Lubberkin sticks firmly to the last;
Oh! were his lips to mine but joined so fast."{32}

In Nottinghamshire apples are roasted and the parings thrown over the
left shoulder. "Notice is taken of the shapes which the parings assume
when they fall to the ground. Whatever letter a paring resembles will be
the initial letter of the Christian name of the man or woman whom you
will marry."{33}

|197| Hallowe'en is indeed in the British Isles the favourite time for
forecasting the future, and various methods are employed for this
purpose.

A girl may cross her shoes upon her bedroom floor in the shape of a T and
say these lines:--

"I cross my shoes in the shape of a T,
Hoping this night my true love to see,
Not in his best or worst array,
But in the clothes of every day."

Then let her get into bed backwards without speaking any more that night,
and she will see her future husband in her dreams.{34}

"On All Hallowe'en or New Year's Eve," says Mr. W. Henderson, "a Border
maiden may wash her sark, and hang it over a chair to dry, taking care to
tell no one what she is about. If she lie awake long enough, she will see
the form of her future spouse enter the room and turn the sark. We are
told of one young girl who, after fulfilling this rite, looked out of bed
and saw a coffin behind the sark; it remained visible for some time and
then disappeared. The girl rose up in agony and told her family what had
occurred, and the next morning she heard of her lover's death."{35}

In Scotland{36} and Ireland{37} other methods of foreseeing the future
are practised on Hallowe'en; we need not consider them here, for we shall
have quite enough of such auguries later on. (Some Scottish customs are
introduced by Burns into his poem "Hallowe'en.") I may, however, allude
to the custom formerly prevalent in Wales for women to congregate in the
church on this "Night of the Winter Kalends," in order to discover who of
the parishioners would die during the year.{38} East of the Welsh
border, at Dorstone in Herefordshire, there was a belief that on All
Hallows' Eve at midnight those who were bold enough to look through the
windows would see the church lighted with an unearthly glow, and Satan in
monk's habit fulminating anathemas from the pulpit and calling out the
names of those who were to render up their souls.{39}

|198| Again, there are numerous Hallowe'en fire customs, probably
sun-charms for the New Year, a kind of