Superstions

[DavyR]

I think this stems from a belief that rabbits and hares as well as cats being witches familiars in France.

 

Hares (never rabbits) were also associated with British witches - there are several accounts of witches being pursued, wounded, and then suddenly disappearing. Some time later an injured hare would be found, with a wound at the same site as that inflicted on the witch...

 

Scottish witches were especially fond of changing into hares:

 

"I shall go into a hare,

With sorrow and sych and meickle care,

And I shall go in the Devil's name,

Ay while I come home again."

 

Hares (and pigs, another animal that is never named at sea) were sacred to various Celtic goddesses that it didn't pay to offend.

[DavyR]

What about local stuff ? I supose that should include things like Moris Dancing. I know we have at least one Moris Dancer on the sight, any reasons for doing that beyond the obvious one of wanting to keep anchient traditions alive ?

 

When I started Morris Dancing in the 70s, we were usually encouraged to tell people who asked about its origins that it was a survival of a pagan fertility ritual. It you could manage to imply that their nadgers would probably drop off if they didn't drop some money into the hat, that was all to the good.

 

Ironically, the "money exchange" was the real point of the performance back as far as anybody can reliably tell - a bit of a display (when entertainment was generally thin on the ground) in exchange for beer or money. This sometimes turned into "demanding money with menaces", which is why so many traditional practices were suppressed by the Constabulary by late Victorian times.

 

Fact is, nobody knows exactly where it comes from, although there are counterparts all across Europe and beyond. One theory is that every nation has a "Male Showing-Off" dance, and Morris was ours (which is why it's best done by the young and athletic).

Edited January 21, 2009 by DavyR

[corydoras]

Hares (never rabbits) were also associated with British witches - there are several accounts of witches being pursued, wounded, and then suddenly disappearing. Some time later an injured hare would be found, with a wound at the same site as that inflicted on the witch...

 

Scottish witches were especially fond of changing into hares:

 

"I shall go into a hare,

With sorrow and sych and meickle care,

And I shall go in the Devil's name,

Ay while I come home again."

 

Hares (and pigs, another animal that is never named at sea) were sacred to various Celtic goddesses that it didn't pay to offend.

The French rabbit thing again. Unlucky, to mention a rabbit at sea too. You'll never find rabbit meat of any kind (fresh, potted, pate) on a French fishing boat, even to this day..

[corydoras]

Grandmother always broke up empty egg-shells so that witches could not use them as boats to cross water.

 

Not putting shoes on the table does have a bit of rationality to it - especially if it's the left shoe that Cory has used to slip on the doggie's visiting card

 

Norma and I say "White rabbits" on the first of the month - but in a spirit of competition to prove who has remembered the date first. Is that a superstition or a tradition, and where is the dividing line between the two?

 

I frequently wish fellow anglers "good luck" but regard that as a boost to their self-confidence rather than an appeal to any gods in charge of angling.

 

Can't say I have noticed any effect on my catch rate based upon the number of magpies seen or whether or not a black cat has crossed in front of me.

 

No I am not superstitious.........

 

...but I do like the bit in The Old Man and the Sea where Santiago, struggling with the giant marlin, says "I will say twenty Our Fathers and a hundred Hail Marys that I may land this fish - but Father, I cannot say them now!"

 

Know just how he felt!

Where did your Grandmother come from Vagabond was, I thought that everyone knew that witches couldn't cross running water.

 

From Tam O' Shanter

Robert Burns

 

As bees bizz out wi' angry fyke,

When plundering herds assail their byke;

As open pussie's mortal foes,

When, pop! she starts before their nose;

As eager runs the market crowd,

When 'Catch the thief!' resounds aloud:

So Maggie runs, the witches follow,

Wi' monie an eldritch skriech and hollo.

 

Ah, Tam! Ah, Tam! thou'll get thy fairin!

In hell they'll roast thee like a herrin!

In vain thy Kate awaits thy comin!

Kate soon will be a woefu' woman!

Now, do thy speedy utmost, Meg,

And win the key-stane of the brig;

There, at them thou thy tail may toss,

A running stream they dare na cross!

But ere the key-stane she could make,

The fient a tail she had to shake;

For Nannie, far before the rest,

Hard upon noble Maggie prest,

And flew at Tam wi' furious ettle;

But little wist she Maggie's mettle!

Ae spring brought off her master hale,

But left behind her ain grey tail:

The carlin claught her by the rump,

And left poor Maggie scarce a stump.

 

The not putting shoes on the table one was always new shoes in my Grannies house. I think it stems from the practice of dressing the dead in new clothing.

 

Sportsman's hat sound like a bit of post hoc ergo propter hoc reasoning to me, but I guess that could be at the root of many superstitions. He'd have been buggered if he started fishing where I did, there weren't any n the the West of Scotland when I was little.

[DavyR]

Where did your Grandmother come from Vagabond was, I thought that everyone knew that witches couldn't cross running water.

 

Shame on you, Cory - as an ex-mariner, you should know that the witches use the shells to sail on the sea, not down rivers:

 

"Egg-shells"

 

by Elizabeth Fleming (1934)

 

"Oh, never leave your egg-shells unbroken in the cup;

Think of us poor sailor-men and always smash them up,

For witches come and find them and sail away to sea,

And make a lot of misery for mariners like me.

They take them to the sea-shore and set them on the tide -

A broom-stick for a paddle is all they have to guide

And off they go to China or round the ports of Spain,

To try and keep our sailing ships from coming home again.

They call up all the tempests from Davy Jones's store,

And blow us into waters where we haven't been before;

 

And when the masts are falling in splinters on the wrecks,

The witches climb the rigging and dance upon the decks.

So never leave your egg-shells unbroken in the cup;

Think of us poor sailor-men and always smash them up;

For witches come and find them and sail away to sea,

And make a lot of misery for mariners like me."

[Huge_Vitae]

The Rabbit thing has been discussed on here before. It certainly is universal.

 

An old Mate of mine, Frank was in the Merchant Navy for a life time. He told me about it originally, recounting a story when he was First Mate on a Ship's Bridge with the Captain and a rather young and inexperianced Nav. Officer. The Captain asked the ships position and the youngt lad checking the chart and putting his finger on the part of the chart showing "Rabbit island" said "We are about (whatever) off the Coast of..................."

 

"Nooooooooooooooooooooo" shouts Frank. At which there were some fierce exchange of words.

 

One I find daft is you should always leave a house by the door you go in otherwise you leave/take bad spirits with you, wonder if you would keep to that when a fire breaks out.

 

My own personal one is, Never take my boat out without checking the recent weather forecast. How silly is that.

[DavyR]

Rabbits were thought to have been introduced to Britain by the Romans (bloody Johnny-come-latelys), so it's quite likely that a lot of the superstitions attached to them originally applied to hares. As rabbits became a much more common sight, it's easy to see why they started to feature more in folkloric beliefs (The Easter Bunny being a prime example of one animal taking on the folkloric role of another).

 

In the film "The Wicker Man", Howie, the policeman played by Edward Woodward, makes the mistake of calling the animal being painted by a child a rabbit - she replies "It's not a silly old rabbit - it's a hare" (a much more anciently magical creature).

 

Rabbits can bolt down holes pretty quickly, but they don't share the hare's ability to "disappear" in what appears to be an almost-bare field - Now That's Magic!

[Vagabond]

Where did your Grandmother come from Vagabond

 

 

I thought that everyone knew that witches couldn't cross running water.

 

Grandma was born in Cromer, lived for a while in Gt Yarmouth, then returned to Cromer. Although herself not of a fishing-boat family, many of her friends were.

 

As Davy R says, the eggshells were "used" to cross the sea. On such a dangerous coast as North Norfolk in winter, the fisherfolk could use all the help they could get, and the idea of "keeping witches off the water" in the days of oared crab-boats seemed worth doing. Whether you believe in witches or not, there is no denying that some people, including crab fishermen, were extremely frightened of them. So frightened, that until comparatively recently, old ladies with a squint and a cat were liable to get burned.

 

It is no co-incidence that the Cromer lifeboat and its Cox, Henry Blogg, were nationally famous - due to the number of rescues they were obliged to make.

[DavyR]

Grandma was born in Cromer, lived for a while in Gt Yarmouth, then returned to Cromer.

 

My Mother-in-Law is from Northrepps! She's not a witch, though, AFAIK.

 

The idea of witches being burnt is an interesting one - it's the first thing most people think of (probably thanks to Hammer House of Horror films). In fact, witches were never burned in England, but hanged as common criminals. It was only in Scotland and on the Continent where they were burned, the difference being that witchcraft in those countries was treated as heresy.

[Vagabond]

My Mother-in-Law is from Northrepps!

 

During the war, each village had contingency plans if it were severely bombed. These included a nominated (and trained) organiser from a different village (but not too far away) who would take responsibility after the rescue services had done their work and see that survivors were looked after as regards food, clothing, shelter etc.

 

My grandmother was the Cromer nominee to look after Northrepps ! I remember she had a lapel badge "Northrepps" which she wore when on the training sessions.