If a maid hears a cuckoo on the first of May, and takes off her left shoe, she will find inside a hair the colour of her future husband’s hair.  Girls used to get up early on May morning and go into the country and wait to hear the cuckoo.

An old adage is:—­Don’t change your clothes until the cuckoo picks up dirt.

      June.

  The oak’s slow opening leaf, of deepening hue,
  Bespeaks the power of Summer once again. Clare.

      June roses.

The two June sayings are very optimistic: 

  A fine June, puts all things in tune.

  A rainy June, sets all things in tune.

      St. Peter’s day, 29th June.

The gates of the Minster Precincts are still closed on this day to maintain the right of privacy.

The Proclamations of St. Peter’s and Bridge Fair by the Town Crier, in the presence of the Mayor and Corporation, is still continued.

A copy of the proclamation was fortunately obtained for me before the old Beadle died.  He had not a copy but used to repeat it from memory.

      Sheep shearing. (June).

It was the custom, when the shearing was finished, for the Shepherds and Shearers to be entertained at supper by the Farmer.  The Farmer’s Daughter used to tie up posies of roses with ribbons and give a posy to each man, but the Head Shepherd always had the largest and best posy.  It was considered by the girls to be great fun to put a quantity of pepper in the roses for the Head Shepherd, so that the poor Shepherd had severe fits of sneezing.  Being expected, the joke never failed to cause a tremendous noise of sneezing, both natural and mock.

June was the month during which the feast was held and it was held as recently as 1856.

In some parts of Northamptonshire the last sheep to be sheared had a garland of roses placed round its neck.

      MidsummerEve charms.

As the clock strikes Midnight take some hempseed and go into the garden and begin to throw the hempseed on the ground, repeating these words:—­

  Hempseed I sow,
  Hempseed I hoe,
  He that is my true love,
  Come after me and mow.

After this, look over your left shoulder and you will see your future spouse.

In some places the sower goes round the house.

Another is to go into the garden backwards, in silence, and gather a rose and keep it in a clean sheet of paper without looking at it, until Christmas Day, when it will be as fresh as in June, and if it is worn on that day on the bosom he that is to be the husband will come and take it out.

Just before twelve o’clock at night take a clean chemise, wet it and turn it inside out and put over a chair before the fire, and when the clock strikes midnight your future spouse will come and turn the chemise.  This must be done in perfect silence as a single word will break the spell.