Devon charm to keep fleas and other insects out of the house

Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) - by By Ken Billington (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"When you first hear the cuckoo in the Spring, take some of the earth from the place on which your right foot is standing, and sprinkle it on the threshold of your front door; but speak of it to no one. Neither fleas, beetles, earwigs, or vermin of any sort will cross it."

Hewett 1900