ar (1879) the Deal magistrates sentenced a man named George
Wylds to two months imprisonment for refusing to proceed to sea in the
barque "Umzinto," on a voyage from London to Port Natal. The man told
the magistrate that he was satisfied with the ship, officers, and
food, but he had had a dream that the ship would be lost, and would
not go to sea in her for any amount of money. Once before he had a
dream that a vessel in which he was sailing would be lost, and it was
lost.

It is worth recording that in many parishes of Worcestershire and
Herefordshire the holly and ivy that have adorned churches at
Christmas-time are much esteemed and cherished.

If a small branch of holly, with the berries upon it, is taken home
and hung up in the house, it is considered sure to bring a lucky year.
A little of this church ivy given to sheep is considered likely to
make them bring forth two lambs a-piece. The evergreens that were hung
up in the house must, however, all be burned, except the mistletoe
bough, which should be kept throughout the year; and it generally is
in farmhouses, as, according to old people, it prevented any bad
effect from the evil eye, and fiends and hobgoblins were scared away
by it, as stated in this verse of an old sagacious adviser:

"On Candlemas eve kindle the fire, and then
Before sunset let every leaf it bren;
But the mistletoe must hang agen
Till Christmas next return;
This must be kept, wherewith to tend
The Christmas bough, and house defend,
For where it's safely kept, the fiend
Can do no mischief there."

Some country churches in Worcestershire and Herefordshire are still
usually decked with sprigs of yew at Easter, and boughs of fragrant
fresh-leaved birch at Whitsuntide; and a sprig of yew thus
consecrated, when taken and kept in the house, is deemed a
preservative from the influence or entrance of any malignant spirits.
In like manner, a branch of the birch is honoured by being placed on
or over the kneading-trough; for, thus placed, it is considered to be
a sure antidote against heavy bread.

A celebrated case, in which the pursuer, newly returned from
Australia, sought to establish, in the Court of Common Pleas (we think
in 1871 or 1872), his claim to the ancient baronetcy of Tichborne,
recalls to mind a legend current in the Tichborne family for many
generations relative to the "Tichborne Dole." The house of Tichborne
dates the possession of its right