Romance Customs

Love, courtship and marriage: charms to see a future sweetheart, Valentine customs, wedding ways and the days for divining who you will marry.

1 to 21 of 21 entries in October

6 October

8 October, not tied to the day

11 October

18 October

28 October

31 October

Folklore from the old calendars

Burning the Nuts Lore and belief England, Ireland, ScotlandOn Hallowe'en a pair of nuts was named for a lad and a lass and laid in the fire.
Cyniver No longer kept WalesAmong the Hallowe'en customs he gathered, Hone gave a Welsh game from Owen's Welsh Dictionary.
Fathoming the Stack No longer kept ScotlandAnother Scottish Hallowe'en charm from Burns was to slip out unnoticed to a stack of barley, called a bear stack, and measure round it three times with outstretched arms.
Grass from under the holly on All Hallows’ Eve Lore and belief WalesOn All Hallows' Eve a Welsh girl walked backwards to a holly tree, pulled a handful of grass from under it and carried it to the light, where she would find hairs of her true love among the blades.
Hemp-seed round the church at midnight Lore and belief WalesOn All Hallows Eve in Wales a person would sow hemp-seed while walking round the church a little before midnight.
Pulling the Kail Stocks No longer kept ScotlandThe first rite of a Scottish Hallowe'en was to go out hand in hand, eyes shut, into the kailyard and each pull the first cabbage stalk they touched.
Seven times round the church on All Hallows’ Eve Lore and belief MontgomeryshireA Montgomeryshire servant girl walked seven times round the church on All Hallows' Eve to raise the spirit of the man she would marry, and came home asking her mistress why the master had been sent out to frighten her.
Sowing Hemp-seed No longer kept Ireland, ScotlandOn Hallowe'en a girl crept out unseen and sowed a handful of hemp-seed, dragging something behind her to harrow it in, and saying a rhyme over and over.
The Apple and the Looking-Glass Lore and belief ScotlandA girl who wanted to see her future husband went alone with a candle to a looking-glass on Hallowe'en and ate an apple in front of it, some said while combing her hair.
The Blue Clue No longer kept Ireland, ScotlandOne of the Hallowe'en spells Burns described among the country people of the west of Scotland had to be tried alone and in the dark.
The Eastwood woman rebuked for a Hallowe’en charm No longer kept RenfrewshireA woman of Eastwood was brought before the kirk session for using charms at Hallowe'en.
The Three Luggies No longer kept ScotlandThree dishes, or luggies, were set on the hearth at Hallowe'en, one with clean water, one with foul water and one empty.
The Wet Sark Sleeve No longer kept Ireland, ScotlandIn the Scottish form of this Hallowe'en spell the seeker dipped the left shirt sleeve in a south-running burn where the lands of three lairds met.
The yarn ladder on Hallowe’en Lore and belief WalesOn Hallowe'en two Welsh girls made a little ladder of yarn without breaking it from the ball and threw it out of the window.
Winnowing Three Wechts No longer kept ScotlandTo win three wechts of naething, a Scottish spell for Hallowe'en, the seeker went alone to the barn and opened both doors, taking them off their hinges if possible.