LOVERS' SUPERSTITIONS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1651, 18 January 1913, Page 11

LOVERS' SUPERSTITIONS.

SOME POPULAR; FANCIES,

The old proverb says "Pride feels no pain. '. Evidently this is true of curiosity, for otherwiso one would think a halfbrick taken from the nearest churchyard was not a very toinfortablo thing to havo beneath one's pillow in. order to dream of one's- lover. Shropshire lassies, however, do not seem to mind this, nor the fact that tho brick .must bo obtained at tho witching-hour of twelve. • The "pensp-od" wooing is so called from tho following-device •— '} ':M,any' girl in shelling peas find 9 a pod with nine peas in.it, she must hang it behind tho door, and the first young man .who-.enters by thrifcdoor will bear tho same name as her future husband. .'

If one's apron-striugs become unfastened of their own accord, it is a sign that one's lover's thoughts.are busy with one. The eamo :is believed when one's hair, becomes looso and falls upon the should-' era, or the right ear-burns., . Thero :aro also ..three popular flowerfancies. . Tho flowering of a red roso in the garden early in the year is a sign of ah early marriago for ono of the members of the family, preferably for\tho owner of the,tree' if 6no be unmarried. ! A second rose charm to be observed falls on, Juno 27. , Tho flower must bo fullblown and as bright a red as can bo obtained, 1 also it must -be plucked between three and four in the morning, quite, unobserved. The maid must. then: carry it to her chamber,.and hold it over a chaf-ing-dish or any metal bowl capable; of holding charcoal and sulphur of brimstone. . , Tho rose must be held over this smoke, for five minutes, and then placed at once in a'sheet of paper'.on:which is written, the name -of the diviner, the name of her favourite lover, the date of tho year, and the name of the morning star then in: the ascendant. The girl must thenSeal up the paper with three separate seals, and bury the packet at the. foot of the'tree from which, the roso was gathered. There it must remain till-July G, then be: dug up at midnight, and placed beneath the 1 pillow, and wonderful dreams will' follow; 'The rose may' be slept on three .nights 'without ' invalidating the charm. •;'. ,:•"■ ;-\"' - ' ; ■■'■.-.'.'■..-, ■','. '■'■'..-•■'.-. i

I'A Picturesque Belief.:■■ '': "... ; i From this complicated charm we turn 'to asimpio one, which ordains that, any girl desiring" to keep' her lover true to-her-shall grow the beautiful "love-in-a-misf'-'in her houso or garden; So long -as,-she tends it faithfully, so long will hor lover remain constant and loyal; But, pretty as this fancyis, it is undoubtedly :her oivn true heart-that makes and v keeps him leal.for" ays. 7 :- . . Katherine Tynan's, sweet verses breathe, the beauty and strength of'tho love that in prayer .watches over.her sweethearts -path...:.- .:-. : . i ~,. ~' ;.■'.,. .i-

Love-in-a-Mist, may the angele guide you, Safo from the'death,;and danger beside ■, .y0u,;;..,. ~ , ■ •';._; ,■,.'. Lead you home your unlighted path, To tho love'that'spatient and yours till ■ death, ; ':.; •' •■'■•';•■ : ;.; ; Love-in-a-Mist!. ; Love-in-a-Mist.'may the aiigds tend you! The eyes of God lo6k down and befriend .'.'. you! . ...'■■'■.' ;',,-;- ' •'..'■ ~-.,"■:'. Thews'is death-in. the valley, but. up on •■'•■ '-tho'hill. The' stars are' shining—tho night is still, '-■ ■ .-' .■•Love-in-a-Mist!-As,, the conditions and.environmcnt. of feminine life alter;and develop, changes are .naturally wrought. ■ The woman of to-day, therefore,-'has,.-by-force of circumstances, become nioro self-reliant, stronger in nerve,- and infinitely broader in mind than her dainty and. secluded grandmother. Yet.deep down in her lieart-r----that. heart which is so delightfully unalterable in all ages—there istill lingers a sincere affection .for the-quaint old beliefs which ' wero. so cherished By her ancestors. '.. •'.: ■',-.;;. .... t '■■ Everyone knows that— •■■•.•■ >y. To change thenanio and not the. letter, Is to wed for tho worse and, not v the ■■- better. .. :•'' But only a few know tho superstition that if a woman have both the initial and final letter of her Christian name identical with those of her lover, it foretells a happy union. '', . V ' Birds and Superstition! . ~\ Birds are responsible for many superstitions, . particularly the - : cuckoo, the robin,..and tho cock. " ■ ;_ Ono superstition, which originated in East Anglia, but spread practically over the entire country, bade a maiden listen for the first call of the cuckoo, and when its wclcoino note sounded over the meadow or coppice, fun into the field, and drawing off ; her left, shoo, look into it, because there she would find a man's hair of the same colour as that of her futuro husband. ■ '■ , -. Both in rural England and 'in Germany tho cuckoo's first notes are,counted, and the number of his "calls" is held to denote the number of years .which will elapse before the maid becomes a wife. ' In Denmark, as soon a3 the cuckoo is hoard in the woods, each village Chlao goes out and kisses her hand to the greyfeathered 1 .visitor, saying: •Cuckoo, cuckoo; when shall I be married? ' Anil the bird foretells tho waiting years. The fair-haired daughters' of Sweden have a pretty rhyme to tho safno effect: ..' Cuckoo grey tell me, Up in tho tree, true and How many years I'.must live and go unmarried? In olden times acnrioiis belief was rife that to,obtain success in love ono must hear tho nightingalo.before.tho cuckoo. Thus Milton wrote in his "Sonnet to the Nightingale": ■..'-'\ .."..- . The liquid notes that close.the eyo ofday, First heard before tho shallow cuckoo's bill - ■ ■ Portends succew in love. The idea was also current ns early as Chaucer's time, and Wordsworth enlarged on it— But' tossing lately on sleepless bed— I of a token thought which lover's need. How among them it was a common tale, That it was'good to hear the nightingale Ere the vile cuckoo's note bo uttcretL

Cats and Dobs. , If the robin comes and 6ings on; the window-sill' much - happiness in loto is denoted. The same is augured if a pair of pigeons fly overhead. If on a St. Valentine's Day a Derbyshire girl pcops through the koyhole of the henhouso door before opening the door, and 1 beholds a cock and hen sitting quietly together, it is a sure omen that sho will bo married before the year is lu.' Russia, Chanticleer decides the maiden's fate. A party of girl-friends will repair to a barn ; or hayloft, and each will hide a ring tinder a little'heap of corn on the floor. Proud Chanticleer is than brought in, and after investigating his surroundings, ho will turn his attention to the corn, the owner of the ring which ho first discloses is regarded.as the first' bride-elect. If anyone stumbles in preceding you upstairs, an early wedding is foretold; if, in rising from tho table, your skirt catches in your chair and causes you to stumble or fall backward, your chance of marriage will be delayed. Two spoons in one tea-saucer denote a speedy nnion.. A curicj',33 and inexiplicfablo surisrstition among tho Highlanders forbids the gift of a dog between lovers unless they dosiro to court much il}-luok, but in the North Biding of Yorkshire black cats,are much esteemed.