Claire Cock-Starkeyさんのイラストまとめ

Babies born when the clock was striking the hour were thought to be gifted with the ability to see ghosts and spirits. #FolkloreThursday

A warning about the Witch of Burwell survives in this rhyme:
'A wicked old crone
Who lived all alone
In a hut beside the reeds,
With a high-crowned hat
And a black tom-cat,
Whose looks were as black as her deeds!'
#FolkloreThursday

In Cambridgeshire it was considered unlucky for a girl to marry a man with a surname beginning with the same letter as her own:
'Change the name and not the letter,
Change for the worse and not the better.'
#FolkloreThursday

Welcome May! Beautiful lilacs, peonies, iris and pansies all come into flower this month. Images via @BioDivLibrary

The woodpigeon has a distinctive coo. Across England children came up with various different interpretations of what the pigeons were saying. Some thought it was ‘Oh Betty, my sore toe’ and others ‘Take two cows Taffy’. #FolkloreThursday

The hair from the belly of a goat, tied into knots and concealed in the roof of your beloved will ensure 'furious love' according to the 1892 Book of Charms and Ceremonies. #FolkloreThursday

In the Fens a girl about to be married would watch sparrows. If she saw one drinking from a puddle it meant her future husband would spend too much time in the pub. If she saw one having a dust bath it meant her husband wouldn't mind how dirty their house was. #FolkloreThursday

Fenland mothers would never suckle their children during a thunderstorm as it was believed that their milk would taste of sulphur and brimstone. #FolkloreThursday

Seeing a white owl in the daytime is said to portend death. #FolkloreThursday

In English folklore as a candle burned the patterns made by the running wax were thought to foretell the future. Long strips of melted wax were interpreted as coffins and believed to be an omen of death. #FolkloreThursday