Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 1, 1890.djvu/367

Rh drive it away. If these precautions are not taken, it is popularly believed that mother and child will fall victims to the ghost’s desire.

If a mother dies in child-birth, and the child lives, there is a belief that the ghost of the mother will return to the house and, taking the child in its arms, cause its death. To avoid this, a white fowl is procured and kept in the house, while at the same time the child is nursed by members of the family night and day. If the ghost returns, the white fowl is handed to it, and it at once departs. Next day a visit is made to the mother’s grave. If there is a hole in it, the ghost never comes back; if no hole can be found, another fowl must be purchased to be given to the ghost when it revisits the house, and this must be repeated until the hole can be seen.

A certain fair maiden was betrothed to a man who, being suddenly visited by a serious illness, was anxious that the marriage should take place before he died. The maiden, however, refused. Before long the man died, and the maiden married some one else. But as soon as the wife appeared before her husband her head became much larger than its normal size, her face turned blue, and her teeth projected like swords. In fact, she presented such a frightful appearance that her husband fled on beholding it, and though they were married for several years, husband and wife never exchanged a word.

In High Street, Canton, there is a house which is said to be haunted by the ghost of the wife of a salt-monopolist. The salt-monopolist was arrested for peculation of public moneys, and this so affected his wife that she committed suicide by hanging herself. She is said to have committed the deed arrayed in a red robe, with dishevelled hair, and in front of a looking-glass, and it is now reported that the