Image: August Heinrich, Two Men Contemplating the Moon“In parts of Yorkshire it was belie

Image: August Heinrich, Two Men Contemplating the Moon

“In parts of Yorkshire it was believed to be prudent to give shoes to the poor, because every man after his death would have to pass along stony country. Those who had donated shoes in their lifetime would be met by an old man who would return to them the identical pair they had once given away for charity.”

-Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic (1971)