Hemp-seed round the church at midnight

31 October · Wales

Lore and belief

On All Hallows Eve in Wales a person would sow hemp-seed while walking round the church a little before midnight. At the last stroke of twelve the sower looked back and saw either a coffin or the future husband or wife, often a stranger who was recognised when met later. Peter Roberts heard that fright at this lonely rite had brought on fatal fits of hysterics.

One of these is to go and sow hemp-seed in a churchyard. This is begun a little before twelve at night. The person who sows it goes around the church, repeating these words; "Hemp I sow, let him (or her) that comes after me mow."

From Roberts's Cambrian Popular Antiquities, p. 130. Read the original

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Folklore from the old calendars

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Hemp-seed round the church at midnight

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