CRAB APPLE 17s 
apples pressed in it. Each person takes a clome, or cup, full of the 
liquor, and standing under the trees says: 
“Health to thee, good apple tree, 
Well to bear pocket fulls, hat fulls, peck fulls, bushel bag fulls ”. 
St. Dunstan is said to have bought up a quantity of barley for 
brewing beer. The devil, knowing his anxiety to get a good sale for 
it, offered to blight the apple trees so that there would be no cider. 
St. Dunstan agreed, and sold himself to him on condition they were 
blighted on May 17, 18, 19. 
An apple left after the bulk are picked was held to belong to the 
fairies. Squeezed between finger and thumb the direction of an apple 
pip, so shot, indicated a lover’s abode. 
“Pippin, Pippin, paradise, 
Tell me where my true love lies, 
East, West, North, and South, 
Pilling Brig or Cocker Mouth.” 
There was a custom of throwing apple peel over the head to secure 
marriage or the single blessed state, according as it remained whole or 
broken. An apple is thrown in the street in Sicily, and if a girl 
picks it up she will not be married, but if it is not touched the young 
person when married will soon be a widow. 
An apple is eaten before a looking-glass on Hallowe’en in Scotland, 
when the face of the desired one will be seen. On Christmas Eve in 
Austria apples are used for divining. One is cut in two in the dark, 
without touching it at first, then the left half is placed in the bosom, 
and the right is laid behind the door. The desired one may be looked 
for at midnight near the right half. 
A maiden having slept with one under her pillow on St. Andrew’s 
or Christmas night stands with it in her hand on the next church 
festival, and the first man she sees will be her husband. 
An apple was said to foretell long life, but to dream of one after the 
blooming is to foretell death. Dissimilarity between two persons is 
expressed by the proverb: 
“ As like as an apple is to a lobster”. 
Wild forms are often cultivated apples run wild. The fruit of the 
Crab is acid and tart, and the juice is called verjuice, and used for 
bruises and sprains. In Ireland people put it in cider to make it 
rough. All garden orchard forms are derived from it. Pippins are 
