It is considered unlucky by many to shake hands across a table; and when two people are shaking hands, if two others of the company attempt to shake hands across their hands it is a very unlucky sign.
It is considered unlucky by some to baptise more than one child in the same water. There is also the same superstition respecting one man washing after another in the same water.
In Cardiganshire, it is believed that he who dies on Sunday is a godly man.
Mr. Eyre Evans, Aberystwyth, informed me that he has just come across some people in Montgomeryshire who consider it unlucky to pick up or carry white stones in their pockets; and it seems from Sir John Rhys, that Manx Fishermen do not like to have a white stone in a boat.
Curious Belief about Salt.--When people remove into a new house it is customary to take a bar of salt into the building before taking in any of the furniture. This is supposed to secure good luck.
When this salt ceremony is forgotten or neglected, some people, especially women, are very much perturbed.
I have discovered that this curious old belief about salt is very common at present in the towns of Aberystwyth, Carmarthen, and Tenby, and other parts of West Wales.
To spill salt denotes quarrels. To serve another person with salt, is to serve him with sorrow.
When a white spot appeals on the nail of one of our fingers it means a present.
Never stir the fire in anybody's house unless you are a friend of seven years' standing.
To break a looking-glass signifies ill-luck for seven years.
To put the bellows on a table is considered unlucky. There is also the same superstition about boots all over Wales.
Never mend your clothes while you are wearing them.
If you see a pin pick it up to insure good luck.
There is a saying in Welsh "Gwell plygu at bin, na phlygu at ddim," (It is better to bend down for a pin, than to bend down for nothing.) It seems that a needle, however, is not considered so lucky; for I once overheard a woman who had quarrelled with her neighbour telling her husband that her neighbour and herself were friends before she had given her a needle.
If a bramble clings to the skirts of a young lady some one has fallen in love with her; and the same is said of a young man when his hat goes against the branches of a tree.