Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 21, 1910.djvu/117

Rh churchyard through the stream, and my informant declares that this was a necessary condition to success.

The affairs of a small farmer in Crathie (West Aberdeenshire) fifty years ago were in a bad way. There was disease among his stock and ill-health in his household. A friend who came to sympathize with the man noticed that the barnyard fowls were mostly of the black Minorca breed. As soon as he noted the fact he advised his friend to get rid of the last one of them, and to supply their places by white-feathered birds,—an advice which the farmer followed as speedily as possible. Soon things began to mend, and in a short time all was prosperous. Neither argument nor sarcasm could thereafter move the old man from his faith in the virtue of his "white birds."

Durris, by Aberdeen.

Argyllshire.

A pair of scissors is a lucky present to receive; it means "We part to meet again."

If a pair of scissors, a knife, or a needle falls to the floor and sticks in an upright position, an unexpected guest will arrive ere long.

A needle broken in two while sewing brings good fortune to the wearer of the article sewn; if in three pieces an offer of marriage.

If you mend your clothes while wearing them, you will be slandered.

If a girl's stocking wrinkles and refuses to remain "pulled up," her lover is thinking of her.

To open an umbrella in the house brings misfortune.

To put your shoes on the table signifies that you will quarrel with someone in the house.

A girl who sits on a table will never be married.

The lady who takes the last piece of bread on the plate will marry a rich man.

If a glass is accidentally broken during a marriage feast, it foretells misfortune to the bridal pair, but, when the health of bride and bridegroom is drunk, someone must throw a glass over their shoulder and break it "for luck."