NORFOLK FINES (INGROSSAT: IN COM: BANCO 1507-1516). In the Record Office (floor A, room 8, 2 dwn A shelf 2 et seq.) are some indices of fines, recoveries, and deeds, commencing 21st Henry VII. They are merely short précis made cotemporaneously with the original fines, and placed in the index (or rather calendar) without arrangement, either alphabetically or in counties. I have extracted from pp. 32 to 123, and 158-9 of the first volume (which pp. comprise fines only from Michaelmas 21st Henry VII, to Easter 7th Henry VIII) the names of all parties to Norfolk fines, and having arranged them in alphabetical order, hope they will be of some service to the genealogical readers of the East Anglian. If any one would like a transcript of the entire entry in the index (which specifies the property, the subject of the fine), I shall be glad to make and forward it. be very unwilling to acknowledge their weakness to o ashamed even to confess it to themselves. In Gay's fable Wife and the Raven, the popular belief in omens is admirab some of the most common superstitions are mentioned by were then, and still are, current in almost every part of spilling of salt when it falls towards any one-the crossing fork-Friday, the unlucky day of the week-the coffin bo fire-and the main incident in the fable which struck the terror "That Raven on yon left-hand oak are universally believed among the common people to be sig ing evil. An octogenarian inhabitant of another village h me that, in his younger days, a flight of ravens settling a the village church, which adjoins the parsonage, was co villagers to be an omen of the death of the clergyman, soon after. I have just been told by a lady, who has resided for so a Norfolk family at Kentish Town, that when the new mo all the family (including the servants) are accustomed to b house, in order that they may not see the new moon thro is believed to be very unlucky. And, a respectable trad my own village, gravely assured a lady who visited her in she knew she should have nothing but trouble for a month had unfortunately seen the new moon through a glass wind that she always dreaded such warnings, as her husband t sperd most of his time at the public house. It is considered lucky to turn over a piece of money the new moon, but to catch the first sight of it over the said to be unlucky. A strange notion prevails amongst some of our peasantry, that if the hedges hang in drops on the morning of Candlemas day, there will be a good crop of peas and beans. There is another superstition, that if a pregnant woman meet a hare and turn it back, the child will have a hare-lip; but if she allows it to pass her, no harm will happen to the child. To pluck the first primrose which appears in the garden in spring, and take it into the house, is believed to be an unlucky omen for the family. A lighted candle left in an unoccupied room, the doors being shut, is believed to presage the death of one of the family. Some years ago, after the death of a relative, the nurse informed me that she was glad that the body was quite stiff and rigid, and on my inquiring the reason of her satisfaction, she told me that if the corpse had been supple and pliable, there would have been another death in the family within the year. Upwards of a year ago, I called one evening on an old friend more than eighty years of age, who had lost her husband about six months before. While sitting with her, I heard the clock strike the hour in an adjoining room, and counted it seven; and being surprised that it was no later, I involuntarily took out my watch, and found that it was in reality eight o'clock. The old lady noticing this, remarked, "Ah! the clock lost a stroke against my poor husband's death, and I have not altered it since." This appears to be a different superstition from that of a clock stopping at death, which has recently been the subject of remark in Notes and Queries. To form one of a party of thirteen at dinner, is said to foreshadow the death of one of the company, within the year. To close the door of a house from which a corpse has been carried, before the body is actually interred, is believed to indicate another death in the family within the year; and a similar calamity is said to occur if the house is entirely left while the funeral takes place. It is considered very wrong, and particularly unlucky to kill a raven, a superstition which, probably, had its origin in the biblical narrative of the prophet Elijah's having been fed by ravens. The Norfolk boys have a saying that if you kill a robin or a wren, you will have one of your limbs broken; for The robin and the tiny wren, Are God Almighty's cock and hen. To this is sometimes added The martin and the swallow, Are the next birds that follow and are therefore entitled to a similar immunity from destruction. It will be observed that in most cases where deaths are supposed to be predicted, the term of one year is generally given for the fulfilment of the omen; and it is not therefore surprising that in many instances, and particularly in large families, deaths would frequently occur within that period, and that such apparent fulfilment of the prediction would confirm and strengthen the belief of many in the popular superstition. Pulham. GEORGE RAYSON. A Peal of 6000 Bob Major, was rung in 3 hours and 41 minutes, Society of Ringers. Treble DOWNING OLDRING, 2 WM. KEEBLE, 3 WM. SCOLDING, 4 WM. ADAMS, Conducted by JNO. FOSDIKE. Ars incognita Contemnitur. IV. January 12th, 1842. A peal of 5120 changes of Kent Treble Bob, was rung in 3 hours the Woodbridge Society of Ringers, viz. :— Was rung a complete Peal of 6144 changes of Kent Treble Bob, i minutes, by the Woodbridge Society of Ringers, viz. : Treble WALTER MEADOWS, 2 CHARLES ADAMS, 3 WM. CLARKE, VOL. II. Conducted by ISAAC SAWYER. Ardua Molimur sed nulla nisi ardua Virtus. 2 I |