Ah, the white dog barks at last
And my love comes running fast!'"If during the singing the bark of a dog should be heard, the damsel will
be 'wedded and bedded and a' 'ere New Year comes again. This is virtually
the same with a charm practised in Tuscany, which from other ancient
witness I believe to be of Etruscan origin. Allied to this is the following: On
the night of Saint George's Day (query, Saint George's Eve?) gypsy girls
blindfold a white dog, then, letting it loose, place themselves quietly in
several places. She to whom the dog runs first will be the first married.
Blindman's buff was anciently an amorous, semi-magical, or witches' game,
only that in place of the dog a man was blindfolded.
"'Or the girl pulls a hair from her head, fastens a ring to it, and dangles it
in a jug. The ring vibrates or swings, and so often as it touches the side of
the jug so many years will it be before she marries.' This is an ancient spell
of Eastern origin. As performed according to old works the thread must be
wound around the ring-finger and touch the pulse. On the edge of a bowl
the letters of the alphabet, or numerals, are marked, and the ring swinging
against these spells words or denotes numbers. The touching of the latter
indicates the number of lovers a girl is to have.
"Early on Whitsunday morning the girls go out, and if they see clouds in
the East they throw twigs in that direction, saying:--
"'Predzsia, csirik leja,
Te ná tráda m're píranes.''Fly my bird-fly, I say,
Do not chase my love away.'For they think that if on Whitsun-morn there are many clouds in the East
few girls will be married during the coming year. This peculiar, seemingly
incomprehensible, custom of the gypsies originated in an old belief, the
germ of which we find in the Hindoo myth, according to which the spring
morning which spreads brightness and blessings descends from the blue
bird of heaven, who, on the other hand, also represents night or winter.
Special preparations are made so that the predictions shall be fulfilled. On
the days mentioned the girls are neither allowed to wash themselves, nor to
kiss any one, nor go to church. At Easter, or on the Eve of Saint George, the
girl must eat fish, in order to see the future in her dreams.
"On Easter morning the girls boil water, in the bubbles of which they try
to make out the names of their future husbands.
"To find out whether the future husband is young or old the girl must
take nine seeds of the thorn-apple, ploughed-up earth of nine different
places, and water from as many more. With these she kneads a cake, which