The Queer, the Quaint and the Quizzical Part 53

Spitting for "luck's sake," and as a charm against all kinds of fascinations, was regarded with importance by the ancients. Theocritus says-

"Thrice on my breast I spit to guard me safe From fascinating charms."

Among the Greeks it was customary to spit three times into their bosoms at the sight of a mad man, or one troubled with an epilepsy. Children were l.u.s.trated with spittle by their nurses or relations; the old grandmother, or aunt, moved around in a circle, and rubbed the child's forehead with spittle, selecting her middle finger, to preserve it from witchcraft. Persius alludes to this custom-

"See how old beldams expiation make, To atone the G.o.ds the bantling up they take His lips are wet with l.u.s.trous spittle; thus They think to make the G.o.ds propitious."

Spitting, as an Irish luck superst.i.tion, is noticed by Camden: "It is by no means allowable to praise a horse or any other animal, unless you say, 'G.o.d save him,' or spit upon him. If any ill-luck befalls the horse three days after, they hunt up the person who praised him, that he may whisper the Lord's prayer into the animal's right ear."

Spitting for good luck has still its votaries among hucksters, pedlers and others. The first money received for the day is spat upon by dealers in England, Scotland and Roumania.

A Yorkshire custom to secure luck when a rainbow appeared was marking a cross on the ground and spitting on each of its four corners.

_May Marriages Unlucky._

It is a common notion that May marriages are unlucky, and the superst.i.tion is as old as the time of Ovid. An old saw says, "The girls are all stark naught that wed in May;" and another saying was

"From the marriages in May All the bairns die and decay."

An ancient proverb, cited by Ray, says, "Who marries between the sickle and the scythe, will never thrive."

In the rural districts of France a marriage contracted in May or August is unlucky. In the "Almanach des Laboureurs," it stated that a woman marrying in these months will put her husband under a yoke. The superst.i.tion of the month of May being unlucky for marriages still prevailed in Italy in 1750.

_Pin Superst.i.tions._

It used to be considered lucky for bridesmaids to throw away pins on a wedding-day. In Brittany the young girls who visit the bridal chamber secure the pins used in fastening the bride's dress for a lucky marriage.

Randolph, in his "Letters," writing of the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots to Lord Darnley, says that when the queen, after her marriage, went to her chamber to change her clothes, she suffered "them that stood by her, every man that could approach, to take a pin." The Bretons throw pins into certain wells for good luck. The following saying is connected with pins-

"See a pin and pick it up, All the day you'll have good luck.

See a pin and let it lie, All the day you'll need to cry."

_Superst.i.tions about Children._

A superst.i.tion used to exist that a child which did not cry when sprinkled in baptism would not live long. The same would be the case if the children were prematurely wise. Shakespeare puts this superst.i.tion into the mouth of Richard III.

Bulwer mentions the tradition concerning children born open-handed, that they will prove of a bountiful disposition and frank-handed. A character in one of Dekker's plays says: "I am the most wretched fellow; surely some _left-handed_ priest christened me, I am so unlucky." The following charms for infancy are taken from Herrick-

Bring the holy crust of bread, Lay it underneath the head; 'Tis a certain charm to keep Hags away while children sleep.

Let the superst.i.tious wife Near the child's heart lay a knife; Point be up, and haft be down, (While she gossips in the towne); This, 'mongst other mystic charms, Keeps the sleeping child from harmes.

_Digging for Water._

The divining rod is not the only superst.i.tion connected with the digging for water. In the country of the Damazas, in South Africa, before they dig, the natives offer an arrow, or a piece of skin or flesh, to a large red man with a white beard, who is supposed to inhabit the place; at the same time they repeat a prayer for success in finding water. To dig for it without this ceremony, they say, occasions sickness and death.

_Wolf Superst.i.tion._

In Normandy a phantom in the form of a wolf is believed to wander about at night amongst the graves. The chief of the band of phantoms is a large black wolf, who, when approached, rises on his hind legs and begins to howl, when the whole party disappear, shrieking out, "Robert is dead! Robert is dead!"-_Nimmo._

_Stanching Blood._

The ancients firmly believed that blood could be stanched by charms. The bleeding of Ulysses is reputed to have been stopped by this means; and Cato the Censor has given us an incantation for setting dislocated bones. To this day charms are supposed to arrest the flow of blood.

"Tom Potts was but a serving man, But yet he was a doctor good; He bound his kerchief on the wound, And with some kind word he stanched the blood."

Sir Walter Scott says, in the "Lay of the Last Minstrel"-

"She drew the splinter from the wound, And with a charm she stanch'd the blood."

_Arab Charms._

The Arabs have many family nostrums, and are implicit believers in the efficacy of charms and mystic arts. No species of knowledge is more highly venerated than that of the occult sciences, which afford maintenance to a vast number of quacks and impudent pretenders. The science of _Isen-Allah_ (or Name of G.o.d) enables the possessor to discover what is pa.s.sing in his absence, to expel evil spirits, cure diseases, and dispose of the wind and seasons as he chooses. Those who have advanced far in this study pretend to calm tempests at sea by the rules of art, or say their prayers at noon in Mecca, without stirring from their own houses in Bagdad! The _Kurra_ is the art of composing billets or amulets which secure the wearer from the power of enchantments and all sorts of accidents. They are also employed to give cattle an appet.i.te for food and clear houses from flies and other vermin.

_Superst.i.tions among the Bretons._

In the district of Carhaix is a mountain called St. Michael, whither it is believed all demons cast from the bodies of men are banished. If any one sets his foot at night within the circle they inhabit, he begins to run, and will never be able to cease all the rest of the night.

In one of the districts is a fountain called Krignac. To drink three nights successively of this at midnight is an infallible cure for intermittent fever. In other districts there are fountains into which, if a child's shirt or shift be thrown, and it sinks, the child will die within a year. If it should swim, it is then put wet on the child, and is a charm against all kinds of diseases.

The _Ar cannerez nos_ are ghostly "wash-women," who ply their trade at night, washing their linen while they sing quaint old ballads. They solicit the a.s.sistance of people pa.s.sing by to wring the linen. If the a.s.sistance be given awkwardly, they break the person's arm; if it be refused, they pull the "refusers" into the stream and drown them.

_Blessing of Beasts._

On St. Anthony's day the beasts at Rome were blessed and sprinkled with holy water. Lady Morgan says that the annual benediction of the beasts at Rome, at a church dedicated to St. Anthony, lasts for some days: "For not only every Roman, who has a horse, a mule or an a.s.s, sends his cattle to be blessed at St. Anthony's shrine, but all the English go with their job horses and favorite dogs; and for the small offering of a couple of _paoli_, get them sprinkled, sanctified and placed under the protection of this saint. Coach after coach draws up, strings of mules mix with carts and barouches, horses kick, mules are restive, dogs snarl, while the officiating priest comes forward from his little chapel, dips a brush into a vase of holy water, sprinkles and prays over the beasts, pockets the fee, and retires." Dr. Conyers Middleton says, that when he was at Rome he had his own horses blest for eighteen pence, as well to satisfy his curiosity as to humor his coachman, who was persuaded that some mischance would befall them during the year, if they had not the benefit of the benediction.

_Moles._

In "The Husbandman's Practice; or, Prognostication Forever," 1658, there is much to show what moles on various parts of the body denote. For example: If a man have a mole on the place right against the heart, it denotes him to be undoubtedly wicked. If a mole in either man or woman appear on the place right against the spleen, it signifies that he or she shall be "much pa.s.sionated and oftentimes sick." In "A Thousand Notable Things," we find that moles on the arm and shoulder denote great wisdom; on the left, debate and contention. Moles near the armpit signify riches and honor. A mole on the neck is commonly a sign that there is another near the stomach, which denotes strength. A mole on the neck and throat denotes riches and health; a mole on the chin, that there is another near the heart, and signifies riches. A mole on the right side of the forehead is a sign of great riches both to men and women; on the left side, quite the contrary. Moles on the right ear denote riches and honor; on the left ear they signify the reverse.

_Whipping Toads to Produce Rain._

At one time the natives of Venezuela worshipped toads. They regarded the toad as "the lord of the waters," and treated it with much reverence; though, as has been the case with other idolaters, they were ready, in times of difficulty, to compel favorable hearing from their pretended deities. They whipped their imprisoned toads with little switches when there was a scarcity of provisions and a want of rain.

_The First b.u.t.terfly._