IRISH SUPERSTITIONS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 61, 6 November 1907, Page 4

IRISH SUPERSTITIONS.

"KING'S BLOUD CURE.'

A few years ago (tays a writer in the Spectator, dealing with some West of Ireland superstitions) the parish priest of one of the larger islands off the Galway Mast invited the author to walk with him to a cabin it the extreme end of the island. Here an involved dispute about boundaries of holdings was arbitrated on and amicably settled—no light matter—advice was given as to the steps to be taken in order to recover the value of a few one-pound bank notes which had been by accident partly burnt; and, last of all, a child was brought up to his reverence suffering from some external disorder of the throat, apparently scrofula. The priest sternly rebuked the mother for not having brought the child to the doctor for proper treatment long ago. She replied: "Arrah, Father, I thought I would not mind the doctor, but just get a noteen (i.e., a little rote) from yourself to the nuns in Convent. They tell me they have a LITTLE BTJP OF THE KING'S BLOOD in a bottle there, and if the child's neck is touched with that it's a certain I cure for ever and always!" This poor woman's belief was, of course, a ramification of the ancient supersitition of healing by the Royal touch. In this island the fishermen never talk of rats as such, but when those animals are spoken of the name used is "cold iron." TCiey believe that rats can understand human speech, and that they dislike being talked about, and are apt tc take revenge upon anyone speaking of them by gnawing their fishing gear, sea boots, etc.; but all is safe if "cold iron" is the name used. Here, again, rabbits are considered most unlucky, and if by chance one gets entargled in a train of fishing nets spread out on the land to dry, that particular net is carefully reoraved from the train. FISHERMEN AND RABBITS.

One must be careful never to carry rabbits, which may have been shot, aboird a fishing boat; for, although the people might not object openly, on account of their natural politeness, they strongly resent any such daring provocation of the malign influences, and if any ill-luck were to happen to themselves or to the boat subsequently it would be attributed to that foolhardy action. Superstitions as to its being most unlucky to meet a woman when setting out to fish, or upon any journey by sea, are not uncommon. From a headland on the Donegal coast the writer was one day anxiously watching a smack beating across the bay against a heavy sea and stiff breeze which had suddenly sprung up. After a long and hard fight for it, the little craft made the pier in safety, and upon condolences being offered the skipper on his recent hardships, he said: "Sure, what better luck couid 1 have? Didn't I meet a red-headed woman in Sligo this morning the moment I left my lodgings to walk down to the boat!" In this case the color of the woman's hair, and the fact of her being the first person met with after the man left his house, seemed to be the determining factors in the day's luck. HAIR AND ILL-LUCK.

But in other places the objection to such an encounter embraces hair of all shades and any hour of the day, it being amply sufficient to bring the illluck that any woman pass you by just as you arc walking down to the boat. Only a few weeks ago the writer visited a small fishing village on the Galway coast, and just before getting on his car to return home was chatting to the landlady of the little inn. A strapping young fisherman, who was walking down the road towards the harbor, suddenly stopped, climbed over the fence, and made his way across the fields. The writer observed that the young fellow must have mistaken lim for a process-server with a writ j for him. She laughed rather derisively, and said: "It's not you at all, sir, he's afraid of, but me! He's just going fishing, and would not pass me by if you gave him th<- fill of his hat of gold 1" Toy mascots are the latest favorites

as luck-bringers at the bridge table. The enthusiastic player who gathers up her cards with a pink velvet cat at her

elbow feels assured of playing a winning game. When the cards have been put away the pink cat reposes on its mistress' hearthrug, and is the envy of all visitors. A Tag "gollywog" is another charm which is claimed to bring its owner phenomenal good fortune, and a curious figure known as "Sunny Jane" also ranks as a mascot. "Tl' demand for toy mascots has increased during the last few months," the manager of a West End firm informed an Express representative. "The curious thing is that the more hideous the toy the greater its value as a luck-bringer. This fashion has succeeded the pretty superstition of wearing dainty gold charms or lockets set with 'birth' stones. We have found that "Tweedledum' and 'Tweedledee' are the most popular mascots, while their popularity is run very close by 'Bob,' a white dog with a long neck and 'Jum,' an elephant with a brilliant scarlet coat."

Harvesters at Peterborough in August were wearing o'ercoats owing to the cold.

How often it happens that at the verv beginning of a book we can guess what the end will be. There the eneyclopa?dia has the advantage. There is nothing in the article on the letter "A" from which you can deduce what the encyclopaedia will say about Zymotic, says Barry Pain, in the Morning Leader. Surely the people with whom one would wish to have the most enduring relations in life are those who have acquired a tolerant view and a wide knowledge through long and loving contact with the civilising influences of old books, old pictures, and old countries, which speak of survival, transmission, and association, and thus are enabled to meet the great mocking world on equal terms, says "The Spectator," in the New York Outlook.