Wichita eagle., 1889-10-09
IRISH SUPERSTITIONS.

The pishthroges are all charms of an evil
aature.
Candle ends used at wakes are highly priced
Tor scalds and burns.
A cat is never taken from one house to an
other when removing.
A round tower or castle ruin unfrequented
by jackdaws is certainly haunted.
Many truly believe the banshee to be the
spirit of some former member of the family
If hare be met on May morning the
milk is likely to be charmed from the cows.
1t is very unlucky to meet in the early
morning a barking dog or a barefooted
woman.
If an osprey be shot along any coast all the
herring and mackerel viii Immediately dis
appear.
When the starting does not follow the graz
ing cattle some witch charm has been put
upon them.
When corpse retains animal heat over
long, another member Of the family is to die
within the year.
Garments and other articles which have
come in contact with the dead are very eff
cacious in disease.
If the stacks are not circled each night by
the noiseless barn owl, blight will fall upon
next seasons crops.
The magpie, as with the ancient Greeks, is
the repository of the soul of an evil minded
and gossiping woman.
The tongue of one who has licked a lizard
ever after has the power to extract the sting
from scalds and burns.
The dead are believed to have the bitterest
experiences if buried at any distance from
their homes while living.
The sedge warbler, known more popularity
as the Irish nightingale" is the object of
most tender superstition.
The coach bower or death coach" seems
to stand in something the same relation tc
the peasantry as the banshee-
The last one buried in church yard is be
lieved to do all manner of mental service for
those having been previously buried.
Every twelfth night the dead walk. They
sit, too. upon every tile of the house, waiting
to be freed from purgatory by prayer
The linnet pours forth the most melancholy
song of all Irish birds, and have seen honest
hearted peasants affected by it to tears
When the nest of the thrush or raavis is
built unusually high in the thorn bush, this
betokens a great calamity to a neighborhood-
Great numbers of jays or nlisselthrushes.
feeding upon the berries OF the hawthorn,
betoken the approach OF very cold winter
Every donkey in ireland is supposed to fab
on its knees at midnight Of Christmas eve,
and bray three times in honor Of lis ancleu.
noble use.
Over in Connaulara TO this day funeral
procession on its way to church VIII hsit al
some distance away and cast together huge
pile OF stones
One OF the oldest OF all Irish superssitions
is the belief thst If you chase and catch a
butterfly you iuprison the wandering sOg1i OF
your grandmother
ANY child born on Whit Sunday OF the
day after is doomed 10 an unnatural death,
and it Is invariably named after scEae partic
ular saint TO ward Of the curse
Any three idle strokes Of stick In tie
ashes or spade or other farm tool IN the soli
making q figure resembling coffin Is Certain
20 pcrtend death in ones family.
The wsxwing. the beautiful lnceod1ars
avis OF Pliny, whose breeding harnis haFs
never vet been discovered by fnan- airs tsss
torches az the bean sidhe or banSaeeS
When abroad q, night cae neTer turns at
he sound 81 fcsrx1sss beAicA Hcrfsese are
s,sses zias-es stse Assa-aungefisgfpr hsrnsn
couspaniuushsp, asa siselr gisDes 6 fasI 80