MISCELLANEOUS.

ACTIONS.

1271. If a child in eating an apple merely girdles it and leaves the apple good at stem and below, it indicates that he will be a poor man; the saying is, “a poor man’s core.”

1272. It is unlucky to turn back after starting to go anywhere. To avert misfortune after turning back, make the sign of the cross in the dust with the heel, and spit in the cross.

Arkansas (negro), and Kentucky.

1273. It is unlucky to turn back after having once started out.

Quebec.

1274. To get out of bed on the wrong side puts one out all day. “He got out of bed with the wrong foot foremost” is said of a person who has a fit of crossness.

Northern Ohio.

1275. To drop your books on the way to school signifies that you will make mistakes in your lessons.

Chestertown, Md.

1276. Drop a book and you will miss your lesson, unless it is immediately picked up and kissed.

Alabama.

1277. Whoever eats the last piece of bread will be an old maid.

Pennsylvania.

1278. If you break something, you will break two other things.

Maine, Massachusetts, and Northern Ohio.

1279. To twirl a chair on one leg means that you are going to fight with somebody.

Peabody, Mass.

1280. Whirling an empty chair indicates that a whipping is in store for the transgressor.

1281. If you twirl a chair around on one leg, it is a sign that you are about to break dishes.

Chestertown, Md.

1282. You mustn’t pay the doctor entirely, or there will be sickness in the family.

Lonsdale, R.I.

1283. You must leave by the door through which you enter, or there will be trouble with the family, or ill luck to yourself.

Pennsylvania.

1284. If you leave by any other door than the one through which you have entered, it is said that you will not come again.

Cumberland, Me.

1285. In bathing, the eyes should always be rubbed towards the nose, as that makes them large, and rubbing out the opposite way makes them small.

Cambridge, Mass.

1286. In climbing a fence,—

1287. If you step on a grave, you will never grow any more.

Chestertown, Md. (negro).

1288. Step over a living thing, and that thing, whether a human being or not, will not grow any more.

Province of Quebec, Can.

1289. To step over one leg of a child will cause it to grow longer than the other.

Baltimore, Md.

1290. To comb the hair after dark is a sign of sickness.

1291. If you comb your hair after dark, it will make you forgetful.

Northern Ohio.

1292. If the right hand itches, you are going to get money; if the left, you will shake hands with a friend. If the nose itches, a friend is coming.

Talladega, Ala.

1293. Two persons wiping hands on the same towel and twisting it occasions a quarrel.

Pennsylvania.

1295. If two persons wash their hands at the same time, it is a sign that they will be friends forever.

Alabama.

1296. If two persons wipe their hands at the same time, they will be foes forever.

Alabama.

1297. When two persons put one hand of each flat together, palm to palm, they will quarrel.

Province of Quebec, Can.

1298. If two persons clasp hands so as to lock the fingers, bringing the palm of one person against the palm of the other person’s hand, it will break friendship.

Newton, Mass.

1299. If you hug your knee (hold your knee in clasped hands), you will hug up trouble.

Salem and Medford, Mass.

1300. When your joints crack, it is a sign that you have not outlived your best days.

New York, N.Y.

1301. If you kiss through a veil, there’ll be a coolness.

Portland, Me.

1302. Crossed knives are a sign of a quarrel.

Cumberland, Mass.

1304. Never look after a friend who is leaving you till he is quite out of sight, or you will never see him or her again; but turn your eyes away while he is still visible, that he or she may return.

General in the United States.

1305. Never say “good-by” more than once.

Alabama.

1306. One who habitually bites the nails is ill-natured.

Ohio.

1307. If you bite your finger-nails you will always be poor.

Massachusetts.

1308. If you sleep with your head towards the north, it will prevent sickness.

General in the United States.

1309. If you can cut a pie fair and true, you’ll have a likely husband. If you make the slices uneven, he’ll be crooked.

1310. If you make a bed handsomely, you’ll have a handsome husband.

1312. If you make a rhyme involuntarily, you will have a present.

New Brunswick.

1313. The free use of salt is a sign of having a temper.

Lynn, Mass.

1314. To say anything backward is a sign you will get a present.

Peabody, Mass.

1316. If you sing before breakfast, you will cry before supper.

Cambridge, Mass.

1317. If you laugh before breakfast, you will cry before supper.

Prince Edward Island and Somerville, Mass.

Accustomed to be said to children when they were especially hilarious in the early morning.

Northern Ohio.

1319. If a child sing before breakfast, it will get a whipping before night.

New Hampshire.

1320. To sing after you go to bed is a sign that tears will come before breakfast.

Maine.

1321. If the sole of either foot itches, you will walk on strange ground.

Boston, Mass.

1322. When about to begin a new enterprise, one must not step over straws in starting out.

1323. If you stumble with the right foot, it means a glad surprise.

Pennsylvania (negro).

1324. In going anywhere, if you strike the right foot you will be welcome wherever you may be going, and if the same happens to the left foot, you will be on strange ground.

Bellville, O.

1325. To sit on a table is a sign of coming disappointment.

Maine and Massachusetts.

1326. In drinking tea, if you take a stem in the mouth it means an enemy; you must bite it and throw it over the right shoulder.

Central Maine.

1327. If you stub your toe going into a house, you are not wanted there.

Guilford, Conn.

1328. If, in going visiting, you stub the right toe, you are welcome; if the left, you are unwelcome.

Massachusetts and Ohio.

1329. If you stub your toe going anywhere, it means a disappointment.

Bathurst, N.B.

1331. To bite the tongue while talking means that you have told a lie.

1332. If you bite your tongue suddenly while eating, it is a sign some one is coming hungry.

Cambridge, Mass.

1333. In going along the street or path, where there is a tree, go inside rather than outside the tree, for you will be disappointed if you take the latter course.

Eastern Massachusetts.

1334. In drinking water, if you glance over the glass, you are a flirt.

Pennsylvania.

BODILY AFFECTIONS.

1340. If the right cheek burns, some one is speaking well of you; if the left, they are speaking ill of you; if both, they speak well and ill at once. Moisten the finger in the mouth and touch it to the cheek, naming those whom you suspect; the one at whose name it grows cool was speaking of you.

New Brunswick.

1341. If your right ear burns, some one is talking well of you; if your left, he is talking ill.

General in the United States.

1342. If you bite the corner of your apron, you will make back-biters bite their tongues.

Pennsylvania.

1343. Pinch your ear, and the person talking of you will bite his own tongue.

1344. If the right ear burns, it is a sign that some one is thinking well of you; if the left ear burns, it is a sign that some one is thinking unkindly of you; but if both ears burn, friend and foe are fighting about you.

Pennsylvania.

1345. If your ears burn, people are talking well of you; if your ears are cold, the contrary.

New Hampshire.

1346. If your right ear burns, a lady is speaking of you; if the left, a man.

Maine and Pennsylvania.

1347. If your left ear itches, some one is saying unpleasant things about you; but if your right ear, pleasant things. Some say,—

1348. If the right eye itches, it is a sign you will cry; if the left, you will laugh, because R stands for “roar” and L for “laugh.”

Baldwinsville, N.Y.

1349. If the right eye itches, you’ll laugh; if the left eye, you’ll cry.

Boston, Mass.

1350. If your eye itches, some one wants to see you and can’t.

Peabody, Mass.

1351. If you look at one who has inflamed eyes, you’ll catch the disease.

Maine and Ohio.

1352. If your elbow itches, you will sleep with a stranger.

Boston, Mass.

1353. If the right foot itches, it is a sign you will go where you will be welcome; if the left foot itches, it is a sign you will go where you are unwelcome.

Baldwinsville, N.Y.

1354. If while going to see any one your left foot itches, you are not welcome.

Alabama.

1355. The nose itching is a sign you are going to “get mad.”

Peabody, Mass.

1356. If your nose itches, it is a sign of a present.

1357. If your nose itches, some one will be provoked with you.

1358. If your nose itches, it is a sign that

1359. If your nose itches, you will

1360. If your nose itches, it is a sign you will be kissed, cussed, or vexed.

Somerville, Mass.

1361. If the nose itches, some say you will receive a letter; others declare it is a sign your lover is thinking of you.

Baldwinsville, N.Y.

1362. If the palm of the hand itches, it is a good sign that you will kill something.

Labrador.

1363. Itching in the palm is a sign of a fight, or of seeing a stranger.

1364. An unexpected scratch denotes surprise.

1365. A long scratch across the palm denotes a sleigh-ride.

Pennsylvania (negro).

1366. A scratch on the hand denotes a ride; the length of the scratch indicates the length of the ride.

New England.

1367. A scratch on the right hand is a sign of a ride to come; on the left, a disappointment.

Baldwinsville, N.Y.

1368. If your knee itches, you are jealous.

Boston, Mass.

1369. Being lousy is an indication that the lousy person is in good health.

Newfoundland.

1370. Some hold that the white spots that one has on the finger-nails represent the lies you have told.

Maine and Baldwinsville, N.Y.

1371. If you shudder without apparent cause, some one has stepped over or upon your grave.

Gilsum, N.H.

1372. If you shudder, it is a sign that a rabbit is running across, or a goose is eating grass from your grave.

Chestertown, Md.

1373. There is an old superstition that every sigh causes a drop of blood to flaw from the heart.

Exeter, N.H.

1374. “Smooches” made on the face by soiled fingers (called beauty spots in Ohio) mean a present.

New Brunswick.

1375. A lump on the tongue means that you have told a lie.

Prince Edward Island, New York, and Northern Ohio.

APPAREL.

1376. If you mend your apron or dress while on you, some one will lie about you.

Maine and Alabama.

1377. As many stitches as you take (in mending a garment while wearing it), so many lies will be told about you.

New Hampshire.

1378. If a garment is mended while being worn, it is a sign the wearer will do something he is ashamed of before the week is out.

Newton, Mass.

1380. Basting threads left in a garment signify that it is not yet paid for.

Massachusetts and Ohio.

1381. Put your clothes on the wrong side out and you’ll have a present before the week is out.

Peabody, Mass.

1382. If, when dressing, one puts on any of his clothing wrong side out, it is a sign that he will soon receive a present.

Alabama.

1383. If you happen to put your skirt on wrong side out, you are likely to get a new one.

Alabama.

1384. You mustn’t talk when some article of dress you are wearing is being mended, or some one will talk or tell lies about you.

1385. In dressing for a journey, if you wish to have good luck, dress the right foot first.

Belleville, Ohio.

1386. If the hem of a lady’s dress turns up, she is sure to have a new one.

Alabama.

1387. While sewing on a garment, should you sew it to your dress by mistake, as many stitches as you take, so many lies will be told about you.

Baldwinsville, N.Y.

1388. If you break your needle in making a dress, you will live to wear it out. If you tear a hole in a new dress, the first time wearing it, you will have a new one before that is worn out.

Deer Isle, Me.

1389. If you break a needle in sewing a new gown, it is a sure sign you will live to wear out the garment.

Holyoke, Mass.

1390. If you break your needle in making a garment, or have to rip out some of it, you will live to wear it out.

Boston, Mass.

1391. If a white petticoat falls below your dress, it is a sign that your father loves you better than your mother.

New England.

1392. Crooked pins are a sign that the owner is an old maid.

Province of Quebec, Can.

1393. Should a friend withdraw a ring from the finger of another, it is a sign it will break friendship. The owner should take off the ring and hand it to the friend.

Baldwinsville, N.Y.

1394. A hole in the toe of your shoe or stocking, so as to show the toe, means a letter.

Cape Breton.

1395. Old shoes, particularly the soles, were often buried by negro servants on Monday morning to keep the devil down through the week.

Chestertown, Md.

1396. Save the old shoes to throw after the carriage, when any of the family start on a journey; it will insure a safe return.

Massachusetts.

1401. Of stockings:—

CUSTOMS.

1402. Halloween cabbages are pulled and thrown against the owner’s door as a reminder of his laziness.

Southern Pennsylvania and Ohio.

1403. Shelled corn is thrown at every one—the significance not known.

Southern Pennsylvania.

1404. If a man is insulted and means to be revenged, he will bare his arm and cut a cross in it with his knife, called a “vengeance mark.”

Mountains of North Carolina.

1405. If you wash your face in dew before sunrise on May Day, you will become very beautiful.

Alabama.

1406. Dry spots, where there is no dew, are called “fairy rings.”

Salem, Mass.

1407. Run round a fairy ring twice on Easter Sunday morning, and fairies will arise and follow you.

Salem, Mass.

1408. The looking-glass is often turned with the face to the wall, or taken out of the room during a thunder-storm, because “quick-silver is so bad to draw the lightning.”

Bathurst, N.B.

1409. You are said to “take the manners” if you take the last of any kind of food from a plate.

New England.

1410. “Manners dish” is the dish put on for show, and not expected to be eaten.

Northern Ohio.

1411. Homoeopathic pills must be taken in odd numbers.

New England.

1412. When a meteor is seen, Catholics often say, “A soul is ascending into heaven.”

1413. A present of a knife or any pointed instrument cuts friendship; always sell it for a penny.

1414. A present of pins breaks friendship.

General in the United States.

1415. There was a superstition among old people who had never been much abroad, in the town where I was born (Stratham, N.H.), that if they were photographed they were likely to die soon after, and many rather objected on that account.

Stratham, N.H.

1416. After sneezing, it is customary to say, “God bless you.”

General in the United States.

1417. A bit of steel, such as a needle, protects one from witches.

Brookline, Mass.

1418. A thief may be detected by a key turning in the Bible to Psalm i. 18-21, when the name of the guilty person is mentioned.

Labrador.

DAYS.

1419. What you do on your birthday, you will do all the year.

Salem, Mass.

1420. On cutting the finger-nails:—

1421. If you wear a garment for the first time on Saturday, you will have another one before it is worn out.

Bedford, Mass.

1422. Study on Sunday, forget it through the week.

Nashua, N.H.

1423. If, of your own accord, you leave home for Sunday visiting, you will be forced to leave for two Sundays following.

Labrador.

1424. Get a letter on Monday, and you’ll get six during that week.

New York, N.Y.

1425. If you break anything on Monday, you will break something every day in the week.

Somerville, Mass.

1426. If you break anything Sunday, you will continue to do so every day of the week, or as you commence Sunday, so you will go through the week.

Eastern Massachusetts.

1427. If you begin anything Saturday, it must be finished that day or it will not get finished.

Boston, Mass.

1430. Sneeze before twelve and one, and you will hear news.

Brighton, Mass.

1431. Sneeze at the table, there will be one more or one less at the next meal.

Alabama.

1433. If you sneeze once, a girl is thinking of you; twice, she is wishing for you; thrice, it is a sign of a cold.

Alabama.

1436. Never cut your toe-nails Sunday, or you will do something to be ashamed of before the week is out.

Granville, Mass.

1437. Cut your nails Monday morning, without speaking (?), and you will get a present before the week is out; some have it, “without thinking of a red fox’s tail,” instead of “without speaking.”

Westport, Mass.

DOMESTIC LIFE.

1438. It is supposed that a broom placed behind the door will keep off witches.

Bruynswick, N.Y.

1439. To burn the stub of a broom or break a sugar-bowl, means a quarrel.

Westport, Mass.

1440. A spark seen on a candle or lamp when the light is extinguished means the receipt of a letter.

St. John, N.B., and Salem, Mass.

1441. Wet the finger and touch the “letter” on the candle. If it come off on the finger, it means a letter for you.

Maine.

1442. The letter in the candle will face the one for whom the letter is to be. If the little snuff bud is bright, it means a letter.

Northern Ohio.

1443. If the candle is sooty, or shows a spark in the wick on blowing out, it is a sign that a letter is on its way.

1444. If chairs become entangled (legs interlaced, etc.), it means a quarrel.

Bathurst, N.B.

1445. If you choke (food gets in the windpipe), it means some one has told lies about you.

Cape Breton.

1446. It is a sign of good old-fashioned economy to use up a dish-cloth until it can be put into your mouth.

Massachusetts.

1447. If a door opens of itself, it is supposed to indicate the presence of a spirit, usually one of the family.

Massachusetts.

1448. It is unlucky to name a child after a dead child of the family.

Newfoundland.

1449. If you begin keeping house with many in the family, it is a sign that you will always have a large family or houseful.

Ohio.

1450. If a wood fire snaps and sparkles, each time it does indicates the receipt of a letter.

Peabody, Mass.

1451. One of the negro superstitions was that when the fire burned with a blue flame, it was the devil seeking to speak to them. A handful of salt would make him go away.

Alabama.

1452. Sweep the floor after dark, you’ll see sickness before morning.

1453. If while eating you drop food on the floor, it is a sign that some one is telling lies about you.

Cape Breton.

1454. Food dropped on the floor by one signifies that some one grudges you it.

Common in the United States.

1455. Do not change your place at table; it is very unlucky.

New York, N.Y.

1456. If you keep changing your furniture to different places, you’ll be poor.

Massachusetts.

1457. Not drinking the whole contents of a glass or cup means disappointment.

Westport, Mass.

1458. If sooty bubbles form and blacken on the wick in a lamp burning whale oil, each bubble indicates the receipt of a letter.

Peabody, Mass.

1459. When sparks are seen on the bottom of the tea-kettle, it is a sign that folks are going home from meeting.

New Hampshire and Boxford, Mass.

1460. Sparks flying from a fire mean letters; the number of the sparks is the number of the letters.

Boston, Mass.

1461. If a spark or sparks jump out of the fire and hit you or come towards you, it is a sign some one has a spite or grudge against you.

Bathurst, N.B.

1462. Two spoons given to one person denotes that that person will have two homes before the year is out.

Chestertown, Md.

1463. The tea-kettle suddenly singing means news.

Patten, Me.

VARIOUS.

1464. A stratum of warm air indicates the presence of the devil.

Boston, Mass. (Irish).

1465. If, when a newly-married couple go to housekeeping, she slyly takes her mother’s dish-cloth or dish-wiper, she will never be homesick. Old Mrs. —— told me that she believed that was the reason she was not homesick when they moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio.

Ohio.

1466. To have a sharp knife is a sign of a lazy man.

Central Maine.

1467. Passing anything through a ladder is a sign of a long passage.

Conception Bay, N.F.

1468. If a ship has a starboard list, it is a sign of a quick passage; if a port list, it is a sign of a long passage.

Conception Bay and New Harbor, N.F.

1469. Write the date of the first snowstorm, and you’ll gain a bet before the winter is through.

Massachusetts.

1470. To ascertain a girl’s age, pull a hair from her head, hang a finger-ring from this inside a tumbler or goblet, and it will strike the number of years.

Boston, Mass.

1471. Throw a strand of your hair in the fire; if it blazes you will live long and happily; if not, you will die soon.

Alabama.

1472. If a tree falls to the right while you are looking at it, you are going on a long trip before the end of the year, and will have some unexpected piece of good luck.

Alabama.

1473. A person born on Halloween is said to be possessed of evil spirits.

Alabama.

1474. Place a broom across the door, and if any of your departed friends wish to speak to you they are free to come and go at will while the broom remains there.

Alabama.

1475. If a person who raises fowls is bothered with hawks, he may prevent the trouble by throwing a handful of “rocks” into the fire while it is burning brightly.

Alabama.

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