cradle

, pram

   A number of beliefs cluster around the cradle and, by extension, the pram. Rocking an empty cradle is regularly reported, from the early 19th century onwards, as resulting in a new baby arriving soon, and is still current in the idea of advice not to push an empty pram. It is also considered by many that to have a cradle or pram in the house before the baby is born is to tempt fate and run the risk of bad luck, while the underlying fear is the baby being born dead or dying young. This notion is first reported in the 1890s, and is still regularly mentioned, although it is nowadays acceptable to buy one, but it should not be delivered to the house in advance of the birth. Other, less common, beliefs can be quoted. Referring to the north of England in the mid-19th century, Denham reported, 'In all sales either under distraint for rent or common debt, it is an ancient and invariable custom to leave the cradle unsold, and the original owner is at liberty to repossess it' (Denham Tracts, 1891: ii. 40). In Yorkshire, new parents were warned that a cradle must be paid for before the baby sleeps in it, otherwise it 'will end its days lacking the means to pay for its own coffin' (Blakeborough, 1898: 114-15). An annual Candlemas custom at Blidworth (Nottinghamshire) involved the vicar rocking the last-baptized infant in an old cradle bedecked with flowers and surrounded by candles, before the altar. The custom was revived in 1923, although it is locally believed that it dates back to the 13th century (Wright and Lones, 1938: ii. 123-4).

   ■ Opie and Tatem, 1989: 103, 315-16.