"
Its flight was watched with great anxiety, and when it took the
direction which the young girl wished, it was not only a sort of
pleasure, but a proof of the augury.
If a person on going to his work, or while going an errand, were to see
a hare cross the road in front of him, it was a token that ill luck
would shortly befall him. Many under such circumstances would return
home and not pursue their quest until the next meal had been eaten, for
beyond that the evil influence did not extend. This superstition is very
old, but it is not in every country or age connected with the hare. We
have already seen in a quotation from Ovid that this superstition
existed in his day, (page 2.) Probably the hare has been adopted in this
country from the belief that witches assumed the form of that animal
when on their nightly rambles, for how was the wayfarer to know that the
hare which he saw was not a transformed witch, intent on working him
mischief?
The cat was always a favourite in a family, and nothing was more unlucky
than for one to die inside the house.
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