e bread and cheese to the first
person she meets when going to church with a child to be baptized, it
is questionable whether the infant's career through life shall prove
prosperous. The "first-foot," on receiving his bread and cheese, is
expected to return a short distance with the child, to show his good
will.

If a person, who is a stranger, leave a house wherein there is an
unbaptized child, particularly if it be a girl, without eating or
drinking, the infant's beauty is in danger of being taken away. It is
unlucky to let a child see its face in a mirror before it is a year
old. When an infant is suspended by the dress with its head downwards
for a few seconds after being washed in the morning, it prevents an
evil eye from affecting the little one that day.

CHAPTER XLIV.

Floors should not be swept at Night--Fires at New Year
and Christmas--Presents at New Year and
Christmas--Lucky and Unlucky "First-Foots"--Looking
through a Ladder--Sneezing--Air Bubbles on Tea--Tea
Stalks--Stepping out with the Left Foot--Left Shoe to
be put on first--Weather Prognostications--How to
secure Favourable Gales--Superstitious Customs at time
of Death--Corpse of one guilty of _Felo-de-se_, how to
be Buried--Finding of Persons who die
unseen--Superstitious Belief of Russian
Seamen--Ancient Customs of Scotland--Friday an Unlucky
Day for commencing an Important Undertaking--Friday as
a Marriage Day--Anecdote of a Ship called
"Friday"--Loss of the Ship "Amazon"--Sunday a
Favourable Day for commencing a Voyage--Lawyers and
Clergymen, how looked upon by Sailors at Sea--It is
Lucky to have Women and Children at Sea--Dogs and Cats
at Sea--Rats deserting a Ship--Whistling to raise the
Wind--Deceased Sailors' Clothes--Old Boats not to be
Broken up--Reluctance to go to Sea in a Boat from
which a Person has been Drowned--Sharks following a
Ship--Unfavourable Sign to see a Hatch turned upside
down--A Four-footed Beast not to be named at
Sea--Legend of Vanderdecken or the Flying Dutchman--A
Grandfather's Axe--Other Signs and Warnings.

If a housewife wish everything to prosper with her and her family, she
will not permit the floors of her house to be swept at night. The
sweeping not only prevents good fortune, but it disturbs the spirits
of the dead, supposed to be constantly walking