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Page 42
To find the shoe of a horse and hang it behind the house door was
considered to bring good luck to the household, and protection from
witchcraft or evil eye. I have seen this charm in large beer shops in
London, and I was present in the parlour of one of these beer shops when
an animated discussion arose as to whether it was most effective to have
the shoe nailed behind the door, or upon the first step of the door.
Each position had its advocates, and instances of extraordinary luck
were recounted as having attended each position.
If a youth sat musing and intently looking into the fire, it was a sign
that some one was throwing an evil spell over him, or fascinating him
for evil. When this was observed, if any one without speaking were to
take the tongs and turn the centre coal or piece of wood in the grate
right over, and while doing so say, "_Gude preserve us frae a' skaith_,"
it would break the spell, and cause the intended evil to revert on the
evil-disposed person who was working the spell. I have not only seen the
operation performed many times, but have had it performed in my own
favour by my worthy grandmother, whose belief in such things could never
be shaken.
If the nails of a child were cut before it was a year old, the chances
were that it would grow up a thief.
To spill salt while handing it to any one was unlucky, a sign of an
impending quarrel between the parties; but if the person who spilled
the salt carefully lifted it up with the blade of a knife, and cast it
over his or her shoulder, all evil consequences were prevented. In
Leonardo de Vinci's celebrated painting of the Last Supper, the painter
has indicated the enmity of Judas by representing him in the act of
upsetting the salt dish, with the right hand resting on the table,
grasping the bag.
If a double ear of corn were put over the looking glass, it prevented
the house from being struck by lightning. I have seen corn stalks hung
over a looking glass, and was told that it brought luck.
It was customary for farmers to leave a portion of their fields
uncropped, which was a dedication to the evil spirit, and called good
man's croft. The Church exerted itself for a long time to abolish this
practice, but farmers, who are generally very superstitious, were afraid
to discontinue the practice for fear of ill luck. I remember a farmer as
late as 1825 always leaving a small piece of a field uncropped, but then
did not know why. At length he gave the right of working these bits to a
poor labourer, who did well with it, and in a few years the farmer
cultivated the whole himself.
Water that had been used in baptism was believed to have virtue to cure
many distempers. It was a preventive against witchcraft, and eyes bathed
with it would never see a ghost.
To see a dot of soot hanging on the bars of the grate indicated a visit
from a stranger. By clapping the hands close to it, if the current
produced by this, blew it off at the first clap, the stranger would
visit that day. Every clap indicated the day before the visit would be
made. This is still a common practice, of which the following lines
taken from _Glasgow Weekly Herald_, 1877, is a graphic illustration:--
"_Rab_--
Eh! Willie, come your wa's, and peace be wi' ye;
Wi' a' my heart, I'm truly glad to see ye.
Wee Geordie, wha sat gazing in the fire,
In that prophetic mood I oft admire,
Declar'd he saw a stranger on the grate--
And Geordie's auguries are true as fate.
He gied his hands a dap wi' a' his micht,
And said that stranger's coming here the nicht,
Wi' the first clap it's off. Ye see how true
Appears the future on wee Geordie's view.
What's in the wind, or what may be the news,
That brings ye here, in heedless waste o' shoes?"
An eclipse of the sun was looked on as an omen of coming calamity. This
is a very ancient superstition, and remained with us to a very late
date, if it is even yet extinct. In 1597, during an eclipse of the sun,
it is stated by Calderwood that men and women thought the day of
judgment was come. Many women swooned, the streets of Edinburgh was full
of crying, and in fear some ran to the kirk to pray. I remember an
eclipse about 1818, when about three parts of the sun was covered. The
alarm in the village was very great, indoor work was suspended for the
time, and in several families prayers were offered for protection,
believing that it portended some awful calamity; but when it passed off
there was a general feeling of relief.
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