Note 422 — PART II THE PLAYFUL EXERCISE OF IMPULSES OF THE SECOND OR SOCIONOMIC358 ORDER
Elizabeth L. Baldwin translation
A particularly pretty oracle, affording no less than four alternatives, is described by Hall Caine (The Manxman, London, 1894, p. 120) as in use on the Isle of Man. A maiden, anxious to know her fate, throws a willow bough in the water, while she sings:
“Willow bough, willow bough, which of the four, Sink, circle, or swim, or come floating ashore? Which is the fortune you keep for my life, Old maid or young mistress, or widow or wife?”