“If the hen moult before the cock, We get a winter as hard as a rock; If the cock moult before the hen, We get a winter like a spring. “She put plenty of salt in the water while washing clothes, to keep the thunder out, and to keep away foul spirits.” Of Good Friday, she says, “If work be done on that day, it will be so unlucky, that it will have to be done over again.” The story of Heard’s Ghost she accompanies by an anecdote of one Finch, of Neatishead, who was walking along the road after dark, and saw a dog which he thought was Dick Allard’s, that had snapped and snarled at him at different times. Thinks he, “you have _upset_ me two or three times; I will upset you now. You will not turn out of the road for me; and I will not turn out of the road for you.” Along came the dog, straight in the middle of the road, and Finch kicked at him, and his foot went through him, as through a sheet of paper—he could compare it to nothing else; he was quite astounded, and nearly fell backwards from the force of the kick. She says that she has heard that the spirits of the dead haunt the places where treasures were hid by them when living, and that those of the Roman Catholics still frequent the spots where their remains were disturbed, and their graves and monuments destroyed. Alas! what a ghost-besieged city must poor Norwich be in such a case! Of the cuckoo, she says, “When evil is coming, he sings low among the bushes, and can scarcely get his “cuckoo” out. In the last week before he leaves, he always tells all that will happen in the course of the year till he comes again—all the shipwrecks, storms, accidents, and everything. If any one is about to die suddenly, or to lose a relation, he will light upon touchwood, or a rotten bough, and “cuckoo.” “He is always here three months to a day, and sings all the while. The first of April is the proper day for him to come, and when he does so, there is sure to be a good and early harvest. If he does not come till May, then the harvest is into October. If he sings long after midsummer, there will be a Michaelmas harvest. If any one hears the cuckoo first when in bed, there is sure to be illness or death to him or one of his family.” Among her saws are— “Them that ever mind the world to win, Must have a black cat, a howling dog, and a crowing hen. “If youth could know what age do crave, _Sights_ of pennies youth would save. “They that wive Between sickle and scythe, Shall never thrive.” With reference to howling dogs, she says, “Pull off your left shoe and turn it, and it will quiet him. I always used to do so when I was in service. I hated to hear the dogs howl. There was no tax then, and the farmers kept a _heap_ of them. They won’t howl three times after the turning the shoe; if you are in bed, turn the shoe upside down by the bedside.” Among the historical prophecies of Mother Shipton and Mother Bunch, her sister, as remembered by her, are—