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Show OLD LOVE CHARMS ANCIENT METHODS OF WINNING HEART OF LOVER. Grotesque Indeed Were Some of the Mummeries Implicitly Believed In Leaving the Choice of Swains to Fate. When Othello tho Moor courted and won the fair Desdemona ho was ac cuscd of doing so by "spells and modi clnes." In Shakespeare's day, and lndeeo long after, spells nnd charms of nil klndB wore, if not exactly an orthodox yet at least a well recognized way oi winning a lover's heart, or divining whq was to he tho future life partner. A good way to secure continuance of lovo tfas to go secretly to tho lovot as ho lay asleep nnd steal his garter. Then It must ho knotted togother with tho girl's own t(. U10 words: Threo timer, n truo lover's Itnot I tlo so- euro. Firm bo tho knot, fast may his love endure. It a youth's affections had gone nstray, tho forsaken orj, If sho desired de-sired revenge, took a bird's heart and stuck it full of pins at midnight The result was supposed to bring about tho appearance of tho false lover In an agony of pain. If, on tho contrary, there was no good evidence of his having forsaken her to whom ho had plighted his troth, but the girl nevertheless suspected tho genuineness of his Intentions, she could ascertain tho truth by taking the bladcbono of a shoulder of mutton mut-ton without saying for what she required re-quired it. For nine nights sho must pierce It with a penknife, each night in a .different place. If tho lover were true, at the end of the nine days he would ask her for a rag to bind up the wound he bad received. Tho recipe for taking away a man's love for a girl was, as It ought to have been, both unpleasant and difficult oi performance. If bo bo a toad bo Inlil In a sheepskin, newly flayod. And that tied to mnn, 'twill sovor Him nnd his affections ever. Did a girl deslro to know If sho'was ever to ho. wed, sho must take the rind of ;two lemons nnd carry It In her pockets all day. Then at night she muBt rub with tho rind the four posts of her bed. If sho was to bo married a man would appear in her dreams. If thero were no sign of a man she must resign herself to single blessedness. blessed-ness. To chooso between two lovers, two apple pips wcro taken and given the names of two men. Then they were stuck carefully ono on to each cheek. The ono that stuck longest was the chosen swain. Another favorlto plan was to take a number of corn cobs, put them togother to-gother two and two, and give onch pair tho name of somo loving couplo. Then tho cobs were popped over the fire, and according to whether they Jumped apart or remained together so was the future of tho two whoso names they bore. Tho initial of tho lover could bo obtained ob-tained by throwing an apple paring over the left shoulder. To ascertain how many years would elapse beforo marrlago, It was best to ask tho cuckoo, and by counting his cries the number was obtained. Special day3 had Bpcclal charms allotted al-lotted to them. On St. Valentino's dny an- especially favorablo day fo lovo omens, as ono would supposo, tho flrst man seen after sunrlso was destined des-tined to bo tho futuro lovor. ' |