> Six he loves,

Seven she loves,

Eight they both love,

Nine he comes,

Ten he tarries,

Eleven he goes,

Twelve he marries.

Thirteen honor,

Fourteen riches,

All the rest are little witches.

Baldwinsville, N.Y.



Some change the latter lines of this formula into



Thirteen they quarrel,

Fourteen they part,

Fifteen they die with a broken heart.



167. Similar rhymes commonly repeated in northern Ohio, after naming an

apple and counting the seeds, are,--



One I love,

Two I love,

Three I love, I say.

Four I love with all my heart,

And five I cast away.

Six he loves,

Seven she loves,

Eight they both love.

Nine he comes,

Ten he tarries,

Eleven he courts,

And twelve he marries.

Prince Edward Island and Mansfield, O.



168. Lay in the hand four apple-seeds and have some one name them, then

pick them up, saying,--



This one I love all others above,

And this one I greatly admire,

And this one I'll take and never forsake.

And this one I'll cast in the fire.

St. John, N.B.



169. A love divination by way of apple-seeds, much practiced when a

number of young people were spending the evening together, or perhaps by

grown-up boys and girls in district schools as they ate their noon-day

lunch about the stove, was as follows:--



Two seeds were named, one for a girl and one for a young man, and placed

on a hot stove or in front of an open fire. The augury, concerning the

future relations of the young people was derived from the behavior of the

two seeds. If as they heated they jumped away from one another, the two

persons would become estranged or their friendship die; if the seeds

moved nearer together, marriage was implied; if the one named for the

girl moved towards the other, it signified that the young woman was

fonder of the young man than he was of her, and so on.

Northern Ohio.



170. A common project in my girlhood was to place an apple-seed on each

of the four fingers of the right hand, that is, on the knuckles, first

moistening them with spittle. A companion then 'named' them, and the

fingers were worked so as to move slightly. The seed that stayed on the

longest indicated the name of your future husband.

Stratham, N.H.



171. Name apple-seeds and place on the lids of the closed eyes. Wink and

the first to fall off shows the name of your future husband.

Winn, Me., New York, and Pennsylvania.



172. To name apple-seeds, put one on each temple, get some one to name

them, and the one that sticks the longest will be the true one.



173. Name apple pips, put them on the grate, saying,--



If you love me, live and fly;

If you do not, lie and die.