Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 6 1888.djvu/242

234 To destroy a swallow's nest.

To break a glass or cup.

To bake bread while a corpse is in the house.

To see a woman the first thing on New Year's Day.

To turn back when you have started on a journey.

To hear a dog howl at night.

To see the candle go out suddenly, leaving the room in darkness.

To stumble in going into a house.

To meet a hare or an old woman.

[A Breton peasant takes off his hat to the new moon, and calls her madame, repeating a pater.

In Greece it is believed that you can get what you wish for when you first see the new moon.

In Brittany the peasants think bread baked on St. Thomas' Day turns bad; but bread baked on Christmas Eve will keep for ten years. They think Thursday and Saturday as lucky as Friday is the reverse.]

Thursday and Saturday are good days for women born in April. Friday and Monday are unlucky days.

A servant-maid will not go to a new situation on Monday.

It is very unlucky to turn the mattrass of a sick person on Friday night.

A tree planted on Friday never thrives.

A boat launched on Friday sinks.

A vessel ought to sail on Sunday, and start by going round in the direction of the sun.

[In the valley of the Garonne "a Friday tree" means an enterprise that has miscarried, a marriage that has turned out badly.

"Among the Finns whoever undertakes any business on a Monday must expect very little success."—Tooke's Russia.]

Three very unlucky Mondays:


 * First Monday in April, when Cain was born and Abel slain.


 * Second Monday in August, when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed.


 * Last Monday in December, when Judas was born.

W. L. Burleigh's Precepts to his Sonne, 1636.