Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-07-26

unlucky al fts life. II Is most unfortunsts
for mother, after the birth Of babe to ap-
pear out OF doors until she is "churched.
How Baptism Affects ths Beard.
Tho first baby baptized by q minister
after his appointment to . parish receives
the clergyman's Christian name; and II .
male and female child are brought together
for baptism, the boy must be first baptized.
Otherwise he will go through life barefaced,
and the girl will be disfgured with beard.
| During nursing, mothers wear amulets Of
blue WOODEN threads or cord around their
necks to avert ephemeral fsyers from their
babea These ars handed down from mother
to daughter, are greatly priced, and their
e1icacy is in proportion to the antiquity.
In the Border country cradle is never
| rocked, as 1t will bring disease to child.
"The luck O. the BARN" is curious out
growth of tradition and custom Whoever
carries the babe to church for baptism must
be provided with piece Of cake. This il
| given to the first person met, no matter
whom; and If it be o man it is better "luck"
| for the child. All manner of i'll comes upon
whoever refuses, and such q refusal also
| bodies i'll fortune to the child. But few
months since the Scottish newspapers took
notice of graceless fellow who flung this
luck-cake away, thus throwing away with It
'the luck O. the bairn."
Facts About Luck and Love.
In the matter of courtships and weddings
Scottish people preserve an extraordinary
number Of peculiar customs and fanciful
superstitions. 1t is deemed unlucky to alter
the first width of an engagement ring.
Many troths have been broken as q result.
The giving of brooches and pins by lovers Is
full of i'll consequences. 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
emblematic of the cessation Of friendship
and affection. 1t is very fortunate for the
bride to wear some borrowed article of ap-
palel at her wedding. If 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 after sunset entails on the
bride 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;"
whereas, "Blest is the bride that the sun
shines on" To "rub shoulders" with the
bride is q sign Of speedy marriage; the first
among the unmarried female 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 preced-
ence quite closely following fsticuffs. As
a newly married wife first enters her new
home some elderly person must throw o
cake of shortbread into the door before her
One securing piece of cheese cut with the
brides own hand before she left the we'd
ding feast is certain to be shortly happily
married And it is everywhere in Scotland
as unauspicious for the BRIDES mother to be
present at a wedding as it is unfortunate in
our country to have the same individual
arrive, to remain, at any subsequent period
Meaning in the Songs of Birds.
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 a stone fore
tells the falling of snow. A black cock is
highly priced, as its presence preve nts the
ravages OF bogies and warlocks. To hear q
cuckoo cry before breakfast is an i'll omen.
1t is fortunate for a housewife If brood Of
chickens all come off the nest cock birds, as
1t is Indicative Of coming prosperity. The
magpie is particularly ominous bird to the
Scotch
One IS sorrow; two mtrth;
Three, wedding; four, bfrths
Five, heaven; six, hell;-
Seven, the defls ain sell
Death tokens and funeral tokens are-very
numerous. When abroad at night one
should never turn about on hearing foot
steps. They are likely to be those of the
dead who are seeking human companion
ship. The bowling Of dog with its head
toward the house for near, and away from
the house for distant relative, or beneath
the window of one lying i'll; the croaking Of
ravens on the thatch; March roosters
growing before midnight; the sound of spirit
bells in the night; circles of fame in the
air; a hen bringing off brood which are all
hen birds; magpies preceding you on your
way to church are q few Of countless pres-
ages OF death.
Making Body Of Clay.
In the North of Scotland q peculiar piece
of witchcraft-fairly the only genuine BIT Of
malicious and barbaric diablerie to be found
in the entire Kingdoms still practiced.
Where a coward1y yet deadly hatred is
cherished by one for another, ''body Of
nearly as possible in the image of the one
sought to be harmed. This is placed with
the greatest secrecy in the stream of some
shadowy burn. The belief is that as the
corp creadh wastes away by the action of
the water, the victim sought to be cursed
will as surely waste away to death.
81 shall make body of clay for your 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
Enc