" Folk-lore ," though a term that will not be found in our standard dictionaries, from Johnson down to Webster, is nevertheless simply a modern combination of two genuine old English words— Folc , the folk, the people, "the common people;" and Lár , Laer , Lora , learning, doctrine, precept, law. In the earlier days of our English tongue, folk-land, folk-gemote, folk-right, &c., were terms in common use, and amongst this class of compound words our fore-elders had folc-lare , by which th

In this large section of the Folk-lore of Lancashire we propose to treat of all the notions and practices of the people which appear to recognise a supernatural power or powers, especially as aids to impart to man a knowledge of the future. An alphabetical arrangement has been adopted, which is to some extent also chronological. Beginning with the pretended sciences or arts of Alchemy and Astrology, the succeeding articles treat of Bells, Beltane fires, Boggarts, Charms, Demons, Divination, &amp

These may be placed in two classes—those directed against evil beings, witchcraft, &c., and those which may be termed in their object curative of "all the ills that flesh is heir to." First as to These are usually supplied for a consideration by the fortune-tellers, astrologers, or "wise men" of a neighbourhood. The following is a correct copy of one of these documents which was found over the door of a house in the neighbourhood of Burnley. Its occupier had experienced "ill luck," and h

The power of the devil, his personal appearance, and the possibility of bartering the soul for temporary gain, must still be numbered among the articles of our popular faith. Repeating the Lord's Prayer backwards is said to be the most effectual plan for "raising the devil;" but when the terms of the bargain are not satisfactory, his exit can only be secured by making the sign of the cross and calling on the name of Christ. In the neighbourhood of Blackburn a story prevails that two threshers on

This word, derived from divinare , to foretell, denotes a mode of foretelling future events, and which, among the ancients, was divided into two kinds, natural and artificial. Natural divination was prophecy or prediction, the result of supposed inspiration or the divine afflatus; artificial divination was effected by certain rites, experiments, or observations, as by sacrifices, cakes, flour, wine, observation of entrails, flight of birds, lots, verses, omens, position of the stars, &c.

Dr. Borlase , in his Antiquities of Cornwall , notices the existence of Druidical Rock Basins, which appear to have been scooped out of the granite rocks and boulders which lie on the tops of the hills in the county. Several such cavities in stones are found on Brimham Rocks, near Knaresborough, and they have also been found at Plumpton and Rigton, in Yorkshire, [75] and on Stanton Moor, in Derbyshire. The writer first drew attention to the fact of similar Druidical remains existing in Lancashir

An age of credulity is naturally rich in miracles. Superstition is ever prone to explain the mysterious, or to account for the questionable, by hunting for some supernatural cause; and hence the popular love for and strong faith in the miraculous. No church erected before the Reformation but had its miraculous legend; no well or spring of a remote antiquity but had its tradition, either connected with its origin or with its marvellous and miraculous powers of healing. The miracle of a past age,

An intense desire to know future events, besides being the great encouragement of astrologers, sorcerers, and magicians, wise men, cunning women, fortune-tellers, &c., has given rise to a large class of small circumstances which are regarded as indicative of coming good or bad luck, of good or evil fortune, to the observer or the person experiencing their influence. Hence, nothing is more common than to hear amongst uneducated and credulous people predications from the most trivial occur

There are great numbers of small superstitions, beliefs, and practices which we must place under this general head. Before entering on these at length, we may briefly notice the fact in many cases, the probability in a still greater number, that the origin of superstitions still held to the popular heart, is to be found in other countries and in remote times. Indeed Folk-lore superstitions may be said to be the débris of ancient mythologies; it may be of Egypt or India, Greece or Rome, Germany o

In the lore of these subjects no county in England is richer than Lancashire. The subject is a large one, and may even be said to include all the cases of demoniacal possession described in the earlier pages of this volume, since all these alleged possessions were the result of malice and (so-called) witchcraft. Indeed it is not easy to separate these two superstitious beliefs in their practical operation; witchcraft being the supposed cause, and demoniacal possession the imagined effect. The re

Every greater or lesser festival of the church had its popular no less than its ecclesiastical observances. The three great events of human birth, marriage, and death, with their church rites of baptism, wedding, and burial, naturally draw towards them many customs and usages deemed fitting to such occasions. There are many customs in connexion with the free and the inferior tenants of manors, and their services to the manorial lord. Another class of customs will be found in observance in agricu

In many instances of particular Church Festivals, and of popular celebrations, we have already enumerated various viands appropriated to special occasions, as the turkey to New Year's Day; the pancake to Shrove-Tuesday; the simnel, carlins, bragot, and fig-pie to Mid-Lent Sunday; the goose to Michaelmas; frumenty, mince-pies, &c., to Christmas. A few remain, however, for notice here:—Eccles cakes, Ormskirk gingerbread, Everton toffy, and other sweet cakes have "all seasons for their own.

Many of the customs attending child-bearing, churching, and christening are not peculiar to Lancashire, but common nearly all over England. The term "the lady in the straw," merely meant the lady confined to her bed, as all beds were anciently stuffed with straw. It was formerly the custom in Lancashire, as elsewhere, for the husband against the birth of the child to provide a large cheese and a cake. These were called "the groaning" cheese and cake; and throughout the north of England the first

The common custom of breaking a piece of silver or gold (if it be crooked, so much the luckier) between lovers of the humbler classes, especially when the man is going to a distance, is believed to have had its origin in a sort of betrothal or promise of marriage, much practised amongst the ancient Danes, called Hand-festing , which is mentioned by Ray in his Collection or Glossary of Northumbrian Words. It means hand-fastening or binding. In betrothal it was also the custom to change rings, for

Persons are said to "die hardly," as the phrase is, meaning to be unable to expire, when there are pigeons' feathers in the bed. Some will not allow dying persons to lie on a feather-bed, because they hold that it very much increases their pain and suffering, and actually retards their departure. On the other hand, there is a superstitious feeling that it is a great misfortune, nay, even a judgment , not to die in a bed. By a statute of 30 Car. II., stat. I, cap. 3 (1678), entitled "An act for t

This subject would require extensive notice, if the materials requisite for its elucidation were more numerous and accessible. All prescriptive customs of manors have existed beyond what is termed "legal memory"— i.e. , from the reign of Richard I. (1189-1199). Many others, relating to the military and other free tenures of the chief tenants of manors, and to the socage and inferior or servile tenures, with the boons of the cottagers, &c., and the various services attached to these diffe