And the first young man she meets after this will infallibly be her future partner. There are a great variety of rhymes relating to the even-ash. Another is—
If you find even-ash or four-leaved clover,
You will see your love afore the day's over.
[DOCK.]
Nettle in, dock out,
Dock rub nettle out!
If a person is stung with a nettle, a certain cure will be effected by rubbing dock leaves over the part, repeating the above charm very slowly. Mr. Akerman gives us another version of it as current in Wiltshire:
Out 'ettle, in dock,
Dock zhall ha' a new smock;
'Ettle zhant ha' narrun!
[THE YARROW.]
This plant, in the eastern counties, is termed yarroway, and there is a curious mode of divination with its serrated leaf, with which you must tickle the inside of your nose, repeating the following lines. If the operation causes the nose to bleed, it is a certain omen of success:
Yarroway, yarroway, bear a white blow,
If my love love me, my nose will bleed now.
Another mode of divination with this plant caused a dream of a future husband. An ounce of yarrow, sewed up in flannel, must be placed under your pillow when you go to bed, and having repeated the following words, the required dream will be realized: