The next to this is New Yeares day, whereon to every frende, They costly presents in do bring, and Newe Yeares giftes do sende. These giftes the husband gives his wife, and father eke the childe, And maister on his men bestowes the like, with favour milde. And good beginning of the yeare, they wishe and wishe againe, According to the auncient guise of heathen people vaine. These eight dayes no man doth require his dettes of any man, Their tables do they furnish out with all the meate they can: With Marchpaynes, Tartes, and Custards great, they drink with staring eyes, They rowte and revell, feede and feast, as merry all as Pyes: As if they should at th' entrance of this newe yeare hap to die, Yet would they have theyr bellyes full, and auncient friendes allie. The custom of mutual gifts on this day still obtains in England, but is in great force in France. Here it was general among all classes, and many are the notices of presents to Royalty, but nowadays a present at Christmas has very greatly superseded the old custom. We owe the term "pin-money" to the gift of pins at this season. They were expensive articles, and occasionally money was given as a commutation. Gloves were, as they are now, always an acceptable present, but to those who were not overburdened with this world's goods an orange stuck with cloves was deemed sufficient for a New Year's gift. Among the many superstitious customs which used to obtain in England was a kind of "Sortes Virgilianae," or divination, as to the coming year. Only the Bible was the medium, and the operation was termed "dipping." The ceremony usually took place before breakfast, as it was absolutely necessary that the rite should be performed fasting. The Bible was laid upon a table, and opened haphazard, a finger being placed, without premeditation, upon a verse, and the future for the coming year was dependent upon the sense of the verse pitched upon. A correspondent in _Notes and Queries_ (2 ser. xii. 303) writes: "About eight years ago I was staying in a little village in Oxfordshire on the first day of the year, and happening to pass by a cottage where an old woman lived whom I knew well, I stepped in, and wished her 'A Happy New Year.' Instead of replying to my salutation, she stared wildly at me, and exclaimed in a horrified tone, 'New Year's Day! and I have never dipped.' Not having the slightest idea of her meaning, I asked for an explanation, and gathered from her that it was customary to _dip_ into the Bible before twelve o'clock on New Year's Day, and the first verse that met the eye indicated the good or bad fortune of the inquirer through the ensuing year. My old friend added: 'Last year I dipped, and I opened on Job, and sure enough, I have had nought but trouble ever since.' Her consternation on receiving my good wishes was in consequence of her having let the opportunity of dipping go by for