Maryland

Entries

• #14

  “Two crowns will never be satisfied.” This is a sign of a very changeable disposition.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #37

  If you let a child look into a looking-glass before it is a year old, it will cut its teeth hard.

  Baltimore, Md. (negro), and Virginia.
• #102

  Dimple in chin.
  Devil within.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #107

  Long, slim ears are a sign that you will steal.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #125

  Red hair indicates a “spit-fire.”

  Massachusetts and Chestertown, Md.
• #137

  Put some of your hair in the fire. If it burns slowly you will have a long life. If quickly, a short one.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #148

  A mole on the eyebrow denotes that one will be hanged. On the ear it denotes that he will be drowned.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #161

  Do not trust people with pointed teeth.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #162

  If you have a space between your teeth, it is a sign that you will die of consumption.

  Baltimore, Md.
• #178

  After getting ready for bed in silence, take a ball of string and wind about the wrist, repeating,—

  I wind, I wind,
  This night to find,
  Who my true love’s to be;
  The color of his eyes,
  The color of his hair,
  And the night he’ll be married to me.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #199

  Count sixty white horses and one white mule, then you will marry the first man with whom you shake hands.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #226

  Put two eggs in front of the open fire on a very windy day, and soon two men will come in with a coffin. The man at the foot will be your future husband.

  Chestertown, Md. (negro).
• #227

  One or more girls put eggs to roast before an open fire, seating themselves in chairs before it. Each puts one egg to roast, and when her egg begins to sweat (it will sweat blood), she is to rise and turn it. At this time the one whom that projector is to marry will come in through a door or window (all of which must be left open throughout) and take her vacant chair. If she is to die before she marries, two black dogs will enter, bearing a coffin, which they will deposit on her chair.

  Quaker Neck, Kent Co., Md.
• #233

  At night before going to bed take one of your garters and tie it in a knot and hang it on the bed-post above your head. While tying repeat,—

  This knot I tie, this knot I knit,
  To see the young man I haven’t seen yet.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #236

  Catch the four corners of a handkerchief up in the hand, then let some one wishing to try her fortune draw two. If she gets two corners on the same side, she will not be married. If she gets opposite ones, she will be married.

  Prince Edward Island and Chestertown, Md.
• #240

  On Friday night after getting all ready for bed, roll your petticoat up, and before lying down put it under your pillow, repeating this verse:—

  This Friday night while going to bed,
  I put my petticoat under my head,
  To dream of the living and not of the dead,
  To dream of the man I am to wed,
  The color of his eyes, the color of his hair,
  The color of the clothes he is to wear,
  And the night the wedding is to be.

  Rock Hall, Md.
• #245

  Go out at midnight and walk around a peach-tree, repeating,—

  Low for a foreigner,
  Bark for a near one,
  Crow for a farmer,
  Screek, tree, screek, if I’m to die first.

  Quaker Neck, Md.
• #286

  When a pot is boiling over, put a small stick in one of the ears and name it for the one you like best. If he loves you in return, the water will cease to boil over; if not, it will continue.

  Double Creek, Md.
• #299

  Go out in spring and turn up a brick on the ground, and look under it at the clay. The color of the clay denotes the color of the hair of your future husband.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #311

  On Halloween put an egg to roast before the fire and leave the doors and windows open. When it begins to sweat a cat will come in and turn it. After the cat will come the man you are to marry, and he will turn it. If you are to die unmarried, the shadow of a coffin will appear.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #317

  “Silent Supper.” On Halloween set a table as if for supper, with as many seats at the table as there are girls, each girl standing behind a chair at the table. The one you are to marry will come in and take the chair in front of you.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #320

  On Easter Monday, put on one black garter and one yellow one, and wear them constantly, and you’ll have a proposal before the year is out.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #346

  The day after a wedding is called the bride’s day, the next day the groom’s day; the condition of the weather on these days will indicate whether their lives are to be happy or otherwise.

  Salem, Mass., and Queen Anne Co., Md.
• #349

  Marriage days.

  Monday—a bad day.
  Tuesday—you will have a good husband and will live long.
  Wednesday—a grand day; you will have a good husband, and will live happily, but will have some trouble.
  Thursday—a bad day.
  Friday—a bad day.
  Saturday—no luck at all.
  Sunday—no luck at all.

  Baltimore, Md. (negro).
• #430

  To wash the hands under a pump denotes that you will be a widow.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #479

  To dream of rats is a sign of thieves.

  Central Maine and Chestertown, Md.
• #512

  To dream of whole eggs is a sign of a “fuss;” of broken eggs is not.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #534

  To dream of a naked man is a sign of the death of a woman, and vice versa.

  Baltimore, Md. (negro).
• #542

  Anything dreamed “on the east wind,” i. e., when the east wind is blowing, will come true.

  Chestertown, Md. (negro).
• #573

  To dream of blood is a sign that some one will “scandalize” you.

  Baltimore, Md. (negro).
• #620

  Pancake Day is Shrove Tuesday. If you do not eat pancakes on that day, you will have no luck throughout the year. The hens won’t lay, etc.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #654

  Dirt must not be swept out of doors after dark, or it will bring disaster to the master of the house. This belief is common among negroes and superstitious whites.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #701

  Never carry clean wet clothes from one house to another, as it will bring ill luck.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #795

  Green glass beads worn about the neck will prevent or cure erysipelas.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #805

  Wearing brown paper on the chest will cure sea-sickness.

  Newton, Mass., and Chestertown, Md.
• #810

  A brass ring worn on the finger will cure rheumatism.

  Chestertown, Md. (negro).
• #812

  A common custom among negroes is to wear a leather strap about the wrist as a cure for rheumatism, sprains, etc., and to give strength.

  Chestertown, Md. (negro).
• #814

  A leather string commonly worn around the neck is supposed to prevent whooping-cough.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #823

  To cure fits, the first time the child or person has one, tear off the shirt of the patient and burn it up, and no more fits will return.

  Chestertown, Md. (negro).
• #834

  Treat biliousness by boring three holes in a tree and walking three times around it, saying, “Go away, bilious.”

  Eastern Shore of Maryland.
• #838

  Catch the last snow of the season (e. g., in April), melt and put into a bottle. It will cure sore eyes.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #851

  A cure for hiccoughs: Try for a long time to make the edges of the thumb-nails meet at the end.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #864

  To bring up the palate when it drops and tickles the root of the tongue, take a wisp of hair on the crown of the head and tie it up very tight.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #1004

  When the Brothers (Catholic theological students) turn out in a procession it will rain soon.

  Baltimore, Md.
• #1228

  When sowing grain, if a strip of land is missed there will be a death inside of a year.

  Ohio and Maryland.
• #1230

  If sparks are left (unintentionally) in the ashes over night, it is a sign of death.

  Cumberland, Md.
• #1265

  It is bad to disturb an old grave, as by putting up a tombstone; you will thus herald a death.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #1275

  To drop your books on the way to school signifies that you will make mistakes in your lessons.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #1281

  If you twirl a chair around on one leg, it is a sign that you are about to break dishes.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #1287

  If you step on a grave, you will never grow any more.

  Chestertown, Md. (negro).
• #1289

  To step over one leg of a child will cause it to grow longer than the other.

  Baltimore, Md.
• #1372

  If you shudder, it is a sign that a rabbit is running across, or a goose is eating grass from your grave.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #1395

  Old shoes, particularly the soles, were often buried by negro servants on Monday morning to keep the devil down through the week.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #1462

  Two spoons given to one person denotes that that person will have two homes before the year is out.

  Chestertown, Md.