Year: 1876

Pardon me for saying think your cor


respondent, M s. N" disparages the


descendants Of the Irish in our region


now only known as the English, in not


giving them the precedence over the


Pennsylvania Dutch" in the matter oi


superstition. | am Pennsylvania by


birth and residence, and have mixed


equally with both people, and, am free to


say, have known fully as great supersti-


ton in the one as the other class. With


the descendants of the Irish, the belief


in witches, wizards, witchcraft signs
and omens. would be beyond credibility


were it told. We generally expect the
/ higher the culture and intelligence, the
\ greater the freedom from all forms Of su.


perstition, and the English consider
\ themselves far in the advance over the
/ Germans; yet lady, standing in the
very front rank of station, fashion, and
general culture, not long ago, expressed
/ to me her full faith in the number Of
/ thirteen at table being significant of some
/ evil. ! know also Of another lady turn
| ing pale with fright. when, as she was
/ sitting down to her table of twelve, a
friend happened in incidentally and
made the thirteenth, she thinking it
would bring some calamity on her house
hold. The difference in the two peoples,
as | have observed, is that where the
German refers his spells and incanta-
tions to the power Of God, the Irish refers
his to the power Of the devil. OF the two
] would prefer the German.


IL il were not that Mr.. lren@us likes
correspondents to be concise, could give
a whole column Of ludicrous illustrations
/ will only give few In family Of my
acquaintance, of usual intelligence and
standing. and who have not an element
OF German in the household, when
churning butter and it won't come, they
heat the iron spit of the tin-kitchen red
hot and plunge it through the cream, in
the full faith that they are spearing the
witches that kept the butter from com
ing. When n child, at country school
in an English settlement, in going from
it, if a poor helpless old man of the
neighborhood, who was called a wizard,
would appear on the road in sight. we
children would scatter as nimbly as a
flock Of partrIdges, hiding in fence cor
ners and behind trees or bushes until he
had passed out of sight; or should he
happen in a house, we would hide under
bed So entirely had our childhood
been corrupted by superstition


Cows, when shedding their hair, are
apt to lick themselves. The hair, pass
ing into the stomach by a rotary motion,
forms into little ball which is elected.
These are called witch balls" and are
believed to be shot by witches, either to
iniure the COW, or the owner, through
the COW; and any subsequent misfortune
happening in the family is believed to be
the consequence of the power Of the
witch.


| was we'll, acquainted with a lady of
culture, daughter of Presbyterian cler
gyman, herself an earnest professor of
religion. who. il she happened to meet a
COW, while walking on an errand-as-i~ 40
visit a EriA..-l---0utd- -Tufn from her pur-
pose and 90 back, and especially If it
bawled; on account of the ill-luck it
might bring by its presence. If little
salt were spilled at table she would
think the ill-luck done away il she could
throw little pinch Of it over her left
shoulder. So it was an omen of good
luck, if the first sight of a new moon
could be accidentally seen over her right
shoulder. Her whole life was controlled
by omens of good or bad luck.


The only time | ever knew or heard OF
a potato carried in the pocket as a cure
for rheumatism il was by a Presbyterian
gentleman brought up in Scotch-lrish
settlement; but have seen published in
a paper as a remedy, to wash the part
affected in the water in which potatoes
had been boiled.


/ know Germans are given to belief in
the virtue of blowing for burns, bruis-
es, and stopping of blood. | once wit
messed a case. An infant child Of a Ger
man family near US, pulled a large dish
of boiling fat over itself. The mother in
attempting to remove the clothing.
brought the skin with it, In their con-
sternation they sent for ME. The sight
was truly sickening, to see the raw, Quiv-
ering flesh Of the little sufferer, from the
chin down over the whole breast, and ex.
tending to one ear. When a man was
brought to "blow" It, it was in an agony
of suffering during the operation the
child became perfectly calm, and soon
fell into a sleep. ! insisted that some
thing more should be done The pa
rents acquiesced, but | saw evidently
only in Difference to me. ! dressed il
with simple cerate. and went twice after
ward to wash and dress the wound. In
the course of 4 week it had healed over,
leaving hardly scar. The case stagger-
ed my Scotch-lrish incredulity a good
deal


The custom OF sitting with the hat on
during q burial service is of purely Ger
man usage in our country and is uniyer-
sal with them. | once asked a scholar,
learned in ancient customs, what was the
origin of il. lie said it was of great an
tiquity, and was done as a sign of humil-
iation and mourning, answering to the
idea Of "sacI-cloth and ashes" For Bib
lical authority for it refer to , Sam. Is:
80; Jer. IA: 3 Esther 6: II Let US rev.
erence it then, instead OF attributing it
to some superstition Of the dumb
Dutch, as some people, ignorant Of their
true character, are apt sneeringly to call
them.-GN. Y. Observer


She was dressing to go away Oh the
boat, which was approaching the wharf.
Her hat was placed on the bed upstairs,
while she went below for something.