The Poker Across the Grate

A Suffolk correspondent of Chambers listed the beliefs of the household. A poker set across the top bar of the grate would draw up a dull fire, because poker and bar made a cross against the gnomes or witches who spoiled chimneys; when he tried the shovel instead, the fire would not draw. A broken looking-glass meant a death in the family within the year. A maid who kept breaking things was told to buy something to change her luck, and another who had broken two things threw down a cheap basin on purpose, because a third breakage was bound to follow.