Days And Seasons. Lichfield Greenhill Bower : 20) LICHFIELD GREENHILL BOWER. In the early days of England, when the nation was being organised for defence, it was incumbent upon every town and village to hold an annual meeting to consider the defence of the country against "all foreigners and enemies." This regulation is maintained...
Divination And Omens. Astrology : 6) ASTROLOGY. Astrology is probably the oldest pseudo-science in the world; it is one of the first guesses at the riddle of existence that took on mathematical and scientific shape. To be just, I shall have to admit that throughout the ages it has been developed somewhat on the lines...
Miscellaneous. Christening Ships : 10) CHRISTENING SHIPS. When the wife of some Admiralty official touches a button to release a new cruiser from the stays, and breaks a bottle of wine over her bows, the spectators accept these actions as the right thing, because they have been performed for centuries. But the spectators do not...
Divination And Omens. Palmistry : 5) PALMISTRY. Palmistry is said to have been introduced into this country by gipsies in the 16th century. Mason in his Anatomie of Sorcery (16l2) speaks of "vaine and frivolous devices of which sort we have an infinite number also used among us, as namely in Palmistry, where men's fortunes are...
Divination And Omens. Divining Rod : 4) DIVINING ROD (DOWSING ROD). It is curious to read old authors, quite superstitious in some directions, who suggest the use of a forked hazel twig to find springs of water is "a vulgar notion"; for in modern times there has been not only a revival of the divining rod for this purpose, but...
Days And Seasons. Christmas : 26) CHRISTMAS. Christianity became civilly established in the fourth century, and the festivals held in honour of Bacchus and other heathen deities at the Christmas season of the year gradually fell into decay. The primitive teachers of the Christian religion prohibited these scenes of festivity...
Days And Seasons. The Fifth Of November : 24) THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER. It is instructive to note how little influence the origin of this celebration has on the observance of the custom. There is no question of Roman Catholicism versus Protestantism; no preaching in churches against the papists; no defiance of Protestant practice. Gunpowder...
Days And Seasons. Ascension Day Other Superstitions : 18) ASCENSION DAY--OTHER SUPERSTITIONS. W. C. Hazlitt quotes from The Times of 1888 an interesting account of the Penrhyn quarrymen:--"Yesterday, being Ascension Day, work was entirely suspended at Lord Penrhyn's extensive slate quarries near Bangor. The cessation of work is not due to any...
Divination And Omens. Numbers : 9) NUMBERS. The fortune or fatality contained in numbers, as numbers, seems to date back to the time of Pythagoras, if not earlier. Jones in his Credulities Past and Present has gathered together a vast amount of historical information which it is no part of my business to reproduce; it is...
Miscellaneous. The Horn Dance Abbots Bromley : 2) THE HORN DANCE--ABBOTS BROMLEY. Mr MacDonagh, in his notes to Sir Benjamin Stone's Pictures of National Life and History, says that when Henry III. granted the "Charta de Foresta" there was great rejoicing in some parts of England, and that the modern horn dance is the repetition of an old...
Miscellaneous. Theatre Superstitions : 9) THEATRE SUPERSTITIONS. It is curious that Brand should not have noticed the superstitions of actors and actresses, for they are as essentially a modern growth as those he has dealt with so fully were of ancient origin; moreover, to compare the two together is to see striking points...
Days And Seasons. Candlemas Day : DAYS AND SEASONS (1) CANDLEMAS DAY. As the celebration of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, this day hardly needs the tracing of an origin, but the following from Brand is decidedly interesting:-- "How this candle-bearing on Candlemas Day came first up, the author of our English Festival...
Divination And Omens. Ear Tingling : 18) EAR-TINGLING. In Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing, Beatrice says:--"What fire is in mine ears!" which Warburton explains as alluding to a proverbial saying of the common people, that their ears burn when others are talking of them. On which Reed observes that the opinion from whence this...
Days And Seasons. Maunday Thursday : 4) MAUNDAY THURSDAY (OR SHERE THURSDAY). There seems to be much dispute between antiquarians as to the origin of both "Maunday" and "Shere," and of course the spelling has the usual vagaries. For instance The British Apollo (1709) says:--"Maunday is a corruption of the Latin word Mandatum...
Miscellaneous. Holy Wells : MISCELLANEOUS (1) HOLY WELLS. The Britisher acquainted with his Bible has an easy explanation of the superstitious regard for wells and fountains: "in hot and dry countries water is so valuable and necessary that the sources of the supply come to be looked upon as almost divine; verily the gifts...
Days And Seasons. All Fools' Day : 19) ALL FOOLS' DAY. The unsuspecting City man who, on the point of commencing his day's work at 10 a.m. on any April 1st, receives a 'phone message from a friend desiring an immediate interview on important business, gets out at once for the place of meeting, only to find that the friend knows...
Divination And Omens. Black Cats : 23) BLACK CATS. Black cats for luck: that is an old and an equally modern superstition. But it must be really black, with no admixture of other colours; not even a single hair. A lady who recently lost her cat said, "I should not have minded, but it was perfectly black." The following instance...
Days And Seasons. Valentine's Day : 2) VALENTINE'S DAY (FEBRUARY 14TH). Although St. Valentine's Day is only observed in a very few places in the United Kingdom, and tends towards a speedy disappearance, it is a custom which, for this reason, is specially worth notice, inasmuch as some of us who are by no means old can remember...
Days And Seasons. Furry Dance Helston : 13) FURRY DANCE--HELSTON. On May 8th every year the inhabitants of Helston celebrate the return of Spring by what is known as the "Furry Dance," to the accompaniment of a quaint horn-pipe tune. A ballad is also sung, and the opening verse is:-- Robin Hood and Little John. They both are gone...
Days And Seasons. Good Friday Loaves : 7) GOOD FRIDAY LOAVES. In some parts of the country it used to be thought, probably is still thought, wise to retain a loaf baked on Good Friday, under the impression that it acts as a charm and a medicinal cure. A writer in The Gentleman's Magazine (1867) says on the subject of Suffolk...
Days And Seasons. Easter Holidays : 9) EASTER HOLIDAYS. By the law concerning holidays made in the time of King Alfred the Great, it was appointed that the week after Easter should be kept holy. From this we might safely presume on the true intention of the Church, namely a time of rejoicing in the spiritual sense. But in the long...
Days And Seasons. Yule Logs : 29) YULE LOGS There seem to be a hundred origins of the word Yule according to the writers on popular antiquities. The most ingenious is that of Bryant, who derives the Feast Juul or Yule from a Hebrew word--Lile, Night. Lile, he adds, is formed from a verb signifying to howl, because at that time...
Days And Seasons. Baal Fire St. John's Eve : 14) BAAL FIRE--ST. JOHN'S EVE. Readers of the Old Testament are well acquainted with the condemnation passed upon the worship of Baal, but some of them may be surprised to know that there is a custom in Northumberland of lighting Baal fires on St. John's Eve, which is a relic of ancient Baal...
Days And Seasons. Lammas Day : 21) LAMMAS DAY. Lammas Day seems to have been a great day of accounts in early British history; it is still a quarter day in Scotland. The origin of the word is much disputed. A writer in 1754 says:--"Our ancestors distributed the year into four quarters, Candlemas, Whitsuntide, Lamm...
Divination And Omens. Spilling The Salt : 14) SPILLING THE SALT. If, whilst at dinner, you should be so unfortunate as to spill the salt, and it falls towards your right-hand or left-hand neighbour, it is accounted an unlucky omen. Why, nobody can say--with any show of good reasoning. Salt has always figured prominently in religious rites...
Divination And Omens. Colour Superstitions : 8) COLOUR SUPERSTITIONS. Few, if any, of the subjects dealt with in this book offer more items of interest for the student than this which has relation to the importance of colour. There has always been a superstitious use of colour in connection with astrology, the planets not only having...
Untitled : THE ORIGINS OF POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS AND CUSTOMS BY T. SHARPER KNOWLSON [1910] Title Page Preface Contents Introduction DAYS AND SEASONS (1) Candlemas Day (2) Valentine's Day (February 14th) (3) Simnel Sunday (4) Maunday Thursday (Or Shere Thursday) (5) Shrove Tuesday (6) Good Friday: Hot Cross...
Divination And Omens. Thirteen At Table : 15) THIRTEEN AT TABLE. If you care to take the trouble, you can work up a really awe-inspiring amount of evidence to show that it is unlucky to sit thirteen at table; and when the daring of Matthew Arnold in defying the superstition is told in all its solemnity--he died within a year after...
Miscellaneous. The Duty Of Not Saving A Drowning : 12) THE DUTY OF NOT SAVING A DROWNING MAN. If ever there existed an inhuman superstition, surely this is the one; for to see a fellow mortal fighting for life, and to refuse to render him assistance, is the height of cruelty. But, the reader will ask, does such a superstition really exist? Tyl...
Days And Seasons. Hocktide Or Hoke Day : 15) HOCKTIDE--OR HOKE DAY. Hocktide is a very old term used to denote the Monday and Tuesday in the week following the second Tuesday after Easter. The origin of the term and the occasion which gave the festival birth are keenly controverted by antiquarians, and the season itself is now all but...
Days And Seasons. Picking Up Sixpences : 8) PICKING UP SIXPENCES AT SMITHFIELD. On Good Fridays at St. Bartholomew's Church, Smithfield, there is a quaint ceremony conducted on a flat tombstone in the churchyard. A churchwarden places twenty-one new sixpences on the tombstone, and twenty-one widows come forward one by one, kneel...
Marriage Superstitions And Customs. The Dunmow : 7) THE DUNMOW FLITCH OF BACON. The recent revivals in the customs of Dunmow render the study of the subject peculiarly interesting; for this is an instance where a very old institution sees more vigorous life in the later centuries than it did in the earlier; nothing in the old days can have...
Divination And Omens. Crystal Gazing : 7) CRYSTAL GAZING. A London publisher of books on mental science and occultism advertises a crystal gazing outfit in the following terms:-- CRYSTAL GAZING OUTFIT, A COMPLETE.--This outfit consists of a perfectly cut and polished 2 in. transparent solid crystalline sphere; a beautifully turned...
Introduction : THE ORIGINS OF POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS AND CUSTOMS INTRODUCTION. THE true origin of superstition is to be found in early man's effort to explain Nature and his own existence; in the desire to propitiate Fate and invite Fortune; in the wish to avoid evils he could not understand and in the unavoidable...
Miscellaneous. 'telling The Bees : 3) "TELLING THE BEES." "A Bedfordshire woman was telling me the other day," says a writer in a Northern daily paper, "how her son had been stung all over by bees. 'And no wonder,' she said, 'he never told them he was going to put them in a new 'ome, and everybody knows that before you goes to put...
Preface : PREFACE THE following pages are based on Brand's Popular Antiquities, the edition published in 1841, supplemented by the results of later investigation. My aim has been to deal only with those superstitions and customs which are operative at the present time; and, as far as is possible, to trace...
Divination And Omens. The Howling Of Dogs : 17) THE HOWLING OF DOGS. The author of Arcana Microcosmi (1652) affirms with a curiously quaint confidence that "dogs by their howling portend death and calamities is plaine by historie and experience." Shakespeare in his Henry vi. dares to use the custom as an accompaniment of birth. "The owl...
Marriage Superstitions And Customs. May Marriages : 5) MAY MARRIAGES. It is accounted unlucky to be married in May. We seem to have got the superstition from the Romans. Ovid says in his Fasti, lib v.:-- "Nec vidum taedis eadem, nec virginis apta Tempora. Quae nupsit, non diuturna fuit. Hac quoque de causa (si te proverbia tangunt), Mense mal...
Miscellaneous. Drinking Customs. Toasts : 7) DRINKING CUSTOMS: TOASTS. When John Smith raises his glass in the saloon bar of "The World's End," and proposes the health of his friend, John Jones, he little thinks he is perpetuating a custom which goes back in unbroken succession to the days of the Greeks and Romans. A Roman gallant would...
Divination And Omens. Witchcraft : 2) WITCHCRAFT. It is no part of our present purpose to adjudicate on the rights and wrongs of witchcraft--with which we associate wizardry--rather is it our object to trace the fact of its existence, real or alleged, back to the earliest records of history. We may, too, look at the few remaining...
Miscellaneous. Yew Trees In Churchyards : 8) YEW TREES IN CHURCHYARDS. There are many theories to account for the ancient practice of planting churchyards and cemeteries with yew trees. Some authorities ascribe it to the adoption of ancient funeral rites; others to the prosaic notion of keeping the wind off the church; others, ag...
Days And Seasons. Shrove Tuesday : 5) SHROVE TUESDAY. Shrove Tuesday, or as we know it to-day, "Pancake Tuesday" seems in the olden times to have been a season of merriment, horseplay, and cruelty, as if the participants were determined to have their fling ere Lent set in with its sombre feelings and proscription of joy...
Days And Seasons. Good Friday. Hot Cross Buns : 6) GOOD FRIDAY: HOT CROSS BUNS. Every Good Friday morning the baker does a brisk business in hot cross buns, probably with little interest in the origin of the custom, his eye being rather upon the number sold and the accruing profits. There are three points to be considered: they are the three...
Days And Seasons. Halloween : 23) HALLOWEEN. Hallow Even is the vigil of All Saints' Day, which is on the first of November. Christian history presents a curious divergence of custom in regard to this Church festival; for whilst in Catholic countries the faithful turn their steps to the churchyard and place flowers...
Miscellaneous. Horseshoe Tributes In Oakham Castle : 11) HORSESHOE TRIBUTES IN OAKHAM CASTLE. Evelyn, on August 14, 1654, tells us that he "took a journey in the Northern parts," and in passing through Oakham he saw some of the celebrated shoes on the Castle gates. Mr Michael M'Donagh says: "Perhaps the most singular mediaeval tribute now exacted is...
Divination And Omens. Sharks Following Ships : 22) SHARKS FOLLOWING SHIPS A SIGN OF DEATH. It is an old but still operative superstition among seafaring men, or, shall I say, certain portions of them, that when a shark (or sharks) persistently follows a vessel, it is a sign that someone on board is going to die. The alleged reason is th...
Miscellaneous. Vampires : 5) VAMPIRES. To find the first references to vampires, we have to go back to the records of Chaldea and Assyria, but these records do no more than inform us of a current belief in the existence and raids of these monsters; there is nothing to explain their origin and nothing to justify them. They...
Marriage Superstitions And Customs. Wedding : 3) WEDDING RINGS AND BRIDE CAKE. If a child were to ask its mother who wore the first wedding ring, and the mother were to pass the question on to the historian of social customs, the historian would have to confess not only that he did not know, but that it would be impossible to assign even...
Miscellaneous. Playing Card Superstitions : 13) PLAYING CARD SUPERSTITIONS. It is somewhat singular that Brand should have confined his notes to the growth of the various card games in England, omitting entirely all reference to the superstitions which cloud the atmosphere of the gambler, and even the card player who does not play for money...
Divination And Omens. Divination : 3) DIVINATION BY BOOKS. In Pagan days the curious would endeavour to peer into the future by opening the pages of Homer or Virgil, and noting the lines covered by the thumb the instant the book was opened. They were read with a view to casting some light on the problem which occasioned...
Miscellaneous. The Death Bell : 4) THE DEATH-BELL. Once called the passing-bell, or the soul-bell, the death-bell is still a modern fact in some parts of the country, being rung, according, to rules, on the death of a parishioner; there are knells for men, for women, and for children. Of course, bells are as old as creati...
Marriage Superstitions And Customs. Christening : 9) CHRISTENING CUSTOMS. The custom of giving children apostle spoons is no longer in vogue, the present-day godfather and godmother usually selecting some article of silver--a mug, accompanied perhaps by a spoon, though not one of the apostle variety. In the old days sponsors would give the whole...
Divination And Omens. Omens Introductory : 11) OMENS--INTRODUCTORY. An omen is an event which is supposed to indicate destiny, the chief feature being the gratuitous nature of the happening; it is a message about the future which we do not seek for. There is no origin for omens; they are as old as man himself. From time immemorial...
Marriage Superstitions And Customs. Throwing : 6) THROWING THE SHOE. Throwing the old shoe was not always confined to weddings, though the custom nowadays has come to be associated entirely with the going away of bridal couples. Authorities differ concerning the origin of the practice, as well as of the exact meaning attached to it, but there...
Divination And Omens. Dreams : DIVINATION AND OMENS (1) DREAMS. George du Maurier, in his Peter Ibbetson, has given one of the best descriptions extant of the life of dreams. He says the whole cosmos is in a man's brains, so much at least as a man's brains will hold. And when sleep relaxes the will, and there are no earthly...
Divination And Omens. The Cuckoo : 24) THE CUCKOO. The cuckoo has been long considered as a bird of omen. Gay, in his Shepherd's Week, in the fourth Pastoral, notes the vulgar superstitions on first hearing the bird sing in the season:-- "When first the year, I heard the cuckoo sing, And call with welcome note the budding Spring, I...
Title Page : THE ORIGINS OF POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS AND CUSTOMS BY T. SHARPER KNOWLSON AUTHOR OF "THE ART OF THINKING," ETC. LONDON T. WERNER LAURIE LTD. COBHAM HOUSE, 24 & 26 WATER LANE, E.C.4 1910 Scanned At Sacredspiral.com, Eliza Fegley Redactor. HTML Formatting October 2003, J. B. Hare. This Text Is...
Divination And Omens. Stumbling And Falling : 13) STUMBLING AND FALLING. When Julius Caesar landed at Adrumetum in Africa, he tripped and fell on his face. This would have been considered a fatal omen by his army, but with admirable presence of mind he exclaimed, "Thus I take possession of thee, O Africa." When William the Conqueror leaped...
Marriage Superstitions And Customs. The Engagement : MARRIAGE SUPERSTITIONS AND CUSTOMS (1) THE ENGAGEMENT RING. Courtship, prior to actual marriage, has been described as a biological preparation for nuptial union, in addition to being a social custom. Some of us would prefer to call it a mental preparation; for the fact that two people of opposite...
Days And Seasons. Christmas Boxes : 27) CHRISTMAS BOXES. The dustman, the turncock, the postman, and the tradesman's boy expect their Christmas boxes at Christmas time, but they could not explain the origin of the custom, and would not if they could. It is a money collecting season for them, and the more they can rake in the better...
Divination And Omens. Spitting : 20) SPITTING. The present writer can remember labourers in the North of England who were in the habit of spitting on a coin "for luck," especially if it were a coin they found on the highway. To trace this habit to its source is practically impossible. Spittle among the ancients was esteemed...
Miscellaneous. Robin Redbreast : 6) ROBIN REDBREAST. Birds have always figured conspicuously in pagan superstitions, and it is possible that the superstitions which still linger among us, in some places at least, with regard to certain English birds, may be an echo of the older variety. Robins are held in high esteem by most...
Divination And Omens. Sneezing : 19) SNEEZING. The advance of modern physiology has all but killed the sneezing superstition, at least in civilised countries. Among peoples who have not emerged from savagery, or whose intellectual equipment, in spite of contact with superior races, is still meagre in the extreme, sneezing is...
Days And Seasons. Knutsford. The May Queen : 12) KNUTSFORD: THE MAY QUEEN AND THE MORRIS DANCES. Knutsford enjoys the distinction of celebrating the custom of crowning the May Queen with an enthusiasm, an efficiency, and a pictorial splendour which is more impressive than anything else in the same sphere. Early in the morning the streets are...
Divination And Omens. Looking Glass Omens : 12) LOOKING-GLASS OMENS. To let a mirror fall and be broken is even now regarded as unfortunate, though not so ill-starred an accident as among the people of earlier days, who believed that the party to whom the mirror belonged would lose his best friend. In the Mmoires de Constant, premier Valet...
Days And Seasons. Lucky And Unlucky Days : 29) LUCKY AND UNLUCKY DAYS. Should a City man of the present day meet another City man, and in the course of conversation ask the question: "What is your lucky day?" there would be no surprise on the face of the answerer. Perhaps he would shrug his shoulders, as if to say, "I have no theory...
Divination And Omens. Amulets, Gems, Charms : 10) AMULETS, GEMS, CHARMS, TALISMANS, MASCOTS. An amulet (from the Arab word hamala=to carry) is anything hung round the neck, placed like a bracelet on the wrist, or otherwise attached to the person, as an imagined preservative against sickness or other evils; a charm is exactly the same thing...
Marriage Superstitions And Customs. Selling Wives : 8) SELLING WIVES. Within the last twenty years there have been at least a dozen cases reported in the press of men in a low station in life who have sold their wives, under the impression they could legally do so if all parties were willing. One husband parted with his spouse for eighteen pence...
Marriage Superstitions And Customs. Bridesmaids : 4) BRIDESMAIDS AND BEST MAN. Bridesmaids seem to date from Anglo Saxon times, among whom, as Strutt informs us, "the bride was led by a matron, who was called the bride's-woman, followed by a company of young maidens who were called the bride's maids." In later times it was among the offices...
Days And Seasons. Ascension Day : 17) ASCENSION DAY--"BEATING THE BOUNDS." The visitor to London, be he a Britisher or a foreigner, cannot but be struck by the manner in which the City Corporation keeps up some of the old customs, particularly those which are carried out under the eyes of the public. Among them is the practice...
Days And Seasons. Biddenden Cakes : 10) BIDDENDEN CAKES. Hasted, in his History of Kent, speaking of Biddenden, tells us that "twenty acres of land, called the Bread and Cheese Land, lying in five pieces, were given by persons unknown, the yearly rents to be distributed among the poor of this parish. This is yearly done on Easter...
Marriage Superstitions And Customs. Kissing : 2) KISSING THE BRIDE. The York Missal and the Sarum Manual both enjoin the nuptial kiss, but it should be given in church. It is expressly mentioned in the following line from the old play of The Insatiate Countess by Marston:-- "The kisse thou gav'st me in the church here take." In some places it...
Days And Seasons. Harvest Home The Kern Baby : 22) HARVEST HOME--THE KERN BABY. Macrobius tells us that among the ancients the farmers, when they got in their harvest, were wont to feast with their servants who had laboured with them in tilling the ground. So in later centuries when Europe had, for the most part, become christianised...
Days And Seasons. Simnel Sunday : 3) SIMNEL SUNDAY. The fourth Sunday in Lent is in most Lancashire towns called Simnel Sunday, and Simnel cakes--ornamental and rich cakes like those made at 'Xmas time--are eaten. A writer in The Gentleman's Magazine (1867) informs us that "from time beyond memory thousands of persons come...
Days And Seasons. Wroth Money : 25) WROTH MONEY. Brand does not appear to have noticed this interesting custom, and for the following paragraphs I am indebted to Sir Benjamin Stone's Pictures of National Life and History, with notes by Michael McDonagh. Speaking of the ceremony at Knightlow Cross, he says:--"A tribute which...
Divination And Omens. Comets : 25) COMETS. If the usual appearance of Nature was sufficiently marvellous to beget all kinds of superstitions in the mind of the untutored savage, it is only natural that the sudden advent of a blazing comet in the sky should affright him, and give rise to all kinds of crude notions about coming...
Days And Seasons. Easter Eggs : 11) EASTER EGGS. The Easter egg is quite as important an item to the modern manufacturer of toys and sweetmeats as it was to the ancient religious devotee, who believed that eggs laid on Good Friday could be kept all the year, simply because the day itself exercised some charm on the products...
Divination And Omens. Knife Superstitions : 21) KNIFE SUPERSTITIONS. When little Teddy is being trained in table manners, he is told it is improper to place his knife and fork crosswise after the meal is finished; he must place them side by side. Few people seem to think there is anything behind this item of etiquette; they imagine it is...
Divination And Omens. The Owl : 16) THE OWL. Bourne remarks that "if an owl, which is reckoned a most abominable and unlucky bird, send forth its hoarse and dismal voice, it is an omen of the approach of some terrible thing; that some dire calamity and some great misfortune is near at hand." This omen occurs in Chaucer: "...
Days And Seasons. Garland Day At Abbotsbury : 16) GARLAND DAY AT ABBOTSBURY. Do we offer floral tributes to Neptune in England to-day? Yes, at Abbotsbury on the 13th May every year the children go round the village with large garlands, asking for gifts from the inhabitants. When the round has been completed, a start is made for the beach...
