See a stranger,Kiss a fool,Or be in danger.Peabody, Mass.
See a stranger,Kiss a fool,Or be in danger.Peabody, Mass.
785. To sneeze at the table indicates a stranger.
Peabody, Mass.
786. To sneeze before breakfast is a sign you will have a caller before night.
Eastern Massachusetts.
787. Sneeze before you eat,See a stranger before you sleep.Cape Breton.
787. Sneeze before you eat,See a stranger before you sleep.Cape Breton.
788. As many times as you sneeze before breakfast, so many calls will you have before tea (or bed-time).
789. If you sneeze on Saturday, you will have company on Sunday.
Massachusetts.
790. Water spilled on the doorstep means a stranger.
Ohio.
791. To slop water near a door is a sign of a stranger.
Peabody, Mass.
792. A sudden shower of sparks from the fire betokens a visitor.
Cape Breton.
793. When you see the soot burning in the back of the chimney, it is a sign of your being visited by a stranger.
Alabama.
794. If youcrockyour knuckles, company will come.
Massachusetts.
CURES.
AMULETS.
795. Green glass beads worn about the neck will prevent or cure erysipelas.
Chestertown, Md.
796. Gold beads were formerly a protection against the “King’s Evil” (scrofula), and nearly every maiden and matron wore ample strings of beautiful large beads.
Adams, Mass.
797. Gold beads worn about the neck will cure sore throat.
Windham, Me.
798. Gold beads worn about the throat were thought to cure or or prevent goître.
Northern Ohio.
799. A string of gold beads is still held to be a preventive of quinsy, sore throats, and so on.
New Hampshire.
800. A string of gold beads worn on the neck will cure or prevent quinsy.
Prince Edward Island.
801. Red beads about the neck cure nose-bleed.
Cazenovia, N. Y.
802. For nose-bleed wear a red bean on a white string round the neck.
Bedford, Mass.
803. A black silk cord about the neck cures croup.
Cazenovia, N. Y.
804. A key worn hanging about the neck by a string prevents nose-bleed.
Central Maine.
805. Wearing brown paper on the chest will cure sea-sickness.
Newton, Mass., and Chestertown, Md.
806. Tie a piece of black ribbon around a child’s neck, and it will prevent croup.
Waltham, Mass.
807. Brass earrings or rings are thought by negroes to keep away rheumatism.
Alabama.
808. To cure rheumatism, wear a brass ring on the finger.
Boston, Mass.
809. Wearing brass rings will prevent cramp.
Alabama.
810. A brass ring worn on the finger will cure rheumatism.
Chestertown, Md. (negro).
811. Sailors wear gold earrings for weak eyes or to strengthen the sight.
Brookline, Mass.
812. A common custom among negroes is to wear a leather strap about the wrist as a cure for rheumatism, sprains, etc., and to give strength.
Chestertown, Md. (negro).
813. As a cure for nose-bleed, tie a string about the little finger.
Cape Breton.
814. A leather string commonly worn around the neck is supposed to prevent whooping-cough.
Chestertown, Md.
815. A red string tied about the waist cures nausea or sea-sickness.
Massachusetts.
CHARM.
816. To keep fire always burning on the hearth will prevent cholera among chickens.
Alabama.
817. If a fish-hook pierces the hand, stick it three times into wood, in the name of the Trinity, to prevent festering or other evil consequences.
Newfoundland.
818. If you scratch yourself with a rusty nail, stick the nail immediately into hard wood, and it will prevent lockjaw.
Salem, Mass.
819. A man who “stuck a nail in his foot” was told by a neighbor to pull it out, grease it, and hang it up in the “chimbly,” otherwise he might have lockjaw.
New Brunswick.
820. To cure nose-bleeding, write the person’s name on the forehead.
Newfoundland.
821. For rheumatism, carry a horseshoe nail in the pocket.
Central New York.
822. To get rid of rheumatism: “You go in de lot an’ go up to fence. Den put you breas’ on it and say, ‘I lef you here, I lef you here,’ tree times, den you go ‘way and don’t you never come back dere no more.”
French Canadian.
823. To cure fits, the first time the child or person has one, tear off the shirt of the patient and burn it up, and no more fits will return.
Chestertown, Md. (negro).
824. If you don’t want the cramp in your foot, turn your shoes bottom up at night.
Nashua, N. H.
825. To keep off nightmare, put your shoes at night with the toes pointing away from the bed.
Central New York.
826. To ward off nightmare, sleep with shears under the pillow.
Central New York.
827. Nightmare is caused by the nightmare man, a kind of evil spirit, struggling with one. It is prevented by placing a sharp knife under the pillow, and stuffing the keyhole with cotton.
Windham, Me.
828. Sores can be cured by those who possess magical powers going through certain incantations, which are to be followed by applications of oatmeal and vinegar.
Newfoundland.
829. For a sty on the eye, take a small piece of paper, rub it on the sty, go across the road three times, and say each time,—
Sty, sty, go off my eye,Go on the first one that passes by.
Sty, sty, go off my eye,Go on the first one that passes by.
This is a sure cure in two or three days.
Talladega, Ala.
830. To cure a sty repeat at a cross-roads,—
Sty, sty, leave my eye,And take the next one that passes by.Massachusetts, Indiana, and California.
Sty, sty, leave my eye,And take the next one that passes by.Massachusetts, Indiana, and California.
831. Toothache may be cured by conjurers, who apply the finger to the aching tooth, while muttering a charm, or tie a number of knots in a fishing line.
Newfoundland.
832. Toothache may be cured by a written charm, sealed up and worn around the neck of the afflicted person. The following is a copy of the charm:—
I’ve seen it written a feller was sittenOn a marvel stone, and our Lord came by,And He said to him, “What’s the matter with thee, my man?”And he said, “Got the toothache, Marster,”And he said, “Follow me and thee shall have no more toothache.”Newfoundland.
I’ve seen it written a feller was sittenOn a marvel stone, and our Lord came by,And He said to him, “What’s the matter with thee, my man?”And he said, “Got the toothache, Marster,”And he said, “Follow me and thee shall have no more toothache.”Newfoundland.
833. For toothache take an eyelash, an eyebrow, trimmings of the finger-nails, and toe-nails of the patient, bore a hole in a beech-tree, and put them in. The sufferer must not see the tree, and it must not be cut down or burned.
Cape Breton.
834. Treat biliousness by boring three holes in a tree and walking three times around it, saying, “Go away, bilious.”
Eastern Shore of Maryland.
835. The most powerful charm is a piece of printed paper called “the letter of Jesus Christ.” This, in addition to the well-known letter of Lentulus to the Senate, contains many absurd superstitions, such as the promise of safe delivery in child-bed, and freedom from bodily hurt to those who may possess a copy of it.
Newfoundland.
WATER.
836. Rub the hands with the first snow that falls and you’ll not have sore hands all winter.
Winn, Me.
837. On Ash Wednesday before sunrise dip a pail of water in a running brook (up stream), bottle it, and keep as a cure for anything.
Maine.
838. Catch the last snow of the season (e. g., in April), melt and put into a bottle. It will cure sore eyes.
Chestertown, Md.
839. Water made from snow that falls in the month of May will cure sore eyes.
Prince Edward Island.
840. Rain-water caught the first of June will cure freckles. It will not putrefy.
Massachusetts.
841. An Indian doctor used for inflammation of the eyes rain-water caught on the third, fourth, and fifth of June. It is said that this will not putrefy.
New Hampshire.
842. The first water that falls in June is supposed to cure all skin diseases; and I am informed “it is dretful good for the insides, too.”
Westford, Mass.
843. Water in which a blacksmith has cooled his iron is a cure for freckles.
Malden, Mass.
MISCELLANEOUS.
844. It is believed that “piercing the ear” will cure weak eyes or strengthen the eyes. It is often done to children for this purpose.
Northern Ohio.
845. To cure hiccoughs repeat in one breath the words,—
There was an old woman who lived all alone,And she was made of skin and bone.One day to church she went to pray,And on the ground a man there lay,And from his head unto his feetThe worms crawled in, the worms crawled out.Boston, Mass.
There was an old woman who lived all alone,And she was made of skin and bone.One day to church she went to pray,And on the ground a man there lay,And from his head unto his feetThe worms crawled in, the worms crawled out.Boston, Mass.
846. A variant,—
There was an old woman who lived all alone,And she was made of skin and bone.One day to church she went to pray,And on the ground there lay a man.And from his head unto his feetThe worms crawled in, the worms crawled out.The woman to the parson said:“Shall I be so when I am dead?”The parson he said “yes.”Portland, Me., Brookline and Deerfield, Mass.
There was an old woman who lived all alone,And she was made of skin and bone.One day to church she went to pray,And on the ground there lay a man.And from his head unto his feetThe worms crawled in, the worms crawled out.The woman to the parson said:“Shall I be so when I am dead?”The parson he said “yes.”Portland, Me., Brookline and Deerfield, Mass.
847. For hiccoughs the nurse used to say in a droning, deep, ghostly tone,—
There was an old man an’ an old woman,And they lived in a bottle and eatBones.Brookline, Mass.
There was an old man an’ an old woman,And they lived in a bottle and eatBones.Brookline, Mass.
848. Other somewhat general remedies for hiccoughs are to munch a spoonful of sugar, to scare the one troubled with hiccoughs by some startling announcement or accusation, as, “See, you’ve torn your dress!” or, “How did you break my vase?” etc. Another custom is to steadily point a finger at the hiccougher, or to make him hold up his arm and shake it.
849. To cure hiccoughs, slowly take nine sips of water.
Prince Edward Island and Northern Ohio.
850. Another cure for hiccoughs is as follows: Put the thumb up against the lower lip, with the fingers under the chin, and say, “hiccup, hiccup, over my thumb,” nine times.
Northern Ohio.
851. A cure for hiccoughs: Try for a long time to make the edges of the thumb-nails meet at the end.
Chestertown, Md.
852. Think of the one you love best, to cure hiccoughs.
Prince Edward Island.
853. For chapped lips kiss the middle rail of a five-railed fence.
Bernardston, Mass.
854. To relieve coughing or strangling, put a pair of scissors down inside the back of your dress.
Prince Edward Island.
855. Chew brown paper as a cure for nose-bleed.
Eastern Massachusetts.
856. For nose-bleed, put a key down the back.
857. For nose-bleed, hold up the right arm.
858. For nose-bleed, place a wad of paper between the upper lip and the gum.
859. You can keep from crying as you peel onions if you keep the mouth closed.
Northern Ohio.
860. Hold, by the points, two needles between your teeth, as you peel onions, and you will not cry.
Prince Edward Island.
861. Hold a needle between your teeth with the point out, while peeling onions, and you’ll not cry,i. e., will not feel the smart.
862. You will not cry in peeling onions if you hold a bit of bread in the mouth.
Prince Edward Island, Cambridge, Mass. (Irish).
Or, put the bread on the point of the knife.
Maine.
863. You will not cry in peeling onions if you let the faucet be open so the water will run.
Cambridge, Mass.
864. To bring up the palate when it drops and tickles the root of the tongue, take a wisp of hair on the crown of the head and tie it up very tight.
Chestertown, Md.
865. Rubbing a sty with a gold ring will cure it.
Prince Edward Island.
866. Cure a sty by rubbing it with a wedding ring.
General.
867. A sty in the eye is cured by rubbing a gold ring on the eye three mornings with a sign of the cross.
Labrador.
868. A pebble in the mouth will ease thirst.
Brookline, Mass.
869. A sore throat may be cured by binding about the neck on going to bed one of the stockings which the patient has been wearing (no other one will do).
Somewhat general in the United States.
870. To cure the sore throat, take three handfuls of ashes with your left hand, put into your left stocking, and bind it around your throat.
Mattawamkeag, Me.
871. To burn the “little nerve” in the ear will cure the toothache forever.
Northern Ohio.
WARTS.
CAUSES.
872. Blood from the warts on a cow’s bag coming in contact with a person’s hands will cause warts to appear on them.
New Hampshire.
873. Blood from a wart, especially if applied to the tongue, will cause warts to appear.
New Jersey.
874. To count another person’s warts will cause them to appear on you.
General in the United States.
875. If one counts stars while lying on his back, he will have as many warts as he has counted stars.
New York and Trenton, N. J.
876. To drink the water in which eggs have been boiled will cause internal warts.
Miramichi, N. B.
877. Washing the hands in water in which eggs have been boiled causes warts to grow.
Cape Breton and Eastern Massachusetts.
878. Warts are caused by touching the white of an egg.
Salem, Mass.
879. To touch the jelly-fish will cause warts.
Halifax, N. S., and parts of Eastern New England.
880. Touching the excrescences that sometimes appear on trees will cause warts on the hand of the person who touches them.
New England.
881. The handling of large species of toadstool, sometimes popularly called “wart-toadstool,” will cause warts to grow on the part of the hand coming in contact with it.
New Hampshire.
882. The handling of a toad will cause warts to appear.
General in the United States.
CURES.
883. To cure a wart, grease it with stolen bacon, and hide the latter.
884. Split a bean and put one half on the wart, one half in the ground, and at the end of the week dig up the latter; place on the wart with the other half; bury again, and this will cure the wart.
Greenfield, Mass.
885. Beans rubbed on a wart and thrown in the well will cure a wart.
Maine.
886. Rub a white bean on the warts, wrap it in paper, and throw it on the road; whoever picks it up will get the warts.
Connecticut.
887. If you find an old bone in the field, rub the wart with it, then lay it down exactly as you found it. The wart will be cured.
Maine.
888. If a person has warts, he should rub them with a bone, and after replacing the bone they are said to leave.
Alabama.
889. Rub a wart with the yellow milky juice of celandine (Chelidonium majus).
Massachusetts.
890. The juice of “wild celandine” (Impatiens fulva) is used as a wart cure.
Franconia, N. H.
891. Dandelion juice will cure warts.
Revere Beach, Mass.
892. The milky juice of theEuphorbia hypericifolia(and other small prostrate Euphorbias) is thought to be a sure cure for warts.
Northern Ohio.
893. The milky juice of the common cypress spurge (Euphorbia Cyparissias) will cure warts.
894. The juice of the common large milk-weeds (Asclepias) will cure warts.
Massachusetts.
895. The juice of the “milk-thistles” (Sonchus) will cure warts.
Prince Edward Island.
896. The milky juice of the Osage orange is used as a wart-cure.
Southern Ohio.
897. The first time a person has seen your wart, if it is rubbed with fresh cream by that person, the wart will surely go away.
Bruynswick, N. Y.
898Rub a wart with a stolen dish-cloth, and then hide or bury the latter. As it decays, the wart will disappear.
General in the United States.
899. Rub the wart with a stolen dish-cloth, and secrete the dish-cloth until it becomes mouldy and decays, then the wart is cured.
Bucks Co., Pa.
900. To cure a wart: Draw a blade across it, and then draw the knife across a sweet apple-tree.
Lawrence, Mass.
901. Warts are cured by stealing pork from the family barrel of salted pork, rubbing the warts with it, and throwing it into the road. The person who picks it up gets the warts.
Bruynswick, N. Y.
902. Sell your warts for money, throw the money away anywhere, but on your own land. Whoever picks up the money gets also the warts.
Springfield, Mass.
903. To cure warts: Cut your finger-nails and put them in the knothole of a tree; then stop up the hole, wishing the warts on to some one else.
Connecticut.
904. Make a wart bleed, and put the blood on a penny, throw the latter away, and the finder will get the wart.
905. Cut up an onion, rub the wart with each slice, and bury all the slices.
Bucks Co., Pa.
906. Split a pea and rub the wart with both pieces, make a wish that some person shall get the wart, throw one piece over one shoulder and the other over the other (into the river), and the wart will go to the person wished.
Miramichi, N. B.
907. If you rub your warts with a pebble, wrap the pebble in paper, and throw it away; the person who picks it up will have them come to him. Or, should you label the paper with some one’s name and throw it away, the warts will go to the person whose name you have written.
New England.
908. Take a green, mossy pebble, wrap it up, tie it, and throw it away. The finder will catch the wart which you had.
Rhode Island.
909. Take as many pebbles as there are warts. Rub them on the warts. Roll them in paper and throw them away. The finder takes the warts.
Boxford, Mass.
910. Go out of doors, count three, stop and pick up the stone nearest to your toe. Wrap it up in a paper, and throw it away. The one that picks it up will get the warts.
Providence, R. I.
911. Count out secretly as many stones as you have warts, tie in a rag, and throw them where they can’t be seen.
Massachusetts.
912. If you have warts, walk nine steps backward with your eyes shut, having just picked up a pebble with which rub the wart, and throw it away.
Fort Worth, Tex.
913. To cure warts, wash the hands in warm pig’s blood.
Nova Scotia.
914. Steal as many pins as you have warts, wrap them in paper, and throw them in the road: the warts will attack whoever picks up the paper, and leave you.
Bruynswick, N. Y.
915. Run a pin through the wart, and put the pin in the road; the finder gets the wart.
Missouri.
916. Rub warts with the head of a pin; hide the latter and do not look for it, or tie a knot in a string, lay it away, and do not look for it, and the warts will disappear.
Western New York.
917. Take a potato and rub it over the wart, then wrap the potato in a piece of paper and throw it away. The one who finds it will have the wart.
Maine.
918. Rub the wart with a cotton rag, spit on the rag and hide it under a water-board (a wooden gutter used as a duct for rain-water off the roof of a house), where the water will drip on it. The whole operation must be kept secret.
Kansas.
919. Rub the wart with rock-salt till it bleeds, and throw a lump of salt in the fire; if it crackles and snaps out of the fire, the wart will get well; if not, not.
Central Maine.
920. Binding a slug (Limax) on a wart will cure it.
Cazenovia, N. Y.
921. Rub the warts with the sole of your shoe; as the leather wears away, the warts depart.
Springfield, Mass.
922. When a person wishes to remove warts from his hand, cut as many notches on a stick as you have warts, and standing on a bridge,throw the stick over your left shoulder, and turn your head; they will go off before you leave the bridge.
Alabama.
923. Cut notches in a stick to the number of warts you have, and then bury the stick.
Massachusetts.
924. Some pretend to remove warts by “touching with the sharp point of a stick and rubbing them in the notch of another stick; then if the patient tells of it, they will comeback.
Alabama.
925. Take as many joints of oat or wheat straw as a person has warts, and burn them under a stone. As the joints rot, the warts disappear. This is to be done by another for you.
Cape Breton.
926. Rub saliva on the wart, tie a string around the hand so that the knot comes on the wart. Take off the string and hide in a hollow stump.
Southern Indiana.
927. Kill a toad, and put its blood on the wart. The warts will go away in three weeks.
Marquette, Mich.
928. Warts are cured by tying a knot in a string for every wart, and putting under the eaves of the house. The warts go as the string rots.
Ohio.
929. Warts may be cured by applying to them water standing in the hollow of an oaken stump.
Boxford, Mass., and Ohio.
WEATHER
COLD.
930. As the days begin to lengthen,So the cold begins to strengthen.Northeastern United States and Canada.
930. As the days begin to lengthen,So the cold begins to strengthen.Northeastern United States and Canada.
931. Fire spitting sparks means cold weather.
Patten, Me.
932. If the fire burns well, it is coming cold weather.
General in the United States.
933. Fog in winter is always succeeded by cold and wind.
934. Plenty of hawberries foretell a “hard winter,”i. e., they are to serve as a store of food for birds.
Canada.
935. Cold weather comes after the wind has blown over the oat stubble.
Pennsylvania.
DAYS AND TIMES.
936. The first Tuesday after the new moon settles the weather for that quarter.
Newfoundland.
937. If it is a fair sunset Friday night, it will rain before Monday.
Massachusetts.
938. If it storms on a Friday, it will storm again before the next Monday.
Massachusetts and New York.
939. If the sun sets clear Friday night, it will not rain before Monday night; but if it sets in a cloud, it will rain before Monday night.
Boston, Mass.
940. The weather of the last Friday in the month governs the next month.
Cambridge, Mass.
941. There will be sun during some part of Saturday the year through.
Brookline, Mass.
942. If it rains the last Saturday or the first Sunday in a month, it will rain the three following Sundays.
Maine.
943. The sun shines some part of every Saturday in the year but one.
New England.
944. Saturday’s moon comes seven years too soon, and denotes bad weather.
Newfoundland.
945. Sunday’s sailWill never fail.Topsail Bay, N. F.
945. Sunday’s sailWill never fail.Topsail Bay, N. F.
946. Weather is apt to repeat itself in the following week,i. e., there will be a run of wet Sundays or fine Tuesdays, etc.
Brookline, Mass.
947. The first seven days of January indicate the first seven months of the year. Mild days, mild months, etc.
Nova Scotia.
948. If March comes in like a lamb, it goes out like a lion, andvice versa.
General in the United States.
949. The corn is planted when the Baltimore orioles appear, or when the first green is noticed on the oak-trees.
Milton, Mass.
950. A dry May and a wet JuneMake the farmer whistle a merry tune.Franklin Centre, R. I.
950. A dry May and a wet JuneMake the farmer whistle a merry tune.Franklin Centre, R. I.
951. It rains often on July fourth. That is due to the firing of cannon, etc.
General in the United States.
952. If there is a wet September, there will be a next summer’s drouth; no crops and famine.
California.
953. If it rains on Easter, it will rain seven Sundays thereafter.
Hennepin, Ill.
954. A green Christmas makes a full churchyard, orA green Christmas makes a fat graveyard.General in the United States.
954. A green Christmas makes a full churchyard, orA green Christmas makes a fat graveyard.General in the United States.
955. The twelve days at Christmas govern the weather of the months of the coming year.
Eastern Massachusetts.
956. The twelve days at Christmas time make the almanac for the year.
Massachusetts.
957. It is a general notion that a cold winter is followed by a hot summer, andvice versa.
958. It always rains while the Cadets are in camp.
Eastern Massachusetts.
959. It always rains during May meetin’s.
Boston, Mass.
960. It always rains during a cattle-show.
Deerfield, Mass.
961. Women “cruising,”i. e., visiting about on “pot-days,” especially Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, when people have their best dinner (usually pork and cabbage) in the pot, is a sign of bad weather. But it is also said that it is a sign of mild weather.
Newfoundland and Labrador.
FAIR OR FOUL.
962. Of a change:—
Long looked forLong last,Short notice,Soon past.Brookline, Mass.
Long looked forLong last,Short notice,Soon past.Brookline, Mass.
963. From twelve till twoTells what the day will do.New England.
963. From twelve till twoTells what the day will do.New England.
964. If it rains before sevenIt will drip before eleven.Eastern Maine.
964. If it rains before sevenIt will drip before eleven.Eastern Maine.
965. If it rain before sevenIt will quit before eleven.Prince Edward Island and, Maine, Massachusetts, and Northern Ohio.
965. If it rain before sevenIt will quit before eleven.Prince Edward Island and, Maine, Massachusetts, and Northern Ohio.
966. If a storm clears off in the night, pleasant weather will last but a few hours.
Northern Ohio.
967. In uncertain or threatening weather it is said that if you can see a piece of blue sky big enough to make a pair of breeches, it will clear off.
Maine, Massachusetts, and Northern Ohio.
968. Variant: If you can see enough blue sky in the west to make an old woman’s apron, it will clear off.
Eastern Maine.
969. Clocks and watches tick louder before mild weather.
Scilly Cove, N. F.
970. Cobwebs on the grass are a sign of fair weather.
General in the United States.
971. If every dish is cleaned at a given meal, then look for fair weather the following day.
Pennsylvania Germans.
972. Fog lying in valleys is a sign of a “civil” day.
Bay Roberts, N. F.
973. If hoar frost remains after sunrise, the day will be fine; if not, the day will be wet.
Scilly Cove, N. F.
974. A load of hay passing means fair weather.
Massachusetts.