Current Superstitions Part 43

1191. If a hea.r.s.e is drawn by two white horses, death in the neighborhood will occur within a month.

_Central Maine._

1192. If anyone comes to a funeral after the procession starts, another death will occur in the same house.

_Ohio._

1193. At a funeral the first person who turns away from the grave will have the next death in his family.

_Trinity Bay, N.F._

1194. If one goes to a funeral with the intention of following to the grave but does not do so, a death soon follows in his family.

_Virginia._

1195. If it rains during a burial, another member of the family will soon follow.

_Poland, Me., Baldwinsville, N.Y., Ohio, and Alabama._

1196. If rain falls into an open grave, another burial in the same cemetery will occur within three days.

_Western New York._

1197. If you meet a funeral train, it is a sign of death.

_Prince Edward Island._

1198. Do not let any one wear your hat to a funeral when you've not worn it before yourself.

_Ma.s.sachusetts._

1199. Whoever counts the carriages at a pa.s.sing funeral will die within the year.

_Peabody, Ma.s.s., and Hennepin, Ill._

Or, some one will die.

1200. If shot remain in the gun after firing, some one of your family will die.

_Labrador._

1201. If you build on to your house, you will die within the year.

_Labrador._

1202. Lie down on a table and you will die before the year is out.

_Mattawamkeag, Me._

1203. To hold a lamp over a sleeping person causes death.

_Ma.s.sachusetts._

1204. To break a looking-gla.s.s is a sign of death in the family before the year closes.

_General in the United States._

1205. To break a looking-gla.s.s is a sign of death, or of bad luck or[TN-11] seven years. This is quite a general belief. Domestic servants, and particularly superst.i.tious persons, are often thrown into a panic by accidents of this sort.

_General in the United States and Canada._

1206. If three persons look into a mirror at the same time, one will die within the year.

_Peabody, Ma.s.s., and New Hamps.h.i.+re._

1207. If one try on mourning when not wearing it, he will have occasion to wear it soon.

_Pennsylvania._

1208. To put on a bonnet or hat of one in mourning is a sign that you will wear one before the year is out.

_Peabody and Boston, Ma.s.s., and Niagara Falls, Ont._

1209. To drive a nail on Sunday is a sign that some one in the family will die within the year.

_Pigeon Cove, Ma.s.s._

1210. Hearing an imaginary rap and opening an outside door lets death in.

_Ferrisburgh, Vt._

1211. The hearing of three raps is a sign that some member of the family is dead.

_Boston, Ma.s.s., and Orange Co., Va._

1212. If members of a family, after long separation, meet for reunion, some one of the members will die within the year.

_Cambridge, Ma.s.s._

1213. Ringing in the ears is a sign of death.

_General._

1214. Ringing in the ears means death before the week ends. Of this ringing the term "death-bell" is used. It may be said by a country woman: "Oh! I have heard a death-bell!" or, "What a death-bell in my ear! You will hear of a death before the week is out." In case of a sudden death, such a person might say: "I am not surprised; I heard a death-bell on such a day."

_Northern Ohio._

1215. The term "death-bell" is also a popular one in _Prince Edward Island._

1216. In some localities the direction of the apparent ringing indicates the direction from which the news of death will come.

1217. If an empty rocking-chair is seen to sway back and forth when apparently unoccupied, it is supposed that the chair is held by the spirit of some deceased member of the family, who has come back to choose the next to go, and call that person quickly.

_Michigan._

1218. A spot resembling iron-rust on the finger means death.

_Maine._

1219. Beginning on Sat.u.r.day a garment that cannot be finished means death.

_Ohio._

1220. Deaths do not come singly; but if one of a family dies, a second death in the same family will occur within a year.

_Cambridge, Ma.s.s._

1221. Whoever works on a sick person's dress, he or she will die within the year.

_Ma.s.sachusetts._

1222. If some one is sick and a storm comes, it is a sign he will die during its continuance.

_Virginia._

1223. When a woman who has been sewing puts her thimble on the table as she sits down to eat, it is a sign that she will be left a widow if she marries.

_Central Maine._

1224. If one sings at a table while the family are eating, it means the death of a friend.