The Brookhaven leader., 1884-01-03
Highlandic Signs.

l was uIe>Slnp one morning at
shepherds house and was putting on
my shoes as the man came in with a
basin of water. He stood stock still as
soon as he saw me and exclaimed, in n
tone of warning: "Are you going to
do Hat?' Hooked up in surprise. l
was doing nothing but putting on my
shoes. Neither of them was on, but
hal the left one in my hand and was
putting my foot into it. you're not
going to put that one on iirst?' That
one or the other replied; whichever
comes handy; it makes no difference to
me- Well" said the man, Il
woudna like to begin the day with the
like o that
Another source Of bad luck almost as
dangerous rs putting on the left shoe
first is to hear the cuckoo in the morn
ng before YOU have had mouthful to
eat. This is Il capital stimulus to early
rising. 'Many's the time says
Sandy, ''when was a lump of a boy,
I've seen me jumping out of bed and
swallowing a bit oat cake for fear |
would be hearing the cuckoo before l
would get my meat. y
One morning at breakfast the sister
of the man at whose house | was, has
tened to offer me some butter. This
will be GO cd day for you,'' he said, at
once. "N hy?' Il am sure YOU know
it is good luck to get butter without
asking for it" al never heard that be-
fore.'' "WelI," said he, ''there was a
man in Null and he was going to the
wars, and when he was leaving his
home his mother said to him: If You
will get butter without asking for it on
the morning of the lighting you will be
sure to come back to me alive SO
when the day came for the LATHE he
was taking his meat in house, but he
would not ask for any butter, and at
last the wife offered him some, and
thea he knew he would come out alive
1t is considered very bad luck in Jura
to start for any place aud then turn
back. A woman one day stopped
the house where | was living, on he
way to the lower end of the island. She
was suffering from bad tOOthache, but
it was thought there was nothing in the
house to give her relief Just as she
had got three steps away from the do II
some brandy was fouI and she was
called back. But she would rather have
suffered from tn rty-twO toothaches
than turn back after starting, and the
brandy had to be carried out to her.
When boat that has been drawn
ashore for safety has to be launched
again, it must, of course, be showed into
the water stern foremost. Its bow will
then face the shore, and it must he
turned around before starting. The
way in which this turn is made is full of
omen in Jura. Il would be getting a
fine hearing" said a man to me one
day, IF old Archie saw me do the like
of that" We were pushing off from
shore. and he had merely turned the
boats head around from west to east.
The rule is that the boat shall turn with
the Sun, never against it.
When Spring comes, with its new
sights and sounds, there are various
SIGNS by which Jura people determine
whether or not the year will be lucky
for them. "Oh, this will be good
year for me-" | heard woman
exclaim one day at Lagg, as number
of persons were walking down to the
boats; and size stopped and gazed down
at snail crawling over the grass. 1t
was the first snail she had seen that
year. but if it had been crawling over
bare ground or stone il would have
meant bad luck. is that the first foal
you have seen this year?" asked the
postman of me as we drove past field
in his gig, said it was. Well, then,
there's good luck coming to you, for he
is looking straight in your face. " 1t is
also said of a lamb, as well as a foal,
that to see the first one turned away
from you is sign of i'll omen. ] was
sitting one day with some shepherds on
the top of hillock, waiting for the
sheep around us to get dry enough to
be shorn, when one of the men said to
me: See the spider. You will soon
be getting new clothes, sir" A spider
was crawling over me. In Gaelic the
words for spider and weaver are the
same.-COr San Francisco EIqrni1ser.
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