Mar. 31. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



23» 



by snow and hail, till Candlemas Day (Purif. 

 V. M.), Febi 2, which was exceedingly fair and 

 sunny. On the following morning, about ten a.m., 

 a thaw suddenly commenced ; but on the evening 

 of the otii, frost again set in with increased inten- 

 sity, which continued uninterruptedly to Feb. 24 ; 

 the ice on the large " broads" in the neighbourhood 

 •varying from eight inches to a foot in thickness. 

 The lowest height of the thermometer I have 

 heard mentioned here, was on Sunday the 17th, 

 when at seven a.m. it stood at 10°, or 22° of frost. 

 We have other proverbs connected with Can- 

 dlemas Day : 



" On Candlemas Day, if the sun shines clear, 

 The shepherd had rather see his -wife on the bier." 



nlluditig to the mortality among the ewes and 

 Iambs during the consequent inclement weather. 



" As far as the sun shines in on Candlemas Day, 

 So far will the snow blow in afore old May." 



" The farmer should have, on Candlemas Day, 

 Half his stover (winter forage), and half his hay." 



" At Candlemas, 

 Cold comes to us. " 



" Candlemas Day, the good huswife's goose lay ; 

 Valentine Day, yours and mine may." 



That is, geese, if properly taken care of, and 

 warmly kept, as good housewives do, will lay eggs 

 by the 2nd of February ; if not, they will in any 

 case do so by the 14th : 



" You should on Candlemas Day, 

 Thi-ow candle and candlestick away." 



Daylight being sufficient by that time. 



" When Candlemas Day is come and gone. 

 The snow won't lay on a hot stone." 



/. e. the sun, by Candlemas Day, having too much 

 jpower for the snow to lie long unthawed. 



E. S. TAYI.OR. 



Ormesby, St. Margaret, Norfolk. 



Morayshire Folk-lore. — The following is from 

 the Banffshire Journal : 



" It is somewhat remarkable that, during the last 

 fourteen years, three ministers have died pastors of the 

 parish (Kuockando). The country people have an odd 

 way of accounting for the mortality among the clergy- 

 men of the parish. They say that when the present old 

 manse was built, the masons demanded of the incumbent 

 a ' fun'in pint;' which being denied, they, in order to be 

 avenged on the parson, and all his successors who might 

 occupy the mansion, took a portion of a gravestone and 

 built it into the wall of the manse : hence, says the rustic 

 theorv, the deaths among the clergymen ! " 



W. G. 



Macduff. 



Cures for Hooping-cough. — Inquiring the other 

 day of a labourer as to the state of his child, who 

 was suffering vei'y severely from hooping-cough, 

 he told me that she was " no better, although he 

 Jaad carried her, fasting, on Sunday morning, into 



three parishes" which, according to popular belief, 

 was to be of great service to her. Another charm 

 for the cure of a sore mouth, in this neighbour- 

 hood, is to read the eighth psalm seven times for 

 three successive mornings over the patient. 



J. W. Walbond. 

 Bradfield, CoUumpton, Devon. 



Shrove Tuesday, 1855. — While I was sitting afc 

 breakfast this morning I was suddenly greeted 

 with a chorus of young boys' voices, chanting in 

 simple rustic melody the following words, which I 

 have had copied for me by one of the singers. 

 This party was succeeded by a second consisting 

 of girls, and that by a third of very small children. 

 I do not recollect to have heard or read of a 

 similar practice existing anywhere else. It may, 

 perhaps, be interesting to some of your readers as 

 a relic of the olden times. 



" Shroving, shroving, I am come to shroving. 



White bread and apple pie, 



My mouth is very dry ; 



I wish I were well a-wet. 



As I could sing for a nut. 

 Shroving, shroving, I am come to shroving. 



A piece of bread, a piece of cheese, 



A piece of your fat bacon. 



Dough nuts, and pancakes. 



All of your own making. 

 Shroving, shroving, I am come to shroving." 



J. A. H. 



Brighstone, Isle of Wight. 



BOTANICAL NOTES FROM THEOPHRASTUS. ■ 



Having, in a recent perusal of Theophrastus* 

 History of Plants, met with a few notices, amusing 

 In themselves as well as illustrative of ancient man- 

 ners and knowledge, I venture to ask the favoui* 

 of your putting them on record in " N. & Q." 



To a botanist the entire treatise, difficult as it 

 often is to identify the plants described, is full of 

 interest, as showing the state of the science 2100 

 years since. For their information it may be 

 worth mentioning, that the vegetable kingdom was 

 subdivided by Theophrastus into trees, bushes, 

 plants, and herbs. That he observed the sexual 

 differences of certain llowers ; the ascent of sap ;. 

 the diseases of plants, such as smut and rust ; and 

 the growth of madrepores, corallines, and sponges^ 

 Wild trees and plants, however, were mostly un- 

 named in his time. He speaks of grafting and 

 budding as practised by gardeners ; and informs 

 us that the roots of plants were extensively used 

 in pharmacy, numerous receipts being given ia 

 the latter part of the work. 



The following will interest the general reader : 

 Marsh-mallow, birch, and willow stems were used 

 for light walking-sticks, of Avhich the best and 

 most fashionable wei-e made at Sparta ; and the 



