Current superstitions : $b collected from the oral tradition of English speaking folk — John Shaqi
Current superstitions : $b collected from the oral tradition of English speaking folk
General
Current superstitions : $b collected from the oral tradition of English speaking folk
Folklore -- England; Folklore -- United States
1. The bairn that is born on fair Sunday
Is bonny and loving, and blithe and gay.
Monday's bairn is fair in the face,
Tuesday's bairn is full of grace,
Wednesday's bairn is loving and giving,
Thursday's bairn works hard for a living,
Friday's bairn is a child of woe,
Saturday's bairn has far to go.
_Massachusetts._
2. Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is sour and sad,
Thursday's child is merry and glad,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child must work for a living;
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is blithe and bonny, good and gay.
_Baldwinsville, N.Y._
(Some put it, Sunday's child shall never know want.)
3. He who is born on New Year's morn
Will have his own way as sure as you're born.
4. He who is born on an Easter morn
Shall never know want, or care, or harm.
5. A child born on a saint's day must bear the saint's name. It is
unlucky to take away the day from it.
_Catholic superstition._
6. Thursday has one lucky hour, just before sunrise, for birth.
BAPTISM.
7. If a child cries during baptism, it is the devil going out of it.
_Niagara Falls, Ont._
8. It is lucky for the child to cry at baptism, but unlucky for the
godmother to wear mourning.
9. If twins are brought to baptism at the same time, christen the boy
first, or else he will have no beard, and the girl will be beggared.
PHYSIOGNOMY.
10. An open hand in a baby is a sign of a generous disposition, but a
habit of closing the fingers indicates avarice, or, as we say,
closefistedness.
_Cambridge, Mass._
11. If a child "favors its father," it is good luck for it. It will get
on well in the world.
_Salem, Mass._
12. A baby that has two crowns will live in two continents or kingdoms.
_Massachusetts._
13. A double crown on the head means that the owner will "break bread in
two kingdoms."
_Northern Ohio._
14. "Two crowns will never be satisfied." This is a sign of a very
changeable disposition.
_Chestertown, Md._
15. A baby born with a veil over its face has good luck.
_General._
16. A child born with a veil over its face will never be drowned. Many
sailors are known to wear the caul, with which they were born, about the
person as a charm against death by drowning.
_Sailor's superstition._
INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD.
17. Take the baby first into the sunlight on Sunday. Put it into short
clothes and make all changes on that day.
18. To make a child rise in the world, carry it upstairs (or to the
attic) first.
_Mifflintown, Pa._
19. The baby must go upstairs before it goes downstairs, or it will never
rise in the world.
_Massachusetts._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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