In the district of Bohnsland, in Sweden, in the middle of the eighteenth century, it was not thought proper to fell wood on the afternoon of Thursday. (Id.)
"Many slones [sloes], many groans, Many nits [nuts], many pits."
"When the aspen leaves are no bigger than your nail, Is the time to look out for truff and peel."
_Margaret's Flood_.--Heavy rain is expected about the time of St. Margaret's day (July 20th). It is called "Margaret's flood."
"Widdecombe folks are picking their geese, Faster, faster, faster."
A saying among the parishes of the south coast during a snow-storm. 'Widdecombe' is "Widdecombe in the Dartmoors."
A saying with reference to land or lease held on lives. If the seed is sown without notice of the death of the life, the corn may be reaped, although the death took place before the sowing.
"If they swarm in May, They're worth a pound next day. If they swarm in July, They're not worth a fly."
Bees must never be bought. It is best to give a sack of wheat for a hive.
_Dinnick_ is the Devonshire name of a small bird, said to follow and feed the cuckoo.
A cat will not remain in a house with an unburied corpse; and rooks will leave the place until after the funeral, if the rookery be near the house.
It is proper to make a low bow whenever a single magpie is seen.
It is not considered safe to plant a bed of lilies of the valley; the person doing so will probably die in the course of the next twelve months.
Where the rainbow rests, is a crock of gold.
A cork under the pillow is a certain cure for cramp.
Seven different herbs must be used for making a herb poultice.
"The editor remembers a female relation of a former vicar of St. Erth, who, instructed by a dream, prepared decoctions of various herbs, and repairing to the Land's End, poured them into the sea, with certain incantations, with the expectation of seeing the Lionesse rise immediately out of the water having all its inhabitants alive, notwithstanding their long immersion."--Davies Gilbert's _Cornwall_, vol. iii. p. 310.
If the fire blazes up brightly when the crock is hung up, it is a sign there is a stranger coming.
_Cure for Thrush_.--Take the child to a running stream, draw a straw through its mouth, and repeat the verse, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings," &c.