GRANDY.  “I have read that the fishermen on the shores of the Baltic are remarkably superstitious, and careful not to desecrate any of their saints’ days.  They never use their nets between All Saints’ and St. Martin’s, as they would be certain not to take any fish throughout the year.  On Ash Wednesday the women neither sew nor knit, for fear of bringing misfortune upon the cattle.  They contrive so as not to use fire on St. Lawrence’s day:  by taking this precaution, they think themselves secure against fire for the rest of the year.  The Esthonians do not hunt on St. Mark’s or St. Catherine’s day, on penalty of being unsuccessful all the rest of the year.  It is reckoned a good sign to sneeze on Christmas day.  Most of them are so prejudiced against Friday, that they never settle any important business or conclude a bargain on this day; in some places they do not even dress their children.  They object to visit on Thursdays, for it is a sign they will have troublesome guests all the week.  Thus they are slaves to superstition, and must, consequently, be a complaining, unhappy people.  Now Dora, my dear, proceed.”

DORA.  “In the Baltic, north of the Gulf of Riga, lies the Isle of Dagen, belonging to Russia, and containing some fine estates of the Esthonian nobility.  The dress of the female peasantry in this island is so remarkable that they deserve a passing notice.  The head-dress is a circular plait of hair, braided with a red cloth roll, which fastens behind, and hangs down in long ends tipped with fringe.  The dress is merely a linen shift, high to the throat, half-way down the leg, crimped from top to bottom, the linen being soaked in water with as much strong starch as it can hold, crimped with long laths of wood, and then put into the oven to dry, whence it issues stiff and hard as a board.  The belt is the chief curiosity, being made of broad black leather, studded with massive brass heads, with a fringe of brass chains.  High-heeled shoes and red stockings complete the attire, and altogether make a fanciful picture of a pretty maiden bandit.”

EMMA.  “But such garments must surely be very cold?”

DORA.  “The dress I have described is worn in the summer, for they have a warm season for a short period during the year; of course, when the cold sets in, they hide their faces and figures in furs, in the same fashion as their neighbors.”

GEORGE.  “How very uncomfortable to be dressed so stiffly in warm weather; and then they can surely never sit in such garments, for to rumple them would spoil them, I suppose?”

MRS. WILTON.  “It is the fashion in Dagen, my dear; and there, as elsewhere, many inconveniences are submitted to, from an anxiety to vie with other folks in the style of dress, and from a fear of being considered old-fashioned.  I am sure we English must not find fault with the dress of other countries, for some of our fashions are truly ridiculous.”