Page:Lancashire Legends, Traditions, Pageants, Sports, Etc., with an Appendix Containing a Rare Tract.djvu/264

 go to heaven nor to hell; but wander in an intermediate state, and become either fairies or pixies. Baptism is said to drive the devil out of children; and negligent mothers are frequently reminded that they become better tempered and have better health after they have been christened. When an infant smiles in its sleep our nurses say that the angels are whispering to it; but when it starts up in terror, then some demon is tormenting it. Precocious children are seldom long-lived;—they are often reminded that they "are too fause [wise] to live." If children are weighed before they are a year old; or if their finger nails are cut, instead of being bitten off, during the same period, bad health and misfortune will follow. When children cut their teeth early, their mothers are supposed to be prolific; the old adage being—

"Soon ith goom [gum]; quick ith woom [womb]." The good or ill fortune of children is the subject of several predictions. Female infants with small white hands are considered to be "born ladies." Their future success in life is frequently tested by means of tickling their knees, while the following words are being repeated:—

Occasionally nurses may be detected tying three pieces of straw to the top of a stick. This is done in order to test the the disposition of a strange child; for it is said that—