82 



AMERICAN SPIDERS AND THEIR SPINNING WORK. 



that ill order to propitiate these money spinners they are to be thrown 

 over the left shoulder. ^ Old Fuller, who was a native of Northam}>ton, 

 tlius quaintly moralizes upon this superstition : " When a spider is found 

 upon your clothes, we used to say some money is coming towards us. The 

 moral is this, those who imitate the industry of that contemptible creature 

 may, by God's blessing, weave themselves into wealth, and procure a plentiful 

 estate." 



The superstition prevails that if a spider apj^roaches either by crawling 

 toward or descending from the ceiling upon a person, it forebodes good to 



such person ; and on the contrary, if the spider runs hurriedly 

 „ . away it is an omen of bad luck. If one kill a spider crossing 



his path he will have bad luck. A spider should not be killed 

 in one's house, but out of doors. If in the house, it is a saying with 

 English common people, "that you are pulling down your own house." 

 If a spider drops down from its web, or fr(im a tree directly in front of a 

 person, such person will see a dear friend before night. A variation of 

 the superstition is, that if the spider be white it foretells a friend, and if 

 black an enemy. In the Netherlands, a spider seen in the morning fore- 

 bodes good luck, in the afternoon bad luck.^ The same tradition prevails 

 among Germans, for a German, now resident in Hartford, Connecticut, 

 informed me (and I have since heard the same from others) that in the 



country parts of Germany the people are careful not to see a 

 Luck m spiJei- [^ tbe morning, under the belief that it will bring bad 



luck. If they have reason to suspect the presence of a spider 



they will most scrupulously look the other way. But in the 

 evening the same parties want to see a spider, because they believe that 

 then seen it will bring them good luck. He gave me the following German 

 rhyme expressive of the above superstition, to which I add a rude metrical 

 translation : — 



Seeing- 

 Spiders 



'Spinne am Morgen 



Kummer und Sorgen ; 

 Spinne am Abend 



Erquickend und laliend.' 



Spider in morning 



Brings trouble and care ; 

 But spider at evening 



Refreshing and cheer. 



This notion has found its way into Ireland, for my cook, who came 

 from County Kildare, the east of Ireland, has told me that the tradition 

 prevailed in her section that if a wee spider would come upon 

 .. the head it was a sign that the person would get a new bonnet. 



If it fell upon the dress or coat a new dress or coat would result. 

 She further said that in a little reading book, in use in one of the gov- 

 ernment schools, there was a rhyme like the following : — 



" If you want to live and thrive. 

 Let the spider run alive." 



Notes and Queries, Vol. II., 105. 



Thorpe's North. Antiq., III., page 32!l. 



