Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 1 1883.djvu/389

 Rh candle for each year of life. Before the cake is eaten the person whose birthday it is should solemnly blow out the candles one after another.

If people wed when the bise is blowing the wife will be the master.

It is unlucky to dream of cherries or fish.

There are fifty-two unlucky days in the year, and on these days one should not marry.

When the soup is burnt it is said that the fox has dipped his brush into it. Is it possible that our English word "bishopped" refers to some beast fable in which Reynard plays the part of an ecclesiastic?

If you lose your engagement ring you will be very unfortunate.

Always make a new-born child a present when you go to see the mother.

The sunset glow on the waters of the Lake of Morat is called "the blood of the Burgundians," but this name is, like the following legend, probably modern.

When the devil showed all the kingdoms of the earth and the glory of them to our Lord, he hid the hill which lies between the Lake of Morat and the Lake of Neuchâtel under his thumb, for the ways of its inhabitants were so much to his liking that he could not make up his mind to part from them.

Hundreds of people flocked into the town of Fribourg from the outlying villages during the summer of 1881 to see a celebrated woman doctor who had the power of giving sight to the blind and speech to the dumb. This wonder-worker could, according to the general belief, not only make the lame walk, but could knit together a broken spine and make the crooked straight.

Würtemherg Superstitions.—The first dream that you dream in a strange house will be fulfilled.

It is lucky to see a spider in the morning, but unlucky to see it in the afternoon. In some villages wedding guests walk round the altar before leaving the church, the bride walks before the women and the bridegroom before the men.

Firearms and crackers are constantly exploded during the last days of the vintage.

Never leave a solitary scrap of food on a plate, for if you do so bad