June 1. 1850.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



4. If you sweep tbe house with blossomed broom 



in ]May, 

 Y're sure to sweep the head of the house 

 away. 

 Simihar to which is the following: — 



5. To sleep in a room with the whitethorn bloom 

 in it during the month of May, will surely be fol- 

 lowed by some great misfortune. 



6. Cure for Fits. — If a young woman hns fits, 

 she applies to ten or a dozen unmarried men (if the 

 sufferer be a man, he applies to as many maidens) 

 and obtains from each of them a small piece of 

 silver of any kind, as a piece of a broken spoon, or 

 ring, or brooch, buckle, and even sometimes a 

 small coin, and a penny ; the twelve pieces of 

 silver are taken to a silversmith or other worker 

 in metal, who forms therefrom a ring, which is to 

 be worn by the person afflicted. If any of the 

 silver remains after the ring is made, the workman 

 has it as his perquisite ; and the twelve pennies 

 also are intended as the wages for his work, and 

 he must charge no more. 



In 1830 I went into a gunsmith's shop in the 

 village where I then resided, and seeing some 

 fragments of silver in a saucer, I had the curiosity 

 to inquire about them, when I was informed that 

 they were the remains of the contributions for a 

 ring for the above purpose which he had lately 

 been employed to make. D. 



Bible and Key. — Mr. Stevens's note on divi- 

 nation (Vol. i. p. 413.) reminds me of another use 

 to which the bible and key are made subservient 

 by the rustics in this locality. When some choice 

 specimen of the "Lancashire Witches" thinks it 

 necessary to decide upon selecting a suitor from 

 among the number of her admirers, she not un- 

 frequently calls in the aid of these au.xiliaries to 

 assist in determining her choice. Having opened 

 the Bible at the passnge in Iluth which states, 

 " whither thou goest I will go," &c., and having 

 carefully placed the wards of the key upon the 

 verses, siie ties the book firmly with a piece of 

 cord ; and, having mentioned the name of an 

 admirer, she very solemnly repeats the passage in 

 question, at the same time holding the 13ible sus- 

 pendi?d by joining the ends of her little fingers 

 mseited under the handle of the key. If the key 

 retain its ])ositioii during the repetition, tlie person 

 whose name has been mentioned is considered to 

 be rejected ; and so another name is tried, until 

 the book turns round and falls through the fingers, 

 which is held to be a sure token that the name 

 just mentioned is that of an individual who will 

 certainly marry her. T. AV. 



Burnley, April 27. 



P.S. In confirmation of the above, I may state 

 that I have a liiblc in my possession which bears 

 evidence of having seen much service of this de- 

 scription. 



NOTES ON JEREMY TATLOr's LIFE OF CHRIST. 



{Eden's Edit.) 



Part I. Ad sect. 8. § 2. p. 166. — " It was Ter- 

 tullian's great argument in behalf of Christians, 

 'see how they love one another.' " — Apol.c. 39. 



Parti. Discourse iv. §4. p. 173, — " A cook 

 told Dionysius the tyrant, the black broth of La- 

 ceda^mon would not do well at Syracuse, unless it 

 be tasted by a Spartan's jialate." — Cicero, Tusc. 

 D. V. §98. Stob. Flor. T/if. 29. n. 100. Plut. 

 Imt. Lac. 2. [these have been already referred to 

 in "Notes and Queries"]: and compare Pliiturch 

 {Vit. Lt/citrgi, c. 12.). 



Part II. Ad sect. 12. §4. p. 394. — "If a man 

 throw away his gold, as did Crates the Theban." — 

 Diog. Laert. vi. § 87. 



Ibid. §7. p. 395. note b. — '' Gaudet patientia 

 duris." — Lucan. ix. 403. 



Ibid. § 16. p. 404. note y. — "Plato vocat puri- 

 tatem dTr6Kpt(riv x^'P''""" "■'"^ (So^Tiovav." — Definit. 

 p. 415. D. 



Ibid. § 41. (on the tenth commandment) p. 446. 

 note z. — "Non minus esse turpe oculos quam pedes 

 in aliena immittere, dixit Xenocrates." — iElian. 

 Var. Hist. xiv. 42. Plutarch de Curiositate, c. 12. 



Part II. Sect. 12. Discourse xi. §5. p. 451. — 

 " Harpaste, Seneca's wife's fool." — Seneca, Epist. 

 50. 



Part II. Sect. 12. Discourse xiv. § 8. p. 496. — 

 " Vespasian, by the help of Apollonius Tyaneus, 

 who was his familiar." — See Philostratus {Vit. 

 Apollon. v. 28. §1.). 



Part III. Sect. 13. Discourse xv. § 11. p. 526. — 

 " What the Roman gave as an -estimate of a rich 

 man, saying, ' He that can maintain an army, is 

 rich.'"- Cicero Off. i. §25. Plutarch Vit. Crassi, 

 c. 2. 



Part in. Sect. 13. Discourse xvi. § 8. p. 554. 

 note e. — "Hie felix, nullo turbante Deorum ; Is, 

 nullo parcente, miser." — Lucan, viii. 707. 



KOTES on JEREMY TAYLOr's SERMONS. 



(Eden's Edit.) 



Serm. XVIII. Parti, sect. 2. §2.— "Alexander, 

 that wept because he had no more worlds to con- 

 quer." — Plutarch de Tranquillitate Animi, c. 4. 



Serm. XXIII. Parti, p. 613. — " o'ppCj cV^nKfiTer, 

 Kid rh (pitSvifioy ^riroivTes ev to?s TrfpiTraroij." — PlatO 

 Comicus apud Atheneeum, p. 103. d. Lib. iii. c. 23. 

 §61. Cl'r. Bato Covticns apud euvdem, p. 163. b. 

 Lib. iv. c. 17. § 55. 



Serm. XXIV. § 5. p. 625. — " Lysander was 

 TTuvovfyyus." — Plutarch, Lysund. c. 7. 



NOTE ON TAVI.Or's HOI.Y DYING. 



(Edcns Edit.) 

 Cap. III. Sect. 7. § 7. p. 340. — "AVhcn men saw 

 the graves of Cahitinus, of tlie Servilii, the Scipios, 

 the Metelli, did ever any man amongst the wisest 



