CRAB APPLE 175 



apples pressed in it. Each person takes a dome, 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 



