is a word which, in its proper sense, signifies a sign or indication of some future event, taken from the language of a person speaking without any intent to prophecy. Hence Tully says, "Pythagorei non solum voces deorum observantur," sed etiam hominum, quae vocent omnia," "the Pythagoreans attend to the discourse not only of gods, but also of men, which they call omens." This sort of omen was supposed to depend much upon the will of the person concerned in the event; whence the phrases accept omen, arripiat omen. Such were the original omens; but they were afterwards derived from things as well as from words. Thus Paternus, speaking of the head of Sulpicius on the rostrum, says it was velut omen imminentis proscriptio, "the omen of an impending proscription." Suetonius says of Augustus, that he believed implicitly in certain omens; and that, si mane fisci calcus perpetram, ac sinistris pro dextero induceretur, ut dirum, "If his shoes were improperly put on in the morning, especially if the left shoe was put upon his right foot, he held it for a bad omen." Omen was used in a still larger sense, to signify an augury; as in the following line of Tully: "Sic aquilae clarum fix-

mavit Jupiter omen?" "thus Jove confirmed the bright omen of the eagle?" It was lastly used, in the most generic sense of all, for a portent or prodigy; as in the third book of the Aeneid, where a myrtle torn up by Æneas dropped blood. Upon this appearance, says the hero,

Mihi frigidus horror Membra quatit, gelidique coit formidine sanguis. And the same thing being repeated upon his breaking a branch from another tree, he prayed to the gods to avert the omen.

Multa movens animo Nymphas venerabat agrestes, Gradivumque patrem, Getici qui praedit feris, Iste fecundantem vitum, omneque levaret (A).

The portentous or supernatural omens were either external or internal. Of the former sort were those flowers of blood so frequently occurring in the Roman history, which were much of the same nature with this adventure of Æneas, which he calls monstra deum. Of the second sort were those sudden confusions, which, seizing upon men without any visible cause, were imputed to the agency of the god Pan, and hence called panic fears. But indeed there was hardly anything, however trivial, from which the ancients did not draw omens. That it should have been thought a direful omen when any thing befell the temples, altars, or statues of the gods, need excite no wonder; but that the meeting of a eunuch, a negro, a bitch with whelps, or a snake lying in the road, should have been looked upon as portending bad fortune, is a deplorable influence of human weakness, and of the pernicious influence of superstition on the mind.

It is more than probable that this practice of making ordinary events ominous of good or bad fortune took its rise in Egypt, the parent country of almost every superstition of paganism; but wherever it may have arisen, it spread itself over the whole inhabited globe, and at this day prevails in a greater or less degree among the vulgar of all nations.

In England, it is reckoned a good omen, or a sign of future happiness, if the sun shines on a couple coming out of the church after having been married. It is also esteemed a good sign if it rains whilst a corpse is burying:

Happy is the bride that the sun shines on; Happy is the corpse that the rain rains on.

To

(A) Instead of translating these short quotations, we shall here give Dryden's version of the whole of this English reader, who alone can wish for a translation, together with its effects on the mind of the hero. It is as follows:

Not far, a rising hillock stood in view; Sharp myrtles on the sides and corners grew. There, while I went to crop the Sylvan scenes, And shade our altar with their leafy greens, I pull'd a plant (with horror I relate) A prodigy so strange, and full of fate: The rooted fibres rose; and from the wound Black bloody drops distill'd upon the ground. Mute and amaz'd, my hair with terror flood;

Fear shrunk my finews, and congeal'd my blood. Mann'd once again, another plant I try; That other gush'd with the same fanguine dye. Then, fearing guilt for some offence unknown, With prayers and vows the Dryads I atone, With all the fetters of the woods, and most The god of arms, who rules the Thracian coast: That they, or he, these omens would avert, Release our fears, and better signs impart. To break a looking glass is extremely unlucky; the party to whom it belongs will lose his best friend.

If, going a journey on business, a sow crosses the road, you will probably meet with a disappointment, if not a bodily accident, before you return home. To avert this, you must endeavour to prevent her crossing you; and if that cannot be done, you must ride round on fresh ground. If the sow is attended with her litter of pigs, it is lucky, and denotes a successful journey.

It is unlucky to see first one magpie, and then more; but to see two, denotes marriage or merriment; three, a successful journey; four an unexpected piece of good news; five, you will shortly be in a great company. To kill a magpie, will certainly be punished with some terrible misfortune.

If, in a family, the youngest daughter should be married before her elder sisters, they must all dance at her wedding without shoes: this will counteract their ill luck, and procure them husbands.

If you meet a funeral procession, or one passes by you, always take off your hat: this keeps all evil spirits attending the body in good humour.

If, in eating, you miss your mouth, and the viands fall, it is very unlucky, and denotes approaching sickness.

It is lucky to put on a stocking the wrong side outwards: changing it alters the luck.

When a person goes out to transact any important business, it is lucky to throw an old shoe after him.

It is unlucky to present a knife, scissors, razor, or any sharp or cutting instrument, to one's mistress or friend, as they are apt to cut love and friendship. To avoid the ill effects of this, a pin, a farthing, or some trifling recompense, must be taken. To find a knife or razor, denotes ill luck and disappointment to the party.

In the Highlands of Scotland, it is thought unlucky if a person setting out upon a journey stumble over the threshold, or be obliged to return for anything forgotten. If a sportsman see any person stepping over his gun or fishing rod, he expects but little success in that day's diversion. Sneezing is also deemed ominous. If one sneeze when making a bed, a little of the straw or heath is taken out and thrown into the fire, that nothing may disturb the rest of the person who is to sleep in the bed. Among the same people, success in any enterprise is believed to depend greatly upon the first creature that presents itself after the enterprise is undertaken. Thus, upon going to slumber, it is reckoned lucky to meet a horse, but very unfortunate to see a hare, if the escape; and upon meeting any creature deemed unlucky, the best means of averting the omen is to roll a stone towards it. The Greeks attributed the same efficacy to the rolling of a stone, though they greatly preferred killing the ominous animal, that the evil portended might fall on its own head*.

The motions and appearances of the clouds were not long ago considered as certain signs by which the skilful Highlander might attain to the knowledge of futurity. On the evening before new year's day, if a black cloud appeared in any part of the horizon, it was thought to prognosticate a plague, a famine, or the death of some great man in that part of the country over which it should appear to set; and in order to ascertain the place threatened by the omen, the motions of this cloud were often watched through the whole night, if it happened to continue so long visible above the horizon.

By the believers in this superstition there are days, as well as words and events, which are deemed ominous of good or bad fortune. The first day of every quarter, midsummer, and new year's day, are reckoned the most fortunate days in the year for accomplishing any design. In the isle of Mull, ploughing, sowing, and reaping, are always begun on Tuesday, though the most favourable weather for these purposes be in this way frequently lost. That day of the week on which the third of May falls, is deemed unlucky throughout the whole year. In Morven, none will upon any account dig peat or turf for fuel on Friday; and it is reckoned unlucky to number the people or cattle belonging to any family, and doubly so if the number be taken on Friday. The age of the moon is also much attended to by the vulgar Highlanders. It is alleged, that during the increase things have a tendency to grow and stick together: and hence, in the isle of Sky, fences, which are there made of turf, are built only at that time; whilst turf or peat for fuel are never, even in the most favourable weather, either made or stacked up but while the moon is in its wane. An opinion prevails in some places, that if a house take fire during the increase of the moon, the family to which it belongs will prosper in the world; but that if the fire happen while the moon is in the decrease, the family will from that time decline in its circumstances, and sink into poverty.

In attributing such influence to the moon, the superstitious Highlanders have the honour to agree with the philosophic Virgil, who in his Georgics gives the following sage instructions to the husbandman:

Ipsa dies alios alio dedit ordine Luna Felices, operum. Quintam fuge: * * * Septima post decimam felix et ponere viem, Et prensos domitare boves, et licta tela Addere: nona fugae melior, contraria furtis.

The lucky days in each revolving moon For labour choose: the fifth be sure to shun. * * *

The seventh is next the tenth, the best to join Young oxen to the yoke, and plant the vine. Then weavers stretch your flays upon the weft: The ninth is good for travel, bad for theft.

DRYDEN.

From this coincidence of the superstition of the Roman poet with that of the natives of Mull and Morven, we are strongly inclined to adopt the hypothesis of the gentleman who favoured us with this accurate account of Highland omens. He justly observes, that this superstitious practice of auguring good or ill from trifling events, and from the particular phases of the moon, has no connexion whatever with popish priestcraft: he shows that the Roman clergy, even in the darkest age, were at pains to eradicate it as idle and impious; and he therefore infers, that it must be a relic of Druidism handed down by tradition from an era prior to the introduction of Christianity into the Highlands and isles of Scotland. That the Druids were were acquainted with the particular doctrines of Pythagoras has been shown elsewhere (see Druids); that Virgil was no stranger to the Pythagorean philosophy is known to every scholar; that Pythagoras and his followers were addicted to the doings of Magic has been made apparent in that article; and therefore it appears to us probable at least, that the attention paid to pretended omens, not only in the Highlands, but also in the low country of Scotland, and indeed among the vulgar in every country of Europe, is a remnant of one of the many superstitions which the Druids imposed upon their deluded followers. That it is contrary to every principle of sound philosophy, all philosophers will readily acknowledge; and whoever has studied the writings of St Paul must be convinced that it is inconsistent with the spirit of genuine Christianity.