Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 5, 1894.djvu/198

190 found charms for finding the name of a future partner. Here is another recipe, which may be tried at any time:—

Take the first egg laid by a black pullet, add the full of it of salt, and the full of it of oatmeal or Indian meal. Make it into three little cakes, and bake them. Then let two girls and a boy eat one each in a bite. This done, not a word must be spoken by any of them, but go to bed. A dream of the lover will surely follow. Custom considerately allows the experimenters to place a porringer of water by their bedsides, to allay the druth which will inevitably assail them.

Wakes of the old type are falling into disrepute, and they would only take place in the event of the deceased having no near relatives. My remarks under this head, then, are devoted to the games which were, and occasionally are, played at wakes, and I have noted them particularly, because they are never played on any other occasion.

The most favourite game is that called "The Nine Daughters". Two masters having been appointed, nine men are sent out and brought in singly, each having chosen a trade. They are introduced to the supposed father of the daughters, with these words:

The father answers:

The tailor then says:

The father is then persuaded to give him one of his daughters, but asks what fortune would be wanted with her. Finally he insists on giving her a good fortune, but says he