KIRKBEAN FOLKLORE. Al 
How long before that it may have been carried on I cannot 
ascertain. At this school the scholars were afterwards treated to 
toddy. 
The only saying applicable to Candlemas which I have heard 
in the district was the familiar one :— 
If Candlemas Day be fair and clear, 
There'll be twa winters in the year ; 
Tf Candlemas Day be wet and foul, 
The half o’ winter’s gane at Yule. 
The next season which has been remembered by custom or by 
saying is March, but this had nothing beyond the familiar saying : 
“A peck o’ March dust is worth a king’s ransom,” ‘A peck 0 
March dust’s worth a bowe o’ aul’ meal.” 
The first of April was, as may be expected, a popular day 
among the practical jokers, who delighted in the fancied license to 
tell *‘ fibs.” The sport of “ Hunt the Gowk” has always been a 
favourite one, but it is needless to detail the character of the 
celebration of All-fools’-Day, when people were sent on fruitless 
errands, or led into embarassing situations to give sport to the 
practical joker. 
The usual superstition regarding St. Swithin’s Day appears 
to have been prevalent, and it is still spoken of, although now 
treated with but scant respect. 
The cutting of the Kirn, as the last patch of corn was called, 
was performed with some little ceremony. In the days when 
reaping hooks were used instead of scythes, a small patch of corn 
was left standing until the last. The reapers then took up a 
position several yards from the “ Kirn,” and in turn threw their 
shearing hooks at the patch of corn. The one who succeeded in 
cutting it in this way was proclaimed the victor, and the Kirn was 
taken into the house, and generally decorated with ribbons, and 
placed in the apartment in which the dancing which followed was 
held. On the supercession of the reaping hook by the scythe the 
practice on some farms was altered, and the scythesman was placed 
a short distance from the corn, blindfolded, and told to walk up to 
it and cut it with the scythe. This was frequently difficult, and 
much amusement was caused by the efforts of the scythesman to 
walk in a direct line, as the feat is by no means so easy as it looks. 
The sweep of the scythe in the hands of a blindfolded man was at 
times rather dangerous, and the practice fell into desuetude. The 
