They must go out, hand in hand, with eyes shut, and
pull the first they meet with: its being big or little, straight or
crooked, is prophetic of the size and shape of the grand object of all
their spells--the husband or wife. If any _yird_, or earth, stick to
the root, that is _tocher_, or fortune; and the taste of the _custoc_,
that is, the heart of the stem, is indicative of the natural temper
and disposition. Lastly the stems, or to give them their ordinary
appellation, the _runts_, are placed somewhere above the head of the
door; and the Christian names of the people whom chance brings into
the house, are, according to the priority of placing the runts, the
names in question.
[9] They go to the barn-yard, and pull each, at three several times, a
stalk of oats. If the third stalk wants the _top pickle_, that is, the
grain at the top of the stalk, the party in question will want the
maidenhead.
[10] When the corn is in a doubtful state, by being too green, or wet,
the stack-builder, by means of old timber, etc., makes a large
apartment in his stack, with an opening in the side which is fairest
exposed to the wind: this he calls a _fause-house_.
[11] Burning the nuts is a favourite charm. They name the lad and lass
to each particular nut, as they lay them in the fire; and according as
they burn quickly together, or start from beside one another, the
course and issue of the courtship will be.
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