The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-01
DWELLING IN DARKNESS.
Sixteenth Century Villages Survive
 in the England Of Today.

in the England Of Today. George Blythe, in London Mail.
 Ii is hard for dweIlers in towns to re- alize that on the rocking verge of the broadland marshes .here are still little communities who think and act according to scheme of life that has remained un- Changed for three or more centuries.
 But there is many d Norfolk village where the same speech. the same moral 2 fly, the same supe-stitons obtain as when Elizabeth was Queen--where there are old men and women who have never seen the railway station, have never learned to read or write, have never been beyond the confines Of their own parish.
 To sit and talk to one of these oid- world echoes is d lesson on the fuility Of progress. They have little but they are content. They are ignorant with the ig- norance both of inexperience and preju- dice; but inasmuch as they are ignorant that they are so does not trouble them. I.l their eyes neither they nor the village can have a superior. Modernity does not appeal to them. They can see the wild fowl getting scarcer year by year and recognize no compensation for it. They go their way and their children will go their way twhen the evanescent Influence of the board school on early : fears, the same faith in the same omens, { the same trust in the village wise woman or herbalst as cast the glamour of TO- mance over their forefathers fifteen gen. eraion ago.
 Intermarriage has made them all cous- jns. A new settler finds himself treated as ssn outcast. Without being aware of the fact, the villagers boycott him and he quickly. departs to some more congenial fp fhaip tia. old ways.
 To describe all the quaint customs of such village would require the space of book but it may be interesting to con sider few of the most prevalent super stitions that are to be found in marsh villages.
 Of these bees furnish q goodly number.
 Should any one of the family of bee Keeper die the bees must he put into sinourning by pinning a piece of crape or some such black stuff upon their hives. If this is not done all the bees will die. l have been assured again and again that this is fact And instances have been given. within the experience of my in- formant when the mournfu intimation was neglected and all the bees perished incontinently. l. would seem as ridicu- lUus 10 marsh Villager to doubt the truth of this as it would to a professor of mathematics to throw doubt upon the binomial thoorcm.
 In springtir;, if q swarm of bees alights cn dead wood it is Il sign of death in the family of tho proprietor.
 A bee coming indoors Is sign that guest may be expected.
 If hive of bees is sold for less than gold l0s) they will ali die
 If swarm of bees flies straight away fNm the lanc of the owner hc may expect pecuniary losses.
 s There are many death omcns. That of strarge dog bowling under a window and the winding sheet in the candle are far from being confined to East Anglia But l have not elsewhere heard that to shut 2 lighted candle up in Il room by Itself is an infallible warning of death
 If in cutting loaf hollow is disclosed bearing tha shape of Il coffin death is coming to fill the caslot of which the hole is a symbol.
 In parts of East Anglia. especially where there is dr:. sandy common. there is sysiiil a fair number of both green snakes and vip2rs Many are killed every year, but rarely does one find it's way into cottage, either dead CT alive. Even a bit of snake skin brought indoors bodes death or the worst of i'll luck.
 A maiden who hears the cuckoo tolling for the first time in the year should note the number of its calls. They indicate the number of years to pass before she IS married.
 If you hear the cuckoo before you see ,g the swallow
 All the year will he misery and sorrow"  is not a first class rhyme but it is q firm ly rooted belief
 A swallow or martin brings good luck to the house against which 1t builds To kill one of these birds is the worst of luck have known the death of two cart horses attributed solely to the fact that the young master" had either cruelty or thoughtlessly shot d martin.
 To hit the left foot against a stone is a warning against the enterprise in hand.
 Cast human hair in the fire. If it smol- ders away without getting to a blaze the person whose head 1t came from will not die in his or her bed
 a bed or pillow of game feathers will not allow the soul of a dying person to escape. It must be removed from under the body before death can come.
 One of the most picturesque customs i3 that on the brewing day the man kisses his wife over the mash tub to make the yeast rise.
 Another belief twhich l have been as- sured is true without the leas;est dou- bie' D is that when thunder storm (Nor- folk "tempestD comes up from the east it will bring the end of the world with it.
 very pretty thought is that bread baked on Good Friday will never grow mcldy. have seen some bread baked on this solemn date over eight years old and quite sweet. It is carefully kept and greatly prized. It is said to be good for certain internal complaints when crun- bied and eaten. The belief has gwen rise to saw, Blessed be the baker and the brewer. but cursed loo the washerwoman on Good Friday IL is somewhat dificult . Co, see whS the apostle of cleanliness