This edited article about Mother Shipton originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 682 published on 8 February 1975.

As a child when Mother Shipton was insulted at school she flung her detractors up in the air by means of an invisible force

When insulted by her school-friends, young Ursula Southill was said to demonstrate her anger by tossing them up into the air by means of an invisible force. Later in life she became famous for her uncanny powers of fortune-telling and amazed people with the accuracy of her predictions.

Three hundred and fifty years before the invention of radio, a little old lady in the town of Knaresborough in Yorkshire had forecast that “Around the world thoughts will fly in the twinkling of an eye.” She also predicted the age of the motor car: “Carriages without horses will go, And accidents fill the world with woe.”

Some of the predictions of this amazing lady, who was known as Mother Shipton, are quite remarkable.

She is said to have foretold, among other things, the invention of iron ships, submarines, aeroplanes, and the coming of the two world wars. And yet, in spite of the fact that her sayings are well-known, details about the woman herself and of her life in Knaresborough are extremely scanty. Some people doubt that she ever existed.

It is said that she was born Ursula Southill, Southiel or Sonthiel in July 1488 and that she died in 1561. Her mother, Agatha Southill, was reputed to be a witch and her father was the Devil.

Ursula was the ugliest child that anyone had ever seen. When her schoolfriends teased her about this, she is supposed to have been able to toss them into the air by an invisible force. When she was 24 years of age she married Tobias Shipton, a builder, and as Mother Shipton she became famous all over the country for the accuracy of her fortune-telling. People came from far and wide to seek her knowledge and advice.

It was not until eighty years after her death, however, that her powers of prediction became really well-known. In 1641 a pamphlet, “The Prophecie of Mother Shipton in the Raigne of King Henry VIII”, was published anonymously in London and purported to be a record of her predictions, most of which had by that time already been fulfilled. Four years later W. Lilly, an astrologer, quoted some of her forecasts in his “Collection of Ancient and Moderne Prophesies” and stated that sixteen of them had come true. In 1667 Richard Head, a writer of dubious veracity, published “The Life and Death of Mother Shipton”. From then on the legend just grew and grew, each subsequent writer adding a little more to the story, and so did the number of predictions that she was supposed to have made!

This edited article about Christmas customs originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 676 published on 28 December 1974.

Bringing in the Yule log is an ancient Christmas custom, by Angus McBride

When we decorate our homes for Christmas with evergreens, we are following a custom which began long before people wanted to celebrate the birthday of Christ. In the far North, it had long been the way of marking the passing of the year’s shortest day. The return of longer days brought the first signs of Spring, and what better way was there of proclaiming the promise of new growth than to decorate homes with these remarkable plants which had kept their green leaves throughout the Winter? When Christmas became a festival to mark the birthday of the founder of the Christian religion, these older customs were simply gathered up as part of the general celebrations, and have remained a part of Christmas ever since.

About three hundred years ago there was a custom in Oxfordshire by which servant-girls at the great houses used to ask one of the village youths to cut and carry sufficient ivy to decorate the house. If a man refused, or having promised, failed to provide enough, the maidservant had the right to steal a pair of his breeches and nail them to the gate of the house, where they remained over Christmas to give the passers-by a good laugh.

Read the rest of this article »

This edited article about superstition originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 659 published on 31 August 1974.

Magpies, traditionally thought to be birds of ill-omen

When we cross our fingers we are unconsciously making the sign of the Cross. In other words, invoking the protection or assistance of Heaven. Sometimes we do this when we call a truce, or want to drop out of a game. We do it, too, when swearing a solemn oath or, oddly enough, when telling a lie – though then the fingers, like the untruth, are usually hidden! But generally the gesture is simply intended to avert evil or misfortune.

For instance, we cross our fingers when we meet that bird of ill-omen, the magpie. Actually, the magpie has a double-edged reputation. Occasionally it is friendly to man; but more often it is a bird to be regarded warily, or at least appeased.

Why? Traditionally, this is so because it is said by legend to have refused to go into mourning when Christ was crucified. Since then, white feathers have been revealingly mixed with its black plumage.

Another legend explaining its sinister reputation tells that it refused to enter the Ark with the other animals but remained outside, croaking maliciously over the fate of the drowning world.

Perhaps the very harshness of its croak is the true explanation of man’s distrust. But this raucous cry can in fact be of service to him, as a warning of imminent danger – for example, the approach of wolves. Farmers have even been known to keep tame magpies as watch-birds. In some countries their services are recognised by the fastening of bunches of heather and laurel to tree-tops.

But, a lone magpie croaking persistently round a house is said to predict a death within. One hovering over a man’s head was said to mean that he would soon die. In northern Britain, it was particularly unlucky to see a magpie flying away from the sun. Whoever did so should throw a stone after it, calling, “Bad luck to the bird that flies widdershins.”

Of course, ways have always been found to forestall trouble – crossing fingers is only one of these.

Misfortune can also be counteracted by bowing, spitting or making other signs of the Cross. Yorkshire folk cross their thumbs, meanwhile saying:

“I cross the Magpie, the Magpie cross me.
Bad luck to the Magpie, Good luck to me.”

This edited article about originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 658 published on 24 August 1974.

“The mirror crack’d from side to side” – Tennyson’s Lady of Shalott, after a painting by J W Waterhouse

Primitive people believe that their souls can be harmlessly separated from their living bodies and seen as a shadow or a reflection in a still pool – but if anything disturbs that reflection, they will die.

Some African people still believe that crocodiles can kill a man by snapping at his reflection in the water. They also think that it is dangerous to gaze into a dark pool in case the spirit of the pool should seize the reflection and so bear the man’s soul away.

Long after civilised man ceased to believe that his soul was detachable, the fears lingered on in other forms, such as the belief that to shatter a mirror (and therefore the reflection) was unlucky. The fear that one will have seven-years’ ill-luck probably derives from the fact that the number seven possesses its own magic.

Mothers will sometimes not allow a baby, whose soul is not yet “secure” in its body, to see itself in a looking glass. (In fact, they probably just don’t trust tiny fingers with glass).

Mirrors are often still veiled after a death, to prevent others seeing their reflection. To the superstitious, anyone who does so will die soon, or being death to someone near.

Before a wedding ceremony, a bride avoids seeing herself in a mirror wearing her wedding-dress for fear that something may happen to prevent the marriage. But, after the ceremony, it is thought to be lucky for the newly-weds to catch sight of themselves, side-by-side in a mirror.

Actors, notoriously superstitious people, avoid looking into a dressing-room mirror over someone-else’s shoulder, as this brings bad luck to the one overlooked.

The worst mirror-omen is for someone to look into one and see – no reflection at all: this means that the soul has already left the body, and death is very near.

This edited article about superstition originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 657 published on 17 August 1974.

A fierce fanged black cat was used by the US Tanks Corps in its recruitment poster of 1917 by August William Hurat

A fat black cat slumbering on the hearth-rug looks harmless enough but many people view cats with a mixture of dread and awe. In the past, a whole host of superstitions have sprung up around the cat family.

Probably the lucky black cat dates from the days of ancient Egypt. There it was sacred. Killing a cat, even accidentally, was punishable by death. The ordinary Egyptian cat was sandy, with tabby markings, or barred, so a black cat was rare, and consequently regarded with awe. Illustrations often show cats with human bodies. Their mummified remains have been found in many tombs, embalmed, just like the Pharaohs.

In the north of England, to own a black cat has always been thought lucky, but to meet a strange one, which could, perhaps, be in league with a witch, was thought to be unlucky indeed. If possible, the owned cat should be self-invited; a bought cat, it is said, is no good for catching mice.

Yorkshire sailors’ wives believed that to possess a black cat would ensure their sea-going husbands’ safety.

In Ireland it was unlucky to take the cat with you when moving house. This belief may be based on the fact that cats tend to attach themselves to places, rather than to people; and frequently return to a former home if forcibly removed from it.

In India, it is considered unlucky to hear a cat mew when you are starting a journey. You must return and find out what it wants. Until it is satisfied, you will have no luck on the journey.

More general beliefs about a cat’s behaviour are that it is lucky if one sits in front of you, or walks ahead in your path. But if it runs away, turns back, or walks round you . . . or if it crosses your path, (particularly from left to right), disaster will certainly follow.

Most grisly of all cat superstitions concerns its connection with witches and witchcraft . . . the most powerful weapon for spells, it was said, is the skull of a black cat, fed on human flesh.

This edited article about superstition originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 656 published on 10 August 1974.

The moon must have fascinated our distant ancestors

“I see the moon, and the moon sees me. . . .”

This little saying reveals man-on-earth’s age-old attitude to the man-in-the-moon – that curious “face” seen on the nearest of the heavenly bodies.

To our ancestors, this unearthly man was a god, capable of doing him both good and harm. The word “lunacy” describes the madness once thought to be induced by the angered moon-god.

As it waxed and wanted it had different powers and demanded different types of reverence. It undoubtedly affected the sea, and tides, and children of north-east coast fisherman added to the line already quoted, the prayer: “God help the sailors on the sea. . . .”

Turning a sixpence was one way of ensuring future prosperity – perhaps its silver-gilt colour suggested this sacrificial gesture. It was also customary to bow three times, turning between bows and making a secret wish. In Somerset the bow was accompanied by this rhyme:

“New moon, new moon, first time I’ve seen ‘ee.
Hope before week’s out I’ll ha’ summat gi’ed me.”

For good luck the new moon should be seen direct – never through glass or trees – preferably on the right or directly ahead (though in East Anglia it is lucky to see it over the left shoulder).

Some people believed the moon could cure warts. In Cornwall they were “washed” in a basinful of water in the moonlight, while saying:

“I wash my hands in this thy dish, Oh, Man-in-the-moon do grant my wish – And come and take away this. . . .”

The moon’s effect on the weather led to many strongly-held beliefs: two moons in one month meant bad weather, especially in May – when it meant “rain for a year and a day.” A full moon at Christmas foretold a bad harvest; Cornishmen called a Saturday moon “the sailors’ curse.”

A new moon at the weekend meant bad luck almost everywhere.

This edited article about superstition and customs originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 655 published on 3 August 1974.

A poisson d’Avril or April Fool in France, with two clowns juggling the poissons

If anyone has ever sent you to buy a left-handed screwdriver, a box of straight hooks, a bucket of blue steam or a reel of tartan cotton or told you to pick up a penny glued to the floor – you have something in common with your medieval ancestors. With them it was often a pint of pigeon’s milk or a “History of Eve’s Mother.” What started it all?

As far back as we can trace, people have celebrated New Year by giving presents. Originally New Year’s Day was March 25th, but this date often occurred during Holy Week, so the Church decreed that all merry-making should be postponed until April 1st. Four centuries ago, New Year’s Day was moved to January 1st but the more mischievous citizens, feeling perhaps that the coming of spring still deserved recognition fell into the habit of teasing absent-minded friends by playing practical jokes, or giving mock presents to persuade them that the spring New Year was still in operation. (Similar jokes were played by the ancient Persians, whose new year was also celebrated about the time of the Vernal Equinox, and among Hindus at their spring Huli festival.)

In France an April fool is un poisson d’Avril (an April fish). In Scotland he’s a “gowk” (cuckoo) – the day itself being “Huntogowk Day” from the old joke of “hunting the gowk.” Scottish children still send unsuspecting friends to another friends in the know with a message reading: -

“Don’t you laugh, and don’t you smile,

Hunt the gowk another mile . . .”

The conspirator refuses the note, saying it has been brought to the wrong person, and the ‘Gowk’ must try again . . .

“Fools’ Day” ends at noon. Anyone who plays tricks after this is greeted with some such chant as:

“April Fools’ Day’s past and gone

You’re the fool for making one . . .”

This edited article about superstition originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 654 published on 27 July 1974.

Druids under the oak trees gathering mistletoe, by William Rainey

“Touch wood” said our ancestors hastily, as a kind of insurance against disaster. But in these enlightened times, we modern people are above such idle superstitions. We no longer believe in such outmoded nonsense – or do we?

It has always been held unlucky to anticipate future luck or happiness, in case some jealous sprite might steal it away; or the gods overhear and withhold the good fortune to teach the boaster a lesson. It is equally dangerous, for the same reasons, to congratulate someone else on his good looks, or good fortune.

Touching wood has long been one way of compensating for possible harm done – Christians sometimes believed it brought the protection of the Cross. (In Ireland, if a stranger admired a baby too highly, its mother would often touch wood, make the sign of the Cross, and say “God be between him and harm.”)

But the practice goes much farther back than Christianity. Throughout mythology there have been sacred trees, such as the oak which was supposed to be immune to lightning and give protection in storms, as well as harbouring the mistletoe, a plant sacred to the Druids.

Nowadays people often think it is enough to say – “touch wood” without actually doing so. Children sometimes touch their heads as a joke, to suggest “wooden-headedness,” or stupidity (perhaps half-believing that such modesty will appease the angry gods!)

In some countries iron replaces wood. Touching iron is still sometimes practised in mines. If some other mining superstition has been defied, disaster can be averted if the speaker, and his hearers, immediately “touch cold iron.” Its “supernatural” properties date back to the earliest days of man’s life on earth. The first iron found was meteoric. Because it appeared unexpectedly, in strange, menacing shapes and unlikely places, it was believed to have been hurled from the heavens by angry gods. When it was first used in tools and weapons its natural superiority over stone and bronze caused it to be feared as “magic” by tribes who still used the older and more inferior metals.

This edited article about superstition originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 653 published on 20 July 1974.

In Alexander Pope’s satire The Rape of the Lock, Belinda peppers the Baron with snuff in order to retrieve her lock, by John Millar Watt

Primitive peoples all over the world believed a sneeze – a “little explosion in the head” – was a sign from the gods which could foretell either good or evil fortune.

Our own custom of wishing the sneezer good health or fortune – to forestall possible bad luck – dates back at least to the ancient Greeks. In 17th-century England it was very impolite to omit the wish, and it was customary to raise the hat and bow at the same time.

Sneezing to the right denoted good fortune, especially at the start of a journey; but to sneeze to the left, or near a grave, is very unlucky. Sneezing three times before breakfast is thought to predict a present before the end of the week. Yorkshire folk believe it is a sign of good health to sneeze after a meal; anyone who does so regularly after dinner is expected to live to a great age.

There are many “day” rhymes connected with sneezing. One runs:

Monday for danger, Tuesday kiss a stranger,
Wednesday for a letter, Thursday something better,
Friday for sorrow, Saturday – see your lover tomorrow.

In Cornwall they add two more lines:

Sneeze on Sunday morning fasting,
Enjoy your true love for everlasting.

Another rhyme – a “counting” one this time – is as follows:

One (sneeze) for a kiss, two for a wish,
Three for a letter, four for a better,
Five for silver, six for gold,
Seven for a secret never to be told.

In Scotland it was once thought that fairies could not sneeze and that mentally-defective children were fairy changelings, substituted for human children by fairy mothers so that they might benefit from human care. So to Scots country folk the first sneeze was very important: it proved that the baby was normal – and human!

This edited article about superstition originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 651 published on 6 July 1974.

A country blacksmith or farrier making horseshoes

The horseshoe is a most ancient charm, combining many luck-bringers: the “magical” metal-iron; the fire which forges it; and its shape, which symbolises the arch (the strongest of all shapes), the rainbow, and the crescent moon. Horses themselves were once widely regarded as sacred.

Many early Christians fixed horseshoes sideways to their doors, so that they formed a “C” (for “Christ”). Non-believers accepted them merely as lucky horseshoes set slightly askew, but fellow-believers recognised their significance.

One charming lucky-horseshoe legend describes how the Devil once arrived at the smithy of St Dunstan (a noted blacksmith) and asked to have his hoof shod. Recognising him, St Dunstan fastened his visitor to the wall and set to work on the hoof so vigorously that the Devil screamed for mercy. Before releasing him, St Dunstan made him promise never to enter a place where a horseshoe was displayed.

Another legend says that the Devil always travelled in circles, and so when he arrived at either “heel” of the shoe, he was forced to turn back.

Lincolnshire folk “cured” fevers by nailing three horseshoes at the foot of the bed and placing a hammer crosswise above them. When the Devil arrived to harm the patient, the horseshoes, plus a charm, made him immune to the Devil’s evil. The charm was to take the hammer in the left hand, tap the horseshoe and say:

“Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
Nail the Devil to the post.
Thrice I strike with holy crook;
One for God, one for Wod,
And one for Lok.”

“Wod” and “Lok” were the old Scandinavian gods, Wodin and Loki, so this charm – combining both heathen and Christian protection – was extra strong.

It is not only simple people however, who believe horseshoe superstitions. Nelson had one fixed to the mast of HMS Victory. Admittedly, it didn’t do Nelson much good, but at least he did beat the French!