Superstitions: Omens, Charms, Cures 1787

by Francis Grose

Superstitions are surprisingly enduring. From dodging black cats to crossing one’s fingers while making a wish to an aversion to staff meetings on Friday the thirteenth, it is remarkable how many superstitions remain intact—even in this age of rationalism and swift scientific advancement.
First published in 1787 as part of the disparate collection A Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of Local Proverbs, and Popular Superstitions , Francis Grose’s Superstitions represents years of careful data collection and fieldwork and presents a full catalog of ways the supernatural might be expected to interfere in one’s life. Organized thematically into chapters like “Witches, Sorcerers, and Witchcraft,” “Things Lucky and Unlucky,” “Second Sight,” “Omens,” and “Superstitious Methods of Obtaining a Knowledge of Future Events,” Superstitions offers a systematic overview of the superstitious beliefs of the day as well as those held by earlier generations. Here, Grose’s work is reproduced under its original headings and supplemented by an informative introduction by Oxford English Dictionary editor John Simpson, setting the superstitions in proper historical and cultural context.

          

The resulting collection is a delightfully quirky guide to traditional sayings and beliefs, many archaic but some still surprisingly common today.

104 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 2012

About the author

Francis Grose 1731 - 1791) was an English antiquary, draughtsman, and lexicographer. He produced A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1785) and A Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of Local Proverbs, and Popular Superstitions (1787).

Reviews

[Joseph R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This text is the last part of a book entitled A Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of Local Proverbs, and Popular Superstitions (1787) written by Francis Grose, a famous antiquarian in the late eighteenth century. The writing is a weird amalgamation of Enlightenment scoffing and lurid embracing of the topics. The book goes through various categories, like ghosts, witches, sorcerers, fairies, the second-sighted, and common curses, cures, and folkloric beliefs. Some things are quite familiar, like witches riding on brooms or singles sleeping on a slice of wedding cake to dream about whom they will marry. Others are unfamiliar, like fairies shooting cattle with arrows tipped with flint (the cow can be healed by touching another flint-tipped fairy arrow to the wound). Some are even a blend of both: "When a person's cheek, or ear, burns, it is a sign that some one is then talking of him or her. If it is the right cheek, or ear, the discourse is to their advantage; if the left, to their disadvantage." [p. 84] Who knew you have to pay attention to where you burn?

The text is so straightforward and matter-of-fact that it's hard to tell if the author is snickering behind his quill or not. The style is very serious, even when he seems most difficult to take at face value. The writing is entertaining and it made for some mildly spooky fun reading for Halloween.

Recommended for a look at superstitions from two-hundred years ago. Some of them are still hanging around.

[Karlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, quick read for anyone with an interest in history, especially occult history or folklore. I learned a few new fun facts, and smiled quite a bit throughout due to Grose's commentary. You know something is good if it's still earning a chuckle or two nearly 250 years after publication.