Superstitions

dick

dick

LOTSW Fanatic
I was about to trim my nails on Sunday when I seemed to hear my mothers voice saying" Don't cut hair or nails on a Sunday!! >:( Something to do with the Devil as I remember it! :o Any other superstitions spring to mind??( I am not thinking of the under ladders and spilling salt) Anything a little uncommon ???
 
My sisters in law won't wash cloths or sweep the floor on new years day???? Heavens knows why!
Also " Never buy a man shoes or he'll use them to walk away form you" According to the same sisters in law ??? Needless to say I have bought my husband loads of shoes and he's never taken the hint :me: :me: ;D
 
Yes, I too, buy all my husband's shoes. And unlike women's shoes, I can buy the exact SAME STYLE year after year. Amazing!
 
Susan said:
My sisters in law won't wash cloths or sweep the floor on new years day? ??? Heavens knows why!
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This is probably linked with the Scottish tradition of cleaning the house thoroughly on Hogmanay or it will be dirty throughout the New Year. And then there is First Footing where it is good fortune for the first caller in the New Year (the First Foot) to be dark haired - and, of course, it must be a man. And he must carry food and coal so the house had food and warmth in the New Year.

There was a ground in New Zealand (Eden Park?) where they never allowed a woman on the pitch because that was unlucky. And it was always deemed unlucky to have a woman on a fishing boat.

Then there is the one about whenever you give someone a knife you must always also give them a coin or 'the friendship will be cut'.
 
Was that a Scottish custom Unc, where you had to put a coin in a handbag or purse if it was given as a gift? :-\ ???
 
dick said:
Was that a Scottish custom Unc, where you had to put a coin in a handbag or purse if it was given as a gift? :-\ ???
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My mam never gave a purse to anyone without a coin in it. She was from Sunderland but her family from way back were Scottish.
 
The one I remember was always eating pork as the first meal on New Year's Day. The pig (pork) is eaten because it is said that a pig cannot root backwards and therefore is only concerned with moving forward.
 
If you have a bad dream on Friday night don't talk about on Saturday because it will come true.

Don't put shoes on a table
 
I asked my mum about the" shoes on table ", she didn't know but a neighbour explained that it probably came from the early days of the British Army, when a soldier died abroad the rest of the men would not take over "dead mans shoes" so they were sent home to his family .If a man came to your house and brought a pair of boots with him and put them on the table, it meant that the man of the house or son or brother was dead. That is where the bad luck came from .Another one like accepting the third light from a match , it came from army experiences. :-\
 
Susan said:
My sisters in law won't wash cloths or sweep the floor on new years day???? Heavens knows why!
Also " Never buy a man shoes or he'll use them to walk away form you" According to the same sisters in law ??? Needless to say I have bought my husband loads of shoes and he's never taken the hint :me: :me: ;D
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The not washing clothes on New Years Day is to do with a superstition that you will wash away the life of a family member in the following year. My mother won't do any washing on new years day and I've heard her refer to this.
 
dick said:
I asked my mum about the" shoes on table ", she didn't know but a neighbour explained that it probably came from the early days of the British Army, when a soldier died abroad the rest of the men would not take over "dead mans shoes" so they were sent home to his family .If a man came to your house and brought a pair of boots with him and put them on the table, it meant that the man of the house or son or brother was dead. That is where the bad luck came from .Another one like accepting the third light from a match , it came from army experiences. :-\
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I think the third light thing was because in the dark tranches if the enemy saw the first spark of the match by the time the third man was taking the light the enemy had had time to pick up his gun and aim at the light.
 
I believe that's right susan...the first light allowed the enemy to spot your location, the second light to take aim and the third to shoot is what my granddad told me.
 
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