382 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 208. 



■what he describes, he adds with great simplicity : 

 " So then I rode to London to acquaint the 

 ministers of state of the approaching danger ! " 



This story of the calf with the heart growing 

 out, is not a bad type of the worthy grazier him- 

 self, and his hearty and burning zeal for the 

 Protestant faith. Mr. Newans distinctly and re- 

 peatedly predicts that these " two beastly reli- 

 gions," i. e. the Popish and Mahomedan, will be 

 totally extirpated within seven years ! And " I 

 have," says he, " for almost twenty years past, 

 travelled to London and back again into the 

 country, near fifty journies, and every journey 

 was two hundred and fifty miles, to acquaint the 

 ministers of state and several of the bishops, and 

 other divines, with the certainty, danger, and 

 manner of the war" which was to bring this about. 

 Commenting on the story of Balaam, our prophet 

 says : " And now the world is grown so full of sin 

 and wickedness, that if a dumb ass should speak 

 with a man's voice, they would scarce repent : " 

 and I conclude that the said statesmen and divines 

 did not estimate these prophetic warnings much 

 higher than the brayings of that quadruped which 

 they turned out to be. Mr. Newan professes to 

 have penned these vaticinations in the year 1 744, 

 twenty-one years after the date of his vision ; so 

 that he had ample time to mature them. What 

 would the farmer say were he favoured with a 

 peep at our world in 1853, with its Mussulman 

 system unbroken ; and its cardinal, archbishops, 

 and Popish bishops firmly established in the very 

 heart of Protestant England ? J. O. 



FOLK LOBE. 



Folk Lore in Cambridgeshire . — About twenty 

 years ago, at Hildersham, there was a custom of 

 ringing the church bell at five o'clock in the 

 leasing season. The cottagers then repaired to 

 the fields to glean ; but none went out before the 

 bell was rung. The bell tolled again in the 

 evening as a signal for all to return home. I 

 would add a Query, Is this custom continued ; 

 and is it to be met with in any other place ? 



F. M. MiDDLETON. 



New Brunswick Folk Lore : — Common Notions 

 respecting Teeth. — Among the lower orders and 

 negroes, and also among young children of re- 

 spectable parents (who have probably derived the 

 notion from contact with the others as nurses or 

 servants), it is here very commonly held that 

 when a tooth is drawn, if you refrain from thrust- 

 ing the tongue in the cavity, the second tooth 

 WL& be golden. Does this idea prevail in England ? 



Superstition respecting Bridges. — ]\Iany years 

 ago my grandfather had quite a household of 

 blacks, some of whom were slaves and some free. 



Being bred in his family, a large portion of my 

 early days was thus passed among them, and I 

 have often reverted to the weird superstitions 

 with which they froze themselves and alarmed 

 me. Most of these had allusion to the devil : 

 scarcely one of them that I now recollect but 

 referred to him. Among others they firmly held 

 that when the clock struck twelve at midnight, the 

 devil and a select company of his inferiors regu- 

 larly camQ upon that part of the bridge called 

 " the draw," and danced a hornpipe there. So 

 firmly did they hold to this belief, that no threat 

 nor persuasion could induce the stoutest-hearted 

 of them to cross the fatal draw after ten o'clock at 

 night. This belief is quite contrary to that which 

 prevails in Scotland, according to which, Robin 

 Burns being my authorit)'^, " neither witches nor 

 any evil spirits have power to follow a poor wight 

 any farther than the middle of the next running 

 stream."* C. D, D. 



New Brunswick, New Jersey. 



North Lincolnshire Folk Lore. — Here follow 

 some shreds of folk lore which I have not seen as 

 yet in " N. & Q." They all belong to ISTorth 

 Lincolnshire. 



1. Death sign. If a swarm of bees alight on a 

 dead tree, or on the dead bough of a living tree, 

 there will be a death in the family of the owner 

 during the year. 



2. If you do not throw salt into the fire before 

 you begin to churn, the butter will not come. 



3. If eggs are brought over running water they 

 will have no chicks in them. 



4. It is unlucky to bring eggs into the house 

 after sunset. 



5. If you wear a snake's skin round your head 

 you will never have the headache. 



6. Persons called Agnes always go mad. 



7. A person who is born on Christmas Day will 

 be able to see spirits. 



8. Never burn egg-shells ; if you do, the hens 

 cease to lay. 



9. If a pigeon is seen sitting in a tree, or comes 

 into the house, or from being wild suddenly be- 

 comes tame, it is a sign of death. 



10. When you see a magpie you should cross 

 yourself; if you do not you will be unlucky. 



Edward Peacock. 

 Bottesford Moors. 



Portuguese Folk Lore. — 



" The borderer whispered in my ear that he was one 

 of the dreadful Lobishomens, a devoted race, held in 

 mingled horror and commiseration, and never mentioned 



* " Now, do thy speedy utmost, Meg, 

 And win the key-stane of the brig : 

 There at them thou thy tail may toss, 

 A running stream they dare na crass." 



Tarn O' Shunter. 



