What Spooked Your Granny?

[LordRsmacker]

Absolutely sod all, we lived near Bury and this is over 60 years back, she would take me all over
the place Liverpool being a favorite then over the river on the Royal Iris or one of her sister
ferries and into New Brighton, there used to be a photographers up one of the streets off the
sea front with a rather posh pedal car outside so kids could have their pic taken, and here I
am, bet that car would be worth a bob or two now.

No guarantee it would still have its hub-caps in that area though.

My Nain would tell us to not worry about "George" who would open closed doors (and slam them) before our very eyes whilst we were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. It still scared the crap out of me, "George" being completely fucking invisible. To be fair, she never appeared startled or frightened, she told us he was a "friendly ghost", and that was that. Now, I wonder if she was bricking it, like I would be, but so determined not to spook the grand-kids that she brushed it off. Made of stern stuff, our grandparents...

 

[Naughty_Felid]

No guarantee it would still have its hub-caps in that area though.

My Nain would tell us to not worry about "George" who would open closed doors (and slam them) before our very eyes whilst we were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. It still scared the crap out of me, "George" being completely fucking invisible. To be fair, she never appeared startled or frightened, she told us he was a "friendly ghost", and that was that. Now, I wonder if she was bricking it, like I would be, but so determined not to spook the grand-kids that she brushed it off. Made of stern stuff, our grandparents...

That's very interesting I knew a woman also haunted by George. He'd mess with the tins in the cupboard and generally cause a lot of mischief but never harm. She'd tell him off if he was getting out of hand.

Did you Nain, (Welsh word?), live on the south coast of England?

 

[RaM]

People that do see them often give them names so as to make it seem more normal or friendly'er,
my mother used to talk of Bill that haunted a place she worked at and a friend used a name that
I cant remember for the ghost of a engine man that he often saw in the engine house of a mill
in Oldham.

 

[PeteByrdie]

No fortean events related by my grandparents that I can recall. I have a single remaining grandmother, and I believe she was a spiritualist for a while after the loss of her brother to the Japanese in the war. All she's ever said on the subject was that it helped her. Apart from that, I believe I've mentioned before on FTMB that she covered over the house's mirrors during a thunderstorm, so that lightning getting into the house didn't bounce around off the mirrors. I don't remember her ever having done this myself but she's told me she did.

 

[Jepra Peld]

My nan was very level headed, I don't really remember her being spooked by anything, though she would occasionally talk about gypsies abducting girls children, which was odd as she actually had gypsy friends as a child herself.
My granddad was convinced that nuns were a bad omen and used to turn back round and go home if he saw one on the way to work.

 

[hunck]

My granddad was convinced that nuns were a bad omen and used to turn back round and go home if he saw one on the way to work.

Spooked by nuns - that's a good one. Wonder how that came about..

 

[Lb8535]

My grandmother from Russia/Poland, a cosmopoitan who gew up in NYC, also taught her kids that 1. If you spill salt you have to immediately toss a pinch over your left shoulder to avert the bad luck, I think from the times when salt was expensive, to propitiate whatever bad spirit noticed the salt spill, and 2 the strong admonition "don't beschrei it" which translates as "don't talk about the expected good until it has actually happened." I assume this is a folk belief that bad spirits will hear you and see an opportunity to thwart it. These persist,

On the other hand there are absolutely no superstitious stories or fortean warnings in the family. And nothing much happened to any of them over the last 150 years. Ecept for my aunt by marriage who was so psychic they wouldn't let her play charades. I think they all came from a pretty ghost-ridden culture and wanted it left behind.

 

[Lb8535]

My nan was very level headed, I don't really remember her being spooked by anything, though she would occasionally talk about gypsies abducting girls children, which was odd as she actually had gypsy friends as a child herself.
My granddad was convinced that nuns were a bad omen and used to turn back round and go home if he saw one on the way to work.

Your granddad would be fairly frustrated these days when many nuns wear civvies.

 

[Lb8535]

If we're including superstitions in addition to fortean- / folk-tales, then my family observed quite a few.

One example would be 'stamping' a white horse for good luck. There are multiple variations on this superstition, but the one known and observed across 3 generations went like this ...

When you see a completely white horse ...

- Kiss the pad (the part with the fingerprint) at the end of one thumb;
- Press the kissed thumb-pad into the palm of the other hand, and then ...
- Make a fist with the first hand and 'stamp' the palm to seal the 'recording', so to speak.

There are similar 'stamp for luck' superstitions and procedures (e.g., for mules or grey horses).

When you're in a group, the first person to see the horse and complete the stamping protocol is the one who 'collects' the luck in that instance.

FWIW, both my grandfather and father told me they'd learned this superstition in the context of playing / coaching baseball, but I don't know that it originated with baseball.

I have not at all seen this associated with baseball, has anyone else? How often do they let a horse onto the field?

 

[Mythopoeika]

Spooked by nuns - that's a good one. Wonder how that came about..

I am obliged to quote the obvious:

 

[EnolaGaia]

I have not at all seen this associated with baseball, has anyone else? How often do they let a horse onto the field?

A clarification ... I didn't mean the superstition itself was specifically associated with baseball. All I meant was that both my grandfather and father claimed they'd encountered and adopted the superstition when involved with baseball (my grandfather as a fan, casual player, and coach / manager; my father as a casual and semi-professional player).

My father sometimes played as a pitcher. I recall his commenting the stamping-for-luck superstition was commonly observed among pitchers - especially on the day of, or on the way to, a game.