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232. On your birthday, as you retire at night, take off your slipper or boot. Stand with your back to the door and throw it over your head. If the toe points to the door, you go out of the chamber a bride before the year is out. You must not look at the boot until the morning.
_Bedford, Ma.s.s._
233. At night before going to bed take one of your garters and tie it in a knot and hang it on the bed-post above your head. While tying repeat,--
This knot I tie, this knot I knit, To see the young man I haven't seen yet.
_Chestertown, Md._
234. Young girls on going to bed at night place their shoes at right angles to one another, in the form of the letter T, repeating this rhyme:--
Hoping this night my true love to see, I place my shoes in the form of a T.
_Northern Ohio._
235. The first time you sleep in a house, upon retiring place the shoes in the form of a T, and say over,--
My true love by-and-by for to see, Be as she (or he) be, Bear as she (or he) may, The clothes she (or he) wears every day.
_Boston, Ma.s.s._
236. Catch the four corners of a handkerchief up in the hand, then let some one wis.h.i.+ng to try her fortune draw two. If she gets two corners on the same side, she will not be married. If she gets opposite ones, she will be married.
_Prince Edward Island and Chestertown, Md._
237. A rhyme on stockings and shoes:--
Point your shoes towards the street, Leave your garters on your feet, Put your stockings on your head, You'll dream of the man you are going to wed.
_Eastern Ma.s.sachusetts._
238. Put the chemise, inside out, on the foot of the bed and under it a board with ashes upon it; then go to bed backwards, saying,--
Whoever my true love may be, Come write his name in these ashes for me.
_Winn, Me._
239. Place the heel of one shoe against the instep of the other for three nights in a row. You will dream of your future husband.
_Franklin, Ma.s.s._
240. On Friday night after getting all ready for bed, roll your petticoat up, and before lying down put it under your pillow, repeating this verse:--
This Friday night while going to bed, I put my petticoat under my head, To dream of the living and not of the dead, To dream of the man I am to wed, The color of his eyes, the color of his hair, The color of the clothes he is to wear, And the night the wedding is to be.
_Rock Hall, Md._
LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET.
241. Write names on three pieces of paper, throw them up in the air (in the dark); feel for one, put it under the pillow, and in the morning look at it to see the name of the man you are to marry.
_Salem, Ma.s.s._
242. Put pieces of paper, each bearing one letter of the alphabet, in water face down, and then place them under the bed. Those turned up in the morning are the initials of your future husband.
_Prince Edward Island and Northern Ohio._
243. Write the names of several men friends, each on a slip of paper. On three successive mornings choice is made from these. If the name drawn is always the same, it is the name of your future husband. If the lot falls differently every morning, you will never be married.
244. Write two names (of possible lovers), cross out the common letters.
Touch the uncrossed letters, repeating in turn, "Love, friends.h.i.+p, hate,"
and the last uncrossed letter will indicate the state of the heart.
_Prince Edward Island, St. John, N.B., and Northern Ohio._
MIDNIGHT.
245. Go out at midnight and walk around a peach-tree, repeating,--
Low for a foreigner, Bark for a near one, Crow for a farmer, Screek, tree, screek, if I'm to die first.
_Quaker Neck, Md._
246. Eat an apple at midnight before the gla.s.s, saying, "Whoever my true love may be, come and eat this apple with me," while holding a lamp in the hand. Your true love will appear.
_Winn, Me._
247. Set the table in silence for two at eleven o'clock P.M., with bread and b.u.t.ter and silver knives and forks. Two girls sit down at twelve, and say, "Whoever my true love may be, come and eat this supper with me."
_Winn, Me._
PLANTS.
248. Take beans in the hand, go out of doors and throw them against the window. The first man's name that you hear spoken is the name of the man you will marry.
_Connecticut._
249. Put three raw beans in your mouth, go out of doors, stand in front of some one's window and listen. The first man's name you hear spoken will be either that of your future husband or of the one having the same name.
_Salem, Ma.s.s._
250. If a piece of brush or brier sticks to the dress, name it. If it drops, the lover is false; if it sticks, he is true.
_Northern Ohio._
251. Blow seeds from the dandelion until none remain, counting each puff as a letter of the alphabet; the letter which ends the blowing is the initial of the name of the person the blower marries.
252. Rub your hands in sweet fern. The first one you shake hands with afterward is your true love.
_Prince Edward Island._
253. Wear a piece of fern in the toe of your shoe, and the first person you meet you will marry.
_New Hamps.h.i.+re._
254. Take a live-forever leaf, squeeze it to loosen the inner and outer skin. If it makes a balloon as you blow into it, you will be married and live a long time. If it does not, you will be an old maid.
_St. John, N.B._
255. Stick a piece of live-forever up on the wall, and in whatever direction it leans, the lover will come from that quarter.
_Miramichi, N.B._
256. Take two shoots of live-forever and pin them together on the wall.
If they grow towards each other, the couple will marry; if away, they will become estranged.
_Nantucket, Ma.s.s., and Western Ma.s.sachusetts._
257. Break off a piece of dodder or "lovevine," twirl it round the head three times and drop it on a bush behind you. If it grows, the lover is true; if not, he is false.
