Traditions, Superstitions and Folk-lore

ings in heaven an

amt of in yo

ksp

ackberries." "Boggart," by some writers is regarded as the Lancashire cognomen for "Puck" or "Robin Goodfellow." Certainly there are, or were, many boggarts whose mischievous propensiti

stake your shape

that shrewd an

Goodfellow; a

he maidens of

sometimes labou

e the breathless

ake the drink t

nderers, laughin

oblin call you,

k, and they shal

ot yo

u speake

rry wanderer

eron and mak

and bean-fed

likeness of

lurk I in a

eness of a

rinks, against

thered dewlap

t, telling the

three-foot sto

akes Robin G

I meet them

n ox, somet

horse I t

trot about

f to

k they

than wind

dge an

pools an

aughing, H

bia, Gnomes or Elves, amongst the Teutons, or "the Leprachaun" or "Good people," of the sister Island. The finest modern artistic realisation of the fairy kingdom is unquestionably to be found in Shakspere's "Midsummer Night's Dream." How strangely, yet how beautifully and consistently

whereon the wi

and the noddin

opied with lus

sk-roses and

tania, some tim

flowers with dan

nake throws her

ough to wrap

e close of the

the time

raves all

lets forth

ch-way path

airies t

iple Heca

presence

darkness l

re fr

uder sense, their conceptions of those forces of nature, the laws governing which are, to them, hidden in the delusive gloom of ignorance. "Feeorin" is a general term for all things of this character that create fear in the otherwise intrepid heart of a "Lancashire lad." Mr. Edwin Waugh, whose songs in the dialect are

to fairy

o grad

bin wi' t

, at deep

n re

lung o't

to do wi'

ht at thus c

f, by nee

blue een

en my l

en equally as mischievous an

that v

manes of hors

lf-locks in fou

angled, much mi

in her composition, which is delineated with marvellous grace and b

nie" as something that "appeared like a rough man, and haunted divers houses without doing any evile, but doing, as it were, necessarie turnes up an

lding of the builders in the night time. There is likewise a legend of this class in connection with the church at Winwich, near Warrington, and another at Whaley-bridge, in Derbyshire. Indeed, these goblin

tle are turned loose, or driven into the woods; two cows will sometimes be found fastened in the same stall; no hay can be pulled from the mow; and all the while the wicked imp sits grinning with delight upon one of the cross beams in the barn. At other times the horses are unable to draw the empty carts across the farm yard; if loaded they are upset; whilst the cattle tremble

en amusing himself one summer evening on the top of Mellor Moor, near Blackburn, close to the remains of the Roman encampment, when his attention was arrested by the appearance of a dwarf-like man, attired in full hunting costume, with top bo

s indulged in, around the hearth at Christmastide, is described as "small and shrill," and as easily "heard above the rest, like a baby's penny trumpet." He began to regard himself at last as a "privileged inmate" and conducted himself in the most extraordinary manner, snatching the children's bread and butter out of their hands, and interfering with their porridge, milk, and other food. His "invisible hand" knocked the furniture about in the most approved modern style of goblin or spiritual manifestation. Yet, this mischievous propensity did not prevent him from occasionally performing some kindly acts, such as churning the cream and scouring the pans and kettles! Truly, he was a "tricksty sprite." Croker refers to one circumstance which he regards as "remarkable," and which will remind modern readers very distinctly of a "spiritual" exhibition which recently attracted much public attention. He says-"the stairs ascended from the kitchen; a partition of boards covered the ends of the steps, and formed a closet beneath the staircase. From one of the boards of this partition a large round knot was accidently displaced, and one day the youngest of the children, while playing with the shoe-horn, stuck it into this knot-h

ed to the floor, and yet, in the morning they were found perfectly uninjured, and in their usual places. To such a pitch at last did matters reach, that George Cheetham and his family

ou're leaving th'owd hous

ggart torments us soa, we can neither rest neet nor day for't. It seems loike to have a malice agains t' yo

voice, from a deep upright churn, the topmost utensil on the

tirred a peg. Nay, nay, it's no use, Mally,' he continued, turning to his wife, 'we may

in the arch-diocese of Treves, had been invaded, bungs wantonly withdrawn from casks, and good wine spilled on the floor. The abbot, in despair, at length ordered the bungholes to be "anointed round with chrism." On the following morning "a wonderfully dwarfish black boy" was found "clinging by the hands to one of the bungs." He was released, dressed in a

of a demon who officiated as famulus in a monastery. He was a good hand at an earthly bargain t

y Weaver, a Preston antiquary, in his "Funerall Monuments," printed in 1631, and which I have transcribed at page 149 of the "History of Preston and its Environs," may have had some remote connection with this tradition. He relates how Michael Kelly, the celebrated Dr. Dee's companion, together with one Paul Wareing, "invocated some of the infernal regiment, to know certain passages in the life, as also what might bee knowne by the devils foresight, of the manner and the time of the death of a no

hon tells us of an Italian girl who was "possessed" with a devil, and who, although she knew no Latin, quoted Virgil fluently (at least Satan did through

ones." This boggart appeared to partake of the cannibal nature of some of the giants and ogres in our nursery tales, one of which, on t

smell the blood

ead, I'll grind his bo

roasted! I can likewise remember well being told that boggarts especially loved to haunt and otherwise annoy those who refused

the author, an old weaver and his dame, and is replete with characteristic traits. It seems this boggart, although it was supposed to be "laid" in the most orthodox manner, still troubled the neighb

d the author, 'that this place

t's very mich iv it wouldn't may yor yure fair ston of an end, othur with one marlock or another. There's noan

eplied the author, 'it surely

ieve naught at o' iv it isn't fair druven into um, wilto, shalto; but this is a different case, mind yo. Eh, never name it; thoose at has it to dhyel wi k

der to satisfy his curiosity on the matter, the old lady broke in with-"Naw; he'll delve noan theer, nut iv aw know it.... Nor no mon elze dar lay a finger oppo that greawnd. Joseph Fe

nd almost universal superstition that the soul departeth from the body in the form of a bird. This Dr. Kuhn regards as intimately connected with the Aryan belief respecting birds being soul-bringers. I am not aware, however,

wever, the following passage, which shows the co

at unusual hours, as at nine or ten, expect some change of weather, and that suddenly, and that from fair to foul, or the contrary; but when the hen crows, good men expect

domestic pets a white cock, which he regarded as his friend, and considered that it pro

nder the influence of the wizard; and, having procured a live cock chicken, they stuck him full of pins and burnt him alive, whilst repeating some magical incantation.... The wind suddenly rose to a tempest, and threatened the destruction of the house. Dreadful moanings, as of some one in intense agony, were heard from without, whilst a sense of horror seized upon all within. At the moment when the storm was at the wildest, the wizard knoc

angel of death is passing over the house. Mr. Hunt relates the following anecdote, from which

ss was carried out on the hearth, the fuel being furze and ferns). Every one was directed to touch the brandice with his, or her third finger, and say, 'In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, speak.' Every one did as they were directed, and no sound came from beneath the brandice. The last person was a woman, who occasionally laboured for the farmer in his fields. She hung back, hoping to pass

ed to ghosts and wandering spirits a wholesome dread of the sonorous tones of chanticleer's e

to speak when

io an

tarted like a

ul summons.

is the trump

ofty and shrill

of day; and, a

a or fire, in

ant and erri

e: and of the

t object ma

Marcell

the crowing

ever 'gainst th

viour's birth

awning singeth

ay, no spirit da

holesome; then n

nor witch hath

nd so graciou

eam, referring to the morning star or earl

this must be

dragons cut the

hines Aurora

, ghosts, wanderi

hurchyards: dam

ways and flood

heir wormy b

y should look th

themselves exi

consort with bl

ith the fairies, f

spirits of

ing's love have

rester, the gr

eastern gate,

tune with fair

ow gold his sal

o him. In addition to his knowledge in the art of healing disease, he possessed the power of raising the dead to life. He was believed to be the son of Apoll

He opens the year and the daily morning, and is the porter of heaven. One of his peculiar emblems wa

of Ragnarock, "the great day of arousing," according to Scandinavian mytholo

tone called allectricium, like to the stone that bright Calcedonius, and for that the cocke beareth such a stone, the ly

te rooster was speedily placed in the pot and boiled in the most orthodox fashion. When, however, his captors were about to commence their improvised feast, to their astonishment the cooked "pieces of the cock, though sodden and near dissolved, began to move about, and unite into the form they were in before, and being so united, the restored cock immediately raised himself up, and jumped out of the platter upon the ground, where he walked about as well as when he was first taken. A

hatched by a toad. The monster had the head and breast of the dunghill champion, and "thence downwards the b

r for a consumption and cough of the lungs":-"Take a running cock and pull (pluck) him alive, then kill him and cutt him in pieces and take out his

ualities of red cow's milk have been

which Agni, the fire-god, assumed on such occasions. The fire-birds were very numerous, and included the woodpecker, the robin, the wren, the owl, the cuckoo, the stork, the swallow, and the hoopoe. Kelly

reast and

mighty's c

e, however,

n and

's cock

ly followed by th

and a

vil's bow

s supposed to hazard the destruction of the culpr

kill a rob

prosper,

ing rustics by some untoward cock-a-doodle-doing, furnished all that was really "laid" in the mysterious grave referred to. An impression may have been entertained that the troublesome elf who had turned the household topsy-turvy had made t

instrument in the subjugation of troublesome spirits. The Hindoo exorcist tied his patient's hair in a knot, and then with a nail attached it to a tree. Muttering some "incantatory" stanzas, he seized a live cock, and, holding it over the poor girl's head with one hand, he, with th

is is my ransom. This cock goeth to death, but may I be gathered and enter into a long and happy life and into peace.' This he repeated three times.... The sacrifice consists of a cock for the male, and a hen for a female. A white fowl is preferred to any other, in allusion to the words of the prophet, 'Though your sin

ficulty in "shuffling off this mortal coil" should there happen to be any game cock feathers in

evil, and extract from the fiend sums of money. The incantation must be

he house, and will not be able to molest the family so long as that tree exists. It is a common opinion in that part of the country that the roots have to

rees, which were supposed to possess irresistible power over "witches, fairies, and other imps

sh, and

vils frae t

turning them out to grass for the first time in the spring. It secures their cattle, they say, from an evil eye, from being elfshot by fairies, etc." The red

nd, other stories may be found, many of which point to the Puck or Rob

the Grecian Khobalus,-whose sole delight consists in perplexing the human race, and evoking those harmless terrors that constantly hover round the minds of the timid. So, also, the G

ver a difficulty, but not an unconquerable one, with the German elves. In England and Scotland a certain class of goblin or ghost found a running stream an impassable barrier. Poor Tam O'Shanter's mare Meg demonstrated the truth of this by the sacrifice of her caudal appendage. Grimm says that many facts tend to show a near relationship between elves of this class and the souls of men. The ordinary ghosts of the present day, whether voluntary visitors or obedient servants of "spirit mediums," are supposed to be the souls of the departed. Kelly says, on the authority of Kuhn and Schwartz, "Some of the many names by which the Zwergs are known in North Germany mean the 'ancients' or the 'ance

st other things he informs his readers, on the authority of a letter from a "learned friend," in Scotland, that a certain Lord Duffin was suddenly transported, by fairies, from his residence in Morayshire, and that he was "found the next day in Paris, in the

antiquity than is generally known. There is a story told by Pliny the younger, which so much resembles many that we have heard in youth, that nothing is req

d his suspicion; nevertheless, when he heard the whole story, he was so far from being discouraged that he was more strongly inclined to hire it, and, in short, actually did so. When it drew towards evening, he ordered a couch to be prepared for him in the fore part of the house, and, after calling for a light, together with his pen and tablets, he directed all his people to retire. But that his mind might not, for want of employment, be open to the vain terrors of imaginary noises and spirits, he applied himself to writing with the utmost attention. The first part of the night passed with usual silence, when at length the chains began to rattle; however he neither lifted up his eyes nor laid down his pen, but diverted his observation by pursuing his studies with greater earnestness. The noise increased, and advanced nearer, till it seemed at the door, and at last in the chamber. He looked up, and saw the ghost exactly in the manner it had been described to him; it stood before him, b

British tumulus at Over Darwen, in Lancashire, in November, 1864. I was informed that the country people spoke of the mound as a locality haunted by "boggarts," an

n Northern Australia. The natives will not willingly approach graves at night alone; "but whe

t long ago, "the learned" contended that they resulted from some obscure kind of electric action. Sir Walter Scott, who held this opinion, sneeringly refers to them as "electrical rings, which vulgar credulity supposes to be traces of fairy revels." Thousands of English peasan

, brooks, standin

the sands wit

bbing Neptune,

back; you demi

the green-sour

not bites; and y

midnight

TNO

ng amongst its forms. A very slight provincial change would make the latter boguerst, from whence, probably, the Lancashire boggart. The Cymric word bwg, which represents, according to Mr. G

"lake," meaning "to play," anything in common wi