The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1903-10-24

head, to throw 1T upon the ground, where
it is believed to present the semblance of
the first letter of her future husband
name. In the North of England while
this divination is being performed it is GUS
tomary to repeat the following lines from
the poet Gay:
81 pare this pippin round and round again,
My sweetheart's name to flourish on the plain;
| fling the unbroken pairing DER my head,
My sweetheart's letter on the ground is read"
CoNsTANCY OF LOVERS.
A method of determining the constancy
of lovers, practiced many times by every
American and English girl of the present
day, and by her mother and grandmother
before her, is to take two wet apple seeds,
name each for a lover and place them one
upon each cheek or each eyelid. The one
which drops off first is faithless, while the
other, like the Douglas famous in song, is
"tender and true" Another very old
apple spell pertaining to Hallew Fer is to
eat an apple before mirror at midnight
in room apart from all other persons,
lighting ones self by solitary candle held
in one hand Before the apple is finished
the face Of the future husband or wife will
be seen peering over your shoulder
Gay mentions another species of divina-
tion practiced with the lady fly in his time,
popularity called the lady bug, to deter
mine from what quarter of the compass
the future husband is to come. He ex-
plains it thus
''I'his lady fly take from off the grass,
Whose spotted back might scarlet red surpass,
| Fly, lady bird, north, SOUTH east or west;
Fly where the man is found that love best"
AWE AND vENERATIoN.
By the rustics of Scotland Hallow Eve
is regarded with special law and veneration.
| They invest it with the most intense mys-
ticism and place simple, unquestioning
faith in all its charms and spells. Many
Of the Hallowe en- customs practiced
throughout the civilized world are derived
from them.
In an old book published in 1926 and
called eye True Fortune Teller" there is
a chapter headed, 'To Know Whether
Woman Will Have Ye Man She Wishes"
in which find the following charm: "Get
two lemon peels; wear them all day, one
in each pocket; rub ye forepost of ye bed
stead with them; if she is to succeed ye
man will appear in her sleep and present
her with a couple of lemons; it not, there
is no hope for her, .
The following passage from Gay ''Pas-
torals describes divination once highly
popular with the English peasantry:
"At eve, last midsummer, no sleep | sought,
But to the field bag of hempseed brought;
| scattered round the seed on every side,
And three times in trembling accent cried
This hempseed with my virgin hand | SOW
Who shall my true love be the crop shall
NOW
the belief being that the future husband
or wife will then be seen in the act off pull
ing hemp.
TO MAKE BAD DREAMS.
In a very old book of folk lore called
''Mother Bunchs Closet Newly Broke
Open," find the following: eff maid
wishes to know to what manner of fortune
she shall be married-if gentleman;
| tradesman or a traveler-let her on All
Hallow Eve take a walnut, hazle nut and
a nutmeg, crate and mix them up with
butter and sugar into pills, which must be
taken when she goes to bed, and then, if
her fortune be to marry a gentleman her
sleep will be filled with golden dreams
if a tradesman she will dream of odd noises
and tumults; if a traveller, then will thunder
and lightning disturb her
THE DUMB CAKE.
The sDumb Cake is favorite Hallow
f. en- charm in some of the northern coun-
ties of England. 1t must be made between
the hours of / and midnight by any num-
Der of young women, each of whom must
place handful of wheat flour on a sheet
of white paper and sprinkle it over with as
much salt as she can hold between her
finger and thumb. Then one of the party
must make it into a dough, being careful
not to use spring water. Each young
woman must then roll up the dough, spread
it out thin and flat and mark her initials
upon it with a new pin. The cake being
than placed before the fire, all must take
seat as far from it as possible. This
must all be done before l l o clock p. M,
and between that time and midnight all
present must turn the cake once. When
the clock strikes IL the husband of her
who is to be married first will enter and
lay his hand upon the part of the cake
marked with her name.
Throughout the whole proceeding not
word must be spoken; hence, the name
ssDumb Cake" A spell much practiced
on Hallow E en- among the weaver lassles
of Lancashire is that of the Give Earthen
Balls. To perform this divination it is
necessary to have five small slips of paper.
Upon three of these the damsel who seeks
to know her marital kismet writes the
names of her three favorite swains. Upon
one of the others she writes "Death, and
upon the other stranger. Each slip is
then rolled up into ball and covered with
moistened earth being then placed in a