g-Stumbling-A Whistling Woman-Sweeping-Breaking Cr

ough it may be in a more disguised form. Thus, by way of example, whereas some ignorant persons resort to a cunning man or "wise woman" for advice in case of emergency, many an educated person is found consulting with equal faith a clairvoyant or spirit-medium. While, too, some uneducated person believes in a particular omen, which is condemned by an intelligent community as the height of folly, many cultivated people, as we have said, may be found who hesitate before sitting down to dinner when the party consists of thirteen. However much, therefore, we may dislike to own the fact, we

tiously we mi

wn salt, or cro

se, the stumbl

f a cricket,

whole m

eks claimed to have derived from Prometheus, who stole celestial fire to animate his newly-made figure of clay. Tradition says that as the fire permeated its frame, the creature sneezed, which caused Prometheus to invoke blessings on it. Anyhow the practice of salutation on sneezing dates from the earliest times, and it is interesting to find a superstition of this kind, which may be looked on as a curiosity of primitive civilisation, still existing in our midst. Thus, in the Midland counties, grandmothers still exclaim, "God help you!" when they hear a child sneeze; and it is a very common notion that to sneeze three times before breakfast is a pledge that one will soon receive a present of some kind. The sneezing of a cat is considered an evil omen, it being a sign that the family will all have colds. According to a Scotch superstition a new-born child is in the fairy spells until i

Sunday morn

r own true love

r if unmarried will cease to be so before the year is out. Others affirm that to stumble in the morning as soon as one goes out of doors is a sign of ill-luck. As an instance of this omen in ancient times, it is stated that Tiberius Gracchus, as he was leaving his house on the day of his death, stumbled upon the threshold with such violence that he broke the nail of his great toe. It is not necessary, howeve

oft t

feet stumble

ucester's words in 3 He

that stumble a

old that dange

emarks:-"All those who, walking the streets, stumble at a stick or stone, and when they are past it turn back again to spurn or kick the stone they stumbled at,

to be always attended with fatal results. Thus, there is a Cornish saying to the following effect:-"A whistling woman and a crowing

g woman and

fit for Go

ng to anoth

g wife and

old gentleman

hem to enter it. "Not that young lady," he said, "she whistles." Curiously enough the vessel was lost on her next voyage; so, had the poor girl set foot on it, the misfortune would certainly have been ascribed to her. According to one legend, this superstition originated in the circumstance that a woman stood by and whistled while she watched the nails for the Cross being forged. A correspondent of Notes and Queries assigns another origin. He tells us that one day, after attempting in vain to get

o sweep dust out of the house by the front door is equivalent to sweeping away the good fortune and happiness of the family. Care should rather be taken to sweep inwards-the dust being carried out in a basket or shovel-and then no harm will happen. Furthermore, the spider, which in dail

sh to live

spider r

reak a piece of crockery or glass before the day was out. One reason why the spider is protected against ill-usage is that it is supposed to bring prosperity; but the real cause, perhaps, is due to the influence of an

pointing to the remains of the least valuable piece of pottery in the establishment, which had been sacrificed to glut the vengeance of the offended ceramic deities. A correspondent of Chambers' "Book of Days," alluding to another piece of superstition of this kind, tells us that he once had a servant who was very much given to breaking glass and crockery. Plates and wine-glasses used to slip out of her hands as if they had been soaped; even spoons came jingling to the ground in rapid succession. "Let her buy some

sewife allows the bed to remain unturned; and a Sussex saying admonishes persons "never to begin a piece of work on Friday, or they will never finish it." We may note here that one tradition assigns a very early origin to the un

tes a draught, but the real meaning of this harmless superstition is, perhaps, the one that we have just given. Various items of weather-lore, also, have been derived from the way fires burn, an enumeration of which we find in Willsford's "Nature's Secrets":-"When our common fires do burn with a pale flame, they presage foul weather. If the fire do make a buzzing noise, it is a sign of tempests near at hand. When the fire sparkleth very much, it is a sign of rain. If the ashes on the hearth do clodder together of themselves, it is a sign of rain. When pots are newly taken off the fire, if they sparkle, the soot upon them being incensed, it is a sign of rain. When the fire scorcheth and burneth more vehemently than it useth to do, it is a sign of frosty weather; but if the living coals do shine brighter than commonly at other times, expect then rain. If wood, or any other fuel, do crackle and wind break forth more than ordinary, it is an evident sign of some tempestuous weather near at hand; the much and sudden falling of soot presages r

ake, it is an indication that the letter has already been posted. To snuff out a candle accidentally is a sign of matrimony, and a curious mode of divination is still practised by means of a pin

is candle al

heart I me

be asleep

m come to m

has burnt below the place in which it was inserted, then the loved one will be

inent, as for example in Sweden, where it is considered unadvisable not only to turn round when one is going on business, lest it should turn out ill, but even so much as to look back. At the present day, too, in the Midland counties, children are frequently cautioned by their parents not to walk backwards when going on some errand, it being regarded as a sure sign that misfortune will befall them if they disobey this injunction. Akin to this superstition, there are several others of a similar kind, among which we may include the supposed ill-luck of walking under a ladder; and North-country people have a dislike to meeting a left-handed person on a Tuesday morning, although on other days it is considered fortunate to do so. Referring to the many other items of folk-lore associated with our daily life, we must not omit those relating to money. Thus, it is generally acknowledged to be a bad omen to find it; and to insur

lver rin

ennies, and a

d to Brunki

thy our own decennial census, and it is only the compulsion of the law which induces them to comply with this national means of ascertaining the state of the population. Among minor superstitions, it is said that smoke and dust

having their likeness taken, the latter superstition being mentioned by Mr. Napier as prevalent in some parts of Scotland. Once more, there is a belief among the Sussex peasantry that bottles which have contained medicine should never be sold, or else they will soon be required to be filled again for some one in the house. These are some of the quaint superstitions with which