Current Superstitions Part 52

NOTES.

Introduction, page 8.--S.G. Drake, _Annals of Witchcraft in New England_, Boston, 1869, p. 189, remarks that the princ.i.p.al accusers and witnesses in the witchcraft prosecutions of 1692, in Salem, Ma.s.s., were eight girls from eleven to twenty years of age, and adds with reference to their conduct previous to the accusations: "These Females inst.i.tuted frequent Meetings, or got up, as it would now be styled, a Club, which was called a Circle. How frequent they had these Meetings is not stated, but it was soon ascertained that they met to 'try projects,' or to do or produce superhuman Acts. They doubtless had among them some book or books on Magic, and Stories of Witchcraft, which one or more of their Circle professed to understand, and pretended to teach the Rest." An examination of the evidence in the trials, however, shows not only no authority for these a.s.sertions, but that no such meetings took place previous to the trials, nor did any such "circle" exist. Drake derived his information from a paper by S.P. Fowler, who, in an address before the Ess.e.x Inst.i.tute, in the year 1856, had remarked: "These girls, together with Abigail Williams, a niece of Mr. Parris, aged eleven years, were in the habit of meeting in a circle in the village, to practise palmistry, fortune-telling, &c." For such representation Mr. Fowler had no warrant; it would seem that he had obtained the notion by transferring to the time of the trials his experience in connection with spiritualistic "circles"

of his own day. It is curious to observe how readily this suggestion was adopted, and with what uniformity recent popular narratives of the delusion reiterate, with increasing positiveness of phrase, the unfounded a.s.sumption. The expression, to "try projects," is therefore taken by Mr.

Drake from modern folk-lore. Fowler's address, ent.i.tled "An Account of the Life and Character of the Rev. Samuel Parris, of Salem Village, and of his Connection with the Witchcraft Delusion of 1692," was printed in the _Proceedings_ of the Ess.e.x Inst.i.tute, Salem, Ma.s.s, 1862, vol. ii. pp.

49-68 and also separately (Salem, 1857). For a.s.sistance in determining the origin of Drake's statement I am indebted to Mr. Abner C. Goodell, Jr., of Salem, Ma.s.s.--_W.W.N._

Nos. 15-16.--The reader who is interested to know how much importance has been attributed to the caul will do well to consult Levinus Lemnius, _De Miraculis Occultis Naturae_. Chapter viii. of Book II. is headed: De infantium recens natorum galeis, seu tenui mollique membrana, qua facies tanquam larva, aut personata tegmine obducta, ad primum lucis intuitum se spectandam exhibet.

The belief in the efficacy of the caul goes back at least to the time of St. Chrysostom, who, in the latter part of the fourth century, preached against this with kindred superst.i.tions. Advertis.e.m.e.nts of cauls for sale, at prices ranging from twenty guineas down, have from time to time appeared in the London papers as recently as the middle of the present century, if not even later.

No. 60.--See "Current Superst.i.tions," _Journal of American Folk-Lore_, vol. ii. No. V.

Nos. 116-118.--The custom of consulting in augury the occasional white spots on the finger-nails still survives, despite the protestation of old Sir Thomas Browne. He says:--

"That temperamental dignotions, and conjecture of prevalent humours, may be collected from spots in our Nails, we are not averse to concede. But yet not ready to admit sundry divinations vulgarly raised upon them. Nor do we observe it verified in others, what _Cardan_ discovered as a property in himself: to have found therein signs of most events that ever happened unto him. Or that there is much considerable in that doctrine of Cheiromancy, that spots in the top of the Nails do signifie things past; in the middle, things present; and at the bottom, events to come. That White specks presage our felicity; Blue ones our misfortunes. That those in the Nail of the Thumb have significations of honour, those in the fore-Finger, of riches, and so respectively in other Fingers (according to Planetical relations, from whence they receive their names), as _Trica.s.sus_ hath taken up, and _Picciolus_ well rejecteth."

No. 148.--A very complete account of the signification of moles is quoted from "The Greenwich Fortune Teller," in Brand's _Popular Antiquities_ (Bonn's ed.), iii. 254.

CHAPTERS IV. AND V.--Two of the most interesting and most accessible lists of projects and Halloween observances are Gay's well-known _Shepherds Week_ and Burns's _Halloween_.

No. 170.--It is an interesting psychological fact that projects are in the great majority of cases tried by girls and young women rather than by boys and young men.

No. 174.--Here, as in many other cases, it is a.s.sumed that young men and women are accustomed to indulge in promiscuous kissing. The use of the word gentleman sufficiently indicates the level of society from which this project was obtained. Gentleman in this sense signifies any male human being over sixteen. It is often used more specifically to mean sweetheart, as "Mary and her gentleman were at the policemen's ball."

No. 184.--On Biblical divination see Brand's _Popular Antiquities_ (Bonn's ed.), iii. 337, 338.

No. 186.--This custom of divining the color of the hair of one's future wife or husband, which is probably very old, yet survives in many places, but with interesting modifications as to the bird which gives the signal to try the divination. In Westphalia it is at sight of the first swallow that the peasant looks to see if there be a hair under his foot.

According to Gay, in England it is the cuckoo.

"When first the year I heard the cuckoo sing, And call with welcome note the budding spring, I straightway set a running with such haste Deborah that won the smock scarce ran so fast; Till spent for lack of breath, quite weary grown, Upon a rising bank I sat adown, There doffed my shoe; and by my troth I swear, Therein I spied this yellow frizzled hair, As like to Lubberkin's in curl and hue As if upon his comely pate it grew."

Nos. 187-193.--These practices, and others like No. 453 and the a.s.severations, Nos. 60-67, shade off insensibly into children's games, customs, and sayings. Games pure and simple have been omitted from the present monograph, since they are evidently out of place among superst.i.tions. They have been admirably treated in Mr. Newell's _Games and Songs of American Children_. The customs and sayings for the most part belong in collections like Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes_ rather than in the present collection.

No. 211.--Projects in which flowers and leaves are employed certainly much antedate the Christian era. Theocritus (Idyll III.) describes one in which a poppy petal is used, and he also refers to another form of love-divination by aid of the leaf of the plant Telephilon.

No. 245.--It is probable that the direction in which one is to walk during the performance of this and similar acts of divination is not a matter of indifference, even when no direction is prescribed. One would expect to find it done sunwise. See note on Chapter xvi.

Nos. 254-256.--The _Sedum_ has long enjoyed a reputation for aphrodisiac qualities, as is set forth in Gerarde's _Herbal_ and other authorities.

Perhaps the choice of the plant for use in this form of project is due to some lingering tradition of its potency, or it may be simply because of its great vitality and power of growing under adverse conditions.

No. 334.--I happen to know that in 1895 one bride, in a Boston suburb, wore seven yellow garters, at the request of seven girl friends. Probably the fas.h.i.+on of wearing yellow garters owes its present currency to the repute in which they are held as love-amulets.

CHAPTER VIII.--Some notion of the prevalence of a popular belief in the omens to be derived from dreams may be obtained from the fact that dream books are still enough in demand to warrant their publication. I have seen but one such volume. That was more than thirty years ago. A dream book is now published by a New York firm, and I find, from inquiries in Boston, that it sells at a moderate rate.

No. 626.--See Shoe Omens in Brand's _Popular Antiquities_ (Bohn's ed.), iii. 166.

Nos. 785-789.--The curious reader will find an excellent summary of the beliefs in regard to sneezing in Brand's _Popular Antiquities_, vol. iii.

Nos. 796-800.--In New Hamps.h.i.+re it was formerly usual for young people to purchase gold beads, one at a time, with their earnings. When a sufficient number of beads was obtained the necklace was made, and after it had once been put on was never taken off by night or day. It is difficult to induce the elderly people who still retain these necklaces to part with them, there being a superst.i.tious feeling in regard to the consequences.

Nos. 831, 832.--These cures and a few other superst.i.tions have been taken from a very interesting paper, "Notes on the Folk-Lore of Newfoundland,"

in the _Journal of American Folk-Lore_, vol. viii. No. x.x.xI. Almost all of the other folk-lore from Newfoundland and Labrador has been given me by Rev. A.C. Waghorne. It is interesting to notice how among these seafaring people weather-lore predominates over all other kinds.

Nos. 845-848.--These devices for suppressing hiccoughs are scarcely superst.i.tions in reality, as they doubtless often do relieve the nervous, spasmodic action of the respiratory muscles, by fixing the attention upon the cure. But in the popular mind some charm, I take it, is attributed to the counting, repeating, or what not.

CHAPTER XIII.--Several remedies for warts are here introduced which belong with the collection of animal and plant lore for which the writer has much material acc.u.mulated. In general such topics, including a very large number of saliva charms and cures, have been omitted from the present list.

Nos. 872, 880-882.--It is interesting to notice this ill.u.s.tration of the doctrine of signatures. Excrescences of such varied character, whether animal or vegetable, are supposed by contact to cause warts, doubtless simply because of the accidental resemblance.

Nos. 889-896.--It seems that any juices of peculiar or marked color are popularly credited with curative power. The plants whose juices are thought to cure warts are, it will be noticed, of wide botanical range.

In all probability there is no similarity in the effects to be obtained from the application of their sap.

No. 979.--The somewhat unusual phenomenon of rain falling while the sun is s.h.i.+ning seems to have so attracted the attention of the human mind as to have given rise to various sayings.

A native of Western Africa told me that among his tribe, the Vey people, it was always said when the sun shone as rain fell that it was a sign that a leopardess had just given birth to young.

In j.a.pan the occurrence is said to indicate that a wedding procession of foxes is pa.s.sing near by, and the children have a pretty habit of running to the supporting pillars of the house, to place the ear against the timbers and listen for the footfalls of the foxes. The little people also interlace their fingers in a certain way, then peeping through the c.h.i.n.ks between the fingers they declare they can see the wedding-train.

Nos. 1020-1028.--The mackerel sky is a name given to an a.s.semblage of cirrus clouds which are thought to imitate the barred markings on the side of a mackerel. Mares' tails are wisp-like, curved cirri.

CHAPTER XV.--To ill.u.s.trate the remarkable prevalence of a regard for the phases of the moon in the management of every-day affairs among the Pennsylvania Germans, the following list of their beliefs is appended.

All are from Buffalo Valley, Central Pennsylvania.[157-1]

THE MOON.

All cereals, when planted in the waxing of the moon, will germinate more rapidly than if planted in the waning of the moon.

The same is true of the ripening of grain.

Beans planted when the horns of the moon are up will readily pole, but if planted when the horns are down will not.

Plant early potatoes when the horns of the moon are up, else they will go too deep into the ground.

Plant late potatoes in the dark of the moon.

For abundance in anything, you must plant it when the moon is in the sign of the Twins.

Plant onions when the horns of the moon are down.

Pick apples in the dark of the moon, to keep them from rotting.

Make wine in the dark of the moon.

Make vinegar in the light of the moon.

Marry in the light of the moon.