Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 13, 1902.djvu/50

38 aphis, for putting one on the back of the hand they cry, in Gaelic rhyme:

and the creature leaves a drop of liquid on the hand.

The natives dread a caterpillar, said to be fatal to cows, and which they call "The clothed one," from its handsome appearance.

In a land where there are few artificial methods of noting the progress of the year, where clocks, almanacs, and newspapers are, in certain districts, practically unknown, the landmarks of time are, naturally enough, the weather and the Church seasons. The following are among the sayings most frequently heard.

"A short short month between St. Andrew's (November 30th) and Christmas." "Autumn lasts till Christmas, and Winter to St. Patrick's." "Christmas to-day, May-day to-morrow," i.e. if Christmas fall on a Monday, May-day will fall on a Tuesday.

"The calf-killer of Patrick feast," is the name given to the cold east wind, which prevails so often in the early