Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 2 1884.djvu/389

Rh Griffiths lost some bed-linen, and, suspecting Noake of stealing it, she took a Bible and key to his house, and took her garter off her left leg and placed it around the Bible. A ceremony having been gone through, the Bible, it was alleged, turned round to defendant, and he was arrested on a warrant.—Westmoreland Gazette, November 8th.

Jan Dark.—A young servant of mine living in a small Cornish village near Penzance asked leave last Wednesday (5th November) to go home to see her mother. The weather suddenly changed, and it turned into a very wet, dark night. "It was so dark," she said, "that had she gone 'Jan Dark' would have carried her off." I asked her who "Jan Dark" was. "Oh, no one, Miss Courtney; it is only a saying in the country." Could this possibly be a survival of the days when Jeanne d'Arc was burnt for a witch?

Lilias-day at Kilbarchan.—Yesterday was the anniversary of what was known as Lilias-day in Kilbarchan. For a period of nearly a hundred years it was customary on this day for the villagers to erect floral arches across the streets. These were very tastefully got up, and as they were kept untouched till the following Monday, they were the means of drawing a large number of strangers from the surrounding towns into Kilbarchan. It was found, however, to be very inconvenient to have a week's holiday at this time, because most of the inhabitants, being weavers, were again thrown idle during Paisley Fair season. Accordingly, Lilias-day has almost died out."—Glasgow News, 31st July, 1884.

Oak and Nettle Day in Nottinghamshire.—A custom now dying out existed in Nottinghamshire on the twenty-ninth of May, or "Oak and Nettle day," as it is termed in Nottinghamshire. The rising generation sally out in the morning, their caps and buttonholes adorned with sprigs of oak. They also provide themselves with a bunch of nettles. They request all persons whom they meet with "to show your oak." If a single leaf even is produced they are permitted to pass on unmolested, but supposing they are unprovided with the necessary sprig or leaf their face, neck, and hands are well "nettled." When punishment has been bestowed for disloyalty, a slip of oak is presented to the offending party, who is thus provided with protection from the next gang of youths and lads they meet. This nettling