Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 28, 1917.djvu/486

 452 Collectanea.

There must have been an Essex variant, for only a few weeks ago the children in the playground of one of the Leyton Council Schools were singing :

" Nick-nack, paddy wack, give a dog a bone, And this old man came rolling home."

Celia a. Barker.

Notes on Staffordshire Folklore.

Foxgloves an Omen of War. — The summer of 19 14 was a record one for foxgloves, regarding which an old man remarked, " I don't like them, missus ; they mean war. Them foxgloves is soldiers."

Cuckoos. — The number of times a cuckoo calls when heard the first time denotes the number of years before the hearer will be married.

Ofnen from Umbrellas. — To pick up an umbrella dropped by yourself means a disappointment.

Omens frofn Knives. — To drop a knife is a sign that a gentle- man is coming to the house. To hand anything on a knife means bad luck.

J Fearing Green. — If you wear green you will go into mourning.

Marriage Omen. — Take one hair from your head, thread a finger-ring on it, and hold it over a tumbler half full of water. The number of times it touches the side shows how many years will pass before the holder's wedding.

Ruth Hodson.

The Laurels, Walsall Road, Lichfield.