—The following charms are repeated by children throughout Yorkshire and Lancashire, and, I doubt not, in other parts of the kingdom also. They may be classed with the "Snail Charms" (Vol. iii., pp. 132. 179.):
Crow Charm.
"Crow, crow, get out of my sight,
Or else I'll eat thy liver and lights."
Lady-bird Charm.
"Lady-bird, lady-bird, eigh thy way home;
Thy house is on fire, thy children all roam,
Except little Nan, who sits in her pan,
Weaving gold-laces as fast as she can."
I remember, as a child, sitting out of doors on an evening of a warm summer or autumn day, and repeating the crow charm to flights of rooks, as they winked home to their rookery. The charm was chaunted so long as a crow remained in sight, the final disappearance of them being to my mind proof "strong as Holy Writ" of the efficacy of the charm.