Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-11-26

The Popular Superstitions Of All Coun-
tries.
OMENs REGARDING BIRTHS, CHILDHOOD, LOVE
ANDcoURTsHP, MARRIAGE, DEATH AND BURIAL.

| oAENs REGARDING BIRTHS, CHILDHOOD LOVE
AND cOURTsHIP, MARRIAGE. DEATH AND BURIAL.
| From Folk Lore by T. f. Dyer.
Inc study of folk lore is most interesting
one, and is year by year receiving greater atten-
tion- The task of collecting, classifying and
tracing them to their original source ia no easy
one, as the railroads and public schools are fast
sweeping away the old beliefs and customs.
which, In days gone by. held such a prominent
| place in social and domestic life
OF nursery folk lore there is great stock i'm
all countries The evil eye is thoroughly be-
| lieyed in in the old countries. and the remedies
| against the disaster are numerous. In Corn
wall the believers resort to this plan to arrest II:
| Before sunrise it is brought to blacksmith of
| the seventh generation and laid on the anvil
| The smith raises his hammer as if he were about
to strike the hot iron but brings it gently down
| on the child's body. This is done three times.
after which the child is considered certain To
amend In Scotland the people use gold and
silver water as charm to avert the evil eve.
A sovereign and a shilling are put into water
which Is sprinkied over the patient i'm the name
of the Trinity. Again. in the Highlands of Scot
| land. ash sap is given to new born children be-
| cause, in common with the rowan that tree is
supposed to possess the property of resisting
the attacks Of Witches fairies and other imps of
darkness. The Irish think that not only their
children but their cattle are .'eye bitten when
they fall suddenly sick.
In Yorkshire it is stated that a new born in
fant should always be placed first in the arms of
a maiden before anyone else touches it. Again
there is common idea, that baby and kit
ten cannot thrive in the same house. Few
nurses can be found courageous enough to
weigh young child. from a superstitious con-
Vlction that 1t is unfortunate to do so. the child
often dying. or at any rate not thriving after
ward; Equally unlucky, too. is it considered TO
rock babys empty cradle it being an omen Of
its death-a belief which also prevails in Scot
| land. curious Northumberland belief affrms
that If the parings of chids nails are carefully
buried under an ash tree it will turn out in after
! life capital singer. 1t ia also a popular fancy
in nursery folk lore that the chiid's future
career in this world can be easily augurei from
the little Specks on it's nails species of
pamstry still extensively credited by even
educated persons, and one. too, not confined to
infancy. Again, the infants tiny hands are
! not tree from superstition. and here and there
throughout the country, there is a notion that
Tor the first few months after it's BIRTH the right
one should remain unwashed. the reason as
signed Tor this strange piece of eccentricty be-
| ing that 1t may gather riches. According to an
| other idea children born open-handed are said
TO be OF bountiful disposition. I'm Scotland
| TOO. great attention is paid as to which hand a
chlld uses when taking up for the first time a
spoon to eat. If it should happen to be the left,
|
all through his life.
Again. if a baby frets and does not appear TO
thrive, it is supposed by some to be longing"
| mus Sussex nurse one day said to lady:
| baby is so uncommon fretty. do believe he
must be longing for something" When asked
what he could be longing for. she replied:
| Something that his mother longed for. but did
| not get. before he was born. and the best way to
| satisfy him would be. think to try him with a
| branded cherry or some hare's brains" This
! mi IL not cd
| to Sussex.
A popular prayer for children, formerly in use
and not yet forgotten. is this:
''Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
Bless the bed lie upon;
Four corners to my bed,
Four angels at its head,
One to watch, two to pray,
! And one to bear my soul away;
i God within and God without,
Sweet Jesus Christ all round about;
Ii die before wake,
pray to God lily soul to take"
School life has its customs and superstitions
| many of which have been transmitted from gen
GRAFTON to generation: and childhood. indeed,
| would seem quite incomplete without them.
Thus, according to an odd notion universally
accepted in days gone by. and still received
with implicit faith if the masters cane is care
fully niched at the upper end and hair inserted.
it will as soon as used split Immediately to the
very tip. In school games the usual antpathy
to odd numbers is found. and child is easily
|
number even. 4 kind of divinatiCn also is
still frequently employed 10y boys to settle mat
ters OF difficulty. such, for example. as who
shall be the leaders in a game the choice of
partners and other details which are deemed of
equal Importance. The mode of procedure is
this: long stick is thrown into the air and
caught by one of the parties. Each one then
grasEs it hand over hand, and he who succeeds
in getting the last hold is the successful party
Mr. Henderson says that an odd expression was
formerly connected lpnGDsr Of L-pit
among boys for the cutting of cake or
other dainty, the borrowers being asked to give
it back "iaughing." 1. e., with some of the good
things it was used to cut.
LOVE AND COURTSIIP SUPERSTrTIONs.
No event in human life has, from the ear lest
times, been associated with a more eXtensiv e
folklore than marriage which is. indeed. no
matter of surprise considering that this is nat
| urally looked upon as the happiest epoch-the
su,a1aum bOnun,-of each ones career in this
world. Hence. to write a detailed account of
the charms. omens and divinations as well as
OF the suDeIStltlOns and customs. connected
with marriage, including its early stages of love
and courtship. would require volume for
itself, varied and widespread is this subject
| of universal interest
| In the present chapter. however have been
collected together, in as condensed a form as
possible. some of the principal items of folk
| lore connected with love and cOurtship, as we
| find them scattered here and there throughout
| the country. Commencing, then. with love
divinations. these are of every conceivable kind.
| the anxious maiden apparently having left no
stone unturned in her anxiety to ascertain her
| lot in the marriage state. Hence in her natural
longings to raise the veil of futurity the asp-
rant to matrimony, if she be at all of super
stltlous turn of mind. seldom Its an opportu-
nifty pass by without endeavoring to gain from
it some sign or token of the kind of husba nd
| that is in store for her
| The use of plants in love charms is very num-
erous. The dandeliOn, as plant of omen is
much in demand. AS soon as its seeds are ripe
they stand above the head of the plant in glob-
uar form, with feathery top at the end of each
seed, and then are without difficulty detached
When in this condition the flower stalk must be
carefully plucked, SO not to iniure the globe of
seeds, the charm consisting of blowing off the
seeds with the breath The number of puffs
that are required to blow every seed clean off
indicates the number Of years that must elapse
| before the person is married.
Some days are considered specially propitious
in practicing love divinatiOns. Foremost among
these is ST. Valentines day, festival which has
been considered highly appropriate for such cere-
monies, as there is an old tradition that IN this
| day birds choose their mates notion which is
| frequently alluded to by the poets and rartic,-