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              DOMESTIC FOLK-LORE.

                      BY

     REV. T. F. THISELTON DYER, M.A., OXON.,

    _Author of "British Popular Customs" and
             "English Folk-lore."_


         CASSELL, PETTER, GALPIN & CO.:
          _LONDON, PARIS & NEW YORK._


            [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.]




PREFACE.


For the name "Folk-lore" in its present signification, embracing the
Popular Traditions, Proverbial Sayings, Superstitions, and Customs
of the people, we are in a great measure indebted to the late editor
of _Notes and Queries_--Mr. W. J. Thoms--who, in an anonymous
contribution to the _Athenaeum_ of 22nd August, 1846, very aptly
suggested this comprehensive term, which has since been adopted as
the recognised title of what has now become an important branch of
antiquarian research.

The study of Folk-lore is year by year receiving greater attention,
its object being to collect, classify, and preserve survivals of
popular belief, and to trace them as far as possible to their
original source. This task is no easy one, as school-boards and
railways are fast sweeping away every vestige of the old beliefs
and customs which, in days gone by, held such a prominent place in
social and domestic life. The Folk-lorist has, also, to deal with
remote periods, and to examine the history of tales and traditions
which have been handed down from the distant past and have lost
much of their meaning in the lapse of years. But, as a writer in
the _Standard_ has pointed out, Folk-lore students tread on no
man's toes. "They take up points of history which the historian
despises, and deal with monuments more intangible but infinitely more
ancient than those about which Sir John Lubbock is so solicitous.
They prosper and are happy on the crumbs dropped from the tables of
the learned, and grow scientifically rich on the refuse which less
skilful craftsmen toss aside as useless. The tales with which the
nurse wiles her charge asleep provide for the Folk-lore student a
succulent banquet--for he knows that there is scarcely a child's
story or a vain thought that may not be traced back to the boyhood of
the world, and to those primitive races from which so many polished
nations have sprung."

The field of research, too, in which the Folk-lorist is engaged is
a most extensive one, supplying materials for investigation of a
widespread character. Thus he recognises and, as far as he possibly
can, explains the smallest item of superstition wherever found, not
limiting his inquiries to any one subject. This, therefore, whilst
enhancing the value of Folk-lore as a study, in the same degree
increases its interest, since with a perfect impartiality it lays
bare superstition as it exists among all classes of society. Whilst
condemning, it may be, the uneducated peasant who places credence in
the village fortune-teller or "cunning man," we are apt to forget
how oftentimes persons belonging to the higher classes are found
consulting with equal faith some clairvoyant or spirit-medium.

Hence, however reluctant the intelligent part of the community may be
to own the fact, it must be admitted that superstition, in one form
or another, dwells beneath the surface of most human hearts, although
it may frequently display itself in the most disguised or refined
form. Among the lower orders, as a writer has observed, "it wears its
old fashions, in the higher it changes with the rapidity of modes
in fashionable circles." Indeed, it is no matter of surprise that
superstition prevails among the poor and ignorant, when we find the
affluent and enlightened in many cases quite as ready to repose their
belief in the most illogical ideas.

In conclusion, we would only add that the present little volume has
been written with a view of showing how this rule applies even to the
daily routine of Domestic Life, every department of which, as will be
seen in the following pages, has its own Folk-lore.

                                       T. F. THISELTON DYER.

    _Brighton, May, 1881._




    CONTENTS.


    CHAPTER I.

    BIRTH AND INFANCY.                                          PAGE

    Value of Superstitions--Lucky Days and Hours of Birth--The
    Caul--The Changeling--The Evil Eye--"Up and not
    Down"--Rocking the Empty Cradle--Teeth, Nails, and
    Hands--The Maple and the Ash--Unchristened Children            1


    CHAPTER II.

    CHILDHOOD.

    Nursery Literature--The Power of Baptism--Confirmation--Popular
    Prayers--Weather Rhymes--School Superstitions--Barring
    out                                                           16


    CHAPTER III.

    LOVE AND COURTSHIP.

    Love-tests--Plants used in Love-charms--The Lady-bird--The
    Snail--St. Valentine's Day--Midsummer Eve--Hallowe'en--Omens
    on Friday                                                     23


    CHAPTER IV.

    MARRIAGE.

    Seasons and Days propitious to Marriage--Superstitions connected
    with the Bride--Meeting a Funeral--Robbing the Bride of
    Pins--Dancing in a Hog's Trough--The Wedding-cake--The Ring   36


    CHAPTER V.

    DEATH AND BURIAL.

    Warnings of Death--The Howling of Dogs--A Cow in the
    Garden--Death-presaging Birds--Plants--The Will-o'-the-Wisp--The
    Sympathy between Two Personalities--Prophecy--Dying
    Hardly--The Last Act--Place and Position of the Grave         48


    CHAPTER VI.

    THE HUMAN BODY.

    Superstitions about Deformity, Moles, &c.--Tingling of the
    Ear--The Nose--The Eye--The Teeth--The Hair--The
    Hand--Dead Man's Hand--The Feet                               65


    CHAPTER VII.

    ARTICLES OF DRESS.

    New Clothes at Easter and Whitsuntide--Wearing of Clothes--The
    Clothes of the Dead--The Apron, Stockings, Garters, &c.--The
    Shoe--The Glove--The Ring--Pins                               81


    CHAPTER VIII.

    TABLE SUPERSTITIONS.

    Thirteen at Table--Salt-spilling--The Knife--Bread, and other
    Articles of Food--Wishing Bones--Tea-leaves--Singing before
    Breakfast--Shaking Hands across the Table                    100


    CHAPTER IX.

    FURNITURE OMENS.

    Folk-lore of the Looking-glass--Luck of Edenhall--
    Clock-falling--Chairs--Beds--The Bellows                     111


    CHAPTER X.

    HOUSEHOLD SUPERSTITIONS.

    Prevalence and Continuity of Superstitions--Sneezing--
    Stumbling--A Whistling Woman--Sweeping--Breaking
    Crockery--Fires and Candles--Money--Other Superstitions      120


    CHAPTER XI.

    POPULAR DIVINATIONS.

    Bible and Key--Dipping--Sieve and Shears--Crowing of the
    Cock--Spatulamancia--Palmistry and Onymancy--Look-divination--
    Astrology--Cards--Casting Lot--Tea-stalks                    134


    CHAPTER XII.

    COMMON AILMENTS.

    Charm-remedies--For Ague--Bleeding of the Nose--Burns--Cramp--
    Epilepsy--Fits--Gout--Headache, &c.                          148


    CHAPTER XIII.

    MISCELLANEOUS HOUSEHOLD LORE.

    Horse-shoes--Precautions against Witchcraft--The Charmer--Second
    Sight--Ghosts--Dreams--Nightmare                             169


    INDEX                                                        181




DOMESTIC FOLK-LORE.




CHAPTER I.

BIRTH AND INFANCY.

    Value of Superstitions--Lucky Days and Hours of Birth--The
    Caul--The Changeling--The Evil Eye--"Up and not Down"--Rocking
    the Empty Cradle--Teeth, Nails, and Hands--The Maple and the
    Ash--Unchristened Children.


Around every stage of human life a variety of customs and
superstitions have woven themselves, most of which, apart from
their antiquarian value, as having been bequeathed to us from the
far-off past, are interesting in so far as they illustrate those
old-world notions and quaint beliefs which marked the social and
domestic life of our forefathers. Although, therefore, many of these
may appear to us meaningless, yet it must be remembered that they
were the natural outcome of that scanty knowledge and those crude
conceptions which prevailed in less enlightened times than our own.
Probably, if our ancestors were in our midst now, they would be able
in a great measure to explain and account for what is often looked
upon now-a-days as childish fancy and so much nursery rubbish. In
the present chapter it is proposed to give a brief and general
survey of the folk-lore associated with birth and infancy, without,
however, entering critically into its origin or growth, or tracing
its transmigration from one country to another. Commencing, then,
with birth, we find that many influences are supposed to affect the
future fortune and character of the infant. Thus, in some places
great attention is paid to the day of the week on which the child is
born, as may be gathered from the following rhyme still current in
Cornwall:--

    "Sunday's child is full of grace,
    Monday's child is full in the face,
    Tuesday's child is solemn and sad,
    Wednesday's child is merry and glad,
    Thursday's child is inclined to thieving,
    Friday's child is free in giving,
    Saturday's child works hard for his living"--

a piece of folk-lore varying, of course, in different localities. By
general consent, however, Sunday is regarded as a most lucky day for
birth, both in this country and on the Continent; and according to
the "Universal Fortune-teller"--a book very popular among the lower
classes in former years--"great riches, long life, and happiness" are
in store for those fortunate beings born on Sunday, while in Sussex
they are considered safe against drowning and hanging. Importance
is also attached to the hour of birth; and the faculty of seeing
much that is hidden from others is said to be granted to children
born at the "chime hours," _i.e._, the hours of three, six, nine, or
twelve--a superstition found in many parts of the Continent. There
is, too, an idea prevalent in Germany that when a child is born
in leap-year either it or its mother will die within the course of
the year--a notion not unknown in our own country. Again, from time
immemorial various kinds of divination have been in use for the
purpose of discovering the sex of an infant previous to its birth.
One of these is by means of a shoulder-of-mutton bone, which, after
the whole of the flesh has been stripped clean off, must be hung up
the last thing at night over the front door of the house. On the
following morning the sex of the first person who enters, exclusive
of the members of the household, indicates the sex of the child.

We will next turn to some of the countless superstitions connected
with the new-born child. A highly popular one refers to the caul--a
thin membrane occasionally found covering the head at birth, and
deemed specially lucky, as indicating, among other things, that the
child will never be drowned. It has been, in consequence, termed
the "holy" or "fortunate hood," and great care is generally taken
that it should not be lost or thrown away, for fear of the death or
sickness of the child. This superstitious fancy was very common in
the primitive ages of the Church, and St. Chrysostom inveighs against
it in several of his homilies. The presence of a caul on board ship
was believed to prevent shipwreck, and owners of vessels paid a large
price for them. Most readers will, no doubt, recollect how Thomas
Hood wrote for his early work, "Whims and Oddities," a capital ballad
upon this vulgar error. Speaking of the jolly mariner who confidently
put to sea in spite of the ink-black sky which "told every eye a
storm was soon to be," he goes on to say--

    "But still that jolly mariner
      Took in no reef at all;
    For in his pouch confidingly
      He wore a baby's caul."

It little availed him, however; for as soon as the storm in ruthless
fury burst upon his frail bark, he

      "Was smothered by the squall.
    Heaven ne'er heard his cry, nor did
      The ocean heed his _caul_!"

Advocates also purchased them, that they might be endued with
eloquence, the price paid having often been from twenty to thirty
guineas. They seem to have had other magical properties, as Grose
informs us that any one "possessed of a caul may know the state of
health of the person who was born with it. If alive and well, it is
firm and crisp; if dead or sick, relaxed and flaccid." In France the
luck supposed to belong to a caul is proverbial, and _etre ne coiffe_
is an expression signifying that a person is extremely fortunate.
Apart from the ordinary luck supposed to attach to the "caul," it
may preserve the child from a terrible danger to which, according
to the old idea, it is ever exposed--namely, that of being secretly
carried off and exchanged by some envious witch or fairy for its own
ill-favoured offspring. This superstition was once very common in
many countries, and was even believed by Martin Luther, if we are to
rely on the following extract from his "Table Book:"--"Changelings
Satan lays in the place of the genuine children, that people may
be tormented with them. He often carries off young maidens into
the water." This most reprehensible of the practices attributed
to the fairies is constantly spoken of by our old writers, and is
several times mentioned by Shakespeare. In the speech of Puck, in _A
Midsummer Night's Dream_ (Act ii., sc. 1), that jovial sprite says of
Titania's lovely boy--the cause of quarrel between the King and Queen
of Elfland:--

    "She never had so sweet a changeling."

In the _Winter's Tale_ (Act iv., sc. 4) the Shepherd, on discovering
the babe Perdita, tells the Clown, "It was told me I should be
rich by the fairies. This is some changeling." As a preservation
against this danger, sundry charms are observed. Thus, in the
North of England, a carving-knife is still hung from the head of
the cradle, with the point suspended near the child's face. In the
Western Isles of Scotland idiots are believed to be the fairies'
changelings, and in order to regain the lost child, parents have
recourse to the following device:--They place the changeling on the
beach, below high-water mark, when the tide is out, and pay no heed
to its screams, believing that the fairies, rather than allow their
offspring to be drowned by the rising waters, will convey it away and
restore the child they had stolen. The sign that this has been done
is the cessation of the child's crying. In Ireland, too, the peasants
often place the child supposed to be a changeling on a hot shovel, or
torment it in some other way. A similar practice is resorted to in
Denmark, where the mother heats the oven, and places the child on the
peel, pretending to put it in; and sometimes she whips it severely
with a rod, or throws it into the water. The only real safeguard,
however, against this piece of fairy mischief is baptism, and hence
the rite has generally been performed among the peasantry as soon as
possible after birth.

Another danger to which the new-born child is said to be exposed, and
to counteract which baptism is an infallible charm, is the influence
of the "evil eye;" certain persons being thought to possess the power
of inflicting injury by merely looking on those whom they wish to
harm. Although this form of superstition has been gradually dying out
for many years past, yet it still retains its hold in certain country
places. It is interesting to trace this notion as far back as the
time of the Romans; and in the late Professor Conington's translation
of the "Satires of Persius" we find it thus laughably spoken
of:--"Look here! A grandmother or a superstitious aunt has taken baby
from his cradle, and is charming his forehead against mischief by the
joint action of her middle finger and her purifying spittle; for she
knows right well how to check the evil eye." Confining ourselves,
however, to instances recorded in our own country, we find that,
even now-a-days, various charms are practised for counteracting the
baneful influence of this cruel species of witchcraft. Thus, in
Lancashire, some of the chief consist in spitting three times in the
child's face, turning a live coal in the fire, exclaiming, "The Lord
be with us;" whilst in the neighbourhood of Burnley "drawing blood
above the mouth" was once a popular antidote. Self-bored or "lucky
stones" are often hung by the peasantry behind their cottage doors;
and in the South of England a copy of the apocryphal letter of our
Lord to Abgarus, King of Edessa, may occasionally be seen pasted
on the walls. In many places, when a child pines or wastes away,
the cause is often attributed to the "evil eye," and one remedy in
use against this disaster is the following:--Before sunrise it is
brought to a blacksmith of the seventh generation, and laid on the