CORNISH CUSTOMS 141 Padstow : " The head, being dipped into the water, is instantly taken up and the mud and water are sprinkled on the spectators to the no small diversion of all." The Maypole festivities have been given up of recent years, but hobby-horses still prance the streets. Hitchins gives an account of a few local super- stitions, some of which are not peculiar to Corn- wall : " The sound of the cuckoo, if first heard on the right ear, denotes good luck ; but to hear the voice first on the left, is an omen of undefinable disasters. To spit on the first piece of money that is received in the morning will ensure a successful day in trade ; and to hold up a silver coin against the new moon on its first appearance can hardly fail to secure lunar virtue for a month. To bite from the ground the first fern that appears in the spring is an infallible preventive of the toothache during the year ; and the first ripe blackberry that is seen will put away warts. To pay money on the first day of January is very unlucky as it ensures a continuance of disbursements during the year ; and to remove bees on any day besides Good Friday will ensure their death; while to work
