Page:Lancashire Legends, Traditions, Pageants, Sports, Etc., with an Appendix Containing a Rare Tract.djvu/14

 of certain natural appearances which seem to lie beyond the powers of human labour. The Roman roads which intersect our wild and still almost impassable moors, are said to have been formed by diabolical agency. Huge boulders which lie scattered on the crests of our hills, marking the outcrop of the millstone grit, are popularly said to have been hurled by him from their parent rocks when exhibiting his feats of strength, forcibly reminding us of the labours of Thor, one of the principal deities of our Scandinavian ancestors. When we examine our minor superstitions we find many that will admit of no rational explanation. They have descended to us from remote antiquity and different races of people. Very many are relics of ancient faiths and ceremonial rites; and not a few have served as explanations of natural phenomena, and were accepted as satisfactory by those to whom they were addressed. In certain cases their origin is tolerably clear. The custom of turning to the east is undoubtedly a relic of sun worship, to which our early ancestors are known to have been addicted. Looking backwards when leaving home is considered unlucky; and this has grown into a superstition from the fact of its having been disastrous to Lot's wife. Many religiously disposed persons object to a national census on the ground that it is sinful, and they adduce in proof the punishment which overtook David when he numbered the people. Hook-nosed persons are considered to be avaricious, because this characteristic attaches to the Jews, who have lain under this imputation for more than a thousand years. A superstitious regard for certain numbers has caused thirteen at dinner to be looked upon as ominous, since Judas was a traitor when he sat at meat with the twelve. In Courts Leet once calling suffices for ordinary cases, but