At 09:07 10/06/99 +0100, you wrote:
>Please tell me what you can about the belief that chimney sweeps bring
>good luck, esp. to bride and groom at marriage. I ask this having heard of
>a present day sweep being hired to attend weddings in Bradford. Is this
>practice or tradition widespread and/or old, or is it post-Mary Poppins?
A good source is Iona Opie and Moira Tatem's Dictionary of Superstitions
(Oxford 1989). They give a series of interesting quotes about sweeps from
1887 until as recently as 1983 when a sweep reckoned that kissing brides
was more profitable than sweeping chimneys!
Steve
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|