What They Say in New England/Death

by Clifton Johnson

Death
. .

Sneeze twice when you first get up, and you will hear of a death before night.

If a dog howls under the window, it foreshadows death in the household.

“There was a dog went and howled under the window of a house up near where I lived. He howled and howled; and they drove him off, but no sooner done it than he was right back again. And in two or three days an old lady that lived there died.”

Make your own wedding-dress, and you will not live to wear it out.

When the rain falls in an open grave, it is a sign there will be another death in the same family before the year is out.

Many people are troubled by this saying when the funeral of a friend occurs on a rainy day.

To cut the baby’s finger-nails before it is a year old will bring it to an early grave. Others say that to cut the baby’s finger-nails before its first birthday will make a thief of it.

If a whippoorwill sings near the house, it is a sign of death. Some say this is simply a sign of trouble.

A child must not be allowed to look in a mirror before it is a year old, for that means death to it.

In “ye olden time” great care was taken of the looking-glass when the family moved, because if it was broken that meant death. Even if the looking-glass was broken in the house and at any time, it was a bad sign. If a picture fell from the wall, that was a very bad omen. There are still those who are “scairt to death” by such accidents.

The sound made by the wood-tick boring in the walls of the old houses was thought to be a forewarning of death. It was known as the “death-watch.”

When a loaf of bread in baking splits clear across the top, it means death,

A green Christmas makes a full churchyard, The foundation for this saying is the fact that open winters with their constant freezings and thawings are very unhealthy.

If you go through a wood or under a tree in the evening, and an owl hoots right above your head, it means some relative or friend of yours is going to die within a year.

Thirteen is an unlucky number. If that number sit down to eat together, one of them will die before the year is out.

If a bird flies into the house, there will soon be a death in the family or among near relatives.

If a corpse lies over Sunday, there will be another death in town before the end of the week. “Never knew that to fail.”

If a dog howls in the yard, the first person that comes in the door will die very soon. “There was a dog howled in our yard once, and pa was the first one to come in the door. I know ma felt dreadfully about it, and pa died within a year.”

Open an umbrella in the house, and you run the risk of bringing on yourself extremely bad luck. If you hold it over your head, it is a sign you are soon to die. If you hold it over another person, you put that person in the same danger.

If a dish breaks when no one is near, it is a warning of death in the family soon.

“When I was a young girl, we had half a dozen slender little wineglasses. They were of thin, clear glass, as pretty as anything you ever see. But they all cracked one after the other as they set there on the mantel with nobody near ’em, and that next summer my mother died.”

In the disease called shingles, if the eruption goes way round a person it kills him. Those who recover take a good deal of pride in having it go nearly around.

If you dream of your teeth falling out, that is a sign of death. Even if you dream of the filling falling out that is a bad sign.

A hot May makes a fat graveyard.

To have a crow fly over the house is a sign of death.

If three lamps happen to be set on a table at the same time, the result will be that one of the household will die within the year.

Don’t let a bat fly into your house. If one does get in, kill him, and it will be all right. If the bat gets away, some one of the household will die within a year. In the old country, on warm evenings, when they would keep the door open to cool the rooms, you might see a woman standing in the doorway with a broom in her hand to keep the bats out. Every time one flitted past, she would make a fierce whack at it.

The child that has long fingers will die young.

Others say that long fingers are the sign the child will be an artist or a musician.

If a looking-glass gets cracked, it is understood that it is a sign of the death of the eldest son of the household.

The person with a wide cheek will have a long life. The person between whose ear and cheekbone the distance is narrow will die young.