Today's Olde Worlde romantic rituals come to us from the windswept moors and rolling fields of North Yorkshire; a region of the UK overflowing with old wives tales, superstition and love charms.
- It's Barley Bedtime
Young women wondering when they would be wed were instructed to go out during a full moon, pick three ripe ears of barley and wrap them up in something belonging to their intended. They would then tuck the package under their pillow and sleep on it -
on arising in the morning, open it, and if all the grains have remained in situ (intact), then you will be wed that year; but if any have broken away, count how many—they tell how many years you will remain single.
Richard Blakeborough, Wit, Character, Folklore & Customs of the North Riding of Yorkshire, 1898
But what if you didn't have any romantic prospects in your immediate vicinity and wanted a peek at your future spouse? Well, in that case, you could try -
2. The Luck of the Irish - in Yorkshire
It is commonly held that if you can find a four-leaved clover, and then walk backward upstairs to bed, sleeping with the leaf under your pillow, you will dream of the man you will marry.
(Ibid)
If you had more time (and graveyard mould) on your hands, you could follow -
3. A (rather complicated and gross) Recipe for Love
To catch a glimpse of your future spouse:
Make a cake of the following ingredients:—flour, a small pinch of graveyard mould taken from nine different graves, sufficient water from nine distinct sources, a pinch of salt, and a drop or two of blood from her third finger...
(Ibid)
After baking the cake at midnight on St Agnes Eve (Jan 20th) you were then instructed to place the still warm cake under your pillow and sleep on it. If the cake was still intact in the morning, you were then instructed to take it to "a place where four crossroads meet" and wait there until midnight.
When the clock struck 12 an "image" of your future spouse would come along to give the cake a looksee (and perhaps a quick sniff) before vanishing.
But what about unrequited love? If you were a lady, you were probably out of luck but the lads of Yorkshire had a spell for that -
4. I Love You (Knot)
If a young fellow is in love, and the girl's heart does not incline towards him, there is a charm which will cast a spell about her from which she cannot escape... He must cut off a willow knot and chew it... having chewed the said knot, he must secrete the same in the bed of the girl he loves. Once she falls asleep with that chewed knot as her companion, she will be bound to yield to his importunities.
(Ibid)
That's right fellas, back in the day the way to a girl's heart was by leaving soggy, half-chewed bits of wood in her bed. Who knew?
5. Smooth Snailing
Finally, when Yorkshire lads and lasses had their sweet pets and were ready to make it official, they could, via a bit of animal cruelty, ensure their marital happiness by doing the following -
Within three days after becoming engaged, seize a snail by its horns and throw it over your left shoulder, you will to a very considerable extent reduce the roughness of the road which true love is said to journey along.
Ibid
RESOURCES AND FURTHER READING:
Richard Blakeborough, Wit, Character, Folklore and Customs of the North Riding of Yorkshire, 1898, London, Oxford University Press (accessed via Project Gutenberg, http://www.gutenberg.org)
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