Page:Lancashire Legends, Traditions, Pageants, Sports, Etc., with an Appendix Containing a Rare Tract.djvu/267

 FISH AND BACON included in the same category of superstitions, and various rules have been laid down for the guidance of family purveyors. Shell-fish are not considered to be wholesome in any month whose name does not contain the letter R. There is, however, one exception:—

Pigs are popularly said to be able "to see the wind," in consequence of their restlessness before and during stormy weather. We are advised never to kill domestic pigs during the waning of the moon; for then their flesh is unwholesome, and will not absorb the salt The following caution is also current throughout the county:—

HAIR. folk-lore of hair contains several curious items. We are told that if a horse-hair be placed in a stream of running water it will soon become alive; but those who are only very slightly acquainted with natural history will be able to correct and also to explain the origin of this mistake. If a hair be placed on a schoolboy's hand, it is expected to split the cane with which the school-master is punishing him. When the splitting does not take place, the hair will so deaden the pain as to make it scarcely felt. Youths generally pluck hairs from the heads of their playmates on each return of their