Folk lore

Glamour was a kind of witch power which certain people were supposed to be gifted with; by the exercise of such influence they took command over their subjects' sense of sight,...

The primary object of the following short treatise is to give an account of some of those superstitions, now either dead or in their decadence, but which, within the memory of p...

During these times when such superstitious beliefs were almost universally accepted--when the sources from which evils might be expected to spring were about as numerous as the...

When writing of fairies I noticed,--but as it is connected with birth, I may here mention it again,--a practice common in some localities of placing in the bed where lay an expe...

The next very important event in man's life is marriage, and naturally, therefore, to this event there attached a multitude of superstitious notions and practices, many of which...

That the devil gave to certain persons supernatural power, which they might exercise at their pleasure, was a belief prevalent throughout all Scotland during the sixteenth and s...

Superstitions connected with plants were more numerous than those connected with animals. We have already noticed widespread prevalence of tree worship in early times. The Bible...

Many other superstitious notions still exist among us with respect to certain animals, which have, no doubt, had their origin in remote times--some of them, doubtless, being sur...

person, say, walking along the street, and on looking round as the presence passed, see no person, this was a token of the death of the person whose spectre was seen. I knew of...

There is another class of superstitions which have prevailed from ages the most remote to the present day, although now they are dying out--at least, they are not now employed t...

It is not surprising that the solemn period of death should have been surrounded with many superstitious ideas,--with a great variety of omens and warnings, many of which, howev...