A child born with a caul—­a thin membrane covering the head of some children at birth—­would, if spared, prove a notable person.  The carrying of a caul on board ship was believed to prevent shipwreck, and masters of vessels paid a high price for them.  I have seen an advertisement for such in a local paper.

When baby was being carried to church to be baptised, it was of importance that the woman appointed to this post should be known to be lucky.  Then she took with her a parcel of bread and cheese, which she gave to the first person she met.  This represented a gift from the baby—­a very ancient custom.  Again, it was of importance that the person who received this gift should be lucky—­should have lucky marks upon their person.  Forecasts were made from such facts as the following concerning the recipient of the gift:—­Was this person male or female, deformed, disfigured, plain-soled, etc.  If the party accepted the gift willingly, tasted it, and returned a few steps with the baptismal party, this was a good sign; if they asked to look at the baby, and blessed it, this was still more favourable:  but should this person refuse the gift, nor taste it, nor turn back, this was tantamount to wishing evil to the child, and should any serious calamity befall the child, even years after, it was connected with this circumstance, and the party who had refused the baptismal gift was blamed for the evil which had befallen the child.  It was also a common belief that if, as was frequently the case, there were several babies, male and female, awaiting baptism together, and the males were baptised before the females, all was well; but if, by mistake, a female should be christened before a male, the characters of the pair would be reversed—­the female would grow up with a masculine character, and would have a beard, whereas the male would display a feminine disposition and be beardless.  I have known where such a mistake has produced real anxiety and regret in the minds of the parents.  We have seen that it was not until after baptism that the child was allowed out of the room in which it was born, except under the skilful guardianship of a relative or the midwife; but, further than this, it was not considered safe or proper to carry it into any neighbour’s house until the mother took it herself, and this it was unlucky even for her to do until she had been to church.  Indeed, few mothers would enter any house until they had been to the house of God.  After this had been accomplished, however, she visited with the baby freely.  In visiting any house with baby for the first time, it was incumbent on the person whom they were visiting to put a little salt or sugar into baby’s mouth, and wish it well:  the omission of this was regarded as a very unlucky omen for the baby.  Here we may note the survival of a very ancient symbolic practice in this gift of salt.  Salt was symbolical of favour or good will, and covenants of friendship in very early times were ratified with