Eating a boiled egg and then turning the empty shell upside down in the egg-cup, bashing the shell with a spoon until it cracks - while shouting 'Kill the Witches'! I never thought it was strange until I watched my son teaching it to my 2 year old grandson.
We did this as 1950's children. I had forgotten!
As to which end to start from, but are you a 'Big Ender' or a 'Small Ender'?
If your shoes squeak it means that they haven't been paid for.
There might be a certain logic to that, if you're paying on an installment plan: the newer the shoes, the more likely they are to be a) not fully paid for, and b) squeaky, due to not being fully broken in.
I vaguely remember that the big endian, small endian dispute is mentioned in Gulliver’s Travels, where it is code for opposing views on transubstantiation. Perhaps we should revisit Swift’s “a modest proposal” which could apply to a number of contemporary situations.
Was also told about smashing egg shells. In retrospect curious how I leant this as came from a middle class English family. As mentioned in this discussion, I also greet Magpies when we meet. Also can't remember how this came about from my youth 60 years ago.
Regarding the 'big ender' v 'small ender' debate - it seemed logical to my child brain that the more conical end would fit more securely in the egg-cup while I was eating. The Killing of Witches was just random spoon bashing!!
I vaguely remember a superstition which involved holding your collar when you saw a hearse (or ambulance) until you saw a - what? Anyone know? Is it peculiar to Norfolk maybe?
I vaguely remember a superstition which involved holding your collar when you saw a hearse (or ambulance) until you saw a - what? Anyone know? Is it peculiar to Norfolk maybe?
My parents use to do that in the car - until we saw a 4-legged animal. That was in Essex so not Norfolk specific.
We said "hold your collar, never swaller (swallow), never catch the fever" - and held on till we saw a black cat. It was passed on by my cousins who were at school in Hertfordshire.
Right enough about Hertfordshire. You had to hold your collar when an ambulance went past, though I don't remember the hearse or the black cat requirement. Who remembers the Daimler ambulances with the big bell on the front? No flashing lights or sirens back then.
We said "hold your collar, never swaller (swallow), never catch the fever" - and held on till we saw a black cat. It was passed on by my cousins who were at school in Hertfordshire.
I'm just imagining doing this for days while waiting in vain to see a black cat.
We said "hold your collar, never swaller (swallow), never catch the fever" - and held on till we saw a black cat. It was passed on by my cousins who were at school in Hertfordshire.
I think a cat of any colour would be acceptable at a pinch, We didn't take it that seriously as it only came from the cousins, not from a fount of authority like our mother or grandmother!
Eating a boiled egg and then turning the empty shell upside down in the egg-cup, bashing the shell with a spoon until it cracks - while shouting 'Kill the Witches'! I never thought it was strange until I watched my son teaching it to my 2 year old grandson.
Well, that's a blast from the past that I'd completely forgotten until you mentioned it. My father used to do this with his empty boiled eggshell - like @Eigon , his reason was so that the witches couldn't use them as boats to travel around in.
My grandmother had a horseshoe hanging up in her kitchen. It was the "right way up" so that the luck wouldn't run out. I later came across a different version, you should turn it points down so that it didn't make a seat for a witch to sit in.
From my Irish side: Babies are always born on a falling tide.
I assume that's linked to the idea of more babies being born during a full moon.
Mrs Rogue is a midwife and she and all her colleagues are convinced that things are busier and more wild at the full moon. I did once ask her if the statistics backed up that view but she didn't want to investigate.
I had an abusive reader who used to send me scary messages telling me how horrible I was every few weeks--bad enough that my work held a meeting to discuss security in case he or someone else came to our office with violence on his mind. Just out of curiosity I tracked his messages against the calendar, and all but one came at the full moon. (Haven't heard from him since the pandemic.)
I’ll have to monitor my mood swings and see if I am more of a ‘lunatic’ at full moon.
(manic depression is seasonal, and many of us also have seasonal affective disorder. I am depressed in the winter but manic in the spring; mad March is a recognised phenomenon in psychiatry. I see no reason why the brightness of the moon might not a have a similar but less intense influence)
From a quick scan through some articles, the premise for ‘lunacy’ is that moonlight can impact negatively on sleep, and sleep deprivation is a known trigger for mania. Obviously this would have impacted traditional societies more than modern ones, as our lifestyles are now less governed by natural light. So madness became associated with the moon.
From a quick scan through some articles, the premise for ‘lunacy’ is that moonlight can impact negatively on sleep, and sleep deprivation is a known trigger for mania. Obviously this would have impacted traditional societies more than modern ones, as our lifestyles are now less governed by natural light. So madness became associated with the moon.
Certainly that could be one element of why madness is associated with the moon, on a corporeal level. There could be other reasons as well, in my view.
Many years ago I worked on the delivery ward of a maternity unit, and it certainly got busier around the full moon. There was also a small increase in the number of Mums in labour at the new moon.
From a quick scan through some articles, the premise for ‘lunacy’ is that moonlight can impact negatively on sleep, and sleep deprivation is a known trigger for mania. Obviously this would have impacted traditional societies more than modern ones, as our lifestyles are now less governed by natural light. So madness became associated with the moon.
Certainly that could be one element of why madness is associated with the moon, on a corporeal level. There could be other reasons as well, in my view.
Slight tangent
One of my Dylan Dog comic book stories has a policeman who climbs rooftops and howls naked at the full moon.
His colleagues like him and explain to Dylan that this is just a normal characteristic for him and they are accustomed to it.
From a quick scan through some articles, the premise for ‘lunacy’ is that moonlight can impact negatively on sleep, and sleep deprivation is a known trigger for mania. Obviously this would have impacted traditional societies more than modern ones, as our lifestyles are now less governed by natural light. So madness became associated with the moon.
Certainly that could be one element of why madness is associated with the moon, on a corporeal level. There could be other reasons as well, in my view.
Slight tangent
One of my Dylan Dog comic book stories has a policeman who climbs rooftops and howls naked at the full moon.
His colleagues like him and explain to Dylan that this is just a normal characteristic for him and they are accustomed to it.
Our family wasn't particularly superstitious, but Mum always insisted you could not give a purse as a gift unless it had at least a coin in it. Quite often something like 5 or 10 cents. Mum was more superstitious than the rest of us as she did not like shoes on tables, or umbrellas opened in the house. I have no idea why for either of those.
We have owned several black cats which have been affectionate and smart, and if they crossed my path, I would be quite happy!
I've always found the 'umbrella' superstitions strange. After all, they only came into use for the wealthy in the C18 IIRC, and more widely in the 19th. Seems more like a way of adding mythical emphasis to a thoroughly rational rule (after all, not many people lived in houses where you could open an umbrella without serious risk to people or property).
Avoiding putting shoes on tables just sounds like a common sense thing because shoes are dirty and gross. And tables are where you eat or put other things that are supposed to be clean. Of course I mean if it’s a box of new shoes then that’s really different I think.
Our family wasn't particularly superstitious, but Mum always insisted you could not give a purse as a gift unless it had at least a coin in it. Quite often something like 5 or 10 cents. Mum was more superstitious than the rest of us as she did not like shoes on tables, or umbrellas opened in the house. I have no idea why for either of those.
We have owned several black cats which have been affectionate and smart, and if they crossed my path, I would be quite happy!
Where and when I grew up black cats were considered lucky, not the reverse. They featured on wedding cards or good luck cards.
I was reminded of another superstition I grew up with that I'd half forgotten until Sunday morning when we were catching up with some old friends over breakfast. The wife of the couple was showing me a ring the husband had recently bought for her - an opal surrounded by diamonds.
My first (unspoken) reaction was, "But your birthday isn't in October." My mum had the superstition that it was unlucky to wear opals unless you had an October birthday. She loved opals but would never wear them. I love them too - maybe one day I'll get an opal ring and shatter the superstition.
Oh, yes. I have heard the idea that it is bad luck to wear a gemstone that is not the gemstone for your birth month. I wear a ring that belonged to my grandfather. It has an amethyst (February). My birthday is in June. But I figure the bad luck is diminished because I always point out that, while I wear it, it was my grandfather's ring and February was his birth month.
I was reminded of another superstition I grew up with that I'd half forgotten until Sunday morning when we were catching up with some old friends over breakfast. The wife of the couple was showing me a ring the husband had recently bought for her - an opal surrounded by diamonds.
My first (unspoken) reaction was, "But your birthday isn't in October." My mum had the superstition that it was unlucky to wear opals unless you had an October birthday. She loved opals but would never wear them. I love them too - maybe one day I'll get an opal ring and shatter the superstition.
My Mother had an October birthday, and she gave me one of her opal rings. The first time I wore it, I went swimming, and it became loose, and I lost it in the ocean. She said, I never should have given it to you, as I knew it was bad luck if your birthday was not in October.
Comments
We did this as 1950's children. I had forgotten!
As to which end to start from, but are you a 'Big Ender' or a 'Small Ender'?
There might be a certain logic to that, if you're paying on an installment plan: the newer the shoes, the more likely they are to be a) not fully paid for, and b) squeaky, due to not being fully broken in.
My parents use to do that in the car - until we saw a 4-legged animal. That was in Essex so not Norfolk specific.
I'm just imagining doing this for days while waiting in vain to see a black cat.
What happened if you didn’t see a black cat?
I think that is the version I knew, probably from my grandmother who was a country woman from Northamptonshire.
Well, that's a blast from the past that I'd completely forgotten until you mentioned it. My father used to do this with his empty boiled eggshell - like @Eigon , his reason was so that the witches couldn't use them as boats to travel around in.
Mrs Rogue is a midwife and she and all her colleagues are convinced that things are busier and more wild at the full moon. I did once ask her if the statistics backed up that view but she didn't want to investigate.
(manic depression is seasonal, and many of us also have seasonal affective disorder. I am depressed in the winter but manic in the spring; mad March is a recognised phenomenon in psychiatry. I see no reason why the brightness of the moon might not a have a similar but less intense influence)
Certainly that could be one element of why madness is associated with the moon, on a corporeal level. There could be other reasons as well, in my view.
If you find money, you must give it away, for as the ditty goes:
On my childhood lamp shade
Find a penny, pick it up
And all day you'll have good luck.
Put the penny in the bank.
And good fortune you will think.
The lamp had a little bank on it.
Slight tangent
One of my Dylan Dog comic book stories has a policeman who climbs rooftops and howls naked at the full moon.
His colleagues like him and explain to Dylan that this is just a normal characteristic for him and they are accustomed to it.
Tangent End
The version I knew of that was
'See a pin and pick it up, all that day you'll have good luck',
I don't recall a longer version.
Sounds a bit Terry Pratchett-ish!
All that day you'll have good luck
If you give it to another
Then your luck will last for ever.
All that day you'll have good luck.
See a pin and let it lie
Sorrows coming by and by.
Our family wasn't particularly superstitious, but Mum always insisted you could not give a purse as a gift unless it had at least a coin in it. Quite often something like 5 or 10 cents. Mum was more superstitious than the rest of us as she did not like shoes on tables, or umbrellas opened in the house. I have no idea why for either of those.
We have owned several black cats which have been affectionate and smart, and if they crossed my path, I would be quite happy!
Where and when I grew up black cats were considered lucky, not the reverse. They featured on wedding cards or good luck cards.
My first (unspoken) reaction was, "But your birthday isn't in October." My mum had the superstition that it was unlucky to wear opals unless you had an October birthday. She loved opals but would never wear them. I love them too - maybe one day I'll get an opal ring and shatter the superstition.
My Mother had an October birthday, and she gave me one of her opal rings. The first time I wore it, I went swimming, and it became loose, and I lost it in the ocean. She said, I never should have given it to you, as I knew it was bad luck if your birthday was not in October.