Another weekend passes without me having bought a single Christmas present.
Luckily, I’ve been sent two books that will definitely make great presents (is that really mean, giving books away as presents I've been sent to review?)
The Illustrated Wise Words and Country Ways by Ruth Binney is a collection of accumulated sayings, mottos and superstitions – ranging from gardening and kitchen tips to traditional health and beauty hints.
A quick flick through it and I’ve learnt why, for example, cheese gives you nightmares (it’s to do with the chemical tyramine which is made by bacteria and which raises the blood pressure, a stress symptom associated with nightmares).
Another page explains the saying, Don’t eat wild blackberries after Michaelmas. The truth is that they lose their flavour about this time when they get damp and mouldy or are hit by early frosts (although if you'd rather believe the legend, the author explains, it's because the Devil spits or urinates on them on Michaelmas!)
The other book that would make a nice gift is Curious Country Customs by Jeremy Hobson.
This explains the origins of some of most weird and wonderful customs - such as the Nettle Eating Contest in Masham in Dorset.
Every June this sees an intrepid band gather at The Bottle Inn where they're each given 2ft stalks of nettles and an hour to chew them.
It began in the 1980s as a contest between two farmers as to which had the longest nettles on their land. One brought a 5ft specimen in and declared that if anyone had a longer one, he would eat his.
You can guess what happened next…
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