Sharp County record., 1879-02-06

can we'll remember the timo
in my fathers house, these thioo NO
spread out to air before the fra the
was done periodically, and tbe,. emt
days when mirth was banishsI Ss
the household, and every thin, ' q
done in a solemn mood. The dsth.
kept as a Sabbath. The reader W & O
fail to observe in some of these N, an
customs and beliefs modified sn,, se ,
of the old Roman practices and fri
stitious beliefs. re {
As the Scotch bethink themseI, c
death Immediately after maria d Q
their fancy lightly turns to tbisSs-,
love after death. 1t is believedy
the unburied corpse must be waSd
apparently to guard it from evil sr'islil
"The company sitting up with is
corpse generally number from tr 10
six, although l have myself been on.
ten. Although duringi
night-sittings nothing unbeftting p
solemnity of the occasion was done J.,
circumstances of the meeting gave "
portunity for love-making." In Ar
there was a good deal of "daffa.!i
That the lovers snatched a fearful fae
the following story, which is not IN *
one current in a certain cottage in ''e
ford, sufficiently proves: .
The corpse was laid out in a ronn
and the watchers had retired to ann
apartment to partake of refeshmg
having shut the door of the room wbs,'
the corpse lay. While they were est:,
there was heard great noise, as d
struggle between two persons, procell
ing from the room where the corpSeGa
None of the party would venture y
the room, and in this emergency n
sent for the minister. who came, an
with the open Bible in his hand, enter'
the room and shut the door. The noI
then ceased, and in about ten minul
he came out, lifted the tongs from (,
fireplace, and again re-entered the roO1
When he came out again, he broug5
out with the tongs c glove, which VI
seen to be bloody, and this he put int
the fire. He refused, however, to t.
either what he had seen or heard; b
on the watchers returning to their pos
the corpse lay as formerly, and as qui
and unrufned as if nothing had TAX
place, whereat they were all surprise
There is something horribly effect
in the detail OF the bloody glove. T
piety of a people accustomed to b
weather is visible in the anecdote abo
an old woman on whose only daughter
funeral the sun shone through raj
clouds. "The mother, with evide
delight, as she stood at the door, than
ed God that Mary was getting 60
blink" We did not know till Mr.
pier mentioned it, that a common sup
stition of the Vosges country preys
in Scotland. The bed Oil which
man has died is burned in place VIII
no beast can get at it, and in the mo
ing the ashes are carefully examined
the belief that the footprint of the n
person of the family who will die v
be seen. The French, on the otl
hand, believe that the footprint of
ghost of the dead will be imprinted
the ashes.
Cattle diseases were cured in
Highlands by extinguishing all the fl
between the two nearest rivers, {
producing fresh fire by ceremonial
which rubbing two sticks together
the chief feature. During the CON
uance of the ceremony they app
melancholy and detected; but when
fire, which they say is brought by
angel from heaven, blazes in the t
they resume their wonted gayet
Other charms are chiefly of the sym
thetic nature and are based on fanc
analogies, which are supposed to T
resent transcendental correspondent
between things-between warts, for
ample, and the lard with which WI
have been rubbed. As the lard was
in the sun the wart disappears.
Mr. Napier's chapters on superstiti
connected with animals and plants
not very copious, perhaps, because t
particular class of belief, being am
the oldest, is among the first to die {
This notice of a very straightforw
and diverting little book can not
better than with an anecdote illus
tive of the development of superstiti
opinion:
| remember that one year or fl
foot was a man who had fallen
broken his bottle, and cut and bleed
was assisted into our house. My mot
made up her mind that this was a II
unfortunate frst-foot, and that so
thing serious would occur in the far
during that year. believe, had
whole family been cut off, she VIC
not have been surprised. However
was prosperous year, and bleed
first-foot was not afterward cOnsidt
bad.
Put Them in ChancPry.