Among the
better educated classes it may be said that much of the superstitions of
former times have passed away, and as education is extended they will
more and more become eradicated; but at present, in our rural districts
especially, the old beliefs still linger in considerable force. Many
think that the superstitions of last century died with the century, but
this is not so; and as these notions are curious and in many respects
important historical factors, I have thought it worth while to jot down
what of this Folk Lore has come under my observation during these last
sixty years.
In this collection I do not profess to include all that may come under
the head of Folk Lore, such, for example, as the reading of dreams and
cups, spaeing fortunes by cards or other methods--that class of
superstitions by which designing persons prey upon weak-minded people.
One principal object which I had in view in forming this collection, was
that it might supply a nucleus for the further development of the
subject. The instances which I have adduced belong to one locality, the
West of Scotland, and chiefly the neighbourhood west of Glasgow, but
different localities have different methods of formulating the same
superstition.
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