you.\n\n294. Make a little ladder of sticks, place it under the head at night,\nand you'll dream of your future husband.\n          _Patten, Me._\n\n295. Swallow a chicken's heart whole, and the first man you kiss\nafterwards will be your future husband.\n          _Winn, Me._\n\n296. Take three grains of coffee, put one notch on one, two on another,\nput them in a glass of water under your bed, and name them. The one that\nsprouts is the one you are going to marry.\n          _Alabama._\n\n297. Light a match, and the way the flame goes shows where your future\nhusband lives.\n          _Bedford, Mass._\n\n298. Stand two matches on a hot stove, sulphur end down, and name them\nfor yourself and a marriageable acquaintance of the opposite sex. If both\nstand or fall together, it is a sign that you will live and die together.\nIf one fall, it is a sign that one will leave the other.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n299. Go out in spring and turn up a brick on the ground, and look under\nit at the clay. The color of the clay denotes the color of the hair of\nyour future husband.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n300. Cut your finger-nails nine Sundays in succession, and your\nsweetheart will dine with you.\n          _Alabama._\n\n301. Throw a ball of yarn into an unoccupied house, and holding the end\nof the yarn, wind, saying, \"I wind and who holds?\" The one who is to be\nyour future wife or husband will be seen in the house.\n          _Ohio._\n\n302. Take a hair from your head. Have some one else take one from his,\ncross them, and rub them over each other, and the last thing you say\nbefore one breaks will be the first thing said after you are married.\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nHALLOWEEN AND OTHER FESTIVALS.\n\n\nAny of the projects quoted in the last chapter are perhaps more likely to\nbe practised on Halloween than at other times. However, as girls do amuse\nthemselves by such fortune-seeking at other times, particularly the first\ntime they sleep in a room, the various projects have been divided into\ntwo chapters, according to the way in which the various narrators classed\nthem. That is, when a charm was said to belong to Halloween, it was so\nclassed. When no definite time was set for trying the charm, it was\nsimply put under \"projects.\"\n\n303. A Halloween custom is to fill a tub with water and drop into it as\nmany apples as there are young folks to try the trick. Then each one must\nkneel before the tub and try to bite the apples without touching them\nwith the hands. The one who bites one first will marry first.\n          _Alabama._\n\n304. On Halloween hang an apple by the door just the height of the chin.\nRub the chin with saliva, stand about six inches from the apple, and hit\nthe chin against the apple. If it sticks to the chin, you will be\nmarried, and your true love will stick to you.\n          _St. John, N.B._\n\n305. A girl goes to a field on Halloween at midnight to steal cabbages.\nThe first one whom she meets on her return will be her husband.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n306. On Halloween at midnight a young lady in her night-dress walks\nbackward into the garden and pulls up a cabbage. She will see her future\nhusband over her shoulder.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n307.  I wind, I wind, my true love to find,\n      The color of his hair, the clothes he'll wear,\n      The day he is married to me.\n\nThrow a ball of yarn into a barn, old house, or cellar, and wind,\nrepeating the above lines, and the true love will appear and wind with\nyou. To be tried at twelve o'clock at night, on Halloween.\n          _Maine._\n\n308. Shortly before midnight a pure white bowl is procured, that has\nnever been touched by any lips save those of a new-born infant. If it is\na woman whose fortune is to be tried (and it generally is) the child must\nbe a male. The bowl is filled with water from a spring-well, after which\ntwenty-six pieces of white paper about an inch square, on each of which\nmust be written one letter of the alphabet, are placed in the bowl with\nthe letters turned downward. These must be dropped in as the clock\nstrikes midnight, or all will fail. All being ready, the maiden\ninterested repeats the lines:--\n\n      Kind fortune, tell me where is he\n      Who my future lord shall be;\n      From this bowl all that I claim\n      Is to know my lover's name.\n\nThe bowl is then securely locked away, and must not be disturbed till\nsunrise the following morning, when she is placed before it blindfolded.\nShe then picks out the same number of letters as there are in her own\nname. After these are all out the bandage is removed from her eyes, and\nthe paper letters spread out before her. She manages them so as to spell\na man's name as best she can with the letters at her disposal. The name\nthus found will be that of her future husband.\n          _Trinity and Catalina Bays, N.F._\n\n309. On Halloween a girl is to go through a graveyard, steal a cabbage\nand place it above the house-door. The one on whom the cabbage falls as\nthe door is opened is to be the girl's husband.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n310. On Halloween walk backwards from the front door, pick up dust or\ngrass, bring it in, wrap it in paper, put it under your pillow, and dream.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n311. On Halloween put an egg to roast before the fire and leave the doors\nand windows open. When it begins to sweat a cat will come in and turn it.\nAfter the cat will come the man you are to marry, and he will turn it. If\nyou are to die unmarried, the shadow of a coffin will appear.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n312. On Halloween go upstairs backwards, eating a hard boiled egg without\nsalt, and looking in the glass. You will see your future husband in the\nglass, looking over your shoulder.\n          _St. John, N.B._\n\n313. On Halloween go down the cellar stairs backward, carrying a mirror\ninto which you look. A face will be seen over your shoulder which will be\nthat of your future husband.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n314. On the last night of October place a mirror and a clock in a room\nthat has not been used for some time, and at a quarter to twelve take a\nlighted candle and an apple, and finish eating the apple just as the\nclock strikes twelve, and then look in the mirror and you will see your\nfuture husband.\n          _Alabama._\n\n315. On Halloween put a ring in a dish of mashed potatoes, and the one\nwho gets the ring will be married first.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n316. On Halloween mash potatoes and conceal in the mass a ring, a coin,\nand a button. Divide it into as many portions as there are persons\npresent. The ring denotes marriage, the coin riches, and the button\nmisfortune.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n317. \"Silent Supper.\" On Halloween set a table as if for supper, with as\nmany seats at the table as there are girls, each girl standing behind a\nchair at the table. The one you are to marry will come in and take the\nchair in front of you.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n318. On Halloween write names of three men on three pieces of paper, roll\nthem into balls, put these into balls made of Indian meal (wet so as to\nroll up), put the balls of meal into a basin of water: whichever one\nrises to the top bears the name of the one you'll marry.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n319. On Halloween, girls place three saucers beside each other, two\nfilled with earth and water, in the other a ring. They are respectively\ndeath, cloister or unmarried life, and marriage.\n          _Convent School, Manchester, N.H._\n\n320. On Easter Monday, put on one black garter and one yellow one, and\nwear them constantly, and you'll have a proposal before the year is out.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n321. Knit a garter and color it yellow. Don it on Easter Day. Wear it for\na year. The wearer will be engaged before the year is out.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n322. On May first look in an unused well, and you'll see the face of your\nfuture husband or wife.\n          _New Hampshire._\n\n323. If you look into a well at exactly twelve o'clock, on the first day\nof May, through a smoked glass, you will see your future husband.\n          _Alabama._\n\n324. Hold a mirror over a well on May first, and you will see the image\nof your future husband or wife.\n          _Talladega, Ala._\n\n325. On Midsummer's Day wet a new garment in running water and hang\nacross a chair, wrong side out, to dry. At twelve noon or midnight the\none who is to marry you will be seen turning the garment.\n          _Labrador._\n\n326. Place an egg in a tumbler on St. John's Day. The tumbler being half\nfilled with water, an egg is broken into it at early dawn, and it is\nplaced in the window, where it remains untouched till sundown. At that\ntime the broken egg is supposed to have assumed a special shape, in which\nthe ingenious maiden sees dimly outlined the form of her future lord, or\nsome emblem of his calling.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nLOVE AND MARRIAGE.\n\n\nENGAGEMENT.\n\n327. If you are a bridesmaid three times you will never stand in the\nmiddle.\n          _Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\n328. Three times a bridesmaid, never a bride.\n          _New England._\n\n329. Don't let another person put on your engagement ring, taken from\nyour finger, or the engagement will be broken.\n          _Bathurst, N.B._\n\n330. The mother-in-law's test of the incoming daughter-in-law is to place\na broom on the floor. If the daughter removes it and places it on one\nside, she will be a good housewife; if she steps over it, she will be a\nbad housewife.\n          _Labrador._\n\n331. A girl will have as many children after marriage as she has\n\"holders\" given her before marriage.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n\nATTIRE OF THE BRIDE.\n\n332. If you try on your wedding dress before the ceremony, you will not\nbe happy.\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n333. The bride should wear a borrowed garter, and also a yellow garter.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n334. If a bride wear a yellow garter tied on by a girl friend, the latter\nwill be married inside the year.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n335. The bride should wear\n\n      Something old,\n        Something new,\n      Something borrowed,\n        And something blue.\n          _Very common._\n\n336. Wear no black at a wedding; it foretells ill luck.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n337. To be married in a brown dress is good luck; black is bad.\n          _Bathurst, N.B._\n\n338. To be married in anything but white garments indicates bad luck for\nthe bride, white being emblematical of innocence.\n\n      They say that white is a heavenly hue.\n\nAnother has added,\n\n      It may be so, but the sky is blue.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n339. White is emblematical of holiness and truth. Blue is emblematical of\npeace and security; bright green of true learning, as being the uniform\nclothing of nature.\n          _Maine and Massachusetts._\n\n340. A bride must not look in the glass after her toilet is complete,\n_i.e._, she must add a glove or some article after leaving the mirror.\n          _Maine and Massachusetts._\n\n341. It is bad luck for a bride to keep any of the pins that she used\nwhen she was married.\n          _Alabama._\n\n342. You will be unhappy if you lose your wedding ring.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n343. If the bride just before leaving the house throws her bouquet over\nthe banisters, the one who catches it is next to be wedded.\n          _Philadelphia, Pa._\n\n344. If a drop of blood gets on a garment in making, it will be one of\nyour wedding garments.\n\n\nLUCKY DAYS.\n\n345.   Marry in Lent,\n       Live to repent.\n          _New York._\n\n346. The day after a wedding is called the bride's day, the next day the\ngroom's day; the condition of the weather on these days will indicate\nwhether their lives are to be happy or otherwise.\n          _Salem, Mass., and Queen Anne Co., Md._\n\n347. The wedding day is the bride's day, and the weather foretells her\nmarried life. The following is the bridegroom's, and his married life is\nshown in the same manner. The third day shows how they will live together.\n          _New York._\n\n348. The two days before the wedding are the bride's days. If they are\npleasant, she will have good luck, etc.\n          _Waltham, Mass._\n\n349. Marriage days.\n\n      Monday--a bad day.\n      Tuesday--you will have a good husband and will live long.\n      Wednesday--a grand day; you will have a good husband, and will\n        live happily, but will have some trouble.\n      Thursday--a bad day.\n      Friday--a bad day.\n      Saturday--no luck at all.\n      Sunday--no luck at all.\n          _Baltimore, Md. (negro)._\n\n350. Wednesday is the luckiest day on which to be married. Saturday is\nthe unluckiest. Friday is also unlucky.\n          _Bathurst, N.B._\n\n\nTHE MARRIAGE CEREMONY.\n\n351. Happy is the bride that the sun shines on.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n352. If it rains on the wedding, the bride will cry all her married life.\n          _Talladega, Ala._\n\n353. To marry in a storm betokens an unhappy life.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n354. It is unlucky to drop the ring at the marriage ceremony.\n          _New York._\n\n355. A bride must step over the church sill with her right foot.\n          _Orange Co., N.Y._\n\n356. A double wedding is unlucky; one of the marriages will be unhappy.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n357. The pair to be married should stand in line with the cracks in the\nfloor, and not at right angles to them.\n          _Omaha, Neb._\n\n358. When a couple are married and are driving off, if old shoes are\nthrown after them for good luck, and one of the shoes lodges on the coach\nor carriage, it is a sign that one of the party will die before the year\nis out.\n          _Waltham, Mass._\n\n359. After the marriage ceremony is performed, the one that walks first\nfrom the altar is the one who will die first, either bride or groom.\n          _Alabama._\n\n360. Old slippers or rice must be thrown after a bride for good luck.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n361. If the younger sister is married before the elder, the latter will\nhave to dance in a pig's trough.\n          _Western Massachusetts._\n\n362. Runaway matches will prove unlucky.\n          _New York._\n\n363. It is a sign of ill luck to take off the wedding ring.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n\nCOURTING AND WEDDING SIGNS.\n\n364. If your apron string becomes loosened, your true love is thinking of\nyou.\n          _New York._\n\n365. If your apron drops off, you'll lose your beau. The same is true if\nyou lose your garter.\n          _Stevens Point, Wis._\n\n366. If you sink a bottle in water, it will weaken your love.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n367. Step over the broom, and you will be an old maid.\n\n368. If a girl wet her apron in washing, it is a sign that she will have\na drunken husband.\n          _Labrador, Scilly Cove, N.F., and New England._\n\n369. To hang clothes wrong side out is an antidote for a drunken husband.\n          _Maine._\n\n370. If a girl finds a cobweb in the door, it is a sign that her beau\ncalls elsewhere.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n371. To find many cobwebs in the kitchen means that there is no courting\nthere.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n372. When the collar slips around and the opening comes to the ear, your\nlover is thinking of you.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n373. If you button your dress up unevenly, it is a sign that your lover\nis thinking of you.\n          _Miramichi, N.B._\n\n374. If you begin to button your dress unevenly, you will be a widow.\n          _Central Maine._\n\n375. If you are cross when you are young, you will be an old maid.\n          _Alabama._\n\n376. If you fall up stairs, you will have a new beau.\n          _Winn, Me._\n\n377. Tumble up stairs and you'll not get married within the year. (Hence\nold maids were formerly said to be careful how they went up stairs.)\n          _New England._\n\n378. Stumbling either up or down stairs means you'll be married inside a\nyear.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n379. If you sit on a table, you will not be married that year.\n          _New England, New York, and Alabama._\n\n380. Dropping hairpins from your hair means that your beau is thinking of\nyou.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n381. If a lady dons a gentleman's hat, it is a sign that she wants a\nkiss.\n\n382. If your lips itch, it is a sign some one will kiss you.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n383. If the outside of your nose itches, some one out of town loves you,\nand if the inside of your nose, then you are loved by some one in town.\n          _Western Massachusetts._\n\n384. If a gentleman and lady are riding and are tipped out, they will be\nmarried.\n          _Nashua, N.H._\n\n385. Make a rhyme when talking, and you'll see your true love before\nSaturday night.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n386. Should your shoestring come unloosened,\n\n      'T is a sure sign and a true,\n      At that very moment\n      Your true love thinks of you.\n          _New York._\n\n387. If your shoe comes untied, your sweetheart is talking about you.\n          _Alabama._\n\n388. If you want to sneeze and can't, it is a sign some one loves you,\nand doesn't dare to tell it.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n389. If you can't drink a cup of tea, you must be love-sick.\n          _Labrador._\n\n390.  Stub your toe\n      See your beau.\n          _Massachusetts and Maine._\n\n391. If four persons cross hands in shaking hands on taking leave, one\nwill marry before the year is out.\n          _Prince Edward Island, Eastern Massachusetts, and New York._\n\n392. If hands are crossed at the table while passing a dish, a wedding\nwill follow. The top hand belongs to the person who will be married.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n393. To have two teaspoons in a saucer signifies marriage in a year.\n\n394. If a gentleman stayed to dinner and by accident got two knives, two\nforks, or two spoons, at his plate, he would be married within a year,\nand there was no help for it.\n          _Connecticut._\n\n395. Knock over your chair on rising from the table, and you won't get\nmarried that year.\n          _Peabody, Mass., New York, and Talladega, Ala._\n\n396. If a girl sew a button on the clothing of a marriageable man, she\nwill marry him within the year.\n          _New England._\n\n397. If you have a dress with rings for a figure in it, it is a sign you\nwill be married before it is worn out.\n          _New York._\n\n398. If you have hearts in a figure in a dress or in a shawl, you will be\nmarried before it is worn out.\n          _New York._\n\n399. If you have a new dress and there are roses in it, the person who\nowns the dress will be married before the dress is worn out.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n400. Pins in the front of a dress waist are a sign that the wearer will\nbe an old maid.\n          _New Hampshire._\n\n401. If, in making a dress, the thread kinks badly, the person for whom\nit is made will either die or get married before the dress is worn out.\n          _Alabama._\n\n402. If you have a dress tried on, and any pin catches in the\nunderclothing, every pin means that it is a year before you will be\nmarried; hence dressmakers are especially careful to pin the dress in\nsuch a way that it will slip off easily.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n403. If you have good success in building a fire, you will have a smart\nhusband; if bad success, a lazy husband.\n          _St. John, N.B., and Ohio._\n\n404. If a lock of hair over the forehead (\"widow's lock\") be cut before\nmarriage, the girl will be a widow.\n          _Labrador._\n\n405. Get a lady friend to knit you a yellow garter. She must ask a\ngentleman unknown to you to knit ten rows. You will meet and marry the\ngentleman within a year.\n\n406. The exchange of one yellow garter means a proposal in six months.\n          _Washington, D.C._\n\n407. If a girl wears a yellow garter (which has been given to her) every\nday for a year, or every day and night for six months, at the end of that\ntime she will be married.\n          _Montreal, P.Q._\n\n408. If you burn a lover's letter, he will never marry you.\n          _Central Maine._\n\n409. If, at a dinner, a single person is inadvertently placed between two\nmarried people (husband or wife), it means marriage for him or her within\na year.\n\n410. If you pass between two men on the street, you'll marry both of them\nsometime.\n          _Champaign, Ill._\n\n411. If you drop a knitting-needle, you won't be married during the\npresent year.\n\n412. If you break many needles in a garment, it will be worn at a\nwedding.\n\n413. If you draw blood from a prick of the needle while making a garment,\nit is a sign you will be kissed the first time you wear it.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n414. Should needles break while sewing on a new garment, it is a sign\nthat the owner will be married before it is worn out.\n          _New York._\n\n415. When a young man goes to see a girl for the first time, and the\nsigns of the zodiac are in the heart, they will one day marry.\n          _Harmony, Me._\n\n416. If you step on a cigar stub, you will marry the first man you meet.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n417. Two spoons in a cup is the sign of a wedding.\n          _Bathurst, N.B., and Wisconsin._\n\n418. If you get two spoons in your cup or saucer, you'll marry a second\nhusband or wife.\n\n419. If a couple out walking together stumble, it is a sign that they\nwill be married.\n          _Labrador._\n\n420.  Sit on the table,\n      Married before you're able.\n          _Mattawamkeag, Me._\n\n421. If a girl gets the last piece of bread on a plate at the table, she\nwill have a handsome husband.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n422. If all of three dishes at the table are eaten, all of the unmarried\npeople at the table will be married within the year.\n          _Northern Massachusetts._\n\n423. \"If the tea-kettle boils, you will boil your beaux away,\" is an old\nsaying.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n424. If you have a cup of tea handed to you, and there are little bits\nfloating on top, they represent the number of husbands you will\nhave--one, two, or three.\n\n425. A girl that takes her thimble to the table will be an old maid.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n426.  Three in a row,\n      Meet your beau.\n      The one in the middle will have him.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n427. Three lamps in a row, the one who sets down the third will be soon\nmarried.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n428. Three lamps in a row foretell a wedding in the family.\n          _New York._\n\n429. To look into a tumbler when you are drinking is a sign that you will\nbe an old maid. If you look over the side, you are a flirt.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n430. To wash the hands under a pump denotes that you will be a widow.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nWISHES.\n\n\n431. If you take a baby in your arms for the first time, and at the same\ntime wish, you will get your wish before the year is out.\n          _Quebec._\n\n432. Take your Bible and wish. If it opens at \"and it came to pass,\" you\nwill get your wish.\n\n433. Wish upon a candle on blowing it out. If it glows long, you will get\nyour wish. If it smokes, it signifies a death.\n          _Ohio._\n\n434. If a speck of carbon comes on the wick when burning, and you wish\nfor something, wet your finger and touch the speck. If it sticks to your\nfinger, you will get the wish, and _vice versa_.\n          _Plymouth, O._\n\n435. Swallow a chicken's heart whole and make a wish. It will come true.\n          _Pennsylvania and Ohio._\n\n436. Throw an egg out of the second story window and wish. If it does not\nbreak, you will get your wish.\n          _Deer Isle, Me._\n\n437. Throw an eyelash over your shoulder. If it falls from your finger in\ndoing this, your wish will come true. If it remains on the finger, your\nwish will not come to pass.\n          _New York._\n\n438. Find a stray eyelash; place it on the back of the hand with a wish;\nblow it off. If it blows off at the first trial, the wish will come true.\n          _St. John, N.B., and Pennsylvania._\n\n439. Put a loose eyelash on the back of your hand. It signifies a letter.\nWish from whom the letter may come, carry it three times around your\nhead, then throw it over your shoulder, and you will get your wish.\n          _New England._\n\n440. Put an eyewinker down inside your clothes, wish, and you'll get your\nwish.\n          _Maine._\n\n441. Put an eyewinker on the back of the hand, knock that hand with the\nother so as to throw the eyewinker over the shoulder, and at the same\ntime wish. If the eyewinker is not seen again, the wish will come true.\n          _Stoneham, Mass._\n\n442. If you wish on the first thing you eat in the season, the wish will\ncome true.\n\n443. Wish with two paper slips or grass blades, the ends only being\nshown. The longer wins.\n\n444. Wish on a load of hay, and you'll be sure to get it.\n          _Winn, Me._\n\n445. Wish when you see a hay-cart, don't look at it again, and you'll get\nthe wish.\n          _New Jersey._\n\n446. See a white horse; don't look at his tail, but wish.\n\n447. Wish on a \"calico\" horse.\n\n448. You may wish on a row of empty barrels, or on a piebald horse, but\nyou must not look on the object a second time.\n\n449. Wish on a load of empty barrels, and you will get your wish.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n450. Write the names of one hundred people who (by request) have bowed to\nyou, bury the paper in a secret spot, and at the same time wish. If no\none sees you, you will get your wish.\n\n451. Wish while holding a lighted match until it is extinct, and you'll\nget the wish.\n\n452. If by chance two use the same words, lock the little fingers, and\nwish before speaking, saying \"Shakespeare\" at the end.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n453. Let two persons break the wishing-bone of a fowl; the one who gets\nthe longest piece will get his wish.\n          _New Jersey and Ohio._\n\n454. If you say two sentences that rhyme, make a wish, then if you make a\nrhyme unintentionally and wish before you speak again, your wish will\ncome to pass.\n          _Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\n455. When you first see a sleigh in the fall of the year, make a wish,\nand you will get it.\n          _Winn, Me._\n\n456. Wish at the first snowflake of the season, and you will get your\nwish.\n          _Westport, Mass._\n\n457. Put a ring on the finger of another person, saying, \"I wish it on\nuntil such a time,\" and if it is not removed before the expiration of the\nperiod named, the wish will come to pass.\n          _Connecticut and Ohio._\n\n458. When you see a falling star, wish.\n          _New Jersey._\n\n459. To wish on a star, when you see the first star come out, say:\n\n      Star light, star bright,\n        First star I see to-night,\n      I wish I may, I wish I might\n        Have the wish I wish to-night.\n\nWish what you please and it will come true, but the wish must not be\nmentioned to any one.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n460. Count nine evening stars in succession, and you will have your wish.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n461. Capture a floating thistledown, breathe on it, make a wish to see or\nhear from an absent friend, blow in his or her supposed direction, and it\nwill carry your message.\n          _Ohio._\n\n462. Make a wish while throwing a leaf into running water. If it lands\nright side up, you will have your wish or good luck.\n          _Lebanon, N.H._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nDREAMS.\n\n\nANIMALS.\n\n463. To dream of cod or caplin is a sign of rain[TN-3]\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n464. To dream of a good catch of fish is a sign of rain.\n          _Heart's Content, N.F._\n\n465. To dream of catching fish is good luck.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n466. If you dream you catch fish, it is a sign you will make a good\nbargain, according to the size of the fish.\n\n467. To dream of catching a fish means money.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n468. To dream of flies means sickness.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n469. To dream of flies is good luck.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n470. To dream of lice is a sign of death.\n          _New Harbor, N.F._\n\n471. To dream of lice is a sign of enemies.\n          _Topsail, N.F._\n\n472. To dream of lice is a sign of \"coming wealth.\"\n          _Alabama._\n\n473. To dream of lice means sickness in the family.\n          _Ohio._\n\n474. To dream of snakes means enemies.\n          _Cape Breton. General in the United States._\n\nIn some localities it is said if you kill the snake in your dream you\nwill conquer your enemies.\n\n475. To dream of porpoises is bad luck.\n          _Labrador._\n\n476. It is lucky to dream of pigs.\n          _Bruynswick, N.Y._\n\n477. Dreaming of (or seeing) rats (numerous) is a sign of death.\n          _Heart's Content, N.F._\n\n478. To dream of a rat is the sign of an enemy.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n479. To dream of rats is a sign of thieves.\n          _Central Maine and Chestertown, Md._\n\n480. It is a sign of bad news to dream about a white horse.\n          _Quebec._\n\n481. To dream of a white horse three nights in succession is a sign of\nthe death of an elderly person.\n          _Central New York._\n\n482. To dream of a white horse is a sign some one of the family will die\nwithin a year.\n          _Maine._\n\n483. To dream of three white colts is a sign of a young person dying.\n          _Central New York._\n\n484. If you dream of a black horse, it is a sure sign of death.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n485. To dream of a black horse is a sign of a wedding; of a white horse\nis a sign of a letter.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n486. To dream of a horse is a sign of a letter.\n          _Miramichi, N.B._\n\n487. To dream of horses is a sign of wind.\n          _Topsail, N.F._\n\n488. Dreaming of cows is a sign of a hostile, angry woman.\n          _Bay Roberts, N.F._\n\n489. To dream of dogs and horses is a sign of good luck.\n          _St. John, N.B._\n\n490. To dream of catching a bird is a sign of a letter.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n491. If you dream of a bird in a cage you will have trouble with your\nbeau.\n          _New England._\n\n492. To dream of cats means enemies.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n493. To dream of a cat means an enemy. If in the dream you conquer the\ncat, you will conquer the enemy.\n          _Miramichi, N.B._\n\n\nCOLORS.\n\n494. To dream of white things is lucky (or sign of death?).\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n495. Dreaming of white things is a sign of snow in summer.\n          _Labrador and Newfoundland._\n\n496. Dreaming of working on white cloth is a sign of death.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n497. To dream of white or red is unlucky. To dream of black is lucky.\n\n\nDEAD PERSONS.\n\n498. To dream of a dead father is lucky.\n          _Labrador._\n\n499. To dream of a dead mother is unlucky; it brings sorrow.\n          _Labrador._\n\n500. To dream of the dead is a sign of hearing from the living.\n          _Topsail and New Harbor, N.F._\n\n501. To dream of the dead is a sign of rain.\n          _New Harbor, N.F._\n\n502. To dream of seeing a deceased friend means rain within a few days.\n          _Talladega, Ala._\n\n503. To dream of a dead person means a letter next day.\n          _Northern Maine._\n\n504. If you dream of the dead, you'll hear from the living.\n          _Prince Edward Island; General in the United States._\n\n\nEARTH.\n\n505. To dream of walking in a garden is a sign of a graveyard.\n\n506. To dream of ploughed ground indicates that a grave will be dug for\nsome member of the family before the year ends.\n          _Western New York._\n\n507. To dream of seeing fresh earth bodes misfortune.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n508. To dream of digging ground, or white potatoes, is a sign of death.\n          _Harbor Grace, N.F._\n\n509. To dream of seeing the ground unseasonably ploughed means death.\n          _Nova Scotia._\n\n\nEGGS.\n\n510. To dream of eggs means you will get a beating,[TN-4]\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n511. Dreaming of eggs is a sign of anger; if broken, all over.\n          _New Harbor, N.F._\n\n512. To dream of whole eggs is a sign of a \"fuss;\" of broken eggs is not.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n513. To dream of a nest full of eggs and a bird sitting on them means you\nwill receive something new.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n\nFIRE AND SMOKE.\n\n514. It is bad luck to dream of fire.\n          _St. John, N.B._\n\n515. To dream of fire portends sickness.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n516. If you dream of fire, it is a sign of trouble in the family.\n          _Alabama._\n\n517. If you dream of fire, you'll have a row.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n518. To dream of fire is a sign of anger.\n          _Newfoundland and Labrador._\n\n519. To dream of fire means hasty news. To dream of smoke means trouble.\n          _Miramichi, N.B._\n\n520.  Dream of flame out of season,\n      You will be angry without a reason.\n\n521. If you dream about a large blaze of fire, you will get some money\nunexpectedly.\n          _Alabama._\n\n522. Dreaming of smoke indicates trouble.\n          _Alabama._\n\n523. To dream of smoke means death.\n          _Wisconsin._\n\n\nHUMAN BEINGS.\n\n524. To dream of a baby is a sign of death.\n\n525. To dream of babies is unlucky or is a sign of trouble.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n526. To dream of carrying a child is unlucky.\n\n527. It is bad luck or death to dream of naked clinging (climbing?)\nchildren.\n          _Labrador and Newfoundland._\n\n528. It is ill luck to dream of a priest.\n          _Central Maine._\n\n529. If you dream of a negro, you will surely quarrel.\n\n530. If you dream of being kissed by or being very intimate with a woman\nfriend, it means a disagreement.\n\n531. If you dream of a person of the opposite sex three nights in\nsuccession, you are sure to marry him.\n          _Alabama._\n\n532. If you dream of a gentleman, you will never marry him.\n          _Bedford, Mass._\n\n533. If you dream of a person as going two ways at once, it is a sign the\nperson dreamed of will die before the year is out.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n534. To dream of a naked man is a sign of the death of a woman, and _vice\nversa_.\n          _Baltimore, Md. (negro)._\n\n535. To dream of a drunken husband or man is unlucky.\n          _Labrador._\n\n536. To dream of men is lucky.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n537. To dream of women is unlucky.\n          _Bay Roberts, N.F._\n\n\nMETEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA.\n\n538. To dream of walking through snow means sickness.\n          _St. John, N.B._\n\n539. To dream of a snowstorm is a sign of the speedy death of a relative.\n          _South Framingham, Mass._\n\n540. To dream of snow in spring (May) is a sign of a good catch of fish.\n          _Trinity Bay, N.F._\n\n541. If a fisherman dreams of its raining, it is a sign of a good catch\nof fish.\n          _Green Harbor, N.F._\n\n542. Anything dreamed \"on the east wind,\" _i.e._, when the east wind is\nblowing, will come true.\n          _Chestertown, Md. (negro)._\n\n\nMONEY AND METALS.\n\n543. To dream of silver money is a sign of sickness.\n\n544. To dream of small change (money) is bad luck.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n545. To dream of gold or silver is good luck; of paper is bad.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n546. If you dream of gold, it is a sign of an increase of property.\n          _Alabama._\n\n\nTEETH.\n\n547. To dream of teeth is unlucky.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n548. It is death or bad luck to dream of teeth falling out.\n          _Newfoundland and Northern Ohio._\n\n549. To dream of losing a tooth means a death.\n          _Nova Scotia and Cape Breton._\n\n550. To dream of pulling out your teeth means sickness.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n551. To dream of losing a tooth means losing a friend.\n          _Virginia._\n\n552. If you dream of having a front tooth drop out, you will lose a near\nrelative within a year. If a back tooth, a distant relative.\n\n\nWATER.\n\n553. To dream of smooth water means good luck; of rough water means ill\nluck.\n          _St. John, N.B._\n\n554. Dreaming of running water means approaching death to the dreamer or\nsome near relative.\n\n555. To dream of clear, sparkling water means good luck.\n          _Miramichi, N.B._\n\n556. To dream of milky or roily water means death or disaster.\n          _Miramichi, N.B._\n\n557. To dream of seeing muddy water signifies that you will have trouble.\n          _Alabama._\n\n558. To dream of clear water means prosperity; of muddy water means\ntrouble.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n559. To dream of washing is a sign of a move.\n          _Cape Breton and Wisconsin._\n\n\nWEDDINGS AND FUNERALS.\n\n560. To dream of marriage is a sign of a funeral.\n          _Topsail and Carbonear, Trinity Bay, N.F._\n\n561. If you dream of a marriage, it is the sign of a death; and if you\ndream of a death, it is the sign of a marriage.\n          _Alabama._\n\n562. If you dream of a marriage, you will hear of a death next day.\n          _Talladega, Ala._\n\n563. If you dream of a wedding, you will hear of the death of a friend in\nthat month.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n564. To dream of a wedding means death.\n          _Mifflintown, Pa._\n\n565. Dream on a piece of wedding cake. Write names on slips of paper and\npull them out. The one you pull twice is the one you will marry.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n566. Sleep on a piece of wedding cake, and the one you dream about will\nbe your future partner in life.\n          _New Brunswick._\n\n567. Sleep on a piece of wedding cake, and if you have the same dream\nthree nights in succession, your dream will come to pass.\n          _New York._\n\n568. To dream of a funeral means a wedding.\n\n\nMISCELLANEOUS.\n\n569. To dream of raw meat is a sign of ill luck.\n\n570. To dream of eating meat is a sign of sickness.\n          _Boston._\n\n571. To see while asleep fresh meats of any kind is a warning of death.\n          _Alabama._\n\n572. To dream of blood is a sign of sickness.\n          _Alabama._\n\n573. To dream of blood is a sign that some one will \"scandalize\" you.\n          _Baltimore, Md. (negro)._\n\n574. To dream of onions is good.\n\n575. To dream of flowers is a sign of sickness.\n          _Alabama._\n\n576. To dream of\n\n      Fruit out of season,\n      Trouble without reason.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n577. To dream of cherries is evil.\n\n578. To dream of an anchor means good luck.\n          _St. John, N.B._\n\n579. To dream on land of a vessel (with sails set?) is a sign of a\nfuneral.\n          _Labrador and Trinity Bay, N.F._\n\n580. To dream of small beads or sewing silk is lucky.\n          _Labrador._\n\n581. What you dream the first night you are in a strange house will come\ntrue.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n582. If you dream the first night you are in a strange bed, your dream\nwill come true. If the dream was of a sweetheart, you will be married.\n          _Trinity Bay and Bay Roberts, N.F._\n\n583. To dream of losing the sole of your shoe indicates the death of a\nnear friend.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n584. To dream of seeing any one wear worn-out shoes means the death of a\nnear relative.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n585. To dream of a hole worn in a boot is a sign of being sick.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n586. To dream of bad boots is unlucky.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n587.  Saturday night's dream, Sunday morning told,\n      Will come to pass before it's a week old.\n          _Maine and Massachusetts._\n\n588.  Saturday night dreamt,\n      Sunday morning told,\n      Sure to come true\n      Before a month old.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n589. Relate the dream before breakfast, and it will come true.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n590. If you dream the same thing three times, it will come true.\n\n591. Dreaming of handling new-made boards is a sign of a coffin. (A\ncarpenter's notion.)\n          _Heart's Content, N.F._\n\n592. If you dream of seeing a boat drawn or sailing on land, it is a sign\nof death.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n593. If you dream that you see an empty coffin, you will see it filled\nwithin a year.\n\n594. To dream of dough in a bread pan is the sign of a coffin.\n          _New Brunswick._\n\n595. To dream of dough in a black pan is a sign of a corpse.\n          _Miramichi, N.B._\n\n596. To dream of bread is good luck.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n597. To dream of going in a carriage means you'll travel with a friend.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n598. Pick up a stone in a strange place and put it under the pillow for\nthree nights. If you dream, it will come true.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n599. To dream of being in a new house is a sign of death.\n          _Harbor Grace, N.F._\n\n600. Place the heel of one shoe against the instep of the other three\nnights in a row, and you will dream of your future husband.\n          _Franklin, Mass._\n\n601. To dream that your sweetheart has the ague means that he loves you.\n\n602. To dream you are a fool is good luck and increase of wealth.\n\n603. Dreaming of persons being sick is a sign of being well.\n          _Newfoundland and New Hampshire._\n\n604. To dream of a death is a sign of life.\n\n605. To dream of the devil is a sign of good luck.\n          _Trinity Bay, N.F._\n\n606. To dream you cry means you will laugh.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n607. Dreams go by contraries.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nLUCK.\n\n\nCARDS.\n\n608. At cards, if your luck is poor, walk round your chair three times,\nlift it, sit down, and your luck is assured.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n609. At cards, it is bad luck to play against the grain of the table.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n610. At cards, it is unlucky to turn up your hand before the dealer is\nthrough.\n          _Alabama._\n\n611. At cards, it is common to blow on the deal, without looking at it,\nfor good luck.\n          _Providence, R.I., and Salem, Mass._\n\n\nDAYS.\n\n612. It is unlucky to travel on Friday.\n          _New York and Pennsylvania._\n\n613. Never begin a piece of work on Friday; it is bad luck.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n614. Seafaring men will not sail on Friday.\n          _Somewhat general in the United States._\n\n615. If you begin a piece of work on Friday, it will be a very short or a\nvery long job.\n          _St. John, N.B._\n\n616. It is bad luck to cut your finger-nails on Friday.\n          _Pigeon Cove, Mass._\n\n617. As with the superstitious generally, Friday is a very unlucky day.\nHousekeepers will prefer paying a quarter's rent extra to going into a\nhouse on that day. It is, of course, most unlucky to be married on it.\nWednesday is the day considered most favorable for the purpose.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n618. If you cut your nails on Sunday, you'll do something you're ashamed\nof before the week is out.\n          _Maine._\n\n619. If business is transacted on Sunday, you will lose by it on the\ncoming week.\n          _New York._\n\n620. Pancake Day is Shrove Tuesday. If you do not eat pancakes on that\nday, you will have no luck throughout the year. The hens won't lay, etc.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n621. When the two figures that tell one's age are alike, as 22, 33, etc.,\nsome great change in life is to be expected.\n          _Nashua, N.H._\n\n\nDRESSING.\n\n622. If you put on any garment wrong side out, as, for example, a pair of\nstockings, never change it, as to do so brings ill luck. This direction\nis intuitively followed by many people who are entirely free from\nconscious superstition.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n623. If you put a garment on wrong side out, you mustn't speak of it, or\nyou will have bad luck.\n          _Maine._\n\n624. If you put a garment on wrong side out, or a hat on wrong end\nbefore, spit on it before turning, to prevent bad luck.\n          _Maine and Ohio._\n\n625. If a garment is put on wrong side out, it is lucky, but unlucky to\nturn it.\n          _Prince Edward Island and Massachusetts._\n\n626. To clothe the left foot before the right one is a sign of misfortune.\n          _Ohio._\n\n627. If you button up your dress wrong, _i.e._, do not begin with the\nbutton and button-hole opposite each other, it means bad luck, or good\nluck if worn uneven until after sunset.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n628. The putting of the left shoe on the right foot, lacing it wrong, or\nlosing a button, are all bad signs.\n          _Alabama._\n\n629. Walking across the room with one shoe off is a sign of ill luck.\n          _Alabama._\n\n630. When putting on your shoes and stockings, if you complete dressing\none foot before beginning to dress the other, it is a sign you will be\ndisappointed.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n\nHORSESHOES.\n\n631. It is good luck to find a horseshoe.\n          _General in the United States and Canada._\n\n632. The luck is especially good if the loop end is towards you, that is,\nif you meet it.\n          _Miramichi, N.B._\n\n633. If you find horseshoes and pick them up, you will have a horse.\n\n634. The more nails in the horseshoe, the more luck.\n          _Western Pennsylvania._\n\n635. To find a horseshoe nail is good luck, especially if the head is\ntowards you.\n          _Miramichi, N.B._\n\n636. If horseshoes are put up over a house for luck, the points should\nnot be placed downwards, or the luck will slip through.\n\n\nPINS.\n\n637.  See a pin and pick it up,\n      All the day you'll have good luck;\n      See a pin and pass it by (or \"let it lie\"),\n      All the day your luck will fly.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n638.  See a pin and pick it up,\n      All the day you'll have good luck;\n      See a pin and let it lie,\n      Come to sorrow by and by.\n          _New York._\n\n639. See a pin and pick it up for luck. If the head is towards you, the\nluck is slow in coming; if the point is towards you, the luck is quick\nand sharp.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n640. If you see a pin crosswise, that is, across your path, it means a\nride if you pick it up.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n641. \"I have known a young lady form a habit of stooping in consequence\nof keeping the eyes fixed on the ground, in the streets of New York city,\nin order not to miss the good fortune that might come of picking up a\npin. The pin must be thrust into a tree or post, in order to keep the\nluck as long as it remains fast.\"\n          _New York, N.Y._\n\n642.  Find a pin and let it lie,\n      You'll want a pin before you die.\n          _Alabama._\n\n643.  See a pin and let it lie,\n      You'll want that pin before you die.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n\nSALT.\n\n644. It is unlucky to pass salt across the table.\n\n645. Spilling salt is unlucky; throw some over your left shoulder, or\nburn a pinch to avert ill luck.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n646. It is bad luck to spill salt unless it is burned.\n          _Virginia._\n\n647. If you spill salt, throw some over your left shoulder, and then\ncrawl under one side of the table and come out on the other, to prevent\nbad luck.\n          _Bucks Co., Pa._\n\n648. Spilling salt at table is ill luck to the one towards whom it is\nspilled.\n          _Iowa._\n\n649. If you spill salt, you will have a whipping.\n          _New England and Canada._\n\n\nSWEEPING.\n\n650. If the broom is moved with the rest of the household furniture, you\nwill not be successful. The broom should be burned while standing in the\ncorner, being watched meanwhile, to prevent the house from taking fire.\n\n651. Never sweep the floor after sunset; it is bad luck.\n          _Alabama._\n\n652. Carrying ashes out of the house after sunset is bad luck.\n          _Virginia._\n\n653. It is ill luck to sweep dirt out of doors after sunset.\n          _Virginia._\n\n654. Dirt must not be swept out of doors after dark, or it will bring\ndisaster to the master of the house. This belief is common among negroes\nand superstitious whites.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n655. Sailors are unwilling that their friends should sweep after dark,\nbecause in that case their wages will be swept away by sickness or\notherwise.\n          _Westport, Mass._\n\n\nTURNING BACK.\n\n656. It is unlucky to turn back for anything after you have set out to go\nanywhere.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n657. Returning to the house for something and starting again without\nsitting down is bad luck.\n          _Virginia._\n\n658. It will prove unlucky if you return for a forgotten article after\nyou have left the house; but if you seat yourself before leaving the\nhouse again, the misfortune will be averted.\n          _New York._\n\n659. To avert ill luck or disappointment that will come if a person comes\nback to a house for something forgotten, he must sit down a minute.\n          _General in New England._\n\n660. To go back into the house for something after starting on a journey\nis unpropitious. To have it brought out is all right.\n          _Iowa._\n\n661. If you have to go back to the house after something forgotten, you\nmust not sit down, but stand a moment or two, or else it is bad luck.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n662. If you start anywhere and go back, it is bad luck unless you make a\ncross-mark and spit in it.\n          _Alabama and Kentucky._\n\n\nMISCELLANEOUS.\n\n663. If two persons shake hands across the gate, they are bringing on\nthemselves ill luck.\n          _Alabama._\n\n664. It is unlucky to pass under a ladder.\n          _Canada._\n\n665. Go under a ladder and you will be hanged.\n\n666. Walking under a ladder is considered very unlucky. In the outposts\ngirls will climb the rockiest cliffs to avoid such a contingency. On one\noccasion in St. John's, where a ladder extended across the sidewalk, of\none hundred and twenty-seven girls who came along, only six ventured\nunder it, the rest going along the gutter in mud ankle deep.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n667. If, in passing, one parts two people, it is a sign of disappointment\nto the parter.\n\n668. When two or three people go between different posts, in the entrance\nof gardens, cemeteries, etc., it is a sign they will be separated or\ndisappointed.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n669.  Sing on the street,\n      Disappointment you'll meet.\n\n670. To count the steps of stairs, as you lie on your back, indicates the\nnumber of your troubles.\n\n671. To fall upstairs means good luck; downstairs, ill luck.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n672. To stumble downstairs, or on going out in the morning, means bad\nluck.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n673. Opals are unlucky.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n674. The opal is unlucky, unless set with diamonds.\n          _New York._\n\n675. Don't let the tea-kettle boil so as to make a bubbling or thumping\nnoise, as some say it is unlucky.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n676. A tea-kettle boiling so as to make a bubbling sound is said to boil\naway luck, and should be removed from the flame.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n677. Never let your dish-water come to a boil, as every bubble means bad\nluck to the family.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n678. Sewing in the twilight is an ill omen.\n          _Chatham, N.H._\n\n679. To look over another person's shoulder into a looking-glass means\ndisappointment.\n          _Deer Isle, Me._\n\n680. When going fishing, fishermen wear white mittens for luck.\n          _Portsmouth, N.H._\n\n681. It is unlucky to lose a glove.\n          _Bathurst, N.B._\n\n682. It is bad luck to have any one step across the fishing-pole; you\nwill catch no fish.\n          _Talladega, Ala._\n\n683. Crawl under a fence, and you will have bad luck.\n          _Western Masssachusetts.[TN-5]_\n\n684. To step over the feet of any one who is sitting is ill luck.\n\n685. Getting out of bed with the left foot first, or taking anything with\nthe left hand when the right is disengaged, is a sign of bad luck.\n          _Alabama._\n\n686. In getting out of bed in the morning, the right foot is always to be\nplaced first.\n          _Ohio._\n\n687. To get out of bed left foot first makes one cross. \"He got out of\nbed left foot first,\" is a universal saying.\n\n688. In going in at the house door, always put the right foot foremost.\nThis practice is observed by many intelligent people.\n\n689. To sing at the table is a sign you will be disappointed.\n\n690. It is an ill omen to leave the table while eating, to light the\nlamp.\n          _Western Massachusetts._\n\n691. To lay the knife and fork crosswise is ill luck.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n692. When you drop a knife or fork, and it sticks up in the floor, you\nwill have good luck.\n\n693. It is lucky to find a rusty knife or other steel instrument.\n          _Maine._\n\n694. If a knife be spun round, care should be taken to spin it back\nagain, otherwise it insures bad luck.\n\n695. Often verses of Proverbs xxxi. are assigned to girls and boys\nrespectively according to the day of the month of the birth.\n          _Labrador and Brookline, Mass._\n\n696. It brings bad luck to the bearer of a ring to have it taken from her\nfinger by another person.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n697. Measuring one's waist, as for a dress, will bring ill luck.\n\n698. To turn a loaf of bread upside down is ill luck.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n699. To find a four-leaved clover is lucky; but five-leaved, unlucky.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n700. When a vessel is launched, break a bottle of wine over her for luck.\nThe bottle is to be broken by a lady.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n701. Never carry clean wet clothes from one house to another, as it will\nbring ill luck.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n702. Do not go into your new house by the back door; if you do you take\ndisaster with you.\n\n703. Never build on a spot where a house has been burned. The second\nhouse is likely to go in the same manner.\n          _Maine and Massachusetts._\n\n704. Light coming in at the window is a bad sign.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n705. The opening of an umbrella in the house is a sign of bad luck.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n706. If you drop your umbrella, you will have ill luck if you pick it up\nyourself; but the ill luck may be averted by having some one else pick it\nup.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n707. To carry a hoe through the house is ill luck.\n          _Alabama._\n\n708. To light three lights with one match is good luck for a week.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n709. The falling of a chandelier foretells a disaster in the family.\n          _New York._\n\n710. Breaking a looking-glass shows that you'll have seven years of ill\nluck.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n711. If a chair be turned about on one of its forelegs, there will be bad\nluck in the house all that year.\n          _Talladega, Ala._\n\n712. A mare-browed man, that is, one whose eyebrows meet, is unlucky and\ncan cast spells.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n713. It is unlucky, when going deer-hunting, to meet a red-haired man.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nMONEY.\n\n\n714. A group of bubbles on a cup of coffee signifies money.\n          _United States._\n\n715. A mass of bubbles floating on a cup of coffee signifies that money\nis coming to one. If he can take up the bubbles on his spoon, it\nindicates that he will get the money, but if they escape he will not.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n716. If a group of bubbles are floating on the tea or coffee cup, take\nthem up in a spoon, and swallow them unbroken, saying, \"Save my money.\"\n          _Plymouth and Salem, Mass., and New Brunswick._\n\n717. If when you stir your coffee at breakfast you will try to catch the\nbubbles on top, you can have as many dollars as you can catch whole ones.\n          _Alabama._\n\n718. To find money and keep it insures good luck through the year.\n          _Talladega, Ala._\n\n719. Put the first piece of money you get in the morning into your\nstocking, and you will have more to add to it before night.\n          _Alabama._\n\n720. If you find a piece of money the first day of the year, you will\nhave good luck all the rest of the year.\n          _Alabama._\n\n721. If paper money is folded lengthwise first, it will insure the\npossession of money. If folded the short fold first, money will not\nremain in the pocket.\n          _Alabama._\n\n722. To make a sale in the first place where an agent calls is good luck.\nFor example, a magnifying-glass worth three dollars was sold for\nseventy-five cents, in order to stop a run of bad luck by making a sale.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n723. If your initials spell a word, it means that you will be rich.\n          _Massachusetts and Ohio._\n\n724. If the right hand itches, it is a sign you will receive money; if\nthe left, you will spend money, because _R_ stands for receive, and _L_\nfor let go.\n          _New York._\n\n725. If the left hand itches and you rub it on wood, you'll receive money\nbefore the end of the week.\n\n      Rub it on wood\n      To make it good.\n          _Very common in New Brunswick and New England._\n\n726. Itching in the palm of the hand means that it will soon receive\nmoney. Clap the closed hand into the pocket.\n          _Mt. Desert, Me._\n\n727. If you place your money according to value, _i.e._, lay it in order,\nyou will be rich.\n          _Bedford, Mass._\n\n728. An old superstition pertaining to clothing is, that before putting\non new clothes a sum of money must be placed in the right-hand pocket,\nwhich will insure its always being full. If by mistake, however, it be\nput in the left hand pocket, the wearer will never have a penny so long\nas the clothes last.\n\n729. There's a \"bag of money,\" or a \"pot of gold,\" at the end of the\nrainbow.\n          _General among children._\n\n730. If you sew in the twilight, you will never be rich.\n          _Miramichi, N.B._\n\n731. If you mend or sew on a garment while wearing it, you will always be\npoor.\n          _Bathurst, N.B._\n\n732. Always shut the doors, or you will never own a house.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n733. Sparks in the soot on the back wall above a coal fire bring wealth.\n          _Rhode Island._\n\n734. Say \"Money\" three times at sight of a meteor, and you'll get it, or\nwish and you'll get it.\n\n735. When you see a shooting star, say \"money.\" As many times as you are\nable to repeat the word during the fall of the star, so many dollars you\nwill have in your pocket.\n          _Connecticut._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nVISITORS.\n\n\n736. Having a piece of bread and taking another is a sign some one is\ncoming hungry.\n          _Maine, New York, and Pennsylvania._\n\n737. If you drop a slice of bread with the buttered side up, it is a sign\nof a visitor.\n          _Bathurst, N.B._\n\n738. If a broom falls across the threshold, it means a visitor is coming.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n739. Three chairs in a row is a sign of a caller.\n          _Bedford, Mass._\n\n740. Two chairs chancing to be placed back to back denote that a visitor\nis coming.\n          _Danvers, Mass._\n\n741. One chair in front of another means a stranger.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n742. If you go around the chimney without sitting down, you will bring\ncompany to that house.\n          _Guilford, Conn._\n\n743. Company on Sunday means company all the week.\n          _New England._\n\n744. If you have company on Monday, you will have company every day in\nthe week.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n745. If you drop the dish-cloth, it is a sign you will have company.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n746. If you almost drop a dish-cloth and catch it before it falls, it is\na sign of a visitor.\n          _Bathurst, N.B._\n\n747. If you drop a dish-rag, some one is coming hungry.\n          _Alabama._\n\n748. If the dish-cloth on falling to the floor spreads out, the visitor\nwill be a lady; if it falls in a heap, it will be a gentleman.\n          _Cape Breton and Central Maine._\n\n749. If you drop the tea-towel, it is a sign of company.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n750. If you go in at one door and out at another, it is a sign of company.\n          _New York and Ohio._\n\n751. Going out through one door of the house and in through another means\na visit from agreeable company.\n\n752. If you go in at one door and out of another of the house of a\nfriend, a stranger will enter the house soon.\n          _Central New Hampshire._\n\n753. If you go in at the back (or front) door of a house, and out at the\nfront (or back) without sitting down, you will bring company.\n          _Guilford, Conn._\n\n754. If you forget anything on your departure from a visit, you will go\nthere again.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n755. If the fork is dropped at the table, a man will call.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n756. If you drop a fork, and it sticks in the floor and remains in a\nstanding position, it is a sign that a gentleman will call; but if a\nknife, a lady will call.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n757. Should you drop a knife or scissors so that they stick into the\nfloor and stand up, it is a sign of company.\n          _New York._\n\n758. The dropping of any sharp-pointed instrument which sticks up in the\nfloor, such as a knife, a pair of scissors, etc., foretells company\ncoming from the direction in which the article leans.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n759. If the scissors drops there will be visitors; if the small blade\nsticks in the floor it will be children; if the large, adults.\n          _Nashua, N.H._\n\n760. A needle dropping on the floor and sticking up means visitors.\n          _St. John, N.B._\n\n761. If a knife be dropped at table, a woman will call.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n762. If you drop a knife at table, a lady will come during the evening;\nif a fork, a gentleman is coming.\n          _Talladega, Ala._\n\n763. If you drop a knife, your visitor will be a woman; if a fork, it\nwill be a man; if a spoon, it will be a fool.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n764. If you drop a knife, it is a sign a lady is coming to see you. If a\nfork, the visitor will be a man; if a spoon, your cousin.\n          _New York._\n\n765. Two knives beside a plate mean a lady stranger; two forks, a man.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n766. To put two spoons in your teacup is a sign of a stranger.\n          _Maine and Massachusetts._\n\n767. Two forks or spoons crossed on a plate signify that a stranger is\ncoming.\n\n768. If you wash the sugar-bowl, you will have company.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n769. To have too many plates on the table means guests.\n\n770. If an extra plate be accidentally placed upon the table, some\nvisitor will come hungry.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n771. If you are offered an article of food at the table, which you\nalready have on your plate, but forgetting that you have it, take some\nmore, it is a sign that a stranger is coming to your house before you eat\nanother meal.\n          _Quebec._\n\n772. If stems of tea-grounds are found in the cup, it denotes that\nvisitors are coming. If you wish them to come, bite the heads off and\nthrow them under the table.\n          _Deerfield, Mass._\n\n773. If the stems of tea-grounds come on top of the cup, visitors are\ncoming. Bite one, and if it is hard, it will be a man; if soft, a woman.\n          _New Hampshire._\n\n774. If successful in the attempt to take stems from your tea, a friend\nis going to visit you.\n          _Alabama._\n\n775. If a tea-stem is on top of the cup, put it in your shoe, and you\nwill have company.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n776. If a tea-stem floats in the tea, it is a sign you will have a\nvisitor. If it is hard, it is a man; if it is soft, it is a woman. If it\nis long, the visitor will be tall; if short, the visitor will be short.\n          _New York._\n\n777. To learn about visitors from tea-grounds: Lift the leaf out and\npress it against the left hand, naming the days of the week. Upon\nwhichever day the leaf chances to cling and rest, company may be\nexpected. To complete the spell, pat the leaf down your neck and wish.\n          _Plymouth, Mass._\n\n778. If your eye quivers, a stranger is coming.\n          _Labrador._\n\n779. If a stray hair blows persistently across the eyes, it's the sign\nthat a stranger is coming.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n780. The shin-bone itching means guests.\n\n781. The nose itching signifies visitors.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n782. The nose itching foretells company. If on the right side, it means a\nman; if on the left, a woman.\n          _Central New York._\n\n783. If your nose itches, you will see an old friend whom you have not\nseen for some time.\n          _New York and Pennsylvania._\n\n784. If your nose itches, it means you'll\n\n      See a stranger,\n      Kiss a fool,\n      Or be in danger.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n785. To sneeze at the table indicates a stranger.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n786. To sneeze before breakfast is a sign you will have a caller before\nnight.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n787.  Sneeze before you eat,\n      See a stranger before you sleep.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n788. As many times as you sneeze before breakfast, so many calls will you\nhave before tea (or bed-time).\n\n789. If you sneeze on Saturday, you will have company on Sunday.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n790. Water spilled on the doorstep means a stranger.\n          _Ohio._\n\n791. To slop water near a door is a sign of a stranger.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n792. A sudden shower of sparks from the fire betokens a visitor.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n793. When you see the soot burning in the back of the chimney, it is a\nsign of your being visited by a stranger.\n          _Alabama._\n\n794. If you crock[TN-6] your knuckles, company will come.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nCURES.\n\n\nAMULETS.\n\n795. Green glass beads worn about the neck will prevent or cure\nerysipelas.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n796. Gold beads were formerly a protection against the \"King's Evil\"\n(scrofula), and nearly every maiden and matron wore ample strings of\nbeautiful large beads.\n          _Adams, Mass._\n\n797. Gold beads worn about the neck will cure sore throat.\n          _Windham, Me._\n\n798. Gold beads worn about the throat were thought to cure or or prevent\ngoitre.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n799. A string of gold beads is still held to be a preventive of quinsy,\nsore throats, and so on.\n          _New Hampshire._\n\n800. A string of gold beads worn on the neck will cure or prevent quinsy.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n801. Red beads about the neck cure nose-bleed.\n          _Cazenovia, N.Y._\n\n802. For nose-bleed wear a red bean on a white string round the neck.\n          _Bedford, Mass._\n\n803. A black silk cord about the neck cures croup.\n          _Cazenovia, N.Y._\n\n804. A key worn hanging about the neck by a string prevents nose-bleed.\n          _Central Maine._\n\n805. Wearing brown paper on the chest will cure sea-sickness.\n          _Newton, Mass., and Chestertown, Md._\n\n806. Tie a piece of black ribbon around a child's neck, and it will\nprevent croup.\n          _Waltham, Mass._\n\n807. Brass earrings or rings are thought by negroes to keep away\nrheumatism.\n          _Alabama._\n\n808. To cure rheumatism, wear a brass ring on the finger.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n809. Wearing brass rings will prevent cramp.\n          _Alabama._\n\n810. A brass ring worn on the finger will cure rheumatism.\n          _Chestertown, Md. (negro)._\n\n811. Sailors wear gold earrings for weak eyes or to strengthen the\nsight.\n          _Brookline, Mass._\n\n812. A common custom among negroes is to wear a leather strap about the\nwrist as a cure for rheumatism, sprains, etc., and to give strength.\n          _Chestertown, Md. (negro)._\n\n813. As a cure for nose-bleed, tie a string about the little finger.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n814. A leather string commonly worn around the neck is supposed to\nprevent whooping-cough.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n815. A red string tied about the waist cures nausea or sea-sickness.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n\nCHARM.\n\n816. To keep fire always burning on the hearth will prevent cholera among\nchickens.\n          _Alabama._\n\n817. If a fish-hook pierces the hand, stick it three times into wood, in\nthe name of the Trinity, to prevent festering or other evil consequences.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n818. If you scratch yourself with a rusty nail, stick the nail\nimmediately into hard wood, and it will prevent lockjaw.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n819. A man who \"stuck a nail in his foot\" was told by a neighbor to pull\nit out, grease it, and hang it up in the \"chimbly,\" otherwise he might\nhave lockjaw.\n          _New Brunswick._\n\n820. To cure nose-bleeding, write the person's name on the forehead.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n821. For rheumatism, carry a horseshoe nail in the pocket.\n          _Central New York._\n\n822. To get rid of rheumatism: \"You go in de lot an' go up to fence. Den\nput you breas' on it and say, 'I lef you here, I lef you here,' tree\ntimes, den you go 'way and don't you never come back dere no more.\"\n          _French Canadian._\n\n823. To cure fits, the first time the child or person has one, tear off\nthe shirt of the patient and burn it up, and no more fits will return.\n          _Chestertown, Md. (negro)._\n\n824. If you don't want the cramp in your foot, turn your shoes bottom up\nat night.\n          _Nashua, N.H._\n\n825. To keep off nightmare, put your shoes at night with the toes\npointing away from the bed.\n          _Central New York._\n\n826. To ward off nightmare, sleep with shears under the pillow.\n          _Central New York._\n\n827. Nightmare is caused by the nightmare man, a kind of evil spirit,\nstruggling with one. It is prevented by placing a sharp knife under the\npillow, and stuffing the keyhole with cotton.\n          _Windham, Me._\n\n828. Sores can be cured by those who possess magical powers going through\ncertain incantations, which are to be followed by applications of oatmeal\nand vinegar.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n829. For a sty on the eye, take a small piece of paper, rub it on the\nsty, go across the road three times, and say each time,--\n\n      Sty, sty, go off my eye,\n      Go on the first one that passes by.\n\nThis is a sure cure in two or three days.\n          _Talladega, Ala._\n\n830. To cure a sty repeat at a cross-roads,--\n\n      Sty, sty, leave my eye,\n      And take the next one that passes by.\n          _Massachusetts, Indiana, and California._\n\n831. Toothache may be cured by conjurers, who apply the finger to the\naching tooth, while muttering a charm, or tie a number of knots in a\nfishing line.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n832. Toothache may be cured by a written charm, sealed up and worn around\nthe neck of the afflicted person. The following is a copy of the charm:--\n\n      I've seen it written a feller was sitten\n      On a marvel stone, and our Lord came by,\n      And He said to him, \"What's the matter with thee, my man?\"\n      And he said, \"Got the toothache, Marster,\"\n      And he said, \"Follow me and thee shall have no more toothache.\"\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n833. For toothache take an eyelash, an eyebrow, trimmings of the\nfinger-nails, and toe-nails of the patient, bore a hole in a beech-tree,\nand put them in. The sufferer must not see the tree, and it must not be\ncut down or burned.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n834. Treat biliousness by boring three holes in a tree and walking three\ntimes around it, saying, \"Go away, bilious.\"\n          _Eastern Shore of Maryland._\n\n835. The most powerful charm is a piece of printed paper called \"the\nletter of Jesus Christ.\" This, in addition to the well-known letter of\nLentulus to the Senate, contains many absurd superstitions, such as the\npromise of safe delivery in child-bed, and freedom from bodily hurt to\nthose who may possess a copy of it.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n\nWATER.\n\n836. Rub the hands with the first snow that falls and you'll not have\nsore hands all winter.\n          _Winn, Me._\n\n837. On Ash Wednesday before sunrise dip a pail of water in a running\nbrook (up stream), bottle it, and keep as a cure for anything.\n          _Maine._\n\n838. Catch the last snow of the season (_e.g._, in April), melt and put\ninto a bottle. It will cure sore eyes.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n839. Water made from snow that falls in the month of May will cure sore\neyes.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n840. Rain-water caught the first of June will cure freckles. It will not\nputrefy.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n841. An Indian doctor used for inflammation of the eyes rain-water caught\non the third, fourth, and fifth of June. It is said that this will not\nputrefy.\n          _New Hampshire._\n\n842. The first water that falls in June is supposed to cure all skin\ndiseases; and I am informed \"it is dretful good for the insides, too.\"\n          _Westford, Mass._\n\n843. Water in which a blacksmith has cooled his iron is a cure for\nfreckles.\n          _Malden, Mass._\n\n\nMISCELLANEOUS.\n\n844. It is believed that \"piercing the ear\" will cure weak eyes or\nstrengthen the eyes. It is often done to children for this purpose.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n845. To cure hiccoughs repeat in one breath the words,--\n\n      There was an old woman who lived all alone,\n      And she was made of skin and bone.\n      One day to church she went to pray,\n      And on the ground a man there lay,\n      And from his head unto his feet\n      The worms crawled in, the worms crawled out.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n846. A variant,--\n\n      There was an old woman who lived all alone,\n      And she was made of skin and bone.\n      One day to church she went to pray,\n      And on the ground there lay a man.\n      And from his head unto his feet\n      The worms crawled in, the worms crawled out.\n      The woman to the parson said:\n      \"Shall I be so when I am dead?\"\n      The parson he said \"yes.\"\n          _Portland, Me., Brookline and Deerfield, Mass._\n\n847. For hiccoughs the nurse used to say in a droning, deep, ghostly\ntone,--\n\n      There was an old man an' an old woman,\n      And they lived in a bottle and eat BONES.\n          _Brookline, Mass._\n\n848. Other somewhat general remedies for hiccoughs are to munch a\nspoonful of sugar, to scare the one troubled with hiccoughs by some\nstartling announcement or accusation, as, \"See, you've torn your dress!\"\nor, \"How did you break my vase?\" etc. Another custom is to steadily point\na finger at the hiccougher, or to make him hold up his arm and shake it.\n\n849. To cure hiccoughs, slowly take nine sips of water.\n          _Prince Edward Island and Northern Ohio._\n\n850. Another cure for hiccoughs is as follows: Put the thumb up against\nthe lower lip, with the fingers under the chin, and say, \"hiccup, hiccup,\nover my thumb,\" nine times.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n851. A cure for hiccoughs: Try for a long time to make the edges of the\nthumb-nails meet at the end.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n852. Think of the one you love best, to cure hiccoughs.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n853. For chapped lips kiss the middle rail of a five-railed fence.\n          _Bernardston, Mass._\n\n854. To relieve coughing or strangling, put a pair of scissors down\ninside the back of your dress.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n855. Chew brown paper as a cure for nose-bleed.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n856. For nose-bleed, put a key down the back.\n\n857. For nose-bleed, hold up the right arm.\n\n858. For nose-bleed, place a wad of paper between the upper lip and the\ngum.\n\n859. You can keep from crying as you peel onions if you keep the mouth\nclosed.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n860. Hold, by the points, two needles between your teeth, as you peel\nonions, and you will not cry.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n861. Hold a needle between your teeth with the point out, while peeling\nonions, and you'll not cry, _i.e._, will not feel the smart.\n\n862. You will not cry in peeling onions if you hold a bit of bread in the\nmouth.\n          _Prince Edward Island, Cambridge, Mass. (Irish)._\n\nOr, put the bread on the point of the knife.\n          _Maine._\n\n863. You will not cry in peeling onions if you let the faucet be open so\nthe water will run.\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n864. To bring up the palate when it drops and tickles the root of the\ntongue, take a wisp of hair on the crown of the head and tie it up very\ntight.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n865. Rubbing a sty with a gold ring will cure it.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n866. Cure a sty by rubbing it with a wedding ring.\n          _General._\n\n867. A sty in the eye is cured by rubbing a gold ring on the eye three\nmornings with a sign of the cross.\n          _Labrador._\n\n868. A pebble in the mouth will ease thirst.\n          _Brookline, Mass._\n\n869. A sore throat may be cured by binding about the neck on going to bed\none of the stockings which the patient has been wearing (no other one\nwill do).\n          _Somewhat general in the United States._\n\n870. To cure the sore throat, take three handfuls of ashes with your left\nhand, put into your left stocking, and bind it around your throat.\n          _Mattawamkeag, Me._\n\n871. To burn the \"little nerve\" in the ear will cure the toothache forever.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nWARTS.\n\n\nCAUSES.\n\n872. Blood from the warts on a cow's bag coming in contact with a\nperson's hands will cause warts to appear on them.\n          _New Hampshire._\n\n873. Blood from a wart, especially if applied to the tongue, will cause\nwarts to appear.\n          _New Jersey._\n\n874. To count another person's warts will cause them to appear on you.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n875. If one counts stars while lying on his back, he will have as many\nwarts as he has counted stars.\n          _New York and Trenton, N.J._\n\n876. To drink the water in which eggs have been boiled will cause\ninternal warts.\n          _Miramichi, N.B._\n\n877. Washing the hands in water in which eggs have been boiled causes\nwarts to grow.\n          _Cape Breton and Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n878. Warts are caused by touching the white of an egg.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n879. To touch the jelly-fish will cause warts.\n          _Halifax, N.S., and parts of Eastern New England._\n\n880. Touching the excrescences that sometimes appear on trees will cause\nwarts on the hand of the person who touches them.\n          _New England._\n\n881. The handling of large species of toadstool, sometimes popularly\ncalled \"wart-toadstool,\" will cause warts to grow on the part of the hand\ncoming in contact with it.\n          _New Hampshire._\n\n882. The handling of a toad will cause warts to appear.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n\nCURES.\n\n883. To cure a wart, grease it with stolen bacon, and hide the latter.\n\n884. Split a bean and put one half on the wart, one half in the ground,\nand at the end of the week dig up the latter; place on the wart with the\nother half; bury again, and this will cure the wart.\n          _Greenfield, Mass._\n\n885. Beans rubbed on a wart and thrown in the well will cure a wart.\n          _Maine._\n\n886. Rub a white bean on the warts, wrap it in paper, and throw it on the\nroad; whoever picks it up will get the warts.\n          _Connecticut._\n\n887. If you find an old bone in the field, rub the wart with it, then lay\nit down exactly as you found it. The wart will be cured.\n          _Maine._\n\n888. If a person has warts, he should rub them with a bone, and after\nreplacing the bone they are said to leave.\n          _Alabama._\n\n889. Rub a wart with the yellow milky juice of celandine (_Chelidonium\nmajus_).\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n890. The juice of \"wild celandine\" (_Impatiens fulva_) is used as a wart\ncure.\n          _Franconia, N.H._\n\n891. Dandelion juice will cure warts.\n          _Revere Beach, Mass._\n\n892. The milky juice of the _Euphorbia hypericifolia_ (and other small\nprostrate Euphorbias) is thought to be a sure cure for warts.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n893. The milky juice of the common cypress spurge (_Euphorbia\nCyparissias_) will cure warts.\n\n894. The juice of the common large milk-weeds (Asclepias) will cure warts.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n895. The juice of the \"milk-thistles\" (Sonchus) will cure warts.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n896. The milky juice of the Osage orange is used as a wart-cure.\n          _Southern Ohio._\n\n897. The first time a person has seen your wart, if it is rubbed with\nfresh cream by that person, the wart will surely go away.\n          _Bruynswick, N.Y._\n\n898[TN-7] Rub a wart with a stolen dish-cloth, and then hide or bury the\nlatter. As it decays, the wart will disappear.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n899. Rub the wart with a stolen dish-cloth, and secrete the dish-cloth\nuntil it becomes mouldy and decays, then the wart is cured.\n          _Bucks Co., Pa._\n\n900. To cure a wart: Draw a blade across it, and then draw the knife\nacross a sweet apple-tree.\n          _Lawrence, Mass._\n\n901. Warts are cured by stealing pork from the family barrel of salted\npork, rubbing the warts with it, and throwing it into the road. The\nperson who picks it up gets the warts.\n          _Bruynswick, N.Y._\n\n902. Sell your warts for money, throw the money away anywhere, but on\nyour own land. Whoever picks up the money gets also the warts.\n          _Springfield, Mass._\n\n903. To cure warts: Cut your finger-nails and put them in the knothole of\na tree; then stop up the hole, wishing the warts on to some one else.\n          _Connecticut._\n\n904. Make a wart bleed, and put the blood on a penny, throw the latter\naway, and the finder will get the wart.\n\n905. Cut up an onion, rub the wart with each slice, and bury all the\nslices.\n          _Bucks Co., Pa._\n\n906. Split a pea and rub the wart with both pieces, make a wish that some\nperson shall get the wart, throw one piece over one shoulder and the\nother over the other (into the river), and the wart will go to the person\nwished.\n          _Miramichi, N.B._\n\n907. If you rub your warts with a pebble, wrap the pebble in paper, and\nthrow it away; the person who picks it up will have them come to him. Or,\nshould you label the paper with some one's name and throw it away, the\nwarts will go to the person whose name you have written.\n          _New England._\n\n908. Take a green, mossy pebble, wrap it up, tie it, and throw it away.\nThe finder will catch the wart which you had.\n          _Rhode Island._\n\n909. Take as many pebbles as there are warts. Rub them on the warts. Roll\nthem in paper and throw them away. The finder takes the warts.\n          _Boxford, Mass._\n\n910. Go out of doors, count three, stop and pick up the stone nearest to\nyour toe. Wrap it up in a paper, and throw it away. The one that picks it\nup will get the warts.\n          _Providence, R.I._\n\n911. Count out secretly as many stones as you have warts, tie in a rag,\nand throw them where they can't be seen.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n912. If you have warts, walk nine steps backward with your eyes shut,\nhaving just picked up a pebble with which rub the wart, and throw it\naway.\n          _Fort Worth, Tex._\n\n913. To cure warts, wash the hands in warm pig's blood.\n          _Nova Scotia._\n\n914. Steal as many pins as you have warts, wrap them in paper, and throw\nthem in the road: the warts will attack whoever picks up the paper, and\nleave you.\n          _Bruynswick, N.Y._\n\n915. Run a pin through the wart, and put the pin in the road; the finder\ngets the wart.\n          _Missouri._\n\n916. Rub warts with the head of a pin; hide the latter and do not look\nfor it, or tie a knot in a string, lay it away, and do not look for it,\nand the warts will disappear.\n          _Western New York._\n\n917. Take a potato and rub it over the wart, then wrap the potato in a\npiece of paper and throw it away. The one who finds it will have the wart.\n          _Maine._\n\n918. Rub the wart with a cotton rag, spit on the rag and hide it under a\nwater-board (a wooden gutter used as a duct for rain-water off the roof\nof a house), where the water will drip on it. The whole operation must be\nkept secret.\n          _Kansas._\n\n919. Rub the wart with rock-salt till it bleeds, and throw a lump of salt\nin the fire; if it crackles and snaps out of the fire, the wart will get\nwell; if not, not.\n          _Central Maine._\n\n920. Binding a slug (_Limax_) on a wart will cure it.\n          _Cazenovia, N.Y._\n\n921. Rub the warts with the sole of your shoe; as the leather wears away,\nthe warts depart.\n          _Springfield, Mass._\n\n922. When a person wishes to remove warts from his hand, cut as many\nnotches on a stick as you have warts, and standing on a bridge, throw\nthe stick over your left shoulder, and turn your head; they will go off\nbefore you leave the bridge.\n          _Alabama._\n\n923. Cut notches in a stick to the number of warts you have, and then\nbury the stick.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n924. Some pretend to remove warts by \"touching with the sharp point of a\nstick and rubbing them in the notch of another stick; then if the patient\ntells of it, they will come back.[TN-8]\n          _Alabama._\n\n925. Take as many joints of oat or wheat straw as a person has warts, and\nburn them under a stone. As the joints rot, the warts disappear. This is\nto be done by another for you.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n926. Rub saliva on the wart, tie a string around the hand so that the\nknot comes on the wart. Take off the string and hide in a hollow stump.\n          _Southern Indiana._\n\n927. Kill a toad, and put its blood on the wart. The warts will go away\nin three weeks.\n          _Marquette, Mich._\n\n928. Warts are cured by tying a knot in a string for every wart, and\nputting under the eaves of the house. The warts go as the string rots.\n          _Ohio._\n\n929. Warts may be cured by applying to them water standing in the hollow\nof an oaken stump.\n          _Boxford, Mass., and Ohio._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nWEATHER\n\n\nCOLD.\n\n930.  As the days begin to lengthen,\n      So the cold begins to strengthen.\n          _Northeastern United States and Canada._\n\n931. Fire spitting sparks means cold weather.\n          _Patten, Me._\n\n932. If the fire burns well, it is coming cold weather.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n933. Fog in winter is always succeeded by cold and wind.\n\n934. Plenty of hawberries foretell a \"hard winter,\" _i.e._, they are to\nserve as a store of food for birds.\n          _Canada._\n\n935. Cold weather comes after the wind has blown over the oat stubble.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n\nDAYS AND TIMES.\n\n936. The first Tuesday after the new moon settles the weather for that\nquarter.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n937. If it is a fair sunset Friday night, it will rain before Monday.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n938. If it storms on a Friday, it will storm again before the next Monday.\n          _Massachusetts and New York._\n\n939. If the sun sets clear Friday night, it will not rain before Monday\nnight; but if it sets in a cloud, it will rain before Monday night.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n940. The weather of the last Friday in the month governs the next month.\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n941. There will be sun during some part of Saturday the year through.\n          _Brookline, Mass._\n\n942. If it rains the last Saturday or the first Sunday in a month, it\nwill rain the three following Sundays.\n          _Maine._\n\n943. The sun shines some part of every Saturday in the year but one.\n          _New England._\n\n944. Saturday's moon comes seven years too soon, and denotes bad weather.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n945.  Sunday's sail\n      Will never fail.\n          _Topsail Bay, N.F._\n\n946. Weather is apt to repeat itself in the following week, _i.e._, there\nwill be a run of wet Sundays or fine Tuesdays, etc.\n          _Brookline, Mass._\n\n947. The first seven days of January indicate the first seven months of\nthe year. Mild days, mild months, etc.\n          _Nova Scotia._\n\n948. If March comes in like a lamb, it goes out like a lion, and _vice\nversa_.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n949. The corn is planted when the Baltimore orioles appear, or when the\nfirst green is noticed on the oak-trees.\n          _Milton, Mass._\n\n950.  A dry May and a wet June\n      Make the farmer whistle a merry tune.\n          _Franklin Centre, R.I._\n\n951. It rains often on July fourth. That is due to the firing of cannon,\netc.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n952. If there is a wet September, there will be a next summer's drouth;\nno crops and famine.\n          _California._\n\n953. If it rains on Easter, it will rain seven Sundays thereafter.\n          _Hennepin, Ill._\n\n954.  A green Christmas makes a full churchyard, or\n      A green Christmas makes a fat graveyard.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n955. The twelve days at Christmas govern the weather of the months of the\ncoming year.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n956. The twelve days at Christmas time make the almanac for the year.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n957. It is a general notion that a cold winter is followed by a hot\nsummer, and _vice versa_.\n\n958. It always rains while the Cadets are in camp.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n959. It always rains during May meetin's.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n960. It always rains during a cattle-show.\n          _Deerfield, Mass._\n\n961. Women \"cruising,\" _i.e._, visiting about on \"pot-days,\" especially\nSundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, when people have their best dinner\n(usually pork and cabbage) in the pot, is a sign of bad weather. But it\nis also said that it is a sign of mild weather.\n          _Newfoundland and Labrador._\n\n\nFAIR OR FOUL.\n\n962. Of a change:--\n\n      Long looked for\n        Long last,\n      Short notice,\n        Soon past.\n          _Brookline, Mass._\n\n963.  From twelve till two\n      Tells what the day will do.\n          _New England._\n\n964.  If it rains before seven\n      It will drip before eleven.\n          _Eastern Maine._\n\n965.  If it rain before seven\n      It will quit before eleven.\n          _Prince Edward Island and, Maine, Massachusetts, and Northern\n           Ohio._\n\n966. If a storm clears off in the night, pleasant weather will last but a\nfew hours.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n967. In uncertain or threatening weather it is said that if you can see a\npiece of blue sky big enough to make a pair of breeches, it will clear\noff.\n          _Maine, Massachusetts, and Northern Ohio._\n\n968. Variant: If you can see enough blue sky in the west to make an old\nwoman's apron, it will clear off.\n          _Eastern Maine._\n\n969. Clocks and watches tick louder before mild weather.\n          _Scilly Cove, N.F._\n\n970. Cobwebs on the grass are a sign of fair weather.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n971. If every dish is cleaned at a given meal, then look for fair weather\nthe following day.\n          _Pennsylvania Germans._\n\n972. Fog lying in valleys is a sign of a \"civil\" day.\n          _Bay Roberts, N.F._\n\n973. If hoar frost remains after sunrise, the day will be fine; if not,\nthe day will be wet.\n          _Scilly Cove, N.F._\n\n974. A load of hay passing means fair weather.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n975.  Rainbow in the morning,\n      Sailors take warning;\n      Rainbow at night,\n      Sailor's delight.\n          _General in Canada and the United States._\n\n976. A rainbow is a sign of showers.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n977. Rain falling while the sun is shining indicates more showers.\n          _Prince Edward Island and Northern Ohio._\n\n978. Rain falling while the sun shines is a sign it will rain next day.\n          _Methuen, Mass._\n\n979. Rain falling while the sun is shining means that the devil is\nbeating his wife with a codfish.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n980.  Thunder in the morning,\n      All the day storming;\n      Thunder at night\n      Is the sailor's delight.\n\n981.  Red at night\n      Sailor's delight;\n      Red in the morning,\n      Sailors take warning.\n          _Maine and Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n982.  Evening red and morning gray\n      Will speed the traveler on his way.\n      Evening gray and morning red\n      Will bring the rain upon his head.\n          _Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio._\n\n983.  Evening red and morning gray,\n      You'll surely have a pleasant day.\n          _New York._\n\n984. Red sun, hot day to-morrow.\n\n985. High wind at dawn is a sign of a \"civil\" (calm) day.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n986. Sun's \"hounds\" (a sort of halo) before the sun denote dirty weather;\nafter the sun, denote fine weather.\n          _Scilly Cove, N.F._\n\nIn Prince Edward Island and the United States these halos are called\n\"sun-dogs,\" and are said to be a sign of coming rain.\n\n987. Much snow during the winter denotes good crops next year.\n          _New Harbor, N.F._\n\n988. If the stars are scarce, big, and dull, it portends mild weather in\nwinter. If large and bright, it portends frost in winter.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n989. Stars twinkling are a sign of bad weather.\n          _Labrador and New Harbor, N.F._\n\n\nMOON.\n\n990. When the moon is on the back, it denotes weather wet or mild; when\non the end, it denotes frost.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n991. Should the new moon lie on its back, it is a sign it will be dry\nthat month, for the moon would hold water. The Indian says the hunter can\nhang his powder-horn upon it. But should the new moon stand vertically,\nit will be a wet month, for the moon will not hold water, and the\npowder-horn will slip off. Very many, however, reverse these signs.\n          _New England, New York, and Ohio._\n\n992. The Indians told the first settlers that if the moon lay well on her\nback, so that a powder-horn could be hung on the end, the weather during\nthat moon will be dry.\n          _Nova Scotia._\n\n993. The moon changing in the west denotes that fine weather will prevail\nduring that moon.\n          _Bay Roberts, N.F._\n\n994. If the moon changes near midnight there will be fine weather. The\nnearer to midnight, the finer the weather.\n          _Conception Bay, N.F._\n\n995. A disk or ring around the moon indicates bad weather (rain or snow).\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n996. A circle round the moon means rain. In some localities the number of\nstars inside the circle denotes the number of days until it will rain.\n          _Prince Edward Island; general in the United States._\n\n997. Where there is a ring around the moon, whichever way the ring opens;\nthe wind will blow in. If it does not open there will be fine weather.\nThe bigger the ring the nearer the bad weather.\n          _Trinity Bay, N.F._\n\n998. If the new moon is of light color, there will be a frost; if it is\nred, it will be mild for a month.\n          _Bay Roberts, N.F._\n\n999. The weather of the new moon governs the month's weather.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n1000. The weather of the new moon governs the first quarter and after\nthat remains the same; therefore it governs the first half.\n          _Conception Bay, N.F._\n\n1001. The moon being red near midnight, with blunted corners or horns,\nportends mild weather that month. If the corners are white and sharp,\nthere will be frosty weather.\n          _Conception Bay, N.F._\n\n1002. If there is a star before the moon, the weather will be calm; if\nthe star is behind the moon, the weather will be stormy.\n          _New Harbor, N.F._\n\n\nRAIN.\n\n1003. A load of barrels foretells wet weather.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n1004. When the Brothers (Catholic theological students) turn out in a\nprocession it will rain soon.\n          _Baltimore, Md._\n\n1005. When a great many women are seen on the street, it will rain next\nday.\n          _Bedford, Mass._\n\n1006. When you blow out the candle, if the fire on the wick burns bright,\nit means a fair day on the morrow; if it dies down on being blown out, it\nindicates a rainy day.\n          _Plymouth, O._\n\n1007. When long cirrus clouds or \"cow's tails\" are seen, it means rain.\n          _Lewisburg, Pa._\n\n1008. Cobwebs on the grass for three mornings running are a sign of wet.\n\n1009. If there is no dew on the grass at night, it will rain the next day.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n1010. Conjurers can stop rain by throwing up clods of dirt.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1011. Fog on the hill\n      Brings water to the mill.\n      Fog on the moor\n      Brings the sun to the door.\n          _New York._\n\n1012. A fog from the hills\n      Brings water to the mills.\n      A fog from the sea\n      Drives all the rain away.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n1013. Fog on the hill\n      Brings water to the mill.\n      Fog in the vale,\n      Catch all the water in a pail.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1014. Three foggy mornings and then a rain.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1015. It will rain within twenty-four hours of a hoar frost.\n          _Deerfield, Mass._\n\n1016. When the glass sweats, it is the sign of rainy weather.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1017. If the ground is black, it means rain.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n1018. To wear your husband's hat is a sign of rain.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1019. Talking of horses is a sign of rain.\n          _Labrador._\n\n1020. Mackerel sky\n      Five miles high\n      Lets the earth\n      Go three days dry.\n          _Miller's River, Mass._\n\n1021. Mackerel sky,\n      Rain by and by.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1022. A mackerel sky is a sign of a storm.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n1023. Mackerel sky,\n      Rain is nigh.\n\n      or\n\n      Mackerel sky,\n      Rain to-morrow.\n          _Brookline, Mass._\n\n1024. Mackerel sky\n      Three days high\n      Never leaves the earth\n      Three days dry.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1025. Mackerel's back and the mare's tails\n      Make lofty ships carry low sails.\n          _Newburyport, Mass._\n\n1026. Mackerel sky, horse's tail,\n      Make the sailor draw his sail.\n          _Brookline, Mass._\n\n1027. Mackerel sky,\n      Wind blow high.\n          _Canada._\n\n1028. Mackerel sky,\n      Twenty-four hours dry.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n1029. Open and shet,\n      Sign of wet.\n          _Maine and Massachusetts._\n\n1030. Open and shet,\n      Sign of more wet.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1031. Open and shet,\n      Kind o' wet.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1032. If raindrops linger on the pane,\n      There will be further rain.\n\n1033. Raindrops falling on a river, etc., and raising large bubbles, mean\na heavy fall of rain and a flood.\n\n1034. If you can see the reflection of the building, etc., in puddles in\nthe street, it will rain inside of twelve hours.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n1035. When the rain dries up quickly from puddles, it will rain again soon.\n          _Mattawamkeag, Me._\n\n1036. The rope becoming slack denotes that rain is coming.\n          _Placentia Bay, N.F._\n\n1037. Sparks on the bottom of the tea-kettle mean rain.\n          _Patten, Me._\n\n1038. The sun drawing water means rain.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n1039. When the sun sets in a bank of clouds, there will soon be rain.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1040. It is believed that a rain may be stopped by putting one umbrella\nor more out in the rain. The longer left the better.\n          _New Orleans, La. (negro)._\n\n1041. Water boiling over out of a kettle is a sign of rain.\n          _Labrador._\n\n1042. Water boiling away quickly from the kettle is a sign of rain.\n          _Newfoundland; general in the United States._\n\n1043. The same, however, is also said to be a sign of mild weather.\n          _Bay Roberts, N.F._\n\n1044. To eat or sing in the water-closet betokens rain the next day.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n1045. Water low in wells is a sign of rain.\n          _Placentia Bay, N.F._\n\n1046. Whistle to bring rain.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n1047. When you hear a distant locomotive whistle, it is a sign of rain.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1048. Comes the rain before the wind,\n      Then your topsail you must mind.\n      Comes the wind before the rain,\n      Haul your topsails up again.\n          _Cape Cod, Mass._\n\n1049. In northerly squalls:--\n\n      If the rain comes before the wind,\n      'T is time your topsail to take in;\n      If the wind before the rain,\n      You may hoist your topsail up again.\n          _Labrador._\n\n\nWIND AND STORM.\n\n1050. A broom falling across the doorway, or chairs set crosswise, is the\nsign of a storm.\n          _Stratham, N.H._\n\n1051. If a cloud and wind are coming, the wind will last.\n          _Trinity Bay, N.F._\n\n1052. If a cloud looks as if it had been picked by a hen,\n      Get ready to reef your topsails then.\n          _Mansfield, O._\n\n1053. Clothes hanging about the rigging will bring wind.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n1054. Blue blazes in a coal fire mean a storm.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n1055. When wood on the fire makes a peculiar hissing noise, it is said\n\"to tread snow,\" and there will soon be a storm.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n1056. If the stove-lids get red-hot when the fire is first made, it is a\nsure sign of a storm of some kind.\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n1057. If the vessel is becalmed, throw a halfpenny overboard to buy wind.\n          _Harbor Grace, N.F._\n\n1058. If the halyard lies against the mast, the wind will increase.\n          _Newfoundland_\n\n1059. Sticking a knife in the mainmast produces wind.\n          _Conception Bay, N.F._\n\n1060. Table-knives turning blue denote that a northeast wind is coming.\n          _Placentia Bay, N.F._\n\n1061. Strange lights at sea are seen before a northeast gale.\n          _Newfoundland_\n\n1062. To see Northern Lights denotes that south wind and a storm will\ncome inside of forty-eight hours.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1063. If the fall \"line storm\" clears off warm, it signifies that storms\nthrough that fall and winter will clear away with mild weather, _i.e._,\nthe way in which the storm closes at the autumnal equinox will rule the\nweather following storms until the vernal equinox storm. Then the same\nsaying applies to the \"line-storm\" of March, and the spring and summer\n_after_ storms is foretold.\n\nThe contrary would happen if cool weather followed the line storm.\n          _Weathersfield, Vt._\n\n1064. In the fall, if the sky is red in the west at sunset, a gale is\ncoming from the northeast.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n1065. If a sky turn gray, the wind will be north.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n1066. First rise after low\n      Foretells stronger blow.\n\n1067. Sailors putting the end of the sheet overboard will bring wind.\nHitting it three times across the thwart stops the wind.\n          _Topsail Bay, N.F._\n\n1068. The day of the month of the first snowstorm indicates the number of\nstorms in the year.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n1069. If the stars are remarkably clear and bright, it is likely there\nwill be a storm the next day.\n\n1070. Stars in a circle around the moon foretell a storm in the same\nnumber of days as there are stars.\n          _Maine, Massachusetts, and New York._\n\n1071. Stars shooting about portend wind.\n          _Heart's Delight, N.F._\n\n1072. A shooting star shows that wind is coming from the direction toward\nwhich it goes.\n          _Conception Bay, New Harbor, N.F._\n\n1073. If stars are in thick patches before twelve at night, it is a sign\nthat wind will come next day from that quarter.\n          _Hearts Delight, Trinity Bay, N.F._\n\n1074. For the sun to rise and go into a cloud means a storm.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1075. If the sun sets in a bank, the wind will be in the \"western bank.\"\n          _Bay Roberts, N.F._\n\n1076. If the bottom of the tea-kettle is white when taken from the stove,\nit indicates a snowstorm.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n1077. The sun \"getting up water\" denotes wind and dirty weather.\n          _Scilly Cove, N.F._\n\n1078. Whistle for a breeze.\n          _Universal among sailors._\n\n1079. Whistling of wind in blocks aloft is a sign of a heavy storm.\n          _Conception Bay, N.F._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nMOON.\n\n\nDIVINATION.\n\n1080. Repeat, looking at the new moon the first time you see it,--\n\n      New moon, true moon, tell unto, me\n      Who my true love is to be;\n      The color of his hair, the clothes he is to wear,\n      And when he'll be married to me.\n          _Mansfield, O._\n\n1081. On first seeing the new moon, hold any small object in the hand\nwhile you repeat,--\n\n      New moon, true moon, reveal to me\n      Who my true love shall be;\n      The color of his hair, the clothes he shall wear,\n      And the day that we shall wedded be.\n\nPut the object--handkerchief, pebble, or what not--under your pillow at\nnight, and you will dream of your future husband.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n1082. New moon, moon,\n        Hail unto thee!\n      In my sleep upon my bed,\n      May the one I am to wed\n        In my dreams smile on me.\n          _Middleboro', Mass._\n\n1083. If you see the new moon over the right shoulder, take three steps\nbackward and repeat,--\n\n      New moon, true moon, true and bright,\n      If I have a lover let me dream of him to-night.\n      If I'm to marry far, let me hear a bird cry;\n      If I'm to marry near, let me hear a cow low;\n      If I'm never to marry, let me hear a hammer knock.\n\nOne of these sounds is always heard.\n          _Tennessee._\n\n1084. Say to the new moon over your right shoulder,--\n\n      New moon, new moon.[TN-9] come play your part,\n      And tell me who's my own sweetheart;\n      The color of his hair, the clothes he shall wear,\n      And on what day he shall appear.\n\nThen dream.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1085. The first time you see the moon in the New Year, look at it and\nsay,--\n\n      Whose table shall I spread?\n      For whom make the bed?\n      Whose name shall I carry?\n      And whom shall I marry?\n\nThen think of one you would like to marry, and go your way. Ask some\nquestion of the first person you meet, and if the answer is affirmative,\nit indicates that you will marry your choice; if negative, it means you\nwill not.\n          _Told by a Norwegian girl in Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n1086. Rest a mirror on the head and look at the new moon in it; as many\nmoons as you see mean the number of months before marriage.\n\n1087. When it is new moon, take out a stocking, and as you knit repeat,--\n\n      This knot I knit\n      To know the thing I know not yet,\n      This night that I may see\n      Who my husband is to be,\n      How he goes and what he wears,\n      And what he does all days and years.\n          _Nashua, N.H._\n\n1088. Look over the right shoulder at the new moon, and count nine stars,\npick up whatever is under your right foot, such as a stick, pebble, or\nwhat not; put it under your pillow, and you will dream of whoever is to\nbe your husband.\n          _Deer Isle, Me._\n\n1089. When you see the moon, say,--\n\n      I see the moon and the moon sees me,\n      And the moon sees somebody that I want to see.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1090. New moon, true moon, true and trusty,\n      Tell me who my true love must be.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n1091. Wish the first time you see the moon, and your wish will come true.\n          _General in the United States and Canada._\n\n1092. Bow to the new moon seven times the first time you see it, and\nyou'll get a present, or wish and you will get your wish.\n          _New England._\n\n1093. If you shake your dress at the new moon, you will get a new one.\n          _Alabama._\n\n\nFORTUNE.\n\n1094. The moon seen over the right shoulder brings good luck; over the\nleft shoulder, ill luck.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n1095. If you should see the moon over your left shoulder, and should\nwithout speaking turn round and look at it over your right shoulder, your\nill luck will disappear, and you will be as well off as if you had seen\nit over your right shoulder first.\n          _Maine and Massachusetts._\n\n1096. It is bad luck to look at the moon over your right shoulder. If\nthrough mistake you should look at it over your right, face around, take\nthree steps backward with your hands clasped behind, and then look at it\nover the left shoulder.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1097. If you see the moon square in the face, you'll have a fall.\n          _Nashua, N.H._\n\n1098. See the moon over the left shoulder,\n      You will have a fall (tumble).\n          _Bedford, Mass._\n\n1199.[TN-10] If you have money in the pocket when you first see the new\nmoon, turn it over, and you'll have plenty all the rest of the month.\n          _Stratham, N.H._\n\n1100. If you have money in your pocket the first time you see the new\nmoon, and it is seen over your right shoulder, you will have money all\nthe year.\n          _Nashua, N.H., and Massachusetts._\n\n1101. Take out money and shake it in the hand on first seeing the new\nmoon; it will increase your wealth.\n          _Miramichi, N.B._\n\n1102. Look at the new moon through a ring, wish something while doing so,\nand your wish will come true.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1103. If you first see the new moon with full hands, that is, with busy\nhands, you will be busy, full of work, all the month; if idle, the\nreverse.\n\n1104. See the new moon through a glass,\n      See sorrow while it lasts.\n          _Deer Isle, Me., and Salem, Mass._\n\n1105. If you see the new moon through trees or brush, you will have\ntrouble that month.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n1106. If you see the new moon full in front, you will meet your lover\nwithin the week.\n\n1107. If you see the new moon face on, you will go headlong through the\nmonth.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n1108. Moon full face,\n      Open disgrace.\n          _Portland, Me._\n\n1109. One who chances to have a cup in his hand when he first sees the\nnew moon is destined to wait on the sick until another new moon appears.\n          _Alabama._\n\n\nMOONLIGHT.\n\n1110. Some say you can see the man's axe and dog in the moon.\n          _New Brunswick._\n\n1111. If the moon shines in your face as you lie in the bed at night,\nyou'll die inside of a year.\n          _Central Maine._\n\n1112. It is a general belief that it is dangerous to sleep with the moon\nshining on the face. If the moon shines on fish, they will spoil.\n\n1113. Horses will be cured of any one of several diseases if you will\ninsert a bit of silver--a dime is the favorite coin--in the part\naffected; but it is imperative that you do this by the \"light of the\nmoon.\"\n          _Clover Bend, Ark._\n\n\nWAX AND WANE.\n\n1114. Set out cabbages in the new of the moon to make them head up well,\nand gather apples in the new of the moon to make them keep well. Plant\npotatoes in the old of the moon.\n          _Mitchell Co., N.C._\n\n1115. Plant flowers in the increase of the moon.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n1116. Be careful as to the phase of the moon when felling timber.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n1117. If brush and thistles are cut down in the full moon in August when\nthe sign is in the heart, they will never grow again.\n          _Copied from an agricultural paper._\n\n1118. Grass cut when the moon is waning will not \"spend well.\"\n          _New England._\n\n1119. If cut when it is waxing, the hay weighs and spends well.\n          _New England._\n\n1120. Plant peas and potatoes in the increase of the moon.\n          _Miramichi, N.B._\n\n1121. Seeds should be sown when the moon is new. This custom is still\nmore or less observed. Corn should be planted at this time.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n1122. Plant seed the first three days after the moon changes.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1123. Plant potatoes \"in the dark of the moon,\" so the potatoes will root\nand yield well.\n          _Mansfield, O._\n\n1124. The full moon is the time to cut alders, spruce, or other\nundergrowth, because the roots then die quickly without sprouting.\n          _Nova Scotia._\n\n1125. Shingle the roof in the decrease of the moon, so the shingles will\nlie flat (\"go down\"). Else they may warp and rise up.\n          _Mansfield, O._\n\n1126. If a farmer lays a rail fence by the light of the moon, it will be\nstronger and last longer than if it was laid in the daytime.\n          _Western New York and parts of Massachusetts._\n\n1127. Kill any animal for meat on the increase of the moon, and it will\nincrease in the pot. Kill it on the wane of the moon, and it will shrink\nin the pot.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n1128. If hogs are butchered on a rising tide, the pork will not shrink in\nthe pan.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1129. You must never kill cattle or pigs, or even wild game, by the \"dark\nof the moon;\" it is most unlucky, and the meat will come to no good.\n          _Clover Bend, Ark._\n\n1130. If you wean a calf at the time of the full moon, it will make less\nfuss. You mustn't wean it when the sign is in the belly, or it will never\ngrow fat. Pursue the same course with a pig, or it will squeal.\n          _Western Massachusetts._\n\n1131. To make hair grow, cut it in the new of the moon.\n          _N.F., N.B., N.S., Me., Mass., and Talladega, Ala._\n\n1132. Cut hair the first Friday in the new moon, if you wish it to grow.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n1133. It is the custom for girls to cut their bangs on the forehead when\nthe moon is new. It is supposed to make them grow. This custom is\nobserved by many intelligent young people.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n1134. Cut hair in the new moon, bury it in earth near a running brook,\nand it will make the new hair grow long and abundant.\n          _Maine._\n\n1135. Clean the spring or well during the increase of the moon, so the\nwater will _run in_ and fill the spring after it is emptied.\n          _Mansfield, O._\n\n1136. Make soap in the new of the moon.\n          _Talladega, Ala._\n\n1137. Make soap in the full of the moon.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n1138. Do not marry or move during the wane (decrease) of the moon.\n          _Mansfield, O._\n\n1139. To take away warts, steal a dish-rag out of the house, without\nanybody's knowledge, and go out of doors in the first of the moon, rub\nthe dish-rag on the wart, and say: \"Here, new moon! take away my new\nwart.\" Then throw the dish-rag away where no one can find it, and tell\nnobody.\n          _Talladega, Ala._\n\n1140. To cure warts, go out of doors when the moon is new, take up a\nhandful of mud, looking at the moon all the time, and rub on the wart.\n          _Holderness, N.H._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nSUN.\n\n\nDOMESTIC AND MECHANICAL OPERATIONS.\n\n1141. To make good bread, stir it with the sun. To make good yeast, make\nit as near sunrise as possible.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n1142. If you wish to secure lightness, you must always stir cake and eggs\na certain way, that is, the way the sun goes.\n          _Kittery, Me., Nashua, N.H., Eastern Massachusetts, and\n           Southern Michigan._\n\n1143. Eggs and cake are commonly beaten and butter made by stirring\nsunwise.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n1144. To make cake light, it must always be stirred the same way.\n          _Dalton, Mass., and Alabama._\n\n1145. In cooking soft custard, the stirring must be continued throughout\nin the direction in which it was begun; otherwise the custard will turn\nto whey.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n1146. If, after turning the crank of a churn for a while with the sun,\nyou change and turn the other way, it will undo all the churning you have\ndone.\n          _Ferrisburgh, Vt._\n\n1147. Ice cream will not freeze rightly unless the crank is turned the\nright way.\n          _Concord, Mass._\n\n1148. In making lye soap, if you stir it backward it will turn back to\nlye.\n          _Warren Co., N.Y., and Alabama._\n\n1149. In melting sugar for taffy, stir always one way, or it will grain.\n          _Allston, Mass._\n\n1150. In greasing the wheels of a carriage, always begin at a certain\nwheel and go round in a set way.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n\nCURES.\n\n1151. In rubbing for rheumatism, etc., rub from left to right (sunwise).\n          _Concord, Mass._\n\n1152. Ringworm may be killed by moistening the finger in the mouth and\nrubbing sunwise around the diseased spot.\n          _Central Maine._\n\n1153. To rub for \"sweeney.\" Rub the diseased part of the horse's shoulder\nwith a corn-cob with the sun every third morning.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n1154. Rub a corn, a wen, etc., with the sun if by day, with the moon if\nby night. The sun or moon will draw all the pain away. Related by a\nPennsylvania German.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n1155. To cure a curb in a horse, rub it with a bone, at the going down of\nthe sun.\n          _Plymouth, O._\n\n1156. A \"conjurer\" can rub away a \"rising\" (boil) by coming to your\nbedside about daybreak, before you speak to any one, and rubbing the\n\"rising\" for nine successive days.\n          _Talladega, Ala._\n\n1157. To cure a burn, moisten it with saliva, repeating:--\n\n      As far as the east is from the west,\n        Come out fire and go in frost.\n      In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,\n        Come out fire and go in frost.\n\nBlow three times, and rub sunwise three times. To be taught to not more\nthan three persons of the opposite sex.\n          _Eastern Tennessee._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nDEATH OMENS.\n\n\n1158. To raise an umbrella in a house is a sign of an approaching death.\n          _Pennsylvania; somewhat general in the United States._\n\n1159. To open an umbrella in the house is a sign of ill luck. An action\nof this sort seriously disturbed a friend of the informant, an American\ngirl of good family. \"I would never dare to do that,\" she said.\n          _Niagara Falls, Ont._\n\n1160. If a hoe be carried through a house, some one will die before the\nyear is out.\n          _Mansfield, O._\n\n1161. Carrying through the house a hoe, spade, or axe indicates a death\nin the family.\n          _Virginia._\n\n1162. Carry an axe or any iron implement through the house, and some one\nwill soon die.\n          _Southwestern Michigan._\n\n1163. Death is foretold by the ringing of a bell that cannot otherwise be\naccounted for.\n          _Southern Ohio._\n\n1164. When bread, in baking, cracks across the top, it means death.\n          _New Jersey and Ohio._\n\n1165. Cracks on the top of a loaf of bread indicate the death of a friend.\n          _Several localities._\n\n1166. When bright red specks resembling spattered blood appear on linen,\nit is held to be a token of misfortune, probably of death.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n1167. If the candle burns blue, it is token of a death.\n\n1168. To see a coffin in the candle is a token of death.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n1169. To see a \"winding-sheet\" in the candle has the same significance.\n          _Virginia._\n\n1170. Three lamps or candles burned close together mean death.\n          _Virginia._\n\n1171. If a sudden and unaccountable light is seen in a carpenter's shop,\nit indicates that the carpenter will soon have to make a coffin.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n1172. If a coffin creaks in a carpenter's shop, another order soon\nfollows.\n          _Newark, N.J., and Virginia._\n\n1173. If the coffin does not settle down smoothly into place in the\ngrave, but has to be raised and lowered again, another in the family will\ndie inside a year.\n          _Stevens Point, Wis._\n\n1174. Change a sick person from one room to another, and he will die.\n          _New Jersey._\n\n1175. If a clock, long motionless, suddenly begins to tick or strike, it\nis a sign of approaching death or misfortune.\n          _Newark, N.J., Virginia, and North Carolina._\n\n1176. If a corpse remains soft and supple after death, another death in\nthe family will follow.\n          _Trinity Bay, N.F., and Prince Edward Island._\n\n1177. A cow mooing after midnight means death.\n\n1178. To dance on the ground indicates disaster, or death within a year.\n          _Boxford, Mass._\n\n1179. The hearing, in the wall, of the \"death-watch,\" or \"death-tick,\"\nbetokens a death in the house.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n1180. A dish-cloth hung on a door-knob is a sign of death in a family.\n          _Deerfield, Mass._\n\n1181. To knock on a door and receive no answer is a sign of death.\n          _Virginia and Englewood, Ill._\n\n1182. The last name a dying person calls is that of the next to follow.\n          _New Hampshire._\n\n1183. Sometimes the dying call for an absent one, as if in trouble. This\nis a sign that that person will have some great trouble in after life.\n          _New York._\n\n1184. Death takes place at ebb tide.\n          _New England Coast._\n\n1185. The person on whom the eyes of a dying person last rest will be the\nfirst to die.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n1186. It is a sign of death to see a flower blossoming out of season, as,\nfor example, a rose in the fall. This has proved a true omen in several\ncases, according to the experience of a lady who believes in these signs.\nIn consequence of this belief, when she has such a a flower, she will\npick it off the stem and throw it away, without mentioning the incident\nto any one.\n          _Niagara Falls, Ont._\n\n1187. It is a sign of death to see a tree blossoming in the fall.\n          _Orange Co., Va._\n\n1188. If a garment is cut out on Friday, the person for whom it is made\nwill not live unless it is finished on the same day.\n          _Southern Indiana._\n\n1189. If you begin a quilt on Friday, you will never live to finish it.\n          _Maine._\n\nAn act of this sort gave great distress to a domestic servant, who, until\nafter the completion of the quilt, daily expected disaster. This woman\ncame from French Canada.\n\n1190. If a doctor is called on Friday, the patient will surely die.\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n1191. If a hearse is drawn by two white horses, death in the neighborhood\nwill occur within a month.\n          _Central Maine._\n\n1192. If anyone comes to a funeral after the procession starts, another\ndeath will occur in the same house.\n          _Ohio._\n\n1193. At a funeral the first person who turns away from the grave will\nhave the next death in his family.\n          _Trinity Bay, N.F._\n\n1194. If one goes to a funeral with the intention of following to the\ngrave but does not do so, a death soon follows in his family.\n          _Virginia._\n\n1195. If it rains during a burial, another member of the family will soon\nfollow.\n          _Poland, Me., Baldwinsville, N.Y., Ohio, and Alabama._\n\n1196. If rain falls into an open grave, another burial in the same\ncemetery will occur within three days.\n          _Western New York._\n\n1197. If you meet a funeral train, it is a sign of death.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n1198. Do not let any one wear your hat to a funeral when you've not worn\nit before yourself.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1199. Whoever counts the carriages at a passing funeral will die within\nthe year.\n          _Peabody, Mass., and Hennepin, Ill._\n\nOr, some one will die.\n\n1200. If shot remain in the gun after firing, some one of your family\nwill die.\n          _Labrador._\n\n1201. If you build on to your house, you will die within the year.\n          _Labrador._\n\n1202. Lie down on a table and you will die before the year is out.\n          _Mattawamkeag, Me._\n\n1203. To hold a lamp over a sleeping person causes death.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1204. To break a looking-glass is a sign of death in the family before\nthe year closes.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n1205. To break a looking-glass is a sign of death, or of bad luck\nor[TN-11] seven years. This is quite a general belief. Domestic servants,\nand particularly superstitious persons, are often thrown into a panic by\naccidents of this sort.\n          _General in the United States and Canada._\n\n1206. If three persons look into a mirror at the same time, one will die\nwithin the year.\n          _Peabody, Mass., and New Hampshire._\n\n1207. If one try on mourning when not wearing it, he will have occasion\nto wear it soon.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n1208. To put on a bonnet or hat of one in mourning is a sign that you\nwill wear one before the year is out.\n          _Peabody and Boston, Mass., and Niagara Falls, Ont._\n\n1209. To drive a nail on Sunday is a sign that some one in the family\nwill die within the year.\n          _Pigeon Cove, Mass._\n\n1210. Hearing an imaginary rap and opening an outside door lets death in.\n          _Ferrisburgh, Vt._\n\n1211. The hearing of three raps is a sign that some member of the family\nis dead.\n          _Boston, Mass., and Orange Co., Va._\n\n1212. If members of a family, after long separation, meet for reunion,\nsome one of the members will die within the year.\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n1213. Ringing in the ears is a sign of death.\n          _General._\n\n1214. Ringing in the ears means death before the week ends. Of this\nringing the term \"death-bell\" is used. It may be said by a country woman:\n\"Oh! I have heard a death-bell!\" or, \"What a death-bell in my ear! You\nwill hear of a death before the week is out.\" In case of a sudden death,\nsuch a person might say: \"I am not surprised; I heard a death-bell on\nsuch a day.\"\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n1215. The term \"death-bell\" is also a popular one in\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n1216. In some localities the direction of the apparent ringing indicates\nthe direction from which the news of death will come.\n\n1217. If an empty rocking-chair is seen to sway back and forth when\napparently unoccupied, it is supposed that the chair is held by the\nspirit of some deceased member of the family, who has come back to choose\nthe next to go, and call that person quickly.\n          _Michigan._\n\n1218. A spot resembling iron-rust on the finger means death.\n          _Maine._\n\n1219. Beginning on Saturday a garment that cannot be finished means death.\n          _Ohio._\n\n1220. Deaths do not come singly; but if one of a family dies, a second\ndeath in the same family will occur within a year.\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n1221. Whoever works on a sick person's dress, he or she will die within\nthe year.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1222. If some one is sick and a storm comes, it is a sign he will die\nduring its continuance.\n          _Virginia._\n\n1223. When a woman who has been sewing puts her thimble on the table as\nshe sits down to eat, it is a sign that she will be left a widow if she\nmarries.\n          _Central Maine._\n\n1224. If one sings at a table while the family are eating, it means the\ndeath of a friend.\n          _Webster City, Iowa._\n\nOr bad luck (_Virginia_); disappointment (_New Jersey_).\n\n1225. If three drops of blood fall from your nose, one of your family is\ndead.\n          _Labrador._\n\n1226. If you sneeze on Sunday morning before breakfast, you will hear of\nthe death of some person you know before the next Saturday night.\n          _Northern Vermont._\n\n1227. If you sneeze at table with the mouth full, an acquaintance will\ndie soon.\n          _Virginia and Alabama._\n\n1228. When sowing grain, if a strip of land is missed there will be a\ndeath inside of a year.\n          _Ohio and Maryland._\n\n1229. When you shiver, it means that some one is walking over the place\nwhere your grave is to be.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n1230. If sparks are left (unintentionally) in the ashes over night, it is\na sign of death.\n          _Cumberland, Md._\n\n1231. If sparks of fire fly out of an opened stove door, it is a sign of\ndeath.\n          _Trinity Bay, N.F._\n\n1232. If any one in the town lies dead over Sunday, there will be another\ndeath before the end of the week.\n          _Bedford, Mass._\n\n1233. Three horses of the same color indicate death, but this sign is not\nvery noticeable in a thickly settled community.\n          _Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\n1234. Three chairs placed accidentally in a row mean death.\n          _Ohio._\n\n1235. If there is a death there will be three deaths in the family within\na short time.\n          _New York._\n\n1236. To break the spell of thirteen at table, all should rise together,\notherwise the first up (or, as some say, the last down) dies inside a\ntwelvemonth.\n          _New England._\n\n1237. If thirteen sit at table, the one who rises first will not live\nthrough the year.\n          _Somerville, Mass., Newark, N.Y., and Mifflintown, Pa._\n\n1238. If thirteen sit at table, the last one who sits down will not die\nthat year.\n          _Brookline, Mass._\n\n1239. If window-shades fall down without being molested, it is a sign of\ndeath.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nMORTUARY CUSTOMS.\n\n\n1240. If \"salt water pigeons'\" feathers are in a bed, the sick person on\nit will not die easily.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n1241. In old colonial burying-grounds--in Plymouth, Concord, Cambridge,\nand Rutland, Mass.--the graves are so placed that the headstones face\nwest, that is, the body lies with the feet toward the east.\n          _Perhaps general in New England._\n\n1242. Among Irish Catholics it is usual to place the body with the feet\ntoward the door. The body of a young girl is usually draped in the robes\nof the society to which in her church she belonged. Over the corpse is\nconstructed a white canopy, from one end of which images of white doves\nare often hung. At the feet is a stand or table, on which flowers are\nlaid, and where, at night, candles are kept burning.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n1243. Country people turn the mirror to face the wall while one lies dead\nin the house.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n1244. While the corpse is in the house, the looking-glass must be turned\ntoward the wall; otherwise, whoever looks into the mirror will die within\nthe year. This custom is said to be most common among Irish Catholics,\nbut it is not confined to them.\n          _Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\n1245. Bad luck (instead of death) is also said to follow violation of\nthis rule.\n          _Washington, D.C._\n\n1246. If, when any one dies, you put the coffin in any other room than\nthe one the corpse is in, some other member of the family will die within\na year.\n          _Western Massachusetts._\n\n1247. \"I have noticed at funerals of the aged, that when elderly people\npassed by the casket they would touch the forehead of the dead person. I\nwas confident that there was some superstition connected with the act,\nbecause the same look was apparent on every face; but on being asked why\nthis was done, they pretended it was bidding an old comrade good-bye. At\nlast one told me that it was that they might not dream of the dead or see\nthem.\"\n          _Westport, Mass._\n\n1248. It is usual, after the conclusion of the funeral service, for the\npersons present at the ceremony to pass in front of the dead, and look on\nthe face. Not to perform this token of respect is felt as a lack of\npropriety. It is not uncommon for the undertaker, or some person in\ncharge of the proceedings, to say in a loud voice: \"An opportunity is now\noffered to those who desire to look on the face of the corpse,\" or words\nto that effect.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n1249. Only male relatives take part in the funeral procession.\n          _Philadelphia, Pa._\n\n1250. In regard to the ceremonies at the grave, usage differs widely. In\nNew England it is usual for near relatives to attend; and, in the case of\nimportant persons, for a procession to march to the cemetery. Among\nCatholics a great number of friends attend the hearse of persons in\nhumble life.\n\n1251. It is an old Connecticut custom that the yard gate should never be\nshut after being opened to let through a body being carried from its\nformer home to the graveyard.\n\n1252. The funeral procession must not cross a river.\n          _Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\n1253. \"I was first led to notice the superstition about crossing a river,\nfrom having to attend funerals on the south side, when they would\notherwise have been held on the north side. This is losing ground, owing\nto the frequency of crossing to reach the cemetery, but I had an instance\nonly last spring.\"\n          _Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\n1254. The corpse must not pass twice over any part of the same road.\n          _Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\n1255. It is unlucky in a funeral, for those present to repass the house\nwhere death has occurred.\n          _Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\n1256. At a funeral, entering church before the mourners means death to\nsome of the entering party.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n1257. It is a bad sign to drive past a funeral procession.\n          _Maine._\n\n1258. It is unlucky to pass through a funeral procession, either between\nthe carriages or the files of mourners on foot.\n\nThis is a general superstition. The custom, which has become instinctive\nwith many persons, is usually set down to the score of decency and\npropriety.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n1259. To meet a funeral is bad luck. To avert it, turn round and take\nthree steps backward before going on.\n          _St. John, N.B._\n\n1260. It is bad luck to meet a corpse. One may follow it, but never meet\nit. A colored person will turn square about on seeing a funeral\nprocession approaching.\n          _Talladega, Ala., and Virginia._\n\n1261. To keep the corpse in the house over Sunday will bring death in the\nfamily before the year is out.\n          _South Framingham, Mass._\n\n1262. If the grave is left open over Sunday, another death will occur\nbefore the Sunday following.\n          _Boxford, Mass._\n\n1263. If a grave is covered on Friday, another in the same family will\nfollow inside of a year.\n          _Chatham, N.B._\n\n1264. If a grave is left open over night without the corpse, another\ndeath in the family will soon follow.\n          _Virginia._\n\n1265. It is bad to disturb an old grave, as by putting up a tombstone;\nyou will thus herald a death.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n1266. Many will not go through a graveyard on the way to call on friends,\nfor fear of bringing death into the house.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1267. The clothes of the dead wear out quickly.\n          _Westport, Mass._\n\n1268. \"The clothes of the dead never wear long\" when used by the living.\n          _New York._\n\n1269. If you put clothes of a live person on a corpse, when the clothes\ndecay the owner will die.\n          _St. Joseph, Mo._\n\n1270. It is quite customary, both in the United States and in Canada, to\ngive the whole house a thorough cleaning after a death has occurred, even\nwhen the deceased has undergone no prolonged illness and has died of no\ncontagious disease. A day or two after the funeral one sometimes sees,\nparticularly in country homes, feather beds, mattresses, etc., etc., put\nout to air. Sometimes even rooms are whitewashed in the purification\nprocess.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nMISCELLANEOUS.\n\n\nACTIONS.\n\n1271. If a child in eating an apple merely girdles it and leaves the\napple good at stem and below, it indicates that he will be a poor man;\nthe saying is, \"a poor man's core.\"\n\n1272. It is unlucky to turn back after starting to go anywhere. To avert\nmisfortune after turning back, make the sign of the cross in the dust\nwith the heel, and spit in the cross.\n          _Arkansas (negro), and Kentucky._\n\n1273. It is unlucky to turn back after having once started out.\n          _Quebec._\n\n1274. To get out of bed on the wrong side puts one out all day. \"He got\nout of bed with the wrong foot foremost\" is said of a person who has a\nfit of crossness.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n1275. To drop your books on the way to school signifies that you will\nmake mistakes in your lessons.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n1276. Drop a book and you will miss your lesson, unless it is immediately\npicked up and kissed.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1277. Whoever eats the last piece of bread will be an old maid.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n1278. If you break something, you will break two other things.\n          _Maine, Massachusetts, and Northern Ohio._\n\n1279. To twirl a chair on one leg means that you are going to fight with\nsomebody.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n1280. Whirling an empty chair indicates that a whipping is in store for\nthe transgressor.\n\n1281. If you twirl a chair around on one leg, it is a sign that you are\nabout to break dishes.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n1282. You mustn't pay the doctor entirely, or there will be sickness in\nthe family.\n          _Lonsdale, R.I._\n\n1283. You must leave by the door through which you enter, or there will\nbe trouble with the family, or ill luck to yourself.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n1284. If you leave by any other door than the one through which you have\nentered, it is said that you will not come again.\n          _Cumberland, Me._\n\n1285. In bathing, the eyes should always be rubbed towards the nose, as\nthat makes them large, and rubbing out the opposite way makes them small.\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n1286. In climbing a fence,--\n\n      Get over, meet with clover,\n      Get through, meet with a shoe;\n      Get under, meet with a blunder.\n          _Sunderland, Mass._\n\n1287. If you step on a grave, you will never grow any more.\n          _Chestertown, Md. (negro)._\n\n1288. Step over a living thing, and that thing, whether a human being or\nnot, will not grow any more.\n          _Province of Quebec, Can._\n\n1289. To step over one leg of a child will cause it to grow longer than\nthe other.\n          _Baltimore, Md._\n\n1290. To comb the hair after dark is a sign of sickness.\n\n      Comb your hair after dark,\n      Comb sorrow to your heart.\n          _Connecticut._\n\n1291. If you comb your hair after dark, it will make you forgetful.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n1292. If the right hand itches, you are going to get money; if the left,\nyou will shake hands with a friend. If the nose itches, a friend is\ncoming.\n          _Talladega, Ala._\n\n1293. Two persons wiping hands on the same towel and twisting it\noccasions a quarrel.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n1294. Wash and wipe together,\n      Live in peace together.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n1295. If two persons wash their hands at the same time, it is a sign that\nthey will be friends forever.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1296. If two persons wipe their hands at the same time, they will be foes\nforever.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1297. When two persons put one hand of each flat together, palm to palm,\nthey will quarrel.\n          _Province of Quebec, Can._\n\n1298. If two persons clasp hands so as to lock the fingers, bringing the\npalm of one person against the palm of the other person's hand, it will\nbreak friendship.\n          _Newton, Mass._\n\n1299. If you hug your knee (hold your knee in clasped hands), you will\nhug up trouble.\n          _Salem and Medford, Mass._\n\n1300. When your joints crack, it is a sign that you have not outlived\nyour best days.\n          _New York, N.Y._\n\n1301. If you kiss through a veil, there'll be a coolness.\n          _Portland, Me._\n\n1302. Crossed knives are a sign of a quarrel.\n          _Cumberland, Mass._\n\n1303. Stir with a knife,\n      Stir up strife.\n\n1304. Never look after a friend who is leaving you till he is quite out\nof sight, or you will never see him or her again; but turn your eyes away\nwhile he is still visible, that he or she may return.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n1305. Never say \"good-by\" more than once.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1306. One who habitually bites the nails is ill-natured.\n          _Ohio._\n\n1307. If you bite your finger-nails you will always be poor.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1308. If you sleep with your head towards the north, it will prevent\nsickness.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n1309. If you can cut a pie fair and true, you'll have a likely husband.\nIf you make the slices uneven, he'll be crooked.\n\n1310. If you make a bed handsomely, you'll have a handsome husband.\n\n1311. If you cut pie straight, you will go to housekeeping.\n      If you cut pie crooked, you will have no house to keep.\n          _New Hampshire._\n\n1312. If you make a rhyme involuntarily, you will have a present.\n          _New Brunswick._\n\n1313. The free use of salt is a sign of having a temper.\n          _Lynn, Mass._\n\n1314. To say anything backward is a sign you will get a present.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n1315. If you sing before you eat,\n      You'll cry before you sleep.\n          _Ohio and Iowa._\n\n1316. If you sing before breakfast, you will cry before supper.\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n1317. If you laugh before breakfast, you will cry before supper.\n          _Prince Edward Island and Somerville, Mass._\n\n1318. Little birds that sing in the morning\n      The old cat will catch before night.\n\nAccustomed to be said to children when they were especially hilarious in\nthe early morning.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n1319. If a child sing before breakfast, it will get a whipping before\nnight.\n          _New Hampshire._\n\n1320. To sing after you go to bed is a sign that tears will come before\nbreakfast.\n          _Maine._\n\n1321. If the sole of either foot itches, you will walk on strange ground.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n1322. When about to begin a new enterprise, one must not step over straws\nin starting out.\n\n1323. If you stumble with the right foot, it means a glad surprise.\n          _Pennsylvania (negro)._\n\n1324. In going anywhere, if you strike the right foot you will be welcome\nwherever you may be going, and if the same happens to the left foot, you\nwill be on strange ground.\n          _Bellville, O._\n\n1325. To sit on a table is a sign of coming disappointment.\n          _Maine and Massachusetts._\n\n1326. In drinking tea, if you take a stem in the mouth it means an enemy;\nyou must bite it and throw it over the right shoulder.\n          _Central Maine._\n\n1327. If you stub your toe going into a house, you are not wanted there.\n          _Guilford, Conn._\n\n1328. If, in going visiting, you stub the right toe, you are welcome; if\nthe left, you are unwelcome.\n          _Massachusetts and Ohio._\n\n1329. If you stub your toe going anywhere, it means a disappointment.\n          _Bathurst, N.B._\n\n1330. Stub your toe,\n      Lose your beau.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n1331. To bite the tongue while talking means that you have told a lie.\n\n1332. If you bite your tongue suddenly while eating, it is a sign some\none is coming hungry.\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n1333. In going along the street or path, where there is a tree, go inside\nrather than outside the tree, for you will be disappointed if you take\nthe latter course.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n1334. In drinking water, if you glance over the glass, you are a flirt.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n1335. Whistling girls and crowing hens\n      Always come to some bad ends.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n1336. Whistling girls and sheep\n      Are the very worst cattle a farmer can keep.\n\n1337. A whistling girl and a laughing sheep,\n      Are the very best property a man can keep.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n1338. Girls that whistle and hens that crow\n      Make their way wherever they go.\n\n1339. Whistle before you eat,\n      Cry before you sleep.\n          _Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\n\nBODILY AFFECTIONS.\n\n1340. If the right cheek burns, some one is speaking well of you; if the\nleft, they are speaking ill of you; if both, they speak well and ill at\nonce. Moisten the finger in the mouth and touch it to the cheek, naming\nthose whom you suspect; the one at whose name it grows cool was speaking\nof you.\n          _New Brunswick._\n\n1341. If your right ear burns, some one is talking well of you; if your\nleft, he is talking ill.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n1342. If you bite the corner of your apron, you will make back-biters\nbite their tongues.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n1343. Pinch your ear, and the person talking of you will bite his own\ntongue.\n\n1344. If the right ear burns, it is a sign that some one is thinking well\nof you; if the left ear burns, it is a sign that some one is thinking\nunkindly of you; but if both ears burn, friend and foe are fighting about\nyou.\n          _Pennsylvania._\n\n1345. If your ears burn, people are talking well of you; if your ears are\ncold, the contrary.\n          _New Hampshire._\n\n1346. If your right ear burns, a lady is speaking of you; if the left, a\nman.\n          _Maine and Pennsylvania._\n\n1347. If your left ear itches, some one is saying unpleasant things about\nyou; but if your right ear, pleasant things. Some say,--\n\n      Both left and right\n      Are good at night.\n          _Cambridge, Mass._\n\n1348. If the right eye itches, it is a sign you will cry; if the left,\nyou will laugh, because R stands for \"roar\" and L for \"laugh.\"\n          _Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\n1349. If the right eye itches, you'll laugh; if the left eye, you'll cry.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n1350. If your eye itches, some one wants to see you and can't.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n1351. If you look at one who has inflamed eyes, you'll catch the disease.\n          _Maine and Ohio._\n\n1352. If your elbow itches, you will sleep with a stranger.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n1353. If the right foot itches, it is a sign you will go where you will\nbe welcome; if the left foot itches, it is a sign you will go where you\nare unwelcome.\n          _Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\n1354. If while going to see any one your left foot itches, you are not\nwelcome.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1355. The nose itching is a sign you are going to \"get mad.\"\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n1356. If your nose itches, it is a sign of a present.\n\n1357. If your nose itches, some one will be provoked with you.\n\n1358. If your nose itches, it is a sign that\n\n      You'll be mad,\n      See a stranger,\n      Kiss a fool,\n      Or be in danger.\n          _Prince Edward Island._\n\n1359. If your nose itches, you will\n\n      See a stranger,\n      Kiss a fool,\n      Or be in danger.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n1360. If your nose itches, it is a sign you will be kissed, cussed, or\nvexed.\n          _Somerville, Mass._\n\n1361. If the nose itches, some say you will receive a letter; others\ndeclare it is a sign your lover is thinking of you.\n          _Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\n1362. If the palm of the hand itches, it is a good sign that you will\nkill something.\n          _Labrador._\n\n1363. Itching in the palm is a sign of a fight, or of seeing a stranger.\n\n1364. An unexpected scratch denotes surprise.\n\n1365. A long scratch across the palm denotes a sleigh-ride.\n          _Pennsylvania (negro)._\n\n1366. A scratch on the hand denotes a ride; the length of the scratch\nindicates the length of the ride.\n          _New England._\n\n1367. A scratch on the right hand is a sign of a ride to come; on the\nleft, a disappointment.\n          _Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\n1368. If your knee itches, you are jealous.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n1369. Being lousy is an indication that the lousy person is in good\nhealth.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n1370. Some hold that the white spots that one has on the finger-nails\nrepresent the lies you have told.\n          _Maine and Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\n1371. If you shudder without apparent cause, some one has stepped over or\nupon your grave.\n          _Gilsum, N.H._\n\n1372. If you shudder, it is a sign that a rabbit is running across, or a\ngoose is eating grass from your grave.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n1373. There is an old superstition that every sigh causes a drop of blood\nto flaw from the heart.\n          _Exeter, N.H._\n\n1374. \"Smooches\" made on the face by soiled fingers (called beauty spots\nin Ohio) mean a present.\n          _New Brunswick._\n\n1375. A lump on the tongue means that you have told a lie.\n          _Prince Edward Island, New York, and Northern Ohio._\n\n\nAPPAREL.\n\n1376. If you mend your apron or dress while on you, some one will lie\nabout you.\n          _Maine and Alabama._\n\n1377. As many stitches as you take (in mending a garment while wearing\nit), so many lies will be told about you.\n          _New Hampshire._\n\n1378. If a garment is mended while being worn, it is a sign the wearer\nwill do something he is ashamed of before the week is out.\n          _Newton, Mass._\n\n1379. If one mends his clothes upon his back,\n      It is a sign his trouble will never come back.\n          _Connecticut._\n\n1380. Basting threads left in a garment signify that it is not yet paid\nfor.\n          _Massachusetts and Ohio._\n\n1381. Put your clothes on the wrong side out and you'll have a present\nbefore the week is out.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n1382. If, when dressing, one puts on any of his clothing wrong side out,\nit is a sign that he will soon receive a present.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1383. If you happen to put your skirt on wrong side out, you are likely\nto get a new one.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1384. You mustn't talk when some article of dress you are wearing is\nbeing mended, or some one will talk or tell lies about you.\n\n1385. In dressing for a journey, if you wish to have good luck, dress the\nright foot first.\n          _Belleville, Ohio._\n\n1386. If the hem of a lady's dress turns up, she is sure to have a new\none.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1387. While sewing on a garment, should you sew it to your dress by\nmistake, as many stitches as you take, so many lies will be told about\nyou.\n          _Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\n1388. If you break your needle in making a dress, you will live to wear\nit out. If you tear a hole in a new dress, the first time wearing it, you\nwill have a new one before that is worn out.\n          _Deer Isle, Me._\n\n1389. If you break a needle in sewing a new gown, it is a sure sign you\nwill live to wear out the garment.\n          _Holyoke, Mass._\n\n1390. If you break your needle in making a garment, or have to rip out\nsome of it, you will live to wear it out.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n1391. If a white petticoat falls below your dress, it is a sign that your\nfather loves you better than your mother.\n          _New England._\n\n1392. Crooked pins are a sign that the owner is an old maid.\n          _Province of Quebec, Can._\n\n1393. Should a friend withdraw a ring from the finger of another, it is a\nsign it will break friendship. The owner should take off the ring and\nhand it to the friend.\n          _Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\n1394. A hole in the toe of your shoe or stocking, so as to show the toe,\nmeans a letter.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n1395. Old shoes, particularly the soles, were often buried by negro\nservants on Monday morning to keep the devil down through the week.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n1396. Save the old shoes to throw after the carriage, when any of the\nfamily start on a journey; it will insure a safe return.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1397. Wear the boot (or shoe) on the side, a rich man's bride;\n      On the toe, spend as you go;\n      On the heel, love to do weel;\n      On the ball, live to spend all.\n          _Boston._\n\n1398. Hole in the toe, spend as you go:\n      Hole at the side, be a rich bride;\n      Hole at the heel, spend as you feel;\n      Hole on the ball, live to spend all.\n          _New York._\n\n1399. Wear at the toe, live to see woe;\n      Wear at the side, live to be a bride;\n      Wear at the ball, live to spend all;\n      Wear at the heel, live to save a deal.\n          _New York._\n\n1400. Wear on the toe,\n      Spend as you go;\n      Wear on the ball,\n      Love to spend all.\n      Wear on the side,\n      You'll be a rich bride.\n\n1401. Of stockings:--\n\n      Wear at the toe,\n      Spend as you go:\n      Wear at the heel,\n      Spend a good deal;\n      Wear at the ball,\n      You'll live to spend all.\n          _South Carolina._\n\n\nCUSTOMS.\n\n1402. Halloween cabbages are pulled and thrown against the owner's door\nas a reminder of his laziness.\n          _Southern Pennsylvania and Ohio._\n\n1403. Shelled corn is thrown at every one--the significance not known.\n          _Southern Pennsylvania._\n\n1404. If a man is insulted and means to be revenged, he will bare his arm\nand cut a cross in it with his knife, called a \"vengeance mark.\"\n          _Mountains of North Carolina._\n\n1405. If you wash your face in dew before sunrise on May Day, you will\nbecome very beautiful.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1406. Dry spots, where there is no dew, are called \"fairy rings.\"\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n1407. Run round a fairy ring twice on Easter Sunday morning, and fairies\nwill arise and follow you.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n1408. The looking-glass is often turned with the face to the wall, or\ntaken out of the room during a thunder-storm, because \"quick-silver is so\nbad to draw the lightning.\"\n          _Bathurst, N.B._\n\n1409. You are said to \"take the manners\" if you take the last of any kind\nof food from a plate.\n          _New England._\n\n1410. \"Manners dish\" is the dish put on for show, and not expected to be\neaten.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n1411. Homoeopathic pills must be taken in odd numbers.\n          _New England._\n\n1412. When a meteor is seen, Catholics often say, \"A soul is ascending\ninto heaven.\"\n\n1413. A present of a knife or any pointed instrument cuts friendship;\nalways sell it for a penny.\n\n1414. A present of pins breaks friendship.\n          _General in the United States._\n\n1415. There was a superstition among old people who had never been much\nabroad, in the town where I was born (Stratham, N.H.), that if they were\nphotographed they were likely to die soon after, and many rather objected\non that account.\n          _Stratham, N.H._\n\n1416. After sneezing, it is customary to say, \"God bless you.\"\n          _General in the United States._\n\n1417. A bit of steel, such as a needle, protects one from witches.\n          _Brookline, Mass._\n\n1418. A thief may be detected by a key turning in the Bible to Psalm i.\n18-21, when the name of the guilty person is mentioned.\n          _Labrador._\n\n\nDAYS.\n\n1419. What you do on your birthday, you will do all the year.\n          _Salem, Mass._\n\n1420. On cutting the finger-nails:--\n\n      Cut them on Monday, cut them for news,\n      Cut them on Tuesday, a pair of new shoes,\n      Cut them on Wednesday, cut them for health,\n      Cut them on Thursday, cut them for wealth,\n      Cut them on Friday, cut them for sorrow,\n      Cut them on Saturday, see your sweetheart to-morrow,\n      Cut them on Sunday, cut them for evil,\n      All the whole week you'll be ruled by the devil.\n          _Baldwinsville, N.Y._\n\n1421. If you wear a garment for the first time on Saturday, you will have\nanother one before it is worn out.\n          _Bedford, Mass._\n\n1422. Study on Sunday, forget it through the week.\n          _Nashua, N.H._\n\n1423. If, of your own accord, you leave home for Sunday visiting, you\nwill be forced to leave for two Sundays following.\n          _Labrador._\n\n1424. Get a letter on Monday, and you'll get six during that week.\n          _New York, N.Y._\n\n1425. If you break anything on Monday, you will break something every day\nin the week.\n          _Somerville, Mass._\n\n1426. If you break anything Sunday, you will continue to do so every day\nof the week, or as you commence Sunday, so you will go through the week.\n          _Eastern Massachusetts._\n\n1427. If you begin anything Saturday, it must be finished that day or it\nwill not get finished.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n1428. Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for a letter,\n      Sneeze on Tuesday, sneeze for something better,\n      Sneeze on Wednesday, sneeze for news,\n      Sneeze on Thursday, sneeze for a new pair of shoes,\n      Sneeze on Friday, sneeze for sorrow,\n      Sneeze on Saturday, see him to-morrow.\n          _Niagara Falls, Ont._\n\n1429. Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for danger,\n      Sneeze on Tuesday, kiss a stranger,\n      Sneeze on Wednesday, receive a letter,\n      Sneeze on Thursday, something better,\n      Sneeze on Friday, sneeze for sorrow,\n      Sneeze on Saturday, see your true love to-morrow.\n      Sneeze on Sunday, your safety seek,\n      Or the devil will have you the rest of the week.\n          _Crown Point, N.Y._\n\n1430. Sneeze before twelve and one, and you will hear news.\n          _Brighton, Mass._\n\n1431. Sneeze at the table, there will be one more or one less at the next\nmeal.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1432. Sneeze before your breakfast,\n      See your beau before the day is past.\n          _Brighton, Mass._\n\n1433. If you sneeze once, a girl is thinking of you; twice, she is\nwishing for you; thrice, it is a sign of a cold.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1434. Sneeze before seven,\n      Sneeze before eleven.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n1435. What you sew on Sunday, you'll take out on Monday.\n      What you sew on Sunday, you'll rip out in heaven.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1436. Never cut your toe-nails Sunday, or you will do something to be\nashamed of before the week is out.\n          _Granville, Mass._\n\n1437. Cut your nails Monday morning, without speaking (?), and you will\nget a present before the week is out; some have it, \"without thinking of\na red fox's tail,\" instead of \"without speaking.\"\n          _Westport, Mass._\n\n\nDOMESTIC LIFE.\n\n1438. It is supposed that a broom placed behind the door will keep off\nwitches.\n          _Bruynswick, N.Y._\n\n1439. To burn the stub of a broom or break a sugar-bowl, means a quarrel.\n          _Westport, Mass._\n\n1440. A spark seen on a candle or lamp when the light is extinguished\nmeans the receipt of a letter.\n          _St. John, N.B., and Salem, Mass._\n\n1441. Wet the finger and touch the \"letter\" on the candle. If it come off\non the finger, it means a letter for you.\n          _Maine._\n\n1442. The letter in the candle will face the one for whom the letter is\nto be. If the little snuff bud is bright, it means a letter.\n          _Northern Ohio._\n\n1443. If the candle is sooty, or shows a spark in the wick on blowing\nout, it is a sign that a letter is on its way.\n\n1444. If chairs become entangled (legs interlaced, etc.), it means a\nquarrel.\n          _Bathurst, N.B._\n\n1445. If you choke (food gets in the windpipe), it means some one has\ntold lies about you.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n1446. It is a sign of good old-fashioned economy to use up a dish-cloth\nuntil it can be put into your mouth.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1447. If a door opens of itself, it is supposed to indicate the presence\nof a spirit, usually one of the family.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1448. It is unlucky to name a child after a dead child of the family.\n          _Newfoundland._\n\n1449. If you begin keeping house with many in the family, it is a sign\nthat you will always have a large family or houseful.\n          _Ohio._\n\n1450. If a wood fire snaps and sparkles, each time it does indicates the\nreceipt of a letter.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n1451. One of the negro superstitions was that when the fire burned with a\nblue flame, it was the devil seeking to speak to them. A handful of salt\nwould make him go away.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1452. Sweep the floor after dark, you'll see sickness before morning.\n\n1453. If while eating you drop food on the floor, it is a sign that some\none is telling lies about you.\n          _Cape Breton._\n\n1454. Food dropped on the floor by one signifies that some one grudges\nyou it.\n          _Common in the United States._\n\n1455. Do not change your place at table; it is very unlucky.\n          _New York, N.Y._\n\n1456. If you keep changing your furniture to different places, you'll be\npoor.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1457. Not drinking the whole contents of a glass or cup means\ndisappointment.\n          _Westport, Mass._\n\n1458. If sooty bubbles form and blacken on the wick in a lamp burning\nwhale oil, each bubble indicates the receipt of a letter.\n          _Peabody, Mass._\n\n1459. When sparks are seen on the bottom of the tea-kettle, it is a sign\nthat folks are going home from meeting.\n          _New Hampshire and Boxford, Mass._\n\n1460. Sparks flying from a fire mean letters; the number of the sparks is\nthe number of the letters.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n1461. If a spark or sparks jump out of the fire and hit you or come\ntowards you, it is a sign some one has a spite or grudge against you.\n          _Bathurst, N.B._\n\n1462. Two spoons given to one person denotes that that person will have\ntwo homes before the year is out.\n          _Chestertown, Md._\n\n1463. The tea-kettle suddenly singing means news.\n          _Patten, Me._\n\n\nVARIOUS.\n\n1464. A stratum of warm air indicates the presence of the devil.\n          _Boston, Mass. (Irish)._\n\n1465. If, when a newly-married couple go to housekeeping, she slyly takes\nher mother's dish-cloth or dish-wiper, she will never be homesick. Old\nMrs. ---- told me that she believed that was the reason she was not\nhomesick when they moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio.\n          _Ohio._\n\n1466. To have a sharp knife is a sign of a lazy man.\n          _Central Maine._\n\n1467. Passing anything through a ladder is a sign of a long passage.\n          _Conception Bay, N.F._\n\n1468. If a ship has a starboard list, it is a sign of a quick passage; if\na port list, it is a sign of a long passage.\n          _Conception Bay and New Harbor, N.F._\n\n1469. Write the date of the first snowstorm, and you'll gain a bet before\nthe winter is through.\n          _Massachusetts._\n\n1470. To ascertain a girl's age, pull a hair from her head, hang a\nfinger-ring from this inside a tumbler or goblet, and it will strike the\nnumber of years.\n          _Boston, Mass._\n\n1471. Throw a strand of your hair in the fire; if it blazes you will live\nlong and happily; if not, you will die soon.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1472. If a tree falls to the right while you are looking at it, you are\ngoing on a long trip before the end of the year, and will have some\nunexpected piece of good luck.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1473. A person born on Halloween is said to be possessed of evil spirits.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1474. Place a broom across the door, and if any of your departed friends\nwish to speak to you they are free to come and go at will while the broom\nremains there.\n          _Alabama._\n\n1475. If a person who raises fowls is bothered with hawks, he may prevent\nthe trouble by throwing a handful of \"rocks\" into the fire while it is\nburning brightly.\n          _Alabama._\n\n\n\n\nNOTES.\n\n\n\n\nNOTES.\n\n\nIntroduction, page 8.--S.G. Drake, _Annals of Witchcraft in New England_,\nBoston, 1869, p. 189, remarks that the principal accusers and witnesses\nin the witchcraft prosecutions of 1692, in Salem, Mass., were eight girls\nfrom eleven to twenty years of age, and adds with reference to their\nconduct previous to the accusations: \"These Females instituted frequent\nMeetings, or got up, as it would now be styled, a Club, which was called\na Circle. How frequent they had these Meetings is not stated, but it was\nsoon ascertained that they met to 'try projects,' or to do or produce\nsuperhuman Acts. They doubtless had among them some book or books on\nMagic, and Stories of Witchcraft, which one or more of their Circle\nprofessed to understand, and pretended to teach the Rest.\" An examination\nof the evidence in the trials, however, shows not only no authority for\nthese assertions, but that no such meetings took place previous to the\ntrials, nor did any such \"circle\" exist. Drake derived his information\nfrom a paper by S.P. Fowler, who, in an address before the Essex\nInstitute, in the year 1856, had remarked: \"These girls, together with\nAbigail Williams, a niece of Mr. Parris, aged eleven years, were in the\nhabit of meeting in a circle in the village, to practise palmistry,\nfortune-telling, &c.\" For such representation Mr. Fowler had no warrant;\nit would seem that he had obtained the notion by transferring to the time\nof the trials his experience in connection with spiritualistic \"circles\"\nof his own day. It is curious to observe how readily this suggestion was\nadopted, and with what uniformity recent popular narratives of the\ndelusion reiterate, with increasing positiveness of phrase, the unfounded\nassumption. The expression, to \"try projects,\" is therefore taken by Mr.\nDrake from modern folk-lore. Fowler's address, entitled \"An Account of\nthe Life and Character of the Rev. Samuel Parris, of Salem Village, and\nof his Connection with the Witchcraft Delusion of 1692,\" was printed in\nthe _Proceedings_ of the Essex Institute, Salem, Mass, 1862, vol. ii. pp.\n49-68 and also separately (Salem, 1857). For assistance in determining\nthe origin of Drake's statement I am indebted to Mr. Abner C. Goodell,\nJr., of Salem, Mass.--_W.W.N._\n\nNos. 15-16.--The reader who is interested to know how much importance has\nbeen attributed to the caul will do well to consult Levinus Lemnius, _De\nMiraculis Occultis Naturae_. Chapter viii. of Book II. is headed: De\ninfantium recens natorum galeis, seu tenui mollique membrana, qua facies\ntanquam larva, aut personata tegmine obducta, ad primum lucis intuitum se\nspectandam exhibet.\n\nThe belief in the efficacy of the caul goes back at least to the time of\nSt. Chrysostom, who, in the latter part of the fourth century, preached\nagainst this with kindred superstitions. Advertisements of cauls for\nsale, at prices ranging from twenty guineas down, have from time to time\nappeared in the London papers as recently as the middle of the present\ncentury, if not even later.\n\nNo. 60.--See \"Current Superstitions,\" _Journal of American Folk-Lore_,\nvol. ii. No. V.\n\nNos. 116-118.--The custom of consulting in augury the occasional white\nspots on the finger-nails still survives, despite the protestation of old\nSir Thomas Browne. He says:--\n\n\"That temperamental dignotions, and conjecture of prevalent humours, may\nbe collected from spots in our Nails, we are not averse to concede. But\nyet not ready to admit sundry divinations vulgarly raised upon them. Nor\ndo we observe it verified in others, what _Cardan_ discovered as a\nproperty in himself: to have found therein signs of most events that ever\nhappened unto him. Or that there is much considerable in that doctrine of\nCheiromancy, that spots in the top of the Nails do signifie things past;\nin the middle, things present; and at the bottom, events to come. That\nWhite specks presage our felicity; Blue ones our misfortunes. That those\nin the Nail of the Thumb have significations of honour, those in the\nfore-Finger, of riches, and so respectively in other Fingers (according\nto Planetical relations, from whence they receive their names), as\n_Tricassus_ hath taken up, and _Picciolus_ well rejecteth.\"\n\nNo. 148.--A very complete account of the signification of moles is quoted\nfrom \"The Greenwich Fortune Teller,\" in Brand's _Popular Antiquities_\n(Bonn's ed.), iii. 254.\n\nCHAPTERS IV. AND V.--Two of the most interesting and most accessible\nlists of projects and Halloween observances are Gay's well-known\n_Shepherds Week_ and Burns's _Halloween_.\n\nNo. 170.--It is an interesting psychological fact that projects are in\nthe great majority of cases tried by girls and young women rather than by\nboys and young men.\n\nNo. 174.--Here, as in many other cases, it is assumed that young men and\nwomen are accustomed to indulge in promiscuous kissing. The use of the\nword gentleman sufficiently indicates the level of society from which\nthis project was obtained. Gentleman in this sense signifies any male\nhuman being over sixteen. It is often used more specifically to mean\nsweetheart, as \"Mary and her gentleman were at the policemen's ball.\"\n\nNo. 184.--On Biblical divination see Brand's _Popular Antiquities_\n(Bonn's ed.), iii. 337, 338.\n\nNo. 186.--This custom of divining the color of the hair of one's future\nwife or husband, which is probably very old, yet survives in many places,\nbut with interesting modifications as to the bird which gives the signal\nto try the divination. In Westphalia it is at sight of the first swallow\nthat the peasant looks to see if there be a hair under his foot.\nAccording to Gay, in England it is the cuckoo.\n\n      \"When first the year I heard the cuckoo sing,\n      And call with welcome note the budding spring,\n      I straightway set a running with such haste\n      Deborah that won the smock scarce ran so fast;\n      Till spent for lack of breath, quite weary grown,\n      Upon a rising bank I sat adown,\n      There doffed my shoe; and by my troth I swear,\n      Therein I spied this yellow frizzled hair,\n      As like to Lubberkin's in curl and hue\n      As if upon his comely pate it grew.\"\n\nNos. 187-193.--These practices, and others like No. 453 and the\nasseverations, Nos. 60-67, shade off insensibly into children's games,\ncustoms, and sayings. Games pure and simple have been omitted from the\npresent monograph, since they are evidently out of place among\nsuperstitions. They have been admirably treated in Mr. Newell's _Games\nand Songs of American Children_. The customs and sayings for the most\npart belong in collections like Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_ rather than\nin the present collection.\n\nNo. 211.--Projects in which flowers and leaves are employed certainly\nmuch antedate the Christian era. Theocritus (Idyll III.) describes one in\nwhich a poppy petal is used, and he also refers to another form of\nlove-divination by aid of the leaf of the plant Telephilon.\n\nNo. 245.--It is probable that the direction in which one is to walk\nduring the performance of this and similar acts of divination is not a\nmatter of indifference, even when no direction is prescribed. One would\nexpect to find it done sunwise. See note on Chapter xvi.\n\nNos. 254-256.--The _Sedum_ has long enjoyed a reputation for aphrodisiac\nqualities, as is set forth in Gerarde's _Herbal_ and other authorities.\nPerhaps the choice of the plant for use in this form of project is due to\nsome lingering tradition of its potency, or it may be simply because of\nits great vitality and power of growing under adverse conditions.\n\nNo. 334.--I happen to know that in 1895 one bride, in a Boston suburb,\nwore seven yellow garters, at the request of seven girl friends. Probably\nthe fashion of wearing yellow garters owes its present currency to the\nrepute in which they are held as love-amulets.\n\nCHAPTER VIII.--Some notion of the prevalence of a popular belief in the\nomens to be derived from dreams may be obtained from the fact that dream\nbooks are still enough in demand to warrant their publication. I have\nseen but one such volume. That was more than thirty years ago. A dream\nbook is now published by a New York firm, and I find, from inquiries in\nBoston, that it sells at a moderate rate.\n\nNo. 626.--See Shoe Omens in Brand's _Popular Antiquities_ (Bohn's ed.),\niii. 166.\n\nNos. 785-789.--The curious reader will find an excellent summary of the\nbeliefs in regard to sneezing in Brand's _Popular Antiquities_, vol. iii.\n\nNos. 796-800.--In New Hampshire it was formerly usual for young people to\npurchase gold beads, one at a time, with their earnings. When a\nsufficient number of beads was obtained the necklace was made, and after\nit had once been put on was never taken off by night or day. It is\ndifficult to induce the elderly people who still retain these necklaces\nto part with them, there being a superstitious feeling in regard to the\nconsequences.\n\nNos. 831, 832.--These cures and a few other superstitions have been taken\nfrom a very interesting paper, \"Notes on the Folk-Lore of Newfoundland,\"\nin the _Journal of American Folk-Lore_, vol. viii. No. XXXI. Almost all\nof the other folk-lore from Newfoundland and Labrador has been given me\nby Rev. A.C. Waghorne. It is interesting to notice how among these\nseafaring people weather-lore predominates over all other kinds.\n\nNos. 845-848.--These devices for suppressing hiccoughs are scarcely\nsuperstitions in reality, as they doubtless often do relieve the nervous,\nspasmodic action of the respiratory muscles, by fixing the attention upon\nthe cure. But in the popular mind some charm, I take it, is attributed to\nthe counting, repeating, or what not.\n\nCHAPTER XIII.--Several remedies for warts are here introduced which\nbelong with the collection of animal and plant lore for which the writer\nhas much material accumulated. In general such topics, including a very\nlarge number of saliva charms and cures, have been omitted from the\npresent list.\n\nNos. 872, 880-882.--It is interesting to notice this illustration of the\ndoctrine of signatures. Excrescences of such varied character, whether\nanimal or vegetable, are supposed by contact to cause warts, doubtless\nsimply because of the accidental resemblance.\n\nNos. 889-896.--It seems that any juices of peculiar or marked color are\npopularly credited with curative power. The plants whose juices are\nthought to cure warts are, it will be noticed, of wide botanical range.\nIn all probability there is no similarity in the effects to be obtained\nfrom the application of their sap.\n\nNo. 979.--The somewhat unusual phenomenon of rain falling while the sun\nis shining seems to have so attracted the attention of the human mind as\nto have given rise to various sayings.\n\nA native of Western Africa told me that among his tribe, the Vey people,\nit was always said when the sun shone as rain fell that it was a sign\nthat a leopardess had just given birth to young.\n\nIn Japan the occurrence is said to indicate that a wedding procession of\nfoxes is passing near by, and the children have a pretty habit of running\nto the supporting pillars of the house, to place the ear against the\ntimbers and listen for the footfalls of the foxes. The little people also\ninterlace their fingers in a certain way, then peeping through the chinks\nbetween the fingers they declare they can see the wedding-train.\n\nNos. 1020-1028.--The mackerel sky is a name given to an assemblage of\ncirrus clouds which are thought to imitate the barred markings on the\nside of a mackerel. Mares' tails are wisp-like, curved cirri.\n\nCHAPTER XV.--To illustrate the remarkable prevalence of a regard for the\nphases of the moon in the management of every-day affairs among the\nPennsylvania Germans, the following list of their beliefs is appended.\nAll are from Buffalo Valley, Central Pennsylvania.[157-1]\n\nTHE MOON.\n\nAll cereals, when planted in the waxing of the moon, will germinate more\nrapidly than if planted in the waning of the moon.\n\nThe same is true of the ripening of grain.\n\nBeans planted when the horns of the moon are up will readily pole, but if\nplanted when the horns are down will not.\n\nPlant early potatoes when the horns of the moon are up, else they will go\ntoo deep into the ground.\n\nPlant late potatoes in the dark of the moon.\n\nFor abundance in anything, you must plant it when the moon is in the sign\nof the Twins.\n\nPlant onions when the horns of the moon are down.\n\nPick apples in the dark of the moon, to keep them from rotting.\n\nMake wine in the dark of the moon.\n\nMake vinegar in the light of the moon.\n\nMarry in the light of the moon.\n\nMove in the light of the moon.\n\nButcher in the increase of the moon.\n\nBoil soap in the increase of the moon.\n\nCut corn in the decrease of the moon, else it will spoil.\n\nSpread manure when the horns of the moon are down.\n\nLay the first or lower rail of a fence when the horns of the moon are up.\nPut in the stakes and finish the fence when the horns are down.\n\nRoof buildings when the horns of the moon are down, else the shingles\nwill curl up at the edges and the nails will draw out.\n\nLay a board on the grass; if the horns of the moon are up, the grass will\nnot be killed; if they are down, it will.\n\nCut your hair on the first Friday after the new moon.\n\nNever cut your hair in the decrease of the moon.\n\nCut your corns in the decrease of the moon.\n\nNos. 1114-1123.--These superstitions regarding planting crops according\nto the moon are by no means idle sayings that have no influence over\nfarmers. I know positively that in many parts of the United States and in\nPrince Edward Island gardens and fields are often planted after direct\nreference to the almanac in regard to the moon's changes. Metropolitan\ndwellers have small knowledge of what an important book the almanac is to\nmany country people. In many a quiet farm home the appearance of the new\nalmanac is looked forward to with great interest. Its arrival is\nwelcomed, and it is hung up near the kitchen clock for constant\nreference. It is studied with care, especially on Sundays. The farmer or\nfarm-wife, who would scorn to do an hour's work in the hay-field to save\na crop from a Sunday shower, earnestly peruses the almanac to get rules\nto guide the week-day sowing and planting. There are old auguries, too,\nof whose import I am not definitely informed, to be derived from\nconsulting the signs of the zodiac; auguries, I think, concerning human\ndestiny as well as the planting of crops. Speaking of the place held by\nthe almanac recalls one of those neighborhood anecdotes that by oft\ntelling become classic. A young woman long ill, with consumption I\nbelieve, died very suddenly. Her brother, in speaking of the event, said:\n\"Why, no, we never thought of Mary dying so soon. Why, she sat up in the\nbig rocking-chair most all Sunday afternoon, reading the almanac, and\nthen she died on Monday.\" Poor Mary, the thin volume was her sole\nlibrary!\n\nCHAPTER XVI.--It would involve a much more extended discussion than the\nspace-limits of these notes will allow, to undertake to show the origin\nand meaning of the superstitions in regard to the sun and sunwise\nmovement. While the origin and meaning of sun-worship has been very fully\ntreated by Sir G.W. Cox, Professor Max Mueller, Professor De Gubernatis,\nand others, the existence in modern times and among civilized communities\nof usages which seem to be derived from sun-worship has apparently almost\nescaped notice. I quote in this connection a few paragraphs from my brief\narticle on this subject in the _Popular Science Monthly_ for June,\n1895:--\n\n\"In dealing with the origination of actions or customs in which is\ninvolved what Dr. Fewkes calls the ceremonial circuit,[158-1] it is\ndifficult to determine the value of the factor, whether it be large or\nsmall, that is due to the greater convenience of moving in a right-handed\ndirection. Occasionally the dextral circuit is followed in cases in which\nit is evidently less convenient than the sinistral would be, as in\ndealing cards in all ordinary games. Also, who can tell just how large or\nsmall an element may depend upon the tradition that the left hand in\nitself is uncanny without reference to the sun's apparent motion? There\ncertainly is a general feeling of wide distribution that to be\nleft-handed is unfortunate. Dr. Fewkes's careful and valuable researches\namong the Moki Indians of Arizona, however, show without doubt that they\nin their religious rites make the circuits sinistrally, _i.e._, contrary\nto the apparent course of the sun, or, as physicists say,\ncontra-clockwise. The Mokis also are careful to stir medicines according\nto the sinistral circuit. But doubtless instances go to show that among\nAsiatic and European peoples the general belief or feeling is that the\ndextral circuit--_i.e._, clockwise, or with the apparent motion of the\nsun--is the correct and auspicious direction.\"\n\n\"As contra-sunwise notions were thought to be of ill omen or to be able\nto work in supernatural ways, so it came to be believed that to reverse\nother acts--as, for instance, reading the Bible or repeating the Lord's\nPrayer backward--might produce powerful counter-charms. The negroes in\nthe Southern States often resort to both of these latter practices to lay\ndisturbing ghosts. In the ring games of our school children they always\nmove sunwise, though whether because of convenience or from some\nforgotten reason who can say?\"\n\n\"In New Harbor, Newfoundland, it is customary, in getting off small\nboats, especially when gunning or sealing, to take pains to start from\neast to west, and, when the wind will permit, the same custom is observed\nin getting large schooners under way. So, too, in the Western Isles, off\nthe coast of Scotland, boats at starting are, or at any rate used to be,\nrowed in a sunwise course to insure a lucky voyage.\"\n\n\"It will be noticed that in several of these cures, as well as in some of\nthe charms already cited, no rule is given as to the direction to be\nfollowed in movement; but it is quite possible that the original\ndescription was more explicit, and it is almost certain that in every\ninstance a sunwise course would now be followed.\"\n\nNo. 1166.--This appearance is due to the presence of a minute unicellular\nplant of a red color, which grows and multiplies with great rapidity on\nthe surface of bread, starch-paste, and similar substances. So general\nwas once the belief in its portentous nature that Ehrenberg described it\nunder the name _Monas Prodigiosa_.\n\nNo. 1176.--The non-appearance of _rigor mortis_ as omen of another death\nis alluded to in a skeptical way by Sir Thomas Browne in his _Vulgar\nErrors_, Book V. chapter xxiii.\n\nNo. 1280.[TN-12]--Doubtless this apparently most trivial and meaningless\nsign is but one of hundreds of examples of pure symbolism. The custom of\ndraping the bell or front door-knob with crape when death has come to a\nhouse is suggested by seeing anything hung on the door-knob. It might be\nconvenient to hang the dish-cloth to dry on the kitchen door-knob, as the\ndoor stands open. The idea of death is suggested, then comes the thought,\n\"this is like death, hence it may bode death,\" and so the omen arises.\n\nNo. 1204.--See article on \"Current Superstitions,\" _Journal of American\nFolk-Lore_, vol. ii No. IV.\n\nNo. 1207.--Not infrequently people of education and culture feel that\nmourning is significant of further deaths. In popular arguments about the\nadvisability of wearing mourning it is said that if one begins to wear\nit, he will have occasion to continue to do so. It is also claimed that\nmourning is directly unhealthful on account of injurious components of\nthe black dyes used. This delusion no doubt proceeds from observed cases\nof ill-health due to the depressing effects of mourning upon the spirits\n(and therefore the physical condition) of the wearer.\n\nNo. 1237.--See \"Current Superstitions,\" _Journal of American Folk-Lore_,\nvol. ii. No. IV.\n\nI chanced to know a few years ago of a family party of educated,\nunusually intelligent people, when it happened that the number to dine\nwas thirteen. One laughingly proposed to sit at a side table and did so.\nThe dinner table would otherwise have been a bit crowded, the hostess\nsaid as excuse for heeding the evil omen of thirteen at table. I doubt if\none of those present had any real faith in the superstition, and yet I\nfancy there was a certain feeling of relief in avoiding the augury\npredicted by the old saying.\n\nNo. 1241.--See article, \"Survivals of Sun Worship,\" by the author, in\n_Popular Science Monthly_, June 9, 1895.\n\nNo. 1247.--To what extent an old custom of touching the dead survives I\ncannot say, but I well remember a painful experience of my own early\nchildhood. I had been taken to the funeral of a little child, and at the\nproper time passed with the little procession to take leave of the dead\nbaby. A lady who had charge of me turned down the wrist of my glove and\nbade me touch the corpse, which I did. At the time I felt it was to show\nme how cold were the dead, but I now think it must have been in\nconformity with some tradition, for the person who directed me was one\nwho had great regard for what were deemed the proprieties in funeral\nrites.\n\nNos. 1335-1338.--It is quite a general custom among country people on the\nEastern Shore of Maryland to decapitate a crowing hen. The same custom is\nreported from New Hampshire and from Prince Edward Island. Does not this\nproverb then refer to the common superstition that it presages death or\ndisaster for a hen to crow, in consequence of which such hens are\nsummarily killed?\n\nNo. 1415.--There is a somewhat widespread prejudice in the minds of old\npeople against having their pictures taken, particularly if they have\nnever done so. I do not think the objection is a natural conservatism, or\ndislike of doing something to which one is unaccustomed. The ill omen\ndoes not appear to have been feared for the young as well as for the old,\neven in provincial localities, when for the first time portraiture by\ndaguerreotypy or more recently by photography was introduced. It has long\nbeen known that among primitive peoples there is a decided prejudice\nagainst portraiture. The notion seems to be that the individual may lose\nhis vigor, if not his life, by allowing a copy of himself to be made in\nany way. Catlin in his intercourse with the North American Indians found\ngreat difficulty in gaining the consent of individuals to his painting\nthem. He says in his work on _The Manners, Customs, and Condition of the\nNorth American Indians_, \"The Squaws generally agreed that they had\ndiscovered life enough in them [Catlin's portraits] to render my medicine\ntoo great for the Mandans; saying that such an operation could not be\nperformed without taking away from the original something of his\nexistence which I put in the picture, and they could see it move, could\nsee it stir.\" Herbert Spencer, in his _Principles of Sociology_, vol. i.\np. 242, refers to a similar belief among the Chinooks and the Mapuches.\nIt would seem as if there is in the popular mind an instinctive\nrecognition that the tenure of life is less strong in the aged than in\nthe young. So while the general notion that it is dangerous to have one's\nperson represented has disappeared from the mind of civilized man, a\nsimilar psychological condition survives here and there among people\nleading peculiarly simple lives.\n\nAnother evidence of a popular belief in some vital relationship between a\nportrait and its original is suggested by the quite general superstition\nthat photographs (or other pictures) fade after and in consequence of the\ndecease of the original. I have found this to be a common belief in\nIreland, Prince Edward Island, and in various parts of the United States.\nI remember as a child to have heard persons remark while turning over a\nfamily album of photographs, \"That looks as if the person were dead.\" In\nfact, I think that I thus received the impression that the picture of one\ndead underwent some change that many persons could perceive and thus\nbecome aware of the death of the original. This notion is akin to a\nsuperstition of the Irish peasantry that the clothes left by the dead\ndecay with unusual rapidity.\n\nIn parts of New Hampshire it is counted unlucky to have a photograph\ncopied while the original lives. Is this because death is thereby\nsuggested, since it is so customary to have enlarged copies of a\nphotograph made after the decease of the original?\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[157-1] _Journal of American Folk-Lore_, vol. iv. No. XIII., \"Folk-Lore\nfrom Buffalo Valley,\" J.H. Owens.\n\n[158-1] _Journal of American Folk-Lore,_ vol. v. No. XVI. p. 33.\n\n\n\n\n                           OFFICERS\n                              OF\n                THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY,\n                             1896.\n\n                         =President.=\n             JOHN G. BOURKE, FORT ETHAN ALLEN, VT.\n\n                    =First Vice-President.=\n               STEWART CULIN, PHILADELPHIA, PA.\n\n                   =Second Vice-President.=\n                  HENRY WOOD, BALTIMORE, MD.\n\n                        =Councillors.=\n             W.M. BEAUCHAMP, BALDWINSVILLE, N.Y.\n             FRANZ BOAS, NEW YORK, N.Y.\n             DANIEL G. BRINTON, PHILADELPHIA, PA.\n             HELI CHATELAIN, NEW YORK, N.Y.\n             JOHN H. McCORMICK, WASHINGTON, D.C.\n             OTIS T. MASON, WASHINGTON, D.C.\n             JAMES W. ELLSWORTH, CHICAGO, ILL.\n             ALICE C. FLETCHER, WASHINGTON, D.C.\n            *ALCEE FORTIER, NEW ORLEANS, LA.\n            *ALFRED C. GARRETT, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.\n            *E. FRANCIS HYDE, NEW YORK, N.Y.\n            *FREDERICK W. PUTNAM, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.\n             GARDNER P. STICKNEY, MILWAUKEE, WIS.\n\n                     =Permanent Secretary.=\n                 W.W. NEWELL, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.\n\n                          =Treasurer.=\n  JOHN H. HINTON, M.D., No. 41 West 32d Street, NEW YORK, N.Y.\n\n               * As Presidents of Local Branches.\n\n\n\n\n                          SUBSCRIBERS\n                            TO THE\n                       PUBLICATION FUND\n                              OF\n                THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY,\n                             1895.\n\n               *       *       *       *       *\n\n     John Abercromby, Edinburgh, Scotland.\n     Isaac Adler, New York, N.Y.\n     Samuel P. Avery, Jr., New York, N.Y.\n     Miss Alice Mabel Bacon, Hampton, Va.\n     Mrs. Frances Newbury Bagley, Detroit, Mich.\n     Mrs. Mary M. Barclay, Washington, D.C.\n     Eugene F. Bliss, Cincinnati, O.\n     Boston Athenaeum, Boston, Mass.\n     Charles P. Bowditch, Boston, Mass.\n     Daniel G. Brinton, Philadelphia, Pa.\n     Philip Greely Brown, Portland, Me.\n     John Caldwell, Edgewood Park, Pa.\n     Miss Mary Chapman, Cambridge, Mass.\n     Francis James Child, Cambridge, Mass.\n     Clarence H. Clark, Philadelphia, Pa.\n     Mattoon Munroe Curtis, Cleveland, O.\n     Charles P. Daly, New York, N.Y.\n     Charles F. Daymond, New York, N.Y.\n     Hiram Edmund Deats, Flemington, N.J.\n     Charles L. Edwards, Cincinnati, O.\n     James L. Ellsworth, Chicago, Ill.\n     Stuyvesant Fish, New York, N.Y.\n     John Fiske, Cambridge, Mass.\n     Alcee Fortier, New Orleans, La.\n     Alfred C. Garrett, Cambridge, Mass.\n     Charles C. Harrison, Philadelphia, Pa.\n     E. Sidney Hartland, Gloucester, Eng.\n     Mrs. Esther Herrmann, New York, N.Y.\n     Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Cambridge, Mass.\n     John H. Hinton, New York, N.Y.\n     Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.\n     Richard Hodgson, Boston, Mass.\n     Robert Hoe, New York, N.Y.\n     John E. Hudson, Boston, Mass.\n     Theodore D. Hurlbut, Brooklyn, N.Y.\n     Clarence M. Hyde, New York, N.Y.\n     E. Francis Hyde, New York, N.Y.\n     Frederick E. Hyde, New York, N.Y.\n     Edward C. James, New York, N.Y.\n     Miss Louise Kennedy, Concord, Mass.\n     Mrs. H.H. Kohlsaart, Chicago, Ill.\n     Walter Learned, New London, Conn.\n     Charles McKay Leoser, Larchmont Manor, N.Y.\n     Albert Matthews, Boston, Mass.\n     Washington Matthews, Washington, D.C.\n     J. Meyer, New York, N.Y.\n     Thomas Ewing Moore, Weimar, Germany.\n     Miss Agnes Morgan, Osaka, Japan.\n     William Wells Newell, Cambridge, Mass.\n     Miss Laura Norcross, Boston, Mass.\n     Miss Mary A. Owen, St. Joseph, Mo.\n     Mrs. Gilman H. Perkins, Rochester, N.Y.\n     George M. Richardson, Berkeley, Cal.\n     William L. Richardson, Boston, Mass.\n     Charles Schaeffer, Philadelphia, Pa.\n     Otto B. Schlutter, Hartford, Conn.\n     C. Bernard Shea, Pittsburgh, Pa.\n     Gardner P. Stickney, Milwaukee, Wis.\n     Brandreth Symonds, New York, N.Y.\n     John S. Tilney, Orange, N.J.\n     Henry H. Vail, New York, N.Y.\n     Alfred M. Williams, Providence, R.I.\n     Henry J. Willing, Chicago, Ill.\n     Mrs. Henry J. Willing, Chicago, Ill.\n     Worcester City Library, Worcester, Mass.\n\n\n\n\n          PUBLICATIONS\n             OF THE\n\n    AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.\n\n  JOURNAL OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.\n    VOLS. I.--VIII. 1888--1895.\n\nMEMOIRS OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.\n\nVOL. I. FOLK-TALES OF ANGOLA.\n\nFifty Tales with Ki-mbundu text, literal English Translation,\nIntroduction, and Notes. Collected and edited by HELI CHATELAIN, late\nU.S. Commercial Agent at Loanda. Pp. xii., 315. (With two Maps.)\n\nVOL. II. LOUISIANA FOLK-TALES.\n\nIn French Dialect and English Translation. Collected and edited by ALCEE\nFORTIER, D. Lit., Professor of Romance Languages in Tulane University of\nLouisiana. Pp. xi., 122.\n\nVOL. III. BAHAMA SONGS AND STORIES.\n\nA Contribution to Folk-Lore, by CHARLES L. EDWARDS, Professor of Biology\nin the University of Cincinnati. With Music, Introduction, Appendix, and\nNotes. Six Illustrations. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and\nCompany. 1895. Pp. xiii., 111.\n\nVOL. IV. CURRENT SUPERSTITIONS.\n\nCollected from the Oral Tradition of English-speaking Folk. Edited by\nFANNY D. BERGEN. With Notes, and an Introduction by WILLIAM WELLS NEWELL.\n1896. Pp. vi., 161.\n\n  HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY,\n       BOSTON AND NEW YORK.\n\n\n\n\nTHE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY was organized January 4, 1888, for the\ncollection and publication of the folk-lore and mythology of the American\ncontinent.\n\nThe Society holds annual meetings, at which reports are received and\npapers read.\n\nThe membership fee is three dollars, payable on the 1st of January in\neach year.\n\nMembers are entitled to receive the Journal of American Folk-Lore, a\nperiodical appearing quarterly, and of which eight volumes have already\nbeen issued, each volume containing about three hundred and fifty octavo\npages. The Journal is published for the Society by Houghton, Mifflin &\nCo., Boston and New York.\n\nThe work of the Society includes publication and research in regard to\nthe religious ceremonies, ethical conditions, mythology, and oral\nliterature of Indian tribes; collection of the traditions of stocks\nexisting in a relatively primitive state, and the collation of these with\ncorrect accounts of survivals among civilized tribes; gathering of the\nalmost wholly unrecorded usages and beliefs of Central and South American\nraces; the comparison of aboriginal American material with European and\nAsiatic conceptions, myths, and customs; a study of survivals among\nAmerican negroes, including their traditional inheritance from Africa,\nand its modification in this Continent; preservation of the abundant\nfolk-lore of the French and Spanish regions of North America; record of\nthe oral traditions of the English-speaking population, and description\nof communities now or lately existing under isolated conditions.\n\nThe publication of the Memoirs cannot be met from the regular fees of the\nSociety, but is rendered possible by annual contributions to the\nPublication Fund, of ten dollars, for such time as individual subscribers\nmay be pleased to continue such subscription.\n\nSubscribers are enrolled as members of the Society, and receive all its\npublications, issued after the date of subscription, including the\nJournal and Memoirs.\n\nA list of Annual Subscribers is printed in the Journal, and in each\nvolume of the Memoirs, so long as subscription continues.\n\nPersons willing to assist in this work of publication, by the annual\npayment, during such time as they may please, of ten dollars (which sum,\nit will be understood, includes the annual membership fee of the\nSociety), are requested to remit their subscriptions to the Treasurer,\nJohn H. Hinton, M.D., No. 41 West 32d St., New York, N.Y.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note\n\nThe following errors and inconsistencies have been maintained.\n\nMisspelled words and typographical errors:\n\nTN-1    11  \"over the the right shoulder\" the word \"the\" is repeated\nTN-2    15  \"are his own, property,\" extra , after \"own\"\nTN-3    70  463 Missing . at end of sentence\nTN-4    80  510  , instead of . at end of sentence\nTN-5    84  683 \"Masssachusetts\" should read \"Massachusetts\"\nTN-6    93  794 \"crock\" for \"crack\"\nTN-7   103  898 Missing . after the number\nTN-8   105  924 Missing close quotes\nTN-9   118  1084 \"new moon. come\" . instead of ,\nTN-10  119  1199 Number should read 1099\nTN-11  128  1205 \"bad luck or seven\" \"or\" should read \"for\"\nTN-12  159  Note 1280 should read 1180\n\nThe following words were inconsistently hyphenated:\n\n  close-fistedness / closefistedness\n  sun-wise / sunwise","title":"Current superstitions : $b collected from the oral tradition of English speaking folk","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":50774}