380
INDEX.
and gotten the last word,” 180; “soon teeth, soon toes,” 19; “the swine’s run through it,” 34; “to work as if working for need-fire,” 168
Pullein (Billy), a wise man of Shipley, 238
Puddening, the ceremony of giving gifts to a child on its first visit to a house (Leeds), 20
Quarrelsome wife, charm to calm, 176–7
Quicken, see Service-tree
Quill thrown over a house and caught in a basin of water will become a silver spoon, 117
Radiant boy, a spirit with shining face; farmer saw one on a white horse near Thirsk, 267
Ragwort, loved by witches, 226; called “fairies’ horse” in Ireland, ib.
Rain, child’s charm to drive away, 24
Rainbow: child’s charm to dispel, 24; driving it away with crossed sticks, 25
Rattley-bags: child’s name for thunder, 26
Ravens: ominous birds; their screams by night thought to come from the ghosts of murdered men in Sweden—deemed exorcised spirits in Denmark, 126
Redcap, Redcomb, or Bloody Cap: a malignant sprite; dwells in old castles; stones and murders travellers; scripture words and sign of cross drive him away, 253; the evil Lord Soulis; proverb; song from Wilkie MS. 254; Dutch Redcaps perform manual labour like Brownies; an ungrateful peasant, 255
Redcomb, see Redcap
Redwings, their flight produces the Herring-spear or piece, 131
Reed, see Chipchase
Rheumatism, charms for: confirmation, 33; lying in stream; priest’s touch; bellows in chair, 160–1; besprochen in Prussia, 172; hare’s forefoot (Sussex), 201; toad burnt to powder (Devon), 206
Ribbon, the race for the, at Yorkshire weddings, 41–2
Ribble, see Peg-o’-Nell
Richardson’s Local Historian’s Table Book, quoted on the lykewake, 56
Riddle and shears, see Sieve and shears
Riding the stang among boys at Durham; among men done by deputy, 29; verses recited at the culprit’s door; recent instances, 30
Ring: breaking of wedding ring forebodes husband’s death, 42; divination by suspended ring and south running waters, 186–7; rings of tortoiseshell and coffin fittings cure cramp, 155
Ringworm, charm for: rubbing with garden mould, 140
Ripon Minster: apples with sprigs of box distributed there on St. Clement’s Day, 97
Ripon, see Apparitions
River Sprites, see Peg Powler, Peg-o’-Nell, and Jenny Greenteeth
Robin: its sacred character all over Christendom; reasons assigned in Brittany and Wales, 123; the Breton legend versified; Cornish rhyme; Devonshire
