Nottinghamshire.
In this county it is considered unlucky to remove anything from a house until something has been brought in, and therefore, early in the morning, each member of the family carries some trifling thing in. In the neighbourhood of Newark, this rhyme is sung:
“Take out, and take in,
Bad luck is sure to begin;
But take in and take out.
Good luck will come about.”
Jour. of Arch. Assoc. 1853, vol. viii. p. 231.
Brand, in his Pop. Antiq. (1849, vol. i. p. 15), alludes to this custom as existing in Lincoln and its neighbourhood. The rhyme he quotes is slightly different from the above:
“Take out, then take in,
Bad luck will begin;
Take in, then take out,
Good luck comes in.”