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
906. Split a pea and rub the wart with both pieces, make a wish that some
person shall get the wart, throw one piece over one shoulder and the
other over the other (into the river), and the wart will go to the person
wished.
_Miramichi, N.B._
907. If you rub your warts with a pebble, wrap the pebble in paper, and
throw it away; the person who picks it up will have them come to him. Or,
should you label the paper with some one's name and throw it away, the
warts will go to the person whose name you have written.
_New England._
908. Take a green, mossy pebble, wrap it up, tie it, and throw it away.
The finder will catch the wart which you had.
_Rhode Island._
909. Take as many pebbles as there are warts. Rub them on the warts. Roll
them in paper and throw them away. The finder takes the warts.
_Boxford, Mass._
910. Go out of doors, count three, stop and pick up the stone nearest to
your toe. Wrap it up in a paper, and throw it away. The one that picks it
up will get the warts.
_Providence, R.I._
911. Count out secretly as many stones as you have warts, tie in a rag,
and throw them where they can't be seen.
_Massachusetts._
912. If you have warts, walk nine steps backward with your eyes shut,
having just picked up a pebble with which rub the wart, and throw it
away.
_Fort Worth, Tex._
913. To cure warts, wash the hands in warm pig's blood.
_Nova Scotia._
914. Steal as many pins as you have warts, wrap them in paper, and throw
them in the road: the warts will attack whoever picks up the paper, and
leave you.
_Bruynswick, N.Y._
915. Run a pin through the wart, and put the pin in the road; the finder
gets the wart.
_Missouri._
916. Rub warts with the head of a pin; hide the latter and do not look
for it, or tie a knot in a string, lay it away, and do not look for it,
and the warts will disappear.
_Western New York._
917. Take a potato and rub it over the wart, then wrap the potato in a
piece of paper and throw it away. The one who finds it will have the wart.
_Maine._
918. Rub the wart with a cotton rag, spit on the rag and hide it under a
water-board (a wooden gutter used as a duct for rain-water off the roof
of a house), where the water will drip on it. The whole operation must be
kept secret.
_Kansas._
919. Rub the wart with rock-salt till it bleeds, and throw a lump of salt
in the fire; if it crackles and snaps out of the fire, the wart will get
well; if not, not.
_Central Maine._
920. Binding a slug (_Limax_) on a wart will cure it.
_Cazenovia, N.Y._
921. Rub the warts with the sole of your shoe; as the leather wears away,
the warts depart.
_Springfield, Mass._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account