The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1906-08-14
FISHERS AND OMENS.
ODD sUPERsTITIoNs FROM ALL OVER
THE WORLD.

ODD SUPERSTITIONS FROM ALL OVER
THE WORLD.
Incidents and Persons That Are Con-
sfdered UnlucIy by the TOiIers of
the Sea--SOme Queer Notions That
Were Held by the Anctents.
One of the commonest of supersti-
tons among fishermen is the alleged
Ill luck caused by woman. In the Isle
OF Skye If a woman crosses the water
In course of the fishing the luck is
| doomed. At Marlborough, England, If
a woman happens to enter cottage
when the men are preparing their lines
she is not allowed to depart until she
has knelt down and repeated the Lords
Prayer. In Lapland the fishermen
avoid spreading their captured fish on
that part of the shore frequented by
women, as the next expedition would
be a failure.
On many parts of the coast of Eng
land it is considered most unlucky for
woman to walk over the nets or any
of the fishing tackle, although women
take an active part in collecting bait
Some of the English herring fishermen
have an idea that by beating their
wives they can draw the fish in In
the Hawaiian Islands after the fisher
men have prepared the lau melometo
Ia billet of wood used as decoy) with
the proper incantations care IS taken
that woman does not step over 1t or
enter the canoe in which it is placed,
as in that event the decoy would lose
Its power, and the kahuna (sorcerer)
would have to go through the opera
ton again.
The influence of the minister is hard
~ less adverse than that of women,
and the practices noted as connected
with the Ill omen of feminine interfer-
ence apply also to the clergy The
herring are said to have all left one
part of the Irish coast because they
heard the new parson say he was going
to 1.-THE the fishery, and in Lapland and
on the coasts thereof fish are never
looked for where q church is ia sight.
On the coast of Lancashire. England,
the fishermen have custom of setting
town once prayed against this breach
Of the Lords day, as he called it; but,
to neutraliZe his prayers, the fishermen
made a small image of rags and pious-
~ burned the parson in effigy.
The avoidance of the neighborhood
of churches referred to is accounted
for by the fishermens belief in the
great quickness of hearing of fishes.
In Sweden, for instance, the church
bells are not rung in the Dream season,
lest the fish should take fright, and
where the pilchard are fished the PEG
pie are no less careful of their sensi-
tiveness to sound.
The Romans believed that the ser
rated spine on the tail of !, the sting
ray was so venomous as to be capable
of causing injury to even vegetable
and mineral substances, trees losing
their verdure and even rocks being af
fected. They also considered it bad
luck IL a person with a love or lawsuit
on hand met a remOra Sucking fish
when bathiag. Albertus Magnus adj
vised a sutton in law case to place
perch under his arm and the judge
would thereupon become his friend
When they catch certain species of
fat fish the Firms make the sign of the
cross. The Irish will not eat the skate,
sometimes called the maid, because it
is supposed. to bear a questionable re-
semblance to some of the grotesque
medieval delineations of the Virgin
Mary. The Dutch fishermen believe
that they can discern the image of the
Virgin in each scale of the drum, and
the Swedish fishermen believe that the
pike turns It's head toward the shore
on st. Gregory's day, March IL.
The origin of certain species of fishes
are to be accounted for in various
ways When the Brittany fishermen
happened to catch the lotte they threw
them back into the water. as they were
supposed to turn into eels. In parts
of England cells are supposed to be
bred from dew in the months of May
and June or In other sections from the
hairs of horses or kline which drop into
cart ruts or into drinking troughs and
springs and there quicken after rain.
This latter superstition is widely prev
alent In this country The ancients
supposed that cells were engendered of
mud or that when tired of living they
rubbed themselves against the rocks,
and from the detritus issued a new
breed, while still others believed they
came from the carcasses of animals.
Soles, according to the French fisher
men, are bred from prawns. The Eng
| fish fishermen think that the pike Is
begotten by the west wind, while the
gudgeon is believed to be generated
from the brains of horses.
Burn the teeth of fish you catch, or
your luck will be bad next day. Pins
found 10 church make good fish hooks.
In Scotland quarrel on the beach, If
blood is drawn, will drive the herring
from the coast for the rest of the sea
| son. In Sweden stolen tackle is lucky.
In north Germany herrings eaten on
New Years day bring luck all the year
| through To witness the plunge of a
| pike before noon was considered an
unlucky omen in Bohemia. In New
England If you catch fish you don't
care to keep don't throw 1t back into
the water until you have finished. If
you throw it in before 1t will tell all
the other fish what you are doing, and
no more will bite,
The Hawaiian fishermen sometimes
prepare bait from the flesh of the oc-
topus and the Juice from the blossom
Of the llima plant An exact Number
of flowers is always used, as the fish
1t
were employed the bait would have no
power.
Many of the English fishermen will
not pat to sea If any one mentions a
pig while they are batting their lines.
Should they meet hare on the way to
tAer boats they will give up fishing for
the day. In Scotland the salmon is
equally uncomfortable and is alluded
TO only as So-and SOS fish. Usually it
receives for a pseudonym the name of
the Tux collector of the nearest village,
as he is generally the one least liked.
In the Hawaiian Islands when the
fishermen are ready to embark they are
greatly exasperated should a person
come along and stand indolently gaz-
ing at them with his hands behind him,
as they believe it gives them bad luck.
The ear bones, or otoliths, of the lake
drum are often carried as amulets by
the negro fishermen and others of the
south and are also priced by the boys
/ of Wisconsin and elsewhere in the
west who can them "lucky stones"
| perhaps in allusion to the fact that
they. are marked by figure which re-
semsles the letter L. The New Eng
land fisheraen carry lucky bone
which they find in the head of the cod
| fish. 1t is shell-like and narrow, with
| length of three-fourths of an inch.
The edge is notched, while the color
Is a pearly white. Many of them con-
slider 1t good plan to carry two bones,
as that Will make. their luck doubly