Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-02-22
SUGGESTIONS ABOUT EGGS.
@1bssrh Fishers Views About tho Causes
Of Contrary Winds.

ssTo hang an egg laid on Ascension
ld.y in the roof OF q house" says Regi-
I'D Scot in 1884, 'preserveth the
-unne from all hurts" Probably this
~ written with an eye TO the hurts"
sing from w~itchcraft, in connection
wSh which eggs were supposed TO pos
IN certain mysterious powers. In
0erth Germany. II you have IA desire
- see the ladies of the broomstick on
Lay day, their festival, you must take
- egg laid on Maundy Thursday and
s1nnd where four roads meet; or else
- must go into church on Good Fri
by, but come out before the blessing.
Was formerly quite an article OF do
Estic belief that the shells must be
hnkena ftereating eggs, lest the witch
- should sail out TO sea in them or,
- Sir Thomas Browne declared, lest
hoy should draw or prick their
names therein, and veniiciously mis-
chief the person who had partaken Of
3e egg. North Germans, ignoring
His side Of the question, say, Break
no shells or you will get the ague,"
and Netherlanders advise you 10 Sc
sne yourself against the attacks OF
his d~isagreeable visitor by eating on
Easter day a couple OF eggs which
uee laid on Good Friday.
Scotch fishers who may be reckoned
mong the most superstitious OF folks,
believe that contrary winds and much
exation of spirit will result of having
gigs on board with them, while in the
gest Of England il is considered very
uniucky to bring birds eggs into the
house, although they may be hung up
vith impunity outside. Mr.. Gregor,
m his Folklore Of the Northeast Of
Scotland" gives US some curious ar
tculars concerning chickens and the
hest method Of securing a satisfactory
brood. The hen, il seems, SHOULD be
set on an odd number of eggs, or the
chances are that most, If not all, will
Ne addled-amournful prospect for the
hen wife; also, they must be placed
under the mother bird after sunset, or
The chickens will be blind. If the wo-
man who performs this office carries
the eggs wrapped up in her chemise,
the result will be len birds; if she
wears a mans hat, cocks. Further
more, il is as well Tor her TO repeat a
sort of charm, "a in thegeethir. A
cot ~thegeethir."
There are many farmers wives,
even in the present day, who would
never dream of allowing eggs TO be
brought into the house or taken out
after dark, this being deemed ex-
temely unlucky. Cuthbert Bede
mentions the case Of a farmers
wife in Rutland who received a set
ing Of ducks eggs from a neighbor
u 3 O'Clock at night. II cannot i'm
agine how she could have been SO
fsolish. said the good woman. much
dktressed; and her visitor upon in
qliry was told that ducks eggs
brought into a house after sunset
would never be Matched.
A Lincolnshire superstition declares
that il eggs are carried over running
water they will be useless for setting
parposes; while in Aberdeen there is
an idea prevalent among the country
lolks that should il thunder a short
time before chickens are Matched
they will die in the shell. The same
wiseacres may be credited with the
notion hal the year the farmers
gude wife presents him with an adj
.dion to his family is a lad season for
The poultry yard. BARNS and chuck
ons," say they, ''dinna thrive in as
year" The probable explanation be-
ing that the guide wife, taken up
nlth the care Of her BARN. has less
limo b. attend TO the rearing Of the
''ahuckem."
Beside the divination practiced with
the white Of an egg, which certainly
zHpeais OF a vague and unsatisfactory
character, another species Of fortune
te&ling with eggs is in vogue in North
cumberland on the eve of st. Agnes.
A-naiden DESTROYS Of knowing what
her future lord is like is epioined 10
boilsan egg. after having spent the
whole day fasting and in silence, then
toextract the yolk, I'LL the cavity with
alt, and eat the whole, including the
shsll. This highly unpalatable sup
pr finished, the heroic maid must
walk backward, uttering this invoca.
tim TO the saint:
Sweet St. Agnes. work thy fast.
IL ever | be &c marry man,
Or man 70 marry me.
Ihope him this night to SEE.
fall necessary rites and ceremonies
have been duly performed, the girl
my confidently count upon seeing
her future husband in her dreams
dreams which, we should presume, as
our Yankee friends say, would bear a
strong resemblance TO nightmare
Queen.