Who said things only happen in Three’s?

 

          My mother’s mum, my grandmother was English (from Leeds in Yorkshire), born in 1903 and extremely superstitious. She’s been gone a long time now but her inculcation of us lives on. I wouldn’t say that I am particularly superstitious myself but I err on the side of caution and have developed a large amount of respect for “old wives tales”. Those wily old women knew what they were talking about.

This is when our milking parlour was under construction. The Dutch Door is from Karen's Grandmother's (Nana's) house. For luck!

Beautiful - isn't it.

          When someone sneezes, I always say “God bless you”. I’m not a religious person! Why do I call upon God? And why is there a need to ask for divine intervention? I guess it goes back to the days when a cold could kill you. Then any kind of help would have been greatly appreciated.

          We had a bird fly into my mum’s house through an open door once. My grandmother, who was visiting, had a FIT! This bird activity is just terrible bad luck. We got the bird out fairly quickly and I never did find out the root of this superstition but if my grandmother had been Catholic, she would have been crossing herself.

          Do you know that if you give a wallet or purse as a gift you are required to place a penny in it? To bring wealth to the person you give it to.

          Dropping cutlery on the floor was filled with portends of a fair or a dark man visiting – one was a knife and one was a fork but I can’t remember which was which.

          Finding and picking up a penny was important – don’t just walk by if you see one on the ground. Of course, when you consider that in my grandmother’s time a penny could buy a couple loaves of bread, then it makes more sense.

          Cutting your fingernails (or toenails) was not allowed on Sunday. Perhaps it was considered being vain on the Sabbath but I never have figured it out.

          Deaths in the family, illness, or bad luck always happened in threes. When two people died, my gran would be on tenterhooks waiting for the next death. I can’t remember if good luck came this way, probably not.

          Crossing your fingers when you told a little white lie was supposed to negate your “sin” in telling the lie.

          Dreaming of white horses was a precursor to a death as well. Maybe they were supposed to take the spirit to heaven or the Grim Reaper rode in on one. She never explained.

          There were many superstitions around weddings too. Change your name but not the letter, change for worse instead of better. The bride needs to be wearing something borrowed, something blue, something old, and something new as she walks down the aisle. It’s bad luck if the groom sees the bride in her dress. My gran didn’t like lilies at a wedding and couldn’t tolerate the colour green for an accent. She wouldn’t have green in her house actually; it was very bad luck in her books.

          To round out the year, the first person to cross your threshold in the New Year should be a dark man – having him come into your home first would ensure plenty of good luck for your household.

          I am sure there are many more that I don’t remember. I still wonder at the origins of many of these superstitions. A little wonder in my world is a good thing (fingers crossed for luck).