NEW YEAR SUPERSTITIONS

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9736, 31 December 1909, Page 4

NEW YEAR SUPERSTITIONS

If you're waking, call me early, oall me early, mother dear, For I would see the sun ris© upon the glad j New Year, sang Tennyson's May Queen, as she lay upon her sick bed, but her reason for watching the sunrise was a different one from the peasantry of. the Midlands, who believe that by gettitfg out away, .from their homes on rJew Year's morn and ' watching the sunrise whilst all alone, good luck for the forthcoming year will be assured to them. . In Cornwall, a similar belief prevails. Here the fisher folk anxiously .await the morning of the new year, believing that the weather which prevails: tnat morning will denote the predominant weather of the year, also the kind of harvest they may expect with their fish. A Worcestershire farmer informed me one New Year's Day that it was necessary to go the round of the henhouses and buildings on thi3 morning, brushing- the door o-f each with a bunch, of hyssop, in order that the hens might lay. well during the^succeeding months, and- that the cattle might be freed from disease. Another- Worcestershire custom is to take a bunch of mistletoe and give it to the cow who first oalves on or after New Year's Day, as by doing this % ill-luck, is warded off calf and also from the whole dairy. In some parts of Ireland it was customary to hunt the wren on St Stephen's Day and on New Year/s Day ? parties being made up, one half beatin'g the bushes- and thus driving out the poor birds, the others flinging stones and sticks at them as they flew out. Waldrori tells us that _ the custom arose from ta tradition which said that in past days a fairy of wonderful beauty charmed all the men and youths, enticing them to follow her, and that she led them into the eea, where they were drowned. . Fears arose that Ire-; land would have no men left to defend her, and 'great . paifys '.were taken to circumvent the spells .of the fairy, but in vain. At last a magician discovered how she might be taken, and setting himself at the head of a large party they sallied out.- But they* were just too late." Finding- out their intentions, she escaped in tne form of a wren.. When safe she resumed her old form, butthe.miagician was able to ordain by means of a very powerful spell to force the fairy to again take the form of a wren upon one day of the year. This was New Year's Day, atod he afterwards declared that ultimately she vi st perish by human hand. Hence ar">se the custom of hunting the wren on t^'s day: Songs were loudly chanted, t> *id men and boys took great gfee m the proceedings. .The following is a fragment from a song which w-as ,suug from door to door after the proceedings wcro over, the bird killed being exhibited o> j 'ivy bushes tied with gay ribbons. The wren, the wren, the king of all birds, ! St Stephen's Day was caught in the furzftj ' Although he is little, his family's great; I pray you, good landlady, give us a treat. My box would speak if it had but a tongue, And -two or three shillings would do it no ■ wrong. ■ Sing holly, sing ivy— sing Jvy, sing-holly; A drop just to drink it would drown melancholy. .''•"■ Strange to say, in England, particularly in the southern counties, it is considered .peculiarly unlucky to kill a wren. In the Tyrol it is believed ijhat. the wraiths or spirits of the departed may be seen 6a New Year's Eve. and in Silesia and Scotland this belief also prevails. The folk of Northumberland 6ay that who goes to the four-cross road at dead of night will see the ghosts of the gibbeted -of past days, and in many parts of England it is believed that .a ifuneral hearse can be seen at various .cross roads' a'€" twelve o'clock on New Year's Eve. In Kircudbrightshire, the peasants declare that the wraith of every, spirit about to die during the ensiung year may be seen passing through the churchyard as the clock j strikes twelve.>.bnt'that in order to see tHis ghostly procession one must be unaccompanied. This is a similar belief to the one held in England, where it is believed that on the Eve of --St John such a procession may be seen. It is curious to notice how much folk lore dealing with death centres round this day, the first of the' year ; possibly because it has always' been regarded with a certain amount of superstitious awe, and death and the mysteriousgerierally go hand in hand. In' Oxfords shire the girls say "that she who peeps j over her shoulder, standing in front of a mirror, and then looks back again, will see either the wraith of her lover* the devil, or Judas Iscariot. If etfi see her lover • she will be married, ere | the year is out, if the devil, then she will die, but if Judas Iscariot, then a piece of good luck is to befall her, presumably one connected with money. In Cornwall the village girls set a tallow candle on the stairs on this night, setting it in /a draught. If a winding sheet is produced when it is has guttered, a death in the family will follow,bat if it produce a shape like a man then the girl will wed ere ' the year be old. A similar belief prevails in Buckinghamshire, where . the peasants sit round the fire and watch for signs in the- embers. VA long hollow cinder falling is known as a cfnn, and denotes a death, if an oval cinder it is a cradle, and predicts marriage and births. If a dog howls dn- New Year's Eve, say the folk of Devon, then disease and pestilence may be expected, and in Oxfordshire they say that when the dog howls on this night it is because he sees ghosts. Spirits are believed in many parts to be visible to dogs and horses; even in lie Odyssey we find this mentioned. So, too,, the JewNsays when a dog: howls that he Has seen the Angel of Death. "*• To wear a new gown on New Year's Day^ will bring- good luck to its wearer, a similar belief prevailing with other days of the year, Easter Day and Whit- j suntide, for example. To pick up a i pin, fasting, on New Year's morning, is another sign that good luck will be your portion. The saying goes in the Midlands : — See a pin and piok it up, All the year you'll have good luok ; See a "pin and let it lie, \ In the year you'll heye to cry. Welsh people declare tha't it is unlucky to give a present on New Year's Day, but in- Warwickshire the folk declare that this only matters if the present be a sharp instrument such as a knife or a pair of scissors. The belief runs that the friendship will be severed if this is done. Gay, in his "Shepherd's Week/' says: — But woe is 'me! Such presents luckless prove, For knive», they tell me, always sever love. A piece of rosemary sewn into a dress on New Year's Day and continually worn will bring good luck to its wearer, say the people of Leicestershire ; and that if a potato be taken and sewn in the pocket of a "man suffering from rheumatism, he will feel no more of it,, if this simple charm be worked on the last day of tho old year, is a belief in the southern, countries. In Berkshire, should the , moon be new on this day, the young women go out into the fields and repeat the following charm : — '■ New moon, new moon, I hail thee! By all the virtue in thy body, Grant this night that I may see He who my true love is to be. Then returning home they must not speak again till the next morning, believing that during the night the man they will wed will appear to them in a dream. In Staffordshire, if a child is ailing with whooping cough or measles, it is said that a cure may be effected by taking it out on New Year's Eve and letting it look up at tiw» -mcqu^ repeating the. following :—

What I gee, may it increase; What I feel, may it decrease. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. — Amen.

tins, however, must only be performed if the moon is new and on the increase; to do so when it is on the wane would mean death and disaster to the whole family. In Northamptonshire it is said to be .very lucky to receive money on New Year' 8 morning, and in Ireland it is considered etill more lucky to give away food. Should a beggar come to the door one may count it a blessing, for by feeding him on New Tear's morn good luck will follow you till next New Year's Day.