Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1908-01-17
sUPERsTIrfoNs OF NINE.
Number Most Conspicuous in An
cient and Modern Speech.

Number Most Conspicuous in An
cient and Modern Speech.
OF all the odd numbers the one
which would seem to be the most con-
,spicuous in ancient lore and modern
speech and in illusions of all sorts
whether classic or yulgar-is nine.
| Whether this is because it is a multiple
of three, a triple trinity or not we need
not stop to inquire. The connections
in which nine figures, says the London
Globe, are very numerous and extra
ordinarily varied. Of old there were
nine muses., and also nine rivers in the
Internal regions. In classical mytho-
logy we read of nine heavens and nine
worlds and the hydra had nine heads.
In medieval times there were nine
s'worthies Of the world" the places In
this select assembly being differently
allotted by different authorities, the
usual division being three gentiles, or
paynims, three Jews and three Chris
tlans. One of the oldest English games
is nine mems morris. It could be play
ed either indoors or outdoors, on a
folding board marked with the neces-
sary lines and squares or on a board
marked out on feld or down by stones
or by cuts in the turf. In Dorset they
still play the game under the name of
marnull.
Nine appears frequently in popular
medicine. A Sussex collector referring
to the very common rural belief in the
efficacy of passing a ruptured ci.tld
through a cleft ash tree says that the
patient must be attended by nine per
sons, each Of whom should pass 1t
through the cleft from west to east.
A Perth kirk session record of 1923
refers to the preparation of three cakes
for some medicinal purpose from nine
portions Of meal contributed by nine
maiden and nine married women.
Threads with nine knots and straws
with nine joints are used for various
healing purposes, while nine successive
mornings are often prescribed for the
performance of certain folklore cere-
monies.
The great Lambton worm, one of
the best known Of English dragon
myths, had nine eyes and was fed from
the milk of nine COWS.
Again, the same number Is prominent
In various common phrases and prov
erbsL Nine tailors make a man. Queen
Elizabeth Is alleged to have once adj
dressed a deputation Of eighteen tail
ors with a "Good morning, gentlemen
both!"
Every one knows that a cat has nine
lives, while the cat that is used for
the castigation Of evildoers has niue
tails.
When Mercutio Insults Tybalt and
the latter inquiries, what wouldst chou
have with me?, the volatile but fiery
partisan replies: Good king of cats,
nothing but one of your nine lives"
lakewood, the proverb monger, has the
saying "a woman hath nine lives like
a cat" which will be news to most
folk.
Three more examples may be given
from a collection of applications Of
this remarkable number nine, which
is not easily exhausted. Possession,
we often hear, is mine points of the
law A person who has paid some
attention to his or her attire is said
for some ~inscrutable reason to be
dressed cup to the nines," while the
most startling event is but a mine days
wonder" The last phrase, though
truer now than ever. was Familiarity
used, with many other still current
forms Of popular speech, In the days Of
Chauccr.