Massachusetts
390 entries associated with this region.
Entries
- #1
The bairn that is born on fair Sunday
Is bonny and loving, and blithe and gay.
Monday’s bairn is fair in the face,
Tuesday’s bairn is full of grace,
Wednesday’s bairn is loving and giving,
Thursday’s bairn works hard for a living,
Friday’s bairn is a child of woe,
Saturday’s bairn has far to go.Massachusetts. - #10
An open hand in a baby is a sign of a generous disposition, but a habit of closing the fingers indicates avarice, or, as we say, closefistedness.
Cambridge, Mass. - #11
If a child “favors its father,” it is good luck for it. It will get on well in the world.
Salem, Mass. - #12
A baby that has two crowns will live in two continents or kingdoms.
Massachusetts. - #19
The baby must go upstairs before it goes downstairs, or it will never rise in the world.
Massachusetts. - #21
A young baby was taken up a short step-ladder by its nurse before being for the first time carried downstairs lest it should die before it was a year old.
Holyoke, Mass. - #26
To be a bright baby, it must fall out of the crib before it is eleven months old.
Brookline, Mass. - #27
If a baby does not fall out of bed, it will be a fool.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #36
Hold a baby to a looking-glass, he will die before he completes his first year.
Massachusetts. - #44
While tying on a baby’s cap repeat,—
Look up there and see a fly,
Look down there and see it die.Its chin will follow the direction indicated, and the tying is hastened.
Brookline, Mass. - #45
First a daughter, then a son,
The world is well begun.
First a son, then a daughter,
Trouble follows after.Maine and Massachusetts. - #46
First a son, then a daughter,
You’ve begun just as you oughter.Brookline, Mass. - #47
Rock a cradle empty,
Babies will be plenty.Peabody, Mass. - #51
The first time a baby is taken visiting, if it is laid on a married couple’s bed there will be a baby for that couple.
Salem, Mass. - #53
However many children a woman may have, the last will be of the same gender as the first, and they will look alike.
Maine and Massachusetts. - #54
One article of an unborn infant’s wardrobe must be left unmade or unbought or the child is liable not to live.
Salem, Mass. - #62
A sign resembling that of the cross is made on the chin or throat. “You won’t tell?” “No.” “Well, cross your throat.”
Cambridge, Mass. - #63
When a child wishes to make an asseveration, he wets his finger on his mouth and signs a cross on his throat.
Salem, Mass. - #66
Little girls, without any idea of the meaning, employ the following formula of asseveration:—
Certain, true,
Black and blue.A variant of the first line: “Certain and true.”
Massachusetts. - #70
The addition of the words “in a horn” justify a falsehood. In the childhood of the informant, it was not considered honorable to express the words in such manner that they could not be heard by the child with whom conversation was carried on.
Cambridge, Mass. - #71
In making a false statement, it was proper to say “over the left.” This was often uttered in such manner that the person addressed should not perceive the qualification. Or, the statement would be made, and after it had been taken in and believed, the words “over the left” would be added.
Ohio and Cambridge, Mass. - #72
A formula for making a false statement: “As true as I lie here,” said, as one fools, gives free scope to white lies.
Roxbury, Mass. - #74
We used to “dare” or “stump” one another to eat green “chuckcherries.”
Brookline, Mass. - #76
Put a mark upon a paper for every bow you get, and when you have one hundred bury the paper and wish. When the paper is decayed you will find your wish in its place.
Cambridge and Bedford, Mass. - #77
Children collect two or three hundred names of persons, asking each to give a bow with the name. This bow is expressed after the name on a sheet of paper on which the latter is written by this sign . After all are collected the paper is secretly buried face downward, and then dug up after two or three months, when money is sometimes found under it.
North Cambridge, Mass. - #79
If two persons, while walking, divide so as to pass an obstruction one on one side and one on the other, they will quarrel. Children avert this catastrophe by exclaiming, “bread and butter,” which is a counter charm. On the other hand, if they say “pepper and salt,” the quarrel is made doubly certain. So universal is the practice that many grown people of the best social class (women) still involuntarily avoid such separation, and even use the childish words. In country towns, when girls are walking with young men, if the latter pass on the other side of the tree it is considered as rude, and as a token of indifference; in such a case one girl will cast a meaning look on her companion as much as to say, “he does not care for you.” To use the local phrase, it would be said, So-and-so is “mad” with —— (naming the girl).
Massachusetts. - #80
In passing a tree in the middle of the sidewalk, children used to pass it on one side going one way and on the other side going the other way for luck.
Billerica, Mass. - #81
The stars are angels’ eyes.
Westminster, Mass. - #82
The stars are holes made in the sky, so that the light of heaven shines through. “I remember, as a child, that this idea was suggested to me on seeing the effect of holes in the lamp shade. I think, however, that I rather liked to suppose it true and firmly believed in the explanation.”
Cambridge, Mass. - #84
“I remember that as a child, while walking with a companion, she cried: ‘Why, a fairy lighted on my hand!’ The child believed that this had been the case.”
Cambridge, Mass. - #91
At croquet, if your ball was about to be sent flying, the safeguard was to draw an imaginary X with your mallet, saying, “Criss cross.” It made your enemy’s foot slip, and many a girl would get “mad” and not play, if you did it often.
Brookline, Mass. - #92
Children believe it is unlucky to step on the cracks in the flagstones, which are believed to contain poison. It is a game to walk a long distance on such stones without setting foot on the interstices.
Cambridge, Mass. - #97
An old superstition which still survives among children is, that if they crawl over an older person and do not crawl back they will never grow again.
Haverhill, Mass. - #98
“We used always as children to get X’s scored with a pin on our new ‘village gaiters.’ We were told it was to make them safe and take the slipperiness off.”
Brookline, Mass. - #99
Children say that the one who takes the first bite of an apple that is to be passed about for eating will fail in his or her lesson.
Chelsea, Mass. - #100
Boys believe that they can prevent the stitch in the side which is liable to be induced by running, by means of holding a pebble under the tongue. “I believe I could run all day, and not get tired, if I could hold a pebble under my tongue,” said one.
Cambridge, Mass. - #101
If a person is very handsome, it is a sign that he will have one of the infectious diseases of childhood (measles, whooping cough, etc.) more than once.
Massachusetts. - #106
Large ears are a mark of a liar. Small ears show that one is truthful.
Boston, Mass. - #108
If the protuberance behind the ear is large, it indicates generosity.
Massachusetts. - #109
Hazel eyes betoken a good disposition.
Boston, Mass. - #110
If your eyebrows meet, you will be rich.
Somerville and Bedford, Mass. - #113
If the eyebrows are far apart, you will live away from home; if near together, you will live near home, or at home.
Massachusetts. - #114
Heavy eyebrows are a sign of long life.
Lawrence, Mass. - #115
Always keep your nails clean and you will be rich.
Peabody, Mass. - #116
A white spot in the nail, when it comes, means a present. You get the present when it grows to the end and is cut.
Boston, Mass. - #118
Count on finger-nail spots:—
Friends,
Foes,
Money,
Beaux.Begin with the first nail spotted, and the noun falling to the last nail thus marked gives the sign.
Deerfield, Mass. - #120
If your instep is high enough to have water flow under it, you are of good descent.
Brookline, Mass. - #121
A mole on the sole of the left foot means trouble and hardships during life.
Boston, Mass. - #122
If there is a blue vein in the child’s forehead extending down upon the nose, it is one of the surest signs of early death.
Maine and Massachusetts. - #125
Red hair indicates a “spit-fire.”
Massachusetts and Chestertown, Md. - #130
Hair growing upon the upper lip of a woman means riches.
Boston, Mass. - #131
The point formed by the hair growing on the forehead is called “A widow’s peak.”
Eastern Massachusetts. - #132
When a woman’s hair parts where it should not, it is a sure sign she will be a widow.
Springfield, Mass. - #136
Scrape the finger-nail and the thumb-nail along a hair, and if, by the third time, it curls up, the owner is high-tempered.
Boston, Mass. - #138
A straight line in the palm of the hand is an omen of early death.
Massachusetts. - #141
In clasping your own hand, you put uppermost either your right or your left thumb. If the former, you are to rule; vice versa, you yield.
Brookline, Mass. - #146
The number of folds on your wrist as you bend your hand shows the number of thirties you are to live.
Massachusetts. - #151
A mole on the neck indicates that its owner will be hanged.
Boston, Mass. - #153
A mole on the arm indicates riches.
Boston, Mass. - #160
If the front teeth are wide apart, it means one can’t keep a secret. If overlapping, one is close-mouthed.
Boston, Mass. - #175
Go upstairs backward, into a chamber backward, and into bed backward. Drink some salt and water, and if you dream of some one bringing you drink it will be your future husband.
Maine and Salem, Mass. - #181
Put four names of boys on four slips of paper and take one blank slip. Intermingle them, and then without looking at them put one under each leg of the bed and one under the pillow. The name of the last will be that of your future husband.
Franklin, Mass. - #189
As to the wedding dress:—
Silk, satin, velvet, cotton, woolen.
Massachusetts. - #190
In regard to the vehicle:—
Carriage, wagon, wheelbarrow, chaise.
Massachusetts. - #192
With reference to the acquisition of a coat:—
Bought, given, stolen.
Massachusetts. - #201
Count a hundred white horses during leap year. The first man that shakes hands with you after you have your hundred will be your future husband.
Bedford, Mass. - #204
Count five hundred colored people, and the next gentleman you meet you will marry.
Cambridge, Mass. - #205
Count ninety-nine negroes and one white horse, and the first boy you answer “yes” or “no” to you will marry.
South Boston, Mass. - #207
In crossing a bridge, if one sees two white horses on it (in different teams) and wishes at once for a man to marry her, she’ll get him.
Peabody, Mass. - #208
Count a hundred “tips” (a bow with the lifting of the hat). The hundredth will be your future husband.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #209
Count the buttons of an old boot. The number of buttons indicates the number of years before marriage.
Massachusetts. - #221
Hang over the door a corn-cob from which you have shelled all but twenty grains. The first man that enters you’ll marry.
Arlington, Mass. - #222
Nail a horseshoe over the door, and the first one who enters is your true love.
Massachusetts. - #232
On your birthday, as you retire at night, take off your slipper or boot. Stand with your back to the door and throw it over your head. If the toe points to the door, you go out of the chamber a bride before the year is out. You must not look at the boot until the morning.
Bedford, Mass. - #235
The first time you sleep in a house, upon retiring place the shoes in the form of a T, and say over,—
My true love by-and-by for to see,
Be as she (or he) be,
Bear as she (or he) may,
The clothes she (or he) wears every day.Boston, Mass. - #237
A rhyme on stockings and shoes:—
Point your shoes towards the street,
Leave your garters on your feet,
Put your stockings on your head,
You’ll dream of the man you are going to wed.Eastern Massachusetts. - #239
Place the heel of one shoe against the instep of the other for three nights in a row. You will dream of your future husband.
Franklin, Mass. - #241
Write names on three pieces of paper, throw them up in the air (in the dark); feel for one, put it under the pillow, and in the morning look at it to see the name of the man you are to marry.
Salem, Mass. - #249
Put three raw beans in your mouth, go out of doors, stand in front of some one’s window and listen. The first man’s name you hear spoken will be either that of your future husband or of the one having the same name.
Salem, Mass. - #256
Take two shoots of live-forever and pin them together on the wall. If they grow towards each other, the couple will marry; if away, they will become estranged.
Nantucket, Mass., and Western Massachusetts. - #258
Twist a mullein-stalk nearly off after naming it. If it lives, he or she loves you; if not, not.
Newton, Mass., and Tennessee. - #262
Saturday night walk round a tall white yarrow three times, saying,—
Good evening, good evening, Mr. Yarrow.
I hope I see you well to-night,
And trust I’ll see you at meetin’ to-morrow.Then pluck the head, put it inside the dress, and sleep with it. The first person you meet with, to speak to, at church will be your husband.
Deerfield, Mass. - #270
Count nine stars for nine nights in succession, and the first young gentleman with whom you shake hands is to be your future husband.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #272
Have some one call a star which you have picked out, by the name of a young man. The next time you meet this man, if his face is toward you, he loves you; if his side, he likes you; if his back, he hates you.
Province of Quebec and Bedford, Mass. - #275
Sticks of tea in the teacup denote beaux. Name them, and bite them, and the hardest loves you best.
Massachusetts. - #276
Go to walk and turn back. The first man you meet you’ll marry.
Massachusetts. - #277
If you walk the length of seven rails of a railroad track, the first man that speaks to you after you get off will be your future husband.
Bedford, Mass. - #279
If you walk with a gentleman (for the first time), and have on new shoes and go over a bridge, you will marry him.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #297
Light a match, and the way the flame goes shows where your future husband lives.
Bedford, Mass. - #302
Take a hair from your head. Have some one else take one from his, cross them, and rub them over each other, and the last thing you say before one breaks will be the first thing said after you are married.
Cambridge, Mass. - #305
A girl goes to a field on Halloween at midnight to steal cabbages. The first one whom she meets on her return will be her husband.
Boston, Mass. - #306
On Halloween at midnight a young lady in her night-dress walks backward into the garden and pulls up a cabbage. She will see her future husband over her shoulder.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #309
On Halloween a girl is to go through a graveyard, steal a cabbage and place it above the house-door. The one on whom the cabbage falls as the door is opened is to be the girl’s husband.
Massachusetts. - #315
On Halloween put a ring in a dish of mashed potatoes, and the one who gets the ring will be married first.
Boston, Mass. - #316
On Halloween mash potatoes and conceal in the mass a ring, a coin, and a button. Divide it into as many portions as there are persons present. The ring denotes marriage, the coin riches, and the button misfortune.
Massachusetts. - #318
On Halloween write names of three men on three pieces of paper, roll them into balls, put these into balls made of Indian meal (wet so as to roll up), put the balls of meal into a basin of water: whichever one rises to the top bears the name of the one you’ll marry.
Salem, Mass. - #321
Knit a garter and color it yellow. Don it on Easter Day. Wear it for a year. The wearer will be engaged before the year is out.
Salem, Mass. - #331
A girl will have as many children after marriage as she has “holders” given her before marriage.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #332
If you try on your wedding dress before the ceremony, you will not be happy.
Cambridge, Mass. - #333
The bride should wear a borrowed garter, and also a yellow garter.
Boston, Mass. - #334
If a bride wear a yellow garter tied on by a girl friend, the latter will be married inside the year.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #336
Wear no black at a wedding; it foretells ill luck.
Massachusetts. - #338
To be married in anything but white garments indicates bad luck for the bride, white being emblematical of innocence.
They say that white is a heavenly hue.
Another has added,
It may be so, but the sky is blue.
Massachusetts. - #339
White is emblematical of holiness and truth. Blue is emblematical of peace and security; bright green of true learning, as being the uniform clothing of nature.
Maine and Massachusetts. - #340
A bride must not look in the glass after her toilet is complete, i. e., she must add a glove or some article after leaving the mirror.
Maine and Massachusetts. - #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. - #348
The two days before the wedding are the bride’s days. If they are pleasant, she will have good luck, etc.
Waltham, Mass. - #353
To marry in a storm betokens an unhappy life.
Peabody, Mass. - #356
A double wedding is unlucky; one of the marriages will be unhappy.
Massachusetts. - #358
When a couple are married and are driving off, if old shoes are thrown after them for good luck, and one of the shoes lodges on the coach or carriage, it is a sign that one of the party will die before the year is out.
Waltham, Mass. - #361
If the younger sister is married before the elder, the latter will have to dance in a pig’s trough.
Western Massachusetts. - #366
If you sink a bottle in water, it will weaken your love.
Massachusetts. - #371
To find many cobwebs in the kitchen means that there is no courting there.
Boston, Mass. - #372
When the collar slips around and the opening comes to the ear, your lover is thinking of you.
Salem, Mass. - #382
If your lips itch, it is a sign some one will kiss you.
Boston, Mass. - #383
If the outside of your nose itches, some one out of town loves you, and if the inside of your nose, then you are loved by some one in town.
Western Massachusetts. - #385
Make a rhyme when talking, and you’ll see your true love before Saturday night.
Massachusetts. - #388
If you want to sneeze and can’t, it is a sign some one loves you, and doesn’t dare to tell it.
Boston, Mass. - #390
Stub your toe
See your beau.Massachusetts and Maine. - #391
If four persons cross hands in shaking hands on taking leave, one will marry before the year is out.
Prince Edward Island, Eastern Massachusetts, and New York. - #395
Knock over your chair on rising from the table, and you won’t get married that year.
Peabody, Mass., New York, and Talladega, Ala. - #399
If you have a new dress and there are roses in it, the person who owns the dress will be married before the dress is worn out.
Salem, Mass. - #402
If you have a dress tried on, and any pin catches in the underclothing, every pin means that it is a year before you will be married; hence dressmakers are especially careful to pin the dress in such a way that it will slip off easily.
Boston, Mass. - #413
If you draw blood from a prick of the needle while making a garment, it is a sign you will be kissed the first time you wear it.
Boston, Mass. - #416
If you step on a cigar stub, you will marry the first man you meet.
Salem, Mass. - #421
If a girl gets the last piece of bread on a plate at the table, she will have a handsome husband.
Massachusetts. - #422
If all of three dishes at the table are eaten, all of the unmarried people at the table will be married within the year.
Northern Massachusetts. - #423
“If the tea-kettle boils, you will boil your beaux away,” is an old saying.
Salem, Mass. - #426
Three in a row,
Meet your beau.
The one in the middle will have him.Massachusetts. - #427
Three lamps in a row, the one who sets down the third will be soon married.
Massachusetts. - #429
To look into a tumbler when you are drinking is a sign that you will be an old maid. If you look over the side, you are a flirt.
Massachusetts. - #441
Put an eyewinker on the back of the hand, knock that hand with the other so as to throw the eyewinker over the shoulder, and at the same time wish. If the eyewinker is not seen again, the wish will come true.
Stoneham, Mass. - #449
Wish on a load of empty barrels, and you will get your wish.
Peabody, Mass. - #452
If by chance two use the same words, lock the little fingers, and wish before speaking, saying “Shakespeare” at the end.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #456
Wish at the first snowflake of the season, and you will get your wish.
Westport, Mass. - #459
To wish on a star, when you see the first star come out, say:
Star light, star bright,
First star I see to-night,
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have the wish I wish to-night.Wish what you please and it will come true, but the wish must not be mentioned to any one.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #460
Count nine evening stars in succession, and you will have your wish.
Massachusetts. - #468
To dream of flies means sickness.
Massachusetts. - #469
To dream of flies is good luck.
Peabody, Mass. - #478
To dream of a rat is the sign of an enemy.
Boston, Mass. - #484
If you dream of a black horse, it is a sure sign of death.
Peabody, Mass. - #515
To dream of fire portends sickness.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #517
If you dream of fire, you’ll have a row.
Massachusetts. - #532
If you dream of a gentleman, you will never marry him.
Bedford, Mass. - #533
If you dream of a person as going two ways at once, it is a sign the person dreamed of will die before the year is out.
Boston, Mass. - #539
To dream of a snowstorm is a sign of the speedy death of a relative.
South Framingham, Mass. - #545
To dream of gold or silver is good luck; of paper is bad.
Boston, Mass. - #547
To dream of teeth is unlucky.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #550
To dream of pulling out your teeth means sickness.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #558
To dream of clear water means prosperity; of muddy water means trouble.
Boston, Mass. - #565
Dream on a piece of wedding cake. Write names on slips of paper and pull them out. The one you pull twice is the one you will marry.
Massachusetts. - #570
To dream of eating meat is a sign of sickness.
Boston. - #587
Saturday night’s dream, Sunday morning told,
Will come to pass before it’s a week old.Maine and Massachusetts. - #588
Saturday night dreamt,
Sunday morning told,
Sure to come true
Before a month old.Eastern Massachusetts. - #596
To dream of bread is good luck.
Boston, Mass. - #600
Place the heel of one shoe against the instep of the other three nights in a row, and you will dream of your future husband.
Franklin, Mass. - #606
To dream you cry means you will laugh.
Boston, Mass. - #611
At cards, it is common to blow on the deal, without looking at it, for good luck.
Providence, R. I., and Salem, Mass. - #616
It is bad luck to cut your finger-nails on Friday.
Pigeon Cove, Mass. - #625
If a garment is put on wrong side out, it is lucky, but unlucky to turn it.
Prince Edward Island and Massachusetts. - #637
See a pin and pick it up,
All the day you’ll have good luck;
See a pin and pass it by (or “let it lie”),
All the day your luck will fly.Eastern Massachusetts. - #639
See a pin and pick it up for luck. If the head is towards you, the luck is slow in coming; if the point is towards you, the luck is quick and sharp.
Boston, Mass. - #640
If you see a pin crosswise, that is, across your path, it means a ride if you pick it up.
Boston, Mass. - #643
See a pin and let it lie,
You’ll want that pin before you die.Peabody, Mass. - #655
Sailors are unwilling that their friends should sweep after dark, because in that case their wages will be swept away by sickness or otherwise.
Westport, Mass. - #671
To fall upstairs means good luck; downstairs, ill luck.
Massachusetts. - #672
To stumble downstairs, or on going out in the morning, means bad luck.
Peabody, Mass. - #675
Don’t let the tea-kettle boil so as to make a bubbling or thumping noise, as some say it is unlucky.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #676
A tea-kettle boiling so as to make a bubbling sound is said to boil away luck, and should be removed from the flame.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #677
Never let your dish-water come to a boil, as every bubble means bad luck to the family.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #683
Crawl under a fence, and you will have bad luck.
Western Masssachusetts. - #690
It is an ill omen to leave the table while eating, to light the lamp.
Western Massachusetts. - #691
To lay the knife and fork crosswise is ill luck.
Peabody, Mass. - #695
Often verses of Proverbs xxxi. are assigned to girls and boys respectively according to the day of the month of the birth.
Labrador and Brookline, Mass. - #696
It brings bad luck to the bearer of a ring to have it taken from her finger by another person.
Massachusetts. - #703
Never build on a spot where a house has been burned. The second house is likely to go in the same manner.
Maine and Massachusetts. - #704
Light coming in at the window is a bad sign.
Peabody, Mass. - #708
To light three lights with one match is good luck for a week.
Peabody, Mass. - #716
If a group of bubbles are floating on the tea or coffee cup, take them up in a spoon, and swallow them unbroken, saying, “Save my money.”
Plymouth and Salem, Mass., and New Brunswick. - #722
To make a sale in the first place where an agent calls is good luck. For example, a magnifying-glass worth three dollars was sold for seventy-five cents, in order to stop a run of bad luck by making a sale.
Massachusetts. - #723
If your initials spell a word, it means that you will be rich.
Massachusetts and Ohio. - #727
If you place your money according to value, i. e., lay it in order, you will be rich.
Bedford, Mass. - #732
Always shut the doors, or you will never own a house.
Salem, Mass. - #738
If a broom falls across the threshold, it means a visitor is coming.
Massachusetts. - #739
Three chairs in a row is a sign of a caller.
Bedford, Mass. - #740
Two chairs chancing to be placed back to back denote that a visitor is coming.
Danvers, Mass. - #741
One chair in front of another means a stranger.
Peabody, Mass. - #754
If you forget anything on your departure from a visit, you will go there again.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #758
The dropping of any sharp-pointed instrument which sticks up in the floor, such as a knife, a pair of scissors, etc., foretells company coming from the direction in which the article leans.
Massachusetts. - #765
Two knives beside a plate mean a lady stranger; two forks, a man.
Peabody, Mass. - #766
To put two spoons in your teacup is a sign of a stranger.
Maine and Massachusetts. - #768
If you wash the sugar-bowl, you will have company.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #772
If stems of tea-grounds are found in the cup, it denotes that visitors are coming. If you wish them to come, bite the heads off and throw them under the table.
Deerfield, Mass. - #775
If a tea-stem is on top of the cup, put it in your shoe, and you will have company.
Massachusetts. - #777
To learn about visitors from tea-grounds: Lift the leaf out and press it against the left hand, naming the days of the week. Upon whichever day the leaf chances to cling and rest, company may be expected. To complete the spell, pat the leaf down your neck and wish.
Plymouth, Mass. - #779
If a stray hair blows persistently across the eyes, it’s the sign that a stranger is coming.
Massachusetts. - #784
If your nose itches, it means you’ll
See a stranger,
Kiss a fool,
Or be in danger.Peabody, Mass. - #785
To sneeze at the table indicates a stranger.
Peabody, Mass. - #786
To sneeze before breakfast is a sign you will have a caller before night.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #789
If you sneeze on Saturday, you will have company on Sunday.
Massachusetts. - #791
To slop water near a door is a sign of a stranger.
Peabody, Mass. - #794
If you crock your knuckles, company will come.
Massachusetts. - #796
Gold beads were formerly a protection against the “King’s Evil” (scrofula), and nearly every maiden and matron wore ample strings of beautiful large beads.
Adams, Mass. - #802
For nose-bleed wear a red bean on a white string round the neck.
Bedford, Mass. - #805
Wearing brown paper on the chest will cure sea-sickness.
Newton, Mass., and Chestertown, Md. - #806
Tie a piece of black ribbon around a child’s neck, and it will prevent croup.
Waltham, Mass. - #808
To cure rheumatism, wear a brass ring on the finger.
Boston, Mass. - #811
Sailors wear gold earrings for weak eyes or to strengthen the sight.
Brookline, Mass. - #815
A red string tied about the waist cures nausea or sea-sickness.
Massachusetts. - #818
If you scratch yourself with a rusty nail, stick the nail immediately into hard wood, and it will prevent lockjaw.
Salem, Mass. - #830
To cure a sty repeat at a cross-roads,—
Sty, sty, leave my eye,
And take the next one that passes by.Massachusetts, Indiana, and California. - #840
Rain-water caught the first of June will cure freckles. It will not putrefy.
Massachusetts. - #842
The first water that falls in June is supposed to cure all skin diseases; and I am informed “it is dretful good for the insides, too.”
Westford, Mass. - #843
Water in which a blacksmith has cooled his iron is a cure for freckles.
Malden, Mass. - #845
To cure hiccoughs repeat in one breath the words,—
There was an old woman who lived all alone,
And she was made of skin and bone.
One day to church she went to pray,
And on the ground a man there lay,
And from his head unto his feet
The worms crawled in, the worms crawled out.Boston, Mass. - #846
A variant,—
There was an old woman who lived all alone,
And she was made of skin and bone.
One day to church she went to pray,
And on the ground there lay a man.
And from his head unto his feet
The worms crawled in, the worms crawled out.
The woman to the parson said:
“Shall I be so when I am dead?”
The parson he said “yes.”Portland, Me., Brookline and Deerfield, Mass. - #847
For hiccoughs the nurse used to say in a droning, deep, ghostly tone,—
There was an old man an’ an old woman,
And they lived in a bottle and eat Bones.
BonesBrookline, Mass. - #853
For chapped lips kiss the middle rail of a five-railed fence.
Bernardston, Mass. - #855
Chew brown paper as a cure for nose-bleed.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #862
You will not cry in peeling onions if you hold a bit of bread in the mouth.
Or, put the bread on the point of the knife.
Prince Edward Island, Cambridge, Mass. (Irish).
Maine. - #863
You will not cry in peeling onions if you let the faucet be open so the water will run.
Cambridge, Mass. - #868
A pebble in the mouth will ease thirst.
Brookline, Mass. - #877
Washing the hands in water in which eggs have been boiled causes warts to grow.
Cape Breton and Eastern Massachusetts. - #878
Warts are caused by touching the white of an egg.
Salem, Mass. - #884
Split a bean and put one half on the wart, one half in the ground, and at the end of the week dig up the latter; place on the wart with the other half; bury again, and this will cure the wart.
Greenfield, Mass. - #889
Rub a wart with the yellow milky juice of celandine (Chelidonium majus).
Massachusetts. - #891
Dandelion juice will cure warts.
Revere Beach, Mass. - #894
The juice of the common large milk-weeds (Asclepias) will cure warts.
Massachusetts. - #900
To cure a wart: Draw a blade across it, and then draw the knife across a sweet apple-tree.
Lawrence, Mass. - #902
Sell your warts for money, throw the money away anywhere, but on your own land. Whoever picks up the money gets also the warts.
Springfield, Mass. - #909
Take as many pebbles as there are warts. Rub them on the warts. Roll them in paper and throw them away. The finder takes the warts.
Boxford, Mass. - #911
Count out secretly as many stones as you have warts, tie in a rag, and throw them where they can’t be seen.
Massachusetts. - #921
Rub the warts with the sole of your shoe; as the leather wears away, the warts depart.
Springfield, Mass. - #923
Cut notches in a stick to the number of warts you have, and then bury the stick.
Massachusetts. - #929
Warts may be cured by applying to them water standing in the hollow of an oaken stump.
Boxford, Mass., and Ohio. - #937
If it is a fair sunset Friday night, it will rain before Monday.
Massachusetts. - #938
If it storms on a Friday, it will storm again before the next Monday.
Massachusetts and New York. - #939
If the sun sets clear Friday night, it will not rain before Monday night; but if it sets in a cloud, it will rain before Monday night.
Boston, Mass. - #940
The weather of the last Friday in the month governs the next month.
Cambridge, Mass. - #941
There will be sun during some part of Saturday the year through.
Brookline, Mass. - #946
Weather is apt to repeat itself in the following week, i. e., there will be a run of wet Sundays or fine Tuesdays, etc.
Brookline, Mass. - #949
The corn is planted when the Baltimore orioles appear, or when the first green is noticed on the oak-trees.
Milton, Mass. - #955
The twelve days at Christmas govern the weather of the months of the coming year.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #956
The twelve days at Christmas time make the almanac for the year.
Massachusetts. - #958
It always rains while the Cadets are in camp.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #959
It always rains during May meetin’s.
Boston, Mass. - #960
It always rains during a cattle-show.
Deerfield, Mass. - #962
Of a change:—
Long looked for
Long last,
Short notice,
Soon past.Brookline, Mass. - #965
If it rain before seven
It will quit before eleven.Prince Edward Island and, Maine, Massachusetts, and Northern Ohio. - #967
In uncertain or threatening weather it is said that if you can see a piece of blue sky big enough to make a pair of breeches, it will clear off.
Maine, Massachusetts, and Northern Ohio. - #974
A load of hay passing means fair weather.
Massachusetts. - #978
Rain falling while the sun shines is a sign it will rain next day.
Methuen, Mass. - #981
Red at night
Sailor’s delight;
Red in the morning,
Sailors take warning.Maine and Eastern Massachusetts. - #982
Evening red and morning gray
Will speed the traveler on his way.
Evening gray and morning red
Will bring the rain upon his head.Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio. - #1003
A load of barrels foretells wet weather.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #1005
When a great many women are seen on the street, it will rain next day.
Bedford, Mass. - #1013
Fog on the hill
Brings water to the mill.
Fog in the vale,
Catch all the water in a pail.Massachusetts. - #1014
Three foggy mornings and then a rain.
Massachusetts. - #1015
It will rain within twenty-four hours of a hoar frost.
Deerfield, Mass. - #1017
If the ground is black, it means rain.
Peabody, Mass. - #1018
To wear your husband’s hat is a sign of rain.
Massachusetts. - #1020
Mackerel sky
Five miles high
Lets the earth
Go three days dry.Miller’s River, Mass. - #1021
Mackerel sky,
Rain by and by.Massachusetts. - #1023
Mackerel sky,
Rain is nigh.or
Mackerel sky,
Rain to-morrow.Brookline, Mass. - #1024
Mackerel sky
Three days high
Never leaves the earth
Three days dry.Massachusetts. - #1025
Mackerel’s back and the mare’s tails
Make lofty ships carry low sails.Newburyport, Mass. - #1026
Mackerel sky, horse’s tail,
Make the sailor draw his sail.Brookline, Mass. - #1028
Mackerel sky,
Twenty-four hours dry.Salem, Mass. - #1029
Open and shet,
Sign of wet.Maine and Massachusetts. - #1030
Open and shet,
Sign of more wet.Massachusetts. - #1031
Open and shet,
Kind o’ wet.Massachusetts. - #1034
If you can see the reflection of the building, etc., in puddles in the street, it will rain inside of twelve hours.
Salem, Mass. - #1044
To eat or sing in the water-closet betokens rain the next day.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #1048
Comes the rain before the wind,
Then your topsail you must mind.
Comes the wind before the rain,
Haul your topsails up again.Cape Cod, Mass. - #1054
Blue blazes in a coal fire mean a storm.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #1055
When wood on the fire makes a peculiar hissing noise, it is said “to tread snow,” and there will soon be a storm.
Salem, Mass. - #1056
If the stove-lids get red-hot when the fire is first made, it is a sure sign of a storm of some kind.
Cambridge, Mass. - #1062
To see Northern Lights denotes that south wind and a storm will come inside of forty-eight hours.
Massachusetts. - #1068
The day of the month of the first snowstorm indicates the number of storms in the year.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #1070
Stars in a circle around the moon foretell a storm in the same number of days as there are stars.
Maine, Massachusetts, and New York. - #1074
For the sun to rise and go into a cloud means a storm.
Massachusetts. - #1076
If the bottom of the tea-kettle is white when taken from the stove, it indicates a snowstorm.
Peabody, Mass. - #1082
New moon, moon,
Hail unto thee!
In my sleep upon my bed,
May the one I am to wed
In my dreams smile on me.Middleboro’, Mass. - #1084
Say to the new moon over your right shoulder,—
New moon, new moon. come play your part,
And tell me who’s my own sweetheart;
The color of his hair, the clothes he shall wear,
And on what day he shall appear.Then dream.
Massachusetts. - #1085
The first time you see the moon in the New Year, look at it and say,—
Whose table shall I spread?
For whom make the bed?
Whose name shall I carry?
And whom shall I marry?Then think of one you would like to marry, and go your way. Ask some question of the first person you meet, and if the answer is affirmative, it indicates that you will marry your choice; if negative, it means you will not.
Told by a Norwegian girl in Eastern Massachusetts. - #1089
When you see the moon, say,—
I see the moon and the moon sees me,
And the moon sees somebody that I want to see.Massachusetts. - #1095
If you should see the moon over your left shoulder, and should without speaking turn round and look at it over your right shoulder, your ill luck will disappear, and you will be as well off as if you had seen it over your right shoulder first.
Maine and Massachusetts. - #1098
See the moon over the left shoulder,
You will have a fall (tumble).Bedford, Mass. - #1100
If you have money in your pocket the first time you see the new moon, and it is seen over your right shoulder, you will have money all the year.
Nashua, N. H., and Massachusetts. - #1104
See the new moon through a glass,
See sorrow while it lasts.Deer Isle, Me., and Salem, Mass. - #1107
If you see the new moon face on, you will go headlong through the month.
Salem, Mass. - #1121
Seeds should be sown when the moon is new. This custom is still more or less observed. Corn should be planted at this time.
Boston, Mass. - #1126
If a farmer lays a rail fence by the light of the moon, it will be stronger and last longer than if it was laid in the daytime.
Western New York and parts of Massachusetts. - #1128
If hogs are butchered on a rising tide, the pork will not shrink in the pan.
Massachusetts. - #1130
If you wean a calf at the time of the full moon, it will make less fuss. You mustn’t wean it when the sign is in the belly, or it will never grow fat. Pursue the same course with a pig, or it will squeal.
Western Massachusetts. - #1131
To make hair grow, cut it in the new of the moon.
N. F., N. B., N. S., Me., Mass., and Talladega, Ala. - #1133
It is the custom for girls to cut their bangs on the forehead when the moon is new. It is supposed to make them grow. This custom is observed by many intelligent young people.
Boston, Mass. - #1142
If you wish to secure lightness, you must always stir cake and eggs a certain way, that is, the way the sun goes.
Kittery, Me., Nashua, N. H., Eastern Massachusetts, and Southern Michigan. - #1144
To make cake light, it must always be stirred the same way.
Dalton, Mass., and Alabama. - #1145
In cooking soft custard, the stirring must be continued throughout in the direction in which it was begun; otherwise the custard will turn to whey.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #1147
Ice cream will not freeze rightly unless the crank is turned the right way.
Concord, Mass. - #1149
In melting sugar for taffy, stir always one way, or it will grain.
Allston, Mass. - #1150
In greasing the wheels of a carriage, always begin at a certain wheel and go round in a set way.
Peabody, Mass. - #1151
In rubbing for rheumatism, etc., rub from left to right (sunwise).
Concord, Mass. - #1168
To see a coffin in the candle is a token of death.
Boston, Mass. - #1178
To dance on the ground indicates disaster, or death within a year.
Boxford, Mass. - #1180
A dish-cloth hung on a door-knob is a sign of death in a family.
Deerfield, Mass. - #1185
The person on whom the eyes of a dying person last rest will be the first to die.
Boston, Mass. - #1190
If a doctor is called on Friday, the patient will surely die.
Cambridge, Mass. - #1198
Do not let any one wear your hat to a funeral when you’ve not worn it before yourself.
Massachusetts. - #1199
Whoever counts the carriages at a passing funeral will die within the year.
Or, some one will die.
Peabody, Mass., and Hennepin, Ill. - #1203
To hold a lamp over a sleeping person causes death.
Massachusetts. - #1206
If three persons look into a mirror at the same time, one will die within the year.
Peabody, Mass., and New Hampshire. - #1208
To put on a bonnet or hat of one in mourning is a sign that you will wear one before the year is out.
Peabody and Boston, Mass., and Niagara Falls, Ont. - #1209
To drive a nail on Sunday is a sign that some one in the family will die within the year.
Pigeon Cove, Mass. - #1211
The hearing of three raps is a sign that some member of the family is dead.
Boston, Mass., and Orange Co., Va. - #1212
If members of a family, after long separation, meet for reunion, some one of the members will die within the year.
Cambridge, Mass. - #1220
Deaths do not come singly; but if one of a family dies, a second death in the same family will occur within a year.
Cambridge, Mass. - #1221
Whoever works on a sick person’s dress, he or she will die within the year.
Massachusetts. - #1232
If any one in the town lies dead over Sunday, there will be another death before the end of the week.
Bedford, Mass. - #1237
If thirteen sit at table, the one who rises first will not live through the year.
Somerville, Mass., Newark, N. Y., and Mifflintown, Pa. - #1238
If thirteen sit at table, the last one who sits down will not die that year.
Brookline, Mass. - #1242
Among Irish Catholics it is usual to place the body with the feet toward the door. The body of a young girl is usually draped in the robes of the society to which in her church she belonged. Over the corpse is constructed a white canopy, from one end of which images of white doves are often hung. At the feet is a stand or table, on which flowers are laid, and where, at night, candles are kept burning.
Boston, Mass. - #1246
If, when any one dies, you put the coffin in any other room than the one the corpse is in, some other member of the family will die within a year.
Western Massachusetts. - #1247
“I have noticed at funerals of the aged, that when elderly people passed by the casket they would touch the forehead of the dead person. I was confident that there was some superstition connected with the act, because the same look was apparent on every face; but on being asked why this was done, they pretended it was bidding an old comrade good-bye. At last one told me that it was that they might not dream of the dead or see them.”
Westport, Mass. - #1256
At a funeral, entering church before the mourners means death to some of the entering party.
Boston, Mass. - #1261
To keep the corpse in the house over Sunday will bring death in the family before the year is out.
South Framingham, Mass. - #1262
If the grave is left open over Sunday, another death will occur before the Sunday following.
Boxford, Mass. - #1266
Many will not go through a graveyard on the way to call on friends, for fear of bringing death into the house.
Massachusetts. - #1267
The clothes of the dead wear out quickly.
Westport, Mass. - #1278
If you break something, you will break two other things.
Maine, Massachusetts, and Northern Ohio. - #1279
To twirl a chair on one leg means that you are going to fight with somebody.
Peabody, Mass. - #1285
In bathing, the eyes should always be rubbed towards the nose, as that makes them large, and rubbing out the opposite way makes them small.
Cambridge, Mass. - #1286
In climbing a fence,—
Get over, meet with clover,
Get through, meet with a shoe;
Get under, meet with a blunder.Sunderland, Mass. - #1298
If two persons clasp hands so as to lock the fingers, bringing the palm of one person against the palm of the other person’s hand, it will break friendship.
Newton, Mass. - #1299
If you hug your knee (hold your knee in clasped hands), you will hug up trouble.
Salem and Medford, Mass. - #1302
Crossed knives are a sign of a quarrel.
Cumberland, Mass. - #1307
If you bite your finger-nails you will always be poor.
Massachusetts. - #1313
The free use of salt is a sign of having a temper.
Lynn, Mass. - #1314
To say anything backward is a sign you will get a present.
Peabody, Mass. - #1316
If you sing before breakfast, you will cry before supper.
Cambridge, Mass. - #1317
If you laugh before breakfast, you will cry before supper.
Prince Edward Island and Somerville, Mass. - #1321
If the sole of either foot itches, you will walk on strange ground.
Boston, Mass. - #1325
To sit on a table is a sign of coming disappointment.
Maine and Massachusetts. - #1328
If, in going visiting, you stub the right toe, you are welcome; if the left, you are unwelcome.
Massachusetts and Ohio. - #1330
Stub your toe,
Lose your beau.Salem, Mass. - #1332
If you bite your tongue suddenly while eating, it is a sign some one is coming hungry.
Cambridge, Mass. - #1333
In going along the street or path, where there is a tree, go inside rather than outside the tree, for you will be disappointed if you take the latter course.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #1347
If your left ear itches, some one is saying unpleasant things about you; but if your right ear, pleasant things. Some say,—
Both left and right
Are good at night.Cambridge, Mass. - #1349
If the right eye itches, you’ll laugh; if the left eye, you’ll cry.
Boston, Mass. - #1350
If your eye itches, some one wants to see you and can’t.
Peabody, Mass. - #1352
If your elbow itches, you will sleep with a stranger.
Boston, Mass. - #1355
The nose itching is a sign you are going to “get mad.”
Peabody, Mass. - #1359
If your nose itches, you will
See a stranger,
Kiss a fool,
Or be in danger.Peabody, Mass. - #1360
If your nose itches, it is a sign you will be kissed, cussed, or vexed.
Somerville, Mass. - #1368
If your knee itches, you are jealous.
Boston, Mass. - #1378
If a garment is mended while being worn, it is a sign the wearer will do something he is ashamed of before the week is out.
Newton, Mass. - #1380
Basting threads left in a garment signify that it is not yet paid for.
Massachusetts and Ohio. - #1381
Put your clothes on the wrong side out and you’ll have a present before the week is out.
Peabody, Mass. - #1389
If you break a needle in sewing a new gown, it is a sure sign you will live to wear out the garment.
Holyoke, Mass. - #1390
If you break your needle in making a garment, or have to rip out some of it, you will live to wear it out.
Boston, Mass. - #1396
Save the old shoes to throw after the carriage, when any of the family start on a journey; it will insure a safe return.
Massachusetts. - #1397
Wear the boot (or shoe) on the side, a rich man’s bride;
On the toe, spend as you go;
On the heel, love to do weel;
On the ball, live to spend all.Boston. - #1406
Dry spots, where there is no dew, are called “fairy rings.”
Salem, Mass. - #1407
Run round a fairy ring twice on Easter Sunday morning, and fairies will arise and follow you.
Salem, Mass. - #1417
A bit of steel, such as a needle, protects one from witches.
Brookline, Mass. - #1419
What you do on your birthday, you will do all the year.
Salem, Mass. - #1421
If you wear a garment for the first time on Saturday, you will have another one before it is worn out.
Bedford, Mass. - #1425
If you break anything on Monday, you will break something every day in the week.
Somerville, Mass. - #1426
If you break anything Sunday, you will continue to do so every day of the week, or as you commence Sunday, so you will go through the week.
Eastern Massachusetts. - #1427
If you begin anything Saturday, it must be finished that day or it will not get finished.
Boston, Mass. - #1430
Sneeze before twelve and one, and you will hear news.
Brighton, Mass. - #1432
Sneeze before your breakfast,
See your beau before the day is past.Brighton, Mass. - #1434
Sneeze before seven,
Sneeze before eleven.Boston, Mass. - #1435
What you sew on Sunday, you’ll take out on Monday.
What you sew on Sunday, you’ll rip out in heaven.Massachusetts. - #1436
Never cut your toe-nails Sunday, or you will do something to be ashamed of before the week is out.
Granville, Mass. - #1437
Cut your nails Monday morning, without speaking (?), and you will get a present before the week is out; some have it, “without thinking of a red fox’s tail,” instead of “without speaking.”
Westport, Mass. - #1439
To burn the stub of a broom or break a sugar-bowl, means a quarrel.
Westport, Mass. - #1440
A spark seen on a candle or lamp when the light is extinguished means the receipt of a letter.
St. John, N. B., and Salem, Mass. - #1446
It is a sign of good old-fashioned economy to use up a dish-cloth until it can be put into your mouth.
Massachusetts. - #1447
If a door opens of itself, it is supposed to indicate the presence of a spirit, usually one of the family.
Massachusetts. - #1450
If a wood fire snaps and sparkles, each time it does indicates the receipt of a letter.
Peabody, Mass. - #1456
If you keep changing your furniture to different places, you’ll be poor.
Massachusetts. - #1457
Not drinking the whole contents of a glass or cup means disappointment.
Westport, Mass. - #1458
If sooty bubbles form and blacken on the wick in a lamp burning whale oil, each bubble indicates the receipt of a letter.
Peabody, Mass. - #1459
When sparks are seen on the bottom of the tea-kettle, it is a sign that folks are going home from meeting.
New Hampshire and Boxford, Mass. - #1460
Sparks flying from a fire mean letters; the number of the sparks is the number of the letters.
Boston, Mass. - #1464
A stratum of warm air indicates the presence of the devil.
Boston, Mass. (Irish). - #1469
Write the date of the first snowstorm, and you’ll gain a bet before the winter is through.
Massachusetts. - #1470
To ascertain a girl’s age, pull a hair from her head, hang a finger-ring from this inside a tumbler or goblet, and it will strike the number of years.
Boston, Mass.
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