templum ex suo fecerunt collegio utriculariorum."

JANUS DOUSA.

Manpadt House, near Haarlem.

* * * * *

FOLK LORE OF SOUTH NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, NO. 3.

_Hedgehog._--Among other animals looked upon in a superstitious light, we
have the hedgehog, who, in addition to his still credited attribute of
sucking cows, is looked upon by our rustics as the emblem of craft and
cunning; playing the same part in our popular stories as Reynard in the
more southern _fabliaux_. They tell concerning him, the legend given by
M.M. Grimm, of the race between the Hare and Hedgehog. The Northamptonshire
version makes the trial of speed between a _fox_ and hedgehog. In all other
respects the English tale runs word for word with the German.

_Hares._--Besides the ancient superstition attached to the crossing of the
path by one of these animals, there is also a belief that the running of
one along the street or mainway of a village, portends fire to some house
in the immediate vicinity.

_Toads._--Belief in their venomous nature is yet far from being extinct.
This, added to the ill-defined species of fascination which they are
supposed to exercise, has caused them here, as elsewhere, to be held in
great abhorrence. I have heard persons who ought to have known better,
exclaim on the danger of gazing upon one of the harmless reptiles. The idea
respecting the fascinating powers of the toad, is by no means confined to