RHYMES AND SUPERSTITIONS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16456, 18 June 1921, Page 4

RHYMES AND SUPERSTITIONS.

CURIOUS OLD SCOTTISH BELIEFS. Wliat a wonderful vitality .the oldfashioned fairy tales possess! (writes <l A.E.” in the “ Weekly Scotsman.”) At the present moment, when legend looms largo in the public mind, it may bo interesting to renew acquaintance with some of rtlie popular rhymes of Scotland connected with superstitions. These pleasing rhymes are never likely to be forgotten. Age cannot wither them, nor can custom, that most cunning of all depredators, rob them of their charm. Tina worshippers at the shrine 1 s.ur.Jerstition are not always dispose*!, to rhake candid confession of their credulity. The peasants still court luck by means of horseshoes nailed to the doors of their dwellings, hut when an nntsid°r makes any observation regarding the usage the rustics invariably hasten to remark _ that they are merely indulging a whim established by use and wont. Still more widespread is the disfavour with which May marriages are regarded. Indeed, the couple courageous enough to defv the time-honoured prohibition would bo likely to 'incur the odium which is the lot- of those w ho are accused of flying in the face of Providence. “ Of the marriages in "May, The bairns die o' decay.” THE PREJUDICE AGINST GREEN. Another rooted prejudice is the antipathy towards the colour green. In not a fow rural districts it is supposed Ihat the girl who ventures to purchase a green dress will shortly afterwards be compelled to don mournings. This belief finds expression in the rhyme:— “ Yellow’s forsaken, and green’s forBut blue and red ought to be worn.* 3 Again “ Blue is beauty, red's a taiken (token), Green’s grief, and yellow’s forsaken-" It is rather strange that green, the most natural and agreeable of all colours, should have been connected by superstition with calamity and sorrow. To the Li ndsaj-s the fatal colour seems to have been fraught with more than the usual ill luck, as another couplet runs:— “ The Lindsays in green Should never been seen." This is supposed to bo based on the fact that at a disastrous battle fought near Brechin, green predominated in tho dress of the dan. In his “ Letters on Demonology,” Scott describes green as “a colour fatal to several families in Scotland, t 0 tho whole race of the Grahams in particular ; inasmuch that we have heard tnat in battle a Graham is generally shot through the green check of his plaid; moreover, that a veteran sportsl? 1 ?. 11 G name .having come by a bad tall, he thought it sufficient to account for it that ho had a piece of green whipcord to complete the lash of his minting wmp. I remember also v late amiable friend, James ’ Graham©, author or Ike Sabbath," would riot break through this ancient prejudice

oi his clan but had his library table covered wtih blue or black cloth,' rather than use tli? fated colour commonly employed on such occasions. the fairies. 3 / a n.v verses hear testimony to the erstvrhilo belief in fairies or troys Formers used to avoid, with superstith rV.i rG T el ' enc a, to till or destroy the little circles of bright green grass which aro believed to bo the, favourite ballrooms or the fairies; for according to the appropriate rhyme— He vha tills the fairies' green, Jsae luck again shall hae: And be tvha spills tho fairies' ring, tie tide him want and wae - tor weirdless days and weary nights Aro lus fill his deem’ day!” ’ by the same authority : “ H° wk gaes by tho fairy ring .\ae dule nor pine shall see; Anri he wha cleans the fairy rin<^ An eas3 r death shall dee.” *”** In various places, the fairies are described as having been seen on some particular occasion to gather together and take a formal farewell of the district-, when it had become, from agricultural changes, unfitted for their residence. It till lately, believed in certain localities, that i n a time of scarcity a supernatural supply might be obtained by saying:— ‘‘Fairy, fairy, come bake me a scone. And ITI gie ye a suprtle to turn it aff and on.” A tradition is still current-that a fairy, or brownie, assisted at a farmhouse while the household were asleep One night the owner left out some clothes for the brownie, who was so affronted that he left tho house forever, exclaiming:

';Gie brownie coat, gie brownie sark xc so get nae mair o' brownie’s vark 1 ;

m BEASTS AXI> BIRDS. the following story is told of the old family of the Grahams of Morphie. '' Ti n ? ne ot t * le lal rds built the old castle, he secured the assistance of tho kelpie or water-horse, by the accredited means of throwing a pair of branks ov f r ? ls “ len compelled the robust spirit to envy heavv loads of SfJf the building. The kelpie uken 1 elensed from his task, and b**--ore he disappeared in the water, turned about and expressed in the following words, at once his own grievancos and the destiny of his taskmaster s family:— “ Sair back and sair banes Drivm; the laird o’ Morph iVs stanos! Jbe laird o Morphie 11 never thrive As lang s the kelpie is alive!” A\hen rats and mice became superabundant in a house of the humbler class, a writ of ejectment, in the following form, was served upon them by being stuck up, legibly written, on the wall:— ’ “ Ratton and mouse Lea.’ the puir woman’s house . Gang awa’ owre by to 'e mill. A idl ’> rß ane allcl a ’ .ve’l! get your. , clock-beetle, or cockroach, was tilled to words : *' Remember yesterday, yesterday Remember yesterday, wretch That let not the Son of God pass.” RHYMES OX BIRDS. Some of the rhymes on birds are the most poetical of all. What, for instance, could be more poetical than the puerile malediction upon those who rob tl.e nest of the wren—a bird considered sacred, apparently on account or its smallness, its beauty, and its innocence ? “ Malisons, malisons, mair than ten, That harry the Lady© of Heaven’s hen l” There are many other lines of equal richness in reference to birds whose nests it is deemd unluckv to molest. The wagtail is saluted'in the following rhyme : “ Merry water wagtail A’ the bairnies know How yer tail, wag-waggin\ Gars the buruie flow. Arid how the wicked kelpie Tolls the frottin’ linn, If ye stop tho waggin’ Burnies winna rin.’’ Throughout all Scotland it is a belief that the number of magpies seen at a time denotes various degres of good and ill-fortune : “One's sorrow—-two's mirth; Three’s a wedding—four’s death; Five a blessing—six hell; {Seven the (tail's ain sel’”

WITCHES AND MERMAIDS. articles wer© supposed to have a controlling power over witches. “ Rowan-tree and red thread Make the witches tyno their speed. 3 ’ Such is a saying prevalent over all Scotland, and in the Highlands the virtue of the rowan-tree is still held in high repute. Mermaids, in Scottish superstition, were both beneficient and dangerous personages. There is a story which represents the maid of the sea in a kindly disposition towards afflicted humanity. The funeral of a young woman who had died of consumption was passing along the high-road on the margin of the sea. when a mermaid raised her head from tho water, and in slow admonitory tones uttered these words: “ If they wad drink nettles in. March, And eat muggons in May, Sae mony braw maidens YTadna gang to the clay.”