said these words, the insect was thrown skywards, the
person repeating the while--

Os mai gwlaw, cwympa lawr,
Os mai teg, hedfana;

which in English would be--

Lady-bird, lady-bird, tell to me
What the weather is going to be;
If fair, then fly in the air,
If foul, then fall to the ground.

The first two lines were said with the beetle in the hand, and the last
two whilst it was thrown upwards; if it came to the ground without
attempting to fly, it indicated rain; if, however, when thrown into the
air it flew away, then fair weather was to be expected. The writer has
often resorted to this test, but whether he found it true or false he
cannot now say.

_Mice_.

A mouse nibbling clothes was a sign of disaster, if not death, to the
owner. It was thought that the evil one occasionally took the form of a
mouse. Years ago, when Craig Wen Farm, Llawr-y-glyn, near Llanidloes,
Montgomeryshire was haunted--the rumour of which event I well
remember--the servant girl told her mistress, the tenant of the farm,
that one day she was going through the corn field, and that a mouse ran
before her, and she ran after it to catch it, but that when she was
opposite the barn, _the mouse stopped and laughed at her_, and ran into a
hole. The mouse, therefore, was the evil spirit, and the cause of all
the mischief that followed.

_Moles_.

Moles are said to have no eyes. If mole hills move there will be a thaw.
By the moving of mole hills is meant bits of earth tumbling off the
mound. A labourer in Llanmerewig parish, Montgomeryshire, called my
attention to this fact. It was a frosty day, and apparently no change
was near, but it will thaw, said he, and certain I am, that by the next
morning a thaw had set in.

_Pigs_.

Pigs used to be credited with the power of seeing the wind. Devils were
fond of assuming the form of, or entering into, pigs. Pigs littered in
February could not be reared. This I was told by a native of
Llansantffraid, Montgomeryshire.

_The Snake_, _Serpent_.

The snake was supposed to be able to understand what men said. A tale
was told me by an aged man at Penrhos, Montgomeryshire, of an event which
took place in the last century. His father, he said, saw a number of
snakes, or _nethers_, as he called them, basking in the sun, and he said
when passing them, "I will make you jump to-morrow." The next day he,
provided with a rod, passed the spot,