which superstition protects from injury; but it is by no means
treated with such reverence as the robin. The praises of both are sung
in the old couplet:--

"The robin and the wren,
Be God A'mighty's cock and hen."

_Pigeons._--No one, it is believed, can die on pigeons' feathers. In the
northern parts of the county, the same thing is said of game
feathers,--a superstition also current in Kent.--_Ingolsby Legends_,
Third Series, p. 133.

_Wasps._--The first wasp seen in the season should always be killed. By
so doing you secure to yourself good luck and freedom from enemies
throughout the year.

_Bees._--The superstitious ceremonies and observances attached to these
animals appear to be current throughout the kingdom, and by no means
suffer any diminution in this county. Among others of less common
occurrence, we have the belief that they will not thrive in a
quarrelsome fammily.

The wild, or, as we term him, the _humble bee_, is not without a share
of the superstitions which pertain to his more civilised brethren. The
entrance of one into a cottage is deemed a certain sign of death.

_Spiders._--The small spiders called "money spinners" prognosticate good
luck; in order to propitiate which, they must be thrown over the left
shoulder.

T.Y.

* * * * *

Minor Notes

_The Hon. A. Erskine._--In J. Reed's Copy of _Boswell's and Hon. A.
Erskine's Correspondence_, 12mo. 1763, was the following note in Reed's
autograph:--

"The Hon. A. Erskine was fourth son of the fifth Earl of Kelley.
Mr. Boswell told me the 30th of May, 1794, that A.E., having
spent all his property, in a fit of despair threw himself from a
rock into the sea last winter, and was drowned. His body was
found five days after, when it appeared it was a deliberate act,
as he had filled his pockets with stones."

_Gloves._--The question of F.E. (Vol. i., p. 366.), "Why are gloves not
worn before royalty?" having hitherto received no answer, may probably
be as difficult of solution as another custom in which a glove figures
as a token of defiance. Perhaps, however, covered hands, as well as a
covered head, may have been considered discourteous. Indeed, we learn
frown Cobarruvias, in his _Tesoro_, that it was so considered in
Spain:--

"ENGUANTADO. El que entra con Guantes adonde se le ha de tener a
descortesia. El que sirve no los ha de tener delante de su
Senor: ni Vasall