we subjoin as still used in Lancashire:


"Pippin, pippin, paradise,
Tell me where my true love lies,
East, west, north, and south,
Pilling Brig, or Cocker Mouth."

The old custom, too, of throwing an apple-peel over the head, marriage
or single blessedness being foretold by its remaining whole or breaking,
and of the peel so cast forming the initial of the future loved one,
finds many adherents. Equally popular, too, was the practice of divining
by a thistle blossom. When anxious to ascertain who loved her most, a
young woman would take three or four heads of thistles, cut off their
points, and assign to each thistle the name of an admirer, laying them
under her pillow. On the following morning the thistle which has put
forth a fresh sprout will denote the man who loves her most.

There are numerous charms connected with the ash-leaf, and among those
employed in the North of England we may quote the following:

"The even ash-leaf in my left hand,
The first man I meet shall be my husband;
The even ash-leaf in my glove,
The first I meet shall be my love;
The even ash-leaf in my breast,
The first man I meet's whom I love best;
The even ash-leaf in my hand,
The first I meet shall be my man.