The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1889-03-30

the churchyard as an Offering to death.
The phantom coach. seen In many
places in England, is sometimes drawn
by six black boars.
In Denmark the specter of q SOW,
called the grave SOW" is frequently
seen, and always some disaster fol-
lows. In Thuringia it is said that any
one who abstains from food on Christ
mas Eve until supper time will see a
young golden pig-an omen of good
fortune.
In the middle ages, the boar hunter
was esteemed us rare sport of chival-
ry, and the destruction OF wild boar
was accounted u brave deed. There are
many traditions concerning such
knightly achievements. One OF the
Lords of Cheturde in Buckinghamshire
Eng, killed wild boar which devast.
ated the country, and was granted
therefor a yearly tax on all cattle found
within his manor from October 80 to
| November z. The Poland boar tradi-
tionally haunted the north of England.
II slew several knights, but was finally
killed by u Polander. The Gordons
had the boar as a cognizanco or their
| coat of arms, one of their ancestors
having slain a celebrated one in 1923.
Guillame Compte de la Mardrey was
nicknamed 1.-The Boar of Ardennes,"
because he was as furious as the ami
NAL he delighted to hunt Richard III.
of England was called the boar. be-
cause his arms were illuminated with
that animal as u cognisance. Gray
sings of him:
- Tho brstled boar
In infant gore
Wallows beneath the thorny shade.
The same monarch was popularly
called the Hog, and a couplet ran thus:
The Cat, the Rat, and Lowell the Dog,
Rule all England under the Hog.
Catesby was the cat, and Ratcliffe
the rat.
There are other curious stories about
the pig and sundry superstitions con-
nected with it. There is popular
superstition current in parts of Ger
many, Great Britain, and in our own
country, that pigs should be killed at
full moon. When this is done the meat
swells in the pot; otherwise, if killed
during the waning moon, it will shrink,
and is, therefore. unsound.
Omens are frequently drawn from
this most unimpressionable animal. 1t
was long ago considered an unfortunate
thing if a sow should cross in front of
any one setting forth on a journey.
Grose, an old English writer, says some
accident is sure to befall unless you
kept the animal from crossing until
you had passed. A SOW and a litter of
pigs was, however, good omen. 1t
is in Scotland thought unluclsy to meet
a sow the first thing in the morning.
In Germany, if you meet a pig when
wherever you are going, and it is also
n bad omen to meet herd of swine.
Hollanders also dislike to meet q pig
while out walking. Fishermen in many
parts of England, Scotland and Ireland
abhor the pig. To meet one is so un-
lucky that they will frequently return
for the day. A pig was secretly home
introduced into fishing boat, but was
Immediately thrown overheard when
discovered. 1t must not even be
named when out fishing.
In Brandenburg, if, when a pig is
killed, the spleen is f md to be turned |
over, it is said to foretell death in
the family that year. 1t is said in
North Germany that if a single man
will, on Walpurgis night, ride on
broomstick to the stable, knock three
times, and then go the pigsty and |
listen until II pig grunts, he may know
whether he will marry young or old |
wife, according to the age of the first |
grunter.
Hogs are also weather-wise. Two |
English sayings are recorded as signs
of coming storm:
show restless are the snortirg swine,
Their litter is not tossed by sows uncleau."
In the "Husbandman's Practice"
0S6H we are told: '.When swine car
ry bottles of hay or straw to hide them,
rain is at hand" Our own games
say the same, when the pigs hide in
the straw. In other places it is said
to be a sign of cold weather when
they are seen to pile and store straws,
leaves, ETC., and especially fortells
cold winter when seen in the fall. In
Texas, Il "norther" is expected when
they go about with sticks in their
Another old work, "The Cabinet of
Nature" Q65O tells us: "When hogs
run grupting home, storm inpends."
Cold is in this country predicted when
hey are uneasy and huddled together.
Ii they rub the side of the pen in win
,er thaw is coming. Some farmers
say the winter will be. colder during
he first months if the forward end of
, pigs melt is the thickest, but if the
,ther end is thickest the final months
will bring the most cold. In West
,halia, pigs are thought to see the
wind coming.
There are a number of sayings con-
lected with pigs, some of which are
veil known, others more or less OBJ
'cure. A "hog in armor" is really
Hodge in armor. "Please the pigs" is
please pigm (Anglo-Saxon for the Vir-
yin). "You have the wrong SOW by
he ear" is said to the pickler or
'souser" when he takes the ear of the
yrOnu sow M tuh .FTo huv a piU in a