SO OP CREO as 2 ar See LS NT ee ea 
ON THE ETHNOGRAPHICAL SURVEY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 619 
81. Mochrum.-—It is unlucky to meet a single magpie. To meet two 
brings luck. 
£2. Mochrum.—A few magpies flying and hopping about a house is an 
indication of a death in the house within no long time. 
83. Mochrum.—If a hen crows she is killed at once. She is not cooked 
and used as food, but buried. Such a crowing is accounted most 
unlucky. 
84. Mochrum.—It is looked on as unlucky if a hen lays a very small 
egg. 
Re ob Minnigaf.—A little of the cow’s droppings—‘sharn’—was put 
into the calf’s mouth when it fell from the cow. 
86. Mochrum.—A little salt is sprinkled along the cow’s back when 
the calf is dropped. 
87. Inch.—A sixpenny piece and a little salt were put into the bottom 
of the milking pail into which the first milk of a cow just calved was 
drawn. 
88. General.—‘ Beesnan ’ is the name given to the first drawn milk of a 
newly calved cow. Jt is sometimes given asa draught to the cow, and 
sometimes part of it is made in scones, which are called ‘ beesnan scones.’ 
89. Mochrum.—Some put a pinch of salt into the churn when the 
cream was to be churned. 
90. Minnigaff:i—One day the goodwife at the farm of Waterside parish 
of Minnigaff began to ‘kirn the kirn.’ She churned in vain. No butter 
would ‘come.’ A horseshoe was put below the churn, and the butter 
came at once. 
91. Jnch.—Each child carried every morning to school a peat to serve 
as fuel for the day. A scholar was appointed to see that each brought a 
peat, and of the proper size. If he considered any peat too small, or if 
any one neglected to bring one, the defaulter had to bring two next morn- 
ing. This inspector bore the name of ‘ Peat-bailie.’ 
92. Inch.—The first reading book was called ‘ Reed-a-ma-daisy.’ 
93. Minnigaffi—It was a custom that the beadle got a fleece of wool 
from each farmer in the parish at ‘clippin’ time.’ The sheep-shearing took 
place in June, and the beadle made his rounds commonly in July to collect 
his dues. 
94. Minnigaffi—W hen a carpenter finishes his apprenticeship he treats 
some of his fellow-workmen and companions to strong drink. This treat- 
ing is called the - Lowsan.’ 
95. Mochrum.—tThe quantity of oats taken to the mill to be ground into 
meal at one time for household use was commonly four bolls. This quan- 
tity was called a ‘kilncast,’ and the meal made from it a ‘melder.’ When 
the ‘ melder’ was brought home, a bannock of 14 or 13 inches was baked, 
and ‘fired’ in front of the fire. At the evening meal a dish of ‘brose,’ 
called the ‘melder brose,’ was served to the whole household, and then a 
piece of the bannock was given to each member of the family. A small 
quantity of the ‘melder’ was given to a poor neighbour, or to a working- 
man with a large family. This deed was thought to bring a blessing on 
the ‘melder’ and make it last well. 
_ 96. Inch.—A small cake with a hole in the centre, called the ‘melder- 
bannock,’ was baked from the ‘melder’ for each member of the family. 
The younger members not unfrequently put a piece of string through the 
hole and hung it round the neck. 
97. Mochrum.—If a sower inadvertently omitted to sow a ‘rig’ when 
