Tennessee

Entries

• #185

  When you see a turkey-buzzard flying alone, repeat,—

  Hail! Hail! Lonely, lonesome turkey-buzzard:
  Hail to the East, hail to the West,
  Hail to the one that I love best.
  Let me know by the flap of your wing
  Whether he (or she) loves me or not.

  Note the manner of the bird’s flight: if he flaps his wings your lover is true; if not, the lover is false.

  Tennessee.
• #186

  When the call of the first turtle-dove is heard, sit down and remove the shoe and stocking from the left foot, turn the stocking inside out, in the heel of which if a hair is found, it will be of the color of the hair of the future husband or wife.

  In Mt. Desert, Maine, and Prince Edward Island the same project is tried on hearing the first robin.

  Tennessee.
• #257

  Break off a piece of dodder or “lovevine,” twirl it round the head three times and drop it on a bush behind you. If it grows, the lover is true; if not, he is false.

  Tennessee.
• #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.
• #1083

  If you see the new moon over the right shoulder, take three steps backward and repeat,—

  New moon, true moon, true and bright,
  If I have a lover let me dream of him to-night.
  If I’m to marry far, let me hear a bird cry;
  If I’m to marry near, let me hear a cow low;
  If I’m never to marry, let me hear a hammer knock.

  One of these sounds is always heard.

  Tennessee.
• #1157

  To cure a burn, moisten it with saliva, repeating:—

  As far as the east is from the west,
  Come out fire and go in frost.
  In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
  Come out fire and go in frost.

  Blow three times, and rub sunwise three times. To be taught to not more than three persons of the opposite sex.

  Eastern Tennessee.