Sleeping on Stones.
Borlase, in his Antiquities of Cornwall, mentions, as a relic of Druid fancies and incantations, the custom of sleeping on stones, on a particular night, in order to be cured of lameness.
Spilling Salt.
In Scotland there exists a common belief that it is unlucky to spill salt at table, but that the luck can be changed by taking up a pinch of the spilled salt and throwing it over the left shoulder. To spill salt on Friday is considered especially unlucky.
"Help me to salt,
Help me to sorrow,"
Is a saying among the Highlanders, and they always decline salt with a wave of the hand. The popular superstition of this accident being unlucky is said to have originated in the celebrated picture of The Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci, in which Judas Iscariot is represented as overturning the salt. Among the Italians, to spill oil at table is regarded as an omen of the worst import.
Charm for the Ague.
This charm for the ague, on "St. Agnes' Eve," is recited up the chimney, in England, by the eldest female in the family—
"Tremble and go!
First day shiver and burn;
Tremble and quake!
Second day shiver and learn;
Tremble and die!
Third day never return."