Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/146

 ! -, Journal of American Folk-Lore.

leaves the house the second time he should go out at a different door than that by which he first left. Then he will have destroyed the conditions which would otherwise have brought bad luck.

If you see the new moon through clouds or treetops, you will have trouble until the next new moon.

When you get up in the morning be sure that you put both feet out of bed exactly at the same instant. Otherwise you will have trouble all day.

Do not sing before breakfast, or you will cry before night.

Salt and pepper should be the first articles to be taken into a new house, or one that you are going to occupy for the first time.

If a baby has thrush, stop the first man that comes along, borrow one of his shoes, and give the little one a drink of water out of it. This is considered a specific.

If your right ear burns, somebody is saying good of you.

If your left ear burns, somebody is saying ill of you.

If your right ear itches, you will hear good news.

If your left ear itches, you will hear a secret.

If the palm of your right hand itches, you will shake hands with a stranger.

If the palm of your left hand itches, you will handle money.

If the bottom of your right foot itches, you will walk on strange ground soon.

If the bottom of your left foot itches, you will soon walk on strange ground, to your disadvantage.

It may have been noted that some of these superstitions go hand in hand with convenience, economy, prudence, etc. : as, for example, " Do not sweep before breakfast ; " " Do not kill your cat, but get somebody else to kill it, if it must be killed ; " " Do not begin any- thing Friday or Saturday ; " " If you put a garment on wrong side out, wear it so all day;" "Do not close a neighbor's gate;" and "Do not loan anything to a suspected witch."

I suppose that all sections and all classes have more or less of superstition. Even in the metropolis there are men who think that a cocktail is good for a cold ; a drink of whiskey straight is good for the health in December; and a glass of brandy and soda or a julep equally as beneficial in hot weather.

The mountaineers in some sections have superstitions to bolster up, morally speaking, their tastes and appetites.

As most people know, there are moonshiners in some of the mountain districts. They make whiskey without consulting Uncle Sam about it.

The people drink the whiskey.

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