134 PRIMITIVE PATERNITY 



or ' She jumped o'er t 'besom before she went to 

 t'church.' Mothers used to be particularly anxious 

 that their daughters should not stride over a broom, 

 and mischievous boys have been known to leave 

 brooms on doorsteps and such-like places, so that 

 girls might accidentally stride over them." He adds 

 that at Sheffield a woman of loose habits is called a 

 besom. 1 The broomstick is an obvious symbol, such 

 as would exactly fit the purposes of mimetic magic. 

 A Manchu bride on reaching the bridegroom's house 

 is required to step over a miniature saddle and fre- 

 quently also an apple, placed on the threshold. Step- 

 ping over the former is said to be a sign that she will 

 never marry a second husband, for the Manchus have 

 a. saying, "Just as a good horse will not carry two 

 saddles, a chaste maiden will not marry two husbands." 2 

 But though that may be the meaning now assigned to 

 the custom, it is too artificial to be primitive. More- 

 pver, comparison of other customs shows that it cannot 

 have been the original intention, and the addition of 

 the apple makes this clear. 



In Westward parish, Cumberland, it used to be the 

 custom on the day after a christening for the new 

 mother to entertain her married friends of her own sex. 

 When the husbands came to fetch their wives home, a 

 milk- or other pail was placed on the door-sill, and over 

 it each wife had to jump. From the manner in 

 which they severally passed the obstacle their own 

 condition was divined, for it was considered that a 

 pregnant woman would stumble or put her foot in the 

 pail. 3 Here as elsewhere, we may suspect at an 



1 Addy, 102. 2 F. L. i. 487, 491. 



3 .N. and Q. 5th ser. vi 24. 



