Traditions, Superstitions and Folk-lore (Chiefly Lancashire and the North of England:) Their Affinity to Others in Widely-Distributed Localities; Their Eastern Origin and Mythical Significance.

He the seven birds hath seen that never part, Seen the seven whistlers on their mighty rounds, And counted them! And oftentimes will start, _For overhead are sweeping Gabriel's...

What are these, So wither'd and so wild in their attire; That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth, And yet are on't? Live you? or are you aught That man may question?

His other parts besides Prone on the flood, extended long and large, Lay floating many a rood, in bulk as huge As whom the fables name of monstrous size; Titanian, or Earth-born...

On several occasions, when discussing obscure questions of early topography or ancient nomenclature, although readily acknowledging the value of all facts in connection with gen...

Most glorious orb! thou wert a worship, ere The mystery of thy making was reveal'd! Thou earliest minister of the Almighty, Which gladden'd, on their mountain tops, the hearts O...

More strange than true. I never may believe These antique fables, nor these fairy toys. Lovers and madmen have such seething brains, Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend More...

Thou almost makes me waver in my faith, To hold opinion with Pythagoras, That souls of animals infuse themselves Into the trunks of men; thy currish spirit Governed a wolf, who,...

In my youthful imagination, some forty odd years ago, "boggarts," ghosts, or spirits of one kind or another, in Lancashire, appeared, to use Falstaff's phrase, to be "as plentif...

Here's merry Christmas come again, With all it ever used to bring; The mistletoe and carol strain, The holly in the window pane, And all the bloom from hill and plain That Winte...

I can see the place as it was of yore, When its crystal riches would ripple and pour From a fountain channel fresh and dank, 'Mid flowering rush and grassy bank; When the pale c...

Some sorcerers do boast they have a rod Gather'd with vowes and sacrifice, And (borne about) will strangely nod To hidden treasure, where it lies; _Mankind_ is (sure) that rod d...

Gentle Spring! in sunshine clad, Well do'st thou thy power display! For Winter maketh the light heart sad, And thou, thou maketh the sad heart gay! He sees thee, and calls to hi...

Rejoice, Oh English hearts, rejoice! Rejoice, Oh lovers dear; Rejoice, Oh city, town, and country, Rejoice, eke every shire. For now the fragrant flowers Do spring and sprout in...

Amongst the various lightning birds of the Aryan mythology, some were regarded as portentous of evil; others, as the robin, the stork, and the woodpecker, on the contrary, were...

Most peoples have, in some form or other, preserved the traditionary superstition that fern-seed was miraculously endowed with the power of rendering its possessor invisible. Th...

Hunting the white doe in the Vale of Todmorden, Lancashire. The "Gabriel Ratchets." The wish-hounds. The "Gabriel hounds" in Yorkshire. The classic Orion, "the mighty hunter." T...

The Lancashire witches--Dame Demdike, etc. Witch superstitions of Aryan origin. Dethroned retainers of the elder gods. The Fates or Destinies. Waxen and clay images. The doom of...

Etymology. Philology. The Aryan theory of the common origin of most of the European races of men. Sanscrit. The Rig Vedas. Probable element of truth at the base of Geoffrey of M...

Puck or Robin Goodfellow. Peris, Pixies, and Ginns. Queen Mab. Lancashire boggarts and fairies. The bargaist. The fairy of Mellor Moor, Lancashire. Lumb Farm boggart, near Black...

The Giant's Dance, Stonehenge. The Ramayana and giants of Ceylon. The wild men of Hanno, the Carthaginian. Gorillas. The giants of Lancashire, Shropshire, Cornwall, Ireland, and...

Christmas amusements. Date of the nativity. Remnants of pagan superstition denounced by the Church. Etymology of the word Yule. Commencement of the year at the vernal equinox. O...

Bodies of birds and animals supposed to be tenanted by the souls of men. Instances from Shakspere. The Druids. The Egyptian, Pythagorean, and the Hindoo Doctrines. The Taliesin...

Fire worship denounced by the earlier ecclesiastics. Remnant in modern times. Allhalloween. Beltain fires. Derbyshire tindles and Lancashire teanlas. African notions of the Sun...

Searching for hidden treasure at Cuerdale, near Preston. Midnight excavations on the site of the Roman station at Walton, near Preston. How to prepare a divining rod. The rowan...

Antiquity of the superstitions commented upon. The common origin of most of them. Tenacity of superstition and traditionary lore. Some perhaps have resulted from similar conditi...

Mock battle between summer and winter. The vernal equinox. Joy on the return of Spring. Bell-ringing and horn-blowing. Midnight gathering of wild flowers and green branches of t...

Sacred Birds. Beautiful Welsh legend of the robin. Stork legends in Germany. Their nests built upon wheels (sun emblems) placed on the roofs of houses. Remains in Danish "Kitche...

Well worship. Medical virtues of water. Symbol of purity. Sacred wells. St. Helen's well, at Brindle, near Preston. Curious examples of local corruption of names. Pin dropping....

Sun dancing on Easter morn. Etymology of the word Easter. Original or need-fire. Easter eggs. The red or golden egg an Aryan sun-type. Easter eggs protection against fire. Hand-...

Human invisibility. The helmet of Hades or Pluto, and the Teutonic "invisible cap." Modern references to this singular superstition. Ferns, luck-bringing plants. Said to have sp...