Superstitions relating to voyages and fishing excursions have abounded around the world throughout history. Here are a handful of the ancient beliefs:
- We’ve heard before of the rats jumping ship. Rats leaving a ship are certainly an indication of some upcoming misfortune. The same applies for crows who will not build a nest in a tree that is likely to fall.
- Cutting hair or nails during the calm was thought to provoke fierce winds.
- Playing cards on-board was considered to be unlucky; for fear that it would raise the spirit of the storm.
- For Chinese vessels, the day of departure from the port was chosen by a Taonish priest, or if they were not available by the astrologers. The day selected was typically the first or the fifteenth of the lunar month, at the new or full moon.
- Asking a fisherman where they are going while they are on the way to their vessel was unlucky as well.
- Seeing the dim form of the full moon with the new moon was considered an evil sign in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This poem acknowledges this belief: “I saw the new moon late yestreen with the old moon in her arm, and if we go to see, master, I fear we’ll come to harm.”
- Now, to turn the tables and bring good luck, a horseshoe nailed to the mast was thought to bring security against the Evil One.
- Those at the helm of a pleasure boat should not allow passengers to whistle. “We only whistle while the wind is asleep, and then the breeze comes”.
- In Greenock it was thought that if a fly fell in the glass from which anyone had been drinking, or was about to drink, it was considered to be a good luck omen for the drinker.
- Sneezing can go either way. A sneeze on the left side at the time of embarking was a sign of ill-luck, but on the right side was fortunate and favorable.
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