Lady-bird-The Snail-St. Valentine's Day-

looked upon as the happiest epoch-the summum bonum-of each one's career in this world. Hence, to write a detailed account of the charms, omens, and divinations, as well as of the superstit

stone unturned in her anxiety to ascertain her lot in the marriage state. Hence in her natural longings to raise the veil of futurity, the aspirant to matrimony, if she be at all of a superstitious turn of mind, seldom lets an opportunity pass by without endeavouring to gain from it some sign or token of the kind of husband that is in store for her. As soon, to

countless other omens obtained from familiar objects to which we shall have occasion to allude. At the outset, however, it may not be uninteresting to quot

he was once at the bottom of a tea-cup in a coach and six, with his two footmen behind it. On the last May morning she went into the fields to hear the cuckoo;

I sow, hem

at is my

ter me

her young mistress to go backwards, without speaking a word, into the garden on Midsummer Eve, and gather a rose, keep it in a clean sheet of paper without looking in it till Christmas Day, it will be as fresh as in June; and if she sticks this rose in her

I knit, thi

love as

pparel a

lks in e

feet. She has many times pared an apple whole, and afterwards flung the peel over her head

lar one consists in taking the leaves of yarrow, commonly called "nosebleed," a

een 'arrow, you b

e me, my nose

t love me, it '

ve me, 'twill bl

a feathery top at the end of each seed, and then are without any difficulty detached. When in this condition the flower-stalk must be carefully plucked, so as not to injure the globe of seeds, the charm consisting in blowing off the seeds with the breath. The number of puffs tha

ves me, p

s me, live

nut, instead of making the hoped-for pop, die and make no sign. Again, passing on to insects, one

ast, and fl

lives the on

ghly-favourable omen. The snail, again, was much used in love-divinations, many an eager maiden anxious of ascertaining h

berry bush a

ls near sweetes

vermin, home

th the milk-whi

snail, and, if

ashes marked

wondrous omen

und in Lubber

nmarried of either sex calculate the number of years of single blessedness still al

h has been considered highly appropriate for such ceremonies, as there is an old tradition that on this day birds choose their mates, a not

riends, St. Val

d-birds but t

own, attired for the ceremony in a winding-sheet. Another species of love-divination once observed consisted in obtaining five bay leaves, four of which the anxious maiden pinned at the four corners of her pillow, and the fifth in the middle. If she was fortunate enough to dream of her lover, it was a sure sign that he would be married to her in the course of the year. Again, some young people would boil an egg hard, and, after taking out the conte

John's wort, trefoil, and rue, each of which was supposed to have magical properties. They set orpine in clay upon pieces of slate in their houses, under the name

re, Christmas Eve is well known to love-sick swains and languishing maidens as an excellent day for obtaining a glimpse into futurity. Numerous are the spells and ceremonies by which this is attempted. Thus in some places, at "the witching hour of night," the young damsel goes into the garden and plucks twelve sage leaves, under the belief that she will see the shadowy form of her future husband approach her from the opposite end of the g

e following lines are repeated on three Friday nights successively, as on the

o-night, is

wn in dir

my husband

children

live to be

tate to that of virginity. Thus the seeds of butter-dock must be scattered on the ground by a young unmarried girl half an hou

ow,

my own

re, com

w, and

hole in the road where four ways meet, and apply their ear to it, with the hope of learning of what trade their future husband is to be. It is unnecessary, however, to illustrate this part of our subject further, for the preceding pages amply show how varied and extensive are the omens and divinations connected with an event without wh