In notes made about 1678 and printed by Chambers, John Aubrey recorded that Highland women curtsied to the new moon. English countrywomen did something similar, sitting astride a gate or stile on the first evening of the new moon and blessing it aloud. Aubrey saw the same in Herefordshire.
Greeting the New Moon
13 October · Herefordshire
Lore and belief
our English women, in this country, have a touch of this, some of them sitting astride on a gate or stile the first evening the new moon appears, and saying, "A fine moon, God bless her!"
From Chambers's Book of Days, vol. 2, p. 440. Read the original
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