* * * * *

_Dinnick_ is the Devonshire name of a small bird, said to follow and
feed the cuckoo.

* * * * *

A cat will not remain in a house with an unburied corpse; and rooks will
leave the place until after the funeral, if the rookery be near the
house.

* * * * *

It is proper to make a low bow whenever a single magpie is seen.

* * * * *

It is not considered safe to plant a bed of lilies of the valley; the
person doing so will probably die in the course of the next twelve
months.

* * * * *

Where the rainbow rests, is a crock of gold.

* * * * *

A cork under the pillow is a certain cure for cramp.

* * * * *

Seven different herbs must be used for making a herb poultice.

"The editor remembers a female relation of a former vicar of St.
Erth, who, instructed by a dream, prepared decoctions of various
herbs, and repairing to the Land's End, poured them into the sea,
with certain incantations, with the expectation of seeing the
Lionesse rise immediately out of the water having all its
inhabitants alive, notwithstanding their long immersion."--Davies
Gilbert's _Cornwall_, vol. iii. p. 310.

* * * * *

If the fire blazes up brightly when the crock is hung up, it is a sign
there is a stranger coming.

* * * * *

_Cure for Thrush_.--Take the child to a running stream, draw a straw
through its mouth, and repeat the verse, "Out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings," &c.

* * * * *

A creature of enormous size, called a "bull-frog," is believed to live
under the foundation stones of old houses, hedges, &c. I remember having
heard it spoken of with great awe.

* * * * *

_Hen and Chickens._--In a parish adjoining Dartmoor is a green fairy
ring of considerable size, within which a black hen and chickens are
occasionally seen at nightfall.

The vicar of a certain Devonshire parish was a distinguished student of
the black art, and possessed a large collection of mysterious books and
manuscripts. During his absence at church, one of his servants visited
his study, and finding a large volume open on the desk, imprudently
began to read it