e woful time."

As in Shakespeare's day, so, too, at the present time, there is perhaps
no superstition so deeply rooted in the minds of many people as the
belief in what are popularly termed "death-warnings." Modern folk-lore
holds either that a knocking or rumbling in the floor is an omen of a
death about to happen, or that dying persons themselves announce their
dissolution to their friends in such strange sounds.[728] Many families
are supposed to have particular warnings, such as the appearance of a
bird, the figure of a tall woman, etc. Such, moreover, are not confined
to our own country, but in a variety of forms are found on the
Continent. According to another belief, it was generally supposed that
when a man was on his death-bed the devil or his agents tried to seize
his soul, if it should happen that he died without receiving the
sacrament of the Eucharist, or without confessing his sins. Hence, in "2
Henry VI." (iii. 3), the king says:

"O, beat away the busy meddling fiend
That lays strong siege unto this wretch's soul,
And from his bosom purge this black despair."

[728] Tylor's "Primitive Culture," 1873, vol. i. p. 145.

In the old Office books of the Church, these "busy meddling fiends" are
often represented with great anxiety besieging the dying man; but on the
approach of the priest and his attendants, they are shown to display
symptoms of despair at their impending discomfiture. Douce[729] quotes
from an ancient manuscript book of devotion, written in the reign of
Henry VI., the following prayer to St. George: "Judge for me whan the
moste hedyous and damnable dragons of helle shall be redy to take my
poore soule and engloute it in to theyr infernall belyes."

[729] "Illustrations of Shakespeare," 1829, pp. 324-326.

Some think that the "passing-bell," which was formerly tolled for a
person who was dying, was intended to drive away the evil spirit that
might be hovering about to seize the soul of the deceased. Its object,
however, was probably to bespeak the prayers of the faithful, and to
serve as a solemn warning to the living. Shakespeare has given several
touching allusions to it. Thus, in Sonnet lxxi. he says:

"No longer mourn for me when I am dead,
Than you shall hear the surly sullen bell
Give warning to the world that I am fled
From this vile world."

In "2 Henry IV." (i. 1), Northumberland speaks in the same strain:

"Yet the first bringer of