CHRISTMAS SUPERSTITIONS.

Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 164, 23 December 1926, Page 3

CHRISTMAS SUPERSTITIONS.

The superstitious will regard Christmas Day of 1926 with foreboding, for it falls on the unluckiest of all the seven days of the week. For, according to a centuries-old rhyme preserved among some manuscripts at the British Museum:— If Christmas on the Saterday falle, That wynter is to be dredden alio, shall bo- so fulle of greto tempeste hyt shall slay bothc man and beaste. And among other unpleasant happenings heralded by a Saturday Christmas Day—the fruit and corn shall fail; old people die in great numbers; and children born on that day shall not survive six months. But a truce to such gloomy predictions! Let us turn our backs on them while we still believe in the virtues of the mistletoe when worn as an amulet; and that the maid who is not properly saluted under its white berries will look in vain for a bridal wreath within the year that follows. Married men must be careful in choosing the holly for the home decoration; for, T smooth leaves predominate, the wife will be mistress for the next twelve months; if prickly, she must play second fiddle to her spouse. But whatever you do, allow no new leather in any form to enter your house during Christmas week, for it is sure to bring ill-luck with it. If you would protect your house from fire, keep the charred remnant of this year’s Yule-log to light its successor next Christmas; and while it is burning see that no person with bare feet or a squint enters—and above all, no flat-footed woman. Of course, the first thing brought indoors on Christmas Day must be something green; and the first person to enter must be a male—even a tom cat, it is said, can be relied on to bring with him. Anyone who draws from a w-Tl on Christmas morning draws good fortune for his familv. If a cricket chirrups on your hearth on the fateful day, you may look forward to the coming year without a fear, for of all luck-bringers at Yuletide, the j cricket is king. Many folk keep their ears open on - (Continued in Next Column) ‘

1 Christmas night for the crowing of the cock, for ‘‘when the bird of dawning I singeth all night long, no spirit dare ' stir abroad during the coming year. ’ ’