FOLK LORE.
Game-feathers protracting the Agony of Death.
—In a recent Number this singular superstition was stated to be prevalent in Sussex. In the adjoining county of Surrey the notion appears to be deeply rooted in the minds of the lower classes. A friend, residing in my parish (Betchworth), has given me several examples, which have fallen under his notice during the past winter.
"I was calling, a few weeks since, upon an old man whom I had left the previous day apparently in a dying state. At the door I met an old neighhour, and inquired if he was still living. 'Yes Sir,' she said; 'we think he must change his bed.' 'Change his bed!' I replied. 'What do you mean?' 'Why, Sir, we think he can't pass away while he lies in that bed. The neighbours think there must be game-feathers in the bed.' 'Game-feathers! What do you mean?' 'Why, Sir, it is always thought a poor soul can't pass away if he is lying on game-feathers.' 'Oh,' I said, 'there is nothing in that; that is not the reason of his lingering on.' 'No, Sir,' she replied, 'I think so too, for I know the bed well. I was at the making of it, and the feathers were well picked over.'
"Not long after I looked in upon another aged man, who had been confined to his bed upwards of four months, gently dropping into his grave without any other apparent complaint than old age. He was a fine, hearty old man, with a constitution which kept him lingering on beyond expectation. 'Well,' I said, 'how are you this morning?' 'Oh, Sir, I have had a sad night. I hoped, when you left me, I should drop asleep and never wake more in this world.' 'Yes, poor fellow,' said his sister, who stood by his bedside, 'he does not seem able to die; we think we must move him to another bed.' 'Another bed! Why so?' 'Why, he does not seem able to die, and we think there must be wild feathers in his bed.' The old man evidently thought with his sister, that his bed had something to do with the protraction of his life. He died, however, at length without being moved. It is needless to remark, that the superstition would no doubt have been confirmed, and the flickering lamp of life might have been extinguished a few hours sooner, had they carried into effect their proposal to drag him from one bed to another, or to lay him upon the floor. The woman who helped to lay out the corpse came to see me, and I took the occasion to ask if she knew the belief, that a person could not die whilst lying upon game-feathers. She assured me that she knew it to be the case, and that in two instances, when she had attended persons who could not die, they had taken them out of their beds, and they had expired immediately. I found all expostulation in vain; no argument could shake so strong a conviction, and I have no doubt that this strange notion is extensively entertained by the peasantry in these southern counties."
I have since been informed that a similar belief exists in Cheshire, in regard to pigeons' feathers.
In the part of Surrey where I reside another popular belief still lingers, noticed elsewhere by writers on superstitions of this nature. On the decease of the head of a family, where bees are kept, some person forthwith goes to the hives and informs the bees of the event. Without this precaution, it is affirmed that they would speedily desert the hives.
ALBERT WAY.
Charm for Ague.
—Looking over some family papers lately, I found the following charm to cure the ague in an old diary; the date on the paper is 1751. In compliance with your motto I send it to you.
"Charm to cure the Ague.
"When Jesus saw ye cross, whereon his body should be crucified, his body shook, and ye Jewes asked him had he the Ague? he answered and said, 'Whosoever keepeth this in mind or writing shall not be troubled with Fever or Ague; so, Lord, help thy servant trusting in thee. Then say the Lord's prayer.
"This is to be read before it is folded, then knotted, and not opened after."
PEREDUR.
Old Shoes thrown for Luck (Vol. ii., p. 196.).
—I may be allowed to quote, from Tennyson's Lyrical Monologue—
"For this thou shalt from all things seek,
Marrow of mirth and laughter;
And wheresoe'er thou move, good luck
Shall throw her old shoe after."
W. FRASER.
Folk Lore of the Kacouss People.
—In Blackwood, January, 1852, mention is made, in a review of a French Folk Lore book, of the Kacouss, a sort of Breton parias formerly excluded from the society of Christians, and rejected even by the church, which permitted them to attend Divine service only at the door of the temple under the bells. What does this under the bells mean; and is anything more known of them than what is stated in that work?
THOMAS LAWRENCE.
Ashby de la Zouch.