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UMBRELLA as present Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
... as present 1982 Female student, 20 [Cleveland, Yorks.] It is considered unlucky to give an umbrella as a...
WASHING UP together Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
...UP together 1982 Female student, 20 [Cleveland, Yorks.] If both partners assist each other with the washing up, the marriage will be happy: ‘Wash and wipe together, Live in peace...
TELEPHONE, ringing Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
..., ringing 1982 Female student, 20 [Cleveland, Yorks.] It is thought that a telephone ringing at intermittent intervals with no call following it is an omen of death. Cf. KNOCKING = death omen...
PLATE on top of another = death Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
... on top of another = death 1936 E. H. RUDKIN Lincolnshire 17. To eat off a plate with another plate beneath it … foretells death. 1982 Woman, 20 [Cleveland, Yorks.] Death is imminent if a meal is eaten from a plate resting on another...
STUMBLING reveals guilt Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
... reveals guilt 1982 Woman, 20 [Yorks.] If the bride or groom were to stumble or make a false step when approaching the altar rail, then this was believed to be a sure sign that some unconfessed moral wrong had been...
TEA-LEAVES, disposing of Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
..., disposing of 1982 Female student, 20 [Cleveland, Yorks.] It is considered extremely unlucky to throw tea leaves away, as they should always be laid on the back of the fire to keep poverty away. Cf. WASHING WATER , throwing out...
IVY on house wall Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
... on house wall 1912 LEATHER Herefordshire 20. If ivy growing on the wall of a house die, it is thought to be a sign of the death of one of the...
CLOCK facing fire Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
... facing fire 1895 S. O. ADDY Household Tales 96. It is unlucky for a clock to stand opposite the fire. 1982 Woman, 20 [Cleveland, Yorks.] It is thought that a fire will go out if … a clock is facing towards the fire place. Cf. SUN puts out fire...
FIRE, two people making Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
..., two people making 1883 BURNE Shropshire 275. It is very unlucky for two persons to kindle a fire, as they will inevitably quarrel. 1981 Woman, 20 [S. England] Two women laying a fire was the sign of a quarrel—probably explained by the fact that two women working together get in each other's way, and will in all likelihood...
UMBRELLA on bed Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
... on bed 1923 [Martock, Som.] You must never lay an umbrella or sunshade on the bed, or tragedy follows. 1982 Woman, 20 [Cleveland, Yorks.] Most people are aware that it is unlucky to put up an umbrella in the house. It is also unlucky to put one on a...
BABY'S HAND: first one used Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
...HAND : first one used c. 1816 Wilkie ms ( HENDERSON Northern Counties , 1866 , 12) Scotch nurses note with which hand a child takes up a spoon to sup. If it be the left you may be sure that he will be an unlucky fellow all his life. 1982 Woman, 20 [Cleveland, Yorks.] Whichever hand a young child uses to reach out for his spoon is supposed to dictate his future. The right hand indicates good fortune and the left, ill-fortune. Cf. LEFT HAND...
FIRE, spitting into Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
...1879 J. NAPIER West of Scotland 37. I remember being taught that it was unlucky to spit into the fire. 1886 Folklore 12 [Banff.] It is a custom to spit in the fire when the ‘girdle’ is taken off the fire when the baking of the bread, oaten cakes, is finished. 1982 Woman, 20 [Cleveland, Yorks.] Seven years' bad luck is indicated by spitting onto the hearth...
LEMON PEEL: divination Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
...PEEL : divination c. 1760 Mother Bunch's Closet 20. She who desires to be satisfied, whether she shall enjoy the man desired or no; Let her take two lemon peels in the morning, and wear them all day under her arm pits; then at night let her rub the four posts of the bed with them: which done, in your sleep he will seem to come and present you with a couple of lemons; but if not there is no...
WASHING clothes: sloppily Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
... Household Tales 100. If you splash yourself … very much when you wash clothes you will have a drunken husband. 1909 M. TREVELYAN Folk-Lore of Wales 6. The woman who wets her apron very much, or splashes the water much about, will have a drunken husband. 1982 Female student, 20. Yorkshire country women still remember that a woman who spills a large amount of water over herself when doing the washing, will have a drunken husband. ‘A sloppy washer will have a drunken...
SUNWISE, stirring Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
...will be spoilt in the baking. 1965 Folklore 46. Even in the middle of the twentieth century girls in Portnahaven [Islay] were urged to stir food in a clockwise direction only; otherwise the mixture would go wrong or, worse, some unrelated evil might occur. 1982 Female student, 20 [Cleveland, Yorks.] Stirring the tea in the pot widdershins [anticlockwise] was said to cause a...
ALBATROSS Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
...1798 COLERIDGE ‘Ancient Mariner’ I st. 20, 11 st. 3. ‘God save thee, ancyent Marinere! From the fiends that plague thee thus—Why look'st thou so?’—with my cross bow I shot the Albatross … And I had done an hellish thing And it would work 'em woe: For all averr'd, I had kill'd the Bird That made the Breeze to blow. 1929 E. MARJORIBANKS Life of Marshall Hall 29. One day he did a terrible thing: he repeated the sin of the Ancient Mariner. ‘Saturday, Sept. 20th … Shot … an albatross measuring about 18 ft. from tip to tip.’ 1934 Daily Mail 14...
SPOONS, two Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
...soon. 1954 Girl, 15 [Newbridge, Monmouth.] Two spoons on one saucer, there will be a marriage or a birth in the family. 1979 Woman, 21. A Hertfordshire variant is that if two spoons are set in a girl's saucer she will marry twice. 1981 Woman, 20 [Wilts.] Two spoons in a cup is a sign of ginger twins. 1982 Woman, 20 [Cleveland, Yorks.] Having two teaspoons in a saucer can mean either a wedding or...
PARSLEY, pregnancy prevented by Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
...it will presently cause the Child to come away, tho' it be dead, and the After-burden also. 1939 Folklore 187 [Cambridge] Parsley is believed to prevent a pregnancy, and … is sometimes eaten as a salad by young married women who do not desire to have a family. 1982 Woman, c. 20 [London] If you want to bring on your period put a sprig of parsley inside your vagina for 12 hours—your period should start 24 hours...
SNAIL, live: thrown for luck Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
..., live: thrown for luck 1827 HONE Every-Day Book II 20 May [Falkirk, Stirling. May Day] If they can succeed by the way in catching a snail by the horns, and throwing it over their shoulder, it is an omen of good luck. 1851 N & Q 1st ser. III 56 [Lancs.] If black snails are seized by the horn and tossed over the left shoulder, the process will insure good luck. 1898 BLAKEBOROUGH Yorkshire Customs 133. If you can, within three days after becoming engaged, seize a snail by its horns and throw it over your left shoulder, you will … reduce the...
APPLE PIPS pressed on cheek/forehead: divination Quick reference
A Dictionary of Superstitions
...I take; This on my Cheek for Lubberkin is worn, And Boobyclod on t'other side is born. But Boobyclod soon drops upon the Ground, A certain Token that his love's unsound, While Lubberkin sticks firmly to the last; Oh were his Lips to mine but join'd so fast! 1755 Connoisseur 20 Feb. I am sure Mr Blossom loves me, because I stuck two of the Kernels upon my forehead, while I thought upon him and the lubberly squire my pappa wants me to have: Mr Blossom's Kernel stuck on, but the other dropt off...
