Traiisactions. 37 



Folk-lore of Glencairn. By Mr John Corrie. 



At the present day it is a matter of no little difficulty to realise 

 the solicitude with which the fathers and mothers of a past gen- 

 eration must have watched over their offspring during tlie tender 

 years of infancy. The hour, tlie day of the week, the month, and 

 even the year of birth were all supposed to exercise an important 

 influence upon the future foitune and character of the child ; 

 while witch and warlock, fay and fairy, had each the power, under ' 

 certain limitations, of bestowing upon young and especially upon 

 unbaptised children their unhallowed attentions. Starting with 

 the initial step in life, we find a very prevalent belief to the effect 

 that a child born with a " caul " — a thin membrane occasionally 

 found covering the head at birth — is sure to be attended by good 

 fortune in after life. In some districts of the country this "caul," 

 or " holy hood," is supposed to indicate that the child will never 

 be drowned, but in inland Glencairn this part of the belief has 

 failed to perpetuate itself. A child, on the other hand, born with 

 teeth is doomed to misfortune or early death, evils which the 

 mother usually does her best to counteract by having the offend- 

 ing incisors pulled as soon as possible. Among other prevalent 

 notions associated with infancy may be mentioned the belief that 

 specks on the finger nails are prophetic of coming fortune, a belief 

 by no means confined to Scotland, for the poet Crabbe, in his 

 poem of " The Village," says : 



" In moles and specks we Fortune's gifts discern, 

 And Fate's fixed will from Nature's wanderings learn." 



Infant feet have their superstitions as well as infant hands, and 

 when the two toes next the great toe lie close together it is looked 

 upon as a sign of riches. Again, a child should go up in the world 

 before it goes down, otherwise it will never rise to distinction in 

 life. Weighing a child was long supposed to liave an injurious 

 efi'ect upon its prospects in life, but of late years this belief has 

 been set at open defiance. It was at one time customary through- 

 out the south of Scotland — and we believe the practice is to some 

 extent observed still — ^to hold a tea-drinking on the birth of a 

 child, when all who wished the child well were expected to taste of 

 the "blyth-meat," as it was called. A similar custom, we are told, 

 prevails throughout the northern and midland counties of 

 England, where " birth-feasts " have long been popular owing to 



