1*92-93.] 547 



first see the new moon in the open air, and not through glass, 

 as that is unlucky. You should never turn back if you have 

 started on a journey, for if you do, your errand will be fruitless 

 or unfortunate. A crowing hen should be made into broth as 

 quickly as possible ; she should never be allowed to crow twice. 

 A dog howling at a door earnestly but without any apparent 

 object, is as sure a sign of death as the cry of a banshee. It is 

 very unlucky to weigh a new-born baby, nor should it be taken 

 down any stairs until it has first been taken up-stairs. When 

 a child sneezes the nurse should piously say " God bless the 

 child." If your*ear is warm, some person is talking about you. 

 If your elbow is itchy, you are going to sleep away from home. 

 If you find a straw on the floor, you are going to have a visitor, 

 and the same applies to a cinder jumping out of the fire. A 

 hen should be set with an odd number of eggs, either eleven or 

 thirteen, and as the chickens come out, the empty shells should 

 all be kept together until the chickens grow up. It is a great 

 calamity to strike any one with a broom plant. You should not 

 kill a spider nor brush one off your coat, as the worthy insect is 

 weaving you a new one. It is lucky if by accident you should 

 get into your sleeping garment inside out ; you should not 

 change it. Evergreens put up at Christmas should not be 

 allowed to remain over New Year's Day. A bed should never 

 be placed with the foot of it to the east, for that is the way the 

 dead are buried. A graveyard should not be entered at night, 

 nor should a mirror be left uncovered in a room with the dead. 

 If a stranger enters while churning is going on, he should 

 always give the churn a brash or two, otherwise the butter 

 might be prevented from coming and the churn spoiled. 



The fairies used sometimes to steal children away and leave ill- 

 favoured brats in their places ; my old nurse used to state that 

 my grandfather was found just in time as the fairies were 

 taking him away, for when a few months old he had been 

 placed in bed, and was subsequently found under it. A little 

 cousin of Mary Murphy's was often sent to the field of the fairy 

 thorn with her clothes carefully pinned on, but she always came 



