White Rabbits

[iselda]

Why do we say White Rabbits on the first day of the month?

[n00dles]

Hi iselda

I'd like to know where this superstition comes from too.

It has to be the first words you utter, otherwise it will not bring you luck!!

Sorry I can't help

xXx

[Quizmonster]

The 'white rabbits' good luck chorus certainly sounds ancient, but the fact remains that it appears nowhere in English print before 1959! Yes, the reference was in the Opies' book about schoolchildrens' lore, but, if it was truly old, one would certainly expect there to have been some reference to it or use of it in earlier literature. The single word 'rabbits' did appear in the same context earlier but not before 1920 either.
There are some who believe it originated with Lewis Carroll's �Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' and others who claim it derives from a German custom of pagan times when pairs of white rabbits were sacrificed at the opening of months for luck.
However, this is one of these things with an air of the historic about it which it does not truly deserve. The "tradition" of saying these particular words on the first of a month for luck is, at most perhaps, about a century old, despite the idea that sacred rabbits existed in much earlier times.

[Bordeaux]

I always say White Rabbits three times on first day of month and it does work, this month I've had 5 wins of comps only small but its luck, I won tickets to a play and a knights tournament(which I didn't go to) also two DVD's and small cheque for crossword , so far this year I have won something each month, I think it has some origins in Scotland and Ireland, so white Rabbits is great.

[aidantraffor]

My Mother, a Yorkshire Lass, taught me to say it from the age of six, she was never sure why, but it's suposed to bring good luck! Something to do with Alice I think! I still say 50 years later & have got my son doing it! { hope someone comes up with the definitive answer before he asks me why!}

[Dollie]

An alternative - my mate from 'darn sarf' says A PINCH AND A PUNCH - and then proceeds to nip your arm and punch it !! Blast her - she does it every first day of the momth.

[iselda]

I was asked to look for an answer by an old friend of mine, aged 84, who has been saying it all her life, her mother taught her. Not a great believer in luck myself, go out and get it is my motto, Thank you all for replying, more ideas welcome.

[iselda]

Quizmonster, the German pagan idea sounds a possible, The saying not being seen written down before 1959 does seem odd. Literature, of course, was not available to all classes, which could account for that. It appears to be a working class superstition.