Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-03-30

depart, all animals without bones" This
branch will charm all feas from the house.
Ihe silver pieces contributed at COM
munlon on Easter day are thought In
England, good to charm away epilepsy,
especially if made up into rings and worn
about the neck. It was also deemed un-
lucky to keep mincemest in the house from
Christmas to Easter. In many counties OF
England beggars go "clacking" on this day.
The clack dish is wooden platter with
cover that is ratified against it to warn per-
sons of the approach of the mendlcant. II
was originally used by lepers and persons
thought infectious. Lucio says in Measure
for Measure" (III. 2 "his use was, to
put ducat in her clack dish"
There are many curious observances dur
ing Easter week in Sweden. If the house is
cleanly swept then, and the broom hidden
in a neighbor's house, all the vermln will
be attracted to the latter place, and thus
leave the owner of the broom unmolested.
To wash in water brought from spring
Easter morning before the birds sing, Will
preserve the fair Scandinavians from sun
burn throughout the year. No linen gar
ments should be washed or any of the do
mestic utensils loaned during the week.
Webs of linen must not be left out over
night during this time, or the ground where
the fax was grown Will become unpro-
ductive. The brake used to bruise the tiax
must also be brought within doors, If luck
with the linen is desired. One must not
speak of rats, mice and other vermln or they
will abound during the year.
NOTIONS ABOUT SPRING WATER.
There is curious belief current among
the common peasants in Germany. On
Cfo or,l 1rs. 1rrht Ic hall ro1
that the water of springs turns into wine
between the hours of II and IL. Water
drawn on the morning of Easter Sunday be-
fore sunrise, taking care to draw it down
stream and in silence will not spoil during
the year, and is said to heal eruptions, re-
store health, and make the cattle strong.
Bells are said to be heard every Easter
morning from the depths of the Zuyder Zee.
The tradition is that robbers stole the
church bells from Newkirk, but, at the call
of the priests, the ships sank to the bottom,
where they still lie, and the bells toll every
anniversary. Pomeranian fishermen think
it especially lucky to fish all night on the
eve of Easter, Pentecost or Ascension Day.
1t may be imagined that the custom of ar
raging themselves in a new garb at Easter,
prevalent among the ladies, is but a caprice
of fashion, the spring being then, in North
NA II S4AAdbGs, Nc4A bSS uuy Ouk IOlh-lOIC
ings would indicate that the origin of the
habit is in superstition. 1t is said in Wales
and in the South of England, that some
thing new must be worn on this day or the
luck for the coming year would fail. In
Northamptonshire, also, whosoever dons no
new garments then, is sure to be unlucky.
In Poor Robins Almanac" we find this
rhyme:
At Easter let your clothes be new
Or else be sure you will it rue.
Young people in East Yorkshire 60 to the
market town to buy some new articles of
dress to wear on this day for the first time,
as they believe that birds, rocks particu-
larly, will spoil their clothes, if they do not
sport some new garments at Easter. Dyer
thinks Shakespeare alludes to the custom of
wearing new clothes on this day when he
makes Aercutio ask Benuolio, in "Romeo
and Juliet" Oil, y, whether he did not
fall out with tailor for wearing his new
doublet before Easter"
THE NEW ROBES OF SPRING.
1t is fitting that new and gay garments
should be worn after the somber garb of
Lent, just as nature arrays herself in color
after the gray and solemn robes of winter,
and this may have given rise to the supersti-
tion about wearing new clothes, instead OF
being consequence of such superstition.
There was a popular notion that the sun
danced on Easter morning, and crowds were
wont to go out to see it. Shakespeare saws
in "Coriolanus" (IV,D:
The trumpets, sackbuts, psalteries and flies,
Tabors, and cymbals and the shouting Romans
Make the sun dance.
Sir Thomas Brown in his Vulgar En-
rors" refutes the notion, and Sir John Suck
ling alludes to it:
But, oh, she dances such way,
No sun upon an Easter day
Is half SO fine sight
Although day OF such importance, and
q festival SO ancient, weather prophets do
not refer their representations of the coming
weather to this day as frequently as they
cite the indications upon other HOLIDAYS.
This is, probably, because of its being
movable feast Notwithstanding this there
are number Of popular sayings regarding
Easter weather. These indicate the de-
STABILITY of fair day, point in which
they may expect the concurrence of the
ladies. In an "Old Shepherds Calendar"
by one Thomas Passenger, we are told that,
eff the sun shines clear on Palm Sunday or
Easter day, or either of them, there will be
great store of fair weather, plenty of corn
and other fruits of the earth." A saying
current in parts of England is this: Fair
from Easter to Whitsuntide, butter will be
cheap" and another connects these two
together by predicting: ''It the sun shines
on Easter it will shine on Whitsunday."
A RAINY EASTER SUNDAY.
Rain is considered unlucky for the crops.
"Rain in Easter, slim fodder" but this is
not universal, for there is a saving current
in Hertfordshire, England, to this effect:
A oond dea1 of raip on EaSfar
Gives good crop of grain, but little hay,
A similar proverb is heard in Northamp-
tonshire. In France it is said:
Easter in rain;
Year of grain.
There is also a saying current in this
country that the number of dews before
Easter indicate the number of hoar frosts
that will occur after that day, and also the
number of dews in August. "Past the Eas-
ter frost and fruit is safe, is another maxim
known to many. Snow and ice are no more
fortunate, and like all unreasonable weather,
are indications of disaster in the popular
mind. A proverb runs:
Easter In snow, Christmas in mud;
Christmas in snow, Easter in mud
There are also two proverbs from the
French illustrating this point:
Christmas in the balcony;
Easter, at the fire.
Christmas. flies;
Easter, ice.
1t is difficult to perceive the connection in
the following lines, or to imagine the reasons
for the caution expressed: After Easter and
beware of priests and onions.
The Chippeway Indians have an adage,
evidently of recent origin, that as the wind
blows on Easter Sunday, from A. NJ to IL