KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



215 



THE DAY DREAMS OF YOUTH. 



BY HELEN HETHERINGTOX. 



A bright and a beautiful season is youth, 



With gay hope beaming ; 

 Of joyous innocence and truth, 



For ever dreaming ; 

 Merrily chasing away ev'ry sorrow, 

 And dreaming, still dreaming, of joy for the 

 morrow ! 



How pure are the smiles that often appear 



Where tears are streaming ! 

 Yet the sweetest are those that e'en chase away 

 fear, 



Still fondly dreaming 

 Of joy, as the fragrant perfume of a flower ; 

 Of care as a cloud, or a light passing shower ! 



Hope gives the eye its gay lustrous brightness, 



Like sunshine gleaming ; 

 Health guides the step with buoyant lightness, — 



Of pleasure dreaming ! 

 And love, — oh, it happily beams on the soul, 

 And sheds a bright radiant light on the whole ! 



The words are not lost that sages instil, — 



" Trust not to seeming ;" 

 But the heart is too warm for a thought to chill ; 



Yes, it is dreaming 

 Of the merry songs that the wild birds sing. — 

 Of a beautiful world in the gay-dress of spring. 



And who would annihilate scenes so pure, 



With pleasure teeming — 

 To make e'en sorrow premature, 



When Hope is dreaming 

 Of early affection's gentlest ties, 

 And faithful love that never dies ? 



ZOOLOGICAL FOLK LORE— NO. VI. 



BY J. M'INTOSH, MEM. ENT. SOC, ETC. 

 (Continued from Page 168 J 



No. 48. Extraordinary Superstition 

 in Devonshire. — A woman living in the 

 neighborhood of Hols worthy, having for 

 some time past been subject to periodical fits 

 of illness, endeavored to effect a cure by 

 attendance at the afternoon service of the 

 parish church, accompanied by thirty young 

 men, her near neighbors. Service over, she 

 sat in the porch of the church ; and each of 

 the young men as they passed out in succes- 

 sion, dropped a penny into her lap ; but the 

 last, instead of a penny gave her a half- 

 crown, taking from her twenty-nine pennies, 

 which she had previously received. With 

 this half-crown in her hand, she walked three 

 times round the communion table, and after- 

 wards had it made into a ring, by the wearing 

 of which she believes she will recover her 

 health. 



49. Popular Superstition Connected 

 with Good Friday. — It was formerly the 

 custom of English monarchs on this day to 

 hallow with great solemnity certain rings, 



the touching of which was believed to pre- 

 vent cramp and falling sickness. A writer 

 in 1579 refers to the custom of " creeping 

 to the cross with eggs and apples." William 

 Eathe, in 1570, says, " that on this day the 

 Roman Catholics offered unto Christ (! !) 

 eggs and bacon, to be in favor till Easter 

 Day was past." A French writer, in 1679, 

 observes, " that he has known people who 

 preserve all such eggs as are laid on Good 

 Friday, which they think are good to ex- 

 tinguish fires, in which they might be 

 thrown." He adds, "Some imagine that 

 their loaves baked on the same day, and put 

 into a heap of corn, will prevent its being 

 devoured by rats, mice, weasels, or worms ! !" 

 In England, but one sort of eatable " remains 

 in association '' with this day — namely, " hot- 

 cross-buns." 



" One a penny, buns, two a penny, buns ; 

 One a penny, two a penny, hot-cross-buns." 



Cross-buns resemble, in some respects, the 

 consecrated loaves bestowed by the Western 

 Church on those who. from any impediment 

 cannot receive the Holy Eucharist. These are 

 made from the dough from whence the Host 

 itself is taken, marked with the cross, given 

 by the priest to the people after mass, just 

 previously to the departure of the congrega- 

 tion, and are kissed before they are eaten. The 

 loaves of the Greeks were signed with a cross 

 from the earliest periods. Two loaves, with 

 an impression of the cross, within which were 

 four other lines, were found in Herculaneum. 

 In the homes of some ignorant people, a 

 Good Friday bun is preserved "for luck;" 

 and sometimes they are hung from the ceiling 

 till the next Good Friday as a preservative 

 against tire I ! 



50. Hunting the Wren. —This barbarous 

 exercise originated in the Isle of Man, and is 

 thus described by Mrs. H. G. Bullock in 

 her " History of the Isle of Man ":— " In 

 former times, a fairy of uncommon beauty 

 exerted such undue influence over the male 

 population, that she at various times seduced 

 members to follow her footsteps, till, by 

 degrees, she led them into the sea, where 

 they perished. This exercise of power con- 

 tinued for a great length of time, till it was 

 apprehended the island would be exhausted 

 of its defenders, when a knight-errant sprung 

 up who discovered some means of counter- 

 acting the charms used by this syren, and 

 even laid a plot for her destruction, which 

 she only escaped at the moment of extreme 

 hazard, by taking the form of a wren ; but 

 though she evaded instant annihilation, a 

 spell was cast upon her, by which she wa« 

 condemned on every succeeding New Year's 

 Day, to reanimate the same form — with the 

 definitive sentence, that she must ultimately 

 perish by a human hand. In consequence 

 of this well-authenticated (! '.) legend, on the 



