Transcriber's Note: Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note. Archaic, dialect and variant spellings remain as printed. Greek text appears as originally printed. The carat (^) precedes a superscript character. Missing chapter titles have been included to match the Contents listing for readers' convenience. LANCASHIRE FOLK-LORE: ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES, LOCAL CUSTOMS AND USAGES OF THE PEOPLE OF THE COUNTY PALATINE. COMPILED AND EDITED BY JOHN HARLAND, F.S.A. AND T. T. WILKINSON, F.R.A.S. [Device] LONDON: FREDERICK WARNE AND CO. BEDFORD STREET, COVENT GARDEN. NEW YORK: SCRIBNER AND CO. 1867. LONDON: SAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET, COVENT GARDEN. PREFACE. "Folk-lore," though a term that will not be found in our standard dictionaries, from Johnson down to Webster, is nevertheless simply a modern combination of two genuine old English words--_Folc_, the folk, the people, "the common people;" and _Lár_, _Laer_, _Lora_, learning, doctrine, precept, law. In the earlier days of our English tongue, folk-land, folk-gemote, folk-right, &c., were terms in common use, and amongst this class of compound words our fore-elders had _folc-lare_, by which they denoted plain, simple teaching suited for the people, what we should now call "popular instruction," and hence _folk-lare_ also meant a sermon. _Folk-Lore_, in its present signification--and for its general acceptance we are largely indebted to the Editor of that valuable periodical _Notes and Queries_,--means the notions of the folk or people, from childhood upwards, especially their superstitious beliefs and practices, as these have been handed down from generation to generation, in popular tradition and tale, rhyme, proverb, or saying, and it is well termed Folk-Lore in contradistinction to book-lore or scholastic learning. It is the unlearned people's inheritance of tradition from their ancestors, the modern reflection of ancient faith and usage. This Folk-Lore has not been wholly without record in our literature. Hone in his delightful _Every-Day Book_, _Year Book_, and _Table Book_, has preserved many a choice bit of England's Folk-Lore; and his example has been ably followed in Chambers's _Book of Days_. Brand's _Popular Antiquities_, Aubrey's _Miscellanies_, Allies's _Antiquities and Folk-Lore of Worcestershire_, and other like works,