307. I wind, I wind, my true love to find,The color of his hair, the clothes he’ll wear,The day he is married to me.
307. I wind, I wind, my true love to find,The color of his hair, the clothes he’ll wear,The day he is married to me.
Throw a ball of yarn into a barn, old house, or cellar, and wind, repeating the above lines, and the true love will appear and wind with you. To be tried at twelve o’clock at night, on Halloween.
Maine.
308. Shortly before midnight a pure white bowl is procured, that has never been touched by any lips save those of a new-born infant. If it is a woman whose fortune is to be tried (and it generally is) the child must be a male. The bowl is filled with water from a spring-well, after which twenty-six pieces of white paper about an inch square, on each of which must be written one letter of the alphabet, are placed in the bowl with the letters turned downward. These must be dropped in as the clock strikes midnight, or all will fail. All being ready, the maiden interested repeats the lines:—
Kind fortune, tell me where is heWho my future lord shall be;From this bowl all that I claimIs to know my lover’s name.
Kind fortune, tell me where is heWho my future lord shall be;From this bowl all that I claimIs to know my lover’s name.
The bowl is then securely locked away, and must not be disturbed till sunrise the following morning, when she is placed before it blindfolded. She then picks out the same number of letters as there are in her own name. After these are all out the bandage is removed from her eyes, and the paper letters spread out before her. She manages them so as to spell a man’s name as best she can with the letters at her disposal. The name thus found will be that of her future husband.
Trinity and Catalina Bays, N. F.
309. On Halloween a girl is to go through a graveyard, steal a cabbage and place it above the house-door. The one on whom the cabbage falls as the door is opened is to be the girl’s husband.
Massachusetts.
310. On Halloween walk backwards from the front door, pick up dust or grass, bring it in, wrap it in paper, put it under your pillow, and dream.
Pennsylvania.
311. On Halloween put an egg to roast before the fire and leave the doors and windows open. When it begins to sweat a cat will come in and turn it. After the cat will come the man you are to marry, and he will turn it. If you are to die unmarried, the shadow of a coffin will appear.
Chestertown, Md.
312. On Halloween go upstairs backwards, eating a hard boiled egg without salt, and looking in the glass. You will see your future husband in the glass, looking over your shoulder.
St. John, N. B.
313. On Halloween go down the cellar stairs backward, carrying a mirror into which you look. A face will be seen over your shoulder which will be that of your future husband.
General in the United States.
314. On the last night of October place a mirror and a clock in a room that has not been used for some time, and at a quarter to twelve take a lighted candle and an apple, and finish eating the apple just as the clock strikes twelve, and then look in the mirror and you will see your future husband.
Alabama.
315. On Halloween put a ring in a dish of mashed potatoes, and the one who gets the ring will be married first.
Boston, Mass.
316. On Halloween mash potatoes and conceal in the mass a ring, a coin, and a button. Divide it into as many portions as there are persons present. The ring denotes marriage, the coin riches, and the button misfortune.
Massachusetts.
317. “Silent Supper.” On Halloween set a table as if for supper, with as many seats at the table as there are girls, each girl standing behind a chair at the table. The one you are to marry will come in and take the chair in front of you.
Chestertown, Md.
318. On Halloween write names of three men on three pieces of paper, roll them into balls, put these into balls made of Indian meal (wet so as to roll up), put the balls of meal into a basin of water: whichever one rises to the top bears the name of the one you’ll marry.
Salem, Mass.
319. On Halloween, girls place three saucers beside each other, two filled with earth and water, in the other a ring. They are respectively death, cloister or unmarried life, and marriage.
Convent School, Manchester, N. H.
320. On Easter Monday, put on one black garter and one yellow one, and wear them constantly, and you’ll have a proposal before the year is out.
Chestertown, Md.
321. Knit a garter and color it yellow. Don it on Easter Day. Wear it for a year. The wearer will be engaged before the year is out.
Salem, Mass.
322. On May first look in an unused well, and you’ll see the face of your future husband or wife.
New Hampshire.
323. If you look into a well at exactly twelve o’clock, on the first day of May, through a smoked glass, you will see your future husband.
Alabama.
324. Hold a mirror over a well on May first, and you will see the image of your future husband or wife.
Talladega, Ala.
325. On Midsummer’s Day wet a new garment in running water and hang across a chair, wrong side out, to dry. At twelve noon or midnight the one who is to marry you will be seen turning the garment.
Labrador.
326. Place an egg in a tumbler on St. John’s Day. The tumbler being half filled with water, an egg is broken into it at early dawn, and it is placed in the window, where it remains untouched till sundown. At that time the broken egg is supposed to have assumed a special shape, in which the ingenious maiden sees dimly outlined the form of her future lord, or some emblem of his calling.
Newfoundland.
LOVE AND MARRIAGE.
ENGAGEMENT.
327. If you are a bridesmaid three times you will never stand in the middle.
Baldwinsville, N. Y.
328. Three times a bridesmaid, never a bride.
New England.
329. Don’t let another person put on your engagement ring, taken from your finger, or the engagement will be broken.
Bathurst, N. B.
330. The mother-in-law’s test of the incoming daughter-in-law is to place a broom on the floor. If the daughter removes it and places it on one side, she will be a good housewife; if she steps over it, she will be a bad housewife.
Labrador.
331. A girl will have as many children after marriage as she has “holders” given her before marriage.
Eastern Massachusetts.
ATTIRE OF THE BRIDE.
332. If you try on your wedding dress before the ceremony, you will not be happy.
Cambridge, Mass.
333. The bride should wear a borrowed garter, and also a yellow garter.
Boston, Mass.
334. If a bride wear a yellow garter tied on by a girl friend, the latter will be married inside the year.
Eastern Massachusetts.
335. The bride should wear
Something old,Something new,Something borrowed,And something blue.Very common.
Something old,Something new,Something borrowed,And something blue.Very common.
336. Wear no black at a wedding; it foretells ill luck.
Massachusetts.
337. To be married in a brown dress is good luck; black is bad.
Bathurst, N. B.
338. To be married in anything but white garments indicates bad luck for the bride, white being emblematical of innocence.
They say that white is a heavenly hue.
They say that white is a heavenly hue.
Another has added,
It may be so, but the sky is blue.
Massachusetts.
339. White is emblematical of holiness and truth. Blue is emblematical of peace and security; bright green of true learning, as being the uniform clothing of nature.
Maine and Massachusetts.
340. A bride must not look in the glass after her toilet is complete,i. e., she must add a glove or some article after leaving the mirror.
Maine and Massachusetts.
341. It is bad luck for a bride to keep any of the pins that she used when she was married.
Alabama.
342. You will be unhappy if you lose your wedding ring.
General in the United States.
343. If the bride just before leaving the house throws her bouquet over the banisters, the one who catches it is next to be wedded.
Philadelphia, Pa.
344. If a drop of blood gets on a garment in making, it will be one of your wedding garments.
LUCKY DAYS.
345. Marry in Lent,Live to repent.New York.
345. Marry in Lent,Live to repent.New York.
346. The day after a wedding is called the bride’s day, the next day the groom’s day; the condition of the weather on these days will indicate whether their lives are to be happy or otherwise.
Salem, Mass., and Queen Anne Co., Md.
347. The wedding day is the bride’s day, and the weather foretells her married life. The following is the bridegroom’s, and his married life is shown in the same manner. The third day shows how they will live together.
New York.
348. The two days before the wedding are the bride’s days. If they are pleasant, she will have good luck, etc.
Waltham, Mass.
349. Marriage days.
Monday—a bad day.Tuesday—you will have a good husband and will live long.Wednesday—a grand day; you will have a good husband, and will live happily, but will have some trouble.Thursday—a bad day.Friday—a bad day.Saturday—no luck at all.Sunday—no luck at all.Baltimore, Md. (negro).
Monday—a bad day.Tuesday—you will have a good husband and will live long.Wednesday—a grand day; you will have a good husband, and will live happily, but will have some trouble.Thursday—a bad day.Friday—a bad day.Saturday—no luck at all.Sunday—no luck at all.Baltimore, Md. (negro).
350. Wednesday is the luckiest day on which to be married. Saturday is the unluckiest. Friday is also unlucky.
Bathurst, N. B.
THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY.
351. Happy is the bride that the sun shines on.
Northern Ohio.
352. If it rains on the wedding, the bride will cry all her married life.
Talladega, Ala.
353. To marry in a storm betokens an unhappy life.
Peabody, Mass.
354. It is unlucky to drop the ring at the marriage ceremony.
New York.
355. A bride must step over the church sill with her right foot.
Orange Co., N. Y.
356. A double wedding is unlucky; one of the marriages will be unhappy.
Massachusetts.
357. The pair to be married should stand in line with the cracks in the floor, and not at right angles to them.
Omaha, Neb.
358. When a couple are married and are driving off, if old shoes are thrown after them for good luck, and one of the shoes lodges on the coach or carriage, it is a sign that one of the party will die before the year is out.
Waltham, Mass.
359. After the marriage ceremony is performed, the one that walks first from the altar is the one who will die first, either bride or groom.
Alabama.
360. Old slippers or rice must be thrown after a bride for good luck.
General in the United States.
361. If the younger sister is married before the elder, the latter will have to dance in a pig’s trough.
Western Massachusetts.
362. Runaway matches will prove unlucky.
New York.
363. It is a sign of ill luck to take off the wedding ring.
General in the United States.
COURTING AND WEDDING SIGNS.
364. If your apron string becomes loosened, your true love is thinking of you.
New York.
365. If your apron drops off, you’ll lose your beau. The same is true if you lose your garter.
Stevens Point, Wis.
366. If you sink a bottle in water, it will weaken your love.
Massachusetts.
367. Step over the broom, and you will be an old maid.
368. If a girl wet her apron in washing, it is a sign that she will have a drunken husband.
Labrador, Scilly Cove, N. F., and New England.
369. To hang clothes wrong side out is an antidote for a drunken husband.
Maine.
370. If a girl finds a cobweb in the door, it is a sign that her beau calls elsewhere.
Northern Ohio.
371. To find many cobwebs in the kitchen means that there is no courting there.
Boston, Mass.
372. When the collar slips around and the opening comes to the ear, your lover is thinking of you.
Salem, Mass.
373. If you button your dress up unevenly, it is a sign that your lover is thinking of you.
Miramichi, N. B.
374. If you begin to button your dress unevenly, you will be a widow.
Central Maine.
375. If you are cross when you are young, you will be an old maid.
Alabama.
376. If you fall up stairs, you will have a new beau.
Winn, Me.
377. Tumble up stairs and you’ll not get married within the year. (Hence old maids were formerly said to be careful how they went up stairs.)
New England.
378. Stumbling either up or down stairs means you’ll be married inside a year.
Cape Breton.
379. If you sit on a table, you will not be married that year.
New England, New York, and Alabama.
380. Dropping hairpins from your hair means that your beau is thinking of you.
General in the United States.
381. If a lady dons a gentleman’s hat, it is a sign that she wants a kiss.
382. If your lips itch, it is a sign some one will kiss you.
Boston, Mass.
383. If the outside of your nose itches, some one out of town loves you, and if the inside of your nose, then you are loved by some one in town.
Western Massachusetts.
384. If a gentleman and lady are riding and are tipped out, they will be married.
Nashua, N. H.
385. Make a rhyme when talking, and you’ll see your true love before Saturday night.
Massachusetts.
386. Should your shoestring come unloosened,
’T is a sure sign and a true,At that very momentYour true love thinks of you.New York.
’T is a sure sign and a true,At that very momentYour true love thinks of you.New York.
387. If your shoe comes untied, your sweetheart is talking about you.
Alabama.
388. If you want to sneeze and can’t, it is a sign some one loves you, and doesn’t dare to tell it.
Boston, Mass.
389. If you can’t drink a cup of tea, you must be love-sick.
Labrador.
390. Stub your toeSee your beau.Massachusetts and Maine.
390. Stub your toeSee your beau.Massachusetts and Maine.
391. If four persons cross hands in shaking hands on taking leave, one will marry before the year is out.
Prince Edward Island, Eastern Massachusetts, and New York.
392. If hands are crossed at the table while passing a dish, a wedding will follow. The top hand belongs to the person who will be married.
Pennsylvania.
393. To have two teaspoons in a saucer signifies marriage in a year.
394. If a gentleman stayed to dinner and by accident got two knives, two forks, or two spoons, at his plate, he would be married within a year, and there was no help for it.
Connecticut.
395. Knock over your chair on rising from the table, and you won’t get married that year.
Peabody, Mass., New York, and Talladega, Ala.
396. If a girl sew a button on the clothing of a marriageable man, she will marry him within the year.
New England.
397. If you have a dress with rings for a figure in it, it is a sign you will be married before it is worn out.
New York.
398. If you have hearts in a figure in a dress or in a shawl, you will be married before it is worn out.
New York.
399. If you have a new dress and there are roses in it, the person who owns the dress will be married before the dress is worn out.
Salem, Mass.
400. Pins in the front of a dress waist are a sign that the wearer will be an old maid.
New Hampshire.
401. If, in making a dress, the thread kinks badly, the person for whom it is made will either die or get married before the dress is worn out.
Alabama.
402. If you have a dress tried on, and any pin catches in the underclothing, every pin means that it is a year before you will be married; hence dressmakers are especially careful to pin the dress in such a way that it will slip off easily.
Boston, Mass.
403. If you have good success in building a fire, you will have a smart husband; if bad success, a lazy husband.
St. John, N. B., and Ohio.
404. If a lock of hair over the forehead (“widow’s lock”) be cut before marriage, the girl will be a widow.
Labrador.
405. Get a lady friend to knit you a yellow garter. She must ask a gentleman unknown to you to knit ten rows. You will meet and marry the gentleman within a year.
406. The exchange of one yellow garter means a proposal in six months.
Washington, D. C.
407. If a girl wears a yellow garter (which has been given to her) every day for a year, or every day and night for six months, at the end of that time she will be married.
Montreal, P. Q.
408. If you burn a lover’s letter, he will never marry you.
Central Maine.
409. If, at a dinner, a single person is inadvertently placed between two married people (husband or wife), it means marriage for him or her within a year.
410. If you pass between two men on the street, you’ll marry both of them sometime.
Champaign, Ill.
411. If you drop a knitting-needle, you won’t be married during the present year.
412. If you break many needles in a garment, it will be worn at a wedding.
413. If you draw blood from a prick of the needle while making a garment, it is a sign you will be kissed the first time you wear it.
Boston, Mass.
414. Should needles break while sewing on a new garment, it is a sign that the owner will be married before it is worn out.
New York.
415. When a young man goes to see a girl for the first time, and the signs of the zodiac are in the heart, they will one day marry.
Harmony, Me.
416. If you step on a cigar stub, you will marry the first man you meet.
Salem, Mass.
417. Two spoons in a cup is the sign of a wedding.
Bathurst, N. B., and Wisconsin.
418. If you get two spoons in your cup or saucer, you’ll marry a second husband or wife.
419. If a couple out walking together stumble, it is a sign that they will be married.
Labrador.
420. Sit on the table,Married before you’re able.Mattawamkeag, Me.
420. Sit on the table,Married before you’re able.Mattawamkeag, Me.
421. If a girl gets the last piece of bread on a plate at the table, she will have a handsome husband.
Massachusetts.
422. If all of three dishes at the table are eaten, all of the unmarried people at the table will be married within the year.
Northern Massachusetts.
423. “If the tea-kettle boils, you will boil your beaux away,” is an old saying.
Salem, Mass.
424. If you have a cup of tea handed to you, and there are little bits floating on top, they represent the number of husbands you will have—one, two, or three.
425. A girl that takes her thimble to the table will be an old maid.
Northern Ohio.
426. Three in a row,Meet your beau.The one in the middle will have him.Massachusetts.
426. Three in a row,Meet your beau.The one in the middle will have him.Massachusetts.
427. Three lamps in a row, the one who sets down the third will be soon married.
Massachusetts.
428. Three lamps in a row foretell a wedding in the family.
New York.
429. To look into a tumbler when you are drinking is a sign that you will be an old maid. If you look over the side, you are a flirt.
Massachusetts.
430. To wash the hands under a pump denotes that you will be a widow.
Chestertown, Md.
WISHES.
431. If you take a baby in your arms for the first time, and at the same time wish, you will get your wish before the year is out.
Quebec.
432. Take your Bible and wish. If it opens at “and it came to pass,” you will get your wish.
433. Wish upon a candle on blowing it out. If it glows long, you will get your wish. If it smokes, it signifies a death.
Ohio.
434. If a speck of carbon comes on the wick when burning, and you wish for something, wet your finger and touch the speck. If it sticks to your finger, you will get the wish, andvice versa.
Plymouth, O.
435. Swallow a chicken’s heart whole and make a wish. It will come true.
Pennsylvania and Ohio.
436. Throw an egg out of the second story window and wish. If it does not break, you will get your wish.
Deer Isle, Me.
437. Throw an eyelash over your shoulder. If it falls from your finger in doing this, your wish will come true. If it remains on the finger, your wish will not come to pass.
New York.
438. Find a stray eyelash; place it on the back of the hand with a wish; blow it off. If it blows off at the first trial, the wish will come true.
St. John, N. B., and Pennsylvania.
439. Put a loose eyelash on the back of your hand. It signifies a letter. Wish from whom the letter may come, carry it three times around your head, then throw it over your shoulder, and you will get your wish.
New England.
440. Put an eyewinker down inside your clothes, wish, and you’ll get your wish.
Maine.
441. Put an eyewinker on the back of the hand, knock that hand with the other so as to throw the eyewinker over the shoulder, and at the same time wish. If the eyewinker is not seen again, the wish will come true.
Stoneham, Mass.
442. If you wish on the first thing you eat in the season, the wish will come true.
443. Wish with two paper slips or grass blades, the ends only being shown. The longer wins.
444. Wish on a load of hay, and you’ll be sure to get it.
Winn, Me.
445. Wish when you see a hay-cart, don’t look at it again, and you’ll get the wish.
New Jersey.
446. See a white horse; don’t look at his tail, but wish.
447. Wish on a “calico” horse.
448. You may wish on a row of empty barrels, or on a piebald horse, but you must not look on the object a second time.
449. Wish on a load of empty barrels, and you will get your wish.
Peabody, Mass.
450. Write the names of one hundred people who (by request) have bowed to you, bury the paper in a secret spot, and at the same time wish. If no one sees you, you will get your wish.
451. Wish while holding a lighted match until it is extinct, and you’ll get the wish.
452. If by chance two use the same words, lock the little fingers, and wish before speaking, saying “Shakespeare” at the end.
Eastern Massachusetts.
453. Let two persons break the wishing-bone of a fowl; the one who gets the longest piece will get his wish.
New Jersey and Ohio.
454. If you say two sentences that rhyme, make a wish, then if you make a rhyme unintentionally and wish before you speak again, your wish will come to pass.
Baldwinsville, N. Y.
455. When you first see a sleigh in the fall of the year, make a wish, and you will get it.
Winn, Me.
456. Wish at the first snowflake of the season, and you will get your wish.
Westport, Mass.
457. Put a ring on the finger of another person, saying, “I wish it on until such a time,” and if it is not removed before the expiration of the period named, the wish will come to pass.
Connecticut and Ohio.
458. When you see a falling star, wish.
New Jersey.
459. To wish on a star, when you see the first star come out, say:
Star light, star bright,First star I see to-night,I wish I may, I wish I mightHave the wish I wish to-night.
Star light, star bright,First star I see to-night,I wish I may, I wish I mightHave the wish I wish to-night.
Wish what you please and it will come true, but the wish must not be mentioned to any one.
Eastern Massachusetts.
460. Count nine evening stars in succession, and you will have your wish.
Massachusetts.
461. Capture a floating thistledown, breathe on it, make a wish to see or hear from an absent friend, blow in his or her supposed direction, and it will carry your message.
Ohio.
462. Make a wish while throwing a leaf into running water. If it lands right side up, you will have your wish or good luck.
Lebanon, N. H.
DREAMS.
ANIMALS.
463. To dream of cod or caplin is a sign ofrain
Newfoundland.
464. To dream of a good catch of fish is a sign of rain.
Heart’s Content, N. F.
465. To dream of catching fish is good luck.
Prince Edward Island.
466. If you dream you catch fish, it is a sign you will make a good bargain, according to the size of the fish.
467. To dream of catching a fish means money.
Cape Breton.
468. To dream of flies means sickness.
Massachusetts.
469. To dream of flies is good luck.
Peabody, Mass.
470. To dream of lice is a sign of death.
New Harbor, N. F.
471. To dream of lice is a sign of enemies.
Topsail, N. F.
472. To dream of lice is a sign of “coming wealth.”
Alabama.
473. To dream of lice means sickness in the family.
Ohio.
474. To dream of snakes means enemies.
Cape Breton. General in the United States.
In some localities it is said if you kill the snake in your dream you will conquer your enemies.
475. To dream of porpoises is bad luck.
Labrador.
476. It is lucky to dream of pigs.
Bruynswick, N. Y.
477. Dreaming of (or seeing) rats (numerous) is a sign of death.
Heart’s Content, N. F.
478. To dream of a rat is the sign of an enemy.
Boston, Mass.
479. To dream of rats is a sign of thieves.
Central Maine and Chestertown, Md.
480. It is a sign of bad news to dream about a white horse.
Quebec.
481. To dream of a white horse three nights in succession is a sign of the death of an elderly person.
Central New York.
482. To dream of a white horse is a sign some one of the family will die within a year.
Maine.
483. To dream of three white colts is a sign of a young person dying.
Central New York.
484. If you dream of a black horse, it is a sure sign of death.
Peabody, Mass.
485. To dream of a black horse is a sign of a wedding; of a white horse is a sign of a letter.
Cape Breton.
486. To dream of a horse is a sign of a letter.
Miramichi, N. B.
487. To dream of horses is a sign of wind.
Topsail, N. F.
488. Dreaming of cows is a sign of a hostile, angry woman.
Bay Roberts, N. F.
489. To dream of dogs and horses is a sign of good luck.
St. John, N. B.
490. To dream of catching a bird is a sign of a letter.
Cape Breton.
491. If you dream of a bird in a cage you will have trouble with your beau.
New England.
492. To dream of cats means enemies.
Cape Breton.
493. To dream of a cat means an enemy. If in the dream you conquer the cat, you will conquer the enemy.
Miramichi, N. B.
COLORS.
494. To dream of white things is lucky (or sign of death?).
Newfoundland.
495. Dreaming of white things is a sign of snow in summer.
Labrador and Newfoundland.
496. Dreaming of working on white cloth is a sign of death.
Newfoundland.
497. To dream of white or red is unlucky. To dream of black is lucky.
DEAD PERSONS.
498. To dream of a dead father is lucky.
Labrador.
499. To dream of a dead mother is unlucky; it brings sorrow.
Labrador.
500. To dream of the dead is a sign of hearing from the living.
Topsail and New Harbor, N. F.
501. To dream of the dead is a sign of rain.
New Harbor, N. F.
502. To dream of seeing a deceased friend means rain within a few days.
Talladega, Ala.
503. To dream of a dead person means a letter next day.
Northern Maine.
504. If you dream of the dead, you’ll hear from the living.
Prince Edward Island; General in the United States.
EARTH.
505. To dream of walking in a garden is a sign of a graveyard.
506. To dream of ploughed ground indicates that a grave will be dug for some member of the family before the year ends.
Western New York.
507. To dream of seeing fresh earth bodes misfortune.
Northern Ohio.
508. To dream of digging ground, or white potatoes, is a sign of death.
Harbor Grace, N. F.
509. To dream of seeing the ground unseasonably ploughed means death.
Nova Scotia.
EGGS.
510. To dream of eggs means you will get abeating,
Prince Edward Island.
511. Dreaming of eggs is a sign of anger; if broken, all over.
New Harbor, N. F.
512. To dream of whole eggs is a sign of a “fuss;” of broken eggs is not.
Chestertown, Md.
513. To dream of a nest full of eggs and a bird sitting on them means you will receive something new.
Cape Breton.
FIRE AND SMOKE.
514. It is bad luck to dream of fire.
St. John, N. B.
515. To dream of fire portends sickness.
Eastern Massachusetts.
516. If you dream of fire, it is a sign of trouble in the family.
Alabama.
517. If you dream of fire, you’ll have a row.
Massachusetts.
518. To dream of fire is a sign of anger.
Newfoundland and Labrador.
519. To dream of fire means hasty news. To dream of smoke means trouble.
Miramichi, N. B.