The record-union., 1891-07-25

life barefaced, and the girl will be disfg-
ured with beard. During nursing moth
erS wear amulets of blue woOlen thread,
or cord around their necks, to avert
ephemeral fevers from their babes. These
are handed down from mother TO Gaugh-
ter, are greatly priced, and their efficacy
is in proportion to their antiquity. In tho
Border country q cradle is never rocked,
as it will bring disease to a child. THE
luck O. the bairn'' is curious outgrowth
of tradition and custom. Whoever car
ries the babe to church for baptism must
be provided with piece of cake. This is
given to the first person met, no matter
whom, and if it be man it is better
luck" for the child. All manner of i'll
comes upon whoever refuses, and such
refusal also BODIES i'll fortune to the child.
But a few months since the Scottish news
papers took notice of q graceless fellow
who flung this luck-cake away, thus
throwing away with it 1.-The luck o. the
BARN"
In the matter of courtships and we'd
dings Scottish people preserve an extra
ordinary number of peculiar customs and
fanciful superstitions. 1t is deemed un-
lucky to alter the first width of an en-
gagement ring. Many troths have been
broken as result. The giving of brooches
and pins by lovers is full of i'll conse-
quences. No young man or woman, in
the tender relation, will take pin from
the other, without returning the same
after use. Pins, needles, etc, are all en-
blematic of the cessation of friendship
and affection. It's very fortunate for the
bride to wear some borrowed article of
apparel at her wedding. II swine cross
the path of the bridal party before it, it is
an omen of the direst import, but if they
should cross its path behind the party it
would be happy augury. A wedding
&fter sunset entails on the bride a joyless
life, the loss of children, and an early
grave. In the south Of Scotland rainy
day for marriage is an unlucky one.
The bride is then called "a greetin'
bride;r whereas, "Blest is the bride that
the sun shines on" To rub shoulders
with the bride is a sign Of speedy mar
riage, the first among the unmarried fe-
male friends who succeeds in doing it
will be the first to wed, and | have myself
witnessed scrambles on the part of buxom
Scotch lasses for precedence quite closely
approaching fisticuffs. AS a newly mar
ried wife first enters her new home some
elderly person must throw cake OF
shortbread into the door before her. One
securing a piece of cheese cut with the
brides own hand before she has left the
wedding feast is certain to be shortly
happily married. And it is everywhere
in Scotland as inauspicious for the brides
mother to be present at wedding as it is.
unfortunate in our country TO have the
same individual arrive, to remain, at any
subsequent period.
AS with the Irish the Scottish people
have some very interesting and OCCASION
ally mournful folklore and superstitions
regarding birds and fowls. The song of
the robin bodies i'll to any sick person who
hears it. a robin seen sitting upon stone
foretells the falling of snow. A black cock
is highly priced, as its presence prevents
the ravages of bogies and warlocks. To
hear a cuckoo cry before breakfast is an
i'll omen. 1t is fortunate for a housewife
if a brood of chickens all come off the nest
cock birds, as it is indicative of coming
prosperity. The magpie is particularly
ominous bird to the Scotch.
One is sorrow, two mirth,
Three wedding, four birth,
Five heaven, six hell,
Seven the de'ils ain SEP!
The entrance of the thrush, any of the
family OF fnches, or the little ox-eye tit
into the open window or door of q house,
is an omen that anyone i'll within will re-
gain health and, if all are i'll good health,
that some pleasant good fortune is in
store for the household. When the star
ling ceases to follow the grazing cattle
some witch spell is being wrought upon
them, and If the raven hover near cattle
or sheep "elf-shooting" is very likely to
occur. When the robin will not sing in
graveyard trees the place is held in un-
usual dread; and if you will keep the
white hair you will find under your foot
when you hear the first notes Of the
cuckoo in the springtime, the next name
you hear spoken is of the one you will
haply wed.
Death tokens and funeral tokens are
very numerous. When abroad at night
one should never turn about on hearing
footsteps. They are likely to be those OF
the dead who are seeking human COM
panionship. The howling of dog with
its head toward the house for near, and
away from the house for q distant relative,
or beneath the window of one lying i'll;
the croal1ing of ravens on the thatch;
March roosters growing before midnight;
the sound of spirit-bells in the night:
circles of flame in the air; q hen bringing
off a brood which are all birds: mag
pies preceding you on your way to
church, are few of countless Scottish
presages of death, If, at funeral, shaft
of sunlight shines with special brightness
on some one person, that one will be the
next of those present to be buried In
the Border Shires it is believed that any
person meeting a funeral cortege who
fails to bear his head, turn about, accom-
pany the procession, and, if the corpse be
borne by bearers, gle q lift" he may,
after bowling to the attendants, resume
his way without harm-otherwise he will
be the next one buried
In the north of Scotland peculiar piece
of witchcraft-fairly the only genuine bit
of malicious and barbaric did6terie to be
found in the entire Kingdoms still
practiced. Where cowardly, yet deadly
hatred is cherished by one for another, a
body of clay' (Gallic, corp creadL0 is
made as nearly as possible in the image
OF the one sought to be harmed. This is
placed with the greatest secrecy III the
stream of some shadowy burn. The be-
lief is that as the corp creddh wastes
away by the action of the water, the VIC
tim sought to be cursed will as surely
waste away to death. 81 shall make a
body of clay for youo is the most terrible
and whitening threat known among all
Highland folk. The origin of this truly
devilish practice can be found in ancient
Egyptian witchcraft, and its almost exact
congener, the burning of the pin-pricked
wax image of one sought to be voudooed
| to death, is of common secret practice
among the blacks of our Southern States
the West Indies and Africa.
| EDGAR l.. WAKEMAN.