That firste doth sproute doth surely bear the name of their good man.”
In olden times, country lasses used to resort to a method of divination with an Onion named after St. Thomas: this they peeled and wrapped in a clean kerchief; then, placing it under their heads, they repeated the following lines:—
“Good St. Thomas, do me right,
And let my true-love come to-night,
That I may see him in the face,
And him in my fond arms embrace.”
In the South of England this species of divination is still extant, but the procedure is different. When the Onions are bought, the purchaser must take care to go in by one door of the shop and come out by another—a shop being selected that has two doors. These Onions, placed under your pillow on St. Thomas’s Eve, are sure to bring visions of your true-love, your future husband.——According to astrologers, the Onion is under the dominion of Mars.——To dream of Onions is considered of evil augury, portending sickness and misfortune.
“To dream of eating Onions means
Much strife in thy domestic scenes;
Secrets found out or else betrayed,